How, then, are we not a cult? thoughts on Independence Weekend, July 2, 2017 by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com We celebrate, on this 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, our Independence Holiday running all the way to July 4th. This time of focus acknowledges that freedom is a gift to share and a challenge to sustain.…
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Message This! thoughts on Trinity Sunday, 2017 by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Believe it or not, the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity – this celebration of One in Three, Three in One – has a coherent background to it. A background, when seen through philosopher’s eyes, that resonates with ancient questions. And the really big…
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“Quaint ain’t everything!” thoughts on Ascension, 2017 by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com The Solemnity of Ascension, which we celebrate today, is about location. We hear the story that Jesus is taken up into the clouds. Where is Jesus? Those who wrote this story and so much else about those experiences with the Risen Jesus did…
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Easter Season, 2017 A Presider ponders presiding by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Our Community at prayer is such a powerful and grace-filled event that it is important for you to know the perspectives that your presiders bring to the experience. Perhaps it will deepen your own views on the what, the how, and the why…
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“Announce & Recognize; Hear & See in Freedom”© by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Homily thoughts on the Third Sunday of Easter, April 30, 2017 Interesting, isn’t it, that the Easter appearances of the Risen Jesus seem to be a chronological jumble. Easter morning begins with angels announcing from the empty tomb, “He is not…
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“Give Me This Water……”© by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Homily thoughts on the Third Sunday of Lent, March 19, 2017 In today’s Gospel Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. He commits the unspeakable by speaking to this person who is a member of the “other” people, the alienated ones who are different from…
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“What makes us click?”© by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Homily thoughts on the Second Sunday of Lent, March 12, 2017 Today’s Gospel is the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Following a vision of Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah the disciples hear a heavenly voice that proclaims Jesus to be God’s Beloved One. This…
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The Future of God-With-Us by Rev. Jim Ryan, Ph.D. What little I know of retail sales I learned from two masters, Stevie & Gus Breslauer. While attending seminary in Hyde Park in Chicago the Breslauers employed me as a part-time sales clerk in their department store of the same name, Breslauer’s. The store was located…
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Resistance Ethics in a Time of Chaos Rev. Jim Ryan This is the third week of our exploration of the Experience of the Divine. To date we have seen that as this experience of the divine grows and deepens the longer we trust its presence. This experience necessarily leads to being aware and conscious of…
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But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) by Rev. Jim Ryan Experience of the divine necessarily leads to being aware and conscious of the divine. Consciousness of the divine grounds conviction. And the conviction here is that the divine surrounds us in our experience. Some may say that there is a circular…
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