This is a holy weekend. Today, many of our Christian friends are celebrating Candlemas, which commemorates the day the baby Jesus was presented by his parents to the priests in the Temple. It is also the day when the candles for the church year are traditionally blessed. Today is also Groundhog Day and Superbowl Sunday, and I imagine that some of us celebrate one or both of those. And yesterday, February 1st, our friends and neighbors from pagan and earth-centered traditions – including,...
“Holy Envy” by Mark W. Harris – Easter Sermon – April 21, 2019
“Holy Envy” by Mark W. Harris – UUs often say that we don’t believe in that resurrection story, but that we believe in science where dead people don’t come back to life. Yet do we sometimes long for one transforming belief, and have holy envy towards those who do believe?
“Lost Sheep” Christmas Eve 2018 – by Mark W. Harris
“Lost Sheep” by Mark W. Harris – Christmas Eve Homily- I was a young shepherd in those days wandering the hills and valleys with a fairly large flock of sheep, at least 100. . .
“Easter Magic” by Andrea Greenwood – April 1, 2018
“Easter Magic” by Andrea Greenwood -Years and years ago, out pickling berries with my two year old, O asked him how he found so many and he answered very simply: “I open my eyes.” What do you see on Easter morning when the eyes of your eyes are opened? What treasures are hiding nearby, awaiting your discovery?
“Shepherds and Psalms” by Andrea Greenwood – March 4, 2018
“Shepherds and Psalms” by Andrea Greenwood -Somewhere I read that it was shepherds who started the whole notion of counting; that as their flocks grew too large to keep track of by name, they started to develop systems of numbering – which later transferred into methods for counting stitches in knitting. This put a whole new spin on the old advice to count sheep as a way to fall asleep, and got me thinking about shepherds . . .
Christmas Eve Homily – “Decorating Our Lives” by Mark W. Harris – December 24, 2017
Christmas Eve Homily – “Decorating Our Lives” – How do the ornaments we hang on our trees symbolize the stories of our lives, and the meaning we can share with others.
“What’s Good About Good Friday?” Mark W. Harris – March 27, 2016
“What’s Good About Good Friday?” Mark W. Harris Easter 2016 – March 27, 2016 – First Parish of Watertown Call to Worship – “spring song” by Lucille Clifton the green of Jesus is breaking the ground and the sweet smell of delicious Jesus is opening the house and the dance of Jesus music has hold of the air and the world is turning in the body of Jesus and the future is possible Reading – “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs About the lilting...
“Lest the Stones Cry Out” by Tracy Johnson – April 13, 2014
April 13, 2014 “Lest the Stones Cry Out” by Tracy Johnson Call to Worship : from A Space Between by Stephen Schick Now is never captured in words or shot still in pictures. Now is never visited in museums or in memories. Now is never dreamed of or longed for. Now is a timeless awareness, a space between what has been and what will be, a lens in the beam of our being where light can become peace. Sermon: There is a holy light in my back yard. Perhaps...
“WWJD and You” by Mark W. Harris – April 8, 2012
“WWJD and You” by Mark W. Harris First Parish of Watertown - Easter Sunday – April 8, 2012 Call to Worship Returning by Wendell Berry I was walking in a dark valley and above me the tops of the hills had caught the morning light. I heard the light singing as it went among the grassblades and the leaves. I waded upward through the shadow until my head emerged, my shoulders were mantled with the light, and my whole body came up out of the darkness, and stood on the...
“King James at 400” by Mark W. Harris March 20, 2011
“King James at 400” by Mark W. Harris March 20, 2011 – First Parish of Watertown, MA Call to Worship – from “The Word” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney Say the word and you'll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I'm thinking of Have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, It's sunshine It's the word, love In the beginning I misunderstood But now I've got it, the word is good Give the word a chance to say That the word is just the way It's the word I'm thinking of And the...