Universalist National Memorial Church

Religion and Identity: Spiritual Growth Outside the Box

Sermon by Eric Stetson, Universalist National Memorial Church, July 25, 2010

Recently there's been a ubiquitous and unforgettable commercial on TV for the Kia Soul, in which hamsters dressed as gangsters compare that particular automobile to other alternatives. Lip-synching the catchy rap song "This Or That," the anthropomorphic rodents depict non-Kia cars as flimsy, uncool cardboard boxes on wheels, and point back and forth from those horrible options to the far superior Soul. "This or that. This or that. This or that. This. You can get with this, or you can get with that; you can get with this, or you can get with that. You can get with this. 'cause this is where it's at!"

This is how many people think of religion: "This or that." And one and only one option, their own preferred vehicle for the transportation of the soul to higher planes of spirituality, is presented as the obvious choice in comparison to all other, pathetically flawed religious traditions that are suitable only for driving on the highway to hell.

But what if this is altogether the wrong metaphor for religion?

Next Leland Place Dinner Scheduled for August 21

Our church's next outing to Leland Place, a halfway house for men in recovery from homelessness and addiction, is scheduled for Saturday August 21. We'll gather in the church kitchen at 2:30 p.m. with the goal of carpooling to Leland, on North Capitol Street, and sharing the meal at 5 p.m.

At our last dinner, a full house of appreciative men enjoyed the stuffed peppers and coleslaw (and homemade brownies a la mode) prepared by Catherine Bocskor and her mother, Margaret Bocsckor, visiting from Rockledge, FL. They were assisted by Bob Sanderlin, Pastor Lillie, and Dave Skidmore.

Those interested in the August dinner should RSVP to dave_skidmore@cox.net. Volunteers generally share the cost of the meal, about $15 to $25 per volunteer. Those interested in volunteering their time only are very welcome and should see Dave or Pastor Lillie.

"Our Fathers"

Father’s Day Sermon – Joseph’s Father -- Sunday, June 20, 2010
A Sermon by Reverend Lillie Mae Henley
Universalist National Memorial Church

Judah, the son of the Hebrew patriarch Israel, is pleading with the governor of Egypt—Joseph—who is his brother—but he does not know—yet

Our Reading is from Genesis 44:30-34 “So now, if the boy is not with us when we return to our father, and if our father, whose life is bound up with the boy’s life, does not see the boy, he will die. We will have brought the gray head of our father to his death. I guaranteed the safety of the boy to our father. I said, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, father, for my whole life!’ Please, then, let me remain here in your service in place of the boy, and let him return with our brothers. How could I return to our father if the boy does not return? No! Don’t let me see the misery my father would suffer.”

"Jezebel Is Still Jezebel"

A Homily by Rev. Henley, on Sunday, June 13

Reading 1 King 21:1-21

Jezebel has come to be used as a symbolic name for an evil women. For almost 3,000 years now.
The Jezebel story has some historic truth and takes place in the ninth century before the common era when the kings ruled the Hebrew tribes in the their divided political entities Israel and Judea. Jezebel is first a princess, the daughter of the king of a Phoenician city-state, second a queen of a Hebrew king Ahab. She is the mother of a the son who succeeds king Ahab—Ahaziah, and possibly the mother of the son who succeeded Ahaziah—Jehoram.

"How Can We Help Each Other?"

How Can We Help Each Other, A Sermon on Sunday, June 6, 2010, by Reverend Lillie Mae Henley

Reading is 1 Kings 17-8-24

We need never to forget, that the Hebrew Scriptures is the story and law of a tribe. The tribe who called themselves the Hebrew people. They were and are now, a Middle Eastern culture who believes in their right to carve out a land upon which their people can survive as a tribal identity.

Carve out a land is literally what the people of the Book did in their stories in the. Today, I believe all the tribes of the Middle East are still tribes and too reticent about, too resistant to, our interdependent, interconnected existence. But that is not the sermon I will preach today.