Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

    Well, since I don't think women should preach.... :-) :-) :-)
    
    The thing that is interesting is that you call it a sermon and you are
    trying to *convince* people to be interested in Paul?  Doesn't sound
    like a sermon, sounds like a lecture.
    
    Nancy
    

    Nancy,
    
    What is your definition of a sermon? A lecture?
    
    The challenge does sound exciting though.  convincing liberal  UU's that
    Paul has something important to say.
    
    Patricia

    Well, I must admit ignorance to what a liberal UU is.
    
    A sermon is an experience one never forgets.  It includes anecdotes,
    but mostly Bible and God's moral authority being presented.  How we
    live our lives according to God's Word.
    
    A lecture is more like a talk of one's own ideas being presented, or a
    thesis of some sort.
    
    Another distinct difference is the drama associated with the delivery
    of the message.
    
    Nancy

    Patricia:
    
    A very good choice...deep in doctrine and really tells us where the
    source of wisdom comes from.  The best thing to do is to start with a
    theme.  Are you attempting to preach on the actual message of 1st Cor.
    2, or are you establishing Paul as a sound, theological writer and
    expounding on his validity as an apostle, a prophet, and a man of God?
    
    Best, 
    
    -Jack

    Patricia,
    
    		On my first sermon I was scared stiff and yet God used me
    with a special purpose in mind.  I had all my "ducks in a row" being
    prepared like I had never before been....then God changed it all while
    I was in the pulpit.  It is *NOT* a real comfortable feeling. :-)  One
    of the things that God said to me was "Salvation is to be given away,
    if your not willing to give it away, your not worthy to have it".  Not
    that we are worthy but it does speak to me so what your doing,
    preaching, is worthwhile and good.
    
    
    Dave

    I think my theme will be that he is a real interesting person, deeply
    impacted by the holy spirit and committed to the establishment and
    administration of the Christian Church.  I will emphasize that even
    though he preached some baffling doctrines, even though the church
    erroneously used his writings and deutero pauline writings in some
    questionable manners we cannot discard Paul as a fine theologigan.
    
    In particular I believe his theology of the spirit versus the law is
    superb and actually quite radical.  I will also talk about conversion,
    grace, and salvation.  I will probably relate this to the 12 step
    program i.e. salvation from alcohism, dysfunctional behavoir,
    addictions, etc.  I will talk about the new creation.  
    
    That is sort of what I am thinking.  How I will pull it all together, I
    donn't know.
    
    Patricia

    Dave,
    
    Thanks for the encouragement.
    
    Patricia

I would find it very hard to preach on something that
I didn't believe.

I Cor 2 is rich with subject matter.  I could literally
preach 5 (different) sermons on its themes.  But what to 
preach if I don't believe what it says?  I haven't a clue. 

May the truth of God's Word become apparent as you study
it more and more.

Collis 

    Collis,
    
    I would not preach on something I didn't believe.  I will point out
    differences of interpretations and even parts that I don't believe.  I
    find great personal inspiration in 1 Cor 2.  Human Freedom to choose
    what inspires me(perhaps even God breathed freedom to inspire me  is
    wonderful.

    .8
    
    Why would you even imply that Patricia would preach about something
    she didn't believe?  That's very close to implying she has no
    integrity.
    
    Richard
    

    Patricia,
    
    		If you preach *ANYTHING* other than what God lays on your
    heart you would be wrong, but to listen to God and preach as God would
    have you is a great blessing.
    
    
    Dave

    Patricia,
    
    	I have been a guest preacher at UU services.  I'll get back
    to you, but probably not this week.
    
    	Keep the faith.  I have faith in you.
    
    Peace,
    Richard
    

    
   >Why would you even imply that Patricia would preach about something
   >she didn't believe? 

Well, I looked at what I Cor 2 says in my handy Bible.  :-)

It starts out in the first 5 verses with Paul knowing Christ
crucified.  As we all know, this is not an area that Patricia
yet feels convicted in (but we're praying!)

Next, it discusses the message of wisdom that God has given -
a message that was hidden at one point.  There are other
references to this message (Eph 3) and the message is exactly
what Paul proclaims in verses 1-5 - Christ crucified.  This
is what God has freely given is (verse 12).  Those who are
not spiritual do not believe this (14) because it is foolishness
and not spiritually discerned, but those who have the Spirit
of Christ understand this.

The whole chapter is an apologetic for the payment of our sins
on the cross.  Look at the end of chapter 1.  The topic is Jesus
crucified and the world not accepting.  The discussion continues
in chapter 2 with the same words.  The cross references all lead
to the same conclusion.

