To live is to engage in work. The body engages in constant work – the lungs filling with air, the heart pumps. Our minds engage in problem solving, learning, and decision-making. Together the body and mind take action. Life is the only job we do not apply for [...]]]> By Lisa Ellison
February 5, 2012

To live is to engage in work. The body engages in constant work – the lungs filling with air, the heart pumps. Our minds engage in problem solving, learning, and decision-making. Together the body and mind take action. Life is the only job we do not apply for and the only one where termination is guaranteed after an unspecified number of years. We are not given explicit job descriptions. We may or may not know our qualifications. We may spend the whole time wondering why we are here.

I’m asking you to consider that your life is spiritual vocation –something important, something filled with purpose, something that is wonderful just as it is, in whatever shape it’s in. A vocation is a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action. It comes from the Latin “vocatio,” which means summons. Spirituality from a counseling perspective is the search for meaning. It’s the journey into the self where we discover who we are, who we want to be, how we connect to others, how we make meaning, and where we find hope. For some people spirituality is tied to religion, for others it’s not. Some people say they do not have any spirituality. That is also spirituality.

Our job as spiritual sentient beings is to make meaning from our experiences. We do this all of the time whether we want to or not. It’s how we’re wired. We cannot help but do it. Things are good, bad, pleasurable, painful, worth our time or a waste of time. The question we must ask ourselves is not whether we engage in spirituality at this level, but how we do it. Do we make meaning in ways that quiet the soul, promote compassion towards ourselves and others and instill hope and resilience, or do we make meaning in ways that promote hatred, division, mistrust, and despair for these are also spiritual practices. I believe that spirituality has to have a heart/head connection. So many times I’ve heard people say I understand it intellectually, but I don’t feel it in my heart, and so things do not change. If we do not connect to that innermost part of ourselves, we cannot move forward in our lives.

The world is a mess. It’s always been that way. Most of the time I think we spend our lives trying to avoid the mess. That’s usually my first inclination. Pain, struggle, suffering –let’s pass on that! Suffering can be seen as bird shit on your shoulder, something to complain about, get rid of, and hate. The more pain a person feels the more chances they have to feel lonely, unhappy, and unfulfilled. These are real possibilities. At certain times in my life, that’s been my experience. But suffering is also filled with blessings. If a bird shits on your shoulder, more than likely you’ll look up. You may see a beautiful sky. Suffering and struggle offer us the opportunity to ask why, and to engage thoughtfully in the meaning-making process. Most importantly, it offers us a chance to understand the human condition – to experience empathy that allows us to connect with others and have compassion. We can say that we’ve been there. We understand. When we haven’t been there we are more likely to lose our patience and feel baffled by someone’s attempt to simply do the best they can at any given moment.

As a budding counselor, I am fascinated with how we make meaning in our lives. In fact, my job is to sit with people while they engage in this process. I usually hear the painful, confusing parts, the things people wish had not happened, or want to undo – regrets, injuries, fears, grief. I hear the questions Randy talked about a couple of weeks ago: How do I feel normal again? What do I need to do to be normal? I hate the word normal because it sets up false expectations. There is no “normal.” There’s common and uncommon, centered, and uncentered. I think that’s what people want – to feel like they are understood and standing on solid ground. I am amazed by the courage that people can show in the face of insurmountable odds, and the ways they find stability and hope in the midst of utter despair.

Pain and struggle are inevitable parts of our lives. I’ve been incredibly busy over the past few weeks. As the end of January grew near I found myself wondering what in the world I could say people might find to be helpful. I worried that I might not make sense. I would be deficient. I might screw up. The fifteenth anniversary of my brother’s death is on Wednesday. When you lose someone to suicide you become immersed in the unanswerable “why” of what has happened. It’s been a long time and I’ve shed many tears and settled some “whys”, but I think certain anniversaries –especially ones ending in fives and zeroes have a way of bringing things up. I have to admit, it’s been on my mind. Maybe that’s why it’s been hard to create something that had a sense of meaning.

Over the past three weeks as I’ve contemplated this talk I’ve heard the following messages during my meditations:

From Shakespeare – All the world’s a stage (and my addition) even the best actors flub their lines from time to time.

