Each year on Memorial Day I want to remember and
pay respect to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives in
defending our country. I also want to
imagine what it would be like to have a world of peace where one day that will
not be necessary. Our sixth principle is
the goal of world community with peace liberty and justice for all. It seems sometimes the goal of latter two
liberty and justice make peace seem farther off. Last year I did a sermon on that topic, and
we used the hymn I’ve got Peace like a river. As hymns go, it is easy to sing,
and has a nice sound After last year’s service I kept thinking really what does
it mean to have peace like a river.
I
imagine the concept of peace like a river comes from the fact that early
agricultural communities were built near rivers as a source of water for plants
and crops. The food that sustained them
were created by water from the river. That is probably the genesis of that
phrase in regard to its many Biblical references. Psalm 36 speaks of the river of your
delights. The Book of Isaiah speaks of
prosperity like a river. The song is an African American
Spiritual. The first 3 verses were
written much earlier. The last three verses, were added later with anonymous
attribution. So what does or what can it mean to us here today to have peace
like a river.
In
many religious traditions the river is used as a metaphor for when we die. We
cross over the river between life and death.
From the Greeks, it is Charon the ferryperson who carries us over from
the land of the living to the land of the dead. When I think about the metaphor
it is interesting to think about daredevils who walk a tightrope over or jump
motorcycles over rivers as a way I think in their minds to transcend this river
between life and death and come out on the other side alive. These risk takers give us a metaphorical
sense of what may be possible.
(Powerpoint)
Even
Waterfalls themselves such as this on in Niagra Falls NY, it is the river that
leads into it, and at the bottom forms
another river. Rivers are not always peaceful.
Anyone who has rafted on rapids knows that. The River is our metaphor for life. Sometimes calm and peaceful and sometimes
raging. Always flowing, always
changing. As the Greek philosophy
Heraclitus said “you cannot step twice into the same river” Nothing in life
stays the same. We must savor the moments of beauty, but we must restrain
ourselves from trying to lock that moment in time, for it can never last as it
was.
(Video
– A River Runs Through it)
And
there we have it. If we are to engage with life it will sometimes take us for a
wild ride. Sometimes it will feel like
we are going under. And we are not even sure how it is going to end. But through that perseverance, we can
sometimes, even if its only for brief moments we can feel truly alive, truly
fulfilled in that journey knowing we are heading in the right direction toward
our hoped for goal. And that has to be enough. If we are lucky, we feel the
magic now and then. But perhaps the peace of the river is learning to have
peace with the journey and peace with never-ending change.
(Powerpoint)
I
often go down to the Mississippi to just sit and watch the river and
contemplate the flow of the river and the flow of my life. (To the left of this picture is the gambling
boats with the Pelicans and other birds scavenging for food – but that is an
image for another day and another sermon,) I find sitting and watching the river very
peaceful. Its also a little nostalgic
for me, as some of the most peaceful times of my youth were spent watching a
river flow. (Powerpoint)
I
lived just over a mile from the Bronx River seen here, many days after school, starting
from the age of 8 (I was what they would call today a free range child) I would
walk from my home to this little spot by river which was across from the Bronx
Zoo. It was my place of escape to nature
in the middle of the concrete jungle. I
had this little spot which was not often frequented by others.
I
spent many an afternoon watching the river flow and even occasionally if I was
willing to get my pants and sneakers wet, crossing over the waterfall where
rocks made it navigable, to sneak into the zoo, although sometimes fearful that
I would end up in the wolves den accidently.
But mostly I would just sit and watch the river flow…
Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essays on nature said
“Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not
reminded of the flux of all things? Throw a stone into the stream, and the
circles that propagate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence. Humans
are conscious of a universal soul within or behind our individual life,
wherein, as in a firmament, the natures of Justice, Truth, Love, Freedom, arise
and shine. This universal soul, we call Reason: it is not mine, or thine, but
we are its; we are its property. That which, intellectually considered, we call
Reason, considered in relation to nature, we call Spirit. Spirit is the
Creator. Spirit hath life in itself. “
I
think by sitting by the river, we connect to the spirit by realizing we are a
part of the flow of life, just like the river. We also know the river flows
on. It flows to a place we don’t yet
know. Perhaps the wide ocean, or waterfall, but somewhere around the bend, life
continues to flow on in a way we cant see, and wherever we are in life, it
allows us to see that in ourselves. Oh
we can map it out with google or a five year plan, but we have not seen it with
our own eyes, or know what pitfalls or bridges lie between us and the rivers
end. Our lives will continue to flow
somewhere, in some way beyond where we are.
