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One of the more challenging aspects of being a Unitarian Universalist and a UU minister is trying to define what Unitarian Universalism is in a short enough time frame that my hearers do not glaze over. Today seems an opportunity to do this, not have you glaze over, (unless you need the rest of course) but an attempt to explain Unitarian Universalism. This past week I was at a minister’s study group. It began 110 years ago for Universalist ministers and has been meeting at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury Mass, since 1901, with the exception of two years- those years were during World Wars. The invitation to join is an honored one and many of the members are long time and revered ministers. Since Unitarians and Universalists merged in 1965 most of the ministers are now UU’s not Universalist and most of the longer time members have had rich long ministries with incredible experiences. Some marched with Dr. King on Selma and on the March on Washington. Some were those who helped register congregants as Conscientious Objectors during the Vietnam War. Some helped women get abortions when it was not legal even though the woman had been raped or abused and to give birth to a child would jeopardize them and the child. Some began churches and became ministers out of the active fellowship movement of the late 1950’s. Two were among the first females in our ministry. Some were signers of the Humanist Manifesto, which became one of the most controversial divisions in Unitarian Universalist history, as people were encouraged to develop a belief that stretched beyond the usual categories of Christian or believing in God. One was head of the department of ministry when sexual scandals emerged and when a code of ethics was drafted. One is a relative of one of our former ministers. He is retired yet still preaches once a year at the congregation he served for over 25 years when he comes back for this annual Fraters meeting. Those ministers, the elders and the new ones, share one common characteristic that I propose is the backbone of our Unitarian Universalist faith- they all practice audacious living. I am suggesting that teaching, modeling, and living our Unitarian Universalist faith is about audacious living.
Audacious is defined, by the 1960 Funk and Wagnalls dictonary, as having or exhibiting an unabashed or fearless spirit. One that is defiant of ordinary restraint. (p. 94) That I think sums us up in a succinct definition. We are bold, daring, and fearless especially in challenging assumptions of common conventions. It has long been said that it is not easy to be a Unitarian Universalist. Why is it hard, because you are encouraged to accept one another and encourage spiritual growth of others in our congregations. What if someone disagrees with how you think? What if no one gives you absolute answers, what if the minister says explore your beliefs I am not the authority for your beliefs? Why is it hard, because we are called to respect the inherent worth and dignity of every person and to respect the interdependent web of all existence. This creates a bit of tension does it not? affirming and promoting everybody is not easy, we all have opinions of how people should be living and acting and some people really are quiet annoying, however because we are part of all existence, it is important to affirm that. It doesn’t mean that we put up with bad disrespectful behavior or inappropriate acting out toward others but we try to love the person even if we dislike their actions. Our principles and purposes are the glue that holds us together as we explore being a Unitarian Universalist. Now it is not true, as sometimes has been said, that you can believe anything you want and be a Unitarian Universalist, to do that is the opposite or shadow side of being audacious. To say you can believe anything you want is being overconfident, coy, disrespectful or foolhardy. on line Encarta dictionary.
The dedication of Emily and Grayson this morning follows a long and rich tradition with our Unitarian Universalist faith. It is based on the premise coming out of the 1st Century Christians that God created humans and they are good, pure, and innocent. And that it is up to a community of faithful persons, parents, godparents, relatives and a church community to help them attain their true potential. We do recognize that people can go astray, can sin and we even recognize that there is evil in the world. However we stuck to the earlier teachings about the goodness and purity of all creation with an understanding that there is not original sin in the human condition.
In fact it is recognition and acceptance of the human condition that makes for audacious living in the best sense of pursuing wisdom and knowledge and searching for truths in all sorts of way, and of being fearless of spirit to understand that our beliefs can withstand rigorous evaluation and that our faith can survive even in the ambiguity of surety. Unitarian Universalism as an audacious faith even requires that we be diligent in questioning, diligent in learning, diligent in exploring the depths of our spirit, of life, of the universe, of that which is oft times called God.
Today will be the last time I will be in the pulpit until March 4th and speaking of audacious living. I will be driving with Ron first to Savannah Ga and then to Louisiana. A sabbatical is a time for audacity. A time to be fearless of spirit and thought. A time to be open to new ideas, new experiences, new ways of being day to day without being tied to the normal conventions. Well, as normal as it can be around here with the hundred and one things that we do both as a church community and with the larger community. During a sabbatical time even just for a month the days are more fluid, the time not as tightly controlled and certain things don’t need to be done in the same way. So during this sabbatical I will be watching and learning about new cultural experiences. We will be in Louisiana during Carnival and at Mardi Gras time. It is a cultural experience that has a rich religious history, not just Christian but pagan and from the Native Peoples who lived in that territory before it was formed into its distinctive city and place. I expect being there and in Savannah will expose me to southern ways of thinking and being that I don’t know and I look forward to living with audacity for the month.
So continue to support one another and explore what it means to practice audacious living of your Unitarian Universalist faith. Be fearless in knowing what it is that you believe in and why and fearless in sharing that with others. So be it.

Sermon January 22, 2012
Praying in another Way
Deciding to introduce the conversation of praying in and among a group of Unitarian Universalist is probably a very risky act on my part; fortunately I will be out of town for the next couple of days to avoid a lynching. Seriously though, Unitarian Universalists, myself included, have frequently had difficulties with the concept of prayer. Some claiming they do not; would not and never could imagine saying a prayer. Some claiming that prayer involves believing in some source that might or might not grant requests like a rich benefactor. Others saying that prayer is an easy out or even no way out of difficulties and pain filled experiences that are caused by humans anyway and that require action and fixing not prayer. Other Unitarian Universalist say they would meditate, they would reflect, they would explore their inner thinking/ feeling self but would never raise their voice or thoughts in prayer to an unknown, unknowable, deity. What does prayer mean to you? If for you it holds that traditional meaning of talking to a personal gift granting father god then thinking about prayer might be more challenging. Or thinking about another way of praying might be liberating. Never do I suggest or believe that prayer is an answer or solution to the difficulties that life brings, nor do I think that what has come into my life both the good and the bad is as a result of some deity dispensing source.
So let’s look at various ways of prayer as a way to get you to think about what prayer has meant to you and what it could mean going forward. The most known form of prayer is the petitionary or what, from those other Christian background, are called prayers of supplication. This is the I want, I ask for, will you grant this to me prayer. Underlying this prayer is the concept that we have been good, therefore we deserve and need to have certain things granted to us. Someone once suggested as I was wrestling with the I want prayer, is that not every answer should be yes, here you go, your wish is my command. Ouch, that was a real learning moment.