I hope this explains why I think that preaching on this text
would be difficult to someone who doesn't believe the message.
(What's she going to say - Paul is a great teacher and I'm a
fool without the Spirit for not believing which is what the text 
proclaims?)

Collis

    Collis,
    
    I do believe in Christ Crucified. 
    
    It's the atonement stuff I reject.  The ideas that God speaks to us
    directly through the spirit is the key message.  Collis, if I too have
    the mind of Christ and Christ wanted me to believe the atonement stuff,
    I would believe the atonement stuff.  Not because Paul reveals it, but
    because Christ reveals it.  I don't think Paul's Good News 100%
    corresponds with Jesus' Good News.  
    
                                            Patricia

  >...if I too have the mind of Christ and Christ wanted me to believe 
  >the atonement stuff, I would believe the atonement stuff. 

That's what I thought.  That is why I'm encouraged.  I, too,
desire to have Christ control my beliefs.

Collis 

    Patricia:
    
    I am in Matthew for my QTs in the A.M.  Its funny how since some of the
    topics have been brought up in this conference, I am more sensitive to
    the gems in the synoptic gospels.  
    
    I found this one yesterday and always took it for granted, until our
    discussion regarding atonement came up.
    
    "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister
     and to give his life as a ransom for many."  Matthew 20:28.
    
    This verse speaks out directly that Jesus death on the cross was done
    as a payment of a debt.  If you read through these chapters of Matthew,
    there are parables explaining what the kingdom of heaven is likened to.  
    One specifically dealt in the payment of debts.  In the verse above,
    Jesus is explaining that the purpose of his coming was to die for our
    sins, not as a martyr but as a savior.  This means atonement!!  Great
    news~!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    -Jack

Patricia,

If I were in your shoes, I think I'd share with the congregation what it was 
that convinced ME that Paul is worth reading.  

I'll be praying for you.

Jim

	Last week I attended a winter camp.  One of the speaker gave his
testmony. He said that he was born in China and escaped to Hong Kong some 30
years ago.  He was born in a poor family and his father was a schizophreniza and
his mother had to work day and night to provide the family.  One day his mother
brought him to an enven poorer area and he saw all the terrible living condition.
At that time wars were everywhere and China was under the Culture Revolution. He
was so sad that he was thinking if he can somehow carry all the poverty and pain
of Chinese, or even mankind, he would do it.  If it means to die, he would die
for it in order to release everyone in the world from suffering.  But he also
realized that not only there was no way for him to do it, even there was a way,
he was not worthy to do so because he would not be able to even pay for his own
unrightousness.  At that time he was not a Christian and he felt hopeless.

	Well, Jesus is the only one who has the love and power and the
qualification of a perfect man to do that and He did it for our sin.

Wally

    Excellent point Wally and this ties in very well to Paul's theme
    throughout all his epistles.  To say Christ was crucified is not at all
    hard to believe.  Crucifiction was the mode of death at that time
    within the Roman Empire.  In fact, Paul himself quoted from the Old
    Testament when he wrote to the Galatians, "Cursed is a man who hangs
    from a tree."  Christ's death and resurrection is essential to the
    salvation of all mankind.  Jesus was not a martyr, he was a willing
    sacrifice.
    
    -Jack

BTW, Patricia, when I talk about Christ crucified, I am
talking about the atonement.  The fact that Christ was
literally crucified is well accepted.  The meaning of
Christ's crucifixion according to Scripture is the
atonement.  Therefore, whenever Scripture refers to
preaching "Christ crucified" or refers to his death on
a cross, it is saying that He paid for our sins by his
death.

I don't know how you in your mind seperate the two, so
I don't know how you will preach one and not the other.

Collis

    Patricia:
    
    In all honesty and the more I think about it, it is somewhat true that 
    trying to put a sermon together on the "real" Paul and tayloring it to
    a liberal audience will be like mixing oil and water together,
    particularly if you want to have a real impact.  Aside from the
    opinions Paul holds that you seem to find outlandish, the core doctrine
    of his teaching was Jesus death on the cross as the means of eternal
    life.  This is the theme of his doctrine.
    
    The only passage I can think of from 1st Corinthians that you can
    escape the brow beating of non believers in the audience or the
    compromise of your own personal beliefs is 1st Corinthians 13, the
    great love chapter.  It is relatively safe from doctrinal issues and 
    doesn't push forth the atonement message.  
    
