Pub Theology 4/1/25 -- What a joke!

Every now and again, your friendly staff here at PubTheo pays attention to the Sunday sermon, and in the process gets a little topic inspiration. Fr. Andy was preaching on the parable of the shrewd manager, Luke 16:1-3, (or unjust steward, depending on which list of parables you are looking at), and he made an interesting point about the trouble with taking the parables at face value. This is something that we spent some time talking about in the early days of Pub Theology conversations. Basically, why can't Jesus just give us the message straight rather than talking in riddles and stories that leave key points up to our own interpretation? In short, why doesn't he just tell us what to do already? One of Andy's points, or at least from my vantage point in the pews, is that the simple interpretation of the parables of easily digested morality tales can lead us to draw some very odd conclusions about what kind of behaviors are or are not in line with the Gospels. In the case of the parable in question, you could walk away believing that God will reward you for profiting from dishonest business dealings. This tells us something, I think, about both the perils and promise of stories, which is what the parables are. Stories with a purpose. Storytelling is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest (along with song) of human cultural practices Those entrusted with the responsibility of handing down stories hold exalted roles in society, whether bard, or skald, firekeeper, or griot. It's still left to the listener, though, to draw meaning from those stories. Neuroscientist Emily Falk, in this episode of the podcast Hidden Brain , (this part comes at about the 40-minute mark) argues that stories have the ability to help us avoid defensiveness when presented with information we might otherwise perceive as criticism or negative feedback. She argues that our brains reason differently when challenging ideas are presented in a story rather than stated directly to us as facts. We're going to spend some time in our conversation this week talking about the power of stories and the lessons we learn from them. What role have stories played in your life? What's the first story you remember hearing, or reading for yourself? When you hear or read a story, or for that matter see a play, or watch a TV show or film, are you attuned to the possibility of meanings beyond the straightforward lines of the narrative? Is it just entertainment, or is there something deeper going on? If you look for meaning in stories, or if you unexpectedly get smacked in the head by a meaning you weren't anticipating, what are the lenses that bring those meanings into focus for you? If someone asks you to share your story with them, what do you think they are looking for? Join us for a discussion of stories and more tomorrow evening, Tuesday Sept. 23, starting at 7pm at Irish Tavern in downtown Lake Orion.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

Due to a long weekend of travel and a job that actually requires my attention, your faithful team here at Pub Theology hasn't found the time to work up a full-on topic for tonight's discussion. But have no fear! There is a plan! As we've done a few times in the past, we will take an open-mike / dealer's choice approach to our conversation this evening. We'll have some discussion prompts and conversation starters lined up in advance, but we'll also have the freedom to follow the thread of conversation wherever it decides to go. Join us for mystery of it all tonight starting at 7pm at Irish Tavern in downtown Lake Orion.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

You've probably heard it said that a change of scenery is all that's needed to get a little perspective. That everything looks different with a change of scenery. Musician and singer-songwriter Kurt Vile has said that for him, a change of scenery is a source of inspiration. And here's a take on changing scenery from humorist Lewis Grizzard. He says, "Life is like a dogsled race. If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes." To mark the start of our 13th year of Pub Theology conversations, we're going to talk about this idea of a change of scenery, and it's only fitting that we do so with a little bit of a change of scenery ourselves. For this week's discussion (and hopefully for the rest of this PubTheo season and maybe more) we're moving back to downtown Lake Orion. We'll be meeting at Irish Tavern, on North Broadway, after spending the last several years up in Oxford. This new location should be a familiar venue for PubTheo veterans. We met there for a number of years in the long-ago pre-pandemic days when it was 51 North Brewing. While we'll spend some time catching up with each other after our long summer hiatus, we are going to dig a little deeper into this idea of change of scenery. What does that notion mean to you? When someone says, "I could use a change of scenery," what do you think they are getting at? In other words, what does a change of scenery mean to them? More importantly, have you ever felt like you could benefit from a change of scenery, whether big or small? And what does that mean to you? When that feeling comes on, what do you do in response? What are your experiences with a change of scenery? Does it provide perspective? Does it fuel your creativity? Or are you harnessed on the third row of the dogsled team, with a view that doesn't change and that you feel powerless to do anything about? We're going to talk about all of this in our conversation this week. Join us at Irish Tavern as we return to Lake Orion tomorrow evening, Tuesday Sept. 9. The discussion starts at 7pm.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.