Browse Items (118 total)

  • Time Period is exactly "1950s"

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In this recording within the We Believe Series, Thurman reflects upon the Thanksgiving season. He lists a litany of feelings, emotions, materials, and states of being that he is thankful for: air to breath, food to eat, shelter, love, etc. He then discerns the way in which humanity may overlook many of the things that humanity should be grateful for, and suggests that Thanksgiving should be approached as a sacrament which points one towards humility and gratitude.

In this recording within…

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In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman uses Oswald W.S. McCall's "Hand of God" to reflect upon Good Friday. Thurman utilizes a historical interpretation to makes sense of the life and death of Jesus, stating that "the event of his death cannot be separated from the logic of his life."

In this recording within the We Believe Series; Howard Thurman uses Oscar Wilde's "De Profundis" to make sense of Good Friday. He again dwells upon the historical Jesus, the implications…

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In the fourth and final sermon of the Freedom and Suffering series, Thurman takes his exploration of suffering a step further. Thurman suggests that we must learn to be worthy of our suffering. We should not seek out suffering, but when it comes to us, we must search for the meaning and dignity in it. Thurman also considers that human beings can only suffer because we are capable of loving. To love is to identify with another's suffering, to enter into it and yet remain as ourselves. Religion,…

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In this third sermon in the Freedom and Suffering series, Thurman focuses in on the suffering aspect. Suffering is the common experience of human beings, and perhaps all living beings. Thurman says that the Christian tradition itself was born out of pain and suffering, and represents the human project of squeezing optimism from pessimism. Thurman adds that we are always trying to deduce the logic of our suffering, but even still there are times when the balance of reaping and sowing does not add…

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In this second sermon in the Freedom and Suffering series, Thurman adds grace into his discussion on freedom and failure. Human beings have the freedom to fail again and again, however we never fail totally and absolutely. In this there is grace. For Thurman, grace is our experience of something dealing with us beyond balance and beyond merit; it is an unexplainable outpouring that sustains, redeems, and reassures us. Grace is found in God who does not give up on us, who sees us beyond the…

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In Part 1 of this sermon series, Thurman claims that freedom and failure are twins. The gift of life is also the gift of failure, which is also the gift of freedom. Without the ability to choose, there can be no failure. Thus, human beings are free and fallible creatures. The ultimate and inevitable failure for a living organism is death. Thurman says that the human spirit must confront death and failure. From this confrontation arises a new perspective on life, a renewed understanding of…

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Part 12 of Jesus and the Disinherited. In this he defines love as the "maintenance and furtherance of life at its highest level". He begins with a quote from Olive Schreiner. Love is not an ethic in the sense of being a "yard stick" for measuring oneself, but the inner intent of God in creation. He uses the life of Jesus as a model for love, especially for those with their "backs against the wall." Thurman insists that love resists cooperating with anyone who is working against this…

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Part 11 of Jesus and the Disinherited. In this sermon he discusses hatred. He argues that hatred is a defense of the weak against the strong. However, hatred dehumaninizes the other and becomes self destructive. Hatred crushes the hater by placing the cause all of life's problems on one simple target. Hatred ignores the complexities of life, becomes all consuming. Since it cuts one off from the person/people who is/are the object of the hate, it also cuts them off from God. It isolates a person,…

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In his eighth talk, his Easter message, Thurman turns to the issue of Deception and how it can be a tool for the weak. He discusses how morality prevents chaos, and how easy it is for us to call darkness light if we want to excuse something we are doing. In this talk he gives several examples of deception, but ponders whether or not it is morally acceptable to deceive. From his own life, he gives the example of his job as the "door boy" for his older sisters and it was his job to open the door…

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Part 7 of Jesus and the Disinherited on fear. Thurman contrasts fear of God versus fear of man. Fear pushed far enough becomes a courage that is destructive, like a light bulb burning out. Fear causes biological changes in the body and he gives the examples of bees and beekeepers. Fear as fight is destructive courage. Fear as flight leads to no escape. Jesus attacked the experience of fear by inviting people into their self worth as children of God, in spite of the stereotypes and judgments of…
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