Cultivating Relationships

Opening Reading “Fault Line” – Robert Walsh

Did you ever think there might be a fault line
passing underneath your living room:
A place in which your life is lived
in meeting and in separating,
Wondering and telling,
unaware that just beneath
you is the unseen seam of great plates that strain through time? And that your life, already spilling over the brim,
could be invaded, sent off in a new direction,
turned aside by forces you were warned about
but not prepared for?
Shelves could be spilled out,
the level floor set at an angle in some seconds’ shaking.
You would have to take your losses,
do whatever must be done next.
When the great plates slip and the earth shivers
and the flaw is seen to lie in what you trusted most,
look not to more solidity,
to weighty slabs of concrete poured or strength of cantilevered
beam to save the fractured order.
Trust more the tensile strands of love
that bend and stretch to hold you
in the web of life that’s often torn but always healing.
There’s your strength.
The shifting plates, the restive earth, your room, your precious life,
they all proceed from love,
the ground on which we walk together."

Reflection Part 1

I found the opening reading so moving because it feels like tectonic plates are shifting in our world.
Everything seems to be changing.
And when everything is changing, what do we have to hold onto. The tensile strands of love, the ground on which we walk together. Although I don’t use the word tensile much in my day to day life,
I do think that feeling of flexibility is so important these days. Everybody is stressed and the future is unknown,
that it is important to understand what our identity is
as Individuals and as a Congregation 

to better able us to withstand the vicissitudes of life.

One question we always ask about identity is how much of identity is past versus present versus envisioned.
I am helped in this question by Jewish roots.
There has long been a discussion in Judaism and about Judaism, as to whether its identity was as a religion, a culture, or race.

Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan who was the founder of Recontructionist Judaism believed Judaism was a civilization that was progressively evolving.
It had deep roots to the past and traditions of Judaism,
but insisted that it be planted in the present to deal with the life as it is, not as it was.
Kaplan famously said, Tradition gets “a vote but not a veto”. 

 Kaplan also identified religious identity in three ways,
Belief, Behavior and Belonging.
He posited that Christian Identity focused first on belief,
in their case, creedal beliefs about Jesus as the messiah.
If you had right beliefs, it would lead you to behave in certain ways and by doing certain rituals
and by behaving in certain ways, you belonged to Christiandom. Kaplan felt Judaism’s identity was not belief,  but rather primarily “BELONGING.
It was a sense of belonging to the Jewish people.
Behaviors such as rituals,
were just ways to reinforce a sense of being Jewish.
As one Rabbi wrote, doing Jewish stuff, we feel Jewish.

So I tried to think about this question of belief, behavior and belonging from a Unitarian Universalist perspective.
First I think just by asking this question it creates a false trichotomy. I think all three are important.
They are always in creative tension with each other.
I think similar to Judaism there is a strong sense of belonging when it comes to Unitarian Universalism.
People who have moved away from this congregation still maintain their membership here.
Because we had a great impact on them and are a part of their identity and I think that speaks well of us.
People who are no longer formal members of a Congregation still consider themselves Unitarian Universalists.
They still at least abstractly identify with us.
Which leaves the existential question, can you belong to something you literally do not belong to.

We do have this sense of belonging though as a group of people who have eschewed traditional religions, but still find meaning in meaning making together in community.
There is a sense of belonging to a long tradition of free religious thought and expression,
There is a sense of belonging to a history of people who have continued to struggle to grow spiritually and religiously.
Belonging to history of people however imperfect worked for improvement of humankind in the world.
We belong to a long line of people who without which we would not be here to even ask such questions as we continue this tradition.
So I would agree, history has a vote, but not a veto.
Famously, when a Universalist minister was asked where he stood on a particular issues, he said, we do not stand, we move.
Meaning, we adapt to a changing world,
to make meaning in new ways,
honoring the past but not bound to it.
So belonging to Unitarian Universalism means
belonging to and accepting and adapting to change.
Due to our pluralistic non creedal nature,
we similar to Judaism, would probably not value beliefs as high as belonging or behavior.

But I am always drawn to the reading in the our hymnal by religious educator sofia fahs entitled “It matters what we believe” proposing that we should aspire to

“beliefs that are expansive and lead the way into wider and deeper sympathies.
beliefs that are like sunshine,
blessing children with the warmth of happiness.
Beliefs that are bonds in a world community,
where sincere differences beautify the pattern.
Beliefs that are like gateways opening wide vistas for exploration.
Beliefs that nurture self-confidence and enrich the feeling of personal worth.
Beliefs that are pliable, like the young sapling,
ever growing with the upward thrust of life.”

It is not the particulars of the belief that we require,
rather the question of whether your beliefs
make you this Congregation and the world a better place.
I often say that due to our theological pluralism,
our theology is a relational theology.
How we interact with each other is what matters.