Then there is the prayer of lament. In the Hebrew Scriptures there are the Psalms and the book of Laments. A lament is speaking in a way that expresses disappointment, sorrow, even grief about something. I have prayed in lament form more than once when I have been in the midst of pain and trouble. Grumbling, or having a cuss and discuss form of prayer is perfectly all right. It is honest inner and outer dialogue, it is moaning and groaning and being upset and being in despair. Believe me it is fine to let loose in lament prayer, let it fly, get it out. Prayer is truest when it is uncensored and raw. The universe can handle it.
Another type of prayer is the prayer of confession. If prayer is talking aloud to a source greater than our self, and trying to get in right relationships with others then a prayer of confession can simply be a conscious moral inventory and reminder of the ways we might have failed to meet, not just our standards, but some basic standards of right behavior. Prayers of confession need not be guilt inducing or involve beating up on ourselves; they can be a gentle reminder that we make mistakes and can always do better.
Another type of prayer is thanksgiving and gratitude. Graces at meals, expressing gratitude and appreciation at public events is something I do at least once a week. Meister Eckhart a 13th Century mystic, once said “if the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” Another type of prayer is often called a praise or adoration prayer. This type is similar to praying in gratitude for what we have or will receive however I like to think of a prayer of praise as being attentive to and appreciative of all that is about us. Acknowledging that we appreciate the beauty of each other’s faces, the beauty of nature and of human creativity, the wonder of love and compassion, the joy of being healthy, the chance to be alive and work toward becoming more fully spiritual beings – this to be in praise praying.
Tim Tebow, the left hand throwing quarterback who rallied the Denver Bronco’s into an exciting end of the season, exemplified and angered many with his praying, so much so that his actions came to be called “tebowing” and has led to many a discussion on television and radio and been fodder for stand up comedians. I personally found the whole discussion quite interesting and revealing of our uncomfortableness with public displays of religious piety. I am not even at ease with the fingers in the air or signing of the cross that many athletes engage in. Yet, if Tebow wants to have a conversation with that which he believes to help him center and play better ball and be a better leader is in fine; but as my mother used to admonish me, “Just don’t make a spectacle of yourself.”
It is not usual for me nor for UU’s by and large to go to the bible as a source of authority. However there is a lot to say in the bible about prayer. From the book of Matthew Chapter 6 there are some most revealing sentences allegedly from Jesus: “and in praying you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen…and in praying do not heap up empty phrases but pray like this,” and he goes on to say the prayer often called the Lord’s prayer or as I prefer to say the prayer of Jesus. I found a couple things really interesting when the bible was addressing Jesus and prayer – one is that most often Jesus prays in silence and recommends it as the conversation to have with whom he addresses as Papa. The second is in any reference to prayer by Jesus he follows up immediately by saying it matters not what you say, what matters in how you act. If you don’t forgive others, you won’t find forgiveness for yourself either, and if you don’t clothe, feed, assist the needy, the widow, the prisoner, the homeless, the stranger, the outcast then forget it all your words are noises without substance.
Tebowing has led to numerous columns, sermons, articles and sources of inspiration and derision about the problem that has faced humans since we first began to think about why some people seem to have things go right in their life and why others don’t. This is one of the problems about prayer. Our religious upbringings more often than not taught that having a personal and good relationship with God will almost guarantee that nothing bad will happen. Of course this flies in the face of reality. Bad things will happen, they do happen, and nothing can change this reality. The most we can hope for is that by having a spiritual connection with others, with the universe and with maintaining balance and cultivating all the ways we can to build resiliency we will get through those bad things that happen – death, illness, loss of health, betrayal, environmental catastrophes, economic troubles, and etc.
For we who are Unitarian Universalist by birth or choice there is not any set way to pray, nor any words we must use, nor any creed or words to recite we have pray. In fact, I would like to introduce a couple of other kinds of prayer. The first is silent prayer often called meditation. Mary Oliver invited us in her poem this morning to think of this as she wrote, “just pay attention, patch a few words together, this isn’t a context but the doorway into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak.” That other voice may be your inner strength, your inner spiritual core of wisdom, your inner moral compass, your inner source of strength, your inner still, small voice. That is bigger than what has commonly been called the “lord’s prayer”.
The other is to look at lots of alternative prayers. As you can see from the handout of Alternatives people have been wrestling with the Jesus prayer for a very long time. Since the beginning of time people have prayed. Listen to Socrates prayer to Pan, Beloved Pan, and all ye other gods who haunt this place, give me beauty in the inward soul; and may the inward and the outward, be at one. May I reckon that wealth lies in wisdom, and may I have such quantity of gold as a temperate person and only such a person can bear and carry? Anything more? This prayer I think is enough for me.” There is an even more ancient prayer to the Goddess Ishtar, from Sumerian, “See me, O my Lady, Accept my prayers.”
The patriarchal language beginning of that which is called the Lord’s Prayer has always stuck in my craw. I get annoyed beyond reason when at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting which always closes with the prayer of Jesus the person beginning the prayer begins by saying… “Whose father.” Such rude and insensitive words, I want to scream, don’t assume I want to say that I have a concept of a source greater than me as a male parent figure, nor I want to say assume that Jesus even thought that either. Jesus didn’t; he never said father, he said Abba which is the gentler and more loving term used to describe a person who guides, sustains and stands with those in need during all times.
I guess what I am proposing is that praying in a new way can open us up to some interesting new ways to explore what inner resources we have when things go bad or good, can open us up to other conversations about what, who, how we view the world when bad things happen, can let us know we are not alone when hearing language that excludes women, pagans, atheists, agnostic or other free thinkers. I tell you there is no form of prayer that we must adopt nor follow nor that we even need pray. What I am suggesting is that we remain open to the love that flows into us when we gather together to do those things that makes us and the world a better place. Blessed be.
What alternative prayer would you like me to close with today?

Sermon January 15, 2012
Hope, humanity and Dr. King
All across our country the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. day of birth will be celebrated tomorrow. Today we will be holding the 13th annual event beginning with brunch in the downstairs fellowship hall, the cost for the brunch is $10 for adults and $5 for children 5-12. I hope you can join us or at least come to the no charge event this afternoon at 12:30.
