Sermon given by Zan Spaihts-Mohns, May 22, 2022.
Creating a Community of Belonging
The other day Tori and I were talking, and she looked up and smiled and said, “Isn’t it wonderful? Through the pandemic winter, people here have been quietly working on all these things—the capital campaign and building project, the land acknowledgment, the ministry of arts, and the journey of belonging. And now we can see each of these coming to fruition!”
Partners in Creation
A few years ago one of my minister friends was talking about how important poetry had become to him, as a preacher and in his spiritual life. I loved that he lifted this up; it helped me realize the same is true for me. Poets are the mystics and sages and prophets of our time, aren’t they? The best parts of the Bible, to my mind, are the poetic parts, and the stories and parables. The parts that are more history, or rules, they haven’t aged so well.
The Way of Creativity
Sermon given by Intern Minister Tori Rosati, May 1, 2022.
The Revelatory Body
Sermon given by Intern Minister Tori Rosati, April 24, 2022.
Wholehearted and Daring: the Invitation of Easter
The Way to Easter
A few days ago, I was in a conversation with several of you, and it was a good one, and then it went to an even deeper level when one person started sharing their feelings of dismay and despair at the state of our world these days. Naming the evidence of war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and other ways we humans are cruel to one another, they said something like,“There’s just so much to be discouraged about,” and the rest of us nodded our heads and felt the weight and the truth of those words of lament.
In Praise of Skin
“For the world we raise our voices, for the home that gives us birth;
in our joy we sing returning, home to our blue green hills of earth.”
It is a beautiful world, isn’t it? This blue green home we’ve been given, warmed by the sun, watered by snow and rain; and these days, little miracles keep popping up through the soil! It’s also a broken world, with plenty of hardship and suffering and injustice; much of that caused by humans, much of it preventable, we we would be more aware and more awake and more willing.
From Striving to Surrender
We’re living in a challenging time, with lots of polarization and plenty of uncertainty. These days it’s easy to feel anxious and afraid. What’s needed is to be able to hold the complexity of this time; to be grounded enough that you live more in a both/and space rather than seeing things as either/or. This is something we are doing pretty well here, and I’m grateful for all you bring to this church and our world, the openhearted ways you are showing up for life.
In This Together
“Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.”
I know this is a happy day—we are back here gathered for worship, and hopefully the technology is working and folks are also with us on Zoom; it’s so good to be together, and it’s the first day of spring, and there’s going to be coffee after church! We have plenty of reasons to be hopeful and happy.
But I have to tell you, my spiritual companions, that there is also despair in my heart. And I expect there may be despair in your hearts too. Despair for our world, and for the suffering all around. Despair for what we have been though, these last two years, and for all that has been lost. How can there not be?