Which brings me to Martin Bubers’ book I-Thou,
where he differentiates what he calls I-It relationships
in which we see people as objects

with what he calls I-You relationships or I thou relationships
where we see the inherent worth and dignity and wholeness of the other..
In the I-it relationship we experience people only from our perspective.
He compares that to I-Thou relationships wherein we understand the interdependence of all things.
He uses the example of tones composing a melody, or lines of a statute
or words in a poem.
You can break apart the multiplicity of all the tones, lines and words,
but individually they are only i-it, objects on their own.
Only together is the thou created.
This is similar for human beings and congregations and societies. We are all a multitude of many many things and experiences,
a congregation of many individuals,
but we can only known as a whole, in relation to each other.

So how are we known, as a spiritually growing justice seeking congregation, or as just a bunch of people gathering and doing their own things.
All of the different parts of us make up the wholeness of each individual.
All the parts of the congregation make up the wholeness of the Congregation.
We can not know ourselves or the congregation only from our own internal perspective, or in the particular, but rather only in relation to everything and everyone else in its fullness.
That is the thou relationship.
Buber goes on to argue that it is hate, not love, that is blind;
hate only knows a portion of the other.
Love engages and is open to all parts of the other.
Buber writes “Only when we encounter another individual truly as a person, not as an object for use,
we become fully human and when two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, that is where God is found.

And Buber does not limit this I thou relationship just between humans.
He believes this I-thou relationship exists between humans and nature.
Only when we see nature in the whole and ourselves as part of it, will we be in an authentic I-thou relationship with it

As Buber writes
"I consider a tree.
I can look on it as a picture:
I can classify it in a species and study it as a type in its structure and mode of life.
In all this the tree remains my object, occupies space and time, and has its nature and constitution.
It can, however, also come about, if I have both will and grace,
that in considering the tree I become bound up in relation to it.
The tree is now no longer It.
To effect this it is not necessary for me to give up any of the ways in which I consider the tree.
The tree is no impression, no play of my imagination,
no value depending on my mood;
but it is bodied over against me and has to do with me, as I with it”

Let us remember this about nature. Being in relation to it. To realize that our fate is tied up with the fate of nature. That we are interdependent with it. Just as our fate as a congregation is tied up with the fate of each of us together.

Although it may seem strange that Unitarian Universalism being so non ritualistic would prioritize behavior,  but we do have covenants and policies that spell that out,
in contrast where we specifically do not have that about our beliefs.
I think mostly of our covenant of right relations which you can see at the entrance of the sanctuary.
I do think placement matters.
Prior to a couple of years ago, it was hidden behind the white board where no one could see it.
Putting at the entrance says, as you enter into this sacred place and time, and as you leave it to go out into the world,
take this covenant into account.
All the words in the world will mean nothing if we do not live them out in our actions.
One of the covenants of right relationship states “Gifts imply responsibility – To the best of our ability we will foster the programs and outreach of this congregation”
With that in mind we will now take our offering.

Reading - Hafiz

"Out of a great need
we are all holding hands and climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.
Listen, the terrain around here
Is far too dangerous for that."

Reflection – Rev. Jay Wolin

I want to for a moment focus on the word cultivating
as part of cultivating relationships.
I admit, when I first think of cultivating I think of farming the land. Growing something and nurturing it over time.
I admit, I don’t know the first thing about farming,
but that is what the internet is for.
The funny thing is, upon hearing about cultivating farmland, I found a good metaphor for cultivating I-thou relationships and Cultivating a Congregation.
First it is important to Know the type of soil you are cultivating and what type of food grows there,
or perhaps what different soil is needed if you want to grow something specific.
I think that is true for us as a Congregation.
It is why we create a mission and vision and annual vision of ministry.
Why the Board thinks about and adapts our strategies for an ever changing landscape.
Its important to know what type of Congregation we are,
and what type of Congregation we want to be.
Similarly it is important to know what type of relationships we have, and what type of relationships we want to have, if we want to have deeper, more meaningful relationships

Relationships with a diverse group of people that will help us grow, we might recognize that we need a different type of soil,  or some new knowledge, or new experiences to help us achieve that.
If we want to grow as individuals, we have to participate in the whole.
Join with others in meaningful programs that allow you to know others and yourself. A seed does not grow on its own.  It needs the proper environment around it to grow.

Next in cultivating the land, we must till the soil.
This means turning over the soil to aerate it and to clean it out so there is room for growth and so the nutrients that go into the ground can be effective.
And often there is a lot of junk in the ground that comes up when we till the soil.
Sometimes it takes more then one digging to clean it all out.
I think that is true with us as individuals and Congregations as well.
When we are in the midst of change,
or we talk about new and challenging topics,
its going to bring up uncomfortable feelings and thoughts.
If you leave them buried, it will prevent growth.
We need to provide space for new soil, new ideas, to take root.
It may not happen overnight,
it may require time to work through it
but that working through them is the only way to transcend them.