    I'm still baffled as to why you find the atonement message
    unbelievable.  Without it, Christ died in vain.
    
    
    -Jack  

re Note 818.21 by AIMHI::JMARTIN:

>     I'm still baffled as to why you find the atonement message
>     unbelievable.  Without it, Christ died in vain.
  
        Jack,

        I believe in the atonement, so it is hard to see this from a
        differing perspective, however:  when it comes to thinking of
        my own life, the important question regarding my life for me
        will be "Have I lived in vain?"
                        ^^^^^

        (After all, for most of us mere mortals -- martyrs of one
        kind or another excepted -- death is ALWAYS "in vain". 
        Except for those few of us who can actually do something by
        dying, it is in living where we have our opportunities for
        service and worth.)

        Thus the statement "Without it, Christ died in vain" just
        leads to the question "So?"

        Bob

    .22
    
    Jesus was God in human form... he died for the sins of the entire human
    race... I know of no other who has died for this cause.  The cause
    being the reconciliation of God and man.
    
    Nancy
    
    

Re:  23

  >I know of no other who has died for this cause.  The cause
  >being the reconciliation of God and man.
    
I know of others who died for the cause.  However, only Jesus
was able to actually effect an eternal change because of his death.

Patricia,

	I know UU's.  This much I would advise concerning your upcoming
sermon about Paul and what Paul had to say:

	o Explain how you relate to Paul.  Detail how you found some of
	  what Paul had to say unnerving and offensive.  Give some attention
	  to the humanity and frailty you can see and empathize with in Paul.

	o Cite examples of where Paul did seem to transcend his own time and
	  culture, where Paul made a leap of faith and insight uncharacteristic
	  of his background and his usually tendencies.

	o Use gentle humor.

	o Share your personal "before and after pictures" of Paul and his
	  writings.  Identify what Paul might encounter were he alive today
	  and among UU's.  In what ways would Paul identify with them?  In
	  what ways would Paul be at odds with UU's?  And in some ways, isn't
	  Paul a little like a lot of UU's?

	o Cite why you believe Paul might be worthy of a second look, why
	  Paul should not be rejected out of hand for a few remarks which
	  are sexist and patriarchal and which simply reflected the reality
	  of his own time.

Peace,
Richard

    How's that sermon coming along, Reverend Patricia?
    
    Shalom,
    Richard
    

    -1
    
    blech
    
    Nancy
    
    How's the talk coming along Patricia? :-) :-)
    
    Nancy

    .27  "Blech"?  Because it was me who asked?  Because I called her
    Reverend?  (What a thing to 'blech' about!  And what a mixed message!!)
    
    Richard
    

    I've adopted a word regarding sermon writing from my Minister..   It is 
    perculating.  Unfortunately I was a lot more excited about Paul when I
    volunteered to do the Sermon in the Fall.
    
    Perhaps when  I start class again next week I will have more
    enthusiasm.
    
    

    .28
    
    Blech at REVEREND and PREACHING for a woman.   
    
    But encouragement to Patricia to talk about the things of Paul.
    
    Sorry if its a mixed message.  I believe there is a very distinct
    difference in preaching and teaching.  
    
    Nancy

    Alas, I believe a woman may have been given a gift by God that her
    gender alone should not prohibit.
    
    Personally, I prefer preachers who teach more than "preach."
    To become a rabbi (teacher) is a noble calling.
    
    I understand, though I reject, from where your perspective comes.
    
    Shalom,
    Richard
    

    I accept and receive your rejection.
    
    Motion is accepted on the floor.
    
    :-)

    Perhaps disallusioned is a better word than lack of enthusiasm.
    
    
    Patricia
    

  >Perhaps disallusioned is a better word than lack of enthusiasm.
   
I think that you have grown by understanding what Paul is writing
much better than you used to.  I think that this is great.

Collis

    Collis,
    
    Thanks for your encouragement.
    
    Patricia

The following is an extract from a commencement address given at
Scripps College by Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Message No. 4: Become goddesses of disobedience. Virginia Woolf once
wrote that we must slay the Angel in the House, the censor within.
Young women tell me of injustices, from campus rape coverups to
classroom sexism.  But at the thought of confrontation, they freeze
into niceness.  We are told that the worst thing we can do is cause
conflict, even in the service of doing right. Antigone is imprisoned.
Joan of Arc burns at the stake. And someone might call us unfeminine!
 
