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November 02, 2004
Voting for the Future
VOTING FOR THE FUTURE
October 31, 2004
Election Sermon
I remember the day Franklin D. Roosevelt died. I must have been about six years old. I was outside playing jacks with some friends. My father was working in the backyard garden, and had the car radio on listening--probably to the ball game. Suddenly he dropped his tools and walked over to the car and leaned against the side. Children can always sense when something traumatic was happening, and I asked what was wrong. "The President just died," he said. And he turned to go in the house to share the news with my mother.
A few years later Harry "Give 'em hell" Truman was running for president. The route of his barnstorming tour took him across southern Illinois, and he drove through our little town. I remember a big car, a smiling, toothy man who wore glasses and waved a hat.
These incidents were my introduction to the world of politics. I knew they were significant events, and they remain in my mind sixty years after they happened.
When I was a freshman in high school my family moved from Democratic southern Illinois to Republican central Illinois. During the campaign of 1952 the debate coach at our high school wanted to stage a student's campaign debate. It was very easy for him to find someone to debate for Dwight David Eisenhower. He selected a football playing, bright member of the senior class to do so. Finding someone to debate in favor of Adlai Stevenson was another matter.
When he asked me, a lowly freshman, I think I was just too dumb to say no. I carefully prepared a speech listing all the reasons Stevenson would be the better choice. All the senior had to do was say, "I like Ike!" and he was over-whelmed with cheers. I started through my careful speech, and was quickly greeted with jeers and catcalls. With the inspiration of anger I threw away my speech and fought back with verbal images of the administration of Herbert Hoover. It was quite an introduction to participation in politics.
We live in a democracy, where all people are expected to participate in the body politic. At the very least, we are expected to vote--and to vote for the future.
George "Kim" Beach wrote "The Covenant of Spiritual Freedom" in response to a continent-wide convocation of Unitarian Universalist ministers in 1995. A call for response to the work of the convocation resulted in a book titled The Transient and Permanent in Liberal Religion. Rev. Beach's essay was selected as the first in the book. He was thinking about the future. He began the essay with these words:
The twenty-first century will bring a new social context and, in conse-quence, a new meaning of "freedom": sharper awareness of the human limits and a narrowed sense of human possibilities. Does this mean an end of personal and social freedom as we know it? As an ideology of individualism, yes; as a socially embodied spiritual reality, no. Abraham Lincoln called for "a new birth of freedom" in the crisis of his age; we must call for a new covenant of freedom in the crisis of our age.
We Unitarian Universalists remain the children of the age of reason and democracy, of science-driven human progress and the discovery of human rights. We remain, also, the heirs of a noble tradition of liberal concern for civic values, social justice, and peace. This secular heritage is rooted in a theological affirmation: the dignity and sanctity of every person as a bearer of the image of God.
A fundamental re-formation of the human spirit is emerging in our time. We must understand ourselves as engaged in that historic mission. We must believe that history is the story of freedom, agonized by the global struggle for justice. Or else our salt has lost its savor and may as well be cast out.
These words are now nine years old. However, I think they speak strongly to our contemporary lives. We are learning more every day about human limits. We share this planet with approximately 61/2 billion people. We cannot be free to just "do what we want". We cannot pursue radical individualism with any sense of fairness. Radical individualism is not compatible with a finite earth that holds 6 1/2 billion people.
Beach points out that we liberal religionists were birthed out of a regard for reason--reason that we apply to our religious as well as our secular lives. We are children of the Enlightenment, and we honor the teachings of science. And we strongly believe that every person should be free to participate in the religion of his or her choice. We base this on an understanding that each and every human is of great worth. This leads us to value civil concern, and engage in peace and justice issues.
Beach then calls us to a new covenant--a covenant of religious freedom. Anne shared his vision with you this morning. I want to use this vision as a lens to examine the issues in this current election, and how they impact on our religious values.
Not all of you will agree with my analysis. This is to be expected. Some of you will vote differently from me on Tuesday, and that is fine. I will not tell you how to vote, however I will tell you that you should vote. If we are to have a democracy to pass on to our children and grandchildren, it is necessary for citizens to vote.
Beach begins his vision by saying, "We covenant in spiritual freedom for a new humanity." He begins breaking this down by reflecting on the words "We covenant." That is, we "freely commit ourselves." One cannot be coerced into covenant. We must be free to commit ourselves, whether it is to another in marriage, or to a larger vision. Thus, freedom is a necessity if we are to participate in a covenantal relationship. Beach asks us to commit to "high and holy aims." These aims will transcend our immediate self. They would be larger than what we call "pocketbook issues." They would be larger than the agenda of a particular group, or even larger than our own nation. "High and holy aims" call us to a large vision of the world and our own role in it.
Then Beach gives us a series of challenges worded as "not in freedom from, but freedom to." "Not in freedom from obligations to others but in freedom to enter into common endeavors for the common good." I hear this as another way of saying that we are indeed, our brother's keeper. We are free to accept the responsibility of caring for and about those who have been damaged by the world. We are free to enter into alliances that struggle to preserve the natural environment. We are free to work for a minimum wage, and we are free to work within the corporate structure to enact the common good.
"Not in freedom from being called to aims that surpass us, but in freedom that springs from knowing that 'we've caught a moving train' (Johnny Ray Young-blood), and, together, we're on our way," says Beach. In a reading in our hymn book, Reinhold Niebuhr says that, "Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime." This is a difficult lesson, for we like our stories to be completed. We like to have an ending, preferably a happy one. And yet, if we aim high, as Beach calls us to do, we may not see the ending of a specific project.
The key word in Beach's sentence is together. And Niebuhr goes on to say, "Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone." We work together with others to accomplish high goals. When we are unable to work further, others will take up the task. Therefore, we must work in community, whether a community of faith, a community of states, or a community of nations.
My father was a southern Illinois Democrat who lived in a central Illinois Republican town. He was highly respected, so the Democrats sometimes asked him to run for local office. Once in a while he agreed, although he, and every one else, knew it was only pro forma. That is, until the year Francis Lehman died. Mr. Lehman had been the chair of the Republican Party in Pontiac for many years. He was their organizer, chief fund-raiser and orator. Then he died. The world did not stop turning, and election time came fairly swiftly. My father was on the ballot for City Council. For the first time in history, a Democrat was elected mayor, and my father was elected a city councilman, along with 2 other Demo-crats. He said it was just that the Republicans had not re-organized after Mr. Lehman's death. By the time of the next election they had done so, and my father, along with the rest of the Democrats, exited the political sphere.
City councils are an example of people working together for the common good. We may argue with the decisions of a particular city council at a particular time, but we then have the ability to vote for someone else who will serve us better. We hope our city council and other elected bodies will aim high and take us to where we want to be.
Beach continues his explication, "We covenant in spiritual freedom." He says that we "find at the center of our faith an energizing mainspring, a drive for meaning and dignity implanted in every soul in every land…" Humans are meaning-seeking creatures. We are, so far as we know, the only species that asks why? As every mother knows, questioning starts with the acquisition of language, and for most of us, it never stops. It is the drive that leads us to explore the questions of science, and to explore the questions of religion. Partnered with this exploration is the demand for recognition of one's dignity. All of us are of value, all of us matter. This is the basis of our first principle--the affirmation that all humans have worth and dignity.
Beach continues with language that speaks of "the wonder of being alive and awakened to life." We are a people who love life and participate in it as fully as possible--and we extend an invitation to others to do the same.
In the 1980's I lived in Jackson, Mississippi. The AIDS crisis was just becoming public, and there were many questions and concerns about how it spread and just how contagious it was.
A community activist named Eddie owned a house in our neighborhood. He decided to turn it into a hospice for patients with HIV. He'd been around the block a few times, so he knew how to operate below the radar. He actually had the house remodeled, and a few men moved in before the neighborhood busy bodies knew what was happening. My husband and I stopped in to welcome Eddie and heard that the new president of the Neighborhood Association was up in arms. She thought the hospice was dangerous.
We had just returned to town, so we did not know that she had filed a complaint, in the name of the association. Now, the interesting thing was that my husband had founded the association, and I was the current secretary. Our by-laws said that the secretary had to call all meetings, and I was fairly sure I had not done that. But the president was speaking in the name of the association.
It was then that I learned the power of the press. I called a reporter I knew and asked a few questions, and the next thing I knew a nine-day wonder was under way. I was interviewed, and the president was interviewed, and we scheduled a meeting of the association, and invited a medical expert from one of the local colleges to come and talk about HIV and how it was and was NOT spread. Of course the president did not believe the expert and tried to explain that because she had horses, which sometimes have a similar disease, she KNEW that HIV could be spread through the air. All you had to do was be in the same room, or the same neighborhood with an HIV patient, and you and your children would be at risk.
I asked about who was paying her lawyer, since we had established there had been no vote of the Association to do that, and her husband spoke up and said that HE would guarantee the fee. My husband and I broke into fits of giggles. You see, they had purchased their house from him, and bounced the first two checks they gave him.
The nine-day wonder was soon over. The city council ruled that Eddie and his hospice were not violating any statutes, and some folks got educated about HIV and AIDS.
