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January 31, 2005
Mission/Vision Update
Here are some possible mission and vision statements fromJanuary 30th. Mission and Vision Task Force Meeting.
PossibleVision statments: HUUC will become Muskegon’s premier liberal faith community.
Our vision is that this congregation will be an oasis for all who seek freedom to explore religious and spiritual ideas. We are connected by value-based principles and inspired to outreach and service.
Our vision is to become a congregation of people promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all humankind.
Possible Mission statments:
HUUC will promote open mindedness that will encourage tolerance, increased justice for all, and inspire members to service to the community.
The mission of HUUC will be to promote and exercise the seven U.U. principles through weekly services, religious education, outreach and community activism. (List seven principles.)
HUUC will be sanctuary where all are welcome to grow and develop their religious beliefs and to examine ways of becoming better people, promoting a better society for ourselves and the world.
A sub committee was formed as follows:
Jean Scarbrough – Chair
Andy Fink
Bill Wright
Jackie Macdonald
Nana Kratchovil
The sub-committee will meet February 10th. They will work with the above ideas to craft final mission and vision statements. It's intented that at the 2005 Annual Meeting the Congregation will have an opportunity to approve the results of this process.
Adieu.
Posted by harboruu at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2005
Via Negativa: Befreinding Darkness
The sermon today is part of an occasional series based on Matthew Fox's book, Original Blessing. Fox is a former Catholic priest who believes that the church erred when it embraced a fall/redemption theology. That is, that humankind is fatally flawed and that only belief in the Risen Christ can bring salvation. I heard him speak at the Heartland District conference last April.
Fox believes in a creation-centered theology. He centers on the Genesis story that envisions God creating each thing, and pausing to say "It is good." Creation is good, says Fox. And humans are a part of that goodness.
He divides his thinking into four paths: the Via Positiva, Via Negativa, Via Creativa and Via Transformativa. In an earlier sermon I talked about the first path--the Via Positiva. It is an easy subject to address, for the Via Positiva is fun! It calls upon us to look upon creation as good and it examines panen-theism, the idea that God is present in nature, but that there is also something bigger. It talks about our royal personhood, for we are all children of the Holy. The Via Positiva celebrates the power of erotic love and advances the idea of cosmic hospitality.
These are all very positive images. Today's topic is more difficult: the Via Negativa, or Befriending Darkness. It is easy to encourage you to celebrate earth's bounty and the power of love. It is more difficult to encourage you to claim the dark side of our humanity, and to befriend it.
Classic Christian theology, which Western Civilization has inherited from the Catholic Church, and the Protestant Reformation embrace a limited vision of what we call the Via Negativa. It is a path marked by ascetic practices. It taught that one must use "will power to overcome one's feelings." (Fox, Matthew, Original Blessing, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin Putnam, New York, 2000, p. 129.)
Instead of meditating, practices of mortification were encouraged. Gritting one's teeth to resist temptation was the practice. It is no wonder the Via Negativa did not become popular.
However, ignoring the dark side is not wise. The Via Negativa is basically a path that acknowledges that darkness exists, and that is contains lessons we must learn. It is ultimately good, and we ignore it at our peril.
It runs contrary to our culture. Our tendency is to push it down, ignore it, deny that it really exists. The Via Positiva represents joy and erotic love, all that is good about creation. Until we are faced with a truly painful situation, it is easy to stay on the positive side.
My own introduction to the Via Negativa came when my oldest daughter was murdered. Although I had already experienced difficult situations in my life, this event brought me face to face with evil and deep, almost unbearable pain. I did not have then the language of theology, but somehow found my way through the pain and into a life worth living. Eventually I learned the language to name the path I traveled--the Via Negativa.
I hope none of you learn this path in such a painful way. However, to be human is to know that one must die, to be human is to experience the loss of love; to be human is to experience pain as well as joy.
Walking the Via Negativa teaches one necessary lessons, and leads to a greater appreciation of the gifts of the Via Positiva. Let us learn from Matthew Fox some of those lessons and gifts.
Fox was a Catholic priest, and remains a devout Christian. His language reflects this background. His ideas are far broader than traditional Christian theology allows, which is why he is a former Catholic priest. For today, I ask you to allow the term God stand for that which is best, brightest and most holy in your understanding of the Cosmos.
Fox tells us that there are four themes to be found on the Via Negativa. The first is: Emptying: Letting Go of Images and Letting Silence be Silence. Each theme is preceded by several quotations that represent an aspect of the path. I will share one of those quotations from each theme with you.
The first is Meister Eckhart's words, "God is not found in the soul by adding anything but by the process of subtraction."
Fox begins with these words:
The Enlightenment--the en-light-en-ment--has rendered all of us who live in Western civilization citizens of the light. And of lights. Questers after left-brain--which is light oriented--satisfaction. The invention of the light bulb and electricity and neon lights and handy light switches was a marvelous outgrowth of the Enlightenment's technological achievements. And with the light bulb there came also the radio, so that now not only were our eyes attracted to what is outside of us but our ears were as well. With television we experienced a new kind of light machine--one that combines eyes and ears, light and radio, to allure us out of ourselves. Then came color tele-vision, whose light is a bright, bright light of rainbow varieties, ever more alluring and more demanding. Religion too has become very light-oriented in the West….And the sentimental hymns that ignore the dark or reduce it anthropomorphically to human sin and therefore to salvation contribute to the excessive lighting of our world. (Ibid. 134)
As a result, we are afraid of the dark. We are afraid of no-light. Afraid of silence, of image-lessness. When I walk into a room, the first thing I do is flip on the light. If there is no switch by the door, I am uncomfortable until I find one and turn it on. And I turn the radio on when I enter the kitchen to start making tea and breakfast. Many of us turn the television on automatically, just to have some company or sound.
I did not name this light-switch habit as fear of the dark. I now think that is an accurate analysis. How can we control our path, if we cannot see? Don't we need to know where we are going? And does not our fear of the dark repre-sent our fear of death--the final darkness?
Let us look at some positive images of darkness. "Our bodies," Fox reminds us, "are filled with darkness." All its parts, heart, liver, brain, intestines, the circulatory systems work on day and night, day after day, in the dark. Isn't it a small miracle that each part of our body cooperates with the other parts, and that all work together to keep us alive, and walking, talking, thinking and loving?
Fox points out that, more than likely, we all began in darkness. "Our loving parents presumably conceived us in the dark nights of their lovemaking. We ought to celebrate that dark sacrament of marriage's most intimate moments much more sensually and honestly than we do. Furthermore, we lived appar-ently quite contented lives for nine full months in the dark. The womb was dark and not fearful." (Ibid, 135)
Seeds must go into the dark earth before they can sprout and grow. There is much mystery in our living and our cosmos, which thrives in the dark. To walk the Via Negativa, we can meditate on positive images of darkness.
Fox tells us, "In addition to meditating on our very real relationship to darkness and to its ever-present companion, mystery, we also need to let go of all medi-ations, all images, all likenesses, all projections, all naming, all contact with isness." (Ibid. 136) This is a radical demand. Fox is a great believer in medi-tation, and uses Buddhist and other practices. He recommends Zen and Yoga, and talks of "following the breath."