From a reading by the yoga instructor Rolf Gates – you are perfect just as you, in the place where you are. For the most part in terms of this talk, it’s been a place of not knowing.

While practicing yoga on Monday morning, I heard — Be human, and real.

Intellectually I knew these were important messages, but they did not calm the anxieties in my heart, so I decided to go back to my basics.

First I did a reframe. I’ve had some well-intentioned mentors and support people tell me the following during times of suffering: This is a wonderful chance to address your karma. This is a great opportunity for you to practice new skills such as patience, acceptance, mindfulness, and giving up to a higher power. I think the reframe I like best is the one we use in my counseling program – AFGO (Another Freaking Growth Opportunity). It gives me a chance to acknowledge the whole “oh man I hate this,” and then to take a deep breath and realize that there is abundance hidden in whatever I will encounter.

I practice yoga as regularly as I can. I believe that practice is the key to life. I have lots of little practices that help me make meaning. Practice is a great thing. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I can start over any time I want. Practice breeds strength, competence, and confidence. In my yoga class before we start to work on more challenging poses, my instructor will ask us to open to grace. On a physical level it involves opening our heart, expanding our chests in a way that allows our bodies to be strong and soft simultaneously. It’s acknowledging and sitting with discomfort that allows for growth but prevents injury. I have tight muscles so this can be a challenge for me to physically open like this. In our minds it requires us to be open to possibilities, to challenge our abilities, and to accept where we are. Some days that’s a huge challenge.

In my daily life I have a specific practice that I use to open to grace. It’s my way of acknowledging I’m stuck, worried, and don’t’ know where to turn so I’ll allow the universe to inform my answer. It’s my god box. I could also call it my box of empirical evidence for faith. My god box is a small wooden box that makes this wonderful whooshing sound when I close it. I’ve written the serenity prayer inside it and the following phrase, “I give this issue and my will to you.” My practice is simple. I take out a small piece of paper and write down whatever worry or issue is on my mind. I fold it and give it a title and a date. I recite the serenity prayer along with my phrase and slam the box shut. Sometimes I have to put things in there over and over. Every now and then I will open up the box and take everything out. I’m amazed at how things have a way of working themselves out. They may not work out according to my grand plans, but they work out nonetheless. When I open to grace, I acknowledge the discomfort that I don’t know, that I’ve lost my way, that I have no answers. I let go of expectations.

Once I’ve put something in my god box I follow the guidance of the wonderful Buddhist monk Thich Nat Hahn, and let peace be in every step. Sometimes all it takes is for us to put one foot in front of the other, intentionally moving forward in a way that will lead to a destination. When the forest is dark that’s the best thing to focus on – one step and then the next. That’s what I have done.

As we end today I’d like for us to contemplate together. If you happen to have your meditation beads with you, get them out and touch the largest one. Close your eyes. Let’s take three big breaths together and reflect on these questions:

• What do you have faith in?
• Where do you find hope?
• How do you experience serenity in your body?
• How do you experience serenity in your mind?
• What is it like to not know the answer to a burning question?
• How do you open yourself to grace so you can find it?

When you leave today I would encourage you to write down one thing from this week that brings you anxiety. Choose something without a good answer. Put it in your wallet and open to grace. Next week, pull it out and see what you notice.

Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, Namaste
May you be at peace. The light in me honors the light in you.

At this time of the year when it is said that the separation between the living and the dead is thin it might be good to consider another view on what survives after the death of the body.

Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 As the lord of this [...]]]> October 30, 2011
by Beryl Lawson

At this time of the year when it is said that the separation between the living and the dead is thin it might be good to consider another view on what survives after the death of the body.

Readings

Bhagavad Gita chapter 2
As the lord of this mortal frame experienceth therein infancy, youth, and old age, so in future incarnations will it meet the same. One who is confirmed in this belief is not disturbed by anything that may come to pass. As a man throweth away old garments and putteth on new, even so the dweller in the body, having quitted its old mortal frames, entereth into others which are new.

Benjamin Franklin’s Epitaph
The body of B. Franklin, Printer (Like the Cover of an Old Book Its Contents torn Out And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding) Lies Here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be Lost; For it will (as he Believ’d) Appear once More In a New and More Elegant Edition Revised and Corrected By the Author.

