In Defense of Literacy
April 28, 2010
Dear Friends,
In worship this coming Sunday, I hope we will all be delighted and enveloped by the Word, or by words, sung and spoken, jumping off the printed page, as we celebrate the art and craft of reading and writing.
Adam, Natalie and I are selecting some of our favorite readings, and I have a list a yard long of possible reflections on the glory of that which is written, held, and read—as opposed to, yes, that which is seen on a screen, or for which there is an ‘app.’
Yet, you are reading this on a screen, thank you, so there must be something to be said for this sort of communication. So I will say something: If you would like to review our ministry together over the past two years, audio recordings of many of my sermons are archived on the church web site, www.firstuu.org. There you will also find a growing collection of printable texts. I plan to add a few over the next couple of weeks, then to have all my sermons erased from the web by the end of August, making plenty of room for your new minister.
A sermon is a spoken event, best heard in community, and significantly less powerful when read. But there are those times, I know, when a printed text is desired. I’m especially aware that some think my sermon of this past Sunday, “Now What?”, should enjoy a wider audience than the Spring Retreat-depleted occasion on which it was delivered. So, enjoy the listening and reading from the Internet, but know that authentic experience awaits you on Sunday morning.
See you in church.
Best,
David
