Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> can sometimes be less than riveting. \u00a0And they\u2019re not always especially fresh or profound. \u00a0But I\u2019ve also seen and heard plenty of sermons from other traditions where the delivery was stellar, but the content was minimal and, evidently, something of an afterthought. \u00a0Where the appeal was to emotion rather than to the mind or, if you will, to the Spirit. \u00a0And I distinctly remember the service in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 15 August 1970, commemorating the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. \u00a0The sermon was given by the then cardinal-archbishop of Paris (it must have been Fran\u00e7ois Marty). \u00a0I don\u2019t remember it, but I remember vivid green lights and spectacular organ music. \u00a0It was remarkably theatrical, and very well done. \u00a0And I felt manipulated. \u00a0I\u2019ve also heard a few sermons that were highly intellectual but also so abstract that it was difficult to know where the preacher was going, or how it was supposed to be applicable in the lives of ordinary people.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Given the choice, I\u2019ll go with simple and unaffected, I think.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Richmond, Virginia<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I try not to eavesdrop. \u00a0I really do. \u00a0But sometimes it\u2019s almost impossible to avoid. \u00a0 Sitting in the airport in Richmond, Virginia, this morning, three people sitting beside me and across from me were having a vigorous conversation at pretty high volume. \u00a0They were all Episcopalians, and one of them has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>