“THE POOR”
The Sermon at the First Parish in Wayland
By the Rev. Ken Sawyer
On March 7, 2010
The poor. That’s my assignment. Every year both Erin and I have a sermon title or topic put up for auction to help raise money for the church. I thank Barbara Buell for her generous bid and for having thought [...]
“LOVE AND DEATH ON VALENTINE’S DAY”
The Sermon at the First Parish in Wayland, Mass
On February 14, 2010
By the Rev. Ken Sawyer
Here it is, Valentine’s Day, and the choir is favoring us with four numbers that capture four kinds of love: eros, philia, agape, and caritas. So it seemed that I should preach about love, [...]
“HOLDING ON OR MOVING ON”
The Sermon at the First Parish in Wayland, Massachusetts
By the Rev. Ken Sawyer
On February 7, 2010
I suppose it is probably time to forgive Jimmy Boyd, who opened the cage door, letting my parakeet fly away. I don’t think he was entirely aware what the consequences of his action would be. After [...]
“WHAT ABOUT THE BIBLE?”
A Sermon Preached at the First Parish in Wayland, Mass.
by the Rev. Ken Sawyer
on January 31, 2010
It seems that about every ten years it occurs to me that I haven’t discussed the role of the Bible in a typical Unitarian Universalist church like our own, that the newer among us here may [...]
“AN AWESOME AMBIGUITY”
The Sermon at the First Parish in Wayland, Massachusetts
On January 17, 2010
By the Rev. Ken Sawyer
I heard an interview on National Public Radio with the prolific author Richard Holmes, who has written extensively about the Romantic poets of early nineteenth century England, Coleridge and Shelley in particular. He was discussing his latest book, [...]
“WITH THANKS FOR WHAT HELPS
WHEN THE GOING GETS HARD”
The Sermon at the First Parish in Wayland, Massachusetts
On January 3, 2010
By the Rev. Ken Sawyer
[The sermon was preceded by the choir singing, “Hard Times Come Again No More.”]
Still, the hard times they do come around once more, and then again, and again, although sometimes only cause [...]
“EMERSON: PROSE POET OF PARADOX”
The Sermon at the First Parish in Wayland
The Rev. Ken Sawyer
October 4, 2009
For many years, I have met monthly with people as together we read our way through a book or the work of an author. One can come as often or as infrequently as one chooses, and you only have [...]
“GOING APOPHATIC: THE SPIRITUALITY OF EMPTYING”
The Sermon at the First Parish in Wayland, Massachusetts
On November 29, 2009
By the Rev. Ken Sawyer
A month ago, I preached about silence. That sermon is on line at www.uuwayland.org, and printed copies are available. I drew on a book by the Cape Cod writer Anne D. LeClaire called, Listening Below [...]
“IN PRAISE OF REASON”
The First Parish in Wayland, Massachusetts
The Rev. Ken Sawyer
November 8, 2009
I met last week with both of our youth groups in turn, which was a great pleasure. In both cases there was some fun and there was some heady, thoughtful discussion, mostly about religion. In both groups, one of the questions that [...]
“Memory, Gratitude, Remorse, and Resolve”
The Thanksgiving Sunday Homily
At the First Parish in Wayland, Massachusetts
On November 22, 2009
By the Rev. Ken Sawyer
There is a new documentary film out about Lydia Maria Child, produced by a California film-maker, Constance Jackson, narrated by the actress Diahann Carroll, and featuring numerous shots of the First Parish in Wayland, both [...]