Category Archives: End of the World

Beyond the Apocalypse: Cultivating Eco-Resilience (sermon)

Posted on February 24, 2020 by KGJ

February 23, 2020 The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ Reverend Karen G. Johnston “…we are, indeed, facing the end of the world.  Not the literal end of civilization or the human species, but a transition so profound that on the … Continue reading →

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Made for These Times (sermon)

Posted on September 18, 2016 by KGJ

The Unitarian Society, A Unitarian Universalist Congregation East Brunswick, NJ Audio version here. Not that long ago, a journalist suggested a parlor game to a group of historians. It was mid-summer: after the massacre in Orlando, after the attacks in … Continue reading →

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If We Don’t Believe in Hell, Does It Exist? (sermon)

Posted on December 14, 2015 by KGJ

First Parish Church of Groton (For audio version, click here.) Generally I leave dystopian novels and movies – fictional stories about dehumanizing world futures — to the young people in my life, but recently one novel, Station Eleven, had been … Continue reading →

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How of Now: Holding this Earth, Our Gratitude, Our Pain (sermon)

Posted on April 26, 2015 by KGJ

First Parish Church of Groton, April 26, 2015  Audio version here. Perhaps you know this parable, which invites us to see with new eyes, or eyes that are willing to see newly: There once was a simple farmer who lived … Continue reading →

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The Hope of Raspberry Brambles

Posted on April 23, 2015 by KGJ

It’s risky, writing about hope without being in touch with at least some semblance of it, particularly when one aspires to be a minister. My post yesterday for today’s Earth Day was not hope-giving. It was well-crafted. It was articulate. … Continue reading →

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Earth Day 2015

Posted on April 21, 2015 by KGJ

In the early 1980s, we all lived under the pale of mutual nuclear destruction.  Are you, dear reader, old enough to remember? I was in high school then and I took this very personally.  While others were out partying, or … Continue reading →

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Inexplicably Towards the Great Turning

Posted on October 3, 2014 by KGJ

There are three stories that describe this point in the earth’s narrative: Business as Usual; the Great Unraveling; and the Great Turning. Business as Usual is a familiar paradigm. This story values growth over all other things. But only particular … Continue reading →

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Risking Hope: Who Could Have Seen That Coming?

Posted on September 13, 2014 by KGJ

So it would be just peachy if everything worked out all cause-and-effect-like. Two-plus-two-equals-four. You cut onions: your eyes tear up. The cat is  in the box whether you look inside at it or not. (Unless, of course, you are Schrodinger. … Continue reading →

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That Estranged Crazy Uncle: Did He Room with M. Night Shyamalan at Overnight Camp?

Posted on April 19, 2014 by KGJ

Part 2      (You can find Part 1 here.) There are a handful of liberal theologians who are applying an eco-theology lens to the Book of Revelation, stretching to find in the text inspiration for care of the earth, rather than … Continue reading →

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That Estranged Crazy Uncle: What to Do When He Comes to Dinner?

Posted on April 18, 2014 by KGJ

Part 1 The Book of Revelation is the estranged crazy uncle of the Christian Bible. The one who is never invited to family get-togethers, but still somehow shows up. When he does show up, you silently pray not to have … Continue reading →

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