Today begins the holiday honoring and remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the prophet, preacher, activist, civil rights leader who was born today in 1929 and who was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
“Holidays,” as the late Rev Forrest Church reminds us, “exists for two reasons. The first might be called the “gathering or significant cause.” We take time to ponder something essential or meaningful in the lives we share. All religious and national holidays spring from some deep collective need to ponder or celebrate, to mourn or to give thanks. They exist as compass points for our souls. But they exist for another reason as well. Even those who participate in the religious or patriotic ceremonies that mark these holidays tend to lapse into primary appreciation of their secondary cause, vacation… the gift of a little discretionary time, the luxury of an extra day off. We need that too. … It is a good thing. But because it is a good thing we can overlook what it was that caused our forebears to establish a holiday in the first place… Martin Luther King Day is the quintessential American patriotic holiday. Through the pain of its true sponsors it harks back to the aspirations of our founders and passions of our prophets… if we are paying any attention at all it reminds us of just how far we have to go to break down the many barriers between people that subvert the idealistic blueprint for this republic, “Out of many, one”.
I am proud of the event we hold at the church and how a church diversity committee was the driving force behind this event. I think that when we adopted and worked toward building the coalition and planning the events we were working to further the vision “out of many, one.” That vision is an admirable founding national ideal and a guiding principle for our Unitarian Universalist faith and a worthy vision for us to strive for. I want more church members to get involved so that we can continue to demonstrate to the larger community that here at First Church we not just talk the talk but we walk the walk toward becoming a beloved community. A beloved community is one that understands that out of many diverse points of view, in spite of differences in cultural, racial, ethnic background, out of our of many life experiences, and regardless of age, economic position, politics, class, gender or educational opportunities – a united community can bring the best to the world. My hope is that the work that any we begin here on antiracism, anti-oppression and multicultural issues sets us apart as a church community that holds out a positive vision of humanity as a possibility. Hope and humanity came together in the work, life and legacy of Dr. King. Was he perfect? no! No one is and as Unitarian Universalist we appreciate the irony of that because we believe and have had it demonstrated in our own lives that perfection is not what we are striving for, we are striving to do the best we can with who we are, to change and modify our behavior as we continue to take personal inventory and to find a community that helps us develop our full potential as individuals in community.
When I think of King, the one vision that most comes to my mind is that of a “beloved community.” This was his vision, goal and a dream he has left for us. Do I think we are there- no way- do I think it is attainable- I hope, and I wonder the form it will take and I know that it may not be the vision I have but a blending of many other’s vision melded with mine. King was far too a realist to believe that in the beloved community there would be no sin- he knew from his own life mistakes- we know too from our own shortcomings that perfection and will you let me say sin-less-ness is not possible.
But he believed that “in a dark, confused world the kingdom of God may yet reign in the hearts of all.” P.155, Strength to Love. When we said the prayer that Jesus taught us, a few moments ago, we said, “ thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Is this in part where MLK got his vision, where he begins his vision for a beloved community? If it is, what does he mean? What can we learn to help us fulfill the hope for humanity as equal, free, courageous and love filled beings here and now?
The beloved community in King’s view is a social system that deals with the whole person, soul and body; spiritual well being and material well being. King was too much of a realist and too much of a lover of life to hold a vision that would only speak to a kindom in a place not of this world and earth. It was his earthiness that gave him passion for justice, passion for peace, passion for knowledge, passion for faith, passion for the teachings of Jesus. King wrestled with issues of self- respect, strength, courage, dignity, reconciliation and balancing the spirit and the human.
During his ministry in Montgomery Alabama the bus boycott began. He was asked to be the leader for the people. He was asked to help hold them together body and spirit. He was asked to do this by his words, his beliefs, his actions, his hope, his vision. He taught that it was more honorable to walk, crawl if necessary to places- such as work and the market, than to ride the buses in shame and humiliation. Can we even imagine taking this action, can we imagine not being co-opted, can we imagine peaceful non-cooperation to overcome a great social injustice? What motivates me is the belief that my actions, my non cooperation with wrong, would help bring about a community that cared for my spirit and my physical well being and the spiritual and physical well being of all humanity. This is the belief in the power of eternal love. The strength to love that MLK demonstrated and the vision of hope is that in spite of the complexities of human motives and in spite of our capacity for doing bad things there is a universal love and what he and many call God- which is available and dwells in the heart of persons to lead us to goodness and blessed beloved community.
Many of you will have tomorrow off as a day of rest and recreation. I hope that you will take some time to go to the Whitney Field mall and support the members of the Choir who will be there performing and to hear Mickey and his family band play and to listen to Dr. King’s ‘I have a dream speech’. You will have tomorrow off and it is a good thing and while you have your day off take time to reflect on the hope-filled message that Dr. King left us. All around us people’s rights are threatened and prejudice, discrimination and racial inequality do rear their ugly head, we have been given a gift here at First Church- the gift- the opportunity to learn how to truly be with others and to hear their struggles and to learn with an open mind and heart about those struggles, to walk with others through society’s attempts to keep us from being a loving beloved community and we have a voice and eyes which allow us to see more clearly and speak out against injustice anywhere.
Let’s reconfirm our vision: We, the members of First Church Unitarian Universalist, dedicate ourselves to walk together in ways of truth, goodness and beauty, to be an anti-racist, democratic, nurturing community of love, to be a support to each other in times of need and to stand in the larger community for those values of tolerance, justice, equality, and love by which we attempt to live our lives.”
May it be So.

Sermon January 8, 2012
When life closes in
In mid August when I chose this sermon theme and topic I really imagined we would be in up to our armpits in snow and burr. I guess I should have consulted the Farmer’s Almanac before making that assumption. I had pictured we would be making our way here to church over hill and dale of icy snow laden roads fighting our way into the building all the while muttering about the winter. For me and perhaps you too about now is usually the winter grumbling time, Groundhog’s day just ahead reminding us of eight more weeks of winter no matter what the groundhog shows and grumbling about gloomy days and frozen toes. But no here we are coming off 44 degree weather, having had maybe three days of below zero to test our New England cold mettle and no snow except a crazy October storm and most of the season has been pleasant enough and bearable able to be outside and walk and drive to wherever we wanted. Hardly a winter or weather that feels like it closed in on us; yet life can close in on us.
Loss and stress and busyness and family pressures and economic or health concerns can make life hard and tough. And the reality is that no one ever said life would be easy but some times are more difficult than others. Where are you right now in your life? Are you stressed out, facing economic problems, wrestling with personal issues, health or relationship? Is the coming year looking like it might herald some good things, does it feel like more of the same or perhaps there is the promise of some new and positive things coming to fruition.
I liked that story this morning about the carrot, egg and coffee, and what happens when you face adversity. I wonder and would like you to take a moment now to turn to your neighbor in the pew, behind your pew or in front of you and talk for a couple of minutes about how you identified yourself. Are you like the carrot, the coffee bean or the egg?
