Our “inner lizard” kept our ancestors alive, back when the #1 concern was “Don’t Get Eaten”. But these deep reflexes, so well suited to the savannah, the tundra, the forest, the jungle, are perhaps a bit less helpful in email, social media, the dinner table, a traffic jam, or the ballot box. And that’s a problem. Today, I explore mindfulness, acceptance, and yes, some consequences.
The Gift of Mortality
I’ve struggled to see mortality as anything other than the Sword of Damocles, forever hanging over our heads. But there is a story there. From Gilgamesh, Christianity, Cicero, Tennyson, and Tolkien, mortality is seen as a source of freedom both in this world and from it. Perhaps that’s true.
Matthew 5: Inversions
This service was part of an ecumenical worship offering, bringing together the United Methodist Church of Geneva, the Geneva Lutheran Church, St Peter’s Catholic Church of Geneva, Fox Valley Presbyterian Church, and the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva. We gathered over 100 folks from our various congregations for worship, fellowship, and loads and loads of Thanksgiving pie.
The Gospel reading for the service was Matthew 5:1-16 (a brilliant, memorized reading starts at 18 minutes). I focused on the Beatitudes, and did a bit of exegesis on the word, markarioi, or, “blessed”. The 12 minute homily starts at around the 20min 40 second mark.
The Holy Question Mark 