This is much harder for some of us than others. I have a very difficult time emptying my mind. I almost get there and then something like "Am I doing this right?" will surface. Fox calls for "a radical letting go of language." (Ibid.) For those of us who are chronically busy, always dashing to the next appointment, forever planning the next event, this request is daunting. Nevertheless, I believe it to be healthy, and necessary for an effective treading of the Via Negativa.
Letting go of busyness is a true challenge for many of us. Fox coins an arresting term in the following quotation: "If it is true that the ground of the soul is dark, then the human race cannot continue to afford to flee the dark-ness and to embrace an Enlightenment that does not include an Endarken-ment." (Ibid. 139) Western Civilization has embraced the Enlightenment for the last several hundred years. While it brought many blessings to our society, it also presents challenges. Let us allow the idea of Endarkenment to mellow in our minds, to stir our hearts, to inform our actions, and to bring balance into our living.
The second theme Fox proposes for the Via Negativa is: Being Emptied: Letting Pain be Pain. Hear the words of Mechtild of Magdeburg: "From suffering I have learned this: That whoever is sore wounded by love will never be made whole unless she embrace the very same love which wounded her." (Ibid. p. 140)
This is perhaps the most difficult of the themes on this path. Letting pain be pain goes against our societal norms. We are a nation of drug addicts--Valium and Zoloft, as well as cocaine and heroin, alcohol and smoking. Do you feel bad? Take a pill. Are you depressed? Here's a prescription. Tired at the end of a stressful day? Have a martini.
I'm not talking here about the many Americans who suffer from clinical depres-sion or other mental or emotional illnesses. I am talking about numbing our senses to avoid the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. "Pain is today's unmentionable reality," says Fox, "much as sex was unmentionable in the Victorian period." (Ibid, 141)
Nor am I primarily talking about physical pain, although persistent, unending pain also becomes a spiritual concern. I am primarily talking about psychic pain, emotional pain, cosmic pain. I believe one reason we have an epidemic of depression among our people is that we are encouraged to avoid, cover up, and hide our desperate striving for meaning in our lives, our losses which fill us with grief, and our fear of death. Letting pain be pain is necessary for our emotional and spiritual health; but it is not easy.
"This is why," says Fox, "courage--big-heartedness--is the most essential virtue on the spiritual journey. But if we fail to let pain be pain--and our entire patriarchal culture refuses to let this happen--then pain will haunt us in night-marish ways. We will become pain's victims instead of the healers we might become. And eventually pain's perpetrators." (Ibid. 142) We must learn to embrace pain.
Embrace pain? This is a difficult idea. Fox offers an image that assists our understanding. "We pick up our pain as we would a bundle of sticks for a fireplace; we necessarily embrace these sticks as we move across the room to the fireplace; then we thrust them into the fire, getting rid of them, letting go of them; finally we are warmed and delighted by their sacrificial gift to us in the form of fire and heat and warmth and energy. This is the manner we can and indeed must deal with our pain." (Ibid.)
Embracing, letting go with a deliberate gesture, and being warmed by the resulting burning. Here is a model for dealing with pain that I can recommend.
What are some of the things we can learn from pain? Firstly, it can help us understand others who are in pain. "A healthy experience of letting pain be pain is always a schooling in compassion." (Ibid, 143.) Those of us who have suffered deeply understand deeply the suffering of others.
Secondly, pain helps us understand and critique pleasure. It relates back to the Via Positiva and helps us understand that beautiful roses come with thorns; that pain and pleasure are often intermixed. It sensitizes us to what is beautiful in life. It awakens us to the preciousness of life. (Ibid.)
It toughens us up. I can testify to this third benefit of pain. The old saying: "That which does not slay you makes you stronger" is really true. Fox cautions us that this is not the same as the ascetic tradition that celebrates pain as a dedication to God, "But in the natural flow of events in our lives wherein living life fully requires strength to endure pain and suffering." (Ibid, 144, 145)
Another benefit, the fourth, is that pain and suffering link us to others. All humans suffer, often in different ways, but often similarly. "All social move-ments and organizations were born of pain," says Fox. (Ibid.) The pain of being unemployed, the pain of sharing a disaster, the pain of experiencing racism, or sexism, or classism. Sharing these pains leads to movements that seek change.
And pain opens us up to others. Recognizing that each of us is a suffering creature within a universe of creatures that experience suffering opens us up to others. It moves us to understanding that we are all at home in the cosmos, and that we are all part of the web of creation. (Ibid, 146)
In this understanding of the Via Negativa, suffering is not, "as the fall/redemp-tion tradition emphasizes too much, the wages we pay for sin. … Suffering is built into the birth of the entire cosmos." (Ibid) Births are painful, but they result in new life, and increased love.
The Via Negativa's third path is: Sinking into Nothingness and Letting Nothingness be Nothingness. Hear the words of.D.H. Lawrence:
Are you willing to be sponged out, erased,
cancelled,
made nothing?
Are you willing to be made nothing?
dipped into oblivion?
If not, you will ever really change.
(Ibid, pp. 148, 149.)
"When one learns letting go and letting be, when one learns sinking, when one learns emptying and being emptied, one necessarily comes face to face with nothingness," says Fox (Ibid. 149). I think nothingness is a scary concept. I think it is difficult to grasp the idea of void. To experience it is deep, even life-changing.
Fox affirms that, "The experiences of nothingness that one might touch based on …emptying meditations…may be very quiet, a kid of blank space or empty mirror. … Or, …pain and suffering may render our nothingness experience quite hurtful, shocking, even violent." (Ibid, p. 150)
He points out that Mahatma Ghandi "referred to the political implications of nothingness on many occasions. 'True individuality consists in reducing oneself to zero. The secret of life is selfless service. The highest ideal for us is to become free from attachment.'" (Ibid)
Let us bring this difficult concept into real situations, that we may better under-stand it. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the desert is experienced as a metaphor for nothingness. A trip into the desert is a descent into nothingness. Now, think of this--take your age--say you are 40,and try to meditate upon 41 years ago. You were then --nothing. And this is true for each of us. We all came from the dark.
An experience of nothingness you may not relate to the Via Negativa is the experience of laughter--especially deep, helpless laughter that sometimes overwhelms us. Similarly, pain and anger can overwhelm us until we lose their names--they become no thing. Fox tells us that "an experience that opens us cosmic joy and beauty also renders us vulnerable to an experience of the void." (Ibid, 153)
We must fall into nothingness before we can create. Think of the magnificent composer, Beethoven. He crafted beautiful pieces for several years as he traveled the Via Positiva. Then, he began his descent into deafness, a true Via Negativa. Yet he continued composing, bringing into our lives sublime music that speaks to human hearts.
The fourth and final theme in the Via Negativa is Sin, Salvation, a Theology of Loss. Let me share the words of Susan Griffin.
"The earth is my sister; I love her daily grace, her silent daring, and how loved I am, how we admire this strength in each other, all that we have lost, all that we have suffered, all that we know: we are stunned by this beauty, and I do not forget: what she is to me, what I am to her. (Ibid, 158)
Fox says that the Via Negativa is essentially about learning receptivity. There-fore, sin "would consist in the refusal to let go, the refusal to admit the need for receptivity in our lives, and the refusal to develop receptivity." (Ibid, 159)
To illustrate this idea he cites a description of the birthing process written by a maternity nurse, who says: "(D)uring (the transition stage of labor) the mother usually notes a drastic change and may respond by getting very anxious, and if she is not properly supported and prepared, she may feel panic. As in the early stages of labor, she can assist only by relaxing. If she loses control, fights the contractions, she will increase her own fear, which in turn increases her own discomfort." (Ibid.)
Fox names clinging as another sin in the Via Negativa. Clinging to ego, control, to will power is often our reaction to the feeling of sinking into nothingness. This is, he says, sinful, for we must learn to let go, "not of things, …but of attitudes toward things." (Ibid.)
And the third sin is the sin of projection, or the refusal to let be--that is to let others be different. "It is," says Fox, "when we are so dissatisfied with being ourselves or so not at home with our deepest self that we must always be projecting onto others our ways, our attitudes, our fears, our disappointments." In this sin, I hear the basis of all the isms that plague our society. (Ibid 160)
And the last sin named is the refusal to let pain be pain. We must develop our capacities to endure pain, to embrace pain, to learn from pain, to walk through pain. In doing so we become strong.
Salvation, in the Via Negativa "is not a salvation from pain but a salvation through pain. This is not the pain of asceticism, but the pain of living life fully, the Via Negativa as well as the Via Positiva.
Salvation is not only personal, but primarily social. Fox tells us, "A personal salvation by itself is not truly salvific, for people in the deepest recesses of their personhood are social. … Relationships constitute part of the healing of every person." (Ibid, 162)
The very acknowledgment of pain and darkness brings healing. "By letting pain be pain we allow healing to be healing…" (Ibid, 163) Only by facing the truth of pain can healing occur.
"We are saved," says Fox, "by forgiveness," by forgiving ourselves and growing into forgiving others. And finally, trust heals us. "Not only the trust of ecstasy and delight as in the Via Positiva, but trust of the darkness, the sinking and the nothingness of the Via Negativa. … Trust drives out fear, and when we let go of fear we are ready to live fully, love fully, and be instruments of healing or salvation." (Ibid, 164)
These then, are the themes of the Via Negativa; Letting Go and Letting Be, Letting Pain Be Pain, Sinking into Nothingness, Sin and Salvation in this path. They are not so easy to embrace as the Via Positiva, which was full of joy. However, they are necessary themes for living in this beautiful, but flawed world. Let us embrace them for the healing and growth they will bring to us.
Amen.
Blessed Be.
Shalom
Saalat.
Posted by harboruu at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2005
New Board Members
The HUUC Board of Trustees is now back to full strength. Shawn Wilson and Mary Wiggins have agreed to share their time and talents with us through service on the board. Thanks Shawn and Mary! Below I present the current HUUC officer and board line up:
President: Ike Stephenson
Vice President: Andy Fink
Secretary: Jean Scarbrough
Treasurer: Marv Johnson
Board of Trustees: Nancy Witt Johnson
Board of Trustees: Jackie Macdonald
Board of Trustees: Linda Rhiel
Board of Trustees: Shawn Wilson
Board of Trustees: Mary Wiggins
Join the board and other HUUC folks this Sunday @ 1200 as we meet to craft a new Vision and Mission statement for HUUC. This will lead us into the 2nd 50 years of HUUC!
Posted by harboruu at 09:11 AM | Comments (0)
January 27, 2005
HUUmanists
HUUC
Reminder
A humanist discussion group at HUUC?
Are YOU a humanist?
Are you interested in learning about humanism?
Join us for an exploratory meeting 20 minutes after the program on Sunday, January 30
Anyone interested is welcome, regardless of labels.
HUUmanists
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Bertrand Russell
Formerly The Friends of Religious Humanism, an affiliate organization of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the HUUmanists was founded by Edwin H. Wilson, Lester Mondale, and others in 1962 as the "Fellowship of Religious Humanists" to advance humanism within the Unitarian-Universalist denomination and to promote religious humanism in general. Their stated purpose is:
“To enhance, promote, practice and enjoy humanism in liberal religion, and to provide a continental organization for those who consider themselves humanists within the UUA. To this end, HUUmanists shall defend and protect freedom of thought in Unitarian Universalism, arrange programs, forums and lectures, encourage humanist writing to give voice to humanistic values, encourage the establishment of local humanist groups, maintain a humanist presence on the internet, and hold discussion groups, seminars, workshops, and conferences…”
Posted by harboruu at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2005
Serving
This past Sunday I had an enjoyable time speaking to the Congregation and talked about 'Going Forward'. A part of my message was about our 7th principle, "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."
In particular I mused on how as a leader of the Congregation I have to balance the needs of HUUC with those of the Muskegon community, the Heartland District, the UUA and in fact the world.
Obviously a big recent event was the tsunami. No question it is one of the worst tragedies ever. Recently during HUUC services we've heard appeals to donate money to the UUSA and UUSC for their relief efforts.
I wondered how HUUC fits into this part of the interdependent world. When we know from serving at Supper House that there are neighbors without food, when we know there are people without heat close to home how much emphasis should we give to aiding Tsunami victims? Is it the best use of our time and money?
Nana talks about growing generous hearts or overcoming pinched hearts. Maybe my thoughts on the tsunami show my heart still has growing to do.
After the service a HUUC member told me he agreed with my thoughts on the Tsunami. One of the points he made was that you could help the Tsunami victims in multiple ways. There doesn't seem to be a website, TV station, newspaper etc. that doesn't have a channel for Tsunami help.
I know I donated through amazon.com soon after the event. Even today I noticed I could still donate money while I was shopping for music at Apple's Itunes store.
I think this is a valid point. We have limited resources both in terms of time and funds. While helping tsunami victims is no question good thing, it might not be the best thing considering there are other avenues through which good can be accomplished.
And then this morning I was driving down Laketon Ave. Outside the rescue mission their notice board said something like serving others is a way to thank god.
Maybe in this case getting down to a granular level and looking at what is a better way to serve...writing a check for tsunami victims or serving food at supper house is not the point. Rather the point is that service is a way of saying thanks, being humble and getting on with what needs to be done. Good luck in all your service!
Ike
Posted by harboruu at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2005
Inauguration Day Reflections
Reflections from the Rev. Meg Riley, Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Advocacy and Witness Programs, and former Director of the UUA Washington Office.
And so I awaken on this Inauguration Day, my heart as bleak as today’s grey Minnesota sky. Thankfully my eight year old daughter inhabits a different bit of reality, which is leaping for joy about today’s school agenda—Snow Olympics. She scampers and squeals as she gets dressed, and I am grateful to have her energy to contrast to my own, which is almost two-dimensional in its flatness.
Unitarian Universalism is a good fit for me, in part, because I am an optimist by nature. I experience moments of cynicism, despair, and hopelessness, but my spirit is a buoyant one. But, today, I am bleak, and I notice this in my morning meditation.
I am bleak because I know how much of the work which is central to UU values will be harder in these next years. Some things we’re constantly defending: Women’s reproductive choice. Marriage equality. The United Nations. Civil and religious liberties. Child care funding. Some things we’re constantly trying to stop: School prayer. Government funding of religion. Preemptive wars. Regardless of who is President, prophetic religion is a tough sell in the nation’s capital, and these struggles have been ceaseless since I woke up as an activist nearly thirty years ago. Power, as Frederick Douglas wrote a hundred fifty years ago, never concedes anything without a struggle—it never did and it never will. But our work gets even harder, as the Religious Right demands more and more from elected officials, and I know the years coming will challenge us deeply.
