No Christmas in Bethlehem
{The dreadful motivation for this sermon comes from a newsletter I received saying "Church leaders in Jesus’s birthplace decided to cancel Christmas festivities this year. Reverend Munther Isaac, who leads a church in Bethlehem in the West Bank, said: 'It's impossible...
My Cat Is Best; So Is Yours
Shared a meme six years ago that said My cat is very handsome and soft. My cat is best cat. Your cat is also best cat. All cats are best cats and that is science. Thank you. My comment? I'm using this the next time I hear an argument about the merits of particular...
Is Heaven Spiritual Retirement?
A teacher friend of mine lamented that so many in her profession basically gave up their lives for their profession. Not this their vocation is unworthy of their effort and sacrifice, but that in retirement they discover that they have not much of a life to enjoy....
Interfaith Breakfast Homily
{I was on deck a couple of years ago to fill in as the speaker at a Masonic Interfaith breakfast, and although the speaker didn't show, they called off the sermon and invocation altogether. This unused passage is compiled from the notes intended for use that day.} I'd...
The Imperfect Lord
A central belief in Christianity is the incarnation of deity as a human being. This is more than "God within us", which is easy to accept. It is easy because anything we don't like we can say is not part of that, and what we do like we claim to "recognize" as God,...
Theism and the Decision to Live as People
We must decide what is important to us and out children. We have to decide what world of belief we live in -- the belief we are animals, biological machines, and that everything is about physical survival, or that we are PEOPLE, with emotional, psycholigcal, and...
9-11 Sermon
{Written for 10th Anniversary of 9-11} It is no random chance that people in all cultures have memorials. It is the human condition that what we remember what we cherish, and what we cherish, we remember. It is those memories that become the foundation of a society...
Sign, Signs, Everywhere Signs
I'm glad I live in Western New York. We live in a community where very few people go our of their way to not get along, and generally do not make crazy proclamations worthy of national attention and disdain. We are dominantly Christian, yet not dominantly...
Earth 2 Mouth Pilot a Success!
Six volunteers, mostly from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Amherst, coordinated by Seminarian Michelle George, worked for four hours at Native offerings Farm in East Otto, NY. The produce was brought to and prepared at Friends of Night People, where it was...
Heritage, Not Hate
{This was written for a newsletter of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter, in part over concern for potential prejudices within such an organization.} One of the main purposes of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is to preserve and educate people about the...
Aim Before You Shoot
{"The Chaplain's Corner", in the newsletter for the local Sons of Confederate Veterans.} We live in a time of televised war and constant bombardment of media reports of conflict in Iran, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Like a soldier in the field, the citizen may try to...
What Religion Am I?
{in response to the question, posted on my gang board on www.Hobowars.com} I am not my religion. Religion is something I choose to practice. It doesn't even have to be something to believe or not believe in ... let other people argue over that stuff and be all smug...
Chaplains and Soldiers
{This was the first column I wrote for the newsletter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans "Buffalo Guard" Chapter 1975. Not my best writing, but not too bad for off the cuff ...} A military Chaplain could be compared to a parent. They pray with you, encourage you,...
A Psalm, by Ken
Praise you Lord, for in the midst of woe you have not forgotten me. To each you give a burden they can carry, and share the yolk invisibly next to us. Of broken heart, I see the sky is blue, the breeze gentle. Anguished and pensive, you find work for my hands and...
Swieconka – Blessing Of The Easter Baskets
{This year (2004), we were unable to go to our church for a blessing on our Easter baskets -- a Polish tradition called that is spreading throughout the Catholic Church. After researching it online, I wrote and used the following blessing as an approximation of the...
Grace
{Given by me at McKinley's Banquet Facility for my BNI group members and their spouses. My nickname in the group is "Rev" for reverend, although I don't care for the title. :rolleyes: }Moment of SilenceWe all stand upon the shoulders of the previous...
Lessons From An Elmira Cemetery
{As Chaplain of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Buffalo Guards Camp (#1975), I helped officiate the grave memorial ceremony held in the Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmyra, NY, where nearly 3000 Confederates were buried from the nearby prisoner of war camp during...
Prayers Of The Faithful, Gradeschool
{Used at daughter's school mass in May of 2000} Prayers of the Faithful The response will be "Lord, hear our prayer." For Father Art, Bishop Mansell, John Paul our pope, and all the clergy and religious ... we pray to the Lord. For the leaders of our city, the nation,...
Collaborative Prayers
{Confirmation class, Collaborative prayer by students, Feb.1998} Lord: Help me to get through the hard times and give me the strength to survive. Give me the light to help me see others as they are and help us to understand them as we would like to be understood....
Prayers Of The Faithful, Confirmation
{written for Confirmation Mass for my students at SS. Peter & Paul RCC (Depew, NY) in April of 1998 and used again in 1999 and 2000} PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL Our response will be “Come Holy Spirit; guide us through life” (1) That we may receive the strength to...
My 1st Funeral Service Sermon
{The woman whose funerary service I wrote this for was my wife's aunt - someone I was proud and blessed to call family. She was someone I could hug, and I miss her today. Playing this special role for her family meant a lot to me, and I had never done such a thing...
Chaplain’s Corner, Summer 2004
{originally to be published in the Buffalo Guards Newsletter, September 2004}In a time when fellow countrymen fought each other on American soil over irreconcilable issues, it was seldom the place of a Chaplain to preach the war, either on the side of South or North,...
Some Personal Prayers From 1998-1999
{Here are some personal prayers I wrote:} Lord of the Harvest, who gives to each of us as we have sown, bring my labors to fruition. Compel by your hand those things which I cannot, to assist me in all my efforts, which I offer back to you as a testament to your...