My husband and I were fighting for the dignity of these men who were suffering. Their families had disowned many of them. They needed a home, a safe place to spend the rest of their days. And they needed a place to live as fully as possible until they died. Eddie provided that place.
Beach continues, calling us to spiritual freedom, "Not in fearfulness that life runs out but in the courage to turn every crisis of life into an opportunity for growth and spiritual depth." We are called to participate in life to our fullest, even though we know that death awaits us all. We are called to participate in aiding others, even when we are suffering.
After the murder of my daughter I spent a lot of time grieving, a lot of time healing, and a lot of time searching for a way to make meaning out of her loss. I ended up crafting my own mission statement. It was then and remains now, "I will spend the rest of my life building a world where women and children are safe."
This was in 1980, when Central America became a political issue, and a moral and ethical issue, and for me, a spiritual issue. It was very clear that no one was safe in Central America, especially women and children.
I belonged to a group called Witness for Peace that worked to raise awareness about the injustice that reigned in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. When Congress was scheduled to vote on whether to continue funding the Contras, Witness for Peace planned a nation-wide event. In every state members would ask their congresspeople to vote against the bill. If the congressperson refused to speak with us, we would sit in.
We knew our congressman would vote to support the Contras, but we hoped to at least talk with him on the telephone. We planned this carefully because we knew it was likely that we would be arrested. I was one of six people who went into his office and refused to leave. My husband was one of several who picketed outside, but was careful to obey the laws. I was arrested and charged with trespassing.
This took place in Jackson, Mississippi. It was only a decade after the arrests of Vietnam War protesters, and 15 years after Civil Rights protesters were beaten as they were arrested. We ran the risk of being sent to Parchman Prison, which was one of the worst prisons in the nation. It was scary.
However, Mississippi was trying to improve their damaged image. We were treated well, merely fingerprinted and sent home on our own recognizance. There was a trial, and we were each fined $50.00, and put on three years probation.
I was very clear that I was doing this work in honor of my daughter. I knew that there was no real difference between the death of my daughter and the deaths of other sons and daughters. I had to work for all of them.
"We covenant in spiritual freedom for a new humanity." This is the completed form of Beach's suggested covenant. He talks of "a better world where all peoples can flourish." His is not a small or limited vision. He calls us to share the resources of planet Earth AND sustain her natural ecology. He calls us to engage the world, to step outside our comfort zone. We are tasked with opening our eyes to the world around us, which includes those in need, and the destruc-tion of segments of our environment.
We are asked to affirm hope in the midst of the reality of the world and claim "the sacredness of the image in which we are made." My faith calls upon me to affirm hope, for there is always something that one can do to help those around us. It may be only a small thing, but that is often all that is needed to inspire us to con-tinue our work.
Beach concludes his essay with these words: (We are) not stone-hearted when we are called to make a new beginning, nor giving up when our need is to persevere, but affirming our quest for wholeness and holiness."
We are often called upon to begin again. We may lose a job, we may suffer the death of a relationship, or the death of a loved one. We may need to re-locate and must re-build the network of relationships that makes our community.
Beach tells us to persevere through difficulties and affirm our quest for wholeness and holiness. We often need help at times of transition. We need help from our friends, and from our several communities. And we reciprocate with help to others when they are beginning anew. It is part of the function of a community, whether a faith community or a political community to provide its members with their basic needs.
I have suggested that the covenant Beach proposed, "We covenant in spiritual freedom for a new humanity," is a lens through which we can look when we are deciding who will best serve our ideals and values. I am aware that not all of you will choose to use this lens, and that those who do may not come to the same conclusion that I did. We can affirm the same values and goals and choose different ways to affirm the values and different paths to the goals.
However, when I use the lens I see that Senator Kerry and Edwards fit this model. I am aware that my background, which I shared with you, deeply influences my choice. Your background will influence your choice. I choose to support the Democratic ticket, and you may do so also, or choose to support the Republican ticket. Neither one makes you a better Unitarian Universalist.
However, I do encourage you to vote! As Andy Fink so ably reminded you last Sunday, our 5th Principle encourages us to participate in the democratic process. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to vote on Tuesday, if you have not already done so.
We are opening the church on Monday evening between 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to light a candle for democracy. We will also be open Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Our sanctuary will be open, we will have music and candles lighted. If you need a breather--a place to withdraw from the fray for a peaceful moment, I encourage you to stop in. All are welcome. All are welcome. All are welcome.
Amen.
Blessed Be.
Shalom.
Saalat.
Posted by nanak at November 2, 2004 01:53 PM