Next is to install fencing to protect what you are cultivating from animals.
This sounds harsh, but look outside at our garden we have a fencing around it.
Even with that fencing a groundhog dug in from underneath.
I heard at last count we have caught 17 groundhogs on our grounds.
Now I have nothing personal against groundhogs.
They are part of the circle of life.
But we would never grow food to provide for those in need if we let the groundhog harm the food that will nourish others.
And similarly with a congregation.
Although we can certainly respect each others differences of opinions, we have to create certain boundaries,
so as not to allow harm to come to each other,
and we should strive to be the spiritual nourishment for each other.

Lastly we need to cultivate the ability to surrender control.
Just as with farming, we cannot always control the things that will affect our crops, the weather, persistent groundhogs, bad seeds,
so too in our lives and in the lives of our congregation,
we need to set our ego aside, our need to be right,
and allow for the creative interchange
even as I said before the creative tension of ideas.

If we can do these things, we can create the environment
where I-thou moments and relationships happen.
First we must choose to want them.
Then we must allow ourselves to become aware of the possibility, and then we have to have the courage to enter them when the possibility exists.

What are you cultivating.
Let us find the courage to see each other, and to love each other.
It is the only hope for us individually, as a congregation and as a planet. May it be so.

Closing Words – Excerpt from “Emergent Strategies” Adrienne Marie Brown

"When we are engaged in acts of love,
we humans are at our best and most resilient.
The love in romance that makes us want to be better people,
the love of children that makes us change our whole lives to meet their needs,
the love of family that makes us drop everything to take care of them,
the love of community that makes us work tirelessly with broken hearts…
If love were the central practice of a new generation of…leaders,
it would have a massive impact…
If the goal was to increase the love,
rather than winning or dominating a constant opponent,
I think we could actually imagine liberation from constant oppression.
We would suddenly be seeing everything we do,

everyone we meet,
not through the tactical eyes of war, but through eyes of love.
We would see that there’s no such thing as a blank canvas,
an empty land or a new idea —
but everywhere there is
complex, ancient, fertile ground full of potential…
We would understand
that the strength of our movement is in the strength of our relationships,
which could only be measured by their depth.”

My letter to the Editor printed today - Invest in People, Not Prisons.

I was in shock when I read that Scott County was going to use $5.5 million of Covid relief money to help build a new $17 million, 40-bed Juvenile Detention Center. Covid relief was meant to help individuals, businesses, and the community that were negatively impacted by Covid. It is unethical to use these funds to build a detention center. This is a manipulation of the law to continue the school-to-prison pipeline that disproportionately suspends and arrests African American youths.

Scott County supervisors even turned down a $500,000 grant to start a youth advisory program to help struggling youth. Let us invest Covid relief money in our community. Let us use it to provide affordable child care and housing and summer youth jobs. Let us invest in community resource centers, such as the Lincoln Center that serve our community. These types of investments are not just an act of prevention to divert juveniles from prison, but rather they are an investment in the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

We need to do this because otherwise we are depriving our community of the richness of each person who does not have the opportunity to live up to their potential. I invite our community to have the courage and will to create a better way of living that sustains everyone in the community. Allow all people to reach their potential and we will all be enriched. Let us support our youth and families, not incarcerate them.

Possibility

 Opening Words ; “Here We Are” Rev. Jay Wolin

Here we are in this liminal time
We are told, It will never be the same
Do not hope for normal
There will have to be a new normal.
I don’t even know what that means
I cant even imagine what that will look like

As you are falling you don’t ask yourself
I wonder what it will look like at the bottom.
We just plummet until we hit some solid ground
And then, then we will figure the way forward

There is no escape or denying
The reality we find ourselves in
There is just a going through
Step by step

Knowing we are not alone
As we search, struggle, and stretch
To find what is still possible.

Something has to change
Something has to give
Something has to happen

A door open,

To step through
A light shining,

To guide us
A vision awakened

As we remain open
to how we will evolve.
And how the world will unfold
And as we search together

Let us remember
Those upon whom our foundation is built
Those that are still with us building and
Those that are still to come

Let us be a presence

To the past,
To the present and
To whatever the future holds

Reflection Part 1

There is so much going on right now.

We have climate change ravaging our planet, we have Governors of various states actively working against stopping Covid.

Women’s right to control their own bodies is being challenged, Voting rights are being challenged.

And of course the normal day to day issues of ongoing poverty, lack of affordable housing and lack of health care for all.  Whew….It is hard to hold it all.

So you have a choice, To let go or to hold it all.

To to hold one at time. For the one day yesterday I let those go.

Yesterday was the 20^th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks

I did and I do think it is worth stopping and reflecting on this. Tragedy.

It was and still is especially haunting for me as the trade centers were in my home town, in a building I entered frequently during my time going to college, and the sadness of lives lost, and injured, of possibilities lost, two of whom I knew personally.  

I don’t know why anniversaries that end in 0 are any more important then other anniversaries.  But my wife Jan assured me this is true when we celebrated our 40^th wedding anniversary this year.

Perhaps this anniversary of 9-11 is especially poignant as it is juxtaposed with our exit from the War in Afghanistan.  I kept hearing on the news this weekend that for a very short time after the attack in 2001, from a meta perspective it seemed the country and the world was unified and more compassionate.

One report made the ironic connection between people bringing masks to first responders in 2001 gratefully received, and today people refusing masks for covid.  But of course all of this kum by yah moment is only partially true. As we saw in the immediate aftermath of 9-11 there were thousands I mean literally thousands of hate crimes against American people of color and particularly against americans who had any resemblance to middle easterners, including Sikhs because they wore turbans even though they originate from India. 

One young Sikh college student Valerie Kaur dropped out  of college and created a documentary entitled “divided we fall” to show the impact of violence on this other America, this fearful America this violent and racist side of America. She was driven by her Sikh faith with its teaching of Nan dom isnan which means in order to realize god and yourself, you must act in the here and now. 

This was a tipping point for our country.

There were many possibilities at that moment..

At that time many individuals became introspective.

Realizing the fragility of life.

Realizing the consequences of actions,

Realizing in that moment what our deepest longings were. Religious life increased significantly. People changed careers.

I was just reading a story yesterday about New York Jets Head Football Coach Robert Salah the first Muslim head coach in the NFL by the way, how 9-11 changed his life. His brother who was in a finance training for Morgan Stanley had been in the South tower when the north tower was hit.  And despite being told to stay at his desk, he started walking down the stairs. It was a decision that saved his life.  For six hours Salah did not know if his brother was still alive. An event like this brings the question of death and and consequently how we spend our time during our life to the forefront.

Six months later Salah who had played some college football,  was a credit analyst for an insurance agency, crunching numbers and he just started crying.  This was not how he wanted to spend his life. So he quit and changed his trajectory and followed his dream. Because he realized his time in this world is precious  and he wanted to spend his time on something he was passionate about, and so he explored his possibilities.  He didn’t know where it would lead, but doing what he loved, led him to his best self.

As a country Certainly we had to protect ourselves. Yet it could have been a time for introspection as to who we were as a country as well.

To try to understand why people would want to kill us?

It is often in how we frame a story.

We framed the story of people of clashing cultures and how their culture wanted to destroy our culture.

We could have told a different story.

A story of a constantly invaded people who were tired of having our troops stationed in their land.

Both are true and incomplete stories. 

Instead of contemplation discernment and compassion we became more nationalistic and militaristic starting two wars. 

With the world’s sympathy, there were many possibilities at that moment.  I try to imagine if we hadn’t given into our fears and worst instincts of revenge  what other possibilities there could have been.

And so now as we look forward, looking out 20 years from now, let us recognize that the choices we make now the stories we tell ourselves now will have a profound impact not only on our lives, but let us understand that what we do will have  a profound impact on this congregation and the community at large.

So I invite us to move forward with Contemplation, discernment and compassion.

The opening hymn Come and go with me to that land also reminds me that this week in the Jewish Tradition is the days of awe,  the time between Rosh Hashanah the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement – the highest holy days for Jewish people.

The torah reading for this week in the Jewish Scriptures is the Book of Deutoronomy Ch. 31.

This chapter is the story of Moses dying at the age of 120, just before they enter the promised land and Joshua taking leadership of the Jewish People.  Moses, had led the Jewish People out of slavery, led the people through the desert despite many disagreements and hardships.  God tells us that even though they have reached the promised land, there are still going to be troubles.

People will forget their past,

People will go astray.

Those who did not experience the hardships will not understand what it takes to make it through the desert times of life.

The story is the ending of one time and the beginning of another. The new leader is told three times, Be Strong and Courageous. Especially with the new year this passage holds special meaning. In the Days of Awe before the book of life is closed Wednesdasy for the upcoming year

We are asked to be strong and courageous in reflecting upon our life this past year,

to see where we have not been our best selves, .

where we may have missed the mark,

where we did not keep our covenants,

and then to repent and ask forgiveness of those we have harmed.  Then secondly, we should be strong and courageous

first to believe that we can change going forward,

for if we do not believe we can change we will not.

Once we have the courage to believe

we have to be strong and courageous to take the steps to actually change.

This passage feels very appropriate right now.

It feels like we are at the ending of a time at the Congregation. Hopefully coming out of our wilderness,

a wilderness of strife,

a wilderness of covid,

a wilderness when we have had numerous leaders move away or die these past number of years, just just like Moses.

Things are going to be different. We don’t know how.

But now is the time just as Joshua stepped in and up, now is the time for different  people with different skills to step in and up to create something new in a new way,

a way to imagine and live into the possibilities that are before us. When that inner voice speaks up , that says, am I really capable of doing this,

Can we really change in the ways we need to,

I invite you to remember the words of Deutoronomy, where God tells Joshua, “I will be with you”. So too I remind each of you, You are not alone in this. We are all in this together,

supporting, caring, loving, each other.

Chapter 30 of Deutoronomy ends with

“I have put before you  life and death, blessing and curse.

Choose life.  You and your offspring will live, by loving.

I invite you to Choose Life, to Choose Love. For all the time we have. Whether it is another 20 minutes or  20 or 120 years. Choose love.

Part 2:

So what is possible

When I was in business world,

I remember being told the following story:

A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of lets say a remote country to study the prospects for expanding business.

One sends back a telegram saying, SITUATION HOPELESS STOP NO ONE WEARS SHOES

The other writes back triumphantly, GLORIOUS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY STOP THEY HAVE NO SHOES

You can tell the story is dated first because are telegrams even a thing anymore?

Despite the Colonialist Capitalist consumption driven stereotyping narrative of that story, despite all that,

There is a kernel of insight in it.

How we see the world will determine what possibilities we believe are available to us. 

And more importantly what goals we set for ourselves will determine where we end up.

If we set a goal to sell sneakers to everyone that is a choice of how we are going to spend our life. If we set a goal to be excellent foot care then we take in the context of their culture, their to

pography, their medical care. Not just their footwear.

Our goal and the context of what we are doing makes a difference.

Sometimes we are just get busy making a living

instead of making a life.

Sort of like the George Bernard Shaw quote that both John and Robert Kennedy used effectively in political speechs

“There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

Similar to what I spoke of in my first reflection that we tend to get locked into a story or frame and only live within that frame.

I think this is best exemplified by the 9 box 4 line test. 

In this example we are asked to connect the 9 dots with 4 lines without our writing instrument leaving the paper.

Many struggle figuring how to do this…..because we are stuck in our frame of what is meant. We create self imposed boundaries on our thinking. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to figure out a solution. To go beyond the boundaries of what we believe is possible.

And even after seeing this, I found other creative solutions. One that used only three lines, and then one that used only one line if you used a 3 dimensional template.

I could have just stopped with the one answer, but creativity begats creativity.

Benjamin Zander in the Art of Possiblity writes.

“Every problem, every dilemma, every dead end we find ourselves facing in life,

only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view. Enlarge the box, or create another frame around the data,

and problems vanish, while new opportunities appear.”

And also as I said before It is important to understand our goal.

Like the story of the drill bit company that once had an advanced drill but the competition was catching up. They had to change their thinking from being the best drill bit company to thinking what the best way was to create a hole. Because that was the goal.  Not to build drill bits, but to create holes. They went on to become a leader in lasers drilling.

So what does all this mean for us.

Honestly I don’t know and I do think that is a good place to start. To admit we don’t know.

To use a beginners mind as Buddhists would say.

But its important to think outside the box.

To imagine possibilities that we cannot see.

To understanding our past and what laid the foundation,

to understand it but to grow from there.

To understand that life is not a zero sum game where we struggle merely to survive. But  a mystery unfolding.

To quote Ben Zander again,

“You are more likely to be successful, overall, if you participate joyfully with projects and goals and do not think your life depends on achieving the mark because then you will be better able to connect to people all around you.”

Don’t connect just to meet the goal, connect because you are engaging with something that you and others are passionate about doing.

Let us be passionate about this Congregation.

Not because we want to meet a pledge amount, or because we want to reach a certain membership number.

Rather be passionate about the congregation because we expand minds and consciousness.

Be passionate about this Congregation because we raise our children to discern their values not repeat creeds.

Be passionate about this congregation because our religious values encourage us to create a more just world.

Be passionate about this congregation because there is a lot going on in the world and we need each other to help on the journey.

 Be passionate about this Congregation because although sometimes we miss the mark, in every moment we do endeavor to live with Revolutionary Love and relentless optimism.

If anyone can think outside the box in regard to religion it should be us. With all of that and with all of you, anything is possible. Nan dom isnan to realize god and yourself, you must act in the here and now. May it be so.

My Journey on Silent Retreat

 On my day of silent retreat I thought I would take a stroll around the monastery grounds. When I started out it was raining fairly heavy, so I decided to read. After reading for two hours I decided to go again. As I walked out of my hermitage I came upon this statue.

I continued to walk along the path in front of me which I knew led to a lake area. It was a winding path down a hill. There was a nice breeze blowing, and there were wildflowers all around

I finally reached the lake which had a cement walkway around it. I walked slowly around the lake and came upon a dock.

I wondered if I should sit and ponder the water, but I thought best to continue the journey. I thought I could always come back to it on the way back. Let that be the first lesson. Take your opportunities when they present themselves. They may not be there when you decide you are ready and you may choose something else later. Sometimes you have to stop the journey to enjoy the moment in the moment

So I continued on. I walked until the cement path ended about half way around the lake. I thought I might make it all the way around. But alas that was not to be. I imagined this as my journeys end, I decided to wait a minute and sit before I headed back to my room. The journey had seemed a bit like a labyrinth, although it did not have any set pattern that I knew in advance. After a few moments of watching the lake water ripple, and listening to the birds chirping, I raised myself and headed back.

