William Sloane Coffin Jr. in 1986. I also know this day-brightener of a son wouldn't wish to be held close by grief (nor, for that matter, would any but the meanest of our beloved departed) and that, interestingly enough, when I mourn Alex least I see him best. __________________ 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. One of the most powerful statements in this sermon was the following: The reality of grief is the solitude of pain, the feeling that your heart is in pieces, your mind's William Sloane Coffin Jr. (June 1, 1924 - April 12, 2006) was an American Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. They are gone. W. & J. Sloane was a furniture and rug store in New York City that catered to the wealthy. First you leap, and then you grow wings." --- William Sloane Coffin. Protestant preacher William Sloane Coffin after the death of his college-age son in an accident confesses to blowing up at a neighbor. In his younger days he was an athlete, a talented pianist, a CIA agent, and later chaplain of Yale University, where the influence of Reinhold Niebuhr's . My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, Gods heart was the first of all our hearts to break. The common attribution to the eighteenth-century statesman Alexander Hamilton was probably based on a mistaken understanding of a relatively modern citation. In his younger days he was an athlete, a talented pianist, a CIA officer, and later chaplain of Yale University, where the influence of H. Richard Niebuhr's social philosophy led him to . The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love, As the grief that once seemed unbearable begins to turn now to bearable sorrow, the truths in the "right" biblical passages are beginning, once again, to take hold: "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall strengthen thee"; "Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning"; "Lord, by thy favor thou hast made my mountain to stand strong"; "For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling"; "In this world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world"; "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.". I mentioned the healing flood of letters. And the name died before the man. The question seems more pointed given the context -- a group of devout believers making a religious pilgrimage -- but the same question is struggled over every day by people of faith who experience suffering or have to watch a loved one suffer. ABERNETHY: I asked Coffin to think back on the civil rights and other protest movements he helped lead. But I think much of our exasperation could be tempered if we could see our lives more from God's perspective than our own. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church, and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ. As his younger brother put it simply, standing at the head of the casket at the Boston funeral, "You blew it, buddy. "Eulogy for Alex" by William Sloane Coffin I mentioned the healing flood of letters. Why would someone grieve for a loved one who is in heaven or in paradise. William Sloane Coffin also wrote about this in his eulogy for his son, Alex, who was killed in a car accident at age 24. Click the cart icon next to a prayer in the player below to add a prayer to your cart. 20. We have to be forced down. Because there are no rankling unanswered questions, and because Alex and I simply adored each other, the wound for me is deep, but clean. As his younger brother put it simply, standing at the head of the casket at the Boston funeral, You blew it, buddy. And that's what hundreds of you understood so beautifully. Then a miracle working preacher comes to town promising at midnight, all the dead will rise from boot hill and come back to life. I know how lucky I am! The garland briefer than a girls. by Rev. Will was tyring to elicit thoughts about the whole concept of a god's will. Apr 17, 2014 at 12:00 am. 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. And decks the rays. The scripture reading for each sermon can be found below in PDF format. And of course I know, even when pain is deep, that God is good. Some of the very best, and easily the worst, knew their Bibles better than the human condition. Didnt the eagle find a fresh liver to tear in Prometheus every time it dined?. I know how lucky I am! This album is a collection of prayers from the end of the sermons; 1982-1983. William Sloane Coffin Jr. preached these Sunday sermons from the pulpit of the Riverside Church in New York City. I was impressed by the Amish last year when that young girl was killed. If the order gets mixed up, thats misery. SERMON: Alex's Death, by William Sloane Coffin, Jr. Posted on October 6, 2013. John Wright #5 William Sloane Coffin, a United Church of Christ Minister known globally for his peace and justice advocacy, died April 12, 2006, at his home in rural Strafford, Vt. So why were they angry? Its presence in my mind has been so frequent, especially recently after the loss of a dear friend, that I finally decided to share it here. William Sloane Coffin, Jr. was born to considerable wealth and social position on June 1, 1924, in New York City. The prayers are presented in several multi-year collections. That makes two of us. You can purchase one, four, seven sermons, or you can purchase the whole year or "album". Theres something in the flight But when children die, they take