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

The following is the sermon I preached at Epiphany Episcopal Church in Plymouth on Sunday June 9th, 2013. ___________________ Proper 5C June 9 2013 Graduations are happening all around us, friends, neighbors, all sorts of graduations, kids are going from elementary school to junior high school, from junior high school to senior high school, senior high school to college, from college into the world of work, or graduate school. All around us as spring comes to a close and summer takes hold, new chapters are beginning and lives are being transformed by joy and anticipation. Samuel Davies, long ago president of the College of New Jersey, today known as Princeton University, in one of his commencement addresses said, “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 grace, the devouring work, the stupor, ...

This sermon was preached on June 2nd at Trinity Episcopal Church in Excelsior.  You can listen to the sermon at Trinity's website:  http://trinityexcelsior.org/2013/06/03/faith-is-the-word-by-reverend-aron-kramer-6-2-2013/ ___________________ Proper 4C, June 2 2013 The Voice is a reality television singing competition; the concept of the show is to find new singing talent contested by aspiring singers. The contestants are voted into each round by the American public, well, those who watch the show. The series has a panel of judges who critique the contestant’s performances. Judges also serve as a coach, guiding their teams through the season. The judges compete to ensure that their act wins the competition, making them the winning coach. Adam Levine, the Maroon 5 lead singer, and a long-standing coach on the show, was caught in a surprising moment this week. How many of you heard him say, “I hate this country.” Of course Twitter blew up, literally, calling him...

Watching the 10 o’clock news this past week, WCCO had a special about the four things as a parent of tweens you should try not to do. Tweens are those kids who are at that age before they are teenagers and after they are completely dependent upon their parents for everything. Wait, does that ever change? Aren’t we all tweens does anyone ever become a teenager? The four don’ts were the following, 1. Support, but don’t rescue. 2. Give kids what they need, but don’t give them everything they want. 3. Don’t do things for your kids they should do for themselves. 4. Don’t develop an allergy to your children’s unhappiness. If you are anything like me, you might be thinking, “Duh, of course! Those are basic parenting 101 classes, kids these days; they don’t know how to do anything. Back in my day I walked to school, up hill, both ways.” It is interesting to see what TV news shows think is important and helpful. I did find the piece enlightening, but I was more intr...

I am sitting in a Lunds, minding my own business, sipping on a delicious hot chocolate. The place is empty. There is a line of tables to my left, I am sitting against the wall, trying to get some tax work done, some money work done and all of those things I have to do, "have to" being the operative words there. I am sitting here just getting settled when this guy walks up to the table next to me, which doesn't have a chair at it, and unloads all his stuff. He proceeds to adjust the table for some reason, moving it within a foot of me and then walks down the line of four tables, picks up a chair and drags it to the table. I guess I am exerting a safe presence at the moment... Or maybe he has something planned for us. Anyway, he breaks open his brown bag pulls out a banana, a fresh one, so it smells pretty good and a red devil cake doughnut. After this he pulls out a plastic knife and combines his fingers and knife to cut up the doughnut and chow down. ...

The Rev. Aron Kramer First Sunday After the Epiphany January 13 th , 2013 I feel like John, John the Baptist that is. I feel like John might have felt at the transitioning of his ministry into Jesus’ own. Surrounded by expectation surrounded by people who thought he was it, he was the guy. John was baptizing and healing, preaching and teaching, and had a reputation to go with it all. Then Jesus comes and you hear from John this shift, something about being unworthy, and unquenchable fire. There’s a little bitterness in there. You have to imagine, that as the heavens were torn open, and that amazing sound, or voice comes from heaven, you have to think that John was hiding in the corner thinking to himself, “Why didn’t I think of that!” Of course I am a little off, John was probably much more gracious and generous than I can imagine, after all, he is John the Baptist. So maybe it’s not so much John that I feel like, maybe I feel more like one of John’s di...