Gottfried de Purucker
“We are here because we have been here before, because here we sowed seeds of destiny, and we come back on this earth to reap those seeds which we sowed. This universe, governed by cosmic law, will not allow us to sow corn or wheat in San Diego County, and three or four months afterwards travel into Arizona or Nevada and attempt to reap the corn and wheat there. Where we sowed the seeds, there shall we reap the harvest. It is obvious. Our very being here, to the man who can think clearly and logically from step to step, or thought to thought, is a proof of reincarnation. Otherwise we must say cosmic law put us here by chance. And who believes that? If fortuity governed this world we would see the stars in their courses and all the planets running helter skelter all over the cosmic spaces without law, without reason, without order, without intelligence, without system”.

A brief look into the many religions of the world, both ancient and modern, both eastern and western allows us to see that the idea of rebirth and the preexistence of the soul is a central concept of them all.

I have been accused of believing in reincarnation because I’m afraid to die. I’ve never thought of it that way. The reason reincarnation as a theory appeals to me is that the concept includes humans within the larger concept of cycles .Therefore what I would like us to consider in the short time we have this morning is the logic of the idea of preexistence and rebirth.

Our seventh principle tells us that we belong to A larger universe than we often think of.The laws which govern the larger whole also govern the parts. The universe is one of law, Cycles pertain in all aspects of life. The beating of our heart, Day and night, seasons, tides, years and I would include birth and death. What comes after night? Day, what comes after winter? Spring. Low tide? High tide, death? Birth.

What are we? This body of ours has changed completely many times since our birth. There are not any particles of our body today that were there seven years ago yet has our identity changed? Do we not feel we are the same I as we were then? That identity the true I, the spirit in the body is that which survives the death of the body and has come from many incarnations before this birth and will go on to experience many new forms in many places in the future.

Let us look, as an example, at an actor and his many parts. The actor, or the individuality, takes on many different roles. Tonight he may be Hamlet, tomorrow Othello.  When he is through with Hamlet he removes that mask or personality and takes on a new one for the next role. Although the parts are different the actor brings with him the lessons learned in his old part. So he becomes a better actor.

Why are we here? To pay our debts we have incurred in the past, our karmic debts, and thereby  to evolve in mind and heart, to realize who we really are and to help on the evolution of every living thing.

If we have lived before why don’t we remember? Most of us don’t/ We don’t remember our early years. We don’t remember most of the experiences we’ve been through in this life. Isn’t a good thing that we don’t remember? What a burden, how would we get on with the task at hand?

But in another sense we do remember.  Our characteristics, our talents, our problems which seem to have been with us right from the beginning, our likes and dislikes, the lessons we need to learn.  These are memories that we bring with us when we are reborn. This is the karma which we have made and which it behooves us to tackle in this life. If not now they will be there waiting for us in the next, with interest, as it were..

However, some people do remember .Have any of us had the experience of being someplace we have never been before in this life and have the feeling we’ve been there before?  Have we ever met someone for the first time and have known that we have known the person before? Instant love or instant dislike?

Dr. Ian Stevenson, of the University of Virginia, spent a good part of his life investigating cases of children who seem to remember a former existence.  He has looked into hundreds of possible cases both in the east and here in the west. It is usually a child between the age of two and five who will exhibit characteristics or speak of things that could not have come from the present environment or family. When these things have been investigated Dr. Stevenson has often been able to verify the family, names and places that the child has spoken about. There can be several explanations for this phenomenon but rebirth seems a very strong possibility, We can’t take the time now to go more into his investigations but he has written quite a few books on his findings. He conjectures, among other things, that likes, dislikes, degrees of intelligence or lack thereof, physical and psychological  deformities may be evidences of what we have experienced in the past and have brought forward into this life. Although he is now gone his work is being carried on by his associate , Jim Tucker.

How do genes fit into all this?  We say “it’s in the genes”. The genes seem to be the physical record of the form we incarnate into when we are born. Are they the determining factors in all we do or are? They seem to be the storehouse in which our physical and perhaps other tendencies are stored. Think of a computer. We say:. It’s in the computer. How did they get into the computer? Who put them there? Without the spirit behind it all there could be no form into which we incarnate and which we use to further learn and grow.

How would a consideration of reincarnation impact how we live our lives? For one thing we really would have a stake in the future for it will be our future. We will not put off til tomorrow what has to be done today for tomorrow it will only be harder to do.  We will look on others with a compassion and tolerance born of the knowledge that we have been or will be in the future perhaps in their shoes. The form may be different, the essence, the spirit, the life of all is the same. The web of life, the spirit in everything is one. Living from this point of view changes everything. It might even change the world.

First Reading

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to [...]]]> October 16
by Rev. Emma Chattin

First Reading

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

For everything there is a season,
and a time for every purpose under heaven:
a time to be born,
and a time to die;
a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill,
and a time to heal; a time to break down,
and a time to build up;

a time to weep,
and a time to laugh; a time to mourn,
and a time to dance; 5a time to throw away stones,
and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace,
and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek,
and a time to lose;
a time to keep,
and a time to throw away;
a time to tear,
and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence,
and a time to speak;
a time to love,
and a time to hate; a time for war,
and a time for peace.

Second Reading

From Richard Rohr in Hope Against Darkness: The Transforming Vision of Saint Francis in an Age of Anxiety

Our age has been called the age of anxiety, and I think it’s probably a good description for this time.  We no longer know where our foundations are.  When we’re not sure what is certain, when the world, and our world view, keep being redefined every few months, we’re going to be anxious.  And we want to get rid of that anxiety as quickly as we can!  Yet, to be a good leader of anything today – to be a good pastor, a good bishop, a good father, a good mother… (you fill in the blank) .. you have to be able to contain, to hold patiently, a certain degree of anxiety. Leaders who cannot hold anxiety will never lead you to any place new.  That’s probably why the Bible says so often, “Be not afraid.”  (I have a printout that notes the phrase appearing 365 times!)

If you cannot calmly hold a certain degree of anxiety you will always be looking for somewhere to expel it.  Expelling what you can’t embrace gives you an identity, but it’s a negative identity.  It’s not life energy, it’s death energy.  Formulating what you are against gives you a very quick sense of yourself.  Thus, most people fall for it.  People more easily define themselves by what they are against, by who they hate, by who  is wrong, by what is wrong, instead of by what they believe in and who they love.

I hope you see from this common pattern how different the alternative is.  If so, you might catch anew the radical and scary nature of faith, because faith only builds on that totally positive place within, no matter how small.  It just needs an interior “Yes” to begin….  (That is the foundation)… and that is why faith is always rare.  Religious group-identity all too often becomes its replacement.  We don’t have to find and live from a positive loving place.  We can just go to church.

Uncertain Times

We live in uncertain times.
Hurricanes.  Wildfires.  Floods.  Historic droughts.
Tornados. An earthquake…. in Virginia!
Gay Pride… in Elkton!!!
Woah…. I did NOT see that one coming!

Not all unexpected events are bad….
And while there may be some in this very Valley who will be quick to blame any destructive natural event on some sort of divine judgment for this perceived wrong…
or that perceived wrong… such divine assignment of responsibility
is nearly as old as the hills and the volcanoes that made them.

Humanity is all too quick to search for some sense of sense in the face of the senseless, some certainty in the face of uncertainty.   Truth is, most ancient religions regarded God (or the gods) to be controllable- placated, manipulated, through ritual and human sacrifice.  Around the time of Abraham, we see a shift in sacrifice from human to animal… sheep… goats… offerings to please God… to garner God’s attention and favor….good things were automatically the result of some blessing…
and bad things were seen as some judgment or disfavor…..
Later still…. certain rituals and prayers were offered, perhaps to insure positive outcomes through divine intervention.

I’m not sure Divinity is so controllable by our actions.
But I do believe humanity is quick to fill in the blanks of what we don’t know
(as well as the spaces surrounding the general uncertainty of life) with God’s name.
And I think that’s kind of a cheap shot.

When I worked as a hospital chaplain, I would wince inside when I would hear a pastor, when, confronted with the questioning anguish of a parishioner over the death of a loved one, reply with the simple platitude,  “Well… It’s God’s will.”  What an easy way out of a difficult moment.
What an effort by one to appear to have all the answers
- and to do so by pointing the finger elsewhere.
For me the answer was always the hard one…
the simple admission of ignorance…
“I don’t know why this happened.”

We live in uncertain times.
Socially, financially, politically, economically, environmentally.
We are in an uncertain place… and it feels uncomfortable to us.

I know all of us here have experienced sudden events, events that have carried us, almost always unwillingly, into new territory, into uncertain places, places where we feel we are no longer in control, or where we are reminded that we were (and are!) never really in control.
The loss of a job… an accident… illness… the death of a loved one…
the loss of a home…. … the incarceration of a loved one…
or yourself… having your rights taken away from you…
being the victim of violence, crime, abuse…
broken relationships….
Places where we feel we have lost our points of reference.

In fact, any time any number of people are gathered together, this is true.
Look around the room, any room that you happen find yourself in with others, and sometimes you can feel the pain… the questions… the anxiety… the fear…  the ache of a sadness so deep that it defies words….
all residing behind the eyes and in the hearts of those who surround you.
And maybe that’s why it is important for us gather together from time to time.
To share the uncertain times, the sheer uncertainty of life,  and to witness, to be silent reminders, monuments to one another, that survival in the face of improbable adversity is indeed possible.
And that our worst moments in life  can sometimes leave us changed for the better rather than the bitter.

I know that all of us here have experienced events that have caused us to wonder about the order of our universe…
Events that have disturbed us… gotten our attention….
losses that have ripped our hearts out and shaken (perhaps destroyed!)
the foundations of our world and our beliefs.

We live in uncertain times.
But it isn’t the events that make our times uncertain.
The events themselves merely serve to remind us that we have, that we do, and that we always will live in uncertain times.
Nothing is certain about life.
Except death. (and maybe taxes)

We may think back fondly to when we went to the moon, forgetting all the while, that our passage there was not a forgone conclusion at the time.  It was far from certain.  It was a great risk, and it took sacrifice (emotional, financial, and physical).  It was dangerous.  People died.
But people also lived, landed on the moon, and took us – took the whole world! – along with them to a new place.
But it wasn’t certain at the time,  and any historical event that seems to us a certainty or a foregone conclusion now, was simply crafted that way after the fact.
Nothing is certain- and I think it behooves those of us who may be older (but not necessarily wiser) to remind our youth that we have been here before.

Oh… not in this particular place.
This time in which we live is indeed new and pretty uncomfortable to me.
No, it is the fact that we have always lived through uncertain times, and survived, and despite what 24 hour news and media outlets, as well as some televangelists would have you believe….
this is generally normal, and uncertainty is pretty much a human condition and a fact of life.

Again, I think this an another important aspect of socially gathering to discuss the times in which we live.
And the times in which we have lived.
To share our own history… of bomb shelters… school drills for what to do in the event of a strike by Soviet nuclear missiles…
Not one random bomb, mind you, but a whole sky-full of targeted missiles, missiles that seemingly could come our way on the whim of a single itchy trigger finger.

We didn’t live in fear- but we did live with fear.
We lived with anxiety… and I think that’s an important lesson to learn:
living with anxiety and uncertainty, holding it in tension with our existence.

Yes, some celebrated when the Soviet Union collapsed and we were told it no longer posed a threat to us (if in fact it ever did) and then, of course…
other things happened…. new events …
and we found new threats…. and completely new fears
– fears that we could not have even imagined only a few years earlier.

But I would suggest that it is not necessarily the events,nor what the events do to us that matter, but rather, what we do with those events within our livesthat really matters.
Most unexpected events take us to places that most of us would rather not go, and certainly not go willingly.
They take us to liminal space, or threshold space, a place where we have left the old, the familiar, and still, we have not yet moved on to the new.

A workable psychological definition of liminal space is: “a place where boundaries dissolve a little, and we stand on the threshold, getting ourselves ready to move across the limits of what we were into what we are to be.”
It is also a place where there is uncertainty regarding any continuity of the way things were.

Again, I would suggest it is not what happens to us, but rather what we do with what happens to us that really matters.
It is not uncertain times that define usbut the certain qualities that enable us to move through such times.
This is a lesson we learn constantly, and it is one we may teach ourselves without ceasing over the course of a lifetime.