Part of me, I notice in meditation, is drawn to the odd seduction of hopelessness, wants to relax into its arms, throw the oars off my little rowboat and drift slowly out into the vast foggy sea. But then another voice speaks, waking me up. ”Imagination is a moral imperative,” it says, in the sharp tone in which a parent might say for the third time, “Hang up your coat NOW.”
I consider this. I am privileged to live a life where I get to use my imagination and all of my other gifts every day at work. The UUA’s advocacy work and public witness work, putting our UU values out into the world, reaches out to the broadest swath of souls we can conceive to promote the principles by which we live—justice, equity, compassion, peace, liberty, interdependence. This is by nature creative work. Most of the time, we at the UUA work with one another joyfully, with much laughing and energy, which flourishes because of our deep respect for one anothers’ work and knowledge that we can trust another. This is, indeed, privilege.
But, imagination as moral imperative. Moral imperative? I remember this language from old ethics classes but I’m not even sure what it means exactly. To be a moral person, I MUST imagine? Another familiar line comes into my mind, from Adrienne Rich’s stunning journal, What is Found There: Notebooks on Poetry and Politics. One of my desert island books, where I’ve turned over and over for help. “Despair,” she wrote in 1991, “when not the response to absolute physical and moral defeat, is, like war, the failure of imagination.”
War as the failure of imagination? This makes total sense to me. I once went to a high school and watched a series of student-written plays. The teachers had provided boxes of props to inspire them; one class had been allowed to use the prop of a gun if they wanted. The other had not. In the class which had been allowed to use the gun, every single play, probably six of them, concluded with someone being shot. It almost became comical, how that gun defined the limits of adolescent imagination, in plays which otherwise bore no resemblance to each other. In the class without a gun, the endings were much more varied and interesting. This was not a sociological experiment, simply class plays, and no one but me even seemed interested in what that gun did to youth’s imaginations. But I was awed by it. Multiply a gun into an army, and I can certainly see the epic crumbling of imagination. So this makes total sense.
Despair as failure of imagination makes sense to me, too, on an intuitive level. I remember a parent orientation at my daughter’s preschool five years ago. The teacher, who had run the place for over 30 years, told us that they tried to stay out of the kids’ ways as much as possible and let them have about two hours uninterrupted free play each day. One anxious parent raised his hand. “But if they run out of ideas about what to play,” he said, “You jump in and help them think of some, right?” I immediately chuckled, expecting the teacher to brush away this absurd question. My own daughter and every other three year old kid I’d ever known in my life as a teacher and religious educator, wouldn’t run out of ideas if we never spoke to them again! But the veteran teacher responded soberly. “We are seeing a new phenomenon these past few years,” she said, “Where kids actually ARE unable to think of things to play.” She went on,”We link it to the absence of unstructured time in children’s lives, and to excessive amounts of time watching television.”
To hear about the demise of children’s imaginations ranked, for me, with hearing about the demise of the virgin forests. Something completely irreplaceable and precious is being lost. I have to wonder how this is connected to the increasing numbers of children who are being medicated for depression and anxiety and aggression and other mental health problems. As ever, the children are the canaries in our coal mines.
So, my prayer for each of us on this Inauguration Day is that we seriously consider how to yoke our imaginations to the common good—to commit ourselves to keeping hope alive. Though there are certain activities which I believe all citizens should participate in, such as being in relationship with elected officials about our values and opinions, activism does not need to be formulaic or follow one way. On this Inauguration Day, I challenge you to dedicate yourself to finding a way to put something creative out into the world, whether it’s learning Thai cooking or mentoring a child or painting or writing or creatively protesting injustice. Take seriously that you need to be alive, to be rowing your own little boat, not to be surrendering the most precious gifts you have been given—your heart’s desires, your soul’s longing for connection, your abilities to manifest the vision of life that is uniquely yours. No one can take that from you unless you give it to them. This Inauguration Day, hold tightly to this birthright, and pledge to dedicate your life to it.
May it be so!
Posted by harboruu at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
Join fellow UU's at Supper House
Volunteers are always needed to help serve on the third Friday of each month. Volunteers from HUUC are needed on Friday, January 21 from 3:45 to 6 p.m. Please sign up on the sheet in the Social Hall! The Supper House is a ministry of Mission for Area People (MAP), and is located in Temple United Methodist Church at 2500 Jefferson Street in Muskegon Heights.
Posted by harboruu at 07:11 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2005
CommUnity Meeting Agenda
The quarterly CommUnity Meeting will convene Thursday 20 January, 7:00 PM in the HUUC Social Hall.
Here is proposed agenda/topic list.
Chalice Lighting
Welcome
Check In
Leadership Changes Update
Discuss Volunteer Coorrinator Position
Look Back: Debrief and lessons learned from 50th Anniversay + Holiday services, Programs and activities
Look Ahead: Apply lessons learned to: 2005 Canvas (relates to not enough $ concern from last meeting) , Adult RE, Heartland Conference Delegates, Vision/Mission process
Follow Up's from Last Meeting
More Committee Members Needed- Plan for 'Committee Fair'?
Building Cleanliness- Revisit Cleaning List.
Goal Setting
Committee chairs and board members planning to attend please prepare comments and suggestions focused on the above so we make use of efficient time. Meeting will begin promptly at 7 and will be complted by 9 at the latest.
Ike Stephenson
Posted by harboruu at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2005
Burning the Candles
The Worship Committee recently learned that some of our members are allergic to the candles we use in our Worship Services. We want to be sensitive to the health and welfare of all our members. We found that beeswax candles seldom cause allergic reactions, although they are more expensive than the commonly used paraffin variety. Soy candles were also recommended. We have done some research and will do more to investigate sources. We intend to replace our current candles gradually. We'll purchase two pillars for our chalice and joys and sorrows bowls. Then we'll begin replacing the tapers we use.
We often receive candle donations from members and friends. Because of this policy change we will ask all further candle donations be either beeswax or soy based. And, if you would like to speed on this process, we are happy to receive donations of either candles or money!
There is a way to honor, remember, congratulate, thank and memorialize your friends or family members while at the same time help support programs and funds of the congregation by making special donations. The donor, of course, may designate the program to be supported and all donations are tax deductible. Special donations will be noted in the church newsletter.
Posted by harboruu at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
Nana's Mini Notes
It was good to have about two weeks off. My foot surgery was minor, and I am healing quickly with very little discomfort. I curled up on the sofa with my ailing cat, Joshua, and read books and periodicals. I finished the first volume of the new Theodore Parker biography written by Dean Grodzins. The second volume is due for publication this year, and I look forward to reading it. Parker was a fascinating person, charismatic preacher, abolitionist activist who had a great influence on our young Unitarian Association. I also read some other books relating to church life and worship.
I am back to (at least) full time now and will be seeing you at meetings and classes, as well as on Sunday morning. And soon (I hope) I can trade in the classic "I did something to my foot and it’s healing" boot for some rather more classy shoes! Thank you for your support during this time of healing.
Posted by harboruu at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2005
CASTER OF VISIONS: Martin Luther King Jr.
When Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, her action started a chain of events she could not have foreseen. The black leaders of Montgomery were prepared to take action the next time a reputable black citizen was arrested for claiming his or her right to equal transportation. They had no idea, however, what their actions would precipitate.
