Homily “Shaping Our Souls,” Rev. Denis Letourneau Paul Have you ever noticed clouds in a brilliant azure blue sky on a gorgeous day? Of course you have! They’re so fluffy and light, white, with a little gray in them. How can you see them and not feel happy, buoyant? And when you see images of angels in heaven, the clouds they glide…
Love. Revere. Discover. Connect.
Love. Revere. Discover. Connect.
Sermons by Rev. Denis Paul (Page 15)
Every once in a while, a minister writes a sermon, then at the last minute has to lay it aside and start all over, in order to deliver a completely different message that addresses an issue suddenly made visible. What has come up is a question asked by a number of people, pretty much all at once. (I heard it a couple…
Centering Thought: “In case you forget, pain is there to help with your decisions.” – Hafiz Sermon “Dining with Daniel,” Rev. Denis Letourneau Paul Have you ever gotten news that seems devastating? The kind of news that you were afraid would change your life for the worse? Only to have it turn out to be not so bad afterall? That happened to…
(Presented at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland) Time for All Ages Rev Denis Letourneau Paul “The Father and The Crow,” based on a traditional tale I would like to share with you a traditional story. Some sources say it’s an Indian or Hindu tale. Some say it’s Muslim tale. But I nobody knows for sure. It could come from anywhere. Whatever…
Time for All Ages, Rev Denis Letourneau Paul The summer of 1976 was kind of magical. It was remarkably quiet. The Vietnam war, which had been festering for twenty years finally ended the year before. Somehow, the cold war felt less scary. The only war we talked about at that point, was the Revolutionary War, as we celebrated the bicentennial, the 200th…
Reading “The Good Enough Mother,” by Anna Quindlen (Jason) There was a kind of carelessness to my childhood. I wandered away from time to time, rode my bike too far from home, took the trolley to nowhere in particular and back again. If you had asked my mother at any given time where I was, she would likely have paused from spooning…
Reading “And a side of fried okra, please…” by Patricia Smith How’s this for poetic inspiration? At about 3 a.m., when I should have been snoozing contentedly, dreaming stanzas, I was in the back seat of a cab hurtling toward Gladys Knight’s Chicken & Waffles because- I’m in Atlanta, where they fry everything but chairs. I’ve always been fascinated by the pairings-hot,…
Centering Thought: I call upon you to be maladjusted. Well you see, it may be that the salvation of the world lies in the hands of the maladjusted.” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Reading “The Village with a Hole in the Middle,” adapted from Yassir Chadly NARR: Imagine a beautiful village, close enough to the ocean to see it and occasionally…
Time for All Ages Who knows the story of Noah’s Ark? [Engage] Is the story factually correct? [Engage] Here’s something to consider: before having the tools for scientific discovery, early humans may have looked at the world, the wet jagged mountains and the arid, rolling desserts, and knew that something huge had happened. Something catastrophic that wiped out all life. And, when…
Centering Thought: The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love. – Margaret Atwood Reading “Love Poem,” by Andrzej Luckwitz My mind is conflicted with thoughts and feelings that come all of a sudden. I stop right where I was walking as a shiver runs along my spine. Color blooms on my…