God Laughs

God Laughs

Their Promises

Ken beings by telling a story from when he was three years old, and he made a funny comment about an older person. Our message series is called “God Laughs,” based on the Yiddish saying “We plan, God laughs,” and there is nothing more disruptive to our plans than death. He shares thoughts about a book called “No Cure For Being Human,” written by a woman who discovered she had stage 4 cancer at age 35; and a story about…

Melting Ground

Beth begins by sharing a story from when she was a child and she experienced a near drowning.  She talks about how she thought she’d been standing on solid ground, but that it seemed to melt beneath her feet. This pandemic has felt very much like the sensation of the ground beneath your feet dissolving. She shares a story about a person refusing to leave a flooded home because they’re clinging to a belief that they’ll be saved. Finally, she…

By Name

Rev. Lee begins by talking about the saga of the Maryland zebras on the loose. She then shares a story about a friend’s baby learning the words of things in the world – dog, ant, goat, fish – and how naming these things once calmed him down in the middle of a bad crying fit. This is actually a powerful tool for bringing someone out of an anxiety attack. She talks a bit about what it means to heal, and…

Held Together

This week, Rev. Lee shares stories of things that are held together in unconventional ways. She shares stories from a colleague who have a late 90s Suburban – now held together with duct tape as more and more systems fail over the years – and a colleague who keeps what remnants she still has of her baby blanket in a small ceramic container. We find ways of holding things together when they mean something to us. Held Together [00:00:05] Speaker1Thank…

Chances Are

This week, our Message begins with a story about Beethoven. Rev. Ken remarks on how apropos our new message series, “God Laughs,” is this week, since we are not gathered together in Bell Hall like we were just a week ago. This message seried gets its name from a Yiddish proverb “We plan, God laughs.” He talks about the importance of keeping covenants with one another, even though we realize that plans may fall through. This was demonstrated recently when…