The Commercial is Ready!!

Here is the final edited commercial that'll be put on certain cable TV stations beginning March 25th. If you're on the Good News Team, email me with your approval or not of this commercial. Oh, in case you're wondering, the watermark Spot Runner, as seen in the background of this commercial, will not be included once it goes to the cable television stations.

The Art of Storytelling

Preaching is a wonderful thing, at least to preachers. Most men and women who become pastors do so because at one point or another in their lives, they were affected by the words of their pastor. Then, they went to college and then seminary. Upon going to their first pastorate, they discover that preachers do indeed preach but that is only one small thing they do. Preachers, as it turns out, do a whole lot more than preaching.

When it comes to preaching, how does one go about doing it? There are many different ways. Some do expository preaching, others preach topically, and a few more tell stories. There isn't any one way that is better than the other, just so long as the Message gets preached. My friend Caught in the Middle explains this beautifully.

I often experiment with my preaching style. Last Sunday, many of you noticed and recognized a new preaching style...and from what many of you said, you enjoyed it. To tell you the truth, it was a very difficult thing to do. Usually I read my sermon and sometimes I only have 5-6 pages of notes. Last Sunday I had a one-page outline and pretty much didn't even use it. There is a huge danger when a preacher gets up to preach in an extemporaneous manner--Lord only knows where he (or she) will end up. We all have lots of stories for sure.

I may have to put in a call to Caught in the Middle and learn how to fine tune the storytelling thing.

The Nicene Creed(s)

We will be studying the Nicene Creed as it helps us honor our faith traditions while also helping to shepherd us along the way towards a deeper understanding of our faith, what we believe, and why it is important.

To help with this endeavor, here are the Nicene Creeds of our faith tradition.

Nicene Creed of 325

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, the only begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made both in heaven and on earth; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was made man; he suffered and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thense he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

And the Holy Ghost.

But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not, and He was not before he was made, and He was made out of nothing, or He is of another substance or essence, or The Son of God is created, or changeable, or alterable--they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.

Nicene Creed of 381 (revised) This is the one you probably know so well.

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together are worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

What is the Deal-Breaker for You?

This past Sunday, the sermon focused on Jesus calling Herod a fox and well as Paul's concern over the enemies of the Cross of Christ. In the sermon, we looked at what an enemy of the cross might look like as well as discerning the ways in which we might be like that enemy, if we use the same criteria to judge ourselves that we are so often tempted to do when examining others.

We also looked at the latest hoopla concerning the recent discoveries of the stone coffins reported to contain the actual bodies of Jesus, Mary, and their son Judah. And, I asked some thought-provoking questions (some of the members of the congregation called it that) when I said,

Discerning our motivations and inner life leads me to ask you: How important is the resurrection to you? How important is it to our faith tradition? Perhaps what I am getting at can better be asked in this way: What is the deal-breaker in your belief system? What belief, if found to be untrue, would make you leave or discard it? Or, are they, in light of the stone tomb discovery, an enemy of the cross?

What are your deal-breakers when it comes to faith and religion? When we explore the tenuous relationship between faith/religion and science, we are often forced to choose one over the other. Few times are we able to integrate the two. How much trust do you put in your senses and intellect? Conversely, how much trust do you put in faith and God?

During this Lenten season, we are exploring questions such as these as well as examining the nature of why we believe what we believe. To accomplish this, we will be studying the Nicene Creed and better understand what this almost two millenia old document tells us. In the end, I hope we can come to a place that honors our faith tradition while remaining open to the new traditions that we encounter.

I invite you to join us at our Lenten study every Wednesday night in March at 7:30pm.

Transformed by Jesus

Here is my sermon from this past Sunday.

“Transformed by Jesus”
the Rev. David C. Bocock
February 18, 2005

· 2 Corinthians 3:12 – 4:2
· Luke 9: 28-36

His given name was Leslie Leonard but everyone just called him "Pete." Pete was the son of very devout parents. They saw to it that the seeds of faith were planted in him. They were there to nourish the seeds along. Once he got out on his own in life, however, it appeared that the seeds of faith had not taken very deep root in Pete's soul. He sowed wild oats instead. He appeared to have left behind the faith of his parents. Early on, life went well for Pete. He married, had a son, and was involved with a number of businesses. He had some success in his life. What was most successful about him was his personality. Pete was a charmer. He had a ready smile for all whom he encountered. People who were swept into his life's orbit couldn't help but like him. He was just that kind of guy.

As the years passed by, things were not easy for Pete. His marriage failed him. His only son failed him as well. And then the greatest tragedy of all occurred. His health failed him. In his early 40’s he was stricken with Multiple Sclerosis. He was totally blind and paralyzed from the neck down. Eventually he got back the use of his upper body though his eyes and his legs never recovered. After some years, one of his legs had to be amputated. Suffering covered Pete's life like a blanket. Blind and crippled Pete had every earthly reason to be bitter over his state in life. He had every earthly reason to complain. He had every earthly reason to hate life and God. But he didn't.

Miraculously, as his suffering increased, his faith increased as well. He hinted at times that there in his hospital bed, in the first days of his MS, God had been revealed to him in a special way. Whatever the reason, Pete was a new man. The faith planted by his parents blossomed at last! People often went to visit Pete. After a visit to him, a man said of his experience, "I went to cheer him up and it was he who cheered me up. It's always like that with him." His pastor spoke similar words about Pete. "I don't go to call on Pete in order to minister to him; I go to call on Pete when I need someone to talk to; when I need someone to minister to me. I take my problems to him. In his blindness he sees more than just about anyone I know."

As long as he was able, Pete was in church every Sunday. There was a space reserved for him in the last row where his wheelchair would easily fit. Through the cajoling of his pastors, Pete also served many terms on the church council. He was one of the leaders of his congregation. His common sense and his faith tested-by-fire helped him to pierce to the core of many of the issues that faced the congregation. He was immobile of body but mobile of mind and thought. When Pete died, the whole congregation mourned. On a bitter winter day, the church was full for his funeral. The pastor put into words that day what most of them had thought. "We saw in him the glory of God," the pastor said, "the glory of God shining through the depths of human suffering. "

Pete had experienced a transformation in his life. Though some may not look at life and faith as he did, his faith burst into bloom as a result of his tumult. I cannot say that through his illness, he found redemption. But I can offer that in spite of his circumstances, he found God and it was God who transformed him.

Last week we looked at the question, What is a Christian? We talked about how the various New Testament authors all give a similar response although not an exact one. Jesus told us that we’re Christians when we love others, act humbly, and follow him. Paul agrees with Jesus although he sometimes adds more theological interpretations to include Jesus’ resurrection and that salvation happens because Jesus shed his blood for us on the cross. Paul adds distinctive theology that is different than Jesus—but only in so far as he explains how we’re saved. Do we need to understand that? Paul seems to think so. However, taking the New Testament writers and summing up what they all agree to, we ended the conversation by giving this definition of a Christian:

A Christian is someone whose identity is being transformed because of his or her relationship with Jesus.

And we summarized the sermon in that the one who is a Christian is the one whose very being and identity are shaped by Jesus. This morning, I want us to look at what happens as we are being transformed as Christians. This is the perfect Sunday to do that as we participate and celebrate The Transfiguration.

The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported by the synoptic gospels in which Jesus was transfigured upon a mountain (Matthew 17:1-6, Mark 9:1-8, Luke 9:28-36). The original Greek term in the Gospels for the Transfiguration is the word we use, more commonly known as metamorphosis.

The Gospels state that Jesus led three of his apostles - Peter, James, and John to pray at the top of a mountain. Once at the top, Jesus became transfigured, his face shining like the sun, and his clothes a brilliant white. They claim that Elijah and Moses suddenly appeared with Jesus and talked with him; Matthew and Mark do not say what the conversation was about, but Luke states that it was about Jesus' future death. Once they had spoken with each other, the Gospels state that a bright cloud overshadowed them (Luke also says they entered into the cloud), and a voice from the cloud proclaimed, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," paralleling a similar event during the Baptism of Jesus. However, this time the voice adds, "Hear him."