When the bus boycott began, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a new, young preacher of whom good things were expected. A graduate of Harvard, he read Henry David Thoreau's essay on Civil Disobedience, and the works and history of Unitarian minister Theodore Parker, minister and abolitionist. He was uniquely qualified to become the face of the Montgomery boycott.
King later visited Ghandi's ashram in India, and talked with his remaining disciples. He wedded Ghandi's techniques to his deeply Christian background and beliefs. In doing so, he became the face and the voice of the Civil Rights movement.
Today we still use Civil Disobedience and Non-Violence when we want to protest an infringement upon our civil rights. We all owe a debt to Henry David Thoreau who spent a few hours in the jail at Concord because he refused to pay taxes to support the church.
There is a probably apocryphal story that as Henry stood by the jail window, Ralph Waldo Emerson walked by and saw him. Startled, he stopped, peered at him and said, "Why Henry, what are you doing in there?" Thoreau replied, "The greater question is, Ralph, what are you doing out there?"
Martin Luther King's combination of deep spirituality, Harvard education and non-violent philosophy made him the perfect person to lead the Civil Rights Movement. His charismatic speaking, grounded in the preaching techniques he learned from his father and scores of other black ministers communicated his soaring vision of a society of equality. He called us to be better than we were.
He cast a vision of an America that was true to its ideals, and true to the hopes of the settlers who came here seeking to found a City on the Hill that would be a light to all the nations. His vision called upon us to grow our hearts and minds until they embraced all people as brothers and sisters. His version of Christianity was true to the teachings of Jesus, and he challenged other ministers, black and white, to join him in the struggle to implement it.
There is no better source for the specifics of his vision than his most famous speech, given before thousands at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D. C. We know it as the I Have a Dream speech. King had prepared his speech carefully, and he began it by reading from his script.
However, as he told an interviewer three months later, "I started out reading the speech…and then just all of a sudden--the audience response was wonderful that day--and all of a sudden this thing came to me that I have used--I'd used it many times before, that thing about 'I have a dream'--and I just felt I wanted to use it here. I don't know why, I hadn't thought about it before the speech." (Garrow, David, Bearing the Cross, Vintage Books, 1988, p. 283.)
The result is unforgettable. As biographer David Garrow says, "Although he did not know it at the time, the speech had been the rhetorical achievement of a lifetime, the clarion call that conveyed the moral power of the movement's cause to the millions who had watched the live national network coverage." (Ibid.)
In his scripted speech, King began by telling the gathered crowd and the world watching on television that the marchers had come to cash a check. He referred to the words in Declaration of Independence that claim that every person has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And he further refined this claim by saying that he and the people gathered were seeking the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
He then said, "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. … Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood." King's carefully crafted words appealed to the better natures of both black and white Americans.
However, he also added, "There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights." He makes it clear that he and "his people" will not cease their efforts until "the bright day of justice emerges."
Then he cautions the gathered multitude, "In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred." This struggle, he says, will be non-violent, conducted with "dignity and discipline."
King's vision was not only for blacks. He turned to "our white brothers (sic)" and said that "as evidenced by their presence here today, (they) have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. … We cannot walk alone. ..."
It was at this point that he threw away his carefully prepared speech and delivered his dream in words that resonate and live in our hearts and minds still today. He had already called us to our better natures with references to our founding documents. He had already called for equality, and equality now. He had already recognized that this must be a bi-racial effort that did not leave the country polarized into races that hate one another. Reacting to the crowd, and his inner deeply spiritual soul, he rose to visionary heights of eloquence.
"I have a dream," he said. "It is deeply rooted in the American dream."
It's essence is stated in the first sentence of his peroration: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'" With these words he nailed us. He nailed the crowd gathered before him, and the people watching on television. He nailed the Kennedy brothers watching in the Presi-dent's office, who felt the world shift toward justice, whether they were ready for it or not.
The master craftsman continued, building his moral argument. He talked of a "table of brotherhood" that would unite the sons of slaveholders and the sons of slaves. His vision was of a united America that recognized that there is really only one race--the human race. And he put faces on this vision, the faces of his four children, who would "one day be judged not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character."
He then turned to Biblical imagery to enrich his vision, and included the memorable metaphor: "…we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope." He continues, building his images into the vision of a free and united America in which all can share its riches and promise, until he concludes with the unforgettable closing, (all together now), "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last."
There is the vision--America at its best. America the land of the free for all people. America the land of justice. America the land of equality. How have we done? King's dream was too threatening for some people, and he died a martyr's death. His successors, many of them able, many of them totally com-mitted, many of them good organizers, continued without the visionary. They were and are male and female, black and white, and of many political stripes. How have we done?
Well, in 1964, there were only 1000 African American elected officials of any kind in the United States. In 2004 there were over 9000. (website, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson) Shortly after I came here to Muskegon, Blanche Smith was elected mayor of our city, and Rillistine Wilkins is currently mayor of Muskegon Heights.
In the mid-nineties Jackson, Mississippi elected a dynamic young African American lawyer mayor. Here's what is surprising--it was no big deal! Because I know Jackson, and its politics, I know that he could not have been elected without substantial white support.
Political power for African Americans has increased significantly. Perhaps the most potent current symbol is the newest senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. Obama's ability to reach across racial lines seems to portend an exciting future for him in politics. On the plus side, we can say that African Americans are now a significant political force.
African Americans now own and operate radio and TV stations that shape their programming to appeal to black people. The number of African Americans in the middle, upper middle, and upper economic classes has grown significantly. It is no longer news when an African American is named CEO of a large company. It is no longer unusual to have an African American judge, or doctor, or university department head. The economic power of some African Americans has grown significantly.
African Americans have greater cultural influence than in the mid-20th Century. Although jazz (or American classical music) crossed over to white audiences earlier, it has been mostly since the Civil Rights Movement that we have seen an explosion of African American music styles and performers that have influenced the course of popular culture.
Writers, such as Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, August Wilson, Langston Hughes and Paul Laurence Dunbar, help us understand not only African American lives, but enrich our understanding of human nature in general.
Fashion, especially for young people, is strongly influenced by African Ameri-cans. And it is hard to imagine the sports world without African American players. Can anyone picture the NBA lily white? Or football without some of the great African American players? Or golf without Tiger Woods?
Woods reminds us that it is becoming more and more difficult to separate Americans into black and white. Often that line of separation runs through the bodies of specific humans, such as Woods. And often, the humans include more than just African and European. Native American, Asians and Hispanics of many colors blend into our population, and into our families. Martin Luther King, Jr. could not have anticipated that forty plus years after his speech, Americans are increasingly shades of tan and brown, rather than black and white. We are indeed all members of the human race.
We have accomplished much. King could look around and be proud of what those who followed his inspiration accomplished. However, let us not become complacent. For much remains to be done.
Although political power has increased for African Americans, there are still many challenges. After this last election it is clear that election procedures in African American communities are far more likely to be disrupted and difficult. When large numbers of African Americans respond negatively when asked to vote, they often say that their vote doesn't count. Sometimes this reflects reality. Martin would weep.
Although economic power for some African Americans has increased, there is a large lower class that remains below the poverty line. Many of us believe that, while race discrimination significantly decreased, class discrimination took its place. The gap between the haves and have-nots in America widens each year.
And the have-nots are disproportionately black or shades of brown. Martin would shake his head.
