Seeking Authentic Voice

In my homily yesterday I spoke a little bit about the tragedy in Colorado, mental health, gun control, individualism, community "soul" and corporate prayer. Some of my thoughts, although I didn't say so then, were influenced by this article in the June 22, 2012 New York Times Magazine . Some of what I spoke about was influenced by my own life experience with mental illness in family members. And, some of what I spoke about is my ongoing reflection on the extreme individualism rampant in this country and our loss of civility. When I preached the sermon I said more than what was posted on my blog. In particular I mentioned that traversing into the realm of mental illness must be done carefully. I don't want to convey the idea that all mental illness will lead to violence to self or others. Nor do I want to convey the idea that all violence is the result of mental illness. I only wanted to suggest that people who commit heinous crimes of mass murder are living some kin...

A reflection the propers for 11B: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a and the tragedy in Aurora, Co. Much has happened in the 2nd book of Samuel since I was last here, two weeks ago as David moves toward becoming the next king. There have been a number of battles among the tribes of Israel – divided into a northern territory called Israel and the southern territory called Judah - where the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem reside. The battles in chapters 1-5 reflect the effort it takes to reunite the northern and southern realms – Israel and Judah – into one nation, Israel. They also reflect the effort it takes to bring David fully into his reign as king over the newly united Israel. Chapter five described this union of the northern and southern territories and the anointing of David as the king of the entire nation. Chapter five continues with more battles to establish the security of Israel and David as king. David has great success with these battles. In chapter six David establishes Jerusalem as th...