Reignite

I think a lot about Art Lester's anniversary sermon in 2008 , especially since Art died last year.  In it he talks about the problems of the declining Unitarian denomination (that has only declined further since 2008) and asks us a simple question - have we prayed about it? And he suggests that if we haven't prayed about it, and if we have stopped viewing God as someone you can really talk to, then this might point to the very cause of our decline. We are not nourishing the soul.  And so the most important thing we could possibly do - is pray, is to recognise our need for a Higher Power, and invite the Living Presence into our midst.  When I was asked recently on a podcast what's the one thing I would change about Unitarianism I said - "I just want us to pray more." Someone later challenged me - what would it mean to make that happen? How could it happen? I've pondered on that for a few months. And I think how it could happen is to gather those who would like...

 

I've been meaning to write this for a while. I was thinking of it as a new year's post to reflect on 2025. But time has got away from me and we are already well into 2026 now.  The world feels apocalyptic. Even more so now with war spreading in the Middle East. Of course it's easy to exaggerate these kinds of claims. Even generation faces challenges and every generation faces wars. When we consider the meaning of the time we live in we should do so with a sense of historic perspective.  Nevertheless, writing purely personally I feel more a sense of the apocalyptic than ever before. I don't mean that I think "the world is ending" - what I mean is that the Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings and insights make more sense to me than ever before.  What has changed for me personally is a sense of the hostility of the world. What I mean is that "the world" feels like it is out to get me, and to get people like me. "The world" is not friendly...

 Here's a podcast interview I've done recently: