June 25, 2006
Gretta begins by reflecting upon gardening — her own mishaps — and the more successful efforts of gardening gurus like Jennifer Heath and Marjorie Harris. Successful gardening requires planning. Then Gretta turns her reflection to the richer soil of spiritual life at West Hill United Church. What has brought us to this place? And where are we going on this journey of ours? Yes, there has been planning, but there is an element of the contingent that must be accommodated in every plan, and that is no less true of our journey at West Hill. Today’s readings are from Habukkuk 2 and Matthew 7:24—27.
26.7 Mb; 24:50 min.
June 18, 2006
On Father’s day, Gretta reflects on Superheroes. She uses the example of Peter Parker (aka Spiderman) whose greatest challenges aren’t physical, but come from the difficult choices he must make. How we make our difficult choices is a function of our moral stance. Gretta reviews some traditional ways of grounding our choices from both philosophy and religion. How do we extrapolate from traditional notions to today’s context which includes challenges that earlier thinkers and believers could not even have imagined? This morning’s meditation is draws inspiration from Proverbs and Baltasar Gracian.
30.5 Mb; 27:39 min.
June 11, 2006
This week’s meditation is supported by readings from Romans 14:5—23 and an excerpt from “Silence” by Christina Feldman. Gretta begins by reflecting upon family, a place where people find themselves living together closely with others whose ways of functioning may be vastly different from our own. We find that such differences also exist within the church family. We each find ourselves nourished in our faith through different practices, from different histories, choosing to move forward along different paths. How do we live authentically in family notwithstanding our differences? Westhill is intentionally seeking ways to work through this question.
19.2 Mb; 17:25 min.
June 04, 2006
Rick Miller, co—author of the play, Bigger Than Jesus, offers an introduction to the thinking of Richard Dawkins. Dawkins is a zoologist and outspoken opponent of creationist and intelligent design “theories.” He is best known for his idea of the meme. Ever notice how an idea can take on a life all its own? That’s a meme —an idea, notion, word, even a culture, to which an evolutionary model can be applied to account for its changes and development. Perhaps we in the progressive context have a responsibility to put our memes “out there” and to nurture their growth.
24.4 Mb; 28:16 min.