Allow conversations
Let’s take a moment and think about the carrot, the coffee bean and the egg. The carrot though strong outside when faced with adversity wilts and loses its inner strength. The egg has a flexible inside and it is fluid but it becomes hard and stiff when in contact with adversity. And the coffee bean is able to change along with the adversity to become flavorful and useful. Now lest you be concerned that I am calling any of you a vegetable or hardboiled let us speak to the way that adversity can affect us. When life closes in we can become hard and rigid closed off and impenetrable. This is not a helpful way to deal with adversity. For adversity will come, it has come and will continue to; not just to us individually but adversity is part of life for everyone. Most often we must learn to roll with it and I suspect you would agree that a hardboiled egg has a better chance of surviving a robust roll than one fresh from the hen. Rolling with life and sometimes developing a bit of thicker skin can be a good thing. It is nice to be sensitive and tender but like the carrot if we get too soft we can lose our inner strength, or if we begin too hard it is more difficult to maintain our inner core and we might lose our compassion and sensitivity. This inner core is our spiritual core it is comprised of some values such as integrity, compassion, tenacity, joy, and honesty. If we cultivate these we can maintain our inner strength. When life closes in on us if we are rigid, hard and unyielding we will get consumed by the adversity. Ah the coffee bean, I can enjoy that now. And what a challenge it is too to not be afraid that adversity will take the essence of who we are away.
In Unitarian Universalist theology there is a concept called process theology. This is a way of thinking that the divine, god, goddess whatever you chose to name that which is more than you and your existence enters into and is with you no matter what life brings. When life closes in the higher power of your definition doesn’t abandon, walk away, remove, sit back and observe but rather is changed with us by the adversity. Together God, and you are in the boiling water and everything is changed. The boiling water, the coffee bean and you and the divine element. I personally like process theology and believe me I could spend years and years trying to understand and explain it for it emerged out of new physics, scientific observation, theological reflection, cultural observations and a desire to combat a sense of an omnipotent Being that rules the universe.
I have always liked the biblical stories that it rains on the just and the unjust, that good things come to the rich and the poor, that god weeps and mourns with all of creation and Process theology helps me to combat the more common thinking that God is doling out good and bad in some arbitrary or judgmental fashion. I hope that you too understand or can come to understand the Unitarian Universalist message that all people are beloved, all people even when we do wrong, even when we sin, even when we miss the mark and intentionally or unintentionally hurt other that we are ever able to transform to come back into right relationship and not face eternal/ or earthly damnation. It is our free will and our desire to be in relationship that takes us out of the tight and narrow feeling when life closes in. In other words, one of the best and most positive ways to get out of feeling that life is closing in is to get out of your own shell, give to others, stop obsessing about your own adversity, fix what you can, work on your own faults, seek forgiveness when and where you can, give forgiveness to others- just because you can, learn from your mistakes. Be changed by the experiences with others and give back to others. We each of us in spite of adversity and difficulties are blessed beyond measure; blessings are like candy the more you have the more you should share.
Winter is not bearing down on us enclosing us and life doesn’t need to be either. Reach out and touch those who need and believe me you will feel better for it.
So Be it.

It is not easy to come back is it? I mean it is great to be with you all, to see you and to have been around the last few days to catch some of the happenings and energy that is always so evident here at church. Believe me there is a lot of good stuff going on too. We have the upcoming Johnny Appleseed Festival and Pat Lancey has been out straight putting together baskets, during that day a food drive will happen outside with a group called Salsa for Salsa, and when anyone gives food they can come in for a dance class from 1-3. United Way is sending over volunteers on Sept 22nd and also looking for a group to meet and discuss needs of the community here on Sept 28th, Cakes for the Queen of Heaven begins on the 14th, The RE committee, Parish Committee, Worship committee all meet this week, 15 West continues, the North Central Gay Men’s group met Thursday, Sheila, Kristin Wilson and I will be working on another grant for the youth coffeehouses. A volunteer came in last Thursday and did some clean up chores around here, Bonnie is back, Chris Uhlig finished writing and getting the newsletter out, Robin stopped by to discuss music and Barbara sent her prelude, interlude, postlude choices. Mark Marquis is planning a concert in October. Do you need to hear more?
A professor from Harvard Divinity School told a wonderful story about her summer family get away. Rev. Stephanie, her spouse and their daughter went to visit friends in Maine for an extended weekend. They swam, hiked, walked the beach, read, ate and sat and talked with their friends. After a very relaxing, energizing and refreshing few days away they headed home. Once home, Stephanie said, her daughter disappeared into her room, as Stephanie said, for “some mysterious purpose.” Stephanie and her spouse, unpacked, wrote out a grocery list, checked email and mail, did laundry and started to make dinner. Where upon her daughter emerged from her room and announced to her family- “We’ve got to go back to Maine right now. I felt so much more creative up there!”
We all need those times and places to get away to that make us more creative. Those times and places that let our creative juices flow, those times and places where imagination can run rampant and expansiveness of thought and ideas can begin to flow.
The haiku poet Matsuo Basho described how his travels were a crucial part of his spiritual and creative practice. He says, “Every turn of the road brought me new thoughts, and every sunrise gave me fresh emotions.” Basho’s art of writing a haiku is a creative process that I thought might be illuminating for us to engage in as we approach another church year.
When we travel, when we get away, when we journey we can become more open to newness, to other thoughts and experiences. We encounter new people, new smells, new sights, new foods even, new ways of marking day break and night fall, new habits of taking time to splash in the ocean or rivers, to walk in the woods, to cherish a conversation, to let go of some of our daily burdens. Though it can be hard sometimes to hold onto some of the as Stephanie Paulsell calls them, “the creative possibilities” after we return home we none the less have had new experiences that can open our hearts, minds, souls, spirits to other imaginings. As we prepare to move back into the walls of the church and the walls of our homes and the walls of our daily life I want us to hang on to that creative juice a bit longer.
When I was at General Assembly this summer, I attended a workshop titled, ‘Moral Imagination: 50 years of UU Social Justice’. During the workshop after some of the elder leaders shared about UU history and Gay rights, women’s movement, economic and racial justice, young adult leaders were asked to share their imaginings for 50 years from now. One of the young leaders said he hoped that we would not continue to focus on what could have been, or what went wrong but instead to come to understand that the greatest gift Unitarian Universalist leaders could give was the message that it is up to us to build heaven here on earth. I have been mulling over his admonition since then and it will be my foundational theme for this coming church year. Building heaven on earth- a theme rich enough to sink our teeth in, a theme with challenge and sustenance, a theme that will evoke questions and provide lots of theological wrestling’s, a theme about persons, places and potential, a theme about spirituality and social responsibility, a theme about our unique and wonderful church and about our unique and wonderful world and about Unitarian Universalist history, hopes and highlights. While we take time to get away there is also a time when we get back together. Theologians call this “liminal space”. It is the space inbetween. The most creative ideas and thoughts, imaginings, inventions, music, words, expressions often emerge in liminal space. We can be in that space today as we gather together after a time of being apart. Let’s capitalize on the message of the young adult leader who challenged us to build heaven on earth and think about what this could mean for First Church Unitarian Universalist of Leominster and for your spiritual self.
