by Guy Sayles | Oct 1, 2009 |
Lily, the central character in Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Secret Life of Bees, was haunted by the story of her young childhood, a story that included violence, abuse, and a tragic accident with a gun, an accident that killed her mother. By a strange but providential...
by Guy Sayles | Sep 30, 2009 |
One of the most astonishing things Jesus ever said is found in John 15: “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have...
by Guy Sayles | Sep 14, 2009 |
From yesterday’s sermon:William Ury, bestselling author and cofounder of the Harvard Program on Negotiation, wrote about a relative of his who struggled with alcoholism. He had tried over and over again to quit drinking, but even a serious car accident that...
by Guy Sayles | Sep 2, 2009 |
I read about a teacher in Harlem who wanted his students to get out of the city and spend a little time in open-country. He arranged to take his class for a week of camp in the great outdoors. Once there, one of the first things he did was to organize a baseball game,...
by Guy Sayles | Aug 20, 2009 |
This past Sunday, I tried to describe how our relationships with the people closest to us–our families, colleagues, neighbors, and fellow church-members–are crucially important; because, on the one hand, our love for them matters in itself. Our compassion...
by Guy Sayles | Aug 13, 2009 |
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offered two metaphors for the church on mission—two ways the church can manifest his presence: as “the salt of the earth” and as “a city set on a hill.” As “salt of the earth,” the church is on mission by way of involvement. Salt only...
by Guy Sayles | Aug 4, 2009 |
Ernest Campbell, once the preaching minister at NYC’s Riverside Church, preached a wise sermon entitled “Every Battle is Not Armageddon.” It wasn’t a sermon about end-time prophecy or an apocalyptic war in the Middle East. Instead it was a...
by Guy Sayles | Jul 31, 2009 |
Not long ago, my friend and teacher Buddy Shurden jogged my memory about something author Kurt Vonnegut once said about his “rules” for writing a short story. One of those rules was: “Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not...
by Guy Sayles | Jul 23, 2009 |
After days of being more “off the (Internet) grid” than on it, I am reconnected with the technological tools upon which I am embarrassingly dependent. Last week, my laptop and cell phone/PDA were stolen from my car, and I have been scrambling ever since....
by Guy Sayles | Jul 8, 2009 |
What follows are the opening paragraphs of my sermon from last Sunday:This personal ad once appeared in a major metropolitan newspaper: “Single woman seeking single man. Considerate, intelligent, and honest. Overweight OK, but no slobs, smokers, drinkers, convicts, or...
Recent Comments