Sometimes our lack of imagination is what limits us. I imagined this was the end. Yet it was only the beginning. I just didn’t know it then. In the regular day to day life it might have and often is. Looking back, this was a lesson that we should imagine more. Imagine things beyond the proscribed path.

 The best part of taking time for myself, is that it is unscripted, and I leave myself open to mystery and adventure if I am willing to embrace it. And as I winded my way back along the lakes edge I reached the dock once again. I thought, should I go sit down and ponder the lake from this angle before I made my way back to my room. At least here I thought I am communing with nature. And then I looked left. I do not know what compelled me to look left. Perhaps randomness, or just taking in the sights, but I saw a mowed piece of grass between the wildflowers

 

 

 Now in the picture you can see t here is a sign “trail”. But when I first saw the path from farther back I did not see the sign. I thought it was odd that there was this mowed area. Perhaps it led to a storage shed or to another property. It was not clear from where I was that it was a trail. Still I moved forward. I had seen what was to be seen on the proscribed path laid out before me, and although peaceful, it clearly did not satisfy me, and so I thought what is the worst that will happen. I will go a distance, and I will have to walk back. So I went off the proscribed path and lo and behold I saw the sign path. I didn’t look that way coming since I was focused on the lake. And on the way back, the sign was obscured by bushes from the direction I was walking. In our lives there are signs. However sometimes we are too focused on other things that we miss them. Let that be a lesson to  us that we should take a broad view of everything around us that is within our field of vision, (literal but also metaphorical) Let us intentionally look for the signs that are placed right before us beckoning us. And so I journeyed into the unknown. And as I was wondering whether to walk down this path, a large breeze came through and it seemed to me that the trees were waving at me inviting to enter the woods.

 

And so I ventured downward into the path through the woods. It was darker in the woods. I actually found this peaceful. I walked gently and slowly noticing the flowers and tree limbs. Some broken off by the storm. As I walked slowly I listened for the sounds of the woods and I heard a rustling and I looked and saw a deer leaping away. I thought no need to run, but I imagine, deer have learned to fear humans and for good reason. So I just watched it bound away and appreciated its beauty and ability as it went on it way seeking safety. I noticed butterflies flirting around. Its amazing how much is going on in the world if you pay attention. And then I came to an old rickety bridge. It didn’t look too stable, but it was stable enough, and not that far a fall even if it couldn’t hold me. There I am, always calculating the risks. At times necessary, but we need to take risks in life if we are to grow. Bridges have great symbolic meaning of course. Crossing over from one place to another. Not just physically but metaphorically. Once I cross over, I am in uncharted territory. A bridge is a signifier of crossing over to new territory. Not good or bad, but a marker. And also it is just something that prevents us from getting wet or falling into water. So bridges are protectors as well as borders.

And so I travelled on. Not knowing where it would lead. And with each step, although logically I knew I could retrace my steps back, each step plunged me deeper into unknown territory.

Each step seemed to take me deeper into the woods, into the unknown. How would I get back? Would I be too tired or weakened if I went on. Would I get lost. What happens if it starts raining while I am out here. But still I walked on. I think it is like that with our spiritual and religious lives. We are comfortable where we are, and we wonder why should risk comfort. Why take risks. But as I kept walking down hill, I just had faith and trust that the journey would work out. The Robert Frost poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” came to my mind. Although it is not snowing. It is dark and deep and quiet. I am aware of how quiet it is lacking normal human noise. I feel committed to this journey so on I go.

 

 

I feel as if my faith has been rewarded as the path leads back uphill and I see an opening with the sun starting to break through the clouds. As I reach the top of the hill. There are three paths to choose from. There is a sign that says Monastery pointing back from where I came from. So this is another moment of choice. Just when we think we have reached where we are going, things are not always so clear, and we continue to have to make choices. I would like to imagine that all three of these paths circle around, but there is no way of telling. I played a little game in my head. Left means I have left for good. I wasn’t ready for that. Straight ahead would seem like I was just following directions, and my life has never been just a straight march in one direction. So I chose right…maybe for righteous?? Well and also my sense of direction indicated that should be the way back to the monastery – it was starting to drizzle and as much as I like a good adventure, I really did not want to get soaked. Another thought crossed my mind, that perhaps by being deep in the woods covered by woods I was protected from the rain. So going deep can protect us from the difficulties we face in life. So I went right. Uncovered now from the torrents of weather and life still searching to find my way.

This path led me down again into some darker twisting and muddier paths. It was at this point I had wished I packed my sneakers instead of a pair of loafers. Also a good lesson, we should learn from our experiences, and maybe better prepare when we are going on a journey, but when there is nothing to be done to change the situation, regret is useless. I will have to clean my shoes when I get back.   Nothing is ever simple or straightforward on a unknown journey. There are obstacles along the way, whether that is downed trees or people telling you, you shouldn’t or couldn’t do something, or worse telling ourselves that and short circuiting our journey. And sometimes our journey gets muddy. That is how life is. If we stop every time something goes wrong, we would never reach our destination. We need to keep moving, one step at a time

 And then the moment of truth. An hour into my walk I come upon this. Another bridge with a yellow tape across it. This immediately seems like a symbol to turn back.

