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04.04.25ForAllThatIsOurLife.mp3

The reverend dr. rebecca parker is president of starr king school for the ministry our unitarian universalist seminary in berkeley california before her tenure at starr king rebecca served as a parish minister for 10 years in the pacific northwest. She is a scholar steeped in feminist theologies the liberal theological tradition process theology and a scholar shaped by the practice of ministry to. Her most recent book is called proverbs of ashes published by our own unitarian publishing house beacon press. Rebecca was one of my teachers. When i was at starr king and she taught me not only by imparting knowledge. But by her example for me she is a shining example of what it means to be a public theologian. A religious. Thinker who frames issues in such a way that helps all of us see the world and our lives through the lens of faith. And that's what we've asked rebecca to do for us. To help us do this morning. Down on the mall will hear lots of speeches. Mostly political speeches. The last night president sinkford asked us to march. Today as people of faith. As unitarian universalist. And i think rebecca's sermon this morning will prepare us to march as people of faith. So rebecca such a pleasure to welcome you to all souls church. Thanks rob. That was great for seminary faculty to come and see that our graduates are doing good. Both of them. The poet mary oliver rights. To live in this world you must be able to do. 3 things. To love what is mortal. To hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it. And when the time comes to let it go. To let it go. Every woman who has ever had an abortion knows this. She has held something against her bones. And she has let it go. On this sunday when we have gathered and will be joining thousands here to march on washington for women's lives. I invite us into a time of theological reflection about holding on and letting go. About what it takes to live in this world. That breaks our hearts with its sorrows. And startles us with its beauty. And about the deep reasons. The spiritual reasons. Why protecting women's reproductive choices matters. Not only for individual women and their loved ones. But for the quality and character of our society. In the public debate about abortion. People's lives are often obscured by caricatures. You know them pro-life women have big hair. Dressed in pastels and frills find fulfillment in baking pies for their husbands and children but still managed to run right-wing political campaigns on the side. Pro-life men are threatened by women they identify with the fetus and fear being aborted themselves but they take comfort in their belief that the bible decrees men should be the head of the household and the country pro-choice women on the other hand wear sensible shoes which they wear when they are out to destroy the american family do they still managed to run left-wing political campaign. The particulars. Of all that our lives actually are. Are more complex. During ten years as a parish minister. I counseled many women who had spiritual and ethical questions in connection with pregnancy they were for one reason or another considering aborting. I'm going to reflect on some composites of their stories this morning and i hope that the texture of our actual lives in it their fullness and complexity can be felt in these tales. There are also important stories that men and transgender people have to tell about how abortion has touched their lives. Though their stories will not be told in today's sermon. May we hold men and transgender people in our hearts today. With the awareness that they too are concerned and affected and care. The first woman who ever came to me for help in deciding about an abortion was in a severe situation. I'll call her cheryl. It was late afternoon in the fall when cheryl arrived at my study at the church and stood tentatively in the doorway. She held a toddler perched on her hip. Retired face. With streaked with rain. Dance leaves and sticks clung to her tattered coat as if she had been sleeping on the ground. She didn't want to come all the way in to the office only wanted a word with me for a minute. But she gave into the church secretary's hospitable offer of a hot cup of tea i need a cold cup of water. And and the church secretary is open arms to take the baby for a few minutes. Cheryl told me her worried. She was pregnant and she didn't want her husband to know. He'll beat me if he finds out she said. They already had four children he just lost his job. She was afraid of his anger. Tired of him beating her and the children. She was worried that if she brought another child into the world. The child would be beaten like the rest. Like her. With god forgive her she asked me. If she lied to her husband. And had an abortion. We talked it over. She resolved that an abortion would be the first step in taking her life into her own hands and making a decision that would benefit. Her children and herself. She let go of the pregnancy. And she took hold of her power. Her power to chart her own course. And act on behalf of her own well-being and the well-being of her children. The transformation was not easy or quick but cheryl made it to the other side. Out of abuse. Out of poverty out of despair. And out of passive helplessness. With support from the church and other agencies. She began to make a life for herself and her children that had safety and hope. From cheryl. I've learned that women's reproductive choice matters. Because systemic injustice and violence. Often put us and our children at risk. We live in a broken world. The world where domestic abuse happens where welfare systems are inadequate. In the us alone 25% to 30% or higher of children live in poverty. Cultural and religious messages often teach women and girls they are unimportant except when they are serving others or denying their own interest hopes and needs. In the midst of such tragic tragic difficulties. And dehumanizing messages. The freedom to choose. Allows a different life. If she has a choice a woman can move beyond being a passive recipient of misfortune injustice violence were failed social policies she can begin to inhabit her own life become a decision maker who improves her circumstances her children's lives and her society. She can claim her creative hour to repair and care for life that has been tattered and torn. She can make a way. For safety and hope. The freedom. To choose. Opens a door for women into a new space. For cheryl. He was a space of community instead of isolation. Of moral agency instead of passive victimhood of courage instead of fear. Of intention instead of resignation. Mary catherine story was different. It tumbled out all at once when she and i sat down to talk in the coffee shop by your high school. She and her boyfriend had great plans for after graduation they were going to go to college. For each of them the first person ever in their families to go to college. She wanted to become an architect he a teacher. She was the oldest in her catholic family she hadn't planned on getting pregnant when she was 17 she's been using birth control but felt guilty about it since her church taught her it was wrong but she loved her boyfriend and they didn't. See any reason really to wait to have sex. But the birth control failed. Now she was pregnant. Her family was telling her. They should get married she should have the baby and she should forget about going to college. So should he. Her church and family told her the purpose of her life was to bear and care for children.. The purpose of her boyfriend's life with earn enough money to take care of her and their family.. I've always loved my church she said. I don't want to turn away from my face. But i don't want to have a baby now i want to go to college and i want my boyfriend to be able to go to college to. I don't want. Caring for children to be the sum total of my life. I'm thinking of having an abortion but i know it means i will go to hell. And i'm afraid. Unwanted pregnancy can be an occasion for a woman to become a theologian. Mary catherine and i began to grapple together theologically about her questions. We talked about the beginning of life. Her belief was that from the moment of conception she was carrying a child. Not just a random collection of cells multiplying and dividing but a new being entrusted to her care. How could it be morally justifiable for her to end the life she carried within her. I said to her. You have the power to bring. Life. Tipper to bring a beginning life to term. You also have the power to give birth to your own life. To bring the fullness of your life into being. What if both lives cannot come to birth. Which will you hold onto and which will you let go. But she said even though it's healed it's legal to have an abortion is legal then abortion is against god's will you are will be done we pray in the lord's prayer she said. Mary did the bidding of god. Who am i to do otherwise. Sometimes it helps to know greek the greek words of the lord's prayer can be translated in a different way i told her. The word we translate will also means desire or longing and the word we translate be done also means. Be born. The phrase in the lord's prayer candy. May your desires oh god. Come to birth. Mary catherine said she try praying to god this prayer. May your desires come to birth. When i saw her the next week she said. I prayed about it i think god wants me to have my whole life. My life is part of god's creation what god desires and has. Already brought to birth. I think god will still love me if i let this pregnancy go. She had an abortion. I saw her afterwards. It was hard she said. I had nightmares about hell the night before. I was. Scared. An operating table. But i kept praying all throughout the procedure. May your desires oh god come to birth. And i suddenly felt there with the nurses and doctors around me that god. Also surrounded me like warm and light. It was like there were angels in the room with me. Primary catherine the difficult decision to have an abortion with an occasion for spiritual growth. She formed her own relationship to the faith in which she had been raised and without abandoning or discarding her catholicism. She claimed her own power to think theologically and to discern spiritually what god asked of her. Dare to love god without mediator or vale ralph waldo emerson said. In doing so mary catherine. Also came to embrace her own life. As precious. T'god. Not everyone i've counseled about abortion has talked to me in person. I especially remember an unnamed woman who phoned me. She was. So ashamed of the situation she was in she didn't want to face anyone. Nameless woman. Had had an abortion in the past that she deeply regretted. She felt she had sinned. And was depressed for months afterwards. In that depression she vowed that she would never ever get pregnant again without planning for it. But. Here she was. Facing an unplanned pregnancy once more. She was furious with herself. And she felt she deserved to be punished. The worst punishment she could imagine and the only adequate punishment she could imagine. Was to abort the pregnancy. She had deeply internalized. The religious idea that pain and suffering could atone for sin. It would break her heart to abort another pregnancy she said. But it was the punishment she deserved. She would choose abortion she thought. Just like jesus accepted the humiliation and pain of the cross. I told her i hope she might come to see that another choice was possible. But she slammed down the phone. I lost her. It isn't easy always to hold onto each other to the conversations that need to be had and it isn't always easy to move through the deep religious questions that abortion presses upon us. My own experience with abortion. Deep into my understanding of how difficult the struggle can be. Here's my story. It was my husband who propose that we start a family we both had finished graduate school he was busy composing music and i was settled in the parish. We've been trying for 6 months. I knew i was pregnant the day after easter. The double blossom cherry was blooming. The spring rain filled the air with damp fragrance. I felt the life beginning inside of me as if it were an enormous gift. My heart was full of joy. But i had not been paying attention to how life was going for my husband. Struggles were hunting him. Our marriage was in trouble. But i wasn't seeing it. When i told my husband the news that i was pregnant. The blood drained from his face. We were sitting across the table from one another in a favorite restaurant i had taken his hands in mind to tell him. But he pulled back and let go of my hands. I'm not ready to be a father he said. I can't do this. I'm not sure i want to stay. With you. The only way i can imagine our marriage having a chance is for you to have an abortion. I filled his words as if they were a physical blow. Swift. Precise in unexpected. This is my decision to make i said. Claiming the only ground i could find to stand on. I isolated myself when i was trying to decide. I feared that. My church would not understand my family would not support me. In retrospect i know i was wrong. About that. But i chose abortion. To save myself from shame. And loss. And fears of suicide. To save a child from coming into the world without a father. To save a marriage. And to save the father from something he feared something he said i could protect him from. It was a willing sacrifice i thought. An act of love for my husband and hope for our future. But of course our future did not unfold as i had hoped. My husband and i didn't speak about the abortion. We tried to repair the rift in our marriage. But within a few months he took an apartment across town. And not long after that. Begin divorce procedures. I had believed self-sacrifice was the highest form of love and that love could save us. But nothing was redeemed or saved by my choice. Everything i most loved. Had slipped out of my hands. I spiraled into grief and self-directed anger. One night. I came to the end of my will to live. I just wanted the anguish to stop. It was a cold clear night. I lived at the top of a hill above a lake. And sometime after midnight i left my house and started walking down the hill. The water would be cold enough. I could walk into it then swim then let go and go home. Into the darkness. T'god. The thought was comforting. I had no second thoughts. I was set on my course. At the bottom of the hill. I had only a small grassy tries to cross. Before i came to the water's edge. I crested the familiar rise and began to descend to the welcoming water. When i was caught short by a barrier that hadn't been there before. It looks like a long line of saw horses. Set out from left to right the whole length of the grassy field. In the dark i couldn't see a way to get around either end but it looks like i could climb over the middle. I quickened my pace. Impaled by the grief that wouldn't let me go. As i got closer. The dark forms before my eyes. Seemed to be moving. I squinted to understand what i was seeing. The odd bunch of shapes. We're a line of human being bundled up in parkas in half. The stick. Warrant saw horses. They were telescopes. It was the seattle astronomy club. Before i could make my way through the lines one of them looked up from his telescope and presuming me to be an astronomer said with enthusiasm. I have it focused perfectly on jupiter come take a look. I didn't want to be rude. And i didn't want to give away my reason for being there so i bent down and looked through the telescope. There was jupiter. Banded red and glowing. Isn't it great he said. It was great. Jupiter was beautiful through the telescope. I stepped back and took a deep breath. Across the dark waters the lights of the city cleaned and overhead the sky was a riot. Of pinpoints of fire. I couldn't kill myself. In the presence of these people who'd gotten up in the middle of the night with their home-built radioshack telescopes to look at the planets and the stars. Music we had the song in church came back to me. Sure on this shining night. I weep for wonder. Kindness. Must watch for me this side. The ground. The beauty of the night sky the duet grasses at my feet and the seattle astronomy club kept me in this. World. It would not be right to say that hope triumphed over despair and that moment where that good came out of loss. My heart was still breaking with grief. But i was able to place that grief within a larger heart. A wider embrace. That could hold all that is our lives. Sorrow and joy. Lost and illumination. Death. And birth. Tears. And. Laughter. Enjoy. I've told you. Four stories about abortion. Each story involves. A conflict a struggle. An impasse. In which a woman had to choose. Choose her way in the midst of some kind of risk to what she loved hoped for and desired. We live in a broken and beautiful world. Where failure haunts us. With a need for redemption and repair. Persist in making jostes and violence for children and their parents at risk. We're broken vows or unfulfilled promises break our hearts. Where our best efforts to love. Sometimes lead to not. We're all that we hold our faith in. Can collapse. How can we live. In this world. My exercising are power. To choose. What matters. Most in all that is our life. Is that we not be mere recipients. Passive in the face of life obedient to established norms or road rituals. What matters most in our beautiful and broken world is that we. Show up. And engage in it as active participants. Creators thinkers. And choosers. In any situation of impasse conflict tragedy or grief when all doors seem closed. That is when it matters most that we asked ourselves. What choice can i make in this situation that will allow something of value to come to birth. What can i bring to birth from this contact. How can i how can we in this moment move with the spirit of life. Praying to the divine source of all our beings. May your desires come to birth. And what about the nameless woman. She found me almost 2 years later. She came to church and waited in line at the end of the service to talk to me. You won't recognize me she said when she grasped my hands. But you might remember me i talked with you on the phone i was pregnant. You wanted to punish yourself i said finishing her sentence. I never told you what i decided she said. Come behind her in line a man stepped forward holding a beautiful little girl. Here she is. I wanted you to meet our daughter. Her name is jenny. Thank you the nameless woman said. Protecting me i had a choice. Jenny's father handed her to me and i lifted the child into my arms. So this is what you chose i said. How wonderful. Every choice we make that brings greater life to birth is a blessed choice. Even when we fail and our choices don't bring about the outcome we so deeply desired. Life presents us again and again with the opportunity to choose life. As it did for me on a cold clear night with the stars gleaming overhead. Why does it matter that women's reproductive choices be protected. Because where there is choice. Life can flourish. In the midst of brokenness and beauty. Because a society in which human beings accept that life and death are in their hands in our hands is a better society. We all need this spiritual knowledge this hard work of ethical discernment of accepting that in every situation everyday life is ours to choose. The responsibility is ours. Without choice tragedy impasse and conflict are the last word with choice creativity responsibility and possibility enter the conversation. Why should we march to keep abortion safe and legal. Because we live in a broken world where life is at risk in many ways the power to choose is the power to bring life. In the midst of brokenness. And blessing in the midst of beauty. Where there is life. There is hope. Where there is choice. There is life. And where there is hope we find ourselves holding bundles of joy in our arms. In each of our bodies. The power of holding on and letting go. Moves to the pulse of our being. Each act is sacred. Print both holding on and letting go. Life is cherished. Life. Is allowed to flourish. And we bless the world. With our creative. Presence. Maybe so.

all-souls_org

07.05.06TakingCareOfUnfinishedBusiness.mp3

This morning's guest is someone who those of us who grew up unitarian universalist need no introduction to. Reverend doctor forest church has been serving all souls church unitarian in manhattan for the past 29 years. And at that all souls he's just changed his title from senior minister to minister of public theology he holds degrees from stanford university harvard divinity school and harvard university. He has written or edited 22 books including an edited book of the works of a pal davies one of our formative people here entitled without apology. His latest book which will come out in september is entitled and i love this title so help me god the founding fathers and the first great battle over church and state. Reverend doctor church is married to carolyn lose who's here with us this morning. And he has four children ranging in age from 28 to 21. He's also a guest of us this morning thanks to the a pal davies memorial committee. So i hope you will help me enjoy welcoming reverend doctor forest church my first worship in this sanctuary 50 years ago i realized as i walked through the doors this morning 50 years ago this spring as a child and i've had the great pleasure over the years and number of times two. Preach i must say that under robin china's leadership in the leadership of this great playgroup you have revitalized this congregation i want to congratulate you that is a great great tribute to you and to the history and memory of paula davies into the thrust and witnesses this important congregation you have done a splendid job on very very proud of you inspired. I demonstrated my lack of appetite for high-stakes gambling early. I was 9 years old. When i went with my parents to my one and only horse race for the kentucky derby. My father gave me $10 a goodly sum back then. Tobacco until i lost it. At $2 a race i would be in the game for at least five of the nine races. He carefully pointed out to me that unless i made some of it back if i squandered say my steak on long shots that performed as expected. I would have nothing left in my pocket with which to place a bet on the kentucky derby at cell. Slated to take place at the end of the day's card. I learned the lesson that my father taught me that morning to well perhaps. To limit my exposure as i recall i would place a show bet on the horse that was favored to win. This far from daring strategy taught me one lesson that i have never forgotten even the most cautious gambler can lose. Some of the favorites favorite staggered in out-of-the-money and even when they did perform as expected. Each show bet on a low odds winner earn me a slim dime or two on my $2 investment nomad by the time the kentucky derby rolled around i still had $5 in my pocket. Ready to do something daring. I put it all on silky sullivan. Silky sullivan was a western phenom. He stopped parts in every race he had heard by spotting his opponent's a 30 length lead halfway around the bunch contenders throwing up with great cloud of dust two city blocks ahead of him. Silky sullivan left too long in solitary splendor romantic can buy every dental racing logic doom. Then to the amazement of all. And the light of anyone who dared to dream the impossible dream with a verse of all inspiring speed he would close on the pack. Catch it at the final turn blow past one flagging pretender after another pull up beside the leader and win by a nose. That was on western tracks of course not eastern well. Milky would now be running against the best thoroughbreds in the world not a bunch of pretty california. Even so my young heart told me win or lose this was a horse worth every cent of my precious grubsteak. So i placed $5 on the long-shot silky sullivan not to enforce i wasn't that daring but to show. Critter farm silky ambled out of the gates and spotted the quarter furlong to the top petition. Prancing along in solitary splendor until like magic and flying like the wind. Close the gap. Dancing to the pack for the fly. He's going to win ice cream. This prophecy proved premature. Three-course horses cross the finish line together. Volume silky as i recall closed. On the l. Justina. Peter.. Silky sullivan didn't break my heart that day. He made it beat faster. I'll never forget that cocky little horse. I can't tell you who won the 1958 kentucky derby. I did look it up i cheated this morning it was tim kang. But silky sullivan wanna home in my personal hall of fame. Lately i've been thinking quite a lot about life odds. Six months ago i was diagnosed with what turned out to be a particularly fierce form of esophageal cancer. Pods were my doctor told me that i had at the outset about 6 months to live. Going onto the internet this does nothing i might caution you to boost the spirits of positive thinker. Confirmed the doctor's diagnosis in mind-numbing the tail. Answering all my variables as we knew them back then into the relevant actuarial tables the odds were twenty to one against. My father died of cancer at the age of 59. His father died in 59 as well i have a heart attack i'm 58. The chapter i found myself opening offered compelling reason to believe that would be the last one in my book. And then i started beating me off. Against all expectation the cancer though the tumor was large and not metastasized overnight my odds left from 12:40 to 50/50. A talented surgeon remove my esophagus replacing it conveniently with my stomach. The post-op ethology brought us more good news margins will clear the lymph nodes negative the tumor right on the cusp between stage 1 and stage 2 had barely penetrated the esophageal wall that i'm cuter. Now there's a moral to this story beyond the obvious one that i might usefully and quit drinking and smoking decades before i did some seven years ago it doesn't lie on the shifting. Surface azizaa. Their mere accident happy ones it seems out in my case but accidents none the less. Did my cancer returns to kill me it won't be unfair only unlucky in the same sense that i was lucky to beat the odds it seemed at first to make survival chance at beating the odds i slowly began to realize had nothing to do with. The truth of the matter struck me with tremendous for i'd beaten the odds already. One the house on a zillion 21 wager 58 years before the moment i was born. Think about it and then translate this unaccountable triumph to your own precious life what are the odds that all along the odds were against in the first place. My definition of religion is simple and inclusive. Religion is our human response to the dual reality of being alive and knowing we must die. We humans are not the animal with tools of the animal with advanced language we are the religious adam. Knowing we must die we question what life means who are we where did we come from where are we going. And most important of all in part because we can answer it directly. In deeds of love and in work surprised how can i live in such a way but my life will prove worth dying for. As many of you know from personal experience. A scrape with death makes our hearts be not only faster but also more insistently. Aware of life-limiting fragility we truly mean it when we say this is the day that we are given let us rejoice and be glad in it. Much of the time almost inevitably we drift through our days. Life lives up the sand on what as it runs through our glass. Death threats are wake-up calls. No longer able to take life for granted we can seize the day. And receive it as a gift. We unwrap the presents and offer up a prayer of heartfelt thanks. Does it feel logical point here one that gets lost in the haze of most salvation history. At its root religion stems from two fundamental responses to life and humility. Because we take our lives for granted neither on nor humility comes naturally to us. What did i do to deserve this we ask when things turn against us. Forgetting that we did nothing to be placed in the way of trouble and joy in the first place. The odds against each one of us being here this morning are so mine staggering. But they cannot be computed. Had i been paying more reverent attention even a 5% chance that i might live not to mention outlive my father and grandfather should have found me dancing on the ceiling. We're talking miracle not imagines miracle like god parting the red sea for moses to escape the egyptians. Or stopping the sun for joshua to win a battle but the miracle of water itself in which living organisms can incubate. And just enough warmth and light from the sun to establish ideal conditions for life to be nurtured and developed here on earth. Consider the odds more intimately. Your parents had to couple at precisely the right moment. For the one possible sperm to fertilize the one possible egg that would result in your conception. Right then the odds were still three million to one. Against your being the answer to the question that your biological parents were consciously or unconsciously posing. And that is just the beginning of the mirror. The same unlikely happenstance must repeat itself throughout the generation. Going back ten generations this miracle must repeat itself 1000 times. 1250000 x going back only 20 generation. That's right from the turn of the 13th century say until today we each have mathematically speaking approximately two-and-a-half million direct ancestors. This remarkable pyramid turns in upon itself of course with individual ancestors participating in multiple lines of generation until we trace ourselves back to our her ancestors the founding couple with whom we all. Who eats one of us carries in arbonne. The ones who began the inexorable process that finally gave birth to us all kissing ken. Blood brothers and sisters in the same mighty mystery. And that's only the egg and sperm part of the miracle. Remember each of these ancestors had to live to fogerty. For those whose bloodline flying through europe and there were like tragedies around the globe not one of your millions of direct forebears died as children during the great plague for infant which mode down half of europe with its mighty saw. Has a new book out on the mayflower by nathaniel philbrick is quite a good book. Telling a lively unlikely tale. Five of my direct ancestors weirdly happened to be on that tiny boat which. Bought the first band of dowdy pilgrims to our shores and 16 remember i wouldn't be here this morning without the unwitting assistance of all of them. One of the five twenty-four-year-old john holland and unmarried servant fell off the mayflower into the ocean halfway across the atlantic. Miraculously cut the rope his fellow pilgrims threw overboard in their desperate attempt to save them any lift. Had john howland drowned you might have been hearing a better sermon this morning but assuredly would not be preaching it. During their first winter in america some 50 of the 102 original pilgrims die among those who succumb where my ancestors john elizabeth tilley but not their thirteen-year-old daughter also named elizabeth or her ten-year-old friend elizabeth warren elizabeth. Two little girls made it through the winter without which i would not be here this month. These accidents of survival. If nothing when compared to the almost infinite odds against our winning billions of crap troops in the sperm and eggs days. Are at least somewhat easier to brat and existentially more meaningful to fun. By the way and this is truly off. So awesome that it makes every salvation story and the world's great scriptures seem trivial in comparison. Not only did all our human ancestors survived through bertie to meet at the one and only in some. But the wreck was an egg and sperm might connect to keep our tiny odds for arrival alive but they're pre-human ancestors did the same on a yearly basis then we have to go back further to our premium alien ancestors. And then beyond that into the pinball of planets and stars playing out their agon and two diurnal courses spinning back through time to the big bang itself. Mathematically or death is a simple inevitability. Whereas our life hinges on and almost infinite sequence of perfect accident. First visible and then an invisible thread connects to everyone of us in unbroken line to the instant of creation. Think about. The universe was pregnant with us. When it was born. So what did we do to deserve this. Whatever this might happen to be at any given moment in our lives unfold in saga please. The odds against our being here to ask that in pertinent question almost bigger wrecking. Which is where the s element in the fundamental religious equation kicks into play humility. Let me share with you my favorite etymology. Human humane humanitarian humility humble. Hummus. Dust to dust and ashes to ashes. And in-between erupting into consciousness into pain and hope and trust and fear and grief and love the miracle of life. Do you find yourself this morning. How's the race. So far behind the pack so you can hardly see it's dust if the odds are against you the odds against happiness returning to fill your days with joy. The seemingly overwhelming odds that you will never recover from whatever is bearing or beating you down. Take a moment to ponder life's cosmic gods and how you've already beaten them. Yu-gi-oh he's one of us here this morning or here anywhere this morning. Have miraculously run our forces from the instance of creation to the advent of life on earth and on through billions of generation. Directing the privilege of looking out upon this. Magnificent more. And then when you're blinking in the sun cause one moment further and remember sophie sala. Evalion stretch run may not make you a winner but i can promise you this. It will make your heart and the hearts of those who love you beat fast. Believe me there's nothing like a kick toward the flat to get the old blood pumping and the crowd off their duffs cherry. Without even trying you've already won the only race they're really matter unconsciously yet omnipresence you ran the gauntlet of stars and genomes to assume your full nothing less than miraculous place in the creation. Being alive to love and hurt to fail and recover to prove your gift and show compassion. That is life screw secret. Life's abiding opportunity bequeathed against all odds to each and everyone of us has much the same. To live in such a way with words of love and deeds of pray that our lives to will prove to be worth dying for. It is to live and also to die for the multitude of brothers and sisters who beat the odds with us who labored with our ancestors hands and wept tears of grief and joy from our ancestors i connecting. Has kim to god and each other blessed together together always with the privilege. A running from gate to flag in life glorious race. Amen. I love you and may god bless us all.

all-souls_org

04.01.18CovenantOfFreedom.mp3

Mornings reading come from three different sources. The first from the man whom we honor this weekend. Rev dr martin luther king. Freedom is not given. It is one by struggle. Man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. Man dies when he refuses to take a stand. For that which is true. So we are going to stand up here. And let the world know. We. Are determined. Tubi free. Second reading. Is from unitarian minister and abolitionist theodore parker. These words inspired abraham lincoln's gettysburg address. There is what i call the american idea. This idea demands a democracy. That is a government of all the people. By all the people. For all the people. A government of the principles of eternal justice. The unchanging law of god. For shortness is sake. I will call this idea. Freedom. And finally. Communitarian poet james russell lowell. They have rice. Dare. Maintain them. Thinking you could fight in the mall. When it became clear that they were not intimidated by his tactics. He smiled at them. What do you want. Little girl looked up at him and with. A five-year-old determination. She said. Freedom. Whenever you tell the story kingwood some it up by saying she couldn't even pronounce the word yet but this girl already knew what she wanted. Sometime when king felt like he was losing heart to think of the little girl and her courage and it would revive his spirits. Peterman. So today in honor of dr. king and in honor of this little girl. And in honor of all those who have stood and who stand up. For what rights are theirs. For the rights of others today we stay our hearts and our minds on freedom. We're all used to hearing about freedom in the political arena. Legislators pass laws that either curb or extend liberties. Nations fight wars ostensibly to preserve freedom people struggle against tyrants and dictators to win their freedom we're familiar with freedom in this political sense. And i'm going to get back to politics later in my sermon. But i want to begin by talking about freedom as a religious category. Rather than a political one i want to speak about the spiritual dimensions. A freedom. You see. I believe that our freedom. Is a gift from god. By that i mean. It is a right to bestowed upon us. By our creator. No one has yet said it's better than jefferson. We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator. With certain inalienable rights. That among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness before he ever makes a political argument in the declaration of independence jefferson makes the religious claim that freedom is a gift from god. Jefferson. The unitarian. And he's drawing here on the unitarian belief that all human beings are created in god's image. And it because of our divine providence. We each possess infinite worth and dignity. If intrinsic to our human nature. Imbued with this holy potential freedom is the latitude that our creator has given us to fulfill that potential. To become most fully who we are meant to be. As a gift to us from our creator theoretically freedom. Should be ours for the taking. Right there at our fingertips. No questions asked. Asked. All aboard the freedom train. But it turns out there's a catch. An irony that was present right from the beginning of human history and irony that is dramatically illustrated in the life of jefferson himself who could pain such spiritual truth and yet himself owned slaves. The irony is that the freedom maybe a gift from god know it may indeed be self-evident it is not self protect you waiting. Which is to say freedom doesn't exist just because god says so. It turns out that what our creator has given us as a gift. He is ours to protect. And maintain. Lest we lose it. The paradox of freedom. Is that so it's the right bestowed by the creator. It's a right that's enforced by creation. Bios. Freedom it turns out only exists when human beings covenant with one another. To protect it this is a covenant of freedom. Covenant of the promise. Pat passed among people to preserve and maintain something that is of common value to them. It's like our opening him this morning when we sang. We would be one. And working to build tomorrow. A better world than we have known today that was a covenant we were making that we were singing with one another there. The pledge ourselves to something greater. The covenant of freedom is one human beings promised to another i will keep you free. I will protect you. Against forces that would take away your rights i will ensure your worth and dignity if you will ensure mine. The covenant of freedom. Is one of the fundamental promises. But we members of the great family of all souls. Make to one another. If you tried to preach the sermon to me. Say 12 or 15 years ago i probably would have said to you covenants promises whatever. Because back then frankly. I took my freedom for granted. You see i grew up in a. A lily white suburb in upstate new york. We're at least from the shady tree-lined streets everyone look middle class and happy behind their two-story colonial. Detached garage. Growing up freedom wasn't even a concept we considered accepting social studies class it was a problem back in history with a problem for other folks. Not for us. Where i grew up your neighbors didn't even know your name much less metal in your affairs i grew up with an unfettered and illimitable sense of freedom. So imagine my surprise them. When a few years later having come out. I moved to the state of oregon. I found myself in the middle of a campaign. By the religious right. To restrict. Gay rights. The referendum would have forbidden any institution that receive state funding from mentioning the word. What about lord sexual orientation is a classification worthy of civil rights protection will suddenly this thing called freedom. Which i had treated so cavalierly that i barely knew it existed. Suddenly it was at risk. It was the subject of other people's political debates. My civil liberties were going to be put on a ballot for other people to vote on. How could that be i thought what do they have to do with my freedom. I'm walking to cafes and i've your people discuss my freedom like they would any other political question you know who's going to win the iowa caucus or something. Will the scales fell from my eyes. And i realized just how vulnerable. And how precious my freedom was. I realize that regardless of what jefferson said regardless of whether freedom was my god-given right in 1994 in the state of oregon god wasn't going to protect my freedom. It was all in the hands. Of the people of the state of oregon. And that's when it hit home. For the first time. The freedom is a covenant. But we are utterly dependent. On one another for the liberty that we possess. I tell you it changes your perspective on things. It makes you feel kind of vulnerable when you first realized that your freedom is in a given it's it's not very comforting really to know that your liberties are in the hands of a bunch of complete strangers. And that's when you realize how important. The covenant of freedom is and how seriously we must take the responsibility to preserve and protect one another's liberty. I know that many of us have. A first-hand knowledge. Other vulnerabilities. And responsibility of this covenant. Whether we fought for freedom in world war ii. Or feared for its survival during the mccarthy era. Whether you struggle for freedom in the civil rights movement or the women's movement. What protested against the patriot act each of us has a different story around this but many of us have had a time when the importance of covenant. Became real became personal. Friends. I fear. For the health. Of the covenant of freedom in our nation. The new election of 2000. For the first time in over a century. The guy who got the most votes lost. The us commission on civil rights determined that in the state of florida. Estate decided by 500 votes minority voters were frequently denied with franchise their names were purged from the voting list. The polling places were understaffed and ill-equipped thousands of names thousands of ballots were tossed away long before the recount ever started. While gerrymandering. Has a long and deceitful history in american politics. Commentators of all stripes agree that what's happened in texas this year is unprecedented. Making a mockery of the principle of one-person one-vote. Since the war on terror began in the fall of 2001 us citizens have been held as enemy combatants. Without benefit of trial. For lawyer. 8/600 foreign nationals are denied similar rights in guantanamo. They've been in captivity for 2 years now with no rights whatsoever. Just last week i was traveling. When the transportation safety administration. Announced that it would begin assigning color codes. To all travellers in the united states. Read be assigned a color depending on our perceived security threat. Red means you can't get on the plane. Yellow means you're suspicious and you're going to get the full search at the checkpoint. Green means you can sail on through. In a letter of complaint against this proposal one-person echo dr. king's famous remarks writing i want to be judged not by the color of my code but by the content of my carry-on energy policy is being made by oil companies health policy by insurance companies and tack policy by the rich and here in the district of columbia our sons and daughters are dying in a war that was authorized by a government in which they have no voting representation. I fear for the health of the covenant of freedom in our nation. Can we citizens of this country. Have allowed this to happen. We've allowed it to happen. We have not taking our democracy democracy seriously we are shirking the covenant. The institute for democracy in electoral assistance which monitors. Voting rights around the world reports that out of 131 world democracies. The united states ranks 103rd. Voter participation. How can we have what theodore parker called for and which lincoln borrowed for the gettysburg address a government of all the people by all the people and for all the people. How can we have that when in the election of 2008 a4 of eligible voters didn't cast a ballot half of eligible voters didn't cast a ballot. 49%. It's no surprise. Japan government. Serve the interests. I've only a few. We must act in this election year. To begin to repair. The covenant of freedom. Last october. Nearly 150 of us attended a social justice retreat in which we defined the the justice priorities of the church for the next year or so and to me one of the most exciting projects that came out of that retreat was a voter registration and mobilization campaign. A campaign that leaders here at the church of decided to call all vote. All souls all vote. The group has sponsored education forms and is now getting ready to to get trained and hit the streets to register and turn out voters in our neighborhood we we've adopted the columbia heights metro station. Is the place we're going to do our registration. Then we're going to work with other groups in the city and serve expand from there there's even talk of a week-long voting rights work camp. In another state. I want to encourage you. To participate in this project in some way. To play a role in caring for the covenant of freedom. This is not about partisan politics this is about getting people involved in our democracy so that we can protect the coven in the freedom so that we can have a government that serve all of our people. The next meeting of the voting rights group is next sunday. After church and i hope some of you will attend. And i want to highlight one more activities a time. I want to throw out as a suggestion later in the afternoon next sunday bill mentioned already that all souls and sacred heart catholic church are holding a public action. To announce an agreement we made with the city to get the appropriate agencies to begin enforcing code violations on substandard housing in our neighborhood you wouldn't believe the conditions that some people living in this neighborhood. Councilmember graham. And others will be on hand to hear the head of the dc regulatory agency the agency charged with code enforcement. Promise to mate to take for building for buildings each month. That we suggest. And clean them up. After church today in pierce hall you can learn more about this project to i hope you'll get involved. There are lots of opportunities. Find a way. To help repair. The covenant of freedom in our city. Anaheim nation. You know. Yesterday while people. All over the nation. We're beginning the weekend of celebrating the birthday of dr. king. The president of the united states appointed. To the federal bench. Judge charles pickering. He made the appointment while congress was in recess. To avoid the need for senate confirmation judge pickering's nomination was opposed by virtually every civil rights group in america his record on civil liberties is appalling. He's already been denied confirmation by the senate once. This is the gift. The president chose to give this country. On the anniversary of doctor kingsburg. I suggest that we give our nation. A gift that is worthy. Eye dr. king's legacy. The gift of our renewed commitment. To our civil liberties the gift of our participation. In the institutions of democracy. Let's help give back to america. It's covenant of freedom again. I'm in.

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04.06.20WhatWeHaveBeenGiven.mp3

I want to begin this morning by saying simply happy father's day to all those fathers and grandfathers who are with us this morning i remember a couple of years ago i was preaching a sermon on father's day and i thought my grandfather goodwin edward who i think of a lot at this time of year because he he died in june of 1995 and as the red sox chased the pennant i always think of him this poem is by alice walker. To acknowledge our ancestors. Memes we are aware that we did not make ourselves. But the line stretches all the way back perhaps to god or two gods. We remember them because it is an easy thing to forget. That we are not the first to suffer rebelle fight. Love. And i. The grace with which we embrace life. In spite of the pain the sorrows. Is always a measure of what has gone before. 2 easy thing to forget and yet we need not to. Those who have gone before us and so i'd like to take alice walker's words in the brief homily i'm going to share with you this morning and do what i would say is sort of placing them in our contact here at all souls church and broaden them a bit. To encompass some of the ritual that we just did with the children. So first for the contextual piece of being here at all souls church a place with a rich history and come in here in the sanctuary when it's empty that i think about those names not known to me. Those people who sat in the pews after losses or after moments of great joy those who shed tears and. Smiled broad smiles. Those without whom i am called to remember again and again we would not be here. Word for their lives. They made it possible by giving of themselves and of their resources to create this amazing space. To create a community that stood for justice and for love. We need to remember and pause often to thank them and strive to uphold that legacy. Even as we try to shape and reshape that legacy into something new and different that is relevant for this moment in history in which we find ourselves. May we remember them. May we pause frequently to remember those people who have gone before us at all souls church. And who have made the way. And i want to broaden alice walker's words this morning by thinking of how we are not just receivers of that which has been given to us from those who have gone before but we are also shares of that gift that we have received with those who come after us. And we don't just sort of bestow it and kind of give it to children they get this gift and then they run along and and there they go with it but we also received from them. Most of you know by now that i used to be a preschool teacher during my seminary years and i used to say people thought it was kind of a flip thing for me to say that some of my best friends were toddlers but i said it because they also taught me a lot those young people on my last day of work i stood crying next to my boss and in front of these young people these preschoolers and i said to them you gave me this job and i had no idea that it was going to change my life. For those children taught me a lot about patience. They taught me a lot about saying i was sorry and saying thank you more often. I taught me a lot about paying attention to each and every moment. To see the butterfly on the flower to notice how much fun mudkip be. To remember that playfulness. Is an important part of life. And so i want to remind us this morning that what we have been given is not only the legacy of our parents and grandparents. Both here at all souls church in in our own personal lives but it's the legacy that we give to those who come after us the legacy that we received from those who come after us that remind us of our best selves. And remind us at moments when we are. More often than not wanting to take ourselves a bit too seriously. But sometimes life is best lived with a light touch. And so i hope that we are building a community here my friends a beloved community in which all people all people at all stages of life are seen as sages. Seen as people who have wisdom to share who have love to give. I was thinking as i was trying to put together my thoughts about legacy of a wonderful meditation that our colleague vanessa southern had written and i just want to share a sentence and a half from something that she wrote she said that it is true for any institution that persists over time. But if it is to survive. Within its walls and under its roof there must be a ceaseless flow of life and so on this hallowed ground and in this sacred space that was made for us and which we make for those who come after us. May their indeed be a ceaseless flow of life. In which we find the humility to be receivers of the gifts that we have been given to see ourselves as one part of something greater. And may we also have the strength and the courage and the knowledge. To know that we are the only ones who have been given this particular gift that we have. To share. You are the only you in all this planet. Share that love and that light in this space. May we each embrace our role. In this community. Play we never look askance at what we have been given. Maybe true. This year and this day and everyday and every year of our lives on that.

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06.07.23PuttingFirstThingsFirst.mp3

This morning's reading comes from one of my favorite and one of the most playful poets i know of. Billy collins. And this is a poem of his entitled. I go back to the house for a book. I turn around on the gravel. And go back to the house for a book. Something to read at the doctor's office. And while i'm inside running the finger of inquisition along a shelf. Another me. That did not bother to go back to the house for a book. Heads out on his own. Rolls down the driveway. And swings left. Toward town. A ghost in his ghost car. Another knot in the string of time. A good 3 minutes ahead of me. A spacing that will now continue for the rest of my life. Sometimes i think i see him. A few people in front of me on a line. Or getting up from a table to leave the restaurant just before i do. Slipping into his coat. On the way out the door. But there is no catching him. No way to slow him down and put us back into sink. Unless one day. He decides to go back to the house for something. But i cannot imagine for the life of me what that might be. He's out there always before me. Blazing my trail. Invisible scout. Pound that pulls me along. She'd i am doomed to follow. My perfect double. Only bumped an inch into the future. And not nearly as well-versed as i in the love poems of ovid. I went back to the house that fateful winter morning. And got the book. Putting first things first. About a year-and-a-half ago several of us on the program staff of the church. Went to boston. For a large church conference sponsored by the unitarian universalist association. The main worship service during that conference was led by two prominent colleagues. Whose message was both part reminder and part admonition. They told us that they worried that too often our congregations our unitarian universalist congregation get into trouble because they forget. What church is for. They forget what it means to be a church in people's lives. We get so caught up they said in budget issues and the agendas of different factions within our congregations that we forget what comes first. Spiritual nourishment. Worship. Being people of faith. They said that without maintaining that focus. If we lose sight of what makes church unique from other institutions in our lives we lose sense of mission. A sense of purpose. A sense of the meaning of our existence. And it occurred to me that as interesting as that was and as much as i agreed with them that too often we forget to put first things first in our congregations to remember that worship and that spiritual nourishment is at the heart of everything we do here. But the same can be said for each of us as individuals. That we can and often do lose sight of the first things. Of our lives. We lose sight of who we are. Or certainly. Those things that make us are most true and authentic cell. We can end up running around feeling so busy and scattered so fragmented and disjointed that we are out of touch. With our own souls. And we find sometimes. If we're able to clear a little space. But we're asking ourselves difficult questions. Questions like how did i end up in this position. What am i doing with this day. With myself with my life. What are the first things. Of my existence. We end up if you will in a sort of existential crisis we end up not realizing or not remembering who we are anymore. We realize. But who we are in the world is disconnected from who we feel ourselves to be. On the inside. Parker palmer the quaker educator talks about this radical disconnect that so many in our society feel between soul and roll. People who are pained and despairing because who they feel they want to be in their lives is not at all who they are. In their workaday world. That without this alignment. Without keeping ourselves. In alignment our soul and our role without maintaining this focus on the first things of our existence. We end up. Feeling deeply confused. And at a loss. Not at all clear. About who we are or where we are going. Now having outline to the problem. It seems that the solution is both easy and impossible. The challenge is one that i've talked with many of you about in my office or even in passing at committee meetings the challenge is one of setting priorities. Setting priorities that will lead to that thing that ever elusive thing that so many of us seek. Balance. And this prioritizing and balance seeking. Does not mean that we don't acknowledge the things that we must. Of course i understand that we all have our obligations we all have things in our lives that we must attend to. That require our energy and our time. It does not mean however that recognizing. That we need to recognize that we do have it in our power. We do hold the capacity to structure our days. In such a way that gives equal. If not even more weight. To those things which are most important. And most. Precious to us. To not allow those obligations of our lives. More than they are due. Balance. Friends is about finding or achieving some sort of harmony. Between the things of living which need to be done. But are not the constructive things which are life-giving. And those things without which you feel not yourself. Without which your life. Feels less. And so i asked you this morning. But if you were to decide right here and right now that you have been putting. Some of the second or third or fourth things. In your life first. How would you from this moment forward. Change that trend. Change that pattern. In order to put some of the first things. First. Perhaps. You would begin in a place that we probably all need to begin. Which is by adding more time for reflection into your life. More time so that you can step back and see the big picture of your existence. See how you are and where you are on your life's path. Perhaps you want to be more intentional in the way that you live. And allow fewer things to simply happen to you but to move forward. With a sense of what it is. That you want for your life. I was thinking some this week about how we talked about how we use and live our lives we often say that we spend our days. Spend them. Which sounds to me a little likely we are so into the the capitalist mindset that like anything out of our wallet we simply just spend our lives in any old way. And i want to ask you this morning to think about perhaps rather than spending your days. Think of creating them. Of making something with them art or beauty or something larger. And what would you make with your days. In fact let's take one such reflective moment. Right now. Take some deep breaths. If you're a person who likes to close your eyes when you meditate on the first things of your life. Then close your eyes. And ask yourself a few questions. Are you making or leaving time to do the first things. Of your life. Have you spent time with the people you love. Have you made the time to marvel at the beauty of the natural world in which you live. Have you found yourself recently in all or in wonder. At the very miraculous fact that you are. Alive. Or perhaps. Have you found yourself giving. More than enough time. Holding onto grudges. Or to withholding yourself being stingy with your very being. Or regretting. Past decisions or mistakes. What would it be like. I put the first things. Of your existence. First. Friend. Too often we don't give ourselves the space. I think about what matters most to us. None the last to align our lives to align our souls and such a way that we can live. Those first things. Too often we recognize ourselves in the poet's description. We feel there's one self living one kind of life and another. Us that's just out ahead of us a little ways. But there is a self that is most concerned with spirit and values and convictions. In one place and yet and then this other self which was more concerned with professional status and achievements and business and all of the obligations of our lives. Two selves. Rather than one whole being. Living from the very center. To the very center. And so like our colleagues challenge does a year-and-a-half ago i challenge each of you this morning. To stay focused. On the first things. To figure out where the balance is in your life. Figure out a way to live. As whole beings. And to fill your days. And to create with your days. Many gestures of kindness. And moments of gracefulness. My prayer for us this summer. And indeed for every season of our lives. Is that we will find it within our grasp. To become whole people. Who are in one place. And to create of our days and our lives. Testaments. To what we hold most dear. So may it be.

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04.10.10GoodGrief.mp3

I reading this morning is from the unitarian poet may sarton this is sonnet number two from her autumn sonnets. If i can let you go as trees let go. As trees let go their leaves so casually one-by-one. If i can come to know what they do know that fall is the release. The consummation then fear of time and the uncertain fruit would not distemper the great lucid skies this strangest autumn. Mellow and acute. If i can take the dark with open eyes and call it seasonal and not harsh or strange. Full of itself may need a time of sleep and tree-like stand-on moved before the change lose what i lose. To keep what i can keep the strong root still alive. Under the snow love will endure if i can let you go. I think both of these microphones around can you turn the mic off please. I'm hearing myself twice cuz that, better not long after her husband bob died of a virulent cancer patricia monaghan lost her keys one day on her way out the door to get the groceries she she patted her pockets where she always kept them only to discover that they were gone at first she thought that she's simply misplaced them like we all do so she checked the usual places the kitchen counter the two-bedroom bureau her purse no keys. After an hour or so of looking she began to panic because that set contains her last remaining car key so she retraced her steps from the previous day she she ransacked the clothes that she'd worn she yanked mattresses off of sofas is garbage underneath her bed still no keys. Canon patricia picked yourself up off the floor and sank into the bed that she and her husband had once shared and cried inconsolably for hours when her tears finally subsided she was overcome with anger she got up from the bed and stalked the room screaming at her dead husband telling him how cruel and heartless he was to leave her alone in this her time of need if he still loved her he would come and help her now. In my furious pain she writes. I flung down a challenge to my husband find my keys i insisted find my damn keys if there's anyone there if there's any love left find my keys after the fury had passed she continues. I felt mortified i have been screaming. Headed deadman. Standing in my room alone screaming at a deadman people often come to their minister in the midst of grief not knowing quite what to do they say okay. A lot what am i supposed to do how do i get through this tell me tell me how i'm supposed to grieve well i wanted to share patricia monahans story this morning a story she has recanted in an award-winning essay physics and grief. As a way of saying that there is no tidy prescription for how we should grieve patricia's desperate search for her lost keys a story which will return to later reveals grief as it really is messy sometimes embarrassing always unpredictable you never know when a lost set of keys or a chance encounter with an old photo will trigger it again but there are some things that i share with people to try to help them understand some of what i tell them in hopes that we can all learn to grieve. Better. And so one thing we do know for certain is that grief is our natural human response to loss grief is our natural human response to laws now usually we associate grief only with death. But death is just one of the many losses we experience in our lifetimes lots of times people come to me because they're feeling sad and and they're grieving but they can't quite pinpoint why they begin by telling me about the losses in their life. And we usually stumble upon the cause a young woman gets fired from her job shall grieve that loss young man finally singing for the for the metropolitan opera he'll grieve the loss for that hoped for future even though it only ever existed as a glimmer in his mind's eye and elderly person watches as one and then another and then another of his faculties begins to deteriorate that's a loss a woman loses a breast. A soldier a leg these are some of the losses that we human beings might grieve over in our lifetimes the thing you need to know about lost that thing you already know about lost but maybe need to be reminded of is that it's as stubborn as a mule. It hangs around it out stays its welcome and long after the initial acute pain is gone it lingers somewhere in our subconscious ready to rear its head again so what happens is that each new loss we suffer in our lives we're calls one or two previous losses and each new loss we suffer in our life foreshadows. The losses that we fear will be coming. Including the final loss. Which is our own death. But sometimes people can't figure out why they're getting so upset about something that on the surface of it doesn't doesn't seem such a big deal to them it's because they're not just breathing the immediate loss there's a whole history of losses that comes rushing to the four so for example today's visit to the hospital to treat a minor ailment. We're calls that visit 10 years ago. When you were there fighting for your life. And you better believe that you will grieve them both again today grief is our response to the multi-layered complex intertwining of the past and future losses of our lives. How then do we confront it. How do we cope so that we can emerge on the other side of los able to move forward again with our lives i believe that there are two tasks that are essential to healthy grieving one is an emotional task the other espiritual task on the surface of the emotional task would appear to be very straightforward grief each person feel something different but we know that the typical responses range anywhere from shock and denial and sadness to fear and anger 22 guilt and shame. Lots of us experience all or many of these feelings some of us dwell on one or two. What i've discovered in working with people who grieve. I mean they're painful and and we're also afraid that that we might lose control of it our sorrow will be this bottomless pit from which will never be able to extract ourselves again or or were afraid that will do something embarrassing like like shouted are dead husband. In an empty room. Or worse a crowded room for just a moment to patricia mana. To clean how many of you when there's something more difficult that you should be doing suddenly develop a tendency to neatness until she found those keys she started in the basement reorganizing utility shelves and scrubbing the floors then she moved to the first floor taking the books off her bookshelves and she's a writer mind you she's got lots of books. Finally. Exhausted she could stave off the spare no longer her defenses down she let the wave of sadness and anger and depression wash over her she let herself experienced it and now she was doing the work that she needed to do which was simply too to let herself feel all the complicated and depressed and down into the enemy that is grief. That's what they'll say to me and i try to remind them that grief isn't the enemy if there's an enemy at all it's lost grief is the friend grief is a friend that helps us recover from loss and become whole again when we stifle our emotions are refused to experience and we're only prolonging our agony only postponing the date when we can return to the world as whole human beings. So that's the emotional task but there's another one there's a spiritual task in grieving you've often heard me say that my definition of religion is. Religion is people telling stories of hope by stories i don't mean falsehoods i mean narratives i mean that in order to make sense of our lives we need to have a narrative of our lives human beings make meaning through story we need to be able to tell us a story of where we've come from and where we're going and why that's how we find meaning in the world and it works the same with grief. The spiritual task of grieving is to be able to tell a story about our loss. That helps give it some meaning for us that helps give it a place in the larger story of our lives that helps give it a context because once it has a place and a context then it doesn't have to consume all of us all of the time the lost never goes away we can never delete it from our stories but by giving it a context we can gain perspective and move on again as whole people what do i mean by being able to tell us a story about our loss is it could simply be i am a person who has suffered many losses asses and those losses have been me stronger and more compassionate and more open to the love that awaits me. The story doesn't have to supply all the answers it doesn't have to be a feel-good story it certainly doesn't have to be a tragic story with a story we tell about our loss makes a difference it makes a big difference about what that lost will mean for our history and about where we can go from here on out. Almost one year to the day after patricia monaghan had given up looking for her keys she found them she was sitting in a chair in her study reading when she glanced up and noticed the carved metal end of a key sticking out from behind a poster that hung from the back of her study door she pulled on the exposed and the key in the whole set fell out of course the question for her became how did the keys get behind the poster she was the only one who touched on one of the panel grooves instead of this time though monahan's puzzle she writes but i am most deeply comforted she says by knowing that i will not ever truly know that the universe is far beyond our understanding. Who are shedding their leaves and preparing for a dormant winter so that they might blossom again in the spring like the trees she says i must lose what i lose. So that i might keep when i can keep. Friends i can't tell you what story to use to give meaning to your loss but me and shawna and the church are here to help us all find that story for ourselves and i will say this i know that the soul is a resilient thing i know that no matter how much we've lost the world continues to offer its beauty and its possibility to us. Love still extends to us gets hand may our grieving give us the solace and the courage. To take that and i'm in.

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03.03.16SmoothStones.mp3

Father. Gustavo gutierrez. Serves a humble parish in lima peru. A parish that consists mostly of the poor who live in shantytowns where dirt roads double as sewers. Where people go hungry at dinner. As their priests gustavo hands out arms. And tries to organize the people to fight for a better life. Gutierrez is also a world-renowned theologian. The founder of latin american liberation theology. I have a good fortune one summer of studying with gutierrez after i had returned home from working in guatemala i thought the class would help me integrate my experience there back into my life here in america. One day during class. A student ask gutierrez he said gustavo. Why do you spend so much time. Traveling the world teaching and handwriting theology when there's more important work for you to do right there in your own parish right there with your own people. Gustavo pause for a moment. I write and teach he said. Because of theology that legitimizes the rich and powerful and placate the poor with promises of glory in the afterlife this theology is a significant cause of the suffering of my people. I spend time writing and teaching theology because in latin america he said. In latin america theology is about who lives and who dies. His words struck me that day but for many years i believed the theology could be a matter of life and death only in a place like latin america only where oppression was so great and the church was so powerful only there i thought could people's ideas about god actually make a difference between life and death. 9/11 changed all that for me. Now it is abundantly clear that no matter where we live. Our religious beliefs and how we act on those beliefs is indeed a matter of life and death. During the holocaust. Jews in concentration camps put god on trial. They literally got together in the prisons and held court like proceedings putting god on the stand. How could you may ask. You the god of abraham and moses. Who let us out of slavery who parted the red sea you who led us to the promised land how could you let this happen. What do you have to say for yourself. They put god on trial and in the end some found god guilty of betrayal. Others acquitted him on grounds that god wasn't as powerful as he had once been in biblical times. So he couldn't be held responsible anymore. And others looking around and watching their loved ones march off to the gas chambers. Could come to no other conclusion. Then let god must be dead. Today it is not so much god that needs to be put on trial. It is the people who talk about god. The ministers. The priest the rabbis and imams the believers of all stripes who claimed to speak and act on behalf of god it is time for them. For us to make an accounting. To answer for ourselves for too much evil has been perpetrated in the name of god for us to be able to go on on challenge now. We must answer for ourselves will hours be a faith of death or of life. Will always be a theology of oppression or liberation. Will hours be a religion of terror. Or a piece. And so it is in this context today that i wants to make the case for our face. For unitarian-universalism i want to share with you the elements of our faith that i believe our central and say a little bit about why i hold them more dearly now than ever before. Amazon i do this i invite as my dialogue partner a great 20th century unitarian theologian james luther adams. Adams once wrote a famous essay called the smooth stones. Of liberal religion. He said the liberal religious tradition is in which we stand is like an ever-flowing stream. Our belief is always moving always changing always rushing 4th to meet new ideas and new circumstances never collecting in stagnant pools. So one of the most salient characteristics of our faith is that it changes. But though the water is swiftly moving. He said. At the bottom of the river. Have our faith we find ancient stones worn smooth from the passage of of water and time and sand these stones are what's permanent about our faith. These are the principles that endure. What are the smooth stones. Have unitarian universalism. First. Revelation. Is ongoing. You know one of the features that distinguishes anasa liberals from our orthodox brothers and sisters is that we don't have a creed statement of faith that goes back centuries to it's all must subscribe and. Our detractors would suggest that this is because we can't make up our minds what to believe but adams reminds us that know it's because we believe that truth wisdom and religious insights flow constantly into the world. They are just waiting to reveal themselves to us if only we would pay attention. We more than any other religious tradition place a premium on the direct experience. Of this ongoing revelation. You know the orthodox teach that all we need to know about god and truth can be found in the holy book. Whether it's the bible or the torah or the quran. They say that the only true prophet was the great one. Jesus or moses or muhammad. Through these books and profits they say god spoke and speaks no more. To this the religious liberal says. God speaks still. God is not dead. Revelation is ongoing. And unless we wake up. And pay attention to it. We're not going to find the wisdom. That we need to survive together. On this planet. Some of us in church are studying emerson together in the other night we were talking about this notion of ongoing revelation when one person said. You know i finally get it. To say that god spoke only 21 people at one time centuries ago is as absurd as saying that god only speaks english how could you limit god like that. To the fundamentalist. Who find in their holy book the blueprint for war. To those who discover in the prejudices of ancient peoples legitimization of oppression today to these people the religious liberal says close your holy book and open your heart. Close the book and open your heart. And they're listen for the word of god. This tenets of our faith places a daunting freedom and an incredible responsibility on unitarian universalist you know it's much easier to say on one hand while believe whatever the church tells me to believe or on the other hand well it doesn't really matter what i believe. But every religion requires of its members a spiritual discipline. And the spiritual discipline of every single unitarian universalist is this not to believe whatever we want not to believe what we're taught but to believe what we must to believe what our conscience demands of us that is our spiritual discipline as religious liberals. This isn't easy. But to struggle together with these ultimate questions. Is one of the most rewarding journeys. That life offers us. So the first smooth stone. Revelation. Is ongoing. The second smooth stone of our faith the second truth shaped by time is the belief that people of faith have a moral obligation to work to establish. Adjust and the loving world and we are by no means alone in this belief but historically. Unitarians have always put more stock in deeds than in creed's. This was the most important stone for james luther adams. And knowing of a little of his history will help you understand why. When atoms with a young man he travel to nazi germany. To track down a former professor of his who had gone underground to resist hitler. In germany. Atoms found two churches. The first. With a small underground church of the resistance those believers who worked to usher jews to freedom and plotted hitler's overthrow. And the other church. The vast majority of germans. Who failed to stand up to hitler. What they did was they turned their religion inward insisting that saith was a private affair. That it was about the salvation of their own soul and not the world. And they turned a blind eye to hitler. In germany adams saw the best and the worst that religion could be and when he returned he wrote this. A faith that is not. The sister of justice. Is bound to bring us grief. Face that is not the sister of justice. Is bound to bring us grief. Go adams himself possessed a deep spiritual life he distrusted religion that was only about spirituality purely spiritual religion he said is a purely spurious religion. In other words. Spirituality without justice is a sham. And he added justice won't happen. Simply through our prayers and are fretting. Unitarian universalist said adams deny. The immaculate conception. Virtue. The birth of justice will take real labor pains as well as the attendance blood sweat and tears. Every religion aspects of its members a sacrifice. Gandhi said religion without sacrifices a sin well our sacrifice has always been to labor for institutions that make good incarnate in the world. The second smooth stone. Number three. I'm going to add it today and it is this. Throughout history unitarian universalist. Have hold upheld two things at the same time both. The inviolability. Of the human being. And the indivisibility. Of the human family. In other words. The human being is sacred. And the human family is one. Emerging from the reformation both unitarianism in universalism challenge the central tenant of calvinist faith the doctrine of human depravity instead they claimed the ancient and often forgotten believe that in the face of every human being. Could be found the image of god. Then we each contain a spark of the divine and that's because of our divine parentage we all possess worth and dignity. To this day this faith is the ethical rock. Unitarian universalism. She's the reason that unitarian universalist have in this country been in the forefront of many struggles for civil rights the inherent worth and dignity of the individual. But alongside this believes in the worth of every human being and sometimes intention with it. Is czarface. The fisherman family. Is 1. Pc throughout history. There's been a pernicious tendency in religion to divide the human family. To separate the chosen. From the forgotten. The saved from the dam the wheat from the chaff. And for some reason that's a religious impulse has always gotten more play in history. I think it has something to do with the fact that an us-versus-them ideology is more useful for those who seek political power and gain in the world. But resisting all along. Resisting all along there has been a far more generous. A far more noble religious impulse. The belief that the human family is indivisible. But we are one. It doesn't mean that we're all alike. It doesn't mean that we're all going to get along. Put that at some fundamental level. We are one people. Friends it's written on the cover of our bulletin every sunday the words of american unitarians founder william ellery channing. I am a living member of the great family of all souls. Not some. In today's world friends where religion is tearing the human family apart and where individual lives are seen as expendable pawns in god's holy war. We need to assert even more strongly. Our faith in the inviolability of the human being. And the indivisibility. Official and family. 4th and finally. I want to speak about hope. Every religion worth its salt. Gives the people some hope. We live in a broken and suffering world. And we are broken and suffering people. We need hope not false hope. Real hope. Well all religions offer hope. It makes a difference where the hope lies. Where is its horizon. Some faiths place the horizon of hope far out in another world far beyond the world that we know far beyond the bounds of space and time for them this world is irredeemable. It's a lost cause. The horizon of hope. For religious liberals. Is and always has been. This world. You know we sing the song often over my head there is justice. Crispy's there's freedom in the air but even though these ideals maybe over our heads our faith is that they are not outside of our reach. And that we can pull freedom and peace and justice and and peace down out of the sky and make them real here on earth. Ours is a faith in this world. Now you may say rob. The signs of the times. Do not offer much hope these days. And you're right. But the kind of hope i'm talking about isn't about the short-term it's about the long-term. It's about a trust that the universe is on the side of love and compassion and that we working together with that creative and transforming principle at the heart of the universe can help make it so. This gives our lives meaning and purpose. It is this hope this face that keeps us in the struggle. When all of the small defeats. Might lead us to despair. Dr. king summed up this hope best when he said. The arc of the universe is. Long. But it bends toward justice. It bends towards justice. They used to call james luther adams. The smiling prophet. I think that sums up this last smooth stone well you see adams worked tirelessly for justice he was an old lefty organizer from chicago. He celebrated many victories and suffered many defeats with a smile on his face. Indicated that he knew he was working in concert with the ultimate purpose of the universe. And he knew that one day the cause of justice. Would prevail. That's where his smile came from. My experience in this work. Suggest to me that if the profit doesn't smile. If she has no hope. She won't be a prophet. For very long. So friends to sum up. Unitarian universalism holds that revelation is ongoing. Therefore our spiritual discipline is to discern the saving revelation for our time. We believe that religion without justice is false and therefore the sacrifice demanded of us is to work for the incarnation of good in our world. Third in spite of all attempts to denigrate life and divided humanity we believe that human life is sacred and that the human family is one. And finally. Our faith is that. In some small way. Because of our efforts. The world will one day be the place. Dreamed of by the prophets. Of old. Where justice rolls down like water. And peace. Like a mighty stream. Maybe so. I'm in.

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05.05.22ComingOutAsAChristian.mp3

The reading this morning comes from the bible. From chapter 5 of matthew the sermon on the mount one of the key teachings of jesus. Is sometimes called sermon on the plane and many of you may know this section as the beatitudes which means the blessing. I'm going to read though from something called the unvarnished new testament. Which is a direct translation from the greek by andy galax that has a glow different twist on it. Seen the crowd jesus went up the mountain. And as he sat there his students came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them saying this. The poor in spirit are in luck. The kingdom of the skies is there. The mourners are in luck. For they will be consoled. The gentle are in luck. For they will inherit the earth. And those hungering for justice and thirsting for justice are in luck. For they will get their fill. The merciful are in luck. They will be treated mercifully. The clean hearted are in luck. They will see god. The peacemakers are in luck they will be called god's sons and daughters. Wondering if the ushers can close the white doors back there i'm hearing much traffic so if i can hear it you can hear it. All under this wide umbrella of faith. That honors the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Our first unitarian universalist principal. There is room for the lifelong unitarian for the goddess worshipper. For the hindu devotee for buddhist meditators. For falling away roman catholics. Formerly oppressed southern baptists you can be male female transgender straight. Lesbian gay bisexual queer or questioning. We strive to include people of all races ethnicities and nationalities. You may be a theist. And express your spiritual devotion to an entity that you named god. Or you might use another language of reference. And invoke the spirit of life or higher power or a general feeling of transcendence that's found in the rhythms of nature. You could be a humanist. Convinced of the great potential of human beings. And searching for excellence in values and ethical behavior. However there is one identity. Which can still evokes pension. A misunderstanding. For all the inclusion within the uu congregation. There is often great discomfort and being a practicing still into jesus christian there are in fact a number of uu christians and the universalist tradition is christian. But the place that the table can feel a bit tenuous. It may be the last closet in the ua we're coming out involves wrist involves pain and a sense that you might not ever belong the central problem seems to be that many you use feel they have matured beyond limited christianity. And they will tell you this and no uncertain terms unitarian universalist proudly site their history of the virgin from trinitarian christian. With a little more negative stereotyping than would be possible if true respect for present. The superior uu position is seen as superseding the last evolve the less intellectual the less intelligent christian faith. But the irony is this. While unitarian-universalism grew over the last century. So did christianity. Some you use are still reacting to a narrow understanding of what is possible within the christian faith as if no change had occurred through the modern decade. With a very limited understanding or education around the bible or christian theology or sense of jesus. They're basically dissing what they don't know now you don't have to be a you you to understand that a very right-wing biblically fundamentalist and powerful christian-based is organized in this country and there are social moral values or well-publicized. They're felize our compositions are clearly articulated. Their success is well-known but what you may not know is that there is a wide spectrum within the christian face. Just like in the uu association. You see this in different denominational structures and polity and very theological understandings of god or jesus or the holy spirit. In the understanding of the essential nature of human beings and their relationship to spiritual life. You see this in the court interpretation of the central christian story of death and resurrection. There is a huge degree of difference. Among people who are practicing christians. And to characterize folks who are christian is all the same is well. Uninformed it is the same mistake that we made and other kinds of prejudice. Around race. Around class around educational privilege around sexual orientation and gender. Anytime that we generalize about the whole group with limited knowledge using a small sample or the most publicized examples we get into trouble so i'm going to get more personal here and say what some of you already know and might suspect that i am a practicing unapologetic christian. I do sometimes wonder is there room at the uu table for me i am on the staff here that's director of social justice ministry's but this is also my congregational home why worship on sundays so i put time and talent and a financial pledge like many of you do i can't believe i'm the only christian amongst us but a lot of you are in the closet because it's not the most comfortable the nomination or church to be out as a follower of jesus my own history is as a cultural christian and anglo scott presbyterian with religious roots that go way back and besides my family on my mother's side my great-grandmother went alone as a baptist minister and missionary to china and met her husband there and raise a family on my father's side my great-grandfather was a presbyterian minister and texas and arkansas and so we're all three of his brothers my great-uncle's my four grandparents my great aunts and uncles and my parents. I'll grab presbyterian and became heavily involved in the church as elder moderator deacon teacher denominational staff and church musician i had a fairly liberal church oriented childhood i took a 12-year from age 18 to 30 and then i came back to congregational life with my exercise till turning 30 crisis soon i felt. A disturbing unnerving call to ministry and decided to claim that in a new anamar progressive tradition the united church of christ. Coordination sometimes jokingly referred to as unitarians considering christ but it is it is non credo it is focused on social justice. It honors the right of the individual to workout his or her own theological positions in dialogue with a community of faith authorities. The congregations hire-and-fire their own ministers and agree to go forward together in a covenants whole relationship that allows for a wide degree of theological difference and dispute the denomination is open and affirming to lesbian gay bisexual transgender people. Adore danes can ministers that blesses same-sex couples. Bccl's multicultural and multiracial now but struggling to be more racially and ethnically inclusive as add-on nomination does any of this sound familiar the ucc was originally the congregational church. The very group with whom new england unitarians parted ways and it one point i served as associate pastor and sudbury mass memorial congregational where people marched out of first parish sudbury the unitarian church with the bible. Many of our traditions are from the same puritan roots. The values we believe in our similar the key difference is in the formulation of who or what god is. In the ucc there is a three-part symbology a trinity. The ties together a lot of fila jekyll this course there are three phases to the same divine force creator redeemer sanctifier for god jesus christ & holy spirit however views about who reflects a liberal christian sensibility a post-modern divinity school education where we use socio-historical criticism of the bible and my experience in a number of christian community and provocative. Current systems of privilege disturbing the powers. Questioning whether the rich the elite and the religiously arrogant will in fact come to know god he is a standard-bearer of freedom for christians both internally as we seek to heal over time and externally as we disrupt the structures. They keep certain people in and certain people out the story of jesus's trial crucifixion resurrection are at the core of christianity and they changed the historical jesus into the theological symbol of the christ for the anointed messiah every christian must also wrestle with this puzzle and examine a mystery that will never be fully explained in literal fact or historical confirmation as for me i agree with one latin american liberation theologians who said to live as if possible is to believe that people can change for the better that forgiveness us and reconciliation are desirable and that there is a value and seeking holness with god i don't believe the power of christ is an atonement for our sins which i and many other liberal christians don't see is necessary it is also not in the theological elevation of a divine son jesus at the right hand of god the father which reflects the patriarchal.

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05.07.24KnowThyself.mp3

Mornings reading comes from former poet laureate of the united states billy collins who for those of you who know his work know that he is perhaps one of the wittiest funniest poets you'll come to encounter and this is a poem of his entitled the night house which is about the different parts of our beings and fits well with my theme this morning about ourselves the night house everyday the body works in the fields of the world mending a stone wall or swinging a sickle through the tall grass the grass of civics the grass of money and every night the body curls around itself and listens for the soft bells of sleep but the heart is restless and rises from the body in the middle of the night leaves the trapezoidal bedroom with its thick pictureless walls to sit by herself at the kitchen table and heat some milk in a pan and the mind gets up to and opens a book on engineering even the conscience awakens and roams from room to room in the dark darting away from every mirror like a strange fish and the soul the soul is up on the roof in her nightdress straddling the ridge singing a song about the wildness of the sea until the first slip of pink it appears in the sky then they all will return to the sleeping body the way a flock of birds settles back into a tree resuming their daily colloquy talking to each other or themselves even through the heat of long afternoons which is why the body that house of voices sometimes puts down its metal tongs it's needle or its pain to stare into the distance to listen to all of its names being called before bending again to its labor as a subject because of my ancestry as a mixed-race person in the world that tries to fit us into racial categories and boxes that haven't always fit for me i think i'm drawn to questions of identity because of my own disposition i've always been a person who likes to ask big questions which others frequently don't want to answer i think i'm drawn to questions of identity because of curiosity of it along with billy collins about how it is that any of us human beings managed to pull together all of these disparate parts and pieces of our being when one of us parts of us wants to be up on the roof singing a song to the sea and the other wants to warm some milk. I've wondered many times about how it is. That we live. This individual and unique life that each of us has to live. I have wondered along with another poet one of our favorite unitarian-universalist poets mary oliver. What is it. That we plan to do with our one wild and precious life. Or put in my very own terms. How is it that we live the life we were meant to. So the first part of why i come to this question and what i bring to you about it this morning has to do with this fascinating thing this fascinating life perhaps it is i was realizing this week our life's work. To get a life or perhaps our life's work more than just to get a life to actually have one to have a life that we believe in because our culture makes it so very hard think about it just for a moment how many times you are told what you should be what a meaningful good life would look like. What you should want and what you should wear who should be important to you and why. We are told so many things. Encourage to live in ways that are shallow. In ways that are mostly driven by consumer needs & wants. And so how in the midst of all of that. How in the midst of all of those storms can we find and create a life that feels authentic. That feels genuine. That feels real. How do we know. That we really and truly who we really and truly are. When we set aside the trappings of modern life. And seek a center. Or a whole mess. I don't know if you're like me i've discovered that very few people are but i spend a lot of time when i'm in large crowds looking around as i was at a nationals game not so long ago and as i was sitting at this game and then leaving even more so when i was leaving on the metro i frequently find myself looking at the people around me wondering what they're really like wondering whether the conversation i'm over hearing or what they're wearing or the posture they're striking at that moment has anything to do with who that person really truly is. Whether or not it's a cover-up for something else. But they wouldn't want me to know that they'd be afraid if anyone found out. My friends our lives it's so interesting because the ingredients are all here the poem says we have sole we have conscience we have a body we have a heart we have a mind seems like that ought to be more than enough to have a life of meaning and purpose. To have a sense of self that could abide. For we are amazing and remarkable creatures. Capable of so much. I mean think of it in any given day you have all of the events of your days. Which in and of themselves could teach you so much about what matters to you. About who's important to you. About how busy you are and perhaps how you would like to be less busy. I invite you to think for a moment about your life defining moments. Moments when you had some clarity of pure understanding of who it is that you are. A moment in life in which love or loss perhaps put into stark relief. Who you are when you are most in touch. With your soul. I've been thinking a lot about some of those moments for me lately. And it seems that the summer brings particular kinds of reflections. Two of which i'd like to share with you this morning. I spent part of yesterday afternoon with a friend of mine that i know from my youth group days back in the philadelphia area he has the great distinction of being the only person i've ever gone to a prom with and as we had lunch with him yesterday my partner looked at him and said to him so what what can you tell me about this shana character when she was in high school how has she changed why and how have the two of you managed to still be friends after all this time and all of the changes of your lives. And i was pleased to find that walker and i answered her question in similar ways. We said there was something about each of us that felt like a fixed point. Something we could come back to no matter how much things have changed. He said you know there are some people in your life that you feel like you come back to them after you haven't talked in a year and it's like a whole new mystery you don't even know the person anymore you're not sure what you ever had in common to talk with this person about he said shawna has never been that way for me there's always been a clarity to me that i knew i could come back to her in a year or two we could lose touch for a time and i would still know who this person was. I could still trust. Myself. Trust that myself would be accepted. In her company. And vice versa. I also for some reason that i can explain to you have thought about a summer years ago when i returned home after time away at college. To discover some very bad news. Many of you wanted all be surprised to know that i played soccer growing up i was on a traveling team in my area which is sort of the you know not your high school team but sort of the more elite team i wouldn't say that i was a particularly fabulous player but as all people who plays soccer and our little bit strange end up doing it some point in their soccer career i was a goalie for most of my career and there was a team that we played regularly. That had this one player with whom i had this wonderful banter we would go back and forth joking with each other whenever she came down the field sometimes she would score on me sometimes she would not but she was sort of a tormentor at least on the soccer field but frequently whether i made a nice save or whether she managed to get the ball past me we would end that particular part of the game by looking at each other and smiling and she amy willard was her name had one of the most amazing and tremendous smiles i have ever seen and perhaps we'll ever see in my life. I didn't know her well and yet i feel that in many ways she was an important informative person for me and so i was deeply saddened when i went home and found in our local paper. But she had been driving home late one night been encouraged somehow and someway by another motorist to pull over and then been killed by that motorists. There is indeed and fax alongside of that road one of those little shrines and memorials to her so that whenever i'm home i think of that smiling face. That person who would say nice save or who would say got you this time that person whose presence even though i didn't know her well was one that i'm sorry the world doesn't have anymore. Life-defining moments. When we come to know who we are. What matters. And what does not. Who matters. And we find that there is some clarity to our vision a sense of self that perhaps in other moments we didn't know was there. Trying to hold on to this sense of self and effort to live our core values real self is where our spiritual lives become most important i've been teaching a class for the past 3 weeks and we wrestled a lot on wednesday night with this age-old debate about the examined or the unexamined life. You know how it goes. The unexamined life is not worth living and yet if you examine your life too much that's all you ever do we wondered on wednesday night about the balance. How is it that you can manage to both examine your life so that you know who you are so that you aren't some figment of yourself. And yet managed to live in the present moment. Not always living in the past or looking forward to the future but living here and now with some integrity. Put some clarity about who you are. We decided in the class that this is where a spiritual practice of meditation or prayer of journaling or hiking whatever it is that you do that gets you in touch. With the place in you that knows. Becomes critical. For it is in those spiritual practices. That we are given a chance to live as fully as ourselves. In each and every moment. In spiritual practice we find an opportunity to be connected to who we are. It is similar to what are unitarian forbear henry david thoreau said about why he went to the woods. And those of us who are general assembly heard a lot about the row or earlier this summer but i read to you this line from him i went to the woods. Because i wished. To live. Deliberately to front only the essential facts of life and see if i could not learn what it had to teach. And not. And not when i came to die. Discover. That i had not lived. My friends. We need more deliberate living. In a world which beckons us to muddle our way through by offering trite phrases. And style over substance. We need to see that our living as ourselves is an art. That gives us the opportunity to separate noise. From wisdom. Happiness and fulfillment. A sense of well-being don't come from trying to live someone else. Indeed no. With every fiber of our being. That the essential and non-negotiable quality of our lives. Is to be found. In embracing. Rather than running from. Who we are. Met that deliberate living. B h. So that when we come to die. We will know that we have lived well. This life that we and only we. Are capable of living. So maybe. And i'm at.

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06.04.16OhFreedom.mp3

The first reading this morning is inspired by the passover story of journey and change. And it's written by 11 a bizarre. Pack nothing. Bring only your determination to serve. And your willingness to be free. Don't wait for the bread to rise. Take nourishment for the journey. But eat standing. Be ready to move. At a moment's notice. Do not hesitate to leave your old ways behind. Fear. Silence. Submission. Only surrender to the need of time. To love justice. And walk humbly with your god. Begin quickly. Before you have time to sink back into the old slavery. Set out in the dark. I will send fire to warm and encourage you. I will be with you in the fire. And i will be with you in the cloud. I will give you dreams in the desert. To guide you safely home. To that place you have not yet seen. I am sending you into the wilderness. To make a new way. And to learn. My ways more deeply. Some of you will be so changed. By the weathers and the wanderings. That even your closest friends will have to learn your features as though for the first time. Some of you will not change at all. Sing songs as you go. And hold close together. You may at times grow confused and lose your way. Touch each other and keep telling the story. Make max's hugo. Remembering the way back. From where you were born. So you will. Be only the first of many waves of deliverance. On these desert seeds. Our second reading. It's from the gospel of matthew. Chapter 28. Verses 1 through 10. After the sabbath as the first day of the week was donning mary magdalene and the other mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the lord descending from heaven came and rolled back the stone. And seth on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said. To the women. Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for jesus. Who was crucified. He is not here. For he has been raised. Come. See the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell the disciples he has been raised from the dead and indeed is going ahead of you to galilee where you will see him. So the women left of the tomb quickly with fear. And joy. And ran to tell the disciples. Suddenly jesus met them. Instead. Greetings. And they came to him and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Then jesus said to them. Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers. To go to galilee. There. They will see me. Got to tell you it's a little overwhelming to step into the pulpit this morning. I mean it's easter sunday for one thing in the easter story is always a big story to preach about. But then this your passover falls on the same weekend so. You want to bring the exodus story in here as well and. And then on top of it all today is dc emancipation day. The anniversary of the freeing of enslaved people. Persons in the district of columbia 9 months before. President lincoln's emancipation proclamation. It was an all souls member loretta haynes who was instrumental in reviving the citywide celebration of dc emancipation hope you'll be at the concert afterwards. So we got easter. Exodus. Emancipation. It's it's kind of like the superbowl sunday of religion in washington dc. And you know what is the gaza preachy kind of wish you could spread it all out over the course of several sundays. But here i've got to try to fit it all into one 15 to 20 minutes sermon. Which is all the way of saying that i'm sure you'll be understanding if i. Go 4045 today. Just kidding. Whenever the religious calendar. Brings us around to these great stories. Faith. Stories like easter. And exodus. With their. Eye-popping miracles and therein probable outcomes. An inevitable question comes up. People say. Those are great stories. But are they really true. Are they too good to be true. Sometimes these folks will come to me and they'll ask me rob. Do you really believe. These stories. Do you believe the easter story. Is true. And i tell them. Yes i do. I believe it with all my heart. In fact i know. That the easter story is true. I know that resurrection is a reality because like so many of you at one time or another. I have been. In the tomb. I know how dark it is there. And how lonely. And how hopeless. And i also know. What it feels like to see that stone. Rollaway for the first time in for that first shaft of like to come through the opening and for the fresh air to flood in and for life to return again. Do i believe in easter. You bet i do. And it's just a hunch. But i think that maybe you believe in easter. 2. I mean how else to explain why year-after-year. More of you show up on easter sunday than any other sunday. My hunch is because it's. Because you've known something of resurrection yourself. But you've known the tombs darkness. That you've seen the stone rollaway you felt life return and you've come to church on easter to be reminded of that experience. Because that resurrection experience once you had it it becomes a touchstone. For your spiritual life it is without parallel in future times went when hard times come along you go back to that story for strength. Many of you know what my definition of religion is. It's not perfect. But it's got me this far. For me religion is people. Telling stories of hope. Not stories as in fibs or lies true stories. And there's no better story of hope. Then the easter story. So we come on easter to be reminded of what we already know. Is true. Tell people they wonder the same thing about the exodus story. The passover story when i when i tell that story i get the same question people say to me great story rob. But do you believe it. Do you believe that the people can be freed from slavery and delivered into the promised land. And i say to them friend. How can i not believe it when i seen it with my own eyes. Just this monday. I walked out of my front step. And out onto the street and i saw a 20,000 people from this neighborhood marching down to the mall to stand with thousands of others to stand up for immigrants rights exodus goes on and on. I know it is true cuz today we're celebrating dc emancipation and remembering that an institution as seemingly intractable as slavery. Could indeed be overthrown exodus. Goes on and on. I know it is true because three years ago on valentine's day i was in san francisco and i saw one. Couple after another gay and lesbian couple coming out of city hall married and then going into a throng of well-wishers who are throwing rose petals on them in as they move through the well-wishers. Created a path for them and it was like the waters party before moses exodus goes on and on i know that it is true. Now does that mean we're living in the promiseland. Well. If you go back and read the store you'll see if that actually the promised land wasn't all milk and honey. The israelites had a tough go of it once they got there the promised land is a work-in-progress but just because it's broken and just because freedom is never perfect doesn't make the exodus any less. True. So we have an easter face. And we have an exodus faith. And i for one am grateful. For both of them. And i believe. From having the two holidays fall on the same weekend. By being forced to consider them side-by-side cuz after all that's how the stories were supposed to be understood or they. The jews who were jesus first followers deliberately set the story of his death and resurrection. In the context of passover last supper was a seder. Easter sunday falls in the middle of the passover story it was inevitable then that the earliest christians would interpret easter in the lights of exodus. But what's to be gained from this. What do we learn when we tell easter. In the context of exodus. Well i'm going to tell you something i want to tell you something about. The easter face. You see cuz they're there is a danger that's inherent. In easter faith i know that i'm susceptible to it. It's a danger that comes precisely from its greatest. Strength. Empower. That experience of resurrection and rebirth is so powerful. And so personal. But the danger is that people turn in on their easter faith. They turned in. Themselves and their personal relationship with god and and they kind of privatized it. Our faith becomes just a private contract between between me and the holy. Salvation can start to look like my own little piece of private property up in heaven. It's a little bit like heaven is a gated community. People all across the theological spectrum are susceptible to this. It's all about me and god. Will. Friends i happen to believe that there are enough elements in our culture. Encouraging us to be private. And to be selfish. And to look out for only me. And then our religion needs to do a little better than that. Did our religion needs to call us to the other focus. People. Not self-focused people. We needed to help us care for the destiny of all souls not just some not just our own. And that's why it's helpful to put the exodus story back in easter to remember that the resurrection story is inextricably linked. To the story of the liberation of a whole people. Not just. One person. A whole people. I want to tell you a little story about this i was so proud last year. When a teenager from our church. Ju. Stood up in this very pulpit and delivered his cradle his belief statement for us. Jay's here today. Some of you were there that day not jay-z unitarian who goes to a catholic school. And he told a story about how sometimes friends in his school come up to him and and they ask him if he's saved. And if he has a personal relationship. With jesus. And j who is an african-american teenager responds to that question this way. He said. If i answer that question truthfully. I have to say no i don't have. A personal. Relationship. Who is jesus. But i have something even better. He said. Something even more powerful. Jesus gave hope to my ancestors who were enslaved. Jesus help them find their freedom. If it wasn't for jesus said jay. I wouldn't even. Be here. Jay was putting the exodus story. Back in easter. Again. Shifting the question from am i saved. 2. Are we safe. Are we. Free. Prince i think we need to pay attention to this. Unr. In our own religious lives. Your it reminds me of the buddhist story. Of the bodhisattva. The bodhisattva is the person who has attained enlightenment. Someone who is finally got it all figured out. And is ready to go to. To that place retired from the world. And as the story goes in the buddhist tradition the bodhisattva climbs over the wall. To enter into the garden of enlightenment she gets up to the top of the wall. She looks down into the slush beautiful garden. With all the enlightened people in there in beautiful. Gorgeous. When she looks over on the other side of the wall. And there's the world. Still broken. And there are her brothers and sisters. And the bodhisattva climbs down off the wall. And goes back into the world cuz she can't bear the thought. Of the garden. Without her. Brothers and sisters. With her. Princess the kind of faith. That i'm talking about. This morning. Tick not han the buddhist monk called jesus a bodhisattva. Because as matthew's account of the resurrection story makes clear this morning jesus didn't just go up to heaven and then abandon everyone back down on earth. He. Came back and greeted the women on the street. After he was resurrected in in a moment which i think is one of the most. Clear moments of understatement in religious history after he's resurrected jesus come back greetings. Greetings. He came back. To save others. As well. Let me close with a story this morning that kind of. Kind of sums up. The kind of face that. We can. Look too when we reunite easter and exodus. It's a story that carol falk. Has told me carol's a member of the church and it's a story that her family tells about when she was a little girl i've asked carol's permission. To share it with you. Today. It takes place back in world war ii. After the united states had enter the conflict in order to mobilize for the war effort the government instituted. Food rationing and other kinds of rationing. People would receive a certain number of stamps for say the amount of meat that they could eat in a given month. Well one day. When carol was just 16 months old. Her mother was walking her to the store. When they happened upon a man who struck up a conversation. With them. And who began to to brag. About how he had found a way to. To cheat the rationing system into. To get some more stamps so that he could. Get more meat for his family. Started bragging about this 22 karol's mother and as a justification for his actions. He said to her. Look at. I've got a 16 year old son. And he needs his me. To which carol's mother replied. I have a 16 month old daughter. And she'll take her chances with the rest of. Our fave. No matter where it comes from. Must inspire in us this kind. A commitment. When we are tempted to climb over the wall. Into a little gated community of a heaven. Our faith must compel us. The climb back down. And bring others in with us. When we get too wrapped up in the tomb and the resurrection are face faith must compel us to do as jesus did into come back down and just save all the people. When when oppression and injustice pays our land our faith must compel us to do as moses did to say to pharaoh. Not let me go. But let my people go. You think we be telling stories about moses thousands of years later he had said letting me go rather than let my people go. The central theological premise of this church and this face is that all souls. Not just some not just yours and mine all souls are to be saved. So much in our culture will tempt us. To cheat on the food rations. To ensure our own private heaven our own security and the rest of you be damned. If we are true to our faith. We will be among those who will turn away from such. Temptation and say loud and clear no thank you. I'll take my chances. With the rest of the world. I'm in.

all-souls_org

05.06.26LooseningUpTheSelfImage.mp3

My reading this morning is from the introduction to a book by gerald may. Call the dark night of the soul. When people speak of going through a dark night of the soul. They usually mean they're experiencing bad thing. The bad news is that bad things happen to everyone and they have nothing to do with whether you are a good or bad person. How effectively is taking charge of your life. Or how you been planned future. Good news is is it good things happen to everyone to. Now i must confess that i no longer very good at telling the difference between good things and bad things. Of course there are many events in history that can only be called evil. But from the standpoint of inner individual experience. The distinction has become blurred for me. Some things start out looking great the windup terribly. But other things seem bad in the beginning but turn out to be blessings in disguise. I was diagnosed with cancer in 1995 which i thought was a bad thing. Predictor has brought me closer to god and my loved ones and i've ever been in that was wonderfully good. At some point i gave up trying to decide what's ultimately good or bad. I truly do not know. Although not knowing may itself seemed like a bad thing. I'm convinced it is one of the great gifts of the dark night of the soul. To be immersed in mystery can be very distressing at first. But over time i have found immense relief in it. It takes the pressure off. I no longer have to worry myself to death about what i did right or wrong to cause a good or bad experience. Because there really is no way of knowing. Give the dark knight is the realization that i'm not as much in control of life as i'd like to be. This is not an easy learning. Especially for take-charge people like me who think they can and should be in control of things. Other people are more naturally able to go with the flow of life. Either way each experience of the dark knight gives its gift. Leaving at 3 or than we were before more available. More responsive and more grateful. But these gifts. arrive until the dark knight passes. They come. With the dawn. Now before i start my sermon i'd like to ask you to try something for me. Will exercise. Clap your hands like this. And then do it the way you don't usually do it just shift your fingers the other way. Fieldhouse. Something new. What that go whenever you want my son said to me recently. No lewis i replied my hair is light brown. I looked in the mirror and then i had to admit to myself and to him. But i do have quite a bit of white hair these days. One of my middle-aged friends recently forwarded an email to me describing a new fictitious line of barbie doll designed to appeal to women in midlife. There was a cellulite barbie chin hair barbie and alimony barbie ken got the convertible but barbie got the dreamhouse. A blurb advertising guilty his ground-breaking book passages says this of the 40's decade. For lauren ortiz dangerous years on the dreams of you demand reassessment. Men and women switch characteristics. Sexual panic is common but the greatest opportunity for self-discovery awake. This morning i want to talk about midlife crisis not going to happen anytime i can last for a decade or two. Burgundy bird bath. There's a time in everyone's life when we start to realize that our script from childhood may no longer holds true. Not coincidentally it may happen around the time that our dentist tells us that our gums are receding. Are we get out first pair bifocals. Isn't his middle years that we must begin to relate more directly to our own mortality. White women begin to move. As we face the fact the time will eventually run out for all of us there's more urgency about finding meaning satisfaction. We may start to examine our relationships are job or associations more critically. Women long for a dream to finally come true even as we may have to accept that we must let go of some dreams. And be open to new possibilities. Midlife often causes to transformation. There may be grief we need to go through before we can face whatever future we have more fully and joyfully. I'd like to start by telling you to stories about midlife crisis. It is my observation that most good stories are about transformation. Is it being that runs throughout culture and religion. Movies novels and plays as well as scripture are full of that universal human story transformation toward more wholeness and wisdom. That's what makes a story a good one for me. The first example may not seem too serious unless you take a closer look. Now my husband see a lot of classic children's movies. These days and i recently seen mary poppins about five times. And i was surprised to find that the key character in mary poppins in terms of transformation is the father george bags. Early in the movie he sings the proud song about his orderly life in the triumph of the british empire. King edward on the throne it is the age of men. During the course of the story he comes into conflict with the philosophy of the magical nanny mary poppins. The children want to give their small savings to buy food to feed the birds but their father says they invest the money in the bank and see the interest accrue it's his bank that is. The struggle that followed causing a run on the bank and george is fired. Now it seems sadly. A man has dreams of walking with giants. Do coyotes niche in the edifice of time. Before the murder of his zeal can be congealed get brought to rack and ruin before his prime. In the movie george does get his job back but not before he goes through a painful lesson and starts to shift his priority. After a night of soul-searching and the wise counsel of bert the chimney sweep. George's able to take some of mary poppins lessons seriously. In the final touching scene he has spent the children's two pennies to mend their kite. Which he had so disdain at the beginning of the movie. A broken and mended kite can fly just as well as an unbroken one. And there's something magic that happens when it flies. Suddenly all the bankers are flying kites. At this point mary poppins also flies away. Her transformative work is done for now. In stories there's often a figure like mary poppins someone who is a catalyst for positive change. You may have a few magic power. Jesus comes to mind. I'll get back to jesus later. Another example favorite novel of mine is. Ladder of years by anne tyler. Here we have a woman in a midlife crisis. She's not sure who she is or if her family needs her anymore. She has four children who are growing up. And almost in spite of herself she simply walked away from her family one day while we're on vacation down the beach in her bathing suit. She makes her way to a small town on the eastern shore of maryland. And gradually finds her own self separate from that family. She needed to start over from scratch she says. Inner little rented room she cries every night. And she read stories about change and loss. Graduation she starts to build a new life with new friends and a job. Haven't gone straight from her father's home to being a wife in the same house. You never know that you could make it on her own and she needed to know that. And now she will have a strong self to basehor new life on. When your children move on to their new lives. I'll tell you a little bit about my own midlife crisis. And i'll tell you that i am 53 now. My childhood script was one of an overfunctioning oldest daughter. I got support and recognition for being helpful for anticipating the needs of others and being a peacemaker. At the same time i tuned out my own needs and lived too much in fear of rejection. Lighter is administering a very busy parish position. With no one at home for support i was single for many years. I came to a point of burnout in my early forties. So much so that my house collapsed. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. It's very difficult label not only for the degree of suffering but for the lack of understanding and treatment. Available for that helmet. I was in a crisis i feared losing my job and being homeless. By jeri maze experience and the reading at first it seemed like a terrible fate. The future looks bleak. Fortunately my case was not as severe as some others. And how much to blame my childhood script for exhausting myself i don't know. But there is some evidence of infection in the illness. But i do know that i was exhausted. And my lifestyle and self-denial and anxious pleasing was not working. I needed to make some serious changes. Do it took years ultimately i found health and healing through this difficult journey. I would like to have a strong constitution. A number of things held in varying degrees. Nutrition read a loving relationship support groups. Some supplemental medications. What team did helped the most though was spirituality. Finding a relationship with god in the deepest times of darkness. How does that happen. It's some kind of miracle. Is the brace which comes as a gift. I had to go through something very hard you really change my life. And bring it into a healthier balance. I would never wish it were such an experience on myself or anyone else. But such broken this is the nature of our life on earth. It is a mystery that question of good things and bad things that happen to us. Way we stumble through the dark night of the soul. Come morning finally come. A midlife crisis is like a little death. It is allowing the death of a part of ourselves that doesn't work anymore. Resisting such changes is also a kind of death. But we are meant to be transformed by life. Hard is that is. I just watched the movie laurel canyon and which a young man has devoted his life to being the exact opposite of his mother. She is a middle-aged hippie and music producer in california. He's a recent medical school graduate. Have you chosen a fiance who is he thinks also the opposite of his mother. When i go to stay with the mother the rigidity of his resistance begins to break down. His fiance actually like his mother and is intrigued by her work. Young man becomes more confused and desperate to maintain his previously constructed reality. Their repeated scenes of him swimming and finally after he realizes his mother really does love him and he loves her. There's a long shot of him sinking to the bottom of the pool with his eyes open. What is a moment of baptism. He has a realization that his relationship with his fiance has been based on an old self it really needs to die. Bucky and his fiance need to open to new learning new possibilities new cell. Midlife crisis can bring separation and divorce. But i can also bring profound renewal in relationships. If both parties are willing to grow. And through the difficult learning with courage and love. If both people in a couple are committed to the growth of each other and the relationship. They will have a good chance of staying together over time. Transformation is the central message of christianity. Having attended louise's sermon on coming out of the christian about a month ago. I will be bold here to confess as a lifeline you you my own deep appreciation for christianity and its lessons. And it really is our tradition. I'd like to share with you in experience i had just two weeks ago which relates to this morning see moving through the hard times of life to the new life beyond the theme of transformation. I went on a short retreat to a place i have been many times before. I spent the night in one of the little rooms each of which has a crucifix on the wall. When you you minutes or juice to meet there for retreats in the eighties we would joke among ourselves about how we all took down the crucifixes and put them in a dresser drawer. We just did not like looking at those dead jesus is on the wall it was more but we thought. Who's the glorification of suffering and martyrdom lately thought. I felt at the time that i preferred the empty cross. The price and symbol of hope. Religious symbols have many interpretations. The crucifix is a very potent symbol and if it does not speak to us. It is understandable to want to remove it from the wall. And their powerful book proverbs of ashes rebecca parker and reading a customer brock. Remind us of the destructive the destructive way the crucifixion has been used to glorify suffering or to keep women and a martyr rule minorities oppressed. That is true too. But here i want to hold up the ways in which the symbol can be helpful and moving it through transformation. What transformed we are not passive or merely accepting. Once transformed are stronger and wiser. His last time i saw it in a moment of insight. The crucifix current finally came into focus for me. What i saw there was the truth the death and life come together. While there is suffering sometimes senseless suffering suffering at the hands of others. Behind beyond that suffering. Some kind of new life. It's always possible. Even if it is just a sense of peace. The hope of the empty cross is there on the other side of pain and death. The whole new life following change a lot can keep a person alive. Spiritually. Transformation takes up. From death to new life. Here on earth. Favorite poet of mine the sufi mystic kabir road if you do not break your ropes while you are alive do you think the ghosts will do it after. I came across another line of poetry by wh auden that has a similar message. Espanol. We would rather be ruined than changed. As if to say we would rather die spiritually then live the cross of the moment as he said. Lived across of the moment. Lived across the moment means to me facing the truth of one's current life. Feeling the pain. Noticing what needs to change. Face again. Moving through it as we can. Nicole. Of new beginnings. Avenue dawn. It may involve breaking the ropes of habit or denial. It may mean facing mortality and death. But finally finally the truth will set us free. I am in a group that meets once a week to practice. Body prayer. The tibetan buddhist form of yoga brought to this. Laughing and supporting each other through the movements. We do each exercise three times and then the third time will usually find it's easier. And on the first or second time. And one of the exercises we do is called loosening up the self-image. And if we do a full body version of that handclasp i showed you. Uncross your arms and legs and bow stand and then crossing the other way and val. I'd really stretches our muscles in our sense of balance we sort of cheater. Can we loosen up our self-image as like leads us through many changes and deaths large and small. Can we let ourselves be transformed. One of my friends in the body prayer group is a quaker. And he said there's a quaker practice. Call halloween our diminishment. And i i'm just passing you by that phrase i'm not sure i can do it yet but i love that idea. How do we hallow are diminishment. The word hello come from the same root as whole and holy. Every age how might we somehow become more whole more holy. I suggested as grief cars at out over a lifetime. We are able to hold more. There's nothing like lost to give us compassion for the human family. There's nothing like lostbelt and grieved. To finally help us be grateful. For what we have. Are the measurements help us to be wise. Spiritually whole. The other day i was getting my haircut. And when the stylist walked by and commented nice highlights. People pay big bucks for that you know. So there was a different way. As we live our days on earth cherishing each one. May we hello our diminishment. Would love.

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06.10.08LoveAndItsLimitsII.mp3

Do you remember when you were a kid. On the playground. Engrossed in a game of. Tagged. Kickball or. Soccer. And do you remember how if the game wasn't going your way. If a close play benefit of the other team. Or controversial call when against you. You remember how you'd cry out. Do over. It's a do-over. Jennifer do that when you were little. Don't you wish it still work. Well i'm hoping it does today because today's sermon is a little bit of a do-over of swords. A second try. Because the first time i preached it. I didn't quite get a chance to complete the thought. As a result i've had lots of questions about in lots of strong reactions to the sermon both positive and negative the sermon in question the one i like to clarify was the one i preached just last month. On september 10th. Homecoming sunday if you were here that sunday you'll remember that i told a story during that sermon. A story that subsequently has proven to be the source of some. Contention. So i'd like to begin today by telling that story again. And being a little more clear about what i mean when i tell it. And you know it's never and never hurts to hear a good story more than once. The story that some of you remember dates back to the 3rd century. And a band of monks who lived in a community out in the desert of north africa. It goes like this. One-day agathon was walking through the desert on his way into town to sell figurines that he'd made in order to have money to buy provisions for his community. But on his way into town that day abba agathon met a man lying in the brush by the side of the road. Paralyzed from the waist down. The man asked the abba father. Where are you going. And agathon reply to town. To sell my wares. Do me the favor of carrying me into town. Now abba agathon was a good and pious man. And knew his religious duties so gladly he took the man. Who as i mentioned the first time i told the story wasn't a small man and took him up onto his back and carried him three miles. Through the desert. Into town. As he approached the town the man said just just put me down in the market. Where you'll sell your wares. And agathon did just that. Not too long afterwards when ava agathon sold his first figurine the man asked him. How much do sell that for. Agathon told him the price the other man said. With that money. Buy me a cake. And he bought him a cake. Then abba agathon sold another of his figurines in the man again asked. How much did you sell that one. When he told him the man said. Buy me some clothes with your profits. And do the hmong thought the man a tad presumptuous for asking he bought him some grand a brand new suit of clothes well on and on it went all day long each time agathon sold a figurine the man would ask for something more until at the end of the day agathon did sold all of his goods and absolutely. To his community. And still the man asked. Would you do me the favor good father of of tearing me back to the place where you picked me up this morning. So once again abba agathon. Drew the man up onto his back this time with all the possessions he. He garnered throughout the day and took him three miles through the desert. And laid him down by the side of the road. Where he had picked him up that morning. And it's agathon was leaving. The man said to him abba agathon. Bless you. And raising his eyes agathon saw that it had been no man. But an angel. Come to test him. Now if you were here last month when i told that story you'll remember that when i finished it. There was an awkward silence. Followed by nervous laughter. None of us seem quite sure what to make of this strange story. And or if every thought we did know this is what it meant many of us didn't like the moral. And i admitted that the day when i had first heard the story it had made me angry to but that after tracing that anger back to its source i've concluded that the story had some value. For me the story reveals what i have always feared. And always secretly known. About love. Which is that it will demand more of us than we will willingly give. It reminded me that love asks much of us. And then ask some more. And then. Still more. And that there will be times when we are called to love even when it doesn't feel. Good. Our conventional understanding of love is that is a feeling. A warm emotion. And certainly that's one dimension of love but what the story is trying to tell us i think. Is that when considered spiritually love isn't only a feeling. It's it's an ethic. A discipline. Spiritual practice in like other spiritual practices it will only bear fruit when it's repeated over and over again with intentionality even when we don't feel like it. We can't rely merely on good feelings to carry us through love as an emotion is not strong enough. In and of itself. To redeem us. But when that emotion. Is coupled with love as a discipline. As a lifelong intentional practice. Well that's another possibility. Now that's about as far as i got last month. And people reacted to the sermon immediately and intensely. Generally there were two kinds of responses for instance they were couples who approached me after church. Holding hands. Same to me. Yeah rob we learned long ago we wouldn't be here together today if we hadn't learned. That love was a discipline. And there are others who came to me and said rob thanks for reminding me. What's gotten me through so long in my struggles for peace. And for justice. Sometimes i need reminding. But then there was a different kind of reaction and it was also fairly prominent and it went something like this rob what exactly were you suggesting by that story. That we love until we have nothing left. What what about agatha man's responsibilities to his community into himself please don't tell me that the religious life demands that we just give and give and give until we're spent. Aren't there legitimate limits. To our love. I want to respond this morning. To that question of loves limits. Because throughout my ministry at all souls people have brought this question to me over. And over again and i've always struggled with how to respond. In that situation. I struggled with how to respond in a way that is both caring and loving. To the person who's come to me. And that is also faithful. To the larger demands. Of love. Because i see it there are two sides to the story here. On the one hand. There are among us those who feel completely. Tapped out. Exhausted. They give of themselves home they give themselves at work they given themselves at at at church and the community they are it seems engaged in the work of love. 24/7. And then i come along and i tell them the story about the agathon and they asked my god what more do you want from me. Enterfear question. Because when we find ourselves in this position of giving until we are spent and then sometimes we do need another message. Sometimes we need a story that helps us balance our love. Four others with a love and care for our self. But i know there's another side of the story 2. And i know because. Well i know it from my own experience. Just how easy it is for us to draw the boundaries of our love. To close. And to convince ourselves that we're not. This it seems to me is the perennial. Human error. Answer particular danger i think for those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to go home everyday to a to a comfortable home. With four walls and a hearth. And to their retreat from the demands of the world into a protected. Domestic sphere. To pull back from the demands of the world. For those of us in this position we need a story like ava agathon. To remind us that the demands of love. Will stretch us beyond our comfort zone. So i try to lay out for people when they come to me both of why i'm torn on this issue of how to respond to them and they get that. And then they say to me but rob tell me. How do i know. How do i know if i fall into the first category or the second category. Can you can you show me where that fine line is in my own life. The legitimate limits. Of my love and responsibilities to the world. And this is where my counseling. Always falls short. Because i don't believe that i can. But i can tell people where that line is for them i don't believe i can tell you where that line is for you all i can say is that i think for each one of us. Finding that line. Is one of the most important. Religious questions. That we. Face. What are the limits. Of my care. And my responsibility. There is however a guide. That i use. When trying to find this balance for myself. It's it's a rule of thumb. That i find helpful. Just about every religion offers some version of. What is called in christianity. The golden rule. Right. It's a simple rule. To love god with all our heart and mind and body. And to love our neighbor. As ourselves. We we hear it all the time and ends and maybe because we hear it so often it seems kind of trite. To us but for all its simplicity there is really a brilliant truth to this little rule the admonition to love our neighbors as ourselves. Really forces us. To see those two loves as balanced. In our lives. I imagine that it was originally written as a corrective to the perennial human error of loving ourselves too much and it was telling us if you're not loving the other as much as yourself then something's out of whack. But it works just as well. The opposite way. Because what that rule teaches us. Is it that if we don't have love and care for ourselves. We will have nothing to give. The other. Nothing to give the stranger. It suggests that the two are vitally connected. But even more important in that little golden rule i think. Is the first half. Of the rule. To love god with all our heart. And are mine. And our body. Because you see if you just take the last part of the rule the love of self and love. Other. Then then then loving becomes kind of this this balancing of the scales it's as it's as if that love is this finite pie and that the only decision in our life is sort of where to slice that pie up so that everyone gets. The amount of love that they deserve. With the first half of the rule reminds us. Is it the pie. Is not finite. Because it's through our relationship with the holy. It's through our relationship with the spirit of life. That we come to know that our love. Chemgro. That is the source of love in our life that we can tap back into so that are the limits of our love expands so that we're not just dividing up a finite piece. Of love. The holy is how the pie. Grows. It's how our love expands. You're not opening him this morning. We saying these words. I've got love like an ocean. I've got love like an ocean i've got love like an ocean. In my soul. And i know it doesn't often feel that way. But i believe those words. Are true. That's somewhere. In our soul. Somewhere at the center of our lives is this source. Of love. Plentiful. Like an ocean. When we are in touch with that source. Then we can find the strength to engage in the lifelong. Ever-expanding. Discipline. I'm learning how to love better. May those refreshing waters. Surround us. And replenishes. As we seek to grow. In love.

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06.07.30OurLivesAreOurLegacy.mp3

In light of the new losses this week it's one of those moments of grace in ministry that i plan to speak on this topic and so i really want to dedicate my comments this morning to the memory of trellis waxler. The reading this morning is from reverend vanessa southern a colleague who used to work just down the street i often think it's one of the. Sadness fortunes of my arriving when i did here in dc that i missed working with vanessa down the street at universalist national memorial she's now in new jersey. And this is a meditation of hers. Entitled the precious meanwhile which is from her meditation manual. This piece of eden. My grandmother's parents died when she was eight or nine and she moved from oklahoma to kansas. There she fell in love with a neighbor my grandfather. She was only 17 years old. She and my grandfather lived all across the united states and canada. Wherever his work in the oil fields took them. Once when the store owners wouldn't offer credit to the newest crop of drillers. My grandmother said her family for two weeks. From 110 lb bag of lima beans. Found in the basement of the house they rented. To keep her sanity she went to church. She painted. And she read voraciously. Often about faraway places and times. And when she was 68 and i was 20 she came to visit me in england where i was studying. It was her first trip abroad. But to a place she had read about four decades. Soon after her arrival i went to her hotel room to see how she was doing. I was worried that she might be nervous or uncomfortable from the rigors of travel. And the novelty of this far away place. I found her sitting on the edge of her bed quietly crocheting. She sat me down. And we talked. And periodically she would stop the busy work of her hands to pat my leg. Warface. How gracefully i thought. She took her life. And if stride. My grandmother will turn 80 this week. And we are throwing her a party. It wasn't always clear she would make it this far. She fell ill last fall and has been in and out of the hospital at least twice since. A woman i love is frail. And i don't need heavenly prophecies to tell me that she won't be around for long. So how to celebrate in the time that remains. How to love and pay homage in the meanwhile. This is the same question that faces anyone with sick or old loved ones. If we are honest with ourselves it is an issue that lurks around life's every corner. How do we love. And spend our time. In the precious meanwhile. Whether she knows it or not. I want this woman this strong and beautiful woman is teaching me a lot these days. She is driving home some of the toughest questions and i am struggling. To respond. For now i have decided only this. To dance at her party. And celebrate her life. And when no one is looking. To grab hold of her as tightly as her frail body will allow. The letting-go i am told is for another time. This. Is the precious meanwhile. And i will enjoy it. While it lasts. I have been thinking a great deal lately about mortality. Which perhaps seems morbid for a 33 year old to do. I'm not sure if it has to do with becoming a parent or all the losses we've experienced at the church this spring. But i've been thinking a lot about the fact that none of us gets to choose to be born. Someone else makes that decision for us or perhaps not even someone but something much greater than any of us gets to choose. Whether we will live or not. And none of us has any say whatsoever. Over when and how we will die. The only thing we have any say over. Is the precious meanwhile. The precious meanwhile of what will happen between when we are born and when we will die the what happens in between those two points. The only choice we have is how we will live in this life. How we will inhabit. This precious gift is precious meanwhile that we have been given. That we did not ask for. But which we have none the less. And as i have thought about this mortality about this birth and death and everything in between. It has occurred to me that that has a lot to do with the legacy that our lives leave. What we do with our days. What we do with each and every day. Creates our legacy. We are in every action and every accomplishment in every relationship. Creating a path. That we will bestow not only to those who will follow us but even to those who are with us right now those who are alongside us. And so i invite you to think this morning about the mark. That you wish to leave. The path that you wished create. What would your legacy be. If i had to summarize it this morning. And what do you want it. Tubi. Two of the people on this planet who are most important to me. One of whom i mentioned every sunday morning during our time for shared prayer. Are two of my professors from undergraduate school. Husband and wife team john and carol stoneburner. John and carol teach or have taught religious studies and women's studies at guilford college that small school i attended in greensboro north carolina. For a collective 38 years. And in april it was my good pleasure and my good fortune. To attend a retirement celebration for them. A good friend of mine from gilford and i had volunteered to collect materials that people wanted to send for a scrapbook for john and carol a retirement gift for them from students across the decades and generations of guilford college students. And so i went down to north carolina and spent an evening with my friend just putting together these pages and pages. Some of the people had sent letters and works of art and all kinds of things from all over the country. And it was an amazing amazing experience. See all of these expressions of care and love to hear all of these reflections on how much their lives and their teaching had pot. 38 years worth of guilford college students. People thank them for academic learning but it seemed to me that most of the most heartfelt thanks were really about. Life lessons that folks had learned with john and carol. And a year or so ago carol had a breast cancer scare and so all of us who have loved and cared for them throughout their teaching. Were set into thinking. About the legacy of their lives. About the precious meanwhile that we had spent. With them. And i thought. As i was with them in april. But i couldn't imagine a much better legacy. Then 38 years worth of people out in the world. Doing good things living their lives in a way that had been stamped. By john and carol. That indeed. They have fostered a living legacy. A living legacy. Let me tell you another story. Story about a practice that i have gotten into in my new neighborhood. Which is walking up the street and into rock creek cemetery. Where i encounter a different kinds of legacies. Huge tombstones. Huge even larger mausoleums. Too many different people. And as i walk through and wander through the cemetery i often wonder about the lives behind and beneath. Those large slabs of stone. I wonder about what the descendants of these people think of them when they visit their graves. I wonder about how those who are still here carry on some of what they stood for. Or some of their personality traits. Some of their quirks. A va. So they are to. Even in the silence of that cemetery i think. There is a living legacy that remains. From those lives lived. Brings me back. To this question of our mortality. Friends how is it that we can live in such a way that acknowledges that we won't live forever. That no matter how good care we take of our bodies and ourselves that someday we won't be here anymore. And yet somehow and some way instead of dreading. Or worrying about that day. Whenever it may arrive. How can we choose instead. To live more fully. And to do so as vibrantly as possible. How can we do that. Mary oliver. Poet that unitarian-universalist like to quote the most i think. And who graced us with her presence in st louis at general assembly this year. Has a poem about just this conundrum. And i share with you the final stanzas of her poem when death comes. When it's over. I want to say. All my life. I was a bride married to amazement. I was a bridegroom taking the world into my arms. When it's over. I don't want to wonder if i have made of my life something particular. And real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened or full of argument. I don't want. To end up simply having visited. Miss world. Friends that's my prayer for us this morning. That we will be souls people who have done much more than simply visited this world. The pathway and the legacy that we will leave not only for those who follow us but for those who are alongside us right now. Will be a pathway of. More abundant living. I suppose what i am saying as friends rather than fearing death or looking forward to that day or even being depressed about all of the troubles of life. That we will find a way in the midst of all of that. To live. May we live. With purpose and with grace. With integrity and with wholeness. So that we will believe that what we have wrought what we have planted. For others. Both now and later. Is something of beauty. Something of hope. Something of holiness. Maybe so. And i'm at.

