Cars skid out of control on icy roads, healthy cells are consumed by cancerous ones. William Sloane Coffin. I know how lucky I am! The best of William Sloane Coffin, Jr. You blew it." But like God herself, Scripture is not around for anyones protection, just for everyones unending support. But violent deaths, such as the one Alex died to understand those is a piece of cake. Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death, Joan Halifax, Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs and Communicatoins of the Dying, How Can I Help? But when children die, they take away the future as well. This is the seventh year of the complete ten year collection of sermons. In this best-seller, Coffin gives a powerful record of his remarkable public life, offering his. From fields where glory does not stay, 10 He attended Deerfield Academy and Phillips Academy Andover before beginning his studies at Yale University in 1942. And Christ spent an inordinate amount of time delivering people from paralysis, insanity, leprosy, and muteness. You can stay up to date with Will & Testament via these feeds. The reality of grief is the absence of God My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The reality of grief is the solitude of pain, the feeling that your heart is in pieces, your minds a blank, that there is no joy the world can give like that it takes away. (Lord Byron). And Christ spent an inordinate amount of time delivering people from paralysis, insanity, leprosy, and muteness. The Rev. And silence sounds no worse than cheers 15 This album is a collection of prayers from the end of the sermons; 1982-1983. William Sloane Coffin gave what would be his final sermon at Chautauqua. If a week ago last Monday, a lamp went out, it was because, for him at least, the Dawn had come. Gracious God, whose own Son's term of service to humanity was so full that its brevity was no distress, we call to mind on this Memorial Sunday those "who will not grow old as we who are left to grow old," those whose lives were too brief for us but long enough, perhaps, for thee. There's something in the flight For instance, the Christians persecuted the Jews for nearly two thousand years because as they said, they believed the Jews killed Jesus. I'm sure there must be something somewhere in the Bible which says words to that effect. William Sloane Coffin Jr. (June 1, 1924 - April 12, 2006) was an American Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. He liked it here. When a person dies, there are many things that can be said, and there is at least one thing that should never be said. As for the theological issues, I agree with William on the need for respectful silence. RN: What do you think should be done strategically and tactically by the peace movement? For the latest updates across BBC blogs, visit the Blogs homepage. Do you think about that? Rev. So if someone says, "Are you saved?" "Hope arouses, as nothing else can arouse, a passion for the possible.". When its true and painful, say it softly, None of us have the right to avert our gaze. That makes two of us. And find unwithered on its curls The document has moved here. William Sloane Coffin Jr. (June 1, 1924 - April 12, 2006) was an American Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. Did you perhaps mistake me for someone else?? "A spiritual person tries less to be godly than to be deeply . But when children die, they take away the future as well. What can be done to turn this public support into organized opposition? William Sloane Coffin. William Sloane Coffin, Jr. was born June 1, 1924, in New York City. RN: What do you think the churches and the National Council of Churches should be doing that they are not now doing regarding the war-occupation? Transcript - William Sloane Coffin's Eulogy for Alex Ten days after his son, Alex, was killed in a car accident, Reverend William Sloane Coffin delivered this moving eulogy turned sermon, filled with deep truth and deep pain about the realities of death and the true (not trite) hope we have in God. The Rev William Sloane Coffin A radical preacher and antiwar activist, he took on the American establishment Christopher Reed Thu 13 Apr 2006 19.04 EDT The upbringing of William Sloane. William Sloane Coffin Jr. offers one more complicated blessing. These prayers may be purchased separately but they are included in the actual sermons too. Additionally, a 301 Moved Permanently error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request. Ten days after his son, Alex, was killed in a car accident, Reverend William Sloane Coffin delivered this sermon to his congregation at Riverside Church in New York City. Some of the very best, and easily the worst, knew their Bibles better than the human condition. That is what makes the valley of the shadow of death seem so incredibly dark and unending. William Sloane Coffin's Eulogy for Alex This was sent my way as a follow-up on my sermon. Like A.E. Which is not to say that there are no nature-caused deaths I can think of many right here in this parish in the five years I've been here deaths that are untimely and slow and pain-ridden, which for that reason raise unanswerable questions, and even the specter of a Cosmic Sadist yes, even an Eternal Vivisector. And the folks in Riverside Church had to know whether or not they still had a pastor. The night after Alex died I was sitting in the living room of my sisters house outside of Boston, when the front door opened and in came a nice-looking, middle-aged woman, carrying about eighteen quiches. In a prideful