Rev. Babcock's sermons in 2002

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DATE	SERMON TITLE	Notes
12/22/2002	Willing Suspension of Disbelief	The English Romantic poet (and, at one period of his life, Unitarian) Samuel Taylor Coleridge, wrote in his Biographia Literaria of "that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith." He was concerned about the question of "belief" in respect to poetic "truth." Isn't the willing suspension of disbelief what the Christmas season is all about? The sermon will investigate.
12/8/2002	Waiting	Advent, said Peter Gomes of Harvard's Memorial Church in a recent lecture, is about "1the renewal of courage in the face of despair," which " . . . takes people from where they are and moves them toward where they want to be." The advent season is characterized by watchfulness and waiting. As we know, waiting can be difficult. The sermon will investigate the Advent Season of waiting.
12/1/2002	Hanukkah Lights	This morning's service will mark the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which begins this year on November 30. What do you think of when you see the Hanukkah lights? To me the Hanukkah lights are a reminder of religious diversity, multi-culturalism, religious freedom, the rights of conscience, and even the separation of church and state. Hanukkah is not one of the most important Jewish holidays, but it holds important lessons for non-Jews.
11/24/2002	Being Thankful When You Don't Feel Like It	This morning we will celebrate our annual thanksgiving service. The sermon will investigate the difficulty we all have at times being grateful for what we are and have. The Young Church will join us for the first part of the service, and the Young Church choir will sing.
11/10/2002	Why I am (Still) a Unitarian Universalist	This morning we will once again welcome new members (those who have decided to become voting members and who have signed an application for Membership) into the fellowship of our church community in a Ceremony of Recognition. My sermon will consider some of the reasons why I am, and have chosen to remain, a Unitarian Universalist. We may not be perfect (who is?), and it's not always easy, but I still find that a Unitarian Universalist “is what I want to be.” I hope my sermon will not be without humor, as it always good to laugh at oneself and even at one's religion.
11/3/2002	This House	This morning we will break ground for our building renovation project. We will begin with a brief outdoor ceremony (weather permitting) next to the church, then move inside for a service of celebration. This new beginning marks the end of many years of hard and dedicated work on the part of many people in our congregation. We have cause to be grateful for their labors and for the generosity of so many on our behalf! I hope that you will come as we celebrate "this house" which so many of us love. There will be no Young Church classes this morning, but there will be childcare for the two and under set. There will be a Child Dedication for William Bartlett Clay. The Teen Choir will sing. Truly we are blessed!
10/20/2002	Compassion Fatigue and Other Consequences of Caring	How do we continue to be caring, compassionate, generous people when the demands upon us seem endless? How do we decide to which causes we should donate our time, talent and treasure? What does our religious tradition have to say about this? The Bible? Other religious traditions? Is there a limit to our ability to care? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I will investigate them in my sermon. I suspect an answer lies in balancing self-care with care for others.
10/13/2002	Peace! the Perfect Word	The sermon will consider the meaning of peace at this or any other time.
10/6/2002	The World According to Wendell	Wendell Berry is a poet, essayist, novelist, and a farmer from Kentucky whose books I have been reading for over fifteen years. I think you will find his thoughts on agriculture, culture, family life, and death to be interesting and insightful. Among other things, Berry has long been concerned about the crisis in American farming, which I had the opportunity to experience something of first hand during three years living in a small farming community in Minnesota. Berry challenges us to live out more fully some of our own liberal religious values.
9/22/2002	Embarrassed by Riches	One of the things that my sabbatical trip to Romania brought home to me was how much "stuff" we in the United States have in comparison to those in other countries. Some of us--and increasingly I am among them--would say we have too much. Today is my 51st birthday, so it is probably also a good time to reflect on my intangible as well as my tangible riches. In both ways I find that I have an "embarrassment" of them. The sermon will investigate this problem and this blessing.
9/15/2002	The Good Life in Light of 9/11/01	What does it mean to live a "good life," and has our understanding of the good life changed since September 11, 2001? These are the questions explored by the Rev. Peter Gomes of Harvard University in his new book,"The Good Life." The sermon will investigate these questions, as well as mark the high Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, "The Day of Atonement."
9/8/2002	A Serious House	This Sunday we will re-gather our worshipping community from the summer hiatus with an intergenerational family service. We will be introducing our new Director of Church Music, Francis Burmeister. My brief sermon takes its title from a poem by Philip Larkin, "Church Going," and wonders why it is that we come to church. There will be a "procession of the flowers," so please bring a flower to share during the service.
7/28/2002	SilenceYearning to Speak	Yankee Homecoming Service
6/16/2002	Reflections for Summer	My sermon title for this morning is intentionally vague, as befits the mellow season on which we are about to embark. Summer is the season when many of us take time to relax and recharge our batteries. But it is possible to be more intentional about "reinspiriting" ourselves for the challenges which lie ahead. I will also share some thoughts about reaching the twentieth year since my ordination as a Unitarian Universalist minister (June 13, 1982).
6/9/2002	The Meaning of Membership	This morning we will once again welcome new members into the fellowship of our church community (those who have made the decision to become legal voting members of the congregation and who have signed an application for membership). It is an opportunity to reflect on what it means to belong to a community of faith, as opposed, for instance, to a social club or a political organization. It is also an opportunity for the rest of us to reaffirm our own membership and the goals and ideals which that membership represents.
6/2/2002	Reconnecting	First sermon after sabbatical leave
2/24/2002	Witnesses to Mortality	Preached at the Nora Unitarian Universalist Church, Hanksa, Minnesota