For my brother Craig following his suicide
Funeral Meditation for Craig L. Hottinger October 7, 2020, Marion, Ohio Rev. David Hottinger Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13.8-12 (The Message) Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is … Continue reading →
Surrounded by Saints (COVID-19 and George Floyd version)
Sermon at Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ July 5, 2020 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,[a] and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter … Continue reading →
Broken open at the abandoned places: a Holy Week reflection
Awareness of God does not come by degrees: from timidity to intellectual certainty; it is not a decision reached at the crossroads of doubt. It comes when, drifting in the wilderness, having gone astray, we suddenly behold the immutable polar star. Out of endless anxiety, out of denial and despair, the soul bursts out in … Continue reading →
Why Paul Matters: On Following Jesus in the Shadows of 21st Century Empire
Why Paul Matters: Following Jesus in 21st Century Empire David Hottinger Mayflower Church, June 17, 2012 Reading: II Corinthians 5-6 Hmm…I am not sure whose idea it was to have a series on Paul here at Mayflower. In many progressive Christian circles today, the very mention of Paul is met with a collective groan of … Continue reading →
Desiring the Real
In the Sermon on the Mount, original humanity speaks. Blessed are the poor in spirit means, “The new time is here, the time of the liberated heart, and lucky are the marginalized people who haven’t learned society’s way of ignoring the heart and its real hunger. They’ve really lucked out, in this new age when … Continue reading →
Christmas in Occupied Bethlehem (or why we must face the darkness to experience the Light)
The light of Christ is a persistent light. It shines through the most powerfully oppressive darkness, shines in the midst of devastation, disaster and upheaval, yet without explaining them, justifying them, or making sense of them. The gospel of incarnation and resurrection is not the answer to a set of questions. It is a persistent … Continue reading →
In the Valley of Tears: an Advent reflection, part 1
Jesus wept. “I am so sorry. I told myself that I wouldn’t cry today,” the elderly woman said to me as we stood at the bedside of her dying daughter. Martha was a faithful, church-going Christian. I doubted if she ever missed a Sunday in her small-town parish. Now, here she was in an urban, … Continue reading →
“Ain’t no way I deserve this:” A Tale of Grace in Dixie
My nostrils were already overwhelmed by the stench of spilled beer and stale smoke. As I knocked on the door of the trailer, Ralph eyed me suspiciously through the screen and then let me in with a grunt. “A fine mess of my street all of these n*****s have made,” Ralph pronounced with clenched fists. … Continue reading →
Alleluia Death?
Death surrenders us completely to God; it makes us pass into God. In return we have to surrender ourselves to it, in love and in the abandon of love, since, when death comes to us, there is nothing further for us to do but let ourselves be entirely dominated and led onwards by God… Lord … Continue reading →
Keeping the Heart Open in Hell
The question in the face of suffering is not, what can we say? but what can we bear to hear? ~Herb Anderson I wanted to run away from this man, his situation, his suffering. Bill had been one of my patients for nearly a year, and providing him spiritual care turned out to be one … Continue reading →
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