I spoke on Sunday in a Unitarian-Universalist fellowhip, having been asked to create a healing process for a congregation that had been actively involved and somewhat split, since before the primaries. Contrary to my usual practice of speaking from Spirit, I wrote out the service. These are the notes I prepared...
Welcome, friends. Welcome to this sanctuary… of community… of healing….of spirituality… and of transformation – for truly in this place we transform lives.
You are all welcome here, no matter who you are, what you believe, or what you have experienced this past week.
You are all welcome here because as Unitarian Universalists, we honor the worth and dignity of every single person, even when – no, especially when - we don’t fully agree. Because we know that no one person has all the Truth, and so in our search for Truth and Meaning we glean pieces from every one around us.
So from the diversity of our experience we gather. And into the common bond of our humanity we join – hoping to find Home. Hoping to find neighbors. Hoping to find solace. And hoping – even against hope – to find that spark of motivation and support that we need to get up and do the work we are called to do: to bind up the broken, to preach the good news, … and to be present with each other in our pain and in our joys; in our fear and in our hopes.
We in the program committee created today’s program long before this past week’s election, thinking of a need for healing the bitter divisiveness that has been developing between Americans and between our leaders over the past year and more.
During this way-too-long election season, far too many of us have experienced damaged relationships with loved ones, friends, co-workers, or church members, dismay over election results, stress from the bombardment of negative discourse and lies, and fear that the country's divisions will continue or even intensify.
Yes, ours is a time of great uncertainty. Thoughtful people everywhere are uneasy about the system of governance in which we have placed our faith and trust to preserve our welfare. We are concerned about the well-being of people living on the margins of our society. We are wondering about our children's future, given the tensions in our society and a world that threatens to erupt in turmoil or violence – even as climate change disrupts the very foundation of our lives. Yet we know that fear does not serve us, or those we care about. We know that fear of the “Other” is a function of our lowest brain – what I call our “bird brain”, which pecks to death a chick that doesn’t look the same. We know that we have a higher mind, the cerebral cortex, from which we can choose to operate, with which we can see our common humanity instead of our apparent differences.
So we come together. With fellowships and churches all across the country, we come together as Unitarians, recognizing One Power and Presence throughout the universe and as Universalists, realizing that all beings, everywhere, are included in the Love of that Presence.
(even when we don’t agree)
In this understanding I invite you now to share… In a few words, if you can, share your current feelings and thoughts about the past 2 years and their culmination this past week, and about what may be emerging. Sharing here (in writing if you can, aloud as you look at this page is fine) allows us to stand witness to and for each other, to speak the truths of our heart in love with each other, to be held in the heart of our community
Thank you all… we are, each and every one of us, enriched by your heartfelt sharing - the field of mind that humanity shares is enhanced.
I’d like to add some words being spoken this week in other UU congregations, in vigils and special services across the country…
Rev Daniel O’Connell of Houston TX:
Hold on to what is good & honest & true
Find that calm center of yours, hiding behind a door, and
Hold on.
Despite the noise of bickering & profanity,
Hold on to kindness.
Despite the whirlwind of potential tragedy
Despite the possibility of progress pushed back
Hold on.
Hold on to this house of memory & hope– as a haven for religious liberals
now needed more than ever.
Hold on & hold fast, for together we make a beacon of love & hope
Together we make a beacon whose light pushes back the darkness
Elections come and go, …
This too, shall pass.
Hold on.
Danielle M. Feris, describing herself as a White, Queer and Jewish community organizer in Oakland,
tells us
We must turn toward each other and open ourselves and share our resources.
We must apologize and repair when we make mistakes, and then we must go on together.
White supremacy has not won. There are still rivers and sacred prayer circles protecting the water. There is still Black liberation movement, resistance and resilience. There is still love and magic.
What will you bring forward now? How can I be supportive of your efforts? What is needed of me and what can I bring more of?”
As if in response to that, Monique Bourgeois adapted these words by Judy Bressler of the Klezmer Conservatory Band for her congregation:
A candle alone is a small thing.
But one candle can light another
–and see how its own light increases
as it gives flame to another.
Light is the power to chase away the darkness, to dissolve it.
Throughout history, darkness has tried to smother the light.
But always in the end it fails.
For always, somewhere in the world, the light remains,
Ready to burn its brightest, even where it is darkest.
…
And when one heart kindles another,
When one person strengthens another,
When one mind illumines another,
The light increases within us as we pass it on
With that in mind, seeking the spark of light, the candle within, please write down one thing that gives you hope – it might be a glimmer of possibility, a person, a deeper wisdom ... thank you…
[The Meditation]: Now, please close your eyes and feel that hope as reality… seeing, hearing, smelling the experience – bringing all your senses to the imaginary experience of its presence in your life now… allowing it to become a reality to you mind. It is a point of light in the mind-body. Expand that light as loving energy through the mind-body… and into the room… across the town… across the region… up and down the coast… across the continent… the oceans… and spread it around the world. Now in space, look at this beloved earth: one humanity on one planet. Embrace it, feel the light and love and peace pervading it for this instant; and now; and now again. Breathe now, a cleansing breath, and bring awareness back… Breathe again.
And now, to help us remember what we stand on and stand for, let us read our 7 principles, listed in your order of service:
We covenant to affirm and promote…
· The inherent worth and dignity of each person;
· Justice equity and compassion in human relations
· Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations
· A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
· The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and society at large;
· The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
· Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Thank you.
