George Hermanson

Paying Attention

September 30, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Eighteenth After Pentecost

Jeremiah 32:1-3, 6-15   and   Luke 16:19-31

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

One of the most basic facts about reality is change.  Everyday we are defining and redefining ourselves.   What the present and future will be, is being created by the values and ideas we hold.  Each moment is a defining experience about what reality is, and what is good and needs to be held onto, and what ought to thrown away because it stands in the way of the better.  What counts is what we do with each day.  We create, form and shape the world.

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Doing The Right Thing

September 23, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Seventeenth After Pentecost

Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1   and   Luke 16:1-13

Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

All of us live in a taken for granted universe. We see this in our speech, in folk sayings, the so called common sense ideas that we operate out of, and never think about.  It is a kind of, "this is how it is, this is the way things are." They are the ways we get through the day without thinking, for there is work to be done, food to prepare, sleep to catch up on, and fun to squeeze in.  Most of us never think about or question this taken for grantedness.  We assume this is how the world is.  Our acting becomes habitual based on these concepts.

We run on automatic pilot and, often this is a good thing,  and it can be dangerous.  Once and while

Saving Paradise - Rita Nakashima Brock

The Madawaska Institute for Culture and Religion
Where The Spirit and Life meet

Presents April 17 to 19 - 2008

Saving Paradise
with Rita Nakashima Brock

Rita Nakashima Brock is a research associate at the Harvard Divinity School, and author of Journeys by Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power.

Her current book project, Saving Paradise, investigates early Christian ideas of paradise, the development of theologies of holy war and holy violence in Western Europe during the Crusades, the resulting invention of racism and genocide, the colonization of the Americas, and the contemporary need for a new understanding of paradise. She will give a reading and book signing of her new book and then expand it on the 18 and 19th.  Cost $300. (This information has been revised. See www.georgehermanson.com for the latest news.)

Finding The Lost

September 16, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Sixteenth After Pentecost

Luke 15:1-10

The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

We all love stories.  We go to movies, watch TV, read books, and tell family stories.  All are literary forms.  We seek to find ourselves in those stories - seek the meaning of literature. Literature is an artistic presentation in words  of some aspect of human experience. The purpose of literature is to provide enjoyment and vicarious experiences that can deepen and enrich our lives. Yet all literature cries out for understanding.

This is because not all stories are self evident.  Some are dangerous to how we think.  Others scare us. 

Passion

September 9, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
15th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 14:25-33

The Rev Dr. George Hermanson

Astonishing words of Jesus.  Hate your family.  Hate your mother.  Hate your father.  Hate your children.  Not friendly words in a family centered culture.  What is going on?  Jesus goes on to say “If you don’t say good-bye to everything that belongs to you, you’re no disciple of mine.”

These are not the words you would have as the main article in a parenting magazine.   What to make of them?  They were also tough words for Luke.  The early community struggled with them, so Luke turns them into advice about planning.  Now that does resonate with us for we know planning for the future is