How many of us want to control what happens to us?
Control the unexpected.  Be honest.  And we also know people who not only want to control what happens to them, but to control everything else around them, including you.

These people

- and all of us are one of them at one time or another! -

are seeking to avoid uncertainty, uncertain times.

Do we have any aircraft pilots here today?
Now THAT is definitely an exercise in uncertainty and faith. Oh… there are long flight checks and the effort to control as much as earthly possible, and if you are the one in the plane, sensibly so.  But even on a good day, when you can see all around you, when you can see all your familiar landmarks and points of reference, it still requires a lot of faith and certainty in yourself just to slip the surly bonds of earth.  But if you want to fly long and far enough, you will eventually have to be prepared for the other times… the uncertain times…
night, or when the weather is bad…
the times when you cannot see anything, when you loose sight of all your points of reference and you must fly on instruments, trusting that the runway will appear beneath you WHEN and WHERE you believe it to be, and that your plane is pointed and positioned as you believe it to be.
You must have faith in the abilities of your aircraft and your capabilities as a pilot.
Now that is some pretty deep faith in a place of complete uncertainty.
There is phrase used to describe a behavior exhibited by some pilots called chasing the needles.  It is the desire, when flying by instruments, to keep all the gauges “just so”, in familiar places, places where the pilot is comfortable with them.
Of course, that also diverts focus from actually flying the aircraft, and leads to constant corrections in the desire to control over and under compensation.
It is also regarded as a byproduct of anxiety.

Fear and anxiety is a luxury that a pilot cannot afford.
A pilot I knew once told me about experiencing fear in that uncertain place.
He said “You have to tamp that down pretty quickly or it will seize you and freeze you and your fear will bring about the very outcome that you fear the most.”

Uncertain times, times when something truly new happens to us…
Such times take us to liminal space, and liminal space can be fearful, threatening, and uncomfortable.
It is new space, a place we have never been before.
It is an uneasy place, a place where we are at our most vulnerable.

Yet some gifted spiritual teachers regard it as a teaching space.
It is, after all, the place most religious rituals are artificially designed to take us.
The boundaries are thin there, and we are at our most reachable.

Reachable by what?  Ah, now that’s the question, no?
By God… by the Spirit of Divinity… by the great mystery….
by the human spirit… by the spirit of change moving within us…
by the better angels of our nature.
Something powerful and mysterious can undoubtedly happen to us in that uncertain place.

Would we really want to exist in a place where nothing ever happens to us?  Nothing ever changes?
Maybe some would regard that as heaven.  And maybe it is.
There is a song by the Talking Heads that suggests just that:

The band in Heaven plays my favorite song.
They play it once again, they play it once more, they play it all night long.

Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens.
Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens.”

Humanity has always lived in uncertain times, and in the place where things happen.

It took me a long time to figure out that this passage from Ecclesiastes is not a an instruction, it is not prescription, it is not permission or an excuse for bad behavior, but rather…. it is a warning… it is a caution…
It is a caution about life.  It is also a spark of hope.
There Is a time for every purpose under heaven.
These things WILL happen.
They will happen to us.
They will happen around us.

The two verses that always challenged me the most?
A time to kill.  This is also an example of how the nuances of translation may impact our understanding (moments of which there are many in the Bible!).  You can see this for yourself  by looking at the consistency of balanced phrasing  in the poetic style of this part of Ecclesiastes.
Born/die, weep/laugh, and so on.
But then we have… kill/heal.
Mmmmm.  That sounds a bit odd, no?

The original Hebrew word used means to wound with deadly intent.
It’s a nuance, but a significant one.
I know of one translation that shifts what has become the more familiar wording to “a time to hurt, and a time to heal”.  Regardless, hurting happens in this world.
So does killing.
That doesn’t mean we condone it.
It DOES mean that it happens.