We cannot change that. It is the
inevitably of change.
And
just as the river will sometimes be slower, or faster or curving, or straight,
so too does our life have the uncertainty of where it is heading. But don’t dam
up the river just so you can know where all the water is and allow you to
harness it just for yourself. Let it
flow, and see where it takes you. And
although Eons ago it was the water that carved out the mountains and pathways,
I imagine the river of our life flowing, and I think of that land surrounding
it that defines the boundaries of rivers.
It reminds me of how often the environment and circumstances in our
lives define where our life has flowed.
But
as much as we try to keep a river contained to fit our boundaries, when it has
too much it will overflow to where it needs to go. So too can we when we have had too much, with
discernment and planning we cabn redirect our lives, and others lives for the
better, to live into our nature of Justice, our nature of Truth, and our
nature of Love. It is why each week we redirect 50% of our non pledge
collection with social justice groups in our community This month we are
supporting Quad Citians Affirming Diversity.
Let the river of equality and your donations flow generously.
Part
II
To
continue with the exegesis of the hymn, I move to the second verse I’ve joy
like a fountain. I often don’t think of
fountains themselves having joy. Certain
fountains give joy. (PowerPoint) A chocolate
fountain at a wedding attended gave many joy.
When I think of fountains I think of (PowerPoint) a Zen fountain I once
had similar to this that gave me a sense of calm led to reflectiveness. So maybe there is joy in reflecting. (Powerpoint).
Watching the fountain scoop up the water and constantly toss it around
did actually look joyful although not meditative to me. (PowerPoint) We have a
drinking fountain. The most famous
fountain is one that we all search for in vain, the fountain of youth. The
message I receive from joy like a fountain is that we cannot easily place
labels on people, or places or things. We
need to take each person we find as we find them, as individuals, in their
uniqueness, as well as in their wholeness. There is no one fountain, there is
no one kind of person. So let us drink from the fountain. The fountain of life,
the fountain of every life, and the fountain of every being in existence.
Which
leads to I’ve got love like an ocean. (PowerPoint).
Let us have love that is as expansive as an ocean. That is wide ranging and
inclusive. But love can be hard. Its
hard to love some people. (PPT) Like the painting “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”
by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai.
When you go out to deep waters, sometimes the waters can get rough. When
we try to go deep with each other, sometimes it can get rough. When you try to change established cultures,
whether they be in Congregations or law enforcement or medical care, the waves
will rise and fall and one must be able to ride them out and stay in
relationship with and keep a heart of love for all who are with us on the journey.
And
on that journey we have pain like an arrow. (PowerPoint)
This
has always been a confusing line for me, but when we did a child dedication
earlier this year, I read a piece by Khalil Gilbran the Prophet in which he
speaks of parents and children that helped me understand it.
“For life goes
not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent
forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and they bend you with
their might that their arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;”
The
pain like an arrow, is the knowledge that the life we live, the work we do will
never be complete in our lifetime. That
the river will go on long after we are here.
We are both the arrow and the bow.
And it has to be enough. Last
week someone said to me we should live our lives not for our resume but for our
obituary. What do we want to be known
for. We need to let go of the pain of
uncertainty and live our life in the present moment with our eye on the path of
the infinite.
That
pain, that pain like an arrow can lead to tears like raindrops. (Powerpoint) Raindrops that fill up the river. As the Buddha said “all of life is suffering”
and although there is a way out of suffering, suffering cannot be avoided. People die, leave us, betray us, come up
short, and that is part of our journey of life.
The river is filled up not just with ecstatic moments of joy and peace
on the journey but also tears.
So
we need to have strength like a mountain. (PowerPoint) Something lasting,
something strong that over time can stand the test of time, something that we
can hold on to in the times that test us. That mountain is our commitment to this free
religious tradition, that although it may change over time, is always here for
us to explore our religious and spiritual beliefs and is here to bring us together
to learn how to create beloved community.
(Video – A River Runs Through it - end)
Let
our hopes always rise. Let our love rise. Let us remember as we walk in the world, let
us walk gently and with kindness. We don’t know what even our small kindnesses
and sacrifices will lead to around the river bend, beyond our view of sight, in
some distant future, where there is more love, more hope, more peace and more
joy. Let us make it so. Let us sing it into being with our Closing Hymn #95