Kendal Unitarian Universalists
Order of Service
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Lighting the Chalice:
This earthen chalice was born of clay and water, the flesh and blood of Gaia;
Given form by the hand of the potter;
Set by the bonding fire of the kiln.
As we touch the flame to her lips, joining fire and air,
May her light remind us of that unity
of earth, air, fire, and water,
of plant and animal, human and mineral,
that we and the earth are one. Edwin A. Lane
Opening Words: (in unison)
Love is the spirit of this church, and service is its law.
This is our great covenant:
To dwell together in peace,
To seek the truth in love,
And to help one another. James Vila Blake
Welcome
Song: #123 Spirit of Life
Sharing of Appreciations, Joys and Concerns
Reading from
“Answering the Religious Right with the Big Heart of
Universalism”
by Scott W.
Alexander, in Salted With Fire, ed. Scott W. Alexander,
Skinner House Books 1994, pp 35-37
Scott Alexander tells a story on himself. He writes that when he was in seminary, “What captured my spiritual attention was the large and embracing spirit of Universalism; the big and beautiful heart of Universalism; the deep and compassionate conviction our Universalist forebears had in the basic, deep-down, unquenchable goodness of creation, human society, and persons.” During his final year in seminary, he delivered a chapel address about “this pure and lovely gospel of universal human affirmation.” While he was walking to the chapel he saw a huge woman sitting on a bench and thought to himself how gross she was – He writes, “who could ever love that.” “And at that moment, as if it were a bolt of spiritual lightening aimed right at me, a skinny little guy sitting next to her looked lovingly into her eyes, leaned over, and gave her the most gentle and loving kiss I have ever seen one human being bestow upon another. I was stunned and ashamed. And while I was still reeling …a voice … said to me (and to me alone) ‘Don’t you get it you dope? Here you are, at this very moment going up the hill to preach your clever little sermon on God’s love and universal salvation…, and all you can do is sneer inside at someone you deem unworthy and unbeautiful. Don’t you understand that, in the eyes of all that is sacred and beautiful and holy and true in this creation, she is as utterly lovely as human beings get? ...’ In that moment of pure and precious spiritual revelation, a spirit of holiness I can only call God spoke to me with heart-numbing clarity, and I finally began to understand Universalism viscerally, deep in my bones. What it means to be a Universalist, a real Universalist in more than name only, is to have a heart that seeks and sees at every human turn the natural worth and preciousness of people—all people—especially those very different from oneself. … The early Universalists said, pure and simple, that every human being, no matter how strange or flawed or unlovable or broken or weird they may seem, is to be protected, cherished, welcomed, loved.
“This is not an easy faith to have in these waning years of the twentieth century. Our time, I need not point out, has so much human violence, cruelty, and degradation. … This is not an easy time to believe in the worth and redeemability of all persons and every society.
But Universalism, Universalism than and now, is not a naïve and foolish faith, one that cannot see human wickedness, foible, and sin. Rather, it is a tenacious faith. Universalism is a promise to theologically hang in there with the complexities and cruelties of the human enterprise. It is the promise not to give up on people, but to keep struggling in our broken world for the inclusion of all—even those one might naturally want to despise, reject, condemn, or judge. They simply refused to give up on people. They saw the oneness and worth of humanity more than our separateness and sin.”
Unitarian Universalists’ Common Journey, Barbara Fuchsman, speaker
I agree that Universalism sets a tough and demanding standard to live up to, embodied today, as it is, in the first three UU Principles. Elaine Strawn, last June, described the principles as ideals to strive for. (ask people) Trying to live by the principles has changed my life for the better, and the Universalist principles embodied there have been the greatest personal challenge. Experience has helped me to understand what Universalism means “deep in my bones.” [I wondered whether this realization often comes all at once. Then I talked about my experience in the Post Office.]
According to the noted UU theologian, Thandeka, the early Universalists set an example that can be helpful for us today. Do some of you know the story of George de Benneville? He was born in England of French Protestant aristocrats in 1703 and after very interesting and difficult adventures—illustrate-- he immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1741 at the age of 38. (Note, John Murray was born in England in 1741 and arrived in New Jersey in 1770.) In the mid-18th century, people who believed that God’s great love included everyone found each other and lived together in small groups. They preached universal salvation, together spreading their good news. The opposition from Catholic and Calvinist governments was fierce and these early Universalists were only too familiar with human evil. However, the people in these Universalist groups had come from very different backgrounds and their theology was not all alike. They accepted these theological differences as they worked together for their common purpose.
Today, Unitarian Universalism is something like these groups. UU congregations contain many different theological perspectives: the Humanists, UU Christians, UU Jews, UU Buddhists, the Coven of UU Pagans, feminist UU’s, the Process Theology Network, and there are very many UU’s who are not part of these groups who find ideas from them interesting and helpful. But what is the common purpose that holds us together?
That is a very important question that the Commission on Appraisal of the Unitarian Universalist Association has spent four years researching. In their most recent report, published in May 2005, they ask: What is, indeed, at the center of our faith? What is it that holds us together? Is there unity in our theological diversity? The resulting report is very well worth reading. I do not have time to give you a thorough review here. After framing the question, they looked separately at UU History, Culture, Values, Theology (which they define as how we frame or understand the world), Worship, Justice Making, and Community. They make a number of important recommendations. They also include questions for discussion in an appendix. They see themselves as beginning a thought provoking process of discussion and action.
