|
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Fugitive Faith
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Genesis 1: 20-26; Mark 10: 13-16 In his 1970 theater piece for chorus and orchestra Mass, Leonard Bernstein uses the words of this version of the creation story as an indictment of our abuse of Scripture to justify environmental and cultural destruction. Entitled, "The Word of the Lord," it begins simply enough with a light verse, "And God said, let there be light, and there was light to follow the night, and it was good, brother, and it was good, brother ..." The tempo of the music increases, and the voices become louder, leading to a cacophony ending in the words: "God put us in charge … so I'm sure he won't mind if we wipe out a species or two..." and concluding with, "we turned it into a sword to spread the word of the Lord. And it was good, brother, and it was good, brother, and it was good..." <...
VIEW FULL ARTICLE
AT: 04/22/2012 08:30:01 AM
0 COMMENTS
RELATED TOPICS:
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Wedding Woes
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Isaiah 25: 1-9; Matthew 22: 1-14 Several weeks ago I officiated at the wedding of one of my paralegals and her long time boyfriend at Shadowbrook. Other than the fact that all she had been talking about for the last month was her wedding, which is understandable, of course, I was struck by the – oh, how can I say it – the elaborateness of the facilities, the food, and the rest of it. What a far cry from my own wedding before which I argued with the minister about the language of the vows, or its fairly simple punchbowl and cookies reception, or even the fact that there was no videographer or fourteen people with cameras wandering all over the place to get photos of the event. Weddings have changed in many ways, to be sure. But I remind myself, for every grand show wedding there is also one in a room next to the kitch...
VIEW FULL ARTICLE
AT: 10/09/2011 08:30:55 AM
0 COMMENTS
TAGS: CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO, INCLUSIVE SOCIETY, WEALTH, CONSUMERISM, COURAGE, ECONOMIC POLICY, HOMELESSNESS, LIVING WITHIN LIMITS, MONEY, RIGHTEOUSNESS, OCCUPY WALL STREET, RELATED TOPICS:
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Plenty and Want
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Isaiah 55: 1-13; Matthew 14: 13-21Well, it happened again. What I mean to say is that I did it again. It all started with a simple trip to Princeton with a fellow pastor who needed some time to talk about personal stuff. I heard myself saying, “You know, that there's a new translation of the Bible out – its at the Cokesbury store at Princeton. Let's check it out.” Books, though, are like tortilla chips – you don't eat just one, but, hopefully, you know when to stop. When we got to the Seminary bookstore, there it was – no, not just the new translation I wanted but my favorite two four letter words: Book sale! Seriously now, how can you resist this book or that if it's 60% off? The two of us went merrily through the sale racks, picking this one and then that one – to paraphrase Shakes...
VIEW FULL ARTICLE
AT: 07/31/2011 08:30:03 AM
0 COMMENTS
RELATED TOPICS:
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Honest Trading
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Genesis 29: 15-30; Matthew 13: 44-52 The temptation to engage in dishonest trading seems to escape few people who have access to what is usually called inside information. This past week a former beauty queen Danielle Chiesi, a key figure in a federal investigation, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for using her contacts with IBM and Advanced Micro Devices executives to gain insider information which she passed along to her own business associates. Over the past 18 months, 46 of 49 hedge fund managers charged with insider trading have either been convicted or pleaded guilty to such charges. It seems like the only difference between the inside information that Laban and his family had and today was the end product. Then it was a woman; today it's just money. Greed seems to always play a role, whether it was ...
VIEW FULL ARTICLE
AT: 07/24/2011 08:30:52 AM
0 COMMENTS
RELATED TOPICS:
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Demons That Possess Us
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Psalm 43; Luke 8:26-39The young man stood in front of the judge for sentencing. In his inimical way, the judge looked down from the bench and asked, “Well, do you have anything to say before I sentence you?” I had already made my pitch citing his youth which had led to his foolishness. I held my breath because I knew if he said nothing, he would go to jail. “I don’t know what possessed me,” he said. “It was not only stupid, but it was really wrong. It’s as if some demon had come into me. I talked to my pastor about leading a new and different life. I’m afraid to go to jail because others will try to put their demons in me.” The judge’s expression changed ever so slightly. Finding true remorse as a mitigating factor, he sentenced him only to 75 hours of community service and three years pr...
VIEW FULL ARTICLE
AT: 06/20/2010 9:00:00 PM
0 COMMENTS
RELATED TOPICS:
|
|
|
