Recall again the words of the psalm we read a few moments ago: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ All are corrupt and commit abominable acts; there is none who does any good” (Psalms 14:1).  One of the commentaries I consulted as I prepared this sermon said that this psalm is addressing the problem of “functional atheism” (Preaching Through the Christian Year, Year C, … [Read more...]

There is a story you may have come across on the Internet. It is about a philosophy professor who is lecturing her students on how to lead a full life. In order to make her point...the professor has a few props - the first is a large mayonnaise jar and a pile of small rocks. The professor takes some of the rocks and puts them in the jar until she cannot fit anymore. Then she asks her class “Is … [Read more...]

July 7, 2019, Trinity Episcopal Church, Charles D. Mayer A couple of weeks ago, as we began our journey through Ordinary Time, I said that a distinct characteristic of Ordinary Time is that we are journeying with Jesus and his early followers through their experiences beforethe events of Easter and Pentecost and Ascension. So we do well to try to suspend some of what we know happens later in … [Read more...]

June 30, 2019, Charles D. Mayer I have shared a number of times from this pulpit that while I felt called to ordained ministry quite early in my life, I was also quite resistant to the idea. It really was for me an experience of being pursued by the “hound of heaven.” For a lot of my life, my sense has been that what I was resisting most was what I pictured as the lifestyle of the clergyperson. … [Read more...]

June 23, 2019, Charles D. Mayer I have always found this particular Sunday in the church year to be a very interesting one.  We have just concluded the six months of the year that are devoted to festivals:  Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost.  And now we have entered the six months of Ordinary Time, devoted not to the high points of the story of Jesus and … [Read more...]

You know - sometimes people ask why in Holy Week is the tone of our reflection so unrelentingly gloomy? Why does hope seem so scarce? Why don’t we relieve or punctuate the focus on loss with a bit more of the hope that we know waits for us at Easter?  In my experience, people who ask this are not stupid people - nor are they insensitive – neither are they helpless innocents who have never … [Read more...]