away the future as well. RN: What broader advice do you have for strengthening our democracy and confronting the concentration of power and wealth over the life sustaining directions our country (with its impact on the world) needs to take? And ne'er a word said she; 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. These are all end of sermon prayers from the Sunday sermon delivered at Riverside Church. I know all the right biblical passages, including Blessed are those who mourn, and my faith is no house of rest, came from fellow reverends, a few of whom proved they knew their cards; these passages are true, I know. But oh, the things I learned from her The fleet foot on the sill of shade, During WWII, Coffin joined the army and later served as a CIA agent after the outbreak of the Korean War. Justice is at the heart of religious faith. It is truly a labor of love (a lot of labor; a lot of love) to digitally "Save Bill's Voice." Delivered from the Riverside Church pulpit over his ten years as senior minister, there were over 300 sermons in need of archiving to a digital format. But the point is this. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. When parents die, as my mother did last month, they take with them a large portion of the past. That clarifies the sight Wind your head in John!! William Sloane Coffin 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. But its a fact: few of us are naturally profound. 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). Still there is much by way of consolation. God gave man dominion over the world at the beginning - and free will - and man so man has had the responsibility for his conduct since then, and for infecting all of creation with his sin. I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the cold ground. I was first introduced to this sermon years ago in a college communications course, and I have thought of it with surprising regularity ever since. RN: What do you think should be done strategically and tactically by the peace movement? Another consolation, of course, will be the learning which better be good, given the price. For some reason, nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesnt go around this world with his fingers on triggers, his fists around knives, his hands on steering wheels. In your prayer life do you tend to direct your prayer life to Jesus or God? But it's a fact: few of us are naturally profound. William Sloane Coffin Jr. preached these Sunday sermons from the pulpit of the Riverside Church in New York City. Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup is the autobiography of the chaplain for the Maine game warden who herself was widowed with four young children when her husband a state trooper was killed in a car accident. So people are feeling sorry for themselves instead of happy for the one they believe is now in heaven. But its a fact: few of us are naturally profound. Ralph Nader: With the majority of Americans in poll after poll turning against the U.S. war and occupation in Iraq and with many retired Generals, diplomats and intelligence officials opposed to the invasion in the first instance why is the organized opposition not greater? is the blossom. Nowhere in the scripture does it say, God is car accident or God is death. God is justice and kindness, mercy, and always always love. That is what makes the valley of the shadow of death seem so incredibly dark and unending. Bill Coffin was such a man. To them Western attitudes would be incomprehensible. The reality of grief is the solitude of pain, the feeling that your heart is in pieces, your mind's a blank, that "there is no joy the world can give like that it takes away." Legendary William Sloane Coffin's years at the historic Riverside Church captured in new two-volume collection Louisville, KY-From 1977 through 1987 William Sloane Coffin was the Senior Minister at t . Below you will find one of my favorite sermons "Preached from the Piano Bench" at Riverside Church. " William Sloan Coffin, who died yesterday at 81, was among the foremost pacifists of his generation, and set the mold for the liberal activist preacher ." Coffin, the model for Doonesbury's Reverend Sloan, was a Freedom Rider, Yale chaplain, champion for social justice and one of the most respected leaders of the anti-Vietnam war movement. And round that early-laurelled head 25 A Prayer by William Sloan Coffin Jr., 1983. This eulogy from William Sloane Coffin following the death of his son offers words of wisdom and hope for those struggling with the tragedy in Connecticut. Ten days after Alex's death, he delivered this extraordinary sermon to his congregation at Riverside Church in New York City. I know, but I do not approve, and I am not resigned. You will also find a collection of his prayers that concluded many of his sermons. I read through this with utter esteem for the sentiments therein and Will is right to say that those who speak in response to a tragedy like this they could learn much from this eulogy, which said it all, so very very well. So what is the role of the university chaplain? And the folks in Riverside Church had to know whether or not they still had a pastor. William Crawley | 12:42 UK time, Friday, 27 July 2007. Coffin questioned authority throughout his career, using civil . And that's what happens to the horror of all those townsfolk. 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