Learning How to Live

Sermon #3 (31st October 2010 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)

Over the next ten minutes or so we’re going to put all the pumpkins aside for a bit and take our cue from the Pagan & Christian festivals that are coming up over the next few days.

For pagans, today is Samhain – in the old Celtic traditions this was apparently considered to be the time of year when the veils between this world and the Otherworld were at their thinnest, and when the spirits of the dead could mingle more freely with the living. In the Christian church calendar, tomorrow – November the first – is All Saints Day. This is a day when Christians are called to celebrate the lives of all the saints and martyrs who aren’t high-profile enough to have a dedicated day all to themselves. The day after – All Souls Day – is when the mainstream church remember the ‘faithful departed’ and pray for the souls of those in purgatory. Read more

Short Reflection (10th October 2010 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)

In this short reflection I hope to say something about what communion means to me – or, at least, what it has become in my imagination – and why I am so strongly drawn to this ritual with which I have almost no history or previous personal experience. I struggled to articulate my fuzzy and nebulous thoughts in a way that might make sense outside of my own head! But I’ll attempt to explain…

Read more

Sermon #2 (14th February 2010 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)

What kind of a fool volunteers to lead the service on Valentine’s Day?!? It seemed like such a good idea at the time…

I want to set the scene for this sermon with a quote from Jacob Needleman. I think it says something that anyone who sits down to write about love (or stands up to speak about it) had better take on board.  It’s from a book entitled ‘Is the meaning of life to be found in love?’ He says:

“We divide love and classify it: we discriminate between physical love and spiritual love, between erotic love and personal love, mother love, father love, the love between friends. …but the truth is that we remain confused by it. Everyone talks about love, but the truth is that our labels are pale efforts to deal with an overwhelming force, as far beyond our control as the wind, the lightning, and the sea. When we are in love, we are in a tornado of forces, and all we can do is try to hold on to our chair.”

Read more

Sermon #1 (2nd August 2009 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians) 

What do I mean by ‘Walking the Talk?’

I suppose it would be a good idea to clarify precisely what I mean when I say “walking the talk”, just in case there’s anybody here who isn’t familiar with the phrase. If someone is said to “walk the talk” it means that:

– their actions match their words

– they do what they say they are going to do

– they put their professed beliefs and values into action in their everyday life.

It is a bit like “practicing what you preach”. So, I like to imagine, “walking the talk” is something that all of us here today would aspire to… (as far as is humanly possible, anyway).

Read more