When I wrote a book that caused controversy, I saw how big a dragon
was this paralysis by niceness. "The Beauty Myth" argues that newly
rigid ideals of beauty are instruments of a backlash against feminism,
designed to lower women's self-esteem for a political purpose.  Many
positive changes followed the debate.  But all that would dwindle away
when someone yelled at me -- as, for instance, cosmetic surgeons did
on TV, when I raised questions about silicone implants.  Oh, no, I'd
quail, people are mad at me!
 
Then I read something by the poet Audre Lorde.  She'd been diagnosed
with breast cancer.  "I was going to die," she wrote, "sooner or
later, whether or not I had even spoken myself.  My silences had not
protected me.  Your silences will not protect you ... . What are the
words you do not yet have? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by
day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of
them, still in silence? We have been socialized to respect fear more
than our own need for language."
 
I began to ask each time: "What's the worst that could happen to me if
I tell this truth?" Unlike women in other countries, our breaking
silence is unlikely to have us jailed, "disappeared" or run off the
road at night.  Our speaking out will irritate some people, get us
called bitchy or hypersensitive and disrupt some dinner parties. And
then our speaking out will permit other women to speak, until laws are
changed and lives are saved and the world is altered forever.
 
Next time, ask: What's the worst that will happen? Then push yourself
a little further than you dare. Once you start to speak, people *will*
yell at you.  They *will* interrupt you, put you down and suggest it's
personal. And the world won't end.
 
And the speaking will get easier and easier.  And you will find you
have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never have
realized you had.  And you will lose some friends and lovers, and
realize you don't miss them. And new ones will find you and cherish
you. And you will still flirt and paint your nails, dress up and
party, because, as I think Emma Goldman said, "If I can't dance, I
don't want to be part of your revolution." And at last you'll know
with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than
speaking your truth.  And that is not speaking.
 
 
        ----- End Forwarded Messages -----

    Thanks Cindy,
    
    I needed that.     
    
    Patricia

    Well Sunday is the big day.  
    
         I brought my Spirit to the Sea,
         Holy, Holy, Holy, 
    and  Spirit of Life are my hymns.
    
    The choir is singing an arrangement of 1 Cor 13.
    
    With some minor adjustments and gender neutral language I'm reading 1 Cor 2
    
    I summarized  the story of Paul for UU Children.
    
    I've selected the responsive reading and open and closing words.
    
    The only two thing I have left to write are the Sermon and the
    mediation.
    
    Please pray that I am inspired on Saturday when I write the sermon and
    on Sunday when I deliver it.
    
    Shalom,
    
    Patricia

    That's suppose to be meditation and not mediation.  Must be a freudian
    slip.
    
    Richard, you suggested humor,  how do you think an outrageous hat will
    go over?
    
    Patricia

Note 818.39

>    Richard, you suggested humor, how do you think an outrageous hat will
>    go over?
    
Only if you're a woman!  ;-)

I think I would suggest discarding the hat after your point is made.  Too
much of a distraction, and also a great symbolic gesture.

Peace,
Richard

    Good idea Richard,
    
    A woman on the pulpit burning her hat.
    
    
    Patricia
    

    My sermon on Feb 20 went very well.  I was quite nervous but its great
    to have the hymns and stuff to keep me centered and give me time to
    catch up.
    
    I talked about the spiritual life and what it is.  I also talked about
    Paul's ethics particularly the questions Paul provides to help us make
    ethical decisions.  
    
    It was fun and rewarding.  I will do it again.
    
    Patricia

Way to go Patricia!

Jim

    Patricia care to post your sermon here?

    I will try to figure out the technology of uploading from Amni Pro to
    Vax.
    
    Patricia

>    I will try to figure out the technology of uploading from Amni Pro to
>    Vax.
    
    Save or export as an ASCII file. Copy that ascii file over as you
    would any other.
    
    			Alfred

    thanks.  I will try.
    
    Patricia

    I congratulate you, Patricia, and praise God!  Hallelujah!
    
    Richard
    

What Paul can mean to us as  Unitarian Universalists.

(A Sermon Delivered February 20, 1994 at the UU Church of
Andover by Patricia Flanagan)



I am somewhat of an anarchist and I do love paradox.  It is a
paradox that I should be standing her today discussing what Paul
can mean to us as Unitarian Universalists.  After all,  if I
believed all of what Paul wrote I would not be preaching today. 
 In 1st Corinthians Paul told the congregation that women should
remain silent  in church and cover their heads.  Paul's opinions
about God-ordained  authority and Paul's thought on human 
sexuality have been used by some to support slavery in the
nineteenth century and are use by some today to justify both
sexism and homophobia.     In honor of paradox, and in
acknowledgment that there are some writings of Paul that should
not be considered sacred,  I am going to place this hat and my
Welcoming Congregation Handbook on the alter for the duration of
the service.   However, to truly do justice to Paul, we must
understand who Paul was and  listen to the best of what he
wrote.



