George Hermanson

Instructions For The Community, Year B, September 27, 2009, Pentecost 17

September 27, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
17th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

Mark 9:38-50
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

One of the issues we face in a multi-religious world is how to accept others as having insight into the nature of reality. Do other religions have truth? Is often how the question is posed. Then there are other voices that are not religious, do they have some truth? Do those outside the religious community have important insights we ought to pay attention to? Do other religions have something to teach us? Do other voices tell us something important?

Seeking Wisdom, Year B, Pentecost, September 13, 2009

September 13, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
15th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

Proverbs 1:20-33
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James 3:1-12
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Mark 8:27-38
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Every day we are faced with some decision. Information about this and that surround us: issues about family life, ethical concerns, political questions rain down on us daily. We have to decide how to respond and often, because the information is contradictory or confusing, we don't know what to do or say or act. Wisdom is scarce.

The passage from Proverbs could have been written in our time. We could easily have read it in Maclean's or the newspaper. Wisdom cries out in the street. She raises her voice in the town squares, she calls out at the busiest corners. She looks for those who heed her voice and follow her ways but she finds none. Calamity and disaster prevail. Fear and terror. Death and injury and hurt. It could be written about Iraq or Afghanistan; Israel or Lebanon.

Pushing The Boundaries, Year B, Pentecost, September 6, 2009

September 6, 2009
St. Paul's United Church, Richmond, ON
14th Sunday After Pentecost 2009

James 2:1-10
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Mark 7:24-31
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I love Jazz. It takes rhythm, melody and beat to rework tunes that are familiar. The boundaries of the familiar are pushed and we are lifted into new intensity, harmony and beauty. We feel the music in a new way. Our senses are expanded. All music shares this, for you can hear Beethoven or Bach in new ways. This happens when the musicians give a performance that push the boundaries of what went before and makes us hear the piece in a new way. There is a risk taken and the boundaries pushed.

Paradise and Prayer

September 28, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22
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Mark 6:41-47
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

The poet George Herbert called prayer the “churches banquet.” Prayer is the food that creates and sustains the community dedicated to living out Paradise in this world. Paul suggests that we pray unceasingly. Our living is prayer.

The community of faith begins in prayer. It is not a last resort, as it is for many, but that which forms us. It is a way of bringing to our attention that God is present in this moment and that this ground we stand on is holy ground, sacred space. In prayer our minds are quieted and focused; it clarifies intention; it awakes the imagination. As a communal practice it creates the community for we become one voice even as we pray in silence, for our attention is always directed. In that moment we have one voice and one hope.

Paradise and Hospitality

September 21, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Exodus 16:9-15
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1 Peter 4:8-11
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson
with thanks to Suzanne E. Sykes for her work used here.

I have been exploring the understanding we have about paradise.  The idea begins in the myth of Genesis with the insight that God calls this world of ours good.  The affirmation made is that God is intimately involved in the evolution of this world and offers beauty and abundance. Genesis suggests we begin in the garden of beauty.  This is an affirmation that our world is seen by God as good and creative and we belong here and can add both good and evil to our world.

Paradise and Friendship

September 14, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 10:29-37
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John 15:12-15
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson
with thanks to Suzanne E. Sykes for her work used here.

One of the terms we often use about the church is, it is a family.  However, there is a phrase that we grow in families and then grow out of them.  So many of us find that our actual social relationships have more to do with friends than families. The rise of on-line friendship sites like Facebook signals this change. When we hear the phrase, "my mother is my best friend," it suggests a shift in how see the world.  Some commentators suggest this can be problematic because it confuses two important and different roles.  Our friends are important to us. In a very real sense, we are who we are because of them. Our parents and families are our principal guides and inspiration when we are young; more often it is our friends who have that role when we are adults. Friends and friendship matter.

Paradise

September 7, 2008
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

Genesis 2:4-23
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Isaiah 11:1-9
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson
with thanks to Suzanne E. Sykes for her work used here.

This past April we had a continuing education event with Rita Nakashima Brock on her new book, Saving Paradise.  It was a transformational event for those there.  She offered images of paradise as focused on this world, in this moment.  Paradise is a worldly spirituality, a metaphor that can enliven our Christian faith.

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.

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

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.