I recently watched the biography of George Harrison by Martin Scorsese.
This quiet former member of the Beatles spent a lot of time in India learning meditation, ways of finding peace within.
And in the bio, his second wife Olivia told of the time an unstable person had cracked off of the wing of an angel statue on the grounds of their home and tossed it through a window in the middle of the night, entering their home screaming with a knife in hand.
And how George was at the top of the steps, screaming his mantra at the top of his lungs…
how George and the attacker fought on the staircase, with George being stabbed multiple times, and having to defend himself using potentially deadly force in return.

A time to hurt.
It happens.

The second verse that has always challenged me:
A time for war.

War will happen.  It has, it does, it will.
This doesn’t mean we can’t oppose it.
Humanity’s history is regularly punctuated by war of one cause or another.
And it’s not like we have learned from our experience.  Even in our recent history.
World War I, the war to end all wars, and then WW II, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, the Persian Gulf War, the Afghanistan war, the Iraq war
– with the later two still being hot.
And these are just a few of the wars that our nation has been engaged in!
At any given time there are dozens of significant wars and conflicts going on all over the world.  War happens.  It has, it does, it will.
This doesn’t mean we can’t oppose it.
Because indeed….
Peace will happen as well.

There are some certain thoughts I would like to leave you with this morning as we move through these uncertain times…
Some of our greatest moments in history have been preceded by times of great uncertainty.

When you feel the desire to control the environment around you, check your own anxiety levels.
Rather than living in the moment as life lifts you up in wonder, you may simply be “chasing the needles”.

When horrific things happen to us, we are challenged during such times not to allow what has happened to us to define us.

No guarantees come with life, nor do answers, quick fixes, or even readily apparent cosmic reasoning.
Life itself is a risk, and Life, itself, is a fatal condition.  For each one of us.
Or, as Jim Morrison said, “No One Here Gets Out Alive”.
And here…. LIFE… this is where Things happen.

Do not let uncertain times make us uncertain people. In uncertain times, seek certainty within, however you may define or experience that.

Understand the qualities that DO define you, the things that you love, and the things in your life that cause you to say within “Yes.”
Or…. perhaps… taking a cue from “When Harry Met Sally”… “Yes.  Yes…. Yes!  Yes!!  Yes!!!  Yes!!!!!”  Life energy.  Positive energy.

Oh… yes… and…. Be not afraid.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4TH Following the congregational potluck

Join together with your HUU family in the “Hanging of the Greens”

Following the meal we will break into groups to create holiday-yule wreaths, decorate the church, inside and out, bake cookies and drink cocoa, and end with a carol sing !

October 16th Chanting and Meditation Buddhist Tradition Facilitator: Laura Dent

October 23rd “State of the City: Opportunity for Social Action” Facilitator: Kai Degner, Former [...]]]> JOIN US EVERY SUNDAY AT 9:00 A.M.
Along with Adult RE which is offered on the second and third Sunday of each month, we are now offering classes EVERY SUNDAY!

October 16th
Chanting and Meditation
Buddhist Tradition
Facilitator: Laura Dent

October 23rd
“State of the City: Opportunity for Social Action”
Facilitator: Kai Degner, Former Mayor and current
member of the city council, Harrisonburg

October 30th
“The Spirituality of Going Green: A Green Church?”
Facilitator: Cathy Strickler, Advocate, activist and
member of HUU

November 6th
“What we know and how we learned it” Part of the continuing discussion on LGBT issues offering by the Welcoming Task Force
Facilitator: Welcoming Congregation Task Force

November 13, 2011
Karen Armstrong’s 12 Steps to a Compassionate Life
Steps 1, 2, and 3
Learning About Compassion
Look at Your Own World
Compassion for Yourself
Facilitator: Paul Revell

November 20, 2011
Chanting and Meditation
Kundalini Yoga: Sikh Tradition
Facilitator:  Laura Dent

November 27, 2011
Highlights from General Assembly 2011 “What We Learned”
Facilitator:  David Lane

December 4, 2011  9am
The Common Elements of Oppression Focuses on the GLBT Community and also to all who experience oppression
Facilitator:  Welcoming Congregation Task Force

December 11, 2011  9am
12 Steps to a Compassionate Life
by Karen Armstrong
Empathy, Mindfulness, Action
Steps 4,5, and 6
Facilitator: Paul Revell

December 18, 2011  9am
Meditation and Chanting Practice
The Christian Tradition- Gregorian Chant
“Be Still and Know that I Am”
Facilitator: Laura Dent

December 25 and January 1
NO PROGRAM these days!
See you on January 8, 2012 as we continue GROWING TOGETHER!