Traditionally, the event was considered to have literally happened, and it was believed that the event took place on Mount Tabor. Some modern scholars however, together with the ancient Gnostics, believe that the Synoptic Gospels were originally meant to be understood allegorically, for how these men could have been recognized by anyone unless they were told who they were. Whether by suspicion or by allegory, traditional Christianity has interpreted Moses and Elijah to represent the Law and the Prophets, respectively. Their recognition and conversation with Jesus symbolizes how Jesus fulfils "the law and the prophets" (Matthew 5:17-19).

In the narrative, after the cloud dissipates, Elijah and Moses disappear, and Jesus and the three Apostles head down the mountain, Jesus telling his Apostles to keep the event a secret until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. The Apostles are described as questioning among themselves as to what Jesus meant by "risen from the dead" (Mark 9:9-10), remember, this was before it had happened. The Apostles are also described as questioning Jesus about Elijah, and Jesus responds ...Elijah comes first, and restores all things ... but ... Elijah has come indeed ... (Mark 9:12-13). It was commonly believed that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, as predicted in the Book of Malachi (Malachi 4), and the three Apostles are described as interpreting Jesus' statement as a reference to John the Baptist.

When we think about transformation, we find ourselves in the midst of our Christian identity. We discover that transformation is both something that happens mystically as well as something that inspires us to diligently change ourselves through discernment, prayer, and action. In the case of Jesus being transformed on Mount Tabor, he showed us what our heavenly bodies will look like. When we die and go to our eternal home, we will be transformed in a new spiritual body.

In our Corinthian text, we discover what can happen when our lives are transformed by Jesus in the here and now. Pete’s life was radically changed and when he began to look inside of himself, he found that while he had little power to change his outside circumstances, he had abundant power to transform his spirit. The Apostle Paul says that whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away and we can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And more so, when that veil is removed, the Spirit can make us more and more like Jesus as we are changed into his glorious image. (2 Corinthians 3:16-18)

As a result of this transformation, we discover something more. That something more is what Scot McNight tells us in that we are made to be in union with God, with self, with others, and with the world. Our sin cracks our relationships in each of those four relationships so we are “cracked” in our relationship with God, self, others, and the world. The gospel is the work of God to restore us — to heal us through exposure and transformation — so we will become the image of God that happens when we turn and trust in God. “When that happens,” says McKnight, “we will be holistically healed and will become ‘agents of embracing grace’ with everything we encounter. We will become spiritual and transformed people who glow with God’s presence because we are rightly related to God, self, others, and the world.”

This is what happened to “Pete,” although his body was broken, he was a man who was transformed with a glow of God’s presence. All who knew him or was changed by his pastoral heart, all witnessed an earthly manifestation of an eternal reality. Pete was a changed man and everyone who met him was affected by it.

When you or I or anyone meets God, we change. This change is manifested in a new outlook, a new way of being, a behavior that is born out of grace, and one that sees things, people, and situations as if a veil was removed from one’s eyes and we see things as they really are. And, we see more. What we see, what beliefs we encounter, and how that affects us will be studied as we embark upon our Lenten season.

Beginning this week and lasting up until Easter, we will examine our faith, our beliefs, and how these have been interpreted throughout our Christian history. The purpose of this inspection is to help us better understand who and what we Christians study and believe about God. And, it is to help us understand how to be and live our lives more faithfully as men and women, and boys and girls, who have been transformed by Jesus.

In some ways, this study will be like a journey. A journey to explore who we are and who we can become. This journey begins this coming Wednesday for our Ash Wednesday services. And it will continue on the Sundays through Lent as well as the Wednesday nights in March. This Wednesday, we will have a brief service in the afternoon and the evening to receive our ashes. The symbolism of the ashes that are applied to our forehead echoes the ancient Near Eastern tradition of throwing ash over one's head signifying repentance before God. It is also a time of personal introspection as we look inwardly to discover and discern the ways in which we do not always reflect God’s image in our lives.

So I invite you on this journey. This journey will be adventurous, sometimes disconcerting, many times uplifting, and almost always revelatory. It will show us who we are and who we may become—as we explore the traditions of our past and the possibilities of our future as people who have been and people who are being transformed by Jesus.

Let us pray…

Leap of Faith

Several of our members enjoyed the movie, Leap of Faith for our Sunday night movie. The movie stars Steve Martin as a traveling evangelist/con man. In the movie, he and his "ministry team" get stuck in a small Kansas town and decide to set up their tents and have a revival. During their stay, the Rev. Jonas Nightingale's (Steve Martin's character) begins the revival by getting the poor residents to give him their last money as a testimony of faith.

What Nightingale later learns through the contentious efforts of the local Sherriff (played by Liam Neeson), is that the almost 25% of the town is unemployed and the rest of the town faces certain ruin due to a lack of rain (if it doesn't rain soon, the farmers will loose their corn crops). In the story, Nightingale's chief of operations Jane (Debra Winger) is falling for the handsome local Sherriff, a man of principles, the kind of principles that Jane is feeling herself void of.

And, there is another principle character in the story, a boy named Boyd (Lukas Haas) who was crippled as the result of a semi-truck accident and wants to be healed.

The story line is exceptional, the warped excuses of the evangelist are explained, and the ending is wonderful. There is enough stuff in this movie to have an evening full of after-dinner conversation.

After the movie was finished, we all had a nice conversation about faith, our messiness in doing good and discovering that even in spite of ourselves, we can find God's grace.

What is a Christian Anyway?

One of the chief responsibilities of being a Christian, at least in the United Church of Christ, can be summed up as also a Prime Directive of sorts. It is our responsibility to reinterpret what it means to be a Christian in every generation. And this is no small feat. It takes great insight and discernment as to how we use our faith to inform and transform our culture.

But in order to do that effectively, we must, admittedly ask ourselves, What does it mean to be a Christian?

Here is one of the best responses I've read in ages. It is from a friend's blog who is quoting another friend. Instead of linking you to that friend of a friend, I'll just direct you to my friend. And, while you're there, have a looksee at his blog.

Another Benefit of Prayer

Direct Preaching

Sunday's Sermon

“Living the Love”
the Rev. David C. Bocock
January 28, 2007 AM

• 1 Corinthians 12:1-13

Yesterday and today, there are countless thousands of men and women, both young and old, protesting against the war in Iraq and marching for peace in our nation’s capitol. Our own parish secretary is there now. All of these folks have gathered to remind our President and the nation that, gone is the time for more violence in Iraq and now is the time to pursue situations where peace can occur, but not at the expense of an increase of troops in Iraq.

Many Americans have grown weary of our President’s War in Iraq because many feel that it is no longer, or perhaps never was, a war that was in the best interest of the American people. As more and more people scrutinize the President and as the death toll in Iraq grows higher and higher, many of us are questioning the reasons for beginning this war in the first place.

Suddenly the majority of Americans no longer trust our national leadership. Why do you suppose that is? While there may be many reasons, this morning I would like to highlight one of them.

But before I do that, we should look at the lectionary readings for today.

The Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Corinth in direct response to a question that they had asked Paul to answer in a previous correspondence. With the new Gentile Christians gaining momentum in Corinth, a city of many gods and idols, these new Christians want to better understand the role of their church and how they were to effect their community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

They felt outnumbered and overpowered. How could a small group of Christians make a difference in a large metropolitan city of pagans and various religions whose teachings ran a polar opposite to the new fledgling religious sect.

Paul wrote to them to say that individually that didn’t stand a chance. No one person, working on their own, could make a difference. But collectively, that was a different story. Only by standing together and where each person utilizes and compliments with each other their special gifts from God, would they be able, as a community of believers, to challenge, confront, and dismantle the systems of abuse in Corinth. And God gave us special gifts to do just that.

Paul explained these gifts by focusing on three major points:
1. All our spiritual gifts come from God—the one source of all our power.
2. God gives each of us different spiritual gifts so that we must depend on each other rather than with one person having all the gifts. With one person with all the gifts, human nature would have us worshipping that one instead of serving each other. It is for this reason that all spiritual gifts are meant to help others. (1 Cor 12:7)
3. Love that is living is that which keeps us continually attentive to the needs of others—and our gifts are meant to facilitate our love. Love that is selfish, in contrast, is love that expects others to serve our needs or us. In other words, Love isn’t meant to be a tool of manipulation or used for our self interest.

