2005 Sermons
The
Emotions of our Ancestors
Rev.
Mark Stringer
First
Unitarian Church of Des Moines
November 5 & 6, 2005
This
annual Bowen service has become a tradition in our church,
now four years running, because I believe, from my own experience,
that family systems theory has much to offer us in our attempts
to better understand the complexity of human relationships
and our participation in them. In the light of my theology,
few pursuits could be considered more spiritual or holy
than better understanding our relationships and learning
how to function more effectively within them.
Read
more...
The
Foundations We Did Not Lay
--a
service to mark the kick off of our general capital campaign-
Rev.
Mark Stringer
First
Unitarian Church of Des Moines
October 8 & 9, 2005
January
24, 1955 was a cold Monday night in Des Moines.9 degrees
to be exact, with a trace of snow. Nevertheless at 8pm,
around 100 members and friends of First Unitarian gathered
in their church at 11 th and High Street for a special meeting
to consider whether or not they should sell their building.
Read
More...
Sermon:
Being at Home in the World
Deb Eliot
05/07/05
About
ten years ago a woman in my environmental ethics class,
at Andover Newton Theological School said that she grew
up fearing nature --the world outside her back door was
an unsafe, wild, and mysterious place -- it was unwelcoming.
This is in stark contrast to my own experiences of nature
....
Read
more...
Believe
it or Not
Rev. Mark Stringer
First
Unitarian Church of Des Moines
9/24/05
and 9/25/05
I
suppose we could have called it a confession. My friend,
a woman many years older than me, held my gaze for a moment,
exhaled, and then admitted that she believed she had "lost
her faith." I nodded, and let the words hang in the room
for a moment or two. In the silence, I thought about what
my friend might need most from me at that moment. After
all, she wasn't a member of our church and I am not her
minister. In fact, she was raised Catholic and has attended
Mass faithfully for most of her life. Still, I ended up
giving her the response I would most likely give to any
of you if you were to offer me similar words. "What do
you mean by faith?" I asked.
...read
more
Lessons
from the Leaf Blower
Rev. Mark Stringer
First Unitarian Church of Des Moines
5/8/05 (Mother's Day Sermon)
I
remember when I brought it home, my wife didn't really have
much to say. Even though she must have known that
I had been eyeing the shelf in the hardware store where
different models had been placed at eye-level to entice
people like me, I got the sense that maybe she was surprised
I actually bought one. I walked through the door,
carrying the box, with a cautious smile on my face, intuitively
aware that I had done something a little out of the ordinary.
"Honey, I finally got one of those leaf blowers today."
...read
more
When
the Facts Don't Seem to Matter
Rev.
Mark Stringer
First
Unitarian Church of Des Moines
9/17/05
and 9/18/05
Since
the 2004 election, one of the most popular thinkers in progressive
circles has been a Berkeley-based cognitive linguist named
George Lakoff who contends that the primary reason why Democrats
faired so poorly in the election was that they were overmatched,
as they have been for years, in the language of debate.
read
more
Drops
in the Ocean
Ingathering/Water
Service
Rev. Mark Stringer
First
Unitarian Church of Des Moines
9/10-11/05
Like
most of you, I have followed the developments in the Gulf
Coast with agony, anger, and helplessness that while real
for me, cannot begin to approach the feelings of the people
actually living through the reality of the storm's aftermath.
At the end of my sermon today, I will make some suggestions
about what we can do with our desire to help.
But
first, I want to tell you about the work of Dr. Masuru Emoto....
read
more
Labor
Day Service -- Deb Elliot and Price Flanagan
September 4, 2005
read
more
PRARIE
FIRE
Rhonda
Chittenden Calderon
Teva
Dawson
July
16, 2005
Once
I dreamed I was lying on a beach as the tide was coming
in. Lying on my back, I could hear the tide crashing against
the sand, the sea gulls screaming above me, the smell of
brine filling my nose. I had been longing for the ocean
and she was coming for me. In deep desire, I lay perfectly
still. Then, wave by wave, the ocean swept over and eventually
covered me. And when I opened my dream eyes, I saw blues
and greens with glints of gold sunlight swishing above me...
read
more
J.
Alfred Prufrock and Me
by Xenda Lindell
7/10/05
Well
now, you have met J. Alfred Prufrock, and many of you have
met me. What is it, I hope you wonder that J. Alfred
and Xenda have to say to us today.
read
more
Thriving
or Surviving?
Rev. Mark Stringer
First
Unitarian Church of Des Moines
6/5/05
--because
the more people we welcome into our church, the greater
that likelihood that lives might intersect in meaningful
ways, and possibilities might come about that would never
have been imagined otherwise, and who knows, the unpredictable
combination of people joining us could open up exciting
opportunities for our church that would enable us to not
only be of service to the greater community but that could
lead each of us to more extraordinary experiences of this
life we share.
...read
more
Richer
for the Sorrow
Elaine Rockwell andRev.