Aldus Huxley once wrote, “It is because we don’t know who we are, because we are unaware that the kingdom of heaven is within us, that we behave in the generally silly, often insane, sometimes criminal ways that are so characteristically human.” In case you are having a hard time with the word kingdom – let me share the word that the theologian Matthew Fox proposed in its stead the word is kindom. Like meaning we are all kin, we are all related and we need one another. Let’s operate from this core value this church year and let’s think about building heaven on earth beginning right now.
We handed out a paper to you when you came in this morning titled “writing a haiku about church.” I am now going to give you a few moments to write a haiku. Lets’ look at what a haiku is and my example and then let’s see what creative ideas get flowing here.
A haiku is known as a Japanese form of poetry. Matsuo Basho is one of the more noted authors. The form is usually of 3 lines, 1 line of 5 syllables, next line of 7, then another line of 5. Often a haiku is related to themes of the season or of nature and the interplay with human life. When Basho was traveling he would often gather in community to write haiku. He would do this by linking the poetry that had been written. For example: one person would write a haiku, the next person would take an image or idea from the first as the seed for their writing, the third would do the same with an image from the second and so on. This chain of poems would join together linking the community. It is my hope that you will take a few moments and toss out some words about First Church then write a haiku and share it with someone near you and build on the images that come to mind. I will have all the poems collected and try to link them to share at an upcoming service.
The time is now, the task is ours, the joy we feel is to be shared. We are the kindom of love and hope and courage and possibility. And we are always on a journey to build anew. Let the church year begin- oh now you tell me it already has.
So be it.

May 8, 2011 Mothers/Parents Day
Being a mother is one of the hardest jobs in the entire world. Being a father I can only imagine, as I have watched those who are fathers, is also one of the hardest jobs in the world. Being parents is not for the faint of heart, and I think has never been. When I think about parenting, mothering and or being a father I don’t think about a trait specific to a gender or to the biological parent whose womb or seed we come from, instead I am talking about those persons in our life who enlivened our spirits, who nurtured our souls, whose stories deeds and words inspire us still. Isn’t the primary task of parenting to equip our children, our grandchildren, and our youth to be the best people they can be. Isn’t one of the primary ways of accomplishing this by building and maintaining a family system?
There is a common assumption that this occurs in a particular type of family setting; so that set me to reflecting on what is a family, and about the changing nature of families. I realized that the nature of families has hardly ever been one standard form fits all.
Try as we might to fit the concept in a neat box it’s not going to work. Let me ask you a question about your own family either the one you grew up in or the one you have formed around you now? Mine included a father, mother, three siblings one who came on the scene when my mother was over 30 and a grandfather who lived with us before I was born. Ron recently met a guy that I grew up with, whose family was really part of my extended family. His mother and father were best man and maid of honor for my folks wedding and vice versa. The two families hung together and when my mother was working their mother watched us; when their mother was working my mother or grandfather watched us. Ron said he was learning a lot about me when I was younger with what Brian was telling him- like that I had a temper and that I always acted like the oldest- giving direction to the sibling groupings. Brian also showed Ron a scar that ‘supposedly’ I caused on Brian’s leg when I pushed him off a wood pile. Now this speaks to my character, I know, but I suggested that Ron tell Brian that if he had done what I told him to do- then I never would have had to push him and to ask Brian why he put liquid shoe polish in my mom’s plants. The family unit I grew up in was hardly the norm of the 1950’s there was always some relative living with us, and friends of my parents always had the right to discipline any of us who were not acting appropriately. Can you identify this type of family setting? How about the families that are one parent either mother or father as primary caretakers? Or two mom or two dad families; or those where grandparent or grandparents were and are the primary? How about the families of adopted or step children, or multigenerational families, with aunts and uncles and or adult children returning or who have not left home? I work out at a local gym and I get to meet and talk to a lot of people there. Some are super conservative and we have long conversations about how the world is going to hell in a hand basket because of the breakdown of families. Others are single moms or dads struggling to instill basic values in their children. As Mamie Gummer the daughter of Meryl Streep recently said, “Our parents have by far the greatest influence on shaping who we are and how we deal with the world.” Or I talk with new step parent units about how to parent children new to them and who are trying to reconcile divorce and remarriage which is complicated enough along with step parenting. Parenting is complicated and one of the hardest jobs in the entire world. Struggling with the changing nature of families is an important task for churches. As Unitarian Universalist we tend to be more flexible in accepting the various incarnations of family but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t evaluate or look into the issue. Acceptance of one another is a primary UU value but it does not give us an excuse not to evaluate or consider the effects on our society and our younger ones who we are responsible to and for. Assessment and evaluation can lead us to advocate for social change and or to analyze issues such as what is family and is there an ideal. Yet I doubt we can come up with a universal model of family and for thousands of eons people have survived thrived and become important figures within differing family structures.
Unitarian Universalist don’t tend to go to the bible to establish norms of society and let me tell you if we did in this we would be hard pressed to find a “normal” family portrayed in the bible- Hebrew Scriptures or New Testament. Let’s take two well known biblical characters- Moses and Jesus. Moses was born to Hebrew parents in Egypt and by decree of the Pharaoh he along with all males born to the Hebrew women was to be killed at birth. Yet two brave mid-wives defied that order and told the Pharaoh that no males were being born into the Hebrew tribe only females. Thus they saved the lives of countless male children. Moses’ mother gave birth to a male and she was so afraid of being caught with a male child that she arranged to have him placed in a reed basket and left by the side of the Nile, conveniently planning this when Pharaoh’s daughter would be coming to the river to bathe. Pharaoh’s daughter named Potipher found the abandoned child and took him into her home raising him as her own child. Moses’ elder sister hid in the reeds and when she saw the rescue of the child she reported it back to her mother. The mother then appeared at the palace of Potipher where she offered herself as a wet nurse for the child. She told Potipher that her son had been taken from her at birth and killed as the Pharaoh had directed and that was why she had milk to become a wet nurse. Pretty ingenious and certainly not a typical family setting. Moses grew up in the palace of the Pharaoh’s daughter was raised as royalty, with his own mother feeding and caring for him, never revealing her identity to him. He became one of the most famous of Hebrew leaders, going up against a Pharaoh and eventually gaining the freedom of the Hebrews who crossed the Reed (Red) Sea wandering in the wilderness before going into Israel. There are many things I could ask and say about this story but the primary thought I have today is how creative Moses parents were in making sure that their son who by all accounts was destined for an early death provided a way for him to survive and become the leader he had the potential to be. A leader who became a model for Martin Luther King Jr and others to follow.