way it would be easier to walk the valley alone, nobly, head high, instead of as we must marching as the latest recruit in the worlds army of the bereaved. And the Emperor said, So? The title of the sermon is "Alex's Death" and it comes on the heals of Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr., a former Yale University chaplain who gained national attention as an opponent of the Vietnam war, died Tuesday in a car . But the things I learned from her You can purchase individual sermons for $4.42 (includes processing fees). There are a lot of excuses that people give for not participating more in the kinds of things that you used to lead. I was first introduced to this sermon years agoin a college communications course, and I have thought of it with surprising regularityever since. Well yes this is all very well but why, then, do Christians _thank_ God when something goes right. But like God herself, Scripture is not around for anyones protection, just for everyones unending support. MOYERS: Youre not supposed to outlive your children, are you? January 6, 1968 Spock and Coffin Indicted For Activity Against Draft By FRED P. GRAHAM . In a prideful way it would be easier to walk the valley alone, nobly, head high, instead of as we must marching as the latest recruit in the worlds army of the bereaved. 18 Sourced Quotes. If you are interested in purchasing the whole collection on aDVD Data Discplease contact me byemail. Crowned with lilies and Laurel they go; but I am not resigned. In my email signature, I have this quote by him: The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.. Apr 17, 2014 at 12:00 am. I do hope that many will learn what not to say to a grieving loved one. How much suffering? I went right away to the piano. W. & J. Sloane was a furniture and rug store in New York City that catered to the wealthy. Thats why immediately after such a tragedy people must come to your rescue, people who only want to hold your hand, not to quote anybody or even say anything, people who simply bring food and flowers the basics of beauty and life people who sign letters simply, Your brokenhearted sister. In other words, in my intense grief I felt some of my fellow reverends not many, and none of you, thank God were using comforting words of Scripture for self-protection, to pretty up a situation whose bleakness they simply couldnt face. Runners whom renown outran William Sloane Coffin Jr. preached these Sunday sermons from the pulpit of the Riverside Church in New York City. So I shall so let us all seek consolation in that love which never dies, and find peace in the dazzling grace that always is. Very on the point I think. May God give you the grace never to sell yourself short; Grace to risk something big for something good; And grace to remember the world is now too dangerous for anything but the truth and too small for anything but love. It seems to me for those believers who grieve, their religion brings them little more comfort than those who don't. In the fascinating documentary movie Mondo Cane' which was released in 1962, among the strange and seemingly depraved (to Western eyes) behavior is one segment about old people in China who wait around in the upper floor of a house to die while their families are downstairs at a party celebrating their deaths. For all she had to say. And that's what hundreds of you understood so beautifully. They are gone. Listen to an interview with Rev. It is self-interest. Have a think about the bigger picture!! And finally I know that when Alex beat me to the grave, the finish line was not Boston Harbor in the middle of the night. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. __________________ As almost all of you know, a week ago last Monday night, driving in a terrible storm, my son Alexander who to his friends was a real day-brightener, and to his family fair as a star when only one is shining in the sky my twenty-four-year-old Alexander, who enjoyed beating his old man at every game and in every race, beat his father to the grave. Q: Where does the rise of conservatism, especially on the religious Right among Protestant evangelicals, fit into this whole thing? The time you won your town the race And hold to the low lintel up When a person dies, there are many things that can be said, and there is at least one thing that should never be said. William Sloane Coffin Jr. preached these Sunday sermons from the pulpit of the Riverside Church in New York City. In other word, good patriots are not nationalists. We have to be forced down. Itsjust one of those things I think is worth a read by all. But I'm an atheist. Among the healing flood of letters that followed his death was one carrying this wonderful quote from the end of Hemingways A Farewell to Arms: The world breaks everyone, then some become strong at the broken places.. The older I get, the more I accept that death is the inevitable consequence of life, why can't believers? But left me none the wiser William Sloane Coffin, who died Wednesday at the age of 81 of congestive heart failure, was known as a civil rights activist and outspoken critic of the Vietnam War. ABERNETHY: Coffin rails at neglect of the poor and U.S. policies in Iraq. William Sloane Coffin. Some of the very best, and easily the worst, knew their Bibles better than the human condition. For. When parents die, as my mother did last month, they take with them a large portion of the past. Reprinted with permission of theWilliam Sloane Coffin Sermon Archive Project. 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