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05.08.14QuestionsOfFaith.mp3

So i mentioned the sunday would be a little different from most this is usually the time in the service when i step up in the pulpit and deliver a sermon that i've spent a considerable amount of time cashing out and preparing an end struggling with but every year we have this service called questions of faith where people in the congregation over the previous two sundays submit questions on yellow cards and hand them in during the service and then our worship associate josephine all of those cards and selected a bunch of questions that they're going to present to me this morning. Little nervous about doing it until i actually asked the questions a few days ahead of time and each year i've sort of gotten them closer and closer to the start of the service and i was supposed to get them last night but an email snafu meant that i didn't see the question still just before the start of the service this morning. It's also i think it says something about the nature of liberal faith in the unitarian-universalism now. James luther adams one of those the great unitarian theologians of the 20th century called hours and examined safe. You're sometimes faith is something that we inherit that's passed on to us for my ancestors. Sometimes faith is something that we that we discover in a sudden moment of transformation or conversion and but usually there comes a time in our lives when our faith and life. Class there's some kind of cognitive dissonance between the two and we're forced either to abandon our faith or deny our experience of life in the world or else some try to find a way to grapple with the two and and make some sense of it all. And that's what an exam and faith is and that's what this service is about really so these are questions of yours questions that that members of this congregation or struggling with that we're going to look at today we'll see how many we get through and. Rob we are called upon to be compassionate to all souls. How does compassion for oneself fit into relationships. With difficult people. All the difficult person question. We are called to be compassionate to all people including the difficult people but it's a difficult person. Is a challenge the way we usually handle it i think is either to find some way to avoid or cut off relationship. With that person to dismiss that person in some way or else just to suffer through that person to endure it and then that suggests that as well said love your neighbor as yourself and love. So the answer i think has something to do with. With good boundaries. You know for a minister of foreign since i mean there are so many needs in the world's rice and i can be overwhelming and so one needs to be aware of you know that the needs that you can address and the compassion that you can give and then the limit of that and i think the most honest and compassionate way to deal with the limits of your own compassion is to be honest about them. I don't think it's compassionate to endure a difficult person and not so this confront them about what what's going on and you can do that in the compassionate way and you can sit down and be honest with someone and say look at i'm having this difficulty in our relationship here's why i'm sorry if this is hurtful but that's this is how i feel or or playing along. A difficulty there. Oftentimes that'll end in the in the breaking of that relationship but sometimes it can be a. An opportunity and a pathway into deeper relationship. With that person. So hell yeah that's my answer to how to deal with difficult people to do with them honestly. I'm not talking to god and he's not talking to me or is he how can we communicate with each other and lieu of my always asking god for something in other words how can i learn to effectively pray without asking for something and how can i hear or feel the answer response. I'm not talking to god and god's not talking to me. Those times in my life when i felt that my relationship. We got in my prayer life has been distant or non-existent are difficult times for me. And. Usually what it means for me is that i have to. Restart a regular discipline a regular spiritual discipline in my life. I really believe that in order to have a relationship with god or the spirit of life or even to have a relationship with it you know that you're your own conscience of the still small small voice that dwells within you requires some form of daily spiritual discipline. I do that in the morning before i start the day it involves prayer it involves meditation and. Even when there isn't an answer a lot of times there isn't an answer it's a lot of things i don't look for an answer in my prayers but i feel a presence that isn't the same as an answer but feeling a presence feeling in relationship with that spirit is. Oftentimes a very comforting and healing thing for me. So. I would suggest that we not always look for answers to our prayers. But to notice how the relationship that happens when were in a regular spiritual practice hot enriches our lives and how that keeps us closer to the highest that is within us. An empty god. I think that's that's what i want to say about that. One of the other thing is. Most of our religious life is spent in distance from god. That's the that's the poignant thing about the religious life. Is that inspiration comes in moments. Communion comes in moments in fleeting moments. And a lot of the religious life as a memory of that moment the time in between those moments. And those going to be hard times those but i really feel like the the regularity and the discipline of a spiritual practice is part of what helps keeps the moments of communion that that do exist so they're alive and present to our lives. How does unitarian universalism reconcile the existence of evil in the universe. And the propensity of humans to do harm. With a fundamental belief in the goodness of the world and the human spirit. The question of evil is a question that's on a lot of people's minds. These days and evil the problem of evil has been a. A critical problem for liberal theology in for unitarian-universalism because the big difference between unitarians and the orthodox when we first split off from the orthodox calvinist was that the calvinists said that human beings were depraved and the unitarian said that human beings were born with a spark of the divine in them. And the calvinist said you're crazy and the unitarians do you know you're crazy. The unitarian distinction from calvinism was not that unit that that human beings were all good.. It was rather disputing the calvinist notion that human beings were depraved and had no recourse for their own depravity save for the intervention of christ unitarian said that evil. And that we have the capacity for good but the resources for good are within ourselves. And can be can be nurtured true religion in the point of religion isn't too so to beat people over the head with telling them about their depravity with the point of religion is to fan the flames of that spark of the divine that is within us. Very fundamentally different view of the purpose of religion. So unitarians concede that there is evil and evil is a product of human sin. And unitarians. I think today unitarians need to be more comfortable using the words 10 and using the word evil a lot of us will say oh i don't i like to talk about people doing bad things but not talk about bad people. I think that might miss the mark from what's in actually is i think that might be under estimating sin and evil evil little more fundamental i think than bad things. It's deeper down within us but it's not the final word on the human condition and that's that's that's the important thing that unitarians brought to to american religion and you know our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Is also so important for us to hold onto even the face of you because it's the one measure that we have to judge what is evil you know when the human dignity and worth of an individual person is violated and that person is oppressed or or their worth is violating anyway that is the definition of evil and if we if we give up the fact that the people have an inherent worth and dignity than we've given up our judge what is evil in the world so. It but it's in a really important question for you to transfer grapple with. Active intervene influencing the physical world or passive a river that touches the shore but does not affect what happens in land. Is the spirit of life passive or active. Just started a question about the nature of how god or the spirit acts or moves in the world. I can all i can talk about is what i believe i think and that is that that the spirit is active in the world i don't i'm not a d a day has to believe that god who created the universe and the universe unfolds according to those laws and god is is hands-off. I don't believe that i believe in a more active presence of of the spirit and in the world but i do i also don't believe that god can will intervene in a particular situation and make things turn out alright there's too much. Wrong with the world for me to believe that there's a loving god who intervened to make things to make things turn out alright right i just can't reconcile that what i do believe and what i've my own experience tells me is that god is sort of like a muse. Who who lures us who operates in the world inside of an alluring fashion laurino's to what is good and what is true and what is beautiful process theology which the 20th century school of theology believes that and each moment of human beings or coming together that that god is luring that moment with imagine life services one moment. That is luring each of us to the best possible resolution of this time together. God is is is in each moment luring us towards the good and the true and holy and the beautiful. But we ignore god we deliberately contradict what we know is good and and god doesn't have the power other than that alluring power that pot that enticing power to make us follow god's intentions. The god i believe in a in a in a loving god but not an all-powerful god. And i got its active in the world but not controlling or determining the world intercept of a mechanistic way. And that's that's in line with with. The dominant themes of of unitarian theology for the last hundred fifty years. Are our services relevant. To the lives of poor individuals and families in our community. What a good question to ask. I can't speak on behalf of poor individuals or families of someone who's not who's not poor however i have experience with working with lots of folks from this congregation. 2. Who might be considered poor. And. I believe that that that there is. I guess the question was relevance you know i have the services relevant i think there is relevance to the lives of all classes of people here in the service but it's you know i think people and people take different parts of the service and take different things from those parts there's not just the sermons there's music there is the prayer time in the candles and people take from all those different parts of the service different things and take what they need from the service there is there is a tension though that the question points out which is supposed to you know comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable and speak to them about responsibilities. Premier class person needs to make to be a person of faith. At the same time preach a message for different people and so that's the truth but i think that the gospel. Is a gospel that is is relevant to people of all classes all races and and that this churches is providing that gospel to lots of people in our community. You know having said that also searches apparently no class congregation is no doubt about that so the question is an important one for us to keep. In our minds and two to think about cuz that's a good challenge. Challenge. Rob there's so much aggression that occurs in the world in the name of religion how do you reconcile the acts of violence and suffering in the name of religion with our religious advocacy practice and beliefs. Religion and violence. I'm glad that you guys chose this one i've actually my summer was spent editing the works of a feminist theologian who's who's most of whose work is around the issue of violence and religion. Talkin thinking a lot about this question i think it's really important to speak about a particular about christianity and violence right now i'm not going to speak as well to islam but i do want to say this it's important to realize that a lot of religions are violent. Because inherent sand central to their theologies is an act. A violence. So forensics and this and i'm drying here on the work of rebecca parker the illusion rebecca points out that it prints in christianity the fact that. Christian theology posits a god who sacrificed iet killed his own son to save. The rest of us. Is a problematic theology for this reason because then the messages that violence is redemptive and salvific and so when we think about chi how are we going to save this world well rather than looking to jesus examples of love and and his ministry in his life we say oh he died on the cross god sacrificed him of sacrifice and sometimes sacrifice to save the world. The crucifix appears in about 10:50 ad right about the time of the crusades. When pope urban the person who started the crusades in europe the crusades which you know was intended to to drive the muslims out of the holy land but on the way by the way stop through the ryan landon and killed most of the jews and you know it. The crucifix was essentially a war recruitment poster for the crusades. In other words pope urban took the crucifix and held it over his head and said man of europe you should die for god just like jesus died for god on the cross look at him suffer you suffer to that is salvific that will save christianity that will save your soul that's your ticket to heaven that's a powerful theology that is indeed in western society and i think you see that you know there was a big. Well of course they were when the passion of the christ is a bloody stool bloody telling of the jesus story and that's what that's what society sometimes asks of its soldiers. Okay and. Sometimes the sacrifice sometimes sacrifice is necessary but part of what the karate that rebecca parker makes is that we have this knee-jerk that we that's that's just the ritual we play out you know we have ritualize that that salvation by violence and we automatically go to it we don't. And i'll just say that unitarian-universalism emerged as a critique of that theology of salvation we said know what kind how can you worship a god that would that would deliberately sacrifice. His own son you know that that isn't the kind of god that we want to worship is what the early unitarian said they said they admitted that jesus death on the cross was a political assassination by the roman empire that's how why people died on the cross and that what is salvific instead was the example of jesus life of his his ministries of compassion and healing and love and so it's it's how we live our lives in redemptive ways rather than how we. How we use violence in redemptive waves. That that is salvific. So that's a big example christianity cuz that's what i've been studying and what i know the best but that's saying redemption by violence theology is true you know in versions of islam and judaism as well. What time are we doing time. This is a doozy. What do you think norm intelligent design or evolution for that matter but here's what i think the issue seems to be for the for those who are proponents of intelligent. Design ii personally have no problem reconciling a belief in god and the god that i described to you today in different ways with the theory of evolution for me they're not incompatible and i don't i don't see the big problem to control that situation of the universe. Although honestly i think i have enough faith in our science teachers that that children will be especially at assume once they get to a certain age will be. The difference between the theory of evolution and its scientific. And the scientific crews still theory i guess i don't know what use the scientific word for that is but it's the evidence for evolution and the other hand the evidence for intelligent design which isn't scientific evidence it's it's it's scripture. So. You know i actually. I'm not as concerned it's troubling to me that it would ever be teaching the school's by also have faith in both our teachers and our our children that they're going to they're going to sniff that one out real quick so agree. Okay alright this is this helpful thank you very much.

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04.06.13SignsOfTheTimes.mp3

I'll reading this morning is an old covenant that was used in universalist churches during the 19th century with one another in unison each week much as we sing spirit of life each week. This covenant goes like this. Love is the doctrine of this church. And the quest for truth is it sacrament. Service is it's prayer. To dwell together in peace to seek knowledge in freedom to serve human need to the end that all souls. Shell grow into harmony with the divine. Does dewey covenant. With each other and with god. Every once in awhile. A minister realizes that he has more sermons to preach. Then there are sundays in a year that there are things that he or she has been wanting to sort of get off his chest for a while but because sunday only comes around once every seven days he never quite gets around to them you're the same thing happens i noticed in couples. Yeah couples get into their routine and their daily patterns and they interact with each other all the time but you know how those big conversations never get spoken. That's sort of how i'm feeling right now that there's this list of things i just need to get out on the table if there are things on my mind that have to do with the church and its relationship to our larger world and community. Each of these items probably warrants. Its own sermon. And i may get to those in due time but in a few weeks i go on vacation and study leave for the month of july and some of the stuff just can't wait till august so i'm not going to dress up these points and any fancy sermonic language i'm just going to let you know about some of the things that are on my mind right now. And then we'll have some opportunities to pick up the conversation as we go along. One thing that i'm really aware of right now is that we are in the middle of an election year a very important election year and so i've been thinking a lot about the church's relationship to politics and urban things that have been happening over the last week especially that have really raised some alarm bells for me the last week president bush announced put out a call to identify a volunteer coordinator in 1600 conservative churches in the state of pennsylvania this volunteer and and pass out campaign literature in and register people to vote and they've even got a slogan for it called 1600 pennsylvania for 1600 pennsylvania avenue that would make it legal for preachers to make political endorsements. From the pulpit. To me these two actions represent an egregious crossing of the line between church and state and so this preacher is going to make a political endorsement from the pulpit this morning which is opposed. For me for this church to endure to align itself with a particular candidate or a particular party cheapens the mission of the church. It is a miniature is our ability to have a prophetic voice in the public realm and so i want us as we go through this election season to be aware of why it is that we is a church get involved in the electoral process because. It's so that we can empower people in our community to shape the polity of the city in this nation in in ways that support our vision of justice and compassion that's that's the degree in the reasons that a church gets involved in the political process to help shape and agenda that is consonant with our values not to endorse one party or another or one candidate or another so please as we do this work as a church from now in through election day let's remember why it is at the church gets involved in politics and remember not to cross that line into partisan. Politicking. I want to draw things from from the nation then a little bit closer to home. Because there's some things that are going on in the neighborhood around the church that the deeply concern me. I think that it's safe to say that in about 6 years the neighborhood that we know as columbia heights will be almost unrecognizable to us compared to what we know it as today. There is a lot of vacant land that you may have seen on 14th street around the columbia heights metro station and there are big plans for that land over the next five years the plans are for a target for whole foods and for giant and for a bed bath & beyond applebee's t.g.i.friday's. And a lot of this development is welcome as a welcome thing for many of the residents of this neighborhood this neighborhood has been underserved in those kinds of you know it in in as far as shopping stores and and grocery stores. But my concern is how the development is done as far as as equity goes. For instance. Target wants to come into the office in the neighborhood just behind all souls and it's speaking from the city from the district of 50 million-dollar subsidy to build a parking lot. This would be from the same pot of subsidy that over the last few years has brought to us essential city services like the spy museum the mandarin hotel and the development at gallery place. In an era of scarce resources. I think that we need to think about where we're going to invest our money as a city i think the neighborhood needs a parking lot quite honestly but folks at target it actually believe that this target will be the highest grossing target store in the united states of america. Am i doing ok google bit closer to home now and talk about this church cuz you know i i hear little i get i get to hear rumbling people don't often come talk to me directly about things but i hear rumblings that happened throughout the translate reverberate up into the pulpit night and i get wind of him and i. We've grown in many ways we've grown in size we grown in spirit and excitement we've grown in depth and richness of the other programs that we can offer here at the church but i know that grows. It makes us feel a little uncomfortable. Right i know that some of you used to have a seat that you'd sit in every every sunday you know in fact i see carol fought over here she has graciously moved from her. Art the quality of community that we have at the church will become diminished. I want to acknowledge some of those concerns and anxieties an end name them and to say that that i believe that we can both grow as a community. And welcome in all who seek to to partake of the ministry that we have here at this church and at the same time develop strong bonds of community here at the church i don't think we're faced with a trade-off of growing in size and growing in-depth i think that we can end and we'll do both and what the board is doing right now. About how the church has grown and will grow. Church today the board is to be meeting here at at 1 in the sanctuary to have one of those listening sessions and i really encourage you if you've got feelings about this issue to come to that and are you if you don't even if you just want to hear what other people are feeling and thinking and and and talk to to your your fellow members about this. But. You know i think it is a sign of the vibrancy of the spirit and the excitement is here that people that's what's wrong people in the door and i think that's a sign of health and saw that and also commit us to working to to strengthen the bonds of community as we grow. I think there's one last thing that i want to talk about. Before i wrap things up today. I've been i was surprised by the number of emails. I got from people around the abu ghraib prison torture scandal. Usually i can predict what events. Are going to trigger your emails to me and i misjudged this one until i was surprised by all the responses i got from you and. What i heard from people was not only a sense of shame and disappointment about the actions of our nation's but the fact that this this torture goes to something much more fundamental about the worth and dignity of humanity and the cheapening of that worth and that dignity. And i want i think there are lots of ways to respond to to this. But i want to talk about a very simple and in small way that we can affect right here i think that in a world that consistently seeks. To diminish the worth and dignity of human beings there must be communities that lift up the worth and dignity of human beings there must be communities that work hard at living in community with integrity not not abusing the people that we live in community with to lift up another. I want to suggest is that a church like all souls is a place where we can practice that kind of community it's a place where we can create that kind of community in and offer it out to the world example and live and compassionate and just community over the next 6 months or so. Then how it is they shouldn't treat one another okay cuz churches are subjective bad behavior to write and this covenant is going to be a statement of our dreams and our aspirations for how we treat one another is a community but it's also going to be and one another to. That's why i want us to pay attention here at this church it's so easy to fall into your bad habits here at church too. To do not work hard at treating each of the people you encounter in this church with worth and with dignity to greet them with a smile to see them as someone created in the image of god. And i want to focus on that to practice that because in the history of the church is a is lots of times when we weren't so good at that right so we have to work extra hard to make sure that that is a value here at all souls. Treat one another with loving kindness. Is a message. I think that is my list for now. Again i just needed to get it off my chest i needed to tell you it right now before i go away for vacation in july and my hope is that we will in the months and years ahead have the opportunity to discuss these and other important issues that face this community and our world with a lot going on out there sometimes it's important to focus on those things. That are most important. Let me close them. With a covenant with which i began. Love is the doctrine of this church. The quest for truth is it sacrament. And service is it's prayer. To dwell together in peace. To seek knowledge in freedom. To serve human need. To the end that all souls shall grow into harmony with the divine. Dust do we covenant. With each other. And with god. I'm in.

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06.09.10LoveAndItsLimits.mp3

Before i show this morning's reading i just want to add my greetings to all of you. Those who we welcome home on this homecoming sunday as well as all those new faces out there it's so good for all of us to be together with one another on this day. Good to see you here. Are reading this morning is from the gospel of luke. Chapter 10 verses 27 through 38 it's the story of the good samaritan it's going to be a familiar story for many of you. Except that i'm using a different translation this morning the translation is a contemporary one from the biblical scholar and author eugene peterson. I like to think that he's put this into some contemporary language instead of livened up the story a little bit so a new generation can can hear its message and it's it's truth so again a familiar story. With a little bit of a twist. Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test jesus. Teacher. What do i need to do to get to eternal life. Jesus answered what what is written in god's law. The scholar said that you love the lord your god with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence. I meant to love your neighbor as much as you do yourself. Good answer said jesus. Do it and you'll have eternal life. Looking for a loophole. The scholar asked. And just how would you define neighbor. Jesus answered by telling a story. There was once a man traveling from jerusalem to jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes beat him up and went off leaving him for dead. Luckily a priest was on his way down the same road. But when he saw him he angled to the other side of the road. Then the levites religious man showed up he also avoided the injured man. A samaritan traveling the same road came upon him when he saw the man's condition his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid disinfecting and bandaging his wounds then he lifted him onto his donkey. Lead him to an n. And made him comfortable. He took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper saying take good care of him. If it costs more. Put it on my tab. When jesus finished his story he asked the man. So what do you think which of the three was a neighbor to the man. The one who treated him kindly. The scholar responded. Jesus said go and do the same. Love and its limits. I sometimes like to tell the story about how a couple of years back a young man came to me after service. And said that he liked to have some time with me. He told me he wanted to talk about the difference that the church had made. In his life. And of course conversations like this always. Warm a pastor's heart. So i said sure and we scheduled an appointment in a few days later. We found ourselves in my office and he began his story. He said rob when i first came to all souls a few years ago i really didn't know what i believed about god. I wasn't sure if god existed or not. Now. After being at all souls for 3 years. I'm pretty sure i'm an atheist. Not exactly what i was expecting to hear but i said that's okay is that all you wanted to tell me. No he said what i wanted to tell you was that even though i'm pretty sure. Pretty certain i don't believe in god. I feel like i've grown enormously as a spiritual person over my time at all souls all souls has made a difference in my life because here. I'm learning how to love better. I'm learning how to love. Better. To me this brief exchange says a lot about this church. And about our unitarian universalist safe it says that regardless of our diverse stances on god that what unites us as is our common commitment to learn how to love. Better. It affirmed for me that our faith is unitarian universalist is measured not by creed's. But by deeds. And so this fall our services are going to explore this topic from a lot of angles exploring this question of how we can learn. How to love. Better. A basic human question. And what better place to begin this question than one of the greatest teachings on the subject of love. The story of the good samaritan. Let me give you a little background on the story the parable is told. Buy jesus in response to a man who comes to him asking him essentially what is the core of our faith what is our faith all about and jesus as he so often does. Rose the question right back in the guy's lap he says well but what do you think the core of our faith is. You tell me. The man says well the torah says that the core of our faces to love god with all our being to love our neighbor as ourself. And jesus says well. If you already know the answer. What do you need me for. That's when the man reveals that he the true nature of his question which is that he's trying to find his way out. Of the great commandment he's trying to find a loophole. So he says well i was just wondering who exactly is my neighbor and what exactly do we mean by neighborly. Anyways. That's what jesus tells him the story of the man who lay wounded by the side of the road and how both a priest and a religious scholar deliberately crossed to the other side in order to avoid him and how it was the samaritan. And you have to know that the samaritan was a heretic to the jewish community. He was an outcast in the jewish community it's significant that jesus says it was the samaritan who finally stooped to pick up the man and to take him to the end and to give him comfort. Jesus point seems to be once again that faith isn't about your theological stance or your spiritual pedigree. It's about the quality and content. Of your love. Religion. Jesus was saying. With about learning how to love. Better. No. In so far as it goes. I have no problem with the story of the good samaritan. But i have to tell you that i've always wrestled with it. And i'll tell you why i think it's because. It makes this love thing seem a little too easy. Maybe it's because i live in a city like washington d.c.. Weather in my world and i'm sure in many of yours. There never seems to be just one person. On the side of the road. Needing our attention. But rather our streets are strewn. With those. You need. Despair cries out at us from all over and from every corner. We are all. We all can muster from time-to-time the the goodness to respond to the single deed we can all find the compassion to reach out from time to time to the neighbor in need but what happens when the need comes over and over again what happens when the need comes not only from the streets but from what from our own homes and from our workplaces and not only their butt but in our very own soul need a little love as well. What happens when need is calling to us from all over where do we find the love. Then. Cuz pretty soon to be frank i find that sometimes there's not enough love to go around and pretty soon all these demands start to get a little annoying. And i don't reach out with compassion to my neighbor. I fear to the other side of the road. So i was looking for a story. I want a story that responds to that kind of scenario. Their response to not the one need but to the many. And i think i finally found one. The story comes from the desert fathers the desert fathers were a group of monks in the third century who went out into the desert. To lead a life of prayer and contemplation. And then passed on this story and i think it's a meditation on the story of the good samaritan. For me it rings true. The story. Goes like this. One day. Abba agathon. Abba agathon. Was on his way into town from the desert. To sell some figurines he had made. In order to support his community. On his way into town that day i'll buy agathon met a man lying. By the side of the road. Paralyzed in his legs. The man asked the abba. Father where are you going. And the ava replied to town to sell my wares. Do me the favor of carrying me into town. Set the man. Now i can almost imagine what agathon is going with going through his head right now he. He knows his bible stories and he knows it right now what's be he's being confronted with is a classic good samaritan tail he knows what his duty is to take care of the man who set him on his way and then to go into town to sell his wares. So just as he was instructed by the story. It takes the man abba agathon takes the man. Who incidentally was a rather large man. Any picks them up. On the back on his back and walks for him with three miles. Into town. As they approached the town the man said. Put me down in the market. Where you're selling your wares. Anaba agathon did so. A little while later when saint sold one of the figurines that he made with his own hands the paralyzed man asked him. How much did you sell that figurine for. Abba agathon told him the price. Buy me a cake. Said the man. And the abba bought it for him. Then abba agathon sold another of his figurines. And the man asked. How much did you sell that one for. When he told him the man said. Buy me some clothes with your profit. And ava agathon bought him some clothes. Well on and on it went. All day long the man sat a table a ghassan's feet and each time you sold a figurine the man would ask for something else. Until at the end of the day of agathon is sold all of his good and had absolutely nothing to show for it had no money to bring back to support his community. And still the man asked. Abba agathon do me the favor of carry me back. To the place where you found me and placed me there again. And once again i'll buy agathon took the man up on his back. But mind you now with the cake and with all the things he bought he was even more heavily laden. And alba agathon carried him for three miles. Through the desert and placed him down where he had found him. Then the man said to him. Abba agathon. You are filled with divine blessings. And raising his eyes. Agathon saw that it had been no man. But an angel. Come to test him. Now. I don't know about you. But the first time i heard that story i got really angry. And others i've noticed when they've heard the story got a little angry as well i was angry frankly at the presumption. And sense of entitlement. Of the paralyzed man. I was mad at agathon. For being such a pushover. Of letting himself i said be taken advantage of. And as i said i know that there are others out there who when they for the story have felt the same way the story strikes a nerve in people for some reason and now looking back. I think i understand. Where are the anger comes from. I think i understand why people react so strongly to this simple. Even playful fable. You see i think the story of agathon in the paralyzed man. Taps into some of our worst fears. About love. That it will ask something of us. And then it will ask more. And then more. And then still more. The story portrays love as a kind of. Bottomless pit. An abyss. Into which we might fall. And never get out of again. And so we were coil. From that abyss we were coiled from that story we put up our barriers and and defenses just as the kane family illustrated for us earlier today the barriers that keep us from loving. Because frankly we're pretty sure that we're not up to the test. We're pretty sure that we don't want that much asked of us. A story like this is difficult because it forces us to confront. The limits. Of our love. I think that's why in the original story of the good samaritan the priest and the levite. Swerve to the other side of the road. It's not because they don't know what love is about. It's because they understand it. All too well. And know just how much. It will demand of them. And have decided that they're not up. Have a task. I think that if we are to go the route. Of the good samaritan. If we are to going to choose the route. Of abba agathon. This story then gives us fair warning it's warning is that love will take us to a place beyond where it feels good to love it will take us to a place where we can rely on anymore on an outburst of a compassion or a or a good sweet feeling or the kind of falling in love that we feel when we first meet our loved one. We can't rely on this kind of love over the long haul if steadfast love endureth forever steadfast love steadfast love has to be more than just a feeling. The kind of love that abba agathon learned in this story is a kind of love it takes discipline. The takes cultivation. Depicts. Practice. Really. That's the kind of love that we. That religion calls us to that face faith calls us to we need to get it out of our heads. That love as a good feeling. Is strong enough to respond to the hertz. And the need of this world. Love as a good feeling can be the initial spark of our love and care for the world and certainly it will come and it will refresh us over and over again is that feeling once again returns to us. And renews us but we all know from our experience. From our experience. That we are called to love. When it doesn't feel good. That we are called to love when it feels lousy. That we are called to love when it feels like a duty not a joy when it feels painful even. And that love is only sustained. When we as a community. Together. Learn how to love. Better. Story of abba agathon. Is not a story about about about loving indiscriminately or about being a pushover it's about. It's about understanding that love takes discipline. It takes repetition. If it's something that's going to come to us. When the when the good feelings have gone away. Today's stories. Present us. With a fundamental choice my friends. Will we be the people. Who's swerve. To the other side of the road. Out of fear that love will demand too much. Or will we be the people who respond to the need that calls to us. From the side of the road. Knowing full well that that need will demand more of us than we could have ever imagined. Knowing full well that we will fail at times in our attempt. To meet that need. There are consequences to both choices. I think we know with the consequences to the first choice. Yes. That consequence is a retreat. Into selfishness. Shutting down to the world the kind of numbness that sets in that yes delivers us from the demands of love but also. Keeps us from the joys of love. Those are the consequences of the first choice. As to the consequences of the second choice. I think they're harder. To define. The story of abba agathon suggest that to those. Who follow the path. Of sustained. And discipline love. To those who learn how to love better there eventually comes the blessing. Right at the end of the story comes the blessing. And i'm still trying to figure out. To put my finger precisely on what that blessing is. But it has something to do. With the joy of having tried to love. Of having failed. And knowing that we are forgiven. It has something to do with the fullness of life that comes. When joy and pain are mingled close together and we can feel them both. It has insurance. Everything to do. With being alive. May the blessings of that life. And that love. Be yours. + 9. Amman.

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05.10.02ChooseToBlessTheWorld.mp3

As exciting as it is to have unitarianism around the country and protesters from around the country gather with us as they did last sunday is exciting is that is it's nice to just be us again here on sunday morning and to feel the the intimacy of that as well it's nice that we can be both of those things. I want to share with you is our reading this morning a poem that was printed in the catalog of starr king school for the ministry the unitarian universalist seminary in berkeley from which i graduated. For young man wondering how to pursue a life of faith. This prose poem seemed to focus all my questions in 21 prophetic challenge. Challenge i want to share with you this morning. The poem is by rebecca parker the president of starr king and it's called choose to bless the world. Your gifts. Whatever you discover them to be can be used to blast. Or curse the world. The mind's power. Strength of the hands. The reaches of the heart the gift of speaking listening imagining scene waiting. Any of these can serve to feed the hungry bind up wounds. Welcome the stranger preys what is sacred do the work of justice or offer love. And any of these. Can draw down the prison door. Horde bread. Abandon the poor. Obscure what is holi. Comply with injustice. Or withhold. Love. You must answer this question. What will you do. With your gifts. Choose to bless the world. Not too long ago i was teaching an adult spiritual development. Course here at the church. And one night i began the class by reciting that poem choose to bless the world. After i read the poem i asked each person to reflect on the question how am i a blessing to the world. Then we divide it up into small groups to talk about it. That we've been meeting at the class for several weeks already and so we knew each other fairly well and usually people spoke quite freely like most unitarians i've taught this was a pretty talkative group. So when an awkward silence. Fell over the room. I knew something was wrong. I asked the class what's what's going on guys this isn't like you. At first no one responded then slowly people get began to admit that the question how am i a blessing to the world made them feel uncomfortable. Some folks thought it was presumptuous to think of themselves. Has a blessing to the world. Others admitted guiltily that they didn't really think they were a blessing. Still others and simply never looked at their lives that way and we're really sure what this whole blessing thing was about anyways. The word seem to catch them off guard. Just when it seemed that the conversation was going to die from inertia. One member of the class began to laugh. And pointed at the wall. You see we were using the room that the kindergartners use on sunday mornings. For their religious education class. And on a poster on the wall we're written the words the children say each week for their chalice lighting. It is a blessing to be. It's a blessing to be here. It is a blessing to be here. With one another. The rest of us saw the word then joined the woman in laughing it seemed the children had figured out this blessing thing a lot more easily than we had. When you can subject 502 it so this morning i'd like each of us. To consider the question i posed that night. How am i a blessing. To the world. Where to put a finer point on it. Amaya blessing to the world. For me this is one of the fundamental questions. Of the religious or ethical life it's the decision that sets the course. For our lives will i be a blessing to the world. Will i move through the world in such a way that bestows gifts and good tidings and joy. Or will i be the kind of person who doesn't bless. But chris is the world. Spreading apathy. Selfishness perpetuating in justin's keeping my fists and my heart clenched. To bless or to curse the question is so fundamental so deep down in our consciousness that it often goes undetected what i want to suggest this morning is that to really be a blessing in the world. We must make the choice to bless it. A conscious. Deliberate and frequent. At. I can imagine that some of you may raise an objection right here at the very beginning insane i robbed you people ever really set out to be anything other than a blessing to the world hemi does anyone actually wake up in the morning and save probably. No one ever decides to curse the world it just creeps up on us when we're not paying attention there are curses that we are susceptible to buy our own nature. By the patterns of living we've been conditioned to. By the economically system that we are in mashed in. No we don't wake up in the morning and say i think i'll curse the world today but every day that we do wake up and choose to live for ourselves and not for others we have chosen. To curse the world. Everyday we wake up and pretend that another's suffering is not our own we have chosen to curse the world. Everyday that we wake up and say i'm just going to live my own life and not pay attention to all the bad things that are happening out there we have chosen to curse the world. And on and on it goes until one day we wake up and realize unwittingly and appallingly. That our lives have indeed become a curse. And not a blessing. To prevent that from happening we must instead make a deliberate choice to be a blessing to this world it is an act of will. To say i will bless the world. I think some of you heard me talk about dog hammarskjold before. The former un secretary-general. He was a great man and he often spoke of this fundamental choice that i'm talking about. He wants says this. I don't know who or what put the question. And i don't know when it was put to me. I don't even remember answering but at some moment i did answer. Yes. 2 something. Or someone. And from the moment of that yes i was certain that existence is meaningful and that therefore my life in self-surrender. Had a purpose. Yes. It's the most powerful word in the spiritual vocabulary because when we honor and unqualified yes we set her whole being free to pursue that to which we have said yes to. Yes i choose to bless the world. Hammarskjold makes it sound like a choice happens once and for all and then we're sort of set on this path of blessing but that is not my experience. We all start out trying to bless the world. But after each failure. We have to say yes again. After each broken heart. We have to say yes again. After each time we feel the fatigue of our suffering world and we want to give up we have to say yes again yes i will bless the world. I will choose to bless the world i choose again and again and again. Princesses why i always impress upon us the importance of a daily regular spiritual discipline in our lives. A time that we set aside each day to remind ourselves. To be a blessing. Your church does that but that's once that's only once every seven days. We need more frequent reminder in our lives to live deliberately. As a blessing. Cuz some people fail to bless the world because they have not deliberately chosen to others suffer. From a more fundamental problem. Some people fail to bless the world. Because they cannot see themselves. As a blessing. As. A gift. They have forgotten their own worthiness. Their own dignity they have lost sight of the fact that they are possessed of gifts. And people who lose sight of their inherent giftedness or their inherent blessedness. Are usually unable. To bless the world. We can't give. What we don't realize that we have. You know a lot not too long ago i would i met with someone who was struggling. Weave depression. She's giving me permission to share a little bit of our conversation. She said that she struggled with a persistent sends. Of her own inadequacy. Said rob i have these voices in my head that keep telling me that i'm damaged goods. Bet everything i touch. I make worse. She saw herself as a curse. To the world. I've gotten to the point she said where it feels like the only purpose in my life. Is to try to not make things worse. I asked her how i could help her. And she said rob i guess i need you to tell me that i'm okay. But i'm alright. You all right i said. You're okay. I want you to know that i see you as someone possessed of many gifts to share with this world i hope you will be able to live out of that knowledge. One day. What i tried to remind her of that day. Was really the central promise. Of unitarian universalism to unitarian universalism that is twofold. Epicenter of unitarian universalism is both a gift and a challenge and i want you to remember this today the gift and the challenge the gift is this. You are a blessing. You are a blessing. The challenge is this. Therefore you must bless the world. Therefore you must bless the world. You can't be unitarian universalist. And just take one of the other. You can't be the do-gooder out in the world. Who adopts cause after cars after cause desperately trying to prove your own worth and dignity. And the same time you can't be the person who walks around so self-assured and convinced of your own blessedness yet doesn't share that with the world. The two come together. The gift and the challenge. Sometimes even when we get the first part of the equation we want to escape responsibility for that second part for that challenge and one of the ways that we do that is to believe that the vocation to bless the world is a special calling for special people people besides us. We have a tendency to think that others because of some office or some degree or some level of virtue are the ones who are set apart to be blessings to the world this is why we worship sings rather than imitate them. This is why we set aside days to honor profits rather than follow in their footsteps know this is a calling that we must all take up. Choosing. Choosing the bless the world that doesn't mean leaving everything i have behind. Rejecting the life that i know giving up our job and becoming a monk or something it doesn't mean retreating into some splendid isolation it means going about your daily life. I'm refusing. To do. Nothing. Accept blessing the world. On the street in your home at work everywhere you go just be a blessing to the world there's an old tale. That exemplifies i think this. This blessing. This way of living is a blessing in the world. And i want to close with this image for us this morning. The story goes like this. There once was. A woman. Only angels adored for her kindness and goodness. In fact they adored her so much that one day they went to god and asked if they could grant this woman the gift of miracles. Wisely god answered. Well you better check first to see if she wants that gift so the angels visited the woman and offered her the gift of healing touch. Whoever you touch they said will be healed of all that ails them. She refused the miracle. Then the angels offered for the gift of conversion of souls whomever she came into contact with would be 1/2 god by her eloquent testimony. Again she said no. Frustrated the angels asked her. What gifts do you want. And she replied. I ask that i may do a great deal of good. As i go about my daily living. For the angels didn't quite know what to do about such a request. But after talking it over with one another and with god they decided on a plan. Every time the woman's shadow. Would fall behind her. It would have the power to cure disease. To soothe pain. To comfort sorrow. And so it was that is the woman walked through the world behind her her shadow made arid pads green. Cause withered plants to bloom. Pal children got a rosy complexion in her wake. Clearwater came to dried-up brooks enjoy came to unhappy men and women the woman's simply went about her daily life. Diffusing virtue. As the stars diffuse light. And flowers. Send. I want to suggest that this image. Of this blessed shadow. Is an appropriate one for what it means for us. To bless the world. It doesn't mean we have to quit the world as we know it. Follow st. francis to the woods. I'm mother teresa to the streets of calcutta do it may indeed lead us there. But to bless the world means simply. That wherever you pass by. Wherever your shadow falls. That place will be blessed by your presence. To infuse our daily living with this blessedness. That is what we. Can begin to do when we choose. Consciously. And deliberately. To bless the world. May it be so.

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04.04.04PowerOfSacredPlaces.mp3

It occurred to me when i sat down at my desk this morning to go over my thoughts and comments for you this morning that i was harkening back to my graduation speech from seminary ucrc. Something about how that vocabulary word that i think i had memorized for the sats or some such tests had stuck with me ineffable a word that means there are no words but there are some things that you cannot describe. Some things that are beyond language. And because of that i turn off into poetry. Eu ministers are notorious for turning to poetry. To try to touch at the power of something that words in any other form can't touch. That some other way of speaking can't even get close to. And so this morning's reading is a poem and i'm aware that part of my sermon is going to be my effort to get at the ineffable or as you'll bonzi told me in my ordination service that administers job is sometimes to explain the inexplicable. And so that's what i will try to do this morning wish me luck the reading this morning is a poem from mary oliver. Entitled heron rises from the dark summer pond. So heavy is the long-necked long-bodied heron. Always it is a surprise when her smoke colored wings open. And she turns from the thick water from the black sticks of the summer pond and slowly rises into the air and is gone. Then not for the first or the last time i take the deep breath of happiness. And i think how unlikely it is. That death is a hole in the ground. How improbable that ascension is not possible. Though everything seems. So inert so nailed back into itself. The muskrat and his lumpy lodge. The turtle. The fallen gate. And especially it is wonderful that the summers are long and the ponds so dark and so many. And therefore it isn't a miracle. But the common thing. This decision this trailing of the longlegs in the water this opening up of the heavy body. Into a new life. See how the sudden gray blue sheets of her wings. Strive toward the wind. See. The power of sacred places. What is it about place. That matters. Clearly the where. In which our lives take place. Are more than just context. More than just a set on which we the actors move. In fact theologian nursia eliada in his book the sacred and the profane talks about how we spiritual beings come to see some places as sacred. As set aside. Holy other. Sort of beyond our normal realm of place and time. And we spiritual beings receive glimpses of that sacred space that sacred place. When we return to other places in our lives that hold some special meaning. I'm thinking now of what it feels like to go back to the place of your birth. Or perhaps a place where you spent formative years. A place where you grieve the loss or a place. Where are you were as joyful as you've ever been. We take when we enter those spaces again we are reminded of those feelings. And yet i think it's not just the place itself. If you think about anytime you've interacted with a place of physical structure perhaps. It isn't just the place itself that hold the meaning but it's what you bring with you into that space. That we ourselves can walk into a room and almost endow the space itself with greater meaning. With richer value than maybe even it has offered us or deserves. We know. With the poet that sometimes you can be next to a pond. And a herons flight can remind you of the value of your own life. War of the possibility of renewal. And rebirth. And so now i try my best to explain the inexplicable to describe my recent pilgrimage. My interaction with sacred spaces and places. So as not to bore you with a travel log of my adventures i will only tell you of two experiences i had in february i made a trip as many of you know because i have gloated too much that i went to italy for 2 weeks in february. And yes i missed you all very much while i was gone and yet somehow i managed during those two weeks to have a few remarkable experiences. Experience number one. I walked into a small church in venice called saint zachariah. I was there with my partner and we entered this church. To the quiet humming of a french tour guide telling pursed her charges about this building and its structure. And there were signs immediately upon entrance that said do not talk at all because this is sacred space you are on holy ground. Please respect that. And immediately i found myself kind of shrinking in i am on holy ground i need to remember that i need to honor this place which has been here for hundreds of years has been here long before i existed or anyone i know existed and will be here long after i'm gone. And i walked into this dank and cold space. And i walked over to my left to this painting that we were supposed to marvel at and it was kind of dark and i could see a little that it might be a beautiful painting and then i noticed this little box that said iluminar a on it and i said well my italian is horrible but i think that means light and if i put some euros in here it maybe it'll light up so i dug into my pocket and i pulled out my fifty-year-old $0.50 euro coin and i put it in this machine and suddenly. Get lit this painting. That is one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen. I was in awe. At the color red in a way i have never been in all of the color red. In all of the way our painter could make fabric look like i would want to touch it. In all of this. Madonna enthroned with saints painted in 1505 by giovanni bellini on the wall of this church. And i thought for a moment what would it be like to be a member of this congregation. To walk by this painting every sunday for mass and maybe not think of it at all. I asked the bellini painting. And yet there are some places like that one. Saint zachariah that will. Not only stay in my memory but will remind me of a place within myself. But i often forget. A place in myself. That is capable of all. And wonder. A place in myself that knows what it means to be humble. Memory number 2. In another church. In that same magical city of venice. We enter a church his name whose name i will butcher but it's something like santa maria gloriosa day friday. Not. That much different from son zachariah but. Remarkably different in the way that. All of these cathedrals of europe can be the same and yet different. And again instead of walking in and saying oh this is a catholic church these are not my images this is just an art history lesson i don't really need to see these things but the lonely planet guide book says i should i set aside my cynicism my skepticism my jadedness for just a moment. I set them aside not because i even wanted to. But because the building made me. It was as if it grabbed me by the scruff and said good when you're not looking not deep enough. Not long enough not with your heart. And i approach the altar that had this huge painting that i had seen in many an art history book before and thought seems kind of ridiculous or. Pastel eeyore to something. And there was titian assumption of the virgin. Tall painting there's the madonna in the middle floating upward. And again for some reason as i stood in front of this painting the only thing i could think to do the only response that felt adequate was to go immediately to the nearest pew and get on my knees. And so i did. And i'm not sure exactly what i prayed in that moment but i can tell you it was something like. Wow i am so very thankful so very blessed to be here at all. So very amazed that i have this life. That i can see. With my own eyes that beauty is amazing and abundant and around me. I just shook my head and was in awe. How small i felt and how large at the same time. So why do i tell you these stories since i told you already that i had gloated enough about this trip. I tell you these stories because it occurred to me after i left. These wonderful miraculous places in italy that i could have that feeling. Whether i was there or not. There was some way and which. Each of us is capable of carrying that sacred space feeling. That sacred place feeling with us into every place. And every time and every space in our lives. Because there was something about those moments that had to do with reverence. That had to do with my willingness to be opened. My willingness to not think too much. But the fillmore. I'm so my friends you don't have to go to italy. Although i recommended you don't have to stand in a gothic cathedral in order to feel something akin to all or wonder. To say wow. To a moment of your life to a place and space that opens you as you have never been opened before. While there are places. That by sheer grandeur and majesty of voc. Those feelings within us. It isn't place alone that calls to us. Are you willing to be moved. Are you willing to set aside your skepticism. Long enough to be touched. Or reached. In ways that are profound. This can happen more often if you are willing. Willing to receive. Willing to witness. Willing to see your surroundings as imbued with hope. With compassionate possibilities. With amazement. For it seems to me this is how we see places. That are made sacred. Not by virtue of their history or the artwork that is in them but by our presence. In them. This space. This. Play this. Sanctuary. Has already come to mean more to me. Amy's months that i have been with you then it meant when i first arrived. Look at it for a moment. Think of all of the generations of people who have come before us into this space seeking something. All of the the laughter. All of the tears. All of the hopes and dreams that have been poured into this place just as surely. Has the concrete in the brick. And the mortar of everything that we can see. The architecture of this space is made up of souls as much as construction materials. And this place is sacred because we come to it and we imbue it with our hopes and our dreams. With our togetherness. With our longing to know and be known. With our longing for a world warfare. This my friends is sacred ground. And that's part of why. This invitation to come to the performance in a few weeks is important because it will invite you to see this space a new. Invite you not to take for granted this place where you come every sunday. There is no bellini painting here. But there are your friends and neighbors. Their hearts and hopes. There are people of goodwill. Within these walls. Many sacred axe. And so i hope my ardent prayer. My friends is that we will see. All of the places and spaces of our lives as having sacred qualities. May we see the sacred wherever we go. May we make cathedrals of our lives. And art of our days. So may it be. Nah man.

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07.05.27LivingWithWarWorkingForPeace.mp3

In my tradition we began a sermon with a moment of prayer. Do i meet as you would or keep silence with me. Spirit of life. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. My strength. And my redeemer. I left the weekend on the bay last sunday and drove home through the beautiful eastern shore of maryland. In chestertown. A white lettering caught my eye. I turned to see that a large lawn was completely decorated. With tiny white flags on little post. Laid out in a pattern of careful squares. In the middle of the grass was a simple black-and-white sign. We remember them. It was an unusual display for various reasons. A private home. No red white and blue. In the sea of white. And the display emerged over the weekend. Moving from a few flags on friday when i drove to weekend on the bay. The hundreds. On sunday. Somebody had taken the time to plant each white flag. In a precise geometric pattern. To cover a wide expanse of green. That somebody was sending a message. And i thought about the phrase all week. We remember them. These are trying times to preach about peace. Living in the midst of protracted war in iraq and afghanistan. Living in the midst of a dreadful foreign-policy mess. These are not times where any solution is completely clear. All the voices from various camps and both sides of the congressional aisle would have you believe otherwise. Notame these are ambiguous times of war. Complex in traveling. So my decision today is not to preach for or against a particular timetable or benchmark for exit. For or against military surge or solution. We get a steady diet of debate now. And any number of resources are available to study the options. I'm choosing another question. Why we are living with war how will we work for peace. I want to focus on how. We remember them. Dakota little sign in the yard with the white flags and chestertown. The flag planters were most likely remembering our us troops at war right now. And all those veterans who have lost their lives in various wars. In this sermon i hope the expand the categories of. We. And them. We. Here today remember them. Including all those wounded. Suffering ied injuries post-traumatic stress loss of sight hearing lamb. Those able to get treatment. Those. Incredibly still fighting to get decent services now they are home. We remember them. All the wives. The husband's the children. The mothers. The father's the grandparents the aunts the uncles to friends of enlisted active-duty troops. And veterans. They. Are here. And are all souls pews. In our neighborhood. In our workplace. They. R us. And we are all suffering. Because these are not easy times. For those who serve in the military or for those who observe their service. As the page and your bulletin from the unitarian universalist association. Unwelcoming veterans and military families state so clearly. I quote from that. Whether our political and moral views leaders to support or oppose the war. As unitarian universalist it is important that we give our care and respect. To those of our citizens who are risking their lives with courage everyday. We owe them no less. We. Harassed educate ourselves about their experience. And to respond in a way. Which. Makes our first principle the inherent worth and dignity of every person come alive. As we head further into a divisive war. Cycling towards the 2008 election. Let us not subjects are troops to additional injustice. We recall what vietnam era vet standard. When those who opposed the war. Opposed to soldier. Very personally. Individually. Truly. Perhaps we can't even agree on the enemy these days. But we can say it's not our military personnel. Who are providing courageous service in the most difficult of circumstances. We owe them our thanks. And honor them best. By getting them home. When we ask how will we. Remember them. Whose eyes will we see. As i look at the regular washington post faces of the fallen. I see many very young men and women. Many faces of color. Small towns in big cities. Parents of young children. We also remember many thousands of civilians killed in iraq and afghanistan. Many thousands of troops from both countries as well. Troops that fight with us. And troops that fight against us. We remember entire tribes and networks of families grieving. Vast numbers of displaced refugees eyes and faces. I'm an entire region in turmoil. When we remember them today. Maybe we call that every life. Is precious. And each one started as a baby. In someone's arms. There's one pair of eyes i especially have in mind when i read the reports from washington or the news from baghdad. I know what young man heading into war. And i care very much about him and his parents. He enrolled in college rotc for leadership experience in service. Graduated. And now isn't a difficult training for ranger officer school. And just a few short months he will deploy to combat. And he is eager to serve. I listen to his idealism. I see his strong character and intelligence. I hear his analysis of how the war strategy has failed. And his hope. That it can still get back on track. We disagree on almost every aspect of the war and what to do about it. It's difficult for me to understand his choices. And yet i both admire his courage and worried for his future. I fervently hope that one day i will perform the wedding. That he and his girlfriend. Envision. And breathe a sign of relief with his parents. If i could stop the war tomorrow. To save just this one precious life i would do it. It is a face i know. And there are so many more faces so many more eyes. So many more hearts beating in lands different from mine. As the hymn says. I believe there is another group worthy of remembering. When we remember them. For we are holding them prisoner. We're here about a long list of issues. Suspension of habeas corpus so prisoners can't question their detention. Rendition. Also known as kidnapping with license to abuse. The creation of the military commissions act. The harsh long-term guantanamo bay imprisonment. Without charges a little legal assistance. The atrocities of abu ghraib. In mash stand that list. A real people. Who have been subjected to humiliation torture and death. As well as wives. To plead for news about their husbands. Children without parents fathers and mothers who don't know the location or fate of their son or daughter. We know for sure that people have been imprisoned indefinitely in this netherworld simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We also know for sure that some of these prisoners possess intelligence that is valuable to prevent harm. The question is how we know the difference in what we are willing to do. To find out. A successful culture of fear has been created and perpetuated by this administration. It would have us believe that extraordinary measures are necessary for extraordinary time. This has engendered a national silence. A lack of remembering. The absence of action. Of all the terrible legacies of these times perhaps none is worse. Then the normalization of torture as a tactic. And the gradual erosion of human rights. In our. Named global war on terror. Event center for the victims of torture was founded in minnesota in 1985 to work with survivors. And sadly they are quite experienced by now. Some of their conclusions are in an article by dr. larry dossey in the current excellent issue of tikkun magazine which focuses on why torture continues. Many military personnel active and retired. Endorse their view that this strategy of decreasing human-rights is flawed. They agree with the center for victims of torture. Torture does not yield reliable information or any information quickly. Torture has never been able to be confined to narrow conditions. It will not be used only on those who are guilty. Psychological torture is damaging. Stress and duress techniques are forms of torture. Finally torture has. A corrupting effect. On the perpetrator. Because it requires the suspension of your own moral values. Your own connection to humanity. In order to dehumanize others. This is not a suspension easily turned around it can have lasting psychological effects. And insidious results. For those who are within your reach. We are now in the midst of a wholesale wartime attack. On a range of freedoms and basic human rights. And the claim. That our nation's very safety requires it. As human beings. We simply cannot justify torture by citing national security or terrorism. And maintain the moral high ground. Our credibility and standing has already plummeted globally. We are succeeding in creating new generations of inflamed responders. Beyond that. We are in danger of losing our soul as a country. The claims to value freedom. A force that wants upheld the protections of the declaration of independence. The us constitution the 1949 geneva convention the 1975 helsinki. Course. Of course we have always upheld these values in perfectly. And with egregious exception. One example of this was the painful internment of japanese-americans families after pearl harbor. And a similar bout of fear and calculated hysteria. Those asian american families and descendants are some of the most vocal critics of what is happening today. Particularly around the targeting and harassment of muslim immigrants and citizens in america. They. Have seen this before. We. Remember them. The prisoners we are not allowed to see. The abuse has we don't know. The torture we will never uncover. We remember them. The covered eyes and faces shown to us. In the excruciating photos of abu ghraib. Revealing a callous disregard. For the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Why we are living with war how will we work for peace. We remember them through action. Each of us will have individual decisions to make. About the way we converse azpeacemakers with family with friends and co-workers soldiers and civilians. We remember them. When we place our bodies and rally and protest. When will i be our government stand up for those who cannot speak. As a congregation we also have choices. And we remember them. Over the coming weeks. And the next church year. Very briefly at like to say what we plan to do. In the next month. On may 5th also joined with friends meeting of washington that you use for social justice the buddhist peace fellowship and jarl hijra islamic center. Other sponsors to create a wonderful interfaith convocation of learning reflection and action on human rights and torture. On june 5th. We will follow that event with a showing and a discussion of rory kennedy's during hbo documentary the ghost of abu ghraib. On june 26th on capitol hill. And also delegation will attend an interfaith rally to restore law and justice. Sponsored by the national religious coalition against torture. Amnesty international and others. On june 11th we will welcome a new full-time intern for peace. Working with the uua washington avicus the office. Alex bennett. This two-year position is very generously funded by our own bob bonner. In loving memory of his former wife mary. Alex is going to work in three areas that all souls on his alpha portion of the job. With the a pala davis committee on an exhibit of our all souls hiroshima drawings from japanese school children. For the 2008 cherry blossom festival. Also an exciting interfaith dialogue project that we are beginning with dar al-hijrah islamic center with my colleague imam johari. And an excellent new uua resources on peacemaking for congregation. As part of our denominational study action issue. That we will be a pilot congregation for peace within unitarian universalist. Why we are living with war. How will we work for peace. How will we remember them. The words of poet david white remind us that there are always choices. In grieving. Acting and remembering. His pain the well of grief. Those who will not slip beneath the still surface. On the well of grief. Turning downward through its blackwater to the place we cannot breathe. We'll never know the source from which we drink. The secret water. Cold. And clear. North find in the darkness clamoring. The small round coins. Throne. By those who wished. For something else. When we remember them. Maybe wish for something else. Something more. The things which make for peace. Blessed be.

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05.01.30ASnowDayOfGrace.mp3

Want to share our. This morning's reading with you. And i think i'll share it first and explain myself later the reading is from emerson's divinity school address one of the great texts of american religion something that in seminary every every student is introduced to at one time or another sort of. Cuz i cautionary tale. Emerson rides. I once heard a preacher who sorely tempted me to say i would go to church no more. He had no one word intimating that he had laughed for wept. Was married or in love had been commended or cheated or chagrined if he had ever lived and acted. We were none the wiser for it. The capital secret of his profession. Namely. To convert life into truth he had not learned not one fact and all his experience had he yet imported into his doctrine. A snowstorm was falling around us. The snowstorm was real the preacher merely spectral. And the i felt sabes add contrast and looking at him and then out of the window behind him into the beautiful meteor. Of the falling snow. The true preacher can be known by this. That he deals out to the people his life. Life pass through the fire of thought. So you can see how preachers might develop a little bit of trepidation around preaching in snowstorms from this text by emerson. Can i have a confession to make to you this morning i've spent the weekend working up a whole sermon for you about paradise. And i'm not going to preach it today. Preaching is all about context and i woke up this morning at about 5 which is when i wake up every sunday morning and the snow is with coming down and and people were bundled in their coats and and there were a few people out there skating around on the ice and it felt like a snow day to me about paradise on a snow day and so i'm going to save it for another day. And they sat out in the front in the snow singing we shall overcome the cautionary tale is that a few months later he was no longer. That's going to be my text that i'm an exit this morning and so you know this is going to be parts serious and and parts you know a little bit of. Unitarians don't get. Grace. We just never understood the concept of grace and religion has traditionally been divided into two different cancer the people that believe that you get to heaven cuz you work really hard to get there right you do good works you pray the prayer that you're supposed to say you come to church every sunday. You get to go to heaven. Then there's another school of thought. There's a school of thought that says you know. We are loved just the way we are. And god's love is so ample and so wide and and so beyond our wildest dreams that no matter how badly we goof up no matter how badly we are no matter how many times we fail there's a place for us at the welcome table. The universalists in our tradition we're always on that grace side of the equation with the unitarians the unitarians were always about hard work they were always strive or they were always bragging about the social justice work that they did they believed that you had to do good things to get the heaven it's gotten so bad that have you noticed in our hymnal amazing grace. So i want to preach. About grace today and the reason i thought about preaching about grace today is because. Grace is like a snow day. Grace is like a snow day and i want to share a few of the ways that the grace is like i said i know you know that if this were a monday none of you would be in at work right now right you would have you would have called in sick or would have been liberal leave but this is my monday so i'm i'm here at work it's not a snow day for me but grace is a snow day. Right you can't plan for snow that you can hope for a snow day but you can't plan for a snow day i had to write my sermon last night even though i might have been hoping for a snow day today and i was up till midnight ready my sermon so i remember when i was back in school you still had to study for your test. You know the night before because you weren't sure if that if that final exam was going to be canceled because of the snow day it's unexpected. It's a surprise. It's a bonus. That's a little bit like what grace is like people tell me rob how can i experience grace in my life how can i make it happen. You can't make grace happen. It's unexpected. It's a surprise. It's a bonus it comes when we least expect it. Unmerited. None of us deserves a snow day we might feel like we deserve a snow day and like it's it's owed to us but the we've all signed on to 40 hours a week 52 weeks a year minus vacation okay and so when it when the snow day comes to us it's unmerited grace as well. Is unmerited. You do not have to be good. To be the recipient of grace. You do not have to be perfect. To be the recipient of grace let me say that one more time to a group of unitarian perfectionist you do not have to be perfect. To receive grace it is unmerited. Just like a snow day. Just like a snow day. A snow day. Is an adventure. Remember that feeling when you woke up on a on a tuesday morning when you were a kid. And your mom and your dad came in your room and said you know julie it's a snow day today to remember all the things that went through your mind at that moment all the all the possibilities for the day-ahead they were limitless you could. I remember one time when i was in college i went to school in ithaca new york where it's really got to snow to get a snow day up there they're used to snow and one day at dump 24 in of snow and my roommate and i had snowshoes and 42 days we snow shoot across the countryside of upstate new york exploring places we never seen seeing things we never seen looking at the earth in it in a new way because the earth looks different. On a snow day. It looks different when it hasn't been marred by plows or bye or by mud it looks more beautiful. Grace is an adventure. As well. We never know what's going to happen to our lives when our lives have been touched. By grace. We never know where that grace is going to take us we never know when we experienced this moment of revelation or this moment of love. How that's going to change our lives forever. Because it just might. Change our lives. Forever. If we let it. Grace. Grace is an adventure and once you're touched by it. Life is never the same. So that's a little bit about how grace is like a snow day and the truth is i've been wanting to preach that sermon for a long time now and i wanted to thank you for giving me the opportunity to to share that with you today but there's one piece of business as well that we have to take care of this morning because i was going to preach in fact about paradise and and the sermon was tied neatly into something that we were all going to do together after the sermon you will see that in your order of service there's an orange piece of paper and what i was going to say a piece of paper is that 2. This is spring we together are formulating a covenant. Covenant is just a promise. The fancy word for promise. And our covenants is a promise that we are going to make to one another about how we will be together with one another is a religious community how we will treat one another how do i expect to be treated by my brother or sister in faith and how is that different from how i expect to be treated in the world to ask you for your input into that how is it that we in a community of faith should treat one another. If we are to be true not just to the world as it is but to the world as it should be. And so what i like for you to do now is to imagine how it is that your church community would treat you in that ideal world and i want you to write it down on whatever color piece of paper you have in front of you today there are pens scattered throughout the pews you might have to share the moments of silence to do this. And after the silence i'm going to say a word of prayer and then if the offering plates pass i'm an invite you to hand these cards in along with your offering so let us take a few moments to fill out these cards and imagine how it is we want to be treated in this church community. If you don't have a chance to finish filling out your card when the plates pass please just bring it to the office. After after the service will you join me in a in a final prayer. Spirit of life we give thanks. For the many and surprising ways. That grace touches our lives. For the snow days. For the unmerited love. For a religious community that blesses us in so many ways. Help us now as we. As we strive as a people to be honest. To be the kind of people that you call us to be. To begin by being that people here in this church in these walls with one another but not stopping there to take it out into the world. And to bless. The whole world. With our being. Bless us now and always. I'm in.

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05.10.09TheDifferencesOurDifferencesMake.mp3

I wanted to begin by saying that some of our visitors this morning are here for the jubilee to anti-racism workshop that's been happening at the church all weekend and that next weekend all souls is also hosting a district-wide anti-racism conference so it's no accident that you will hear both of your ministers both this week and next speaking in different ways about race and issues surrounding race in our culture and our society still to this day and this morning is sort of my personal take and then next week rob and i will jointly share a sermon on reconciliation in part in honor of the high holy days of judaism and impart to look once again at issues of race as they have been so highlighted once again by the hurricane and other issues in our country it's a poem of his entitled your city which i have slightly adapted and it's a vision that he shares with us living in community and in fairness that i thought was an apt way to begin your city how much would it take for this city that has so far belongs to others to be yours as well. The house has set in rows and each row named so you can find the garden of your new acquaintance long before sundown. Just as you promised. And the talk has time to wander and pause. How much as you walk home in the dark for the portly policeman who now stands on the corner for others to stand for you by the grocery store still open for your convenience. How much for the book on the nightstand at home written now for others to be written for you in our stolen from sleep and children sweet and bitter wisdom distilled as a gift as the author guesses you'll be coming along. In need of encouragement and a warning 3 weeks till it's due at the local library how much would it take for the right to wander the stacks all afternoon rested for others from kings and shamans to be rested for you as well. And the constitution amended to protect your rights against the privileges of the few and the prejudice of the many you learned the story in school but couldn't believe it how much would it take for it all to be possible to wake. Well muhammad decide to linger at mecca and jesus rides his donkey into crazed jerusalem and moses descend the mountain and loving buddha turned his back on heaven hearing your side. How long awake. Till invisible hands that have left instructions for others in every lonely hotel room lead you to lock up evil and coke the good from whatever corner of your soul it's led to the beleaguered good you've always imagined. Looking for others to deliver it. When all along it's looked for you. The challenge of difference is that we human beings maybe it's not the challenge it's one of the challenges of difference is that we human beings have a tendency toward conflict avoidance. Now you wouldn't know that from our current administration's policies but psychologically it's true a truism that we more often than not would prefer to live and let live to just skate by without having to start any problems with anybody we would rather if you will whitewash differences between us or choose a politically correct strategy you see it all the time you see it occurs to me that this conflict or good enough it will take much more than appearances to have race in this country actually be a coming together of differences that isn't about blending them away or covering them over for trying to make things look smooth and right when they are not. What we will need my friends is a conversion experience a heart change if you will. Or perhaps in honor of the high holy days you will think of it as a turning a turning from broken ways and paths that have led us astray to a path of connectedness based on something that is true and real something greater it occurs to me with all the weddings i've been working through and seeing past their differences and challenges it's about living with difference in a way that welcomes it. That says whatever difficulties are differences between us might bring i'm ready willing able to be in this work with you. We can take that personal kind of covenant and amplify it to a larger societal kind of covenant. I read a commentator saying recently that. The hurricane brought up the fact that many in our country don't feel like they're full or true american. But they learned once again that citizenship really isn't for everybody but only for a select few. What would it take my friends for that to be less true of course part of what gets in the way of us actually seeing each and every person as a full citizen as part of our larger great family of all souls are the myth and the stereotypes that linger the snap judgments and assumptions that we have been trained to see those of you who were here with me in july remember that i had bob murray sing for us you have to be carefully taught with its wonderful line about how we have to be taught to hate all the people are relatives hate it takes time to learn to see a difference as wrong and dangerous as something that we should look out for. We have all been trained we have all had our eyes and our hearts colored if you will to see others in waze. That can be damaging and so i asked you this morning to think once again about the stereotypes and myths that have impacted you i decided since it's a hard thing to ask people to look at the stereotypes and myths around rays that have impacted them that i would share with you the miss that has impacted me and with which i have wrestled a lot throughout my life i wrestled with it even before i actually knew that there was a name for this myth that have been handed to me 3. That really emphasizes her pathologies. It's a woman feeds and depression deep and self-hatred usually a little self-loathing thrown in perhaps some alcoholism perhaps some bad bad sexual practices all kinds of horrible things and then at the very end as if that wasn't bad enough at the end usually tug-of-war with a capital usually removed or appreciate it. Other nests by definition is so other that there's nothing human about it that we can relate to. And of course this is a dangerous thing to set up because it's everything when you think about it if everything is other it's the only thing i can possibly understand is me and my experience than everything and everyone beyond and outside of me is going to be other. Then i will have two other them in order to live my own life the danger of other nests is that you will be drawn into a perennial challenge of always looking at others ask aunt or perhaps even looking down. That anything that isn't you ascribe to a different vision of other vision lifted up by very hard to read but very wonderful philosopher named emmanuel 11 us. Who says essentially that the other that in the face of the other in the encounter with the other you see your own humanity believed that we have no cell without the other and that knowing the other carries with it a responsibility toward what is different and respect for the relationship that emerges between self and other has a bunch of fancy words for saying i can't be me if there is no other you cannot have a self you cannot exist. Until and unless you are willing to know and other and in the face of that other you can see reflected your own humanity your own capacity for good and for ill your very self would depend upon it. So let me speak to the right here and right now my friends as you know the differences between us affect our lives in profound ways it's not just abstract it's not just academic it's real and it's true. It impacts how we are treated by other people by our government. By governmental agencies it impacts assumptions that are made about who we are and what we do and don't know about what we are and are not interested in about who we love and where we live make no mistakes. Difference still matters. And for those of us. Who are passionate about justice. It is our calling it is our calling to try to make it matter in all of the right ways to matter in cultural richness matter in terms of new understandings to matter in terms of creating a beloved community that honors the stories of many. Now i know that there is a danger in romanticizing this pluralistic multicultural worldview the danger of romanticizing it leads you to that rooftop with the coca-cola ad i know that it will be harder work than that that there will be hard-won connections that there will be disagreements and misunderstandings and arguments that may take awhile for me to hear what you are really saying for you to truly understand me but i don't know about you i'm ready and willing to go deeper than a photo op. To go further than a commercial to understanding people who are not like me. And yet are like me in the sense that they have a beating heart. That they have shed tears as i have that they have smiled smiles as i have. I was mindful before i got up to speak to you this morning of something that one of my teacher said to me long ago when we would sit through lectures and conversations and class. He would remind us regularly when we would tend to go on and on about things that it is better to listen then to speak. I know what you're thinking why on earth would you become a minister after having her that it's better to listen than to speak but he said to me he said to all of us it's better to listen to speak because when you're speaking you already know what you think you're not learning anything new and diversity of races and why i looking at differences in between people matters. Because my friends it is better to live in this kind of cultural atmosphere even if it takes work. Even if it means crying some tears or stepping on some toes. Because without those differences we might come to see our lives and our truth as the only one this is at the heart of why i accepted your call to come to washington dc and to come to all souls church unitarian madison wisconsin is a nice town but there are not a lot of brown faces their madison wisconsin. My friends it is our calling all of us. To share in making that all souls really and truly mean all is our calling to have an expansive vision of this great family of which we are apart to seek connection beyond what is easiest and what is most comfortable and this work is make no mistake soulful work and it is work that we cannot help but do and so with the poet i still want to believe that good is looking for us. Still. Benefit society with many races can still be one that embraces rather than erases difference. That we may yet hold all as equals. My friends let us be that kind of difference maker. Matthew so and ahmed.

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03.10.19FaithfulOverAFewThings.mp3

Good health. I'm too young to die. And then after a week or so of bargaining and cursing. He moved to a different place. He said that one day he was going about his daily tasks. When he realized. Wait a minute. Life hasn't been taken away from me yet. I'm still here doing what i've always done except now life feels so much more precious to me. He said. I asked my friend if the cancer. Had caused him to make any changes in his life to reprioritize. But he said that yes he had taken stock. I thought to myself he said. If i only have two years left to live. How do i want to spend my time. I thought about it for a while. I realized. But i wouldn't change a thing. I'm doing exactly what i want to do with my life. Glad to say i thought that was an extraordinary thing to hear. I don't often hear people say that when they come to that kind of crossroads but this man had retired early from a career as a teacher. To spend more time pursuing his passion which was to teach young people how to row crew he was a crew coach. Send me tween out and spending lots of time with family and friends he had been doing exactly what he wanted to do with his time. These with a few things that he attended faithfully to. Now notice these are not extraordinary things. This wasn't someone who sat back and said well i can die now i've reached the pinnacle of my profession or i'm a well-respected and upstanding member of my community or i made all the money that i need to make in this world. Instead he just said to himself. I'm is it content as i can be teaching children how to roll. For i love watching the sun come up. As i skim across a still body of water while everyone else is still asleep. These are the thing you that give him joy and meaning in his life. And that's the key. As you search for the few things in your life. To be faithful over. Look there look to the times in your life when you are most alive. When you experience great joy and passion. When you feel at peace. With yourself. And with the world. And write them down. Make a list. Of the few things that you want to be faithful to. And then ask yourself this question how come i'm not spending my time on the few things that i want to be faithful over. How come i'm stretched so thin. And then make another list. The list of things that you need to eliminate from your life. In order that you can free up time to be faithful over a few things. Sometimes this is a harder list to make. Because not all the things that we need to eliminate in our lives are trivial things it's not that they're all unimportant they're just not one of the few things that in our short lifetimes we can be faithful over. We can't do everything. Someone else will be faithful over them for us. A while back i heard a piece on the radio. It was a report. From the annual convention. Of obituary writers in america. I hadn't realized that obituary writers had a convention. But the report revealed some interesting things about this particular beat. It turns out that editors. From papers like the new york times and washington post papers that are responsible for knowing the passing of famous people when they died. It turns out that they do. Some actuarial. Calculations. To try to figure out which famous people might be dying in the near future. And on the basis of those predictions editors assign reporters. To interview these subjects. About their lives. Until they go out and they ask questions of the people and pass them to tell. How they want to be remembered. Let me go back and write the person's obituary and file the story under lock and key. Until the appropriate time. And apparently this is how a bituary writers stay ahead of the game. The most of us will never get the opportunity. To have a newspaper reporter. Come to our homes and solicit the story of our lives. And most of us won't make the obituary page of the national newspaper. But the story of our lives matters deeply to. It matters to us. Into our conscience. It matters to those whose lives we touch. The people who love us. And if your faith is like mine and you believe that we all can play a role in shaping the unfolding drama of creation. That we all can make a small difference in how that drama turns out. Then the story of our lives matters. On an ultimate level. As well. That's what i believe. So let us be good. And faithful stewards. Of the stories that are our lives. Let's pay attention to how the story is unfolding. Go home today. And write your obituary. As if tomorrow with the last day of your life. With the story you write. Reflect what's most important to you. Would you be able to say of yourself. She or he. Attended well and faithfully. To a few. Worthy. Sayings. Maybe so. I'm in.

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03.02.03BeginningOfWisdom.mp3

Ar reading for this morning comes from a speech given by off of james baldwin to teachers in the year 1963. You will notice that james baldwin gave this speech to a group of teachers of negro children and refers to it as such. The reading however i recommend to all of us. One of the paradoxes of education. Is that precisely at the point to when we begin to develop a conscience. We find ourselves at war with our society. It is your responsibility he said to the teachers to change that society if you think of yourself as an educated person. Now if you are a teacher in this school or in any negro school with responsibility for negro children. I would teach them if they intend to be men and women that they must decide that they are stronger than this conspiracy. To keep them trapped. And that they must never make peace with it. And that one of the weapons for refusing to make this piece with it and for destroying it depends upon. What he or she decides they are worth. I would suggest to her that the popular culture is represented for example. On television and movies and the newspapers. Is based upon fantasies created in some cases by very ill people. And that she must be aware that these are fantasies that have nothing to do with reality. I would teach them that the press he reads. Is not as free as it says it is. And that he can do something about that too. I would try to make them know that just as american history is longer larger. And more various more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it. So is the world larger. More daring. More beautiful. More terrible. But principally larger. And. That it belongs to them. Here in 3d. Buy i must first thank revan hardee's for his kind invitation here and on such a special day with the youth choir present and the announcement about your candidate for ministry. Who happens also to be a student of mine at starting school. Has she taught me a very much. I am just 50 years old myself but being referred to in such a an exhausted way i feel much older than that somehow so it's very good to be here with you such a youthful a present today. I'd like to start with a brief reading from the gospel of thomas. The disciples ted said to jesus. Tell us how will our income. And jesus said have you found the beginning. That you are looking for the end. You see the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning. The beginning of wisdom. In the gospel of thomas the one of a set of scriptures discovered an ancient jug and an even more ancient cave and knock him out of egypt. There's this report of the disciples the disciples experienced a moment of anxiety about this house is beautiful and terrible dream of walking with and in holiness within. There were hints around at the end of this relationship in the end of jesus his life was near. The disciples life you and me we're not always aware that they walk as they walk in their daily lives of the meaning of their lives. And the venice from the people and the experience around them. The meaning of our lives is sometimes and something with happens in brackets. A. of eternity carried out between life and death between being born and having to die. We are sometimes so greatly condition to the regularity into the routine of our lives to the ordinariness of it and that we are out of touch with its other significance. Its meaning. It's death. And then one day our lives are complicated. We wake up. And we are in love. We wake up and we are with child. We wake up in our children have grown and they have questions which we cannot easily answer. We received a diagnosis. We gained a friend we lose a friend we fall in love. We fall out of love. And we fall in love again. We wake up in the midst of war and we wonder how we got there. There is somehow though in this interruption in life is complication of shifts in the same which occupies the center of our lives. And our whole life is reordered buy it. We have new landmarks that we must face. And that we must deal with. And that we must care about. These landmarks events in our lives people in our lives orion us in the direction of our ultimate goals of meaningful life fulfillment of our dreams in the dreams of our families and our friends. Our desire to live in peace with ourselves and with our neighbors. In the space of this weekend. coming to a house of prayer on a day in the world that we occupied now. Without the ability and without the imperative to break silence about the things which stand in the way of our ultimate goals of happiness. And peace. We are peculiarly close. To the margins of life sometimes. It is sometimes very difficult to realize. How very important this time is. In the brief 50 years that i have been alive i have already been alive 11 years longer than martin king. Malcolm x. Or thomas starr king all of which you were carried away at the age of 39. There is deep meaning around us. When i enter seminary i quoted the buddhist sagemill rapper who said very simply i being born know that i must die. Uncertain of the hour of my death no time have i to delay my devotion. We live in a world characterized by that today. Uncertain of what is going on around us no time have weed to delay our devotion so we fling the doors open and we say whoever will let them come. Let us celebrate enjoy and forgiveness and in community while we can. To comment upon the times which we live upon i would also like to go back to 1963 at the time of the death of president john kennedy. Two of my heroes and two of the people i just mentioned commented about this death and try to help lead us as a nation into some understanding. Martin luther king first of all said that we should be less concerned about who killed king. Then we are about what killed him. As i listen to the news last night in this morning about the capture of one of the alleged terrorists which our country and our military and our intelligence agencies have been looking for i felt what some of you must have felt i think some kind of disappointment some kind of lack of satisfaction in that. And i thought about king's word it doesn't matter so much he said in this world who did it. But what did it what is there in our myths that causes us to act this way with each other. We can catch the one but do we catch the thing the spirit of the same. Can we gain wisdom from what is going on around us not necessarily in people but in the forces which we have sat in place around us. Malcolm x on the other hand in a way that really terrified many people said very bluntly this is an example. Of chickens coming home to roost. We have front-loaded this thing which is come back to visit us into the world and it will come back to visit us for sure. I thought about this all fall and all through the periods of anguish and anxiety which our culture has been in. And i thought about it and another way which i would recommend our compassion flow around the situations with us today. I thought about it as i walked down to the vietnam memorial yesterday on the break in the conference that i'm having looked at the 58,000 names on that wall. I thought about the prospect of chickens coming home once again to russe. I thought about some of the danger and fear and destruction which has come back to visit our own culture for lack of care and understanding about what we do when we train people in the way of war and then condition them and ways to see other human beings as less than human. As the enemy. As animals. We are very well practiced in this. The problem that we face today and that we will face as long as war is the way that we choose to go is what shall we do with these soul. What shall we teach them of wisdom when they are back among us and it is not fit is no longer very easy to make the distinction. Who among us might be an enemy. Timothy mcveigh who blew up to the morrow felder federal building in oklahoma city while i was a minister. In oklahoma. Is a gulf war veteran who we trained in that way. And as those of us in the country identified with you here in washington d.c. last fall as john muhammad is alleged to have gone through your community. Spreading fear spreading danger. We thought about the fact that he too was a veteran of the first gulf war. Chickens do come home to roost. Malcolm x was right. And martin luther king was right it matters very little who the person is. It matters more what is this thing in our life that causes us to do this with each other. What is there enough which thinks that wisdom is in making others less than human beings. What is there enough which miss names which does not know that the beginning of wisdom. Maybe and calling things by their true names. A my mother who was from texas and who was the jesus thank in person she would thank jesus in the morning after a cup of coffee thank jesus in the morning after cigarettes she would thank jesus for everything i grew up just thanking jesus i didn't know what it meant. Children learn that way there was something about life that he said and just need to be thankful for. She would also tell us when it was like clear that somebody had been very bad and called somebody out of their name she said yeah they called him everything but a child of god. This is what we do when our world we have called the people we would make enemies of everything but a child of god we need today. For the rest of our lives to practice calling especially those who are our enemies also. Children of god. Senator byrd has broken the silence on the floor of the senate here in ways that others have been afraid to do perhaps because of the wisdom of his age and the fact that there is probably very little that can be taken from there may never have been but certainly there may not be now set about the current administration that it has called into question the traditional worldwide perception of the united states as a well-intended peacekeeper. The administration has tear the ministration has turned the patient art of diplomacy into threats. Labeling and name-calling of the sort that reflects quite poorly on the intelligence and the sensitivity of our leaders. Name-calling. This is what james baldwin was trying to prepare the teachers to prepare the children against to help teach them that what they are worth so that when the world begins to call them name they know what their true self is. I was just a joy this morning to be with these children because they could feel in the experience sending the applause of what they received from you a sense of this is your true self i still remember that time when i was a child singing in the glee club we learned every patriotic song there was to learn and 1950s and 60s glee club in tulsa oklahoma. How many of you know the second verse to the national anthem i'm going to spare you and not sing it to you but we were thoroughly ingrained thoroughly ingrained that america was our this dream was ours and we better prepared to lead it. The living this dream to accept its challenges and to accept its blessings. When people who celebrated who began the celebration of negro history week shows the birthday this march 5th of crispus attucks it was in part to remind us as a community that this american tune with our tune it was not just the tune that existed for somebody else with that it was our tune and we still need to be able to sing it and sing it with joy and it is part of what begins wisdom when we are young. But we are now trapped in a sit in the process of miss naming. Always naming naming things everything except a child of god. And a book called war is a force that gives us meaning. The author mr. hedges tells us about some of this process that we do with war. He actually talks about the difference he is a reporter a war reporter and spent many time in the midst of warfare. Something that we constantly misnamed and surround with euphemisms. He said it takes anyone in combat about 30 seconds to realize that they have been lied to. War and combat is nothing like it is presented or named not only by the entertainment industry. Goodbye riders. These are mythmaker sakayan which baldwin talked about the presses guilty of this depressing wartime is always he said a part of the problem. But when you get into combat he said it is venal. It's dirty. It's confusing. It's humiliating because you feel powerless the noise. Is deafening. But most importantly you feel fear and a way that you probably never felt fear before. And anyone who spends a lot of time in combat struggles always with this terrible terrible fear. Deep instinct tool desire. For self-preservation. And there are always time when fear rules you in wartime you learn you're not necessarily the person you want to be. Or think you wore. Once again with mr. ball when we should teach children a sense of their worth because that worth will be disappointed in this life. But if it is never there how can we ever expect ourselves to be oriented toward good and peace and not just think that war is the way that life should be. Your own a pal davis talked about the beginning of things when he talked about unitarian universalism and what its core is unitarianism is actually what he talked about. And he talked about how and where the experience of being in the free face begins. He said we'll be ass should not religion begin with god. The answer is that it should. In the same way that breathing begins with air. And that since most unitarians would have no difficulty in agreeing that religion begins with god. But it should not begin with what we know about god. But we know too little. Then. There are indeed unitarians who prefer not to use the word god because it seems to them to indicate either something that tradition has so falsified that there is nothing to do but abandon it or else something too indefinite to be named. This is their privileges unitarians using their freedom of belief. The position most agreed upon he said by unitarians however is that we should begin with experience. Including spiritual experience this means that human beings power of moral growth of loving and creating beauty. And through spiritual awareness greatly intensified the inside of imagination. Now when i was growing up my mother after thanking jesus for her coffee and cigarette in the morning would say to us as the way of trying to train us in the beginning of wisdom that the fear of lord is the beginning of wisdom. How many of you have heard that it's in psalms 100. Many of you may have been like me at least a few of you i imagine were like me and you said okay the fear of the lord is beginning of wisdom with me and the lord will have to fight. We will have to have it out. We are waiting to be rejected that authoritarian kind of religion. We really had something within us and said will i will find out for myself and as i watch my brother walk down the aisle of that baptist church and sitting next to my mother and she got happy and i knew that he was the last one to be baptized before it was my time i said it's on god we're going to have to fight this one out there was something in me that could not buy that the heart of religion was about fear but about beauty and love and trying myself where does wisdom begin. Not interfere. Not in dominance not in name-calling not impartial is unless the universal is called and if we are all children of god then it is a partial assumption that some of us don't make it. From the time of baldwin's reading that was the way it was if you were black in this world we have change that to some degree but there is a way in which i hate to say it because i might hear come back that we all in that position of being black now we are all expendable. Because of this quest we have for war. 4 piece that comes with the cost of war. Very briefly. Hundred years ago when the lumiere brothers in perris show the one of the first motion pictures ever made if you can imagine this being a movie screen behind me hear one of the film's was of a train coming into the station and the little french town where people work there and as they show the film if you can imagine yourself being there the first time you have ever seen a motion picture as the train came into the station people in the audience actually got up and began to leave actually began to run you see their nervous system had not been had not been conditioned to threaten even when they were on the screen. We were still how many things do we sit in front of these days. Remember the last movie you went to or what you watched last night on the street are on your television we have been so conditioned to passively look at threats as they come to us i know many of you know the metaphor about the frog and cold water that gets warm but we are not far we are people and we need to resent the ties ourselves to respond emotionally and actively to threats as they appear to us and the threats of calling people out of their name of dividing the human family of practicing partialism is a threat which around us makes the problems that we face very deep. Our culture is at stake. I wish not to live in the america proposed by george bush you may disagree with me but i do not wish to live and not america. After 9/11 happened and i saw my president come out and say it and i'm from oklahoma so i have a special relationship with texas men. And there's something in his voice that just takes me back to the beginning of wisdom and my own personal experience here. But he came out and he said to us. To citizens. I just don't know why this kind of innocent texas trying i just don't know why people would hate us. We need to educate our president. When we do not need that kind of leadership and if the leadership to come into a different kind of relationship with our role in the world needs to come from masses of people than let it come from you and me today and tomorrow and tomorrow. Senator byrd concluded his remarks by saying that we are truly sleepwalking through history. We are sitting in front of the movie we think it's just the movie. It is not a movie brothers and sisters. We need constantly to throw open the doors and places like this so that even if you disagree with me we can hash it out here but we must not believe that our opinion doesn't matter and we must not let other people named our reality for us we must be willing to name it for ourselves and know that each one of our opinions count in that matter. African-american woman poly mary rode upon which i would like to end with today which always trouble men and you will see why but i will give it to you now it's called without name. Call it neither love nor screen madness she said. North chance encounter norquest ended. Observe it casually as pussywillows or pushcart pansies on a city street. But let this seed growing enough granite strong with assistant route. Be without name. Or call it the first win that caressed your cheek. And traded on shared kisses between us. Call it the elemental earth. Bursting with the class of two long winter. And trembling for the plow blade. Let our blood chanted. And our flesh singing. But i flash things anthems to its arrival but our lips shall be silent uncommitted. And religious literature when we talk about mysteries sometimes mysteries are often surrounded by silence its ineffable. You can't talk about it. Cartoon named can't be named. Some say that that's because there is a certainty which only certain other can answer and certain others can use and open the door we can come in. I say with others that it is because there are certain things which cannot have their value by being talked about. But they can only have their value by being shown. By being done. As you gather here today and as you chart the course for the future of this institution. Be as impressed by love and caring and relationship. As you are by fours. Be a counterforce to the forces of domination in our culture. Lift up your consciousness. Lift up your love. Be with james baldwin and resolve the paradox of growing up in the beginning of wisdom. Incels like this. Gather together. Accepting whoever will come. Then let us continue in the ways of love. Which must be shown. Love each other. To nurture the children. And to seek wisdom. Amin.

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06.11.26SeekingBalance.mp3

Sermons one entitled seeking balance. One which i hope is particularly appropriate this holiday weekend. And the reading comes from episcopalian priest barbara brown taylor who wrote a memoir that i read over my break in august entitled leaving church. Which quite interesting lee enough is about her decision to leave parish ministry. And take up a professorial position teaching in georgia. And she reflects throughout the course of leaving church. On why she came to feel that need to shift the way she was living out her call. 2. Part in part had to do with the pace of parish ministry and it's ironic enough lack of a sabbath. This is what she wrote. For years i had kept hoping that intimacy with god would blossom. As soon as i got everything done. Got everyone settled got my environment just right and my calendar cleared. I counted on it. Tacoma as a reward for how hard i worked. Or at least as the built-in consequence of a life of service. But even when i managed to meet all of my conditions for a day or two. I was so exhausted from the effort. But i could not keep up. I was right back where i started. With miles to go toward the home i never quite reached. Soon after i moved to the country. A friend of mine from the city set out to meet me. And got seriously lost. These were the days before cell phones so she was on her own with nothing but my directions. And a badly out-of-date map. Already an hour later than she wanted to be she was speeding through the little town of mount airy when she saw the blue lights in her rearview mirror. She pulled over to the shoulder. And had her license ready when the officer arrived at her window. I am so sorry she said handing it to him along with her registration. I know i was speeding but i've been lost for the last 40 minutes. Well i'm sorry about that too man he said writing up her citation. But what made you think that hurrying would help you find your way. What made any of us think that the place we are trying to reach is far far ahead of us somewhere. And that the only way to get there is to run until we drop. For christians at least part of the answer is that many of us have been taught to think of god's kingdom as something outside of ourselves. For which we must search. But even that. Points to a larger and more enduring human problem. Which is the problem of mortality. With a limited number of years to do whatever it is that we're supposed to be doing here. Who has time to stop. According to the hebrew bible. Everyone does. For at least. One full day. Every week. Seeking balance. The reading from barbara brown taylor express is something that has often troubled me. About our modern way of living. The constant breakneck pace. 2. Do everything that we can possibly do and the striving to do things faster and more efficiently at all cost at all times. It reminds me that my concern about the space that we seen. Destiny 2 at this moment anyway. But it is and isn't just a problem because of the burnout and the stress that come with that path. But it's a worry because i wonder whether we even remember anymore why we got on the treadmill to begin with. Why are we running. And to what. Or where is it that we hope to arrive. When we finish running. Or are we running from something. Some confrontation with ourselves or from some lack of comprehension of god or spirit. Or from the ultimate questions of our very existence perhaps. I'm not sure why we're running. But we sure are. And i wonder and worry that now if we somehow managed. Ever possibly managed. To reach our destination. Would we be wise enough to recognize it. And slowdown in appreciation. Or perhaps even stop and stay a little while. Contrary to this constant motion of our current life pace. I frequently hear those around me express a desire for something. Quite different. Something that i will call a whole and balanced life. Many friends many members of our congregation many even acquaintances that i've just passed in airports are on the street. Have told me something quite different something that i will summarize as this. They've told me. I want work that is meaningful and fulfilling. But not all-encompassing. I want leisure time with my family and loved ones to be valued as much and to be seen as an equally essential and integral part of my life. As my work hours are. I want to feel that my life is in some way complete. And i would add to what they're saying that when they say they want their life to be complete they don't mean they wanted to be perfect. I'm not expecting that right i don't expect that it will always be good that it will always be happy that it will always be right. But the urinating is for something that feels whole. For a life that feels well-rounded. A life that feels centered and balanced. We yearn for this. And yet we find balance a very challenging discipline. We tend all-too-often to tip. In one direction vastly more often than in another. We don't find our center or to use that balance metaphor we don't find our still point. Most often it seems to me friends that what we do find is twofold. We find that either we hear stories from friends and relatives not to mention celebrities. Tales of indulgence. Tales of things an adventure that might even be considered decadent. Stories of food and drink and spa treatments beyond what we might think is one person share of such things. Either that or we hear tales of deprivation on the other hand. Of those who work too hard and too much. Of those who end up feeling a stinginess. Toward other than towards themselves when it comes to their time. Not to mention their money. Those whose lives are corded to a very limited sphere of existence. Not to mention the deprivations of those who don't even have the luxury to think of such. We seem it seems to me. To tend toward an all-or-nothing approach. To our lives. And when i hear people recount to me these stories. Of either the decadent vacation or the i have no time for anything other than work in my life. I wonder. Where is the happy medium. Where is the balance and the still point in all of this. And what. What a life that allows for enjoyment. Occasional treats and pleasures that we don't feel guilty about enjoyment pure and real. Without over indulgence. Really look like. And this is for me where. A sense of sabbath. Might be of some help. And i have to confess that after reading barbara brandtailers book i'm a little worried that i'm in the wrong field even though i thought it was going into the perfect field for having a sabbath. You see. It is an important part of our spiritual practice in our spiritual lives to have at least one day and 7 which is a day of rest. And to see that rest. Not as frivolous or as wasteful. Not as lazy or as shirking responsibilities getting away with something you're not really supposed to be doing. But rather as necessary. For renewal and 4 reflection. As necessary for helping us to see our lives more clearly. To appreciate who and how we are. Sabbath that sense of sabbath in the hebrew scriptural sense of sabbath. Comes from the fact that when god created the world after all of that work of six days god then decided. It was time to rest. To simply step back from work and look over creation look at what had been made and simply. Put it all in perspective. And to take some time to breathe deeply and appreciate. Life. I'm so friends if god can rest. So can we. For sabbath to rest as god rested to see as holy a day set aside each week. To connect with loved ones. Or the marvel at the beauty of nature or to meditate on breath and life. Is as important if not more important than anything else we do with our days. The practice of sabbath is many things. But it is most certainly not. Waste of time. And so i invite you this holiday weekend. To think of some of your most recent sabbath. Or perhaps to think that you haven't had one recently and it's time for a sabbath. Think for a moment about perhaps your last vacation or perhaps even this holiday weekend. The time that you've taken to step back. From your busyness. And to reflect on your life. How have those moments when you have allowed yourself a sabbath. Impacted the way that you have returned to your daily living. When you didn't feel guilty about it. Or worry about what you were missing while you were away. Or see that time as superfluous to your real life. How did it feel. Which brings me to a story about one of my own sabbath's that i initially felt guilty about but then later realized was actually a much-needed sabbath. You see i decided i think maybe i told this story before but i'm not sure which part of it i've told. I decided that for my 30th birthday i wanted to do something special. I wanted to mark the time. And the wedding couples that are here who've worked with me and others who heard me talk about. Moments in life that are significant. Know that i think that ritual is really important that it's important that we set some aside times that remind us that there are certain markers in our lives. They're important to pay attention to. Certain thresholds that we cross. That we need to notice. And looking back on my 30th birthday trip. I realize that it was one of those markers. That what started off as just a frivolous vacation for fun. Actually became a timeout that helped me see my life where i was and where i had been more clearly. I got in touch with several friends of mine scattered about the country. Months before my birthday i was into advanced planning this was a big deal. And i said let's pick a place to go. And all of us meet there. For just a weekend. So being magnanimous says i like to be i said we'll all vote and pick the spot together so i even didn't go where i wanted to go for my birthday but. Big show's taos new mexico. So taos new mexico it was. And i can tell you that i spent several days with some of the people on this planet who know me best. Who don't know me as a minister. You don't know me as something other than the flawed human being that i am. And i was reminded by them. Of the beauty that i have experienced in my life. Of the mistakes that i have made. Of the things that i am proud of and not proud of. And i came back from those two-and-a-half 3 days with them. With a sense of gratitude. For being alive at all. With a sense of gratefulness for their presence in my life. And for a sense of awareness. Of what i still had yet. To do. It was a moment in short which reminded me. That my life was not to be taken for granted. And that if i wanted to make something of my life. It was for me to make it. And that i couldn't simply say. But my calendar and my schedule. My life and my work. We're up to other people. And so friends i lived up to you. That if you want a sabbath it is yours for the taking and the making. And that you may find in the sabbath times. What it is that you are alive. Is most deeply about. You may find that when you step off of the treadmill. The why of your running is no longer clear. And so this holiday weekend. It seems to me perhaps the most. Apropos thing that we could do. To reflect a pond. Those moments of greater stillness. In our lives. Those moments when we can truly appreciate. What it is to be alive. What is in those moments. When we frequently find ourselves. Awash ingratitude. May we find space in our lives for sabbath. May we keep it holy. And may it intern. Make more of our days. So maybe.

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03.09.21NightAndDay.mp3

Morrison's novel beloved which i was first introduced to in seminary in my introduction to theology class and i offered to you today as a work of theology. In it are heroin sethe and her lover paldi who have both fled slavery are talking about how the biggest difference about being free has to do with being able to love. Has amply and extravagantly. As god intended. Sefa begins. I did it paul d. I got us all out. And it felt good. Good and right i was big paul d&d pan dwide and pain when i stretched out my arms all my children could get in between. Look like i love them more after i got here to freedom. Or maybe i couldn't love them proper in kentucky because they weren't mine to love but when i got here there wasn't nobody in the world i couldn't love. If i wanted to. Do you know what i mean. Paul d didn't answer sethe. But he did know what she meant. Listening to the doves singing down in georgia and having neither the right nor the permission to enjoy it because in that place the doves everything belong to the men who had guns. So you protected yourself and loved small. You pick the tiniest stars out of the sky to call you're on your own and you lay down with your head twisted and stole scheig lance's in order to see them before you slept. Grass blades. Salamanders. Spiders. Anything bigger wouldn't do. A woman a child a brother a big love like that would split you wide open in georgia. He knew exactly. Whatsapp amend. To get to a place where you could love. Anything you chose. Not to need permission for desire. Well now that was freedom. Before i begin this morning i want to add my welcome to the lesbian and gay chorus of washington we're so thankful to have you all here with us this morning and thanks also to the jubilee singers singers were founded here at all souls 25 years ago by he's a barnwell now is sweet honey in the rock found this thing songs born out of the struggles and triumphs of the african-american experience and lesbian and gay chorus of washington emerges out of a different struggle the struggle for equality of gay people in this country the struggle against aids as we heard this morning and i want to say that your presents together here today is a testament to the fact that those two struggles no distinct. Are at their core one struggle. The struggle of all of us. To live healthy loving. And free lives. So thank you for being here together this morning. And let me also say that there aren't a lot of churches where these two choirs would even be welcomed singing together this morning and so i want to express my gratitude to this church and to these people for making this the kind of community where we can raise our voices and our struggles in common song. The choirs have inspired me this morning they've inspired me to ask the question today how do we create. This kind of community how do we create the kind of community where the struggles and experiences of diverse peoples. Can be shared and and understood as as one struggle and specifically i've been asking myself the question what are the spiritual commitments. That sustain such a community what are the theological underpinnings of a community that has as one of its stated purposes to break down the barriers that divide the human family. Because if we're going to make this work. If we're serious about breaking down those barriers barriers like racism and homophobia and economic injustice if we're serious about that task then. Grounded in what is of ultimate value to us not in some passing fad called multiculturalism not in a vague sense that being part of a diverse community makes us feel better or not even out of our own social and political agendas for a church to do this work it must be grounded firmly in our understanding of who we are as human beings. Then who or what god is. Did must be grounded. In ultimate things. Anything short of that and we will not have a string. To sustain this important work. Because i look around and so often the commitment to diversity or multiculturalism or even anti-racism seems to only go skin deep. I had a funny thing happened here at church just this friday would sort of reminded me of this on friday. Are ups delivery ups delivered a big box to the to the church office and i happen to be in the office when it arrived. And when i saw jillian evans the church secretary open it and remove what appeared to be several packages of crayola crayons. For our religious education program. Screws funny because i noticed that the package has looked a little different from the the krans that i had grown up with and upon closer inspection i discovered that they weren't just any trans they were in fact crayola multicultural crayons and thrown in for good measure and of course with a pinkish cream kind of color. Multicultural crayons and markers are supposed to represent the whole rainbow of fleshtones but i'll tell you it was late in the afternoon on friday when the box came and with the hurricane and all we got a little punchy in the office so we decided that we'd see if if any of these markers actually matched the the real flash of anyone on staff and it turned out that none of them were a perfect match. So my point is that yes. We need the multicultural crayons. But when i need something more profound than crayola multiculturalism if we are indeed to break down the barriers that divide the human family. The commitment has to come from someplace deeper than that. So allow me to share a story. But i believe takes us to the starting point of that deeper commitment. The story goes that one day a wise old rabbi. Aspen students. How they could tell the difference. Between night and day how they could identify that precise moment at dawn when the night had ended and the daylight begun asked one student. When you see an animal in the distance and you can you can tell whether it's a sheep or a dog know so the rabbi another student offered. No again said the rabbi. Well then we give up they said how can you tell when the night has ended and the morning begun and the rabbi replied. It's when you can look out at the face of any person. And see that the face of your brother. Or sister. That's how you know when the new day has begun. The difference between night and day. For me. The religious grounding for this work begins here. With a particular understanding of the human race. As one family. As children of one creator as inheritors of one creation. In spite of the varied and glorious expressions of our humanity and inspite of the forces that keep us apart we are one. You won't find many saints or sages in any religious tradition who would disagree with the old rabbi on that one. But unfortunately. You won't find many people living as though this reality we're true. Either. But they'll all the great religious traditions testify to the unity of the human family they also bear witness right from the very beginning to the tendency of human beings to be divided. Turn the bible we have stories like the the tower of babel that that seek to explain how it is we got this way 6 to explain how it is we can't seem to get along with one another. To the problem we're dealing with isn't a new one. But unfortunately the human family has become well-adjusted to the illusion that we are separate. We become well-adjusted. And i always love dr. king's line about how there were some things in this world. That a person of faith. Should never become adjusted to. He said there's some things to which we must forever remain. Maladjusted. I want to suggest this morning that if we claimed the unity of the human family has an article of our faith. Then we better get used to being maladjusted. Because there are a whole array of forces out there ready to convince us. I'm just the opposite. And i want to make this really concrete now. With some experiences that i've had just over the last few months. One of them took place right here in the sanctuary. Most of you were here last spring when we had a child dedication for 20 or so older children who hadn't been blessed as infants in the congregation. Later that same day i was watching television. Law & order or some kind of prime show like that and i noticed that once again the criminals on the show were portrayed as adolescent black boys. And i realize that earlier that morning i had dedicated. I blessed probably seven or eight young african-american boys in this congregation. And i realized. But in a few years they would become teenagers. And that i live in a culture that were especially as a whip middle-class white person but for all of us really. I live in a culture where i will be taught. To fear. Those boys that i dedicated. Can i have this terrible thought that some night in the not-too-distant future i will see a young man coming down the street here in columbia heights and it'll be nighttime and i'll cross over to the other side. And then i'll realize it was one of the children i dedicated here that sunday. That's because we live in a culture that overwhelmingly portrays young black men as thugs and incarcerate them at a greater rate than we put them through college. And so i have a decision to make them as a pastor. I have a decision to make. Whether i'm going to go along with the culture. But whether i'm going to remain maladjusted. Let me give you another example. Last week i was in the neighborhood forum just up the street at sacred heart catholic church. The audience was mostly made up of central american of the central american immigrant community. But there were other folks there as well and so before the form i was talking to folks and chatting with some of our neighbors here in the in the neighborhood. The basement of that church in columbia heights i realize that the residents of this neighborhood are being set up. Tutor neighbor against neighbor we're being asked to see the changes that are happening in this neighborhood to see the gentrification that's happening in this neighborhood as a zero-sum game where middle-class folks mostly but not always white gobble up the houses where working-class people once lived. And reminds me of the arguments that opponents of affirmative action made that passed spring when we were debating the springport was debating affirmative action where they said that every space in college admissions that goes to a person of colors of space taken away from from a white person and what this formulation prevents us from doing is coming together as a community to say what kind of neighborhood it is that we want to live in together. Because it's no secret what would make housing affordable in the neighborhood it's government money and it's a unified neighborhood with some political will and so in the basement of sacred heart i began to resent the way that the neighbor was turned against neighbor and i had another thought there i had a thought that someone. Must be benefiting. From the barriers that divide the human family. Someone's coming out of head gear. And i was pretty sure. That the young boys who my dedicated last spring. Weren't the ones benefiting. That was pretty sure that the immigrant community that i spent last sunday with wasn't benefiting. At first glance it was me the white middle-class person who appear to benefit and i certainly do enjoy the privileges. Tell me the privileges of the separation of the human family. But then i say to myself. Those are the children of my church. I'm their minister. Those are my neighbors. These are people i'm related to these are people that i love. I don't want violence done in my name. To the people i love. And so i resolved. To remain maladjusted to the separation of the human family. different people come to this work from different places. And that's okay all i'm asking today is that the commitment to breaking down the barriers that divide the human family come from someplace deep within you. Did it come from a faith stance. For me i come to this commitment not from a sense of guilt or shame as a white person i don't think that's a very helpful way for white people to come at this work and i don't come to this commitment from a vague sense that being part of a diverse community makes me feel like a better person somehow. For me. The issue comes down to a matter of who. I can and cannot love. Because you see i experienced the barriers that divide the human family as proscriptions. On my love. And i want to say that as a gay person. I've had enough of people telling me who i can and cannot load. So for me this work is about being able to love all the people that god has called me to love as a minister. As a person of faith. Has a human being. Until that's what i love then. About the passage from toni morrison's beloved. Sethe and paul d agree. That the best thing about freedom. Is it you don't have to love small anymore. Santa says. When i got here to freedom. There wasn't nobody in the world. That i couldn't love if i wanted to. And that's about the best definition of freedom. That i can think of. Being able to love as widely. And as freely. As god intended. One day almost two centuries ago the founder of american unitarianism william ellery channing made his declaration of maladjustment. By declaring i am a living member. Of the great family. Of all souls. That's where the name of this church comes from. Today our challenge is a religious community. And as people of faith is to bear witness to that great family of all souls in a world torn by religious and ethnic strife. In a neighborhood / race and class. And in our very hearts. Which are so often set against themselves. Whether or not we succeed in our effort. Will ultimately mean the difference. Between night. And day. I'm in.

all-souls_org

04.07.25KeepingUpAppearances.mp3

Mornings reading comes from the poet stephen dunn poem of his entitled simply sweetness just when it has seemed i couldn't bear one more friend waking with a tumor one more maniac with a perfect reason often a sweetness has come and changed nothing in the world except the way i stumbled through it for awhile lost in the ignorance of loving someone or something the world trunk to mouth size to hand size. And never seeming small acknowledge there is no sweetness that doesn't leave a stain no sweetness that's ever sufficiently sweet tonight a friend called to say his lover was killed in a car he was driving his voice was low and guttural he repeated what he needed to repeat. And i repeated the one or two words we have for such grief. Until we were speaking only in tones. Often a sweetness comes as if on loan stays just long enough to make sense of what it means to be alive then returns to its dark source. As for me i don't care where it's been or what bitter road it's traveled to come so far to taste so good. Keeping up appearances in february those of you who were here may remember that my colleague reverend hardee's robbed as those of us around this place like to call him preach the sermon entitled the conspiracy against vulnerability in that sermon and i know just by the wonders of mp3 digital sound on our computers these days cuz i wasn't here when he preached the sermon in the sermon he spoke about how each and everyone of us to act as if we are invincible to pretend that we are never hurt or sad weak or vulnerable and i was mindful as i listened to his words that it is important portent for us as your ministers every once in awhile during these mostly healthy and joyful days at all souls to be reminded that even here even in this sacred space even in this place where we are trying to create a beloved community even here we are not immune from the ways in which we have taken this conspiracy to heart. The ways in which it has become second nature to fake a smile for each of us can fake it we can throw on the usual facade of put togetherness without even thinking about it. And i just want to remind you this morning that there is room enough for all that you are your sadness your fears your grief. All souls means not just that every soul is welcome and invited to the table of love and justice but that we also need to be hospitable to all that our souls contain. I say all of that and yet my pack my approach to this subject this morning is slightly different from my colleagues i'm not simply talking about being able to bring your sadness or all of who you are into this building when you come every sunday or when you come whenever you come i'm speaking not so much about that bringing a whole selves but i'm speaking about a different kind of conspiracy another conspiracy that we are encouraged in in our daily lives we are encouraged by this culture to be less than whole less than true less than real less than genuinely authentic. And so i share with you some things that i shared with some of you already at the retreat some words of wisdom from quaker educator parker palmer i was two winters ago still living in madison wisconsin if you think it's cold in here imagine that we're parker parker palmer resides and he came to this mid-winter institute to speak some about learning and growing and changing and what it means to really truly deeply no not in the book sense of knowing but in that deeper heart soulful sense of knowing and he said something of who we are and the outer world the way we express and live who we are in the world so there's this truth this reality. And he said that the more and more that that conflict grows we end up becoming self alienated and i would add to that sometimes even self-loathing because we feel like who we are and who we are in the world are two dramatically different things we're almost at war with ourselves. Even said that there was almost no more honest place you could be sometimes in this world we live in than with a group of young children and having been a preschool teacher i understood what he meant that there is a deep honesty sometimes and young children that they're willing to tell you that you're a goofball or that the shirt you're wearing looks silly or stupid and they don't worry about how you feel about that they're not trying to impress you they're not putting on airs they mean it you really are goofball and they mean it because they are not worried like the rest of us they're not self-censoring they're not trying to fit in there not trying to get it right. We have lost palmer says our original wholeness a time when our inner and outer lives were one in fact i remember a story that my one of my mentors told me about reinhold niebuhr in conversation with howard thurman and o2 be a fly-on-the-wall in that conversation but he said that and taught 434 howard thurman one day and then he went back and he said do you know your students. They're saying all this horrible stuff about you they really don't like you that much or they kind of think that you're unfair and unjust. And all he could say what in response was well i'm glad that for me the inner and the outer are one and the same that i am who i appear to be for good and for ill. We my friends fear ridicule and rejection so much that we can't be who we are and so although it is obvious perhaps that what we rob ourselves of when we aren't our most full and true selves is so painful it's so clear how painful that can be perhaps the way in which we keep ourselves from being real that that way that we don't allow ourselves the way by which we rob ourselves of that trueness. That isn't as obvious as pain. But think about it for a moment. It isn't just the fear of not being accepted. It's also the fear of what would it be like to actually be our full souls. When i talked about this with a group of people in our congregation in one of my classes they said what is it about our own souls our own beings our own fullness of life that we hide from what is so scary about being you. Why do we hide from our own strength. What if. Each and everyone of us were to model for ourselves and for those around us genuine and soulful living. What if we all lived from the center rather than from the edges of our being don't get me wrong this doesn't mean that we would seek perfection nor does it mean that we would be right all the time although there are those among us who would like to think that that would be so but it does mean that we would be our whole selves in all that we do. Audre lorde gets at this best or at least better than anyone else i've read for what i am calling soulfulness she calls the erotic and don't worry i'm not about to get racy i'm going to stay church appropriate here what about this quality of being and living audre lorde writes the following the erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings. It is an internal sense of satisfaction to which once we have experienced it we know we can aspire for the erotic is not only a question of what we do it is a question of how acutely and fully we can feel in the doing it is such a colonel within myself. That it flows through and colors my life with a kind of energy that heightens and sensitizes and strengthens. All of my experience. And of course.. When we live more fully. Whether we succeed or fail as ourselves. What a fuller and richer life we live there is grace in that in being yourself i remember toward the end of my seminary career i was sitting next to a friend of over a decade and someone said that ministry was about being fully human all of the time my friend leaned over and whispered into my ear you. When i was doing my chaplaincy when i was working in a hospital i started that work scared i hardly spend any time in a hospital ever before and i didn't know what it would be like to minister to people in pain in fact the first couple times i walked into a hospital room i kept turning around looking for the chaplain and then i realized it was me and that scared me even more. What could i possibly say. What did i have to give. Who did i think i was to have anything to say to these people and it was through that experience that someone reminded me that i wasn't going to be a minister in spite of myself. I wasn't going to be a minister by pretending to be someone i wasn't i wasn't going to be a minister by pretending to be older or different than i was i was either going to do ministry through each and every fiber and poor of my being or i was not going to do it at all. And my friends. How much sweeter. Life might be if we each would live through every pore every fiber of our being for you have been given your one wild and precious life as mary oliver says you have been given a divine spark that you and only you have. Please uncover it. Uncover that light and let it shine allow your sense of self and soul to permeate everything that you do be grateful for that which you are. Share the ministry of your love and your life. This day. And in the days to come. I'm at.

all-souls_org

05.03.06StandingOnPrinciple.mp3

Morning greetings r2. The first is a poem which i think that's at the martyred in half of james reeves story and the second is a reading from our lord audre lorde that is about living one's beliefs. So the first a poem by carl dennis. Entitled gravestones. It's easy to mock the sarcophagi for their wish to impress us. But not the modest tablets with their brief inscriptions. Beloved wife. Beloved husband parent or child or friend. Under a woman's name no birth or death date. Not here if you seek her spirit seems the simplest reading her spirit having ascended to its real home. Or else the doubling of the phrase alters the mood from assertive finality to wish. The prayer. May her essence be active elsewhere still. Not buried here. Or it's the cry of lost. Wherever she is. She isn't here anymore. Alive and well casting a light around her to restore our spirits. As for the stones to warren to-be-read there's silence advises the passersby to put away the longing to be remembered and concentrate on the wish to lie calm on their deathbeds friends-and-family pressing in clothes. For a final blessing. Whoever can't witness the end for won't. Maybe visit the grave to transact some private business. Now that you're far away. I can forgive you. Or now that you're quiet you can forgive me. Only a portion of me was turned against you. The better portion stood in the wings beside the other and was just as ready to make an entrance when the q came and gave a speech as heartfelt. As the bitter words that elbowed their way on stage. Listen. You can sleep later. Until you help sleep will never visit you anyway. If you're still the person you used to be. And understand how much you are needed. Palestine from you. To set me free. And now from our lord words she wrote about working on a poem entitled power which she wrote after she heard of a verdict. Convicting an african american person of. Crime that it was believed that they did not commit. How do you deal with things you believe. Give them notice theory not even as a motion but right on the line of action and effect and change. Putting yourself on the line is like killing a piece of yourself. In the sense that you have to kill and destroy something familiar and dependable so that's something new can come in ourselves in our world. Once you live any peace of your vision. It opens you to a constant onslaught. Of necessities. Of horrors. But of wonders to. Of possibilities. Like meteor showers. All the time. Bombardment. Constant connections. Sermon this morning is entitled standing on principle. When i reflect on stories on life stories like reverend james reeves. I'm struck by the sheer courage. And the grand kurelakan s of his life choice or the life choices of those that we would call you you or any other kind of superhero. But i also wonder about the life beyond the cape. For i imagine that is unlikely that reverend reed thought of himself as a hero. Chances are good that like all of us he had struggled it with finding a way to live a life that he believed in and he felt that his trip to selma was one way to do just that. A live a life he believed in. I'm sure that when he went he knew it would be dangerous. He knew it would be challenging. But i would bet that he didn't expect to die. And the point of his trip my friends was not to die it wasn't to become a martyr. It was to live out his convictions about justice and equality for all people. It was about a way of life not a way of death. Seems to me as i thought about principles and beliefs and living with them and through them living them out this week that there are at least two dimensions to our struggles to live out our beliefs. First there's the question of what it means to live out your principles. How do you define them what is it that you cling to what are the words you use to talk about what it is that you believe in. How is it that you articulate a way to live that supports and upholds what you value most. I suppose that's the shorthand definition i came up with this week. That living out your principles is to live in a way that supports and upholds. What you value most. To stand up for things not because of a personal agenda or for the sake of your own ego that it makes you look good. But to live from a place. That is deeply rooted in your core. I live in a way that allows your life. To be a reflection. Of your innermost beliefs. To live in such a way that you are innersense. Of what matters most is reflected to all those who pass by you and all those who would ask you what is it that you believe. So that's challenge number one. Defining what you believe in and then there's the second half which i think is equally hard perhaps even harder it's the part that audre lorde came to that it's the question of how. It's all well and good to say this is what i believe in and i know i believe it into the very fiber and core of my being but then how do you actually do that. How do you actually go about living those beliefs. Seems to me that ethics and philosophy and the great religious traditions of the world have offered hints and advice. Gandhi said and the college i graduated from has now adopted this as their slogan be the change you want to see in the world. Sounds great. How the heck do you do that. Jesus spoke of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. That sounds great but it's really hard to actually do that. During an impossible semester of german philosophy while i was in munich i learned that immanuel kant had this precept in his thinking called the categorical imperative. Which in layman's terms simply means to take as your own life's maxim's your own life principles and ideals those which you would have everyone in the world adopt. Sort of i if everyone believed as i did the world would be a great place. We know some people who feel that way right we are in washington dc after all. These are all wonderful phrases. Gandhi and jesus and cannot speak of things that sound wonderful. When it comes to our mundane yet important day-in-and-day-out decisions which reflect who we are how do we live it. And what are the costs and the challenges of actually living that vision that ideal that truth. Which brings me back to reverend reed and why i have become fascinated with him. Before i came to serve you i serve the congregation call james reeb unitarian universalist congregation in madison wisconsin. And then i came here and i'm now a sociopath minister of all souls church which was a position held by reverend james reeb i feel a bit haunted and followed by him in a positive way. Read you see he lived this life that you hear the story of his death and you just are amazed that he did all of these things with his life and then you want to know more. You see i didn't realize that when he died he was only 38 years old. I didn't know until i was speaking with someone who for whom he was there youth minister that he had four children. I knew that he had been hailed by president johnson when president introduced the voting rights bill. I knew that dr. king delivered a eulogy in his honor. But i didn't know about those complexities. Father-of-four. How did those children move on without him. The more i've spoken to the ministers in our movement who actually knew him. The more i've been moved. Because his life was more than the heroism more than that one day and selma alabama. I didn't know that his attackers were acquitted by an all-white jury. His story is fascinating. Emblematic of a time and of so much in our society and culture of racism which lingers on. And yet the more i hear about james reeb. The more i wonder about the man himself. About the emotional complexities of his life. About the sorrow he left behind. About the cost. Of that day in selma. And i don't know about you but. The more i hear about people that we hear these exalted stories about the more i want to know about the mundane everyday ness. So that i might get a glimpse of what it would be like for me. What did he eat for breakfast. What was the spiritual practice. What was the conversation like that he had with his wife before he decided to go. How can any of us. Live out what we believe. In a day today mynute kind of way. James reed was a whole person. His principles and beliefs led him to his death almost 40 years ago. But let him to a life long before that. My friends i think that living a life of principle is an ongoing and creative act. Each new day each new week each new month. We are presented with new ways in which we need to adapt. Who we are or perhaps we need to adapt how we fit ourselves into this complicated world. Need to adapt our definitions of what it means. Hello. Or we need to adapt our vision of what it means to be just. We find that while sometimes the words remain the same what it means to actually live that has changed dramatically. I think that living a life of principle. Is about living in the present. And about leaving a legacy. That you're proud of. It isn't about martyrdom it's about a life of integrity. About an underlying holness. To who you say you are. What you profess to believe and how you live. But all three of those things are connected and related and you feel. And everything you do that there is a whole mess. That you would stand just as strongly for the way you treated the person in the checkout line at your grocery store. As you would when you're protesting down on the mall for something you believe in. Those two things i think are not disconnected. It's all the same life and the same principles. And so my prayer for us my friends is that we may all find ways to stand with steadfast belief. That we may be encouraged by those around us. In this soulful work. That we might be inspired by the reverend james reeb and all of those. Who have lived with conviction. Each and every day. That we may find ways. Br best most integrated most true most real. Selves. This day. And always. So may it be.

