|
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, May 29, 2011
What the Eye Cannot See
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Psalm 66; John 14: 15-21 Willard Duncan Vandiver, known as a contentious and irascible Member of Congress from Missouri, while a member of the old House Committee on Naval Affairs, after hearing a whole bunch of speeches, looked out at the audience at a fancy dress dinner in Philadelphia and said, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." Although he probably did not originate the saying, “Show me,” he is largely credited with popularizing it. Show me, show me, show me, is often used to force the hands of those who would try to convince us with mere words. Often the meaning of this phrase is taken to mean that we must demonstrate beyond our words with something else ...
VIEW FULL ARTICLE
AT: 05/29/2011 08:30:54 AM
0 COMMENTS
RELATED TOPICS:
Sunday, October 17, 2010
We Need To Do More Than Walk
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Isaiah 58: 1-11; Luke 9: 10-17 Well, being the good liberal like I like to think I am, I went through the mail and saw the little nondescript item from Oxfam. You remember Oxfam. The usual pitch is something like, “you won’t see pictures of starving babies…..” and drones on like a lot of good liberal letters for about two pages more than necessary. I do have to say, however, that I appreciate at least one letter not giving me pictures of starving children. I mean, I have the picture of the little Sudanese skin and bones girl and the vulture hovering over her on my refrigerator. Reminds me how fortunate I am every time I open the fridge. Then there are the pitches that have the word urgent all over them, usually in capital letters and bold print. They tell us of the millions who are...
VIEW FULL ARTICLE
AT: 10/17/2010 08:30:38 AM
0 COMMENTS
RELATED TOPICS:
|
|
|
