Unfinished Business

ORDINARY LIFE - Thoughts and Ideas to Help You Live a Happier Life

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Summary of Ordinary Life for March 2, 2025

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Dear Ones -

All people who register for the Nadia Bolz-Weber event will receive a link prior to the event that will allow for live-streaming. So that even if you live in Houston or near by and can’t attend the event in person, you will be able to participate that way. To learn more about and register for this event, click here.

This week Dr. Holly Hudley taught Ordinary Life. I am grateful to and for her! Her teaching was titled -

Unfinished Business

In the face of the turmoil going on in our country Holly spoke to the question many people ask, “What can I do?” She also lifted up aspects of our life, historic and current, we might not otherwise see. The full text is worth the reading, even if you heard it in person. The text is linked below.

I asked Holly to teach because I gave the sermon at both services at St. Paul’s. You can view or hear the sermon on the St. Paul’s website and I’m including a pdf on the Ordinary Life website page for this Sunday. The link is below.

If you are interested in making a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here. There is an option to scroll to “Ordinary Life” as the option for how to designation your gift. Thank you!

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

To read or download the text from which Holly spoke, click here.

To read or download the sermon “Words Matter,” click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

If you would like to listen to or download today’s talk, you can use the audio player below.

Thinking Critically - Living Faithfully

Dear Ones -

All people who register for the Nadia Bolz-Weber event will receive a link prior to the event that will allow for live-streaming. So that even if you live in Houston or near by and can’t attend the event in person, you will be able to participate that way. To learn more about and register for this event, click here.

I stole the title of my teaching this week from the masthead of The Christian Century -

Thinking Critically - Living Faithfully

Every hero’s story begins with a challenge. So does the Jesus narrative. The story is referred to as “the temptations of Jesus.” Both Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell have helped me understand this tale better. The temptations of Jesus parallel the three crises that the Jews faced in their wilderness wanderings. We also face these temptations in the need to be effective, to be right, and to be in control. I offer a passage by Hannah Arendt about the effect lies told by our political leaders has on our culture. Walking the wayless way requires critical thinking, courage, and endurance. I also give a brief summary of both progressive and regressive theologies and close with a poem by Rosemary Trommer.

That’s a brief summary. Information about how to find the full text and video are below.

The audio/video versions of the talk has some differences from the text I spoke from. You can find the text of the talk, the presentation slides and links to the audio and video version of the talk using the links below.

If you are interested in making a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here. There is an option to scroll to “Ordinary Life” as the option for how to designate your gift. Thank you!

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

In order to read or download the text of the talk, click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

In order to download or to listen to the audio recording of today’s talk, please use the audio player below.

How Did We End Up Here?

Dear Ones -

All people who register for the Nadia Bolz-Weber event will receive a link prior to the event that will allow for live-streaming. So that even if you live in Houston or near by and can’t attend the event in person, you will be able to participate that way. To learn more about and register for this event, click here.

This week in Ordinary Life I called the teaching I offered -

How Did We Get Here?

The time focused on the time “after Jesus and before Christianity.” Jesus was a Jew with a desire to reform his religion, not start a new one. He emphasized behavior and not beliefs. It is important to know how the teachings of Jesus became the religion we have today. We can apply what we learn about this to the cultural shifts we are experiencing. Our work is to find God in the here and now no matter how dark and meaningless our times may seem.

The audio/video versions of the talk has some differences from the text I spoke from. You can find the text of the talk, the presentation slides and links to the audio and video version of the talk using the links below.

If you are interested in making a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here. There is an option to scroll to “Ordinary Life” as the option for how to designation your gift. Thank you!

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

In order to read or download the text version of the talk, click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

If you would like to download or just listen to today’s talk, you can use the audio player below.

If you would like to watch the video of today’s talk, click on the YouTube link below.

Malcolm Scott on Resilience

ORDINARY LIFE - Thoughts and Ideas to Help You Live a Happier Life

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Summary of Ordinary Life for February 9, 2025

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Dear Ones -

Two matters for your calendar:

First, Ordinary Life Happy Hour is this Saturday. Check the Ordinary Life website for details. This is a Valentine’s celebration! See you there.

Second, the Nadia Bolz-Weber event is open for registration. The event requiring registration is Saturday, March 22. The times she will be with us on the next day, Sunday, March 23, are free and open to all. Information about this event will be on public media soon so if you want to attend the Saturday evening event, register now. All information is on the Ordinary Life website page. Click here.

There is no text of what was offered in Ordinary Life this week. Malcom Scott told his story that stressed the role forgiveness played in his life of resilience. It was stunning! Malcolm was wrongly incarcerated for life in prison for a crime he did not commit. You can watch his story that was on dateline by clicking here. The video and audio will be up on the Ordinary Life website shortly after you receive this. If you were not able to attend, I highly recommend your watching it.

If you are interested in making a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here. There is an option to scroll to “Ordinary Life” as the option for how to designation your gift. Thank you!

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

To listen to or to download the audio recording of today’s talk, please use the audio player below.

If you would like to watch the video recording of today’s talk, you can click on the YouTube link below.