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04.04.11IShallPraiseAgain.mp3

Our first reading this morning is from the 24th chapter of luke the translation is from eugene peterson's the message at the crack of dawn on sunday the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices that they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb so they walked in. But once inside they couldn't find the body of jesus. They were puzzled wondering what to make of this then out of nowhere it seemed to men light cascading over them stood there and the women were awestruck and bow down and worship. And the men said to them why are you looking for the living one among the dead. He is not here but is risen. And our second reading. From the polish poet adam zagajewski. Try to praise the mutilated world. Try to praise the mutilated world. Remember june's long days and wild strawberries drops of wine and do. The abandoned homesteads of exiles. You must praise the mutilated world you watch the stylish yachts and ships and one of them had a long trip ahead of it. While salty oblivion awaited others. You've seen the refugees heading nowhere you've heard the executioner's sing joyfully you should praise the mutilated world. Remember the moments when we were together in a white room and the curtain fluttered. Return and thoughts to the concert with the music player you gathered acorns in the park in autumn and leaves eddie'd over the earth's scars. Praise the mutilated world. And the grey-feather aussprache lost. And the gentle life that strays. And vanishes and returns. Petalura kintzler have a psalm for every occasion you see when she was a little girl her mother used to tuck her in each night and by the little bedside light would teach a telera the songs until she had memorized them so that now later on whenever life through trouble at aleros way she'd go back to those songs of lament and praise song from her mother's lips and she leaned on them for strength and consolation. So i told her i had a song for driving on the highway she used to be terrified of the fast pace car swerving in and out until one day she went out and bought a vanity license plate with words from the 91st psalm / highway song. For god will command his angels to guard you and they will lift you up on their wings. Some people pay $40,000 for an suv to make them feel safe on the highway at ilera just needed to put a song on her bumper. She had another song for her boss. Years ago when she was a young teacher the racist principal at her school resented that she a black woman was teaching there and he'd always try to get her fired and every time she went into the meeting to confront him she would recite psalm 121. I will lift up mine eyes to the hills. From where will my help come from god who made heaven and earth he will not let your foot be moved. Metalero even had a special song for her parents teacher conferences one that wasn't gird her for that moment when she'd have to tell the difficult news to unser unbelieving parents that their little angels had misbehaved but i don't remember which one that was a little over a year ago at a unitarian. And by then she knew that she was suffering from a disease that would take her life and she told us that now she had a song for this last challenge 2. Number 42 why are you cast down for my soul and why are you disquieted within hope in god. For i shall praise again. For i shall praise again. At elara died last december. Set her memorial service she was remembered as a pillar of her church and of our movement. I'll remember that alaric henzler as a woman of faith who taught me something about the resiliency of the human spirit about our capacity to draw new life and hope out of pain and suffering that's what i want to talk about this easter morn that we possess this ability that eyewitness over and over again. To bring ourselves up out of the valley and on to higher ground what is this recuperative power what is this resurrecting power and where in the world does it come from. Wilfred elara it came from the psalms. The songs are withdrew her throughout her inner resources of strength the strength to overcome racism the strength to face daily trials like driving on the beltway and and parent-teacher conferences and ultimately the strength to face her own death. Fred elara it was the psalms. For a man named pateros zeitz it was a slice of buttered bread. You see the young man during world war ii was living in his native latvia while a retreating german army swept through and forced him and other young latvian men into military service. Pateros heights witnessed terrible carnage and was forced to kill other human beings for a cause he abhorred. There were times he says during the course of his force to service when he thought it would be better to take his own life meant to kill or to die for the nazis. And then one day his platoon was marching through the streets of a small town. And a little german boy saw pateros looking hungry and alone and he offered him a slice of bread. Slathered with butter. And 50 years later weeping as he tells the story pateras says and the bread it appears to me you see it pierced the cruelty i had seen and the barbaric ways. Hemet single act of compassion on the part of a small boy was enough to rekindle his sense. Of hope in humanity and patera survived the war and went on to become a scientist and an environmental activist dedicating his life to saving our broken world by shel praise again. We know stories like these don't we we've lived stories like these. Stories of when life delta sablo and we fought back. Stories of when life let us down and we picked ourselves back up again. Our own resurrection stories. I want to say to you this morning that these stories are precious commodities. Because they contain clues to the most important religious challenge that we human beings face. Which is how do we continue to throw our lot in with a forces of life and love went around us the world deals out suffering and pain. I'm not sure i can think of a more important question than us for us than that how do we respond to the pain and the despair that the world deals us and instead choose life and love. Or in the world's words of the polish poet adam zagajewski how shall we praise. A mutilated world. Kids poem. Gives us some clues i think. He begins by recounting some of the miseries of twentieth-century life in eastern europe. You seen the abandoned homes of exile's he writes. And the refugees heading nowhere you've heard the executioner's sing their joyful song. Yet even so you must praise the mutilated world. How. By remembering always that the world isn't just. A mutilated place. But it is a gracious and a glorious and a beautiful place to. And so he says remember the june days. And wild strawberries and drops of wine and do. Remember the moments when we were together in a white room and the curtain fluttered. Returned and saw to the concert where the music flared you gathered acorns in the park in autumn. When for a moment to the fall leaves covered the earth scars. Praise. Are mutilated world. What the poet and what a telera and what pateros have in common is that in the midst of pain and suffering they each summoned or discovered and experience of grace and beauty that restored their faith the song called a mother's love. The slice of buttered bread memories of gathering acorns. On an autumn day. What this suggests to me is that faith and hope friends are something of a scavenger hunt. For search and rescue mission for the forces that will sustain us and save us. A fleeting glimpse of beauty a brief moment of grace these are the places where we discover the strength to go on these are the things that trigger that resurrecting power within us. And so we need to learn how to seek them out and find them the religious life in this sense is a scavenger hunt for hope. A scavenger hunt for hope now there are times when for whatever reason those signs of hope seem few and far between if not completely hid from our eyes and i know that there are those of us here today who are feeling that right now. Who censored despair feels all the more stark when contrasted to the blossoming trees and the chirping birds of spring. And there are other times in our lives when we don't have to look very far at all for these signs of hope when we feel as though the love that we have to give his met at every turn by the world's love. And i'm sure there are those of us here today who feel this now in the first season of spring for the coming of love the ample evidence of the world's graciousness. Will savor it. Bask in it and take a good note of it. Because you'll want to recall it someday. Down the road. When those moments seem distant. I think at a timely analogy for what i want to say here today and this may be appropriate especially for those of you who are parents are teachers how many of you have ever been responsible for an easter egg hunt raise your hand if you've been responsible for easter over the years. Can you do weed weed weed hard boil the eggs and we decorate them and then on easter sunday we'd hide them in some very clever places and then the children would come and find them or finds most of them right and you know we never find the last two or three until a few weeks later when the smell of rotten eggs overwhelmed us and that's when i learned that it's helpful to take notes when you need them willa faith is a scavenger hunt or to at least take some notes so when we need it. We can get back there and find it. I want to close on a personal note. Recently i was looking back over my sermon file since when i started here at all souls and i came across the very first sermon i preached here on may 13th 2001 it was a sermon filled with hope and optimism. It was also in the light of what happened just four months later a remarkably innocent sermon. We were just van at the end of an innocent time. And as i read on in my file of sermons they told the story of a congregation that struggled first with the shock and despair of september 11th and then with fear and then with loss and the problem of how to respond to evil and violence and i read my notes from the pastoral prayers over the years and they recalled to me the other losses we have suffered the losses of husbands and wives. The losses of mothers and fathers. Illnesses mats and faced. And at the same time i noticed we celebrated birth. And unions and weddings and we welcome children into our community up here and we bless them together and we spoke not only a fear but of courage and not only of despair but of hope and the music lifted us up on sunday mornings and strangers came into our midst bringing their gifts and talents and they went from being strangers to being friends and family. And as i finished going through the file of the last two years the evidence was overwhelming to me that we human beings especially when we are in community are a resilient people in the face of fear and suffering we are capable of summoning incredible resources of strength and that friends is good news that is good news good news that i have learned from you over these last several years good news that i've discovered within myself. Such fare well on may 15th 2001 i could only tentatively say i think i shall praise it but now i can say with confidence along with a telera and with the psalmist i shall praise again and again and again. I can say with the poet cummings i who have died am alive again today and this is the son's birthday this is the birthday of life and of love and of wings. Friends there is a resurrecting power in the world. Accessible to us all there is good cause to sing hallelujah on easter morn. We can embrace life in the midst of death we can draw hope out of despair we will care for our mutilated world and we shall praise again i'm in.

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06.02.19TheologicalOrigins.mp3

A reading this morning is a sermon. An excerpt from a sermon. By william ellery channing. The founder of american unitarianism. And it's the sermon from which this church takes its name. In the sermon chatting is talking about his idea of god and he's trying to. Imagine how god could love everyone. Could love all souls. And still love him. To how can love god love all and also love the particular. Is the problem that he's working on in this sermon. And so please. Listen with me as we hear these words from william ellery channing. Intimate and tender. Beyond our highest conception. Is our heavenly father's relationship. To us. The nearest friend. The most loving parents. Is but a stranger to us. When contrast. With god. How near to me is my creator. I am not merely surrounded by his influence. As by this air which i breathe i am provided by his agency he quickens my whole bean. Through him i am. Instantly sinking feeling and speaking. And knowing thus the intensity in the extent of this relationship how is it possible that i can forget him. What reason have i for considering myself as overlooked. Because god has such an immense family to provide for i belong to this family i am bound to it by vital bonds. I can hardly perform an act that is confined and its consequences to myself. Others are affected by what i do and what i am. And these others have also their spheres of influence so that a single act of mine may spread and spread in widening circles. And then these others themselves have their spheres of influence. Through my vici intensify the taint of vice throughout the universe through my misery i make multitude sad. But on the other hand. Every development of my virtue. Makes me an a blessing to my race. Every new truth that i gained makes me a brighter light to humanity. I ought not been to imagine that god's interest in me. Is diminished. Because his interest is extended to endless hosts of spirits on the contrary god must be more interested in me. On this very account because i influence others as well as myself. I. Emma living member. Of the grape family. Of all souls. And i cannot improve or suffer myself without diffusing good or evil around me through a never-ending largent sphere. My here. You are not to think of yourself as neglected. Because god has an innumerable company of children. To care for. One of the methods by which he cares for these various children. Is to make provision. For your. Progress. If a 2004. Democratic national convention. Senator barack obama. Illinois. What became my favorite line. From an otherwise disappointing political season. He said. We worship an awesome god and blue america. And what he was trying to do of course was to suggest that the right doesn't have a monopoly on god. But what i want to suggest this morning is that the god. Worshipped. Buy blue america. And the god worshipped in red america. Are very different. Dobbs. Or shall i say very different understandings of god and further i want to argue that the key to understanding the difference between the right and left in america. Is to understand those very different. Religious understanding religious viewpoints. And i want to do this for several reasons this morning first. So that we can better understand the political cultural and religious divide in america. Secondly. So we can better understand and articulate the common moral values of progressive religion and progressive social policy. And third i want to do this today so that we might find some way past. The seeming impasse that we have in america today between. Right and left red and and blue. And you don't listen to be a little bit different from the usual sermons i preached i'm going to be sort of more of a teacher than it been a preacher this morning so i'm going to want you to follow my argument closely as i moved from step2step my argument this morning begins we're all dangerous arguments begin it begins in berkeley california. George lakoff is a linguist. From uc-berkeley how many of you have probably heard how many hurdles george lakoff. You're all good washingtonian you should know george lakoff. He's something of a guru in washington these days lots of people on capitol hill are seeking him out because he has a theory. That's backed up by years of research as to why george bush was elected president of the united states and furthermore. Why folks. Who didn't necessarily agree with the president on many social issues. Nonetheless voted for him. Melbourne lake off is a cognitive linguistic. So his job is to understand how language affects how we view the world and how we think about things. And his theory goes something like this he says that most americans. Think about their country. As a family. Not literally. But family is the metaphor. That americans use when they talk about and think about their family and so we have you are the founding fathers write. The daughters of the american revolution. We send our sons and daughters off to fight. In war there are these images of of the family. And he argues that the fundamental difference between the right and the left in the america. Is it stems from. A different view a different value. Of the family. He says that there are two fundamentally different kinds of ways of looking to family when he calls the strict father. View the family the other he calls the nurturance nurturing parents. Family. You can probably already guess which one is which right. Lake off argues i want to just spend a little bit not talking about these different views of the family and how they apply to it to our political scene lake off argues that the fundamental view for the the conservative movement is this strict. Father image. Of the family and that strict father world you go something like this and i'm i'm paraphrasing like off here. The world is a dangerous place. The world is a competitive. Place and it always will be because there is evil. In the world. There will always be winners and losers there will always be an absolute right. And an absolute. Wrong. And children are born into this world bad. Just in the sense that they that they want to do what feels good to them they don't necessarily do what is right. Therefore they need children need to be made good. Okay. And what is needed in such a world is a strict father. Who can protect the family in a dangerous world. And teaches children from right and wrong. You might call this the tough love. View of the family right some of us may have grown up. In such a family in such a view the father uses strict discipline including corporal punishment to instill a sense of discipline the child. But this is done in the child's best interest and out of love for the child. For they need to be taught right from wrong and need to learn to look out for themselves in a competitive and dangerous world. Now when this metaphor is applied to the to the level of the nation it results in policies that tend to emphasize aggressive. Aggressive foreign policy. And domestically the kinds of policies that are hands-off in laissez-faire and that let people go out into the world and fend for themselves in this competitive. Dangerous world. Things get all messed up when the do-gooders according to this world either the liberals. Step in and try to to help people out because that's not the way the world works that makes peoplesoft. Bad in a nutshell. Is the strict father. Worldview and it helps explain some recent political phenomenon in america. Such as the election of of the terminator. Arnold schwarzenegger as governor of california for instance. Or the rise of the nascar dad. As a political force replacing the soccer mom as the as the eminent political force in america. That's one view. The other view that delay cop holds up is what he calls the nurturing. Parents. View. And again let me paraphrase him in describing this for you. In this view both parents are equally responsible for raising the children. Amuse sumption is the children are born good. And can be made better. True care and nurturing. The world can be made a better place to. The parents job is to nurture their children and to raise their children to be nurturers of others. Nurturance requires empathy and responsibility if you have a child you you need to understand what their needs are and you have to be responsible enough. To fulfill those needs. For your children. The highest. Value in such a family view is that. Is that children find. Fulfillment and flourishing in the world. The parent's job is to help. These child children flourish and find fulfillment. When this metaphor is applied to the nation. It leads to policies. That seek to ensure freedom of opportunity. And that. And it provide the necessary support. So that all members of society. Can indeed flourish. And thrive. 6 to make the world a better place. By making each person in it. A healthy more flourishing human being. Such a worldview you can see expressed in programs like the great society for. Or the new deal. They're embodied in movements like the civil rights. Caillou mesa w a little. Simplistic little black-and-white right and and certainly there are we all carry different visions of different aspects of this in our own self some of us share. Pieces of each of these visions. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on these two visions of the world but i would ask you if you're interested to read like ops book don't think of an elephant. It's been face up at kramerbooks for for over a year now. And it helps explain in more detail the research behind. Kill these two views of the world. I want to go right now is that lake off actually takes. This argument one step further. He says that will if if people's view of society is shaped by their view of the family. Well actually their view of the family is shaped by their understanding of god. And this is where religion comes into the picture. He argues it fundamentally it is theology. That separates the right from the left in america. What are the theologies than that undergird. These difference. Worldview's. Well the strict father worldview. Is based on a theology that starts with human. Send. Right. Human beings are born sinful. Before we ever commit our first sinful act it's in our very nature to be sinful god's justice demands that we be punished for that sin. Which is why most of us will go to hell. In this religious view. The only reason that some of us won't go to hell is that someone else got punished for our sin. Namely jesus who god. Who got sacrifices and kills so that some of us wouldn't have to go to hell. No in such a theology we must we're not good in ourselves so we must look outside ourselves. Four four sources of goodness which means that we must obey god through god's commandments as revealed in the bible or if not god we must obey god's representatives on earth. The minister. And the father. No. The best example. Of this theology in american history comes from. How's my guy named jonathan edwards. Edwards was one of the great preachers in america. And in his famous sermon whichever counted the song view before with called. Sinners in the hands of an angry god. Right. In that sermon edwards compares human beings to spiders. Spiders that are dangled over a fire by a thread. The god that holds you over the pit of hell. Much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire. That god abhors you. And is dreadfully provoked. His wrath towards you burns like fire he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else. But to be cast into the fire. Oh sinner consider the fearful danger you are in you hang by a slender thread. You hang by a slender thread. It's actually a great sermon it's a rhetorical masterpiece you should you should read it sometime. But do you see the the rhetoric is different today but do you see. The relationship between someone like jonathan edwards. And various religious leaders of today. Cool. Have similar ways of speaking of the disposability. Of human life. For instance those who blame. Those who blamed as as pat robertson did who blame 911 on american feminist. Or who blames hurricane katrina. On the gay folks in in new orleans. Right. Or who blamed ariel sharon stroke. For the fact that you gave away the promised land. To the palestinians. God is punishing us. For our sin. God is punishing us for our evil. It's frankly the same theology expressed in a different way by james dobson. Dobson is the head of a group called focus on the family and he's written a best-selling childcare manual. Called. Dare to discipline. In which he suggests in which she see this isn't doctor spock anymore okay in which he suggest using corporal punishment on children. As young as 15 months old. Again you have to punish. For the sin. You have to teach discipline. Compare edwards sermon. To the one that i quoted earlier from william ellery channing now i don't i know that you all didn't agree with all the theology that was in that channing sermon but think about the image of god. That is included in that sermon by channing and can compare the titles of the sermons. Jennings edward sermons called sinners in the hands of an angry god. Channing sermon is called the father's love. For persons. Intimate and tender. Beyond our highest conception. Is our heavenly father's. Relationship. To us. The nearest friends. The most loving parents. Is but a stranger to us. When contrasted. T'god. Tanning. The founder of american unitarianism. Lead the theological revolt. Against jonathan edwards. And that theology of the sinners in the hands of an angry god. You all. Need to know this history. You all need to know that our religious forbearers. Are in fact the theologians who articulated a fundamentally different. View of god and humanity. In the world and that that theological view is the underpinning for much of what we think of today as a progressive social agenda in america this theology begins with the inherent worth and goodness of every person not with our sinfulness. It is promised upon the interdependence of the human family not our competitiveness or our danger to one another. I am a living member of the great family of also. Interdependence. It holds that human beings can be a blessing to one another channing says every act that i do spreads out in ever-widening circles of influence to bless other people as well. Chatting believe that we were endowed with gifts and note those gifts can blossom and grow and can be used to blast. The world. When barack obama said we worship an awesome god. In blue america he was right. And it is a very different god. Then the one envisioned by the right. The god of love not hate. The guy that lures us to the good rather than pounding the sonata bus. With a father's paddle. It's a religion that operates on hope. Not on fear. The god who is a mother father of us all. The loving parents. Of the great family of all souls channing believe it any less of a god. Was not worthy. Of our praise. Was not. Without worthy to be worshipped we might as well why does mel all give god up. Because any less of god is not. Worthy of our praise. The next month on march 19th i'm going to preach. A follow-up sermon to this that's. It's going to explain a little bit more about the link between this theology of channing. And how it develops over the course of american history. To to create a progressive. Culture in a progressive social agenda in america. And i can't do all of that today what i wanted to do today is focus on these competing worldviews he's competing theology these competing visions of our nation and ask the question now where does this all leave us. If the political differences that divide us aren't just political but theological as well. If it goes deeper than our politics to the very fundamentals of what we believe is there any hope. For our nation. Is there any hope. That we might reconcile this divided. In america. Let me close with a story. Many of you know that back in december i was arrested on capitol hill. For a crime that i never heard of before. It was called incommoding. Myself and about 100 other religious leaders were charged with incommoding the entrance to the cannon house office building. I was at the word commode have some other meaning. Anyways what we're doing with blocking the entrance to the building. Because we were protesting the cuts. That were being proposed. In the federal budget cuts to medicare. And to medicated the food stamps. So that tax cuts for the rich could be made permanent. In this year's budget. And so we were arrested and handcuffed and we were taken to a holding cell somewhere in southwest washington right never been before. And we were detained for 4 or 5 hours. Where we had two to sit in in neat rows and we couldn't move. No. I've been to lots of these religious protest before and so i'm used to seeing the usual suspects at these kinds of thinking about the quakers are there and you know the bunch of unitarians and some progressive protestants and a smattering of buddhists. Some some. Star wars from the civil rights movement. They're even a group of radical nuns were singing the whole time we were there leading us in song. So those are all the folks i expected to see. But the man sitting next to me. In that jail cell. Was an evangelical pastor from denver colorado. Who never been to washington before. And would certainly never been arrested at a protest before. And he and quite a few other event jellicles. Came. Because they also believed. Peppy's kuts. We're wrong because they also believed. In a compassionate. God. Because they also believed in god as a nurturing parents as a loving father yes they're their god might have had a strict father's side as well but he was also a nurturing parent. And the fact that we could frame the debate. About budget cuts for the poor. It in the same way that we could see that issue in the same way and related to our political values. Was a hopeful thing for me. We had a lot of time on our hands in that jail cell. And so we talked for a while and. I took a while explaining unitarian-universalism to him. You have a lot of questions. We talked about other political issues some of which we agreed on some of which we didn't. But when we finally got out of there. And we're about to go our separate ways back to our own very different lives. We shook hands. And we blessed one another. And it strikes me as a hopeful thing. When a unitarian pastor from d.c.. In an evangelical pastor from denver. Find themselves in the same jail. Standing up for similar vision of justice. Based on a shared image of god. Friends we all need to be doing things like this. We all need to be ambassadors of these kinds of moments of reconciliation. Are these opportunities to to build shared values in our country. We need to do it at the thanksgiving dinner table with uncle pat. You know. We need to do it in our in our cubicles at work with the folks who go to different churches than we do. When order for us to do that we need to really understand where we're coming from theological and we need to be articulate be able to articulate clearly how our religious values. Lead to the progress of the social values in the political commitments that we hold dear. Cuz i really do believe that is based on those shared values. That we can find common ground just like we did in the jail. In southwest dc. On may 17th through 20. There will be an opportunity for all of us. To work on this kind of thing. As you know all souls will be hosting a major conference. Other religious of religious progressives at that moment. There will be buddhist. There will be muslims. There will be no cornel west will be there black baptist. Arun gandhi will be there the grandson of mahatma gandhi speaking from a hindu perspective. The evangelical preacher tony campolo will be there. Sharing his point of view and then they're going to be a bunch of unitarians there too and all of us are going to get together in the same room and talk about what we have. In common. And we're going to build a progressive. Social and religious movement. Together. On the blue sheet. In your order of service this morning. Are listed ways that you can help make this happen. We're hosting 1,300 people. In the church for five days. It's going to be a little bit of a stretch. And we need your help. And so on that blue sheet you will find many ways. That you can help. Befriends the point of my argument. Today is this. It matters. What we believe. And it matters that we can talk about and be articulate and share. What we believe. And it also matters that we find those shared beliefs. They can heal. America's divide. Maybe so.

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04.06.06FoundInTranslation.mp3

I want to share with you. Today one of the most colorful stories i think from the bible. A story that on first glance may appear to have nothing to do with unitarian universalism. But which. Upon reflection may just have everything to do with unitarian universalism. And also church. And the world that we find ourselves in. At the beginning of the 21st century. It's a story of pentecost. From the book of acts. Chapter 2. Verses 1 through 13. When the day of pentecost had come they were all together in one place the followers of jesus. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like a rush of violent wind and it's still the entire house where they were sitting. Forked tongues as of fire appeared among them. And rested on each one of them but tongue on each one's head all of them were filled with the holy spirit and began to speak in other languages as the spirit gave them ability. Another word about jews from every nation under heaven living in jerusalem at the time and at this sounds the crowd gathered and was bewildered because each one heard them speaking. In their own native language. Amazing astounded they asked are not all these who are speaking galileans. And how is it that we hear each of us in our own language parthians medes elements and residents of mesopotamia judea and cappadocia pontus and asia. Beard gian pamphylia egypt and the parts of libya belonging to cyrene and visitors from rome both jews and pagans cretans and arabs in our own language we hear them speaking about god. All were amazed and perplexed. Saying to one another what does this mean. But other is two-year-old and said. They are filled with new wine. Who whine and what does our crazy pastor think that we can learn from this story. Well let's look more closely at what happened this year. Basically a group of jesus followers gathers together after his death and no sooner have they met then the wind starts picking up and wreaking havoc all over the place and and then fire flashes down from out of the heavens in the form of forked tongues. Each of the tongues then rest on the head of one of the disciples and the people start to speak in strange languages language that no one has ever heard before languages that shouldn't be making any sense. To anyone. All this ruckus begins to attract some attention. People start to gather around to see what's going on in this being jerusalem a crossroads of the roman empire it's a fairly diverse group that gathers around to watch hence the names of all those ancient unpronounceable cities that i had to read they all gathered round to watch the disciples trying to discern whether they had been anointed by the holy spirit. Or touched. Buy new wine. Now it's often said. But the miracle of pentecost. Is the spirit is this spirit given ability to speak in tongues. In fact to this day speaking in tongues is seen as sort of a spiritual assigned a spiritual gift in this when i had to re-enter seminary got to take this battery of sort of personal inventories and exams in order to get into seminary one of them is a inventory of spiritual gifts and i'm at exam one of the questions they asked me was you do you have the gift of speaking in tongues being a unitarian i translate i know a lot of preachers who have that. But this is a story from which the ecstatic religious movement called pentecostalism derives its name inspiration. With the wind and the fire and the strange languages these are not the miracles. Pentecost. The miracle of pentecost is that here you have all these people talking about god in some strange language but everyone who is listening. Piers in their own language. The parthian the mead the judean the cappadocian the mesopotamian they all asked how is it that we hear each of us in our own native language. What happened at pentecost back then. It's sort of like what we see happening at the united nations building nowadays. No one person will speak but everyone has those little earpieces on and they're they're listening in their own language thanks to the people in the glass boobs doing the translating. But in this story. It's the spirit that does the translating. That's the miracle. The miracle of pentecost is that a diverse group of people started talking about god in different languages but they all understood one another. The miracle is not the tongues. If we understanding. The pentecostals want to claim this story as their creation myth. I won't begrudge them that. But i think pentecost is actually the creation myth of unitarian-universalism i mean think about it think about this church here at all souls are we not a diverse group of people speaking about god in different languages. Are we not believers and agnostics. Don't some of us pray while others of us meditate. Isn't jesus central to some while others have a soft spot for the buddha don't some of our family celebrate passover while others honored easter aren't we just like the folks at pentecost a quirky mix of people all talking away in our own languages all trying to make sense out of life. And yet we come together with this pentecost faith. That though we may speak in many tongues. Frog and understand each other. We come together with a faith that spiritual diversity is not a hindrance to our religious growth but rather an asset. That because of the multiplicity of our experiences in our languages we will discover a fuller a richer sense of the spirit. Some fear that god can get watered down in translation. From one language to another. It is our faith that god gets more multifaceted. And complicated in translation. Some fear that the spirit is lost in translation we at all souls have faith that the spirit is indeed found in translation. For me that faith is confirmed as i look around this church and see people in the classes i teach and the covenant groups that i observe i've seen them come around a table together come around a chalice from radically different points of view listening and understanding one another. I've seen the expressions on their face when that understanding happens. That aha moment. That sense of connection that comes. When that connection is made. That's the miracle of pentecost. Happening all over again. Right here in our church. Right here at all souls. So part of what i want to say today is that i believe that we are on the right path when we come together as a diverse community of faith. Every once in awhile we get anxious here at the church that maybe we can't hold all this pluralism together. The perhaps this little experiment in pentecost is getting to be too much. Today i want to affirm the spiritual diversity we have here at the church. And to encourage us along the path of spiritual deepening that comes from the kind of dialogue that we can have eddie unitarian universalist congregation but i want to make a larger point today too. I want to argue that this pentecost faith has implications beyond the walls of this or any other church. But before i make that argument i need to share with you another story another story this time from the old testament that illustrates are radically different way of understanding this issue of religious diversity and pluralism. You may be familiar with the story of the curse of babel. Long time ago human beings it seems had gotten a little full of themselves. And they fought they could match the gods and power and prestige so they undertook to build a tower that would reach all the way to heaven. According to the biblical account as a punishment for their pride a curse was placed on the human race. The curse of many languages. God the gods gave us many languages some of the people who had previously been of one race speaking one language when i'll given many languages each unintelligible to the other that'll teach them said the gods for believing they can be like us and they decreed that the human race would forevermore be divided. So here we have two stories in front of us written hundreds and hundreds of years ago with friends i can't help but believe that these two stories frame for us. The essential predicament. Aurora contemporary postmodern world. We live in the age. Of many languages. Not because there is more diversity now than before but because different cultures and peoples have been brought into closer contact because of our global culture. We have the situation where neighbors cuz that's not only a different spoken language but different cultural and different moral languages so we don't just have different ways of saying the word right and wrong we have different understandings of what is right and what is wrong. We have different morals vocabularies. I believe that if the beginning of the 21st century. The human race faces the choice. Have either living into the miracle of pentecost or suffering the curse of babel the question is whether we will find a way to respect difference and bridget through listening and understanding or whether we will allow difference to divide us and curse us and turn us against one another. I'll tell you right now when i look around the world i see a lot of signs pointing straight to babel. America is divided into red and blue. Barbed wire separates jews and arabs in the holy land. Churches across the globe say schism due to profound cultural differences phrases like the clash of civilizations had become acceptable ways of talking about the geopolitical situation. And then what are the avenues that we have to bridge these divide what does our culture offer us to foster dialogue and understanding crossfire. Am talk radio hannity and colmes. Friends if we don't change course as soon we will have brought the curse of babel down upon our own heads not to mention the heads of our children. The choice is between this vision of the beloved community represented by the miracle of pentecost. Or a vision frankly of hell. Represented by the story of the curse of babel. But you guys probably get sick of me. Repeating william ellery channing. Line. I am a living member of the great family of all souls. But i repeated so often because i believe that this is the central affirmation that a human being can make in this day and age. That's got to be our statement of faith we all must begin to learn to live into the reality that the human race is one family we all must live into the miracle that is pentecost. By committing ourselves to practices. The foster listening and understanding across difference. And i like to say that we just can't say that we're going to be members of the great family of all sold we have to take responsibility for being worthy members of that family we have to take responsibility for our own actions by seeking out diverse communities and working to make them laboratories of reconciliation and justice. We need to work together to dismantle systems of oppression that tear us apart. We need to cultivate practices of dialogue across difference. Learning the arts. I'm listening to other stories and sharing of our own selves. These are the practices. That can lead us to the miracle of pentecost you know in the bible the holy spirit did all the work but i don't think it's going to work that way nowadays i think that we need to pick up our fair share of the work and carry it forward by educating and equipping ourselves to be responsible members of the great family of all souls. We must engage. In this reconciling work not only. To avoid the curse. A babel. Not only to save our world from cultural and ethnic and religious conflict. So that's a very important reason to do this work too. But we commit ourselves to being responsible members of the great family of all souls. For an affirmative reason as well because of the promise. Of this miracle of pentecost because of our belief that we have much to learn from our particular t's and our differences. And that we can blossom into rich ourselves because of this work of reconciliation. That we can be saved by insularity that we can be saved from our selfishness and delivered into a fuller sense of our humanity. In other words. We seek community. Amidst the chaos of our postmodern world. Not simply. To avoid being lost in translation. But out of a deep and abiding faith. Are unitarian universalist safe. That our deepest selves. Our truest selves will indeed. Profound. In translation. May that be our prayer today. I'm in.

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07.06.03RadicalAcceptance.mp3

This morning's guest. The founder and senior teacher of the insight meditation community of washington. She's someone that since i arrived in this area almost four years ago i feel like i've heard a lot about her and never met her until this morning so. The pleasure to have her here. She was a clinical psychologist in private practice for some time before becoming a full-time buddhist teacher she leads workshops she did all day yesterday. And travels extensively leading different meditation groups across the country inn in canada as well. She has a book which we will have available for those of you interested in going even more deeply into radical acceptance. Which will be at our book nook after the service. Please join me in welcoming dr. tara brach. Well just to say i'm so delighted to be here i grew up unitarian and whenever i come here in particular here your spirit and. Weren't are so wonderful just it's a pleasure. And a bit when i talk about radical acceptance in a way i am talking about a kind of homecoming. And i would like to emphasize really what it means to come home into our hearts today. How strong the conditioning is. I'm just speak of love and it speak of compassion and yet in some way have it be a bit abstract. So i'm going to explore a bit how would i really call a practice of radical acceptance and it's not just an ocean but an active way of meeting our moments. Princess home. And to say at first that. I feel like that we talked about the seeds. Of love and of goodness that the seeds of war are the way that we turn on ourselves that's the starting place. And i've begun to call at the trance of unworthiness. That we. If i asked you and i'll ask her how many of you feel you judge yourself too much when we just see by hands okay. We know we judge ourselves a lot but we don't realize is how in any moment that were down on ourselves there's a sense of separation from everything around us. And how the ways we move through the world with some feeling of not enough. Not good enough unfailing something's off. Falling short. Actually end up in prison in our lives. As a clinician i've seen the roots of addiction is the sense of shame of seeing the roots of impossibility of intimacy when we're down on ourselves. I thought i was on a book tour on this and i taught at a place called the rope and i had a big poster with my picture and the caption underneath something is wrong with me you know we have we have a culture that really in some way tells us that we should be different and better and it even happens and spiritual life that we have some notion it's sometimes called spiritual fitness of really how we should be in any given moment in time. To the teachings of the buddha that i find most useful one of the teachings really is that in some way. Our suffering is because we're forgetting who we are. Our suffering is cuz we've lost track of what we are. My son went to a waldorf school and for some one of the stories i heard was of a kindergarten teacher was with an art class and she was going from table to table the children were drawing and one little girl was particularly diligent and so she stood until what are you drawing and a little girl said waldron god. And the teachers china chuckled and said we're going to no one knows what god looks like. Without skipping a beat without even looking up. She said they will in a moment so it's almost like how did we lose the connection with that sense of our our basic goodness how did that happen how did we get so cooked on on this kind of perfection of thinking we're supposed to be a certain way. There's a eiskina one of those the way they announced church sermons there was one that said sermon this morning jesus walks on the water. Sermon this evening. Searching for jesus you know and there's this sense that we're giving everyone of us was given standards to meet everyone of us was through our families and culture told to be that it was to look at ractive to be intelligent to be special. And i can speak for myself there's a kind of inner monitor. It's always asking well how am i doing now. And usually there's a gap between my idea. I should be off then akai should be relaxed i should be open-hearted i shouldn't be self-absorbed. And yet you know we really confessed to each other how many moments we spend occupied with self. My comfort might feeling good. So what happens is we grow up with an idea of how we should be. To be lovable. The acceptable. With an anxiety about falling short and then we each develop a set of strategies. And we each have them to try to compensate for not enough. And that could be striving some ways that we try to prove ourselves right. Overachieving staying busy. We all have this set of strategies. In the greek theater the word persona had to do it that mask you know that the actress would wear. And it says if we were wearing this mask to move to the world but what happened was our whole sense of who we are became identified with the mask. And we forget who's peering through right now. Who's really listening. I heard a story about in the ancient capital supa thailand and cambodia this huge statue of a buddha. Play plaster buddha huge but wasn't particularly handsome or beautiful but it had staying powder power through the years of wars and weather and invading armies and government changes people loved it. One year. There was a drought some cracks appeared. And one of the monks and enterprising took a little flashlight and puritan side the crack to see what the infrastructure was. And what schoenbeck was the light of gold. Let's do another crack. And another. It turned out that under this plaster and clay. Is the largest gold buddha in southeast asia. And the monks. Believe. That it was covered with plaster and play to protect it through difficult times. And that in the same way. We cover over our innate purity. With our ways of trying to protect and defend and prove. To make it through difficult times. And the sad thing is we forget we forget who we really are. The radical acceptance is a path of remembrance. It's a path of meeting each moment of what feels like imperfection with a kind of courageous heart. That instead of judging and turning on ourselves actually opens. Really tenderly. To the conditioning. There are really two questions if i could leave you with anything today to questions that i feel helped us to come into the kind of presents. That reminds us of this fold of this goodness. So it's not just an idea that. We are souls. But it's a visceral experience of a kind of radiance. And tenderness and openness. That we really trust the goodness of our being. So there's two questions. That kind of bring us home to right here. And one of them is. What is happening right now. Right this moment. The sounds they sensations these feelings. And the other is can i be with this. Is there a kind of openness so that what i see i can be with. And i'll tell you a brief example of how this can be a homecoming. To who we are. And that is with a man that i was working with edit retreat a silent retreat and you'd come and he has alzheimer's. And he was in the kind of mid mid kind of level. Given meditating for some years he was a clinical psychologist he knew what was going on his wife had to come with them. To the retreat to help him cut his food and get from place to place. And when i had an interview with him. I was amazed at how buoyant you was she had a kind of mischievous miss and curiosity and i kind of said we'll walk is. You know how how is this possible and he said. I don't think anything's wrong. It's kind of like fall time when the leaves are falling it's not raw namaste. And then he went on to tell me about an experience you had at the onset early stages where he had been asked to give a talk in front of a large group of people. And when he got up to begin. She went totally blank he didn't not only did he not know what he was supposed to talk about he didn't know why he was there. Wyatt hundred pair of eyes were kind of expecting they looking at them. So here's what he did. First tee just paused. I called the sacred art of paws and cuz he opens up the space to come home here. And then he put his palms together. And he just began to name what he noticed he said afraid. Annabelle. And then he said racing mind. Ashamed. Hearts pounding. So this went on to finally said calming down. I looked around as you might imagine some of the students. Suspense there had tears in their eyes and he's in a kind of said i'm sorry. And one person said you know no one has ever given us the teachings this way. And what have you done. No one difficulty comes do we turn on ourselves do we react do we speed into the future do we try to cover up he paused. He noticed what was going on moment-to-moment just named it. A powerful right here ennis. Any bow. That's what i call saying yes. Saying yes to what's right here. There's a averse. Like to share a few dorothy hunter. In this choice list. Never-ending flow of life. There is an infinite array of choices. One alone brings happiness. To love. What is. One alone brings happiness. To love what is. The cast of radical acceptance is a kind of unconditional presence and it takes a real bravery. It doesn't mean we don't notice things that are troublesome that cause harm and act. But it means that first we pause and with honesty open to how it is. We have two choices. We can either open to how it is. Open our hearts are beings are we can fight. How it is and tighten up further which is really the proliferation of violence. And i have many people say what if i accepted myself just as i well as if i accept this anger this jealousy or whatever only get worse i'll never change. But i think carl rogers said it best you said it wasn't until i accepted myself. Just as i was. That i was free to change. If this radical acceptance is loving what is right here a tenderness towards the heard towards the anger. It doesn't mean we believe the angry thoughts. But that we pause and noticed and open to what's right here is the precondition to change. When we open to experience of what's right here we rediscover what we really are which is the presents itself. That's the goal. The gold is our capacity to be awake be tender and when we can open to what's within us when we stopped being at war with what's painful enough we naturally have room for each other. There's no way that we will have peace on earth. If we turned on herself. In any moment of being turned on ourselves we're going to feel it there's going to be distant towards others judgement towards others. We're going to feel a ton of like runnable and something's wrong and it's never just with more it's also with others it's the seeds of war. The poetry alpha said i live my life in widening circles. That reach out across the world. I may never complete the last one. But i give myself to it. To embrace our world means we begin with a circle that's right here. And genuinely open our hearts to the life that's right here and then we begin to spread it out and it naturally includes others. And one man that was practicing this from a workshop this radical acceptance this pausing noticing naming was a very busy executive that i that went to get some food at a supermarket with standing in line. And the woman in front of him only had a couple of items but she wasn't an express line plus she had a child in her arms and when it was her turn she handed the child to the clerk and they were doing and i and he started freaking out. Who does she think she is on this busy person you know that kind of sense of cheese an obstacle to me checking things off the list. Then he remembered he said okay pause. And it really is a sacred art of pausing. Because if we are on that chain reaction of leaning into the future. We can't come home. To our hearts and our awareness. So he paused. And then he said what's happening and he filled actually fear under the anger and the fear was it in somewhat he's not only wouldn't get things done but if you have failure in a very deep way. I know many of us can relate to that there's a a very immediate link between checking things off the list and being a total failure. So he recognized that and then he got tender towards himself i sometimes teach people to just put their hands on their heart and just offer presents to their own being. And when you could do that he looked and he saw the child was rather cute. So it was his attorney said to the clerk you know that that baby was adorable. I'm expected being she's at all that was my little girl. My mom brings her by twice a day my husband was in the war he was killed last year. So my mom brings the baby in twice to you twice a day so i can have some time with her. I share that because in the same way that we have digitally reflexively turn on ourselves we assume and project onto the other. And what would it be like if we could really pause. And look into the eyes of each other all these. And see the vulnerability that's there. But every one of us is in a body that's getting older. Facing sickness loss of other people we love. There's an uncertainty what if we could see that and just could feel that tenderness. And what if we looked at others and we could see the goodness. A close just by saying you know the word namaste many of you. And it means. I bow and i see a few days it's all the light. You know em in america we see each other we go hey how you doing. And then anasia. Namaste i see the divine shining through you. What is in some way we could pause more. Notice what was happening. With ourselves with each other on on some level. Look and see the soul shining through another's eyes we would truly. He planting the seeds of peace. Just like to invite you to close your eyes for a moment. You're closing meditation. To just ask yourself the question. What is happening. Right now. And with a gentle heart. Notice what happens if no matter what you feel in this moment. You could say yes. No matter what it is. Hot. Sleeping. Happy sad. Heading some way you could borrow to what's your. And since that the one who's battling. Is really who you are. That the weather the inner weather comes and goes. Yet you are the presents. Silence. Hello. That really experience is this world. And when you look into the eyes of others you can see behind the mask to the golden buddha there. And bow. It's like the words of thomas maraton it was as if i suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts. The depth of their hearts were neither sin nor knowledge could reach. The core of reality. The person that each one is in the eyes of the divine. If only they could see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time there would be no more need for war for hatred. Maghrib. Her cruelty. I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other. Namaste and blessings thank you for your presents.

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03.09.28GodAndTheRedSox.mp3

It was a pleasure to see those of you who are fans walking with your red sox paraphernalia today i saw a few jerseys and some hats and i see some we go. Star reading this morning is by bart giamatti some of you may remember him gemmati was a renaissance scholar who went on to become president of yale university and then commissioner of major league baseball he was baseball's renaissance man it's philosopher and this is from a little book he wrote on baseball called. Take time for paradise. Baseball he said breaks your heart it is designed to break your heart the game begins in the spring when everything else begins again and it blossoms in the summer feeling the afternoons and evenings. And then. As soon as the chill rains come. It's tops. And leaves you to face the fall alone. Can you count on it. You rely on it to buffer the passage of time to keep the memory of sunshine and and high skies and then just when the days are all twilight. Just when you need it most. It's tops. So on its surface at least this is a sermon about baseball about the baseball team that i love. The much-maligned the long-suffering the just missing the getting your hopes up then folding red sox from boston. On the surface this sermons about them but i hope it's more than that. I hope it's a sermon about how sometimes. The things we love. Break our hearts. Have a teams we root for lose time and again how the causes we champions so often fail to win the day and yet despite all of that. How we go on loving and rooting for. And championing them. Because so many of you have come to me over the last year to tell me the despair that you felt. How the things that you care about in the world seem threatens these days. How the causes you champion feel under attack by the larger culture how the society that you dream of is not the society that we're becoming. Can you ask how do we cope with this. And without making life. Of the despair we feel. And yet in a spirit of playfulness. I thought a good way into that question how do we cope would be the share some insights that i've gained from 32 seasons now of loving and losing with the boston red sox i figure at the very least when confronted with the epic suffering of this team you'd come away at least with a comfort knowing that someone's got it worse than you so. Here we go. I've often asked myself how did i get into this mess in the first place why do i have to love a perennial loser my life could have been so much easier if i just done what normal people from upstate new york do which is route for the yankees but like most of the loves that break our hearts. I didn't choose the red sox. They chose me. I inherited the love from my father. My dad first became a sox fan when he was a kid back when ted williams roamed the shadows under the green monster the fabled left-field wall in fenway park. Since then my family has marked the passing of the generations in red sox left fielders dad was born in the golden age of williams the last batter ever to hit 400. I came along in the early seventies right on the call yestramski jim rice cusp and if i have children they'll be born under the sign of manny ramirez my family's love of the underdog. Tangled our faiths with the fates of the hapless team from beantown. Somebody comes to the red sox you're either in love with him passionately or not at all it goes without saying that there are no fair-weather red sox fans there's never been any fair-weather and our family is no exception most winters we pilgrimage to florida for spring training. Amazon opening day i play hooky so we could drive 8 hours to see the game in boston. But because we could only go see them a few times a year my father spared no expense in bringing the red sox to us investing in whatever technology was available to broadcast the games into our home so in the seventies it was the radio every few years dad would upgrade our receiver to better pull the crackling broadcast down out of the sky and into our living room. When the reception was bad and it usually was weed huddle close to the stereo working the dial like a couple of short wave radio fanatics hoping for a message from far-off lands later in the mid-80s we were the first family in our neighborhood to buy a satellite dish for our television in the early days of the technology and my mother was mortified and ashamed by the unsightly anus a religion that sees the world as a cosmic battle between good and evil in other words between the red sox and the yankees the red sox. Or to use a more contemporary analogy the red sox are the seabiscuit to the yankees war admiral. When you think of the perennial losers in america lots of names come to mind. Lyndon larouche most sports teams from d.c. except for the football team. Liberals from massachusetts to run for president and what of all the names only the red sox are synonymous with underdog i want to take a little little pole here. It's been 85 years. Since the red sox last won the world series that was 1918 raise your hand if you were alive the last time the red sox won the world series anyone willing to admit that here a couple of folks here they probably. If not as though the red sox haven't come close and in fact that's part of what made it so painful all these years. In 1967 led by the mvp year from carl yastrzemski the sox battle back from last place in their division only to lose to the cardinals in game 7 of the world series. In 1975 on the brink of elimination in the world series against cincinnati red sox catcher carlton fisk kill long fly ball that appeared to be going follow but jumping down the first-base line 5th petitioned the baseball gods with his waving hands and the ball hit the foul pole for a homerun his leaping body prayer made it one of the most famous film clips in baseball history. The next day they lost the world series later in 1978 the red sox end of the season tied for first place with the yankees only to lose the one-game playoff on an improbable homerun by the yankees week hitting shortstop bucky dent. Suffice it to say that is a red sox fan year after year you feel like you come so close. That you deserve to win that that someone has stolen the victory from you. In other words. Just about every red sox season. Feels like the 2000 presidential election from a democrat point of view. Now in the bible. When jobe fealty had suffered unfairly he asked god why. We all asked this question when the world seems set against us. Why. And often are answers that can harm more than they can help. And the red sox are no exception here. The most widely accepted explanation for our suffering is that the red sox are cursed perhaps you've heard of the curse of the bambino. You see a 1920 the red sox traded babe ruth. The greatest football player of all time. To the yankees for $100,000. Rumor has it that the red sox owner needed the cash to fund a broadway play that his girl was pretty that his girlfriend was producing at the time. And since that trade the yankees have one. 26 world series and the red sox none so some blame the curse. Others blame the yankees and then we do what all people who suffer do at one time or another we blame ourselves and here i have a confession to make. In 1986. The red sox were one out away. From winning the world series. One out. The new york mets send mookie wilson to the plate as their last hope. And wilson hit a routine ground ball to the red sox first baseman bill buckner and all i needed to do was feel the ground ball and toss to the picture covering at first. The ground ball went right through his legs the red sox lost the game and the next day the series. And this morning i confessed to you. That it's all my fault just before mookie wilson stepped to the plate that night my dad and i. Pop the bottle of champagne that has been cooling in the refrigerator we jinxed them so you get the picture after a while these excuses get old and a little sick of them in the current crop of red sox players of any excuse for losing instead they just decided to win. Let's stop wringing our hands about babe ruth in the yankees and the curse and just start winning. Our fate is in our hands. We have control over our destiny. This seems like a healthier response to me in the face of losing time and again. And the cowboy up philosophy seems to be working last thursday the red sox clinched a spot in the playoffs. Red sox fans can almost taste the victory. But the proximity to success raises one of the most potent questions i think for the lover of the underdog. How much do we have invested. In being a loser. How much of our identity is wrapped up in seeing ourselves as an underdog. As the victim of fate. I often ask myself what. I would do with the red sox. The compelling story. It conveys upon us a certain amount of of moral authority. Suffering is all red badge of courage. Victory would require that we tell a whole new story about ourselves. Something to think about. So how do we survive then. How do these red sox fans stay faithful over the years this has been the subject of much theorizing. How come they don't just give up people asking and rude for another baseball team work or switch to football. How do they keep loving in spite of all the losing. Some commentators have pointed out that new englanders are after all puritans and therefore prone to inflict pain and deprivation on themselves but i think it's more than that i think it has something to do with the fact that love. Love even for a sports team runs deeper than success or failure. That it goes to something intrinsic. Two in particular to the lover and the beloved. Red sox fans can't stop loving the red sox because who the red sox are goes to the very core of who they are. They've grown up with the team they know the names and and the staff in the history they were there for yaz's last at bat. They were there when rodger struck out 20. They've been following that one prospect since he was in the rookie league and they're waiting to see if he becomes a star. Fans can't stop loving the red sox because especially in new england all the other people they know and care about love the red sox to they can't stop loving the red sox because there's no place they'd rather be on a sunday afternoon in summer. Then the bleachers in fenway park. They've imagined changing teams before. But it just wouldn't feel right. It wouldn't be the same. Reminds me of some of the stories that i've heard from some of you when this church went through some tough times. When this church had disappointed you and you said. It's my church. I'm going to love it all the same. Sometimes when we are disappointed by the underdogs that we love we need to remember all the reasons that we started loving them in the first place we need to rediscover thesaurus. Hvar commitments to them and then we will find what it takes to keep on loving we discover that actually love is his more enduring than disappointment that it's stronger. Just ask my friend who swears off the red sox every august when they fold only to email me in march with the first good news from spring training. So we'll see. On wednesday the red sox begin a best-of-five game series against the oakland athletics. If they win that series i'll go on to play the winner of the twins yankees series possibly setting up another showdown beef between the forces of good and evil i don't know how it's going to come out this time. I don't know if our hearts will be broken again or if we'll have to grapple with telling a story of how our team is now a winner. But i do know that regardless next spring. My nose will be buried in the sports section once again. Bart giamatti was right when he said about baseball. It is designed to break your heart. But that's only half the story when he forgot to add was that the heart is designed to mend itself over and over again thanks to its capacity for enduring love. And rejuvenating hope. Almond and play ball.

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07.08.26QuestionsOfFaith.mp3

Reading. For today's. Alice walker. Here's the thing. The thing i believe. God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with god. But only them that search for it inside find it. And sometimes it just manifest itself. You not look. And don't know what you looking for. Trouble do it for most for. Sorrel. I asked. Yeah it. Got in a he or she. It's better. What what do it look like. Don't look like nothing she say. Paint a picture show. It ain't something you can look at apart from anything else including yourself. I believe. God is everything. Everything that is or ever was or ever will be. And when you can feel bad and be happy to feel that. You found it. Sugar beautiful something. Let me tell you. She found a little look out across the yard being back in a chair. Big rose. She say. My first step from the old white man with tree. Ben air. Denver. Then. Other people. But one day when i was sitting quiet and. Feeling like a motherless child which i was. It come to me. That feeling of being part of everything. Not separate at all. I knew that if i cut a tree. My arm would leave. Laugh. And cried and i run all around the house. I knew just what it was in fact when it happened you can't miss it. It's sorta like. You know what. Grinning and rubbing high up on my. Oh she said god love all them feeling. That's some of the best stuff god did. And when you know god loves them you enjoy them a lot more. You can just relax go with everything that's going and praise god by lichen. God don't think it dirty i am. No. Play god made it. Listen. God love. Everything you love. And a message stuff you don't. But more than anything else. God love admiration. You saying god bane. No she said nothing. Just wanted to share a good thing. I think it pisses god off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice. Questions of faith. Every year once a year. Usually around the last. Sunday of summer. We have something a little different here at all souls we have an opportunity for folks in the congregation. To ask the questions that are on their hearts. Questions about god questions about stave questions about our church. Questions about life. Over the last couple of weeks. You have submitted those questions to to us and today i'm going to seek to answer some of them. And it's going to be a little bit of a dialogue. Not exactly like the dialogue between. Alice walker's narrator and suge but. Not too much different from that as well a dialogue about. Our deepest questions are deepest. Beliefs. I want to say that as you've. Hand in these questions of the last couple of weeks gregory the worship associate has sorted through them and chosen what he felt were the most representative questions. And once you know that i just saw them for the first time last night. It's my goal that eventually i will have enough confidence that. That i can do this completely spontaneously but i still can't and so i took a little peek at them last night and slept on them. And but will still answer them more less spontaneously this morning is just that i know what's coming at me so with that said they're going to come down right on the floor and we're going to have a dialogue about the questions of faith. It's a good spot. Alrighty so our first question of the first question from the congregation for you to consider. What happens to us when we die. He's right into the. The most honest answer i have to that question is. I don't know. The second thing that comes to my mind to respond to that question and i'll respond more fully into samoan but there's a there's a story from the unitarian tradition that i was like to tell when we. Grapple with this question of life after death and what comes after death which is a story. Of the deathbed scene of henry david thoreau. Famous unitarian. As thorough was on his deathbed and just before he died his family gathered around him holding his hand and praying with him. And he have been coming in and out of consciousness. And and a loved one who's sitting right beside him was holding his hand and said henry david. Telus. Have you seen have you seen the light have you seen the other side. And henry david thoreau opens his eyes and said. To her. One world at a time friends one world at a time. And to a certain extent. That is a unitarian a typical unitarian attitude towards this question in the sense that while many religious traditions. Bass the crux of their theology on what happens to us after we die. Unitarians. Believed that religion is lived out in this life. Not the next life. And that our religion calls us to acts of justice and compassion in this life. To to try to achieve. Wholeness and and redemption in this world. Rather than in another world which isn't to say. That. That there isn't another world that there isn't something. After death. It's rather that the unitarian faith is a faith that focuses on this life on the here and now. Personally. I believe. My in physics there's something called the law of the conservation of energy. Are there any closed system the energy remains constant i believe in the conservation of spirit of spirit. A spiritual energy i believe that every act. Of love. Every act. Of justice every act of compassion that we send out into the world. Is conserved. Mmm never goes away never dissipate in fact i don't believe in the law of the conservation of spirit i believe in the law of the increase of spirit the multiplication of spirit. And. And that for me in a very real sense provide comfort in this question of. What happens to us when we die because i firmly believe. That the way my life affects others now. Is something that will continue on it most obviously in the people that are close to us and that we love. But. I think it's like ripples that each action. Ripple's out and every act of love ripples out into the world and continues to have lasting effect. In the world. And. That's something that personally. Gives me comfort when i think of this question of. What happens to us. When we die. And all of these questions were tended to be repeated things that came up. Over and over. So this is a question. How do you deal. What's religious conflicts in your fam. For example. A new unitarian from a strict religious christian. This question comes up every year around the holiday season. Just before thanksgiving break i get a bunch of panicked phone calls from people who are about to go home and see their family for thanksgiving and there are. And they know they're going to see uncle fred who is. Let's say a very. Conservative evangelical christian and and this person is more press of unitarian and afraid of what's going to happen at the thanksgiving table and so this is what i call this a thanksgiving table question. I think the most i think that our families are a wonderful opportunity. To begin to heal the religious divide that the nation suffers from. The divide between the religious right. And let's call it the religious left for lack of a better word even though those aren't the best. Praises. Because there is separation in the soul of america right now i believe. And our families are wonderful places to try to kill that because that's fisher that divide drives right through many of our families literally right through the thanksgiving table. And. What i always encourage people to do in. These circumstances. Is. To talk to people about your faith. Put to talk on the level not of theology. Don't start talking about abstract principles with people don't debate scripture with people. Instead try to keep the conversation on the level of religious experience. Tell them about your experience of the holy. Tell them about what you love about your church and why. What i find is that. On the level of religious experience. We have a lot more in common. Then. Then we have that's gif. That. That. A unitarian an evangelical christian can talk at the level of their experience of the holy and sometimes realize that those experiences are indeed quite similar. It's when you start getting that level of theology when you start to you know well trinity and you know the doctrine of eno. Ask them what's on there to ask them what's in their heart. About god. You tell them what's on on on yours. That's my my best advice for people. Who are struggling with this. With the situation i think i really want to encourage people i'm really grateful to encourage people. To push it that. Because i think. The family dinner table thanksgiving table is a site of reconciliation of this issue in. In america. Several people were interested in. Permission to have their own spiritual journey. And this question comes out of that. Since most religions predate christianity by thousands of years. Is christianity really the only true faith. Will non-believers be punished by god. I was surprised by this question actually. The simple answer is no. Amen to that. But this whole notion of the one the one true faith. Use. I think on the rise in our world today. And i think is one of the chief sources of. Of suffering and division in our world. Is the belief on the part of some people that their faith. Is the one true faith. Omn not rather that. That all of us are on a journey. For many different faiths. And that ultimately. Those paths are leading to the some summit somewhere that bears. That's that's the same summit. The chair something in common that's that's my faith and so that i have someone's taken another path. I'm going to try even though if it looks like it's the virgin for my i'm going to trust is a switchback somewhere further down the road that's going to take them back and that's that's going to take us both together at the summit. I think it's natural that there is this increase i'm not surprised if there's an increase in religious fundamentalism or the belief in the one true faith. The world is getting more and more complex. And chaotic. And people are trying to find a little bit of order in their lives right it's i mean we all feel this we all feel like things are. Are are chaotic in into complex in the world is becoming a smaller more complex place. The people are reaching for a rock the reaching. For something to give him a foundation but i think that that. That grasping at the one true faith ultimately is a is a is going to fail people because the truth is is that the world is getting more complex. And. That the idea of the one true faith isn't going to explain that complexity. It only explains it if you serve look at the world like this and and and filter out all the things that don't fit. Into into that worldview. But as soon as the world breaks into your blinders and takes them away and the world does that to all of us. Sooner rather than later. Then the one true faith thing breaks down. And a 10 end i watched time and time again people come into this church. Who were formerly of the one true faith. Faith. Feeling disappointed in that face. I'm looking for something that welcomes the complexity of the world and tries to struggle with it. And that's that's what we try to do here. I hope i got it that one. What do you do when you pass a homeless person on the street. Do you think there's something you can do or say in the moment that will truly help that person. Or offer him or her a moment over. Most of you know that i just got back from. Being away for 7 months on sabbatical and. I was inside most of that time in europe. In spain. One of the hardest things coming back. Was. Remembering again and having in my face again. How mean the streets of america are. I was struck by that i didn't really feel that. So much before i left but i felt it strongly when i got back. In-n-out and the number of homeless people on the streets of washington dc and. Is whiskey. Blew my mind away once again coming back from europe where that problem is a much different kind of problem and not nearly as prevalent. So that's something i've really been grieving actually since i've been back. I think the danger of the question is that that there's a notion that there's a homeless person out there. And i think past i've thought about this ethical dilemma as. As the problem of a homeless person. And the truth is i don't think there's one. Best response. 2 to the homeless. I think that just. Just like we're all different the reasons the people on the streets. Very incredibly and i n. I think that. We need to be sensitive to that. In our interactions with people. On the streets of our city. So i think that means. Being alone being savvy. About. About the reasons for people being on the streets i think it means especially i know for me i walk between my house and the church everyday when i come to work. And i see the same some of the same people every day on the streets i think in those cases for instance their opportunities to get to know people and to establish a relationship. The people i've been seen for years. In this neighborhood. Who who i know a little bit of their storied on have a better sense of what an appropriate response might be that those responses could range from referring them to to have dinner over at at sacred heart church at 5 at night. Sometimes it could mean giving them a couple of dollars sometimes it could mean just you know. Giving them a smile. On the street. And so there's for me there was no one answer to that question. It's it's a real situational. And it's an important one for us to grab what i think another important question in that in that whole issue frankly. Is this question which is. What happens to you. When every time you pass a homeless person on this. That's i think an important nother important question what happens to your. Soul. Every time you you know do this. Walk by. I feel. And i've done that. I do that. Something taken from me every time. And i believe that eventually. You add up to many of those experiences of having something taken away from you. And there's some real damage that can be done to your soul into your conscience. And so i think that's an important question for us to tend to as well. How are the habits of our lives. The accumulated habits of our lives. Turn us into people that we didn't want to be. And that we don't think we are. But eventually habits accumulated over a lifetime become the life itself. Sometimes i'm troubled by the hatred i feel. When witnessing the wrongfulness in our political environment. Is there a limit to one's capacity to hate to hate. Border hate intensity. Should there be. I want to distinguish between hate hatred. And anger. I think anger a kind of righteous anger. Can actually be in some cases a helpful thing. But you can do something with. With anger with righteous anger. Then you can turn that into a good. Channel it in good ways. Hatred is a is it something different though hatred. Is. I think is corrosive. And can i don't think it ever lead to anything good. I think it's a little bit like the inability to forgive. It eats like a cancer. It eats away at us. It corrodes our spirits. And is debilitating. But it also is a certain way that i feel kind of good you know. You've. See someone on the news at 6. And they're on there and your they're saying something you don't want to hear and. You say whatever you say to the tv at 6. And you know it feels good little bit things like that out. I think it's corrosive and i think we need to work hard to. 2. Not hate. In our lives. And what i try to do with that is you know because. I feel that a lot as well especially when i see what's happening in our world and our nation and. But i always try to focus on is. Okay i sent i feel like i hate this person. What is it that they have john. What values of mine. Have they violated such that i'm feeling this hatred what are they done. To to encourage this hatred in me. And to pay attention then instead instead of the hatred to the values. Bet you love that this person that you hate has violated. In other words flip the question around get it away from the person and your hatred and focus it back on. The values that you hold dear. So you know if i know because i i know you all and i've read your. Your email to me in your prayers and. That. People are finding a lot of anger and probably even hatred around this whole issue of the war in iraq. And. And what. Part of what we need to do is to remember that the reason we're feeling anger and hatred is because we love peace. And that's what that's how you need to start a transformer and then okay i love peace what can i do to build peace in the world. M and let that you let your aggression out that way rather than screaming at the 6 news. You know go-go march down on the mall go sit in a vigil in front of the white house. Channel that energy in a positive way towards your values rather than against someone. Because hate is a is a corrosive an ugly thing. Okay question so. What elements in our community we need to work on in order to bring more working-class people of color to the congregation. That's a complicated question. I really appreciate the place of that. Question is coming from. Retard bell. In that i part of my time away. I've realized and reflected on the meaning of this church in importance for me. And how i believe that the. The most exciting and important witness that we can make in the world today is a congregation is. Is to live into the fullness of the name of our church. Which is all souls. Enter model to the world. A diverse community. Along lots of different. Lines race. Spiritual orientation sexual orientation. All sorts of. All sorts of things. Because that's where i believe our world is hurting the most our world is broken. Around issues of not being able to live together amongst difference. And so. Part of my coming back from sabbatical is realizing that i think that this is the most important thing. That we do as a congregation is seeking to model that. Epi same time i don't think that you can just say we're going to make a few changes to our congregation and and then suddenly people come come to a congregation i think that's. I think that's simplistic and i'm not sure that's the right approach to the whole problem i think that their religion religion is a. Is a fact a facet of culture. And it's perhaps one of the most embed deeply embedded facets of culture. Until people of different races cultures backgrounds. Sometimes experience religion and religious expression in very different ways. So. I think the the most that i can say about that question is is that if we intend to be. A conga multiracial congregation. To be a congregation of people of all classes people of all genders and sexual orientations. That. That we need to allow for the expression of lots of different cultures in our congregation. Try music. Through our style of preaching. Through. I don't know that through the way our our building looks and through through the way we pray. All of those that goes very deep. And that's. That's the level of depth that we need to be looking at i think to address. At least the spirit behind that question. But i appreciate it because i think. That our quest to build a diverse multiracial congregation is really one of the greatest gifts that we can give. To our city. And to our nation. And to our world. So it's really important. I'm sorry that we didn't have time for more questions. We received i don't know 40 or so questions. And i really want to thank gregory gregory actually had all the questions out on a spreadsheet he is like organized them and mix the carefully crafted them so that that their questions were the most representative of the thoughts that were expressed in it in your questions i want to thank him for that. And i want to thank you all i'm just to say that the questions that weren't answered today that weren't covered. I read. And. You can expect that they will inform my preaching. As bad as it as the year goes on and not only my preaching but. Reverend goodwin's as well. Interesting closing let me say i want to say a thank you right now. And before the new church year starts i want to i want to just acknowledge this. Which is that. I have been away for the last 7 months. And. I've just been delighted how well this congregation how much this conversation is thrive. In in my absence. And much of the credit the credit for that goes to all of you. It goes especially to the members of the sabbatical committee. To help me plan the sabbatical and get it already are the members are members of the sabbatical committee here this morning other a few men stand-up judy. Judith leiber who else is on from the sabbatical committee here just puberty but the person who i really want to thank this morning is reverend shawna lynn good who.

all-souls_org

04.09.12Together.mp3

How reading this morning is. By the feminist theologian carter hayward. From her book our passion for justice. Love. Like truth and beauty is concrete. It is not fundamentally a sweet feeling. Not that hard a matter of sentiments or attraction love is active effective a matter of making reciprocal and mutually beneficial relations with one's friends and enemies. To make love is to make justice. As advocates of justice no loving involves struggle resistance. Risk. If not a warm fuzzy experience sexual lovers and good friends also know that the most compelling relationships demand hardwork patients willingness to endure tension and anxiety in creating empowering bonds for this reason loving involves commitment. We are not automatic lovers. I'm self other world or god. Love does not just happen. We are not love machines love is a choice. Not necessarily a rational choice but rather a willingness to be present to others without pretense or guile a willingness to participate with others in the healing of a broken world. And a broken lives. Love. Is a conversion. To humanity. Some of you will remember that last january i put out a call for folks to. To come in and tell me a story about how the church had impacted their life. A number of you took me off on the opportunity and over the course of listening to these stories. Do your stories. I noticed a theme emerging. One young man wrote an ode to the saying that if the churchkey been reminded once again of his capacity to love. A capacity that he feared he had lost. A woman came to my office to tell me that a relationship she'd been in for many years. Had unraveled. And that should come to church. Reluctantly. Wondering if she can trust. Love again. Immature she said was helping her trust. Another man sat across from me and my office and told me that the church had impacted him in many ways for starters he said i came to all souls as an agnostic and now i'm pretty sure i'm an atheist not exactly music. More spiritual since i've come here and i asked him what do you mean by that. The only way i can explain it is that when i come to all souls church i experienced love. What's more he said to me rob the church is a place. Where i'm learning how to love. Better. The church is a place where i'm learning how to love. Better. To love was the theme that emerged from the stories not love a warm soft fuzzy thing though that's all well and good as long as it lasts but these folks were beyond that point they had all had their hearts broken and we're coming around looking for a different kind of love the hard one kind the well-earned kind the kind that indoors. And they came to church to learn how maybe to do it a little better than next time. How to improve in this human art. Of loving. There are some who say that the greatest tragedy of human living. Is that we are alive. Yep fated to die. And indeed whole religions are constructed to try to ameliorate the pain of this inevitability. But i believe that the tragic dimension of our lives lies elsewhere. For me the tragedy of human living is that we need one another desperately. And we're always pushing each other away. We rely on human relationships to help us save off loneliness and isolation not to mention hunger and cold get we're lousy at forming and maintaining these vital relationships. We need people clothes yet we keep them at arm's length we desire love get we erect barriers we want to show people that we need them and we care for them but instead we communicate indifference or or even hostility. Herein lies our tragic dilemma. That we long to be. Yet it's hard to be. Together. Don't i say together i'm not just talking about our primary intimate relationships on talking about all kinds of togetherness families and clans churches and workplaces and sneeze and condo associations even forming community is always a struggle it's never easy. I realize that i learned this lesson early in my family. Well i was well loved as a child all around me when i was a kid i saw people struggle with love. We had our custody battle that split the family into. There were petty of france that kept proud people from speaking to one another until it was too late. Addiction crept into the system and spread like a cancer destroying cells of love as it went there were suicide attempts failed and successful. When i look back now what i see. Is a group of people who. Who really wanted to love each other. Who really needed each other desperately. But who tragically. Fail. And i don't think my family is unique. You're not reading this morning the theologian carter hayward points out something weeks hardly need reminding of which is that love doesn't come naturally to us. We're always tripping clumsily. Over some combination of the three. So is this enduring kind of love doesn't come naturally then how does it come. How do we learn to form healthy loving relationships and communities how do we stop shooting ourselves in the foot over these things how do we extricate ourselves from this tragic dilemma. I want to suggest three things this morning. Conversion. Covenant. And commitment. Conversion covenant. And commitment. It's my experience. That loving well either in intimate relationships or in community requires something like a conversion. With the greeks used to call a metanoia. A change of heart. Why why is the conversion so important why do we need something so drastic well it's my observation that it's far too easy to retreat from the hard work of creating relationships that have integrity it's far too easy to please every time the going gets tough you know our buttons get pushed the same buttons that have gotten pushed ever since we were kids and then we put up our defenses. The same defenses that we've been putting up since we were kids and we retreat. Or we move on and hang out with some other people until it happens all over again. I think there comes a moment. And for me it felt like a conversion. When you say okay. That's it. I'm going to stick this one out. I'm going to choose the hard path of forming relationships of love and integrity i'm not going to run this time. I'm going to try to be self-reflective i'm going to try to grow and change to not make the same mistakes again because i know that by doing so i will become more fully human more fully who i am called to be in the world i'll be able to love more amply and generously. This fundamental decision is what carter hayward means when she says love is a conversion to humanity. Not a conversion to christianity or islam a conversion to humanity one day we finally decide that we're going to take this thing seriously. And then after conversion comes covenant. To explain what i mean by covenant i want to share with you what i would i talk to couples about when when i'm going to marry them or join them in holy union we sit down in my office and i and i say that that marriage is a covenant not a contract and the difference between a covenant and a contract is a contract is an agreement between two or more parties. A covenant is agreement an agreement between those parties and their god. For their highest values. A contract can be entered into for whatever purposes good or evil a covenant serves our highest ideals. A prenup is a contract marriage is a covenant but we all know about the honeymoon phase of relationships and and when i meet with these couples they haven't even been on their honeymoon yet so the blush of love is particularly new and rosie. And one of the things i try to do is give them tools to strengthen their love when they move past the honeymoon stage so i suggest that they take some time and ask themselves some questions. What do you love. About the other person. What about them drives you crazy. What do you need promise what do i need promised. To be able to stay in relationship with you over the long-term and what can i promise you. Actually the last two questions that tend to be the most illuminating. Because those two questions get to the heart. A covenant what promises must we make to one another in order to have relationships of love and integrity. What commitments should we make now so that our relationship will survive down the road many years later. Many times i last a couple to take these promises and to use them to write their vows and suggest that they return to those vows throughout the course of their relationship in and change them as necessary. Covenant show up in other places too lots of families have covenants i think or a set of ground rules for how they will treat each other classrooms full of kindergarteners have a covenant taped to the wall and four years congregations have had covenants. Outlining the expectations set out for each member. I raised this now because our church is currently creating a covenant. A covenant of rights relation. The committee on ministry a group that pays particular attention to the quality of relationships in our church is going through a process of us asking us essentially the same questions that i asked the newlyweds what are our expectations in light of our highest values. For how we will treat one another in this community. What are the ground rules for how one member of all souls church will treat one another no hitting no shouting no gum with this about this isn't just about being well-behaved that's the least of it when the covenant is done it will represent our vision our vision of how human beings in right relationship are to be with one another answer our best collective answer together when it's so darn hard. The covenant is about figuring out how we're going to do what we've said that we want to do as a church which is we say this i many sundays we just helped every member discover the source of love. In their lives and to cultivate the ability to act on that love. An ever-expanding circles the covenant is about what the young man in my office meant when he said. The church is a place. Where i'm learning how to love. Better. So after conversion. And covenant comes. Commitment. And commitment just means all the difficult things. That it takes to make any relationship work. Discipline. Sacrifice. Patience. Keeping promises. Holding others to theirs. And. When they break their promises. Commitment often means forgiving them. Because let's face that we. Fail so often at this business of love that if it weren't. For forgiveness. I've seen this large and small we would all be walking around this planet. Would not a friend in the world. I was reminded the other day by a member of the staff. The three years ago this sunday in my first sermon as your minister. We talked about love than to. And i told an old folktale about a group of monks in a monastery who have been living together for a long time and sort of forgotten how to get along with each other and how a rabbi came along and try to help them learn how to love again and we agreed that we needed that that needed to be our task here at all souls church. We need to learn to love again. And over the last three years i think we've made more progress on that front than i ever could have dreamed. Back mountain. But there are stages to love and just like those newlyweds who i counsel in my office it's appropriate to acknowledge that churches have. Honeymoons to in their relationships. And that's often used in in the church to talk about relationships the only problem that i have with this metaphor the honeymoon phase is that it's often employed cynically you know when people will come up and say you know was a honeymoon over by which they mean the jaded assumption that everyone then goes back to their old bad behavior again but that's not the way. Good love works. Anyone who's outlasted. The honeymoon stages. Have a relationship. And as i look around i see a number of couples here who have gone well past the honeymoon stages in their relationship. Anyone who's been passed that knows that sure the initial infatuation wears off. To some degree and love becomes more more of a struggle it becomes harder and it does take conversion and it and it does take commitment and it may even take a covenant but if you've gotten to that stage of a relationship you also know that the harder the struggle. The richer. And more complex. And more rewarding. The love. And that's our vision. For our church. As we move forward into yet another year. It's a vision of a church that is maturing in its ability to love its own. A vision of a church that is strengthened in its capacity to love the world. A church where we all become converts to the fragile art of relationship. Church of which we can all say this is a place. Where i'm learning. How to love better. A church where we discover not only the perils. But the promise. Of what it means to be together. I'm in.

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03.01.19MostDurablePower.mp3

Every sunday after a big civil rights march dr. king used to get up in the pulpit on a sunday morning and tell a story for the marchers benefit. It was a story of sister pollard. Sister pollard was a seventy-year-old woman from montgomery who in spite of her age and her failing health was none the less of a dedicated foot soldier in the montgomery bus boycott and the story goes that one day while she was walking through montgomery doing her errands someone drove by in a car and asked sister pollard if she wanted a ride. No thank you she said. The driver asked what ma'am aren't you aren't you tired. Sister pollard replied my feet are tired but my soul is rested. My feet are tired. But my soul is rested this morning many of us can say with sister pollard. But our feet are tired. M cold perhaps. And for those of us who spent the last two nights sleeping on the floor in the basement of the church karbacz might not feel too well either our feet are tired but our souls are rested. Our souls. Arrested. Our souls are rested because we heeded the call of our conscience. Our souls are rested because we stood up for what we believed in. Our souls are rested because we met wrong with right. Our souls are rested because we know the peace of mind that comes when our actions and our conscience or one accord. Kids are good feeling this piece. It is a good feeling to know that our actions are true to our values. Because so often unfortunately we live with a gaping chasm between the two. Between our ideals and our actions. Between our lives as we know they should be and our lives as they are. And when this is the case then our souls. Say that while our feet may be tired our souls. Arrested. Or are they. Are they rested. You know sometimes i wonder if we will ever know the peace of mind that someone like a sister pollard must have known. I wonder if we'll ever rest as secure as she must have in the knowledge that we have met wrong with right. It seems like back then the moral lines were drawn sharper more clearly. Maybe it's just kind side but it seems that back then it was easier to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. Today the world is a more complicated place. So often it feels like we're not choosing good over evil but merely between the lesser of two evils. After all our nation is preparing for war against and unscrupulous. Capricious and brutal dictator. A dictator who has sought to exterminate a minority populations within his border a dictator who is refused to alleviate the suffering of his people when he could we can all agree i think that the world would be a better place. With saddam hussein out of power and yet many of us marched yesterday to prevent our nation from using war as a means to his removal. So i can understand how people of integrity. Could choose otherwise. I disagree. But i can understand. That maybe the curse of illiberal you know the columnist george packer wrote recently that a liberal is someone temperamentally inclined to see the world as a complicated place if that's a liberal that i'm guilty as charged. But if that's what liberals believe then the liberals are right. The world is a complicated place. And because that's so perhaps our souls will never be completely rested. Perhaps we will never know the peace the assurance that sister pollard new but let me say this. That is no excuse. 4 in action. The sin of liberals and here i count myself among the sinners. Put the sin of liberals our tragic flaw is that we can become paralyzed by our sophisticated and nuanced and complicated view of the world. We use it as an excuse for inaction. But friends just because the world is a complicated place doesn't mean that we don't know the difference between right and wrong anymore. It's no excuse for inaction. For there are some things. That we know are true. We know for example that ultimately a war against iraq is not a war against saddam hussein. It's a war against the iraqi people they will die not him that we know is true. We know that the best doctrine of pre-emption is not to declare war as if it were a point of personal privilege but the best doctor in the pre-emption is to create a world where justice and equity prevail for in that world there will be no need of war we know that is true we know that it is wrong for another nation's children. To die in order to quincy unslakable thirst of another nation's sport-utility vehicles we know that is true we know that the churches should spend less time talking about theories of just war and more time talking about practices of just peace we know that america the democracy can bless the world. Put that america the empire. Will surely cursive we know that is true. And for these reasons for these reasons and for others we marched yesterday for peace our feet may be tired. But our souls are rested. The other day on dr. king's birthday. Coretta scott king was interviewed on television. Before the end of the interview the reporter asked her what her husband would have thought about impending war with iraq in. Mrs. kingdom your she said no she didn't like to get into the habit of speaking on behalf of her husband putting words into his mouth. But. In this case she said there was no doubt. Martin would have opposed this war she said. It's against everything he held dear. And indeed one year to the day before his death king spoke at riverside church in new york to a gathering of clergy and laity concerned an ecumenical group formed to oppose the war in vietnam and he said this. The war in vietnam. Is but a symptom of a far deeper malady. With the american spirit. And if we ignore this sobering reality he said we will find ourselves organizing clergy and laity concerned committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about guatemala and peru. They will be concerned about thailand and cambodia we will be marching for these and a dozen other nations and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in american life and policy. Such thoughts take us beyond vietnam he said. But not beyond our calling. As children of the living god. Yes dr. king would be disappointed. That we still have to march today. But he would not be surprised. Last night here at the church. We've got about 300 hungry unitarian marchers. From around the country. We had another sixty or so sleeping on our basement floor still another couple dozen slept. That your homes this weekend. And i want to thank those of you who helped provide all the hospitality on this weekend who helped provide all of the organization i want to thank our social justice committee who organized the event who who created housing for peace.com to to organize the whole effort i want to thank our most recent roots and wings class who made the dinner who cleaned up afterwards and all of you who marched yesterday if you participated in any way in the events of yesterday here at the church or down in the mall i want you to stand now so we can thank you all and thank one another we had a small program here in the sanctuary. A young woman from the unitarian universalist washington office had just returned from a delegation to iraq and she showed us her slides the ones i remember the most. The ones that i saw when i close my eyes to go to sleep last night. Were the pictures of the iraqi children. Pocket children. Looking curiously into a foreigners camera lens. School children playing in a courtyard going about their daily lives under the threat of war we know how that feels like don't we little bit in the wake of september 11th and the sniper attacks. And then there were the pictures of the children. Babies mostly. Wasting away in their mothers arms. In iraq children died from simple things. Preventable things. Like respiratory infections and diarrhea. There were also pictures of horribly deformed babies lying like specimens. In-hospital cribs. Birth defects are common now in iraq. During the gulf war the united states became the first military to use shells made out of depleted uranium depleted uranium remains radioactive for 4.5 billion years. When one of these shells hit the target most of it explodes in the dust from the shell. Flow through the air some of it ending up in people's lungs others ending up in the local water supply doctors suspect that the uranium is causing the birth defect. Us veterans suffering from gulf war syndrome suspect the same cause for their ailments. We saw pictures of a few children last night but experts estimate that a half-million babies have died in iraq because of the aftermath of the first war and the ensuing sanctions. In other words. About as many children have died needlessly and iraq as there are residents of washington d.c.. We know. But ultimately. A war against iraq is not a war against saddam hussein. It is a war against the iraqi people and against the iraqi children. They will die. Not him. We know that is true. Because we've seen it happen already. The last night as i tried to go to sleep with these images in my mind i thought i had to this morning to the beautiful service we would have here and to the two children. That we would welcome into this world and into our community this morning. And i thought to myself that every child deserves a warm welcome into the world. No child deserves less. During our dedication ceremony we said it is our faith. Betty each child born. Is one more redeemer. Yet since the gulf war we've been accomplice to the murder of a half-million children i daresay that our world can't afford to lose any more redeemers. In our service this morning we acknowledge the divine spark that dwells within each child with with so many children dying of war and hiv and famine across the world we are in danger of extinguishing not only the sparks but the very light of god itself. Friends. Let us not. By our actions. Make our children. Mortal and perpetual enemies. Of the children of the world. This morning we pledged to be worthy guardians. Of these young lives. To build a community we said in which they will grow old. Surrounded by beauty. Embraced by love. Cradled in the arms of peace. Friends let that be our promise. To all the children. Of the world. Let us build a land. For all the worlds. Redeemers. God help us. I'm in.

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07.01.21MindingOurOwnBusiness.mp3

My heart is. Full. With that list of. Sorrows. Enjoys in our community. This morning. Sometimes when my heart is full i turn. To a poet too many of you have. Heard me turn to before. To a poem that some of you will find. Familiar. Poem that. Ministers to me when my heart is full. The poem that i think will lead us into. The difficult sermon. I have to preach this morning. It's by mary oliver and it's called. In blackwater woods. Look. The trees are turning. Their own bodies into pillars of light. Are giving off the rich fragrance of cinnamon. And fulfillment. The long tapers of cattails are bursting and floating away. Over the blue shoulders of the pond. And every pond. No matter what its name is is nameless now. Every year. Everything i have ever learned in my lifetime leads back. To this. The fires. And the black river of loss. Who's other side is salvation. Whose meaning none of us will ever know. To live in this world. You must be able to do three things. To love what is mortal. To hold it against your bones. Knowing your own life depends upon it. And when the time comes to let it go. To let it go. Frederick buechner. With living appearance. Worst nightmare. His child was dying. And there was nothing he could do. What happened was this he begins in his memoir. Telling secrets. One day one of our daughters. Began to stop eating. At first there was nothing scary about this it was just the sort of thing. Any girl who thought she'd be prettier if she lost a few pounds might do. Nothing for breakfast. Maybe a carrot or a diet coke for lunch. For supper perhaps a little salad. Would low calorie dressing. As months went by. It did become scary. She got more and more thin. Till she began to have the skull face and fleshless arms and legs of a victim of buchenwald. No rational argument. No dire medical warning no pleading orca jewelry or bribery would make this young woman i loved. It's normally again but only seemed to strengthen her determination not to. Finally when she had to be hospitalized. Eye doctor called one morning to say that unless they started feeding her against her will. She would die. Frederick buechner. Careful in his memoir. Not to tell his daughters story. Because it's not really his to tell. What he does share though is his own story the story of how his daughter's illness affected him. And what he learned about love. From living through it. And i share his story with you because i believed his lessons offer us a difficult. But necessary piece of wisdom. Listen to what he says. My anorectic daughter. We're starving to death. But without knowing it so was i. She had given up food. I had virtually give virtually given up doing anything in the way of feeding myself humanely. To be a piece has to have peace inside yourself more or less in spite of what is going on outside yourself. In that sense i had no peace at all if on one particular day she took it into her head to have a slice of toast say. With her. Dietetics supper. Then i was in 7th heaven. If on some other day she decided to have no supper at all. I was in hell. I choose the term hell with some care. He adds. And i should add here that bigner is a minister. So he's particular about his theological terms. Hell he says his where there is no light. And only darkness. And i was so caught up in my fear for her life. Which had become in a way. My life 2. The none of the usual sources of light worked anymore and light was what i was starving for. Bikaner had lost. His sense of inner peace. He lost his center. His soul was starved and he'd begun to depend on his daughter to provide for him with his soul no longer could. This may sound familiar to some of us. How many times have we relied. On the love of another. For our own sense of love. An inner peace. Getting beaten ears case his dependence on his daughter proved a deadly combination for her illness anorexia nervosa you see is the complicated result of a young person's conflicting desires to be on the one hand secure and loved and on the other hand free and autonomous. Bikaner and his daughter were caught in a deadly spiral dance the more his daughter refused to eat the more bikaner clung to her. The more he clown the more she sought autonomy by refusing to eat. Bikaner himself couldn't see this fatal pattern so finally the doctors stepped in and said to him. We know this is hard for you. But you need to stay away. You're making things worse. They said to him. Can you imagine saying that to a child's parents. The doctor's words were like a slap in the face to bikaner. Is it they said to him mind-your-own-business pop. What his daughters business was his business thank you very much. At first bikaner was offended. But later came to hear the doctor's words as a prophetic. Teaching. To him. Soon. The phrase mind your own business became for became a kind of shorthand. For the lessons in love. That he learned from his daughter's illness. Now i know that mind your own business. He's a strange title for a sermon about love. Generally speaking in common parlance the phrase means don't stick your nose into matters that don't concern you. And at first glance this secular proverb seems to have no religious leg to stand on. After all the world the word religion means literally to bind together again. Over and over the great religions of the world affirm the unity in the interdependence of the human family in such a world there's no such thing as one's own. Business we are our brother's keeper. Our sister's business is our own. Certainly our daughters is. Yet ironically when he looked back on his daughter's death struggle. Bikaner find found wisdom in these words. Mind your own business. They became for him. A mantra. Of sorts. And encouragement to pay attention. To his own soul. To be mindful in the in the eastern sense of that word if you will. To to pay attention to be attentive to the quality of his spirit it became a plea for groundedness. And centeredness. Looking back beetner realize how his lack of attention to his own inner life. Left him with few resources to support his family. When their lives began. To unravel. Minding your own business he writes means pay mind to your own health. And wholeness. Both for your own sake. And for the sake of those you love. Take care of yourself. So you can take care of them. A bleeding heart he said. Is no help to anybody. If it bleeds to death. How easy it is to write those words. Bikaner reflects. How impossible it was to live them. Many of us i'm afraid find it difficult to attend. To our spirits. When things are going well. Too often and i can speak from experience here. Spirituality falls further down on our to-do list than even. Going to the gym. And that's not even that high for me at least. Yet the quality of attention we pay to our souls in the good times. Becomes an invaluable resource for us when the going gets tough. I define spirituality as the cultivation. Of a relationship. With the source of love. In our lives. For some of us that source is god. Others of us call that source by a different name. Regardless of what you call it that sources are center. It's our home. Our rock. It's what grounds are lies in love no matter the trials and tribulations. Of our lives. It isn't ever replenishing bounce. Of love. Without it we don't have any to give. And especially in a crisis we find ourselves wanting so yes. Mind your own business. Pend. To your soul. And to your spirit. You know jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love our neighbors as ourselves and i think that's an interesting formulation of. Of his teaching it's a curious way of putting it he could have just told us to love our neighbor. But i think he realized that a healthy self-love. Is a prerequisite. Two loving. Fathers. A bleeding heart is of no help. If it bleeds to death. So tending to his own spirit. Was the first lesson. That his daughter's illness taught. Fred beekman. Are you could understand that after all he was a minister. The second lesson however. He found harder. To take. And i found difficult to. When the doctors told bikaner. In effect. To mind his own business. To step away from his daughter. Part of what they were trying to suggest. Was that his love for his daughter would be better expressed in this situation. If you restrained. That love. If you pulled it back. Just a little bit. Just at the time that she appeared. To need it most. How do you tell if parents to do that. To live in this world rights mary oliver. You must be able to do three things. To love what is mortal. To hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends upon it. And when the time comes to let it go. To let it go. For most of us i think the holding on. Comes easier. Then the letting go. I know because. I've heard enough of your stories to know that many of us struggle. With this very question. Like frederick buechner we have a loved one. Who is in dire need. Who is calling out. For our health. Get something deep within us. Nose. Or believes deep down. That perhaps what they need most. Is for us to step back. Just a bit. To give them a little bit more space. To find their salvation. On our own. This is perhaps. The hardest. Form of love. That we can imagine. To step back. When everything about our instincts for love. Tells us. To russian. I see this especially. With parents. Of adolescence. And young adults. Children. Trying to discern how much freedom and autonomy to give their children. I see the struggle also. With people who live with those suffering with addictions. Who struggle with whether their love for someone. Itself becomes a form. Of enabling. Frederick buechner calls the kind of love that he's talking about here. The kind of love that he learned when he struggled with his daughter's illness. A passionate. Restraint. Passionate restraint. It takes a great deal of strength. And self-differentiation to love. With such restraint. Because our loved ones will often see that restraint is a form of abandonment. And it may even feel like that to us. 2. Furthermore we might discover as bickner did that i love for the other is not holy. Self-giving. That we depend on that love. For our own sense. I'll be her peace and wholeness. So what does letting go look like. Well it doesn't mean. Withholding one love. From the other. It doesn't mean that. It means continuing to love but restraining that love and the best image i can come up with is not particularly eloquent. But it seems to work at least for me. I grew up spending a lot of time around lakes. And swimming pools. And as a kid we were taught that if a person. Was drowning in the pool or in the lake. We were not to jump in. To try to save that person. Because the likelihood was at the struggling person. Would take us down with them. That we would both drown. Instead we were to stand firmly. On dry land. And to reach out to the person. With a strong arm. Or we the life preserver. Or with a lifeguards stick. And then. Because we were firmly grounded. We can pull them. To safety. I like this image. Because it emphasizes both. The necessity for our own. Groundedness. Our own centeredness. And also because it recognizes the truth. That's sometimes. Sometimes when we create a greater distance between ourselves and our loved ones. We're actually loving them. More. Big nurse daughter was saved. What saved her he believes. Is that when she was finally hospitalized for her anorexia. It happened to be in a hospital. 3000 miles away from her father. Where he couldn't overwhelm her with his love. Where her doctors could lavish upon her. A more appropriate. And restrained form. Applause. Little by little he writes. The young woman i loved began to get well. Emerging out of the shadows. Finally. As strong and sane and wise. Has anybody. I know. To live in this world you must be able to do three things. To love what is mortal. To hold it against your bones. Knowing your own life depends upon. And when the time comes to let it go. To let it go. I often wish that the poem had another line. Online that explain for us. When we should hold on. And when we should let go. In the absence of such hard fast rules. We are left with our faith. And with our wisdom. Are safe that just as we have within ourselves. A replenishing source of love. So2. Do i loved ones who struggle. A faith that they in partnership with that. Replenishing love. Can discover the means to their own. Salvation. When all our efforts. Had failed to help them. And wisdom. Forest loving means holding on and letting go. It is my wish that when it is necessary for us to hold on. That we have the strength to hold on. And when it's necessary for us to let go. We find the courage. To let go. And that all of us. With prayer. Discovers the wisdom.

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04.11.28BlueChristmas.mp3

Are we eating this morning comes from the reverend james epcot titled the christmas spirit. Newsletters from other churches arrived in the mail everyday so i read them and they get me to thinking for example. Ministers columns. This time of year say one of two things. The holiday season is a happy time. For the holidays are depressing. The happytime school of thought makes the case for generosity good shear and a deepening spirituality. Whereas the depression advocates cite studies that prove the winter holidays are difficult at the moment the happy holidays group has a slight head. The freshest crop of phds having studied our december moods. And declared them to be married after all. I beg to differ with no imperative empirical work to it all to back me up i'd like to make a case for people being regular people even when december rolls around sure mom is frantic after thanksgiving but she is a frantic person in general. Brother john is nonchalant about the holidays but he's always been the laid-back type aunt martha gears up for a family squabble but remember she set up around or two in july. Uncle john is a natural santa. But he's a sweetie all year long. In our family we will incessantly explain where's your christmas spirit. From thanksgiving until the 25th. This phrase at our house is always benedum noxious code for lighten up it's christmas time get married not human. I'm changing the code this year christmas spirit will refer to the fact that we are who we are mary or depressed. And we love each other. Anyway. So ends the reading. It is so good to be with you on this first sunday of advent. I've been hearing so many wonderful things about this congregation from rob and shawna that i jumped at the chance to be able to be in washington and speak with you this morning. I want to thank you not only for your warm welcome to me but also for your wisdom. And your courage. And calling rob to be your minister. Rob and i went through the search process together and from the very beginning as you probably know his dream was to serve this congregation. Those of us who know him and love him knew he would be perfect. But not every congregation has the courage. For the wisdom to call a young minister right out of seminary. You did and i have been watching and hearing from atlanta with great joy and how it is working out. I suppose the best compliment a minister can give to one of his colleagues in a congregation is to say this if i could worship at any congregation in our association. Given what i know of rob and shauna and the good work that i've heard about you all. It would be all souls unitarian. So i am very honored and blessed to be with you this morning. Most of you probably know the eat unitarian universalist congregation is a bit different. The congregation i serve in atlanta is much newer than you were only 35 years old and a lot smaller. We have different worship practices as well one of those i discovered when i was talking to louise about the services they did not my congregation we change the picture on the order of service every sunday to try and match the theme of the service. They may be hard to believe but often many weeks this is one of the hardest things i have to do and this was especially true when i preached the version of this sermon a few years ago. After all how do you depict a blue christmas. Course my first thought was elvis elvis is as good an icon for a blue christmas as bing crosby is for a white christmas. If i had a better voice i would have loved to put on a wig and sing a bit of a blue christmas without you but knowing how wonderful this congregations musical reputation is i would not want to tarnish it too much with my poor voice so elvis isn't quite right about screwed-up flaming chalice which is always our standby when we can't think of anything better. And even a teardrop. But eventually the best symbol for a blue christmas i could think of was the scrawny christmas tree from charlie brown's christmas special. If you have not seen charlie brown's christmas special i will let you know that it will be on a week from tuesday night for the 39th consecutive year. Of all the annual holiday specials it is one of the few that deal with the topic of today's sermon depression. Charlie brown spends most of his time in the show bemoaning the loss of the true christmas spirit to commercialism and greed and no matter what his friends do to try and cheer him up. He walks to the whole holiday season depressed. I don't want to spoil the ending for those of you who have not seen it yet. But suffice to say that ask ronnie christmas tree has something to do with charlie's glimmer of hope returning at the end of the show. Charlie would probably agree with jane jephthah's reflections on the christmas spirit that i read just a few moments ago. One of his most endearing traits is it charlie always seems to be a bit down. A bit frustrated with a life that rarely works out the way he wish it would. For charlie to magically wake up after thanksgiving and have a transformation into a holly jolly christmas elf. Would not be right. His frustrations in disenchantment with the holiday season are consistent with who he is. And the joy and sliver of hope. It comes with a lonely christmas tree he finds on christmas eve. Provides as we know if we read his comics since 1965 only a brief respite. For his spirit. Depending on the carroll you hear this is the most wonderful the happiest or the halia stand jolliest time of the year. For every sad christmas carol there seems to be 5 or 10 or 20. Happy ones. Religious leaders like this one. Like to preach about the joy and love the peace and hope the faith than folly. That the holiday season brings. Sometimes we forget that there is much more to the season. Then ho ho hos. And follow lala lies. This morning i'd like to acknowledge those feelings that are not so jolly those colors that often look more blue than white. Because this time of year. Even if we do not profess a belief in or celebrate christmas hanukkah kwanzaa or the winter solstice. Has a way of stirring up feelings and emotion that cause it's not only stress indices. But often help us do things that we later regret. I suppose it says a lot about me and how i feel about this time of year. The charlie brown story is my least favorite holiday show a ball. And i know holiday shows. Each year i start getting excited about the holidays around labor day when i usually start listening to christmas songs that that could thanksgiving time i scour the tv guide in the newspaper for the list of the new holiday movies and special some of you may know the recent tv guide has all of them in it. If you haven't gotten it yet i went my two sons were younger it was easy for me to make them watch frosty and rudolph and winnie-the-pooh and charlie the brown charlie brown in the muppets with me but now they're 17 and 24 it's not so easy. When i first met my wife kathleen it was easy to talk her into watching reruns of it's a wonderful life miracle on 34th street in my favorite. The hall holiday hallmark hall of fame movies. What would i really like the commercials. But now after 20 years of watching me cry when frosty melts. When jorge hears that clarence got his wings. When grandpa gets a hanukkah card from his childhood friend. My family usually encourages me to watch those shows alone. Lucy for most of my life i have loved the holiday season more than any other time of the year. When i was a kid i could not wait to put up the tree even though it was aluminum. And the purple decorations that went with it with it when i was a teenager i could not wait to go shopping to buy things to give away and when i was an adult i could not wait especially after i bought my santa's helper suit in my early twenties. Define ways to share time and goodies with people i loved. And people i never met. The reason charlie brown wasn't my favorite holiday character. Mainly because his outlook about the holiday which was not as magical as happy and jolly as i wanted the season to be. Baby his reality scared me a little bit. Maybe i was afraid that one day the holiday season might not be so jolly. Or marry. Today i stand before you somewhat reluctantly. Admitting at charlie brown's perspective on christmas on the holiday season might be the most honest of them all. Charlie acknowledged in a small way with so many people do not talk about so many people try to suppress this time of year. But the holidays are a mixture of many things happy and sad. White. And blue. How do you feel. This time of the year. For many the holiday season brings it confusing mixture of feelings. For those who today are not christians but we're in their childhood. Christmas may have little or no religious value because they rejected the birth story of jesus. Leaving though intellectually this maybe so. Many have fun memories of midnight masses. In rituals that made christmas a special time of year. For those who are jewish buddhist hindu or muslim. The holiday season is a time. When the feeling of being religiously marginalized. Maybe at its highest. Especially in the south where i live. Even though each of these religious traditions celebrate holidays this time of year. We don't hear much about hanukkah sales. For diwali community celebrations. Maybe you are fed up with the commercial commercialization that christmas and santa claus seem to increasingly bring each year. That's what the press is charlie brown the most. Peace on earth and goodwill to all. I guess you haven't made a trip to the shopping mall yet this year. Greed has replaced giving for many in the season seems getting longer and longer all the time. Is russell baker wrote a few years ago christmas nowadays persists like an onset of shingles. You spend the month getting ready for it and two weeks getting over it. The list of reasons why we get down this time of year is almost as long as a child's christmas list. Who's been watching saturday morning cartoons. Recovered from the election results and we are all grieving the ongoing war and violence throughout the world. And how far we are from peace on earth. Summer struggling financially and are having to cut back or eliminate traditional gift-giving. Some might be experiencing their first holiday season away from someone they love. Because of a move. A death. Or a breakup. The holidays are a time for shopping. Family gatherings and parties. What time for memories in anticipation. Hopes and dreams. A time for reflection ritual and religion. All of these can be sources of great joy and cheer. All of these. Can be sources. Of depression. If i were to give one word for the biggest cause of depression this time of year. It would be expectation. Expectations for what we have. But we should feel what we should believe expectations others have of what we should feel in believe. Expectations that may or may not be realistic. Expectations that we put on ourselves and others put on. Taco bus. Expectations our culture puts on us. All of these help us to set up set us up for disappointment. And sometimes even depression. Sometimes these expectations are normal and healthy. We would all like to be with people we care about and love this time of year. We would like to feel happy and jolly and share those feelings with others. We like to have a holiday that captures the best of the season. And leaves out those things that causes stress. Loneliness. For sadness. Hop in our expectations are unrealistic. And crazy making. We think we can bake all the cookies. Do all the shopping visit all of the relatives send out all the cards and of course find time for ourselves as well. We think we can make people happy with that perfect gift for we think this year things will be different around the family dinner table. When alcohol starts flowing in the hurts and pain. From holidays past are being remember. We plan on recreating the holiday traditions that we best remember and love. Even though the people in our life may not want any part of them. And they have reminded us of this year after year. What a my fondest childhood memories was gathering with all my family cousins grandparents aunts and uncles on christmas eve. We ate chili every year and then opened our presents at midnight. Christmas day we played with our new toys and eat lots of good food. I do not remember how many years we actually got together like this. And i've done my best to forget the arguments the adults at every year after dinner. When they were eating mince pie. But for christmas to be christmas in my mind for many years. My expectation has always been there will be family and food around. When that has not happened. I have felt the greatest pain of holiday depression. It was in one of those years a years when i had recently lost my fiance. I miss feeling very sad and depressed that i discovered a book that has become one of my favorite holiday books of all time. The book will never be made into a holiday special. But it probably has as much to do with how i view the holiday season is rudolph frosty or ebenezer ever has. The books titled be your own santa claus. It was written by a counselor susan gordon stultz in 1978. She discovered in her practice that people with diverse problems had common needs during the holidays. She designed the workshop and then wrote a book to help people who wanted to get more meaning and joy. And less stress and depression out of the holidays. Someone who is live with depression at different times in his life and he was counseled people who suffer from it. I know there are different levels of depression and different ways to treat it. For some people therapy and or medication is the most effective treatment. Brothers especially people who suffer this time of year from sad. Seasonal affective disorder. Spending time in sunlight. Is the most effective treatment. And for some especially during this time of year discovering a few new ways to act and lowering a few expectations. It helped turn the blues in the blahs of the holidays. And do a happier time. But thanks to stoltz i offered to you this morning 12 suggestions. 12 gifts if you will for adding more hohoho unless boo hoo hoo. To your holiday season. Think of these is a different version of the 12 days of christmas. The first suggestion is to determine what you need to be present for the holidays. To have meaning. And magic. For you. For those of you who have written off december for many years this may be difficult to do. Decider leon come back today what would make this season special for you. Reflecting what you can do in the next month so that you look back in january and say this was one of your most meaningful your most magical holiday seasons ever. Maybe you get meaning from singing or listening to carol's maybe you have to watch it's a wonderful life for the charlie brown christmas special like i do maybe you need to go for a hike in the woods. Maybe you need to bake cookies and give them all away maybe you must attend candlelight services on christmas eve maybe you simply need to spend a day or two with your family and friends. Whatever you need to do to make this a meaningful season. Do it. I'd encourage you also to look for how you can find religious and spiritual meeting this time of year. Does not matter if you are unitarian universalist christian or jewish or pagan or humanist. This time of year offers everyone a chance to find a way to connect more deeply. To that which is greater than us. Whether that be god the birth of jesus. The return of the sun. The wonder we see in children's eyes. For the love we share a little more openly. This time of year. The second suggestion is to do very few things you resent strongly and prefer not to do. No matter how hard we try we cannot avoid other people's expectations this time of year but if we really hate going to uncle fred's. Or can't stand writing christmas cards we have the right to say no. When we don't we are setting ourselves up for much unhappiness. Number three others to be responsible for their own holiday. At least ones really hard for holiday junkies like me. I want to create the perfect holiday for everyone of course more often i create frustration and resentment. But others make their own lists and let them do what they want to do. You will find more time to have a better holiday for yourself. And your friends and family will like you even more come january. Number for acknowledge and feel your feelings. Don't cover up your sadness your loneliness your emptiness. With alcohol food or overdoing. Admit to yourself and hopefully to someone else. That you are not feeling. Happy and jolly. Depression sadness and loneliness. Ari's natural normal. His happiness excitement and joy. Own up to all of them and remember that you are not alone. Number five let others have their feelings too. I personally make a pledge this year not to call anyone a scrooge or a grinch. And that's hard for me i can feel happy when someone else feel sad and they can feel joyful. When i feel blue. Number 6 live in the here and the now. This one may be the hardest gift for me to unwrap. I love to look at the pictures and remember christmas is when i have my boys were little and santa claus was more welcome in our home. I love him to remember the good old days when grandma was still alive and we baked cookies and brought them to the homeless. Our memories are part of what makes this time of year so special. But they also can rob us of the memories we create today. When we get stuck. In comparing today. But yesterday. Cherish the past. Live. For today. Number 7. Grieve. Feel the loss is in the changes. My family and i grieve every year when we do not get to spend the holidays with our family back home in california. Life has changed since we moved to atlanta. And pretending that it doesn't. Hasn't just doesn't work. Every year brings new changes. Often new losses to our life. The holidays are when grief comes back at its strongest even when we think we've already done all of our grieving. Feel it. Field again. And then move on. Number 8 let go of past disappointments. If your childhood holidays were awful. Maybe it's time to turn the page. If you've always been someone who hates the holidays and cannot wait till they are over. Maybe it's time to try something new. We can create the holidays of our dreams. Number 9 ask. For what you want. Our kids are good at doing that this time of year we should take some notes. Do not expect that people will know what you're thinking or feeling or what you want ask for it you may not get it. But you have more of a chance of getting it then if you don't. And this includes especially. Asking for help. Number 10. Take good care of yourself. Sugar alcohol and overspending will not do it. Taking long walks working out in the gym. Praying meditating. Taking long baths. Spending time with friends. Or even crying at hallmark commercials. Probably will. Number 11. Laugh and do it with other people. Isolation and gloominess are two of the most common symptoms of depression when the avalanche of expectations and stresses start piling up. Remember that what gets anna through the season. Is that he laughs a lot. Watch funny movies. If you sync hallmark commercials are the cheesiest things you have ever seen laugh at them while i cry be silly have fun remember that laughing is more fun when we do it with others. Even for introverts. Did the wise words of gk chesterton. Angels fly because they take themselves lightly. Number 12. Do something for others. The best medicine i know when i'm feeling blue is to get out of my own problems and do something. For someone else. Make a phone call to someone who lives alone. Bake cookies and give them away. Help feed someone who is hungry. Get involved in a social justice project here it all souls. Do it for the holidays and then do it every month of the next year. I can almost guarantee you. That you will feel better next december. These 12 gifts probably will not make your heart grow three times larger like the grinch. Or make you jump out of bed on christmas morning and ask a boy in the neighborhood to go buy at the biggest turkey and give it to tiny tim. But they may help you find the glimmer of hope. The charlie brown found in his simple bear christmas tree. They might help you create a new holiday tradition the tradition of finding more joy and meaning in the midst of stress and unrealistic expectations. Blue and white. Mary and sad. The holidays come in different colors. And in many different moods. May yours be the best that they can be. Maybe so. Allen.

