Sermons from January 2016

January 31, 2016: “Prayer is a Flowing of Love”

January 31, 2016
Rev. Denis Paul

Centering Thought: Prayer irrigates the earth and heart. – St. Francis of Assisi First Reading “The Seal’s Skin,” traditional Icelandic tale A traditional Icelandic folktale, retold by Jane Yolen in Favorite Folktales from Around the World There was once a man from Myrdal in eastern Iceland who went walking among the rocks by the sea one morning before anyone else was up.…

January 21, 2016: “Annoying Grace”

January 21, 2016
John Bernardini, Rev. Denis Paul

Personal Reflection “Hen and Charis,” John Bernardini The two most common words translated as grace in the Bible are “hen” (hane) or “chen” (kane) in the Hebrew Scriptures and “Charis” (haar-is) in the Greek New Testament. In the Hebrew scriptures, what Christians call the Old Testament, the word grace is used 66 times and in all but a few instances means “to…

January 10, 2016: “If I Stepped Out of My Body I would Break Into Blossom”

January 10, 2016
Rev. Denis Paul

Reading A poem by James Wright entitled “A Blessing.” Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.And the eyes of those two Indian poniesDarken with kindness.They have come gladly out of the willowsTo welcome my friend and me.We step over the barbed wire into the pastureWhere they have been grazing all day, alone.They ripple tensely, they can…