A Two Goal Lead is the Most Dangerous Lead...

So I "wung it" this Sunday, but I did want to post the lyrics to the song I used as the centerpiece of the sermon. The texts were great, OT was Naboth's Vineyard, and the Gospel was the woman with the Alabaster Jar. Both are about forgiveness, reconciliation. Though it will not be obvious, I think I did a fair job of relating the song and the rest of the sermon to the readings... The Song is THE STORY, by Brandy Carlile, the following is the first verse, the crux of my content for the sermon... All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I've been And how I got to where I am But these stories don't mean anything When you've got no one to tell them to It's true...I was made for you Imagine the woman at the feet of Jesus speaking these stories and her gratitide for the forgiveness of her sins to Jesus. I think it can be quite powerful to sit with these lyrics and that Gospel story and imagine what reconciliat...

The Rev. Aron Kramer 2 Pentecost (Proper 5) Sunday, June 10th 2007 “There is a kind of death which we all expect to feel that carries terror in the very sound, and all its circumstances are shocking to nature. The ghastly countenance, the convulsive agonies, the expiring groan, the coffin, the grave, the devouring work, the stupor, the insensibility, the universal inactivity, these strike a damp to the spirit, and we turn pale at the thought. With such objects as these in view courage fails, levity looks serious, presumption is dashed, the cheerful passions sink, and all is solemn, all is melancholy.” This is the opening to a sermon written by Samuel Davies, at one time the president of the College of New Jersey, otherwise known as Princeton. Deaths uncertainty, its randomness, its unexpectedness does nothing to make us feel better about the life we live. We are told to live life to the fullest, to eat dessert first and to do those things that make us happy. If dea...

We went fishing last week, and it rocked, I caught the first fish, and I think it was one of the first fish Eliot and for sure Naomi, has ever seen... Very cool, here are some pics.

I love this little story I stumbled across in preparing my sermon, I think it is exactly what is wrong and what is right with the Church today... Let me know what you think. A young brother went to an elder and confessed he was constantly enduring impure thoughts. The older monk, who himself had been spared such temptations, told his visitor that he was not fit for monastic life. Agreeing that he was unworthy, the young man set out to return to the world. In God’s providence Abbot Apollo was coming toward him, saw his despair, and questioned him about its cause. “Think it no strange thing, my son, and do not despair, for I too, even at my age and in this way of life, am hard pressed by just such thoughts as these,” Abbot Apollo confessed. “Therefore do not give up when tested in this way. The remedy is not in our anxious thoughts but in God’s compassion.” The young monk took heart and returned to monastic life. But the story goes further. Abbot Apollo walked directly to the cell of the...

“A disciple went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, ‘Abba Joseph, as far as I am able I say my little office, I keep my little fasts, I pray my little prayers, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do to be holy?’ Then Abba Joseph stood up. He stretched his hands toward heaven. His fingers became like ten torches of flame and he said to him, ‘Why not be turned completely into fire?’ ” This weekend, the Rev. Brian Prior, who is the vice president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, the House of Deputies is the body of our Triennial Church wide Convention made up of Lay People, Deacons and Priests, it is the check to the House of Bishops in the Church, Brian said this of those gathered for the CEPVA conference here in the Garden: “What are you on fire about?” His question got me thinking, “What am I on fire about?” Some days I am as clear as a bell about what I love to do, what I love to see the Church doing. Some days I have no idea...