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07.02.25UnconditionalLove.mp3

I'm having a great deal of fun introducing our guests every week i don't know what i'm going to do when rob comes back i'm going to kind of miss it. Cuz you already know him. What this week on our tour of wonderful guests and speakers and getting to hear the words of wisdom of many and our tradition we get to invite. And welcome the reverend john t creswell jr to our pulpit. John currently serves as the minister of davies memorial unitarian universalist church. Yes that davies doctor a pal davies of this congregation. I helped spawn john's church. He has been involved in that congregation in and making it more diverse so we're very envious of the fact that davies now is nearing 40% diversity. Yeah that's what i said. And if the congregation is located in camp springs maryland so he made it in from pg county this morning. John also has a book about to come out called the charge and the chalice which is about the story of the davies church in the work they've been doing on diversity there. So maybe in april some of us will pick up a copy and learn a little bit about how what they've been doing out there. So i hope you'll join me in welcoming a guy who's got a great sense of humor wonderful vive and spirit. And is also just a wonderful speaker i think you'll enjoy them very much. Reverend john creswell. I've never felt so tall in my whole life. I am so honored to be here this morning. I am overwhelmed by. How many people came to church on a snow day. I have 150 members and i can probably guarantee you'll probably 50 people came to church today. Fairweather unitarians. I. Stand in a very sacred place. And i'm aware of that. Reverend dr. paul davies. Reverend duncan howlett. Reverend david eaton. And course reverend rob hardee's and red with shawna lynn good. I am honored and humbled to be in this. Place today. So what do i say to a church that is already diverse that is already. Manifesting is greatness. What can i say that can. Can challenge you. Well let me start by saying that i believe. That you can do even more. The make straight the path for justice. You have the ability to change this community this city. This country and this world. Even more. And you have the capacity to love. Even greater. I'd like to share some words with you from dr. king. As the chief moral guardian of the community. The church. Must implore people to be good and well-intentioned. And must extol the virtues of kindheartedness. And conscientiousness. But somewhere along the way the church. Must remind people that devoid of intelligence. Goodness and conscientiousness. Will become brutal forces leading to shameful crucifixion. Never must have church tire of reminding people. That they have a moral obligation of moral responsibility. To be intelligent. And that is to say. That we must always keep our hearts open. To grow. And change. Or risk losing ourselves. You see dr. king was well aware of the history of persecution within the church. As a result of ignorance. This ancient symbol of faith and hope lost itself. Became drunk with the wine of its own power. By not challenging primitive theologies and outdated concepts. That needed to evolve. Embassy historic church that dr. king refers to. Maintain its authority. Not with a loving kind ham. But rather with a yoke and a sword in hand. And was responsible for thousands upon thousands of shameful crucifixion. 8-hour day. The church as you know. We don't really crucified folk anymore. Well. But we do sometimes neglectful. Not a church is supposed to be the place. We go for support love and nurturing. Yet far too often not here but far too often the doors. That should be open to all people are found theologically and philosophically close. Broken hearts and not mended. Love is not given and received and the church becomes a joke. In the minds of those it has rejected. When will i owe the church as an institution to become. Too self-serving. To institutional. We are in jeopardy of losing. The love we so freely share. I want explain that in just a second second. Now my sermon topic is unconditional love. And many people believe that love is unconditional. But i don't. Love for me is conditional. There are conditions that must exist. Would love to be manifest. In a church. If a congregation becomes two thing oriented. To building oriented. To budget oriented. And not people oriented and locally grounded in your community and your ministry. It is in jeopardy of losing itself. The church is in danger of changing the atmospheric condition that allows the spirit of love to dwell abundantly. Do you hear me this morning. We can get so caught up in the minutiae. In all the details of doing church. That we forget about being church. So. To give and receive love. The conditions of love have to be right. If i want to find a church that accepts me and loves me. I have to be ready to receive the love and come to a church that will love me. So love for me is conditional. But i have another twist. Unconditional love essentially says that we love others without conditions. It says that we find a way to love and respect others went even. When they don't think like us even when their views seem to be outrageously asinine. Even when maybe i shouldn't say this. When they appear to be idiots. Is it possible to love someone. Without conditions. Well some say. Apparent loves his or her child a parent or guardian. They love their child unconditionally. Apparent will sacrifice so much i have three children i know this my wife and i noticed very well sacrifice so much. For your child. And one might say the parent-child relationship is the essence of unconditional love. But isn't this really biological love or self-preservation love of one's offspring. From a very basic perspective. Doesn't the parent love based on a sort of survival instinct to protect his or her young. Who will take his or her place in life one day. Perhaps we parents and guardians do what we do because biology and sociology i'll directing us to do for our children. And we do as parents at least i do and guardians. Expect our children to be well-adjusted productive people one day. We raise them to fit in. That's. A condition. Well then there's if you point that unconditional love is the love of god who loves all human beings despite our frailties. That universal love of all creation. Perhaps. But you don't have to go too far to see that historically. This love is pavlovian oriented in the traditional sense. And that is you get your reward if you do certain things the right way. That seems to be conditional love. But what about the loving these we do for others. The altruistic deeds. Why would answer that with the question do you do the good deed just for the person in need. Or also for yourself. For your own heart. Don't you feel good when you do good. Thought we condition than to do good because it feels good. As bert lewis as the task maybe. This love to seems to be conditional. Well. What about are ross john you haven't talked about that. That's sweet and unconditional love partner share. You know nat king cole song about it unforgettable. That's what you are. But you know i found out real quick last week when valentine's day came cuz it's no just like this. You know so couldn't do anything. And i found out real quick whole conditional that love was you know what i'm saying somebody know what i'm talkin about so. So where does that leave us this morning. Where does that leave us in a world is not that does not fully respect the inherent worth and dignity of all people. In a world that seems more and more devoid of intelligence. A society that continues to be narrow-minded around issues of race class and sexual orientation. In a country that still wrestles with the issue of creating a world community with peace liberty and justice for all where. Does that leave us. What i want to say to you this morning that. And i've already said it that it's okay that love is conditional but i want to clean it up. It's okay if my love is based on something on in something. There's a reason why i love you. There's a reason why you love me this is the golden rule treating people like you wish to be treated it's reciprocal. Conditional love is why we build a church that is inclusive not exclusive. Will open to others hoping that they will be open to us. So conditional love is not abstract. But it is real. Intangible. Beyond the erotic beyond the esoteric and abstract ideas of love. You find that conditional love is simply respecting each other. In this regard webster defines love as a feeling of brotherhood. Will sisterhood and goodwill toward other people. This is the love that king was referring to in the reading when he said the church must implore people to be good and well-intentioned and must extol the virtues of kindheartedness and conscientiousness. We're talkin about respectfully each other. Respect for the sacredness of all humanity. I know this is hard. I'll number one principle is the hardest principle of them all. You leave this place it's snowing outside dc people can drive. You getting your car somebody cut you off and you say words you know you shouldn't be saying. Even though you're unitarian you still shouldn't be saying those words. But you say i'm and then right after that you turn back up you also cd and keep on draft. It's hard to love. But we love in order to receive love. We put love out to get love back. This moves me to my main point this morning. We have to work even harder. To accept just the way they are. As works-in-progress with all of their virtues and vices. Because we are works in progress with all of our virtues and vices. I'm not asking you to love despite. Your differences. You hear that all the time. That's me tolerating you. Me putting up with you. Rather i am asking you to love because of your differences. This is a paradigm shifter. Asking us to think broadly. In our understanding of how we love. In other words. If i want to be accepted. I have to learn to accept. I learned to accept other's differences by looking at life as a picture. Adorned with speckled colors. My falling in love with sundry quirks and imperfections. That make us unique at miraculous. I was looking through a telescope with my my children sometime ago and. It is amazing what the hubble. Telescope. He's showing us. This instrument is the size of a school bus. In space. And it is revealing to us how diverse. An eclectic our universe is. We now see that our galaxy is one little speck among trillions of specks in the universe. Each galaxy is different and amazing. Like the lines on a zebras back. Will the human fingerprint no two galaxies appear to be exactly the same as far as we know. Then there are the varying solar systems and planets the many suns and in these galaxies each with different dimensions. And this tells us from the macrocosmic perspective we live in an expansive and diverse universe. But you don't have to go to space to learn the lesson. When you look within the earth. With the millions of species seen and unseen. You find a great multiplicity of things. You see the varying types of animals and insects trees plants and sea creatures. Does freshwater and saltwater. Bluewater greenwater there tropical and arctic climates. And then you look at the people of our planet. They're all different types bearing languages and customs. There was so much to celebrate. Life is a beautiful assortment. That is why i want to be a part of a multicultural worship experience. I want my church this faith. And the churches of the world to reflect. This universal pluralism. We rob ourselves of the richness of life when we don't see the beauty in our differences. Unfortunately. This has been the case it's dorkly. You don't tend to love those to a different. Whether we were referring to another religion or class or another race or sexual orientation we don't tend to do well in dealing with those who walk or talk differently. And when this happens in the church homogeneas segregation lives and thrives and also something else bro that i call it justification theology. You know where church folk church folk use excuses keep everything in the church the way it is and the way it was you know. And as a result the conditions for love broco. And the church loses its authenticity. I don't want to start any trouble. But look around. And i don't want religion. You will find sunday after sunday i will ministers preaching a lot of these justification sermons. You know dr. king said it real well they preacher nice little sau-lan. Lowering your blood pressure. And you know this. I don't have to go to church cuz i know it because our religion has not transformed. It has not been reborn. Now all souls of course you are the exception to the rule. You are. But i'll face still primarily represents the interest of one race in america. Get a country that by 2020 will be nearly 50% minority. And we are the religion that einstein talked about what he said the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. But here we are. Belly growing. I mean your growth right here probably represented most of the growth in the uua hello come on something ain't right about that. We can become a joke in the minds of so many. If we do not walk out walk and talk our talk. But i believe we are called to a higher purpose. As human beings and is unitarian universalist. We could somehow see life from a monster star. We would see a panoramic view of the universe that is essentially pluralistic and eclectic. If love is a feeling of brotherhood or sisterhood and goodwill toward one another. Then it is imperative that we grasp what the universe teaches. So we can appreciate and respect each other even more. Then perhaps. We can build a world. Where justice is the order of the day. We can build a world. When people use their intelligence and not their tribal instincts. To solve problems. We can build a world. Where we treat people as we wish to be treated. We can build a world. Where the word come come. Whoever you are. Really mean what they say. We can build a world. When people will not live distant and in fear of each other. Where where everyone lives. As a sister or brother. We can build a world. Without the us against them mentality but a world that embraces the we are together reality. We can build a world. A mutual respect and love. When humans listen more. Read more and think more. Is maya angelou suggested. This will be a time. When goodness and conscientiousness will not be brutal forces leading to shameful crucifixion. Put a time of healing and understanding as we celebrate life. The great web of interdependence of which we all apart. Also. If you are to continue to be that beacon of light. The city on the hill for our religion. I ask that you keep the atmosphere fresh and clean. So that love can continue to permeate all that you do. I ask that you heed the words of the great ape h davies who said religion must preaching into all exclusion. I ask that you continue to work to be even more diverse. As a reflection of the universe. Yes i ask that you continue to build to build a religion that can absolutely change this world. The kind of religion. That is in your mouth and in your hands and in your feet. The kind of religion. Did einstein said when he said real religion or true religion is real living. Living with all one's soul with all one's goodness. And righteousness. The kind of religion. That embraces. Instead of a racist. The conditions. Must always be proper if love. Is to be manifest. And we must find a way to love one another not despite our differences. But because of our differ. As david eaton said as i close. May we have faith to accept this mystery. And build upon its everlasting.

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04.01.25ChaliceAndTable.mp3

Well i'll bet most of you have heard the joke before. If you've any unitarian universalist long enough you you know the punch line and you probably delivered it once or twice yourself. What do you get. Any joke that starts what do you get if you know you know it's not going to be very good but what do you get when you cross a jehovah's witness with a unitarian universalist someone who keeps knocking on your door for no apparent reason this is one of those self-deprecating jokes that we unitarians like with the fact that we don't have any quick easy answers to give when people ask us about our faith. We struggle to articulate just what it is that our church believes in and why it feels so important to us. So my agenda this morning is to help you with your stump speech to help you articulate the unitarian universalist platform so that should you ever decide to go door-to-door for the church or even just decide to invite a friend which i know so many of you do. You'll at least have a place to start. So that's what we're going to do this morning but first why all the confusion in the first place why is it so hard for unitarians to sum up what their faith is stands for i want to answer that question first because the answer to that tells us a lot. It's because we believe in the freedom. A conscience with respect to people's religious beliefs. We believe that the spirit calls to each of us in different ways. Sometimes in peculiar ways. It's whatever unitarian has both the freedom. And the responsibility. To discover religious truth and meaning. Freedom is often misunderstood. Those of you who know me well notices is a pet peeve of mine sometimes i hear people say well you know i'm a unitarian i can believe whatever i want. For me that sprays is sort of like hearing fingernails on a chalkboard it really gets to me it suggests that religion is a matter of preference and when. Let me suggest instead saying i'm a unitarian i'm free to believe whatever i must. Because that's closer to the truth. We are free to believe what our conscience demands that we believe. Gandhi was a great example of someone who took no truth for granted but who was a deeply religious person once said the only tyrant i will obey is the still. Small voice. Within. Conscience. There's a difference between what we want to believe and what we must believe he do i want to believe in in paradise. In a heaven where the sins of the world will be taken away and we will dwell as one but i must believe. Because my conscience demands it of me. That this is the world that counts. This is our shot at paradise. Right here. I want to believe that it's easy fruit it be enough for me to go off and pray and contemplate some high-minded thoughts and then share some of them with you i'd like to let myself off that easy. But i must believe. That my faith. Must be expressed in acts of justice and compassion. But it is my deeds and unlike reeves. That make the difference so there is a difference between believing whatever we want and believing what we must and it's our job. To know the difference. Having said that. The truth is that unitarian-universalist have been engaged in a search for the truth for 500 years now since the reformation which is to say that we belong to a tradition of spiritual inquiry and that tradition shapes who we are as a religious movement today the tradition has handed down to us time-tested values. Touchstone's. Of our safe. I will argue today that there are two of them. And that they are represented by two of the symbols. That are prominent in our sanctuary. Flaming chalice. And the table on which it stands. Into whose side is carved the phrase. All souls. Armine. The chalice and the table. Let's start with the flaming chalice. Because the chalice is speaks. To the first principles of our faith it speaks to our origins as human beings in religion fire or the flame almost always is a symbol of god's presence. And the flame in our chalice represents what what emerson. The unitarian minister called the divine spark that resides within each person within the soul of each and everyone of us. We come from holy matter. The chalice reminds us. Another way of saying this is that we are each created in the image of god. Another way of saying this is that we are each born with worth and dignity that is inherent in our being. This is the premise of unitarian-universalism that human beings are precious that creation is holy that we are all born of the same stuff. And that is holy stuff. Just like that flame in the chalice the worth and dignity of creation can exert a powerful force. Or it can be snuffed out. Get lied to lead the way the greater freedoms for those who have been considered less than worthy. For the flickering light can be extinguished and people's dignity snuffed out by the willful action of others. By our own refusal. To accept ourselves as worthy. And by theologies. That denigrate. Rather than lift up human beings. I want to tell you a story that i heard recently that i think. Peace. To the value of the chalice and what it stands for. I have a colleague at unitarian universalist to for awhile work as a chaplain in a hospital. One day she came into work only to find the doctors and nurses on the unit sitting in stung. Silence. Pale. Their heads in their hands. The night before a nurse from their unit. Will call her bridget. Had gone home from the hospital. Murdered her husband. And then turned the gun on herself. Bridges friends and colleagues in the unit included evangelical christians and hindus muslims and more than a few atheist. And while they had many chaplains to choose from they turn to my unitarian colleague because they believe that she alone could meet each of them where they were in their grief and they're questioning they counted on her to care for all of them and she did. A few days later the nurses called her again. It turns out that bridges parents. Had buried her without a funeral. Their shame over her crime was so great they couldn't bear to honor her with a service. What's more the family is minister refused to for theological reasons to officiate at the memorial service of a person who had committed murder. And suicide. For heinous crime had put bridget beyond the reach. Not only of human love. But apparently god's love to. The family's decision not to have a memorial service left bridget's friends and colleagues at the hospital the reft. They had no illusions about her they knew she had demons of rage and despair they knew she had struggled mightily but they had also known bridget to be capable of love. Even though bridget had ultimately said no to life and to love they wanted to say yes to the life and to the love that had once dwelled inside of her. And once again they turned to the unitarian chaplain. To kindle the chalice. Where it had been extinguished. To affirm the preciousness of creation. Even in the midst of it. Desecration. The worth and dignity of every individual. Including bridget. This is the premise of unitarian universalism. In a world that often takes every opportunity to strip us of our worth and dignity. We must discover new and creative ways to bear witness. To the chalice. To say to people. And sometimes people memes beginning with ourselves. To say you are worthy. You are loved. You are a child of god. If the chalice then is the starting point. The premise of our faith in the table. Represents our goal. The table with the words carved in it side all souls are mine is the symbol of the unitarian. Universalist belief that our destiny. Is one with all of creation. This is the belief that comes from the universalist side of our tradition of our heritage while the calvin is said that only some people were going to heaven and that therefore the human family was divided among the elect him a damned the universalist believed in a god whose love was with so great that all people in the end would be reconciled not only with god that would win with one another. This unity of the human family. This interdependence of all creation. Is what william ellery channing meant when he said. I. Emma living member. Of the great family of all souls. As unitarian universalist. We are challenged to take those words. And to make them our own. To live into those words to live into that future when we will all be one great family of all souls. Even if that future is only a glimmer enri even if that's future we'll never be seen in our lifetimes. Are calling it to live our lives. Endeavor. Expanding. Circles. Of love. The table is the religious symbol. For hospitality. And this is a hospitable faith. Division of the great family of all souls is a hospitable vision. A faith that says ultimately when the world is finally reconciled. There will be room. For us all. At that welcome table. No one will be left behind. The welcome table reminds us that there is no such thing as salvation. For the individual apart from salvation. From the collective. Salvation is when all of us are sitting round the welcome table. We are bound said king. In a single garment. Of destiny. The table is the symbol of that destiny. Now i've got to tell you. That i think this is this is good news. Because the way i see it we live in a world where the humans family is being torn apart. By 2 equal and opposite forces. On one hand. Religious fundamentalism. Of all stripes are on the rise in our country and the world. And fundamentalism is a face that uses god. 2 / human family. Fundamentalism worships a god who who picks and chooses. Write two separate the same from the dam to the wheat from the chaff. The chosen. From the forgotten. September 11th reminded us. Of just how bloody. A god who picks and chooses. Canby. Across the aisle from the fundamentalists. And in many ways with the fundamentalists are reacting against. Are the proponents of a thoroughly secular. Global capitalist world. I daresay that unfettered global capitalism may have even less regard for human dignity than religious fundamentalism. People's worth and dignity is determined solely by their use to the economy. Adam smith called the free market the invisible hand. Silently organizing the economy for maximum efficiency and productivity this invisible hand decides where jobs will go and we're well will flow and who will remain in poverty. In other words. The invisible hand. He is also a god. Who picks and chooses. The good news of the welcome table. Is that a god who picks and chooses. Is no god at all. It is an idol. And against this spurious faith we must hold up the faith. Of the god. Who calls all souls mine. A destiny that called all souls to the welcome table a god of the whole human race we must save the world that there are no enemies there are there are no strangers there are only brothers and sisters. In this great family of all souls. That's to me. Is good news. So good in fact. That it almost sounds too good to be true. You know madewest once warned too much of a good thing is wonderful and that's how i see it. And they have the audacity to call that good news. We'd stand for the god of all tolls and i daresay that is the even better news. The chalice. And the table. The next time you tell someone. About your church. Tell them about the chalice in the table tell them the good news that they and all of creation are precious. Tell them the good news that our destiny is that we will be reconciled as one human family one great family of all souls seated around a welcome table together. Tell them that that's the dream. Have our faith. And that the work of our faith. It's to make that dream come true. Maybe so. I'm in.

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06.01.08ThatWhichMattersMost.mp3

Happy new year it's good to be with all of you again i realize that when i walked in this morning that i was filled with a lot of gladness and seen a lot of your faces again this morning and the reading this morning comes from a fascinating book which i read during my study leave which you allow me every august so just to show that i'm doing something on that leave i read a book entitled feel worse easterbrook. Because there will always be something you don't have the ever-greater profusion of goods for sale in the western world tend to place many people in a blurred state of perpetual restlessness regarding possessions stuff becomes desired for that brief pleasurable moment of the acquisition being handed some glistening object in a shopping bag has become to the modern ethos of short sumptuous thrill akin to the kids at the end of a date but more reliably attained the result is a blurring of needs and once which leads to the tyranny of the unnecessary once focused on once our thoughts can never be at peace because once can never be satisfied not even a billionaire will ever have everything once by definition are impossible to satisfy and though we may placate them now and then seeking to placate that pang of want through acquisition can become like habituation to a drug you need to keep buying more and more to get the same high and the high wears off faster all the time not for the sake of vanity but for the purpose of confronting ourselves am i pleased with who i am do i feel good about the life i am leading and where it is headed last sunday during the quan. Can i be more loving in other words is more to the point than can i eat less chocolate and it has also dawned on me that the word resolution is absolutely the right word is absolutely the most appropriate because it takes just that resolved or will or intention to live with greater awareness to put at the center of one's living and at the center of one's being people and ideas and this natural world we live in rather than objects or status. Or any of the other trappings also appropriately named trappings of modern life so my friends i asked us all this morning what would it take to resolve to make life more holy the irony that the progress paradox rightly points out is that in spite of our efforts in spite of all of the modern technologies all of the dramatic improvements in the quality and standard of living that we enjoy we modern-day human beings don't seem to notice at all appreciate it more. Just for what to do with all of your stuff we need bigger homes we need carrying cases on the tops of our cars we need all kinds of things just because we have to have stuff and we have to take it with us all of the time and so he points out that there was an ad for california closets one of these new businesses that has taken hold with this boom in all of our stuff and where do you put the stuff that you were about andaz easterbrook we are what we where you get the picture we have come to feel that our identity our very being is defined by our material possessions and so we begin to wonder if we aren't satisfied with this worldview how we might step out of this game how we might stop trying to keep up with the joneses or as easterbrook says it's gotten so bad when more we are not finding what we truly need we are just simply wanting and not needing my friends i think part of getting out at dusk that quality of almost in the light. Noticing the smile on a friend's face or sense of comfort that a familiar piece of music offers to you my friends one of the challenges of living in these days is holding onto that wisdom the wisdom that the best aspects of life are not things that can be bought or held or even things that can be made to stay or last to sit the best things the most important things in life the things that we really need are things that are moments moments of recognition of awareness. Of hopefulness of truth of honesty of beauty of love the only abundance that lingers is the one that can't be quantified the one that you can't possibly put a price tag on its the one that comes with a greater sense of happiness and contentment and fulfillment it's what we truly long for and that something is not going to be found in a grand gesture or perfect moment or an ideal situation for my friends as you've no doubt already noticed they rarely happen where it is to be found is in many everyday things. Those things that happened to you and within you and between and amongst you and your interactions with the world and with others it is what happens in the spaces in our lives it's what happens where we make room not for more stuff but for more love for more openness where we make room so that we might be touched by something greater of course that's something has a different name for each of us some might call it grace some might call it god some might call it love whatever you call it i implore you to make more room for it and one of the graces of living a spiritual life and of living in spiritual community is that it serves to remind us of our of the capacity that we have always had to do just that we have always had it within us to notice. To be more aware of love and life in its fullness it's a gift we were given just by virtue of being human it wasn't something we had to earn you experience it everyday the bounty of being alive don't take it for granted until my prayer for this new year is that we will do just that not take for granted the bounty of being alive not take for granted all that our ancestors lived through to bring us to this moment so that we might be able to appreciate and enjoy so much may we not take for granted the comfort is that our modern world offers may we not search for happiness in the wrong places and in things. May we instead seek a new and open heart a loving presence of forgiving spirit a hopeful outlook and notice with gratitude the blessings of our days. So may it be this year and every year i'm at.

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05.08.07SeekingJusticeInOurCity.mp3

This morning. Our reading comes to us roman. Anonymous author. How do you live your dash. Read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on her tombstone. From the beginning to the end. He noted that first came her date of birth and spoke the following day 24 passing with tears. But he said with matted most of all was the dash between those years. That dash represents all the time. That she's meant to live on earth. And now only those who loved her new with that little line was worth. Format is not how much we own the cars the house the cash. What matters most is how we live how we love woodrat matters most. It's how we spend our dash. So think about this long and hard are the things that you would like to change. For you never know how much time we have left. Things can still be rearranged. If we could just slow down enough to consider with true to consider what's real and always trying to understand the way other people feel. Let us be less quick to anger and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we've never loved them before. If we treat each other with respect and more often wear smile. Remembering that this special dash might only last a little while. So when your eulogies being read with your life's actions to rehash. What would you say that they would be proud of how you lived your dash. Again from an unknown author. My sermon title this morning is. Holy in line with that reading. How we live all dash. I'll messages our eternal life work. And now before i get started i'd have to do a little disclaimer. You know how much baptist minister and in the baptist traditional we love for folk to respond to let us know that we doing all right. In this life yes we have worldly things that we have to focus upon you know there is a a sort of balancing act that we have to do you know there are the things that we have to do to to make sure that we are keeping up with our own physical existence. Maybe almost a year ago and it's when you come to the end sometimes that you begin to think what's it all mean what is the significance of what i've been doing what is the substance. Does it really matter in the scheme of things you have to think about what's going on in your life in this world even as you go out and you're looking to you know set your life up in the world you you think about your resume and think about going out and getting your first job and you think about what i went to this school and this was my gpa and i did these things and i have these skills. People for justice those are treasures that will last eternally you have to see that we are engaging and things day in and day out that are going to improve. We have to look at what is the legacy what is the dash of america and so that means that okay if we want to see that the legacy of america is in line with the the high principles the high ideals that are exposed that means that we need to engage. Can you with those high ideals. I work is not finished you know the work of those folk who have going on and who have done things to what i would call the eternal life work those poke like a mahatma gandhi those folk like like. And for those of us who are engaged in acts of justice the bible says we are not weary in well-doing you need to keep your head keep your eyes. And even in these dark times that's even more reason for us to lift up lift up all night because we'll go ahead and illuminate our new day for us to existing. That's the work that we've been called to do and so as i get ready to take my seat you need to know that we have to work while we still have the light. Because the darkness come upon us when we won't be able to work and so i'm asking you. Have you been using your energy to illuminate the way for somebody you periodically update your resume you got to make sure that you are looking to update your spiritual resume make sure that you are regularly engage in activities that are going to go ahead and. Yeah we got to do that but we also then got a hold the power to the truth. You know this message is a eschatological message thinking about the end times thinking about things to come but i'm here to tell you that the hearing now impact severe and gone and so make sure that we aren't doing things deli regularly engage yourself of justice that will help to improve the conditions for those to come. Yes he's a hard time yes i know the load gets heavy yes i know that the road gets rough. But we are more than a list of times. We are more than conquerors we are more than the things that are speaking the snuff out our life we are more than those things together.

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03.03.23CoalitionOfTheWilling.mp3

We've heard a lot of talk this week. About a coalition of the willing. The coalition of the wheeling is the name the bush administration has given to the several dozen or so nations. Belatedly. Have signed on to the us led war against iraq. The numbers are perhaps this evening only one nation australia was willing enough to actually add its combat troops to those of the americans and british. But nonetheless this coalition of the wheeling is growing and is growing at home too. The post reported yesterday that 70% of americans. Now support the war. Many of us who were once in doubtful or undecided have now joined the cause. I know that some of us. Count ourselves among the reluctance. But willing. I know that people of integrity and good conscience can support this war can see it as a lesser of evils. I know that we don't all agree on this issue and that's all right. You know i was going to preach a sermon this morning about ralph waldo emerson. Klosterman that honored this great unitarian writer this bard of the soul in the 200th year of his 200th birthday. But war has intervened in that sermon will have to wait. I know emerson would understand. You see if he were here today in the midst of this war he would ask each of us to examine our conscience this day. He would ask each of us to seek the place inside of us where the divine resides. Where are knowledge of right and wrong of justice and compassion dwells. And he would ask us each and everyone of us to take a stand from that place. Over the last several months one of the great privileges. Albion your minister. Has been to listen to so many of you. Abbas struggle. From this place of conscience. Even if i don't agree with you i want to struggle with you from that place and i want to thank all of you who have shared with me your deeply held beliefs about the war. I have done my own soul-searching. And one of my obligations as your minister. An obligation that is a unitarian minister emmerson new well is to preach what my conscience. Informed by our faith tells me is right. And so today i say to you. That i will not allow myself. To be counted among the coalition of the wheeling. I will i will not allow myself to be counted among those. In whose name innocent lives are taken i will not allow myself to be counted among those who refer to the loss of innocent life is collateral damage or who referred to the bombs lighting up the night sky over baghdad as the show. Cuz it's been referred to on cnn i will not allow myself to be counted among those who fall in line simply because hostilities have begun yes i support our troops. Our sons and daughters and i pray that they will come home swiftly and safely but i will not be counted among the coalition of the willing i am unwilling. Now hear me well i am not a pacifist. One of the most painful conclusions i've come to in my conscience. Is that war. The deliberate taking of human life. Is sometimes justified. Killing others. Is sometimes necessary. But the case for war must be made beyond a reasonable doubt. And in the court of my conscience and in the court of much of world opinion that case has not been made. I am unwilling because the rationale for this war. The so-called doctrine of preemption. Is an unsustainable and unjust foreign policy. A foreign policy that will allow us to wage war simply because we suspect. Another nation. Furthermore i am unwilling because in waging this war without the blessing of the united nations however flawed that body might be. We do a great disservice. To the family of nations. We jeopardize the ability of the international community to ever work effectively for peace and justice in the future i am convinced that if we spent half as much money and energy on building the structures of an effective international community as we did on waging war then we could build institutions that keep the peace. Enforce their own resolutions and so because the justification for killing is inadequate. Because this war damages the institutions of peace. I refuse to be counted. Among the coalition of the willing. We all find ourselves now. That an awkward moment. None of us wanted events to come to this not even those who supported the war we all wanted another solution. Some of us worked hard as best we knew how to prevent this moment from coming yet it has come and now we're not quite sure what to do anymore. Some of us are transfixed. At our television sets watching endless tapes of bums lighting the night sky. Some of us keep marching joining protests at the white house or down 16th street some of us yesterday. Gratefully accepted nature's gift of spring. And got outdoors and just tried to put it all behind us for a while. In the pews and on the streets i sent many different feelings people are angry. People are sorrowful. People are resigned some are relieved let's finally get this over they say. People feel powerless. On thursday night 150 or so of us gathered here for a peace vigil. At about service i shared a story. That sums up where i feel right now. A few weeks ago a young woman came to see me in my study. She works for a local social service agency here in dc and she came to me in a moment of despair. The moment i think we've all experienced at one time or another the moment when no matter where she looked all she could see around her with pain. Unbroken this. This was back in the winter and she saw the poor left out on the city's cold and callous streets she saw the powerful of this city potting war and cutting budgets. She saw the citizens of this city. Anxious and and scared and cold who because of all these indignities didn't treat each other very well all she saw was the broken. And the evil. And the mean. And she looked around and she wondered how have we come to this. How did things get so bad. She wondered why she should bother doing the good work she was doing why she should bother living a life according to her values when allrounder she saw those values demeaned. I did my study that night she shouted and she cried and she asked me how how do we keep on going. We're angry were powerless were scared how do we keep on going this is a question i hear a lot of people asking these days how do we keep on going. This morning. I want to suggest. That the way forward. Out of this crisis. Lies in the forging of a different coalition a coalition that we can all be a part of whether we opposed this war or not i want to suggest that the future of our world depends on whether or not people like you and me are willing to join another kind of coalition the true coalition of the willing. Listen again as audrey and rich. Speaks of this coalition. Of the wheeling. My heart is moved. She rides. By all i cannot save. So much has been destroyed i have to cast my lot. With those who age after age. Perversely. With no extraordinary power. Reconstitute the world. The people of the broken heart who was no extraordinary power. Reconstitute the world. The philosopher william james once wrote something that i think speaks to this people. You've heard me say this before james said we live in a world. That is uncertain of being saved. We live in a world that is uncertain of being saved are you willing. He asks. Are you willing to participate. In such a world. Are you willing to take the risk are you willing to create alternatives to war are you willing to labor on with a broken heart are you willing to spend your life reconstituting a broken broken world friends this is the true coalition of the willing we are the coalition of the willing. The coalition that i have in mind sees our moment in history as an opportunity a watershed with a cold war over we have the ability to shape the rules of a new world order. The coalition that i have in mind wants to break down the barriers that divide the human family locally in our neighborhoods. As well as in our ever-shrinking and more complex global village. They're teaching us how to get along with one another in spite of our difference. The coalition that i have in mind thinks less of short-term financial gain and instead makes decisions that will save our planet. Pitbull save our grandchildren's children. The coalition that i have in mind has a different doctrine of preemption. They realize that injustice and poverty and disempowerment are the breeding grounds of fundamentalism and terror and hatred and the coalition that i dream of. Works to build this new order to ameliorate the conditions. Of this hatred. This is the coalition that i want to be a part of count me among that number. The great and tragic failure. Of our nation's leaders in the wake of 9/11 is this. Better moments when the country was united. When the world was was won with us and our nation's grief the only coalition our nation's leaders could muster was a coalition for war. Nothing greater was asked of us where are the leaders of death and vision. I challenge each and everyone of us today. To find one more way. That we can be part of this coalition of the willing. But we can build the alternatives to war and violence and i challenged us as a community as a church to find ways that we can be a leader in this coalition of the willing. Let us throw our lot in. With those who labor. To reconstitute the world. Finally. Let me just say a word about this church. Chapter service today we will hold a forum here in the sanctuary. A forum that asks the question. When issues of great social import come before us how do we allow for dissenting opinion in the church. And at the same time organized and work for what the majority of us believe is right. Do we all have to agree. On the major issues of the day i hope not. I know that on a broad swath of issues and values there is a great consensus in this church a great consensus formed by our liberal faith and our dream for a better world what remains though. What remains is for us to learn what to do when we do not agree. How do we disagree. Respectfully. Those of you. Who have been around this congregation long enough. Know that we have failed at this in the past. We fail. But remember when i came here as your minister. Remember how we promised each other that we would learn how to disagree with one another in love. We are committed to making that so. I hope that you'll come to the forum after church and share with us your ideas about how we can disagree in love we won't discuss the war per se but rather how we behave with one another when we discuss issues like the war. Friends if there can be no peace. Within communities of faith like ours. If there can be no peace in our dealings with one another. How can we ever expect. That there will be peace. Among the nations. Let the peacemaking. Begin right here at home. Let the coalition of the willing. Begin with us. So be it. I'm in.

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05.12.11OnceMoreRoundTheSun.mp3

A reading this morning is. A poem by jane kenyon. Call at the winter. Solstice. The pines look black in the half light of dawn. Stillness. While we slept an inch of new snow simplified the field. Today of all days. The sun will shine no more than is strictly necessary. At the village church last night the boys. Shepherds and wise men. Pressed close to the manger in obedience. Wishing only for time to pass. But the girl dressed as mary. Trembled. As she leaned over the pungent a and like the mother of christ wondered why she had been chosen. After the pageant. A ruckus of cards. Presence and homemade christmas sweets a few of us stayed to clear the bright scraps and ribbons from the pews and lift the pulpit back in place. When i opened the hundred-year-old bible to luke's account. Of the epiphany. Black dust from the binding. Robbed off. On my hands. Nfl. On the altars. Perhaps you followed in the post this week. The brewing conflict. Over the white house holiday greeting card conservative christians expressed outrage that president and mrs. bush's card this year red happy holidays. Instead of merry christmas. One leader on the religious right says that the president's shunning of christmas was an example that he had quote capitulated to the worst elements in our culture sadly we've come to expect us. And by now we know that what begins as a disagreement about how to publicly express one's faith usually ends up with people expressing qualities more profane than sacred qualities like pettiness arrogance and litigiousness. Wouldn't it be nice if every once in awhile these little fights. Brought out our senses of humor instead. Terraria and i want to share you a story that my friend and colleague chris buice tells about a rural ohio town where he once served. The story goes something like this. Prince long as anyone in the town could remember a small nativity scene had graced the front lawn. Harbor town hall. Since none of the town fathers knew of anyone in town who wasn't christian they didn't think twice about their decision to let a local church and saw the crash year after year. 4 years went by and the town grew and changed and pretty soon a group of jewish residents approached the town leaders and said you know we don't have a problem with the nativity scene on the town square. In fact lots of us have christmas trees in our own homes. But let's put up a menorah next to the crash so that hanukkah is honored to. Not the town fathers were hardly politically correct types. But they were reasonable people and they agreed to place the menorah alongside the crush. After awhile townspeople became accustomed to seeing both on their tongue square and everyone seemed content. Within just a few years ago a group of atheists and pagans in town decided that if there was going to be a crash and the menorah there should also be a symbol that honor the winter solstice. I'm remembering how will the jews request for my nora had gone they approached the town fathers and asked to put up this solstice symbol. Unfortunately though the town fathers had reached the limits of their interfaith appreciation and denied the request. Now this is usually the point of the story when someone goes to the press or or call the aclu or or files a lawsuit this is how we settle things in america but in this small ohio town the religious minorities decided they wouldn't get mad they get even and on the morning of the coldest day of the year. The greatest citizens of this small ohio village woke up and brace themselves against the cold and headed off for work and school. But as they passed town hall that day they saw something new on the front lawn. During the night someone had pounded lawn signs. Along the road the signs were tasteful. And bore a simple message. They said once more round the sun. Happy winter solstice. I don't know how long the sign lasted. But i got to say that i admire the pluck of those ohio pagans and i also appreciate their message this time of year. Once more round the sun. I appreciate it that it reminds me of the turning year. The changing seasons. The return of light. And i appreciate intern how this awareness helps me see the cyclical nature of my own life. The way our lives come background on us. Just like the sun. Today i want to share with you some wisdom that i have discovered from looking at life this way. I should start by admitting that i am a pretty linear kind of guy the circuitous missing my sermons notwithstanding like most people i tend to think of my life is a straight line from birth to death and so i'm always. Anxious to see how the present will resolve into the future. For the most part. This view of life serves me pretty well. I mean on one level it's just playing true time does keep on ticking. And there's no getting it back once it's gone. My linear worldview helps me take time seriously encourages me to make the most of my brief life. And in a country where the dominant religious culture demeans time on this earth is chewing it for some otherworldly paradise i celebrate a worldview that says time here on earth matters. But i've come to realize. But there is something unforgiving. How about seeing our lives. As one inexorable progression of time. Unforgiving because it suggests that you've got just one chance to get it right. You know if you make a wrong choice early in life you're stuck with it. If you made a mistake well there's no going back. It is irredeemable. What i've noticed is that this world view causes people to experience. Great regret in their lives. They say things to me like if only i can do it again. For if only i could take back what i've done. Or if only i knew them. What i know now. I would have done it all differently. Folks express regret for chances miss. Opportunities passed up. 4 time and for love lost. Remember when we were children on the playground. And some play in the game didn't go our way. We will raise our hand and shout do-over the do-over. Sometimes we adults 12 overs to don't we. But are linear worldview offers no opportunities for do-overs. Offers little deliverance. From our regret. It was precisely this relentless march of time that once struck fear and regret in the hearts of our ancestors at this time of year back before we could use astronomy to explain why the days were getting shorter all our forbearers could see with the light was disappearing all they could feel was at the warmth was draining from the earth and from their bodies. Each day a little darker each day a little colder they fear that this inexorable trend toward darkness would consume them. And they wondered with regret what have we done to deserve such punishment. From the heavens. But then one day. They noticed that the darkness had begun to recede. B light and warmth were returning and as this happened here after year they began to learn that they could trust. The earth. And it cycles that they could have saved in the sun and that it would circle background again the first solstice celebrations were offered in gratitude for deliverance from the relentless march of cold and dark they were offered in gratitude for the ability to start over again. Because of their close ties to the earth our ancestors could send. Better than we can today the cyclical quality. How about our lives here on earth. And they understood viscerally. How the offers offers us the chance. For a do-over. What i want to suggest today is that this cyclical quality to life. Extends beyond the earth. Jennifer cane's to our human lives as well. And offers an alternative. Two are linear. Worldview. Think about it doesn't life. Always have a strange way of circling background on us. Again and again. A person from whom we are estranged. Reappears in our lives. Give us another chance to make that relationship right. An opportunity to pursue a dream that we had ones passed up presents itself again not exactly the same as before but none the less a second chance. Or how about when they hurt and pain from an early loss bubble up again giving us a chance to finally come to terms with that loss and heal our pain. Corwin love. That's football we've stumbled over and over again. Gets tossed and all that. One more time. Life does have a way. I'm circling background. Sometimes we do get. A do-over. Of sorts. It's just like that great sage and profit. Yogi berra once said it's like deja vu all over again. There is something profoundly merciful. About this way of looking at our lives. Something profoundly gracious. To know that life can turn round and round. Until we finally get a chance to get it right. Dallas walker wrote a poem. The capture is the forgiving quality. Of this cyclical worldview. It's a poem about her mother's reaction to the death of her father. It's called good night willie lee. I'll see you in the morning. Looking down into my father's dead face. For the last time. My mother said. Without tears. Without smiles. Without regrets. But with civility. Goodnight willingly. I'll see you in the morning. And it was then i knew. Get the healing of all our rooms. Is forgiveness. But forgiveness that permits. A promise of our return. At the end. Forgiveness that permits a promise of our return. At the end. There is mercy. In the way that our lives. Circle off background. And give us a chance to make things right. To turn. Turn. Will be our delight. Till by turning turning. We come round right. So i'm trying to trade in. My old linear worldview. For a newer model. One that's more sensitive to the cyclical quality of life. One that makes some space for forgiveness. For grace. I tried to use a circle as my model but that doesn't fully capture it for me either because it suggests that we can go right back to the beginning again and start from scratch and that's not exactly what i'm saying. That's not the nature of the grace that life offers us. What i'm learning is that if you mix. Align together with a circle you get a spiral. A line that indeed circles round and round allowing us to revisited people and places and themes in our lives. But a line that would each revolution grows deeper. And richer. With all the experience that we brought with us. This far. To me it's the spiral. The best captures both life. Seriousness. And it's mercy. Friends the earth. And those of us who call the earth home. Have just about come once more round the sun. Millennia ago our ancestors would be preparing now. For a great celebration to welcome the growing light. Their hearts would be full of gratitude. For another chance. For a do-over. Of sorts. Let us be glad to. For the ways in which life is merciful. For the ways in which. We've received a second chance. Let us be grateful for the ways in which life is always moving forward yet simultaneously. Returning. Spiraling on and on. To turn. Turn. Will be our delight. Until by turning. Turning. We come round right. Sobia. I'm in.

all-souls_org

06.01.01InTheSpiritOfKwanzaa.mp3

Good morning my name is a kia lineberger and i'll be speaking to you today personal reflection on kwanzaa and i'm going to. Just give you a little. A little bit of my ideas about kwanzaa and what it means. Let the circle be unbroken. As we open the new year and close out this week of kwanzaa let us reflect on the blessed cycle that renews us by providing the opportunity to look back while also moving forward. Today imani the last day of kwanzaa represents the say that has sustained the african community in the americas through its legacy of struggle for freedom and independence. This speaks to the goal of self-determination or check aaliyah that moves us to define our own selves. This day we celebrate the strength and history that represents the undying and unbroken spirit of a people. This spirit unites our people and culture and kinship back to the store. So that connection can never be broken. The principles of kwanzaa are ours to work with each day in this new year so that we may grow in strength and solidarity with our path. Our present condition and our glorious future. We look to our history and our ancestors. As guides and defining our mission for a purpose. And also at the market and let us know what progress we've made. As a world our societies and economies are increasingly interconnected. As we begin to think more globally we see the connections within our own community that has been obscured by time and separation. We see that unity for umoja the first principle of kwanzaa within the african diaspora as a necessary tool for the reclamation of identity and that the records that recognition of our collective condition is fundamental. We are responsible not only for ourselves but also for our communities. We stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. Therefore we need to impress our collective responsibility for ujima and ensuring that the bonds that hold our community together i never broken. So today as we go forward on our spiritual journey we may use this time to reflect on our own individual pass. Also to cultivate our kuumba our creativity to manifest manifest our glorious future let the circle never be broken harambe. The unity cup. Orca cumbe. Child emoji. It is you support ambegaon libation to the ancestors and remembrance and honor of those who paved the path. Down which we walk and who have taught us the good. The time she and the beautiful in life. We have come together to celebrate kwanzaa the first fruits. We celebrate the fruits of our bodies and our minds and of our spirits. But it's not it is not right that we those who are of us present in the body mind and spirit. Celebrate alone. It is our tradition as people of african heritage that no celebration takes place unless it is in the presence and under the protection of those who have gone before us and have lead us to the present time. 4life is a continuity. The onrushing river of consciousness flowing from being to being. From parent to child from ancestor to descendant. This river of life and its source we invoke when we speak together. The jaraba. The word. I say. Therefore we now call upon our ancestors who lived in the spirit to come and be with us. The celebrate our lives with us. To remain with us to guide and protect us along our path. Usher. As human life load from the source from its source source in africa to the four directions. So we offered this libation to the west. North. South and east. Inviting the spirits of those who have given us our lives are nature's identities in our energy. They come in to take their proper place among us at this celebration. Usher. As i poured. To the west. We called the nameless creator of all things up on our gods and the goddesses. Are arusha's. Those timeless powers of the earth. Light. And water known to us by many names. As i pour to the south we call upon the spirits of our intellectual parents. Our teachers in our philosophers. The millions unknown to us and the thousands who have been privileged. For us to know. We call upon him hop day and i'll keontae martin delany. Frederick douglass. And sojourner truth. We call upon w.e.b. du bois booker t washington. Carter g woodson and ida wells. We call upon j.a. rogers mary mcleod bethune. George padmore. Bring. Friends fountain and charles hamilton houston. We call upon kwame nkrumah. Clr james thorogood marshall gwendolyn brooks. And rosa parks. We come to this place by our life through your wisdom and under your tutelage. As i poured to the north. We call upon the spirits of our leaders now departed our emperors kings queens and our chieftain's. Our generals are rebels in our reformers. A revolutionary and are visionaries. We call upon monster musa. Nzinga. Alha college omar. And chaka. Mcauliffe on harriet tubman nat turner and denmark vesey. We call upon marcus garvey. Sheku tour. Jomo kenyatta. And patricia. Lumumba. We call upon stephen biko. James farner. Stokely carmichael. Kwame torre. And ella baker. Recall on a philip randolph martin luther king el hajj malik el shabazz malcolm x. Fannie lou hamer. Victoria gray. Annie devane. Announcer. Blackwell. We come to this place by your strength through your courage and under your direction. Come. And be with us. Finally has a pool to the east we call upon the spirits of our remote ancestors. Those whose names have been hidden from us. As we call upon our great-grandfathers are great our grandparents are mothers fathers. Brothers and sisters are sons and daughters. Their names are now in our hearts. They are. In out hearts. You have given us our history you are ever present in our memories and in our blood you are beloved come and be with us. We welcome those who have answered our call and have join us in our celebration. We welcome all those who have answered our call and have joined us in our celebration may we be one with them and one with. Another in the river of life. Let us share with one another even as they have share with us. Harambe. I have my words of happy new year it's good to be with you again i wasn't sure how many children we would have with us this morning and i are really a story for all ages because i think all of us and what new year's means to me because it occurred to me to go still in our lives and so last night. I will exercise more or i will eat in a more healthy way this year or i will not get as frustrated in traffic or whatever those doing resolutions are have meaning but there's something a little less meaningful i think then the ones that are about who you will be in the year to come. I will be more kind. This year. I will spend more time looking into my heart. In this year. And so i invite you to take a moment of silence to think about what you will be rather than what you will do in 2006. To think of your life not in terms of accomplishments not in terms of your to-do list that you hope to get done this year. Not about the things that you want to check off any list. But think about your own spiritual inventory. Think about who you hope to become. In this year. That is now upon us. Pick a moment of silence and then as you feel so moved if there is a word or phrase. In your being that longs to be spoken. Share that word with this community. Will you join me in prayer. Spirit of life. God of all peoples. God of an oppressed people who have still risen and found hope and meaning and sustenance in this world. We give thanks this day for our lives. We give thanks for all of those people who have made our lives possible. We ask that in this new year we not take for granted breath and life. We asked that we might remember. Who we come from and where we come from. For we know that when we lose sight of that we don't remember anymore what matters. We don't remember anymore who we are. We give thanks this morning for this community. For people who can look into our eyes. Who can remind us of the importance of togetherness. For we know that our lives are not ours alone. We give thanks. For the tradition of all of the african peoples the african-american peoples of this earth. For all that the legacy. Of those people who have brought such richness into this world. Richness and music and culture in art. And so many things of beauty in so many rituals of meaning. We give thanks. What is so important. To be grateful. And so easy to forget. For all of life. For the ways that we may be. In this year to come. We pray this morning. I'm an and usher and may it be so. Habari gani. Well why are we recognizing kwanzaa. In a unitarian church. In the words of my maternal grandmother what do we call ourselves doing trying to fit a liberal christian religious tradition into a. Decidedly non-religious prosthetic cultural restorative practice that was developed from the writings of a cultural theorist that i'm using captivity any federal prison in the 1960s what do we call ourselves doing. Motivation to answer this question lies not in any desperation to be some kind of intellectual historian but it lies in the question that that my grandmother my grandmother would ask and it just before when i was a little boy value something that was usually the beginning. Last year i offered some ideas about why we're celebrating kwanzaa in a unitarian church. And the organizers of this year's service started a bear repeating to a larger portion of our religious community. And i personally have this you know jazz thing going on in my life i want to reinvent everything from scratch every time i want to you know improvising event pumbaa kujichagulia. Essentially the civil-rights orientation is rooted in that great idea and bodies in the declaration of independence we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and i'm being intentionally ironic here all men are created equal about the. Self-evident nature of the equality of all humans as if it is the law of physics or the walk gravity or something and we expect the world to live up to that ideal. But it grows out of a recognition of the fact that since the romantic those words were penned in the declaration of independence 1776 until about 11:45 this morning sadly african-americans do not african americans said we live in two different worlds. Two separate disconnected material realities these cultural rules of america do not necessarily correspond to the reality that most african-americans typically experience the nationalist recognize that without a separate set of cultural rules that are related to the separate reality we're like a people wandering around the city of birmingham with a map of boston. Others particularly those who were actually here in the sixties and seventies macy a greater connection between the unitarian church and african american cultural nationalism people were here then remember that the leading african-american thinkers advocates and activist from a wide spectrum of beliefs including the cultural nationalism and concept developed. So why's he realized that the other america where they have been born and raised who'd in the cultural slavery and it to move forward they have to go back back to a version of themselves that existed before the slave and colonial experience and use that as a springboard for moving forward they also realized that the fetish of individualism and materialism obsessive compulsion for separating ranking ordering of things. That is really the western way. Would not serve them in their ideals to bring civil rights into fruition into this world in this lifetime annoying this we see that there is no inconsistency between the struggle for cultural nationalism of the trouble civil rights and cultural nationalism. We see that our cultural rules will despite the theoretical win between cultural nationalism and unitarianism we struggled incorporate them. I heard an african-american member of this congregation once say that he came here for the music. And i say that you're in a city with the cultural amenities at washingto possesses i know that there are easier ways to hear music the getting up on a sunday morning at that at 10 and struggled to find a parking space when gerrard street and boston to be in birmingham. Comedian george carlin 174 man smiles all the time it's probably selling something that doesn't work relationship. Which is kind of ironic for a thinking person's relationship has become a superstition that embraces reason so long as the facts don't force us out of our own individual comfort zones. Similarly if it's african-americans we choose to come here and smile and nod and agree and that beef is sum total of our existence here. And we're not truly members of the religious community we're denying ourselves the true religious experience. We are just actors playing the part of an imaginary a historical nameless generic people from nowhere for salesman selling something to this community that doesn't work. Mainly a culturally invisible version of ourselves. Finally to the extent that we as african-american sympathetically sought to discover who we are within the context of our history in this land who we choose not to share it with this community. 10 mm not attempt to insert for assert those findings into the fabric of this church it at all levels from a theological level to just the actual worship practices we two are acting out of a form of superstition if we seek and find who you are and fail the sarah and assert was findings into the real world including human experience. Succasunna around a powerful words that are a tough act to follow so i will begin with words that i have composed which i have entitled sort of my i call it soda bahama let when it's the short ancestors identity and integrity and it seems to me that we've been talking a lot this morning and we come from not just where we come from and i want to lift up if that's not just true i think for african-american people but for the white folks here as well who have lost a lot of where they come from and who they come from in their own transitions to this nation in this country i begin my reflection on kwanzaa and its principles the principles that it up live ifs with some words from alice walker a prose poem of hers entitled in these dissenting times which i read is the eulogy for my grandfather. To knowledge our ancestors means we are aware that we did not make ourselves that the line stretches all the way back perhaps to god. Or to god. We remember them because it is an easy thing to forget that we are not the first to suffer rebelle b love and die. The grace with which we embrace life in spite of the pain the sorrows is always a measure of what has gone before. I share with you those words because it seems to me that there is so much that we need to stay aware of which we so often and so easily forget so much that we need to remember to be grateful for. And one of the elements of kwanzaa that i most appreciate is the way it holds up values and people the way that it serves as a reminder to keep precious those aspects of life which are most important. Here are a few of those reminders that it serves for me and i hope for you as well it's a reminder that our lives need to be grounded and rooted in principles without some guiding principles around which to make and create a life our lives will soon become hollow will soon forget why we're doing anything at all our things that could be rituals to us will become only routines. Our lives will be guarded will be guided by fads and cultural winds rather than something of substance and meaning principles. That we stay rooted in all the time not just when it's convenient. Not just when it's popular not just when it's pretty. Because it's who we are. The second reminder that kwanzaa brings to me is that our ancestors deserve our continual thanks. Not just one day here but all of the time because they're living made our living possible and their lives. Everything about their lives their hopes their dreams their frustrations their setbacks. Have shaped our own lives. I realize anytime that i think about not only my grandparents but see pictures of great-grandparents people i never met or new or he but hear stories of their lives that who i am is probably shaped by them in ways i will never comprehend and yet here i am a living breathing part of their legacy and i owe it to them to remember. Reminder number 3. Kwanzaa remind me. Even though i try to remember especially since really part of my job is a minister is to remember this that we human beings are made for community we were meant to be part of a family. Not just our own immediate family the one that we were born into but we were designed and made to create community out of our lives. Kwanzaa reminds me that my life is not just mine that i am too often selfish with my own living that i too often close the door literally and figuratively on connections that could grow that could be sustained if i would only feed them more often and i mean that by thinking about how i might interact more with my neighbors rather than rushing into my house. How i might reach out to the person i run into in the grocery store and actually build community. My friends our lives. Our happiness our sense of this world we share. Is not now and never has been ours alone. We don't own our lives they were given to us as a gift and it is incumbent upon us to share that gift. More abundantly. We need each other. For balance. For any site for wisdom we need each other for company and for caring and for love. We need each other. So what up all of these reminders that i've just lifted up. Anyway as i wrote them down i realize that they sound so obvious. They sound so wise and so simple. And yet it occurred to me how difficult it is to actually. Remember to live this way. It is all too easy to fall into the temptation of self-centeredness or self-righteousness. Because we have been told in our american lives that again and again our lives our own our destiny is our own path that we can chart. We have been told that we are individuals. And that's all that matters. And it is hard to remember. All of these reminders that kwanzaa brings to us because we have been so severed from our past. We have been so severed from our heritage's. Very few of us know where our ancestors came from. None-the-less how they lived day-to-day we suffer from a very strong case of cultural amnesia and because of that amnesia we are left feeling disconnected and isolated like our own lives are just a planet orbiting in the midst of almost a nowhere so here we are. People who it seems to me live at an intersection or perhaps at many intersections. At a point of convergence. Appointment that connects. Who we've been and who we're from with where we're going. Here we are people striving for an inn not an identity of integrity. And so how do we do it what principles will hold and guide us to stay true to the live that have gone before us. How will we remain informed and embraced. Sheltered and created by those who have made us. Who have loved us into being. How will you forge a life of meaning that is rooted in the values of your ancestors. B-day unitarian universalist ancestors bday african ancestors be they native american ancestors be they check ancestors be they polish ancestors wherever you are ancestors came from. How will you not forget. The living and the dying of those who came before you. My prayer for us all is that we might be good stewards of their dreams and their hopes. That we might be legacies that they would be proud of. That we might pass on some of their strength and their vision. My friends may we lead lives of conviction. May we have the resolve and the will and yes indeed the grace. 2b whole people. And to live lives of deep integrity. Nasty stuff. Akshay. And in that spirit i come to kindle the flames of kwanzaa hoping that we will indeed be beacons. For each of these lights. But each of the principles may indeed illumine our way. That we might remember in each of our days to uphold principles. To uphold ways of being in the world. Which are not off and honored. So as i like these flames i invite you to think of each of the principles of kwanzaa and how you might live. In some way in this new year. Upholding those principles. How might you live with greater unity. Umoja. How much you live with greater self-determination. Kujichagulia. Know who you are and speak your truth. How might you live in a way that uplifts collective work and collective responsibility fujima. Port takes us all to build a community. How might you uplift the economic well-being of your community bujjamma the cooperative economics to support the well-being of all of those in your community. How might you live. With a sense of nia purpose. Moving through the world and through your life. With a sense of those beliefs and convictions. Which ground you. How might your life. Be guided by kuumba creativity. So that you might make something of beauty. In the days ahead. And lastly this day we celebrate the principle of imani. Principle of faith. For without faith in ongoing trust and belief in any of these principles in your own soul in the way you are connected to others the path will indeed be even longer even more difficult. Principles of kwanzaa the principles of living. May we remember them all. Habari gani for those of you who are new to the concept of kwanzaa habari gani is a question that is asked which means what's the news and on the particular day your response would be the principal for that day but today the response is imani as you have heard which means face and i can't think of a better way to honor that principle than a place of worship and faith. Rapala approached me about passing the torch that was the term she used from my generation to those who will be expanding our kwanzaa tradition it seems reasonable to tie it to my family's history with old fold and how we were inspired by also for the kwanzaa tradition. They also sponsor tradition began in december 1991 has for about 10 years and was revived in december 2002. It was the original 1991 celebration that served as the inspiration for our own family kwanzaa tradition. Ours is a family which has its own history of cultural spiritual religious diversity so it's a kwanzaa tradition was a natural progression for us. Well i was raised as a baptist my husband is a third-generation african-american muslim from a family with a strong history of black nationalist activism when i joined all souls in 1959 its membership was about 95% white in spite of its decidedly what some might describe as eurocentric worship style the unitarian church with his tradition of religious tolerance and anti-racism activism seemed a natural community in which we could practice the spiritual and ethical values values that define us as a family my husband has continued to practice his muslim faith and at the same time function as an active member of the old souls family over the 40-plus years that we have been members we have found that our afrocentric value system fits comfortably with the value system of our unitarian universalist religious community the reality is that on matters that truly count it is the same value system this is not me that the relationship has always been perfect over the years there was always the struggle to make all souls more responsive to the spiritual and cultural needs of a more diverse population and the struggle continues the closet service was. That service inspired us to reach into ourselves and build our own tradition since 1992 our family has hosted our extended family and friends to share an annual kwanzaa celebration designed to strengthen our connection with our family are african heritage and our larger community. And the style and tenor of our celebration continue to evolve. We enjoy the traditional symbols in activities dressing in african garb pouring libation to honor our african ancestors lighting the kinara enjoying the music the food and the family games. However rest with the celebration is really about is honoring our past and our future on a personal level we honor our past by celebrating the lives of our more immediate ancestors as we call out their names and share a special memory or story about them as we did yesterday we're letting them know we are still here still striving and still living by the principles they instilled in us. We celebrate our future by recommitting to the spiritual ethical and social values articulated in the kwanzaa principles. Many of us in this family especially the children and young people are encouraged to identify what we plan to do during the coming year to practice specific principles. This family celebration provides a natural setting for an intergenerational dialogue on cultural and family history and values as a family and as individuals we're beginning to see the fruits of all kwanzaa tradition especially in our younger members as our older grandchildren ava charles also known as jj and leah mature and develop we see center young people who demonstrate a sense of being rooted in their cultural history and family values as we observe their negotiation of a larger community we see that increasingly the decisions that they are making suggest that they are learning to live by the values that are the center about kwanzaa traditions and our unitarian belief system. We have faith that kamaria and ion will follow their examples. Over the years all souls have gone through periods in which people of color join the numbers to make this appear to be a truly multicultural congregation. However by the end of the twentieth century i'm giving a historical perspective remember the congregation look pretty much the way it did in the 1950s. As we entered the 21st century the church increased its social justice and anti-racism activism andre committed itself to building and ever more diverse congregation. This service honoring the tradition of kwanzaa is one more effort to enrich to enrich. Iworship culture. By encouraging all of us no matter what our cultural background to incorporate the values and principles of kwanzaa into our own lives also moves one step closer to building that ever more diverse congregation. Harambe let us all pull together.

all-souls_org

04.03.07SharedSermonOnRace.mp3

One of the professors that rob and i had in seminary. Ibrahim fourragere would say that this morning's reading comes from our lord. Audre lorde that is. It's taken from an essay of hers entitled age. Race. Class. And sex. Women redefining difference. We have all been programmed to respond to the human differences between us. With fear. And loathing. And to handle that difference in one of three ways. Ignore it. And if that is not possible. Copy it if we think it's dominant. War. Destroy it. If we think it's subordinate. But we have no patterns. For relating across our human differences. As equals. As a result those differences have been misnamed and misused. In the service of separation. And confusion. Too often. We pour the energy needed for recognizing and exploring difference. Into pretending those differences are insurmountable barriers. Or that they do not exist. At all. This results. Involuntary isolation. Or false. And treacherous connections. Either way. We do not develop tools. 4 using human difference. As a springboard. For creative change. Within our lives. Here says the lord. I'm calling my part of the homily this morning life in the gray area. And before i begin i want to start by offering a bit of a prologue for rob and eyes comments this morning. We realized as we sat down this week to work on a joint sermon which is an interesting enterprise in and of itself. Getting two ministers to agree on what they're going to say and how they're going to work together if you can imagine. But we realize that it was important to say up front that what we are doing this morning is we hope. Just a prologue. In this latest. Chapter of conversation about race within this congregation. We are not the first to speak about race. We do not have the last or final or authoritative word on the subject. We stand on the shoulders. Of a powell davies. Of david eaton of all those who have gone before us past and present within this community. Who continue to lift up the importance of this conversation. So we want you to know. Your ministers are talking about this subject. We care about it. We're adamant in our belief that a multicultural congregation is the only kind of congregation to have in this world we live in. And so we offer our words. In humble prayers of that this morning. Life in the gray area. All this recent talk of marriages and legalities around marriages. Has made me think of my parents marriage. My parents decided to marry in 1968. Only a year after it was legal for them to do so. And although my parents union was short-lived. The boldness of their decision. Let love lead the way. Has left a legacy. But my extended family and i continued. To wrestle with. And so i'd like to tell you just one story. About that legacy. When i was a child. Perhaps four or five i'm not quite sure how old i was you know how childhood memories tend to blur. I was visiting with my mother's family my mother's side of the family. In suburban are not so far from where we are today in suburban maryland here. And we were walking in a neighborhood park it was one of my favorite things to do as a child to feed the ducks. I was one of those kids that threw breadcrumbs all around little lakes. Hoping the ducks would come near. And as i was there with my mother's side of the family i spotted someone. In the distance an adult that i knew. And i kind of. Jumped up from what i was doing and i went running toward this man into his arms and i said uncle played uncle pine uncle pint. Uncle not so much he actually wasn't really an uncle but a man on my father's side of my family. Who was much beloved to me and extended family member. But none of the people on my mom's side of the family that i was with. Knew or had met before. Their reaction to my running to this. African-american man and jumping into his arms this man that they did not know. Mike clear and sheer delight at seeing this person. Was not one of joy and wonder. But was really one of startled. Surprise. In spite of the fact that all my life. I have looked different. From them. In spite of the fact that we have never. Had the same features or the same coloring or look the same. We have never talked about race. Not when my grandfather and i would be stared at when we were grocery shopping. Not on any of the occasions when i noticed. The vision and the sightlines of all those around us wondering and puzzling at what this. Small dark child was doing with these white people. In spite of our relatedness. In spite of our blood connection to one another. Race has remained unmentionable. And to this day. Be uncomfortable silence. Remains. I think we all. I think we all know the silence. With the same silence that i. Talked about with the kids the silence on the playground at school growing up. Perhaps there have been times when we. Have been complicit. In that silence. Or maybe we've been the ones who broke broken the silence and. And suffered the consequences of that. But i want to talk about the silence today. In about coming out of the silence. The silence of course doesn't mean that race. Hasn't been talked about it all on america right we all know that there's a lot of what i like to call whispering about race. The happens. We know that when people who are are like one another get together. They talk about people who are different from them. The white folks get together and they talk about black folks black folks get together and they talk about. White folks and then latinos and asian-americans everyone else to get together wonders why the black folks in the white folks are just talking about each other and ignoring everyone else. So these conversations have been going on for a long time. But the conversation that's been missing. Is that dialogue that happens across the boundaries of difference. In the silence refers to the absence. Hover reconciling dialog. That can bring us together. Rather than keep us separate. When i think about what's missing. And what's keeping us. From this dialogue for entering more fully into this dialogue two things come to mind. And in the first is courage. It does take courage to step. Into the middle of the playground right. To be the first one. Tubidy. The person who invites the dialogue. It takes courage cuz there's a risk of there there's a risk. Insane something wrong as a risk in india no screwing up. So it takes courage. And the other thing that it takes to break the silence of course. Is language. It takes a language. In today what what sean and i are here to really talk about is. The kind of language that we can use here in the church. To break the silence. About race to continue the dialogue. About race. Tonus a few things about language first the first thing i want to say is if there is a temptation for us in the church as we grapple for a language to talk about race. Is that we borrow or mimic. The lamp the discourses about race that already exist in the culture. Discourses that were born out of political struggle. Discourses that are weighted down with political correctness. All of these discourses are already happening out there. I want i want to say today is that we as a church are called to a different kind of language. About race because we are not a political institution we are a religious institution and are called to speak about this issue from our deepest commitment of faith we're called to speak about this issue from the perspective of what is ultimate from the perspective of what is holy and right and good. Which isn't to say that the the discourses that are out there now or bad or wrong but that we can add a different perspective to the conversation by bringing our faith commitment to the table. On this issue. Knowing search of this this dialogue in search of this language last fall paula cole jones and i. And paula is a lifelong member of this church and african-american woman who's done a lot of work at all souls on the dialogue on race. We offered a class together. About race and god. In which we encourage people in the church too. To be able to articulate in theological terms. Why this church and why we are to be engaged in this struggle and i realized it since we've had that class i haven't had a chance to share with you all. Some of the conclusions that i came to in the course of that class and i want to do that with you. For me when i think about my religious commitments around this issue i go back to. The statement made by the founder of american unitarianism william ellery channing enchanting as you all know because we say it a lot here. Said once. I am a living member. Have a great family of all souls. We say that a lot here and it's almost become sort of a slogan at the church. But i want you to think about. The kind of religious experience that lays behind that statement. Cuz i think we've all had such an experience. The experience that comes when we feel a sense of communion with our brothers and sisters no matter who they are. No matter where they come from. We feel that sense of communion every once in awhile we feel it we realize that that is that is true and we want to live into that truth even though the rest of the world is telling us that it's not true. And so for me it's that faith commitment and that vision. Of the great family of all souls. In which we are all brothers and sisters it is that vision that i use to critique the society's icy around me and critique the church. Critique the discourses that i hear around race. In this country. When we enter into this dialogue on race with this as our primary faith commitment. There are some things that flow from this some corollaries some values. That the i bring to the conversation based on this fake commitment and i want to share through just three with you. The first thing i want to say is given this commitment to the great family of all souls. That i want to stay explicit lee. That there's church has a religious calling. To be multicultural. Multiracial. And diverse in many ways. This is a religious calling. Not just a politically correct agenda. Not just. Something that i'd like to see or something that might be a nice utopian dream. It is a religious calling for this church. And it's central to the identity of who we are it's not ancillary it's not an add-on it's central to the core of who we are and it's something that we've been working on. From. The moment we started work here in in 1821. So the first is to say that it is our religious calling to be a multicultural multiracial diverse congregation the second thing. Is that it is also a religious calling. To dismantle structures and ideologies. That cheap. The great family of all souls separated and apart. Ideologies and structures like racism. And cultural imperialism and homophobia and sexism. You know it's not just an accident that 11 became the most segregated hour in america. It's because of racism. That. Betamerica that 11 became the most segregated hour and america it's because of racism that every other hour in america is almost a segregated is 11 on sunday mornings. Today there are lots of reasons that 11 remain segregated not all of them have to do with racism. But that's the beginning. And so we need to look honestly at that and see it as part of our calling. To be an anti-racist and anti-oppressive in many ways. So that we can live into the reality of being the great family of all souls. And 3rd. I want to make a point about. About this great universal ideal of the great family of all souls. Because there are lots of ways to eat that you can use that phrase. You know you can say all the great family of all souls. Really means that we're just all the same right. We're all the same and so we we ignore the differences that really exist amongst us okay it's sort of we sort of obliterate difference. That's that's one way to to go about pretending that that were the great family of all souls is to is to deny. 420 glitter 8. Well i want to suggest is that we can become the great family of all souls not by denying difference or or obliterated it but by moving through it in a deep way by celebrating difference. By embracing difference. And by engaging with that difference in a way. That we move through it. And discover. Pruitt. That which brings us together. That which unites us. So it's moving through particularly to the universal. Rather than ignoring particularity. For the universal. I see this happening in our congregation in many places. In our social justice work as we struggle with what it means to engage in this neighborhood i see it happening in our covenant groups. Were these kinds of conversations the deep relationships that this work takes. Are happening right now. Until i want to encourage us. To to embrace. This movement through particular t. Two are ideal of the grape family. Of all souls. In october. Rob and gabrielle and i attended in albany institute workshop. Led by a woman named jackie lewis. About building and creating multiracial multicultural congregations. It was both really heartening experience and a little bit discouraging because one of the things we discovered was that there aren't very many multicultural multi-race congregations i'm talking like maybe 5% of the congregations in this entire nation. Or actually multicultural. One of the things do that jackie said that i found really compelling as she talked about each of us each and everyone of us. Being storied. Selves. Storied selves and what she meant by that was that each of us has a story to tell. A story that has to deal with race that has to deal with our family that has to do with who we are. And then she said that another one of her assumptions is that more and more of us. Or what she calls border people. Or boundary people. We're people who stories intersect. There many many many many of us like myself who live in the gray area. Whose lives who's very dna who's very core belief about what it means to be human whose own personal story intersects with lots of other different stories. So that my story is rob was suggesting is not just particularly my own. It's not for me to hoard and say well my story is not like yours in any other way. And i'm only me. And so for those of us who care passionately about race. Not as a subject for a workshop who don't need another workshop to talk about race. But who actually want to have a conversation with storied selves. You want to hear one another's deep passionate abiding life stories that have questions in them. But have truth. Mmm about how we do and don't relate. Around racial boundaries through racial boundaries. That's the kind of conversation that i want to have here with all of you. In fact it's one of the few things that i i struggle with in my unitarian-universalism is that we do this a lot in all of the things that we seem to care about we we do this with our religious pluralism issues we do this with our multiculturalism issues we kind of all get into our camps and we talked about what we're howard different and how are separate how are unique. And we forget about the common language. About the common conversation. About what we all care about together. About how i understand. What sorrow is because i felt it. Because i understand what it means to feel joyful. And you do too. So rather than getting into my own little camp. In setting up a boundary or a border that i don't want you to permeate. Setting up a board or a boundary that you that that will keep you out. I want to know your story. As i have begun to share with you mine. About the conversation that's not happening in my family. That's part of my story. It's when we meet. Truly. Deeply genuinely meet one another. And hear those stories. That we come. To a greater understanding. That we come to really care about one another. And the reality is that if i care about you. How could i ever want anyone to demean your existence. To tell you that who you are is lesser or not quite or not good enough. Just by virtue of which family you were born into or who you love or any other reason. That our culture tells me i shouldn't care about you. I'm so grateful. To be here to be part of this community. To be working with rob to be working with all of the staff of this church to be here with all of you. Because i believe in the power of our story. Our individual stories and the collective story that we continue to write as the history of all souls church. Unfolds. Let us write that chapter together. Let us write it through our particular differences let us hear one another deeply and fully let us be challenged by one another. Let us sometime step on one another's toes. Get it wrong sometimes apologize and start again. Because our caring for one another is much too important to walk away from. I'm in it for the long haul. I'm in it to tell my story to hear your story. To grow in my ability to care about you. To know that cs atheist buddhist whatever category or camp people like to shove themselves into is much less important to me than the story at the heart of it. How you care. How you love. What it is that gets you out of bed in the morning i want to know. And together. We can create a beloved community of all souls. If we believe that that's possible. May we my friends believe in what is possible. May we believe in beloved community created through our particular differences and out into the universal experiences of being human. Of joy and pain woven fine. Maybe through this day. And each day that we are fortunate enough to share. I'm at.

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07.04.15ManyPathsToFreedom.mp3

4 p.m. everything in the sermon i want to. Acknowledge some thank-yous. First i want to thank. Bob freeman who's who's the sound guy today but who is so much more to this congregation who really was sort of a research associate on this sermon cuz he gave me some materials from our archives about a dc emancipation day which i'll share during the sermon. And i also want to just dedicate the sermon this morning to loretta carter haynes who. The member of this congregation but who hasn't. Finding church in quite some time due to illness herself and in her family but who. In 1991 really led the struggle to make dc emancipation day what it is. Which is a fully acknowledged at least it at the dc level holiday tomorrow if it weren't for her work. We wouldn't really be recognizing the significance of dc emancipation. So this is for loretta wherever she is this morning. This morning's reading is a slight adaptation from a meditation by colleague reverend victoria stafford. In one of my favorite little meditation manuals. By her it's entitled walking toward morning both the meditation manual and this meditation are called walking toward morning. You know we do it everyday. Every morning we go out blinking into the glare of our freedom. Into the wilderness of work and the world. Making maps as we go. Looking for signs that we are on the right path. And on some good days. We walk right out of our oppressions. Those things that press down on us from the outside. Or as often from the inside. We shake off the shackles of fear. Prejudice. Timidity. Close-mindedness. Selfishness. Self-righteousness. And claim our freedom outright. Terrifying as it is. Our freedom. To be human. And humane. Every morning. Everyday. We leave our houses not knowing if it will be for the last time. And we decide what we'll take with us. What will carry. How much integrity. How much truth-telling. How much compassion. In case somebody along the way may need some. How much anger. How much humor. How much willingness to change and be changed. To grow and be grown. How much faith. And hope. How much love. Ingratitude. You pack these with your lunch. With your datebook and your papers. Everyday. We gather what we think we'll need. Pick up what we love. And all that we so far believe. We put on our history. Shoulder our experience and memory. Take inventory of our blessings. And we start walking. This morning. We are both celebrating and honoring a momentous occasion in the district of columbia's history. And we will also take some time to ruminate on the ways in which freedom and its lack. Still impact our lives to this day. Impact if you will how much some of us are able to walk toward morning as much as we would like. As i began writing this week it occurred to me that freedom is sort of hard to pin down as a subject matter. Because it's both existential and abstract. How do you talk about freedom. But it's also in some odd way exceedingly present. Fittingly clear in our day-to-day living whether we feel free or not. What does it mean. Tubi free. And how much of freedom as victoria safford points out comes from without from outside of ourselves. How much freedom is bestowed upon us by others. And by the law. And how much has everything to do with our own daring. Our own capacity and willingness to embrace what we can change in effect in our own lives. How much friends do we still need emancipation. 145 years after president lincoln freed the slaves. So my sermon this morning is many paths to freedom and i suppose in a way if you're counting the past this morning there's the historical. The societal and the personal. So i'll start with a historical. I didn't know until i moved to washington almost 4 years ago now. But dc's story of emancipation is slightly separate and yet inter woven with the national story of the emancipation of slaves. For you see on april 16th. In 1862. President lincoln freed the slaves of the district of columbia. About 3,100 people to be exact. Almost nine months before he issued the emancipation proclamation that freed all slaves. In this budding nation. So nine months earlier almost. The slaves of the district of columbia were freed. It's interesting because as i read some of the materials that bob gave me it was interesting to see that lincoln himself had been. Corn and conflicted about how to handle slavery. You see he was personally opposed to it on moral grounds for quite some time. And he had tried when he was a congressman in 18-49 so 1849 to 1862. To introduce a bill that would bring sort of a gradual emancipation. Two slaves. He was torn. He wanted to do what was right what he felt was right in his own conscience in his own soul. And yet he knew that what was politically expedient. What was possible in the political realm that he was in at the time. Tell best hold the union together was not to push for emancipation. But he decided when 1862 came around. But he could start with the immediate. In the slave round he could start with the district of columbia he could start with where he was located. Because the scourge of slavery was unavoidable then. African americans were being bought and sold in the streets of our city. They were led through the town in chains. And so it was hard not to decide as lincoln finally did. To begin the emancipation process with those who were closest to him. With his immediate surroundings. He decided if he couldn't change it all at once as he wanted to. He could start with those that he saw around him in the streets each day. And because of that beginning. History has been altered irrevocably. And yet. We still have this niggling sense i think. That true and deep and lasting freedom. Has remained elusive. So now to the societal path of freedom. And its connection to this historical story in which we are living and moving and having our being. Those of you who were here when i preached a month ago remember my mentioning a wheel of life. Remember my mentioning ut saunders a gentleman who is doing some facilitation and work that i'm doing. At our denominational level. And i told you that in his fiery it sounds like it's ut's theory but it's the one he shared with us about the wheel of life. That in our living we were like four lucky we go around the circle three times. From 0 to 28. We are in our adolescence. From 28 to 56 we are in our. Intelligent individual phase where we come to know who we are and we're living out our lives in that sense. Of individuality. And i suppose hopefully in freedom. And then if we're fortunate enough to get that last go-round in life. From 56 to 84. We attain some wisdom. Some of you laugh last time when i said wisdom has already arrived for some of you you're not sure you're quite there yet but. In the wheel of life you're already wise. What what i didn't tell you about the wheel of life is that through it run to axies according to ut. Aynax ease of power and an axies of consciousness. Ut likes to tell us that as long as your perpendicular to the ground you have power. As long as you are upright. You have power and you have consciousness you have the ability. To choose. You have the ability to be responsible. As he likes to say you have respond ability. And so if you believe that psychological theory than we are all free. In that sense. We all have power and consciousness to make choices in our lives to respond to the circumstances. That life brings our way. In this view it is our birthright. Our birthright to stake our claim to living the life that we have been given. We are all free. In the sense that we each have the capacity to chart a path through our days. And yet as simple and as lovely and his wonderful and is true as that can be sometimes. We all know. We are not naive enough not to know. That that path. But that fate that we find ourselves in has already been shaped and moved by forces beyond our control and choosing. That that shape and path. Is connected to race and to class and two ethnicity. And that that intern shapes things like educational and job opportunities. That there are aspects of our existence. That were given to us by virtue of the family we were born into. And that we have been channeled. Ever since. Along courses that are for some of us easier. And more navigable. In the pads of others. You see. We know the realities of our lives. Tell us. That freedom is not just for us to decide. That other people have something to say about our freedom. But sometimes we are bestowed or. Granted or feel that we learn or game. Freedom. By virtue of who we are. And the politics of race and class make it still true in 2007. But some of us are more free than others. And sadly it is still the case that skin color or the amount of money that one has and one bet ones bank account. Directly affect. The odds of whether each of us will have that opportunity to choose. We may be perpendicular to the ground. But we may have consciousness and power but. The amount of power is still determined by so much more. That we didn't choose. So we struggle still for greater freedom. We struggle still to be able to really chartacourse and that is true and real and authentic. To who we know ourselves to be. And we struggle still in this city. To find ways to allow those who are on the margins whose power and consciousness is not as strong as others. To speak for themselves. Just this week that whole furor about don imus and what he said or didn't say and who gets to say. Reminded us all once again of the difference between. What white folks get to say what black folks get to say in who gets to decide what is true and real. About someone else's life. About someone else's lived experience. And it saddens me. That we're still in a place in our world where too often. White folks get to speak for what. Black folks and other folks of color. Might think is true or real. This is what they want. Or that men get to speak for what women might want or that other people get to say as your advocate i can speak for you. Perhaps we do need still for them to 4. Make them hear you i appreciate the song this morning. Because we can't speak for anyone else. So when it comes to freedom. Friends what does that mean. What does it mean to be truly free what are the freedoms that feminism and civil rights and economic justice movements have been working for. Perhaps that's the final frontier of freedom. Finding a way to be in solidarity with those who are on the margins and on the edges but not tokenizing or reinforcing some sort of lesser than mentality. Some sort of patronising allow me to help you mentality. For it seems to me there is a path to freedom. That must be shared. But not at the expense of anyone's full human annity. We must all in that meditations mindset be able to shoulder our own backpacks. Walk toward morning each in our own ways with our memories and our grace and our beauty and our anger and our humor. I meant none of us get to tell anyone else what they're bringing with them. Full humanity. Is that freedom. You see i i think maybe that's where we're headed in freedom. But the history of this nation and by extension the current state of our own cultural societal realm. Tends to steal set boundaries and limits around what is possible for each of us. We take those things that have been told to us about who we are supposed to be inside we internalize. Everything that. Says no. And we think. Maybe i'm not allowed to be that person. That i think i am we have become so habituated to what maleness is and blackness is and whiteness is. We become so habituated that we are now living smaller lives. We have shrunk ourselves to fit someone else's definition. We have confined our sense of liberty to what is easiest and most convenient. The ways in which we can get along and get by. We have bought into. The stereotypes and the images that are handed to us so completely. That we are sometimes unable to see where we end. And where the projection. Begin. I think you know what i mean. Those projections what they are that all african-american folks are not as an innately intelligent as white folk. Hence it surprising that barack obama is articulate. This many years after zora neale hurston stood on a street corner with a little. Measurement trying to measure people's skulls trying to say that we're just like each other we still don't believe it. We still believe in some way that all men are hardwired to be stoic. If not prone to violence. And that all women are given to emotional whims and outbursts. Fat. The books of feminism trying to counter all these hysterical notions of who women are. The list of projections and ideas and stereotypes and images go on and on and on and i don't need to catalog them for you. Friends it's clear that we can be given a certain amount of freedom. But at some point we will be forced and push to clean even more. If it is ever to become true that we are whole and true and real selves that are something more and something other than these images that we've been handed. And yet we don't claim that additional freedom. We don't take that next step. And there are so many reasons for this a course. Some have to do with self-esteem. The regard that we have for ourselves. Maybe we don't believe we deserve that much freedom. And others have to do with our lack of willingness to imagine something beyond the conventional beyond those stereotypical images that we have seen thus far. The images that we have been given we have to be willing. To go more broadly and more deeply. And so i think this additional claiming of freedom. Is where our community comes in. It's where all souls comes in it's where faith. Comes in. For faith it is said is a belief and a conviction that there are things unseen. That can unless be hoped for. That persistence in faith. Has led to so much change in our world. It's what led lincoln to assign that proclamation so long ago. It's what led. South africans to chant that freedom is coming. That somehow yes they knew it was coming even in the midst of apartheid. Faith not just in. Something greater than one single human being. But in the strength of community. The strength of connections to define and redefine ourselves. The enduring wisdom. That says to us each. That nothing. And no one is set. Or fixed in one place and can never be moved. Change. Is inevitable. So why not. Put our efforts in the direction of positive. Life-affirming. An impression oppression denying. Change. So that's my prayer for us this emancipation sunday. That we may know that freedom is indeed coming. When we affirm others in our communities potential to change. To be in ways that are not conventional but are authentic. May we know. That freedom takes many forms. Forms that have to do with freedom of expression. Freedom to be whole selves that are not confined to anyone else's. Preconceived definition. Of what it means to be alive. May we my friends create space. For each and every person in this sanctuary to find freedom. In our midst. In this life. And on this planet. So may it be.

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06.04.23MarthaMaryGioiaNana.mp3

It is good to be here with you all this morning. I have two readings to share. The first is from a wonderful book of meditations called life tides. Written by elizabeth tarbox. Her words are as follows. The bay at high tide. Is an invitation. It calls and i follow. Falling into the chill wet blanket of motion. And mystery. Put down your face and stretch out its eyes. Relax. The element is friendly. Swim out to the raft and fill up your ears. Hear the throb of the ocean massaging the land. Experience the momentary panic of salt water in your nose and mouth. Go on. It's here for you. The bay at high tide. Is a sparkle a fiberglass in a slapping of halyards it's a rolling relentless sucking at the shore and uneasy toll holes on the backs of unseen sea creatures. But at the low tide. The sand is strewn. With the waves forgotten favors. I stand. Abandoned like one of the empty shelves staring out beyond the horizon where the water receded. Where i cannot follow. Low tide. Is for reflection. An acceptance. I do not belong into this water world after all. I long to regal into the muddy saint. And shootout tiny fountains like the clowns. But i cannot. I can only stare into the pools from the salt spray soften surface. Of the beechcraft. And let memories. Babe me. There is a time. For high tide. Being involved in active taking risks and putting out effort to master the elements. And there is a time for low tide. Inactivity. And quiet reflection. And both are necessary in our lives. May this be a low tide time for you. Where you can hear the voice of your own coming and thoughtful inspiration. A time when thoughts come uncalled for. To comfort. What's the challenge you. And then you go from here renewed and ready to answer the call of your destiny. To jump back. Into the tide of life. Once more. Our second reading. Familiar to some. From the christian book of luke. Chapter 10 verses 38 to 42. Now if they went on their way. Jesus entered a certain village. Where woman named martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named mary who sat at the lord's feet and listen to what he was saying. But martha was distracted by her many tasks so she came to him and asked lord do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself. Tell her then to help me. But jesus answered her. Martha. You are worried and distracted by many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part. Which will not. Be taken. From her. Can mystery. That's me cartoon. Maybe we are different. Maybe not. Who knows what's true. But help me. It lives inside of you. My name. Is lazarus. And i have spent all of my life in this place called bethany living with my two sisters martha. And mary. Ask anyone here in the village about my sisters and they will tell you that martha and mary are two people. Who seemed possessed very different outlook stored living. If i am told once i am told a thousand times lazarus. It must be quite an experience for you. Leaving in a household that is run by both a raging river. That's martha. And a willow tree. That's mary. Martha. Appears to be so well-organized that if it was possible she would time her day. From the exact second the sun rose to the exact second that it said. Mary on the other hand. Appears to be the most reflective person you would ever meet. She goes along. It acquired steady pace. And if something takes a little longer to get done in the grand scheme of things so be it. My favorite story about my sister's took place this one time when our friend jesus of nazareth came for a visit. Jesus had developed quite a reputation throughout the area for his non-traditional style of teaching. Also happy that he had found the time to come into our home. And for martha and mary however it was more than just the excitement of his arrival. Martha. Had always prided herself on the model way she runs the household. For her it was much more than a traditional roll it was a way of life. In the greatest gift she could offer to jesus as our guest. What's a flawless welcome. With warm hospitality in good food. And i knew that mary. Mary could not wait to hear jesus discuss the major topics of the day. She loved conversation with creative and full of new thoughts and ideas. On the day that jesus survived the entire house was buzzing with voice and activity. The aromas of a major music on herself. The meal ended. And everyone prepared themselves for a stimulating dialogue with jesus. However. I noticed that while mary had seated herself at jesus's feet. To hear his words. What's still rushing around. Preoccupied with the many paths of hospitality that she thought were necessary. Now i should tell you all. That martha is not the most flexible person in the world. She's the type who will knock herself out to keep things balanced provided. That she sees everyone in the family pitching in to help. She was not pleased. To see mary. Seated with jesus in the other guests when there was still work to do. Martha been publicly approached our guest of honor and asked him to have mary, sister. You have to understand that this kind of situation. Is a b. Irregular. For marry a woman to sit and talk with jesus along with the male student send disciples. To discuss the law and the prophets. He's not commonplace. But this also applies to martha. As well. It went against every frame of reference in our culture. For a woman at that time to openly question a man. Live alone i guess. In such a forceful manner. But then again martha was never one to be silenced by me rules. Jesus is answer was a surprise to all of us. He suggested. If martha need not be distracted. By the activities left to be done. And at the moment in time. Mary had chosen. A better. Who can be answer. 2 question. Do you put your face in. All of us have peace. About what is true. So help me see the part of me. It lives inside of you. I have always liked that story. From the book of luke. In spite of the fact. But i feel it's message. Especially regarding martha's role in the story. Has been very misinterpreted. Emmaline. In past talks that i have heard. Prior messages preached in the face tradition of my past. And i mean italian-american from new york so you can figure out what past that might be. I've dealt with the story strictly in pejorative terms. The blame game. Mary was right. To sit and listen to jesus while martha was wrong to intervene. Well i think that it is high time. That someone came to at least a partial defense of martha's action. You agree don't you i see you not in there. Well in the past there was a duality that was taught in this story. Which said that the spirit of god was not present. In the interactions of life what existed only when you stopped. And totally detached from everything else. But for years i wondered. As a good unitarian universalist should. Couldn't we do. Both. Couldn't the divine be present in both contemplation and activity. Couldn't there be a balance between these two areas in which an interconnection or interrelation with that divine spark existed. I actually admired the way the jesus in luke's story. Chose to handle the situation. Nowhere in those few verses does jesus pose a one way or another or either or pejorative viewpoint. Nowhere does he state that we should spend every moment revelling in thought while dismissing action. I believe that luke's jesus worked for a sense of balance. He never told martha she was wrong. To have her concerns. It was just. Time for something else. Right now. Jesus stated that mary had chosen something more appropriate. For that. Time. A better part not. A right. So the concept that i would like to pose to you all this morning is the idea that mary and martha are in fact two sides of the same coin. As members of the same family they're bonded together much like a coin is one item. One piece. And although they display some very and characteristics much like the differing features on the head and tail sides of a coin. Martha and mary and body aspects. A parts of the same substance. Both sisters in the story actually provide some thought-provoking insight. As they protest. How the boundaries of particular roles are set up in community. And in society. It's just so i believe power play. But in their own individual. Style. I see mary as illustrating the inquisitive. Those who possess a constant desire in thirst to always keep learning new things. Her protest of sitting. The feet of her guests. Exemplifies someone who by her actions does not take no for an answer. Even if she is told that she hasn't a right question. I'll possess knowledge. Take a moment. Look around you now. And acknowledge to yourselves that this type of person exists. In our community. Martha tumi. Personifies the activist. Her protest takes the form of a community organizer who refuses to accept things the way they are. She is not afraid to openly verbally confront the status quo and insist in her way. That it was time for a change. She also refused to take no. For an answer. Take another moment to look around you. And acknowledge the existence of that type of person here. In our community. As well. Both martha and mary are family. Both represent parts of the same community. On the one hand you might say their approaches are markedly different. But on the other hand you might say. But they both have the same goals. The martha's in the marriage exists not only in our daily communities both in and out of this congregation. But they also exist inside. Each. And everyone of us. Are we in harmony. And balanced enough to try a variety of approaches to work with what life puts before us. Or do we narrowly take the same approach. Every single time. We need to rediscover. And reaffirm our own individual martha. And mary sides. We need to bring them together. In the same way that a coin does. Is that possible. Some are born to riches. I'm on aborn to say. Some are born with nothing saved blessing. Can return it swirls around and start with something. Oh help me see department. It lives inside of you. My maternal grandmother. Vincenza picciarelli iacovino. Also known as jenny. Was born in 1894. She was an italian immigrants to this country. At a time where women were definitely not considered on equal footing. With matt. Now i see from the looks on some of your faces that you're dying to tell me that the situation still exist. And i agree. But this form of discrimination was even more intense. And legal. At that time. Grandma jenny was known. To our family. Joy amanda. Which in english literally means happy grandmother. Are the grandmother who brings joy. Up until her death in 1982. Joining. Was both the fountain of love and a tower of strength. To all of our family. She chose to leave an abusive marriage of over 17 years in the 1930s. And did the unspeakable acts. I'm taking all five children with her and suing my grandfather in public. For divorce. And for sole custody. Keep in mind that this was a time and an italian society in brooklyn in an ethnic culture where wife put up with the actions of her husband whatever those actions were. After successfully obtaining divorce and custody with child support only she refused alimony. Grandma with an eighth-grade education. Then proceeded to hold down two jobs. And provide the structure and support needed to raise her family of which my mother. Was the youngest child. Because of the lack of adequate financial needs that accompanied her situation. Joining i had developed the extraordinary talent. Of making a meal out of nothing. How often do i recall occasions where my mother or my aunt's. Would say in dulcet italian tones. Mama. There's nothing in the kitchen. That's nothing in the house. Grandma would roll her eyes. And smile. And would open the seemingly sparse fridge or pantry. And amidst vigorous hustle and bustle proceeding to create a veritable feast. For the eyes in the nose and the taste buds. They could feed all who were present. And then some. A meal out of nothing. And everyone. Everyone was welcome at joining us table. I remember many dynamic conversation sometimes in several languages at once. Where grandma would go back and forth discussing issues asking piercing questions and delighting in the new idea which was not initially in her realm of experience. But what also amazed me. About joanna now. What's a tremendous. Send. A balance. There were many moments. Wish you would step back. A house full of energetic activity. And seek the richness. It existed in times of silence. And contemplation. In those. Wordless times. I remember being with her. Standing. By the window. Around the outside porch. Looking at the water. For the moon. Stars. Being in her living room. On this big fat couch. Just listening to music from the radio. The phonograph. Holding each other. In the quiet. Union with the divine. Existed in the way she managed to combine both her active vitality. And her inner spirit. So if we agree. That our own inner individual martha saint mary's need acknowledge me. An affirmation. We must also look at or need to rediscover and reaffirm. The martha's and mary's. Within our own congregation. Like that union of two sides of a coin we need to bring those elements together. No i don't think. There's anyone here. Who will deny that some unitarian universalist. Can be the most hyperactive overachievers in all of creation. We all. No many martha's. Right here. Clothes organizer. Keep things running so those active. To join lots of committees. And in some cases. Have even shared more than one. How many times. Have you joked to one another as i did in my home church. That we should set up cox in the library for all of the time we spend here. Would we moline. Those martha. Who contributed. Spirit. His congregation. Why there's nest for activity. I think not. Now i don't think there is anyone else here who would deny that some unitarian universalist can be. The largest seekers of intellectual and spiritual nourishment. In all of creation. We also know many mary's. Right here. In this congregation. Those who faithfully attend the weekly services. Classes and discussion sessions. Those who rebel in the times of. Meditate. Those who find contentment listening to wonderful music. For digesting the contents of various sermons. Would we moline. Rosemary. Who contribute to the heart of this church. Through their deep. An intense. I think not. Both. Are individually and collectively needed. Staind. This blessed. Community. Faith. So as we acknowledge and praise the martha and mary which exists in each one of us and exist in this community. It must also be said that as these sisters could ultimately not exist without one another we here. All souls unitarian church. Cannot endure. Without each. And everyone of us. Long timer or new. Member or visitor. Who enters and participates into the life. Abyss. Community. I challenge the martha's and mary's here this morning. To revel. In our continuing quest for diversity in all areas. And to look for ways to help one another. Teamwork. Together. Not regarding our biblical story. I have always felt that there was another. Ulterior motive. To martha. When she asked jesus to have mary lend-a-hand. With her tasks. Just perhaps. Martha had also. Wanted to come in. And listen to jesus's words. And desire to finish her tasks even more quickly. Because of this. Perhaps martha in her own way actually understood. Her own need. For both intellectual and spiritual nourishment as well as action. Do we. As a community work for that kind of unity. And balance. How many times have some of us been content. To let the same group. People handle the activities. Of lunch or fellowship hour. While rest of us socialize. Friends. Conversely how many times have some of us become so wrapped up. With the flow of organizational activity. That we missed. Bonding moments. We miss. By not taking advantage of that martha and mary. In each one of us. For when they they don't deny unite in community. Evike. Throughout the stock. You've heard me sing excerpts of a song. Which was written by unitarian universal. Composer and singer and friend of mine named joist. Holy. Entitled help me. The words of her refrain and the song. Final line. Offer a complex. Yet easily identifiable way to maintain equilibrium and find balance in this life. And in this world we all share. Help. Macy. The part of me. That lives inside of you. And i will help you see the part of you. That lives in me. This is a powerful reminder. The need to look within ourselves and each other. For the unity of spirit which binds us. If we acknowledge the existence and values of the martha's and mary's in our congregation. If we acknowledge our own potential. To be both martha and mary. We need to honor both of those aspects of our personality. Incommunity and individually. So that we may nurture. That's sacred spark of divinity which exists and everyone of us. Putting martha and mary. Together. Imbalance. Will strengthen. Spandauer community. An ultimate. Allow us to grow together. In our ongoing quest. Every nation every time. An every point of view. Red and yellow black and white. Of every shape. Maybe we are different. Maybe not. Who knows what's true. But help me see the part of me that lives inside of you. Help me see the part of me. Asian side view. I will help you. The part of you. That's. In. Harmon.

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03.11.16WhatWondrousLove.mp3

Our first reading this morning is from the poet. Tess gallagher. It's called the hug. It's all of you will know this i shared it a couple of years ago i think but i think it's time we heard it again. The hug. A woman is reading a poem on the street. And another woman stops to listen. We stopped to. With our arms around each other. Suddenly a hug comes over me and i'm giving it to you like a variable star shooting light off to make itself comfortable. Been subsiding. I finished but keep holding you. A man walks up to us. And we know he hasn't come out of nowhere but if he could he would have. He looks homeless because of how he needs. Can i have one of those. He asks. And i feel you nod. I'm surprised. Surprised you don't tell him how it is that i'm yours only yours exclusive as a nose to its face. Love. That's what we're talking about love that nabbed you with for me only and hold on. But i walk over to him. And put my arms around him. And try to hug him like i mean it. He's got an overcoat on so thick i can't feel him past it. I'm starting the hug and thinking. How big a hug is this supposed to be. How long shall i hold this hug. Already we can be eternal. His arms falling over my shoulders. My hands not meeting behind his back he's so big. I put my head into his chest. And snuggle in. I leaned into him eileen my blood and my wishes into him. He stands for it. This is his and he's starting to give it back so well i know he's getting it this hug. So truly. So tenderly we stop having arms. And i don't know if my lover has walked away or what. Or if the women woman is still reading the poem. Clearly. A little permission is a dangerous thing. But when you hug someone. You wanted to be a masterpiece of connection. The way. The button on his coat. We'll leave the imprint of a planet. In my cheek. When i walk away. When i try to find some place. To go back to. And our second reading. Is from. Paul's letter to the romans. 9:25. I will call them my people. Who were not my people. Emperor beloved. Who was not my beloved. There are two things that strike me. About the scandalous hug. In test gallagher's poem. The first is the desperate ones. Of the man who asks for it. He's homeless perhaps a stranger who sees a couple embraced and has the audacity to come up to them and say can i have one of those. I mean it's one thing to ask for some spare change but it's quite another isn't it to ask for a stranger to. To hold you. In their arms. The nakedness of his need is something that we. With our middle-class propriety and pride would rarely allow ourselves to reveal. The second thing that strikes me. Is the response of a narrator. At first she is predictably shocked and annoyed i imagine we'd all be here she is exchanging an intimate embrace with her lover only to have some stranger interrupted. It'd be like someone someone coming up to you and your mates on the last dance of the evening and asking to cut in. You just don't do that. So she says to herself no don't you realize it that our love for one another is exclusive. Then my love is for for her alone. Exclusive like a nose to its face. And yet for some reason she can't say no. And she puts her arm around this strange large man and tries to hug him like she means it. I'm pretty soon she does mean it. She snuggles in and presses her face so tight against his winter coat. That when she lets go his button leaves an imprint. In her cheek. Love it turns out isn't. So exclusive. After all. I have a hunch. That it's not just me. Who can identify. With both parties. In this awkward embrace. I can relate to the man who feels so alone so empty so devoid of love that he'd ask it from a complete stranger. I know it because i felt that alone. Ann's. I know that sometimes i am so full up and brimming with love that i can do lit out freely and unconditionally. What is this love. That we desire so badly. We'll ask it of a stranger. What is this love that when we've got it obliges us to pass it on what wondrous love. Is this. Last week i talked. About how coping with the reality of death. I'm coming to a healthy understanding of what death means for our life. Is one of the fundamental tasks. Of the religious life. I suggested the death properly understood focus focuses our attention back on the preciousness of life. And on its most important value love. And this week. I want to talk about love. But where it comes from. About how we pass it on. Let me begin though we're so. Many of my sermons begin. Witches in my office. Listening. To the concerns that you all bring to me. For those of you who haven't been in my office there is. A box of tissue there. That rests on the table beside where we sit. If you are catholic and went to see your priest and be more fancy you'd you get the confessional and the rosary beads and the hail marys here it's just me or or shawna or gabrielle a hug. And a little box of kleenex. In my office at least that kleenex gets used the most. When people are talking about the absence of love. In their lives. The middle-aged man who just buried his only remaining parent. And now feels utterly alone. The young man whose low self-esteem always gets in the way of him letting others love him. A woman neglected as a child who still. Can't trust enough. To let others in. It seems we all long. Tubi. Beloved. We all need to be assured of our lovable miss. There seems to be this nagging suspicion that lurks within all of us that that whispers in our ear you are not worthy to be loved. You're not just quite good enough. You'd be surprised how prevalent this tape is. You know we unitarians are so famous for our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person but when we say every person it seems we rarely mean ourselves. We rarely say to ourselves. You are worthy. You are loved. You are a child of the universe. A son or daughter. Of god. We do say this to our infants when we bless them. On sunday mornings. And welcome them into our church family we say these things to them and everyone wonders later why they were crying during the baby blessing. No matter how many times we've heard these words we each need to be reminded of our own original blessing. The blessing that is our birthright which is that we are worthy we are loved. We do belong. Each and everyone of us. This is true in spite of all the messages we get to the contrary no matter how our former spouse makes us feel. No matter what our supervisor down in l'enfant plaza or federal triangle triangle says about us no matter. What are boss on capitol hill or our colleagues out in tyson's corner have to say. No matter what the racist or the bigot. Says on the streets or the op-ed page. In spite of all the ways that the world tries to take from us original blessing it is not theirs to take. Don't let them take it from you. Don't let them take it from you. We need to reach out to the places and people in our lives. That remind us of our beloved in this. We need to get in touch with the source of this love in our lives. Last sunday as i was shaking hands with with folks after church a woman came up to me and she said rob i see your. You're preaching about unconditional love next week. Don't forget to talk about the pets she said. Now raise your hand if you have ever been loved unconditionally by your family pet okay i am en what wondrous love indeed. It comes in strange packages one day a few years ago robert fulghum. Set out to learn more about the source of this wondrous thing called love the unitarian minister and author of the popular book. All i ever needed to know i learned in kindergarten. Decided to bundle up at people's love stories and and publish them in a book. So he went out into the coffee shops and bars and public markets of his native seattle and and put out a sign that said. Tell me a love story. And i'll buy you a cup of coffee. And make you famous. The only requirements are that they be short stories and true. The first people hesitated he said. They roll their eyes and laugh and say that they had a love story all right but it wasn't shorts and it sure wasn't sweet. But with a little encouragement from fulgham they told it anyways and. Drawn by the stories people would gather around his little tables and and listen to the stories and story would follow story. Often drawing applause from a sympathetic crowd. The shortest story came from a four-year-old girl who had been standing next to fulghum's table. Sucking her thumb men holding a yellow blanket against her face. Do you love your blanket. Set asked fulghum. The girl nodded her head yes. Does your blanket love you. The girl shook her head coyly. Coily no silly no. But one of the most telling stories came from a woman named rita. From denver. Rita was in her early thirties and had just gotten a divorce from her husband who had abused her. Like so many who have survived a harmful relationship she came out feeling unattractive. And unloved. She told fulgham one day on my way to work. I pulled up at a stop light. And a gray car pulled up right next to me. In the car with the most handsome man i have ever seen. No one has ever look that good. I looked at him to see if he were going to turn at the red light and he didn't. And he looked back at me and smiled. As though looking at me had made his day. Worthwhile. I was instantly in love with this gorgeous grey-haired man. But a minute later he turned right and i turned left. But i knew then that there was life. After divorce. Even if only for a moment at the stoplight. A pet. A stranger at the stoplight. The declaration of our beloved. The baby blessing at church. All of these are strange reminders. Of our beloved niece. Of our original blessing. They call us back to the source of love in our lives. Dino unitarians well enough. To know that we all have different names. For the source of this love. I know that we could coral over whether god is that source. Or whether god is just a name that some of us use. For that source. I'm not sure that's a quarrel worth having though. Because i think we can all agree that love is both utterly sacred. And profoundly human. What we can do here is help each person come to experience and name the source of his love in their lives. The source of their original blessing. And once having entered into relationship with that source. To act on that love in ever-expanding circles. You know one of the stated purposes of this. Church. Is exactly this to help. All of us discover the source of love in our lives and to cultivate the ability to act on that love in greater and greater circles. You see i believe that. All of the love comes from this one source the source of our original blessing and we carry that love around inside of us. And that's all the love that we have to work with in the world. But i think of this love as a currency almost i. I remember back to my first economics class. When i learned that there was this finite amount of currency in the world. But if that's the currency were exchanged. Did everyone's wealth would grow so that if i start the day with a dollar and i give it the chevy and and she gives it to margaret and margaret gives it to carol then then at the end of the day each of us. Is a little bit richer. I hope i didn't. Totally butcher that econ 101 lesson then and the metaphor isn't perfect. But the point is. Is that love grows when it's passed on. When it's exchanged. And everyone is the richer for it. The poem this morning gives us just a little. Snip it. How this kind of thing works. If you'll recall the very beginning of the poem the narrator receives a reminder of her original blessing maybe it was a combination of of the poetry and and walking hand-in-hand with her beloved. But suddenly she's overcome by this this overwhelming feeling of love inside of her. An energy which is uncontainable and which which needs to be shared or else it'll just go wasted and so. So she turns and shares a a hug. With her beloved. And then virus-like. The love spreads a stranger sees it and asked for a little bit of his own. And by the end of the poem. By the end of the poem we're wondering who has witnessed this. Scandalous exchange. And might spread that even further. This is how. The circle grows. Through this act and millions like it. Larger and smaller this is how the circle grows until it encompasses. All of creation. Now i can. I can imagine that for some of you. This sermon is perhaps not as. Politically sophisticated as you'd like it to be you know this talk about love. Sounds a little naive or simplistic. For those of you who feel this way. I can understand where you're coming from you'll be happy to know that i'm preaching about power in a couple of weeks and so we'll have a chance to to balance it out just a little bit. And what i'm talking about is a different way of thinking about faith. When unitarian and universalist first started to say that love and justice come from our grateful response. To the love that was first offered us. The calvinists said. You can't do religion that way. People will only love one another if you if you lowered the fear. Are going to take all the justice out of religion if you just keep talking about love. And there a lot of people who still feel that way today. There's some truth to what they say. There is an element of justice that we can never let go oven and judgment that we can never let go of in religion. But i'm going to stick with my guns here. On this argument. I'm going to stand on the shoulders of our unitarian and universalist ancestors and say. That the best way toward love. The best way that we can love one another is by responding gratefully to the love that was first offered us. I'm not going to go the way of fear and guilt. Visit italian restaurant. Did robert fulghum's neighborhood in seattle. It has a sign on its door that reads. We reserve the right to serve only those in love. Those who have been in love for those who want to be in love. And god bless the italians for doing stuff like that. The restaurant of course is always packed and i've been thinking lately that we could probably hang that sign on the front doors of our church. Because at the center of the religious life. Is a love given freely. To all of us. And religion friends is not. For the guilt-ridden and the fearful. Religion is. For lovers. Religion is for lovers. Lovers who have received the good news that they are a child of the universe. But they are a son or daughter of the living god. Lovers who ingrateful response to this blessing. Share it. With others. And make it manifest in the world through acts of justice. And compassion. This. Is. The good news. May the blessings of this love. Be yours and mine. Now and forever. I'm in.

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07.08.19ThePrayersOfYourHearts.mp3

It's a great delight to be back in the pulpit and back with all of you this sunday. It's a tradition at all souls that on my first sunday back. We do a question-and-answer sermon. But i thought that maybe after seven months of sabbatical you'd expect something more. An actual prepared sermon on my first sunday back so we're going to do the question-and-answer sermon next week and i'm going to try to preach this sunday. I don't want to begin with a reading. Just a short one. From one of the nineteenth-century unitarians that i've been spending a lot of time with. On my sabbatical. Ralph waldo emerson. Emerson rights. It's not only when we audibly. And inform. Address are petitions to the deity. That we pray. We pray without ceasing. Every secret wish. Is a prayer. Every house is a church. The corner of every street. Is a closet. Of devotion. So. I'm holding in my hands. A bundle of prayers. Your prayers. Written on three-by-five cards. The day i left for sabbatical in january. Maybe they look familiar to you. There are two kinds of prayers hear some are your prayers and good wishes for me on my sabbatical. And others are the prayers of your hearts. That you asked me to remember for you. While i was away. Now maybe you can't tell from far away but. The prayer cards frankly are looking a little ragged around the edges. But i don't want you to think it's from lack of care. On the contrary i think they're a little worse for the wear. For the same reason the velveteen rabbit. Was. I think they got loved. A lot. At the very least they are well-traveled prayers. They were first red here in washington just hours after you wrote them. On that sunday in january. The next day they flew to barcelona. Where they spend most of their days. They took a side trip to france and italy. And summers in california. Before returning here to dc on wednesday night. The prayers always travelled safely beside me in my carry-on luggage. I would not expose your prayers to the the risks and perils of checked luggage. And all along this journey. They were read and re-read. Sifted through. Organize by category. And read again. So yes. A little ragged around the edges. But for all the right reasons. This morning i want to do two things first i want to tell you about a couple of the places where your prayers and i travel together. Places where your prayers were all of you. We're especially present in my heart and mind. During the sabbatical. Just a couple of snapshots. And secondly. I want you to hear your prayers again. I want you all to hear each other's prayers. I don't worry i'm not going to out anyone's specific prayers this morning. And i won't break any confidences. But i do want to give you a sense for them. Because for me reading a hundred or so of your prayer request at the same time with such a powerful experience such an important reminder of who we are as a people that i want to share that experience with you i want you to have that experience. 2. I want to reflect back to you the prayers that your hearts so that we can all get a better sense of both the diversity and the commonality. Of our struggles. As a people united. So two things first. Where did your prayers and i hang out for the last 7 months. Will one day back in february. Chris and i were exploring for the first time. The dents maze of streets. In barcelona's medieval quarter. The barrio teach. These labyrinthian streets are so narrow no cars can pass as the pedestrian walking through them you feel lost in a narrow canyon of stonewall. Punctuated every few feet by wrought-iron balconies overflowing with flowers. Or hung with drying laundry. Smells of the midday meal. Saffron and garlic. Calamari. Cured meats. Pour out the windows. Feeling the air. Put on this day the air was filled with something else to something special there was singing in the air. Somewhere nearby a choir was singing a lush renaissance motet a piece that seems right at home in those ancient streets. Like a siren the music lured us to its source. The doors to the chapel. About 15th century. Convent. We picked our heads in. And the building looked as we might have imagined stone arches. Light pouring in through high windows. Faded mosaics on crumbling walls. And a dimpled stone floor. The scene to bear the imprint. A 500 years worth. A footprints. Nuns screen to evening prayer. And they're in the nave of the chapel sure enough. We're 40 figures. In a circle. Singing the heavenly polysemy. There was only one problem. The figures weren't human beings. They were. Speakers. 40 of them perched on stands of varying heights almost as if they were human beings. And that's when it dawned on us that this this building we stumbled upon was no ordinary chapel but in fact. Part of a museum. The speakers were a sound installation. Part of a larger exhibit of contemporary art. They're in a renaissance chapel. In the heart of the medieval quarter. We had stumbled upon at work. A 21st century art. After getting over our initial disappointment. We were delighted by the exhibition. And we were turned off and drawn by the lush sound the holy sites. The free admission. Drawn perhaps even more so though. By the spell that was cast over the people. As they walked in. You got to realize that when europeans go out for the day to the museum. They like to really dress up and be all sophisticated you might have been to a museum in europe and seen that they they put on their tight fitting jeans and they're expensive italian shoes and they're enormous prada sunglasses. They really do it up. For me. It was fascinating to watch these. Hipster. Mostly secular europeans. Walk into the center of this holy space. With its lush chanting. And high ceilings. And almost to a person assume a posture. Irreverence. Some razor heads to the heavens. Some lifted their hands in prayer or meditation. Still others. Risking damage to their 200 euro denims. Got down on their knees and prayed. Just as the nuns had. Half a millennium before. And many simply sat on the stone. Cold floor in silence. Orienteers. I could often be found among this last group. For truly this became my. Funky little church away from home. This was where i worshipped most often. During my sabbatical. I'm sitting there eyes closed music pouring over me. I often imagined. That you were there with me. Your prayers and i spend some time together. There was one other place. Know that i want to tell you about a long way from barcelona where where thoughts of you all flooded my mind. On the coast of northern california. Tucked away in a wooded gorge a half-mile in from the pacific. Liza buddhist monastery called green gulch. There. Zen monks in flowing robes and shaved heads. Spend their days alternating between meditation. And. This being northern california. Growing organic produce. I spent several days there earlier this month. At 4:30 every morning. The sound of a deep gong. Pierce the fog that had rolled in from the ocean that night. Calling us to the meditation hall. To citizen. I shuffled and tripped through the forest arriving half-asleep and even remember a passing thought as i did that. Which was that if anyone were to tell me that 9:15 was too early in the morning to come to church with an i have a story for them. Amazon do we sat on maths facing the exterior wall. Long periods of silence were interrupted only occasionally by the by chanting. And the ringing of chimes. Do in a religious environment completely foreign to me. I once again was overcome with a sense of awe. And reverence. I'd warn the monks ahead of time that i wasn't a buddhist. And it asked whether instead of meditating. I could simply pray in silence. They welcomed me without hesitation. And so in that foggy green gulch tucked into the bank's at the pacific. Your prayers were with me. Once again. So those are just a couple of. Postcards. From the sabbatical. And you know i don't want you to get the wrong impression and i don't want you to get the impression that your minister spent his entire sabbatical. Praying on the stone floors of european cathedrals and. Meditating in the forest with buddhist monks. We did get lots of work done on a sabbatical and also have loads of fun. And relaxation. And i know you'll hear some of those stories. As we move through the fall. But this time i just want to say for all of it. 4 low for allowing me. This time and the space in the first place. I'm. Extremely grateful to all of you and thank you. But let me know if finish. By giving you a flavor. For the prayers that i've been talking about. What were these prayers. Cuz i said before it was invaluable for me to get a sense of the range of joys and concerns. On your hearts. And i really think that you all need to hear them as well. All of the prayers i'm going to mention today were offered by more than one person so if you hear one that sounds familiar it may very well be. But you're not alone in these prayers. So here in no particular order. Are some of the prayers of your hearts. And i want you to invite you to just allow them to wash over you. To take in the rain adjoining concern. Among this people. Your parents are growing old. You are caring for them and worried about them. You pray for their peace. You pray that the end will be gentle. Your children are growing old too. And you were caring for them. And worried about them because growing old doesn't necessarily mean growing up. All you ask is that they be healthy and happy. Between your parents and your children. You sometimes feel overwhelmed. You pray for strength. You are searching for love. Seeking a relationship. You are grateful for the love you found. Your relationship is in jeopardy. And you're trying to make it work. You wonder why love is so difficult. And pray that we learn to love better. Someone you love is dying of cancer. You're angry and wonder how it could happen to someone so. Young. You yourself are living with cancer. You're grateful for everyday. But fear that your days may be numbered. We all fear our days may be numbered. Our days are numbered. You're out of work. Your work doesn't make you happy. You're trying to find work that fits you and your values. And pray that the path will open up the for you. You found work that you love but it takes such a toll you're afraid you can't sustain it you come to church to help sustain that commitment. You pray for resilience. You pray for a springy. Bounce-back soul. You struggle with demons. The same demons you've struggled with your whole life. You pray that you can make peace. With those demons. Your demon is a drug. Or some other habit. You pay pray for the strength. And the grace. To overcome it. You are believers. Dreamers even. Naive. No. Disillusioned. Sometimes. Cynical. Rarely. You dream of a world better than it is today and pray for that day to come. You believe in and work for values like justice and fairness and compassion. You notice and mourn when they are absent. Your thoughts and prayers are often with those throughout the world who live amid war and injustice in darfur and israel and the occupied territories. In east timor. And then iraq. You grieve the war in iraq. You are angry about the war in iraq. You pray and work for. You possess a deep and abiding faith in the unity. Of the human family. The unity of all creation. And you notice. Name. And work to end racism homophobia anti-immigrant sentiment classism and the degradation. Of our earth. You loves your church. And you pray for it. You come here because of all your prayers. You come to learn how to love better. You come to find strength and resilience and grace. You, because you want to be with others who share your values. You come because together we can be a powerful voice for those values. In the world. Can you pray that all souls will grow to be an ever greater embodiment. Of the values that you hold dear. More diverse. More justice seeking. More spirits. Growing. In short. You are. A beautiful. And flawed. Strong. Invulnerable. Joyous. And. Hurting. Loving. And trying to love better. And i for one. And grateful to find myself. Among you. One of the old ones stood up. Into the morning light. And spoke to those who had come back to the river. Now we have come again to this place. My life apart from you is not. As strong. Yes i have danced and i have told the stories at my own fire and i have sung well. But when i am with you my friends. I know better who it is in me. That sings. May it be. So for us all.

