Rev. Babcock's sermons in 1997

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12/21/97	TRANSCENDENCE	Harvard professor emeritus of the comparative history of religion, Wilfred Cantwell Smith, speaks of transcendence as "a going above and beyond," and argues that the loss of a sense of transcendence can have disastrous consequences. Transcendence, it seems to me, is what Christmas is all about; it is what all the Christmas carols imply. I believe we often experience transcendence in the life of this church community.
12/7/97	ADVENTURE BOLDLY AND EXPLORE	Advent is the season of anticipation or expectation of the coming of "the Saviour." The word "adventure" includes the word "advent," but also contains the element of chance or risk. My sermon title is taken from one of our familiar hymns: "A freedom that reveres the past, but trusts the dawning future more; And bids the soul in search of truth, adventure boldly and explore."
11/23/97	IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS	Taken from Thessalonians 5: "Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks."
11/9/97	FAITH AND DOUBT	In my sermon I will argue that faith and doubt, rather than being opposites, are actually partners.
11/2/97	THY WILL BE DONE	As it did during our last intergenerational service, my sermon this week will take a look at some familiar words from the Bible, this time the New Testament: the "Prayer of Jesus," or as it is more familiarly known, "The Lord's Prayer." Did you know that there are two versions of this prayer? I will consider especially the themes of acceptance and forgiveness.
10/19/97	UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM AND WORLD RELIGIONS	The third Sunday in October has often been celebrated in Unitarian Universalist churches as "United Nations Sunday." In recognition of our goal of "world community," the sermon will look at what the study of world religions has meant to our Unitarian and Universalist movements historically and what it means today. One of the first courses on "Comparative Religions" was taught at Harvard by Unitarian Minister James Freeman Clarke. One of our former ministers, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, promoted the study of world religions. The sermon will consider the larger significance of universalism.
10/12/97	FEAR NO EVIL	This fall our Young Church is learning about our Judeo-Christian Heritage in particular and the Bible in general. My sermon this morning will take a look at the familiar words of the 23rd Psalm ("The Lord is my Shepherd...") with emphasis on the words "fear no evil." We live in a sometimes scary world: what does the 23rd Psalm tell us about a religious approach to life? We will also learn about some women in the Bible.
10/5/97	FAITH OF THE FREE	My title this morning, taken from one of our familiar Unitarian Universalist hymns, points to one of the leading characteristics of our faith. What is the nature of this freedom, which historian Earl Morse Wilbur once designated as one of the three guiding principles of Unitarianism? Is it a freedom of, or from, or both? Do we proclaim a freedom to believe anything, or are there restraints on our freedom?
9/21/97	maybe a child's hand	This morning's sermon will celebrate the life and poetry of e.e. cummings, who was born on October 14, 1890 and died in 1962. Born Edward Estlin Cummings, he was the son of a Unitarian minister. He has been called "a late Transcendentalist" for his radical individualism. Perhaps not surprisingly, religion was one of his favorite topics.
9/14/97	THE SILENCE OF THE BELLS	In a recent Boston Globe column, "In an old Dutch village, the silence of the bells is deafening," author James Carroll writes of his sadness at finding the doors of a village church locked on Sunday morning. Yet the experience causes him to question whether "the perennial human quest for spiritual meaning is being pursued here under a new guise?" For better or worse, Unitarian Universalists have often dispensed with "tradition." We say that change is good, even though it is difficult. Jesus advocated putting new wine into fresh wineskins. The sermon will investigate "the silence of the bells."
9/7/97	A BETTER BELOVED COMMUNITY	Some thoughts about what it means to come to church.
7/27/97	INNER SPACE	One of my favorite things to do, particularly when I am troubled, is to gaze at the stars, what we earthbound folk like to call "outer space. When I look at the vast universe out there, my earthly cares and concerns seem a little less weighty. Looking outward can sometimes help us to look inward with a clearer eye. We may be surprised by what we find there.
6/22/97	FIVE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES	On this closing Sunday of our regular church year, I will take a look at five spiritual disciplines from our Transcendentalist heritage: sauntering and excursions, contemplation, reading, journal writing, and conversations. I like to think of summer as a time for spiritual growth; herewith some ideas from our religious past to help us "begin this summer well" [Thoreau].
6/8/97	FIFTEEN YEARS ALONG	This week marks the fifteenth year since my graduation from Harvard Divinity School and my ordination as a Unitarian Universalist minister. I will be attending both a fifteenth reunion dinner and alumni/ae day event to mark these important transitions in my life. Much has happened since those days in 1982; my sermon will reflect on the people, places and events of a ministry fifteen years along.
6/1/97	MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE	Have you ever wondered about the architecture of our meeting house? I often get questions about our box pews. Why are there no overt religious symbols in our sanctuary? Why is the pulpit so high? Why does the minister wear a robe? What about the clear glass in the windows? All of these questions have both practical and theological answers. There is much more about our church than meets the eye.
5/25/97	THE MEMORIAL OF VIRTUE	It is written in the Apocryphal "Wisdom of Solomon" that "the memorial of virtue is immortal." Unitarian Universalists don't often express a lot of certainty about an afterlife, but one thing upon which most of us are agreed is the reality of immortality: not the immortality of my individual person, perhaps, but an immortality of influence.
5/11/97	TENDING YOUR SMALL ACREAGE	In an essay entitled "Men and Women in Search of Common Ground," farmer-poet Wendell Berry writes about "the safekeeping of the small acreages of the universe that have been entrusted to us." What is your small acreage of the universe?
5/4/97	THE PERFECTIONIST'S CHURCH	...what sort of church do we want to be, and what kind of people do we hope to become? The subject of my sermon this morning is the one I preached on during my pre-candidating weekend for the First Religious Society.
4/20/97	THE BURDEN OF PROOF	In his most recent book of essays, Wendell Berry writes that "...we live by counting on things that cannot be proved." This point of view stands opposite that of St. Paul (actually a mistranslation found in the King James Version): "Prove all things, hold fast that which is true." Unitarian Universalists, for all of their disagreements with Paul, have tended to take the latter position. It seems to me that both points of view are important to a healthy religion...
4/13/97	CONTEMPORARY GOLDEN CALVES	A person will worship something, be assured of that, Emerson once wrote. What do we worship? In what do we place our faith?
3/30/97	LIFE AFTER LIFE	Is there life after death? A better question...Is there life after life?"
3/23/97	THE SPRING FAITH	In a world of uncertainties, one thing is for sure: the return of Spring (eventually!).
3/16/97	SPIRITUAL HEALTH	Spirituality is one of those religious concepts which eludes easy definition.
3/2/97	THE HABITS OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS	All of us, I suspect, at some level have experienced the pain of self-consciousness, yet self-consciousness, it seems to me, is necessary in order for us to be human.
2/9/97	A FAITH FOR SELF-STARTERS	The sermon will take a look at one of the leading characteristics of Unitarian Universalism.
2/2/97	WHAT ABOUT THE BIBLE?	Is there still a role for the Bible in religious liberalism?
1/26/97	THE RESTLESS HEART	My sermon will concentrate on the metaphorical heart, and how we might both use, and occasionally overcome, its restless nature to find some repose in a busy world.
1/12/97	GOD	Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent, wrote philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstern. I will ignore that reasonable advice and attempt to speak about God.
1/5/97	LOOK TO THIS DAY	Look well, therefore, to this day. All our days are free days.