Your Seafaring Soul
October 22, 2017

​In this sermon Dr. Riegel reflects on several different poems from the book "The Prophet," by Khalil Gibran. Many people have heard excerpts from Gibran's poems on Marriage, Children, and Death but few have heard more than that. After reading from Gibran's poems on Love, Giving, and Talking, Dr. Riegel reflects on each, ending with a reading from Gibran's poem on Religion.

For the Love of Money
​October 8, 2017

​Follow the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas, Dr. Riegel addresses the gun culture run rampant in our culture. He suggests that the usual strategies for effecting change are not effective (the repeated incidents of mass shootings makes this obvious) and suggests an alternative approach to effecting change.

Come, Come Whoever You Are
September 17, 2017

Dr. Riegel talks about the importance of self-acceptance/love. He suggests that self-acceptance/love is a prerequisite for living the life that is possible for us. He then suggests two ways in which we can come to the place of self/acceptance/love, from which we can act in the world as our better selves.

"Gottwald's Hat and Other 'Alternative Facts'"
August 13, 2017

Starting with a reading from Milan Kindera's book, "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting," Dr. Riegel proceeds to address the subject of alternative facts. He asks, 'What is a 'fact'?" And, in light of that answer he asks, "What is an 'alternative fact'?" He then discusses why it is important to combat "alternative facts.

"Worlds in Collusion"
August 6, 2017

Dr. Riegel speaks about how we have an implicit social contract by which we collude with one another to keep ourselves locked in interpersonal dynamics that do not encourage personal growth. He then suggests an alternative social contract that would alter interpersonal dynamics and encourage personal growth.

"The King of Pointland's Precarious Predicament"
June 18, 2017

Dr. Riegel uses a character from the book "Flatland" to speak of our general tendency to create, preserve, and live within unrecognized psychological bubbles of our own making. He suggests that for the sake of personal growth and meaningful interpersonal relationships, it is important to recognize this. Finally, he suggests the antidote to this dilemma.

"Nietzsche as Spiritual Guide"
March 19, 2017

Reading various writings by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, including Dionysus verses the Crucified and The Greatest Weight, Dr. Riegel demonstrates Nietzsche's materialistic, affirmative, religious vision.

"Interspiritual Potpourri"
March 12, 2017

Referencing Taoism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Sufism, Dr. Riegel walks us through the wisdom of the world's religious traditions, exploring "the Ground of Being," the nature of the self, ethics, and love as the path to God.

"Falling Leaves and Clinging Minds"
Oct. 16 2016

Drawing on his relationship with his ailing father, Dr. Riegel discusses the suffering that comes when the mind insists on permanence in a world that offers nothing but constant change.  He then suggests the antidote to such suffering.

"When Gulliver Woke Up"
Oct. 2, 2016

In this sermon Dr. Riegel uses the image of Gulliver, from Jonathan Swift's novel "Gulliver's Travels," to discuss what it means to "wake up" on a spiritual journey and further, how one reacts to the conditions in which one finds oneself upon waking up, i.e., what becomes of one's life situation, especially one's interpersonal relationships.

"Disenchantment and the Rediscovery of the Sacred"
Aug. 14, 2016

Dr. Riegel discusses the phenomenon of disenchantment starting with the Enlightenment, which shifted the locus of human meaning to the mind, then suggests that the rediscovery of the sacred takes place by a subjective immersion into nature, especially humans, i.e., one another.