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07.01.14SeeingThingsWhole.mp3

You're seeing our first him this morning. Bill rice our worship associate leaned over to me and he said to me said rob it feels like easter sunday this morning all these people and so much spirit and i do indeed feel. An easter of sorts in the room a rebirth. Of the spirit a resurrection of the spirit this morning. Do you feel it too. Yeah it's alright good. I'd like to begin. My sermon this morning with someone else's words. And i quote. If we continue there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world. That we have no honorable intentions in iraq. If we do not stop our war against the people of iraq immediately the world will be left with no other alternative. Meant to see this as some horrible. Clumsy. And deadly game we have decided to play. The world now demands a maturity of america. That we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong. From the beginning of our adventure in iraq. That we have been detrimental to the life. Xavier rocky people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply. From our present waze. In order to atone for our sins and errors in a rock. We should bring a halt. To this tragic war. And quotes. The man who spoke those words. You may have guessed. Is martin luther king jr.. Where he said vietnam. I substituted. Iraq. Accuse me of taking dr. king's words out of context the sermon after all. We spoken in 1967 at riverside church in manhattan. To a gathering of a group that was back then called. Clergy and laity concerned. About vietnam. Different time. Different war. But something the doctor king said later in that very speed suggest to me that he might have foreseen his words used. In a different context. He said to his audience that day that if america. Didn't change its ways. There would have to be more groups called clergy and laity concerned. But in the future he said they'll be called clergy and laity concerned about. Guatemala. Or they'll be concerned about cambodia. Or about. Concerned about mozambique. In other words he knew vietnam wasn't an isolated instance. I know we didn't get the specific countries right king did accurately predict the plight of the group he was speaking to that day. After changing their name several times to reflect the swiftly moving target of american imperialism clergy and laity concerned about vietnam finally just gave up and call themselves clergy and laity concerned. .. Couldn't keep up with the appetites of the american empire. So i'm guessing doctor king would probably consents to my alteration of his words. And far from being anachronistic. They are chillingly prescient. Some would say that the disability of dr. king to see into the future of america and predict our destiny is what made him a great pro. I disagree. You see i believe that the unique gift of a prophet is not that she or he. Can predict the future. Profits are palm readers or prognosticator. Their genius rather lies in their ability to see. The present. And to see it more clearly. Then the rest of us. The prophet finds moral patterns where we see only the chaos of our contemporary experience. We can't see the forest through the trees. With the profit can. And in so doing she reveals to us the deeper. Ethical dimensions of our lives. A prophet sees things whole. And has the guts to tell us. What she sees. It's according to this criteria that i judge dr. king. A prophet. He saw things hole. And one of the most interesting things about studying doctor king is to watch the evolution. And the blossoming. A prophetic. Vision. To watch how as he struggled and sacrificed for his cause as he lived into his moral vision how that vision grew and became more whole more embracing. I'd like to briefly trace that evolution this morning because i think it offers a lesson to us all today about how our ethical lives can blossom and grow and become more universal. As we all know dr. king's vision began as a vision. A racial justice. For african-americans. It was a vision of equality of a time when is he famously put it. Little black boys and girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and girls as sisters and brothers. Who's the vision of equality equal vote equal accommodation equal treatment before the law. But not too long into his struggle king realized. But it wasn't just racism that was keeping black folks down. But there was also this economic system that. When unchecked. Virtually guaranteed. Required even that they're being underclass in the society a system to demanded that some people be poor in order that others could be rich. He began to see how from the time of slavery on racism and economic injustice had formed an unholy alliance in american society to the detriment not only a poor blacks but poor people of all races. If you can amish justice wasn't addressed king realized the great majority of african-americans would never reap the benefits. Of their freedom. No. When you talk about race in america you're in danger of getting yourself in trouble. We talked about class in america you're also in danger of getting yourself in trouble when you talk about race and class together you're really in trouble. In this country. And that's what king did and as a result became. More threatening in the eyes of some it is often pointed out. That it wasn't until he started organizing across racial lines for a poor people's march. The doctor king was assassinated. King was starting to see things whole. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. He wrote. From the birmingham jail. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. Tied in a single garment. A destiny. Whatever affects one directly. Affects all. Indirectly. When king added economic injustice to his list of america's sins he made his enemies mad. When he added a critique of us foreign policy. He made many of his friends mad. Ucv anti-war speech that i quoted earlier was one of the most controversial that king ever gave. At least among some of his fellow sclc leaders. Some of them urged him. Not to give the speech they said martin you're a civil rights leader. We need you focused on that. Don't dilute your message. Besides the wars got nothing to do with race racial justice some of them said. You know if i put on my organizers hat i i understand where they're coming from. But king had on a different hat at that time he had his prophets hat on. And he decided to move forward with the speech at riverside. An interview responded to the criticism of his friends by pointing out the linkages between the war and the struggle for racial justice. He pointed out for instance how the war was diverting money. From important domestic priorities. How people of color were disproportionately serving and dying. In vietnam. And most profoundly. How american imperialism. Is deeply twine. Entwined with. Racism. Now he was really beginning to see things. Only be clear kings growing prophetic vision. Never constituted a repudiation or an abandonment of his original commitment. To racial justice. That's really important to recognize far from it it was his ongoing commitment to that cause that eventually broadened and deepened his prophetic vision. Allowed him to see connections between injustice. King had a name for his vision. Of wholeness. He had a name for the dream that inspired his work for justice he called his dream. The beloved community. A dream of a world where all god's children. Flourished in peace and lived in right relationship with one another. And with the earth. Channing had that vision to. He called it the great family of all souls. And in so doing gave us our name. And our mission. As a church. Frutas that vision of the human family. In right relation to one another and the earth. That is the heart of this church. And our efforts to build. A multiracial. Multicultural. Justice seeking. Religious community. King realize too that. If we can't build the beloved community in the church. Then where do we ever think we're going to be able to build it. Seeing things whole. What would a holistic. Prophetic vision look like. In our time. What linkages why might we see if we looked around our world today. For example i i find it hard myself not to see a link between economic. Injustice. And racism. When i reflect on the fact that the wealthiest 1% of americans. Are currently enjoying an annual. 56 billion dollar tax cut. At the same time that new orleans lingers in ruins. I've got a further asked the question why those tax cuts weren't repealed. While we're fighting two wars simultaneously. In the middle east. If you haven't noticed recently the afghanistan war is heating back up again. By march 31st of this year the iraq war alone will have cost the united states. 378. Billion dollars. There are other things we could have done with that money. For 378 billion dollars we could have provided healthcare. To 108. Million. People. Put 52 million children in head start. Guilt-free million units of affordable housing. Since 62 million children. The college on scholarship. But let me back up even further and ask the question one more time because it's still nagging with me. Why were in iraq at all. That's an important question to ask. How did it happen that the war on terror let us into a war against the country that have little or no ties with al-qaeda and proposed little or no threat to the national security of the united states. I'm still asking that question i don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist because i'm not and. I'm opposed to conspiracy theories on principle. But i did read. On the dow jones newswires this week. Little all pending before the araki parliament. Would grant western oil companies. 75%. Of the nation's oil profits. Over the next 30 years. For whose interest. Do our soldiers. Fight. And i. Friends we need to be prophets today. We need to see things clearer. And see them whole. And have the courage to speak what we see. It in 2 weeks on saturday january 27th. We have such an opportunity. Is going to be a peace march in washington. And i know some of your rolling your eyes and say no boy another march in washington seen a few of those over the years haven't we we marched in a few of those over the years sometimes our feet get tired from all the marches we've been on over the last few years or decades here and washington. But i think this one might be different i think we have a real opportunity now that we've reached the turning point. In this war in iraq. When the voice of the people might actually make a difference and so i want to invite you all. To bring yourselves an end to bring your friends into. Bring your your babies and to put them in a stroller and. And to bring your drums and bring your voices and let's let's march together on january 27th as a church let's march for peace let's march for our vision. Of the beloved. Community. You know we is a sign-up table a hall for you. Don't clap just sign up okay. We entered our sanctuary this morning as we so often do. Singing. Siyahamba kuka indian quick horse. We are marching. In the light of god. And i got to tell you that. For me i've got this believe that. If you're going to sing a freedom song in church on sundays. You betty better be prepared to go out and sing it in the streets. The six other days of the week. As part of our obligation in our duty as people have safe just as just as as we. Sit here today. And honor. Dr. king. We can't in good conscience sit here and honor him. And lift him up as an example. Unless we're prepared to dedicate. Our lives. To the vision that he held. And so on this martin luther king. Junior. Let us commit ourselves and our lives. Once again. Division.

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07.03.25ThouShaltNot.mp3

I realized this morning as i stand to introduce our guest this morning two things. One that this is the first of two weeks in which i will introduce to you bills who have been presidents of our denomination one current and one former as reverend bill schultz will be here with us next sunday. I'm s that the person i'm about to introduce to you really needs no introduction. Reverend william g sinkford has been the president of the unitarian universalist association since 2001. He has been flying all over this nation trying to spread our word of hope and justice as a denomination. He is both a voice for our movement as a whole as well as convener of many projects and programs in our office our headquarters in boston. And on top of all of that he's a father and he's a wonderful guy. So i give you reverend william g sinkford president of the unitarian universalist association. It is such a pleasure to be back at all souls. Thank you for welcoming me. I enjoy every time i have the opportunity to visit this wonderful congregation. And i'm aware of shawna that too that you are having a number of really very powerful guest preachers in this in this period of months and and. And it's a little bit intimidating actually to know that i'm following folks who are renowned and and i'm leading up into other folks who are renowned for their preaching style. But i believe that i am the only one of these guests preachers who will come specifically to talk to you about sex i'm here. As you know in conjunction with the seat training and and you had a chance to at least see the sum of the 35 folks who are here to be trained in terms of how to do advocacy around comprehensive sexuality education. I'll be with them on the hill tomorrow. And we hope to actually have some significant impact. In the course of that day. Most churches would actually not welcome a conversation about sexuality. But but all sold and indeed unitarian-universalism. Does. And it's because we have a deeply grounded. Understanding that our faith our religious life. Needs to be grounded in real live experience. Not some fantasy not some not some imagination of what you should and shouldn't do. But in the reality of how we live our lives. That. In some sense is at the heart of unitarian universalism. And i have to tell you that. Vet in our national life. In our national life these days there's a very different approach. That is being promoted. Indeed an approach which is not only being promoted but which. Your tax dollars are helping to fund. So that in the course of the last 10 years. The united states has spent over a billion dollars that's billion with a b. Promoting abstinence-only sexuality education abstinence-only until marriage. A billion 100 million dollars. Imagine what could have been done with that money if it had been more appropriately used. Just imagine. You see. This is not actually about. About the facts because. The facts speak for themselves and i'm going to give you some of those facts so that you you can have access to them as you talk with your friends and your colleagues. It's not it's not actually about the facts because the facts. And the experts. All agree. They all agree. Along with the american medical association and the american academy of pediatrics. That comprehensive sexuality education is the most appropriate kind of sexuality education to offer our young people. We know we know. That 65% of young people have. Sex by the age of 18. Abstinence-only. Well you know it didn't work all that well in the garden of eden. And it's not working for us in this country and it's working even less well abroad. As nation after nation confronts the reality of the spread of hiv and aids. We know we know you may not know this but you will in a moment. That. In the united states. Adults have the highest rate of sexually transmitted infections in the entire western world. In the entire western world. Now we also know that current federal law requires abstinence-only programs. In all of the sexuality education that's offered. And prohibits. Teachers. From informing young people about contraception. They are forbidden to talk about it. We also know that abstinence-only programs are not only unrealistic. They are also unproven. They go against what research says works. What parents say they want. And what teens say they need. There is very little. There is very little to approve in the approach that our nation is now taking. Weather this week. There will be a bill introduced in the congress it's called the real act. For responsible education about life. It will be introducing the second time it was introduced. And this is the time that we need to get it pass. That's why the advocacy that's being trained among our young people is so critically important. Because abstinence-only is ruining lives as we speak. As we speak. You know it's been a very. Difficult time for many religious liberals in the last few years. We have. we've been in an environment where. Where the the fundamentalist. On the ride. And i should note that there are fundamentalist in every particular camp at the fundamental us on the right. Have been have been determining the conversations that we should have. Emily pride the cast those conversations in terms of moral values. You've heard of these conversations. Well if you if you listen to what they have tried to do. I think you'll see some some themes emerging. Themes that are actually not. About the facts. Butter about theology. It's actually a theological conversation that we need to have. And so the fundamentalist on the right. Entitled to their opinions. Would have us believe that. That that the marriage of two lesbian women or two gay men is a threat to the american family. They would have us believe that. They would have us they would have us believe that that the american family is is fraying at the edges because of the threat posed. They would have us believe that that for a woman to have the right to control her own body. Is a threat to all of us. They would have us believe the comprehensive sexuality education is a threat to the moral fiber of this nature nation. Now if you listen to what they want us to talk about. It won't stick won't surprise you if you keep hearing about sexuality and each one of the issues that they would have us focus on. If all about human sexuality. And the theological stance that is presented. If one would believe that sexuality. Is dangerous. It needs to be control. It's a theological stance that says that. That women are actually dangerous. Well. There's some truth even in the most outrageous playing. It's an attitude which believe in an ultimate sinfulness in our bodies in our real live experience. Unitarian universalism. And some other progressive religious faiths including the united church of christ. Have a very different. Theological stance. We believe we believe that human sexuality is one of the great gifts that we have been given. We believe that that used responsibly sexuality can be a gift not only to ourselves as persons but to our relationships. And can actually be a way we can deepen our connection to the divine. We believe that youman sexuality. Is a wonderful thing. Not to be feared. We believe that women's empowerment is a good thing. And we believe we believe all of these things because it is a part of our faith. The folks who've been trying to have the moral values conversation. And we've been backed into having those conversations again and again and again and no doubt we will in the future. Haven't have a particular. Have a particular approach to what they call morality. They believe that morality can be codified in a particular set of rules. And if you simply obey the rules then you're okay you're good to go. And those rules are they believe are enshrined many of them in in the in the in the rules in the in the bible in lakewood are christian scriptures. But the interesting thing is that they don't want to. Pay attention to all of the rules that are included in the bible. And there are hundreds of them. Including that the the the rules that say that for a variety of actions. Death is the only appropriate punishment. Death is the only appropriate punishment it's a it's a rejection of life. That is enshrined in some of those rules. Unitarian universalist. Believe that. That those set a rule that set of rules. Cannot hold the reality of our lives. That lives are more complicated. And that. And so although. Thou shalt not. Call shelton.. Has helped in some ways. Remember thou shalt not. Commit adultery thou shalt not commit murder. Many of those now shalt not i think most of us would affirm. But we also know. That they are not a sufficient. Grounding for our moral behavior. They are not a sufficient grounding for our moral behavior. And so. And so as we. Approach our life in the world. We need to stay grounded and what we know. Which is that that human sexuality. Is one of god's great gifts to us. We need to stay grounded in in what we know that. That feeling responsibly with our sexual lives is something that we are all obliged to do. And that that many of the conversations the fundamentalist wrightwood have us engage in. Are actually distraction. From the work that we need to do as a faith community. Abstinence is a viable option for some people. And i need to affirm that. It is in fact the only way that you can guarantee. You will not receive a sexually transmitted infection. It's the only guarantee. But abstinence does not work for the vast majority of us. And for the vast majority of the folks in the united states. And i believe that our children would be well served. By waiting until their unloving committed relationship before they have sex. But please don't be fooled by the rhetoric of the religious right. This debate isn't about teaching abstinence or prevention. It's about our ability to teach both abstinence and prevention. And denying our children all the information they need to stay healthy. Puts them in harm's way. That's the reality young people face everyday. And the moral question we adults must consider. But sadly. Sadly this debate is not just about abstinence-only. It's about a broad framework for morality. And and frankly. Frankly we have not had an adequate conversation. We haven't had an adequate conversation. Astounding. Millions and millions of dollars. Targeting. People up to the age of 29. With abstinence-only until marriage messages. Now i'll bet many of you don't see those messages. Because those messages are targeted to low-income. And communities of color communities. In this case abstinence-only is not a color-blind doctrine. There's a deep racism that is embedded in it. We need to do much more and we need to do it better. Thou shalt not. Are not adequate. And so i would like to commend to you the notion. I'll be embracing some vows shouts. As we do this work together. Found shell donner by children. South shall provide them with a loving home. An understanding heart. And a forgiving mind. Bausch health offer help when it is sought. And freedom when it is warranted. Thou shalt dedicate yourself to building a stronger community. One that cares for all of its children. And doesn't shy away from fighting for what's right for them. Thou shalt challenge your country to adopt policies equal to the virtuousness of its founding principles. Free from the reigns of religious intolerance. And motivated by justice for all. Thou shalt work to create a better world for tomorrow's children. One that is safer. Healthier. More just. And more loving. And to do this. We must extend our moral code to contain one more commandment. Bounce shall provide young people with age appropriate. Factual information about sexuality. So that their ignorance does not harm them. Or others. Will be singing. Surprised by joy. And just a moment. As we prepare to enter that space of song. Let us commit ourselves to living out our theology. Let us celebrate being part of a reasonable and a passionate faith. A face that requires us to engage deeply with moral questions. This work. It difficult. And the discoveries will be different for each of us. But we walk this path together. In community. And the joy arises when we allow ourselves to be surprised by the love. That is such a profound aspect of our human nature. We must always remember. That it is through our most human quality. The ability to love. That we can touch. The divine. So may it be. And amen.

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05.05.29WarViolenceAndMemory.mp3

A reading this morning. Is an excerpt from a book by the unitarian theologian rebecca parker the book is called proverbs of ashes. It's about the relationship between religion and violence. And as i go through the sermon i did before i go through this sermon i want to acknowledge the death of this sermon owes to. To parker's insights about war. In this excerpt parker talks about a pastoral visit she wants me to the home of one of her parishioners named maxine. Maxine tells rebecca about the story of her brother. Lyle grunkemeyer. What about the time that lyle returned home from combat. In world war ii. This is parker's retelling of what maxine. Told her. In 1945 lyle came home from the war. The only veteran to return alive. To the small town in iowa he'd left to go to the western front. The day he arrived home. The whole town came out to meet him. When the train pulled into the station the band played family and friends waved and cheered at the station and the mayor's stood ready to greet him. But the man who climbed off the train. Was not the cheerful high-spirited boy. Who had gone off to war. The man who climbed off the train with a ghost. In response to the music and cheers he stared back musically. His blank face did not register recognition of anyone not mother. Sister. Four friends. They took him home to the farm. He sat in the rocker in the parlor he wouldn't speak he wouldn't sleep and he would barely eat. No one in the town knew what was wrong they just knew that lyles soul. Was lost somewhere. Maxine told me she decided to keep her brother company. Whenever she could she sit in the parlor with him and talk. She telling the news from the hardware store in town. Or about the potluck at church who is there which dress each young woman wore. She tell him how the clean laundry head blown off the line that morning into the tomato patch. When she ran out of things to say she just sit with him quietly. Snapping beans or mending socks. Lyle was like a stone. No expression on his face. Rocking. It went on like that for days that flowed into weeks and on into months. Then one night. Late. After everyone else had gone to bed maxine was sitting with lyle quietly knitting when the eyes in lyles still face. Filled with tears. The tears spilled over. And began to run down his face and maxine notice and got up. She put her arms around her brother. Held in his sisters and brea slyle began to cry.. Graton gusts of sobbing. And maxine held him. Then he began to talk. He talked to the noise the cold. The smoke. The death of his buddies. And then he spoke at the camps. The mass graves the smell. He talked all night. Maxine listen. When the morning light came across the field. She went to the kitchen and cooked him breakfast. He ate. Then he went out and did the morning chores. When she was done telling me the story maxine touched her bible. And quoted from the 30th psalm. Weeping may endure for the night. But joy will come in the morning. There will be many praise. This memorial day. Veterans will march in decorated uniforms. Well high school bands play the star-spangled banner. Color guards will hoist high the flag. As politicians intone themes of courage and sacrifice to country. There will be many parades this memorial day parades not unlike the one that greeted lyle drunken mayer when he returned home from world war ii. Now the people in lyles town badly needed a parade. You see every other son from the town who had left to go to war had come home in a flag-draped casket. Lyle was the only survivor. You know that the town's folks we're going to make meaning out of all of that loss by honoring lyle as a hero he was living proof that those other boys hadn't died in vain. But when lyle stepped off the train he greeted the cheering crowds with a blank stare he didn't even recognize his own mother's face. Lyle's stone cold stare forced to the townspeople. To consider something that none of them wanted to consider. It forced them to confront the nagging fear they've suppressed all along the fear that perhaps there was no meaning. In war. The fear that war and its attendant slaughter were as senseless as lyles mute stare. There will be many parades this memorial day. Any images of those parades will be splashed across tomorrow's papers. But there's one parade of soldiers. That you won't see pictures of. Tomorrow. Or any other day. Get the parade i'm thinking of takes place right here in washington every few days or so. It's rude to begins at andrews air force base. And wines along along the beltway until proceeding down 16th street and stopping just a mile from here at the back door of walter reed medical center. It's convoy consists of only a few military buses and vans the procession i'm thinking of is the parade of wounded soldiers returning from the war in iraq. The reason you won't see photos of this parade is because. Your government doesn't want you to. You see this procession always takes place. At night. Under the cover of darkness when no one's paying attention when a reporter recently asked why all the wounded soldiers were transported at night the public affairs official didn't have a good answer. Not only are convoys at night but photographers are prohibited from taking pictures of the wounded as they disembarked at walter reed just as they are forbidden from photographing the flag-draped coffins filled with dead soldiers that arrive every few days at dover air force base. It used to be little war had to pass what one general called the dover test which is to say politicians had to gauge whether public support for the war would be strong enough to endure images of dead and wounded soldiers returning from battle but since the first gulf war the military has forbidden such photos. Recently as a result of a freedom of information act lawsuit the military was forced to release its own photos of the caskets at dover. When the images were released some proponents of the war called the lawsuit and the photographs. Anti-war propaganda. Play said the images gave comfort to the enemy. They suggested that documenting the full story of war is somehow unpatriotic. I think it says volumes. That the military is afraid to let war speak for itself. That they were afraid to let us see pictures that they're unwilling to give us civilian body comes. I think these war proponents fear that if the truth got out about the cost of war that we might be forced to consider with those folks who saw while drinking myers mute stair were forced to consider. Family that war isn't worth it. That it has no meaning. Memorial day weekend. Is it time each year. When our nation remembers andre tells the story of what it means to go to war. But i want to suggest this morning is that it matters deeply how that story is told. It matters deeply that all the parts of the story get told. Corey if war is to remain a viable foreign policy option for our nation and there no signs that it won't remain a viable foreign policy option then when we make the decision to go to war we must make that decision with a full and accurate sense of wars benefits and its costs. It matters what we remember on memorial day. There's a danger in telling only part of the story about war and that danger is revealed in chris hedges 2002 book war is a force that gives us meaning. Hedges was a war course. Our lives howard gives us a sense of pride and accomplishment. How he knows how strong bonds of fellowship and mutual care are created among soldiers he documents how having a common enemy feels a strong sense of community he chronicles how death is giving me when set in the context of war she died for a just cause he perished in the line of duty. Life purpose carrying community meaning in death these are things that we all desire in fact these are the things that religious communities or supposed to give us what war gives them to us as well. But hedges know something else about his experience of war he says there's a kind of addictive quality tour he says that the high-stakes and fast pace of combat creates a kind of adrenaline rush. That is not unlike that of of certain kinds of of drugs. Unlike other highs. The rush sharpens certain of our senses. And diminishes others of them. When i read about that adrenaline rush he reminded me of something that that that happened last month when i travelled without youth group to boston. One night we took the kids bowling. And in part of the bowling alley of course there was a it was a video arcade and so you can guess we're at the end of the night we had to go searching for the kids to round them up to head back to the hostel. So i weigh in the back of the arcade i found one of our boys playing a simulated war game. To play the game he sat in an enclosed compartment is if you were in a tank. Seemingly protected and. Invulnerable. Meanwhile he shot and killed soldiers who ran across the screen in front of him. The game was fast-paced in the boys with shooting with great gusto and excitement his eyes looked almost frenzied. And when the game ended. Revealing how many points he had received for each person he killed. The boy flashes small smile. Accomplishment. War can be a force that gives us meaning. Only when we can think of killing an enemy soldier. As. Mission accomplished. Rather than seeing it. As killing someone's father. Or daughter. For mother. War can be a force that gives us meaning only when dead civilians and destroyed culture are referred to as collateral damage. Rather than acknowledged as. Dead human beings. And destroyed culture. In other words war can be a force that gives us meaning only when we fail to tell the full story of war only when we lie to ourselves about it. The full story of war were to be told in the meaning it gives our lives quickly degenerates into slaughter. And senseless loss of life. It matters that we remember the whole truth. About war. Dare consequences. To what we remember about war and those consequences affect our actions and can lead to responsible or irresponsible action listen to this story again from rebecca parker's book about the consequences of remembering war. The social concerns committee at church wanted to raise public awareness of the growing stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world rights parker. Meri brown suggested that we placed posters on the city's fleet of metro buses. The posters would depict the increase in stockpiles of nuclear weapons since the end of world war especially the older members of the church. The topic came up for the third time. In the women's bible class. That wednesday. The woman's bible class have been meeting weekly in that church for nearly 40 years. These women had come of age and grown old together burying husbands and friends and children. The weekly bible class was a touchstone for all of them. When the topic came up again though the women grumbled about how the church was spending too much of its energy working on political issues and besides why should we be raising questions about military strategy anyways it wasn't our place. Myrtle called a halt to the conversation. Just a minute she said. How can you say we have no place having an opinion about this. She looked around at the women in the group. Everyone of us here knows that our men came home from wwii broken. She said quietly. We've spent our lives holding together. The pieces that war has broken. We did our best to take care of them as well as our children and never speaking of it always saying it was a good war. We know that there is no such thing. As a good war. Said myrtle. There was quiet in the room. The one by one the women silently nodded. Remembering. After that the women in the class supported mary brown's poster project. The church printed them and feel the city's buses. With them. Accurate memory can lead to responsible action. We must remember well. Let me just close by sharing a personal memory. Both of my grandfathers fought in world war ii. They were the same age of the same generation as those women in the bible class. Can i see pictures of them from their time in the service the pictures hang proudly in the homes of our family they both look handsome in their smart service uniforms with their square jaws and their thick heads of hair. When i look at them i swell with pride. My grandpa davis who died just a few years ago never talked about his experience in the war. When you'd ask him about it he would tell you he didn't want to talk about it. Grandpa davis was the kind of guy when he said he didn't want to talk about it you weren't likely to push him on it. My other grandpa grandpa hardee's died before i was born and i relied on my grandmother to tell me stories of him. Every once in awhile grandma would take me into her bedroom. And she open the top drawer of her bureau. Nnn scooped-out grandpa's medals. From world war ii. Did you tell me the stories of his service in the pacific theater and speak proudly of his work as a medic attached to a chemical mortar battalion. My grandmother never told me the other side of the story. I had to learn it from others. The story of how my grandfather returned from the war a changed man. An alcoholic. A gambler. The story of his uncontrollable rages. And his abuse. My grandfather died of a heart attack at the age of 49. Now some will undoubtedly say to me. Young man it is disrespectful for you to talk that way about your grandfather. Just as some say it is aiding the enemy and unpatriotic. To show pictures of a flag-draped casket. But friends this is memorial day. And if we're going to have a day to remember war then let's remember all of it. Let's not tell lies to ourselves about war you know some proponents of war want to pass them sell themselves off as the tough clear-headed ones. As the ones who are willing to confront the reality of the world with a steely i. While dismissing opponents of war as weak or as reality avoidant. But i got to say that if these proponents of war are so steely-eyed then they should at least have the courage to tell us how many araki's civilians they've killed. They should at least have the courage to submit that wore to the dover test. If we're going to be clear-headed and steely-eyed. Then let's look at the whole story. War is too serious a thing. To deceive ourselves about. I am not a pacifist. And the unitarian church. Is not a pacifist tradition. We've always been squarely in what's called the just war tradition but tradition that recognizes that war is evil. But that sometimes history requires. Us to confront evil with evil. The just war tradition requires that the reason for warby just the choice for warby a last resort and that innocent casualties be as low as possible. Coming out of this tradition it is all the more important that we know wars full story on this memorial day but let us commit ourselves to tell him the whole truth about war. So that when the times call for peace we may have the resources. To stand up for peace. Show me the time calls for war that we make that choice only with a sober sense. Obvious consequences. Only with a recognition. That it is a sin. And may god grant us grace and wisdom. In that decision. I'm in.

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06.05.28UnitarianBaitAndSwitch.mp3

You know that i am an unabashedly evangelist for our church and our faith. Unitarian universalism has given so much to me that i just feel compelled to share it. With others with whom ever wants to know. So i'm not ashamed to be an evangelist. But i am aware that evangelism has been given a bad name in our culture. Too many televangelists spend more time reciting their toll free fun phone number for donations then they do reciting scripture. Too many use cheap threats of hell to build up a horde of cash that they spend on nice homes and cars. Eventually people see them for who they are hucksters. The religious equivalent of a bad used car salesman using cheap tricks and lies to lure the unsuspecting believer. I don't want to be that kind of evangelist. I don't want to have to resort to cheap sales tricks to get you to church. I want you to know exactly what you're getting yourself into with this church and this faith and so this morning i want to come clean. And reveal to you a deception that is built into the very center. Other theology uncultured unitarian universalism. A deception that i and many others. Unintentionally and without. Male intense have nonetheless perpetuated while representing our faith so call this the buyer beware sermon. Caveat emptor. Think of it as a 60 minutes expose where we uncover this deception at the heart of unitarian-universalism so that we can get a true sense of what we're getting ourselves into when we commit to this face. I called this deception. The unitarian bait-and-switch. Now we all know what a bait-and-switch is right. You know it's when you it's when you walk into the car dealership or to the the department store because of some promise they've made an advertisement and then when you get there you discover that the the promise was false and they try to sell you something more expensive or more costly. I'm sorry sir that model is sold out already for $4,000 more i can offer you our premium model. Something like that. How does this translate though. To our church. The person who best articulated the unitarian bait-and-switch. Is a former minister of this church moncure conway. Conway was both a victim of. This deception and poignantly a perpetrator of it. And i'd like to illustrate the unitarian bait-and-switch by just telling you a little bit. Of conway's story. Bonjour conway was born into a prominent slave-holding family in virginia. Before the civil war. The conways were devout methodist and pillars of their community in school moncure receive training to take over his father's plantation. Ensured she attended revivals where threats of hell brought people on their knees to the altar week after week he heard the preacher use the bible to justify slavery. And slowly but surely young moncure was was being groomed for the virginia aristocracy. But somewhere along the line. Conway began to question some things. Slavery offended his conscience. His free-thinking nature began to chase under the under the dogma of the church he felt manipulated when people used hellfire to bring him to god he resented the way his family had his life all planned out for him. And then one day while reading a magazine he encountered an article. By ralph waldo emerson. Someone who didn't get down to virginia very much those knows days and article that suggested god could just as easily be found in the world as in scripture. An article that said that when you listen when we listen to our conscience. We are sometimes hearing the call of god there. Conway have never heard these things before and began to travel around and talk to people about emerson's ideas and before you knew it he had enrolled at harvard to study to become a unitarian minister this was apostasy for his family in more ways than one. Lebanese sing about being a unitarian seminarian back in the 1840s. Was that when you went to seminary seminary you didn't just get to read emerson. Yes you got a chance to meet him. Mmm that's what conway did he didn't waste any time in the first week of his studies he'd walked out to concord. And and met emerson who greeted him warmly. And they spent the afternoon discussing religion. On the banks of walden pond. What a nice way to have a seminary education i have to say. Strolling a lovely spring day emerson pointed out. To conway the flora and fauna of the region. Meanwhile conway was lamenting a paper he had to write for school a philosophical justification of the existence of god. Emerson stop conway. In his tracks he said stop talking about that he said. And he said to him. And actually existence. Fly. Was more important. Then i possibly existent. Angel. Emerson had a had a knack for the provocative aphorism like that. And so it was over the course of that afternoon in the woods walden pond that moncure conway was baptized into a faith that found god in all creation. A faith that value this world more than the next. A sense of the sacredness and preciousness of the now. He wrote in his autobiography my instruction in the supremacy of the present hour began not so much in emerson's words as in himself. Standing beside the ruin of the shanty thoreau had built with his own hands and lived in for a year at a cost of $28 emerson appeared an incarnation of the wondrous day he was giving me that night i sat in my room and divinity hall and wrote. Mets free. The most memorable day of my life. Spence with ralph waldo emerson. Can you see what's happening here. Can you see conway. Taking the bait. Can you see him being seduced. By the free faith of unitarianism imagine how it must have felt for a young person who grown up having to memorize creed's and doctrines to be told to trust his conscience. Imagine how it must have felt for someone who'd spent hot summer nights in virginia packed into a church where the preacher talks about hell to be transported to the shores of walden pond in springtime and told it all he needed to know about god could be found right there. Imagine how refreshing it must have been after listening to the moral hypocrisy of preachers justifying slavery to have someone tell him to trust the truth that his own conscience. Imagine that. Or maybe you don't have to imagine. Maybe conway's story sounds a little bit like. Circumstances are different but a little bit like your own journey. Unitarian universalism. Aren't these some of the same reasons that we've come to this face. The affirmation of human conscience and reason. The commitment to justice the the world and bracing. Spirituality the acceptance of ourselves for who we are the replacement of a threatening judging god with a god of love. We took the bait to. We took the bait to and when i say bate. I don't mean that these descriptions of unitarian-universalism aren't true they are true. But they're not the whole story. That's why i call it the bait it's just the beginning of the story it's the good news that gets us in the door to the church but it's not the whole story moncure conway learned that the hard way. 50 years later. Looking back on his exciting seminary days from his mid-70s. Conway road. How small a part of my new religion. Did i learn. From those entertaining studies. At divinity hall. What's he referring to. What was it that he later learned about his new faith that caused him to write. That line. Here comes the switch. It was only when he became pastor of all souls church. During the turbulent years leading up to the civil war that the other shoe drops. For conway. The 1850s were time of taking sides when people were forced to take a stand on one side or the other of the great sin of that time slavery. And what happened during that time with it many preachers. And churches abdicated their role inside taking they retreated to a personal spirituality they focused on personal sins like like drinking and and sabbath keeping rather than the public sins like slavery they said the job of religion was the save our souls for the next life to save souls here in this life. But not conway he was not. Satisfied with that religion. Not too long into his ministry at all souls conway discovered that the this worldly religion he embraced on the shores of walden pond not only foster to kind of ecstatic embrace of the world. It fostered a profound sense of responsibility. For the world. If walden is burning. It must be safe. He said religion was speak to the conditions of this world must account for the public sins of this world must save souls in this world his face demanded that he speak to the problems of the times to make moral judgments and to act. When when conway first grass. The overwhelming responsibility of this it was. It felt like too much for him to carry. He knew that the dictates of his conscience. Would tear apart his country he knew that it would separate him from his. His family. But he loved. He suddenly realizes the exuberant faith of walden pond felt like the weight of the world on his shoulders and he actually named this he called this feeling the world burden. World burden. With my nuface he remarks. Fictitious hells faded. And actual hell's appeared. And on my knees i swore that it shall remain my supreme and to save hearts suffering not in eternity but in time. In flash. And in blood. Tow conway sense of this responsibility this weight was magnified. By the fact that not only was he speaking and acting for himself at every sunday he had to get up into this pulpit. And say something that lots of folks we're going to hear as well and felt responsibility for his people for his flock. And for conway this sense of responsibility was. Forever wrapped up. In the life and death of a member of his congregation. Member of this congregation. Name gerald. Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was a young man of 18. Who attended all souls back then. Conway notes that he was actually a catholic came from a catholic family but happen to fall in love with a young lady who was coming to all souls and so he converted. And not too long after she fell for another man. Talk about a bait-and-switch. But fitzgerald ended up falling in love with this face. Week after week the boys sat in rapt attention to conway's preaching to his application of religion to the injustice of the world and especially to his anti-slavery sermons and fitzgerald to decided that he wanted to be a preacher of this kind of religion he would go to harvard and study to be a unitarian minister as well and just before he left. The war started. And fitzgerald who could have gotten out of the war with his connections signed up for what he believed to be a holy cause. And conway rides. None of us ever saw gerald again. Two soldiers reported that they found him dying of a wound. On the field and bore him. To the shade of a tree. By the rappahannock. The exact place of his burial is unknown. So vague where the rumors about his end says conway. That i long cherished a hope. The gerald might be in some kindly cabin restoring life. And might yet surprise us with his return. Conway was devastated by fitzgerald's death. And he felt responsible for it. Worse in later years he began to question his support. Of the war. Because the cause of racial justice with progressing so slowly. In the wake of it. In his autobiography he penned this epitaph. To his friend fitzgerald. Rest in your peaceful unknown grave my friend. For you no tears. No heartbreaks. No heroine reflection that your chivalry was in vain and the war mirror manslaughter. These are for me. Who found you a happy youth. Clinging to me with boyish affection and from my pulpit helps to lay on you the burden of the world. That's the unitarian date. How do we make sense of. This bait-and-switch. And what does it mean for each of us in our own journey. The way i see it. It's something like this at the heart of the unitarian bait-and-switch lie two different understandings. Of what. Freedom. Memes. The allure of the unitarian bait. If you will. Is it sense of wondrous freedom of faith freedom of conscience acceptance of our own selves. Freedom in this sense is means freedom in the sense of freedom from. Freedom from oppression freedom from. Restrictive dogma and creed freedom from hierarchy in church and society initially people embrace the unitarian faith to be free from something. And there's nothing wrong with this there is much we have to be free from in this world. Getafe that promises freedom from only freedom from is ultimately a faith. Based on a negation. It's a faith that reject something just. Just as important as freedom from. Is the question of what we are free. 4. What we are free. 4. Once freed from oppression and injustice 2 what ends will we devote our free selves. To what good will we commit ourselves the unitarian bait-and-switch takes place when people make the stay the shift from the liberating freedom from. To the costly freedom for. We don't seek to be free just so we can do whatever we want. We don't seek to be free just so we can buy a big car and have lots of money what does freedom mean if that's all it means our freedom is a gift because it allows us to answer the question to what higher cause to what ultimate purpose will i freely give my life. And once we answer that question that's when responsibility kicks in that's when we declare what it is we will give ourselves to and fight for and sacrifice for. We will each encounter the unitarian bait-and-switch when we can answer the question of what our freedom is for what our free faith has allowed us to vote devote our lives. 2. And though we might at first. Feel deceived by that bait-and-switch. Feeling like our faith has lured us in ultimately we will be thankful for the richness of life. That it has given. People say to me rob. Doesn't being a unitarian mean that i can believe whatever i want. And it makes me want to cry when they say that. It makes me want to cry. Cuz that's the bait talking. Right if that's what you believe about this face. Then you haven't gotten to the switch yet. You haven't made the transition. From freedom from. To freedom for. You haven't answered the question yet of what it is your conscience demands that you give your life to. Because once you make the switch then instead of saying i'm a unitarian. I can believe whatever i want. You will say i am a unitarian. I believe what i must. I believe what my conscience. Memorial day we are asked to remember. Those who gave their lives. I said ostensibly to defend freedom. As we do so we would do well to examine how we ourselves. Are stewards. Of our own freedom. And to remember that the pursuit of that freedom. Can oftentimes. Because.

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04.03.28GivingOurLives.mp3

Our first reading this morning. Is from the poet rainer maria rilke. I live my life in ever-widening circles of love. That reach out across the world. I may not completely this last one but i give myself to it. I circle around god around that primordial tower i've been circling for thousands of years and still i don't know. Amaya falcon. A storm. Or a great song. And second from the book. Of the prophet micah. 6:8. He has told you how mortal one what is good. And what does the lord require of you. But to do justice. And to love kindness. And walk humbly with your god. Until now i have resisted commenting. Mel gibson's movie the passion of the christ and it's not because you haven't been baiting me every week someone comes up those front stairs and says you know you going to tell us about the movie someone like me gets up and presents a critique of the movie at just more buzz and more viewers and gibson pockets another ten bucks but with holy week approaching including our own celebrations of the passover seder good friday and easter here at all souls it feels important to sort out some of the issues surrounding the movie and give you a unitarian perspective on it. And furthermore and more importantly some of the issues raised by the passion relate directly to the larger message that i want to bring today. A message about giving our lives. Giving over our lives. To the whole way. Before i say anything about the movie though i need to make a couple of admissions first i haven't seen it and i couldn't tolerate it so much about the movie itself as the theology that it embodies. And that is something i know something about and second i want to say that i speak as someone who loves the passion story. Someone who in his darkest hours has been met and ministered to by the jesus portrayed in the new testament passion narratives. But having said that i believe that gibson passion is a grotesque rendering of this story. Have you heard the movie is extremely violent and bloody prompting many to shield their eyes or turn their head through entire scenes one reviewer expressed shock that the movie wasn't rated nc-17 with important to realize. Is that from gibson's point-of-view the violence is not gratuitous. It makes a theological point. You see this movie isn't really about jesus jesus is just a pawn in this story this is a movie about a god who has been offended. Offended by the sin of humanity us in so deep and unpardonable that it's going to take a whole heck of a lot to atone for it. Which is where jesus comes in four in a fit of pity for humanity this god sends his only son jesus to pay the price. For our sins. To die for our sins so that we don't have to jesus is taking the beating for us. This is the theology that makes the movie so blood-crazed ironically every bloody lash and pierce that jesus takes in the movie is further proof of god's and jesus mercy for us. In other words the bloody or the punishment. The better the good news. This theology is been around for years and it's called substitutionary atonement theology because jesus is our substitute. For at least 200 years now unitarians and liberal christians have said you know if that story that you just told us about god is true then we don't want to worship that god because that god a god who would make one person suffer to pay another's debt is a morally repugnant to god it's an unjust god that's not the god we know and generations of unitarians who have called themselves christians believe that jesus was not his death. It was not his death but it was his life. It was jesus life god sent jesus not to be a substitute for us. But an example to us. Reaching out and healing the sick preaching peace and forgiveness giving succor to the poor and oppressed this was his divine mission and that was what got him killed at the hands of roman authorities. In this version of the story jesus death is an act of murder not an act of grace. In between these two position lies a whole spectrum of interpretations about jesus death. And what you need to know is that gibson's isn't the only devout interpretation of the passion or even the dominant one. And there are many devout christians who bore the movie for the same reason that i do not to mention it's implicit anti-semitism which i don't feel i'm qualified to comment on not having seen the scenes at that are referred to in that charge. That's what i wanted to say about the movie as we head into holy week so that we're clear. But i really came today to talk about something else to talk about how each of us can lead a faithful religious life and jesus story relates here because after all his life is one of the great stories of faithfulness in the western culture and his death has created a kind of cult in the west. A code that says that was important about your life is that you is that you die for a cause and not that you lived for cause and you know we unitarians have participated in this of martyrdom as well you know last year marks the 450th anniversary of the death of perhaps our most famous murderer michael servetus. Servetus was a spanish doctor who discovered the process by which blood is circulated through the lungs and when you wrote a book describing this discovery he was widely praised. But servatus was also a theologian who discovered that if you read the bible really carefully it doesn't say much about the trinity that when he wrote a book about that discovery let's just say it was a little less well received in 1553 servetus was captured by calvin in geneva and burned at the stake his unitarian treatises served as fuel for the flames not to be outdone the catholics burned servetus in effigy a few months later and what about what about our own gym read many of you know that reed was the assistant minister of all souls church who in 1965 answered. actor king's call for white ministers to join him for a march in selma alabama rehab and some colleagues were coming out of a diner after the march when a group of segregationist jump them and bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat. So we have our martyrs to when we tell their stories over and over again but what is it that we're supposed to take away from these stories because you see i'm afraid that this whole us regular folks. Off the hook yo i think we do to our martyrs what gibson does to jesus we make them our substitute. Rather than are examples. By focusing on their sacrificial death we diverted attention from their faithful lives lives that have much to teach us. So we remember the sevadus died at the stake but we forget that every day of his life he made the choice to speak and act from his conscience. We remember that reed was the unlucky victim of hateful violence and forget that his path to selma was no accident that it was forged by a lifelong commitment to justice and civil rights a martyr's death just like jesus death is nothing more than a tragedy. It's their lives that are an example and an inspiration. So how then shall we live our lives. This talk of of martyrdom reminds me of a of a story i once heard about a young episcopal priest. Who was very much caught up in this the romance of martyrdom and one day this young man found himself in the presence of a legendary bishop from his tradition a bishop who over the course of his careers and become famous for his ministry to the poor in baltimore for celebrating mass on the steps of the pentagon to protest the vietnam war for being among the first to ordain women priests in violation of church law one day our young priest found himself sitting across the table from this bishop wanting to garner some wisdom from the old man. What would you die for. Without missing a beat the bishop said. Water rights. And the young priest didn't quite know what to do with this answering he looked a little deflated frankly and the bishops smiled at him instead. You don't just get up one morning. And decide that you're going to die for something. You put your foot on a path and you walk and one day. Years later. You look back and say. That's what i gave my life for. There's wisdom for us. In the bishop's words. As you think about what it means for you to lead a faithful life don't ask yourself what what would i die for ask yourself. What is it. But i'm willing to live for. What is a throng willing to give over my life to. What's the clear purpose is trying to emerge out of although the murky details of my life what's calling my name. Hush. Somebody is calling your name. And oh my lord what shall we do. The second point the bishop makes is even more important. The decision to give one's life over to love. Is rarely a decision that settled once and for all. It's a path he says you put your foot on the path and you walk and every step is another choice that you have to make. Will i be generous to this stranger who's in front of me. Will i take the time to be with my family and loved ones tonight. Will i do something at work that i know violates my conscience. Giving our lives over to the holy is not a once and for all the decisions it's one small decision at a time one tiny step after another each one a recommitment. The bad news about this is that. We're never done with work. It's a lifelong discipline. The good news is that when you make a mistake. When you make a wrong choice it's not the end of the world. You just have to pick yourself back up again. And get back on the path. I know when i first decided to go to seminary. I possess some of the naivete of our young priest and i thought that my decision to go to seminary was the fundamental decision that i would make in life. I knew that i wanted to give my life over to the holy. I knew that i wanted to give myself over to love and i figured pack if i can become a minister i can get paid to do that and that's the old joke about ministers that they're the group of people who are so spiritually challenged that god had to pay them to do what's good for free. Life would be clear after that that i would try the well-worn path to write living having made that one decision in boy was i wrong. The choice to enter the ministry was a big step but it was just one step and everyday i still have to decide whether i will make another choice for good another choice. For love and some days i choose right. And some days i don't. Become a minister hasn't made any of those choices. Any easier. The only thing that does make them easier. So is repetition. Because what's true is that with each choice we make for love. It gets easier to make that choice the next time it becomes what the sociologist robert vela famously called a habit of the heart we become practiced in it each choice can seem small and inconsequential what 1-day years later said the bishop we will look back and notice the pattern. Choices and we will say that's that's what i gave my life for that's what i gave my life for. I'd like to ask you to pause now and ask yourself this as i look back on my life what pattern is revealed by the choices i've made. What have i given my life to. If you look back and find your choices have led you to a place of integrity with your values. Then keep up the good work. If you look back and find that your life doesn't reflect those values. Then you can forgive yourself. And with your very next choice. You can start down that new path. It doesn't take a major life shipped all at once. Just the next step. And. If you look back. And find that no clear path has emerged that all seems messy and confused like the tracks of a squirrel attracts of the squirrel leaves in the winter snow. Then join the club for those of us in this group. Our job is to keep looking for the pattern to keep looking for the path to keep listening for the still small voice hush. Listen. Somebody is calling your name what does a faithful life require of us. None but to do justice. To love kindness. And to walk humbly. With our god. May we take that charge with us from this place. And out into the world. I'm in.

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07.08.12LessonsFromSummerCamp.mp3

Protects reading this morning comes from don richter. He says in a magazine called a live now. Ever have a computer lock up on you perhaps you're running one program too many and suddenly wonk the screen freezes the keyboard stalls you can't even run the standard shutdown operation with your mouth. What do you do besides panic that you might lose that important paper your writing you push the reset button and hold your breath until your system reboots and gives you options for retrieving your documents but here's the good news is the reset button that we are given to get a fresh tank on a situation and to renew our lives. Sure life is more than a game yet even when times are difficult and 10th people who know how to play can envision new possibilities a playful spirit knows how to improvise how to juggle and how to think outside the box. I'm just back from a month away and i'm feeling really really glad about that reset button working in a large active kyrie gay should like also keeps me moving quickly and it was definitely time for a break i was beyond the daily or weekly pause button and i needed complete rebooting. When you finally get to that longer time out you have the opportunity to stop all the programs that are running and go to total shutdown reset. How many of you are balancing work and home or childcare your volunteer work social life perhaps medical care for yourself for care for an aging parent. It's enough to send you into this endless were of activity. What do we learn when we are enjoying slower times especially when we get to a place like summer camp. So i've been reflecting on this ever says her also has weakened on the bay in may a great time of rebooting for me and here are a few of the lessons that i remembered at the ymca camp tockwogh. Get out of the routine. Try something new. Do something silly. Sing. Enjoy meals with a community be with children. Take a nap explorer play games take a risk hang out with your friends make something with your hands move your body relax. Bread. Do it are also completed all the above first of all i was very excited i got to decorate my name tag with markers and little animal stickers i took a walk down to the bay and i looked at the boats in the waves we had s'mores by the campfire and saying a lot of songs from the spiritual to the ridiculous more on the ridiculous later. I led a yoga class i watch the energetic team of scavenger hunt people trapped by cuz the people who won ran the entire route i had unhurried conversations i got to sit with a sleeping baby kion my chest for an hour which is heaven i dance for several hours on saturday night enjoying the great mix of music that was put together by dj steve l more from him later we were outdoors for sunday service and we heard the sound of the waves as part of our worship. I loved camp when i was growing up and while i was at weekend on the bay i remembered why camp is a place where you can enthusiastically enter into the spirit of play you are hitting the reset button altering your usual programs expense experimenting with new forms. Going outside your step routine. Play has a spiritual aspect and allows us to truly recreation or literally recreate. Who we want to be listened to this description. Play is the exuberant expression of our being. It is at the heart of our creativity our sexuality are most carefree moments of devotion. It helps says live with absurdity paradox and mystery. Hippies are joy and our wonder. It keeps our search for meaning down to earth. However it isn't enough to simply put ourselves in a setting where a different pacer activities are available we all know it's possible to go on vacation these days and stay completely wired into the same program both literally and figuratively never turning off the voicemail to email the text messaging you have to want to shut out the human and electronic chatter and being a different mode email many people. There's an internal ship that's needed in order to change gears. To appreciate leisure time to embrace play there's got to be some desire for inquiry in a little exploration. Here's a quote that sums it up well leisure it must be understood is a mental and spiritual attitude it is not simply the result of external factors it is not the inevitable result of spare time a holiday a weekend or a vacation. It is a condition of the soul. I sent back to the condition of my soul as some of my childhood experiences at summer camp so i'd like to tell you that my favorite carries camp a western camp for girls in the beautiful sacramento mountains in new mexico. The heart of this camp was riding horses and we had one horse assigned to us every day that we helped care for during our weeks there. We went on daily trail ride on overnight camp trips with our horse. I learned to ride barrel which is a rodeo events for those of you who are uninitiated that involves racing as fast as you can in a cloverleaf pattern around 3 big oil cans. I practice archery and target rifle everyday it's true i engraved little patterns and leather for arts and crafts. I can't say any of those skills stuff with me but it was fun trying. That i was fortunate to have this opportunity and i appreciate the efforts of groups like the washington post foundation or the new york times fresh air fun2fun kids from urban areas who would not have this chance. Being in a natural environment enjoying play is all too foreign to many children and many adults. And it's an important service to sponsor those camp scholarships. It carries cam it was a very different world than my usual suburban el paso routine. And it helped me imagine possibilities. I got a sense of myself in a new world and expand in my ideas about who i could be with a bow and arrow girl but it was great to pretend at the time. I think we can do that same work of exploring new territories adults and we have the power to recreate ourselves again and again. The problem is that we forget this reality we stay stuck in the same repeating patterns not everyone has the time or the financial resources to make a huge get away yet so much as possible right here in our washington metro area even for a day and much of it free we simply need to come to that condition of soul that makes us put energy and attention to leisure put intention into creating opportunities for playtime. As they say all work and no play makes us very very dull indeed. You know anyone like this in washington. I think of this dullness as referring to the absence of engagement in life the dullness of just going through wrote again and again and again. We may laugh that shining soul that is enjoying living. A soul that is exploring the absurdity the paradox the mystery of life i know there's plenty out there in the world that can bring us down we are the designers of our own lives. We are in charge of creating the momentum that brings us joy and wonder. Making space for life outside that usual humdrum rhythm. Actively seeking to play. Mattel you that one mark last campus.. This month i was so happy to go to my kripalu yoga camp in massachusetts a place that i've been many times over almost 20 years and every season a place of return for me. Regina and i hit the reset button in a big way. I did yoga several times a day i enjoyed free movement and dance kinetics class ice way to life drummers in the closing night ritual. I wrote i read a lounge dabout taking a nap. Read lots of great food that someone else prepared we enjoy the fireflies of summer. We got way out of our routine by getting up early and i wonderly morning we arose to tryout lake kayaking i love moving through the water and a new way i definitely experience different muscle and so i have to pause to rest and taking the stunning view and ponder if i would be stuck in the middle of the leg forever we were surrounded by these layered hills of the berkshires still covered in morning mist and we were moving towards an island that was surrounded by lily pads and water lilies that were in bloom. We sat for several minutes in the kayak in the water lilies and did silent meditation. The sun sparkles on the blossoms in the water at great blue heron took off in horizontal flight and made a stunning cross of the lake. Deep breath. Relax. Reset. Life is this moment. And it is beautiful. Why can't life be more like camp. Why can't we decide to infuse our living with a spirit of play. Listen again to the lessons from camp taqwa and imagine them not as just for some special time when you go away from home but it's summer camp on this day everyday spiritual practice for living right here right now. Get out of the routine. Try something new. Do something silly thing. Enjoy meals with a community be with children take the nap explorer play games be outdoors take a rest. That wants you to work with me here. We have a chance to experience a bit of camp taqwa right here at all souls i've invited dj steve l up here to conclude the sermon with the immortal camp classic chicka boom chicka boom we're going to move with our spirits and with our laughter and one of the best ways to create change is to start at home with play just do it. Oh yeah. One more time next summer again.

all-souls_org

06.01.15PartingTheWaters.mp3

When i was a young man just out of college i found my spell self spending most of my knife. In church basements. Let me explain at the back then i was living in portland oregon and working for habitat for humanity in my job there was to recruit churches to participate in habitats home building ministry. To that method most nights of the week while my friends were browsing the aisles at powell bookstore or tipping one back at the local microbrew pub i could be found at a church somewhere in the city making a presentation to the social justice committee. Almost without fail the social justice committees of these churches mets in the church. Basement right down there with the recovery meetings in the pflag chapter it was almost as though the social justice folks have been hidden down there with all the other groups that the good people of the church new in their hearts they should support but frankly didn't want to hear much from put them in the basement. Farewell it first i resented not being able to join my friends at some of the hipper establishments in the city after a while i learn to enjoy it. I like the people that i met. In the basements of churches. They were ordinary people of all races and classes many of them were older and most of them were women cuz the most churches that's who does the work. They were ordinary people who are giving up a night of their week to be with me and the church basement because they had a sense that the church was supposed to be about something more. The church was to be a beacon of justice. And compassion. They were ordinary people who dreamed extraordinary things in those church basements even if it was just a dream that they could build a house. For a deserving family. I liked what happened in the basement of churches. No right about that same time i happen to take a book off my shelf. A book called parting the waters. By taylor branch. It's a biography on the waters it's a biography of dr. king and more than that a history of the early years of the civil rights movement. Friended giving it to me in college but i've never read it. For some reason now i picked it up and found that i couldn't put the book down. What a compelling story. Those early years of the movement are from its beginnings in montgomery alabama where rosa parks and others sustained a year-long boycott. Of the municipal buses. From their little rock alabama where the schools were desegregated to nashville and the and the sit-ins at the lunch counters from the summer of freedom rides and voter registration drives to the bernie. Put my finger on why it was so compelling to me. I thought it might have been because i've heard so many of these stories as a child from my grandmother who is active in the movement in her own corner of the world. Or maybe it was because i've had read about it in the text books and was grateful for a narrative that brought that history alive for me. But then one night while i was sitting up in bed reading. If it me. Why i like the book so much. Because it was a story about people. Who spent their nights in church basements it was a story about ordinary people who had gathered together in their churches to do extraordinary things like set of people free. I had fallen in love with the book because it was cuz it was teaching me that what happens in church basements can sometimes change the world. It showed me how what had begun in a small meeting at a church in montgomery had spread throughout the country and it had blossomed into a march of a quarter of a million people here in washington had sent a bill to the desk of president johnson for him to sign so that african-americans could finally vote. I share these stories with you this morning because i fear that we have forgotten this lesson. Of the civil rights movement. Or maybe we haven't forgotten it. Maybe we just no longer believe that is possible. Maybe we have lost faith. In the power of people. Pony in church basements. Maybe all the news about jack abramoff has made us cynical that the only way you can make things happen in this country is with money. What money is one way to make things happen in this country with a civil rights movement reminds us that actually there are two ways to get things done you can organize a lot of money or you can organize a lot of people and church basements are a darn good place to organize a whole bunch of people. Jenice view is a lifelong member of all souls and she's just edited a book for teachers. Called putting the movement back in civil rights teaching. Did i encourage you to read this book and it's the wonderful resource jenise argues that too often the story of the movement is told through the lens of the heroic leader. Who accidentally sits down on a bus like rosa parks. Or happens to give some great speech like doctor king and then suddenly this movement happens. Because of their leadership. Well that's just not how change happens jenise argues can you imagine the amount of organization for example that it took to engineer year-long city-wide boycott of the buses in montgomery year-long citywide car-sharing carpool program. It takes organization. Weave ball i fear into a similar danger every year on martin luther king day. The temptation is to what to listen to a few snippets of a famous speech. To retell stories of his martyrdom and pretend that it was only because of him. But there was a civil rights movement. In america. When in reality the relationship between a people and its leaders is much more complicated than that. Much more reciprocal. Yeah i think part of the problem with all of this is that there is a religious story that is associated with the civil rights struggle in america. And that religious story affects how we that larger myth affects how we tell the story of what happened here in america now the story of person i'm talking about is the is the story of moses. Right at the story that we saying about in our opening him this morning you recall the story the israelite people had been enslaved by the egyptian pharaoh. But god got it called up among them a leader named moses and god told moses to lead his people to freedom and soul with god's help and also with the help of some locusts and frogs and a few other plagues moses and his people escaped from egypt. The pharaohs army pursued. Chase down the israelites across the sinai desert and finally drove them up against the shores of the red sea in the israelite people look behind them and saw the army and look before them and saw the sea and they didn't know what to do. Well you know what happens next because you watch the charlton heston do it so many times on tv moses lift up his rod lifted up with a long beard and the sea parts right well about the order of events at the red sea. And whenever there was a gap or some confusion in the text the ancient rabbis had this habit of of sort of telling a story to fill in those gaps called midrash and here's how the ancient rabbis told that story fill that gap tried to explain what really happened at the red sea. So moses lifted up his rod according to the rabbis but the sea did not part at first. But the people showed courage anyways and they began to wade into the water. So moses tried again with his rod and once again the seas did not part until the people continued to walk deeper and deeper into the water until it was up to their noses. Until the next step. Would mean that they would drown and finally moses put up his rod and now the seas parted and the land became dry and the people walked on through. Thus said the rabbi's it was the courage of the people that caused the seas to part the courage of the people that allowed moses rod to work in other words it was the noses not moses. Who knows what really happened but i like the rabbi's version of this story because i think it better illustrate the relationship between l and people the power of a leader depends just as much on the courage and faith of the people. As the people depend on the skills. And courage of their leader. No matter how good the leader is ultimately it's the people that must face down pharaoh's army. Or bull connors dogs. The charlton heston view of the story. Lets us off the hook. The heroic leader theory of the civil rights movement lets us off the hook leaves us sitting around waiting for some messiah to deliver us again. When what we really ought to be doing is going down to the basement of the church. And organizing. I'm highlighting this part of the story this year. Because. I want us to draw some strength and some sense of history from the civil rights movement for some things that are going to happen this year here at all souls church. You do people ask me rob. They asked me all the time rob i hear a lot in the news about the religious right. But we're we're for god's sake of the religious left where are their religious progressives and how come their voice is in in the public domain you know some of you already know this cuz i've announced it before but i want to say it again that this year in may rabbi michael lerner of tikkun magazine and cornel west of princeton university are attempting to organize this nationwide network of spiritual progressives. And i'm very excited that they have chosen all souls church as the site for their nation-wide conference here in washington from may 17 through 20. I hope that all of you will participate in that but i hope also that we will participate in that with a sense of the history in the continuity the religious left didn't just pop up after the last election the religious left began in the black church during the civil rights movement. And unfortunately. We have. Neglected that tradition. And it has atrophied. And now we must be part of lifting it back up and putting it back together again. There's something else that's happening here at the church this year that draws on the example and the strength of the civil rights movement and this is the exciting work that we're going to be doing this year with the washington interfaith network lot of euchre to me talk about the washington interfaith network irwin before when is a group of of churches in the neighborhoods across washington and some labor unions as well to organize for justice here in the district. There's a mayoral race coming up which is always a good opportunity to to do some organizing for justice in a city and all souls is going to take part in a citywide get-out-the-vote effort. This is going to be an effort to show politicians in the city that there is a a movement of people who have a vision for the city that includes all the people of this city affordable housing includes development in our neighborhood downtown. And i hope that you will take part in that effort as well. Again. Easy way to make a change in a community is for a lot of people. With lots of money to put their money together. And influence power. But we also have to organize people. And we can make a change that way as well. Adapter. Church today they're going to be good souls with clipboards at all of the exits to the church and and even a hall you'll see them with their clipboards and if you're interested in talking more about either of these opportunities the conference in may or our get-out-the-vote work with win talk to the folks with the clipboards and they can help sign you up and give you a little bit more information so that's my plug for what's going on at the church right now. But let me close. Will final story. Will postscript really to the story that i began with. That book parting the waters. That. I told you i had read the year after college. The book that recounted those early years of the civil rights movement. Dial rei credit that book with in large part. For the fact that i am still to this day over a decade later spending most of my nights in church basements. The book inspired me to go to seminary. Few years after i read it i in fact applied to seminary move to california studied for 4 years. And got my degree. After i got my degree i scratch my head and said well i got to find a church now to serve and so i spent a year looking for churches. And you all happened to be that you're spending that you're looking for a minister. And i imagine managed to fool your search committee into taking a chance on a twenty-nine-year-old and i received a call to all souls church. Finally the day came when i had to make the long journey from california to washington and so i had to pack up my things and as i was packing up i came across a box of books that i hadn't looked at in a while and lo and behold i open the box and there was. Parting the waters. The book that had inspired me so long ago. Not having looked at in years i i browsed it for awhile and thumb through it and happened to notice for the first time the dedication page. The page live in which the author taylor branch head had written a dedication for the book in as i read that dedication which i've never seen before. My jaw dropped. For the dedication reads. For the choir of all souls church unitarian washington dc. Taylor branch attended all souls when he lived in washington. And so it turns out that the book. That inspired me to go into the ministry. With dedicated to the church that years later i would come to serve. Now i don't know about you but i'm not satisfied with just chalking that up to coincidence. Friends i still believe. That what happens in church basements. Can change the world. The history of all souls church. Bears witness to the fact that what happens in church basements can at least change a city. And the nation. The history of the civil rights movement and dr. king testified to the fact that what happens in church basement can set people free. Let us remember that proud history today. May that history renew our faith in the power of ordinary people. Organizing. In church basements. To make a difference in the world. Maybe so. I'm in.

all-souls_org

05.04.17GladAndGenerousHearts.mp3

I'm delighted to introduce this morning our guest preacher to marry the reverend mary katherine morn mary katherine is the interim minister at the universal is national memorial church just down the street over the past 20 years she has served unitarian universalist congregation in texas georgia and tennessee. And she's now the minister it'll act at the unitarian universalist congregation of fairfax. Mary catherine moved to the area last summer after her husband john rakestraw began work at georgetown university john and mary catherine have one son caleb who is 10. And so i'm delighted to introduce to you this morning the reverend mary catherine morning good morning this morning to be at this historic church with a big history and big dreams. There's a lot of work going on down the street to bring new life and energy to congregation that was started where it is now in about 1930. Money was raised from all over the country i'm thinking many of you don't know this to build a cathedral church for universalism here in our capital city and it is with great pride that we represent historic universalism and preserve its tenants in our worship and service in the world. It's a new experience for me serving a congregation like this in one of the great joys i found is the scriptural preaching. Are the preaching at unmc is based on scripture each week and in fact frequently with the use of the lectionary. How many of you know what a lectionary is the lectionary is a schedule as it were for biblical reading and it's a way that years for each sunday over three-year cycle. And it's a wonderful discipline to find the lectionary and discover what the text is for a particular week and so when rob and i were first discussing worship here and also i thought well i'm going to share the lectionary with the folks at all souls and so my first reading comes from the book of acts 2:42 through 47. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayers. Came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All the believe we're together and had all things in common they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all as any had need. Day by day as they spent much time together in the temple they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts. Praising god and having the goodwill of all people. And day by day the lord added to their number those who were being safe. And i have a second reading to share this morning a modern text from the poet liezl mueller this is a portion of her poem entitled monet refuses the operation. Doctor. You say there are no halos around the street lights in paris. And what i see is an aberration caused by old age. An affliction. I tell you it has taken me all my life to arrive at the vision of gas lamps has angels. The soften and blur and finally spanish the edges. You regret. I don't see. To learn that the line i called their horizon does not exist and sky and water so long apart. Are the same state of being. Now you want to restore my youthful errors. Fixed notions of top and bottom the illusion of three-dimensional space wisteria separate. From the bridge it covers. What can i say to convince you. The houses of parliament dissolve night after night. To become the fluid dream of the thames. I will not return to a universe of objects that do not know each other. As if islands were not lost children of one great continents. Doctor. If only you could see. How heaven. Whole earth into its arms. And how infinitely the heart expands. Declaim. This world. Blue vapor. Without. I remember when my brother chuck was 10 years old he got the job of vacuuming the steps. Needless to say there were a number of things that he would rather have been doing. After he did so after he done only a few stairs he decided that he figured out that surely he could see to it that the vacuum would work more efficiently. And so he carried it down to the landing and turned it upside down and with all of his ten-year-old curiosity and dexterity proceeded to take it entirely apart. Bells and bolts chords and canisters a couple of wheels a bag from switches and some totally unidentifiable park all their line on the landing imagine s been sitting there for several minutes before my mother found him staring at all the parts of the vacuum cleaner on the floor there where he had put them. Didn't make any sense to him he's a bright kid but at 10 he couldn't possibly have had the vision to see that all those separate parts really did connect with each other the each part. Not very useful on its own was necessary for the vacuum cleaner to be a vacuum cleaner they were isolated bolts and singularly useless belts are on the floor which i could put them but reassembled vacuum cleaner. Pushed. To admit really had been working just fine before he took it apart. We are awfully good. At taking thing. Apart. Ariel to a point that i can't even begin to understand. But then. We are face. With a need to see and understand the larger organism say the rainforest or. The earth. And we become like children when we are faced with this challenge. Yet there is in all of us an urge to wholeness. We would be one. Even if it does not always come easily. Even in the midst. Of a world so fractured. Even when we experience barriers all around us. And barriers there are some of the barriers protect us create space for us even define who we are. And some of the barriers heard us. Divide us from ourselves. And defy us. In our increasingly complex world knowing when to unite and when to divide is extraordinary really important. Cake. Our two congregations. For example. Not yet exactly in the late 1950s many unitarian and universalist were embroiled in negotiations over a possible merger that would eventually happen in 1961. I love this part of the history the youth had already merged almost 10 years before they gotten their business done and they were on with it having created liberal religious youth. But there were doubts among many. Two vocal opponents to the merger in fact. Or a towel davies. And southbrook. Respectively the ministers of all souls unitarian church. And universalist national memorial church. They believed for many reasons i'm sure that the merger was not advisable. I'm certain that the two men respected each other as prominent relief religious leaders in this community there's no doubt though that their vision of religious their visions of religious community were dramatically different the reverend brooks quietly and stewardship. The reverend davies had an evangelical spirit for the free religious tradition of unitarianism. Both congregations did indeed join the newly-formed unitarian universalist association and yes have remained distinct in their worship and their mission. A wonderful gift to this community having two distinct. Congregation here in the district. Some years ago i spoke with several ministers. Who were involved at the time of merger and heard some stories and one of the funny stories that i heard from him about what was going on at the time. It came from a retired universalist minister who told of the universalist fear that universalism which was the smaller of the moment movements at the time would be swallowed up by unitarianism. And he heard from some of the unitarians and false if they were afraid they would have indigestion. It's true he told me that still today this is what 2005 still today. I have her divisive and sometimes the risks of characterization made by each about the other i've heard some who identify as universalist belittle the heady sometimes humanistic approach of unitarians. And i've heard some who identify as unitarians the little the sometimes more ritualistic sometimes more traditional universalists. Maybe there is too great a divide between us. Maybe we should all go home. We universalist those about to worship at universalist national and stick to our more traditional liberal christian approach. It is tempting sometimes and it's important to acknowledge. The temptation. To enjoy the security. As barriers that keep us apart. To enjoy the comfort of sticking. Set the trappings that don't force us to stretch our understandings of ourselves and our spiritual orientation it is so easy for us to divide ourselves by our differences and then lower our head to face the truth about what's really going on. There is another path so friends a pass that rob and i are hoping might lead to a defense relationship between our congregations. A growing understanding of our kinship and a mutually beneficial relationship that lives on in the future. At the very least we hope we have a hope that our coming together this morning will be an occasion to remember and celebrate the rich and wonderful heritage of our liberal faith. Because our liberal face indeed invites us challenges us. It may even demand of us. That we consider carefully. How we see what unites us. And what divides us. It's a critical question what unites us. And what divides us. Not only for our religious communities but in our whole lives. Are answered guides us in the work we do for justice or do not do. And it shapes are more intimate relationships as well. When we allow ourselves to focus on what divides us we lose sight of the connections we see ourselves as isolated and alone we find ourselves vying for position and possession. We begin to believe that we can do it. Alone. On the other hand when we shift our gaze toward a more united unified vision of who we are we managed to perceive even if them lee. Halo map. The web. The universal love. I've got. With this vision we will find ourselves empowered not only in our intimate relationship but also in our relationship. With others. Can we have feared. And sometimes belittled. Even others. Can we have oppressed. As we speak. Desperately seeking to maintain. Position. And possession. Simply put. When we are able to maintain a vision of unity we become less able. Tolerate hatred. And injustice. So this question. A being together is no trivial matter. We are sister congregations neighbors 2 and even with all the difference between us we share a calling as religious liberals to see colin this with each other with all life and with the source of life. With god. And we share a rich and wonderful religious heritage that should inspire us. Everyday. Tour division. Of wholeness. In 1841 the reverend theodore parker preached uninspired sermon on this question of what barriers help us and what barriers harm us. The permanent and the transients in christianity challenged the unitarians of his day to stop quibbling over matters that were he believed trivial and transience he said. It must be confessed with sorrow. The transient things form a great part of what is commonly taught as religion. An undue place has often been assigned to forms and doctrines while two little stress has been laid on the divine life of the soul. Love to god. And love of others. Parker following the transcendentalist was attempting to broaden the parameters of unitarianism. The more traditional unitarians of his day saw a great threat in this effort and sought to stifle his ministry by excluding him from their pulpits. And publicly denouncing his ideas. But park parker's message radical as it was for his day held the great truth of the universality and permanence of god's love. During this same. the universalist were similarly seeking to spread the good news of god's universal love they preach the radical gospel of universal salvation beings by the state of their souls. This was a radical message of hope then as it is now. No one is beyond the reach of god. No one will be left behind. And so. No one. Is unworthy. Our work. Worcester. And love. Universalism in the 19th century was a vibrant and influential face many social reformers were social reforms were initiated by universal to live there universalist faith. From abolition to women's rights to prison reform to abolition of the death penalty to name just a few. This work was the logical extension of their face they not only shared the good news of god's universal love they showed it. Their work was almost always about bringing people together about living our wholeness about moving beyond the divisions. Between us. At the inheritors. Of these traditions of liberal faith. We have a mighty task. Before us. We are called by the gift of our heritage to move toward wholeness when we can. To come together indifference. Further. I believe that we are called to celebrate this challenge. Bring glad and generous hearts to our worship. And our service. And to give thanks for the wonders and signs of god's love among us. I was terribly moved when i first read that passage that i shared earlier from acts. The lectionary passage for this week. There's disagreement among scholars about the nature of the passage some believe that it was a report an accounting of the actual state of the early christian church that it was a simple report about what was going on others argue that it really is just an idealized version. But it's a statement of what is possible. Our ideal. I take. Deposition. But it was an actual report. No it's a glowing account with some idealized language. I believe it. I believe it. Because i've seen it. I've experienced it certainly not all of the time communities of faith falter and fail. We get it wrong. But sometimes by grace. We experienced this kind of that is reported. Sometimes we witness experience the redeeming power of love. Especially when we are moving toward one another seeking to live in the universal love of god. This is the message jesus taught. By living as brothers and sisters in faith. Or some might say. By affirming the inherent worth and dignity of all. We will experience. The wonder. Of god's love. Day by day. As they spent much time together in the temple. They broke bread at home and ate their food. With glad and generous hearts. Praising god and having the goodwill. Of all the people. The urge to wholeness and connection our striving for god's love. Is often overcome. 5 beer. All of us at times. Live in fear that leads us to separate ourselves and jealously protect. Whatever position and possession. We may have gained. We even today have leaders. Who would encourage a kind of spiritual protectionism. Dividing us for the sake of their own power and privilege. The urge toward wholeness is in us. And the temptation to divide and separate ourselves is present. As well. May we remain steadfast. An hour calling to unity. Faithful to god's universal love. And mindful. Of the inherent worth. And dignity. Of every person. How heaven pulse earth. Into its arms. And how infinitely the heart expands. To claim. This world. Blue vapor. Without em. I meant.

all-souls_org

05.10.30WhatAllSoulsMeansToMeNow.mp3

Her eating this morning is from the nobel prize-winning poet seamus heaney it's an excerpt from his play the cure at troy and i want a dedicated this morning to rosa parks. Human beings suffer. They torture one another and they get hurt no poem or play or song can fully right that wrong history says don't hope this side of the grave but then once in a lifetime. The longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up and hope and history rhyme. So hope for a great sea change on the far side of revenge believe that the farther shore is reachable from here. Believe in miracles and cures and healing wells call miracle self-healing the other self-revealing double-take of feeling. If there's fire on the mountain and lightning and storm and a god speaks from the sky that means someone is hearing the outcry and the birth cry of new life at its term. It means that once in a lifetime. Justice can rise up. And hope and history rhyme. Every year on the sunday before all souls day i make it a practice. To preach about life and death to hold them up before us side-by-side so that we might consider them at close proximity and ponder their meaning for our lives. I try to make preaching about death a habit because when i was growing up the preacher hardly if ever spoke about jeff and whenever the word did the escaped his lips it was so quickly followed by the assurance that jesus death had saved us from this fate that we hardly had the opportunity to consider it a reality in our lives we were left alone with our fears. Many unitarians don't believe in eternal life or in resurrection many of us are agnostic on the question of life after death perhaps you. Have you seen the light have you seen over to the other shore to which he replied with his final breath one world at a time friend one world at a time i do not rule out the possibility of future worlds but ours is the only world i can be certain of this is the world that i love and that i care about i confront death not in the hopes of catching a fleeting glimpse of the afterlife but to discover meaning for this one ultimately the question the death confronts us with is this given that we will die how then shall we live unfortunately this year to provide the preacher with many object lessons for his sermon object lessons on death and life and their meaning on monday we lost one of the greatest souls of the twentieth-century miss rosa parks a brave woman on the front of the municipal bus sparked one of the greatest movement or human dignity ever when i heard of rosa parks death on monday the refrain from last sunday's closing anthem was still ringing in my ears well done good and faithful servant well. done when we mourn for there is a sadness that comes from the. But in the final analysis the death of someone like rosa parks is an opportunity for the affirmation of life. For when we tell and retell the story of her life and death we are telling life story like it's meant to be told and her life we can affirm what is good and holy in human living in her life we are assured that human life can indeed have meaning and purpose that a single life can make a difference if we find and body the hope that seamus heaney talked about in our reading this morning and hope and history rhyme in the life of rosa parks hope and history found their rhyme. Rosa parks life was one that kept the circle turning in her journey the great wheel of life has turned as it should be unbroken death. On tuesday the day after rosa parks died we received news of the death of the 2000 american soldier in iraq staff sergeant george alexander jr was 34 years old he died from injuries suffered when a bomb planted by insurgents exploded near his bradley fighting vehicle since we wanted to provide a weekly reminder of the human cost of this war as of this sunday that cost talley's over 2,000 u.s. lives as well as an estimated 30 to 100,000 durecki lives the affirming story that death doesn't anymore. If life is indeed a big circle a thin generativity and death how do we make sense when the life when the circle is cut short how do we make sense of an american mother mourning the loss of her son and daughter who is died or how do we make sense of the elders in a rock burying their young. This is not the way it's supposed to work this is not what we signed up for this assault on the circle of life cries out for justification for freedom for liberation of a people though i have yet to hear mother or father tell the story in that way celeste lost her son sherwood last year in the war she describes her experience this way she wrote the iraq trying to understand how it was that my son was going to iraq by the grief of the world but i did not yet understand. One month later my soul was cheered by the reality of the death of my son in an explosion in baghdad 1000 times i've wished fireball that destroyed him could have taken me instead. And now i know the grief of the world in part is known by every parent who would have given their life to protect their child celeste is apollo finds no justification for her son's death there is no affirming story to tell hear about the circle of life the only meaning she seems to discover has to do with her identification with what she calls the grief of the world celeste has learned that the cycle of life. Brings grief and suffering that this is part of the human condition and though it provides no solace not an ounce of solace. This sense of solidarity with others at least provide some sense of connection in the face of the ultimate act of disconnection murder war by her purse celeste is apollo has reaffirmed the circle of life as a hospital chaplain it was many years ago and i was still in chaplin in fact it was my first night on call at the hospital without any of my supervisors around. I fell asleep in my hospital room before i did saying a prayer that my beeper wouldn't go off in the middle of the night but at 2:45 it's raining woke me and i could tell from the number on the beeper that the call was from the neonatal icu i've been instructed how to respond to such a call so i quickly grabbed a vial of holy water and the book of common prayer when i arrived the charge nurse explain to me that a young mother 16 years old had lost her child the baby was stillborn the girl and her mother were catholic and they wanted me to baptize the child i walked into the room to find the little girl cradling her dead child. The tiny purple doll swaddled in a white blanket. Reluctantly the girl placed her child in my arms. And together we prayed the prayer of baptism ending an anomaly that padre mean in the middle of two other people's gods. Immediately following the baptism i performed the little girls last rites. And stayed with the mother and grandmother. Until the nurse finally came and took the baby away by living in this world we have agreed to abide by certain rules and come to expect certain things that life may deliver to us we realize that there are trade-offs we know for example that our lives and those we love will eventually end but only after we've had a chance to experience the beauty and joy only after we've had the chance to look into a beloved eyes and exchange the knowing look of love that's the bargain we agreed to we never agreed to a parent having to say goodbye to an infant before life it's just not supposed to get in the world we live today such grief and loss. Such an untimely grief and loss happens. Far too often. And tragically and somehow our understanding of life and death must be able to take in rosa parks's life and death and sergeant alexander who died on tuesday and the little girl that i baptized in that i see you baby alive child in my arms to bless and i'll never forget that day as my first baby blessing there and held the child with such gusto and things thanksgiving and with a sense of the sacredness of life that at the end of the ritual i almost forgot to hand the child back to their parents i didn't want to let go and to this day the blessing of children is one of the most fulfilling and precious things that a minister can do i never feel as though it can be taken for granted it always feels to me. Sterilize are part of an interconnected web of which each of us is part and parcel in which each of us is connected and affects others even the stillborn child perhaps especially the stillborn child is part of that web of feeling and connection we won't all be guaranteed the long life of rosa parks and few if any of us are able to rhyme. But every life all life is precious. Every life all life affects the circle through a vast web of interconnection if there is a common lesson and all of these stories it is that life must be protected and defended. Which is a threat to life we call evil that which sustains life we call good but to cherish life as an act of thanksgiving and to be a blessing to life isn't active prayer so let us bless and care for our young let us give generously to life in our maturity let us care for the frail and for the dine let us remember and tell the stories of the elders and how they helped turn the wheel of life. I may we in our living give the wheel another spin. So it'll turn on and on and on may the circle be unbroken i'm in.

all-souls_org

07.08.05LivingGenerously.mp3

I'd like to share with you a folktale. Entitled loosening the stopper. Rabbi zalman sets rabbi levi. Let us join performing a good deed. An innocent drew is being held by the local authority. But it take up a collection to give the officials the some they demand. For his release. Excellent idea said rabbi levi. But i asked one condition. Let us accept. Whatever donation is offered to us. No matter how small. The two men went door-to-door. Two such distinguished rabbi. Seldom visited the townspeople together. Sommelier generously. At last. The two rabbis came to the home of a wealthy man. He greeted them politely. Then reached into his pocket. Drawing out a near. Halfpenny. Two rabbis amanpour. Rabbi levi thanks the man normally. Blessed him. And turned to leave. When rabbi zalman had followed his companion outside. He could contain himself no longer. Why should we accept that stingy small amount. Someone who has so much. Rabbi levi said is they walked on. I asked you to accept whatever we were given. Please. Be patient. Sometime later. The rich man strode up behind them. I am sorry he said. Please accept more for me. He gave them a silver coin. Then turned and left. Rabbi levi called after him. You are a good and generous man. Rabbi zalman fume dead rabbi levi. He could afford 100 times more. Why must be blessed such things enos. Please bear with me honored relative. And they continued walking. A short while later. The rich man caught up with them again. Out of breath he said. Will you please forgive me for hat for a little i gave. He had on a sack. Three bags full of silver coin. Rabbi levi took the rich man's hand. Yes. With all my heart he said. The rich man gave the coin and left. Obviously relieved. Now rabbi levi turns rabbi zalman. May i tell you the story. Of the wealthy man. He has always given generously to those in need. But a week ago. A bigger approached him. While he was meeting with some business acquaintances. Reluctance interrupt the others. To get his bag. He reached into his pocket. And found their i have penny and gave it to the bagger. The beggar was furious. The rich man was famous for getting silver coins. Why hedy slighted him. The beggar through the coin at the rich man striking him in the face. In his pain. The wealthy man vow to stop being so generous. From now on he would give everyone a half penny and no more. It is said. The each downward step. Leads to another. He was within his rights to offer the beggar what he had. But he aired. We started treating everyone the same way. And since that day. Everyone who has approached him. Has angrily refused his paltry have penny gifts. And he found himself. Unable to offer more. It is also said. The each step upward leads to another. Once we accepted his halfpenny. We loosened the stopper on his generosity. Each gift he gave made the next one possible. Now. Our willingness to receive. Have you stored him. Who is goodman. This story demonstrates the importance of receiving a gift. Warmly. I think it also shows the pain. Frustration. In disappointment. Can stop. Our natural tendency to give. In the stories you will here today for my members. There is a common theme. We are most likely to give fully. I'm a grateful and whole heart. Giving is a response to our blessings in our lives. In fact. Like the wealthy man in the story. We need to give. What's we can. I wanted responsibilities of community. Is developing our skills in our talents. And then find a place to use them. We gather here. To learn how to be a fuse. I just heard a statement this morning on television. From a motivational speaker. Marcus buckingham. Any advises us each morning to wake up with this question. What are my strengths. And how can i volunteer them today. We are also challenged in are giving by the faithful and generous people in our lives. As a new minister i am often looking for models on how to minister and be with other people. Thanks to the work in our archives i have been able to learn something from the example of reverend david eaton. Longtime minister here at all souls church. One of the students helping to sort through reverend eating papers. Notice something about him. He said. He was helpful to everyone who came to see him. If you couldn't personally fulfilled request. He will be further person to someone he believed could. And if that wasn't available. He would offer encouraging words. Me that is the spirit of generosity and practice. We have with us members today. The congregation would share with you. Their understanding of living generously. People here from janet randolph. Sharon grove. Don mccloskey and matt mccluskey. But it's received them warmly. As i give. I get. A simple yet powerful quote. From the educator mary mcleod bethune. This photo captures the way generosity frequently manifest for me. There's certain situations that generate overwhelming feelings of euphoria that literally sweep over me. During those times i know i'm living generously. And i have to take a moment to thank the universe the source. God whatever i'm calling it at that moment. If i bask in the joyous feeling. Many of those situations happen when i'm either here. Or at least connected doing something with all souls. And i want to share. A few recent situations. From my living generously repository. On saturday june 28th. I came here to the church to fulfill my gardening day green commitment. My fiance herb and i joined meg stains and others to do some maintenance planning and replanting. Wild herb concentrated on cleaning and reorganizing. The shed or gardening shed. I met some of the new members some of the members of the church that i didn't know. And enjoyed sharing bits of our stories as we worked. It's all good you used to share their stories. Aside on the gardening gloves and begin planning bright pink hibiscus mums. And the white flowering white flowering border plants in the large pots out front. I recalled how much i love seeing the miracle that emerges. As soil and water. Combined to allow living things to grow. This made me feel very very generous. And left me wanting to ensure that i spend more saturday mornings or wednesday evenings. Giving some time to the ground to this wonderful church. Last sunday. I came to church for the first time in three weeks following several road trips. After sitting down in the pew. Looking around me and seeing many familiar and some new faces. I was moved to tears as i realized how very safe. Nourished and whole i feel in this place. I am affirmed that i'm in the right place. Pursuing my spirituality in concert with the universe. Again. I knew i was living generously. Since my cup was running over with positive affirmations. In june. I attended general assembly in portland for the first time since discovering i was a u u in 1991. I was impressed with the immense interest in the denomination that would bring 6,000 people from across the country. To hear new ideas and express their views. I was even more impressed. To discover that every person i met. Recognize the name all souls d.c.. And they seem to feel that we have something very special going on here in terms of music program ministry. And racial ethnic diversity. I began to realize how special we are. When i looked out on a sea of probably. 98%. White faces in that huge auditorium that holds 6000. My realization began to approach dismay. When i saw presentations from several breakthrough congregations. Those are congregation sewer recognized. Gas having accomplished. Great things in a short. of time. Most of those congregations had miniscule. Or non-existent levels of racial and ethnic diversity. One of those congregations was celebrated for having a very successful capital campaign. That allowed them to greatly expand the services. By expanding their educational center. During the showing of your dvd. I saw a very large and stately church. Filled with a very very homogeneous looking congregation. Another congregation was lauded for a successful public relations campaign. That nearly doubled the size of their membership into years. When i asked how much the racial ethnic diversity expanded during the same.. The response was. Not at all. Snapshots presented by those congregations did not enhance my feeling of living generously. Within the context of ga. But. They did make me even more sure. Of my feelings of living generously at all souls. Not that we figured it out. Because i know we still have a long way to go in terms of people of different racial. And ethnic backgrounds worshipping in complete harmony. But at least we have the basic elements present to work on it. This is challenging work that is never really finished. But again i know i'm blessed with the generosity of people like yourselves. Diligently working the issues that tend to separate us. Last december this is a really special one. I reached a whole new level. Of living generously. When sunday i was acting in my very official capacity as president of the board. When i greeted a first-time visitor to the church. As usual. I inquired about what it what brought him to all souls and learned that he'd recently relocated to the area. To be close to his family. I also learned that he's a poet. That data point of course. Is music the ears of an english major like myself. We visited for several additional sundays when he returned. And discussed many aspects of spirituality life. And all souls. Then he asked me out. Needless to say that conversations expanded to include a lot of other topics. To make this wonderful story short cuz i could go on and on. Herb lowry joined all souls. And in a few weeks we'll be married. Lord and my ever-living generously. These and so many other vignette i could share contribute to my feelings of living generously. In my church. These are the things i think about. When it's time to decide on the amount of my annual pledge to the church. These are the kinds of things that make me want to maximize my support to the church. So it can remain robust and its offering to all segments of the congregation. These are the things that make me want to give until it feels good. Because as i give. I get. Urec. Do you like it. Together we should learn from this week. Morning. I'd like to start by reading a couple stanzas from a poem titled. Dear older people who walk with packs upon your back. Instant treasure. Dumping wash returning. I saw you still along the street and followed. You entered here before i had the guts to speak. And say thank you. Thank you for being in your body. Thank you for walking into aids. Make fishtail frost and maple leaves and goosewing stumbling in the sky. Delight you as your body's do. And give comfort in this dying world. These lines are part of a longer poem left upon my grandparents door. On december 3rd 1969. Attached with a note. For the people i saw walking along the street two weekends ago with pack and beret. My grandparents live in madison wisconsin and walked almost every night after dinner and their local park lake wingra. One evening they saw college student cycling. Plaid hands folded behind her back. Head up. Free as a bird my grandmother would right. What does stranger couldn't know. Was that my grandfather had a heart attack and died in his sleep just the night before she's summoned the courage to drop off the palm. Because the palm arrived immediately following my grandfather's unexpected death. A carry the kind of sacred way than my family. That it might not have otherwise. It memorialized my grandparents and gave us a snapshot of my grandfather that defines him to this day. In a family that had no time for religion. Does palm served as a sacred text when we all needed one. It radiated the generous spirit of both giver and receivers. And honored the mysterious and surprising ways that we are always inspiring and touching each other in the simple rhythms and patterns of a day. While my family would not use the word like grace i think i always associated the circumstances around this problem and that way. Was three when my grandfather died. But the story never left me and the stranger poet became as much a teacher for me as those i studied under in school. When i was around 10 awkward prone to daydreaming alone often. I would ride around the neighborhood on my bike and think about what generous things i could say about my neighbor's home. Open capozzi's really lame goofy cards with silly pictures on them about the roses or their front porches. Are there brightly painted doors and like a criminal i would wait until no one was looking slightly flip my card under the door and run away as fast as i could. No i have never ever been one to let my good deeds go unnoticed. The people who know me know that and no one's going to get a christmas present for me and wonder who it came from i wish i was more the other way but there you go. But the kind of generosity that was represented by the stranger. Didn't feel like gift-giving or sacrifice it was more about paying attention and honoring that which is in front of us all the time. And it taught me just how powerful letting myself be surprised. By the beauty and people can be. Rachel adler writes in engendering judaism. We have forgotten how to wander in the company of the sacred. Without fearing that because we don't know where we're headed we will be lost. In the wilderness. We live by trust. I've been coming to all souls for almost six years now. And during that time my religious life has depends and my roots in this community have spread deeper and wider. You have all become familiar to me. And like the downside of all familial relationships there have been times when because of that familiarity i felt like i've stopped really noticing you. Sometimes when i get involved in various also projects i forget to let myself be surprised by the generosity. The everyday grace grace that surrounds me here all the time. When i think about it. It really is remarkable that this thing we called church exists at all. That people actually show up every week and i'm always astonished that we have visitors every single week. That we manage granted sometimes better than others to take care of each other and bring cards and lasagna to each other's homes and we're suffering. And that every week people stand in line to light a candle for someone in their life. Paying attention to these simple yet remarkable rituals. Is what i think it means to wander in the company of the sacred. And it's my generosity prayer that we all can learn to trust a little more in that power. Abc. Do you like it. Together we should learn from this week. My aunt told me a story once about when i was 3. She my siblings and i were playing in the yard and she asked me if i would run into the house and get something. I said no and return to what i was doing. I have no memory of it and i'm not sure what happened in between that time and the beginning of my memory. But i have since lived with yes on the tip of my tongue. Somewhere along the line it became my nature to be helpful. So how can i help. Professionally i'm librarian. At a non-profit. Here at all souls i volunteer at christ house and this past year i followed up on the pledge i've made it every child dedication by teaching in the re-program. Highly recommended. All of these things i enjoy immensely and fall neatly under the category of helping the world. But one of the other things i immensely enjoy doing here at all souls but that may not so obviously be helping the world. What about singing with jubilee and the chromebook players. What about chatting i mean crafting with the closing circle. These are all things i participate in greeley. Taking the opportunity to create art in a setting where i just have to show up. Happily because it's a church community it turns out that showing up for my own personal enrichment and gratification. Helps provide opportunities for others also to being rich. Weather through working together to create a piece of art. Or by providing the finish work to the community. It's an amazing gift to be thanks for something for doing something that i'm thankful i have the opportunity to do. Somewhere along the line that became my nature to be helpful. And something feels amiss if i'm not trying to help improve the world in some way. I've had to learn however to recognize the limits of my own capacity and time. And to focus that yes where it can be the most effective. This means working no back into my vocabulary. There are some things i'm just playing not good at and you would rather someone else did. There are many other things that i'm usually good at but not if i'm overtired. Overstretched and overcommitted. You must be fed. Learning the song in jubilee was a tremendous turning point in my living. Beginning to understand the quality and not quantity of actions is the real heart of the matter. Rob preached a sermon on missing october 2003 it's on the website. And that day's reading from victoria's safford included these words reflecting on a headstone epitaphs. She attended well and faithfully to a few worthy things. At first it seemed to me a little meager a little stingy on the part of her survivors but. I thought about it since. And now can't imagine a more proud or satisfying legacy. She attended well and faithfully to a few worthy things. Everyday i stand in danger of being struck by lightning and having the obituary in the local paper say for all the world to see. She attended frantically an ineffectual lie to a great many to a great many unimportant meaningless details. Overextending oneself with important things can be just as personally unsatisfying as overextending with unimportant things. We can still be frantic and ineffective and we can still prevent ourselves from reaching the juicy center of the fruit as we pick at the outside and move on to the next piece in the bowl. So how can i help. I can't do too many different thing so i have to choose. But when i do choose. I'm able to say that i am participating as fully as i am needed and that i am satisfied. With dedication to my choices i hope i'm living towards the uplifting bridge of faithful over a few things. Which proclaims. Well done. Good and faithful servant. Well.. Abc. Do you like it. Alicia. Good morning. There's a him in the christian tradition that we sometimes sing here at all souls. Around the holidays called in the bleak midwinter. I know it may take a leave to get there on this august morning. It's a menard unitarian hymnal. But there's one verse that's not in the unitarian him the one that's the one i went to mention today. The words are by the nineteenth-century english poet christina rossetti. The last verse poses the question in the context of the christmas story. What worthy gift can i bring to this newborn child. In a broader unitarian context. Where each child born is one more redeemer. Saying our child education services. It could just as well ask what were the offerings we all can bring to all the children among us. Into the world that they'll be inherited from us. What can i give ashley hamm. Ethan goes through various options of what a gift might be if i were a shepherd. If i were a wise man. It concludes go by suggesting a gift that doesn't require any special occupation or status. What i can. I guess it says. I give my heart. Now to go to another source there's a song with a similar theme that sung by the muppets. Kermit the frog. And it's called if i were. Depending on your outlook that may be going from the sublime to the ridiculous. But then again it may not. It doesn't matter how much we have. Or what grand gift we can bring. What's important is that we cultivate the source of love in our lives. And in our hearts. And then do what we can to share that love. With the world. Urinal souls there are many ways to be generous of course. We can get financially to the church. And that's important no question about it. Going to do what we can to support the church financially as well as other organizations. That we hope we're trying to make the world a better place. But of course there are limits to how much any of us can do there's no one here who can underwrite the church's entire annual budget with one check. Well. Actually there is. You know who you are and i'm sure the generosity committee would love to hear from you. But what's more important is getting ourselves. And the spirit of how we can all give. As don mentioned there are so many opportunities here at all souls to get involved. And to share generously from the source of love in your lies are lies. We both singing jubilee singers and we both been involved with the combo players. I also give time each week to take the weekly sermon. 2 transferred into a digital audio format and then to put that on the church website so that anybody anywhere in the world. Can hear the sermons from all souls if they're interested and if they have an internet connection. They can also serve members who happen to be out of town or whatever reason can't make it to church on a given sunday. It's one way that i can use my skill set to help the church and hopefully to spread the reach of this liberal religious community beyond the walls of our beautiful sanctuary. And into the wider world. About whether it's taking part in the closed community in support of the covenant group or working with the crew 40 trash lunches. Volunteering to help with landscaping and gardening. Working with our social justice ministry's to improve conditions in our neighborhood our city and our world. Or help me pass life-affirming values to the next generation through re. There's a way for all of us to give what we can to further the mission of this church. And hopefully through that. To help the world. Now that won the two services. There will be even more opportunities and in fact there are so many opportunities that it would be easy to overload. As don said we sometimes have to be generous to ourselves too sometimes. And to make sure that i'm giving to others we leave time. To nurture our own spirits. One joy though of sharing the source of love in our lives. Is that building the bonds of human community. Goes both ways. And community building. Definitely not a zero-sum activity. The rewards of giving our time and our hearts can be greater. Did any of us could ever expect. There's so many people in this congregation who already. Live generously and they show that everyday. And by speaking this morning i'm not pretending to be a perfect example of generosity. But i do believe that when we all invest at least some of ourselves in the greater good. We really can together make a better world. As we often sitting here at all souls we can build a lamb. So we bind up the broken. We can build a landwehr praises resound. Alandra justice rolls down like waters. And where peace is born. And reborn. And reborn again. From urec. Do you like it. We should learn from this week. When my wife and i first moved to washington we were delighted to learn that there was a unitarian universalist church nearby. This beautiful as the church itself is. Who's the generosity of the congregations that made us feel at home. There's something unique about a u u congregation. We don't so much evangelize. As we proactively empathize. And when i walked these halls you know what i mean. And i when i walked these halls and visit this sanctuary. I feel the presence of a profound understanding of everything i've lost. All that i've games. All the tragedy enjoy it is collided. To make my life. The generosity of this church is lived in the community. In the public square. In the planning sessions in our basement. But also in the morning knowing smiles that we share with each other. Now we patiently listened to each other and evening education sessions are covenant groups. Any compassion rich silence of our meditation and prayers. My family does our best to support this church financially. Department of the generous and brace it provides. And the opportunity it gives us to cultivate the generous life. I wish we are all capable. If you're offering plate passes this morning. I invite you to consider the importance of all souls in your lives. And to give generously. Good mornings offering will now be received.

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06.02.26MotherIsMelting.mp3

The text reading this morning is from the end of nature. By bill mckibben. And he says this. The idea of nature will not survive the new global pollution. The carbon dioxide in the like. We have changed the atmosphere. And thus are changing the weather. By changing the weather. We make every spot on the earth man-made. An artificial. We have deprived nature of its independence. And that is fatal to its meaning. Nature's independence is its meaning. Without it there is nothing. But us. If nature means. Great joy at fresh and untrammeled beauty. It's loss means sadness that man's footprints everywhere. But as with the death of a person. There is more than simply lost. A hole opening up. There are also new relationships that develop. And strains and twists and old relationships. And since this loss is peculiar. And not having been inevitable. It provokes profound questions. It is not generally the custom of this pulpit but it is my custom to pray before i preach. Join me if you will. Spirit of life. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart. Be in service of the greater all. Be with me as i speak. I'm going to speak personally and honestly today. About what i sent might be the experience of a larger group than me. First confession. I am not a person who has been on the front lines for environmental issues. There are many folks in this congregation today who have more knowledge or experience. Mark credentials we giving this sermon. I am and what we call the mushy majority. The larger group of us who know that the seventh principle. The interdependence of all things is important. And yet we maintain our distance. We try to recycle. We love the ocean in the mountains when we get there. And we are really glad that someone else is working on this. People like pants bar. The passionate chair of our seventh principle committee. Jack harper who is visiting us as our regional representative. For you you ministry for the earth these are the people with the street cred i am not one. We are the ones. That the most passionate among us are trying to awaken. So this morning i am preaching as one who has experienced a recent epiphany on a large and complex issue global warming. And as one who now believes it matters how we respond. And this leads to my second the last confession. I used to see global warming as that rather remote field of scientists and what. I truthfully say i called the environmentalist has. The ones who inspire fear in me if i toss my plastic bottle in the trash or you styrofoam. My environmentally aware actions to this point have been as a guilty child responding to the strong voice of a disapproving mother. Feeling i should be a better person. Sensing i should pay more attention. Knowing. It's hard to focus. On a series of questions that just might change my life. This could be inconvenience. I suspect that i am not alone. That many of us who work hard for justice and other round simply let this one slide. Knowing there are others doing the work. I've also been a city dweller for decades moving as an adult from the san francisco bay area to chicago to boston to new york now to d.c.. I say this to admit that i have always been on the edge of nature. I guess that's a kind of third confession. I visit wild or areas with a true joy at the hobby. And then i returned the cultivated park. In urban areas i have been concentrating on people. Thinking about organizing and political power. I experienced the planet when i go to rock creek with her dog. Or more deeply when i go on yoga retreats over many years now to western massachusetts and many different seasons. Get all around me all around us rock creek park is changing. The berkshires are changing. Everything every single and interconnected thing. Is changing. I'm not going to try to convince you of that. The evidence is overwhelming you have a wonderful flyer that lays out the facts i'm sure there's an irony on environmental justice sunday that we have the maximum number of paper inserts in the bulletin. I see that but thanks to our resident experts kevin russell and heather mcgrade who work on this all the time. Having a great flyer the lays out the facts i'm not going to do that. In the us we have this strange problem. Of debating the obvious fact of global warming and climate change something that the majority of the rest of the world. Except. Here. We have the actual suppression of information during an election cycle on climate change as just came out in the news. We have the silencing of scientists at nasa. Who other uncomfortable words and. This is about power. And the oil industry. And winning elections. Plus i'm going to say it a peculiar pattern of thinking in the bush administration which seems to go like this if we don't acknowledge it it won't be true. We see that playing out in other areas but i digress back-to-back to global warming. This phenomenon is known as quantifiable sound minds have track this for over 100 years. 1. Entire century. As i see it. The challenge is this. Will the issue of global warming. Ever move inside of us. Not be out there. But in our souls. Move us to an actual change. In consciousness. Will we get this issue which is so fast. And so complicated from our heads. And into our hearts. And spirits. Way back in 1989. Bill mckibben wrote this classic book the end of nature. And what he cites has only gotten more severe. I have the joy of reading the book fully last weekend while i was visiting chincoteague and assateague island. And the force of his writing feels different. When you are visiting a national seashore in a wildlife refuge. Last weekend. I saw the potential loss up close. I walked on the beach that will be covered by the rising and warming seas and collected shell. I marvel that the coloring of the exquisite birds. It will no longer have a place to nest and raise young. I heard the wave. That move the sand. Water that exes away the barrier island. I smelled those fragile marsh wetlands. Already endangered. On the way to extinction. And this book this end of nature. Concentrate on the feeling. Applause. The quality of change. It's sings alamance which sounds as keening. Not facts and statistics. Aggrieved while i read it. Grieve that while i was paying attention to other things. The world around me with shifting shape. This planetary change will be so complex. And so much this endless ripple effect of interconnectedness. That it is impossible to get a sense of what global warming will mean. Literally incalculable loss. Is occurring. In fact mckibben writes eloquently about how we can't predict. Or scientifically evaluate the future anymore. All bets are off. Because the atmosphere has changed. Therefore the weather. Has changed. Therefore the planet. Has changed. All our models. All our weather histories are understanding about how the seasons used to work. In various areas of the planet. Are suspended. And we don't know what's coming. Before i do the section take a sip of water with someone said to me you know if the preacher takes water you're in for a lot more. But i need it to talk about water. Great waters which is a book by deborah cramer. Create another portrait of one complex. Piece of the big global warming picture. And kramer tells the story of atlantic. As she names the 32 million square mile. 12000 ft deep. Universe of water. That we know directly to our east. She dropped the article. The atlantic. Because she feels that creates a false distance. The tendency to regard the ocean as something out there. Away from us. Instead she wants to convey this present sense of a living atlantic. Part of us. And as she puts it. A possible way to see atlantic is to see beyond ourselves. Colette the lions of our own self-importance fade. Then perhaps each of us can hear the water resonate in sing. Hearing the voice of the sea. We may come to understand how we humans. About one among many species. Inextricably linked to this mysterious watery place. And cramer writes about the childhood experience that many of us share when you took a conch shell and held it up to your ear. To hear the sound of the ocean. We do hear waves. But as children we don't understand that it's our own body rhythms that are sounding our blood. She connects this to our knowledge that atlantic is changing. Has already shifted. It says this will the webb unravel. Well we rip it beyond repair. It matters a great deal if gas is we cannot taste. See. Touch smell. Build up in the sky. Causing the meadows of the sea. The fadeaway seabirds to disappear fisheries to decline for our own lives. Maybe intimately critically connected to other life. Kramer says holding the shell to my ear. Listening. I believe i hear the rest of surf hitting the shore the crash of breaking waves. And it's the universal fantasy shared by every child ignorant of the facts of science but is also a truth. It is. The voice of seashells. In the echo of the blood rushing through our veins the waters of life the sea. A singing. Here's another reason she looks at atlantic in order to get a snapshot of this kaleidoscopic picture of global warming. Water covers two-thirds of the planet. And our terrestrial habitat is only the small thin skin. That stretched over a vast body of water. Almost the entire biosphere 99.5. Percent of life on earth. Belongs to the sea. It's difficult to imagine a comprehensive let's bring it back to our human bodies than where we live. By the year 2020. Not that long. Not that far. As much as three quarter of the earth's population might reside within 40 mi of a seashore. So at this exact moment in time. Millions of people. Are endangered species in their current habitat. Because the warming rising seas. Are going to cover their homes. Completely. We also know. That these human neighbors are largely what we call the two-thirds world. People of color. Poor and rural people people who do not have other places of easy retreat. If we need to bring this home. Put human faces on the story. Then. We have some shocking pictures right at hand. When hurricane. Katrina and rita. Hit the us gulf coast last year. We saw. Who suffered most. When a warmer see created this great mixing cauldron that creates a fiercer storm. We witness with horror the covering of a region with water. And we saw who got out. And we saw who stayed trapped. We saw who had cars. And we saw who could only sit in the superdome. Grab the rare rescue boat sit on the side of the highway for the bus that never arrived. But we saw offended and outraged as it should. For we know. Poor people suffer the most. In this country and worldwide. And the gulf coast we saw african-american orleans people. Immigrant latino workers in mississippi. Real white folks and trailers. The remnants of the decimated native american tribe they all suffered the most. One region one country one part of the globe and yet this disaster just as one. Will play out for decades. For every living creature in the area each intricate. Ecosystem. The awakening. The epiphany to which we are called is this. I say there is no global warming out there. And us in here. Safe in our sanctuary safe in our homes. We are all inexplicably linked. When we value most are sprawling industrial development or the easy affluence. Of the one third world. Then many suffer. When will you put only our human life in the center of our consciousness than many suffer. Bill mckibben described it this way. The idea that the rest of creation might count for as much as we do. Is spectacularly foreign. Even to most environmentalist. Becca logical movement has always had its greatest success and convincing people that we are threatened by some looming problem. Or not threatened directly by some creature. That we find appealing. What does the seal or the whale or the songbird. The mckibben says what if we began to believe in the rainforest for its own sake. People have begun to talk he says of two views of the world. The traditional man-centered anthropocentric view. And the biocentric vision. Of people. As part of a world. Susan griffin describes this biocentric vision. Powerfully from another perspective so moving from water to land. From atlantic to earth. We know ourselves to be made from this earth. We know this earth is made from our bodies for we see ourselves. And we are nature. We are nature seeing nature. We are nature with a concept of nature. Nature weeping. Nature speaking of nature. Denature. All these interconnections that we reflexively lift up and worship liturgy. That we celebrate and beautiful song that we pay annual lip-service to on earth day. Is interconnections are powerful. Terribly. Awesomely true. We will live and die together one-bath globe. Made of water and earth made of flesh and bone and blood. Made of the same substances are found in the stars and in other galaxies. Let us not respond to the reality of global warming. Of this vast planetary change out of guilt. Our duty. As if our mother was telling us what to do. Lettuce respond out of grief. But our planetary home that are intricate guy organism. Our mother. Is melting. We are all. Everyone of us experiencing a profound loss. The clueless. The knowledgeable. The complacent. The passionate. I hope for healy will be in direct proportion. To our individual desire to grow into this larger ecological self. You must deepen our understanding of that world of interconnection that awareness. That might move us individually. And collectively. To make sufficient change. We can do that. To confront global warming. We need a shift in consciousness itself. May our grief. Bring us home. To mother earth. And in that homecoming move us to act. With urgency with clarity. For the sake of serving all.

