GOD BLESS EVERYONE--NO EXCEPTIONS

My sermon this morning was called "God Bless Everyone--No Exceptions." That's not how it appeared in the bulletin due to some kind of  a mix-up. But this is an excerpt from my manuscript should you care to read it. It's quite a bit longer than my usual blog postings, so I won't be disappointed or hurt if you aren't interested (but on the other hand, I won't know anyway, will I?). 
     Some of you don’t know that I was part of the folk song generation growing up.I was also part of the rock and roll era early on, but my interest quickly shifted to folk songs when Peter, Paul, and Mary, the Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger and a whole lot of other people showed up on the music scene. I sang in a few coffee houses, played in a blue grass band, and provided music at the Music Pier in Ocean City on youth weekends. From that, of course, there was a natural transition into the music of John Denver and James Taylor and others of their genre. And I’ve pretty much stayed with that, although for my listening enjoyment these days I also tune in to jazz and classical music on National Public Radio, which is really the only radio station I ever listen to.

     It shouldn’t be too surprising for you then to learn that patriotic songs for me were the likes of “This Land Is Your Land” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” That’s where I came from musically, my friends. Don’t hold it against me.I don’t deny my past because I’m still pretty much in that place now. And that’s the way it is for all of us. We’re born into a particular flow of life based on the era into which we entered this world, and in the midst of it, get into step with whatever resonates most with the rhythm of our innermost being.That’s how it happens—not just in America—but all around the world. People in other countries on other continents are born into a lifestyle so different from ours that there is almost no way we can relate to it.And quite honestly, we often tend to think that theirs is inferior to ours.

     But even just sticking to our country, there is a multitude of differences of opinions, styles of life, preferences of place to live and move and have our being, chosen religious affiliations and beliefs, favorite food, music, and things to do. Yet here’s the thing—and it is an undeniable truth: none of us has had a thing to do with where in the world we were born and into which family we were born and whether we came into the world rich or poor,athletic or clumsy, musical or “can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” as they say.None of those things are either to our credit or are our fault. It’s just the way life is.

     Each member of the human family is born into the particular conditions of the time and place in which they entered the world.We come out of our mother’s womb curiously looking at the faces that are staring back at us, trying to get our bearings as to what just happened to us and where we are. And eventually we find our place in this little blue planet and come to terms with its peculiarities and quirks, and discover what we think we believe, and what we like, and sometimes what we want to do with our lives.

     My father used to say to me, “Son, you’ll never regret the experience.” He said that to me even when I was drafted into the army. I can’t say that I agreed with him when I was doing KP or going through basic training or standing at attention during inspections while someone was especially interested in being able to see his face in my shoes. But when the army experience was finally over, it turned out that my father was right--I didn't regret it.

     The point is that each of us have our own stories that are being written in the annals of human history. It’s true for us on the soil of this great country in which we live and it’s true for the people all over this planet who consider their country great.And all of us in the human family are in this thing called life together. But, of course, we have no choice, do we? There's nowhere else for us to go.We are all on this tiny globe in space somewhere in the vastness of the universe.
     One day when Jesus was asked what are the most important commandments he said, that the first is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Then he said the second commandment is to "Love your neighbor as yourself." In another place he said, "You have heard that it was said,'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

     In other words, as a bumper sticker I saw one day driving through Princeton said, “God bless everyone—no exceptions.” Now when I say that, I imagine some of you saying to yourself, "Everyone?" And my response to that is, "Yes--everyone--no exceptions." But I also want to make clear exactly what is meant by God's blessing. It doesn't mean that God blesses everyone, whether good or evil, as in an approving Divine gesture. Instead God's blessing gives to each just what is needed to empower us with goodness. God's blessing is filled with the power for healing, changing, renewal, as well as peace, love, joy, and hope. And that's something that everyone needs.
     So to ask for God's blessing for everyone--no exceptions--is to ask that all humankind receive what is needed to bring about a world that is energized by love and goodwill for everyone--a planet of harmony and peace, including the transformation of those with evil intent into people of good intent. As Paul wrote to the Church in Rome, "Overcome evil with good." It's a pretty powerful concept. If we could only all sing the "one song." The word "universe" can be divided into "uni" meaning one and "verse" meaning song.

Generous Hearts

We have been gifted a trip to Italy! That's the second time in our marriage that the generosity of other people has sent us to places we never expected to go. The first was a wonderful trip to Ireland for our honeymoon. Our usual vacations are either camping, renting a house on LBI, or day trips. We're very excited, of course, along with a little apprehensive regarding our travel skills for Europe, but we won't be traveling alone. Our son, Tim, and his girlfriend (who grew up in Rome, just three blocks from the Vatican) will be our tour guides. 

But the thing that's mostly on my mind in the writing of this, is the generosity of the human spirit. 

We live in a world that easily causes people to feel insecure, fearful, greedy, distrusting, and angry. Society has created a sense of life that in some ways feels threatening to our well-being. And, of course, there is a truth to the fact that people do get hurt in hundreds of ways in making their way through life's journey.


But generosity in its deepest and most meaningful sense is the calling of everyone who would earnestly seek to make this a better and more congenial world for the whole human family.  When I say "human family" I mean everybody regardless of age and background, how much money you have in the bank, how many degrees you have hanging on the wall, and regardless of your religious affiliation. (Religion, by the way, is irrelevant if it is merely a way of practicing some form of ritual for the sake of having completed a spiritual obligation and/or represents a form of elitism and doesn't create a generous heart.)

A truly generous heart doesn't require the spending of money.It is completely free for those who choose to express it. It merely involves being loving, open, compassionate, forgiving, sympathetic, empathetic, kind, inclusive, nonjudgemental and sensitive to the feelings of others. 

Sound trite? I don't apologize for that. For those of us who claim the Christian faith, that is the Way of Christ--nothing less. But beyond that, for anyone who would seek to make the world a better place--even in simplest way--having a generous heart is the greatest contribution any of us can make toward that end.