‘Spirit of Christmas, Spirit of Peace, Spirit of Hope, we gather in the depths of darkness to bear witness to the everlasting light; assembling at the turn of the year to recall that which stands beyond time and change. Into this sacred time we now enter to listen, to dream, and to be transformed. May our thoughts be filled with gratitude and love.’ – Gary Kowalski
A recording of a service of readings and carols I put together for Christmas Eve 2013 at Essex Church.
Sermon #14 (12th July 2015 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
Shame is pretty much universal, as we heard in the first reading, from Brené Brown’s ‘I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t)’… but generally it is a topic which makes people so uncomfortable that we don’t like to talk about it very much in polite company. Some of us might be more plagued by it than others, it’s true, but I doubt that anyone here today is entirely unfamiliar with the experience of feeling shame – that cringing feeling – the ‘painful wave of emotion that washes over us when we feel judged or ridiculed’.
The Unitarian Universalist minister Christine Robinson makes a distinction between guilt and shame which I think is quite useful: guilt is about a thing we have done whereas shame is about who we are. If you feel guilty about something you have done then you can regret the behaviour and resolve not to do it again. If you feel ashamed you would think ‘I’m a bad person’… (taking this one mistake or failing to be indicative of who you really are) and this sort of thinking has all sorts of negative consequences, for ourselves, our relationships, and society as a whole.
Sermon #13 (25th January 2015 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
You know that saying ‘I’m sorry I sent you such a long letter, I didn’t have time to write a short one’? That’s what happened with this service. As your last-minute stand-in in the pulpit today I am going to offer a few thoughts on what it means to be hospitable here in our spiritual home. (This was meant to be a 5-minute reflection but it turned out to be a 10-minute sermon instead!) Often our services consider issues that might help us lead better lives as individuals. I think it’s important, once in a while, to consider what might help us to lead a better life as a church community. How should we live – together? I hope that there will still be something in this service for you today regardless of whether or not you are already a committed member of this church, as hospitality is an important consideration in any groups we are a part of, and the lessons we have to take note of as a congregation are more widely applicable. The issues we are considering about hospitality here in our church community also have parallels at a smaller scale – in our homes, families, social groups – and perhaps also at a larger scale – in our nation and in the world beyond.
Sermon #12 (11th January 2015 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
Reading and Reflection: Plato’s Symposium – Introducing Socrates and Alcibiades
We’re going to hear a few excerpts from Plato’s Symposium but first let me set the scene for you. The Symposium is perhaps the classic philosophical text on eros, erotic love, the love of romance, desire, and passion. The word ‘symposium’ refers to a Greek drinking-party and the book is set at one of these gatherings. A lot of the great and the good have turned up round Agathon’s house for a symposium but they’re all hungover from a big party the night before so someone suggests they lay off the drinking for a night and instead amuse themselves by having a conversation about the nature of love – eros – (surprisingly they’re all well up for this). So they take turns giving impromptu speeches about eros and we get to hear a variety of different perspectives.
Theme Talk (18th August 2014 at Hucklow Summer School)
An abridged version of this talk was given as sermon #10 at Essex Church on 24th August 2014
The Authentic Self: Who Are You?
When someone asks ‘who are you?’ – What do you say? Where do you start?
I suppose it depends a bit who’s asking, and when they ask, and what mood you’re in at the time. So let’s say I’m asking, right now, this morning (because I just did, & now I’m going to do it again): who are you? Read more
Sermon #11 (5th October 2014 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
In our culture, in the modern world, repetition has got a pretty mixed reputation. Consumerism pushes the message that ‘variety is the spice of life’. There is a certain pressure on us all to be on the lookout for what’s new, to valorise novelty, change and innovation, even to be on the move in our personal lives and never stay put in the same place for too long.
In the next fourteen minutes or so I’m going to try and redress the balance a little bit. I’m going to echo the question we heard from Jeffrey Lockwood (he of the Deluxe Avocado sandwiches) a bit earlier, and ask: ‘What’s wrong with regularity?’ Or to put it more positively, I’m going to offer a few thoughts on the valuable role that repetition has to play in our lives: in the arts and the creative life, in our worship and spiritual practice, and as we all go about our everyday business.
Sermon #9 (26th January 2014 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
We hear a lot about remembering in church. In the next twelve minutes or so I’m going to try and redress the balance a bit – and perhaps that’s the key word to bear in mind, BALANCE – by looking at a handful of different ways in which forgetting might be beneficial or even necessary for a well-rounded and flourishing human life.
Up to a point, forgetting can be good for you intellectually – in terms of learning and creativity; emotionally – in terms of freedom from worry; and spiritually – in terms of personal and social transformation. So I’m going to consider each of those three realms of forgetting in turn. Read more
Sermon #8 (6th October 2013 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
In the next 12 minutes or so we’re going to hatch a plan to change the world. I hope that doesn’t sound too ambitious! In the broadest terms, we’re going to consider what it is about the world that might need changing (where shall we start! you might ask), what might prevent us from taking action for the issues and causes we care about, and how we can hope to overcome these obstacles to help make a better world for all.
But first of all I want to highlight a fact which can easily be overlooked: Changing the world generally means changing people. That is: changing the way people think, the way people regard one another, the way people act, every day of their lives. Changing people’s minds, hearts, and habits.
Short Reflection (15th September 2013 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
When I was about 20 years old, in a Secret-Santa present exchange one Christmas, I let it be known amongst my old schoolfriends that I would like to get a book about birds. I’ve no idea what brought about this urge at that particular moment in my life. I do recall having fond memories of studying a wall-chart that mum had bought me as a child so that I could identify the birds that came to visit our caravan on holiday in Kent each year. In fact I’ve managed to dig out the wall-chart which set me on the path to being a birdwatcher.
Sermon #7 (7th April 2012 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
The title of this service was nicked from a great mid-90s mystical pop record by the post-punk legend Jah Wobble – maybe a few of you will remember it – when I originally chose the theme I wondered if that title might be inadvertently offensive or at least considered a bit too irreverent or even cocky from a mainstream point of view… It turns out I probably needn’t have worried – in fact once I did my research I was surprised to find that the idea is actually included in the Catholic catechism – which quotes St. Gregory of Nyssa as saying ‘the goal of a virtuous life is to become like God’.
As we heard earlier, there is this strand of thought which says that the task of humanity is to develop into the ‘Likeness of God’ by gradually perfecting our moral character through the struggles of life. A number of great philosophers and religious leaders have identified the path of virtue as a means by which we humans might come to flourish in this way. Read more