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04.02.01MomentaryStay.mp3

One-year the author annie dillard. Went off to live in a remote part of the pacific northwest. Where she wrote a short. Pierced book. That is one of my all-time favorite spiritual texts. It's called holy the firm. In this passage dillard describes the small church. That she attended while writing the book. There is one church here so i go to it. On sunday mornings i quit the house and wander down the hill to the white frame church in the firs. Not a big sunday there might be 20 of us there. Often i'm the only person under 60. The members are of mixed denominations the minister is a congregationalist. He wears a white shirt the man no. God's grace to all in the middle of this he stopped and burst out lord we bring you the same petitions every week. Aftershock to pause. He continued reading the prayer because of this i like him very much good morning he says after the first him and invocation startling me witless every time and we all shop-vac good morning. The churchwomen all bring flowers for the altar. The hall in arrangements as biggest hedges. Have wayside herbs in season and flowers from their gardens huge bunches of foliage and blossoms in vases the size of tubs. And the altar still looks empty. Irredeemably linoleum and beige. We had a wretched singer ones. A guest from a canadian congregation. A hulking blond girl with chopped hair and big shoulders who wore tinted spectacles and along lacey dress. And saying grinning to faltering accompaniment. An entirely secular song about mountains yet nothing. Could have been more apparent. Then that god loved this girl. And nothing could more surely convince me of gods and unending mercy. Then the continued existence on earth. Of the church. So why do we do it. Why do we. Like the awkward soloist from canada. Why do we drag our imperfect sells out of bed and to church every sunday morning. Only to sing our faltering songs to the holy. Why do we do it. Why do we bother with the prayers when the melodies for which we pray illness and injustice and violence are the same week after week after week. And why ask on sunday morning. For the spirit of life. To sing in our hearts when by monday afternoon. We know they'll be cold again. Why do we do it. Today i want to explore that question. To talk a little bit about what it is we try to do together here on sunday mornings. And why. And i want to get out it get at this question by what may seem circuitous path. I want us to better understand worship by comparing it. 2 drama. To the theater. That way it may be that i just had the theater on my mind a lot lately you see i've been rehearsing my lines for my part in a play that some of you and some of your children are also preparing for. The all souls kumba players production of. Free to be you and me. How many of you remember free to be you and me alright that 1970s dream of a world where children could grow up unfettered by stereotypes of of gender and race. Back in the seventies when all the methodist churches were busy preparing renditions of jesus christ superstar all the unitarians are doing free to be you and me the unitarian jesus christ superstar play the part of the principal of the school who has to remind the boys. In the words of my favorite song from the musical the even though they're boys. It's alright to cry. What does the comparison of theater to worship. Have to teach us about why we come to church on sunday. Let's think for a moment about some of the similarities between the theater and the church in theater there's a script and stage directions that helped carry the work from beginning to end. Similarly and worship there's a ritual a liturgy familiar words and actions that stomped us along the way at the beginning of the service here at all souls we know that we can light a prayer candle. And that will shake a stranger's hand. After the silent prayer we always look forward to seeing spirit of life. And before we leave we can count on some closing words to send us off into our week. That's our script. Our liturgy. In the theater the actors wear costumes. In church some of us wear costumes and just like some of the things that they wear in the theater might look strange when you see them out on the street like the high ruffled collars of shakespearean drama so2 if you saw me window-shopping down 18th street and adams morgan in my robe and stole it would look pretty funny as well. To go to see the theater you go to a special hall. River stage in life send a curtain indicating that you've entered. A place to set apart. The place where something special. Is going to happen. Then church the soaring ceilings in the high pulpit in the lagrande oregon. All signal that we too have entered a different kind of place. All of these trappings the scripts the costumes the hall they're all designed to signal to us that something different is going to happen here. Something special. And in both the theater and the church that's something special is. The suspension. Of our disbelief. The suspension of our disbelief. You know when we go to the theater and two actors who have been gripped in intense dialogue with one another suddenly break into a show tune we don't. Because we brought into the premise of the theater and have suspended for a moment our disbelief we have opened ourselves up to the alternate reality that the theater offers us and just so when we walk into church on sunday mornings and sing together. Spirit of life. Come unto me singing my heart and give my life the shape of justice. We don't snicker and say. Justice. For a moment. We set aside all the disappointments. That the world has dealt us. And we open ourselves up. To the alternate reality that the church offers. The reality of the world. That is nobler than the one we know today. Have a suspension of disbelief doesn't mean that we check our minds at the door. Denial of reality it just means that cheer and worship our hopes and dreams for our lives and the world get a fair hearing alongside some of the disappointments and realities. An esteemed colleague of mine. Jack mendelson. Said it well. He said to be a unitarian universalist you've got to be able to do. Free things. To know the world as it is. And to know the world as it should be. And to be able to love them both. Let me say that again to know the world as it is. And to know the world as it should be and somehow. Somehow. To be able to love my both. The suspension of disbelief that we enter into on sunday mornings is what gives us just enough room to set our hopes and dreams. Alongside our disappointments in pain. The whole the next to one another in our hearts and minds hoping that when we leave every sunday afternoon we are filled with enough love for the world as it is that we are compelled to help turn it into the world that it should be. Worship. Like the theater is a liminal space. A borderland. Between reality and hope. And to inhabit that borderland. Is one reason we worship. Insurance. On sunday morning. It is a beautiful. Entender. And poignant place. Tidwell. Let me take the metaphor of the theater just a little further. Historically scholars of religion have gone one of two ways with with this metaphor one school says that in the drama that is worship. God is the director. Worship if you will is god's show and the priest or the minister is the star of the show. The person who is the conduit for god's words for for god's miracles for for god's grace. The congregation from this point of view is the is the audience passively receiving god's word and grace. That's one way of understanding worship. But it was the danish philosopher soren kierkegaard who first said no. You guys have got it all backwards. Worship is in god's show. God is the audience. God's watching. The congregation they are the actors in this drama worship is there show. And the minister said kierkegaard. What the minister is just reminding the people. Of their forgotten lines. In this view worship is a human endeavor. The act. Of an imperfect people. Reaching out to their god reaching out to their hopes and dreams. And being sort of nudge along by their minister. Also an imperfect person who may have invited to be not there star. But more like their coach. Reminding them of their lines. This view restores worship to its original meaning liturgy means in the original greek the work of the people. Worship is our collective act of prayer and praise. The thoughtful short-story writer andre dubu has a gray to definition of ritual in one of his short stories he writes this he says ritual allows those. Who cannot will themselves out of the secular. To perform the spiritual. Just as dancing. Allows the tongue-tied man. A ceremony of love. When it comes to naming and addressing the holy we are all tongue-tied. And tripping over our feet. It's like. Worship helps us find our pudding that helps us untangle are knotted tongues worship is like our cyrano de bergerac expressing the love in our hearts that we can't always articulated. For ourselves. But i'm saying really is that. For me there are times. When all week long. I can't muster. A word of prayer. And my only solace is that i know i can come to church on sunday. And sing. Spirit of life. And be reminded of the words that have eluded me all week long. That's another reason we come to church. On sunday to be reminded. Not to be worthy of our hopes and dreams worshipping must possess. Beauty. But beauty i don't mean one particular aesthetic standard there's beauty in a silent quaker meeting in a spirit-filled baptist revival and then the great cathedrals of europe. I am however often overwhelmed by the beauty of our worship here at all souls. Especially the music and the arts. But all of this comparison to worship and theater into performance. Compels me to raise a cautionary cautionary note here and to interject a word a small word about the subject of. Applause. You'd be surprised how many emails i get about the topic of applause in church some people like it some people don't let the people have strong feelings about it here's my thought i subscribe to an audience. But an actor. And that worship is our collective active praise. And well i think we'd all agree that the music at all souls is of kennedy center caliber the church is not the kennedy center and the choir doesn't perform for us so much as they give voice to our collective active praise. So i'm of the opinion that it is right and proper to join in on that acted praise and i will often clap or shout amen after or to john's to grin perhaps some during an anthem and then other times i sit in filled silence. My rule of thumb is basically. Clap when the spirit says clap. Shout amen when the spirit a shout. And when you do it do it as an act of worship. Rather than as a response to a performance. That's all i'm going to say about a car how much. In his preface to his collected poems frost tries to describe what it is that poetry does what what is its purpose. And when i read his words i thought that's exactly like my dream for what worship at all souls church would do and so i want to share with you his words about poetry. He writes. A poem begins in delight. And ends in wisdom. It assumes direction with the first line laid down and runs a course of lucky events ending in a clarification of life. Not necessarily a great clarification. Such as sects and cults are founded on but in a momentary stay. Against confusion. Like frost poems. Worship at all souls begins in delight. And ends hopefully. Through a lucky course of events. Cora gracefield course of events. Ends and wisdom. We started service with the energy and passion of our procession and our greeting then we settle into a reflective time turning inward for prayer and meditation. Taking stock of life. Then the preachers in the musicians in the poet's hopefully bring a message that helps us make sense of our lives not that gives us the once and for all answer but at least. A momentary stay. Against the confusion. Of our complicated postmodern world. At least enough clarity and strength. To get us through the week. And back in church again next sunday. Yeah our worship and maybe a little more polished than the service that annie dillard described in our reading this morning. Are flowers pressure our choir intune our building and inspiration. But we're still the same imperfect. Stumbling and tongue-tied seekers of the holy. Coming to church on sunday morning to levin reality with our hopes and dreams. To remind ourselves of the lines that we have forgotten and hopefully. Hopefully. To be granted. A momentary stay against confusion. At least. That's my prayer for us all. Maybe so. Comment.

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06.11.05FacingDeath.mp3

A reading this morning is from. Victoria safford. An excerpt from her book walking toward morning. It's called in-between. One afternoon sometime ago. I brought my little baby out to visit a very. Very old neighbor. Who is dying that you're. Quietly. And gracefully. We were having a little birthday party for her with sherry and cake and a few old friends gathered around her bed. To free a hands to cut the cake. I put my baby down. Right on the bed. Write-up on the pillow. And there was a sudden hush in the room. For we were caught off guard. Beholding. It was a startling sight. There in the late afternoon light we're too human beans. Side by side. Neither one could talk. Not in language we could understand. Both utterly dependent on the rest of us bustling around masquerading as immortals. There they were a plump one applecheeks. A cherry tomato of a babe. Smiling. And a silver thin one. Halo i'd. Translucent. Smiling. We revelers were hushed because we clearly saw that these word answers. On the very edge of things. These two were closer to the threshold. The edge of the great mystery. Been any of us. Living breathing smiling they were but each with one foot. And who knows how much consciousness firmly planted. On the other side. That's starry darkness from whence we come. And whether we will go. Fresh from birth night unto death. Bright-eyed they were bookends their mirrors of one another. Cake. Napkins glasses in hand we pause there in the midst of our. Momentary lives. What shall we sing. Said someone. To the silence. To the sunlight on the covers. To the stars. It was the only question. Then. As now. What on earth shall we sing. There are two rights that we celebrate. In this church. Then make me most grateful. To be a unitarian universalist. Two ceremonies that in my mind. Embody the best of our faith. The first. Is our baby blessing. I love the way we welcome our children. To life. In a service that dates back to the 19th century we blessed the babies with a rose because our ancestors thought of our lives as possessing many of the properties of the natural world. They saw that at birth the soul was like a seed a little bundle of potential. And that the purpose of our lives set our forbearers who's to cultivate that seed so that are lies my blossom. Like the flower. Gracing the world with beauty. I love that when we welcome our children we recites together the articles of our faith that each of us is precious. Each if we use our gifts wisely. A potential redeemer. My favorite part of the service though is when. Is when i get to escort the little one. Down the center aisle into your myths so that you are literally in the developing them with your love as you welcome them into the great family of all souls. That part always reminds me of. I was saying that the rabbi's had. They used to say that each of us when we walked through the world. Is accompanied by an angel that that goes out and walks out in front of us and as we walk through the world the angel says make way make way for the image of god. That's how i see our service of baby dedication. I see us as herald angels crying. Make way for the image of god. In a time when so much religion. Conspires to belittle. And degrade humanity. I'm grateful that our baby blessing. Bears simple but eloquent witness. The dignity of man. The other right that makes me proud to be a unitarian universalist. Is our memorial service. I'm always so moved by how we say goodbye to our loved ones when they die. How we take time to honor them by telling their stories by remembering all the ways large and small that they use their time on this earth to bless the world. To bless us. Remembering for example how. Sharon fowler nosoo. Loved her grandchildren. Habob myers devoted himself. The vietnamese community in columbia heights. Charlie mason found it a law school. Hallelujah russell. Wound the clock. In our clock tower every sunday. And how. It just hasn't worked the same. Since you left us. Another traditions much time is spent at the memorial service making promises about the next life. In our tradition. We take time. To honor this one. That's what i like about them. Apparently i'm not the only one. More than one church member has confided to me that they play hooky from work. Whenever we have a memorial service at church even if they don't know the deceased. Berta wedding crashers before but not memorial service crashers. And they come for good reason. They come because they love to hear the stories. The remarkable ways that people find meaning. And love. In their lives. The way i see it the memorial service brings us full circle back to the baby blessing. In the blessing we look with wonder at to the. Introvert child cherubic face. And tell them they're precious. Tell them they were a gift. But perhaps even those of us not normally given to skepticism. My tasks. But one of our imperfect and broken adults lives. Do they really live up to the potential. That we harold for them at the beginning in the blessing are we really a blessing to the world. That's what's so powerful to me about the memorial service. Is that no matter how common or broken our lives are. Most of us to do indeed. Discover our own way. To bless the world. And so just as we escort our loved ones into the world like herald angels so too do we gently deliver them. Into the mystery to come. With those same words on our lips. Make way. For the image of god. These two rights. The baby blessing in the memorial service they are bookends if you will. The beginning and the end the alpha and the omega. But what about what happens in between. What about our lives. Given the certainty of their impermanence. And the assurance of their preciousness. What are we to do with our lives. Insight into such questions. Rarely comes to us in a straightforward way. In a neat package. More often than not inside comes couched in a cryptic story from an ancient wisdom tradition. Or in a fleeting epiphany in the midst of our mundane lives. So allow me to share with you then. One cryptic story. And one epiphany. In the zen buddhist tradition. They tell this story. Once upon a time. A famous zen master came to the front door of the king's palace to see the king. Owing to his fame none of the guards tried to stop the master as he entered they merely bowed as he walked by. The zen master strode through the castle making his way to the throne room. Where he found the king seated. What do you want ask the king. Suspiciously. Sir reply the master. I would merely like a place to sleep. In this in. All but you are mistaken good teacher this is not an inside the king it is my palace. Pardon me your majesty said the zen master may i ask. Who owns the palace before you. My father replied the king. But he is dead now. And who owns it before him. My grandfather but he too is dead. Then tell me your majesty. Set design master. This this place where people live for a short time. And then move on. Did i hear you say that it is not an in. I like the story for lots of reasons. Not least of which because it imagines a day. When the spiritual leaders of a nation who have access to the king. Might actually speak a prophetic and challenging word to that king that's one reason i like the story. But more to the point of this sermon. I like the image. Of the world as an n. A temporary lodging. If we look at it this way it's suggest a couple of things. First if the world is indeed an in. Then each of us is both. Guest. And host. A visitor and therefore slightly out of place. And at the same time. An innkeeper. The one most fully at home. The one responsible. For the m. Comfortably at home. Yet. Just passing through. That is about as good a summary as i can sing. Of the paradox. That is. Our existence. We are both guests and hosts in this world. And there is an affix that is suggested from this way of seeing the world if the world isn't in then the story suggests that our lives are to be dedicated. To the arts of hospitality. Hospitality is one of the most radical forms of love for it is given to a visitor who because he is dislocated. Places are radical trust in the host. To care for him. What if we all saw ourselves as innkeeper's in this world. And our fellow human beings as travelers. People depending on us. For hospitality people trusting us with their lives trusting us to provide a safe place. A warm hearth. And people intern on whom we depend. For our own safe keeping. I am only beginning to imagine the kind of solidarity. That emerges. From scene. Each of us simultaneously as guest. And host. Bound in a network of mutual care. And responsibilities. Practice then. The fragile and holy act. Of hospitality. That was the story. Now for the epiphany. You know reading this morning victoria safford describes an occasion. Did she had. To consider life's meaning. In the context of its transience. The occasion you remember is a small bedside birthday party. For an elderly friend. Who is dying. Needing to free up a hand to cut the birthday cake. Safford lays her little baby down on the pillow. Face-to-face with her dying friends. Just imagine that site. There they worse at safford. A plump. Applecheeks cherry tomato of a babe smiling. And a silver thin. Halo wide translucent elder. Smiling. Living breathing they were she continues but each with one foot and who knows how much consciousness. Firmly planted. On the other side. That starry darkness from whence we come. And whither we will go. Watching these two side-by-side. The busy mortals fellsilent. For just long enough. Contemplate the meaning of what they beheld. The circle of life. It's transience. And then out of the silence. And because it is after all a birthday party. Someone asks. What shall we sing. That's precisely the question says stafford. Given the newborn child. And the dying grandmother. Given life's beginning. And it's an. What shall we do in between. What shall we sing. What is it that gives joy and meaning to our lives. What is it that makes our hearts sing. How can our song be a blessing not only to us but. But the others. What shall we sing says safford. It was the only question then. And it is the only question. Now. I think i've talked to you before about the thin places have an eye. The ancient celts said there were certain times and certain places. Where the boundary between the earthly in the heavenly realms was. Was more permeable was within. And therefore communion between the two realms. Was easier. I think stafford is describing one of those thin places. And i think all souls day. Today. Is another one of those thin places. A time when the departed soles. Who loved us and whom we loved. Feel close to us again. We have an opportunity to say once again. Thank you. To say once again. I love you. In a time when we have the opportunity to reflect. On the meaning of our own lives. In the light of their impermanence. Enclosing let me make one invitation. This month reverend linwood and i want to invite you. Into an opportunity. To consider our lives in the context of their impermanence. Starting later this month will be leading. A series of classes. In which each of us has the opportunity to consider. Our own impermanence our own death. Interplan in fact our memorial service to write our own obituary. At first it sounds like a morbid task. But we find actually that invites people. Into deeper. Life. Check out your november newsletter for more details about this class. Four friends the church is the community. Where we come. To be welcomed lovingly. Into the world. Since gently. Into the next. And in the meantime. It's where we try to discern. What song it is. That we shall sing. Maybe a beautiful one.

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04.01.11BigPicture.mp3

This morning's reading is a poem by billy collins. Poem is entitled in the room of a thousand miles. In the room of a thousand miles. I like writing about where i am. Where i happened to be sitting. The humidity or the clouds. The scene outside the window. A pink tree in bloom. A neighbor walking his small nervous dog. And if i am drinking a cup of tea at the time. Or a small glass of whiskey. I will find a line to put it on. My wife hands these poems back to me with a stye. She thinks i ought to be opening up my aperture. To let in. The wild rhododendrons of ireland. The sun blanched stadiums of rome. That water clock in bruges. I tell her i will try again. And travel back to my desk. With it where the chair is turn to the window. I think. About the furniture of history. I consider the globe. The lights of its cities. I visualized a lion. Rampant on an iron shield. A quiet battlefield. A granite. Monument. And then. Just between you and me. I take a swallow of cold tea. And in the manner of the ancient chinese. Pick up my thin pen. And write down that bird i hear outside. The one that sings. Pauses. And then sings again. The big picture. I would suspect that like billy collins many of us frequently get caught up in our own inkwell. We go about our days with. Only each event of everyday each item in our calendar. On our minds. And then. At some point. Perhaps most especially when we're having a hard time when we're struggling. Someone will say to us grab us by the lapels if we happen to be wearing a blazer that day and say to us. Look at the big picture. Or in the grand scheme of things. This really doesn't matter that much. Open your aperture. Insist. Collins's wife. Look at the whole of your life. We are reminded by those who care about us. When we are caught. In one particular incident. One particular moment. I wish it were that simple however. And if only it were that simple to just. Look at the big picture. You see it occurs to me that this big picture way of looking at things is actually a paradox there. Something in this big-picture stuff which is hard. Cuz if you stop for just a moment whenever someone has said to you. Think bigger. Look at the whole of your life. When you have tried have you noticed as i have that there's a strange tension that happens. You see you go to look at the big. The universal truth. The spiritual. Elements in essence of any one moment. Coarc that you are creating as you are writing the story of your life. And yet in the everyday you are trying. Desperately perhaps. To manage seeing each and every single event. Or day or. Argument or mistake. As having something big with in them. Right here looking for that big essence. That moment and yet at the same time you don't want any one of those little things. To detract you from this big picture. So you have this. Strange thing you're wrestling with your trying to see the big in the small. And yet sometimes you can get weighed down by the small you can get caught up and just. That one moment. Caught up in that inkwell of your life. You see the key with this big-picture stuff. Like with most of spiritual living. Is to find a balance. The find where the big and the small connect. Define wherein each moment. You can pull out greater meaning. So why do i talk about this big-picture stuff here. At church. I talked about it specifically here at church because in every church i have been around that paradox that wrestling between big and small has always been at the heart of any and every conversation we have. There is a challenge you see. For each and everyone of us as we are trying to build community together. As we are trying to work together to keep ahead of us or mission. And our ends. It's really easy to get caught up. In the little things. Do not see the whole. Do not see the big picture. So i hope to lift up just for a moment. Next time you're in a meeting with someone here at the church. And someone drive you nuts. To remember that mistakes will be made. Feelings will occasionally be hurt. Toes will be stepped on. And sometimes the chosen path of the majority of people within a congregation. Isn't what you personally would have chosen. And yet. An essential part of being a member of any community. Hack being a member of the great family of all souls. Is the sometimes for the common good to set aside your own ego. To set aside a bit of that longing for control that we all have. To say. If it doesn't go my way then it's just not going right. Sometimes. In order to live in community in a healthy way. In order to have us all move forward together. We have to put the little things aside. And keep the big picture in mind. But what matters most is why you came here in the first place. What brought you through those doors. What keeps you coming back. Not an argument that you'll have at a board meeting. Not that committee you've been desperately trying to avoid but the convinced you to join it this year. Know you came here and you have stayed or you come again seeking something else. Seeking something larger. Speaking reminders. That what matters most to you is to grow spiritually. To notice and to cultivate meaning in your life. And to be part of a community which reminds you. Love your best self. And remind you of that which is greater than any one of us. Wichita the people call god. I was thinking this week what is it that i do that helps me with this. Struggle i have between the big and the small in my life. And i realize that one of the things that is part of my spiritual practice that helps me most is journaling. I find that when i sit down and i stream-of-consciousness write about. Much the way colin says about. Where he is or the humidity or the clouds or anything that's happening on that given day. But inevitably i find myself writing words that show me the big themes of my life. And that helped me see the big themes of my life within the day-to-day. Help me to see that the big themes of my life actually imbue everything i do. Nothing is as mundane as it seems. My journal tells me. Everyday events are shot through with meaning. If i would but look. If i would but pay attention. If i would but see each breath as a gift. For icy in the words i write. But the big and the small. Come together. Sooner or later i see that each. And everything i do creates a hole. The whole of my life is made up of individual events. We don't write our lives in chapters. We write our lives. Word by word. Moment. By moment. And yet. Life. Is remarkably not just a series of actions and reactions. Words. And feelings. It's something else as well. Life with a capital l. Is more than just a chain-reaction of happenings. It's the weed for something that holds it all together. That sits at the core of all of those happenings. And gives it meaning. Seize the coherence in it. Finds the hopefulness in it. We make sense of life. By stepping back. And taking the long view. Big picture my friends. Is about perspective. On friday. Our administrator mel hardy took me on an adventure of perspective. He took me to see an amazing exhibit of photographs. In a small gallery in capitol hill. And it was an amazing exhibit. As small as it was. Was amazing and its simplicity. Before we entered this concrete. Building which used to be someone's home. And looked on the walls and saw staring at us the faces of the people of that neighborhood. For photographers head. Canvas the neighborhood around the art gallery and ask people to allow them to take their portraits. And people amazingly agreed. With all the only enticement being made get a free 8 x 10 photo of themselves. What was amazing to me was that these faces as mel and i walked through this gallery and looked at these. Individual faces the images in front of us. His friend he was there to open the gallery for us described the stories of these people. Each base had a life behind it. Had a story that went with it. And although i could have guessed it perhaps what that story would have been when i just. Walked in it was so much. Deeper to actually hear the story. And it was then i realized that perspective was so important. Because with the big-picture perspective these photographers had made art out of their neighbors. They had seen the beauty in the live around them. They had seen the universal in the faces of those. They passed on the streets everyday. For those spaces spoke to me about universal themes of all of our lives. Hope and despair. Look at the big picture. See your life. Whole. And in that seeing. May you find both the universal beauty in the everyday. And the meaning that can be found when you step back. To see the larger image. Your life. Has created. May it be so this day. And in the days to come. I'm at.

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06.10.29Unharvested.mp3

On this. Beautiful crisp fall day. I'd like to share as our first reading. This morning a poem from a poet i'll always associate with fall. Robert frost. This is called. Unharvested. It tells a story about an unexpected encounter. With an apple tree. Ascent of ripeness. From over a wall. And come to leave the routine road and look for what had made me stall. There sure enough. Was an apple tree. That hippies used itself. Abbott summer load. And of all but it's trivial foliage free now breathe as light as a ladies fan. For there had been an apple fall. As complete as the applehead given man. The ground was one circle of solid red. May something always go. Unharvested. May much stay out of our stated plan. Apples. Or something. Forgotten and left. So smelling their sweetness. Would be no fat. And our second reading is from. Free change of paces from the book of leviticus. Chapter 19. Verses 9 and 10. When you reap the harvest of your land. You shall not reap to the very edges of your field. Or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard. Bear. Or gather the fallen grapes. Of your vineyard. You shall leave them. For the poor. And the alien. The orphan. And the widow. For remember. You were once a slave. In the land of egypt. Not long ago. Thanks to the generosity of a friend. I had an opportunity to travel. To the french countryside. 2 burgundy. One of the most lush agricultural regions of the world. Many natural delights grow from burgundy's dark soil but certainly it's most delightful bounty. Is the grape. And it's by-product wine. Burgundy gently sloping hills are carpeted. With some of the world's oldest vineyards. We happen to arrive there in september in late september just as the vines were turning golden. The fecund smell of grape in the air suggested it was harvest time. Wine is still a mom-and-pop industry in burgundy and most grapes are grown on small family farms so during the five days of harvest everyone and their brother is in the field picking. But one morning i sat on my stoop and watched. As a crew harvested a small plot of grapes on the hillside across from where i was staying. Watching them brought back memories. Memories of my childhood growing up in a. Compared to burgundy very modest wine country in upstate new york. Every weekend my friends and i played hide-and-seek. Invincibility ins vineyard. It's lush summertime foliage provided ample places to hide. Not to mention a ready-made source of snacks. I remember on more than one occasion coming home from the vineyards sick to my stomach from having indulged in too many grapes. Some years vince even paid us to help with the harvest. I guess old habits die hard because. No sooner had the french grape pickers finished their work. Then i climbed the hill to their vineyard in search of a stray grape or two to eat. When i arrived i wasn't disappointed. Several bunches still hung from the vines and many lay strewn on the ground. Cautiously. Not sure if i was committing a crime. I reached for a grape. Plucked it from its bundle. And popped it in my mouth. It's purple skin was thick. And tart. Its flesh juicy and sweet. I ate another. And another. Then looking up from my stash. I noticed i wasn't alone in the field. Small birds swooped into the vineyard plucking their own treasure from the ground each carrying a grape in their small beak as if it were a single purple jewel. Chipmunks scurried about tucking the juicy morsels away in their fat cheeks and at one point i am certain. That a chipmunk and i exchanged the complicit look of guilt. Then having pardoned one another we went back to our foraging. May something always go unharvested. Wright's robert frost. May much stay out of our stated plan. Apples or something forgotten and left. So smelling their sweetness. Or eating it for that matter. Would be no theft. Perhaps the french grape pickers. Had been careless and leaving behind. Their grapes. Or perhaps discerning intentionally leaving behind those of an inferior quality. But i'd like to think that they were following an ancient code. Of farmers. You see in the ancient world there were certain rules that you followed during the harvest. Some of these are recorded in the book of leviticus as commandments given by yahweh. To the jewish people. Like the one we read this morning when you reap the harvest of your land you shall not reap. To the very edges of the field or gather the gleanings of the harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bear or gather the fallen grapes but you shall leave them for the poor. And the alien. The orphan. And the widow. For remember. You were once a slave. In the land of egypt. Leave something unharvested. Says yahweh. Share your bounty with the less fortunate. The way this worked in the ancient world was that. After the harvesters would come through. Picking the fields. The gleaners got their turn to come through themselves in the gleaners with the poor and they were the orphans and the aliens are or even the little animals. They they would follow the harvesters into the field. And live off the leftovers. Survive off of what was left. Unharvested. Behind this commandments and practice. Liza whole theology. Of the earth. And its bounty. A theology that recognizes that the earth doesn't belong. To anyone of us. And that even if we tell it. We sure don't create it. The earth is a gift. And we who think we are owners of the land are really milk nearly stewards of its stewards of that. Gift. Therefore it is justin proper to set aside some of its bounty as an act of generosity as an act of thanksgiving really. For what we've been given. And so that mother nature. Compare. For all of her children. The other theological point that yahweh makes to the ancient jews who were the intended audience of this commandment but also by extension to us is. Remember you were once a slave in the land of egypt. In other words he's saying now that things are going well for you. Don't forget where you came from don't dare forget that once you too dependent on the grace of god for your survival once you too dependent. If you will on the kindness. Of strangers. May something always go. Unharvested. No. The ethics of ancient farming communities. Don't always translate neatly. To our contemporary world. And still less do they translate to a bunch of city dwellers like us. Whose experience of the harvest is limited likely to the the produce aisle at safeway. Is there any lesson. That we can glean. From this practice of. Cleaning. But what if we thought of our lives. As a harvest. That's how i religious ancestors saw it. Channing and emerson another early unitarians compared our lives. Saw our lives with. Compare them to images of the natural world. For them our soul. Is like a seed. Implanted by our creator in our breasts. And inside that seed is the germ of of all of our powers and all of our talents and all of our capacities. And the purpose of life they said it's too it's attend to that c2. To nourish it through prayer and meditation to. Cultivate our gifts and talents to giving them both the light of reason in the warm. Of love. So that we can grow and blossom. Into all that god intended and so that in time our lives would be like a bounteous harvest. The fruits of which were to be shared with all creation. Just like there was a theology behind those ancient farming codes there's a theology that lies behind this way of seeing our lives. If y'all argue that recognizes that that. But our lives are not our own. We did not create. Ourselves. Our talents. Are our talents in our lives out there gifts. And we are stewards nearly of those gifts. And thanksgiving for those gifts. As an act of generosity. We must share them abundantly. That's the theory at least. That's the theology that passed down to us. From our religious ancestors but when i consider my own life. And when i look around at the world around me i wonder is that how we think of our lives. Anymore. I ask myself to whom do we think our lives belong. Now. Do they belong to the holy. To the jost. To the orphan or the widow. Or did they belong to the shareholder. The punch clock. The firm. The sperm. I look around me and i and i see friends whose entire lives now are are parceled out into billable hours. You know you try to go out to dinner with them in the end they apologizing like i'm sorry i'm catching up on my billable hours it if they're catching up on their sleep or something. I've colleagues to work with me on the board of clinica del pueblo across the street who must work two to three jobs just to survive in washington dc because the cost of living is so high. The consumes almost all of their entire lives i look around and i noticed that it's not only our doctors who are double-booked now all day long but our children. Our children are overbooked now they're they're frantic parents taxing them from from the sat prep to the soccer match. And i ask myself. To whom do our lives belong now. Back in the ancient world when crops were harvested by hand on small farms. Back then apparently our ancestors could imagine our lives as a harvest. And they could imagine that a due proportion of that harvest. Could be set aside for the good. Set aside for grace set aside for justice. But today. I imagine us living in in the spiritual equivalent of. Of agribusiness. Witwer the combine comes through and takes everything in the harvest. Strips our lives bear of their fruit. It used to be that the stuff was let that was left unharvested was seen as a gesture of generosity. A solidarity of grace now it's seen as an inefficiency of the economy. To have leftovers. A fall in the system. And it's quickly taken care of. And so the poets please. It's for a little bit of balance. Make something always go unharvested. He says. May there be a piece of our lives not stripped bare. By the combines of our economy. Or of our society. So that we have space to experience beauty and love. And grace in our lives. Enter the poet let me add may there be billable hours that that always go unbilled. So that we might have time to spend with family. With loved ones. With our community. Neither be portions of our bounty that go on consumed. So that we might share them with those in need. We might use them in the work. A justice. You know i hope you don't hear this sermon. As a mere plea to avoid the rat race or. Or take time to smell the flowers. Or the grapes for that matter. Yes avoid the rat race yes smell the flowers. But i'm trying to ask us to take seriously. A more fundamental question this morning. To whom do i lives. Belong. Who has a legitimate claim. On the fruits of our lives. And our labor. These questions cut right to the quick. Who are we. And who's. Are we. Our ancestors tell us. But we are not our own. That our lives are a gift. Given to us. To be shared with the world. Are professional him this morning. I think says it well. Vamos a la milpa. It imagines. Each of us gathering in the fields. With our brothers and our sisters. And with god. It says that they are together we will reap. A harvest. Of love. When i go see each other more. That's how i religious ancestors thought of our lives. A harvest. Of love. In this season. Harvest. May each of us order our lives. In such a way. That they will become unique. Expressions. Of that love. May it be so.

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04.05.23Reconciliation.mp3

Speaking for myself as a euro american woman with upper-middle-class educational privilege i needed to move outside my comfort zone in order to develop a new set of eyes so i couldn't see where i was it wasn't. I have to keep learning overtime the picture isn't pretty the conversations are painful the conversations are awkward but they are critically important for reconciliation there is no way forward but through your the conversation that i heard recently that illustrates the different perspective by choice. But it will involve letting go a power we can do through listening better changing faster it should involve asking to know the experience of people of color repeatedly not just once or twice and checking off the box for those of you who are people of color i speak as a pastor who can only partially know your pain perhaps your most essential work would be to strive to live life with hope despite the repeated experience of racism surely the recurring and the act of cruelty.

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07.05.13WhatHoldsUsTogether.mp3

This morning's sermon is about what holds us together. And the reading is a poem by polish poet whose name i hope i pronounced somewhat correctly with flawless and bushka. She was the 1996 recipient of the nobel prize in literature. And the reading this morning is a provocative poem from her. Entitled a word on statistics. Out of every hundred people. Those who always know better. 52. Unsure of every step. Nearly all the rest. Ready to help as long as it doesn't take too long. 49. Always good because they cannot be otherwise. For well maybe five. Able to admire without envy. 18. Lead to error by youth which passes. 60 plus or minus. Those not to be messed with 40 and 4. Living in constant fear of someone or something. 77. Capable of happiness. 20 some odd at most. Harmless alone turning savage and crowds more than half for sure. Cruel when forced by circumstances. It's better not to know not even approximately. Why is in hindsight. Not many more than wise and foresight. Getting nothing out of life but things. 30. Although i would like to be wrong. Doubled over in pain without a flashlight in the dark. 83. Sooner or later. Those who are just. Quite a few at 35. But if it takes effort to understand. 3. Worthy of empathy. 99. Mortal. 100 out of 100. A figure that has never varied yet. Friends the poet and our guest preachers of the past two sundays. Have reminded us that life is precious. But life is a gift. That we didn't ask for but that we were fortunate enough to receive. And if we take their message and the poet's message seriously then we might come to believe it's also too short to be spent on petty disputes. Or with little kindness or openness toward ourselves and others. And i've been thinking a great deal lately about this community that we are creating here. I'm not sure if it has something to do with an intersection of the sabbatical of my colleague and where i am in my own development as a minister. Not to mention the conversations that i've had with the staff and with many of you over this last 6 months. But i've been thinking a great deal lately about what it takes. To create. And to sustain healthy and vibrant communal life. And what it takes to have healthy leadership there in. It's occurred to me that some of the adages and lessons that i learned in seminary are making more sense than they ever did before. Maybe i thought they made little sense at the time and only now six years into ministry can i understand them. But lessons like being clear at all times. The church belongs to. Is making more sense than ever the adage is that those in leadership and congregations need to remember at all times that the church. Always. Always belongs to the congregation. The essence and core identity of all souls isn't to be found in who's on staff or who is currently serving in ministry. The truth is that it is distilled and discerned in moments of deep listening. To each and everyone of you. A sense of the whole a sense of the whole comes through and listening to the dreams and goals and gifts. And struggles. But each of you are wrestling within your own lives. And to hear about how that truth that reality of where you are living right now intersex. With this place called all souls church. How old souls impacts your lives. It is in those anecdotes. Those anecdotes that i hear from you in one-on-one conversations and in small groups. Who's anecdote when you tell me how himura song spoke to your soul. How you carried a phrase from a sermon with you throughout the week. How several people you have met here in the church have become important friends. Or how the work that you did in new orleans or on a win campaign have made you see the city. And the world in a different way. All of those anecdotes are what make a church. All of those stories are what make displays whole and true and real. All of those experiences. And more. Tell us who and how we are as a spiritual community. A few years ago. In recognition of that truth that all of you are church. The committee on ministry got together and listen to some of you. The 200 of you or so to be exact. In trying to put together a covenant of right relations. As you might remember those of you who were here a few years ago you are able to write down on little note cards what the congregation meant to you the things that you believed in a bad at the things that you wrestled with about it and place it in the offering place so that we could come up with. Thoughts and ideas and phrases about what this congregation means and what it needs. In order to thrive and survive. And so after some writing and coloring and pulling together you are words and their own. The committee on ministry wrote a covenant of right relations that i want to revisit with you this morning. Because we recognize then and now that is just as critical as it is to remember to whom the church belongs. It's equally critical to remember how it is that we belong. And what it is that holds us together. In spite of whatever disagreements may come and go in spite of whatever issues we might be working on in this one given moment. Now in that covenant of right relations there are seven ideals and living practices it seems that unitarian universalist love the number 7 we have 7 purposes and principles our congregation has seven and statements and yes we have seven ideals and living practices for our covenant of right relations. Obviously i can't cover all seven of them this morning so don't worry i'm only going to try to speak to 3. The three which to me relate most directly. To behavior and how we are together. The first one is listening and speaking. And under the category of listening and speaking. The committee on ministry called a few of you are examples that you wrote and i quote assume that. That's broken or after newsletter columns of mine that i've written. That words matter. Said it matters what words and what language we choose to speak to each other with. But it is important to choose words that are as accurate as possible to expressing our thoughts and our views and our feelings. But the covenant reminds us not only are the words themselves important. But the spirit with which we enter into conversation is equally as important. Not just which words i choose to speak to you with. But the fact that i enter the conversation with a sense of openness. When i get to enter the conversation without expecting a foregone conclusion. Trying to remember and trust. That you and i both want what's best. For our connection and for the church community as a whole. Listening and speaking. The second piece that i want to lift up to you this morning is. The one that the committee on ministry entitled serving our church community. And i quote from the covenant. Honor all levels of service to the church. Encourage people to make choices that balance their needs with the needs of others. And quote. I lift up this quotation to you this morning because i am very very aware. The church's work best when is many members as possible are involved in the life of this community and are creating it. Together. One can't sit on the sidelines of one spiritual life. At least not always. And your input and your spirit. When added to the whole when thrown into the mix of this congregation make it more vibrant and more beautiful and more challenging. And we need that. But i also want to speak very clearly right now about levels of involvement which i think is why the committee on ministry road in encourage people to make choices that balance their needs and the needs of others hear me clearly this doesn't mean that you get involved to the point of burnout this doesn't mean that you join every committee and group in the congregation that you can possibly sign up for. What it means is that you choose wisely a place. Unhitch. Within the congregation to which you can contribute that you feel your talents and you are skills and your interest can offer something unique. And then you do something to help the church. But not too much. For friends i'm very clear. That when you bring your whole self to this place. Your joys and your tears. The things that you're struggling with as well as the things that you're proud of. And when you have a whole life that exists outside of this building and work and friends and family. Then every time you enter. You bring even more abundance to this place. So i want to encourage and lift up that kind of full involvement that also takes your own life and time and well-being very seriously. The third and final point of the covenant that i want a raise to your attention this morning. Is forgiveness and reconciliation. The covenant states. Acknowledge our own and other's imperfections. Lovingly call each other to account for behavior that is hurtful to others. Friends we will invariably let each other down. We will be unable to avoid hurts and disappointments. We will at times make mistakes together. And the question for a community such as ours is not to try to avoid such things but the question is what will we do with those mistakes and hurt and disappointment when they come up. I have often noticed in ministry. And in life for that matter but i will go from a week when i feel as though nothing i do is right or enough or adequate. 2 week in which it feels like everything i'm doing is precisely. What i needed to do and therefore must be why i endured the week before. When i feel as though all that i was tormenting myself about didn't matter that much. In the grand scheme of things. But when i was able to step back and put it in perspective i found that that misstep last week wasn't so critically important as i thought it was. So what holds us together. Why do we gather here again and again. In spite of and because of our differences and disappointments. Let me tell you a few things of why i think we're here together and why i think we are held together. Friends we're here because we choose to be here. We choose to cast our lot with this group of people. What used to live in community with this group of folks we're here because we believe in the hope that is born only in human community. We're here because we believe that what saves us from anger and from hurt and from violence is more connection not less. We're here because we long to be a part of something that is greater than our individual selves or ego or even this one particular church community. We're here because we want to be a part of a movement. A movement for justice and peace and hope a movement that recognizes that life is holy and beautiful and complicated and heartbreaking. We are here because it matters how we are with one another. And we hope that this is a place where we can teach our hearts. To be as expensive as possible. Call it grace. Call it compassion. Call it god we seek the source that reminds us always. That there is an abiding divine spark. In each. And in all. So i want to close this morning with a story. Of a moment recently when i was reminded of what holds us together. I was reminded in that moment of what holds me to ministry. Even in the weeks when i think i'm no good at it. The story of a memorial service that i was a part of recently. Member of our congregation jennifer cranford now jennifer lynn. Her mother had recently passed away and i was called upon to be with them for her memorial service. I sat with the family for several hours a couple of days before the service and heard story after story of ella june cranford who had died. Recently after a long struggle with cancer. I never met. Ella june cranford. She was not a part of my own life. And yet that didn't seem to matter much. When i was there with the family talkin about all that they had shared with her. And so it seems fitting for me to tell you a little bit about that day on this mother's day. I arrived at the memorial home to be with the family for the service and noticed that they were already in tears. And even though i had never met ella june i sat in front of her coffin and looked at her for quite some time. Hoping that by my presence i was somehow communicating to her how much she had been loved. And how much she would be missed. And what an honor it was for me to be there. How wonderful it was to be entrusted with her last moments with her family. I said some words. Which i can't recall all of at this moment and then i followed the family to the internment. To say goodbye to elgin one last time. While we were there at her graveside. I said a prayer. And toward the end of the prayer i remembered and so i spoke. The poignant words of the poet mary oliver. You see the poet says. Said to live in this world you must only be able to do three things sound so simple three things. To love. What is mortal. So to love something you know you will have to let go of. To hold that something that you love. As if your own life. Depends upon it. And when the time comes. Colette that something or someone go. To let it go. And there we were. On a beautiful warm day. One of the first real days of spring. With life blooming all about us. Remembering that our job was to love. To hold and to let go. Friends in church. Life is no different. We love this community. We need to hold it and sometimes when grudges and disappointment center in we need to let them go. So that we can move forward together and community and hope. Remembering what is most important. Is accompanying one another in those moments in life that are sacred and beautiful and holy. And not whose committee got the most box. Let us not be petty. Let us remember that what is most important is living. And breathing and dying is holding one another in hope and in love. May our hearts expand more greatly each day. So maybe. Kendama.

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06.12.03HearingOurCall.mp3

Hush. Tesla spiritual. Hush. Somebody's calling. My name my name. Do you know that experience do you know that experience. Have you heard. Your name called out. Call out of the silence. Out of the following have you heard the call. Call. Sometimes it begins. Just doesn't whisper a voice calling quietly from inside of us. That's how gandhi talked about his call he said the only tyrant i will ever obey is the still small voice within. Call joyce. Sometimes the call comes from all around us the world and its people cry out to us in need. One of my favorite definitions of calling of vocation is this that calling is where the world's deep hunger. Where the world's deep need meets our deep joy. And sometimes the call comes the good old-fashioned way. In a booming voice of god. That's how it happened to jonah jonah said to god jonah i want you to go to nineveh and jonah look up to the heavens and said you want me to do what. Which reminds us of something else that's true about calling which is that it often comes as a surprise and we often respond kicking and screaming. That's why in the spiritual after we sing hush somebody's calling my name. We respond oh my lord what shall i do. What shall i do. This morning. We've invited some talented people. From our staff. To share with us about how they answered that question. To share with us the story of their calling to ministry. Macomb that isn't limited to ministers into religious professionals that is something that we all share. So we've done this this morning for two reasons first because we want to honor today the gifted and inspired leadership that these people provide to the ministry of our church. But also. Because we want to invite each of us. Each of you. To consider your own. Calling. Hush. Somebody's calling my name. In six years of serving as your music director i spent many hours making music with you and the choir. Brabus reminded me though that this is the first time that i've spoken from the pulpit so the first thing i must say is thank you for your wonderful singing. I feel honored to be your accompanist each sunday as we sing hymns and create goosebumps together. I'm also honored to work with my esteemed colleagues leonard starks director of the jubilee singers and sylvia twine director of the dc children's choir we are blasted all souls. I'm a bit of a rarity and that i'm a fourth-generation unitarian and that is not even counting the one generation between my mom and her grandmother that skipped unitarianism. Of the many traditions i inherited from my family being at unitarian is among the most important and i consider supporting the unitarian church as a primary calling. This is because the unitarian church saved my life. I knew i was gay from a very early age and growing up in a southern city with this knowledge in the 1970s and 80s was extremely difficult. I had no positive gay role models as a matter of fact the two classmates in high school who i knew to be gay both died before their 25th birthdays one from suicide. Members of my own family were highly homophobic and i remember regularly heard phrases like you can be anything you want just as long as you're not a ballet dancer or a hairdresser. Well it turns out that i became an organist is gay. Ears on my own. Eventually though i lost my connection with the church until several years later when i was 15. At that time the pressures of being gay and homophobic community school and family we're reaching a dire level even my therapist was trying to convert me to being straight. Each of us experience is a miracle at some time in our lives and my miracle came on september day in 1986. When i was called by my old church to come play for a unitarian yom kippur service. Interesting lee the people who called me had no idea i grew up in the church but it wasn't long before i had officially signed the membership books as the youngest adult member of the congregation. Although i never came out during my high school years it was the safe and nurturing environment of the unitarian church they gave me hope to get through that dreary time. I knew gay people in the church and seeing that they were valued as other people was just enough to keep my eyes focused on a future that might be different. To visit my hometown now you would see that things have changed significantly. Not to say there isn't a long way to go but i believe that the activism of my home congregation was central to beginning dialogues in the community about many civil rights issues. Including support for gay teens. The historical legacy of segregation in charlottesville and inequality in the public schools. I was particularly moved to learn to over 70% of charlottesville voters voted against the ban on same-sex marriage this past november. My church was the first public voice in that community to support the worth and dignity of all people. Today i am extremely proud to serve this denomination that saves lives in this world the world of the here and now. My call is to celebrate our denominations heritage of being a place of welcome and healing for all people by helping us share diverse challenging and moving music. What is your calling. My life experiences. Have heightened my sensitivity to issues of exclusion trust and belonging. I tend to immediately notice the separation and divisions of the world. Black and white good and evil save an unsaved. Rich and poor. Although i had minimal exposure to my family's pentecostal church. I clearly felt the influence of its theology of exclusion. It was made clear that if pentecostals we were god's chosen people. Babe sanctified and filled with the holy spirit. We were constantly reminded that we lived in the world. But we're not of the world. We were to distrust worldly perspective and to resist its pleasures. And if we manage to do all of this. We might prove ourselves worthy of god's love and acceptance. In the tub to join the ranks of the saved i answered an altar call as a younger woman. These are dramatic moments in the service. Anyone who was not say is invited to the front to give their lives to god. The minister latest hands on my head and prayed hard. Bentley i felt this overwhelming power rush through my body and i began sobbing. It was an intense moment of relief i felt cleansed my troubles and fears. This was definitely the real thing i thought. I've been say that last. Or had i really been sade. Something about this after salvation distance me from other people and some parts of myself. I was not free to question my experience and its meaning. Sade from what. And for what purpose. What does it mean to be saved if considered a member of the elect. I grew more uncomfortable with the notion of you and myself is set apart. Somehow better than others in the world. I began to suspect that my experience at the altar was really a side of my need for greater meaning holden and connection. Is this discomfort. I sense the beginning of a calling to a ministry of inclusion. Years after becoming a unitarian universalist. I reread the story of the samaritan woman at the well recording the christian scriptures. In her story i found a way to understand my experience at the altar. Is it calling to nurture our common search for wholeness and connection. In what chapter of john. Jesus meet the samaritan woman at the well and asked her for a drink. She said to him. You are a jew and i am a samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink. Now this is a woman i can clearly identify with. A woman who sees clearly the division of the world and names them. To remind jesus of east division and she seems to say you and i are different. Our people have a long history of struggle and strife. Surely you are not speaking to me it samaritan woman. And yes it's a story progressive. The woman remains open to hearing the good news of the living water. In jesus she meet the person was able to tell her all she has done. The good the bad and the ugly. And still he offered her gifts. The gift of accepting the gift of community. The gift of life. The woman leaves her encounter with jesus re-energized refreshed and reconnected. Their story. Dark community. She's reminded of her worth. In reading her story i find parallels in my experience at the altar. We each have an encounter with the holy which proved cleansing. Get the differences the samaritan woman find freedom and connection in her encounter. But for me i felt less free and more disconnected. From my hope that would divide the is not final. Is the difference which field my calling as a unitarian universalist. To create encounters where people are free to express their paying fully. The name the injuries of the world which require our just respond. And to offer the gifts of acceptance and community. So that together we may proclaim the beauty and wholeness of life. My work here at the director of membership and lay ministry. Allowed me to live by calling. Is together we invite people into this warm and welcoming congregation. Affirming and celebrating our journey and our unique gift. And becoming a truly beloved community. That's my calling. What's your calling. My parents while posted by the army corps of engineers to ankara. Go to my brother and me more about the ideas of karl marx been of jesus or muhammad. So you might guess we didn't go to church. Jumping at although the call of the islamic ms in from ankara's minaret infuse my childhood with his five daily reminders that god was calling after all. Later living in a small town in the hudson river valley i grew up in a loving home with modern-day anxieties and the stresses of the privileged. I was a good student i made friends easily. Despite this my feeling of an outsider with constant. The reasons our pew but one clearly was that my family still did not go to church. So i did by myself. I was immediately drawn to the religion of my grandparents with its kneeling and incantations and rosary beads and mystery. The mystery. Instead of playing house or teacher or ballet dancer i played priest actually i played a non-performing priestly function into the body of christ. Sitting there i heard the voice for the first time. But i had understood it as an embrace not a call. That embrace however felt like a shove when later i asked why women never performed communion. The push was hard enough to keep me away from church not returning until the eve of my marriage. When i returned to church it was to unitarian one immediately volunteering to teach in the religious education program. The first sunday's class was kindly put disappointing and it didn't improve much as the weeks passed nothing seemed to help it didn't feel meaningful. Horses filling. It was so trying and difficult. Surprisingly especially to me i signed up to teach the next year. I don't remember the experience changing much except in one important way. One sunday i told a lesson story classroom of restless and bored primary-aged children. And their bodies still. Addison we held the silence together. I asked a question. There was just a bit more silence. And then one of them spoke. What was said was not important. The silence was. In the silence of that particular sunday morning i heard a voice as if for the very first time so it's tender seemed familiar. Will you do what you are meant to do. Will you be. But you are meant to be. Will you say yes. By the way that mornings classroom return to its usual mayhem and the silence wasn't repeated 4 weeks maybe months later. Overtime though the silence returns more often. So much so that years later i said yes when asked to serve is that churches religious educator. I have been waiting a long time. My life is not unusual. I'm pretty much like everyone else. And it is always been so. I heard the small voice is a child or even the call of god and it was not unite unique either. John heard something too. So did joyce. All of us as children. My calling is to create the space for your child. For any child. To hear that boy. Be at the single voice of god or the multiple voices of beings blended into a cacophony of humanness. What's your calling. There's one thing i can say about call it's that my sense of radical surprise never ends maybe it's god sense of humor with me i am always startled when opportunity arises exactly where i wasn't looking. Disruption in disbelief are in my call journey. Inevitably followed by a deep sense of internal alignment that i am in the right place at the right time. My first call to ministry with the biggest surprise of all i was a professional modern dancer working in chicago questioning my life as i approach 30 and 1 sunday i visited a church that i kept seeing on my commute to the l train. I found the congregation focused on urban ministry something i had never seen before. After just a few months of worship i began to feel urgently drawn to explore seminary. This is not a comfortable feeling this was ohmygod not what shall i do it was really a return to my family roots though i was raised as an active child of the church and came from several generations of presbyterian elders and ministers. But i have been out of church since high school and no one and i mean no one was predicting my return the next year i landed at harvard divinity school feeling amazing excited i ended up loving the theological question 8 up the learning was intrigued by the students and the faculty my life has been disrupted dramatically and yet i felt at home in a place i had never intended to be. My first called in ministry at a graduation came after i did fieldwork in prison ministry campus chaplaincy and social work i didn't even prepare for paris ministry because i was absolutely positive i was never ever going to do that. I experienced a deep sense of being aligned. Invocation and place. Surprised once more. What i moved to new york city i pursued congregational ministry i sent my profile out to 16 ucc congregations but this time when i was actually looking i got not one call not one interview. Once again i was surprised that the road of my journey had shifted and yet i was clear that this vocation emerged directly out of my passion for social justice ministry. In my life and perhaps in yours call is like that moving dancing transforming. Just when you think you have it pinned it made shipshape again. The next decade was an ongoing duet between two strong calls to be a minister and a church which i was once again at judson memorial in manhattan and to be a community organizer working with member congregations in organizations in manhattan and brooklyn. Almost three years ago i learned from washington interfaith network organizers that all souls was in a social justice job search. I didn't know the church. The description was not what i thought i would do next. I probably was not the candidate expected. So in my life that means i get the job first visit here and worship i got that familiar feeling. The heightened sense of awareness the energetic knowledge that the call was emerging. My twin passions would intertwine in the same place. A unitarian congregation that surprise me that's why my ministry and my call is to work with you to build this congregation to be a place where justice is at the heart of why we want to be a community of faith. What's your calling. Friends. The ministry that rob and i offer to all souls as the two ministers called by the members of the congregation to serve you is obvious. Less obvious but no less vital is the ministry offered by the program program director seated behind me. And after hearing their words this morning i hope that it is abundantly clear to all of you how much the work they do is deeply felt ministry and how blessed we are to have them and as someone who works with them everyday i will tell you that we are blessed not only by what they do here at the church but by who they are by their very presence and they are beings. We are very fortunate to have them on staff and some of you knew this already you didn't need the service to remind you some of you have worked closely with them and others of you have probably guessed that maybe this was true that they were doing good work. But many of you had no idea until this morning what gifts these four people are. And so i hope and trust that this reintroduction has been evidence of just what a blessing and gift they are to us. And so in honor of their work and their dedication and the ministry that they offered to us we are changing their titles this morning so i invite them to come and stand around the pulpit here with me. John strang will henceforth be known as the director of music ministries. Gabrielle farrell will henceforth be known as the director of religious education ministries. Joyce palmer who is soon to be ordained and soon-to-be called reverend joyce palmer is our minister of membership and lay ministries. And reverend louise green is our minister of social justice. Finally i invite you into a prayer of blessing with me a prayer which i see as a prayer of consecration consecration means to solemnly dedicate to to make sacred to hallow to render holy. So will you please help me pray that's our relationship with these for might indeed be holy. Spirit of life and god of love. We give thanks for john and for joyce for gabrielle and for louise. For the gifts that they bring to this community. We pray that we might be aware of the blessing that they each have to bring. That we might work with them as closely as possible to build this beloved community. To make all of our work all of our living holy. Each and every day. We give thanks for them and we pray that we might be alongside them in this ministry. For many years to come. So maybe. And i'm at.

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07.06.10FathersAndSons.mp3

Believe it or not. We have arrived at our final sabbatical guest. I have a feeling that when rob returns i'm going to want to introduce him just because i'm so used to it out. But our final guest this morning is the author neal chethik. Meal is a co-founder of the unitarian universalist men's network. And is the author of two books. The first which he'll be speaking about extensively this morning is entitled father loss. How sons deal with the loss of their dads. And his second book is entitled voicemail male voicemail. What husbands really think of their marriages. But like i told you what they really think. Neil lives in lexington kentucky with his wife who happens to be a colleague of mine the reverend kelly flood. He himself is not a reverend even though our out we've we've ordained him in our order of service this morning. And they live there with their thirteen-year-old son evan. Neil will be signing his books at our book nook after the service so if you want to pick up one of those for father's day for someone in your lives or just for yourself. They will be available. Please join me in welcoming neil chesak. Thank you shawna. And good morning. Truly an honor to be here in this. Pulpit. There's so many people of principle and. Passion have stood before. Want to thank not only shawna but rob from the other side. Who welcome to me several months ago when i contacted him and invited me to be here today. I do miss him. One short reading. And it's a quote from a 48 year-old man. But recently lost his father i had a chance to interview this man. And he said these words about the death of his father. When my father died. It was as if i had lived in a house. My whole life. A house with a picture window looking out. On a mountain range. Then one day. After he died. I looked out that window. And one of those mountains. Was god. I think of my grandpa willie. As a yiddish-speaking santa claus. He wasn't roundish man. White hair didn't have a beard but he had these rosy red cheeks and a big. Belly laugh. He come from russia. In 1920. Through ellis island. To brooklyn new york. He was 16 years old at the time. And like so many others with him he ended up settling in new york and spending 50 years running small businesses and. Doing. Aaron's other types of work. And then finally retiring. To miami beach. That was in the 1970s. Prior that one of my favorite times the kid. Was going to the airport to pick up my grandfather. In those days you can meet him in the in gate area. I need fly in to visit us in michigan and i could always tell it was him getting off the plane. Cuz he was the guy carrying big shopping bags full of food. I'll talk to you in a whole roasted chicken salamis this long poking out. Fresh rye bread and bagels. Something about new york city food that. He couldn't leave behind and that he knew he couldn't get in michigan. Live two brothers and. One is older one is younger in my grandfather when he came out off of the plane used to line us up. And that he would come up to us a put those shopping bags down and he'd say. Let me see your muscles. And the three of us would spring into action like this and he'd go down and squeeze those little things and little pebbles any food and about how big and strong. In the process of this hello he would shake each of our hands and slip a five or a $10 bill. You know how to get to the heart of a young kid. Now i remember grandpa made a special trip to michigan. Two weeks before i turned 13. And i know when it was because on that visit. He bestowed on me what i now. Worley call. My shotgun bar mitzvah. My parents were not. Religious jews by grandpa was orthodox. Couldn't. Have lived with himself if i had gone through my 13th birthday without a bar mitzvah so. Two weeks before he showed up. With his bags in hand. And he started drilling me on the hebrew letters and the hebrew words in the hebrew prayer that i don't know hebrew in 2 weeks. Grandpa was scaling back his expectations but then on the morning of my 13th birthday he quite literally grab me by the hand. And he walked me to the local synagogue. Where he had grease the palms of the minion the the elders made sure they were there and he coached me. Through this ceremony. I felt awkward the silly at the time and when i look back on it it still seems a bit. Bizarre but i've always appreciated what grandpa willie did that he took. My salvation you might say so seriously. When years went by and grandpa i grew up and grandpa grow old. And then in 1984 when i was 27. I had the chance to move to miami beach just a few blocks away from where he was living at the time now. He was eighty years old now. His wife my grandmother had passed away. The grandpa was still feisty and he took great advantage of the undersupply of men. In miami beach he was married and divorced twice in the last seven years of his life. When i first arrived there i had trouble. Fitting into his social schedule. But he and i were both unemployed at the time so. We often spend our days together and then he would invite me over to his house in the evening and he. Cook one of those just succulent meals of. Brisket or chicken and weed while away the evening with schnapps and stories about his childhood in the old couch in the old country. And these were some of the really truly close closest times that i had with. Grandpa. And then one day shortly after one of those calls after i'm sorry after one of those dinners. I got a call. From the man who identified himself as my. Grandfather's doctor. And i remember the exact words he said. You said i'm sorry to tell you this. But your grandfather has had a heart attack. And he has. Aspire. The next day my father my grandfather son. Flew to south florida. From his home up in michigan. I remember picking him up at the airport. Quiet in the car on the way over to the hospital. We went there to identify my grandfather's body and then make arrangements to ship it up north. To be buried with my grandmother. And then like father and i went into my grandfather's apartment. And we began sorting through the. Material remnants of my grandfather's life. My father and i worked in different rooms and occasionally we call out to each other about some find that will we ran across in a drawer a cupboard. Closet. We kept at it. Until the. Glow of the afternoon sun began to wane and it began to get darker and darker in the apartment but for some reason. Neither of us wanted to turn the lights on we just. Kept sorting and letting it get dark and. Finally we couldn't see what we were doing anymore and so weak. Took some glasses with ice and scotch or my grandfather's liquor cabinet and. Collapsed in my grandfather's living room chairs. And then my father and i shared memories for a while. And then we were quiet. And then finally as the room faded into this near total darkness. I heard this. Got her own. At first i was. Alarmed by it. And then i realized what was happening. It was the first time in my life. That i have ever heard my father cry. I didn't know what. To do exactly. I ended up getting up from my chair and kneeling by his side. He cried i remember even today putting my hand on his shoulder and feeling. A movement of his body in the warmth of his body. And then. After a couple minutes my father. Became quiet. And then he. Spokane you said two things that have stayed with me. Over the last 23 years. First he said. I'm crying not only for my father but for me. His death means i'll never hear the words i always wanted to hear. But he was proud of me. That he was proud of the family i'd raised. Have the life i've lived. Then my father. Paused and directed his voice toward me and he said. Neil. So that you never have to feel this way. I want to tell you now. How proud i am of you. Are the choices you've made. Of the life you've created. I tell that story. With the permission of my father. Cuz i think it goes to the core of what fathers can give. And what they can with hole. From their children. Over the past 20 years as a writer and researcher i've had the opportunity to interview hundreds. Of man and women. About their fathers. And in honor of. Father's day next sunday i like today to share. 3. Elements of. Good father. That emerged out of those conversations perhaps. You will see your father. Nmds. Words. And images. And perhaps. You'll see yourself. The first element of good fathering. To be summed up in one single word. Affection. Both daughters and sons told me that their fathers were at their best. When they were being physically affectionate. In some way. Wrestling. With their kids. Tossing the kid in the air. Carrying that child piggyback. Bouncing him on his knee those were the memories. A closeness. I remember one. Thirtysomething man who told me. On saturday mornings when my dad had gone been gone all week i'd climb into my parents bed. My father had horrible breath in the morning. We played a game where he tried to breathe on me and i hid under the covers and for this son this was a happy memory now i wondered after hearing such stories why piggybacking and bad breath. Would be considered. Fondly. By sons & daughters. I learned that four sons it was crucial. Two boys to experience in their bodies. In their bones. How a man moves and feels. And smells. It was his chance to tune his body. To a man's body. Just as importantly when the father's touch was playful and loving the sun felt protected. He learned that. Men are strong but that a man's strength. Can be harnessed. And used. In a safeway. Man strength can be harnessed. And used in a safeway. And that was a lesson. For a lifetime. Likewise for women. Butt touch. What's so important. From a father's touch daughter's learned what was appropriate and acceptable. Touching from a man. The father's touch was loving. The daughter felt safe. The touch was harming. The daughter learn that men are not to be trusted. Or worse. That she wasn't someway deserving. Aparm. I'm not every father is capable of. Safe physical affection. And in those cases other kinds of affection were also highly valued by sons and daughters. Primarily this kind of affection involved a father's loving attention. Loving attention. Toward the child. Father might play catch. Or dolls with a child he might coach a child sports team or guide the child. Through a religious ritual he might take his child camping. Thornton movies or concerts. The key here i learned. Was not merely doing something with the child. But doing with the child. What the child. Was passionate about. Fathering isn't. A man's opportunity to live out his frustrated dreams. Affections about affirming in the child what she or he is most passionate about it's about saying yes. So the essence of this particular child. So affection. What's the first element of good. Bothering. The next element i found is what i called blessing. We saw that here today. Blessing usually having a little later. In a child's life usually in. His or her tears or early adulthood. My father's words to me. Upon the death of my grandfather. I'm proud of you. That is a classic straightforward blessing. The fact that he's suffered because he never got that blessing. Made it even more. Powerful and poignant. The blessings don't have to be quite as direct as my father's was to me a woman i spoke with said she felt blessed by her dad. When he welcomed her choice of a lesbian partner. In her life. And. Also welcomed their child. When she was born. A-sun. Said he felt blessed when his father after being diagnosed with a serious illness. Ask for help. And advise. I'm medical options. And finances. Blessings in a way or like a hand out. Forehand up. When the father says. You are equal to me. I'll always be your father. But we are both adults. As we mature we do no more and more and a father who sees that and affirms that. Is fulfilling. His role as a restorer. A blessing. And it's never too late. The bless our son a son or daughter. One man i interviewed at had a terrible childhood. Relationship with his father. The boy had dropped out of school when he was 17 you gotten into drugs. Angered his father and then when he was 18 he moved away 2,000 miles away and he cut off contact with his father for 20 years. And then in his late 30s he invited his father to come visit him. And in those twenty years have been apart the sun to become a carpenter. Actually a craftsman. A book shelves and cabinets and sweeping staircases. The father visited after all those years the sun. Checking on a tour of one of the houses that he had been involved in building in the son told me that he remembered only forwards that his father said as he walked around that home. Sun. I've underestimated you. And that was enough. The sun forgave. And in the years. Followed. Father sent his son tools with tools as gifts. And he called on him for advice. On how to build things. Around his own home. Sons and daughters who are not blessed by their fathers often carry a hunger. That cannot be satisfied. When my grandpa willie died. My father was 54 years old. He was a successful teacher. And psychotherapist. Get a 30-year marriage. At 4. Reasonably good kid. And yet he still awake. For the simplest of phrases. From his father. Son i'm proud of you. Distillates. For a blessing. The first two elements of good fathering affection begins with an a blessing begins with a b. Course the third one would. Begin with a c. And that element is something that i learned actually for my own son. Evan. When i was finishing the writing of. Father loss. Few years ago i got up the courage to ask evan. Who was five years old at the time. The question i've been asking so many adult sons. Evan. What makes a good father. Don't-try-this-at-home no actually. He was brilliant. Percy said some things that i expected he said. A good father plays with you. He takes care of you. He reads your books. But then he added one trait that i hadn't thought of after. Months. Ivory search. He said that a good dad. Waves to you. Waves to you. Before he goes away. The waves to you before he goes away. I knew what he was talking about. Every morning at that time we lived in a house where. The driveway ran right past the. Breakfast nook. And so as you. Drove backwards as i drove backwards out of the driveway i would stop and look up. And i would roll down the window when it happened was there i would wave to him. For me this was a satisfying little ritual. But for evan it was evidently. More than that. If i forgot to stop and wave which occasionally happen. get into the car i'd be onto the days. Avance and i whizzed by that off a by that. Window when i got to my office. There was a message waiting for me on the answering machine. Dad. You forgot. Goodbye. In a way evan spoke for all sons. Of all ages. When he cited the importance. Of the wave goodbye. Honey it's when he cited the importance of the third element. A good fathering. Closure. Whether we're driving away from a five-year-old to go to work. Or dropping our. College-age child at her new dorm. We're getting on a plane. After visiting our 40-something son. Our children know that one day we won't be there anymore. At least not in the flesh. It's our job is fathers. And also as mothers. Sisters and brothers of all kinds. To say what must be. Said. To do what must be done. Innocence. The wave. Before we go away. We might think that the closer a son or daughter feels for the father the more difficult. It is. When the father dies. And that's true in the short-term. But the reality is that those who struggle the most. And for the longest time. With the death of a father. Are those who are still angry. For destin. Or resentful. Or unresolved. Those who struggle most. Are those who did not get. The wave. Goodbye. So if you are a father. Or if you. Have father energy within you. I invite you and this father's day week to look around your world for those. Who need your affection. For those who need a blessing. From you. For those who need to resolve. With you. To forgive you. The clothes. The chapter. And then. In the spirit. Of holy. Fathering. Spirit of holy fathering. Do your best. To give them what they need. Amen.

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06.04.09RidingMonstersDown.mp3

The first reading this morning comes from the new testament of the bible. It's one of those healing stories of jesus. I think of these as mythic stories about transformation about change and the possibility for difference. This one. Is the healing of. The madman. They arrived on the other side of the sea. In the country of the gerasenes. As jesus got out of the boat. A madman from the cemetery came up to him. He lived there among the tombs and grave. No one could restrain him. He couldn't be changed couldn't be tied down. He had been tied up many times with chains and ropes but he broke the chains snap the rope. No one was strong enough. To tame him. Night and day. He roamed through the graves and the hills screaming out. And slashing himself with sharp stones. When he said jesus a long way off he ran and bowed and worship before him. Then ballard and protest. What business do you have jesus son of the high god messing with me. I swear to god. Don't give me a hard time. Jesus. Had just commanded the tormenting evil spirit saying out. Get out. Of the man. Jesus asked him. Tell me your name. And the demons replied. My name is mob. I'm a rioting mob. Then they desperately begged jesus not to banish them from the country. So a large herd of pigs was browsing and routing on a nearby hill. And the demons begged us. Send us to the pigs so that we could live in them. Jesus gave the order. But it was even worse for the pigs. Then for the man. Craze they stampeded over a cliff into the sea and they drowned. Those tending the pigs. Scared to death. Bolted. And told their story in the town in the country. Everyone wanted to see what it happened. They came up to jesus. And they saw. That the madman. Was sitting there. Wearing decent clothes. And making sense. No longer. A walking madhouse of a man. A second reading this morning is from. The writer annie dillard. From her book teaching a stone. Tupac. In the depths of our being. Are the violence and terror of which psychology has warned us. But if you ride these monsters deeper down. If you drop with them farther. Over the world's rim you find what our sciences cannot locate. Or name. The substrate. The ocean. The aether witch. Buoys the rest. Which gives goodness its power for good. And evil is power for evil. The unified field. Our complex and inexplicable. Carrying. For one another. And for our life together here. This is given. This is not learn. Riding the monsters down. I'm currently teaching a class at the church on prayer. And meditation. Of course i've taught for many years now. And each week in the class i asked people to share a little bit about how their meditation is going you know to to share their adventures in prayer i like to call them. Sometimes folks will tell about an epiphany they've experienced. Other times i'll share a problem they're having with the prayer. Are over the years of teaching this class i've watched one problem come up over and over again. The folks report that whenever their prayer or meditation or journaling takes them to a place of pain. Or beer or of shame. Whenever it forces them to confront some painful aspect of themselves or explore a dark crevice. In their soul. They stopped. They shutdown. You know suddenly the dog needs to be sad or or the recycling needs to be taken out any excuse to stop the prayer. When their spiritual practice takes them to the scary places people tend to become prayer avoidant. It reminds me of a story. From the tibetan buddhist tradition. Story goes something like this once upon a time. There was a meditation students. Who is in his room. Meditating and he had entered down into that deep place of. Cramps like place almost between between waking and sleeping. When suddenly the student saw a spider. Dangle down before him on a silken thread. It was an ugly spider all harry and and in many legged. And each day in his meditation the spider would come back bigger and uglier than the day before. Find me the student was so frightened key. He went to his teacher to report his dilemma. Ticketmaster. Four days now with spider is distracting me from my meditation. So i've decided that from now on i'm going to. I'm a meditate with a knife in my lap. So the next time the spider comes i can kill it. The teacher was a little taken aback by his students violent streaking. He tried to. Discourage the knife idea he said. Look i don't think the nice thing in the buddhism thing really go together. I've got a better idea why don't you. Bring a piece of chalk with you to meditation and when the spider appears. Just mark. K'nex. His belly and then report back to me. Will students did just that the next day during meditation he sat down with a piece of chalk and sure enough when he had entered into that place between waking and sleeping the the spider descended down again on the fred and. Dangled in front of his face but resisting the urge to attack. Student. Mark. Annex on his belly. When he was done meditating. Student rush from his room to report back to his teacher on what happened master. I did as you said i marked an x. On the belly. Of the monster. Excellent my son. Set the teacher. Listing of the students shirt. And revealing. The x. Oops. We have met the monster. And it is us. How often has this. Happened to us. How often have we battled monsters out in the world. Only to realize later that we were wrestling. With our own. How often in our dreams or prayers were live so we confronted the hairy eight-legged creature only to discover that it is in fact our own. Plushie. Underbelly. Our own most vulnerable. Place. Our own. Weak spot. Brokenness. If i were to ask each of us now. We could probably. Call out. Are monster. Couldn't we. Addiction. Anger. Depression. Infidelity. Violin. We could call them out. But we wouldn't dare or would we. I mean it's hard enough to admit those. Monsters to ourselves much less to bring them here. Into church. This is after all where we're supposed to be talking about the best selves that we can be right it's where we're supposed to talk about the spark of the divine and and doing good deeds there's no place for my monsters at church. When i put on my sunday best i leave my monsters at the coat check. There's a disconnect i fear between. Between our shadow side and our spiritual lives. I think we feel this disconnect and that's partly why when people go there and their prayer life they shut down with their prayers. I think it also explains the students in our story. You-know-who. Who takes his monster in and does a little 12 number with that i call project and destroy. We we we take that monster within us and we projected onto someone or something else outside of us and then we do all we can to destroy it because it makes us so scared and gives us so much disiz. Project and destroy time doesn't permit me to list the many sins of the world. That have their roots in. Project. And destroy. With friends today my message. Is this. We got to create some room for monsters. In our spiritual lives. Okay. We got to get past our avoidance and we got to take back our projections and really wrestle with. Our monsters. With our demons. We have this mistaken assumption. But somehow spirituality is about pretending. That were perfect. That we've got it all together. But we know just how preposterous that is. Right. My colleague forest church. It all souls church in manhattan likes to say. I'm glad the church is called all souls. Not all saints. Otherwise none of us would be here today right. Church needs to be a place where we welcome. To the table not only all souls. But all of. Our souls. Monsters and all. To recall a favorite title. Church needs to be a place. Where the wild things are. Because our souls are where the wild. Things are. Spirituality isn't about pretending to be perfect. It's about struggling to be whole. So how do we engage with these monster. In our spiritual life. Let's look for a moment at this teacher. In the buddhist story i i love the teacher in this story. Would that we all have a teacher so compassionate. And wise. I mean here comes this student. Raving on about a spider that's bothering him during his meditation. And you know the teacher seen this before he knows exactly where this this story is going to end up. But gently and compassionately. He redirects his students complains. First tee says. Don't destroy anything. Put away your knife. Try the piece of chalk instead. If the monster is part of us. We probably don't want to be going in with a knife. We probably don't want to be destroying much. So take this chalky says and instead of destroying. Use it to mark an x on the spot. Use it to identify. The monster. To name it. So that you can that you can confront it. And engaged with it. This is this is the way that the. That the buddhist teacher tries to reframe. And recast our engagements. With the monsters. The buddhist teacher. Brings us. A little ways along this path of how to engage with our monsters. But i actually want to take us back now to the story that louise redford. Because while i like the buddhist teachers. Emphasis on being gentle. And and identifying. There's something about. The raw. The raw aspect of that biblical story that really draws me in. I mean here if you can imagine the story is a is a man who is possessed by demons. Okay and jesus confronts the demons inside of them and they said please don't send this out of it this man we were happy right here in jesus's know you're going to go into those pigs right over there grazing on the hillside. And he sends the demons into the pigs. And i used to love the story is a kid i mean it's a very graphic and the pigs just go running off the side of the hill and they drown in the ocean. Okay. I want to argue with this text a little bit because. Because i'm someone who believes that that no one can exercise our demons. For us. I think we need to do it ourselves at most a teacher or a healer can help us and accompany us. But to exorcise the demons. Ourselves. I think what we need to do is run after the pigs. Then are headed for the cliff. And we need to grab onto one of their cloven hooves until we are taking over the edge of the cliff ourselves and plunged into the depths that are monsters will take us to this is what i mean when i say say riding the monsters all the way down. Annie dillard says we need to ride these monsters down. Drop wisdom over the world's rim. Only then. Will we be able to learn the lesson that they have to teach us. No. You might protest rob if we if we ride the monsters all the way down. When we just find ourselves drowning in the ocean. With the pigs. No. I think that what happens when we ride the monsters down. As far as they'll take us. Is that we start to get. The bottom. That we start to really understand our monsters where they come from. And why. Let me give you. A for instance. Princess if i'm an alcoholic. Say. Riding the monsters. All the way down. Memes. Finally confronting. The question. Why is it. That i need to. What is the pain. That i'm trying to salve. What is the whole. I'm trying to fill. These are the kinds of questions that we start asking. When we ride our monsters. All the way down. We we don't get to answer answer these questions. If we're if we're projecting on monsters. Someone else. We don't answer these questions if we avoid the monster. We only get to them. When we struggle with. And when we wrestle with them. One question leads to another event. If we're asking will what is this hole that i feel the next question then becomes. If not my alcohol. What else can. What else can fill this hole. But i feel. Inside of me. We ride the monsters down. Because they have as much. For more to teach us. About ourselves. And what's important to us. That are angels. Twosome. This place of brutal honesty. Must seem like an utterly lonely. And frightening. Place. And it can be. My experience though. And the testimony of others. Suggest that when we ride. The months. Down. Far enough. When it takes us to this place of honest reckoning with our pain. And our desire. Then we actually begin to touch something. Closer. We discover that not only are we broken. But that were all broke. We discovered that not only do we long for wholeness. But that we all. For wholeness. And we discovered that the condition of being broken and seeking homeless is fundamental to who we are as human being is something that we share. And this. Realization can draw us into empathy. And solidarity. With our brothers. Sisters. Once we rode the monsters. All the way down. Furthermore we need some help picking ourselves back up again. You're the plummet. Has allowed us to let go of our pride. Has allowed us to let go of our ego we we've let that all go when we grabbed onto the cloven hoof for the pig and and followed him off the edge right no more pride left. And sew in. The humility that is proper. To a person of the human race. We reach out to others. For help. Climbing back out. Of the abbess. I also want to say that there. At the bottom. In our humility in our reaching out. We often. Reach out. To god. As well. And some of us fine. That that hole. That needs to be filled as what the philosopher called a god-shaped. That is uniquely filled. By god. Listen to dillard's words once more. In the depths of our being. By the violence. Terror. Of which psychology has warned.. But if you ride these monsters deeper down. If you drop with them farther over the world's rim. You find with a sciences cannot locate or name. The substrate. The ocean. Which buoys the wrath. Which gives goodness his power for good and evil its power for evil the unified field. Our complex. And inexplicable. Caring for one another. And for our life. Together. Some may say. That it is inconsistent. To begin a worship service. With a child that okay. It celebrates spark. Divinity. In human being. And then spend the rest of the service. Talking about. The monsters. That are within us. On the contrary. I believe that it is only our state. Are unitarian faith. That the monsters don't have to have the last word. It is only that faith. That gives us the courage. To take the plunge. Over the earth's edge. It is only if we truly have faith that there is within us a redeemable spark if we truly have faith that we are held. In the embrace of the great family of all souls. Then we do have the courage. To confront. The monster. The courage to know. And the confidence. To know that they will not have. The last word. And so friends i encourage you. To take courage. To take heart. To put away your knives. To draw back your projection. Enter wrestle with your monsters. To welcome your monsters into your spiritual life. To invite your monsters with you into church to to scoot over a little bit and. Only this way. Will we as broken people. Find our way to home.

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07.07.15SoulfulLeadership.mp3

This passage this morning that i'd like to read is from christian scripture. It's a passage from the epistle to the ephesians. Which depending on which scholar you talk to. Ayaz debatably written by saint paul. And as are many of saint paul's writings. Is a plea written to a congregation appley written to a church. Play written specifically in this instance for greater unity within the church the church at ephesus. And in hopes he was writing in hopes of inspiring later greater clarity about why the church at ephesus existed in the first place. To remind them that their mission was rooted in their christianity. But also to remind them of their connection to one another. And so i have made. I guess what our unitarian universalist adaptations to the text. From the new revised standard version. Translation of the bible this is chapter 4 verses 1 through 7. And 11 through 13 of the epistle to the ephesians. I therefore beg you. To lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called. With all humility and gentleness. With patience. Bearing with one another in love. Making every effort. To maintain the unity of the spirit. In the bond of peace. There is one body. And one spirit. One god of all. Who is above all. And through all. And in all. But each of us. Was given grace. The gifts god gave where that some would be apostles. Some prophets. Some evangelist. Some pastors and teachers. To equip the saints for the work of ministry. For building up the church. Until all of us. Come to the unity of the faith. And of the knowledge. Of jesus in this instance and of the knowledge of jesus. Here ends the reading. In this morning's sermon. Soulful leadership. I hope to address some of the issues that we have been discussing and debating as a congregation this year. Since i only have one sermon left in this program year you could see it as sort of my end-of-year lesson. We've been trying somewhat since september to talk about. Crafting some language and some understanding of the role that we all play. In all souls church. What we each contribute as minister and laypeople. To this joint adventure. Of creating spiritual community. Many of the ideas and terms have been put on the table. Things like calling and vocation. What's the program staff spoke about in december. Things like shared ministry. Which we talked about at the past couple of council meetings that we've had. And conversations that we've had throughout the four years that i have been with you. About the significance and meaning of membership. Which we talked about it each and every new member introduction and orientation and ingathering. We talked about what it means to be a part of a church community. What it means to decide to officially join the church. And all of these things have been discussed. But from my conversations with many of you. And with people on both the nominating and denominational affairs committees. It would seem that there's still a great deal of confusion that remains. Or at least if not confusion. A great deal of misunderstanding as to what any of this has to do with the connection that each of us has. To this greater whole of all souls church. And i think that it's really important that we get clear on these issues. I think it's really important because it seems to me that at the heart of the identity of our church. Is how each of us fits into this larger puzzle. What we each bring. To this church community. Think about it for a moment. When someone asks you about all souls. Perhaps when some of the visitors here came to some of you who are members here and said. Tell me about your church community. You might begin by talking about unitarian universalist theology. Or unitarian universalist history. But in the end you probably end up telling a personal story. You tell the story of a friend that you've made here at the church. Perhaps you tell the story of a worship service here that moved you and touched you. Or perhaps you tell the story of what it felt like to participate in a church activity. Whether a concert or of the church retreat or. Something like going to akuma players event. When you didn't know what to make of your own life or your world how you came to the church and found something. That made sense. Something that helped you figure out something about your own life. When it comes down to it. All souls is a collective story. It's a collection of individual and personal accounts. Of how a church community lifts us up. And yes occasionally lets us down. So i'm going to try to be as organized and is clear as i possibly can be i know some of you accuse me of being a little bit jazz improvisational in my sermon delivery. I'm going to try to be a little orderly this morning. And approach all three of these topics. That we've had conversation about that i hope to add some clarity to. So first i'm going to talk some about call and vocation. Second i'm going to talk about this idea of shared ministry. Which are reading from the ephesians talks about as equipping the saints. I love that phrase. And thirdly i'm going to talk some about membership. About doing and being that stems from being a part of all souls. The first call invocation. Back in december i think it was the first sunday in december those of you who are here. Heard all of the members of the program staff of our church. Speak candidly. And i thought rather eloquently and from the heart. About why and how they have come to do what they do with their lives. How they have come to be the director of music. The director of our religious education program for children. The director of membership. And our minister of social justice. And during that service when they talked about their own story. They invited and asked you to consider. Or perhaps consider again. What it is. Or whom it is. That calls to you. You may remember that between each of their vignettes we heard. Some of hush. The processional him that we sang so regularly. About somebody. Calling our name. We were asked at that service to consider what it is that each of us devotes our life lives to. You were asked whether your values and your career are in alignment. You were asked to consider whether you have made of your life. Something that feels consonant with who you know yourself to be. I told a story a long time ago about how art history reminds me of that importance. I told you the story of lorenzo ghiberti. The man who toiled for 40 years of his life. Building these copper doors on the baptistery in florence. And i asked you to consider what would you give 40 years of your life 2. What do you believe in. That much. Friends we don't often allow ourselves to think this way. To think of our lives as being called to something greater. As being called by someone or something greater. And yet many of us have found. Ascent of drudgery or regret or disconnect. When we find that there is a profound and deep disharmony. Between our sense of our felt. Purpose and meaning. And are actual lived reality. So i ask you again this morning. What do you feel called to do with your life. And how is that calling. Connected to what first brought you through the doors of all souls church. Shared ministry. In conversations we've had recently about shared ministry. Several of you have looked right back at me. And have rejected the term ministry. You tell me. You infact ashore me rather emphatically. But you don't have one. You contend that a ministry is for ordained clergy alone. Isn't that something that rob and i are supposed to be doing. And not something that you members of the congregation are responsible for. And my answer to you is an emphatic no. But that is only true if you define ministry in the narrowest of all possible ways. In fact we have a committee on ministry here at the church. Which is charged not just with looking at the ministry that rob or myself or anyone else on the staff of the congregation has. But with how the ministry of the whole. The ministry of all of us is doing. The health and vitality. Of the ministry of all souls church. Ministry is to use a broad definition i discovered the other day. The use of a person's gifts and talents. Time and energy. In works of service. And quote. So if you take ministry that way. Then each of you have gifts and talents. Time i'll be at. Not as much of it as you would probably like. And energy albeit probably not as much of it as you would like. To put toward works of service. Both in this congregation and beyond its walls. We each have ministry to offer. Because we all have uniqueness to bring. In service to the vision of all souls. In service of the vision of unitarian universalism. And i'm service of what it means to live with the deep and abiding conviction. That the affirmation we share. Of the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Actually means something. Actually means every person. Actually means that our lives need to reflect that value. The ministry of all souls my friends is shared. Because it is our ministry. It doesn't belong to anyone of us. Surely we have been reminded of that over these past several months. This ministry of all souls church is not mine it is not rob's it's not anyone on staff to hold or to hoard it is the ministry of all of us together. It is what we create. When we greet one another on sunday morning. When we sing spirit of life together. When we lift one another up. In prayers of concern and of joy. And surely we have been reminded that the ministry. Of all souls church is at its healthiest. And it's most vibrant. When we are all contributing something. To its color. And its texture. And its hospitality. In this congregation friends as in life more broadly. We each. Reap what we sow. The more you put your being. Into conversation with the theology and the other members and the programs and the staff of all souls church. The richer the potential dividends for your own personal spiritual life. And for our whole communal life. The scripture said that the churches should be about equipping the saints. Equipping the saints for ministry in the church and beyond. So i say to you this morning that what you do. And become. Here at the congregation and in your lives. Should shape. And equip you. For your ministry always. From your ministry at work and at home. For your ministry in this city that we all love. And worry about sometimes. And so i ask you at the end of the shared ministries section. How do the words and the liturgy and the music that you hear at all souls. That reach you in some kind of way. Remind you of your calling. Remind you of your vocation. And call you to ministry. And invite. And find ways to help you live that ministry. Perhaps the words you hear here. Slow down. Look within. We are one. Notice beauty. Work for justice. Have touched you and led you to think about your own. Minister. 3 and life. This leads me to my final point. The final point about the meaning of membership here. This congregation has changed so much in the four years that i have been here. Many of you are new to church. At all none the last two unitarian-universalism none the last to all souls church. And many of you have asked me what does it mean to decide to throw my lot in with this group of people. Defined as we say in our membership litany. Define envious people. A family. Defined and these people my people. And my answer to you about the meaning of membership. Has to do with the impulse to come and be here in the first place. Most speakers. I would hazard to say. Perhaps all of you. Arrived here at some point. Weather today or decades ago. Because you wanted something else. Or something more. You were longing for a dimension to your living that was not as developed as you want wanted at the time. Perhaps you were in grief. Over a recent breakup or other loss of someone you loved. Perhaps you wanted to explore religion and spirituality at this particular point in your life. To find out if there weren't more. Wellsprings of depth. Of compassion and hope that you could unearth. If you went to church more regularly. Perhaps you had just had a child and wanted a community of faith in which to raise him or her. Whatever the reason that brought you here. You came in hopes that your life would be in rich. That membership in a church community could matter to you. You came thinking that being part of a community seeking some hope and grace and meaning that was beyond self and. Ego and the capitalist values thrust upon us everyday. Would and could change the quality of your life. In some. Real. And true way. And you remain here to this day or you have come. Give it a shot. Because you still think that's true. Because you still think that's possible. Perhaps you even know it in your bones that it's possible. You seen it. You've glimpsed it in moments perhaps only out of the corner of your eye. Orrin agora word of encouragement pastelon. Just when you needed it. I've told many of you. That one of the reasons i became a minister and one of the reasons that i encourage membership in a church. Or in a synagogue or mosque or any spiritual community. It's because we need to believe. At those strangers about us always. Are those people who could just possibly become people that we come to care about. People that we even come to love. People that we want to hope for. And hold in our hearts and prayers. That church is that spiritual communities are some of the only places left. Will we bring together people from many different places and spaces in their lives. Where we can build up. The common good. Where we can be reminded. That our lives are not for our family members or our friends alone. But our for our larger world. That that's part of why we come to church if we do at all. And so that's still my prayer. Set here at our church we will discover and uncover and uncover again and again and again our sense of calling. Invocation. What it is that we are meant to do with our lives. That we will then find in uncovering that our ministry. Something to which we can give that life in service. In works of justice and compassion and mercy and hope. And that we will choose in doing that. To align our lives with others. To choose to be a part of a community that is something greater than we could ever come or become on our own. I want to close with a few words about ministry because i still feel like many of you in spite of my words about ministry this morning are still thinking that ministry is not for you. I want to close with some words from the reverend gordon mckeeman. From a meditation that he wrote entitled anyone's ministry. Which i think. Let's all of this up which i have said this morning. He writes. Ministry. Is a quality of relationship. Between and among human beings. That beckons fourth hidden possibilities. Inviting people into deeper. More constant. More reverent relationship with the world and with one another. Carrying forward a long heritage of hope. And liberation. That has dignified and informed the human venture. Over many centuries. Being present with. 2 and 4 others. In their terrors and torments. In their grief. Misery and pain. Knowing that those feelings. Are our feelings. 2. Celebrating the triumph of the human spirit. The miracles of birth and life. The wonders. Of devotion. And sacrifice. It is all of these and much much more. More than all of them. Present. In the wordless. The unspoken. The ineffable. It is speaking and living the highest we know. And living with the knowledge that it is never as deep. Or as wide. Or as high. As we wish. Whenever. There is a meeting. That summons us to our better selves. Whenever. Our lost miss. Is found. Our fragments are united. Or our wounds begin healing. Our spines stiffen. And our muscles grow strong for the task. There. There. Is ministry. Friends. May our ministries grow. Within and beyond these walls. May you be led to love and service in the form that you have the most to offer and give to it. May you express and live out our faith. By whatever name you give it. By offering what you can. To the common good. May you indeed be saints. Equipped. With the ministry of life and love. This day. And everyday. So may it be.

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06.07.16SpiritualResources.mp3

Is a slight a temptation of a meditation written by rev gordon mckeeman who is. A retired uu minister. And it's a piece of his entitled. Simply. Check up. I frequently encounter invitations for regular checkups. Both my doctor and my dentist suggest when my next checkup should be scheduled and are prepared to make appointments and send reminders. I remembered earlier today to look at the furnace filter. Which needs to be cleaned or replaced regularly to assist the heater. In operating at peak efficiency. The auto mechanic remind me to check the coolant in the radiator. So do the autumn leaves. It occurred to me. That my religion might need a regular checkup. If my body can develop problems of which i am not aware buy some pang. Pain or pressure. I suspect my religion cantu. Early tooth decay proceed without palpable warning. The furnace filter becomes clogged silently. So to my religion maybe needing a regular examination. A checkup. What kind of pulse taking would be appropriate. Doctors dentist auto mechanics have records. When was the last service performed. The doctor wants to know if i'm still taking medication. How much and how often. The dentist checks on the regularity and thoroughness of my flossing. I wonder. Why my ministers avoid asking when i was last at worship or whether my daily devotional practice is as regular as ever. And does that mean really daily or only occasionally when i feel the need. My doctor wouldn't be happy if daily medications were taken on an as-needed basis. And how are my religious reactions. Is my conviction about the supreme worth of every human personality being neglected. Am i succumbing to slurs on others and forgetting who are my sisters and brothers. My neighbors. Does my activity. Reflect a desire to win. Politically economically socially in ways that ignore or do violence to my religious convictions. How often. Do i forget that everyone. Is a child of god. It just may be that the idea of a sabbath. One day in seven. Was suggested so that our religious life would be as well monitored. Intended with preventive maintenance. As our teeth. Tonsils and transportation. Once a week. Doesn't seem too often. You never know. When you'll need to have your face. In top.. Condition. We all know. Friends but don't often like to admit. Just how unpredictable. Our lives are. We like to maintain a sense that we control so much of what does and does not happen to us. And yet so many times we are caught off-guard by experiences. Both sublime ones and devastating ones. That throw us into doubt or fear or euphoria. None of which we feel prepared to take in. Our collective communal life at all souls over the last several months as he. Heard me catalog all of the. Deaths and. All of the illnesses. Has served as a reminder of this tenuous. And capricious quality that comes with being alive. Thank my friends. Of all of the deaths and births. All of the scary health diagnosis tragic accidents and ongoing struggles with wellness and with depression that we have heard of just in our own small community. Think of how much more this must be true in the larger world. And yet in order to. Somehow and. Some way. If even if not all of the time find a way to. Cope with all of this. We need to find a center. A still point if you will of balance. We need spiritual lives and an abiding sense of faith that will help us through. No matter what comes our way. We need to as reverend mckeeman suggest. Regularly get check-ups. And perhaps check-ins sometimes it's more appropriate way. I think of it. Of course the sounds wonderful but we live in a world and a society that makes. This spiritual practice stuff particularly hard. Between the insane work schedules that i know that most of you keep. We end up with little room even for the slightest bit of reflection none-the-less a spiritual practice a regular practice of prayer or. Meditation or journaling. Throw into that mix not only our work schedules but the garage the constant barrage of images of violence and despair. From all over the globe. And this week is a particularly poignant example. And an american way of life. Which places more emphasis on. Things. And on welfare non-status then on anyting. Else. Factor those three things together alone and. We find ourselves much more often moving away from. Rather than toward. Wendell berry. The poet and activist and kentucky farmer. Wrote a very eloquent prose poem which describes this dilemma that we americans face and ironically he wrote it in 1973. And yet i find it very deeply moving these days. It's entitled manifesto. The mad farmer liberation front. And i will share just a part of it with you this morning. This is our american way of life with which he satirizes and then. Really calls us to a different way of being. He says. Love the quick profit. The annual raise. Vacation with pay. Want more of everything. Ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. When they want you to buy something. They will call you. When they want you to die for profit they will let you know. So. Friends. Everyday do something that does not compute. Love the lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it. Denounced the government and embrace the flag. Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands. Give your approval. To all you cannot understand. Ask the question. But have no answers. He concludes his piece. By saying. Practice. Resurrection. Maybe wendell berry has something here maybe that's what it's going to take. Maybe we have to practice resurrection. Maybe we have to be reborn into a new way of living. A life that is built on faith. And grace and forgiveness. A willingness for those of us not in the christian right but who see ourselves as spiritual people to embrace more fully. The sense of spirituality as a critical part of our human vocation. Resurrection my friends wendell berry says won't just happen to us. It won't happen because of jesus's death long ago it won't happen because we think it would just be a nice idea resurrection will only happen if we practice. Toward it. So many not just in our congregation but throughout our. World and certainly our country i was just at a wedding last weekend and got into a big conversation as i frequently do about unitarian universalism in describing what it is and then talking about spirituality with people so many people say to me. I am spiritual. But not religious. And i think in order to practice resurrection we need to depart that a little bit more. Because when somebody says to me i'm spiritual-but-not-religious i frequently find myself wanting to respond what does that mean exactly. How does being a spiritual person change your life. How does it affect the way you treat other people or what's most important to you what you value. Is your spiritualities in some way apart of your being. It's fine with me that you're not part of some organized religion i assume that's what they say when they mean when they say i'm spiritual but not religious. But show me what your spirituality. Memes. I realized while i was frustrated about this term spirituality. But it's just the word itself is inherently too vague. To have almost any meaning at all on its own. If you look it up in the dictionary it's no help at all. So what that means to me is you will have to tell me. Or show me what it means for you. To be a spiritual person. How will you practice resurrection. And give your approval to all you cannot understand. And love someone who does not deserve it. Does it have something your spirituality to do with ultimate questions. Those ultimate questions of our existence. Why we're here. What happens when we die what it means to live a good life. Does it have something to do with cultivating within your heart the ability to. Apprehend and appreciate beauty. And compassion and hope. In a world that tries to make that impossible. Friends i think we need to be more open. In sharing our spiritual journeys and lives with one another. We need to be willing. At least a little more willing. To wear our spirituality on our sleeves. And we need. In order to do that. As reverend mckeeman suggest. Spiritual practices and checkups that we follow each and every day and at regular intervals in our lives. We need rituals not just routines. The call us to deeper presents and wholeness. We need to pray or meditate or read from holy text so that when the spare comes. When loss arrives at our doorstep. When we are heartbroken. We will be able to summon. The courage. And the love. To go on with the feeling that something larger than ourselves. Something larger than that one moment of existence. Will remain. Call it spirit call it god call it the holy call it love call it what you will but please call it. And so i close by saying as your minister. I'm going to take reverend mccammons advice and ask you. How is your spiritual life. Consider this your checkup for the summer. Because you never know. Good friends of faith when you will need to have your faith. In good working order. So my prayer for each of us. Is that we will be diligent tenders of our spirits. So that all of our lives might be infused with blessing. And beauty. And grace. So may it be.

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04.12.12BlessedlyIncomplete.mp3

I want to wish. Happy hanukkah to all the members of the all souls community who celebrate hanukkah in their in their homes this season. Do we have a lot of interfaith families at all souls church and it always makes this this holiday season an interesting melange of traditions prompted 11 minister to post on a website this week that this is the season known as chrismukkah. We gather in the chill of winter solstice. Finding worms from each other. Nourishing hope where reason fails. Grateful for small miracles. We rejoice in the wonder of light and darkness. And the daring. Of hope. Holy one of blessing your presence fills creation you made us holy with your commandments. And called us to kindle the hanukkah lights. You performed the miracles for our ancestors in days of old at this season. You have kept us alive you have sustained us. You have brought us to this moment. Holy one of blessing. Your presence feels creation. On friday night i was walking around my neighborhood and i came across the parking lot where the boy scouts sell christmas trees. The lot was lit with strings of of light and families were busy choosing the perfect tree. I spend some time even dropping on one negotiation between a single mother and her seven-year-old son they were both critically appraising a 4ft tall fraser fir that a boy scout was patiently holding up for them. The sun was clearly not happy with the tree he bent his mouth down in a frown and complained that it was too small he wanted a bigger one. When he said that i caught the boy scout giving him a complicit not of agreement which is a dangerous thing when the adults holds the pocketbook politely he pointed to a nearby 10-foot tree and offering the mother was having none of it by her age a woman is well practiced at sporting the conspiracies of boys she knew that cost $129. But she paid her son skulked off. In the corner to pout. But even as he did so i had a suspicion that the evening would turn out all right for mother and child. In the by the time the lights were hung and the ornaments hung they would be reconciled and content the mother pleasantly remembering christmases past the child eagerly anticipating presents under that tree. Since i left the christmas tree. i thought about other families across the city i thought i imagined jewish families gathering in homes across the city to light the menorah on the 4th night of hanukkah latkes sizzling and oil children spinning dreidels. I thought about how other families were doing both the christmas tree thing and the menorah thing all it at once or we're doing the christmas thing in the and the lighting the kinara for kwanzaa or the lights for the for the diwali lamps there's a certain piling-on of holidays here at the end of the year and abundance of what the carol calls good tidings of comfort and joy. Good tidings of comfort and joy these images of families nestled in their homes at christmas are actually a relatively recent image. For the winter holiday season. If you look back over history in fact you'll find that the stories that give rise to our christmas holidays are hardly tails. A comfort. Enjoy i mean the first religious observances at winter time we're not the joyous celebrations they were desperate supplications as the sun faded earlier and earlier each day in the earth grew colder the ancients would throw themselves down on their knees in desperate prayer they would like fires and dance around the fire begging the gods to let the son return for if they didn't the people knew they would perish. Or think about the origins of hanukkah. In the years after alexander the great's conquest the greeks cracked down on religious minorities jews were forbidden from keeping the sabbath reading the torah was illegal circumcision was a crime some jews allured by the the material wealth that the greeks offered were willing to assimilate but others wouldn't stand for it individually however each was powerless against the mighty greeks and so they had to band together to fight against the greeks under the leadership of judas maccabee and only together cuz they summon the power to win back their religious freedom. Again neither comfortable nor joyous. And what about christmas shirley christmas is full of comfort and joy were told that every year but but think of mary and joseph. And their place on christmas eve having to travel miles on foot and on the back of a camel to go register for the census. Hear well while mary is 9 months pregnant. And every time they look for a place to stay there told sorry no room at the end. Eventually they settled for a stable floor where jesus was born among beasts. And shepherds. No there's little comfort. In these stories in the winter when the temperature is dropping the earth becomes an infamous pitiable place the human race tells stories of desperation. Stories of how we almost didn't make it. But stories ultimately of how we survived. In accordance he's in according to these stories how did we survive. We relied on the earth. Provide us with warren. We relied on our brothers and sisters to struggle with us against depression we relied on the kindness of strangers to find a place to lay our heads. Allegiant case we relied on god to. God who brought the sun back. From oblivion god who made that scares to bit of oil last for 8 nights. God who sent a star to guide the shepherds in the wise men. Did jesus side the moral of these stories. Is that a loan. We human beings are incomplete. We are insufficient. We are utterly dependent. On one another. Banner creator. And on creation. Let me say that again we are incomplete. We are insufficient. And we are utterly dependent. Now i wonder if we can hear that message. This morning. I wonder if a congregation. If we as as mostly middle-class folks. Living in the united states of america at the dawn of the 21st century can hear the message that we are incomplete. Insufficient independent. After all we live in a nation that has become so powerful that increasingly it seems that we can we can act on our own with no heed for others. We live in an era that believes that our ingenuity and our our our science and progress can solve any problem we get ourselves into. 10 many of us here not all of us but many of us live in a middle-class culture that seems bent on maintaining the illusion of our self-sufficiency we have our we have our home and we have our car and we've got our little stash of money and we're safe for secure. But i hope friends that we can hear the message of these holidays this morning the message that we are insufficient and incomplete and dependent because i believe that our delusions. Of self-sufficiency in our delusions of completeness. Are probably the greatest sins. Of the middle class. It's assumed that causes us his delusion is a sin that causes us. To withdraw our love from others. When we are self-sufficient we withdraw our love withdraw our love from others it's a sin that prevents us from receiving the love of others. It's assumed that keeps us. From from community and from fuller relationship and community it's a sin that leads to selfishness and that leads to public policy that lacks compassion. Thus in the breeds are reckless arrogance that leads to costly blunders. We delude ourselves into thinking that we are self-sufficient. And complete. Thinking of a of a family that. They went to our church when i was growing up. I remember that they lived in a in a charming home situated on a nicely manicured lawn tucked away in a safe neighborhood. The kids went to good schools and like most of us in the neighborhood they were safely middle class. Or so. And why others couldn't get by on their own. Like they did. I remember how vividly they were opposed to any kind of of social welfare why shouldn't we keep more of our hard-earned dollars. They said. I went to school with the family's eldest daughter. And i think it was our sophomore year in high school when her father suddenly lost his eyesight. And much of his muscle control. It came from out of the blue no one saw it coming eventually the doctors diagnosed him with with a severe neurological disease. He lost his job and much of his mobility his wife who have had been a stay-at-home mom for most of her adult life suddenly had to go out and find a job outside the home. And suddenly the family. Needed others they reached out to people in our church they reached out to people in the school and and people responded with with compassion to them they they helped out with chores around the house they helped organize the finances they pick the kids up from school and took them to school activities. And i remember the family's gratitude. For that help. And i also remember. The feelings that went through the community at that time there was there was a compassion for this family that that was with struck by this sudden tragedy and there was also a fear that went through everyone who knew them. Appear where everyone said butt for but for the grace of god blood for luck. We could be in this position to. And suddenly our delusions security and and and safety work were thrown asunder. We had we had been our eyes have been opened. To this delusion that we are all self-sufficient. And complete. The fear that that that we felt in the community fear that i can see in my parents eyes. That is a sophomore. Is. Is one of the biggest reasons that keeps us from acknowledging ourselves efficiency. And our incompleteness and i have this belief that if only we could get over the fear. If only we could admit to ourselves our failings and our frailties then we could come to know the blessings. The come. With being incomplete. Because there are blessings. That come. From being incomplete what are these blessings. When experienced as powerlessness. Our incompleteness draws us into cooperative action with others with our brothers and sisters to get things done. When experienced is loneliness. Our incompleteness draws us into loving relationships. With others. Twin experience as spiritual hunger our incompleteness draws us into relationship with the spirit of life with god. If we were so complete and self-sufficient to begin with friends we would be a lonely. Unhappy miserable people. And indeed some of us are. Because we prepare chu8 this delusion. Ivar self-sufficiency. It is our dependence on others. That leads us. To all the blessings. Of life. And that's that's the message. Of all of these stories of desperation at wintertime the message is that our salvation lies in relationship with others. And with god. And with all of creation. Our salvation lies. In relationship. That truth was never so clear to me. As on that parking lot. The christmas tree lot on friday night. With a single mother and her only child. So clearly dependent on one another for so many of life's blessings. So clearly united by a love that was strong and it would sustain them not only through a spat over what size christmas tree. Play we purchase. But love that would sustain them through so much more. Princess holiday season. May the stranger that we welcome into our homes. Be our own broken. Incomplete. Insufficient. Selves. And may we give thanks. In this season. For all those people. Jamaica's complete. Baby song. I'm in.