Mark Stringer
First Unitarian Church of Des Moines
5/29/05
Grief,
of course, is more than just sorrow.it is sorrow turned
up to 11, blasting beyond full volume, drowning out nearly
everything else. I suppose that's why the notion of feeling
richer for the sorrow can seem so impossible when
all we might feel is devastating loss. And, as many of
us have learned, the loss that can most powerfully bring
us to our knees is not always the result of death in a physical
sense. Oftentimes the most challenging grief we may feel
in our lives arises from a more metaphoric death.say the
failure of an important relationship, the demise of a long-held
dream or expectation for the future, or the destruction
of our self-image, which occurs when we fall victim to the
bad choices of others or we make mistakes that seem insurmountable.
...read
more
10
Commandments, 5 Pillars, 7 Principles, 4 Noble Truths
and
a Pocketful of Suggestions
Victoria
Safford
May 1 2005 (visiting
Minister)
Unitarianism,
said Erasmus Darwin is a featherbed to catch a
falling Christian. ( It's not the worst thing that's
been said about us.) Erasmus Darwin was grandfather to Charles
and himself a scientist (in fact an early evolutionist)
and some of his best friends and a few of his relations
were Unitarians, so he may have been teasing. He did not,
however, mean his remark to be a compliment.
read
more...
Them
and Us
John
Isom Annual Sermon
Dr. Tom Rider
April
10, 2005
Some thirty three
years ago in October 1971 I stood in this same pulpit when
John was minister of this Church, and read as part of the
service a short piece I had written called "Petty Loyalties".
It was based on a column in the Des Moines Tribune written
by Sydney Harris.
read
more...
The
Answer to "How?" is "Yes".
Reverend
Mark Stringer
April17,
2005
...But
for the more ambiguous aspects of life-- those circumstances
that are at the heart of what it means to be human,
including parenting a child, getting along with those we
find difficult to deal with, attempting to build community
across lines that typically divide us, or working to overcome
great tragedy or significant personal challenges-to ask
"how" too quickly can actually limit our options for action,
leading us to grasp for easy answers that do not account
for the complexity of the matter at hand.easy answers that
actually distract us from the life we really want.
Ultimately then, to rely too much on "how?" is to fall into
the trap that of valuing "what works more than what
matters ."
read
more...
Hold
it up to the light
Reverend
Mark Stringer
Easter, 2005
an invitation
that has been answered throughout human history with rites,
rituals, services, and spring festivals.an invitation to
gather with fellow humans and rejoice in the ever-revolving
cycles of nature, turning yet again to rebirth and renewal.an
invitation to acknowledge a simple, redemptive message that
is at the heart of both the Easter story and of springtime
itself.a message that can be expressed in two words: Life
wins.
Where We Find God
Reverend Mark Stringer
March 6, 2005
"Our service this morning will not have a single sermon, as is most traditionally the case, but a series of short reflections from church members in response to the question “Where do you find God?” I invited the speakers to share with us this morning as a companion piece to a sermon I shared a few weeks ago called “What Happened to God in UUism”. As I believe that in our religious tradition a sermon should be a reflection of and continued inspiration for an ongoing dialogue, it seemed important to have some members our community share where they find God in their lives…if at all."
read more . . .
Expedition or Easy Chair?
Reverend Mark Stringer
February 20, 2005
"The other day, my wife Susan and I, in the midst of our busy lives of work and caring for our infant daughter, were having one of those rare but important conversations that arise in the all-too-infrequent moments when we actually have time to talk. Parents of young children out there, or those who remember what it was like to be parents of young children, know the kind of conversation I’m talking about. I’m talking about the conversation in which both you and your partner do your best to calmly articulate why you both feel you may doing more than your fair share. These conversations are never easy…mostly because you both are right. You are doing more that your fair share."
read more . . .
What Happened to God in UUism?
Reverend Mark Stringer
February 13, 2005
"I read recently that Henry David Thoreau, on his deathbed, was asked if he
had made his peace with God, to which he replied, “I wasn’t aware
that we had ever quarreled.” While I admire his clever response, I’m
not sure I believe it. After all, he was known to stretch the truth at times.
For example, he claimed in Walden that he was roughing it in the wilderness,
while, rumor has it, he was sending his laundry off to be done by someone else.
..."
read
more . . .
In Search of Salvation
Reverend Mark Stringer
January 16, 2005
"..[N]o doubt, you have been pressed to answer the burning question on the minds
of
true believers everywhere: “Are you saved?” And if you have dared
answer with anything but an unequivocal “yes,” you have undoubtedly
experienced the persistent pursuit of the converted looking to convert."
Another Side of Pro Life: The Moralty of a Woman's Right to Choose
Reverend Mark Stringer
January 9, 2005
".. I share my age because I think it
is important for you to know that I have never known an
America where
women did not have the right to legal
and safe abortions. Perhaps this is why, until recently, I believed that
the Roe v. Wade decision would never be in danger of being
overturned. I simply
have not been able to imagine an America where women would not have the right
to determine what happens with their own bodies..."
Assessing Those Wild Eyed Prophets
Bryan Helmus
January 2, 2005
"..So, how do I understand prophets? If prophets do not predict the future,
what do they do? Why should we pay attention when they speak? .."
2004 Sermons
2003 Sermons
2002 and Before Sermons
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