Now let’s look at Jesus’ family. Pretty complex would you agree? A young unmarried mother, engaged to a man much older than she is tells the husband to be that God did it. He marries her nonetheless and they have this first child. Joseph becomes a step dad and Jesus has a few other sibling sisters and brothers. James was one for sure but others are mentioned in the New Testament stories not often by name. We do know that at one point in the story Jesus’ mother tells his siblings to go and get him and talk some sense into him, that he is required to be home taking care of her and the family unit not off doing crazy stuff. He tells them that he must be about God’s business and that he will not take on the role as society demanded of him as the eldest but will go off on his own and that they must too. The model of family that Jesus grew up and his disregard for falling into the expected status quo certainly leave us wondering about his family. Many stories, many tales have been told about Jesus’ upbringing and what I am left with is the sense that even Jesus survived and thrived with an unusual model of family.
At the root of both stories though is the theme of love; the abiding and foundational love that supports children and those who parent them. Since I have long found focusing on Mother’s day to be a problem; I often try to address the overall theme of parenting. Some of you may feel this is unfair to Mothers or some may feel that this is disrespectful of families and even ignores fathers. However I would offer this thought. The deep and profound compassion for the individual and the desire to nurture the full potential of every single person and to teach them the desire to leave the world a better place because they lived in it is the best Unitarian Universalist value we can bring forward today. This is learned in families of all kinds; even church families.
Parenting is a holy task to which we are called. It is also an expression of the fullness of life and an awesome responsibility.
So today let us be grateful for our parents who gave us birth, and nurtured us and for those adults around us who helped us grow up to be what we are today, and for those children around us today who help us understand the importance of boundless energy, unconditional love and the priceless gifts of grace, humor and humility.
Today hug your mother, your parents if you can, and hug your child if you can, or better yet hug a parent any parent to show your appreciation for life and living.
So be it.

May 1, 2011 Ancient Sacred Rites: based on a sermon of May 1, 1994: the real history of May Day
Forever ago and forever into the foreseeable future humans have had ancient rites with sacred and specific rituals to mark the most important of life and death experiences. Rituals develop as we humans determine and intentionally establish a process to mark these times. The primary and crucial aspect of any ancient rite is to restore order, to settle chaos and to stabilize society. Rites include myths, practices, and actions repeated in a set way, over and over again; they include initiations and mark beginnings and endings. Rites and rituals can be personal but those that survive tend to be ones that are public and civic. Friday brought into our living rooms through media and television one of the more fascinating rituals- a wedding- the wedding of William and Catherine. It was steeped in so much tradition and ritual that it reminded me that rites such as marriage bring the love of two persons to the forefront in a very public way. This makes me sad and glad. Glad that at least in Massachusetts and a few other states same gender people can marry and express their love. Sad that this is not afforded to all persons across the United States and beyond. So you can see that rites can be used to free the spirit or if we don’t use our lens of questioning, rites can be used to bind people in unhealthy, oppressive ways. But in my imagination there is nothing more fitting today than to look at the history of May Day and the ritual of a May pole.
Imagine if you will that a spirit powerful and restless lives in a tree. Imagine that this spirit is a god incarnate and that this god has existed since the beginning of time and will continue to exist provided it can be awakened from slumber. This spirit enters rest when the stars in the night sky shift and when the days become shorter and colder. During the winter solstice the tree spirit rests. Now imagine that only magic rituals, celebrations, dances, and the reenactment of certain rites will reawaken this spirit. A spirit which will bring forth the growth of the earth’s coverings, the tree’s green leaves, the lush leaves in all shades of green, mint, lime, yellow green and pale green, the leaves ever gradually unfolding from the end of the branches and the flowers bursting forth in blazes of color; purple, blue, reds, yellows – yet none of this would occur if the tree spirit were not awakened.
In ancient centuries May Day was a very serious celebration enacted and participated in by an entire community. It was held in order to coax the spirit of the tree, the spirit of fertility and growth out of its lethargy. May Day reminds us of the reawakening of ancient goddesses and gods who rest during the winter and require ceremonies to be awakened. May Day is the celebration of spring, summer and the earth. It fills us with hope, and warmth, and newness of ideas and love.
It has been celebrated for centuries and in many countries, Lithuania, Romania, France, Germany, Sweden, Transylvania, Ireland and England. May Day celebrations from these countries followed a basic format as any magic or ritual celebration must.
First the community all participated in gathering a May Pole, a solemn procession of villagers would go into the woods, cut down an oak or birch tree and carry into the center of town for decorating. It was adorned with ribbons, flowers, herbs, green leaves, all sorts of ornaments and food. The purpose of decorating the tree was to raise the tree to a higher more stately position. This tree became the May Pole. It stood in the center of the town for the two or three days of the celebration.
In some countries unmarried males would also cut down smaller trees and place them in front of their home or in front of the home of the woman they hoped to marry. Sometimes the males burnt the trees they cut and then scattered the ashes around the May Pole in the town common. The initial gathering, cutting and decorating of the tree was undertaken with great solemnity but as the ceremony progressed the time for merry making came upon the community.
A major event was the crowning of the queen and king of May. Various methods were used to pick the queen and king. In some countries, Lithuania, Germany, France and England the young unmarried men would name an unmarried woman to become the queen of May. There was always a symbolic relationship between the queen of May and the spirit of fertilization and growth, she often planted the first seeds or prayed over the fields. She yielded great power in the community for the year of her reign and was often expected to marry and bear a child before the next May Day celebration. This is symbolic of the real mimicking the imaginary.
The selection of the may king was more elaborate and always, no matter what culture, involved a contest or test of some sort. Some historians and Sir James Frazer is one, believe there was a time when this contest was fought until one of the contestants was killed. The assumption was that the man who survived was the strongest and thus most fit to rule the community and sire children. [In the last recorded centuries there is no indication that the contests were engaged in with this serious consequence; though they continued to be elaborate and highly competitive].
In some ceremonies someone acted the role of the leaf king, also called the green man, or king of the wood. In Germany this leaf king dressed from head to toe in leaves and grass. Thus covered with green growth he impersonated the tree spirit and would lead the procession from the outside of town into the common. On the common and under the May Pole a grass hut had been built. The leaf king approached the hut, made a comment about it being a magic castle, cut a door into the hut then entered and sat on the throne. The members of the community would gather around him whereby he would proceed to criticize every person in the village. When green man finished his tirade, another man from the procession called “the frog flayer” would step forward open a cage full of frogs pinch them all until one croaked. That croaking frog would be hung on the tree. This ritual was done in order to bring rain during the growing season.