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07.09.02TheLongHaul.mp3

The reading this morning is from lifecraft. By the reverend forest church. When copernicus discover. That we are not the center of the universe. We were made not weaker. But stronger. If we may happen to be less central to the scheme of things that we once imagined. We discovered this our self. We may be dwarfed by the immensities of space. But the mind that measures these immensities manifests its own greatness. Halfway in size. Between the cosmos. And the smallest particle of creation. We exist. In a kind of equipoise. Rdna as amazing. As the number of our personal stars. For this week while i was contemplating the long view on social justice. I received an email from tom hargrave. About the really long view in outer space. It seems that astronauts voted on the top 10 most amazing pictures taken by the hubble telescope over the last 16 years. And the photo gallery that was attached to tom's email with spectacular. Have you seen the photos those gorgeous colors and these majestic sweeps of light strange shapes. Is the eskimo nebula the cat's eye or the hourglass nebula. As a reporter commented in the daily mail about these 10. Photos. They illustrate that. Our universe is not only deeply strange. But almost impossibly beautiful. The photo that was voted number one was the sombrero nebula. Or the m-104 galaxy. With 800 billion stars. And 28 million light-years away. Science is not my strong suit so i looked up lightyear. I sort of knew. But i found that the definition is about distance of course not time. The link. That light travels in one year approximately five points. 88. Trillion miles. Or. As the second definition of red stated. Informal usage. A long way. I can relate to that yes you could definitely say that is a long way and it sometimes seems we have a very long way to go and social justice. Light years. For some of the efforts about which we care deeply at all souls. On this labor day weekend we remember that efforts in union organizing worker equity have gone on for. Decades. Into a across a century. A local campaign with seiu for security guards. Has taken two years simply to get to the point where the companies are now agreeing to discuss. The right to form a union. We're in ongoing suffering and therefore we know it took several years to declare genocide. And several since then. Just to keep up global pressure on the sudanese government the african union that european union that un the us government. Or efforts to bring change in us policies a pteranodon. Doing that where's paul. Iraq and afghanistan are heading towards 5 years now. With 4,000. Death approaching. For the us military. Anorak. And thousands and thousands more iraq. And afghani casualty. And some of the most vocal and persistent critics of this war. Are activists that were season during the vietnam war. Military and civilian. Folks who have already carried experience three decades forward. Into this piece organizing. Another example in the unitarian universalist association effort. To build a multiracial and multicultural denomination we see more of this long distance running. From the civil rights era action. Down the twenty-first-century practices. And also we have been working explicitly on these issues for almost 9 years. Do jubilee anti-racism training internal learning staff changes shifts and congregational demographics. Come along way. Still have light years to go. In labor rights. In darfur. The war in iraq. And multiracial change. No one thinks this work will be finished very soon. And yet we are called to keep the faith. How do we take the wide view. The longview. Maintain. Forester tells us that. Halfway inside. Between the cosmos and the smallest particle of creation if you could imagine it here. We exist in this kind of equipoise. Are dna as amazing as the number of our personal stars. While i was in the dictionary for light-years i looked up equipoise. And it was intriguing in thinking about social justice for the long haul. Equipoise a condition where there is a balance between different social emotional or intellectual forces. 4 equipoise a second definition something that creates a balanced state. Usually by counterbalancing some other force. Or thing. We might maintain equipoise and social justice organizing by looking. In other directions. Counterbalancing a passion. Action on the issues. With some old-fashioned stargazing for example. When we see the breathtaking pictures from the hubble we are reminded of long long distance. The wild beauty of space. And when learning about the complexities of our own internal dna. As forest church counterbalances. We noticed the fact that. Incredibly detailed human being. Are observing unbelievably complex galaxies. As church puts it. We. Ourselves. Discover outer space. Which is simultaneously a humbling. And pride where the accomplishment. What wonders we can discover with our human brain. And how mind boggles they can make us feel. Looking further into dictionaries. The word poise. Embedded and equipoise is defined as. Estate of hovering. Or being in suspension. Or. A graceful controlled way of standing moving or performing an action. I say we achieved poison social justice organizing by adding grace. Into our lives. Maintaining that state of hovering. Which is rooted. To the past. Grounded in the present. And leaning towards that future. Looking out in other directions is key to keeping the energy to look in. Deeply. At hard complex issues. We all know folks who have burnt out over time. I'm too much intensity. Too long of time staring into the fires. There are very few social justice causes that will benefit for long from our complete. Obsession. Effectiveness. Clarity. 10 to dwindle. When we get burned up. And our own comment of action. Adding gray. That controlled way of moving with poise could be. In finding a community of friends. Falling in love. Embracing spiritual practice. Getting a puppy. Or simply going to planetariums to watch the cosmos on the imax. However you find grace. The key is to haver a bit. To sit suspended. As you recharge your batteries for the next run. Let's move from the celestial galaxies right down to this deep rich soil ever on planet earth. For another perspective on sustenance. Rev meg riley who's the director of advocacy in witness. Was talking to me this week about her plans for this 2008 rest and renewal. One chapter is going to be a sabbatical in her garden. We're meg will spend each day planting weeding writing eating dancing who-knows-what. This is a wonderful way to get the longview. A wave reflecting deeply that there are cycles and seasons passages. From one state to another overtime. Gardening reminds us that the earth will turn over. That letting go. Is necessary for new growth. Some eggs plan to contemplate in the garden struck me as a beautiful compliment to her many many years of work for social justice. Whatever action she does next. Will surely benefit. When the wheel of living and dying turns in the garden we are witnesses. As fellow earth creatures. As organic material ourself. That will one day become post. Rashes. No matter how many great social justice actions we plan over months or years. How many organizing victories which eve over decades. The moment of our turning. Will come in 1 minute. In life crafts forest church. Describes it. That's the way death works. We hit a trapdoor. It opens. And we fall. We may fall for a minute a month or a year but once the trap door spring. There's nothing we can do. Even more sadly nothing will change all the minutes hours days weeks months and years that slip by unconsciously. Before we fell. Yet. I find this realization free. Not depressing. Liberating. Not frightening. This means to me that time spent in the garden. Is as important. It's time engaging is social action. The time with family and friends over good food is as urgent. Is marching on the mall for peace. The time meditating or seen silly movies. Or making music. Maybe a satisfying over a lifetime as being cultural transformation happen. When we take the view of light-years. Or a very long time. Lots of choices matter. So in writing the sermon i realize that my current thinking arises from the somewhat alarming vantage point of middle-aged. There is nothing like getting your first year of aarp mailing to shock the system i won't even open them i just passed them in the traffic i'm offended me now. Having recently turned 50 i'm on this wideview plateau. Engaging and the reflection and evaluation of the big old birthdays there's my friend said the big o no. I'm somewhat secure and knowing i've completed five decades of living with some very modest degree of wisdom but. I'm insecure. And seemed that most likely. I'm more than halfway to the trapdoor. My perspective has changed as the life cycles accrue and 18 years of ministry. For the folks that i accompanied early on. A reaching new milestone. My first baby baptism was my eldest niece. And she started college this week. I preached this year at the ucc ordination of a woman who was the chiari volunteer religious education volunteer at the first church i served in the early 90s. Some of the wedding couples i blessed. I've now had multiple baby blessing. And one groom. Has been buried. In a memorial service i also officiated. It all that change. I am grateful for a favorite poem by roman catholic archbishop oscar romero. One who gave his life for social justice. Cut down by an assassin at the height of his effectiveness in el salvador. In this poem. He reminds us to take the long view. Asserting that we will plant seeds for harvest we will never know. That we will till ground for crap that are planted. Long after we have moved to new g. Romero says. We can't possibly do everything. And therefore it is imperative. That we do something. I say. Do something. For social justice with passion commitment. Encourage. And yet remember. Descent in your garden. To stare out. At the stars. The long arc that bends towards justice. Can be very long indeed. And we must nurture ourselves for the duration. May we find sustenance. For the long haul. And the poise to hover. And that graceful counterbalance. Blessed be.

all-souls_org

06.08.27HospitalityAndGrace.mp3

How reading this morning is from one of the founders of our faith. One of the founders of the universalist side of our faith. The reverend john murray who i will be talking a little bit about this morning in my sermon but i want to share with you a famous reading by him. I will say that that he references in this reading calvinism. And i should say that that when these words were spoken you should know that the dominant faith at the time in america was calvinism which was the belief that that some people were lacked and that some people were damned and you actually couldn't do anything about whether or not you were like your damn god chose you to be either elector damned long before you were born infect the beginning of time and marie a universalist believed actually that all were loved by god and that all were chosen and so this is then his his reading. It's striking that not much has changed in american religion to this day that there are still many who believe that god's love is limited to a few. Summary says go out into the highways and byways of america your new country. And give the people blanketed with a ducane and crumbling calvinism something of your nuvision. You may possess only a small light but uncover it let it shine use it in order to bring more light and understanding to the hearts of men and women give them not he'll but hope and courage do not push them deeper into their theological despair but preach the kindness and the everlasting love. Of god. So john murray is one of my heroes and i'd like to begin by telling you a little bit of a story of how he came to his universalist faith have to say i tried to tell this story to you once before a few years ago and then we had a terrible snowstorm the night before and only about a hundred of you showed up the next day so i figure i can tell it again here today and most of you won't have heard it though it's a story that deserves hearing over and over again because it is known as one of the only miracle stories within unitarian-universalism unitarians on the whole being skeptical of miracle stories jerusalem. So i'm getting myself i'm getting ahead of the story so far story actually begins back in england with this young man john marina murray was al a methodist preacher he was not ordained he was a late person preaching around the english countryside through the methodist churches but preaching of faith that was heretical to methodist doctrine preaching the gospel of universalism the belief that he had come to believe is true which that is that god's love is so great it embraces all people not just some summer job like tragedies first told him he was a heretic and they revoked his lay preaching license. S he fell on hard times and the creditors came and took his family's possessions. When that failed to satisfy them they actually through marie into debtors prison and tragically while murray was in prison his wife and his children succumbed to tuberculosis. Leaving him alone in the world. When he was released from prison he had no family to go back to he had no means at his disposal. And so he did frankly what many englishmen of the. did who'd fallen on hard times he set sail for the new world in search of a new beginning. His faith by the way had been completely lost. He had confessed that when he left england he no longer believed in a god much less a god who loves all souls. Marie's lock didn't immediately change however when he got to the new world for as his small ship approached new york harbor a storm struck up throwing the boat off course and wrecking it on the shoals just off the coast of the aforementioned new jersey. Tired and despairing marie got off the ship swam to shore and dragged himself out of the water onto dry land. Now imagine his surprise when a kindly gentleman. Was there to meet him on the shore. It turns out that marie had shipwrecked on the property of one thomas potter now let me bring the story back again and tell you a little bit about thomas potter-thomas potter was a quaker farmer in new jersey who had on his own also come to the same conviction that god's love was so great that it embraced not some souls but all souls and in fact his faith was so strong in this gospel that he had built a chapel on his property for the preaching of the gospel of universalism towards him he knew he had found his man and embraced him and greeted him with these words. Come my friends. I have longed to see you. I've been expecting you for a long time. Imagine how those words must have sounded to john murray coming off his ship after all his misfortune and his despair. Potter told marie the story of his chapel and how he believed the key was the faded preacher and asked marie to preach the first universalist sermon in america that sunday in the chapel murray said no no way he said i've lost my faith and and i'm not going to preach in your chapel thomas potter said please please and marie said to him look at i want to get my ship to new york but if the winds and the seas are such that i cannot set sail by sunday i will preach the gospel of universalism in your chapel on sunday. I sure enough the story goes the winds never cease the storm didn't let up and that sunday jonmarie preached the first universalist sermon in america and went on to be the founder of that faith in america preaching up and down the east coast the words that i read earlier go out into the highways and byways of america and give them not hell but hope and courage preach the kindness and the everlasting love. Of god. So there you have it friends the only miracle story of unitarian-universalism is why do you think religious communities pass on stories like this how is it that certain stories sort of get turned into myths and passed on from from generation to generation clearly keeping some kernel of the truth clearly adding elements elements. I want to suggest that the answer that question is that they believe that there was something in this story that was critical to our faith that they wanted to pass down to succeeding generations and that they wanted us to take note of and to remember. And as i've come to understand the lesson of this story is a lesson about hospitality. What this story says to me. Is that. Despair. The despair of someone like a john murray. When it is matt with a kind of radical hospitality of a thomas potter remember his words to the stranger come my friends. I've longed to see you. I've been expecting you for a long time. Got that kind of hospitality the hospitality of stranger welcoming stranger is such a radical form of love. That it is transformative. You know it's it's one thing for us to show hospitality to our friends into our neighbors and to welcome them into our homes into to share a meal with them that is also a loving form of hospitality but a more radical form than that is when the stranger can meet the stranger and say welcome friends. What this story teaches is that that kind of hospitality can transform the despairing person. And can renew the love that they once felt. In their heart. Until i believe that the john murray and the thomas potter story is a story about hospitality and i want to ask you to reflect this morning. On your own practice of hospitality. I'm how you welcome the stranger. In your own life. And i also want to ask us as a congregation. Halloween welcome. The stranger. Can we see our friends come through the church on sunday morning we light up we smile we shake their hands would give them a warm welcome but what about the stranger what about the person we don't know. That's why we ask every sunday during our greeting time that when you turn to someone and greet them on sunday morning that you can't you greet someone that you haven't come in with that morning. Not just because that's a polite thing to do because what this story teaches us is that kind of radical hospitality is really a sacrament sacrament means it's a means of grace for stranger to greet stranger. Is a means of grace. What might that kind of hospitality look like when translated to our own day of a day and age. In a congregation like our own. It might look something like this. Let me tell you i'm working temporary story with fewer mythic elements. Could be found crossing the boston common on his way to a subway station. The truth is that he been wandering the streets of boston all night wondering to himself whether or not he should continue living despair had become so great for him that he was considering ending his life and in fact that morning he had decided that he would walk down the steps of that subway station and ends his life on the third rail. Would just as he was about to head down the steps to that subway station he heard someone call out to him. Welcome. Welcome my friend. I've longed to see you i've been expecting you for a long time. Welcome in this case and it wasn't the angel of death welcoming him to his doom in fact it was an usher from the unitarian universalist church which is located right at the entrance to that subway station it's the arlington street church the arlington street church in boston k and it was happened to be a sunday morning and it was a frigid cold morning in february in boston it was many degrees below freezing but this usher had none the less put on his coat and put on his gloves and go to the front step to welcome people to his church that morning and had mistaken this lonely despairing man for a visitor to the church remember the church and he said welcome. Where the confusion was enough to give the man pause and he thought to himself or maybe i'll stop by the church and say a prayer say my final prayer and so he walked into the church but just as he walked in the service was beginning and he felt it would be rude to leave that's just as the service was beginning and he was sitting back in the corner of the church which i'll just say to you frenzies oftentimes where people come when they're visiting a church for the first time and they're hurting that's where they'll often sit in the back of the church. In the corner. Waiting to see if they will find a word of hope. Well i don't know what was said in that sermon that day. Or what it was that caused the man to change his mind if i did know the words that were spoken i would say them every sunday morning but the man did change his mind. And he continues to be a devoted and loyal member of that church. To me this is a contemporary story that mirrors the story of john murray. And thomas potter. The story of of mistaking the stranger for friend or maybe it's the story of actually treating the stranger as a friend. It's a story of how people who have been given the gift of faith and hope then feel compelled to share that gift of faith and hope and love with other people because that gift is so strong and then they can't do anything but share it. As we move forward as a congregation. I'd like us to reflect on these stories of hospitality. As you go forward as individuals i'd like you to reflect on these stories of hospitality. Asking ourselves how we can welcome the stranger. As our friend. And how that welcome can be a sacrament. And instruments. Agrace. And it's love. Because every sunday there are john marie's. Washed up on the steps of this church. Looking for hope and every sunday there are people beset by grief and despair sitting in the far corners of our pews. For their sake for the sake of all who've been oppressed and pushed out of the dominant religious culture in this country. And for the sake of our own souls who still don't believe that we are love simply for whom we are. For all of our sakes. Let us recommit ourselves to this gracious faith of universalism. And to its basic unit of currency. The single saving act. Of hospitality. I meant.

all-souls_org

07.02.18AdventuresOfAHinduUU.mp3

And now to introduce someone to you. Do many of you need no introduction to at all. Reverend manish mishra used to be a member here at all souls church in fact he might still be a members for all i know. But he now serves our congregation in peters st petersburg florida. After he completed his master divinity at harvard divinity school. You may just be a rumor but i understand it manish when he started divinity school didn't think he was going to be a parish minister at all he thought he was just going to be teaching and somehow we would him into the ministry. He comes to the ministry by way of earlier career as a us diplomat during the clinton administration. And he currently serves as president of drum which stands for diverse revolutionary unitarian universalist multicultural ministries. Yes we use love our long acronyms don't we. A big title for a wonderful person please welcome reverend manish mishra. Very much. A homecoming for me because all souls. Is the church where i discovered the unitarian faith about 9 years ago. It was here that i decided to pursue seminary studies. And it was here about a year-and-a-half ago. But i was ordained. All souls has been an integral part. Of my spiritual growth and as such there will always be. A piece of my heart. That will be with this congregation. Always cheering it on. And it's in that spirit. That i returned to be here with you this morning. My thanks to reverend hardy zenzo reverend lingo. For that. Opportunity. Having been a child of the 80s. When i hear the term adventure. Inevitably think of indiana jones. The filmscreen cowboy hero. Played by harrison ford. In the trilogy of films raiders of the lost ark the temple of doom and the last crusade. Indiana jones visited. What at the time were considered very exotic places india-china egypt. Amongst others. And always in the search of some long-lost valuable historical artifact. Indian he always found what he was looking for but. The adventure was in getting there. It was the journey the trip there. That was the fun part. And at the age of 10 experiencing these characters and this these films. I admired the daring in the courage that it took. That it took to go on these journeys and that it took for this hero to embark on these pads with no idea what lay ahead. There are many types of adventures there are archaeological and historical adventures of that kind. But there are adventures of the spirit as well. Spiritual journeys. A different kind. My experience of coming here to all souls. And the ways in which this congregation invited me to spiritually stretch and grow. Fall into this latter category. It's been an adventure of the spirit. Prior to discovering this congregation. I was leading what i would call the spiritual-but-not-religious lifestyle. Perhaps some of you can relate to that phrase. I was disaffected with the religion i grew up with hinduism. And i had decided in my early 20s. That i didn't need anybody's validations and know that i'm a spiritually good human being. I was going to leave the best life that i could. And i would have my own personal sense of spirituality and that would be enough. This to might sound familiar. This approach to spirituality and life it worked for a while. Actually the better part of a decade. But eventually i began to discover its limitations. In my late twenties i found myself at the hindu wedding of a close friend here in maryland. Nearby maryland. And in the midst of that joy and those celebrations. Did hit me in a way in which it never had before. That i no longer had a religious community. Where would i celebrate important life passages where would i celebrate. And mark the occasions of. Marriage or birth or death. Who would come other than my handful of closest friends. The answers to these questions were lost along with my sense of. Grounding. In a religious home in a religious community. I was taking a bath even startled by these realizations. I found myself. Explaining my sense of loss. My sense of spiritual isolation to both my then partner. And later over the phone to my best friend who lives several thousand miles away in finland. My finished friend list listen very patiently over the phone. And when i finish my. Heart heart-wrenching soliloquy. He asked me. Have you ever heard of the unitarians. And i said no. But i immediately wanted to know more. So while still on the phone with him long-distance i log onto the internet. I found the denominations main website. And clicked on the tab that said uu principles. Respect for inherent worth and dignity. The interdependence of all existence. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning. I believe these things my whole life. There couldn't possibly be a proper religion that had a name that believed all these things. Just couldn't be. And so i asked my friend on the phone. Are you sure they're not a cult. They're they're going to ask me to sign over my house aren't they. Little did i know not at first but eventually. He responded well i don't know i can't answer that question there only 30 unitarians in finland so you'll just have to go and see for yourself. So based on the advice of somebody living near the arctic circle. I discovered that there was a unitarian church about six blocks from where i lived. Came here for sunday worship. In the process of doing that i found a religious home. All of this was back in the prehistoric era before rob was called here to serve. And back in that time. We had one full charge here without a senior minister. It was during that time that we had worship services primarily led by our lay leaders. And i was invited on a number of occasions to preach about hinduism. No this was an interesting experience for somebody brand-new the congregation and. Somebody who arrived at all souls as a disaffected hindu. I viewed our unitarian faith as an alternative. To the hinduism i grown up with. But it seems i just couldn't get away from it. People wanted to hear about my faith of origin. I could have coerced have said that. I left hinduism behind i just can't think of anything positive to say about it. But. I didn't believe that. And so the community's desire to hear me preach about hinduism. Led me to re-examine it. What was it about hinduism that i would want to share with my brothers and sisters at church. What beliefs. Would be compatible. With unitarian universalism and what concepts maitai reinterpret. In light of my unitarian universalist faith. I began reading voraciously. About hinduism in the process it felt like i was. Approaching the religion with fresh eyes almost as if for the first time. Uuism encouraged me to take from hinduism that which made sense. And leave behind that which didn't. And so i did. I left behind things like the caste system and its social oppression. The cultural subjugation of women. And the cultural rejection of homosexuality. I did not have to accept these aspects of the hindu faith and culture and i didn't. But at the same time i also didn't have to toss out everything. I discovered a newfound richness in the mythology of hinduism. I've been taught to understand these stories literally. But i didn't have to i could understand them metaphorically. A symbols of what life can teach us. I could look at hinduism through the lens of unitarian universalism. And reinterpret traditional ideas with contemporary meaning. I was encouraged by this faith. And this congregation to reclaim my hindu heritage. And doing so i often share with others that i feel that unitarian-universalism. Has made me a better hindu. Well as indiana jones would attest the journey itself. Is part of the fun. And i'd like to share some of that with you offering a window into a liberal uu interpretation. Of hinduism. Specifically through the hindu concept of dharma karma and reincarnation. I should know many of you have probably heard of these terms and their used both in hinduism and buddhism but in different ways. So i'm just going to be addressing the hindu versions of these concepts. Let's take a look at arma. In the hindu universe the term dharma literally means one's religious duty. It is what we're obliged to do as a religious person. I didn't really understand what any of that meant as a kid. But as i grew older and research did i founded hinduism typically defines one's religious duty. In light of two things. Cast and one's age. The caste system as you know. Is a religiously sanctioned form of social stratification. All hindus have a cast and even sub cast their hundreds of these. And your sub-caste typically describes your vocation what you do for a living. If you were born into a family of shop owners you will be a shop owner if you're born into a family of farmers. You'll be a farmer if you're born into. A family of janitorial workers you will be a janitor. And so on. The system does not allow for any social social mobility at all. Thereby ensuring that those at the top. And their descendants get to stay at the top. Provocation in india. In hinduism is not a secular concept it is imbued with religious significance. If you're born into a family of farmers not only will you be a farmer. But it's your religious obligation to be a farmer. Bucking that going against that by seeking social mobility. By shifting your vocation or profession. Means that you're ignoring. Your religious duty religious obligation. This understanding of vocation is that interpreted in light of. Your age what stage of life here at. If you're young it's your duty to be a student to learn about your vocation or trade. If you're in midlife. It's your obligation to practice that vocation and to get married. Have a heterosexual marriage. And have children. In old age after you can no longer practice your trader. Profession. You're supposed to renounce all your worldly possessions. And go live in the forest. This last one was always quite curious to me. As a cheeky teenager i would tease my dad saying that his soon-to-be religious duty was to give me and my brother all his stuff. And go live in the forest. What did he say the scripture really says this. So he would just patiently roll his eyes and say yes i know. But not yet. Obviously the vast majority of hindus don't spend their retirement years as poppers living off of bark and grass. So i had an inkling that devout hindus understand the concept of dharma in different ways. So let me offer my own liberal you you take on it. I do believe that religious obligation exists. Our faith. Does oblige us to live in a certain way. I first understood this to be true shortly after i began attending church year. I was walking through dupont circle one afternoon. And a homeless man looked at me pleadingly. As often happens here in dc. I started to look away as i have many times before. And it's perhaps you have to. But our first uu principal began running through my head. Unbidden. Respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. I look back. And i met his gaze. And i recognized in that moment. But i could never just walked by another homeless person. The way i used to. It was the first time i began understanding. But unitarian-universalism was changing me. And that they were new obligations emerging out of my new faith. As i experienced in that situation. Our sense of duty or obligation as unitarian universalist. Is grounded in the religious principles we hold dear. Respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Requires me to approach the world with that value. I'm called to recognize the humanity. In the face of the homeless i'm called to carry compassion in my heart for those that are incarcerated i'm called to stand up for the dignity of gay lesbian by and transgendered individuals. Our sense of religious obligation moves us towards social justice. It is a sense of obligation grounded in values and interpreted. Through specific context. From the viewpoint of an individual. A phrase that expresses this is. We are what we hold dear. If human dignity matters. The value pushes us to understand the world in a different light. We are. What we hold dear. Returning to the caste system. This form of social organization also has a relationship. With the hindu concept of karma. It answers certain questions about the human condition. Why might someone be born in the circumstances of poverty. And others into wealth. Hinduism's answer to this and similar questions is that you've gotten precisely what you deserve. If you are trapped in poverty then you surely done something in this life or your past lives to deserve it. The blessing of wealth is considered similarly earned. Karma is dust the cosmic balance sheet of pluses and minuses you do something good you accumulated you accumulate positive karma. You do something bad you accumulate the negative kind. Over the course of many lifetimes the pluses in the minuses are supposed to balance out. Will be receiving in turn less things for good things and hardships for the bad things. There are many many problems with this cosmology this worldview. First. It becomes another religiously a religiously sanctioned reason for justifying class immobility. The poor are told that they are poor because they deserve to be poor. They should just make do with the best they can. And if you do. If you just accept your circumstances as they are and leave the best life you can. Perhaps you'll be blessed with better circumstances next time around. Karma encourages complacency about one socioeconomic circumstances. But even more broadly it encourages complacency about any difficulty that one might encounter. If you're facing difficulties in your life death illness whatever it maybe. This is happening. Because it's what you are do. The universe is justice is unfolding. You may not understand why. Because it's karma from a life you don't even remember but trust the cosmic balance. You're getting what you deserve. I saw these and what i would consider. Other unhealthy understandings of karma all around me as a child. I never really believed that. Experiences of hardship or. Or a benefits of plenitude. Because of events in a past lifetime. This type of supernatural understanding never made sense to me. But what did make sense. Was understanding karma. In terms of character development. In the late 1800s there were a group of unitarian ministers in the midwest. Who adopted the phrase. Freedom fellowship and character and religion. It's an understanding of our faith that appeals to me. It's one rooted in the historic debates within christianity between. These between actions and creed's beliefs. Which was more important. Our faith has always come down on the side of deeds of actions. And in that understanding. Is a belief is a faith that our actions form they shape our character. If i mean spirited. The lens through which i experienced the world and react to it. Will be one of meanness. I put that vibe out into the world and others intern respond to it. The question that naturally leads us to is. Who do we want to be in the world what type of personality do we want to cultivate. A phrase that captures this is. We are what we do. The way we behave informs our character and the fruits of that character are experienced in this lifetime. We are what we do. Which leads us to our last stop on this journey. Reincarnation. Much of the traditional hindu worldview. Rest on the notion that the same essence or soul. Has existed in the past. It exists now and it will exist again in the future. The same soul is born and reborn over and over sometimes as a human and at other times. As other living creatures adakah kau sheep a chicken. Along the way. Positive and negative karma is accumulated. Thereby fuelling this endless process of birth and death and rebirth. It's a giant cosmic cycle. That continues without end. Until you somehow get out of it. How do you get out of it. Well the ancient india hindu texts say that you break free. And your soul rejoins the that divine energy which permeates everything in the universe everything in the cosmos. You break free by becoming an enlightened human being an enlightened soul. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view. There isn't anyone who can tell you if you've achieved such a state of enlightenment. If you're that enlightened you're just supposed to know. Well. I don't know on that basis if i can prove or disprove reincarnation or anything else. We unfortunately don't know what happens at the time of death. Until we're dead. And at that point in time it's really too late to tell anybody. Let's approach this issue from a the perspective of science. We know that everything that exists in the universe has always existed. An explosion of unimaginable proportions occurred at some point in time. The big bang. Energy and mass existed then. And continue to exist now although in different forms. Life literally emerged out of stardust and we will eventually return to something approaching that primordial form. It's not the most exciting or captivating notion of death. Put on some basic fundamental level. It's all so beautiful in its simplicity. Captured in a phrase. We have existed. And we will always exist. We are what we hold dear. We are what we do. We have existed and we will always exist. These are some of the truths that i've arrived at as a hindu you you. But there is one more. Our religious roots matter. Like myself the majority of unitarian universalist. Come to our faith having been at some point in time. Part of another religious tradition. The largest group of these. Are individuals from various christian denominations. Mahatma gandhi was once asked by a follower from the west. Whether he should convert to hinduism. In order to be truer to gandhi's beliefs. Gandhi responded emphatically no. He said my religion has truth in it. But so does yours. Go deeper into your tradition go deeper into christianity and discover its truths. Gandhi believed that the faith we have been grounded and raised in. Has a cultural pull. Something beyond just an intellectual or spiritual understanding. The culture of a particular religion resonates with us deeply because we are familiar with its language it's stories it's metaphor. So go deeper into the tradition you already know he urged. Instead of looking for trude's elsewhere. There may be meeting in this for us unitarian universalist. My spiritual journey my adventure in exploring unitarian universalism. Has helped me go deeper into my hindu background and beliefs. It is also been incredibly liberating. To reinterpret that faith. In the context of uu values. Just the fact that i can do that. Is a gift that blesses me everyday in my ministry. It's a gift that this congregation gave me. It fills my heart. With great joy knowing that this community. And that its ministry continue to transform the lives of others. Just as a transformed mind. May god blessing be one that enriches each of your lives. Now and always.

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04.05.02WelcomingProdigal.mp3

The story called the prodigal son. Then jesus said. There was once a man who had two sons. One day the younger son said to his father father i want right now. What i've got coming to me. I should have this is a contemporary translation of the book of luke i forgot the bad that point translations by eugene peterson. So the father divided the property between them it wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There are undisciplined and dissipated. He wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all the money there was a bad famine all through the country and he began to hurt. He worked for a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corn cobs in the pig slop but no one would give him any. That brought him to his senses. He said all those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day and here i am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him father. I've sinned against you. I don't deserve to be called your son take me on as a hired hand and he got right up and went home to his father when he was still a long way off. His father saw him. His heart was pounding and he ran out and embraced his son and kissed him. The boys started his speech father i've sinned against you and i don't deserve to be called your son ever again but the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants quick bring clean clothes and dress him put the family ring on his finger and spring sandals for his feet. Then get a grain-fed calf and roast it. We're going to feast tonight. My son is here given up for dad and now alive given up for lost and now found. And they began to have a wonderful time. All this time his older son. Was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in and as he approached the house he heard the music and the dancing and calling over to one of the houseboys he asked what was going on. He said your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast. Barbecued beef because he has him safe and sound. The older brothers stalked off in an angry salt and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk with him but you wouldn't listen this son said look how many years i have stayed here serving you never giving you one moment of grief but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends. Then the son of yours who is thrown all your money away on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast. His father said son you don't understand. You're with me all the time. And everything that is mine is yours but this is a wonderful time and we had to celebrate this brother of yours was dead and he's alive. He was lost and now found. Not too long ago i received a letter from a member of the congregation she wrote to me as members sometimes do asking if i would preach a sermon a sermon about forgiveness not about how we forgive others she said but how we forgive ourselves. How do we forgive ourselves for all the things we wished we hadn't done. For all the things we knew we shouldn't have done. Not the egregious stuff she said i'm talking i'm not talking about some big sin just how we forgive ourselves for the hundreds of times that we fail to do what we know is right. The sufi poet rumi. Once put the question this way. How do we live with ourselves he asked. When we've broken our vows a thousand times. So i thought about her letter for a while. But i didn't really feel like i had an answer for her. Cuz i'm not very good at forgetting myself either. I thought well maybe i'll give this one to shawna to preachy know maybe she'll have something to say. But what i did instead is tucket tuck that idea away in that place inside of me where sermons sit and stew and while it's stood life came around and started to season it. Eyewitness one person. Unable to forgive himself for a perfectly human and non egregious error. I watched as another beautiful person. Struggled with a sense of her own inadequacy. But she just wasn't good enough not up to the impossible standards. That she had set for herself. And then in the midst of all that i came across the old story of the prodigal son and i thought to myself that maybe with the help of this story i could offer what little advice. I had. About how we can forgive ourselves. You know the story of the prodigal son is probably the most often told parable in the bible. It's one of those story that when people here at they sort of resonate with it almost immediately immediately and you can see them nodding their head insane yeah i know that story. For that reason it's. A favorite among creatures jim forbes one of the greatest preachers in our country up at riverside church in new york tells about how in his youth he wants preach 16 sermon series on the one story of the prodigal son 16 in a row for months on one son for sunday about three-quarters of the way through his theories and elderly woman from the church came up to him and took his hand and said i am so sorry. I think its popularity stems from its message. A forgiveness. That and the fact that people seem to relate so easily to the characters in the story a little bit further as a different character in the story. I figure we have something something to learn from. So first of course. There's the prodigal. No. Who among us pants identify. At some level. With the prodigal. Who among us at some point. Hasn't gone off and tried something. And failed. Or just done something plain stupid. Maybe the boy was following the dream maybe just satisfying his wanton desires regardless things didn't pan out the way he had planned. His fortune frittered away his dream squandered the sun feels only shame. And humiliation. And defeat. And we know these feelings too. Chickens are the depths of the sun's humiliation the bible notes that he ended up feeding pigs to earn money. Monkeying around in the trough. With the swine. Which for a jew at that time would have been the ultimate. Humiliation and desecration. About his unsavory as the prodigal is i think he's the one that most people identify with the fact that we even call the story of the prodigal son is itself an indicator of where our sympathies lie because. And if you study the story closely you'll find that it's really a story about the father. But no one calls at the parable of the patient forgiving father. We call it the prodigal son because the character speaks so compellingly. To the part of ourselves that is ashamed. And defeated and humiliated. The part of ourselves that we have sent away into exile. And that longs to be welcome. Back home again. Now there's another song in the story of course. And if union is right apart of us can identify with him to sew in a raise your hand if you're an eldest sibling out there how many. The one who is decided that he needs to conform to some exacting standard of perfection. Somehow having learned along the way at an early age that his loveliness his worthiness was somehow tied to them fection. And boy it's not easy living up to those standards. Is it. Trying to be perfect takes its toll and the only justice the only justice comes from knowing that that to the perfect will go all the spoils in the end right and then. The father up and throws a feast for the prodigal son. It appears that he loves the wayward sibling as much as if not more than the dutiful elderly son. I'd be angry too. So you can begin to see now why this is such a popular story this is the stuff of nearly the stuff that nearly every sibling rivalry is made of right but it's also the story i believe righteous and scornful. That sibling rivalry is going on right inside of us and it's one of the things that makes it so hard to forgive ourselves. Answer the father. As i said before this is really a story about the father he's the hero here for he welcomes back into his home the one who had brought shame to the household name he lavishes riches upon the one who has already squandered a fortune he forgives the one who came back seeking not forgiveness what food. And it's not a grudging reunions it's not like the father says well he's family i don't have a choice about this it's not like that at all listen to how the story of the prodigal has returned is told. When the sun was still a long way off. His father saw him and with his heart pounding he ran out and embraced and kissed him. Tucson started his speech father i've sinned against you i don't deserve to be called your son ever again with a father wasn't listening already he was calling to the servants quick bring a clean set of clothes get the fatted calf we're going to have a feast today for my son who is given up for dead is alive. Who is given up for lost is found celebrate celebrate prodigal prodigal the children sing. The graciousness of the father's embrace. Is one of the most beautiful moments in the bible. Because up until this moment all the images of god as father. Have portrayed god as judging capricious angry willing to sacrifice his children for righteousness sake image. The father who doesn't even wait for the sun to apologize. He can't help himself he doesn't runs out with a pounding heart. And embraces his son. This embrace. Is the best answer. That i can give. And a parishioner who asks how we can forgive ourselves. Embrace is the best advice i can share with a friend who feels she is never good enough. Because you see i don't think that the answer. Too forgiving ourselves lies in forgiving ourselves for each little infraction and imperfection. Because frankly there were too many. Instead the answer lies in embracing the part of ourselves embracing the part of ourselves that is in perfect. And flawed. The answer lies in accepting that sales inadequate shameful part of ourselves accepting it as part of who we are welcoming it back in like the father and the prodigal son. We need to welcome that part of ourselves in rather than trying to jettison at fortin to deny it or to pretend that it doesn't exist that is the only way we can forgive. By accepting that we are and always will be people in need of forgiveness. And if the only way we can forgive. Is by welcoming home the prodigal that is us. So i can hear the parishioner. Who wrote to me. Saying. Okay rob i get that rather than forgiving each imperfection we need to forgive ourselves for being in perfect as a whole but how do we do that. How do we love the unlovable parts of ourselves. That's a tough one. But i would say that. The answer lies in some of the stories unfinished business. Is he in the story we never see the reconciliation. A father. Hemi older son. Now it begins to happen just at the very end but we don't get to see how it turns out. And i would say that there is one more embrace that's in order if we are to forgive ourselves. I think that some of us have trouble welcoming the prodigal that is us because we have some unfinished business with the older son that is us. As long as part of us. Remains. Self-righteous. And unforgiving. And striving striving striving for perfection. It's going to be really hard to ever welcome the prodigal. The older son in office will just keep locking the door and shuttering the windows of our heart. The older son needs to learn that he doesn't need to be perfect anymore. In order to be loved. That he doesn't need to demand others perfection either. When our soul. Can wrap itself. Around both of these children within us. Like a loving father's embrace. Then we will know. The meaning of forgiveness. Let me close with a poem. By alice walker about forgiveness. It's called good night willie lee i'll see you in the morning. Looking down into my father's dead face. For the last time. My mother said. Without tears. Without smiles. Without regrets. But with civility. Goodnight willingly. I'll see you in the morning. And it was then that i knew that the healing of all our wounds. Is forgiveness. Forgiveness that permits i'll promise. Of our return. In the end. Happy soul.

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06.09.24BelovedCommunity.mp3

In the just over 3 years. But i have been your associate minister there have been. Several occasions upon which. My colleague and i have decided that we need to preach together about something that we think is of the utmost importance in our community of faith. We've done so maybe only two or three times and this morning is one of those occasions. The reading this morning comes from romans. Chapter 9 verses 25 and 26. Some of you may recognize it as the epigraph to the book. Beloved by toni morrison. It's from romans but it is also taken from the book of hosea. I will call them my people. Who were not my people. And her beloved. Who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass. In the place. Where it was said to them. There are many aspects and qualities of the all souls experience. That are unique. You might even say that their singular. Many gifts that worshiping with such a diverse community and a caring group of people offers. Which are hard to find anywhere else. And hard to capture. In words that would adequately express what this all souls feeling can sometimes be like. Many of the moment my friends that we share. Have what i've come to call the quintessential all souls feel. And for me i'm sure you could many of you who are familiar with our congregation could name many such moments but for me. One of the most meaningful and poignant. Is our annual christmas pageant. For those of you who haven't been here before and for those of you who've been a whole year since you've experienced it let me describe a little bit about what i see. When i watch the pageant unfold before us. The sunday before the christmas holiday. This whole scene is transformed. We have children of many different ages and many colors dressed as shepherds and sheep. Dressed as angels. And we have little ones who descend magically from the balcony and come to hover as the heavenly host and the cherubs. To witness the miraculous birth of jesus. Now i'm not quite sure what the power is of the pageant. I know that some of it has to do with the mix of. Adorable young children. Wearing cheap costumes. Some of it has to do with the sentimental power of. The familiar christmas music. And it is indeed. A sweet and cute sunday. But it is much more than that. I've come to feel that it's not just a sakran kind of oat aren't they cute kind of sunday. But it's a touching portrayal of a timeless story. Told with new generations of. Mixed communities of children. It's that time a story. Told by the youngest members of our community. There's something about the pageant that for me is transcendence. Calls beyond that one moment. Calls beyond any one of our egos toward a shared life. A communal life. The shared humanity that we often forget. But is right there but hit the surface. And even though the pageant is pretty much the same every year. We seeing the same songs the children do the same rituals as part of the pageant. There's one change. Which is constant. One change that you can count on. And that is but each year you never know who's going to be the baby jesus. In fact this year when my partner and i had a baby and i first came back this fall one of the first thing somebody said to me is she's too old to be the baby jesus i wasn't even thinking about it yet. Nor would i invoke favoritism at all in any way. But since i was already put on notice that athena would not be the baby jesus. I thought a little bit more about what that tradition means. I thought a little bit more about the fact that. Since we never know what color skin the baby jesus will have. How small what color eyes. There's something beautiful about that. And there's something remarkable about that transformative moment that happens toward the end of the pageant when. Doll that the child has been holding throughout the pageant becomes a real life member of our community. Fat transformation. From pretending to a real-life that we are caring for. That may indeed be as our tradition says one more redeemer for this world. There's something amazing and powerful about that moment. Something that overflows i think in all of us in realizing that the varieties of families in our midst. Contribute. To that redemption. Contribute to that hope and ways that we maybe don't completely or fully understand. And each and every year. The pageant asks a very important question. Of all of us. Who. Is in your holy family. Who is included in your circle of love and care. Who is part of your community of faith. And every year we don't know who it will be. But we are called to love them. Nonetheless. That question. Who is in your holy family. That the pageant raises every year has come home. Tumi. In a very significant way recently. In a way that reminds me both that it is a question that is so deeply personal. And also so remarkably outwardly focused. It is both a question about how we will live and express love in the most intimate circles of our lives. And what implications that love has. For those ever-expanding circles which we say we want. To have in our lives. The first end statement of our church is to live out love. An ever-expanding circles will that means you have to begin. At home. And you have to be committed to keep going. Four friends. As i often say to the wedding couples i work with. Living and loving doesn't take place in a vacuum. You are family you are loved ones all of that spreads out in ways that you can't even perceive. To my personal story. Recently. Athena and i that's. My daughter. Who those of you have met her now no has brown hair not very much of it. And green eyes. And white skin. Went on our first solo trip without mommy to the safeway on georgia avenue the near our home. And we had the first of what i suspect will be many experiences. In which our connection to one another will be questioned. And wondering about. If not disdain.. I couldn't put everything in the car it wasn't you would have been laughing at me i was wearing athena on the front babybjorn pack and i was reaching to put things into my cart. And i saw the eyes staring at us. As i grocery shop throughout the store. I realize that the people around me were wondering and making assumptions about who i was to athena and who she was to me. And friends i realize. In the safeway that most intimate of spiritual awakening places. That i don't want to live in a world. In which it will be assumed that i am hernani. I don't want to live underneath the assumption that there is something wrong with the reality of athena and i being family to one another. I want to live in a world. Which can see the connection between us for what it is. And as i stepped back from my own experience i realize that i want that not just for athena and not just for me. It could be selfish. But because i think we all need to live in a world where we can love as we would like to love. Is bully and as broadly as possible. Which is why we need a place like all souls. And why we need all souls to be as racially diverse as possible. Because friends we need communities like this one. That are working to create a world in which hearts. Are shaped more broadly. And in which. Love is cast more inclusive lee. 42 often. Love and community. Ties that hold. And guide us are confined to two narrow spaces. And we are not encouraged. As we should be or allowed. To be those bold. Lovers of justice and of all people that we should and could be. We are not encouraged to love across and beyond. Racial and other differences. And so the pageants challenge. Continues to ring in our ears. Who. Using your. Onlyfans. William ellery channing asked himself that question. One day. Who is my holy family. To whom am i related enough through blood but through spiritual bonds and one day he answered the questions saying i am a living member of the great family of all souls all people are my brothers and sisters. And then a generation later the members of this church which was it that time called the first unitarian church of washington. Ask themselves. Who are we as a people. Who was part of our holy family. And they drew on channing's words and on june 4th 1877 almost 130 years ago today our ancestors voted to change the name of the church from first unitarian. To all souls. And aren't you glad they did. No. And that have a better ring then then i am a living member of the first family of unitarians. Not quite the same. That was a fateful day for our church. And that theological vision. Was a faithful commitment. For us as a people. I see that our commitment today to continuing to sustain and build a multiracial multicultural community i see that as a reaffirmation of the commitment our ancestors made. 130 years ago. This year. Channing called it the great family of all souls. Dr. king called it something else. He called it. The beloved community. And he knew that the beloved community was something that didn't exist in our world today and so dr. king had to talk about it not as a reality but is a dream. And we all remember the dream that he set out that day the dream he said of how one day and alabama little white children and little black children might hold hands together and be as brothers and sisters sometimes it's easier to see the dream for our children. Then it is to see it. For ourselves. Maybe that's what reverend goodman was getting that when she was invoking our children's pageant. As an embodiment of that dream. So we see glimpses of that dream in our world today we see it in the pageant we see it i see it as as children from our neighborhood walk to church walk to our church during the week to use our our our gymnasium downstairs for their pe classes they come from all the local schools and they're holding hands. As dr. king had imagined to buy to coming into the church we live in a neighborhood this neighborhood of columbia heights that is literally a third black authored latino a third light and some of us may be tempted to ask one maybe this dream is actually become a reality already. Maybe we have no more work to do. And then we realize a doctor king dr. king knew that the reality would look. Right before it would actually feel right. Dr. king made an important distinction between physical segregation. And spiritual. Segregation. He said there will come a day. When our elbows are together. But our hearts are apart. I don't know how anyone can live in the city of washington dc and not feel the sting of those words are elbows are together. And our hearts. Are apart. We are crowded together in this city as diverse people of cultures and many races just as we are in cities all across this country just as we are all across the world are elbows are bumping our hearts are not together. And so he said he signaled in that that idea of spiritual. Desegregation the important role. Of the church community. In important role of the church to be a place of bringing together not elbows. With hearts. And he alluded to the fact that. Bat. It's no surprise at 11 on sunday morning is still the most segregated hour. In american culture and it is still today because that's spiritual segregation is still. The place that we have to work. Spiritual desegregation the place that we have to work for it. And we're not there yet but we have to that is the special calling of the church in our culture to be a place where that spiritual segregation is healed. Where we are brought together the church has a special role to play in the healing of the divisions of our nation. And and our worlds. As we set out as we recommit ourselves today. To this important. And difficult work a building. A multiracial in a multicultural community. I want us to remember. Who we are. And what we bring. Tipis work. For we are not. Novices in this work we are not. Beginners and for all the difficulties of this work. We have already come. A long way. It's important for us to remember. Who we came from in there for. Who we are. We have to remember after all the people who 130 years ago said we will be a church of all souls. We have to remember that this church. Has been a multiracial community not for 5 years or 10 years or 20 years. But for 50 years. Which is about as long as a. Community could have been multicultural and multiracial. United states of america. We have to remember that we are veterans of the civil rights movement. Veterans of the women's rights movement veterans of the movement for gay and lesbian rights organizers for immigrant immigrant rights educators and organizers for racial and cultural reconciliation to this very day we are not novices we know that there is a price to be paid for this work. Many of us have experienced firsthand. The price. Of racial oppression. Many of us have experienced firsthand the price that comes when we struggle against oppression we have lost in this congregation. One of our ministers. In this struggle. The reverend james reed who died on the streets of selma at the hands of a white segregationist. He married some of you. He was the youth advisor for some in this congregation. We know that there is a price to be paid. And we also know however. That there is a joy. That comes. If there is a joy that comes. When we sit around a table together. And even for a moment glimpse. What it might look like for the great family of all souls. To be together. Not just our elbows. But our hearts. And every once in a while we catch. The glimpse of that here at all souls church and it's ever so important that we do because we must share that limbs that vision with the world i look around today friends at the world i look at the streets of the westbank. I look. At the streets of darfur. I look at the mexican-american border i look at the streets of columbia heights and everywhere. Racial and ethnic and religious differences. Are tearing us. Apart. Friends let us claim. Our theological inheritance. Let us claim the knowledge and the strength that we begin that we bring to this work. Let us reclaim the vision. About the beloved community of the great family of all sold the world desperately needs that vision and i asked us today. If not us. If we will not take up this challenge. Then who will. And if not now if we don't take up. This challenge now and offer it to the world. Then when. Will that happen. Let us be about. This important work.

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06.01.29TheMeaningOfLifePt2.mp3

Last week i. Ended my sermon. The first of three. On the meaning of life. With. One word. Yes. I suggested that the key to life's meaning lies in the ability of each one of us to discover a transcendence purpose purpose larger than ourselves. To which we can answer. Yes. With our whole being. Yes. The sermon. Provoked. A lot of feedback. And much of it came from those of you who are struggling. Struggling to find a way. To get to yes. Struggling to. Define meaning. In your lives. And so this sermon is for you. And for all of us who have feared. That life. Has lost its meaning. That life is. When you go home today be sure to read the cover story of the washington post magazine. If you haven't already. It's a story and part about a man named steve and how after much struggle he stumbled upon some answers. To the question. Of life's meaning steve is nearly 50. Now. But his story begins one day long ago. When he was just a toddler. Of 16 months and his parents. We're sitting on the living room floor playing with him. When they noticed. A growth. On his cheek. Your parents took the toddler to the doctor. And found that the growth was malignant. Doctors operated immediately recovery removing what they could of the tumor and radiating the baby's face to make sure they got the rest. The radiation had lasting. Effects on steve. The lower half of his face didn't develop. Along with the rest. The body. Today while steve is a large broad-shouldered handsome. Man the lower half of his face. It's like a child. His esophagus is so small it is. Swallow. The twisted contours of his lips make it hard for him to sip. His coffee. Nonetheless when he was a young child steve was able to enjoy many of the things that children enjoy his father made him an ice hockey rink in the backyard. And he loves to ski the family would often go on ski trips together. One night as they were driving home from the family ski trip. The snow began to fall thick and fast and the wind blew hard. The only thing visible in the headlights of the family car was the roiling swirling snow. Steve's father who is driving didn't. See the car just ahead of them. In their lane. And when at the last minute he swerved to avoid it. They were struck head-on by a car coming in the opposite direction. Steve's dad was killed instantly. Teen years were hard for steve. He underwent numerous surgeries to try to restore some functioning that his jaw and face painful surgeries one doctor took a bone from his rib and placed it in his jaw another tried to graft skin from his shoulder. To his face. The surgeries were painful. Withdrawing. From the pain of adolescent social life steve threw himself into his studies determined to prove his worth by becoming the best student in class. He went to college and studied engineering and eventually became a software. Engineer. We pick up steve's story again. When he's in his mid-40s. Still withdrawn he lives in a. In a development somewhere in the suburbs of northern virginia. He's a consultant now so he works from home to. Admit life steve was just going through the motions of living really. I just coasted along he said not thinking. There was too much meaning to life. Basically i was just working. Heating. Watching tv. And sleeping. Think about how many of us. Anesthetize our pain. In just those ways. Working. Eating. Watching. Tv. Throwing drinking. A couple of beers to take the edge off at night. John paul sartre the french philosopher said that to face the meaninglessness of life. Is a little bit like stepping. To the edge of a high precipice. And looking off. Into the abyss below. You know how when you've done that sometimes you get that horrible. Dizzy feeling that feeling of nausea of vertigo. He said that's what we feel when we look into the abyss of our meaninglessness. And it is painful he says. And so we anesthetize the pain. So. Many. Working and middle-class americans in their suburban homes watching tv. Working. Drinking. Two things happened to steve next. First. He had a spiritual awakening. He discovered. The love of god. He says instead of trying harder to get other people to accept me. I understood that got already accept. For who i am. God's love help steve. Learn to love himself. The second thing steve did and this. Is what the post article was really about. Is it he began to dance. One night at a church social steve watched a couple. Swirling around swing dancing. The smiles on their faces spoke of a joy that steve craved. Their fancy footwork revealed a grace grace that mesmerize tim. He started taking lessons and and then more lessons and pretty soon he was dancing to three nights a week at dance halls across northern virginia lindy hop swing. Will tango every now and then. Dancing drew steve into a secret community. Of washington bureaucrats who. Finite lead closeted lives as crazy ballroom dancers. One member of the group said we're all a bunch of repressed technocrats leading a double life. By day you've got the assistant deputy deputy undersecretary of soybean policy and by night he's jim carrey he said. And if you see the pictures in the post they do look a little silly the men are wearing their red suspenders and they're black and white suede bucks. The women are in saddle shoes and bobby socks with their hair pulled back in ponytails they're right out of a 50's sock hop. But you can't argue with a smile on their faces. When these people dance they are in love with life. Rumi. The sufi dancing dervish said. Dancing is when you rise above. The world. Tearing up your heart and giving your soul away. As for steve. His philosophy of dancing. Could easily be his philosophy for life. He says. Nothing is ever perfect. No matter how good a dancer you are no dance is ever perfect you're going to make mistakes your partner is going to make mistakes. So the best thing to do. Is practice. How to recover. The best thing to do is practice how to recover he said. The thing to do is keep dancing. Steve's. Story. Speaks of the way. The intimate. Hertz. That intimate violence in our lives. And strike. At the core of our being and deprive us for meaning. Yeah his story. Offers us hope. For how we might find. Meaning again how we might find. Joy again. But over the last few years i've found that for many of you. For me. The things that have led us to despair are. Are larger issues that. That. Afflict our society and our world. I talked with those of you who watched the murderer on the streets in the neighborhood of this church. And you are moved to despair i talk to you who watch the slaughter in iraq where the genocide in darfur and wonder in a world. Where it appears that life has so little value what can its meaning be. Evil and violence. By striking at the worth of life strike at its meaning as well. Andaz. People of faith we stare into that abyss again. Viktor frankl was a psychiatrist. Who spent many years as a prisoner in a nazi concentration camp. Many of you i'm sure have red. Man's search. 4 meaning. If you haven't. Do so. It's a spiritual classic. In the book franco asks whether. In the face of such callous disregard for the value and meaning of life. Asked whether or not people could still affirm life's meaning. For franklin others there was no distraction no way of stepping back from the meaning of life the question he asked is can we look into the void and find there. Meaning none the less what he discovered. Was it yes. Some people. Still found a way to affirm meaning in life in that context and that it was a meaning that allowed some of them to survive while others lost hope. Gave up and died. The key to survival for many. Was that they found a meaning to life. In the book he shares many examples of this including a story from his own experience. But i want to share with you now. Each morning the prisoners were rousted out of bed before sunrise. And sent on the long march. To a place on the railroad tracks where they were repairing the track. It was the middle of winter in bavaria damp and cold the prisoners wore little clothing rags of clothing somewhere lucky to have a thin coat. With the worst part. For the prisoners was trying to keep their feet. Warm. And dry because you see they walk through the mud and through the snow and through the the rain and oftentimes i had torn shoes or crude wooden shoes or no shoes at all sometimes they walk barefoot through the snow all day long. This was a serious problem for the prisoners. For if you stumbled. If you lag behind in the march to the worksite. You were taken out of the march. And sent away. To arrest him. Which was no rest cam. And on one such march through a cold winter's dawn frankel hobbled along on wounded feet. With the help. Of a neighbor who held him up. The two were quite a sight. Skeletons wrapped in skin. Clinging to one another. In the wind. And you know moments of gallows humor. His neighbor whispered to frankel. If our wives could see us now. I'll let franco pick up the story from here. As we stumbled on for miles slipping on icy spots. Supporting each other time and again dragging one another up and onward. Nothing was said. But we both knew. Each of us was thinking of his wife. My mind clone. To my wife image. Imagining it with uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me. Saw her smile for frank and encouraging look. The dawn was gray around us gray was the sky above gray the snow in the pale light of dawn gray the rags and which my fellow prisoners were clad and gray their faces. I was conversing silently with my wife. Struggling to find the reason. For my suffering. Mice lodine. In a last violent protest. Against hopelessness of imminent death i sensed my spirit. Piercing. Truvy enveloped. Gloom. I felt it transcends that hopeless meaningless world and from somewhere i heard. Victorious. Yes. An answer to my question. Of ultimate purpose. At that moment a light was lit. In a distance farmhouse far on a hill in bavaria. In the midst of that miserable gray. Morning. Add lux in tenebris lucha. And the light shineth. In the darkness. So there it is again. That yes. Even in the most hopeless. Situations. The soul can say. Yes. One of franco's lessons from his time in the camps. Is that no matter what life. Has deltas. No matter how severely life has restricted our severe of our sphere of a choice and action and agency we still do have a freedom. A spiritual freedom. A freedom to choose how we will respond. To what life. Has delta. And it's what we choose in that freedom. That gives meaning. Chihuahua. Friends i offer you these stories. Today. With little adornment. 4 exit jesus. Because we have entered the territory were reason and logic. Are of little value. I offer the stories as they are. In the simple hope. That the spirit that they testify to. The spirit in each of us that do hidden. Buried and crushed can still be rekindled in surprising ways. I offered them the stories in the hope that. That spirit can kindle something of your own spirit. Speak to the spirit that is within. You. At one time. For another. We all come. To a moment when we find it nearly impossible. To say. Yes. Nose moments it is important for us. To remember the stories. Of when we could. To learn from the stories of others. Who were able to say yes. In a dark time.

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06.06.11LearningTeachingGrowing.mp3

A funny thing happened on the way to sunday morning this week. I was all set to preach you a sermon about grace and then i realize that the children would be here all sunday. And there's nothing more boring than a grown-up standing up talking about grace. And then i realize that i had a unique opportunity this morning. Not only to speak a little more briefly that i normally do. But also to speak on a sunday that i think is a special one. A sunday that reminds us that we are not to separate churches. One that takes place. Upstairs and another that takes place downstairs. But rather that we are one community of faith. Striving each in our own ways no matter what age we are. To grow in spirit. To grow in welcome. And to grow in care for one another and the world. And so instead of a sermon about moments of grace what you're going to get instead is a homily. About learning. And teaching and growing. And i hope that gabrielle didn't steal all of my thunder already. The problem with working with talented people. One of the things that i have learned. Is that we are all learners and all teachers. And as i prepared for this week. Came back flooding through my mind all of the greatest teachers i've ever had. I thought i might offer you a moment this morning to think of all of your best. And favorite teachers. They may have even been people who didn't have the title of teacher or professor. But they may have been some of your best teachers anyway. I asked you to bring them to mine not just to think of what it was that made them your favorite or. Or what it was but they did that made them a great teacher. But i asked you to think about who they are as people. How was it. But they're very beings. Taught you something. And so to begin my comments this morning i will tell you about one of my favorite. One of my favorite teachers was mr. weinman. Who even though he has told me now that i can call him andy i still must call him mr. weinman whenever i see him. Mr. wineman was my teacher in 10th grade. And high school for me was an awful time. When i felt. Bilities unclear about who i was and very very lost. And in the midst of that time mr wineman was for me like. I don't know a beacon of joy and hope amidst all of my despair. Mr. wineman was my teacher of two subjects. He was my english teacher first and foremost. But then he was also my humanities teacher so he's the first person that i ever studied art from. And those of you who've heard me speak about art history and about my love of art. Can already guess at what an influence you are. Mr. weinman you see had this wonderful sense of humor. He had a great way of. Turning a joke. And turning a phrase whenever he needed to. He had a great passion for what he was doing. It wasn't in his classroom that i first learned something about poetry. When we sat in rapt attention listening to robert frost read his own poems. Was in his class that i first looked at images centuries-old. And found them as new as my own heart beating in that classroom. What i realized now. Although not really then. That mr wineman was one of the best teachers i've ever had because he taught me. That learning. Could actually make my life better. What do i mean by that i mean that he taught me that learning new things. Gave me tools for seeing beauty in the world. Give me tools for knowing what the color red could do to my soul. Give me tools for knowing. But some words can say just what you mean. Learning with mr. weinman. Opened my eyes and my heart. The lessons about beauty and love. But i had only seen in bits and pieces before. Which brings me to the fact that i have had money many wonderful. Teachers in my life. I've been so fortunate. Mr. weinman is only one among many. But it brings me to some of my best teachers. The teachers that are children. I miss i specially want to say to the kids this morning. Don't let us grown-ups convince you that we don't learn anything from you. Don't let us convince you that we already have it all figured out either. Cuz it's just not true. When i arrived at being a preschool teacher when i was entering seminary. There was a lot that i thought i had already figured out. But there was also a lot that i was sort of closed off to. It might be hard to believe now as you look at me but i was not very good. At feeling my feeling. Shall we say. I was pretty closed off. Pretty clear about the details of my life and not very clear about the living of my life. And i could have asked for no better teachers. The matt wild bunch of preschoolers. That i worked with. For four years. When i was a preschool teacher i learned how much i could love other people's children. I invite you to think. Firmament. Of me sitting in my car driving. For other for children in my car. Sitting there gripping the wheel as i'm driving them on this field trip that we're going thinking. I have you children my car that i like. They're everything to these people these parents and if i have an accident in something they get hurt it's just still never forgive me and i'll never forgive my. I have never thought. That i could love so deeply. When those kids would fall and scraping knee. And i was the one that they ran to for comfort. I never felt. Such joy such a sense. Of responsibilities at the same time. Those children. Taught me how to feel. And they taught me how to apologize. I suppose in short that kids have been some of my best teachers. At reminding me of what i am capable of. Both at my best. And at my worst. When i ended my time at the preschool and i went through a graduation ceremony along with all of the other children i got a beaded necklace that was painted by each of the kids. I got a stool that they painted for me. Let me tell you what i said to my boss. I said to her i knew that you were giving me a job. But i had no idea when i accepted. But this job would change my life. And now there's a new child in my life. Who's teaching me. Yet more. I've never had a child in my life before that i wasn't at some point going to return to someone else to take care of. I've never before realized that you can have so much responsibility and so little power at the same time. But one of the things that it didn't take me long to realize. And i said this to those of you who came on the retreat. Is it i've already stopped worrying well maybe not completely stopped but i've stopped tried to stop worrying about who athena will become. Because there is so much that i will not be able to do about who she will become she is already. A person in her own right. What i have learned is that i should worry and focus a lot more on who i will become. And who i will be. For her. And to her. I'm so my work. As a parent. But really the work of all of us living in spiritual community working with children. Is to figure out who we will be for them. Do not try to mold them into something we think they should be. But rather to be molded by them and to give them a space in which to grow and to learn. To think about who we will be. And who we will become. For the children. Friends. You will never know where your best teachers will come from. So prepare your hearts. And be open. To learning from everyone. It is my prayer for us this morning that. We may never stop learning. And then our teacher is maybe many. So may it be.

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05.04.03SpiritualLessonsFromJazz.mp3

The readings that go with the sermon this morning, first from cornel west professor at princeton university now from a book which is essentially a collection of his essays called prophetic reflections sue just a paragraph from him about jazz between invisibility and anger it is where self-confident creativity resides black music is paradigmatic of their complexity. And for wife's interested in the humanity of the other jazz provides them with examples of sheer and rare genius. A purely american form of artistic grace and elegance. Emanating from its subjugated exiled and degraded people. The second reading this morning is probably the first time you ever heard a minister said that the reading is from the liner notes of a cd taken from the liner notes of saxophonist joshua redman cd timeless tales for changing times. This is a passage in which he's describing some of the unique qualities of jazz and talking about music as storytelling. There is a song which tells you a story. It puts you in a mood it takes you on a journey. And if it is good if it pushes the right buttons it achieves a teen and commanding impact. But the feeling is fleeting. The story affecting as it maybe still belongs to a particular time. Place. Stylistics days and cultural space. No matter how much the song moves you. Eventually. Sooner or later. You move on. And when you do. You leave that song behind. Then there is the song which inspires a story that you yourself can tell. This song asks you how you feel. It lets you guide it where you want to go to story leaves plenty of room for your own singular imagination. It involves you. It not only tolerates but it demands your vigorous participation. And the story has permanence. Because it was closed through you. Wherever you are. Whenever you tell it. It is this song. Which of the jazz musician seeks. The song which attracts the jazz musician is the song ageless beauty and infinite possibility. It is the song which asks as much as it answers. Which suggests. Much more. Then it decides. Spiritual lessons from jazz. When i lived in madison wisconsin i had a friend there named alex who always been a lot of time with me talkin about music. It went without fail that at the end of our conversation we would always touch base about whether or not we had recently purchased a cd that we wanted to recommend to the other. And every once in awhile she would end those conversations by saying to me you know what nisha said shawna. All of my friends and things with nisha said but she said you know what nisha said meet you said without music life would be a mistake. Life would be a mistake. Has she been invited me as i invite you now. To think of how many moments in your life. Have a soundtrack. Maybe just a phrase of a song that was meaningful you for you at that time. And how many times in your life do you turn to a particular piece of music for solace. For company. Amplify your sense of joy whether or not you are a musician or an aficionado of music music has at some point in time left a mark on you. It has had an impact. And for me the musical form that has come to fill that place more often than any other is jazz. I will confess to you now that i have not always like jazz in fact for many many years i will confess that i didn't really get it. My grandmother nana as i call her was always always had the local jazz station on when i was visiting. She would always sing along to her favorite sarah vaughan was one of her favorites. She would always just glide around her house. Pop into a tune or two and i have to confess that i didn't understand it. You see most of the time those songs didn't have words nobody was singing. Didn't make any sense to me i'm at the time i wasn't really willing to make any effort to have it make sense. I just knew that it was the strange foreign kind of music and i'd rather do it back to my poptoons thank you very much and i don't remember when it was exactly. But i think it was listening to miles davis's kind of blue that i finally realized that the trumpet was singing. I didn't need any words at all to understand the feeling in the music. Something suddenly emotionally made sense. About the jazz tunes. You know what i'm saying. So in spite of the fact that i wanted something easy. In spite of the fact that i wanted something that was accessible and that made sense in the easiest kind of way. Jazz convince me otherwise. You see i figured out that as with many things in life not only was jazz music worth the effort. But the effort itself. Made loving jazz all the more rewarding. I discovered in jazz and arts form that has become to me more than a hobby more than a pastime more than something i just slip on to have his background music infected tries nuts when people put on jazz background music can i get an amen for that. Has become a companion in fact difficult times in my life when i've been going through something really hard when i've been unclear of how i would make my way forward santa myself literally sang probably mumbling to myself out loud in the car or something well at least you still have jazz. If all else fails you still have jazz as a companion constant presence in your life that will remind you of where you have been and where you still wanting to go. Jazz my friends evokes feelings for me that i sometimes might be tempted to bury otherwise. And i don't know about you but i am reminded and it's chords and it's rhythms in the phrasing of the singer in the improvised solos. I'm all i really need. Spinlife. Namely experiences of beauty. A sense of balance and harmony. Creativity. And an openness. To grace. An openness to being moved by what life brings to me. I think really that the story of jazz points towards this larger human story that's the spiritual lesson of which i speak this morning. There's something about what it gets at and all of you i can tell by your ovations already this morning for afro blue that it's reaching you as well that i can inform a heart it can make you open to loving and changing and growing in a way that reading a book or doing anything else. Is not a substitute. I asked you. Since joshua redman describes music as a story. What story does your life tell. If you had to tell me of a piece of music. That would represent you. What would you choose. And what story do you feel called to buy those things in your life. Which nurture and sustain you. Hard as it may be i have to acknowledge this morning that jazz may not be your thing although afro blue may serve as a conversion experience for several of you this morning but if you with every fiber of my being to find yours. To be in touch with it as often as possible in these days that really push us to be disconnected not only from each other but from that core sense of our own selves. What is it. What are those things. With which you would feel you are days. That connect you. To a sense of meaning and purpose a sense of love and life which cannot be taken from you. What are the sources of sustenance. In your life. How often do you take time to tap into them. For i am clear that we all have wellsprings that nourishes and that lead us well when we are in danger of retreating too far from our ideals. Retreating too far from our best souls and our best impulses. And so my prayer for us this morning my friends is that we may always seek. Life more abundant. And not allow the presents ads or cultural pressures of our day to dissuade us. From being our list. Human cells. My prayer is that we might find. The music. In our lives. That we might remember. Even in our greatest days. That spark of passion and life. That abides within us and among us. And around us always. Maybe so this day. And each new day to come.

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07.03.04BuildingBelovedCommunity.mp3

This morning's guest is dr. melissa harris lacewell who is associate professor of politics and african-american studies at princeton university. I didn't get chance to ask her about cornel west but that's probably a whole nother conversation about working with him she received her bachelor of arts degree in english from wake forest university my mother's alma mater as well and her phd from duke university. She is also currently working on a certificate in pastoral studies at catholic university catholic theological union we're here at catholic university so i'm already going there. She's already the author of a book which i think has a fabulous title called barbershops bibles and bet everyday talk and black political thought and she's at the work on another book which is inspired by an into sake shange play called for colored girls who considered politics when being strong wasn't enough. So i'm guessing that her speaking today is going to be as riveting as her titles. She also on top of all of this happens to be a single mother of a five-year-old daughter which is in and of itself an amazing accomplishment. And dr. harris lace wells appearance this morning with us is made possible by the all souls beckner advancement fund. In conjunction with our own personal building the beloved community task force please join me in welcoming dr. melissa harris lacewell. Good morning so you know a little bit about me but maybe no idea what i'm preaching from unitarian pulpit so i thought i'd feel that in just a bit so i am as i often like to say one of the only african-american cradle unitarians walking around the country with mother and. Difficult because it's been a hard year for me. On the question of beloved community. So for nearly eight years i was living and working in the hyde park community of chicago which meant that i lived again in one of the few truly integrated in every sense communities that i had built a network of family and friends around me that i attended and was active in the first unitarian church on the corner of woodlawn and 57th in hyde park that i was teaching and received an honorary doctorate from meadville lombard theological seminary of the unitarian school there and then and then all of a sudden i was in a community. And then my senator goes and run for president going to keep going back to brock and this time and when at the moment i feel so outside of it and so i'm doing in certain ways with the with the book title is about which is i am retreating into a conversation about politics as a way of thinking about how we might be about the business of building beloved community in part because i am now having to start again from scratch. If we excel at beloved community because we have a kind of religious vulnerability in a world where religiosity is about dogma and truth we are so willing to suggest that we might have absolutely no idea what is true that we cling to one another as we press toward an understanding of trying to figure out both what we believe and what what we believe means for how we live and so in that way are well-positioned for thinking about religiously beloved community. But i'm a political scientist and you guys are in washington dc and the land of politics in the world of politics especially if we think of it is electoral politics and the bickering and fighting and partisanship as though that's a bad thing. Did i believe begin to open up the possibility that the work of politics. Is necessary for beloved community and also that beloved community is necessary for prophetic politics. Now that's said i'm not going to offer much of a definition of the beloved community i'm not going to try to review the philosophers and theorist who contributed so much this is my own little political science contribution so here are the three stories. One is a story about struggle one is a story about negotiation. And the third is a story about failure. And all of these i think our stories about politics. Three number one is a story about a mop. As a kid in virginia i live on a creek in the little community that had a creek in the back and i'm the youngest of five children in my older siblings were always going down to secrete to do a variety of things and i was tagging along behind them and the so i got a little bit obsessed with. And i'm watching and imma watch it and it's taking a really really long time and probably not that long but i was eight so it felt like a really long time and even as an adult i'm deeply impatient. Need my help. Yeah i know you know how the story is going to end right needs my help so i went and i got a stick and i'd sort of just cut the cocoon just a little bit at the top so that it could get out and sure enough. My mom comes right out. And my mom is bloated. Better than he's meant to be. His wings are all wet and he dies. Any guys because it turns out that pushing through the little bitty hole of the cocoon is the thing that pushes all of the fluid out of the moth body and wings so that when it emerges. It can actually take flight. So it turned out i'm looking at this little piece of nature struggling and i'm thinking oh my god it needs my help i must be nice to it and that in my attempt to be nice and to be kind to the moth by ending its struggle in fact fail to allow it to do the any the number one thing i had to do in order to live what i don't mean by this story is we're going to have to do it through struggle because it's only in struggle that we can get rid of our bloat are self-righteousness is our white supremacy our heteronormativity middle-class assumptions. Then we're going to have to be willing to be uncomfortable. And that sometimes the best that we can do is bear witness to one another. Patiently. While we struggle in our community building. Okay. The second story. I have a favorite philosopher among the top 10 absolutely but i have a favorite philosopher. My favorite philosopher is charlotte the spider. If you have it not to fill it if you haven't read charlotte's web lately. Read it and don't read it the way we would read it which is to say as an adult reader you can sit and read it all in an afternoon read it one chapter at a time with a child if you get a chance whether it's your child or read charlotte's web one and watch charlotte building her philosophy. Now part of the reason that i love charlotte's web is because i have a charlotte in my life i'm not charlotte i'm wilbur the pig. She was in a class by herself it is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer and charlotte was both and truly blair is in my life both of those things and what she does is whenever i'm feeling bad as wilbur was often feeling she writes a little web over my head. You're some pig right and it helped because i'm wilburn and because this is a story about politics and not philosophy we're going to talk a little bit about charlotte but i want to bring you to the story of wilbur and where wilbur uses charlotte's philosophy. To become a politician of beloved community to read this to you just a bit. Charlotte has just told wilbur that she's going to die. And that she's not going to make it back to the barn. She's going to die in the fairgrounds. And wilbur was in a panic and he raced around and around the pain and suddenly he had an idea he thought to be exact and the 514 little spider that would hatch in the spring and if charlotte herself was unable to go home to the barn at least he would take her children along. The wilbur at that moment of panic moving his friend in the center of his community says i'm going to build me a community with the children of my friend but wilbur of courses unlimited little pig and the egg sack is way up high templeton. Whenever you see a ratna story this is a moment there's a politics. Once again it's templeton do this templeton do that what is in it for me i need this kind of sand is i'm going to die. And he can't just appeal to templeton's better nature because it's a very very small better nature. But instead he uses politics he says templeton i will make you a solemn promise get charlotte's exact from me and from now on i will let you eat first when lurvey flops me. I will let you have your choice of everything in the trough and i won't touch a thing until you're through. You mean that i promise i cross my heart all right it's a deal to the rat and you walk to the wall and started to climb. She. Employees templeton self-interest. To draw the rat into the community to make it in his interest to go and get the egg sack and help to build the commute now to community turns out again so many of the spiders go away from him but always each generation a few stay and so sometimes we have to be willing to find the moment of linked interest that we have even with those who are rats. And the final story is a love story maybe not a love story but ultimately the love story. And i told you i was going to talk about three things struggle necessary and politics negotiation necessary in politics. And then failure. Right. Failure both necessary and inevitable in politics so i'm telling you a love story. No for many christian philosophers who thought about the beloved community including of course martin luther king that go directly to the gospels of jesus to try to think about what beloved community is but again because we are now in the land of google beloved in the bible and it turns out. But in the song of salt that's troubling little book in the bible which is all about passionate erotic love which is all about sexual escapades bad behavior and the romantic. I think because one of the great lessons of love and one of the great lessons of politics and one of the great necessities as we think about building beloved community is being open to the fact that were likely to fail. Now. Sometimes in love it's the same failure over and over and over again and sometimes it's new failures and sometimes it's the same failure with different people and sometimes it's different failures with the same person but it's really really tough to get through romantic love without making a big sloppy scary frightening mess of it. Turns out it's also really hard to get through politics. Without frequently making a big scary sloppy mess of it. And if we in either our erotic love or our political work seized up and build wall and refuse to be open to the possibility of failure. Then we will never get to beloved nest. I know it looks bad. Right now. It is bad right now. I mean it's bad right now. And there have been moments where it is been just as bad and even worse for some groups. And there have been moments where it's been just as bad or even worse for lots of folks but what we cannot do is imagine that in order to make it right we cannot risk failure we can't imagine that the only candidate we can get behind or those that are likely to win. That was a strategy that got us john kerry likely to win while relevant is not the whole story of building a beloved community through politics that sometimes what we have to do is get behind a candidate that we believe in and then demand that they not. Bella house just in order to win that some candidates should be about speaking a little pony templeton level of truth to power and that if we could be willing to fail romantically and try again then we can be willing to feel fail politically but not to be jaded not to believe that the only way to building the community we want is only if we win but instead to find our first truth and move towards them. So i don't know what is a political scientists have to say about beloved community maybe only that if we're going to have it we're going to have to struggle we're going to have to negotiate and we're going to have to be willing to fail. And that in the end to borrow just a bit and. From. The epistle of paul we don't have to think of the beloved community as an end. But rather it is the process itself. Not that i have already obtained all of this or have been made perfect. Not that our community is perfect but that we together press on to take hold of that which the spirit of life took hold of us for. Not that we consider that we have already created beloved community. But that we can forget what is past and strain toward what is ahead. Pressing on toward the goal. For which the spirit of life has called us.

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05.07.17CommunityAndCovenant.mp3

The reading this morning really begged to have a sermon written about it in fact i loved it the other day when leonard and i were talking about music i picked out the second him that we're going to sing this morning cuz i felt like we hardly ever sing it here at all sold and he said well he wrote entitled the spiritual life of children and this isn't here and now we are walking together and in this essay he is speaking about a formative fifth-grade teacher of his and a classroom experience that taught him a great day deal about the meaning of community. He writes i was assigned to room 5 where she miss avery supposedly reigned supreme if not tyrannically to this day i see us all sitting in that classroom headed by bernicia avery of vermont lady heavyset with white hair and alert blue eyes that darted everywhere and sometimes concentrated mightily unruly vividly on the one of us who had gotten her iron up to this day also i can hear the words that came my way one school morning bobby i called your name twice before lifting my eyes i realized how closely i was being watched by my fellow students who knew well the dramatic possibilities immediately ahead reading a book on your own you are here with others and we all deserve your attention as much as that book valuable as it is she went on we are entitled to travel on our own path. But here and now we are walking together. Then dispersed finale which six decades later holds fast to my head's awareness. We should pay attention to others as well as ourselves we spend time looking at ourselves and looking out for ourselves but please let us look to our right and to our left to our front and what is going on to auerbach. Please let us be mindful of others as we hope they will be of us. Back home that day is afternoon i told my mother of the instruction offered us. We all been told to write down what our teacher had called for us to witness and consider and there it was now for my mom to contemplate. We should pay attention to others as well as ourselves she read my words quietly then read them out loud not to me but to herself. I can see her looking out the window off in her want. Then her eyes directed at me and then her words. If more people lived up to those words. The world would be a better place to live my friends we've been talking a great deal lately about covenants in fact you have yet another example of a covenant in your order of service this morning the board and officers covenant but our congregational community is rife with covenants right now those of us on the executive team my colleague and i and the administrator have our own covenant and all of you right now we are living into a covenant of right relations to see how it works and then hopefully to decide to adopt it in december and so many of you have said to me in one way or the other. What does the word covenant mean anyway and what difference does it make and so i bought this morning i'd return to this whole idea of covenant and talk to you a little bit about why i think it's so important why it's rooted in some ways in the very fiber of why i became a minister and why i believe in congregational community covenants as we know them have biblical roots. Biblical roots that trace back to the book of genesis a place where all unitarian universalist are comfortable but it is in the book of genesis and particularly in the story of noah that we find the word covenant that the word covenant serves as god's promise in fact the quotation in genesis talks about the rainbow quite fitting that we have the the glbt task for humankind in the way that god did during the noah story. A covenant really my friends is quite simply put a set of promises and agreement about how we will live together in the deepest sense a covenant is a way of acknowledging that without a commonly-held set of convictions about the how we will live together strife conflict and misunderstanding will rule the day perhaps the most commonly known covenants are those that those of us in committed relationships have with our partners whether we made them explicit with a ritual or not we do have understandings agreement with our partners that say i will live in right relationship with you through all things. Good and difficult times. That is a covenant how it is that we will live together and so because most of the time we think of covenants in this grand scheme sort of biblical sense or in this very intimate one-on-one sent very infrequently do we think what does a covenant mean for a group of us what does it have to do with all souls church but we had a wonderful and riveting conversation during one of our committee on ministry meetings when we first began conversation about a covenant of right relationship for the congregation and one of the things that came very clear and i will never forget this conversation. And a covenant that there is a difference between those things that are thou shalt and those things which are not we were very clear during that conversation that we weren't interested in creating a list of vowel shouts of shoulds and moths what we wanted to create for all of us but we wanted to try to compose and have all of us live into was not a set of valve shout but rather a set of how shelves as in how shall we live together in community what are the essential ingredients. Poor trust and goodwill no matter what my friends the house shall tsar what hold us. What tether us to this community when we don't get our way or aren't sure what role we play in the hole. At its best a covenant serves as a tithe that reminds us that our individual souls are better off.

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05.09.25ViolenceAndRedemption.mp3

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05.02.27StillIKeepOnLovingYou.mp3

I do have a reading for you this morning but after i finished my sermon i realized i think it's going to go best at the end of the sermon rather than at the beginning it's more an affirmation than a prelude and so will say it together at the end of the sermon and i'll just launched right into my sermon this morning tell me if you have this problem. There are some hymns in our hymnal. That i just can't sing in church. And it's not because i don't like them. And it's not because i can't follow along with the music it's cuz whenever i try to sing them i start to cry now if you were to look up at me during that him you probably wouldn't notice that i was about to cry because i usually try to at least mouth along with the words but if i were to try to make a sound i would start to cry at all. And our opening him this morning is is one of those hens for me. From the very first time i heard it 12 or so years ago i i couldn't sing the last verse of that him. Just as long as i have breath. I must answer yes. Hello. Disappointment. Pierced me through. Still. I kept on loving you. If they ask what i did best tell them i said yes to love. I remember i'd be singing along in that him just fine until we get to that word pierced. Disappointment pierced me through and there was something about that verb that just sent me to grieving grieving loved that i had lost. Back then my tears during that verse with tears of sorrow and regret. Today i still weak during that first. But for a different reason. The verse means something different to me now disappointment pierced me through still i kept on loving you. Friends today i cried tears of joy during that verse when we sing that line and my joy is for all the love in my life that has endured that has survived disappointment. The tears are for the people that i continue to love. Even through the hard times. I'm in tears are for the people god bless them who continue to love me no matter how often i disappoint them. My tears are tears of gratitude for love that survived disappointment. It's that love that i want to talk about today. Yeah we all have many relationships in our lives and and you can think of them as sort of concentric circles of relationship at the outermost circle are our folks you might call acquaintances. You know people we've met once or twice and and now maybe we see them past them in the hallway or we see them at someone's annual holiday party at christmastime nice folks of a relationship there between us and them. And then the next circle closer in there are those that we see quite frequently maybe our co-workers at the office or or or people at church or some of our friends and these are people that we that we share more of a history with and whose company we enjoy and we on a regular basis but even these folks. We keep it a little bit of a distance right. Even these folks only see the face that we that we put out there for the public. Only these folks either see the mask if you will. Both of us have some kind of mask. Don't we. Yoda mask is sort of the cleaned-up version of ourselves of our real selves i remember back when i was when i was hoping and disheveled teenager and and guests would come over to our house my mother would always say to me. Made up of the people who know us very well these are the folks we work with day in and day out of the office or our family members are our parents. Our children are siblings are our spouses. The closest friends. Old friends. The folks with whom we've risked. Taking off the mask. The folks are seeing past our facade these are the people who seen all our foibles and our failings these are the people whose images of a image of us and then put back together again these are the people who seen the best we've got to offer and they've seen us at our worst. The miracle is that at least some of them love and it really is a miracle when you think about it isn't it i mean after all we can make ourselves pretty hard to love sometimes. But they love us all the same and that hopefully we return that love. What i want to impress upon us this morning. Precious thing that love it. What a precious thing. Fat lovers. Can you think about those people. Right now. Hold them in your mind's eye throughout the sermon. Yeah i mentioned earlier today that i officiated at a member's wedding yesterday i don't know maybe a minister shouldn't do a wedding on the same weekend that he's preaching about love and disappointment. But i had to think to myself that maybe these weddings teach us the wrong thing about love. Maybe we have to be careful to this ideal of romance in perfection and and beauty that we hold up at the wedding up for failure down the road. That is not perfect but it's hard work that it's a coping with disappointment and working through conflict and i and i told him that i had every confidence. That their love could survive that disappointment and that their love would be the richer for it. Because i said to them. There is nothing more glorious. And nothing more holy than looking into the face of another person. Person who knows all your faults a person who knows all your imperfections a person who by all rights should be should be shaking their head of frustration with you or or leering at you in anger and instead when you look into their face. The light at you who you are simply for who you are. That smile and all the forgiveness and understanding that it implies. Is one of the most precious gifts on earth. One of the most precious gifts on earth and friends if you found it. Don't let it go. And why is it so precious you say why why are you making such a big deal about this love is precious because it's rare. We live in a culture that the teachers has a very different thing these days about love. And commitment our culture teaches us to love you know that the new new thing. The young star that the newfangled gadgets just watch the oscars tonight and let me give you an object. Apple didn't go and unveil a new version of the ipod mini which they always do right after you bought yours and it's got some new features and and more memory and of course it cost more than the old version to my horror was it the introduction of a new mini actually affected how i felt about my own mini. Rumi's words come to mind here in our professional him this morning roomie said calm wanderer come worship her come lover of leaving. Even in thirteenth-century persia rumi new about the enchantment of picking up our tents and going where the grass is greener. The friends we will only experience the grace and forgiveness and richness of the love that survives disappointment when we learn to lay our leaving down. And stay for awhile. When we learn to commit. This reminds me of other. in in our church's history many of you were here back in the mid-90s at all souls when the church parted ways painfully with with a former minister. Puppies have you heard stories about that time. Many people left the church then. Because the disappointment was too great. But i am so inspired. By the stories of those who stuck it out. The folks who stayed on the folks who who went away for a. but then came back again because this was their church. I like listening to these stories because it teaches me something about commitment. Yo man who says to me you know times were tough rob but i love this church and these people here and i wasn't going to let anyone take it away from me. For a woman who left and then returned saying. This is my home. I've spent the better part of my life at this church. I can't go anywhere else now. Sure is disappointed me. But i still love it. This is this is the love that has endured disappointment. This is the love i'm talking about today. And let me just interject the copy out here because because i don't want you to draw the wrong conclusions. There are relationships that need to be left there are in fact the church has a long history of saying especially to women. Tell you shouldn't leave that relationship it's your duty to stay it's your duty to stick it out and face of abuse in face of of whatever is happening and i don't want. But i am saying. That that many of us could learn the lesson. Of what it means to. 22 live into this love that indoors disappointment and to appreciate the complexity and richness. That comes from it. If i want to close with with sharing with you one more reason. But i think. Latorre. There is a great truth and insight that is to be gained from the love that endures disappointment because this kind of love teaches us that we are loved not because we're perfect. Poor because we're good. Because we dressed nicely or turn a clever phrase will love simply because. Of who we are. It teaches us that there is some part of our flawed being. That is beyond judgment. I don't mean to say that there is no judgment in the world because these folks who know us well and love us have judged us they know all of our sins they know all of our failings but they've moved beyond judgment they have taught. Another mother whose son has committed a heinous crime. Will condemn her son for that crime. But will love him no less. Because of it. We only discover this forgiveness in our lives. When we have experienced the love. That endures disappointment. Then we will know what it means to be forgiven and what i want to say to you about this experience of being forgiving is that it is a free experience. Sigh and deep breath that comes from knowing. That we are loved. And forgiven. And when we can move through the world in that space of grace then we have many more gifts to offer this world. Because we can share that love with other people then. And we were hoard it for ourselves because we're worried about keeping it all. We can share it we can minister. To the world. And when we do finally look. Into the face of that someone. That's someone who knows all our faults and who has just caused to turn away from us in anger and when instead. They smile at us. In delight. Delight for who we are. When we finally do look into that face my friends. I believe that that is the closest we will come on this earth. To knowing the face of god. Pay that knowledge be yours and mine. I'm in. I promised you reading. You know that the love that endures disappointment. Is it love that knows how to forgive. I want to invite us to turn to number 637 in the back of our hymnal. Number 637 and i'd like us to read together the litany of atonement. I'll read the plain text and invite you to respond with the italicized text. And i want you to take this to heart. For remaining silent. When a single voice would have made a difference. For each time that our fears have made us a rigid and inaccessible. Preach time that we have struck out in anger. Without just cause. For each time that our greed has blinded us to the needs of others. For the selfishness. Which sets us apart and a loan. For falling short of the admonitions of the spirit. For losing sight of our unity. Put these in for so many apps which both evidence and subtle which have fueled the illusion of separateness. Forgive ourselves and each other we begin again in love i'm in.

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07.04.08Easter.mp3

We seem to be experiencing a lot of synchronicities this easter morning and it seems to me that on the sunday morning when i read to you a letter from rob it seems appropriate to have one of his foremost mentors with us. To preach to us this morning. As many of you know. My colleague here at all souls became a unitarian universalist in part because of the ministry of reverend marilyn sewell. Whom he discovered unitarian-universalism at the first unitarian church of portland oregon. Which is where i'm at reverend sewell has served as senior minister. Quite a long time now. This is her 16th year there. And it will be a testament to her connection with our colleague reverend hardee's that she is here with us preaching on her own sabbatical. She's not in barcelona eating good food. But in all seriousness she is a writer and editor and wonderful speaker. She had dinner last night with several members of our women's covenant groups because she edited cries of the spirit and several other. Volumes of women's poetry. And she is one of the foremost. L and movers and shakers in our movement. Growing the first unitarian church of portland to be one of the largest congregations. But unitarian-universalism has to offer. And so we're delighted to have her here. Please join me in welcoming rev dr marilyn sewell. Oh what a pleasure to be here. You know rob. Is just. One of my favorite people in the world. And. I couldn't be happier. That he landed here. This is the only church where i would be on my sabbatical. I could not say no to rob and i could not say no to this wonderful church. And then of course shawna. Is has a connection with us too because her father is in archer. So i'm so pleased to be here with you today. I'm going to begin today by reading two poems. Bye. Lucille clifton. The first. Is called. The raising of lazarus. The dead shall rise again. Whoever say dust must be dust. Don't see the trees. Mel rain. Remember africa. Everything that goes. Can come. Stand up. Even the dead. Shell rye. And the second. Is. Spring song. The green of jesus. Is breaking the ground. And the sweet smell. A delicious jesus. Is opening the house. And the dance of jesus music has hold of the air. And the world is turning in the body of jesus. And the future is. Possible. Easter has always been a bit problematic for unitarian universalist. We are uncertain as to what to do with it. Some of my colleagues have come up with sermon titles that show their their discomfort with easter sunday titles such as. You can't keep a good man down. Or take the title disappointed tomb raider's. One of my colleagues daniel but remembers that one year at easter time his church was considering placing an ad in the local newspaper a congregant suggested as a headline for their easter egg. Join us. We're not sure what happened well we're not sure we're not sure what happened but but neither is anyone else. If you read the various scriptural accounts you will notice that. Saturday is kind of left out of the picture. There is good friday. The time of the crucifixion. There is sunday the time of the resurrection but saturday. Saturday is just silent. Nobody knows what happened. Did did jesus literally rise from the dead. Well the scripture doesn't support that. He was saying by his disciples and in various guises sometimes he was not at first recognized. And he was not in his bodily form he sort of. Came and went so to speak. In fact this kind of thing happens much of the time when when people lose a loved one. As many as 45% of widows and widowers report seeing their spouses. After the spouse.. Did jesus ascend body intact and to heaven well you know since we've traveled into space that calls into question this place called heaven is it a real place. Up there. Probably not. And so what happened. Who rolled the stone away. What happened to the body of jesus we don't know and ultimately it doesn't really matter. What. Is really important. Is what happened. To the followers of jesus that is what the resurrection is about not jesus's new lie. But. There. New life. Electric a story. The various scriptures i'll tell it differently. But i'm going with mark. Thought to be the first account written. Jesus had been executed as a common criminal. The friday before and there has been no time to anoint his body. For the grade as was the custom in that jag. There had been no rituals of mourning the disciples had fled the scene in fear. Mary magdalene. Mary the mother of jesus and salami. A follower come early. On sunday morning to the cemetery. These women are here to do what they can to bring some modicum of respect to this ugly. This devastating event. I don't know anything about salame but but mary magdalene. According to the apocryphal. Gospel of thomas was jesus's favorite disciple in fact jesus and take peter was jealous of the loving attention that jesus paid to marry. And she threw him. What must she have been feeling that morning. And then there was was was mary his mother. The woman who had birthed him in and raised him and loved him as her very flesh. And had elected to stay at the foot of the cross with him. While he's suffered in agony. And.. What must have been. Been going on inside that woman. And when i got to the gym it was still dark. But even in the predawn light they see that the heavy stuff that had been placed there by the roman soldiers in front of the tomb had been rolled aside. There's only one conclusion that they could come to that this is a funnel cruelty but the final injustice they won't even have a body to anoint. They won't even have a way to say goodbye. They entered the empty tomb. All hope gone. And there they fine a young man clothes. And in a long white garment. Clearly. He is not of this world. He tells them. Be not afraid. E-cig jesus of nazareth who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. Go. And tell his disciples. And the women run from the play. Trembling. Anime. The angel tells him be not afraid this was the same message that the angel brought to mary so many years ago. When she was told that she was to birth the messiah. And of course she was afraid. And of course of course these three women on this day are frayed. This is this is such a very human story. Of course we are afraid when the hand of god reaches down to us and god says i'm here. I'm with you pay attention things are going to be changing. You think it's all over god said you think you can adjust to this deadness. Oh no no no. You are called to new life. And we look upon this new lie. With fear. And with trembling. What an amazing story. It is everything in it. Let's back up a little while and and and get more the contact let's go back to the garden of gethsemane. Now jesus knows that he's going to his death soon and end he asks his disciples to go and pray with him but even as he kneels. And he prays in his agony the disciples. Fall asleep. Well they're tired. He tells peter the one he's depending on to carry on his work he says when the cock. Crows thrice you will deny me. But peter is incredulous. Me and possible. I love you jesus. And yet the prophecy. Come true. Then there is a passover meal known as. The last supper. This is the last time jesus will eat and drink. With these ones who were his closest supporters. And he says to the group. Tonight. One of you will betray me. Is it high is it high. They all say. Looking at one another. And judas says. Is it i. And jesus says. You have said it. Jesus tells him that he will no longer be with them and they begin to arguing over who would be the most honored in heaven. As i've been traveling with jesus for 3 years. Listening to his message. And i still don't get it. The end is here. How must jesus. Have felt. How misunderstood. How utterly alone. As he went to face. Torture. The chief priest. Turn him over to the authorities. Pontius pilate. Passes the buck. Yes the crab what will you have me do in the crowd they don't really know jesus. They are angry and fearful and they make jesus. Their scapegoat. The roman soldiers well they're just doing their job. Another day another crucifixion. Let's roll the dice to see who gets the robe. Is the story has everything in it. The agony of a country. Occupied by a foreign power religious leaders. More interested in keeping the status quo more interested in protecting themselves and their position. Lenin living out. The word of god or word of liberation. A justice. A prophet. Who is filled with the spirit of the divine who has come to say that that love is the way not violence not conversion that that power is in servanthood. But. These followers. Think in terms of. Earthly power. There are friend just too tired to hang in there. Friends who say that they would be with you to the end. And then run out. When the going gets tough. And then there's the betrayal of a close friend. For a few shekels. A game. Violence in the streets. Violence by the authorities. Does any of this sound familiar. Oh my friend. We live in a good friday kind of world. How much we need easter. How much we need help how much we need transformation. In these times. I find a jesus story fascinating. Compelling. And tragic. Jesus's. Jesus is. My kind of man actually. A carpenter you could work with his hands of a man of the people. And yet i learned advantage who studied in the synagogue and new the law. A man who dug it on children. Man who knew how to have a good time you ate and drank with the poor and the rich alike. A man who didn't mince words when he was in the presence of hypocrisy. A man who could talk with tax collectors. Who were the scum of the earth in those days. And who would stop and have. And not now. And a man who would stop and have conversation with prostitute. With full respect for their dignity and worth as human beings. A man who was totally giving over. To the one he called abba our father. Have a question i've always had its why did this good man have to die. He had only three years of ministry wouldn't have been better for him to continue to teach. To a ripe old age. Wouldn't his movement have gotten off to a better start. It's a disciple that had more time to mature and their understanding of jesus's message to mature spiritually. What about all that violence could we have just skipped the violence at the crucifixion thing. Why is that have to be part of the story what if jesus had decided. You know things are getting. A little too hot politically speaking. I think i'll just chill out. You know i've always had a thing for mary magdalene. And i know she's totally in love with me. You know. I think i'll just back off this preaching and healing for a while and get married. Do not settle down for awhile start a little carpentry shop race if you children. It would be a good lie. And then on the weekend maybe i could teach you a little in the synagogue. Then let me. Just as long as i didn't make any you know cutting remarks about the pharisees. You know it just wouldn't work out that way would it. No just on the cross. No resurrection. And nobody would have ever heard of jesus. He would be just one more itinerant preacher. Charismatic derbyshire. But. Just someone who had gifts of healing and who made a splash. For a few years. Traveling around in galilee. Yes there had to be the death. Without which there could be no resurrection. But given that we're not talking about a literal resurrection what do i mean well. As i said easter is not primarily about what happened to jesus it is primarily about what happened to other people by virtue of his death. About what happened. To the lives of those early followers and what can happen then in our online. Good friday. Was a horrible day. The man the disciples thought would be king but they lifted up above all. Was tortured and killed as a common criminal. All was lost god did not speak death was. Jessie and. The end of everything. But then something very. Strange happened. To the followers of jesus. After easter sunday after the resurrection. They somehow lost their fear. I lost their fear they became so imbued with love. Did they could take up their cross. Whatever that might be and follow jesus. And many of them went away are suffering and death. You know about the early christian how they were hunted down and murdered bed to lyon and still they went on bearing witness. There was a radical a dramatic shift. Their lives were changed work for transform. Faith somehow rose again in the hearts of those whose faith had died. They found new life. And i went on to bear witness to others they spoke of something in the human spirit. Facebook of a love that is so powerful. That it transcends even death. There was a transformation from absolute despair. To a new sense of hope. From a feeling that jesus was a relatively gone. Do knowing beyond a doubt. That he was with them still. Now in various accounts. Jesus appears briefly two different ones of the disciples. In the account in john mary magdalene sees the risen christ and that she has she moved to embrace him he says. Don't touch me. He is saying in effect. Dumpling jamaican. This is a new day. Things are not as they were. And you are called into a new kind of being. New kind of responsibility that you have not had before. In our own lives we live. Through the shock in the pain. Have i wronged good friday. All is lost. We live in the silence of saturday. In the emptiness. And as we understand that that which we pinned our hopes and dreams on. Is really gone. We long. For what we have lost. For what we miss. Easter doesn't change that. Things will not be. The way they were. What easter does bring though is a sure knowing that there will be a new day. I knew vision. Easter brings the promise of new life. And it seemed so often true. That we have to go through the good friday. Andy empty sign on saturday in order to get to the easter sunday. It is so hard to die to the old. To change. Personally. I just have to become so miserable. Or so angry or so sad or so scared that i just give up. I said okay god whatever you want. I don't like myself this way. I'm miserable i'm open to change. I want new life can't stand being away i'm help me help me help me oh god. In religious language this is called relinquishment. And it is hard to come by for unitarian universalist. Cuz we are so smart. So capable and so spiritually stubborn. Sometimes god just have to pick us up by the scruff of the neck and shake us and safe pay attention. I think maybe god is trying to say to us. I want more for you than you have been willing to become. Come on wake up. And we hear this and we run. Fearful from the tune. Trembling. At the thought of this new life. Afraid of our beauty. Afraid of our power. Yes we are afraid. Sonic human. But hear the echo of those words be not afraid. Be not afraid. God will not let us go. On that easter morning that first easter morning god spoke and god speaks again and again in the same way. Against all odds against reason. We are called to new life. When we think that evil seems to have the upper hand. When peace in our world. And in our own hearts seems elusive. When we seem stuck with our same old selves. When death. Seems to get the last word love calls us by the name out of the tomb. Out of the tragedy and pain of our lives saying to each one of us you are precious. You are worthy. Stop your endless searching. Give up the shame and the strangling doubt. Love says. I am with you i always have been. Lift up your eyes. After the long winter. The light will come. Sobeit my friends. I'm in.

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06.10.01HighHolyDays.mp3

Those of you who have been here long enough. May recall that during my first year here at all souls i preached a sermon inspired by the high holy days of judaism entitled forgiveness. Ifocus then on the important spiritual practice of the jewish tradition of making amends to those that we have wronged. And in that tradition is very specific that you don't just generally make amends by praying but you go directly to the source you go directly to the person that you have wronged and ask for their forgiveness. And apologize to them. And i spoke then about how you doing that making that apology and going directly to the source. Of pain. How that turns us how immature was tradition they lift up that turning. That turning of recognition of hurt caused. Can turn us toward right relationship with god or with the holy and i noticed a few of you stumbled on reading the god parts of that responsive reading. But there will be some god talk this morning because you can't go into judaism and not go there. Atonement. Which as i learned when i was studying religious studies to break up that word so that it made it even more resonant sense to me atonement. At. 1 mint. At one minute with god. With creation with all that is holy. Is rooted in our capacity judaism would tell us. To forgive one another. Our capacity to be honest about our own shortcomings. And our capacity to grow and to change and to do things better than next time around. I think as unitarian universalist we often shrink back from talking about maybe this holiday season in part because we're uncomfortable with god some of us and impart others of us are uncomfortable with this idea of atonement. At 1 men. And i think that's because our notion of atonement is slightly different from the traditional christian view of atonement. Which lifts up that jesus's death was that which saved all of us. It was only through jesus's lost that all of us were made warhol. Well our religious ancestors didn't believe that they believed that we were born. Without of god within us they believe that we were born good and hole. And that really really didn't purpose was to get us back to that resource which gets so covered over and obscured. In our living. But i don't think you have to believe in the traditional christian understanding of atonement. Through jesus. But can think rather in this high holy day season about atonement through our own actions of goodness. Atonement through our deeds that bring us closer to the holy. To the sacred source of life and to one another as that reading that we just shared lifts up. And part of that practice. Part of the practice of turning. Usually begins with forgiving ourselves. For nothing my friend is gained if we cannot move forward with our lives because we are stuck. In every past misstep that we have ever made. And so with that background i want this year to highlight a slightly different dimension of the high holy days. And before i highlight that dimension i think since not all of you may be familiar with yamkapor and rosh hashanah i need to do a little bit of a brief description of the meaning of this season in judaism. At sundown tonight. Yom kippur begins. Yom kippur is the holiest and probably most solemn day on the jewish calendar. Yom kippur simply means day of atonement. And since rosh hashanah begin at sundown on the 22nd of september. For these 10 days. The jewish community has been lifting up. It's. Season of holiness. Rosh hashanah simply means it is simply the jewish new year it celebrates the creation of the world god's creation of the world. And is about this moment and time as 10 days when the window is open if you will for each and every person each and every adherents. Think about this new year of life that is coming. An interesting image of god having this book of life. But god lays out before god self and looks at each and every one of our lives each and every column and sees how we are doing in life and what we do over these ten days between rosh hashanah and yom kippur. Help. Figure out help god to figure out what the year to come will be like for each of us. And so a typical greeting this time of year. In the jewish tradition is may you be inscribed in the book of life. For another year. So these days these holy days are days of all and repentance. During which each and every one of us might move and impact. God's impression of the year that we might have in front of us. And each and every one of us can affect god's decision. God's decree if you will. By committing ourselves to avoiding the same mistakes that we made last year in the year to come. Empire performing good deeds. Mitzvahs. By asking forgiveness from those that we wrong. By bringing our self. Into right relationship with others and with god. I thought as i was reading. Description of the high holy days. And as i sat once again with some of the texts that i turn 22 understand. This tradition. That this year in felt particularly meaningful to me. Especially particularly meaningful for what's going on in our church community at all souls right now. I've been sensing and perhaps many of you have a lot of anxiety around here lately. A lot of upset about change and about what is unknown about our future as a spiritual community. And when you factor that into the stress of living in this city. The city with its frantic pace. The city which tends to wear many of us down. It becomes all too easy for us to be anything but forgiving. With ourselves or with those around us. It makes it all too easy to go about our days closed off from one another. In a self-protective mode rather than an open. And loving mode. And so this year in the midst of all of this change in our community i lift into your thoughtfulness this morning. The idea that perhaps this high holy day season. Holds a great deal for us. It tells us. But even though we might be hurried or worried or anxious. Even though we might be tempted to run about in our franticness and forget those around us and focus only on our own lives. That we might be a bit more sensitive. To the hertz about us. Four friends i have noticed in this congregation. But in addition to being the wonderful and accomplished and gifted people that you all are. There are also many ways and many within our midst. Who struggle and who grieve. And who at times feel lost. We are very much in need of right relationship. We are very much in need of being tender-hearted with one another. We are very much in need. Of recognizing that how we treat ourselves and one another is directly connected to our relationship to the holy. Those are not two separate things but. Integrally connected to one another. So having said that about the meaning of the season for us here at all souls church. It doesn't make it easy to simply say oh yes well then i will forgive myself i will forgive other people easy enough to do right. Yes we can find a few words of sorry or apology and we can act in ways that are kind occasionally. But that won't just make things fall into place. And that's precisely why this turning. This movement is spiritual work. And goes to the very root and the very heart of who we are and how we are. I remember clearly one of my first lessons in this work when i was in seminary i took a course in spiritual direction. Which is essentially a course and how to be with other people it's almost a counseling type course that i took in seminary. With a woman by the name of dodie donnelly who was a retired catholic nun who was in her mid-seventies. Why is it that they always have all the knowledge and wisdom to impart. And one day in class she had let us in what you would either if you were buddhist think of it as a loving-kindness meditation. Or if you have a more christian or jewish orientation like consider a prayer. In which she let us through stages. That sort of got progressively more difficult. First world sitting there. Breathing deeply in our prayer. If she had a spring to mind a person that we loved. Someone that we care deeply about and wanted to pray for. Their continued wellness and happiness. That was pretty easy to do. Then she said bring to mind someone. Then you have something unresolved with. Perhaps someone you had an argument with recently someone that you. Maybe aren't even getting along with maybe you're not even speaking to this person anymore. She said i want you to bring that person into your mind's eye into your hearts i. And imagine praying for them. Praying for their wellness. Praying my baby at peace may they be well may they be whole. And she said and now i want you to imagine taking that person. And literally handing them over. T'god. And she's a nintendo i want you to really take your hand and hand them over. T'god. And she said because there's nothing more that you can do for this person that god couldn't do better than you for this person. There's nothing more that you can say to resolve this maybe you've already apologized. I'm so we all wrestled with that i found out that kind of hard to do. And then perhaps the hardest she said now i want you to imagine. Having yourself. In your mind's eye. Your own being. Everything that you have ever done or longed for or wanted. Everything that you have. Dunwell everything that you have. Done wrong or made mistakes at and i want you to imagine holding yourself with that same love and light and hope. And what amazed me was not only how hard it was. To hold myself in that life but it was amazing to me what a relief. It all was to realize that my but the spiritual work wasn't only for me to do. But was for me to do in a community of others and was for the spirit of all life to do. So friends i invite you this morning at some point soon to try that spiritual practice. To imagine. Praying for the troublesome if you will to imagine praying for one you love. To imagine praying for yourself. To imagine. Praying at all. Imagine friends. That god keeps a book of life. And that it is not up to you. To keep all of life in order to keep it all straight in your mind's eye we all carry around this weight of responsibility this understanding that it's up to us. Friends the only thing that you have in that great book of life is one line. One line that is your life. It is your job to write the narrative of your days. In such a way with such meaning and such carefulness. With such tenderness and love with all that you can muster. So that that single line. My add to that whole book. A note of beauty. An image of loveliness. It is not up to us. Change the course of life. But to look at our own lives. At your own particular life. And to make the most of it. To give with it what you can to contribute your soul. To the healing of all souls. So that some difference can be made. If i came up with that image of this. Book and my line are your line or all of our lines in that book of life i was drawn back. To an image another image in judaism. Which i want to close with this morning. It's an image that may have been drawn to some of your attention when we hosted the conference here of spiritual the network of spiritual progressives in may. Many of you struggled with the word tycoon and couldn't figure out how to pronounce it or what mentor why rabbi learners organization was called coon. And so this morning i'm going to tell you the story of tikkun olam. In an ancient mystic jewish texts known as the qabalah made famous by madonna just kidding. Written sometime around 180 nobody's exactly sure when the kaaba law was written or when it was pulled altogether. There was an image much like this image i just drew for u of a book of life. There was an image of the universe as it was created by god as whole. Whole but almost like a pottery earthen vessel the whole universe was. And it was so great almost so immense so filled with the holy light of god. Could not. Keep its integrity. I'm at universe the universe as it was when when god created it. Shattered. And exploded and sent shards of that holiness and wholeness that was the universe that was godself some folks would say. That was i'm so for the infinite. All over the universe. So if you can imagine. There are shards of holiness. Shards of godliness. Shards of beauty. Embedded. In our world. And that our world is indeed broken literally in that image but that it is the job of each of us and writing that blind but we are working on. Could take our chard. And be a part of repairing the world to coon hola means repairing the world. And when i first heard of that image. I thought of how many of the world's traditions have that image. Our own unitarian-universalism that there is that divine light quakerism that each and everyone of us have the inner light in our teacher and that it is for us to bring that together to recreate to repair. The broken universe. So through the fulfillment of good deeds of mitzvahs the kabbalists believe that jews perform that act of tikkun olam. Gradually returning the universe to its form as god originally intended. And. As importantly making us. Making human beings. Partners. In god's creation. Friends we too are sometimes broken. Feel shattered and. It is in this season. I've not only repentance and forgiveness but reflection. On the whole of our lives. That we can gather together the fragments. And move toward wholeness. That by repairing ourselves and our connections to those around us we can begin to help in the repair of at least that small corner of the world that we travel in each day. And so let us begin network of repair. By closing with our annual litany of atonement. Making one meant within. Among. And beyond us all. So please join me in the litany number 637. In the back of your hymnal. For remaining silent. When a single voice would have made a difference. For each time that our fears have made us rigid. And inaccessible. For each time that we have struck out in anger without just cause. For each time that greed has blinded us. To the needs of others. For the selfishness which sets us apart. And alone. For falling short of the admonitions of the spirit. For losing sight of our unity. For those and for so many acts both evident and subtle. Which have fueled the illusion of separateness. So maybe. And i'm at.

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06.02.05TheMeaningOfLifePt3.mp3

Before i begin my sermon this morning i just have a brief reading to share. It's it's from doug hammarskjold again who is someone who's been. Popping up in the sermon series quite a bit. This is another quote of his. That will serve as an indication for. Are sermon today. It's just two lines. For all that has been. Thanks. For all that is yet to be. Yes. Let me begin with a confession. It is customary for pastors who have logged. Significant years in the ministry to preacher sermon on say the 10th or 20th anniversary of their ordination that's called something like. How my mind has changed. The truth is these are some of the most interesting sermons because they reveal how after many years in the ministry. The minister sees the world differently now. Well maybe it's a sign of just how quickly things change now in our rapid-fire information age or. Maybe it's just the nature of the topic. But today i must confess to you that. It hasn't taken me 10 or 20 years. In the mirror three weeks. Since i began this sermon on the meaning of life the sermon series on the meaning of life. I have already changed my mind. I hope you're not disappointed. I mean here i've been building it up over the last few weeks looking at the question from one angle and then from another. Always promising that on this final week we walk away with some conclusions with some real answers and now here i am telling you that i changed my mind. What kind of confidence can you have in a minister who in just three weeks has changed his mind on the topic is important and fundamental is the meaning of life. Well let me try to reassure you. By saying that i've not had 180-degree turnaround. And then i don't disavow anything that i've said thus far in the last two sermons but i am. Singing the question differently now. And i want to share with you today how my mind is shifted to see that if you that to see if it might help you. In your own search. 4. The answer to this question. So i'm going to take you on a little journey with me here. And ask you to stay with me as i cover the territory that i've traveled in the last few weeks. To come to the answers that ivory. First of all there have been two things. But i have not been able to get out of my mind. Since i began preparing these sermons. Two things that keep nagging at me. And the first is the story that i told you at the very beginning of the very first sermon. Remember it's a story about. The rabbi. The learned rabbi the greatest teacher of his day was dying and his students gathered by his bedside to receive his final teaching and they asked him. Rabbi what is the mean. Life. And he said life is like a river. And they said. What. And he said. So maybe it's not like a river and then he died that's the cliff notes version for those of you who are in here two weeks ago. Got two weeks ago i suggested that what the rabbi was trying to teach his students on his deathbed was it the meaning of life isn't something that you can that you can tell somebody else. Yeah but you have to answer it for yourself. But now i'm thinking that the rabbi was going even further. The lady he was challenging the very premise. Of his students question. What is the meaning of life. That's one thing. The second thing that has stuck in my mind over the course of. These weeks is that pesky word. Yes. It keeps coming up in my study and reading and i keep putting it into my sermons last week. We heard viktor frankl. On the verge of death in a concentration camp. Say yes. When he caught a glimpse of life's meaning even. Darkest hour. The week before it was the former un secretary-general dag hammarskjold who said yes when he decided to dedicate his life. Peacemaking. And i want to read for you one last time his account of that yes because here's where the shift started to happen. For me. He says. I don't know who. Or what. Put the question. I don't know when it was. I don't even remember. Answering. But at some moment i did answer yes. To someone. Or something. And from that moment i was certain that existence is meaningful and that therefore my life. In self-surrender. Had a goal. God read that quote probably. 100 *. But just this week. It dawned on me that commerce code. Is not asking. The question. What is the meaning. Of life. He's not asking any question at all. He's answering a question. He says i don't know who or what put the question but i answered yes. Am i sorta went back. And reviewed my notes in my thoughts on the subject and i checked out my own experience and realize that it it always seems like it's the it's the philosopher's in the. And the theologians in the preachers. Who are asking questions like what is the meaning of life. But when you hear stories about people discovering. The meaning of life they're not asking questions. They're answering a question. And i ask myself. What is that question. Well this was all happening about thursday of this week. And i'll tell you there's nothing like being to sermons into a 3 sermon series. When you suddenly realize that you're barking up the wrong tree and you got to start all over again. Put on thursday. It all started to come together. I went back to viktor frankl. Man's search. 4 meaning. The franco psychotherapist reaffirmed with the rabbi was trying to say to his students he says it's not helpful really for human beings to interrogate life and its enormity by asking life what is your meaning. It's too big a question. He says it's kind of like asking a chess player. What is the best move in the game of chess. Chess player can't answer that question for you to get a stabilized depends on the game. It depends on what's happening on the board. Similarly says frankel it's fruitless to ask about the demeaning capital m of life. Capital l. It's too broad a question he says we need to look at the question. In a different way. Instead of us. Interrogating life. Or interrogating god and saying what is. Your meaning. He says we should imagine. Life. Or god. Interrogating. Bus. What is your. Meaning. What is the meaning. Of your life. Our job isn't so much to ask cuz frank. Ifsta answer. We have to answer. For our lives. We have to answer with. Our lives. Have you understand that the shift then trying to make here. The ship from seeing ourselves as the ones who speak the question. To the ones who are being asked the question. From interrogator to interrogated. I don't think it's just a semantic difference that were talking about how we go about. Searching for meaning. Let me just try to be as a concrete and as clear as i can be. When you walk out of those doors today. You will. Be walking along the sidewalk and you will step over the debris. Of last night's heroine.. Maybe you'll step around the body of a homeless person. Still recovering from last night. Ben. You'll walk past homes in this neighborhood that are boarded up right next to construction cranes that are. Building the brand new condos. And in that moment. As you take all of that in. You are being asked a question. And later when you go home and read the sunday paper and you read about how how medicare is being slashed to pay for the war in iraq. Or how new orleans still hasn't been rebuilt and may never be. Score when you read the tributes to coretta scott king or to betty ford an. You are being asked a question. Then. Or even later in the day when you make your sunday phone calls. To your relatives your family your loved one then you hear from your sister that she's going to. Going to have a baby. Or you hear from. From your brother that. That he's been diagnosed. Cancer. You are being asked a question in that moment. In each of these moments in every moment life is saying to you. Here i am. I am beautiful. I am broken. Here you are you are beautiful you are broken. So what's it going to be. What do you say to life. What is your response to the beauty. And the brokenness. That's the question to james baldwin. Asked. In the fire next time he surveyed the destruction. Of the african american community in the fifties and sixties and compared it with the joy that he saw in the community and he asked in the midst of the brokenness and the beauty he said what shall we do with all this beauty. That's the question that's being asked of you. And what that question demands of us is not only a yes. Or no. With that question demands. And action. Not only do we answer for our lives. We answer with our lives with our actions in response. To each and every moment. Let me. Let me try to describe it another way if. If i can. Let's just imagine for a moment. That this this church service that all of us here together. Is one single moment of time. The presence. Each one of us has has brought to this present moment. Our entire history. All the past. All are. All are. Foibles and our gifts all of our joys and our hurts. All the relationships that we made all the histories of the people with whom we are in a relationship that's all the baggage that we have toted with us into this present moment. And in a few moments when you walk out those doors. From the present into the future. We. We have no idea what will happen we think we know what will happen cuz we have a plan. For what's going to happen when we walk out those doors but you've heard the old joke about how the best way to to make god laugh. Is to tell her your plans. We don't know what's going to happen. What we have is this present. Moments. And the creative power that is inherent. In this moment. That is the creative power to take. All of our past. Everything that has shaped us. And to shape it. And molded. And take it into the future to make the future floor just more kind more loving more joyous than the past. We are both determined people. And we are free. What is what we do with our freedom. Our freedom to shape the present and the future. That is the key to the meaning of life. That's where i get to this. Second quotes by hammarskjold that i shared with you today. It's a spirituality that we need for being in the present moment. Where we can actually stand in the present and say to ourselves. And to the world. For all that has been. Yes. For all that has been. So happens when i don't preach i'm note for all that has been thanks. For all that is yet to be. Yes. I told the children. Story today about noah. I hope you understood that it was meant for you. 2. Because i think that life's meaning isn't simply responding. To the question that is posed to us in each successive moment. I think that over time we see a pattern. In those moments. A pattern. To those. Question. And it reminds me of a famous and wonderful saying by the. By the presbyterian minister and author frederik be. Who said of. Our vocation. Of the meaning that we each find in our own life. He said that your vocation is that. Place. Where your deep. Passion. Meets the world. Deep hunger. Which is with noah was saying to the children earlier. Do what gives you joy. And be grateful. For what. For those moments when what gives you joy is also precisely. What the world most means. There is no meaning of life capital m. Capital l. But there is meaning to be found in our lives at that unique intersection. Of the world's deep. Hunger the world's deep need. An hour thief. Joy bauer. Passion. That is where meaning is to be. And that moment we must find the courage. To answer the question that is being asked. To answer it with a resounding. Will moments. Add up. Today's. And days add up 2 years and years. Alif. To a lifetime. And eventually there comes a day of reckoning. In western culture. Shakes by the christian tradition as. We are. We have some common images. For that day of reckon. Right. We sometimes tell jokes. About it to ease our anxiety. But we imagine the time when we come to the gates of heaven correct. And we meet. St peter. Who's standing outside those gates with a little. Will podium much like this one right here right. And we asked same peter. How did i do. Which is essentially asking him. What was the meaning. Of my life. We are asking him. And according to this version st peter looks into his book. And checks up on us and either says. Yeah well done come on in. Or. I'm sorry. You have to go to that other place. But again in this version of the story. We're asking someone else. To answer the question for us. You might be interested to know that in islam the story goes a little different. The gates of paradise are imagine differently when you come to the gates and ask the angel. How did i do what what is the meaning of my life. He's not going to give you an answer. He's going to take the book of life. And turn it around. And show it to you. And ask you to read. The chronicle. Of the moments of your life. And he's going to ask you. Answer the question. How did i do. What is the meaning. Of my life. He will ask us to judge. How we did. Friends i suggest that we take. That question seriously. Now. Let us answer that question of lights meaning. With our lives now. So that when it comes time to. Answer. For our lives. We can say with gratitude. One last time. For all that has been. For all that is yet to be.

