Rev. Frank Hall Services Archive

Opening Words from Emily Dickinson Some keep the Sabbath going to Church — I keep it, staying at Home — With a Bobolink for a Chorister — And an Orchard, for a Dome — Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice — I just wear my Wings — And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church, […]

  Opening Words:  White Heron, John Ciardi What lifts the heron leaning on the air I praise without a name. A crouch, a flare, a long stroke through the cumulus of trees, a shaped thought at the sky — then gone. O rare! Saint Francis, being happiest on his knees, would have cried Father! Cry anything […]

Opening Words, Summons by Robert Francis Keep me from going to sleep too soon Or if I go to sleep too soon Come wake me up. Come any hour Of night. Come whistling up the road. Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door. Make me get out of bed and come And let you […]

Audio only.

Opening Words: Adapted from Rachel Carson’s breakthrough book, Silent Spring, First published in 1962 The Other Road “We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling has, for many of us, been deceptively easy; a smooth […]

It’s time to talk about money – yours! Jim Keenan and his canvass team like to call it ‘the sermon on the amount.’ The Gospel of James says, “Blessed are those who pledge early; blessed are those who pledge generously and responsibly.” There’s a famous Biblical passage in the Gospel of Luke about the widow’s […]

The Greek poet/dramatist, Aeschylus (525 – 456 B.C.E.) offers a summary of the Passover story:  “He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.” Today […]

Opening Words:  Albert Einstein – “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It […]

Opening Words: David Turnbull was a physicist who taught at Harvard for many years. In his retirement and as professor emeritus he wrote his autobiography…he lived 92 years. Near the end of his memoir he summarized his beliefs, attributing them to what he had learned growing up on a farm. “I am impressed ever more […]

Introduction: What the world needs now…is a sermon about love. So fasten your seat belt…hold on to your hat…here it comes. First we’ll introduce Valentine’s day and the romantic love which is responsible for most of our procreating activities…is it love, lust or a combination? We’ll hear a love letter written by a soldier in […]