Paul is a critically important biblical figure because he is the
figure about whom we rationally know the most.  Paul is the only
Biblical author in whom we can  have confidence that he wrote 
at least some of the letters that he is attributed with writing.
Regarding  Jesus Christ, we can rationally know very little. 
He wrote nothing;  those who knew him directly, most likely did
not write the Gospels , and non biblical historic writings
contain almost no direct knowledge about him.  The  four
contradictory Gospels which contain accounts of  Jesus' life 
were written forty or more years after his death.  In contrast, 
Scholars agree that seven undisputed  letters out of the
thirteen letters attributed to Paul in the New Testament were
written by Paul..  We also learn about Paul from the book of
Acts even though we must be careful with how we use that
account, and we learn  about Paul from other non Biblical
writers.



Scholars universally agree that  the seven letters that include,
Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, 1st  Thessalonians, 
Philipians, and Philemon were written by Paul.  Opinions vary on
the other six letters.     The undisputed  letters span at least
ten years  in the latter part of Paul's life.  Paul's ministry
is estimated as beginning shortly after Jesus' death and lasting
approximately 30 years until his own execution in around  60
C.E.   From Paul's letters  we have the best source regarding
Paul himself and  we also have a original information regarding
early Christianity. Paul unfortunately  tells us very little
about the historic Jesus Christ.  Paul's experience of
Christianity is the experience of    "Jesus Christ and him
Crucified"  It is the post resurrection Jesus Christ that is
very real to Paul- the spiritual revelation of "The Risen Christ"



I choose the reading today, 1 Cor 2 because I think that reading
is key to understanding Paul.  Perhaps the reading tells you as
much about me as it tells you about Paul.



I love this passage.  It affirms for me some key ideas about
what a spiritual life is.  A spiritual life is something I
cannot know with rational words of wisdom but is something I 
experience deeply as a gift.   I feel it as a participation in a
world that is Holy.  "These things God has revealed to us
through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything even the
depths of God.  For what human being knows what is truly human
except the human spirit that is within.  So also no one
comprehends what is truly God's except the spirit of God."  
Paul couched his words in Christian theology, but I experience
in these words a spirituality that embraces all people and all
times. This passage reminds me that I cannot rationally know
what is spiritual,  I cannot define or describe what is Holy,
but there are indescribable moments in my life when I can feel a
sense of holiness.. That ability to discern in those moments,
what is Holy is a wonderful gift provided by the source of all
holiness.  It is the gift that makes my life meaningful. 
Without being able to adequately describe these moments, I know
that they are connected with love, caring, connecting, ,
intimacy, serenity, peace, and hope.  These moments of spiritual
connection can be in times of great joy or in times of great
suffering.  Who does not feel a sense of  spirituality at the
birth of a baby, or in the love and gratitude of a child's smile
and playfulness.  But we can also feel that spiritual connection
in times of sorrow and suffering especially when in the midst of
suffering we can feel the care, concern, love, and hope that is
around us.   



Our relatedness to others  is a  huge part of that which is
Holy.  Paul uses the metaphor the Body of Christ.  I call it a
community of Faith.  I feel a deep sense of spirituality when I
am in community with others.  At a recent seminar, I was asked,
what would it feel like if everyone was deeply committed to each
other.  What would that mean.  Our community of Faith starts
here with our  ideas and hopes and dreams for ourselves and for
each other.  I like to envision  ever expanding ripples that
expand out from our community until the community embraces all
of humankind.  Christ for Paul, is a deep direct all embracing
relationship with the Divine.    If I strip from Paul's image 
exclusively Christian  connotations, then I can relate to it as
a wonderful image.  It leaves me with an image of an ever
expanding community of humankind committed to each other and to
a collective image of that which is most Holy. 

 

Paul's spiritual experience changed his life.  From that time
onward,  every conscious decision demonstrated by Paul in his
letters is  powerfully influenced by the Spirit.  Paul truly
believed that he was called by God to be an Apostle of  Jesus
Christ.  From the moment of that call he became a missionary
establishing and building Christian churches throughout the
Meditarian world.  Paul was persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, and
finally executed after approximately 30 years of missionary work
for spreading the Gospel.  Paul was a man of great  Faith.  