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05.06.12DeliverUsFromEMail.mp3

In her book. The writing life. Author annie dillard. Speaks about how we spend our time. About the calendars and schedules. Let us hear her words this morning. How we spend our days of course. Is how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is. What we are doing. A schedule defends us from chaos and quinn. For catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time. It is a lifeboat. On which you may find yourself. Decades later. Still living. Many of you know that about 10 years ago i worked for a while as a human rights monitor. Guatemala. I lived in the middle of the rainforest in a tiny village that some refugees had cleared out of the jungle there was no electricity and water was brought up from the river in large containers that women placed on their heads. Village was run by a cooperative and every thursday at 5 p.m. the board of the cooperative would meet for business one of my jobs was to be at those meetings to document their work my first week on the job i wanted to make a good impression so i showed up at the board meeting 15 minutes early. When no one else was there i thought well i'm early i'll wait for a little while. The scheduled start time one other person had showed up checked my watch and i looked around anxiously wondering if i gone to the wrong place or if i'd gotten the time wrong somehow the other person who was waiting didn't seem to be concerned he pastime sharpening his machete we were in the jungle finally between 5:30 in about 6 the the hall gradually filled up the meeting was to order at 6:23 when the president doesn't really mean rather it means the time after you returned from the fields and bathe down at the river but before you gone home for supper. That's all this 5:00 memes. The other thing i learned was that i wouldn't be needing my watch anymore in guatemala so back at my hot that night i took it off and didn't put it on again until the day i flew home. I was reminded of this story when i read something that a latin american author recently said to a us audience. He said. You americans. You have all the clocks. But we've got all the time you have all the clock. And we've got all the time. And he's right isn't he we have no shortage of gadgets that let us know what time it is but the only thing they ever tell us is that we don't have enough of it that we are running out of it that we're late and it's time to move on to the next thing. So our days consist of rushing from bed to breakfast to dropping the kids off at school on our way to work and then back from work to the gym and then to the grocery store to buy groceries and dropping the kids off at soccer and then going home and cooking dinner and then loading the dishwasher and and getting into bed and starting all over again the next day. Too many cops too little time. A few weeks ago many of us gathered on the shores of the chesapeake bay for the church retreat there was a time to relax and and get away for a bit and that sunday i preached a little sermon about the importance of getting away and in scheduling causes into our lives and. After the sermon one father-of-two came up to me and said with all due respect rob that sermon didn't speak to me at all he said what do you mean causes. A few days later i was i was at church with our youth group rehearsing the sunday service at they led last sunday and we'd finished up the rehearsal about 9 and and i saw a tired mother look at her watch that night and say to me not we're supposed to go to the nationals game it was 9:00 at night. Whenever i hear us talking about our crazy schedules i'm reminded of that stressed out mom from the from the bubble bath commercial from the early 80s whenever life got too crazy for hershey's calgon take me away remember how did i get so busy how did they get so filled with. How do we get a handle on it all that's what i want to talk about today how do we get a handle on it all and i want to suggest that it might be helpful for us to step back for a moment here and. To step back from the details of our own lives and our own schedules. And try to get a little perspective. To try to see this issue of our busyness through a spiritual lens through an existential lens. If you will. I think it might give us some insight and help into our schedules. The first thing that you realize when you step back from the busyness of our lives is this. We will never. Win the race against the clock. You understand what i'm saying that time is ticking. And that one day maybe a long way off but perhaps sooner than we'd like to imagine time will run out on us. It's a certainty. Now even if that's not something we consider on a daily basis it is something that we human beings are fated to know about ourselves. We are fated to know what st. augustine once wrote he said that between the darkness of not yet. And the darkness of no more we have precious little time. On this earth. Evans knowledge makes a lot of us anxious doesn't it it makes us anxious about our time it's as though every time we should we check our watch we're not just checking or not just asking how much longer till my next appointment at some level we're asking. How much longer do i have left. Not consciously but at some level every time check. Is an existential time check. And one way we try to salve our anxiety about this is by moving really fast. By pretending to ourselves that we can outrun the clock once the illusion caused this salvation. By hyperactivity and it's a heresy rampant in unitarian circles. There's another way though to respond to the finality of the clock and that's too accepted. Does a freedom that comes. In knowing that out running the clock is a futile exercise. Freedom is that we we can let the clock go at least the existential clock. And let our salvation by hyperactivity go. Along with it. That's another way to respond. To isaiah anxiety about time but i'm going to bracket that that's another sermon we'll come back to that another day. The other thing though that the prophets and sages remind us about time. And this is my point today the other thing that the prophets and sages remind us about time is that it is not simply. Our own. And this actually helps us lift us out of our existential angst to our time is not our own rather time is a gift that is given to us for some purpose larger than ourselves. Time in history then become the arena in which these higher purposes are either too filled or squandered. The unitarian theologian james luther adams once wrote an essay called taking time seriously. Kennedy said that that god's purposes are or whatever altamed purposes our lives are given to will only ever be realized in time. Don't wait around here. For the end of our days we will be judged according to to house seriously. And for what purposes. We used the gift of time, try to make this a little more concrete. I want you to take a moment now and it's close your eyes if you have to but i want you to visualize. Your calendar your blackberry in your bags or you can actually bring your calendar right up now if you want to but visualize your calendar cuz i'm entering colleague of mine suggested that we are calendars. As a kind of scripture. As as religious texts. That narrate and reveal our faith. Has lived out our actions in time years from now discovers this calendar that you have in your mind's eye. And let's say there's setting it to find out what was important to you what would they say was the most important thing in your life. Judging from what you got in your calendar right now question what kind of face. Does this person. Have judging by her calendar. What kind of god for ultimate value does this person worship with their time. What conclusions might they draw if they looked at your calendar from the past week for the past year. Think about that for a moment are you satisfied with the conclusions. There are a tologist withdraw if you ask why make such a big deal of our calendars robb. I would remind you the words of annie dillard in our reading this morning who says how we spend our days. Is ultimately. How we spend our lives. We can make up excuses about our car calendar for this particular week of that one but weeks add up in two months add up in two years totaling our lifetime and that's why our calendars are so important. If you're unhappy with how the scripture of your life reads at the store your calendar tells isn't the story of how your want you want your life to be told that i want to suggest a few tips for you this morning and i'm there for them and i'm going to start with the easiest and i'm going to go to the hardest the first thing i want to suggest that you do to get your calendar under control it to make a list of all the priorities in your life the things that are most important to you the things that you want the story of your life to be focused on. Reverend shawna or myself are delivering your eulogy imagine that we're delivering your eulogy what are the things that you'd want us to say about your life and what it was worth and make your priority list of what's important to you s with that priority list in hand take a completely blank calendar and start scheduling chunks of time for the things on your list. It makes sense doesn't it that the things higher on your list to get more time than the things lower on your list and then after you schedule the priorities and fill in the rest of your time with the things that that aren't as important to you that the things that don't give you as much meaning in your life still those in later. This is ridiculous this exercise isn't realistic what are you what are you really asking us to do please be realistic now if you say this to me i have to respond to you that my job isn't to tell you what is realistic you already know what real is. So take that calendar then and judge judge reality by that calendar the calendar that you had in your mind's eye before by this ideal calendar that reflects your priority and start figuring out the discrepancies and what you can do about them start making choices. Being clear about what you want to say yes to in your life means that you must also be clear about what you have to say no to. Right now in order to take time seriously in order to get a handle on our lives and our schedules and our calendars we have to learn to say no sometimes even to things that are worthy even the things that are worthy and we don't have to apologize for that other people will say yes to those things. Can take all the things that you say no to. Off of your calendar gone fourth and final thing. Hardest thing. The the british sculptor henry moore was once asked by an interviewer now that you're 80 henry you must know the secret of life please tell us what it is and more thought about it for a while and he said the secret of life is to have a purpose something that you devote your entire life to. Something to which you bring everything to every moment of the day and the most important thing is. It must be something you cannot possibly do this gets back to my original point about how time our time is not our own but it is a gift that is given us for the accomplishment of a purpose larger than ourselves. Discover that higher purpose. Praying that purpose the key to your calendar we do it'll all fall into place with a purpose calendar that to us now looks like a random series of events that that make no sense in relationship to each other and that just clutter our schedule and leave us frustrated and anxious and depressed. When we can find the thread that connects them all together. That complex schedule instead resembles are rich and full tapestry of many colors and many friends. Suddenly our lives make sense to us it doesn't matter that were busy our lives haven't have a purpose that integrate and keep us whole find that purpose. Find that purpose. Friends my hope for us. Is that this community might be a place. We're together we can identify those purposes. That are worthy of our lives that we may discover. The purpose. That is hidden in our lives and that we may accomplish those purposes together maybe so common.

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05.02.06PassingAndIdentity.mp3

You work service. Doesn't mention any readings. Bye-bye had a great time picking out readings this morning so i'm certainly not going to leave them out. One of the joys of putting together this morning service is that i got to go back to one of my favorite literary time. which i'll tell you about more in the sermon the harlem renaissance. And so our readings come this morning are too short readings the first from zora neale hurston in the second from langston hughes two of my favorite people from the harlem renaissance. And i would say that i'm reading these small excerpts that were very hard to choose because the the entirety of both of the pieces are so exceptional that i commend them both to you the first reading from zora neale hurston is a short essay that she wrote in 1928. With the wonderful title how it feels to be colored me. And this is a small excerpt from that essay. I remember the very day that i became colored. Up to my 13th year i lived in the little negro town of eatonville florida. The only white people i knew passed through the town going to or coming from orlando. During this. white people different from colored to me only in that they rode through town and never lived there. But changes came in the family when i was 13. And i was sent to school in jacksonville. I left eatonville. The town of oleanders. As zora. When i disembarked from the riverboat at jacksonville she was no more. I was not zora of orange county anymore. It seemed that i had suffered a sea change. I was now a little colored girl. I found it out in certain ways. In my heart as well as in the mirror. I became a fast brown. Warranted not to rub nor run. At certain times however i have no race. I am me. When i set my hat at a certain angle and saunter down 7th avenue harlem city feeling as snooty as the lion in front of the 42nd street library for instance the cosmic zora emerges. I belong. To no race nor time. The second reading is an excerpt from langston hughes's 1926 essay. Entitled the negro artist and the racial mountain. Which is a very very powerful and very moving piece. He begins at b riding a fellow poet of the time believed by many scholars to bi-county cullen by saying that he was sad to hear that a poet has said that he didn't want to be known as a negro poet but just as a poet and hughes says in his inimitable way that he believes that that is i would like to be white. And he goes on to say that he. Felt sorry for that poet immediately because no great artist has ever been afraid of being himself. Toward the end of it had the essay hughes goes on to say this about his own work. Most of my poems are racial in theme and treatments drive from the life i know. In many of them i try to grasp and hold some of the meanings and rhythms of jazz. I am as sincere as i know how to be in these poems. And yet after every reading i answer questions like these. From my own people. Do you think negroes should always right about negroes. I wish you wouldn't read some of your poems to white folks. Why do you write about black people. You aren't black. What makes you do so many jazz poems. So i'm ashamed of the black poet who says i want to be a poet not a negro poet as though his own racial world were not as interesting as any other world i am ashamed to for the colored artist who runs from the painting of negro faces to the painting of sunsets after the manner manner of the academicians because he fears the strange on whiteness of his own features. An artist must be free to choose what he does. Certainly. But he must also never be afraid. To do what he might choose. As hard as it is i'm going to follow on the heels of zora neale hurston and langston hughes. Passing. For the obvious reasons. Being a person of mixed race in this country has led me to a lifetime fascination. With identity. I have always puzzled over the many ways in which any of us find ourselves capable of knowing who we are. At any given moment. And then living in the world in a way that's fully inhabits that knowledge. Langston hughes has piece in particular makes a strongly-worded argument for authenticity. As the artists of our own lives we must also be free to choose. Perhaps even feel compelled to choose. We have to risk my friends being ourselves. We have to be willing to be embraced or ridiculed to take stands on the basis of who we are rather than who we are not. Based on who we are rather than some smaller or lesser figment of ourselves. We have to find ways to be true. To our own sense of our soul. You see part of my own theology my own personal theology which i was getting at a little bit with the children earlier. Is rooted in the sense that we are each of us. Created in the divine image. To live this one and only life that that we can live. You have a gift to give to this world. What you were created to give. Along with all the flaws and faults and weaknesses yes you have those too but you were created to be you which no one else. Don't get me wrong. I know that this is a struggle that it's easier said than done. That there are all of the internal fears. The kids named them for me. We worried that we won't be love if we show our true flawed selves to the world. So we cover it over and we pretend to be something we're not we pretend to be stronger than we really feel. Because if people saw our vulnerability if they saw our sadness. They would see it as weakness. Maybe they wouldn't love us quite as much anymore. And we human beings perhaps more than anything else crave. Acceptance. And love. So they're all the internal reasons that it's hard to be our true selves that reasons that we pass ourselves off that we pose. As something we aren't. And then they're all those external forces. All of the all the wonderful things that the world of advertising tells us that is is normative that we know that we're not. Oh i'm not the right size or shape or i don't have the right car home and so therefore since we're not that great vision how can we possibly be open and true and real and authentic. How can we possibly be our most genuine. Selves. Which brings me back to why i found so many great friends. In the harlem renaissance. When i stumbled into a class that i wanted to audit with cuz it's cuz i wanted to meet the professor and know her my senior year of college i thought harlem renaissance sure okay whatever i just want to spend some time around carolyn beard whitlow so okay if that's what she's doing this semester i'll take it. And as with many life-altering experiences in my existence. I stumbled into. Something that changed me forever. I stumbled into the stories. The narratives. The life stories. The written beauty. The novel's the poems. Of people whose lives spoke to me. My fascination with them was born in part because i was reminded that some of my own our own human struggles are not new. The issues of racial identity and sexual orientation and fitting in with in different levels of society have been a part of human life for a very long time. I was then and i continue to be inspired by their life stories. Let me tell you briefly about one woman. Who is less well-known but whose life story serves as a bit of a cautionary tale as well as and inspiring one. A woman by the name of nella larsen. She wrote to brief novelas one entitled passing one entitled quicksand. In the late twenties. Nella larsen had her mother was danish a danish immigrant. And her father was an african-american man. Believed to be from the west indies. Originally. Antonella rothes novels and then at some point she also wrote a short story entitled sanctuary. And she was accused of plagiarism. About that particular short story. Which was enough to make her disappear. Back into the nursing career that she had started with. I never to write another word again. Why do i tell you about nella larsen i tell you about nella larsen because what's so fascinating for me. About her life story is not only are her novels if you read quicksand or passing sort of her own way of trying to understand her own life. All of these people passing and shift shaping and being chameleons in their worlds and trying to figure out who who they fit in with and why and who they didn't fit in with and who excluded them and why. What she wrote all of these things because her own life story is a story of being cast aside by her parents. Her mother remarried another danish immigrant and therefore ships nella off to a school. Boarding school somewhere else. Her husband left her and cheated on her and it left nella with this feeling that she could never even though she was fairly light-complected she could never be wide enough. To fit in. And so she wrote all these novel she wrote all these words to try to figure out who am i. What is my place in this world. And sadly it seems she never figured it out for herself or perhaps she did. Perhaps you figured out her place was not literary fame and fortune. But nursing obscurity. Perhaps we'll never really know. Her story and the stories of the lives of people during the harlem renaissance. Speak to me of the dangers of all of the categories we have. My friends you and i disappear when we are pushed to conform. Fit into neat categories in someone else's. Forum. Literally and figuratively. I was part of a group in college of mixed-race people that got together and we called our group i checked other because most of us has my friends. Our lives are not me. They don't conform to someone else's idea of who we should be or how we should act. Our lives and ourselves are blurry. And messi. And i for one wouldn't have them any other way. So my friend's identity. Is hard work. Even though it seems like it should come naturally you just sort of born and you know who you are and it kind of immuno of course it seems like it should come naturally and yet it really is when you think of it. Truly an achievement. Know yourself. And then to be honest with yourself and with others about what you have found. In your excavation work. Identity. Is hard work. But it is work that is well worth doing in fact it's perhaps even work that we can't choose not to do. For if we are passing and posing all the time then we are lost to ourselves. And sadly we are lost to ourselves in order to please absolutely unpleasable world. Don't you wonder i know i find myself wondering you walking down the street and you're looking at all these people who are passing you and you wonder what's really going on for them. You look at the person who looks calm and confident and clear and like they know where they're going. And you wonder what's going on for them. Will you see the person whose shoulders are swamped. Whose eyes barely lift. To meet yours. He wonder. What's going on with them. Just this morning at the back door as i was greeting people and saying hello to you. I was wondering. What's going on. With them. What is that sadness in her eyes what is that smile be lying on his face. We did a little less passing. A little less posing. And we were a little more real with one another. We might really know. Perhaps. This black history month. This month of recognition can serve as an opportunity. They both acknowledged the remarkable lives of past leaders and artists and scholars. Of african american descent. And also serve. As something that can embolden all of us. Perhaps we can be emboldened by their example and their witness. To more fully embrace our own lives. We can't run my friends from the racial composition of our ancestors. Nor should we want to. I often wish that people would just more fully embrace. Where there people come from. And those stories. And not hide from it. So we can't run from the racial composition of our ancestors or ourselves. What we can do is more deeply understand our personal racial history. And make sure isis that helped create a world. In which people don't suffer from self self-loathing. Or deny others the right to be themselves. For my friends in spite of the push to conform. We are blessedly unique. Counter to the images that tell us that difference is wrong or scary. We can and do uncover glimpses. Of an underlying human connection and understanding. May we continue. Define the grace and the wisdom. 2br best and truest selves. As we make room. For others. To do the same. So may it be. And i'm at.

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07.04.29GolfingWithMonkeys.mp3

Reverend scott w alexander. Is someone that i feel i knew before i knew him. Someone that you hear about when you're in seminary someone whose books are often assigned to you. As scott has written three-and-out 66 books including everyday spiritual practice which someone knocked on my door this morning to find out how to order. Scott alexander has served the congregation in maine. He served for several years and i think the church of the larger fellowship which is are. Are our congregation for those unitarian universalist all over the world. And he has served for almost 10 years now as the senior minister. Of river road unitarian church which is in bethesda maryland. He has a fabulous sense of humor. He has an indomitable spirit. And he's here with us this morning reverend scott alexander. Good morning. I am proud to serve one of your children. River road is one of many churches which came into being because of a paul davies my congregation began by. Around a speaker at a community center in bethesda listening to the grade a powell davies. Well actually cedarlane did. The davies was dead by the time river was founded but all of the suburban churches. Are your children. And we like. Australian like to see healthy parents. You are a very healthy church when i came nine years ago you were not a healthy. You are now a healthy church. And that is a delight. Now you heard about the chalice lighters earlier that's about parents giving birth to healthy children. We have given birth at river road to the congregation sugarloaf out in gaithersburg they're receiving a $20,000 grant this year. So that they can hire their first full-time religious education director they are growing with lee and leaps and bounds right now. River road over 40% of the members of our congregation are chalice lighters and you don't want to be outdone by your children right. Your damn easily 15%. And so your children are chiding you. To do better become a chalice later today and is it.. Please do that. Golfing with monkeys now there's a title to tells you absolutely nothing. About what i'm going to say today unless you know the story how many of you know the story. Great i love basically clueless congregations no i'm serious truly more receptive to the message that i bring. Here's the story. The reverend gregory knox jones a presbyterian minister who served. A church right over the river in virginia. Right. That once the english had colonized india and establish their businesses. They yearn for recreation and decided to build a golf course in calcutta. Golf in calcutta however would prove. To present a unique obstacle monkeys. From a nearby natural habitat would drop out of the trees scurry across the course and sees the little white golf ball. The monkeys would play with the falls tossing them here and there. At first the golfers tried to control the monkey. Their first strategy was to build high fences knox reports. Around the fairways and greens. This approach would seem to initially hold promise was abandoned when the golfers discovered that offense is no match for an ambitious monkey. Next two golfers tried lowering the monkeys away from the course but the monkeys found nothing so amusing. As watching the humans go wild whenever these little white balls were disturbed. In desperation. The british began trapping and relocating a monkey's butt for every monkey they carted off another. Would appear finally the golfers gave into reality and established a rather novel ground rule. For that particular course. Golfers in calcutta were obliged to play the ball wherever the monkey dropped it. And then the story knoxville simon says. As you can imagine. Playing under this rule in calcutta could be. A beautiful drive shot right down the middle of the fairway could be picked up by the monkey. Androp ignominiously in the rough. Or the opposite could happen. A hooker slice that gave you a terrible lie to be picked up by a monkey. I'm laying right in the sweetest spot in the center of the fairway. The unpredictable monkeys them. Rotifer measures it would seem of gratuitous bad. And good luck. When i first came across the story i was charmed by it. And the perpetual preacher in me immediately knew that this interesting story. Deserve an entire sermon in fact it's a sermon you're going to get now. It deserves an entire sermon because life is so often like this. As we try to navigate. The course of our lives. This morning i want to focus on the story about mr. this monkeys who insert themselves. End of the games. We humans are trying to play for i believe it is a telling. And spiritually instructive metaphor. About the lives we live in this open. An unpredictable creation. I want to make several points about the story first. There is the obvious truth. Of life other unpredictability. It's frequent randomness. And its related unfairness. We're almost as soon as we begin to think about life as children we human beings like to think the spite. The regular abundant and unmistakable evidence we receive regularly the contrary like to think. The justice every golf course has clear rules at the players will observe to get through the course successfully. Put in the game of life we thank. There's also clear rules to follow over the course of our lives. Which if we faithfully observe them will help us. To successfully. Navigate our way. Most of us even into adulthood have this tape running and the tape goes something like this. If i just work hard. Live right. Mind my p's and q's obey the law live by my principles. Watch my diet. Brush my teeth. Don't drink too much tend to my marriage or partnership. Carefully rear my children if i follow all these basic rules. About the things i know i should do. Then i will sail through this thing called life and everything will work out as planned. Does tape playing in our head is fine except of course you all know for one thing. Life. Doesn't. Work. This. I can say so with certainty because not only haven't been banging around this beautiful. And dangerous and unpredictable creation for 57 years. We're almost 35 i have been in the business as a minister. Of helping people come to terms. With unexpected and sometimes profoundly unfair and tragic. Events and conditions. Which intrude suddenly. Upon their lives. Just one heartbreaking example if i must if i might from my own personal. Circle. A few months back i received the shocking and unexpected call from my dearest and oldest friend in this world paul. A guy my age. Successful veterinarian. Husband and father. Who complain the last time we took a big cycling trip together and his neck was stiff. He went to see his doctor instead of a diagnosis of muscle pull. The doctor found a tumor the size of a grapefruit eating through his spy and they operated 48 hours but plates in his spine. Now. He is living with. Cancer. Overnight. His life was swept. Into difficulty and sorrow. This past good friday the day after his last round of powerful chemo. I called paul he has lost 40 lb. He said well. Things are going okay. I'm off the painkillers i still have something of an appetite. My energy level is pretty good you know i think i'll take it. I think. My friend said. I'll take. Tell me if the world you live in. Where i live. Happily playing along some fairway. When a monkey comes out of nowhere. Natchez my ball and deposited. In some difficult or painful painful place that you and i do not expect. It is an unpredictable universe. It is often unfair. And we are not in control. And just as in the case of these mischievous monkeys in calcutta. And here i arrive at the second aspect of the story. Which fascinates me. Well it is undeniable that sometimes our ball is capriciously drop. Right in the rough. As is the case with my friends cancer diagnosis. At other times. It is graciously placed right in the middle of the green. We're all we have to do existentially. Half our ball. Right. I passionately believe this remarkable. An open and fluid world of ours which we do not despite our best and most dutiful efforts. Succeed and controlling. This remarkable open and fluid world of ours. Has at least as much amazing grace and good luck as it does misfortune. And bad brakes. And i for one of this is one of my core theological spiritual assumptions and inform and guides my life i do not believe. But this creation of ours has any sort of will. Or intention. Or plan. No more anymore than the monkees who randomly intruded into the game of the people who were playing in calcutta had a plan or intention to drive them crazy. Life on this planet. Is neither out to get us. Nor. Does it promised us an easy ride life on this planet rather is full. A random an unexpected events and outcomes. And there is no way to know no matter how well we think we're playing by the rules we think arum place. There is no way we can control either of these things. We cannot control even if we wanted to the glorious. Miracle pleasant events that come into our lives randomly. Like. Meeting the love of your life. By commenting on the weather to your seatmate on metro. Or having all three of your kids. Grow up to be bright. Charming and successful adults what's the chance of that. We're having because of no discernible competence on your part falling into your dream job through a 110. Or defensive driver or not going through life never being involved so much as in a fender bender. You cannot control the good luck and abundance undeserved grace that comes your way. And of course you cannot control the other side of life equation. The unpleasant events tragedies the accidents the difficult outcomes. That come our way like. A life-limiting life. Retinal disease. Or falling badly after slipping on a wet spot. At home. Or having a marriage. Fall apart. Despite your best efforts or losing a job due to global economic conditions. Or having someone in your family go to jail. Or crime. No matter how careful. Or competent. Or clever we are analyzed no matter how diligently we follow all the rules we imagine. Veteran place to make life predictable. We cannot control most. Of the misfortunes which will come our way. Life on this planet is a lot like the chaos. Exist. On the monkey. Infested. Golf course in calcutta. It is weird and wild and woeful. And wonderous. Good. And the sooner we accept the fact we are not in charge the sooner. We learn how to begin to cope well with. This. And i will pause after making that second point. It is my observation. We human beings are far better in our daily lives at paying attention to and cataloging in our psyches. All the misfortune and unpleasantness and things we don't like. Then we are. Noticing and taking into our cult i know our hearts for care and cultivation. The amazing graces and blessings that come our way we are better at seeing and feeling the negative let me speak personally for a moment. Really cheerful and upbeat guy sometimes irritatingly so. But none the less i know that in my daily life i am quick to notice and grumble to myself and complain to any others i can find who will listen. About in any number of inconveniences or difficulties or challenges it randomly come my way like the toilet handle that snapped off in my hand the other morning. As i sought to flush it. Or the flat tire i had on my bike a few days ago just after saying gi to myself i haven't had a flat for a while. Or the chronic knee pain from arthritis that now cramps my style and makes my parishioners say to me why are you limping. Or the unexpected weekday interruptions at my office up at river road that prevent me from. Achieving my complicated work plan if these parishioners would just leave me alone i could get my you know about that i am not putting words in his mouth. I notice and i complain when some monkey of everyday life. Tosses my ball into the rough and what is more. Despite my best efforts. Is a cheerful soul to spiritually and emotionally notice all the good brakes. And the blessings that routinely come my way. I am more on william routinely more reluctant to acknowledge in my. Heart. How very lucky i routinely m. The breeze. That is so often at my back. The kindness and courtesy which comes my way. Perfect poem for sunday worship that drops into my lap on thursday. The beauty of the natural world around me did anyone notice this morning. The good night's sleep that blesses me andres. Why do i not regularly and spontaneously whistle cheerfully to myself. About all these wondrous daily. Monkeys. A blessing that drop. My ball into the middle of the fairway. We have no emotional or spiritual choice of course. Not to notice when hard. Painful bad things come our way. But the blessings on the brakes. We were all regularly receive these somehow require. More diligence and. Discipline to notice. I'll bet you anything the golfers of calcutta. Much more irritated by the. Monkey dropping the ball in the rough than they noticed when the monkey did the right thing for their. Game score. How are you doing. In your daily lives. With this balance. Knowing the positive in the negative. How are you doing in tuning your heart. The camber of your heart. To the blessings. As well. Elsa things. And here is the four things that i want to say. About this grace and difficulty. That breaks into our lives. In monkey moments. Recent studies about happiness conducted by psychologist at harvard. And other leading universities in united states. Which many of you no doubt heard about. They conclude all of these studies. And now i'm going to put this into the context of my monkey golfing with monkey story. Whether our ball is dropped deep in the rough. By some mysterious event that really throws us for a loop and breaks our game up or whether our ball is placed right on the sweetest spot on the green. We human beings these studies reveal. Consistently overestimate. How happy or unhappy. These turns of fate will make us we overestimate their power. Dr. daniel gilbert of harvard. Quote. A death in the family. A new gym membership. Or a new husband are not the same. But and how they affect our well-being they are similar. I'll research simply says that whether it's some pleasant event or a difficult one that breaks into our lives. Both of them. The unhappy in the happy. Will matter less than you think they will in terms of your happiness. And then he goes on you are overestimating how much a difference such events make. None of them makes a difference you think and why is this. The answer according to these scientists is simple. We human beings and now i called them again directly. Quote. Are generally unable to recognize. That we adapt. Pretty well. Do new unforeseen circumstances we are we seem unable. To predict they go on that we will eventually successfully adapt. The new life situations bday wonderful or wolf. And plus i arrive. Crucial spiritual point. Of the story. About the monkees. In calcutta. That is simply the supreme value. Of an adaptable heart. I might as well say it loud and clear cuz this is what i've been waiting to get to all money morning. I am passionately persuaded. Emotional survival. And spiritual success for all of us over the course of our lives. Depends as it did for those calcutta golfers. Their willingness our willingness to adapt to unforeseen realities that come into our lives. That we cannot. Despite our best illusory efforts control. Just like the golfers in calcutta wrote the monkeys into the rulebook we need to write into the rulebook of our hearts. That we will go with the flow of life we will. Cope. We will adapt. 4 years ago. The morning after hurricane isabel slammed into our region i was down a little cottage we own and my partner and i in prince frederick. And all of our neighbors we're on the other side of the road from the water all the neighbors on the waterside the chesapeake bay to come up 16. An overnight head wash all of their lawns away many of their homestead precariously perched on a new gaping hole. I want to cross to my neighbor jinx used to fly helicopters in vietnam tough guy. And we're looking down this cavern and realizing he's going to have to spend a couple hundred thousand to rebuild his property with. Rocksand riprap interior. Railroad ties. Commiserating with him. And all of a sudden this little twinkle comes into his eye and. He's about 60 by my age and he said. Will scott. Isabel took my lawn but she gave me a b. And i looked down and sure enough where there had never been a beach there was a sweet little beach. Or you could put a couple of lawn chairs. For his grandkids and he looked at me again and he said. She took my lawn. She gave me. I had a long conversation recently with a wonderful guy and my congregation name bob. Who similarly has been able to find his spiritual emotional way. By adopting to a tough situation he was just recently. Diagnosed with pretty severe diabetes. Which as you all know requires you make real changes in your life. If you're going to cope with that illness. When i was commiserating with somebody said you know scott. I never of course would have wished this medical crisis on myself but. I honestly believe it i'm not a norman vincent peale rewrite i honestly believe this crisis is the biggest opportunity in my life. It's an opportunity for me to lose weight. To live much happier to be healthier than i've been in decades. I honestly feel that diabetes is the best thing that's happened to me in 30 years. Just a little closer to home. For most of my adult life. I was an avid runner. Those close to me with say addicted. Iran for 25 years half a marathon about 13 mi. Everyday. Seven-days-a-week. Once a friend sesame scott why did you do that and the answer is because i could. But i can't. Anymore. My knees are as they say in the movies shot. I must tell you this has been a most unwelcome change in my life. I grieve the loss of running i grieve the loss of being in a strange city with a pair of. Running shoes and being able to go out of the hotel. I still dream. About. But i'm running again. I dream. Run. But i can't because of my monkey knees i can't but. The virtual adaptive. I've become a crazy cycle. I'll bet you know nobody who cycles 13,000 miles a year except for me. Two years ago i cycled from los angeles to boston in 30 days and i'm going to do it again a year from today i'll be riding again. My cycling has opened new world that i swim also what my cycling. Has open new world every morning i commute from 12th and you were i live in your neighborhood up to my church up mostly up the capital crescent. I see herons. I see fox i see people. With bugs on their teeth coming down the hill. I see my world cycling has opened new world of monkey. Troy. Many days when i'm on the capital crescent trail i pass a guy. He's about thirty he has this unremarkable except for one thing. His legs do not work. Quadriplegic. A paraplegic i'm sorry. He has a special bike. A recumbent live never seen before. With pedals right in front of him he paddles. With his hands. He always has a big smile on his face face. He pedals with his hand he has adapted to biking without. Legs. Adapting to a lost most of us would found find sour full. He handles. With his hands. The words of adele camus albert camus come to mine. Yes there are deprivation. There are deprivations which give rise to our worst sorrow. But what does it truly matter what has been lost then what is lost is not yet used up. And then he went on. There's so many things susceptible of being loved that surely no discouragement. Can be final. To know how to suffer. To know how to love. And then when everything collapses pick it all up again. Simply richard for the suffering happy almost happy. Almost. In the awareness. Of our difficult. Rabbi. Harold schweiz tells about violinist. Itzhak perlman. In this story. He's talking about his wife and he had a concert. With the exact. We have seen yet suck perlman. Who walks the stage with braces on both legs on to crutches he takes his seat on hinges the class of his legs. Talking one leg back extending the other laying down his crutches. Placings in the violin under his chin. On one occasion. One of his violin strings broke. The audience grew silent but the violinist did not leave the stage. He signaled the maestro. And the orchestra began its part the violinist played with power and intensity on only three strings. With 3 strings he modulated changed recompose the piece in his head he returned the strings to get different sound turned them up and down work the audience screamed the light. Applauded their appreciation. Asked later. How he had accomplished. Feed the violinist answer. It is my task. To make music. With what remains. Allegacy this. Mightier than a concert. Make music. With what remains. Complete the song. Left for us to sing. Transform. The lost play it out with heart and soul and mike with all the remaining strength. Within us. Every study. Of human success. People go through life. Says that it is the adapter. Those supple enough to roll with lice punches. Those willing to adapt to new information about their lives. Howsoever sorrowful. It is the adapters. Who make new rules in the rulebook of their heart it is the adapters. Survive. And find love. And meaning. There. The sermon is about 2 in. Here is what i have said. Life is often hard. Life. Is often difficult. Life is unpredictable. Chaotic. And unfair. Random things happen to us that throw us for a loop. Havoc in our lives and rendered inoperative all the rules we wished. Auronplay. Creation as open and fluid as this one god blessed. We cannot control. Such. Random. Chances we are not masters. Of our outward life. But we are masters. Of our inner lives. We can control. How we react. And the dab. We can align the campers of our hearts. In ways that will allow us to move on in life and love. Like the golfers in calcutta. We are free to stay in our game. And be a player on whatever run with fairway we find ourselves. But we need to remember the new rule. Play the ball where the monkey drops at know some of you were going to go home to that naughty spouse we stayed in bed with the washington post this morning. And i going to say to you hun what did you learn in church this morning and you're going to say play the baltic let me hear it play the ball where the monkey drops it hun what did you learn in church this morning.

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05.03.20TheThingsThatMakeForPeace.mp3

Let me set the stage for this palm sunday reading from the gospel of luke. By letting you know that in this reading jesus and his disciples are making their way to. Jerusalem. Get ready to celebrate the passover. And others are on the road to trying to make it home for the holidays celebration and there's a festive mood in the air because because the passover is of course a celebration of liberation of moses leading the people out of slavery in egypt. In that context and let us hear these words from the gospel of luke chapter 19. Vs29 through 40. When jesus said come near bethpage and bethany. At the place called the mount of olives. He sent two of the disciple saying go into the village ahead and as you enter it you will find tide varicol. Bring it to me if anyone asks you why are you untying it's just say the lord needs it. So those who were sent departed and found the cold as he had told them and they brought it to jesus and after throwing their cloaks. On the cult. They said jesus upon it. As he rode along people spread their cloaks on the road and others cut branches from the palm trees and spread them on the road before him and as he was now approaching the path down to the mount of olives the whole multitude. Begin to praise god joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds they had seen jesus commit saying hosanna. Blessed is he who comes. In the name of the lord. But jesus. As he came near and saw the city of jerusalem. He wept over it. Saying. If you had only known this day. The things that make for peace. But they are hidden from your eyes. The palm sunday story is one of those bible story that you really have to close your eyes. And sort of imagine the scene because it's actually a dramatic story. You got to imagine jesus on a high mountain path outside the city of jerusalem he's riding on a donkey surrounded by his disciples but the roads are crowded with other travelers to because passover is coming and everyone's trying to get out of town for the long weekend maybe imagine the road to rehoboth on labor day you know it's pretty. Passover on their mind they're wondering if this if this isn't the next moses the next liberator. And so they shout hosanna. Which means save us we pray. Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord and they and they begin to wave their prom leaves like banners and they and they throw their clothes on the on the street before him giving him a red-carpet welcome into jerusalem and you'd think that even a modest man like jesus. Would be able to accept and soak up some of that adoration. But instead he's very quiet. Intensive for he alone knows the faith that will soon befall him he alone knows that the people who welcomed him now is as king will crucify him a few days later as criminal. Edwin his high mountain road suddenly takes a turn and for the first time jerusalem comes into view down below. He stops the procession. And pauses. Any looks out over the city that he has spent so much of his life in. A city where he has healed bodies and souls a city that he loves indeed the capital city of his people. He looks over the city and he weeps. And what he says next. We would do well to pay attention to. What he says next as he looks down on the capital city and its inhabitants is if only you had known. Things that make for peace. But now they are hid from your eyes. Today is the second anniversary. Of the beginning of the war in iraq. A war that has claimed untold thousands of lives. Conservative estimates of iraqi civilian casualties. Casualties that can be confirmed by at least two media sources run between 17 and 19000 but many believe the toll is as high as 100,000. Of course it's hard to know because it is against the policy of our military. To tell us how many people we've killed. Remember general tommy franks famous line we don't do body count. We count our own though and so we know that 1,500 us soldiers have been killed to date. Emmett more than 11,000 have been wounded and that many of them have come home missing an arm a foot a leg and that now they reside many of them just a mile or so down the road. At walter reed medical center. If only we had known two things. That make for peace. But now they are hid from our eyes. Let us take a brief moment right now. To remember all those who have died. In the first two years. Of the war. As well as those who are still in harm's way especially those sons and daughters from this neighborhood. And indeed this congregation. If only we had known. It's been just five days. Since 38 year-old william parrott. High on crack and armed with a knife. Knocked on the door of his neighbor. Wanda alston. The mayor's gay and lesbian affairs director. Parrott stabbed and assaults houston eight times. Killing her. And then took her credit card to a gas station. What he pumped peoples gas for them. On her card and took the money. To go get high again. Yet another tragic. And senseless death. Due to drugs in our city. If only we knew the things that make for peace but now they are kid from our eyes martina and isabelle. We met them a month or two ago as we've been organizing tenants in the neighborhood with the sacred heart parish and the washington interfaith network. In august to their landlord sold their building using a so-called partial transfer loophole. So we can avoid offering the tenants. Their first option to buy. Since the sale in august conditions in the building have worsened the paint is peeling their holes in the wall and oftentimes there's been no hot water or heat over the winter the landlord who wants to go condo with the building has pushed all of the renters out except for martina and isabelle and their seventy-year-old mother. They're the only people left in the building when the drug dealers come in the front door and do their business down in the lobby. If only we had known the things that made for peace but now they are kids from there from our eyes or are they. Right now there is legislation pending in council member jim g committee to close the loophole under which martina and isabelle lost their part. These are stories of our city and our nation right now. One of the reasons we read scripture friends is to illuminate our own lives. The hold up a mirror so that we can see ourselves more clearly. This year i read the palm sunday story as a cautionary tale for us. The story of a people who were easily distracted from what was really going on in the world of people who were all too eager to throw a parade on the road to jerusalem. Save us we pray. Put all the while being so distracted. The people can't see what's coming and the violence that's just down the road and therefore they have no idea what can say them and so jesus weeps for them. If only you had known the things that make for peace. If only you could know. The things that can save you now. Are they hidden from our eyes. Or do we just choose not to see. Question i want each of us to ponder in our hearts this morning do we choose to remain distracted. Premier the palm sunday story teaches the lesson that the first step toward creating peace or justice is to see and stays squarely the injustice and the violence. In our world not to ignore it you know not to drive through the neighborhoods of our city and drive down those roads and say beautiful brownstones we have in washington dc. That they're being pushed out. I mean 22 not just simply watched it the sharply dressed soldiers. In their spiffy uniforms what walking down pennsylvania avenue for the inaugural. Put instead to see the wounded soldier. Limping on a prosthetic leg. Down the corridor of walter reed medical center. I mean not simply when you leave our doors today to to smile at the children that you see in our neighborhood or or worse to cross to the other side of the road. But to meet them in the places where they receive support and care in to learn about their lives we can choose to open our eyes and see the things that make for peace. We can choose to see the things that make for peace and then it is our job to organize and to do something about it. Today friends we are here to lift up some of the organizations said that we in this church have worked with now sometimes for many years sometimes just more recently. Who have indeed tried to do something. About the injustice in the violence in our neighborhood. You know 50 years ago this year members of the church and members of this community founded the columbia heights youth club. Which is the first integrated youth club in washington dc. Tell oliver is the director of that club today and we honor the work that the youth club is doing to save children in our neighborhood. From those drugs that i was talking about earlier the latin american youth center reaching out to the latino youth in this neighborhood in the. Everyday free or 45 or more people who are desperate come to the doors of the church. Different many years we would reach into pocket we we give them you know we give them a check or we give them some money or we'd give them a coupon for safeway and and finally folks a chainsaw. Send them to us. And give us that money weekend we can help them a little bit better than you all can at the front door because we can provide services for them and we can speak and get them into counseling and we can we can help to manage their case is a little bit better. But they are the front lines they are on the front lines of suffering. In this community on the last monday of each month in the neighborhood clinica del pueblo which is the clinic right across the street from the church that serves folks in this neighborhood healthcare largely latino. Spruced last monday of each month the line to become a new patient that clinic down 15th street around the corner down harvard street for people who are looking. For health care in this neighborhood. I meant just across the way at christ house. People who are chronically ill people who have hiv or aids and who have no healthcare and 4 if there weren't if it weren't for christ house they would be on the streets living with hiv or other chronic illnesses they are received. Intercare at christ house and minister to their. These are all organizations with whom. We are in relationship is congregation. Organizations that we support without with our finances and with our with our time and our effort. Each of these organizations is going to have a table in just outside of pierce hall today and i hope that you will go and and talk to the folks there and find out how you can be of more assistance. In their mission and their ministry. I want to mention one other group the washington interfaith network this is a little bit of a different group because we're not providing social services with the washington interfaith group interfaith network what we're doing here is organizing for power. What we realized is that it's not enough to to put a band-aid and to help the people who are suffering already if we're going to make a difference in this city we actually have to organize people to make changes and how the laws run in the city to make changes about determine who's going to be a winner and a loser in the city. The win is also an active ministry of this congregation. Today i want to challenge us all to do two things. To do two things one. To refuse to continue to 22 nazi. The suffering in this neighborhood to open our hearts up to that suffering. And then to commit to making a difference i challenge each person in this congregation to find a ministry in this neighborhood. Then you can be a part of that you can make a difference in this neighborhood that is my challenge to all of us today. Catholic congregation. As we take off that challenge. We're not only taking up the the challenge to organize into do something. But we're taking up a challenge that the philosopher william james once laid out. And what i think is an eloquent way i share this was some of you before william james once said this he said we live in a world that is uncertain of being saved. We live in a world that is uncertain of being saved and he asks us this question are you willing to risk participating. In such a world. Are you willing to risk having your heart broken saving the world that may not get saved. The people that we honor today. Have said yes. I'm willing to take that risk. Can i watch i know that many of us in this congregation is said yes i'm willing to take that risk and i want to challenge all of us to say yes i'm willing to take that risk. Getting a break my heart. I'm picking up that challenge. But i'm willing to do my part to save this broken broken world just broken broken neighborhood. Let us make room in our hearts for that challenge this day. I meant.

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04.10.31Legacy.mp3

How reading this morning is. From the poet marie howe. Her poem is called the gate i had no idea that the gate i would step through to finally enter this world. Would be the space my brother's body made. He was a little taller than me. Play young man but grown himself by then. Done at 28 having folded every sheet. Rinsed every glass he would ever rings under the cold and running water this is what you have been waiting for two used to say to me. And i'd say what and he say this holding up my cheese and mustard sandwich and i'd say what. And he'd say this sort of looking around the coincidences compelling don't you think that at all souls day the day when we honor those in our community who have died that we also welcomed into our family its newest and youngest member just as we bid a loving farewell to one-generation we open our arms and our hearts to the next maybe we should have delayed the child dedication maybe celebrating new life takes something away from the honor that we accord the departed but i don't think so i think the occurrence of these two rights on the same day simply reminds us what we already know about life which is that we have little control over the cycle of life and death their timing. Often they come jumbled on top of each other mixed together little jamie for instance named after her grandfather jane who died while she was in utero sometimes tragically the cycle comes out all wrong on friday i led a memorial service for the death of a stillborn infant. Life and death come to us how they come to us. And the best we can do is honor them as best. The generations and what it is exactly that each generation bose another for me this occasion raises the whole question of legacy legacy what what we pass on from one generation to the next this morning i'd like us to reflect on the legacies that we have received from those who gone before us and i'd like us to also consider. The legacies that we will pass on and just how it is we plan to do that i've been watching a lot of television lately but with the election in the in the baseball games and one thing i've been struck by watching all this television is the frequency of advertisements from companies like fidelity and other investment services firms i'm now able to recognize immediately when they come on they usually feature a couple a husband and a wife arm-in-arm the couple is almost always white but now occasionally they'll show a black couple to we usually find this couple strolling beside a golf course or by the sea or and they have a smile on their face because apparently they possessed the security of knowing of legacy. But the point i want to make this morning is that our financial legacy is not all that we leave friends in fact it's not even the half of it i want to frame it for you this way i spend a lot of time with people who have lost their loved ones with people who have lost those who are most dear to them and i have a little bit of a sense of what it is that that folks hold on to when a parent or a grandparent dies of how they find mean and consolations in their loss. But the student was still confused. Then he asked again saying master where is our paradise and this time the stage took the students hand in his and he said this still confuse the student asked the wise man and the for the many legacies left to us by the departed let us also remember the common legacy of all.

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07.07.08RestlessHearts.mp3

Youtube. Be back with you this morning even a few weeks away feels like a long time to not see some of your faces this morning's sermon and message about restless hearts i hope is my attempt to encourage us to remember the spirit of summertime of slowing down and the reading for this morning is from the spiritual memoir by norah gallagher entitled things seen and unseen a year lived in faith nor gallagher is an episcopalian who writes rather eloquently about her experience with her congregation in santa barbara california and in this passage she's reflecting on a chance encounter during some travels of hers in the spiritual lessons that that encounter offered to her. The road to the sacred is paved with the ordinary in the spring of 1990 just after the berlin wall came down i was on a train between prague and vienna with me in the first-class compartment dirty pink upholstery and torn lace doilies we're two germans a woman and a man we were all about the same age born after the war. After briefly greeting each other each of us was quietly reading and after an hour or so she produced a bar of chocolate from her pocket he offered a piece of cheese i pulled out what was left of an apple strudel. She said she was traveling from berlin to vienna for a conference on how to write a screenplay i was writing an article about families in prague and then he said looking at her i am coming from the gdr which is east germany to a meeting of psychoanalysts in vienna it is my first trip west. They looked at each other gravely without smiling and fell to talking in english at first out of politeness to me but finally in german. The compartment grew soft and dark on their faces was revealed as pain often surfaces just as it is a suede the private ache of almost 30 years of separation. The train rolled on they leaned forward more and more as they talked it was only an hour in my life and in the life of the universe. But they were giving as john berger rights the whole of themselves to the moment being lived when being and becoming are the same thing and answer to a question regarding the afterlife henry david thoreau is said to have replied one world at a time it is here all around us the kingdom we seek in ordinary things and in time in what we allow into us that last line is so good i want to say it again. It is here all around us the kingdom we seek in ordinary things and in time. In what we allow into us. Restless hearts. Friends in all the motion and commotion of our lives in all of the general busyness and frantic pace of doing we leave little opportunity for anything to get into us. Our armor is sick. Not very permeable at all out our our souls whether due to cynicism or self-centeredness or self-absorption or simple obliviousness not much touches us deeply seeps in through our pores and makes it all the way into our heart soul conscience. Many of the the the riches many of the most rich and powerful and profound writings of all of the great spiritual traditions of all of the mystics of east and west. Describe at some moment or another a breaking in a breaking into the ordinary life in which we live of the holy spirit or wisdom or love. And i think it is a sad testament and commentary about our current state of affairs our current state of being as humans in this time. that such experiences don't come to us very often or perhaps even if they did come to us we'd be too busy to recognize them we might not have the wherewithal to recognize a moment of spiritual grace and inspiration when it arrived perhaps we are too busy seeking. Too busy looking for something more grandiose hoping to have a moment like moses's by a burning bush or something so dramatic and profound that we couldn't help but notice it. Or perhaps we're simply getting by. Living our lives without much presents without much intention and all the while letting those small spiritual insights those moments of grace and blessing that nora gallagher describes surrounding us constantly. Just go right by r-vision. What is it that we are missing why are we so restlessly seeking all of the time and yet coming up empty-handed and empty hearted why aren't we more fulfilled or perhaps most pointedly why aren't we satisfied. Sometime this spring i sat down with a member of our congregation and she was telling me about how disturbed she was but she felt her life was so full of so many rich and wonderful and meaningful things but they weren't somehow really a part of her she somehow felt like she was still missing something even though so much good was happening in her life we talked some together about the disturbing attention deficit disorder of our society we seem to like to pass it off on adolescence or children we seem to like to prescribe ritalin but really it's all of us are suffering from attention deficit a lack of being able to be still long enough. To take something in to really be present to the person that we are with in that moment it's been well-documented and often discussed. Spiritual leaders like to talk about how folks sometimes seem to not be able to stand more than 15 seconds of silence. We seem to have a penchant for constant distractions. Even things that could be used as tools for focus or as part of our spiritual practice like music we sometimes use only as tools to distract ourselves and transport ourselves to be anywhere but here and now. And perhaps most disturbingly this attention deficit leads us to somehow see right through or around people. I was just at our unitarian universalist general assembly in one of the things that many of us the mon is that when you're in this convention center with 6,000 people walking around and milling around that frequently will be talking to someone and they'll sort of be looking around beside and around and near you to see if somebody else is coming that they want to talk to you perhaps even more than you like talking to you like they're seeing right through your words and your voice and you're being to something else. This congregation and i talked about this disturbing what i would call next is beth syndrome that we seem to have i said to her doesn't it seem odd and disturbing that it seemed that so many people feel like what's next on their calendar is what's most important not because it is more important but just because it's next. So we're always looking ahead to the next thing down and not in that given moment so it occurs to me that we are going to have to involve ourselves in a countercultural act of will and act of change to choose a different path. To choose to not seek to be somewhere else or with someone else or doing something different. But rather to be open. To take in what is here and now. To take in the spiritual essence and truth. In the everyday. I've been thinking about this a lot lately because i'm sort of in the midst of what i would call my wedding season it's why i'm wearing sort of my wedding stole this morning last saturday i was at a wedding and had the great fortune of watching my partner being minister for once-in-a-blue-moon watching her officiate at the wedding of a dear friend of hers. Then i went up to philadelphia just yesterday to my hometown to officiate a wedding for a longtime friend of mine and will officiate another wedding this coming saturday so that's three saturdays three weddings in a row and i'm invariably reminded when i'm in the midst of weddings that weddings are all about trying to encourage people to be present in the moment and any of you who've been to weddings know that it's hard sometimes to get the wedding couple to pay attention to the moment they're so excited they're so scared they're so joyous that actually soaking in their own wedding soaking in this ritual that is supposed to be one of the more meaningful moments of their lives is sometimes hard for them to do. And hard for those who are gathered to do as well. Truth be told i think they're sometimes looking right through the ceremony to the party afterwards and so i am invariably in my wedding homilies trying to remind couples not to take their relationship. Not to take this connection not to take this ritual and this beauty of shared life for granted. I'm reminding them again and again to embrace this gift that they have been given. The promise to nurture. This openness and this cherishing. Going forward in their lives. And i'm always encouraging them to see their marriage as a springboard not as an endpoint but as a tool to connect them even more richly to fran family and two friends and two emboldened their work in the world to make the type of beautiful moment that their wedding is possible for more people. To be as universally attainable as possible. In essence at every single wedding i am saying this that you have been given was not a given it was not a sure thing that this moment would come and would happen and now that you have chosen to be here. Now that you have chosen to consecrate this connection you have to your beloved be sure to cherish it and be sure not to keep it to yourselves alone. It occurs to me that that message of mine at wedding is not for weddings alone. That this kind of outlook of cherishing this kind of outlook of embracing our lives of being present to the moments of love and beauty and sharing them with all that we come in contact with is something we all could do more of. For we have been given this existence. And that that in another self was not a given. And we can sleep walk through our days of living we can fritter away our existence by looking to what's next and what's next and what's next or we can be present. Present to the moments of joy and of struggle to the moments of love and misunderstanding. To all of the ingredients of our lives which make the mystery of living feel so sacred. Friends i wonder when it is that we will simply embrace what is embrace the moment rather than looking for more. Our hearts and our souls are crying out i think for a less vagabond way of being for less constant movement and more substance. And i think sometimes that we believe that spiritual life is reserved only for those select few who can retreat to a mountaintop somewhere who can go on retreat who can devote their lives to contemplation and reflection and yet i think that's not true. That fundamentally we have it in us one and all to bring contemplation and reflection into our living. I'm preparing myself for retreat at the end of this month or retreat with an ecumenical group of clergy for ministers have decided that we need spiritual lives too and that sometimes and the rush and in the thrush in the cops wrong hazard him said this morning we lose sight of our own spiritual existence is and so i'm going to get away for a week at the end of july and on my part for my part it's an intentional effort to remember why i got into this ministry business in the first place to remember that my calling had something to do with talking with all of you about spirit and about meaning about hope and about love. And i'm going to go to this retreat center and spend time with fellow clergy talkin about contemplation and i've just been reading one of my pieces of homework for this retreat which is about contemplatively prayer and this piece that i just read stresses that contemplatively prayer and contemplatively living are not for the monastic set alone. Are not a set aside pursuit that we can only do when we carve out time but rather is a way of more completely engaging the truth of life as it is. This reading that i just did states and part the following. Contemplation is an all-embracing quality of presents. Rather than trying to balance contemplation and action it is more accurate to see contemplation in action. Undergirding and embracing everything. Friends i think this is an important distinction that we can all heed. Reflection. In action. Contemplation in our doing. Which might. Demand upon us a slightly slower pace maybe a little more time between appointments. Maybe a little more time with each individual person or an each individual interaction. Maybe a moment of silence before we plunge into what's next we are capable of finding those moments of contemplation in our daily lives if we are willing to seek them if we are willing to be still. And not constantly going. Friends we need to strive last. And be still more. So that the moments of precious. Connection and relationship can seep in so that the armor can be set aside for a few moments. So that has nowhere gallagher reminds us we can find that those moments of grace those moments of sacredness are indeed in the ordinary. But they are indeed in what we allow into us. We are enough. We need no more credentials or proof. In order to say that we are spiritual beings worthy of spiritual sustenance. Our lives are sufficient. And the present moment. Is the only place and time in which we need to be. So my prayer for our summers is that we may each find ways to be still. To appreciate rather than critique our lives and beings. And that we may find that living.

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05.03.13TakingTheScenicRoute.mp3

Told many of you. That i've become rather fixated with spiritual memoirs and this morning's reading is from another one of the memoirs i read this summer by a lutheran minister reverend heidi newmark it's a memoir entitled breathing space a spiritual journey in the south bronx and you might have guessed that i as a minister and an urban parish i was very interested to see what she had to say about her own ministry and the particular excerpt i'm going to share with you this morning is a part where she speaking about a year and spent on johns island which is off the coast of south carolina and she was there as a volunteer with a rural mission group and during that year she met an elder in that community that she calls simply miss ellie. Actually that is home was not that far from miss ellie's place but there was a stream that cut across the fields you had to walk quite a distance to get to the place where it narrowed enough to pass. I admired miceli who would set off to visit her friend full of bouncy enthusiasm with no worry for the snakes or the long miles i also felt sorry for her poor miss ellie i thought old and arthritic having to walk all that way pushing through the thick summer heat not to mention the snakes. I felt sorry until i hit upon the perfect plan i arranged with some men to help build a simple plank bridge across the stream near miss ellie's house i scouted out the ideal place not too wide but too deep to cross. I bought and help carry the planks there myself. And our bridge was built in a day i was so excited i could hardly wait to see miss ellie's reaction i went to her house where she waited where she wanted to sit in her rocker and tell stories but i was too impatient with my project i practically dragged her off with me a shortcut for you to visit for a long time she looked puzzled and she shook her head and looked at me as though i were the one who needed pretty child. Child she said again. Can't take shortcuts if you want friends in this world. Shortcuts. Don't mix with love we modern americans are always in a hurry and always looking for shortcuts everything as you may have noticed is constantly being redesigned so that it can work more quickly cars computers you name it and in our rush for convenience think of cell phones and pagers internet dating speed dating even in even my beloved netflix how to be patient enough to wait for things that take time. I said then and i believe perhaps even more fervently now it's some of the best thing. Some of the most important things in life can't be rushed creating a friendship morning a loss. Coming to a new understanding of yourself we seem convinced that the only things that happen are those things that we can force those things that we can create by sheer force of will or intelligence or power. And my friend is simply isn't true i invite you to think for a moment about a time when you had an epiphany when you made some sort of connection in your life when you made some sort of realization a time when something fell into place or became clear. Be honest now how much of that was actually under your control we are convinced my friends that the direct route is always best get there and get it done get where you're going and accomplish what you want to accomplish and move on to the next path to the next thing on your list but what do we miss when we do that what do we miss along the way of living there occurred to me this week that perhaps instead of being clear that you know all the people you will know in your lifetime or that you know all the people you know of your life. Too focused on what's next. To appreciate what's now which reminds me of a wonderful passage from the gospel according to matthew therefore i tell you do not worry about your life. What you will eat or what you will drink or about your body what you will wear is not life more than food and the body more than clothing look at the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet god feeds them and can any of you can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life. Consider the lilies of the field how they grow they neither toil nor spin yet i tell you even solomon in all his glory was not closed like one of these so do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring worries of its own today's trouble is enough for today i'm not sure the gospel writer had us in mind but sure could have somehow knew that we folks thousands of years later would need to hear that worrying won't add a single hour to the span of life. That today's trouble is enough for today. It's hard to do that though isn't it we're so good at worried and hurry and efficiency we want always to achieve. Complete tasks to accomplish goals. I don't get me wrong i'm not saying that that's a bad thing if none of us ever wanted to get anything done we would be in bad shape but sometimes my friends the best way to get something done is by sitting still or by taking the long way home we're by pausing to take a much-needed deep breath don't mix with love. Often we need to slow down or take the longer route or the longer view of our lives in order to see things more clearly. See the what and whom of that which matters to us most being quick and efficient has its place. What sodas. Taking the scenic route so that you can clear your head. So that you can see the blue of the sky. You can watch a sunset for the first time in months. I think taking the moment to try to see things more clearly and a little bit differently makes a huge difference in the rest of life i invite you this week to do just that take a moment in your neighborhood to take a deep breath and look at the faces you pass. Look at a familiar place in a new way. Give yourself a moment. Before you launch into a meaningful but difficult conversation. We're always rushing always moving to what's next. What about what's now. My prayer my friends for each of us is that we will take the route which leads to love. I'm at.

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06.07.02QualitiesOfLeadership.mp3

Sometimes the disadvantage of writing your sermon topics months before is that you forget what exactly what it was you were planning to say when that topic came around. But i found that as i was meditating this week about leadership. And what it means. I found some interesting things in my heart and in my musings about the state of our world the state of our national leaders. The state of our sense of what it means to be a leader. And so when i was searching for a reading. Not wanting to pull out a simple platitude about what it means to be a good leader. I found rather a poet. Who writes poems which. As far as i'm concerned are pretty much every single one of her poems is a prayer. Poet by the name of anne porter. And this is a poem of hers which i think for me gets at what good leadership ultimately does which is inspire and empower. This is a very brief short poem of hers. But entitled burning. There is a hidden kind of humble goodness i love and others. Only in aeon of refining fire. Could make it mine. But sometimes. It says if. I were already. Burning. In recent months as i say i have been giving a great deal of thought to the image that our culture holds up. Of what leadership is and what good leadership looks like. I've been reflecting both on our presidents style and convictions about what it means to inhabit the role of leader. And i've also been thinking a lot about our congregational conversations about the upcoming sabbatical of my colleague. And the perceived void his absence will leave in our collective sense of leadership. And in that thinking i have come to some understanding about the good and the distorting qualities our sense of leadership. Can have. What does it mean. To be a leader. How does one lead in ways that are both inspiring and empowering not just. For the leader but for everyone. As i thought about it i was thinking that our history the history is riddled with and our present political situation and economic landscape are also riddled with. A very clear dominant image. Of what a leader is. You going to list it off with me a leader is usually mail. A leader is almost always white. A leader is. Very very powerful. All-powerful perhaps a leader is someone who is moneyed. A leader is someone who is the final arbiter of all decisions. After all our own president has said that part of his job as president is to be the decider. And kenneth lay and other now-disgraced ceos of major corporations have also shared this vision of leadership. A leader is one who charts a clear path. Makes decisions and tells everyone else to get you online with their vision of what leadership is. Or risk not having a job anymore. Or being seen as wrong. And wrong-headed. In our view of leadership as it stands right now. Everything is built. To serve the leader and the leader alone. And a frequent byproduct of this. Leadership model. Is a cult of personality that builds up around the leader themselves. Bush isn't just whatever i decide or what we're supposed to either agree with him completely. Or we're just wrongheaded and wrong and we're supposed to love who he is as a person it's as if the mantle of leadership. Memes a certain. Like and love of the leader who they are as a person not just what they do in the world not just their role. Ar. We are invited to join in. The leaders called a personality otherwise we are left out and left the side. Of course what gets lost in all of this. Is substance. What does the l actually stand for. What are the ideals that made us lift up this person to carry that mantle forward in the first place. And now that we have this person as our leader. What does it mean to us to follow their lead. I'm very troubled by the fact that the vision of leadership that we have in place seems to work very well for those who are already in the upper echelons of power. But what does little to grow or advance the souls and the spirits of anyone else. Let me lift up a ministerial example. In seminary we spent a lot of time talking about leadership as you can well imagine. And we try to discuss not only what is leadership but what would what is it that would make leadership. Spiritual. What is it that's different about spiritual leadership about being a minister from being a ceo in a company or any other kind of leadership. In the secular world. We had many conversations about discerning what our personal leadership style is. And the ways in which leadership that has integrity. Is rooted in the very heart of our faith. In the very heart of what our values are. And in the very particular of who and individual minister might be. In other words. We uncovered there truth that there is no generic. Way to lead. Which brings me to my ministry story. My uncovering sense of what leadership. Might be. You see when i entered seminary i knew that i was an introvert and an introvert wanting to be a minister as a bit of a challenge although many of my colleagues are introverts. And when i entered seminary i thought well how am i going to lead when i'm not the kind of person who wants to be out in front going rara let's go folks let's leave let's go let's go. And i discovered quickly that there are many different ways to lead. You don't need to be part of the george w bush or kenneth lay school of leadership in order to be a leader. And i discovered this in particular during my hospital chaplaincy in preparation for ministry. I was in a meeting with my colleagues doing the summer chaplin and chaplaincy at a hospital in the bay area. And i was page down to the waiting room. For the emergency room to sit with a woman who is waiting while her husband. Was having heart surgery. And as i sat with her and mostly listened. And asked a few questions but mostly just listen. And handed her kleenex. She shared some things that made me very uncomfortable. About her family. About how she loved some of the people in her family but there were people relatives of hers. But she loved a little less. And people that she loved a little less because they weren't straight. And people she loved the little last because they didn't live up to her vision of who they should be. Well it wasn't my job in that moment to try to correct her vision. My job was to simply be with her. And be her minister in that time. But i realized later as i reflected with my group about this experience. That really i had short change this woman by simply nodding and saying yes and okay and what else. How are you and what can i do. That ministry and leadership in that situation would have empowered me to be my whole self in that situation that i really did her a disservice. By trying to be a generic minister. Maybe some image of a minister that i had picked up on tv or somewhere else. I realize then with my group that there was only one way for me to be a minister and that was either through. Who i am. Or not at all. It was then that i realized that leadership. Not just ministry. It's something that allows others to see their own power. To see their own creativity to see their own wisdom. And spirit. That leadership is not self-serving. But at its best it's other serving. You see at the end of our seminary experience we were asked to think. What would it mean. To lead. Not from out in front of other people. But from alongside. How is it. That you sign simultaneously lead. And sir. People. And so friends i asked that question of us all. How do we lead by example in our living. How do we alongside our friends and our family members how.do.we alongside those of us sitting next to us in the pews. Lead. One another and serve one another at the same time. I'm a little fearful for our country. For our world. That we have only this one type template of leadership. Which leaves us all waiting for one person to come along and lead us. Especially when they frequently lead us astray. I'm mindful. That today is a day when our mexican brothers and sisters are headed to the polls. Once again hoping to elect a leader. That will pull many of them out of poverty. That will lead them to a greater sense of wholeness and community and health and wellbeing for all of the mexican people. And yet i worry. But no one leader. No one president no matter whom they elect. Can do that. And so if we are all waiting. Waiting for a leader to come along and save us. Or tell us what is good and what is right and lead us toward that vision. We will be waiting an awfully long time. So perhaps the most profound message i have for you this morning is that. L need. Each and everyone of us. To step up to our own soulful leadership. Solutions to problems. Living toward ideals and dreams are not something that only those who have been given of mantle of leadership can can do. We forget. All too often that the purpose of leadership in the first place. Is to keep us moving toward a vision and a goal. Goal of community a goal of common good a goal. For the best for each. And we forget that before we were led by any individual. We were led by our own hearts. We were led by our sense of justice we were led by our sense of care for the world. Well we were led by our love of the divine. To live a life of meaning and of purpose. Something that no leader can give us. And something that no one can take. And so this. Holiday weekend. When we celebrate our independence when we celebrate our sense. Of leadership when we celebrate the founding fathers of this country. I invited us to shift our understanding. Of what it means to be led. To see leadership as collaborative and empowering. To look for the leadership of our own consciences. Our own hearts. To look. To the leanings and leading. Of our spirits that might encourage our own. Flourishing. Friends. We each have the capacity in our neighborhoods. In our city. In our lives. To advance. That humble goodness. Of which the poets spoke. Defend. The flames of that fire. Which uncovers and encourages a goodness that can aluminum and help us all. And so my prayer. This independence day. Is it the leaders of our world might find the wisdom. Khalid not with force. But with grace. And that we might each of us. Find a way to tap into that within us. That leads us in ways. Of meaningful. Hopeful. Living. So may it be.

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05.10.16Reconciliation.mp3

Many of you will remember that the first year that i was here with you. Rob and i also shared a sermon together. And it was also about race and i i think i daresay my colleague that if we're worried that people won't show up we should just do a sermon about ray. But this year we want to do it with a particular lens the lens of the high holy days of judaism. For thursday was the holy day of yom kippur the day of atonement. The culmination of the 10 days of all in judaism during which the devout look at their lives and think once again about what they have done. Think about going to those they have wronged and asking for forgiveness. And beginning again in a new year. In a new way. And so we want to begin our joint words to you this morning with a responsive reading. So if you will open your hymnals to 633. You will find there a reading that is entitled atonement day in honor of yom kippur. And i will read the plain text and invite you to join me on the italicized text. 633. Once more atonement day has come. We stand on holy ground between the day that was and the one that must be. How did we stumble what did we take. Last year's confession came easily to the lips. Say then why are our paths. Strewn with promises like fallen leaves. Say now. Before i begin i just want to add a special welcome to the junior high class of river road unitarian church who's visiting us this morning. Enter own senior high class that decided to come in for the service this morning good to see you guys too or has three movements. Three steps which he had summarized in a little young kippur mantra that goes like this we forgive ourselves we forgive each other. We begin again in love. Reverend goodwin and i are going to take each of these movements of yom kippur and look at them through the lens of racial justice. In our society and in our church. Got a lot to say so i'm just going to go ahead and jump right in. We forgive ourselves. One of the joys and challenges of being a part of a church where people of color and white folks share leadership is that we sometimes get let in on each other's secrets. Do you know what i mean by secrets i mean the secrets that we tell when we're with our people that we don't often share when the other is around. Some of the most interesting moments of my ministry here at all souls have been when someone blurted out a secret in mixed company. Whenever it happens you can see the jaws drop and hear the people gasp it's always uncomfortable it's very risky. And it's almost always a moment of revelation. This morning i'm going to tell a secret a secret about white people of course it's dangerous to pretend that i could say something that is true of all the white people to let me own it as a secret about myself as a white person and and say that i've witnessed it in lots of other white folks too but i imagine that for some it may not be true and that for still others the secret is so well-kept we haven't unearthed it ourselves. Here's the secret. Many white people feel guilt and shame. About the history of racism in america. The sense of guilt and shame is what motivates many whites to at least pay lip service to racial justice and reconciliation and in some cases to actually engage in the work of racial justice and reconciliation. And in our checkbooks. So on one hand guilt and shame is understandable but i want to suggest today. That white people's guilt. Is one of the biggest barriers. To us working honestly and with integrity for racial justice and reconciliation. Let me tell you a story i was recently at an event where julian bond the chair the n-double-acp gave a keynote address. His address saw to layout a forward-looking agenda for the social and economic liberation of people of color in this country and he was seeking the audience's participation in that agenda afterwards he took some questions. One man in the audience. Stood out and proceeded to make a confession he been looking into his family history and had recently discovered that some of his ancestors had indeed been slaveholders. His tearful confession ended with him saying to julian bond in front of all these people i want to publicly apologize for the behavior of my ancestors. After his apology he remained standing waiting for julian bonds response. I don't remember his exact words but bond said essentially friends don't apologize to me joining the work. So i'm not sure what julian bond was feeling in that moment but i can tell you that as a member of that audience that day i felt a little manipulated by what had just happened it was clear to me that the gentleman who made his confession though it was heartfelt. Had wanted julian bonds to publicly absolve him. Of his sin. And for all the rest of us to be witnesses to that absolution. In the process he managed to hijack a conversation about the liberation of black people and turn it into a discussion about the souls of white people. I see this behavior all too often in the white community where white gills becomes a barrier to effective work for racial justice. When white people seek absolution. Instead of justice. We perpetuate rather than dismantle racism. Such behavior turns people of color into white folks servants domestic help as to clean up the stained soles of white people. Which leads me to some thoughts on forgiving oneself. We are all guilty. Fifa thoughtful person spends just a moment reflecting on our world and its structures of exploitation and oppression it is enough to paralyze us with guilt and there's no one person we can go to and ask for forgiveness. Listen is to pervasive. There is a forgiveness. That must come. From within us. And for from our relationship to who or what we call god. It's a forgiveness that no one else can give us. We must discover it ourselves and such a forgiveness doesn't exonerate us. From sin. But it lifts the heavy yoke of guilt from our shoulders so that we are free to work for justice without self-forgiveness. There are only two options one a disabling guilty paralysis. Which doesn't help anyone. And to a kind of dugood hyperactivity that is fueled by a need to prove to ourselves and to others our own innocence but that can't be proven because it's not true. What yom kippur asks of all of us. Is that we see ourselves as simultaneously guilty. And forgiven. I know that's not an easy thing to hold it in our hearts. It's one of those contradictions that the center of the religious life and that we will spend our whole lives trying to figure out we are simultaneously guilty and forgiving. To live without knowledge of a former is to be dangerously blind to our participation in sin. But to live without the ladder. To live without forgiveness. Is to disable ourselves. As asians. Other worlds redemption. We forgive ourselves. We forgive each other. The story that i want to explore this morning is our churches story. A story that could have moved into the realm of secret but instead serves as a formative truth and a cautionary tale from our very own history as a multicultural church. I have to begin of course by saying that i wasn't here in 1998 when all of this went down if you will. But i've listened closely and i've asked a lot of questions about that time in fact when i was interviewing for the job here i asked several rather probing questions about 1998. About those difficult years that followed. And i realized that i asked those questions then in a very self-serving way i only wanted to know how does this congregation treat its ministers because i didn't want to walk into a cauldron. But as i listened i realize that this. I heard accounts of how the members of this congregated congregation had treated one another i'd heard people say that they heard things they weren't proud of things that some people still weren't getting over yet. For those of you who like me weren't here let me tell you the story which i tell to every newcomer class at every introduction session i lead which is that after the long-tenured ministry of reverend david eaton who was here from 1969 to 1992 african american man who whose family was deeply embedded in washington who served on the school board who i've heard described as a giant who had great charisma. The congregation hired the person that says someone said to me we thought was going to be the next david eaton and of course no one could be the next david eaton 93 and then five years later was asked to leave. Asked to resign. What happened during that fight over rev aldridge's tenure in ministry was ugly. Names were called harsh words were spoken people were asked to choose sides and we're told that there was no middle ground you were either for him or against him it wasn't quite clear which side was for the church as a whole. Someone said to me when i ask questions about this time. and african-american member said who left for a while and came back said that she left because she thought for sure that she had heard people say they didn't want black people in their church. I heard someone else say that some of the folks who'd who chose to side with the people who wanted reverend aldridge to leave african-americans who wanted him to leave were called uncle tom's. It was ugly. People behaved so poorly. And when the dust settled and i hope that by now it has settled people looked at one another again and try to answer the question of what went wrong. And my friends i think we're the forgiving each other comes in and comes in and so many parts of this story but it comes in when people began to look at each other again and say let's start communicating and stop yelling it came in when when people said i care about this church and its my church as much as it's your church and now we need to figure out how to put it back together again. It came when people started our group which still exists today a dialogue on race which is now a dialogue on race and ethnicity. Which was a venue for people to come together and talk about what'd happened. To talk openly and honestly about race. And so i thought as i arrived. And i wondered as i arrived. How you all had done it how you had managed in the two-and-a-half years of interim ministry to look hard at one another's souls to look again into one another's faces. To look for reconciliation. And it occurred to me. Something that i've seen and again and again since i've been here. But you all choose connection. Decided that connection was more important than being right all the time. Decided that this community this whole mess was was worth fighting for. Discovered once again that you were conviction about an inclusive faith a beloved community. Was worth holding on to. And so the question for us now. Is how can we continue to live into our calling together. Both benefiting from the magnificent legacy of those who came before us. While also continuing to learn from past mistakes as well. I'm at covenant. Talk to in the pew backs in front of you is one of our efforts. It's a reminder really. A reminder that what keeps us together is more important than what separates us. A reminder. That mistakes will be made again. And yet reconciliation can also follow. We forgive each other. We forgive ourselves we forgive each other. We begin again in love. One of the great images of reconciliation from the hebrew scriptures is from the prophet isaiah when he speaks of the day that the messiah will come he speaks of a day when the lion shall lie down with the lamb and they shall dwell together. Woody allen once reflected on this passage very well lay down with the lamb with the lambs not going to get any sleep. One of the ways we begin again in love and repair the broken trust is by sharing commitments. Sherry the set of commitment that we know we can all count on and that can bind us together i don't know i live down the street neighborhood i don't know how it how many of you been to the new place down there called busboysandpoets the great new restaurant down there and owned by an araki american and andy shallal i happen to be there on opening night and got into a long conversation with andy and i comment into him that this was the first place i've been into on u street which is one of the most integrated neighborhoods in washington dc where the venue itself was actually a diverse group of people in the venue almost every other place i go to. One of those commitments that we have here at the church is a commitment to being an anti-racist community. And i just want to say that as far as that commitment goes that's not a commitment that that's some of us can hold for the entire congregation you know we got a group called the dialogue on race and ethnicity that meets regularly to hash out issues and have conversations about race and ethnicity but it's something that we all need to engage in. And so i want to encourage all of us as we move forward in our commitment as an anti-racist institution that we each take advantage of those opportunities. Going to meetings of the dialogue on race and ethnicity going to the anti-racist training that we have in the church going to workshop learning to engage in this dialogue. Is an important commitment. That you make when you become a member. Of all souls church. The other commitment that you have is being part of all souls church. Is a commitment that i don't think any of you would be here if you hadn't sort of already made it. And that's the commitment to be part of a multicultural community. It's a commitment that says as those of you who worked through that hard stuff years ago said. That there is something rich and beautiful about creating a community of not all like people. A community through and around and among differences. Now i realize that having a multicultural churches actually still a rare thing in this world. We sit here on an hour that is still indeed one of the most segregated in our culture. And my colleague and i and gabrielle farrell a religious educator went to an all the institute workshop my first year here to learn about the multicultural church and one of the things we learned wasn't very heartening we learned that only 7%. A congregation throughout north america are multicultural churches and we learned that that 7% has the bar of multicultural pretty darn low of 80-20 no more than 80% of one group of people so could be a korean-american church with no more than 80% korean. So only 7% of congregations throughout north america are multicultural churches. I'm so my friends it is a special pack and it is attack to nurture and to be intentionally dedicated to a community of equal others. And it occurred to my colleague and i as we spoke about our comments this morning. But one of the truth. Not really a secret but a truth. That we don't often speak. But readily feel. Is that it would be very easy to fail. In our hopes and our dreams of being an ever more diverse congregation. The quite frankly we don't know if our efforts to be a multicultural church. Will work or not. But i'll tell you what we do now. What we do know is that we absolutely positively must try. And that we absolutely positively need every single one of you to try with us because this is not something that rob and i are going to do on our own it's not something a doors going to do on its own is not something that the people of color in this congregation or going to do on their own every single one of us needs to believe deep in our hearts and souls that this is the kind of community we want to be a part of last week i said to you and sort of tongue and cheek terms that i left madison wisconsin for a reason and my mentors here who teased me that i want said the desert of madison wisconsin that he said well and that's why i'm here with you. A general assembly a few years ago rev gordon mckeeman past president of the school that those rob and i attended for seminary well into his 80s with speaking about the future of unitarian-universalism and his fears for it. And speaking about multiculturalism he said you know i realize. Friends that diversity is a given. But community. Is an achievement. This beloved community my friends that we are apart of this multi-cultural community that we seek will indeed be a remarkable achievement so let us put our hearts to the task let us not shrink back from it. May we reach for that beautiful day together in faith and in hope. May it be so and i'll men.

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05.05.15ALaughingGod.mp3

I've to readings this morning the 1st is. From the sufi poet. Hafez. And the title of his poem is someone should start laughing. Someone should start laughing. I have a thousand brilliant lies. For the question. How are you. And i have a thousand brilliant lies for the question. What is god. If you think that the truth can be known from words. If you think that the sun in the ocean can pass through that tiny opening called the mouth so someone should start laughing. Someone should start wildly laughing now. Emma s reading. Is from the hebrew bible. The book of genesis. Chapter 18. The lord appeared to abraham by the oaks. Love mommy. As he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat. Of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him and when abraham saw them he ran from the 10th entrance to meet them and bow down to the ground he said my lord if i find favor with you do not pass by your servant. And they said to him. Where is your wife. Sarah. And he said they're in the tent. And then the one who has the lord said i will surely return to you in due season. And your wife sarah. She'll have a son. And sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him now abraham and sarah. We're old. Advanced in age it had ceased to be with sarah after the manner of women to herself. Same after i have grown old and my husband is old shall i have pleasure. The lord said to abraham why did sarah laugh and say shall i indeed barrett child now that i am old is anything too wonderful for the lord. Epithet time i will return to you in due season and sarah shall have a son. But sarah denied that she had lapsed saying i did not laugh for she was afraid. And god said oh yes you did laugh about the old testament and the lord dealt with sarah as he had said. And the lord did for sarah as he had promised sarah conceived and bore abraham a son in his old age and abraham gave to his son the name eat stock. Isaac. Which means. He laughed. Scientists report that the average child laughs. 400 *. A day. The average adult. 18. Somewhere along the way we lost our sense of humor. Somewhere along the way we lost our propensity for laughter and the premise of my sermon this morning is that this is a religiously significant fact. And a cause for concern. 4 by losing our capacity for laughter we lose one of our most important religious. Faculties. Let me try to tell you what i mean by starting if i met with a personal story i have to say that i was surprised by the statistic. About children laughing 400 times a day i'm pretty sure that i never laughed 400 times a day as a child but then i was i was a pretty serious little boy it might have been because i was an only child and adults. Then with children my own age but more likely it had something to do with my grandmother. Dc many nights i'd have dinner at my grandma's house. But when i did i knew there was there was a sort of a quid-pro-quo that went on at the dinner table i would receive. A very tasty meal. But in exchange i would listen to my grandmother's recitation of the woes of the world. And so by the age of eight i was fully briefed on the problem of world hunger and by 10 i knew by heart the atrocities committed by our government in central america. And by 12 i was familiar with the details of the teachers unions collective bargaining agreement cuz grandma was a union rep and something about these walls and so one night i vividly remember writing a letter to president reagan chiding him chiding him for his decision to count ketchup as a school lunch vegetable you know you all remember that one. Of a miniature algor finally it got to the point where my mother actually sat me down one day in my early adolescence and said to me flat-out rob you're too serious. Lighten up a little. You're a kid after all. Seriousness. Is one of the things. They made me become a minister. Those dinnertime lectures instilled in me the sense that there was a lot of stake in this world. A lot of work to be done and they gave me a sense of responsibility for this world. But i also know that if i hadn't learned to laugh. If i hadn't taken my mother's advice and lightened up a little. That sense of peril that i felt for the world. Would have become debilitating. Paralyzing. The sense of responsibility would have suffocated me the sense of duty would have crushed my spirit. I'm still a pretty serious person. But i've learned to laugh over the years in fact perhaps to make up for lost time i've developed a rather hearty laugh some would say loud sometimes if i laughing in the corridors of the church the person leading the meditation class down the hall will come out and and and shush me or a work committee chair will pointedly close their door. So let me say this. Well it was seriousness that led me into the ministry. It's a sense of humor. That's kept me here. Without it i never would have survived and i think that's a lesson for all of us. The religious life no matter if we're a minister or layperson. The religious life demands of us and utter seriousness. And a really good sense of humor. Without the former our lives will be trivial and irresponsible. Without the ladder our spirits won't have the resiliency they need to thrive in this serious world. But we won't be much fun to hang out with either. Unfortunately laughter has gotten a bad reputation in the annals of religious life. Christ never laughed scowled one early church theologian. Why then he asked his congregation why then are you so luxurious and dissolute that you can laugh even while you are responsible for such sin and must stand at a fearful judgment seat and give account for all that you have done. Another church father jerome said that it was indecent to laugh because ours he said is an age of tears not a joy. And augustine. The source of so much that is dour in grimm in western religion said. Human beings laugh and weep. And it is a matter for weeping. That they laugh. When is church fathers talk about tears and sin it's not so much. Not so much that they're wrong it's. It's it's just that they're not getting a full picture they're not getting the whole story here and so luckily there has been there is a precedent for laughter and good humor in the religious life and this is where i want to bring in the sufi poet hafez. Now the sufis always seemed to me to have had a rollicking good time back in fourteenth-century persia they were the whirling dervishes who who danced and sang and danced and spun. In his poem someone should start laughing hafez suggests that while he couldn't use hundreds of words answer the questions how are you or or what is god none of them none of those words would accurately capture the answers the only truthful response he says. Is laughter. 4 hafiz laughter is an ecstatic response. To life. And to god it's a way to praise those things that defy words that defy understanding. Things like life things like god. Someone should start laughing he says. Someone should start wildly laughing. Now. Now you be interested to know that there are religious congregations that have taken hafez fairly seriously literally one might say and india one that has started a whole school that uses laughter as a yoga practice. Everyone sits there and raises their hands and you know starts to laugh individually and pretty soon everyone gets going with the laughter in the laughter takes on a momentum of its own and people respond that that it feels good. In toronto there's an evangelical christian congregation that where laughter is the preferred form of speaking in tongues instead of unintelligible phrases that are common to the speaking in tongues these believers pooped and chuckle and guffaw to the promptings of the holy spirit. Reminds me of something that the writer anne lamott once wrote about laughter she said laughter is carbonated holiness like a carbonated beverage and it's busy and sometimes it spills over to. I don't worry i'm not going to ask you to raise your arms now and to start laughing with me. No i did see some of you nervously shifting in your your seats while i was telling those stories. But i do want you to consider laughter. As a form of religious expression. Jerome suggested that that anything--but cheers. Constitutes a simple response. Troy tragic world. But with hafez argues is equally true. The anything less than praise. Is a sinful response. The beauty and wonder. Of the world. Anything less is ungrateful. I want to move for a moment. From hafez to the story of abraham and sarah one of my favorite stories in the hebrew bible abraham is sitting out on his front porch trying to catch a little breeze on a hot day in an ancient palestine when three men approached him one of whom is the lord. And the lord greets abraham and asked him if his wife sarah is around. Abraham says yes she's inside. But apparently sarah's ears are burning now because she protects says that she started to eavesdrop on this conversation between abraham and god and he's draft he's drop she should because the lord has some big plans in store for sarah. God says to abraham. I will return to you in due time and sarah. Sheburra son. That was wouldn't be terribly shocking news to a woman unless you consider the fact that both sarah and abraham were pushing about a hundred years old and as the text note that it ceased to be with sarah after the manner of woman she she was no longer able to bear children. Yes you will sarah yes you will. Apparently though in her attempt to get a good listen on what abraham and god are saying sarah has gotten too close to the conversation and and god hears sarah's laughter. She got caught. You got such a ramble why did sarah lapis is anything too wonderful for god. Netherwood dussehra doubt my power. Another said great exchange between sarah and god we're from inside the tent she denies having laugh you know did not laugh and and god says did so. The next thing you know the bible says this. Sarah conceived and bore abraham's son in his old age. And abraham gave to his son. The name isak. Isaac. Which means he laughs. This is a story. About a universe. That is filled with surprise. It's a story of a god. Who is a trickster. Who plays tricks on us how god who upsets our apple cart the old saying goes if you want to make god laugh. Tell her your plans right. When when you take together the hafez poem in the story of sarah and abraham. It leads me to these conclusions about laughter. But the life of safe. Produces too religious feelings in us. On the one hand we got gratitude and praise. And on the other hand. Wonder. And and befuddlement. Really. Wonder and mystery. And the only way really for human beings to express at the same time praise and befuddlement. Is laughter. I'll after that says. You got me the joke's on me. And at the same time says. I love this joke. I love this joke. Laughter is our way of simultaneously expressing praise and wonder. If adults only laugh 18 times a day my question is what is it that we've lost since our childhood sense of wonder. Poor sense of praise. Or maybe is it both. Scientists tell us that laughter is a way that youman beans respond to contradiction. In our life. When we can't make sense of a situation cuz of the contradictions. We laugh. The only way we know how to how to hold the two poles of contradiction together. Tell me where a person can hold at the same time the world's joy and the world's pain. It's the only way a person can sense at the same time the weight of responsibility and the freedom of grace. It's the only way a person can take at the same time this world seriously and themselves less seriously. If it takes laughter to hold these contradictions. What takes the laughter to survive as a person of faith then we need to learn to snicker. And to cackle. Enter chortle enter chuckle. Our way to glory. I want to finish with a story from. Dietrich bonhoeffer. I've been reading bonhoeffer's letters and papers from prison lately bonhoeffer was the german theologian who participated in a plot to assassinate hitler and who was imprisoned and eventually executed for his role in that pot and he was one of the best theologians with 20th century. While in prison he wrote a series of letters to his best friend and one letter in particular struck me. It was written immediately after bonhoeffer's prison had been struck. Buy an allied air raid. Bonhoeffer chooses to write to his friend that night right after the bombing about the old roman concept of hillary toss. The latin root for our word hilarity. In the roman world hilaritas with a female personification of rejoicing. And i'm reading this letter and thinking to myself. How could bonhoeffer. In his situation be writing about hilaritas. Anyone had license to go down the road of a jerome. Coravin augustine and talk about this world is available tears it was bonhoeffer in that moment of peril but instead he writes to his friend about hilaritas. And he says that hilaritas is the kind of humor that allows you to step away from the world just enough. But you can still rejoice in it. It's a humor that is the opposite of world-weariness humor that says this didn't turn out the way we had planned. But we will rejoice all the same. Bonhoeffer hilaritas contains a quality of a boldness and confidence that shrugs off the judgments of this world and so after a long letter he writes. To his friend by signing off with these words. That's enough for today everhard. Keep well. Enjoy this beautiful country. Spread hilaritas. Around you and keep it for yourself too. With all my heart. Dietrich. A year later he was executed for treason. Friends. The world is a serious place. A broken place. And we bear much responsibility for that brokenness. And for its repair. But there does come a time when our responsibilities in this world. Come to an end. And so then perhaps the last role of humor. Is the humor that allows. Ourselves. To detach from the world in safe. Better yet. And we. Will be left in good hands. Perhaps the final form of laughter. Is the laughter that allows us to leave this world. With a smile on our face. And so my final words to you. Wilby bonhoeffer's. That's enough for today. Keep well. Enjoy this beautiful country. Spread hilaritas around you and keep it yourself. 2. With all my heart. Amin.

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05.09.18GenerosityAndGiving.mp3

The first is an excerpt from a book that i've just begun reading it's a little bold to choose a reading from something i haven't even finished yet so i'm not really necessarily suggesting it to you but it's a book by the quaker educator and it's a book entitled the active life and it's a book in which he's wrestling with and discussing how it is that we human being struggle to find a balance between contemplation and action and in the midst of that book he sets out a short paragraph discussing what he says is the heart of living spiritually the core message of all the great spiritual traditions is be not afraid leading a full and vital active life with all the mistakes and suffering such a life will bring along with its joys instead the failure is to withdraw fearfully from the place to which one is called to squander the most precious of all our birthright. The experience of aliveness itself. For me the heart of the spiritual quest is to know the rapture of being alive and to allow that knowledge to transform us into celebrants advocates defenders of life wherever we find it. We need a spirituality which affirms and guides our efforts to act in ways that resonate with our innermost being and reality ways that embody the vitality's god gave us at birth ways that serve the great works. Of justice peace. And love. The second reading is a brief poem. From shania pugh entitled simply sometimes. Sometimes things don't go after all from bad to worse. Some years muscadel faces down fry green thrives the crops don't fail sometimes a man aims high and all goes well. A people sometimes will step back from war electric and honest man besides they care enough that they can't leave some stranger pour some women become what they were born for sometimes our best efforts do not go a mess. Sometimes we do as we meant to the sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow that seemed hard frozen may it happen for you. Those of you who were here when i preached five sundays in a row in july know that we had a little bit of a bugaboo going where my sermon title would get miraculously changed on the order of service and it's happened again this morning giving what we can became but given what we can is what i was planning to preach about this morning my friends in this nation and in our modern culture we are pulled in so many different directions we are pushed to succeed to achieve new accolades at work and to get so much in our lives done and it would seem especially in this town and this is something i've noticed now in my two years in dc that's so much that is done is so very important whether its lobbying whether its development work for non-profit organizations and it's traveling all over the world trying to ensure better health conditions that are educational conditions for people the world over are. Makes me tired just thinking about it and so it's not surprising but frightening that we find ourselves again and again torn between burnout and despair on one side and meaningful action that feels like a sharing of your gifts and your talents with the larger world on the other and so i wonder along with many of you i would guess. Where is the balance. Can we do meaningful work without feeling burned out parker palmer says further along in that book that i'm not done yet that we westerners tend to function on what he calls the vacation model we work ourselves really really hard we run that race until we can't do anything but step away for a vacation for a few weeks only to bring ourselves back and put another way he asked us how do we give of ourselves in a way that feels nourishing and life-giving rather than simply depleting and that brings me as many of you know about me to a personal story 32a story of what i was doing in august on a visit up to canada to some of my relatives who live outside of montreal in this beautiful little town outside of montreal as they call it and my uncle see each sunday during that time to bring into our worried because he has been in the last few years with an illness that i didn't fully understand until our recent visit to him a few weeks ago he suffers from some ailment that still doesn't make sense it's something which there is no treatment for. Baldinos. Is that sooner or later he won't be able to walk. Sooner or later he won't be able to use his arms. And all he can do is wait for that day to come. Well my uncle is not a man to feel sorry for himself and he found himself very torn when he came to the sunday morning when he needed to tell his congregation about his illness he needed to tell them that there was much that he was not going to be able to do anymore that's physically he was going to be impaired overtime and i was amazed as he with tears in his eyes told us of his congregation's response to his disclosure of his illness. He said that as he told them members of the congregation looked with concern but then on the way out the door told him that everything would be okay i was particularly struck by the fact that he told me one congregants said to him on the way out the door that's okay we will be your arms and legs. He told me of a congregant who had been waiting to give a gift to the church and decided that there was no time like the present she didn't want to wait to leave a legacy gift she wanted to leave a gift that would help right then and so they now have a chairlift for him to move about the building. And why do i tell you this story i tell you the story because it occurred to me as we walked through the building of his small parish and listen to his story that this is a story about the core of ministry. It's a story about a ministry that they back into. Ministry my friends is about empowering others to share their gifts and their talents. To uncover them and let them shine so that everyone is illuminated. And that small community outside of montreal and this community here is at its most spiritually whole and at its most life-giving when each and every member can lend or offer their unique soul to this place. As my colleague said last sunday we are always looking. Four more ways to be welcoming of all kinds of people of the poor people the people of color the people of different sexual orientations we are looking to welcome all people but i want to emphasize that we are also looking to welcome all facets of each person my uncle brings his whole self to his community and by disclosing something about himself he gave permission for them to share likewise to bring new talents to make their community more whole more beautiful more loving. And i think the story brings us to the question that i believe really haunt us all when we think about how it is that we can give how it is that we can live out our values and our beliefs we wonder about how it is that we can express our convictions in action. About how it is that we can do all that we want to do in this world when it feels like there is so much to lose my friends. We worry so much we fear so much that living authentically into our true calling as human being would mean a death of some sort which is why parker palmer says the core spiritual teaching of every single faith tradition is be not afraid be not afraid be not afraid in part because community that you can and do have it within you to be your best self your community is here to remind you that sometimes. Things do work out okay i spend a lot of my time away and not only talking with my uncle about ministry but thinking a lot about what it means to be a member of a community. Specifically thinking about what it might mean for all of you to be members of this community and i thought for a moment about all of the things i've been taught about membership that i didn't like anymore i thought for a little bit about that old american express commercial slogan perhaps you could say it with me membership has its privileges it occurred to me that membership has its privilege is is only half the story because my friend while being a member of all souls church unitarian does have its perks for after all you have people here who care about you who are those who care about you beyond your family and your immediate circle of friends you have people here that you can watch election results with people. People you sit next to. And sing and pray and breathe next to each sunday you come to church. And beyond all of that there is something that you receive when you come here something you receive as a member of this community that is that intangible something that none of us can see but that you can feel deeply membership however my friends is more than that it has its privileges membership has the ways in which at you and so for moment i invite you to think about what it is that you would give what talent what gift it is that you bring. But if you were given the permission to just express that authentic self in this space. What would that gift be. I bring all this up because i am painfully aware that in order to keep this going. In order to have this kind of community in order to leave a legacy of liberal religion and make more possible the expansion of a way of being in the world that we would hope for we need all of you and all of you what do i mean by an expansion of this way of being in the world it's a way of being that's not for self but for others a way of being that is not about things but it's about relationships a way of being that is not about anger or about violence but about hope and love my friends we must each be willing to be messengers. To be conduits of that hopefulness that grace that which is possible in a community such as this. We all need to be willing to take what it is that we have within us and share it in this community so that we might all share it more abundantly with the neighborhood the city the world that surrounds us so i suppose you could say that is a sermon of imploring a sermon that says i don't know all of you as well as i'd like to that i know that there are gifts in this room that have only been scratched the surface of and that we could see more of in this place. So if you have been waiting for someone to invite you to share your gifts with this place consider yourself invited if you have been waiting or looking for a way to be involved in this community because there is something about which you care deeply and have yet to find a way to express that care come talk to us come and put your hands in this work. Friends i am so very hopeful as i look at all of your faces and yet i am so aware that our world needs everything we've got. So let us not only worship together but let us love together let us hope together let us pray together and let us act together because sometimes things do work out so maybe and i'm at.

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06.03.05LivingMinistry.mp3

Seems particularly appropriate. That i'm speaking about ministry this morning. Since i joked with the children about minister school. And since as i greeted at the front door this morning. In walked some folks from my internship congregation in orlando florida. So they'll have to let me know afterward whether i've improved any since 1998 and 99. This morning's reading comes from the pulitzer prize-winning novel gilead. Which i hope several of you have read. It's a beautiful novel filled with many gems about life. And meaning. And legacy. It's a novel written from the perspective of reverend john eames as he nears the end of his life. Talking about his ministry. His ancestors. And his connections. In 1956 iowa. It's the story that he has written. To his young son of his life. So that his son might know him more. In later days after his father has gone. And reading it is like peering into the heart and conscience of another human being. In the passages that i share with you this morning he begins bye talking about what his ministry has been about. And ends the section with some wisdom for his son. About living. A great part of my work. Has been listening to people. In that particular intense privacy of confession. Or at least unburdening. And it has been very interesting to me. Not that i thought of these conversations as if they were a contest i don't mean that. I tried to listen for how the life. That is the real subject. Avital is manifest. And it. By life i mean something like energy. As the scientists use the word. Or vitality. And also something very different. When people come to speak to me. Whatever they say i am struck by a kind of. Incandescence in them. The eye whose predicate can be love. Or fear or want. And whose object can be someone or nothing. And it won't really matter. Shaped around eye. Like a flame on a wick. Emanating itself in grief and guilt. Enjoy and. Whatever else. But quick. And vivid. And resourceful. To see this aspect of life is a privilege of the ministry. Which is seldom mentioned. I'm trying to make the best of our situation. That is i'm trying to tell you things i might never have thought to tell you. If i had brought you up myself. Father and son in the usual companionable way. When things are taking their ordinary course it is hard to remember what matters. There are so many things you would never think to tell anyone. And i believe they may be the things that mean most to you. And that even your own child. Would have to know. In order to know you well. There is much that i relate to. In the fictional reverend ames's account of ministry. In this. Only my fifth year as a minister. It takes very little effort. Well at least very little effort if i give myself the space and the time to do so. For me to recount. And bring to mind the myriad stories of people i have met. And events i have been present for. Indelible images. Crowd my mind and my heart. Of moments of grace and of grief. That i have been invited to witness. And be part of. For no other reason than my title. I recall officiating a memorial service for a young man. At the time i was 28 and he was several years younger than me. Who had hung himself. And been discovered by a sibling. I remember officiating at a wedding ceremony for an interracial gay male couple. I remember their gratitude and their joy. And their anguish. After years of having ministers tell them no. And having family that wouldn't show up. If we had all day. Friends. I could tell you so much more. About those people. Young and old who have spoken to me of their demons. And of their most personal helps. Of their secrets and their sorrows. Of their dreams and their happiness. I am grateful. And deeply indebted to them all. For in spite of those moments. When the criticism is fierce in ministry and those moments are more frequent than i would like. And in spite of those moments when i don't think that i have the capacity to do a very good job. Or think i have the faintest clue. About what i'm doing. Ordained ministry. Is still. A blessing. And i cannot possibly express to you. How deep and honor ministry is. For it is so much more than a job. It is a calling. It is a vocation. And perhaps. When i'm at my best. It is even a way of being. So why do i tell you all of this. About ministry. I tell you all of this about ministry not because it tells you something about me. Although perhaps it does that too. But because the longer i have been a minister the clear it has become to me. That ministry is not mine alone. But each and everyone of you. Have a ministry as well. But each of you has gifts. And talents and a sense of call. You each bring something. To this life with a capital l that we share. Which only you can bring. No one else. Can do it for you. And so the question for you is. Do you know what you are ministry is. And do you share it. There have been many conversations in our church recently about shared ministry. Hence my talking to you this morning about your ministry. The long range planning committee talked about it folks coming back from general assembly last summer probably mentioned the words shared ministry to you. And many people have looked at me and said. What does it mean this shared ministry stuff. I'll tell you what it means. It means that all souls church unitarian is made. In the spirit in this room on sunday mornings in the programs that we offer throughout the week in your voting at annual meetings. By the presence. Of each of you. The ministry of this congregation. Is yours. Not mine not rob's not louise's not anybody on staff. This is your ministry. Shared ministry means that each and everyone of you. Escape this place. And have a responsibility. To answer your call. For while those of us on staff while your ministers have a part to play and important part to play some days. In leading and enlisting. Without your active participation. Without the addition of your ministry. Our efforts. Will fall flat. And so you've already heard in our announcements this morning. About all of the different programs. That you could get involved with here at the church. But i want you to think of them in slightly different way this morning. Not as another thing to add to your to-do list but it's something that might encourage in you a growth and a flourishing in your own ministry. Or if you forgotten what your ministry is. Perhaps a rediscovery of it. Yes we have many adult spiritual development classes we have the fabulous all church retreat we have social justice work. And we have. Covenant groups. We have many ways. For you to discover how your ministry could unfold. And flower. In this place. And so about covenant groups. We're going to do something a little unconventional this morning in that i'm going to share my sermon. As part of showing you shared ministry. I'm going to share the sermon this morning with randy mcclure the gentleman seated behind me. I will share some of what covenant groups. Have done in ministering to him and through him. In our congregation. When i came to all souls i came to be ministered to. Not to become a minister. My crib brought me here to the capital and i miss my friends and social and spiritual networks. I'd establish back. Terribly. I felt very lonely newtown. But my experience with other moves and leaving a loving and supportive social structure behind had taught me that although the pain of loneliness was inevitable. The suffering. Was up to me i have some options. I'd attended a couple of unitarian churches prior to moving here. But i never joined or got involved in any meaningful way. And i never admitted attending to my baptist family. No that would be bad because of my southern mom would righteously exclaim there ain't going to be any of them nervous atheist unitarians in heaven. But each time i attended auu service perhaps a dozen or so. Every single time. I left astounded by how deeply my soul was nourished. How deeply i had been administered to. And so i pledge to myself that once i'd settled into a community i'd find a unitarian church. And once again tap into that nourishment. That ministry. When i first moved here i live just a few blocks away in adams morgan and so i thought it a sign sorts that i could actually walk to church and i did. My first sunday one of the great leaders here it also has a woman named meredith higgins. Introduced herself to me in the lunch line in immediately started assessing my volunteer availability. Within 20 minutes of meeting she had me signed up to help out the lunches. Signed up for roots and wings class. Signed up for unitarian internet dating. And it's signed up to learn more about covenant groups. She'd essentially solved all my problems. My life here in dc really changed that day. I can't claim that i have been lonely. But i can say. But sure i've been busy. I remember my newcomers orientation session with rob where he made it clear that as a member. There was an expectation that we each find something. Some ministry for area of service and get involved. Because if you don't he reasoned. You likely won't stick around. You simply won't experience the community this church has to offer. Will that resonated with me because i needed a community. Especially spiritually nurturing one. And i knew from past experiences. The service for ministry if you will. That sense of coming together in a common pursuit is a healthy way to create such community. So i showed up for all the things meredith call to remind me about. I became particularly drawn to come in groups. Are these small groups of eight to 10 people together once or twice a month to support each other spiritual journey. I really like the breath of themes and ideas these groups gathered to share. Poetry. Dreams riding parenting. Meditation. Environmental and social awareness. The list was long. There seemed to be something for everyone. There was an ongoing men's covenant group but unfortunately there were no openings. Samaritan suggested forming my own. It was a timely suggestion for i'd recently read a very inspiring book on the world's major spiritual practices and i thought. Will it be great to study this with a group of like-minded men. Well it was. We started off by agreeing. Covenant thing with one another. Show up. Treat each other with love and respect. And support each other spiritual journey. But it wasn't always fun. We weren't always kind of one another and we hardly ever agreed fully on anyting. But a warm sense of community blossom. And i believe i can speak for all of us by saying i was a lot of love and support for one. And for all the infidel souls commune. We call ourselves men seeking wisdom and i believe we found a bit of. I formed warm lasting bonds with many of the members. And if you found a couple close friends. Friends i truly cherish. The depth of my community my roots. Or deeper. And my spiritual practice is more mature because is coming to groupme. Long after a group covenant expired we still wore my support and minister.. We shame each other into volunteering. We found each other to contribute our kids school activities. And we call upon each other sharon or joyce. Our successes. The rev gordon mckeeman rut. Whenever there is a meeting that summons us to better ourselves. Wherever our lost is found. Are fragments are united. Our wounds begin healing. Or our spines stiffen. And our muscles grow strong for the task. Is ministry indeed. And here. Is ministry indeed. As randy said. There are many covenant groups in our church. And next not next sunday but two sundays from now march 19th. Those of you inspired by his words this morning. Can join and come and hear more at an interest session about covenant groups. In fact with all the folks who are in a covenant group now or facilitators of a covenant group stand or raise your hand so that folks. Know who to ask a question look at that. Ultimately we love to have half of you right now raising your hand but without a third as folks in the church has been a part of a covenant group. Societies people after church. Or see randy if you have more questions. Randy mentioned interest intro sessions for newcomers. And like my colleague reverend hardee's i to sometimes get on my ministers soapbox during the sessions about what church is for. About the meaning of membership in a congregation. And i put a slightly different spin on it. I say that this world we live in. Is all too good at emphasizing individualism. It's all too good at isolating us. It making us feel that our differences are more keen and more. Close-knit that are common humanness. We need our church. We need our church in order to be reminded that that distance between us is not as great as we think. We need to be reminded that each and every person around us has a ministry. We need to be reminded that the distance between where we are now and where we long to go. In our hopes for peace. In our prayers for justice. And in our capacity to love. Are not as far away as we might think. So we come to church. So that we can remember our ministries. When i was in youth group. We used to gather in a circle. And you know how isolated high school youth can sometimes feel. And reach to the person next to us and say. I put my hand in yours. So you know you're not alone. And we used to dancing at some point. I'm not going to make it shine. Just going to let it shine. Friends you have that inherent worth. That divine spark of which the spiritual sayings. I'm so my prayer for us this day and everyday. Is that we may each be generous enough to share our ministry. That we may each be mindful enough. To know that it's there. And that we may listen closely enough. To hear it's call. May we share. And a ministry of life and of love. That enriches us all. So may it be.

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04.05.16PursuingHappiness.mp3

I had the great pleasure. Over the week when i was looking for a reading. Share with you of rediscovering the book. A book that i had had for several years but had not returned to in sometime. The book of poetry by stephen dunn. And the poem i would like to share with you this morning is a poem entitled. Coming home. Garden state parkway. Tonight the tollbooth men are congratulating the weather. Wishing me well. I'm all thank yous and confusion. I don't know what kind of conspiracy this is. Then at howard johnson. The pretty cashier apologizes for the price of coffee. She wants me to drive carefully. To think of her. On the dark. Straight. Road. Does she say these things. Everyone. I've done nothing different. And in the mirror there's the same old face not even lovers have called handsome. That seemed mouth that belies absolute conviction. I'm alone. And maybe there's an underworld of those alone. And maybe tonight. I've entered it. The instant. Safe. Intimacy. Guaranteed to move on. On the car radio. Comes in noisy current song. And then an old melodic lie about love. Afterwards the disc jockey speaks to all of us on the road he wants us to understand the danger of the other man watch out he says. For the blind side. I'm going 70. The winter outside is without snow. It's hard anymore. To be sure. About anyting. Next toll station i feel for a quarter. But i swerve. As i knew i would. To the woman holding out her hand. She neither smiles nor speaks. I try to believe she's shy. I'd like to put my hand in her hand. To keep alive this strange. Human streak i'm on. But there's only money between us. Silver and flash. Meeting. In a familiar goodbye. Pursuing happiness. Pursuing happiness. It goes without saying that we all want to be happy. We each in our own way try to do things to increase the odds. Increase the chances that more often than not. We actually will be. The trouble is. That happiness. Like many other things in life which aren't tangible. Can't be achieved. Or acquired. In fact. We frequently try to own happiness. In the misguided assumption the misguided belief that having some sing. Will make the difference. We want there to be some way to assure gladness. But no such. Blessed assurance. Is coming. Because like the poets. Strange. Human street. On the parkway. Happiness. Is fleeting. There is no happiness. For all times. Back in september i came across an interesting article. About a study that highlights some of the reasons that happiness won't stay. But have to do with our perception of it. 3 psychologists and an economist. Led by a harvard psychologist named daniel gilbert. Have studied something that they termed. Affective forecasting. Affective affective forecasting. And they began this whole study they got interested because they started with one simple but puzzling question. Do we even know. What makes us happy. Do we even know. What makes us happy. And i quote now from what they have discovered. The problem. They have come to discover. Is that we falter when it comes to imagining how we will feel about something. In the future. We overestimate. The intensity and the duration of our emotional reactions. These mistakes in expectation can lead directly to mistakes in choosing. What we think. Will give us pleasure. In their study they call this. Miss wanting. In fact gilbert in the article at one point says the stone say. You can't always get what you want and he says actually it's you can't always know what you want. Are we search simply says that whether it's something significant. Or something small both of them. Both of them matter less than you think they will. Things that happened to you or that you buy or own as much as you think they make a difference to your happiness. You're wrong. Buy a certain amount none of them. Make the difference you think. And that's true of positive and negative. Events. And quote. They say this like whether you think it's the new bmw that is the archway to all happiness. It's only fleeting you're happy for a month and then that's gone. Whether it's that a relationship ends and you think you will never be happy again you have known the greatest happiness or life will know and now you are destroyed forever. You're wrong interesting lee enough their study says we think we know what will happen but no matter what happens in our lives we think. This is either the end of the world or the beginning of a panacea or things will be extremely one way or the other and we're wrong. They say. This leads me to think that perhaps the problem isn't just that we missed want. That we want the wrong things. But that are very definition of happiness. May need to be overhauled. What is happiness weren't simply a euphoric state or a peak experience. But rather what is happiness look something more like contentment what does it mean to be happy is there something as you think about all of the joyful moments of your life is there something that they share in common. Perhaps. It isn't about pursuing happiness at all perhaps we need more of a buddhist approach. Are buddhist brothers and sisters would tell you that often were very unhappy because we are trying so desperately to hold on to something. Something that is most likely an illusion anyway. What if we didn't cling so tightly to what isn't. And may never be. What would it be like to a simply allow ourselves to be happy more often. To see moments of happiness as gifts. Cannot try so hard. To make them stay. Perhaps. Are buddhist brothers and sisters would tell us. We need to let go of control that we never had to begin with. Which reminds me of a story of my own life. A fleeting moment of happiness. Less than a month after september 11th 2001 i went to boulder colorado. I've never been there before. But i came because my friend amanda asked me and i come when she calls most of the time. She had scheduled a wedding. Long before any of us knew that the world was going to look different and feel different and more scary. And she called me shortly after the events of september 11th and said the wedding is still on. And i hope that you will still come and officiate because we believe in some. Strange part of our hearts. That now more than ever we need this wedding. We need to be celebrating love. And so i went. I boarded a plane to colorado. Three weeks after planes became weapons. And i went. And i officiated wedding i will never forget. 430 people up on a mountainside. It had snowed the day before. The air was crisp. The sun was bright. We were glad to be together. After the wedding and interesting thing happened it was like no wedding i've ever been to before. Half of the wedding party went off mountain biking and another half of us went hiking. I guess that's what you do in colorado. I've been hiking with her parents and other people in the wedding party. I'm are we sat the three of us next to each other on the ridge. Of one of the mountains overlooking this amazing range. In the midst of the rockies. I had never seen mountains so bold. I had never felt so acutely. Why love was important. And i'm not sure which one of the three of us it was i'm pretty sure it wasn't me. But one of them looked over. First. @amanda or. Bennett me. Nsaid. It doesn't get any better than this. And we all nodded. And smiled. In agreement. Because there was nothing more to say. Only a moment to be savored. So perhaps. Jefferson had it wrong. By declaring in our declaration of independence that each of us. Has the inalienable rights. To life. Liberty and the pursuit. Of happiness. Perhaps rather than emphasizing our right to pursue happiness with dogged determination. He should have been besides alright to be. Happy. Our right to be happy as often as possible. And to me. Most importantly this day that means creating a culture in which the american dream means something more than material wealth. It means honoring all of the ways in which people are happy in which they discover joy in their lives. It means creating space. For those whose happiness has been taken less seriously. Honest anniversary of brown versus board of education maybe it means making more people have an opportunity to learn and to grow. And perhaps in the midst of this debate about same-sex marriage and many people have already told me this morning that the president of our unitarian universalist association is on the cover front page of the washington post this morning. As he readies to officiate a wedding in boston tomorrow for the goodridge family. Perhaps it means we need to make room for more happiness. Happiness to learn and to love. Happiness. Wherever we can find it. With whomever we can find it. As often as possible. My friends. You have the right to be happy. Live your hopes. Not your fears. Your ideals and your love. As deeply as you can. May we pray for the possibility. Have more joy. For all people. This day. And in the days to come. I'm at.