Spiritual gifts are given, not for the purpose of one person determining what is best for others, but so that others can determine together what their best course of action should be.

Our system of government is supposed to work the same way. In America, we live in a Republic where we elect leaders who think and do what we hope we would do, if in the same situation. In our Republic, we vote for Senators and Congress-people to push the laws that we believe in. Sometimes our opinions change over time even after we make laws, and when that happens, we have the power to amend our decisions.

When a person or a group of persons then, make laws that run counter to what we hope they would do, there is trouble.

Over the last few years, new laws have happened upon us in the name of national security and the fight over the war on terror.

As a result, our government now has expanded powers to:
1. read our mail without a warrant
2. invade our personal lives through our email and our phone conversations…again without a warrant.
3. arrest and detain us without counsel
4. torture and abuse prisoners with impunity
These laws, while questionable and probably with the America’s best interest at heart, actually can be abused if the wrong people have our worst interests at heart.

And more and more people are getting scared about it. And for good reason. And the potential for abuse scares us. And, when secrecy abounds, mistrust and fear also reign.

There is also trouble when anyone, who does things without fully explaining their intentions, causes us to wonder about their motivations while also trying to figure out what is going on.

For instance, secret laws are being swiftly enacted, meetings behind clothes doors happening more frequently, and news outlets being fed its news rather than actually reporting on it.

When this happens, few people are trusting the powers because the powers are evading accountability—It is almost like Jack Nicholson on the stand in a military court, that we’re not being told the truth because they think we can’t handle the truth.

Because of evading accountability, we’re left only with speculation as minds and truth run amuck and we lose the cohesiveness of a people with great talents between us, to fix the trouble that has befallen us.

Such can be the problem in a local church too. This is why God gives different gifts to different people. And each person is supposed to use their gift in a way that benefits others. When a person’s gifts are not being utilized or recognized, others assume they have the gifts they don’t possess.

If a church thinks that only a few gifts are necessary, they apply the gifts of a few for the whole church. When this happens, authority is abused, and mayhem can result. Or, members can feel underutilized, and leave to find a place where their gifts are utilized. So God set up a system of accountability—where offices are in place to ensure that each person and each gift complements the other.

Here in our church, we have the office of Trustees, and Deacons, and Christian Education. We also have the office of the Pastor, the personnel committee, and the Pastoral Relations Committee. We have set up accountability so that no one person can abuse their gifts to the detriment of another.

As our Scripture explains, God understands the possible abuses of power that exist. We understand it too. This is why it remains essential that, whether we’re talking about spiritual gifts or laws that enable a bunch of people to live together, that we understand that transparency and accountability remain core values that we strive to maintain. This is the basis for the Apostle Paul’s exhortation that gifts are given to complement the gifts of other believers. Everyone must first know what their gifts are and then, when they do, they must work together if they are to successfully confront the challenges that they face.

In doing so, a successful congregation is living the love of God that is meant to strengthen them for whatever challenges that lay ahead. Whether in a city of pagan religions or in a nation confronting war, neglecting this mindset of how we’re to work together can destroy our national integrity as fast as it can rend useless the gifts and talents of the members of a local congregation.

** Extemporaneously given at the end of the sermon (so I am working from memory here) **

This is why, more than ever, we need to pray for our church and national leaders. We need to pray for both our church leaders and our President. We need to pray for our other elected leaders that they may see past the temptations of power and moral superiority and find ways to help address and eliminate the problems that now plague our nation and our world. Let us pray together now—for our leaders, our church, and all of us together.

Letter from John Thomas

In response to President Bush's Jan. 10, 2007, address calling for an escalation in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, our UCC General Minister and President, the Rev. John H. Thomas, has released on Jan. 11 the following Pastoral Letter:

The growing violence in Iraq, the enormous suffering being experienced by the citizens of Iraq, and the anguish of countless American families who have lost beloved sons and daughters to death and horrific injury calls for profound lament and repentance, not for stubborn commitment to the unilateralism and militarism that has been the hallmark of our failed policy in Iraq. That is why the President’s speech is not only politically disappointing, but morally deficient as well. The deceptions and arrogance which launched a war that brought Iraq to this place of pain and anguish and that have alienated the United States from so many of its friends must be acknowledged as more than strategic mistakes; they must be confessed as the core of the immoral justification for a war that failed to meet the criteria for a just war and that, as a result, cannot achieve the goals of a just peace.

