Sermons by Rev. Jason S. Glombicki (Page 62)

One of the first functions I learned when using a computer was the infamous restart using “Control-Alt-Delete.” Whenever things weren’t going right, “Control-Alt-Delete.” When the computer froze and wouldn’t work, “Control-Alt-Delete.” And when I’d call for help the IT person often would say, “did you try restarting it with… Control-Alt-Delete?”…

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book entitled “The Tipping Point,” he challenges the reader to make a list of the people whose death would truly leave them devastated. Let’s try it – count the number of people. Gladwell says that twelve people is the average. Those people you listed make up what psychologists call our “sympathy group.” A sympathy group is that circle of people with whom we can closely connect. Often this group includes one’s extended family or ethnicity, and they become the in-group; everyone else in the world, by default, become the out-group.[1] What do we do with this biological tendency to make in-groups and out-groups? …

It’s been quite a week. Let’s begin with a quick check-in on where you are today. If you were to sum up how you felt last week in one word, what would it be? (Think about it; then, share with a neighbor.) Well, if you asked me the same question, I’d say annoyed. It seemed like everyone and everything annoyed me. Here at the church the front doors didn’t work, the copier broke, and Microsoft Word drove me absolutely bonkers with the Annual Report. And those are the most benign examples here at the church. I could give examples from my life on a personal level and political level as well. One thing after another was flat out annoying. ..