Posted by Rev. David on October 26, 2012
When I was at the U.S. Army Chaplain’s School at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, there was a day in class that we were responding to hypothetical counseling situations. One of the scenarios presented to us was that of a young woman who came to us for counseling after having been raped. She did not know [...]
Categories: God, liberal faith, Military Chaplaincy, politics, theology
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Tags: abortion, chaplain, conservative christian, conservative christianity, faith, fundamentalist, fundamentalist christianity, God, Jesus, justice, liberal faith, military chaplain, mourdock, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, politics, Prophetic Voice, rape, theology
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4 comments
Posted by Rev. David on September 7, 2012
I promised myself that I would not move into my “occasional political musings” this election season until after the conventions were over. Well, the speeches in Charlotte and Tampa are done, and now I feel that there are some things that I have to say… President Obama is not a Liberal Socialist who believes that [...]
Categories: Equality, Patriotism, politics
| Tags: activism, David Pyle, draft, election, guns, IMF, justice, liberal, liberal faith, liberal socialist, liberalism, national healthcare, Obama, politics, socialism, socialist, World Bank
| 2 comments
Posted by Rev. David on June 27, 2012
Oh Lord, Is this really where we are? A man once said, “I believe, but help my unbelief”. I’m not sure I ever understood, until I myself had to cry out to you, Is this really where we are, oh Lord. Are we really as far from the Kingdom of God as it sometimes seems? [...]
Categories: Equality, liberal faith, Prophetic Voice
| Tags: activism, Birmingham Jail, Christian, Equality, faith, hope, Jesus, justice, lament, liberal faith, Maricopa Jail, military chaplain, prayer, Prophetic Voice, psalm, psalmist, Spiritual Practice, standing on the side of love, theology
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Posted by Rev. David on May 10, 2012
One of the genre’s of Science Fiction that I love is what is called “near future Sci-Fi”. These are stories set to occur in the next 200 years or so. What I love about them is that they “forecast” out not into some far off fantastic future, but into the coming decades and centuries. In [...]
Categories: Patriotism, politics, Prophetic Voice
| Tags: academic achievement, America, American, American Exceptionalism, American irrelevance, american military power, city on a hill, diplomacy, History, justice, liberal, liberal faith, liberalism, politics, Prophetic Voice, sermon on the mount, technology, theology, United States military power
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Posted by Rev. David on March 30, 2012
One of the aspects of a Clinical Pastoral Education Residency that was most valuable to me was spending a year with ministers from other religious traditions, being required to have deep discussions about theology, about pastoral care, and about our life experiences. It not only helped me to broaden my own horizon, but it also [...]
Categories: liberal faith, theology
| Tags: book, Christian, David Pyle, faith, God, good and evil, hope, justice, liberal, liberal christian systemic theology, liberal faith, nature of god, religion, Rev. Pyle, Spiritual Practice, systemic theology, theology, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, UU systemic theology, write a book
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Posted by Rev. David on January 20, 2012
Break not that circle of enabling love, Where people grow, forgiven and forgiving, Break not that circle, make it wider still, Till it includes, embraces all the living. –Hymn 323, Singing the Living Tradition Recently, the conversation has begun again about what makes a Unitarian Universalist. Are you only a Unitarian Universalist if you are [...]
Categories: Evangelism, Ministry, UU Movement
| Tags: activism, church growth, church outreach, David Pyle, Evangelism, faith, hope, justice, liberal, liberal faith, liberalism, Ministry, Peter Morales, Prophetic Voice, relationship, religion, religious movement, religious tradition, responsibility, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, UU movement, UU Principles, UUA
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Posted by Rev. David on November 24, 2011
On this day, Thanksgiving Day, I think we are remembering the wrong message. I think our society has taken the wrong meaning from the mythologized story of starving pilgrims, a coming hard winter, and Native Americans who shared. We give thanks to God, or to some sense of the Universe taking care of us for [...]
Categories: God, History, Turnings
| Tags: American, Christian, compassion, faith, indians, justice, meaning, meaning of thanksgiving, native americans, native peoples, pilgrims, relationship, responsibility, thanksgiving, thanksgiving indian, thanksgiving tribe, theology, tribes, wampanoag
| 2 comments
Posted by Rev. David on November 18, 2011
It is far easier for us humans to know what we are against than it is for us to know what we are for. Learned responses and internal morality can tell us if we are “against” something that we experience in our lives. We can know that we do not like the way our banking [...]
Categories: History, liberal faith, Patriotism, politics, Social Engagement
| Tags: activism, clergy, Equality, History, hope, justice, liberal, liberal faith, liberalism, occupy, occupy clergy, occupy movement, occupy protest, occupy wall street, politics, populism, populist, Prophetic Voice, relationship, responsibility, revolt, revolution, revolutionary
| 3 comments
Posted by Rev. David on November 11, 2011
When I reflect on the few years after “coming home” from Bosnia, the years before some friends and a veteran counselor helped me to “get my head back on straight”, I realize that I had more than my share of luck. I was lucky to be in a university that had a large and experienced [...]
Categories: Military, Turnings, Veterans
| Tags: activism, Bosnia, chaplain, Chrys Parker, combat stress reaction, David Pyle, faith, History, homeless veteran, homelessness, hunkered in the bunker, justice, Military, military chaplain, Prophetic Voice, ptsd, relationship, responsibility, veteran, Veteran's Day, war
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Posted by Rev. David on October 17, 2011
In the fall of 2011 I was honored to attend the first ever OutServe Leadership Conference. This was the first time for this organization of LGB persons actively serving in the military to gather publicly, since such public gatherings and recognition was made possible by the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Harass, Don’t [...]
Categories: Equality, Faith, liberal faith, Military, Military Chaplaincy, Ministry, Pastoral Care, Religious Freedom, Social Engagement
| Tags: activism, bi-sexual, chaplain, David Pyle, Equality, Evangelism, faith, Forum on the Military Chaplaincy, gay, GLBT, hope, justice, Las Vegas, lesbian, LGB, lgbt, liberal, liberal faith, Military, military chaplain, Ministry, Outserve, politics, Prophetic Voice, relationship, religion, responsibility, Service Members Legal Defense Network, SLDN, soldier, unitairan, Unitarian, Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist, Universalism, Universalist, UU, UU Military, UU Principles
| 4 comments
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