In another country, another type of ceremony might include this elaborate and odd contest. Two men would have to race to the May Pole, the first there would become the king, the loser the clown. The king had to climb to the top and bring down the wreath of flowers and herbs that was crowning the May Pole. The clown or loser, realizing that he had lost the foot race continued running to the ale house, where he had to eat 30 rolls, drink 4 quarts of beer and greet the king with a speech. If the clown was able to do this before the king arrived the bar bill was paid by the king, if not the clown paid the bill himself.
As the centuries passed the ceremonies became more a day of frivolity rather than the past and serious ritual reenactment of awakening the sleeping tree spirit.
May is the month that the Roman Catholic Church honors Mary the mother of Jesus. In the past, it was tradition to decorate statues of Mary with flowers and herbs and leaves and often to process through the center of some towns carrying a statue of her. Also, it is no accident that May is the month that we celebrate mother’s day.
Though Halloween is in the fall the similarity between that celebration and May Day celebrations is evident, as villagers went house to house seeking treats; and decorating trees, though done at Christmas, may have some roots here. The choosing of prom queens occurs in the month of May and races and contests now seen in the Olympics have come from ancient traditions of men proving their worth, valor and strength.
There seems still to be an older myth and ceremony that May Day is related to. Sir James Frazer in the book The Golden Bough, tells about the goddess of fertility Diana and her virgin male mate. Diana was revered as the goddess of woodlands, wild creatures and fruits of the earth. She also blessed men and women with children. Her holy fires were tended by the vestal virgins and sacred to her were the woods, forest and oak groves. Frazer says that probably with the death of male virgins from war, a succession to the priesthood was established that depended on strength, vitality and an ability to survive. The ritual selection of the queen and king of May represents the mating and marriage of Diana and virgins.
Is it enough to dismiss these May Day celebrations with a wave of our hand and a nod of our head and say ah yes these were the ancient pagan rituals of fertility and growth? I think not, they were attended to with the same seriousness with which we all attend and participate in whatever form of worship we partake in.
In the beginning, the May Day celebrations were an attempt to order the invisible to become visible by the use of homeopathic magic and to restore order to the universe.
Magic and religion have deep rooted connections. Magic uses two forms, homeopathic, also called sympathetic, and contagious magic. Sympathetic magic assumes that control over natural order can be assumed by those who imitate similar actions. This form of magic believes that every action produces a reaction and that if one can mimic an act a similar result will occur. Hence it is form of magic to mimic the rebirth of spring through May Pole decorating. The rite of fertility being mimicked by the marriage of the king and queen of May mimics the marriage of Diana and her priest and thus guarantees children. To mimic the tree spirit as green George or leaf king will assure the awakening of spring. To do these acts are to perform magic: the magic necessary for the continuance of life, for without spring, no growth occurs. Without the lengthening of days no fertilization takes place, without the birth of cattle and animals or people life does not carry on. Magic assumes that by mimic or sympathetic action the immutable laws of nature can be changed, altered and manipulated. As the realization that the seasons changed, the sun rose, the moon shone, the flowers burst forth and women gave birth with or without the aid of chants, celebrations, incantations, or ceremonies — new ways of thinking about life came forward like religious thinking. For religion grew out of magic and the illusions of magic brought increasing feelings of awe about the mysteries of life.
Conflicts between religion and magic occurred and now in some countries May Day fires are lit, like the Beltane fires in Great Britain, not to awaken the sleeping spirit but to protect the people from evil. The shift from magic to religion brought conflicts in how the people could communicate with the unknown, how the people could influence the unknown, and comprehend the unknown.
It is within our nature to make meaning out of our lives, and to find ways to be in contact with that which is larger than us, that which we can celebrate, that which we can know. Magic and religion have deep connections to our psyche often helping in this process. There is a bit of the magician in each of us as we try to find ways to make the invisible visible, the unseen seen. There is religion in each of us as we appeal to a force outside ourselves for favor, blessing, relief and understanding. We are all untied in the common task of taking the mystery celebrations of the past, such as May Day, and finding that they hold deep meaning for us and wondering why and how they are so embedded in our society.
Let us celebrate the magic of this month with awe and reverence.
So be it.

April 24, 2011 Sermon
Guided by Love – Easter
Neither death by crucifixion on a Friday, being put in a tomb on Saturday, nor having thousands of years of story and speculation about a resurrection on a Sunday can kill the abiding message of Jesus life. Perhaps you remember the story; it began in earnest on Palm Sunday when he and his disciples chose to go to Jerusalem during the Passover to share with his followers, knowing full well that this would bring the full wrath of the authorities down on his head. A betrayal, a capture, a frightened group most of whom abandoned him followed. A court loosely established where both the Roman and the Jews attempted to push off responsibility unto the other led to his death sentence of crucifixion as a seditious rebel. Crucifixion along with two other rebels, (commonly called thiefs) his death hastened by a Roman soldier who allegedly pierced his side so he would bleed to death quicker than being left to die the slow strangulation that accompanies a crucifixion. A few of his followers but mostly the women waited at the spot of his death to take down his body and prepare it for burial. Because of the timing of his death they were not able accomplish this task before sundown of Shabbat- or the Jewish Sabbath, when this task and all others would have been forbidden. In great sorrow the followers which included the women waited out the day and night until sunrise when they approached the tomb to prepare his body. And when they got to the tomb it was empty and they ran to tell the others. Thus begins the stories surrounding the great mystery of the life, death and teachings of Jesus. The ending is still unfolding.
Of course there had to be a story of a resurrection, all great religious leaders and those considered the Gods/ Goddess do not die and be buried like mere mortals. Of course there had to be a story of a resurrection for his followers to survive the loss of their leader who had been with them for only 3 short years and for them to gain credence as legitimate disciples of a religious leader. Of course there had to be a resurrection story to give hope and encouragement to the band that had scattered upon his arrest and death.
So at Easter we Unitarian Universalists gather to ponder what is it of Jesus’ life and death that we can and should hold onto. For me it is not the belief in a resurrection, nor that Jesus saves, but it truly is the saving message of hope and justice all guided by love. Jesus was guided by love – universal, unconditional, courageous and unequivocal love for all of humanity and a burning desire to transform society and confront with love and if necessary force those who stood in the way. … (Of outlawing jelly beans) of a society based on justice, committed to overthrowing injustice and standing firm in the face of oppression.