While African Americans have deeply influenced popular, and especially street culture, their influence has been less in what I will call high culture. There are exceptions. Marian Anderson was a Mississippi native, whose glorious voice gained her international renown. And Mississippians love to tell the story of how her mother's employer paid for her voice lessons, thus gifting the world with her voice.
There have been significant African American painters, such as William H. Johnson and Jacob Lawrence, and one can find a few examples in every field. However, generally, with the exception of jazz, which I regard as high culture, the influence of African Americans on high culture has not been great. Martin would be disappointed.
The increasing blending of what has been called racial attributes in our population is not celebrated by everyone in our culture. The old bugaboo of miscegenation is often raised with varying degrees of loudness in families, churches and communities. Biracial couples still get stares in some com-munities. Martin would be sad.
There is work yet to be done. The revolution is incomplete, the vision not yet fulfilled. We are not yet as good as we can be. Visions are seldom fulfilled in a short length of time.
Today and tomorrow, when we officially celebrate the birth date of the great visionary, are good times to think about what we can do to help complete his work. Unitarian Universalists participated in Dr. King's work for Civil Rights, and we continue working toward racial justice.
That is the first thing we are called to do--work toward justice. Most of the isms we deplore--racism, classism, sexism, etc., are closely intertwined. Working for justice for one helps bring about justice for all.
We can also honor the diversity we experience here in our congregation and in the community at large. We, who claim diverse religious choices within our association and in this congregation, are in a unique position to truly honor the contributions of those who differ from us.
And I believe we need to honor our history--our Unitarian and Universalist histories, and the history of this congregation. We need to remember that Unitarian minister James Reeb was killed in Selma. We need to remember that Detroit Unitarian Viola Liuzzo was slain transporting people on the march from Selma to Montgomery. We need to remember that Unitarian and Universalist ministers from all over the country responded to Dr. King's request for support from his colleagues. And we need to remember that the board of the American Unitarian Association was meeting in Boston when the first attempt to cross the James Pettis bridge resulted in death and injury to both blacks and whites.
The board suspended their meeting, flew to Selma and walked the route between Selma and Montgomery with Martin Luther King. Our history is honorable.
This congregation has a history also. You sponsored racial justice groups at several points in your history. Community Uniting for Peace met here often. And you supported me when I took time to work with them, and assist in bringing the Institute for Racial Healing to Muskegon. You support the Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest, and volunteer your time and give your money to E. Grace Loftis School, which is predominately African American. You have an honorable history. Remember and celebrate it.
Three things we can do--work for justice, honor our diversity and remember our history. Let us continue in this work, until we can join with Martin in his classic refrain; (Together) "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
Amen.
Blessed Be.
Shalom.
Saalat.
Posted by harboruu at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2005
A Change & Going Forward
It's under a week since I made a requested phone call to Cathy Kaufman. During that short call I found out she and her family were
moving to California and therefore Cathy was resigning as HUUC's president. I've gone from a feeling of surprise, and not being ready
to a week where I've immersed myself in the details of serving as HUUC president, which included presiding over my first board meeting.
I follow Cathy who in her short time as President has a significant and positive impact on HUUC. Anything I am able to achieve will
be aided by the fact that Cathy turns over to me a going concern. There's no need to get up to speed as Cathy kept things humming along. I enjoyed my time assisting her as Vice President and will strive to keep up to the high standards she set as President.
It's sad to see good people like Cathy, Dave and Alex move from our congregation and community. Here's hoping that California is
everything they hope it will be. Paraphrasing some advice I once got about moving-you can always come back. We all hope they are
happy and healthy, but as with all, the Kaufman's will always be welcome at HUUC!
To help us go forward I'd like to share the following with you.
"The arrogance of power must be countered with reason, force with dialogue, pointed weapons with outstretched hands, evil with good."
- Pope John Paul II
Now there's the type of quotation you'd expect to see in a faith community newsletter.
"I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally."
W. C. Fields
Prejudice? Hate? Perhaps now what you'd expect?
I share these quotations for two reasons. One is to remind us that we make some tremendous claims to tolerance and diversity. I think
we need to always to be trying to find the edge of these boundaries. We seek the edge to honor our diversity even if it is
uncomfortable.
Second, these words show that there is always more than one way to accomplish an objective, that there is never just one way to do things. As we move forward I ask you to push yourself to come up with creative solutions to our collective mission, Let's not worry
about what's proper or correct, but let usworry instead about fulfilling our mission as a liberal faith community
And, oh yah, let's also keep this in mind: "The one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken too seriously." This by Nicholas Butler. If I get over serious let me know!
Next, don't ever hesitate to ask me anything. Whatever comments, questions or suggestions you have please address them to me at anytime whether in person, via phone or via email. I like to proceed on the basis that everything I do is fully discolosed. I'll share as much as I can with the congregation and urge you to help me keep you informed by asking me anything, at anytime, anywhere for any reason. In the near future I hope to host an ask anything session, so members and friends have an opportunity to allow me to share
the good news of HUUC.
I'll covenant with you to answer questions within 24 hours of receiving them. Be aware that the questions and answers will be grist
for all aspects of my role at HUUC and may appear on the website, in the newsletter etc, as a proposal etc.
We all have ideas, quotations, pithy parental advice etc. that guides as we live our lives. Two of the guides I have are a personal
mission statement I have developed and a metaphorical image that I carry in my head.
The mission statement is: "To take my talents and apply them to the needs of the community to ensure that others have sufficient
opportunity to succeed." Serving as Vice President, as Worship Committee Chair, and now as President of HUUC will allow me to
further carry out this mission. I look forward to applying them to all the needs of HUUC from Sunday services to supper house to
buildings and ground and on and on.
The metaphor dates from a conversation I had in the kitchen at Big Sable Lighthouse. I was sitting with a friend who was serving as
President of the Big Sable Light Keepers association. I remember him saying, "when you fly over a city at nite you see the yellow lites of the cars on the roads. They look orderly, appearing as a steady steam of progress. It;s much different if zoom your view in. You see the broke down car, the person working overtime, the potholes in the road, the part of the city that is congested with traffic etc." My friend said, "well I've never been comfortable with that overhead view, I've always felt best when I'm on the ground even if I am in the middle of a full on sh*tfight!"
The kind of person and leader I strive to be is a person who is firmly on the ground engaged in making things better, solving problems,
and making things happen. I'll leave the whisper jet view to others.
Another little phrase I'm always saying is 'Just have to get on with it'. I think that is an apt summation for the on the ground
metaphor that guides me. Things are what they are, problems often look too big, etc. but the reality is if you grunt up and get
on with it things can happen for the better!
I hope my initial column has helped you understand a bit about who I am and how I want to serve HUUC. It will appear
in the newsletter and on the website.
In the futre I'll address topics such as why suggestions are good but solutions are better, what's the one question I'll always ask about potential HUUC activities and more. I also hope that you'll frequently be asking me anything, and that I can answer some of the questions in this column.
Be it Sunday Service, Supper House or Sledding Pot Luck I look forward to seeing you all!
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Schedule Notes: 1. I'd love to meet your committee, group etc. so I can learn as much as possible about all aspects of HUUC. However, I'm usually at work until at 1500 each weekday, so evening meetings are what work for me. 2. January 20th at 7 PM in the social hall we will have our quarterly Community Meeting. Board members and Committee chairs are expected to attend 3. January 30th at Noon the board and all interested parties will meet to begin crafting a new vision and mission for HUUC. 4. I will be out of town
on business from 7 to 21 February.