[click here to watch a video of this presentation.]
Welcome, friends. Welcome to this sanctuary… of community… of healing….of spirituality… and of transformation – for truly in this place we transform lives.
You are all welcome here, no matter who you are, what you believe, or what you have experienced this past week.
You are all welcome here because as Unitarian Universalists, we honor the worth and dignity of every single person, even when – no, especially when - we don’t fully agree. Because we know that no one person has all the Truth, and so in our search for Truth and Meaning we glean pieces from every one around us.
So from the diversity of our experience we gather. And into the common bond of our humanity we join – hoping to find Home. Hoping to find neighbors. Hoping to find solace. And hoping – even against hope – to find that spark of motivation and support that we need to get up and do the work we are called to do: to bind up the broken, to preach the good news, … and to be present with each other in our pain and in our joys; in our fear and in our hopes.
We in the program committee created today’s program long before this past week’s election, thinking of a need for healing the bitter divisiveness that has been developing between Americans and between our leaders over the past year and more.
During this way-too-long election season, far too many of us have experienced damaged relationships with loved ones, friends, co-workers, or church members, dismay over election results, stress from the bombardment of negative discourse and lies, and fear that the country's divisions will continue or even intensify.
Yes, ours is a time of great uncertainty. Thoughtful people everywhere are uneasy about the system of governance in which we have placed our faith and trust to preserve our welfare. We are concerned about the well-being of people living on the margins of our society. We are wondering about our children's future, given the tensions in our society and a world that threatens to erupt in turmoil or violence – even as climate change disrupts the very foundation of our lives. Yet we know that fear does not serve us, or those we care about. We know that fear of the “Other” is a function of our lowest brain – what I call our “bird brain”, which pecks to death a chick that doesn’t look the same. We know that we have a higher mind, the cerebral cortex, from which we can choose to operate, with which we can see our common humanity instead of our apparent differences.
So we come together. With fellowships and churches all across the country, we come together as Unitarians, recognizing One Power and Presence throughout the universe and as Universalists, realizing that all beings, everywhere, are included in the Love of that Presence.
(even when we don’t agree)
In this understanding I invite you now to share… In a few words, if you can, share your current feelings and thoughts about the past 2 years and their culmination this past week, and about what may be emerging. Sharing here (in writing if you can, aloud as you look at this page is fine) allows us to stand witness to and for each other, to speak the truths of our heart in love with each other, to be held in the heart of our community
Thank you all… we are, each and every one of us, enriched by your heartfelt sharing - the field of mind that humanity shares is enhanced.
I’d like to add some words being spoken this week in other UU congregations, in vigils and special services across the country…
Rev Daniel O’Connell of Houston TX:
Hold on to what is good & honest & true
Find that calm center of yours, hiding behind a door, and
Hold on.
Despite the noise of bickering & profanity,
Hold on to kindness.
Despite the whirlwind of potential tragedy
Despite the possibility of progress pushed back
Hold on.
Hold on to this house of memory & hope– as a haven for religious liberals
now needed more than ever.
Hold on & hold fast, for together we make a beacon of love & hope
Together we make a beacon whose light pushes back the darkness
Elections come and go, …
This too, shall pass.
Hold on.
Danielle M. Feris, describing herself as a White, Queer and Jewish community organizer in Oakland,
tells us
We must turn toward each other and open ourselves and share our resources.
We must apologize and repair when we make mistakes, and then we must go on together.
White supremacy has not won. There are still rivers and sacred prayer circles protecting the water. There is still Black liberation movement, resistance and resilience. There is still love and magic.
What will you bring forward now? How can I be supportive of your efforts? What is needed of me and what can I bring more of?”
As if in response to that, Monique Bourgeois adapted these words by Judy Bressler of the Klezmer Conservatory Band for her congregation:
A candle alone is a small thing.
But one candle can light another
–and see how its own light increases
as it gives flame to another.
Light is the power to chase away the darkness, to dissolve it.
Throughout history, darkness has tried to smother the light.
But always in the end it fails.
For always, somewhere in the world, the light remains,
Ready to burn its brightest, even where it is darkest.
…
And when one heart kindles another,
When one person strengthens another,
When one mind illumines another,
The light increases within us as we pass it on
With that in mind, seeking the spark of light, the candle within, please write down one thing that gives you hope – it might be a glimmer of possibility, a person, a deeper wisdom ... thank you…
[The Meditation]: Now, please close your eyes and feel that hope as reality… seeing, hearing, smelling the experience – bringing all your senses to the imaginary experience of its presence in your life now… allowing it to become a reality to you mind. It is a point of light in the mind-body. Expand that light as loving energy through the mind-body… and into the room… across the town… across the region… up and down the coast… across the continent… the oceans… and spread it around the world. Now in space, look at this beloved earth: one humanity on one planet. Embrace it, feel the light and love and peace pervading it for this instant; and now; and now again. Breathe now, a cleansing breath, and bring awareness back… Breathe again.
And now, to help us remember what we stand on and stand for, let us read our 7 principles, listed in your order of service:
We covenant to affirm and promote…
· The inherent worth and dignity of each person;
· Justice equity and compassion in human relations
· Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations
· A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
· The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and society at large;
· The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
· Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Thank you.
[click here to watch a video of this presentation.]
RSS Feed