Based on all the information they have assembled, it is clear that our Universalist heritage (which we inherit from both Universalist and Unitarian ancestors) is an important part of our common purpose. Around 90% of lay respondents and ministers considered the following statement highly important: Humans are born with the potential to be good; we are committed to nurturing good through love and learning. 80% of lay people and 72% of clergy affirmed as highly important: We embrace a covenant in love not to “give up on anyone” –to create inclusive community.
These beliefs have important practical consequences. The UU Association of congregations has taken a highly visible stand in favor of same-sex marriage, for example. In the middle of today’s culture war for the hearts and minds of America, UU’s positive views of human potential and demands for fairness and inclusiveness need to be heard. Scott Alexander calls upon us to speak the tough and radical Universalist doctrine with our lives. “Speak it until everyone across this great and troubled land begins to hear on the wind the holy and inclusive voice that says we are all God’s children.”
There are two covenants widely used in UU congregations today. Around 1894, Unitarian minister, James Vila Blake, wrote the one we read together this afternoon. The Universalist minister, L. Griswold Williams, wrote the second, very similar covenant in 1933. Griswold’s covenant is a bit longer.
Love is the doctrine of this church,
The quest for truth is its sacrament,
And service is its prayer.
To dwell together in peace,
To seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve human need,
To the end that all souls shall grow into harmony with the Divine—
Thus do we covenant with each other and with God.
All of these points are values or beliefs that unify us today, with the exception of belief in God. Since our congregations may include polytheists, monotheists, atheists, humanists, or other non-theists, the Commission found that the wording of this covenant is frequently modified, while the essence is kept. The belief that all souls shall grow into harmony with the Divine was stated by Origen in 225 A.D. and has for many centuries been condemned as heresy. The idea that we all have God given potential that we should be helped to realize was also important to the Unitarians and led to an explosion of social action in the mid-19th century. Here, expressed so gently, is that tough, radical call to better the world.
However, this covenant also affirms that we should help each other to grow in wisdom. The Commission on Appraisal found that close to 90% of respondents gave the following affirmation high importance: The depth dimension of our lives (spirituality) calls us to live mindfully, seek meaning, and serve love. The report notes that both spirituality and reason are highly valued. The Commission found that four spiritual paths have solid support: love and service, community, understanding, and interior harmony. The authors include thought provoking commentary on each of these. For example, in the area of understanding they quote philosopher Ken Wilbur, “Though all of the contemplative traditions aim at going within and beyond reason, they all start with reason, start with the notion that truth is to be established by evidence, that truth is the result of experimental methods, that truth is to be tested in the laboratory of personal experience … and that dogmas or given beliefs are precisely what hinder the emergence of deeper truths and wider visions.” (p. 81) (This reminds me also of the philosophy of noted UU Henry Nelson Wieman.)
The report does not neglect the importance of community, which I am slighting this afternoon in the interests of time. Community leads us into something larger than ourselves, but the kind of community we have is important. It must be based upon basic respect for the inherent worth and dignity of the weakest among us. These ideas are embodied in the UU Principles, where the individual exists in creative tension with community within the interdependent web of all existence and we are guided by encouragement to spiritual growth and a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
The Commission found that in practice the Principles have emerged as a symbol of unity. The seventh principle is a strong and simple statement of a second radical theology that unites us. One that also needs to be heard throughout the world. Human beings are a part of nature, not something separate and apart. Implied within this principle is a partnership with the scientific method and the findings produced by use of this method. A commitment to care responsibly for the Earth is also implied. Beyond this, Professor David Bumbaugh offers this vision, “The heart of a faith for the twenty-first century, I am convinced, is suggested by the seventh Principle…. [that] calls us to reverence before the world, not some future world, but this miraculous world of our everyday experience. It challenges us to understand the world as reflexive and relational rather than hierarchical. It bespeaks a world in which neither god nor humanity is at the center; … It calls us to trust the process, the creative, evolving, renewing, redeeming process which brings us into being, which sustains us in being, and which transforms our being. “
That is why I decided to use Edwin Lane’s beautiful chalice lighting, which makes such a powerful, concrete statement. I could have begun with Sarah Lammert’s chalice lighting, but I think her vision will mean more at the end my remarks:
The element of fire represents passion, veracity, authenticity, and vitality. If the chalice is the supporting structure of Unitarian Universalism, then we are the flame. We are the flame, fanned strong by our passion for freedom, our yearning for truth-telling, our daring to be authentic with one another, and the vitality we sustain in our meeting together. In all of this there is love.
(Source: 1997 UUMA Worship Materials Collection)
Silent personal contemplation
Closing Song: #410 Surprised by Joy
Closing Words and Chalice Extinguishing (in unison):
As Unitarian Universalists we seek to:
KNOW and AFFIRM TRUTH by sharing IDEAS;
BE TRUTH by living ethically;
DO TRUTH by working and acting in our religious community, our wider local community, and the world.
We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we carry in our hearts until we are together again.
Planning for future Gatherings.