Hopeful Thinking

Order of Service - First Parish Church of Fitchburg - May 17, 2015 "All I Ever Really Needed to Know About Faith I Learned in Kindergarten" Wil Darcangelo, Speaker Robin Dinda, Piano Jamie Cormier, Liturgist Service held in fellowship hall at tables.  Crayons and paper are at each table. Special thanks to Heather Chandler for the winning concept of this Sunday’s theme. “What I notice is that every adult or child I give a new set of Crayolas to goes a little funny. The kids smile, get a glazed look on their faces, pour the crayons out, and just look at them for a while....The adults always get the most wonderful kind of sheepish smile on their faces--a mixture of delight and nostalgia and silliness. And they immediately start telling you about all their experiences with Crayolas.” ― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten Prelude Welcome and Announcements Good morning and welcome to First Parish Church where for 247 ...

 I am a bit of a US Constitution geek, I must admit.  I am absolutely fascinated and moved by it.  I have to confess also that I cried during the theatrical presentation at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia when I visited there one summer.  A single actor surrounded by a series of 360 degree projections explaining the massive human social innovation embodied in a document named the Constitution and its amendments, known as the Bill of Rights.   This was groundbreaking stuff in human historical terms.  Never before seen on the planet Earth.  The kids are now going to run the candy store, folks.  People had been fighting for freedom across the globe for hundreds of years already by this point, yes.  But this was the first time a new government had attempted to build their own egalitarian, democratic country, governed by the people, from the foundation up.  Think of that for a moment.  Imagine that point of time in...