Easter is a time that UU’s often stumble over. My word of advice; don’t get hung up in the specifics. Jesus’ life, his works, the women and men he surrounded himself with kept his vision of justice and fairness and courage alive long after his death. The hope that millions of people find and found in the enduring message Jesus lived which was guided by love has brought courage and strength to them and the generations since. When I study Buddhism I don’t have to believe everything about the Buddha, when I study Islam I don’t have to believe everything about Muhammad, when I study Christianity I don’t have to believe everything about Jesus either. I know that his followers heard the most important message, God is love, the divine love is at the heart of the universe and all people without exception are embraced in this universal love, and we are left as messengers of love and hope and courage and justice.
As our play demonstrated this morning injustice is known because of its absurdity and justice is known by the ones who live it and name the injustice. May you be bearers of love and justice and courage and hope. Name injustice when you see it.
Easter is also jelly beans and Easter eggs. Jelly beans and Easter eggs- the eternal signs of hope and symbols of this church’s need to show joy during worship. This reminds me that we should stop now for a few minutes and hide the plastic eggs filled with goodies all around the church for our youth to find during fellowship time. So take some eggs, take some time, get into your kid friendly mind, feel free to leave your seats and move around the sanctuary and into back area too. The youth will be up after service to hunt while we enjoy fellowship time.
Enjoy this glorious day.

Palm Sunday April 17, 2011
Easier

Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of what many of our Christian neighbors call Holy Week. The week begins with Jesus choosing to come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. He enters on the back of a young colt, and is welcomed in by a path of palm leaves being strewn on the ground to mark his entry. One can only imagine the excitement of those who had heard of him gathering to witness this sight. Word would have spread like wildfire, “Jesus is coming into town, and he is going to be here at the Passover festival, he is going to be in the holiest of cities, let us go and see him, let us watch this brave, holy, compassionate man enter the city.” I can only imagine some others and of his disciples saying things like- “this is too risky, Jesus is too hot and too confrontational toward the authorities, his teachings, healings and actions too controversial, this entry into the city will surely create serious repercussions, and can we let him do this?” But Jesus was a man who was not afraid of confrontations, he was not afraid of thinking, acting and being different. He was not afraid to make choices and tough choices too. he was not known for taking the easier way. His choice to come into Jerusalem during the Passover season was a choice that would eventually lead to his capture, crucifixion, the story of a resurrection, and many years later the formation of a major world religion. A religion that has inspired, sustained and nurtured millions, and at the same time a religion that has led to the death of millions of innocents, led to prejudice and the establishment of systems of injustice that in more recent years has led to instances of abuse. What would Jesus think of how his teachings had/have been distorted? What would Jesus think if today he were to look around and see, how rather than taking care of the least of these, we measure their worth, or rather than taking care of the least of these we judge by the color of skin, or economic class, or who they worship? I don’t think Jesus would ever want us to forget the message that works is the better virtue to follow than worship. And, I think Jesus would speak out at the injustices that we see around us.
Jesus’ choice to come to Jerusalem at a time when he was incurring the wrath of the authorities signals his willingness to confront and possibly transform the social/ religious climate that the people were living under. In each of the Bible stories, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John the Chief Priest and Rabbi’s were talking about how to arrest Jesus and were talking about whether they dared to arrest him during the Passover time, most agreed that it would cause tumult among the people. But most were pushing for his arrest no matter when; for Jesus was creating quite a stir anywhere he went. Jesus would have known of the plan to seize him and it would have been far easier to stay in Bethany with his friend Lazarus and the sisters Mary and Martha. But Jesus never was about the easier way. He was about integrity and wholeness and the sacred balance of living as his soul directed in his outward and inward actions.
For me the draw toward Jesus has always been his radical message of living a life of radical loving and that once he began his mission of transformation of the society and to bring faith and social justice together he persevered. Prophets are like this though. Moses followed a difficult path leading and preparing his followers to become a new nation in a covenantal relationship with Yahweh. Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, Mohammed also prophets persevered when the easier way would have been to back off when resistance was met.
So we begin with Jesus shaking up the status quo, daring to confront the systems of injustice and challenging his disciples to put into action an ethic of charity and care based on giving to one and all. We end with an example of how the ethics that Jesus taught inform world politics and policies today. And in the meantime we come together to learn how to put our words into works, our thoughts into actions, our visions into realities. A religious leader such as Jesus was effective and his influence long lasting because his teachings and example help us to be better people here and now not because he wanted to be worship above all others and demanded that we treat him thusly.
On Palm Sunday, I remember the decisions that Jesus made and the courage he demonstrated in making those decisions. He chose to immerse himself in love of humanity and to willingly participate with others in the healing of a broken world, and to become a partner in the dance of life, even while knowing that he would become a hunted man. I am also called to give thanks for the examples he gave. I can also try to model my life in a way which shows that I too have chosen to immerse myself in the love of humanity and that I too have a willingness to participate fully in relationship with God and others.
As Jesus was sharing his Passover meal, in Jewish tradition this is called a Seder, he talked with his disciples about bread and wine and remembrance and though this was not a new conversation around a Seder table, what was new is written in the book of John. John 15: 12 says. “This is my commandment that you love one another, as I have loved you… ” You hear these words and don’t find them odd but in the land of Jesus’ time, love – being defined as charity, compassion, healing and sharing resources with others was not shared across ethnic, racial, economic, gender and power groups. Love was reserved for one’s own group, one’s people. Jesus’ apostles, his group, his people, crossed the lines that had previously defined about who one was and to whom one paid allegiance. Jesus’ followers were rich and poor, young and old, ill and healthy, Jewish and Roman, male and female, social elites and social outcasts. To be told that his followers would be known because they showed love from one another was a very strong and strange message for the time. It was always easier to remain within the confines of expected status. Jesus broke out of that mold and he led others to do the same and he left behind a message that encouraged the same. Jesus life would have been far easier if he had stayed in Nazareth, done what was expected of the eldest male and cared for his family, learned a trade that brought stability to his family and not been such a rebel rouser. But easier is not often the way of those who look around with love in their hearts and follow the inward nagging that propels them to go out and make a difference.
My hope is that you will find the strength and courage necessary to make all those difficult life decisions that you might be facing so you can go out and make a difference. And, even though fear and vulnerability may accompany the choices, may the love of life, people, and God/the divine, bring peace and joy to you. In the long run it is not easier to ignore the inner naggings. Yet I know that I need other models, mentors and teachers around to walk with me as I work toward inner harmony. Let us learn to make our decisions because of our commitment to and loving involvement with the world. May it be so, Blessed Be.