What was I to do? I had been walking for close to an hour now. And although I had no idea if the way forward would bring me closer to my destination the thought of turning back now seemed daunting to me. Plus I am not one for following arbitrary rules.

I think it is like that with our spiritual and religious journey as well. We get so far and then we societal conventions or rules tell us to stop and go no further.

I chose to move forward. I looked carefully and saw there was a hole in the wood further on the bridge. So I decided to look as the yellow tape as a warning. Something telling me not to abandon my search, but to go slowly and be careful. So I gently stepped over the tape and walked gently over the bridge avoiding the pitfalls that could damage me. A good message that we do not always have to go full charge ahead. That we should be aware of the dangers we face on our journey. I was glad that someone had forewarned me to be careful in this place. How we view things are often shaped by what we believe and perceive. I saw the yellow tape as stop go back, but it was meant as a way to help make me aware of danger. We should not stop our journey, but rather  become more mindful of the steps we take, and learn from those who have walked this path before.

And not too much farther down the path, it opened up again to the sight of the monastery I was staying in. This gave me hope I was in the right direction. Yet there was still not a straight path. I had to choose right or left. Remembering the mind game I played before and feeling bad that I connoted left with a negative thought and thinking of all my friends who are left handed who would condemn that thought, I chose to turn left and started the steep incline back up the hill to the place I call home this weekend.

 

 

And lo and behold, as I made it to the top of the path, I found myself next to the path that went down to the lake (notice the statue in the background) This path was right by my hermitage, but I had not even seen it. And so I made it back to where I started. I am reminded of the lines from the T.S. Eliots poem “Four Quartets”

“What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.”

I don’t know where this journey will continue to lead, but I am clearly still on the path. Yearning for something still unknown. Still looking for the better in humanity, Still looking for justice. Perhaps we just need to become more aware and not take the proscribed path and take a walk into the unknown, if we can awake and see that it is there. Sometimes we have to go all the way around the block to go next door. If that is what it takes, so be it. And enjoy the journey along the way. Ok, back to reading.

Thanks for journeying with me.

 

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears – By Dionaw Mengestu

A nice, sad, poignant novel, that tells the story of an immigrant from Ethiopia. I was sorry for it to end, so I must have liked it.

The title of the book comes from a quote from Dante Alighieri's, "Inferno"

“To get back up to the shining world from there

My guide and I went into that hidden tunnel,

And Following its path, we took no care

To rest, but climbed: he first, then I-so far,

through a round aperture I saw appear

Some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears,

Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars.”

The book shares the interior life of immigrant and store owner Sepha Stephanos who came to America to escape the violent revolution in his home country. He explores the hopes, dreams others have for him and he has for himself. The pull of the world and people he knew and always feeling as an outsider in the new world he inhabits. His relationship with a wealthy white woman and her daughter in their gentrifying neighborhood, and his store,  are interposed and intertwined with the experience of an African Immigrant in America.  What I liked most about the book, is that it touches on the full gamut of real emotions, whether admitted or not. We see the way his mind works, the secrets he keeps, and the realization of how we understand events over time to be different.  

Emblematic of their life journey, his friend is writing an epic poem about Africa that is never finished. Forced out due to violence, with hopes and dreams and a feeling of obligation, that sometimes makes it  seem their life is not their own. The ending of one of the poems is

“We have come this far,

to find we have even further to go

The last traces of a permanent twilight

have faded and given way

To what we hope is nothing short of a permanent dawn.”

And eventually that is boiled down to

“Let us stop. Let us begin again.

Let us clean the blood from the rubber fields

And do what we promised to do.”

The story shows the journey through life and his realization of his realizations for better and worse.

“We walk away and try not to turn back, or we stand just outside the gates, terrified to find whats waiting for us now that we’ve returned. In between, we stumble blindly from one place and life to the next. We try to do the best we can. There are moment like this, however, when we are neither coming nor going, and all we have to do is sit and look back on the life we have made”

It is a good reminder to focus on what kind of life we are making. Life is ongoing. 

 

The Unthinkable

 From the Heart Of The Minister - The Unthinkable:

In between my five zoom meetings Wednesday, I spent a part of day glued to my phone switching back and forth between my Facebook, Twitter and New York Times Apps. First, I was waiting to hear the final results of the Georgia Senate runoff. Then I was wondering what Pence and the Republican Senators would do in regard to certifying the election. I had no doubt what the outcome would be, but the concerted actions of the President, Vice President and certain Republican Senators to undermine the integrity of the elections still worried me about the future of our Democracy.

