Sunday Talks / Random Musings

Putting up resistance

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Rev. Clay Nelson

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Rev. clay Nelson © 27 August 2017

“Neuroscientists tell us that our brain is constantly looking for ways to be more efficient, and habits and routines are one way of achieving that. While following a routine is somewhat antithetical to the idea of being present in the moment, of “being here now,” it does allow us to be in the present moment in a very different way, with a different consciousness, a different awareness.”

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Good outcomes from broken homes?

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David Hines

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David Hines © 20 August 2017

I saw a surprising Facebook post from my oldest daughter Karen a few weeks ago. It was paying tribute to Aunty Phyll. Now, I didn’t know she had an aunty Phyll so I thought it must have been one of her husband’s aunts, and didn’t reply.

Then a few days later I got another Facebook post, from my youngest daughter Nikki, who lives near Levin. She was asking if I could pick her up from the airport in a couple of days time, to take her to Aunty Phyll’s funeral in Auckland. I was embarrassed because by now I had guessed who Aunty Phyll might be, but I wasn’t be sure. And didn’t like to admit I didn’t know. Continue reading Good outcomes from broken homes? →

Preaching a Feminist Gospel

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Rev. Clay Nelson

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Rev. clay Nelson © 13 August 2017

As anyone in my line of work knows, there is a vast body of religious humour. Every faith and denomination has theirs. Generally, they are not nasty. They are the kind of jokes we tell on ourselves, self-deprecating humour that reveals something about who we are, including our foibles.

As a Unitarian, I have a rich body of humour to draw upon. For a small denomination, we laugh at ourselves a lot. One that tickles me goes like this: A group of children in a Unitarian religious ed class were trying to determine the sex of a rabbit. “There’s only one way to decide,” said one child, “let’s take a vote on it.” Continue reading Preaching a Feminist Gospel →

When is breaking the law a moral imperative?

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Rev. Clay Nelson

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Rev. clay Nelson © 6 August 2017

If you grew up in 1950s America as I did, you probably assumed certain things about the world. In particular, the system was fair. It never occurred to me that the system was rigged to reward my privilege of being born white, male, and middle class. My privilege blinded me to the fact that this wasn’t true for everyone.

Until I went to university I only knew one black person my own age. Continue reading When is breaking the law a moral imperative? →

Passing the Flame

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Rev. Clay Nelson

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Rev. clay Nelson © 30 July 2017

In preparation for this Sunday, when we welcome new members to our congregation, I have been reflecting on what it means to self-identify as a Unitarian and how it has changed. Continue reading Passing the Flame →

To whom does a non-theist pray?

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Rev. Clay Nelson

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Rev. clay Nelson © 23 July 2017

A journalist assigned to the Jerusalem bureau takes an apartment overlooking the Western Wall—the holiest site in Judaism. Every day when she looks out, she sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously. So, the journalist goes down and introduces herself to the old man. Continue reading To whom does a non-theist pray? →

Four reasons not to give up on Politics

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David Hines

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David Hines © 16 July 2017

Intro:

About once a year I find myself writing a sermon on why you shouldn’t give up on politics. Every time it’s because of some current news item. Last year it was many Americans who were despairing of politics because Donald Trump had been voted president of the United States by a very small margin. Earlier the same year, many people in Britain were despairing of politics because of the decision to get out of the European community, again by a very small margin. And to cap it off, this year there’s just been an early election in Britain, called by Teresa May hoping to get a bigger margin of support, only to find her margin is almost down to zero. We get similar reactions to politics here. And as a result, the number of people who turn out to vote is often very low. Continue reading Four reasons not to give up on Politics →

Big Data and the end of Free Will

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Rev. Clay Nelson

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Rev. clay Nelson © 9 July 2017

In the mid-’90s I had oversight of fifty congregations spread over the bottom quarter of California. Amongst other duties I was charged with helping them grow and better meet their missions in their particular contexts. To do that I engaged a company that would help provide up-to-date information about the communities they served. To begin, I had to drive to each church and put three antennae on the roof of my car and wait for a black box to tell me it had found three satellites above the horizon. Then I pressed a button that would record the position of that church on the globe. This was GPS in 1995. Today, I would just go to Google maps which could give me the exact latitude and longitude of each. Then I sent the box back to the company who downloaded the information. In return, they sent me dozens of maps for each church showing the demographics of the neighbourhoods that surrounded them. I remember being fascinated that so much data could be provided, but that was nothing compared with what is available today. Now those maps would tell me the demographics of each residence on the street not just the neighbourhood. This is the world of Big Data we now live in. Like it or not it is here. Silicon Valley calls it Dataism. Continue reading Big Data and the end of Free Will →

Scientists discover atheists may not exist

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Rev. Clay Nelson

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Opening words are THE ETERNAL By Stephen M Shick.

Rev. clay Nelson © 2 July 2017

It sounds like an oxymoron that in this world there are religious atheists. If you doubt it, you are looking at one. If you still doubt it, look around you. They are sprinkled liberally throughout the congregation. Now there are all kinds of atheists out there. There are the Richard Dawkins variety who narrowly define what others may believe about God and then decimates it. What I know is that many who do believe in a personal god don’t believe in the god Dawkins believes in either. Continue reading Scientists discover atheists may not exist →

Heresy: A Spiritual Value

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Rev. Clay Nelson

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Rev. clay Nelson © 25 June 2017

I have had many highlights in my ministry, the greatest being our giving sanctuary to the Indian students, but that is closely followed by two instances of delegations approaching the Anglican bishop to demand that I be tried for heresy. Continue reading Heresy: A Spiritual Value →