CHURCH of the NEBULAS SPIRIT
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Monday, February 21, 2005
Standard Response
Well the Third Church is focused on people a bit right now. Well that and Pancakes, but then again why shouldn't we focus on pancakes? Light and fluffy and oh so tasty! We love them here, in fact we're going to serve breakfast this morning while the sermon is going so please try not to smack and chew so loudly that your neighbor can't hear the preacher!
Okay, so people... we'll make this short and sweet cause that bacon sizzling is callin' my name. Here goes.
How many times a day do you walk down the road and either say some sort of variation of, or hear from someone else a variation of "Hello how are you?" "G'day, howzitgoin'?" or something like that? How many times have you, without thought said something like "Fine, you?" or "good, you" and not even thought about what you were saying. If you were having a horrible day I'm sure you said "fine or good" if you were tired you'd have answered the same. The other person probably would have as well.
Actually this has been tried and tested by a gentleman I knew back in the states. His name was Norm and he had Cerebral Palsy. He said he'd be walking down the street (yes his walking and whole physical demeanor was affected by the CP so he "looked" more handicapped than he was) and people would see him coming. They'd automatically do the "Hello, how are you?" and for a while Norm thought they were talking to him, really asking him... so he'd say "I'm fine" and they'd say "That's nice" and walk away without ever really hearing what he'd say. Finally one day someone said "Hi Norm how are you?" and he said "I'm really upset and not having a good day at all." When they said "That's nice" and kept on walking it really made him think. The next person that said "Hi Norm How Are You?" Norm was gonna test 'em and see if they were listening to him. So when it happened instead of the typical answer Norm said "can you hear me? or are you a jerk?" and the person simply said "That's Nice" and kept walking.
The moral of this story is simple. Don't ask if you don't want to hear, and to ignore if you've asked. Or simply "Say what you mean, and mean what you say." Think about that the next time you greet someone in the street. When you say "Hello, how are you?" Mean it... listen to their answer... you might make someone's day.
Amen
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the word was delivered at:
.........................Well the Third Church is focused on people a bit right now. Well that and Pancakes, but then again why shouldn't we focus on pancakes? Light and fluffy and oh so tasty! We love them here, in fact we're going to serve breakfast this morning while the sermon is going so please try not to smack and chew so loudly that your neighbor can't hear the preacher!
Okay, so people... we'll make this short and sweet cause that bacon sizzling is callin' my name. Here goes.
How many times a day do you walk down the road and either say some sort of variation of, or hear from someone else a variation of "Hello how are you?" "G'day, howzitgoin'?" or something like that? How many times have you, without thought said something like "Fine, you?" or "good, you" and not even thought about what you were saying. If you were having a horrible day I'm sure you said "fine or good" if you were tired you'd have answered the same. The other person probably would have as well.
Actually this has been tried and tested by a gentleman I knew back in the states. His name was Norm and he had Cerebral Palsy. He said he'd be walking down the street (yes his walking and whole physical demeanor was affected by the CP so he "looked" more handicapped than he was) and people would see him coming. They'd automatically do the "Hello, how are you?" and for a while Norm thought they were talking to him, really asking him... so he'd say "I'm fine" and they'd say "That's nice" and walk away without ever really hearing what he'd say. Finally one day someone said "Hi Norm how are you?" and he said "I'm really upset and not having a good day at all." When they said "That's nice" and kept on walking it really made him think. The next person that said "Hi Norm How Are You?" Norm was gonna test 'em and see if they were listening to him. So when it happened instead of the typical answer Norm said "can you hear me? or are you a jerk?" and the person simply said "That's Nice" and kept walking.
The moral of this story is simple. Don't ask if you don't want to hear, and to ignore if you've asked. Or simply "Say what you mean, and mean what you say." Think about that the next time you greet someone in the street. When you say "Hello, how are you?" Mean it... listen to their answer... you might make someone's day.
Amen
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Sunday, February 13, 2005
No Time For The Humans? Well make some time!
Welcome to today’s sermon.
Hopefully everyone has had a wonderful week and weekend and is ready and rearing to go for another round. Okay, so that’s probably not true, I know we could all do with a few more days off from work. That’s life unfortunately, everyone could always do with a few days off… especially if they were paid days off. I'm sure we'll all need a few moments wishful thinking and peaceful daydreaming bliss here so continue reading whenever you're ready after staring out into space and thinking of a nice long holiday somewhere...
So the sermon today is about humanity and business. What a jolt back into reality, and not two words you see together too often are they. I mean, look out there in that big wide world, and you’ll see all sorts of things that don’t even taken one whip of notice about humanity. There are homeless people who are walked by on a daily basis. There are business people who would rather jump out of windows than stay in their office, or who never have the opportunity to leave their office. There are people sitting at home reading this wishing they had some sort of work, and people who wish that they didn’t have to work at all. There are people not reading this because they don't have a home to sit in so how could they possibly have a computer. That’s humanity.
In the world today it becomes more and more the norm to sit back with the daily grind and not take notice or ignore what is going on (ignoring probably more than actually not noticing. It’s so easy to ignore.). Hey, most of the time a little ignorance is a good safety mechanism. Being out of the loop, not understanding… being ignorant is easy. Most of the time people are so busy with the report for the week, or the assignment that is due, or the lesson to write, or the burger to flip, or the billion other things associated with work-life to notice anything else going on around them.