Posted by harboruu at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)
Leadership Changes
At the HUUC Board of Trustees Meeting on 13 January 2005, Cathy Kaufman resigned as President of the board. Ike Stephenson, formerly
Vice President becomes President per the bylaws. At that same meeting Andy Fink was appointed Vice President. The board is moving
to appoint a person to Cathy's vacant position. Look for an announcement of a new board member soon!
Posted by harboruu at 07:17 AM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2005
RE is Evolving
RE at HUUC is growing and changing... and we want you to be a part of the excitement! Our classes are expanding, our space is looking great and we want the input of those adults in the community who have experienced life enough to help guide the RE Committee. We are formulating plans for the next year, the next five years, and far into the future. If you have ideas or preferences for the religious education program of HUUC, consider visiting during one of our planning sessions or contact DRE Sandi Stephans or Committee Chair, Carolyn Holmes with your ideas. Anyone is welcome to join. The next RE Committee meeting is on Thursday, January 6 at 6:30 p.m., at HUUC. Call Carolyn at 744-4099 for information.
Posted by harboruu at 07:09 AM | Comments (0)
How to Become a Member
If you are considering membership, this is what you do. First ask for a New Member packet from the Greeter at the Welcome Table out front. Then, join our next Path to Membership class. Our class isn't mandatory, but it is fun and informative. You'll have the opportunity to get to know our minister, have your questions answered, and learn more about our faith and this dynamic church. We'll offer a light supper and childcare if needed.
For newcomers who don't feel ready for the Path Class, we invite you to meet and visit with our minister at 12:00 noon on the first Sunday of the month here in the sanctuary. This is an informal time to ask questions and learn about Unitarian Universalism. This gathering is called Getting to Know Us and that's just what we hope you'll do!
Posted by harboruu at 07:09 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2005
HUUC Recognized by UUSC
HUUC has been recoginzied as a Vision of Justice Banner Society. This means that 50-90 percent of HUUC members are also UUSC members. HUUC was the only Michigan congreation to receive this recognition.
Also, remember we have begun collecting the Guesty at Your Table boxes and funds. By joining UUSC through Guest at Your Table you can ensure that HUUC is recognized again in 2005!
Posted by harboruu at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)
January 09, 2005
In Our Name
Have you ever met someone, or read something that challenged you to take action so effectively you could not refuse? It happened to me--twice.
The first was over 15 years ago, when I was a relatively new Unitarian Univer-salist living in Jackson, Mississippi. Our church sponsored a talk by Father Roy Bourgeois, a Jesuit who was active in the base communities in Central America. This was my first exposure to the realities of the politics of what we condescend-ingly called "The Banana Republics." I was horrified and outraged at what I learned. I could not just shrug my shoulders, write a token check and go home.
Instead I helped organize a chapter of Witness for Peace, hosted meetings and helped organize demonstrations. From that time on, the front lawn of my home in Jackson had a small white cross with Maria's name on it--one of the disap-peared of the struggle for autonomy in El Salvador. I was one of the "Jackson Six" who was arrested, tried, and found guilty of sitting in Representative Wayne Clark's office and refusing to leave until he consented to talk with us. Thus, it was Father Bourgeois who inspired me to become a criminal for justice.
Well, it has happened again. This time it was Molly Ivins. Over a month ago she wrote a column about torture. Actually she wrote a column about Americans torturing detainees at our prison at Guantanamo. Note that "our". We American citizens are allowing, even encouraging our American soldiers to torture human beings. Molly's closing paragraph asked, "What are you going to do about this?"
When I read it I sighed, remembered Roy Bourgeois and the Central American struggle, picked up my scissors and cut out the article. Then I came to church, pulled up the Worship calendar on my computer and changed the title of today's sermon. In Our Name… people are being tortured in my name and your name. I must speak out, and I hope to persuade you to do so also.
I must begin with a caveat: I did not know the presentation of this sermon would coincide with Alberto Gonzales' confirmation hearings. Although I have many reservations about his qualifications to be our Attorney General, the use of tor-ture as a weapon in our foreign policy precedes this administration. Torture is torture is torture: it is unacceptable no matter who does it or affirms its use. And it is unacceptable because it violates our faith's deepest values and belief.
We stand for the supreme worth of each human life. From the birth of our liberal religion we have affirmed that each person is valuable and must be treated with dignity.
We come from that left wing of Christianity that embraced the humanism of the Enlightenment--that claimed each person was a child of God, that the Golden Rule was indeed Golden, and that we were charged with obeying it. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," as the St. James version of Luke 6 says.
In the United States, the Rev. William Ellery Channing called upon us to strive for self-perfection, and to recognize that every person was capable of developing and growing and becoming more like that great human prophet, Jesus. The inimitable Rev. Theodore Parker cast his great talents and energy into the move-ment to free the slaves; because each and every person had value as a spiritual being far beyond his or her ability to labor in the fields or factories of 19th Century America. Ralph Waldo Emerson taught us all that we could relate directly to the Divine, for we were, indeed, all a part of that Divinity. The central tenet of Univer-salism was that all shall be saved--that all humans, the created of God, would eventually rejoin their Creator, following their life here on earth.
Our theology has grown, diversified, and changed in many ways. We see the Divine in differing ways in this faith. In this room are widely varying views about just what or who might be called Divine. However, if there is one tenet that unites us, it must be this--each person is important and of infinite value.
Today we give voice to this belief in our First Principle: We affirm and promote the worth and dignity of every person. The children's version of this is "Each person is important", demonstrated in the story of the snowflakes--each different, each lovely, and added together, enough to change the winter world of the chick-adee and cardinal.
I believe that the First Principle is inextricably entwined with the Second, justice, equity and compassion in human relations. I believe that the Second Principle is how we live out the affirmation of the First, the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Thus our faith, grounded in the Judeo-Christian teachings from which we descended, calls upon us to practice justice, live equitably and exhibit com-passion to all human beings, because they are of infinite value.
How then, can we remain silent when the policy of this nation, for several ad-ministrations, is to not only practice torture, but to teach the soldiers of other nations our methods? (School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga.) How can we remain silent when this administration moves to enshrine this practice even more widely, and seeks legal advice on how to do it without being tried for war crimes?
Let me review how we got to this painful point in our history as a nation. Although our nation has always legally eschewed the use of torture, it has gradually crept into the fabric of our foreign policy. Many people are worried that it is in the process of seeping into our domestic policies. As I told you, I was interested in and involved in attempting to influence our policies in Central America in the past. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee just formed a Stop Torture Permanently (STOP) campaign. They appointed Jennifer Harbury as the head of this effort.
Ms. Harbury is uniquely qualified to lead such an effort. Her "own husband, Everardo, a Mayan resistance leader, was secretly held by the Guatemalan military, tortured for two years, (beginning in 1992) kept in a full-body cast to prevent escape, then executed without trial." (UUSC News, Fall, 2004, p. 1.) Ms. Harbury tried in vain to secure his release. She used every means at her dis-posal to learn the facts of his death. Finally the U.S. Government disclosed that he had been "killed by Guatemalan intelligence officers, several of whom were paid CIA informants. Moreover, the CIA was aware of his situation from the first week of his capture, but never informed (her) or officials trying to save him." (ibid, p. 4) (Date in italics added)
In an ad that appeared in the New York Times on June 25, 2004 announcing STOP, Ms. Harbury says: "Sadly, my husband's case was far from unique. I've investigated many similar cases. Again and again, I have heard from Central Americans who suffered severe torture at the hands of the local military. They confirm the presence of shadowy North Americans in their torture chambers, men with heavy U.S. accents, asking questions, speaking with clear authority, and at times even giving orders."