People of faith are not and must not be naïve. The reality of evil is very much a part of our world. It is evil that must be restrained. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group recognized this and called for a diminishing but more strategic military force to be joined by a new and aggressive regional diplomacy that would press all in the region – our friends and enemies alike - to take responsibility for the evil they condone or in which they are complicit, and to join together across ideological and national interests to restrain the violence that threatens all. Such an approach lacks the seductive appeal of a grand “war on terror,” the morally convenient but suspect naming of an “axis of evil,” or the notion of an epic ideological battle between the forces of democracy and oppression. Instead, it requires a much more honest view of the world that calls for coalitions that are real rather than illusory. It requires the humility to acknowledge that we cannot impose our solutions by military force alone, and the courage to take initiatives even with partners we find threatening.

The President’s course ignores this, calling for unilateral troop escalation in a place where additional troops have, in the recent past, simply escalated the violence, and for a growing reliance on the Iraqi government that has been far too complicit in the volatile sectarian politics that continues to fuel the violence and undermines the capacity of U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces to restrain it. It is a course that fails to provide a credible challenge to other regional players, including Syria and Iran, to take responsibility for ending the violence, and it reinforces the unhealthy image of the United States as an occupying army and the Iraqi government as a subservient client state. It is a course that places more American daughters and sons, including members of our own churches, in harms way. While the call for additional resources for rebuilding Iraq is something we should affirm, assuming more stringent Congressional oversight to avoid the abuse and profiteering of the past, in response to the main elements of the President’s new course, it is time for people of faith to say “no!"

As we approach the annual observance of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are challenged by words he spoke forty years ago at the Riverside Church in New York City when he broke the silence about the war in Vietnam:

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bared, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity... Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: "TOO LATE." There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. "The moving finger writes and having writ moves on..." We still have a choice today: non-violent coexistence or violent co-annihilation.

The war in Iraq which has so preoccupied us at the expense of meaningful attentiveness to the tragedy of Darfur, the unresolved conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the crushing poverty faced by so many in the world, confronts people of faith with the urgency of today. It is the urgency of a prophetic imagination that offers a vision of the world far richer than the one we have been offered, a future secured by aggression and greed. And we are called to the urgency of prayer – prayer for the people of Iraq, prayer for our own soldiers and their families, especially those who grieve, prayer for the church and in particular for the small and vulnerable Christian community in Iraq, prayer for our leaders that they may listen with humility and act with wisdom. Thus may history not judge us, “too late,” and may the oft sung words of the first preacher who graced the pulpit where King spoke inspire:

“Cure your children’s warring madness, bend our pride to your control. Shame our reckless, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour, for the facing of this hour.”

Go here to read the official transcript.

Rufus Singing O Holy Night

Rufus Wainwright and his family hosted a special Christmas sing this past week at Carnegie Hall. As technology allows, there was someone there who recorded Rufus singing in French, O Holy Night. Turn up your speakers, this is beautiful.

The History of Religion in 90 Seconds

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Questions Couples Should Ask...

...before they get married or partnered up. I found this interesting article on the website of the NY Times. The article has a list of 15 questions married couples should ask (or wish they had) before getting married. If you haven't already answered these questions, maybe now's the time.

***************

Relationship experts report that too many couples fail to ask each other critical questions before marrying. Here are a few key ones that couples should consider asking:

1) Have we discussed whether or not to have children, and if the answer is yes, who is going to be the primary care giver?

2) Do we have a clear idea of each other’s financial obligations and goals, and do our ideas about spending and saving mesh?

3) Have we discussed our expectations for how the household will be maintained, and are we in agreement on who will manage the chores?

4) Have we fully disclosed our health histories, both physical and mental?

5) Is my partner affectionate to the degree that I expect?

6) Can we comfortably and openly discuss our sexual needs, preferences and fears?

7) Will there be a television in the bedroom?

Read the rest of the questions by going here.