Unitarian Universalism believes in the free and responsible search for truth. We should remember the responsible part. There was a responsible search for election mistakes and fraud and there was nothing of significance found. No evidence was ever presented to the courts that indicated anything wrong. If anything we know Republican controlled states tried to suppress democratic voters. Even so Joe Biden won both the popular and electoral college vote by significant amounts. That is the truth.

The ongoing statements by the current President and Republican Senators that there was widespread fraud and he had actually won the election despite having no evidence created an atmosphere that led to yesterday’s coup attempt on the Capitol Building.

As Unitarian Universalists, “we affirm and promote the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.” The attempt to overturn the democratic vote of American citizens and the attempted coup is criminally seditious and immoral and against my religious values.

I do not understand why there was not more protection or a plan of action to defend the Capitol. We had known for weeks that there was going to be a pro Trump rally on that day. President Trump encouraged his followers to attend and even tweeted in advance encouraging people to attend and writing “be there it is going to be wild”. I would be remiss if I did not compare the preparation for this event compared to the preparation for the Black Lives Matter Event in DC this past spring to protest the death of George Floyd. At the spring event there was significant National Guard troop presence. There were aggressive and violent action taken to remove Black Lives Matter protestors, and there were a significant number of arrests. There was none of this on display this week as these insurrectionists took over the Capitol Building. The only logical conclusion I am left with is that the lack of preparedness was due to the issue that was being protested. White Supremacy was being challenged after the death of George Floyd and the government wanted to eliminate that challenge ruthlessly. This pre-coup attempt rally was in support of white supremacy overturning the will of the people and the government didn’t seem to think that was a risk.

The election of a Jewish Man, and a Prophetic African American Minister as Senators in Georgia which gave Democrats control of the Senate was another visible sign of the changing nature of the shift in power in our country away from white dominance. This fear of the loss of control and power exacerbated an already excited crowd at Trump’s rally. In fact, Trump incited the participants saying with the Senate in the Democrats control now, his Presidential Veto was the only line of defense to protect them. He had lost the election and was still trying to convince his followers he had won.

Rudy Giuliani in his speech the day of the insurrection encouraged the crowd that there should be “trial by combat” and in a speech that followed, the President after wishing that the Military and Secret Service could join them, encouraged his followers to walk to the Capitol and said “you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” And then the unthinkable happened. Since he had no legal way to overturn the election, at the Presidents urging, his followers attempted a coup of our government.

So what do we as Unitarian Universalists here in Iowa do about this?

First let us be happy that in the end the coup failed and that Democracy is still standing if even tenuously. Let us continue to vociferously reject attacks on our Democracy.

Second, let our actions be guided by our values. Unitarian Universalist values of the democratic process should have us insist on getting the John Lewis voting rights act passed so there will be an end to voter suppression and gerrymandering, and an end to corporate funding of elections so that the will of all the people will be heard. We need to strengthen our democratic processes.

On a national level and as well on a local level.

Unitarian Universalist principles ask of us to act for peace, liberty and justice for all in a compassionate and equitable way. This requires us to see the overt and systemic racism that is embedded in the events of the last week and the last four and four hundred years. I encourage everyone first to become more educated about these issues and to get involved in our community to work to end the white supremacy culture of violence, power and control that were brazenly on display this week.

We all have fears. I am fearful of losing our democracy.

I am also fearful because people I know are suffering.

Suffering from COVID 19 or the loss of a loved one from this disease.

Suffering from the lack of empathy of our fellow human beings including governmental leaders who will not even wear a mask in public or distance themselves let alone put in place policies and procedures to mitigate the damage.

Suffering from medical issues without adequate or affordable health care and facing the lack of available medical care including mental health care.

Suffering from loss of work due to COVID and a government that seemingly is unwilling and uncaring to act to help in a significant way.

Suffering living with with food and housing insecurity.

I am sure these people who participated in the coup, were fearful. Violence always stems from fear.

Perhaps they are fearful of losing their sense of what they believed about this country, and their position in it. The question is what do we do with our fear? Do we lash out and create harm? Even worse do we let our fear paralyze us and prevent us from acting? I have found the best solution is to face our fear, recognize it, be compassionate towards ourself and then move forward with fear as our companion.

Let us move forward to do the work to change the systems to improve the lives of people who are suffering in whatever small or large way that we can and to protect those who are most vulnerable in our society.

Let us never hesitate to speak up and out about injustice that we see.

Let us be open to hearing the pain of those who are suffering.

Let us wake up each day with hope and a sense of wonder and work to build the world we dream about. That is the only way it will come to be. With us being committed and coming together to do the work that needs to be done. Take a deep breath. Be gentle with yourself.

Remember the words of Unitarian Universalist Minister Wayne B Arnason:

“Take courage friends.

The way is often hard,

the path is never clear,

and the stakes are very high.

Take courage.

For deep down,

there is another truth:

you are not alone.”

With a grateful heart

Rev. Jay