In the late 1980's and early 1990's when I was working with Witness for Peace I had more information about the CIA and their involvement with Central and South American military dictatorships. I have since moved several times and cleaned out what I thought were irrelevant files, so I no longer have that informa-tion in my possession. However, Ms. Harbury's experience rings true to me, un-fortunately as an example of widespread practice, rather than an isolated occur-rence. Such information is the reason I have a great antipathy to the CIA and their methods for extracting information.
Why did successive administrations in this democracy endorse these policies? The idea that a group of Mayans would invade, or seriously threaten, the United States is patently absurd. What threat to our safety was so extreme that it re-quired two years of torture of Everado Harbury? Why did the United States be-tray its democratic principles to endorse and support such practices? Why did the citizens of this democracy allow it to happen? We are not the only faith whose beliefs belie torture. It is from Christianity that we get the Golden Rule, and Judaism had an earlier version of the same sentiment. Why didn't the pulpits of this country resound with anger and scorn and repudiation of these policies?
And why have we kept silent as this administration expands and attempts to legitimize the structures of torture?
In an editorial on December 23, the Washington Post said:
Thanks to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups, thousands of pages of government documents released this month have confirmed some of the painful truths about the abuse of foreign detainees by the U.S. military and the CIA - truths the Bush administration implacably has refused to acknowledge. …
Though they represent only part of the record that lies in government files, the documents show that the abuse of prisoners was already occurring at Guantanamo in 2002 and continued in Iraq even after the outcry over the Abu Ghraib photographs…. Two defense intelligence officials reported see-ing prisoners severely beaten in Baghdad by members of a special opera-tions unit, Task Force 6I-26, in June. When they protested they were threatened and pictures they took were confiscated.
The editorial continues, giving examples of abuse and torture, examples of the Bush administration's stonewalling on attempts to obtain information, and laying the blame squarely on the shoulders of Secretary Rumsfeld, based on F.B.I. memos found in the pages of information.
These activities are taking place in our name. The justification is that they are necessary to keep us safe and secure. If we accept and believe that, you and I need do nothing. If we do not, I believe we must rouse ourselves from our holi-day stupor and again engage with the world.
Lest you think that these horrendous practices are taking place only in Guantana-mo or Abu Ghraib, please consider this: there was one small island in the Indian Ocean that received sufficient warning of the coming tsunami to take preventive action. It is Diego Garcia, and it is nominally owned by our ally, Great Britain. Tony Blair's government deported all its occupants to Mauritania, and it is now a military base used as a staging ground for the war in Iraq.
It houses Camp Justice a secret prison for high value prisoners in the war on terror. It is only one of many the United States has or is building around the world. Within Guantanamo itself, there is a secret prison for such special prisoners, and in Afghanistan and Iraq there are several more prisons. If the U.S. wishes they can always do what is called an extraordinary rendition, that is, transport a recalcitrant prisoner to another country that does not even have a pretense of laws against torture, such countries as Egypt or Thailand. (Tom Englehardt; TomDispatch.com, January 5, 2005)
It is our tax money used to construct these prisons. It is our tax money used to fly the Gulfstream V turbojet to military bases around the world and unload pri-soners who are hooded and shackled. (Ibid.) In the name of American demo-cracy we are building a torture gulag around the world.
One of my personal heroes was and is Eleanor Roosevelt. In her book, The Moral Basis of Democracy, she writes, "The citizens of a democracy must model themselves on the best and most unselfish life we have known in history. They may not all believe in Christ's divinity, though many will; but His life is important simply because it becomes a shining beacon of what success means. If we once establish this human standard as a measure of success, the future of Democracy is secure." (quoted in Wise Women, Susan Cahill, p. W.W. Norton & Co., 1996, p. 173.)
"Treat others as you would like them to treat you." These are the words of Jesus that form the basis of Christian teachings, and evolved into our First and Second Principles. I fail to see them modeled by the leaders of our nation, nor by the fundamentalist religious leaders of the Radical Religious Right.
Rather I see our national leaders claiming In Our Name that it is necessary to use torture and abuse to protect our nation and American Democracy. In Our Name prisoners are beaten, degraded and sometimes, killed. If we do not wish our name to be used in this manner, we need to speak up.
I have decided I do not wish these things done in my name. So I have investi-gated what I might do about it. The great theologian, Paul Tillich, tells us that "This picture of sin is a picture full of ugliness, suffering and shame, and at the same time, drama and passion." "In each of us," he says, "decisions occur, in us and through us. This is our burden. This is our despair. This is our greatness." (Reading)
We have choices we can make. We need not be silent as evil deeds are done In Our Name. We can contribute money to organizations that fight torture, such as Amnesty International, led by the Rev. Dr. William Schulz, a former president of the Unitarian Universalist Association; or to the STOP campaign of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. We could contribute to the American Civil Liber-ties Union, which struggles for liberty in the U.S., or to other human rights organi-zations.
We can inform ourselves more completely. I have put together a file of the materials I used to research this sermon. It is placed in the Social Hall for your perusal. There are many other sources of information also available. I encourage you to educate yourself about this subject.
We can write letters. We can write to our Representatives in Congress and to our Senators. We can write to our local newspapers. We can write to the magazines to which we subscribe, making it clear that torture is against our beliefs and values.
We can speak up in meetings, in gatherings of friends and families. I know it may be difficult to speak up when you don't know how your words will be re-ceived. However, I encourage you to do so. To make it easier I asked Marv Johnson to make us some buttons. It reads Torture: Not In My Name. I intend to wear mine as much as possible. They are in a basket in the Social Hall if you wish to take one.
Humans are both the greatest and the most problematic of earth's creatures. We are given the difficult gift of choosing our actions. We can choose to engage in acts that cause pain and suffering. We can choose to ignore situations that might make us bestir ourselves from our comfortable homes and neighborhoods. Or we can choose to confront the powers of government and demand they cease acts of torture In Our Name. We can choose to join groups that protest such actions, or form one ourselves. We can choose to organize protests. We can choose to engage in politics in the hopes of influencing decisions.
If you, like me, refuse to allow the United States of America to torture in your name any longer, you have already made a decision. Now you can choose how to communicate that decision, how deeply you can engage in action, and how much you want to risk.
When I heard the words of Father Bourgeois and responded to them, I eventually found myself in the 6th Circuit court of our federal system. I was found guilty of trespassing. Those of us who participated in the demonstration knew we ran the risk of jail, even prison time. The jails of Jackson, Mississippi were notorious in the years following the Civil Rights Movement. Parchman Prison was even more so. We were lucky. Our sentence was a fine of $50.00 and three years pro-bation.
I do not know the risk of speaking out on torture. I do not know where this will lead me and anyone else who chooses to engage in this issue. I will wear my pin and talk with those who question me about it. I will contribute to STOP. I will write letters. I do not yet know what else to do. I only know that no longer will I allow torture to be done In My Name.
Amen.
Blessed Be.
Shalom.
Saalat.
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