Churches, and their clergy, have sometimes been accused of being out of touch with the real world. Karl Marx called religion the “opiate of the people” because he believed it made us ignore the pains and injustices of the world and look to a pie-in-the-sky heaven when this life is over. And even today you […]
Every Sunday, at the very end of worship, I stand in the back of the sanctuary and offer the final blessing. I use words that are nearly 2,000 years old, and that are shared by Christians of all times and places: and now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, […]
On Monday NBA player Jason Collins made history by being the first gay man to come out while actively playing in a major American professional sports league. Collins’ statement was courageous and historic, and it will change things in ways we can’t imagine yet. And, most importantly, whether he knows it or now, Jason Collins […]
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. You don’t have to be in church or synagogue every Sunday to know those words. Even the least religious of the Jewish and Christian people who share the book of Psalms knows those words. Whenever there is pain, whether the loss of someone we know personally […]
Note: this is not my own sermon, by one written by my wife, Heidi Carrington Heath. Heidi is a seminarian under care of Old South Church in Boston, the church located at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The first worship service of that congregation was this Thursday night. Due to the fact the […]
Today I am praying for my Muslim friends and extended family. Because I know they are afraid. We don’t have any official confirmation yet whether or not the two brothers who are reported to have been the Boston Marathon bombers are Muslim. There are many reports, though, and already anti-Muslim statements are being made. It […]
I often park on the finish line of the Boston Marathon. 364 days a year it’s just a paint-worn line on the pavement on Boylston Street. It’s right in front of Old South Church, my wife’s home congregation, and I sometimes joke that it is the closest I will ever get to crossing the finish […]