This week though, and here’s the catch, try to do something nice for someone. It can be as simple as giving a co-worker a cup of coffee on Monday morning and saying “you look like you need this.” Or helping some random tourist who is trying frantically and unsuccessfully to read a street map and find a location on your way home from work. You might not know where they’re looking for either, but at least you’ve stopped and tried. Do something you’ve been dying to do, go to that movie you wanted to see and invite a friend it won't kill you to stay up late one time on a "school night", take your partner out for a nice dinner (hey it’s Valentine’s Day Monday after all).
Help someone lacking what you take for granted on a daily basis. Buy a copy of a Street Newspaper or a copy of The Big Issue (Don’t know what they are? They’re newspapers that discuss homelessness and all the issues surrounding it. They are sold by homeless people who have been given a chance at having a job, and a way to move their station of life with some dignity. Check it out.).
Rene Descartes said “The passionate are the only advocates who always persuade. The simplest man with passion will be more persuasive than the most eloquent without.” Saw that in the midst of some reading yesterday evening and it struck me as a powerful quote. Lots of times here in Third Church you’ll see something about “war mongers” and how awful they are, or about “family” and how it’s what you make it. You’ll hear some AMENs, but you won’t see anyone saying “repent and thou shalt be saved.” AMEN just has fewer letters than “The End” and takes less time to type! All this stuff is said with passion, sometimes it might seem like nothing, sometimes it’s joking, sometimes silly, sometimes funny… always passionate.
It’s time people started being passionate about people, (not with… though that’s good too…) but about. It's easy to continue with business as usual, and oh so easy to sit back and say “that’s not my problem” or “I don’t know them” or to simply ignore it and not say anything at all. It’s also easy to notice. It doesn’t take much to help someone, or to support or to listen to a friend or co-worker who needs someone to talk to, or to befriend someone new who needs it. You don’t have to change your life to make a difference, but you’d be surprised how much you can change someone else’s with a simple gesture of humanity. Heck, just think about it, if you take time out for yourself even, how much better does allowing yourself to be human make YOU feel?
This week take time out for the humans.
AMEN
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the word was delivered at:
.........................Welcome to today’s sermon.
Hopefully everyone has had a wonderful week and weekend and is ready and rearing to go for another round. Okay, so that’s probably not true, I know we could all do with a few more days off from work. That’s life unfortunately, everyone could always do with a few days off… especially if they were paid days off. I'm sure we'll all need a few moments wishful thinking and peaceful daydreaming bliss here so continue reading whenever you're ready after staring out into space and thinking of a nice long holiday somewhere...
So the sermon today is about humanity and business. What a jolt back into reality, and not two words you see together too often are they. I mean, look out there in that big wide world, and you’ll see all sorts of things that don’t even taken one whip of notice about humanity. There are homeless people who are walked by on a daily basis. There are business people who would rather jump out of windows than stay in their office, or who never have the opportunity to leave their office. There are people sitting at home reading this wishing they had some sort of work, and people who wish that they didn’t have to work at all. There are people not reading this because they don't have a home to sit in so how could they possibly have a computer. That’s humanity.
In the world today it becomes more and more the norm to sit back with the daily grind and not take notice or ignore what is going on (ignoring probably more than actually not noticing. It’s so easy to ignore.). Hey, most of the time a little ignorance is a good safety mechanism. Being out of the loop, not understanding… being ignorant is easy. Most of the time people are so busy with the report for the week, or the assignment that is due, or the lesson to write, or the burger to flip, or the billion other things associated with work-life to notice anything else going on around them.
This week though, and here’s the catch, try to do something nice for someone. It can be as simple as giving a co-worker a cup of coffee on Monday morning and saying “you look like you need this.” Or helping some random tourist who is trying frantically and unsuccessfully to read a street map and find a location on your way home from work. You might not know where they’re looking for either, but at least you’ve stopped and tried. Do something you’ve been dying to do, go to that movie you wanted to see and invite a friend it won't kill you to stay up late one time on a "school night", take your partner out for a nice dinner (hey it’s Valentine’s Day Monday after all).
Help someone lacking what you take for granted on a daily basis. Buy a copy of a Street Newspaper or a copy of The Big Issue (Don’t know what they are? They’re newspapers that discuss homelessness and all the issues surrounding it. They are sold by homeless people who have been given a chance at having a job, and a way to move their station of life with some dignity. Check it out.).
Rene Descartes said “The passionate are the only advocates who always persuade. The simplest man with passion will be more persuasive than the most eloquent without.” Saw that in the midst of some reading yesterday evening and it struck me as a powerful quote. Lots of times here in Third Church you’ll see something about “war mongers” and how awful they are, or about “family” and how it’s what you make it. You’ll hear some AMENs, but you won’t see anyone saying “repent and thou shalt be saved.” AMEN just has fewer letters than “The End” and takes less time to type! All this stuff is said with passion, sometimes it might seem like nothing, sometimes it’s joking, sometimes silly, sometimes funny… always passionate.
It’s time people started being passionate about people, (not with… though that’s good too…) but about. It's easy to continue with business as usual, and oh so easy to sit back and say “that’s not my problem” or “I don’t know them” or to simply ignore it and not say anything at all. It’s also easy to notice. It doesn’t take much to help someone, or to support or to listen to a friend or co-worker who needs someone to talk to, or to befriend someone new who needs it. You don’t have to change your life to make a difference, but you’d be surprised how much you can change someone else’s with a simple gesture of humanity. Heck, just think about it, if you take time out for yourself even, how much better does allowing yourself to be human make YOU feel?
This week take time out for the humans.
AMEN
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Sunday, February 06, 2005
Our Ladies of the Cloth here at The Third Church know what is most important... a good drink, at a good bar! Amen 
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