Matthew 2: 1-12
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

When I was about three years old, my parents did a remarkable thing that forever changed my life. They brought home my little brother. There is a picture of me with him shortly after he was home, sitting together on the couch. I’m all smiles in the picture, and my mother used to tell a story about how I looked up at her the day they brought Jeff home and said, “thank you for my little brother” – as if he had been a gift for me. (more…)

Luke 1: 39-45
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper
Why do we believe?

That is a dangerous question. Never mind that, if we are honest, each one of us is in a different state of belief and disbelief at any given moment. The truth is that all of us are in various stages of wonder during this time of year, wondering how much of this story is really true, and what does it all mean – so that I can’t be too sure this morning what exactly it is you do or don’t believe –But the question of what we believe isn’t first on my mind this morning. What I want to wrestle with this morning is: why do we believe? In our culture and world where nothing is taken for granted, no one’s word is trusted, nothing is taken on faith, as the expression goes: Why do we believe? (more…)

Luke 3: 7-18
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

My brother coaches high school football, and in talking with him, I’ve noticed that there are a lot of different kinds of football coaches. And there are different strategies and different styles of football. For example, one kind of coach is the coach who likes to run the same plays every game. He usually has a few good players who are good at a few plays, and instead of messing with a tried and true formula, he just runs the same good plays over and over. When you play a coach like that, you know what’s coming, and you can prepare for it, but you also know what they are really good at. The other extreme in this example is the coach who has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Maybe he has more talent on his team, or maybe he just like taking risks, but you can never be sure what play he is going to call. Sometimes he goes up the middle, sometimes he throws for a long pass, sometimes he’ll even call a reverse. When you play a guy like that, you can’t be sure what is going to come at you. All you know is that there will be a lot of razzle dazzle. (more…)

I noticed an interesting story from the United Methodist News Service (that’s right, we have a news service!).

In the newly elected Congress, there are 61 United Methodists. That number has been fairly constant in recent years. In the senate, there are 13 United Methodists, a number that places us second only to Catholics.

It is interesting to note that 30 states sent at least one United Methodist to congress. Not one was in New England.

Well, that tells us something about where we are strong. But still, considering that United Methodists roughly make up about 2-3% of the general population, we are very well represented in Congress. Why is it that United Methodists so often find themselves in positions of leadership?

When I am feeling pessimistic, I think it has more to do with our political system, which celebrates (somewhat superficially) church membership, even though it frowns upon church political action. But when I’m feeling optimistic, I think it’s because the United Methodist Church tends to produce people who take their faith seriously, and who want to impact the world because their faith calls them to social holiness. Such people are drawn to public office. And if we have done a good job forming them, such people can articulate a clear vision for a better world by sharing the values and observing the disciplines they learned in church.

Let’s hope that our 61 Untied Methodist representatives and senators will be the salt that flavors the whole congress.

Luke 3: 1-6
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

One summer while I was in seminary, I had the opportunity to spend six weeks as a volunteer at the Iona Community. The Iona Community is a small band of Christians who take a vow to live a life of spiritual discipline and social action. They also happen to run an ancient abbey located on the remote Scottish island of Iona, for which they take their name. The abbey serves as a retreat center for spiritual seekers, and is believed to be the place where Celtic Christianity was developed. The famous illustrated manuscripts of the gospels called the “Book of Kells” were believed to have been started there. The island is very small – you can walk around the whole thing in a day. In the northern center of the island is a small hill called Dun I that is the highest point on the island. And one of the great traditions there is to climb Dun I early in the morning, before the sun rises, and watch the sun come up at the break of day. (more…)

There is an old maxim that dictates that if you want something done, ask the busiest person you know.

What I am finding is that when I am most productive, I am really productive. If I have too much to do, I can somehow manage to get an awful lot done….and when I seem to have too little to do, it’s sometimes hard to get anything done. Advent is a busy time for us in the church, and I’ve been feeling a bit busier than I was feeling earlier this year….but I’m also feeling my productivity ramp up.

I want to suggest a related maxim: if you want to get more stuff done, give yourself more to do. It might seem overwhelming, but odds are good that you will learn how to structure your time better and accomplish more as a result. There are literally tons of books, websites, and newsletters out there to help you increase your productivity with all kinds of tips and tricks. But I think the best way to go is take on the challenge and work it out along the way.

Of course, if there is no reason for you to do more, you might want to consider doing less. Put another way: you might want to find time to make room to do what you really want. That’s an Advent discipline I think: to create time in your life for your true priorities.

One good exercise this season: re-visit your values. I keep a running list of values that I try to live by (“try” being the operative word) and I re-visit the list every year and make modifications. Advent is a great time to make room for a re-evaluation of your values. You might be as busy as I am this season, but, hey, I found time to write this blog post to my much out-dated blog. And I intend to find time to look over my values. Maybe you can too!

Luke 21: 25-36
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

Over this weekend, I took advantage of one of our crisp, cool, yet clear and beautiful afternoons to take my dog Buster for a nice long walk. We walked up to Elizabeth Park, and as we were walking along, but my nostrils and Buster’s filled with the smells of something good cooking on the grill. I didn’t ever see who was doing the grilling or where the smells were coming from, but both Buster and I could detect the aromas of a nice lunch.

(more…)