I relate to Paul's conversion story because it affirms my own
experience and gives hope to my own desire to live
intentionally- to hold in front of me my own Unitarian
Universalist Faith and consciously make every decision, big and
small in light of  that faith.  I relate to Paul as a man of
Faith and I deeply respect his approach to ethical decision
making.



An powerful example of Paul's  ethical  decisions making  is 
found in 1 Cor 8.  From the letter we deduce that the
Corinthians have asked Paul whether it is OK to eat meat
sacrificed to idols.  In Corinth, a portion of the animal is
sacrificed at the temple and the rest is available for sale. 
Most of the meat available for sale has been sacrificed.  It is
an important question for the Corinthians. What is important for
us is not the concrete answer given, but Paul's approach to 
ethical decision making.   "Yes, it is theoretically OK for the
Corinthians to eat meat sacrificed to idols,  but if that action
will weaken anyone else's faith then it is not OK.





The most relative part of his ethical advice is when he says,
"Food will not bring us close to God.  We are no worse off if we
do not eat and not better off if we do.  But take care that this
liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to
the weak."  later in 1 Cor 10:31 Paul summarizes his ethical
advice "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do
everything for the glory of God"   Paul is adamant in his
letters that those who are in Christ, those who participate in
the Spirit are not under law.  The law is a disciplinarian to
those who are immature.  But those with a mature spirituality do
everything for the building up of the community and for the
glory of God;  therefore they  need no law. 



If  as a contemporary Unitarian Universalist I understand that
the particular questions asked and answers given were based on a
mythical world view radically different than today's scientific
world view, I can still find tremendous meaning in Paul's
letters. I can truly appreciate the ethical and spiritual advice
that resonates for all time.   So whether I eat meat or not eat
meat, drink alcohol or not drink alcohol, contribute to a cause
or not contribute to a cause, engage in a relationship or not
engage in a  relationship, everything I do should be done for
the glory of my highest concerns.  It is not the individual
decisions that I make that are important but habitually asking
the right questions   and deliberately making all my decisions
consistent  with my highest ideals.  The questions that Paul
teaches me to ask are, Is that act for the benefit of building
up the community,  Are you really loving you neighbor as
yourself, Is the act really out of selfless interest or is it
selfish and self centered.  Are you really acting toward the
Glory of God and others or toward you own glory.  Those are
absolutely the right questions.  As a Unitarian Universalist, I
believe that questions are more important than answers.  Paul,
bracketed from his mythical universe,  provides me a frame of
reference for asking the right questions for making real
decisions in my life today.



Paul's letters are also  powerfully emotional.  Paul is a man
with a full range of emotions and his passions are clearly shown
in the letters.  Love, peace, joy, compassion, hope, endurance
in suffering, frustration, anger, arrogance, sexual tension and
confusion,  gratitude, serenity are all amply displayed in the
seven undisputed letters.   Paul is very real.



 Paul's letter inspire me for the depth of his spirituality, for
his clarity around ethical decision making, and for the full
expression of powerful  human emotions passionately displayed.








O Great Spirit,

Come into us.  Be our  companion and our guide during this our 
human journey.  There are forces in this world that are
overwhelming.  Grant us the serenity to accept those forces that
we cannot change and the courage to change those that we can.  
Goddess/God grant us the wisdom to know what is expected of us
and how to contribute to this community around us and to the
greater community of humankind.  Gracious God, there are also
forces around us that are wonderful and joyous.  Teach us to
appreciate and enjoy these forces- The Spirit of love, and 
kindness,  and goodness.    Thank you for these gifts and help
each of us spread and expand these blessings.  



Goddess/God, we offer our prayers today for all those who need
your help especially.....
    
    
    
    Teach
us as  a community to help them and to help all amongst us who
experience pain and grief.



Open our hearts and our minds Goddess/God to your spirit,
regardless of what we may call it.  Let us find ourselves
intimately connected to all those forces of goodness that create
and  uphold our lives.



AMEN

    Patricia,
    
    	Just curious.  How long were you speaking?  20 minutes?  Longer?
    Were you surprised?
    
    Richard
    

    The service ran about 45 minutes which is shorter than normal.  I was
    surprised as I condenced the sermon not wanting to be real long winded.
    
    Probably 15-20 minutes for the sermon.  there were three hymns, a
    reading, responsive reading, opening and closing words, a children's
    story and an anthen. plus the announcements, candle of concern, chalice
    lighting etch.
    
    Patricia