WATCH FOR FURTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE HUU E-NEWS AND SUNDAY SERVICE BULLETIN FOR UPCOMING CLASSES!!!
COME AND GROW TOGETHER…

More Details . . . .

Today Unitarian Universalists gather in churches, meeting houses, and some in rented spaces.    Some of the buildings are sprawling Gothic Cathedral-like structures.  Others are white clapboard churches.  Some are modern buildings which look more like spaceships than churches.  Others are traditional church buildings “recycled” from [...]]]> ASSOCIATION SUNDAY – October 2, 2011
Rev. Mike Quayle

Today Unitarian Universalists gather in churches, meeting houses, and some in rented spaces.    Some of the buildings are sprawling Gothic Cathedral-like structures.  Others are white clapboard churches.  Some are modern buildings which look more like spaceships than churches.  Others are traditional church buildings “recycled” from churches which have closed and still retain symbols like stained glass windows of the Last Supper or Jesus rising from the tomb.  Some meet in public school buildings.  Others in a college auditorium.  I recently read about one UU congregation that uses a local funeral chapel  to gather.  Then there are our friends in Lexington who meet in the courthouse.  And of, course, I know of one congregation that meets in an old schoolhouse!

Some have no more than ten people gathering.  Others have hundreds in attendance.  Still other UU’s have no congregation near them so they are part of the Church of the Larger Fellowship;  a sort of virtual church that relies on internet access and large gatherings throughout the year.

All are Unitarian Universalists gathering together to live out our commitment to each other and to the world.

We gather to be inspired.  We gather to challenge each other and our   world.  We gather to speak words of comfort to each other.  At times, we bicker with each other.  We debate and we argue.  We struggle to  find answers to life’s most challenging questions.

While we don’t all agree on worship style, on words, on beliefs, and what is the most important task we face,  we all agree there is value in gathering together.  WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER THAN WE ARE ALONE.

I like something George Bernard Shaw once said.  Listen to his words:

“Independence…..middle class blasphemy !  We are all dependent

on one another,  every soul of us on earth.”
Today is Association Sunday.  We celebrate what it means to be Unitarian Universalists together.  This year’s focus is on “Excellence in Ministry.”  Ministry is a word that is difficult for some of us.  When we hear the word ministry,  we tend to think of a person rather than an action.  If you hear nothing else today,  I hope you will hear this:
Ministry is not a noun.  It is not a person, place, or thing !  Ministry is a VERB.  It means action and requires that we DO SOMETHING.

As I prepare for a professional ministry in the Unitarian Universalist Church, I have been interested to hear the differing views on what ministry means  to  different people.  When I tell some that I am working towards ordination in the UU, they are often surprised that we have ministers, let alone that we ordain them.  Some are very uncomfortable if not downright suspicious about ministers.  Perhaps it is a bad experience with a minister in their past.  Perhaps it is a deep  distrust of organized religion or an institution.
Yet we in the Unitarian Universalist tradition DO have professional ministers.  Actually, for most of our long history of 400+ years….  that was the NORM.  UU is a movement that has been led by ministers and found much of its strength and stability in keeping ministers around.

But, I want to be VERY CLEAR this morning.

I am not here to give a message to prop up professional ministry or to say that  churches cannot flourish without a minister.

I would never, never want HUU to believe for a moment that the point where  we reach a new plateau of success is if and when we decide to call a minister. I have the unique position of being able to speak to you today as one who went to seminary and trained for the ministry.   I spent twenty years as a minister.  But, I can also speak to you today as one who has had some significant time sitting in the place where you sit today as a member of a congregation.

Very early after my arrival at HUU I remember saying to Bernie Mathes that I would have given anything to have served a congregation with the level of commitment that I find here at HUU.

HUU has something very good happening.  It is something of which you ought to be very proud.  You have a committed core of people who had a vision,  nurtured that vision, stuck it out through thick and thin,  and without them,  HUU could not exist.  I cannot predict what is ahead for HUU.  The day may come when the church   will be in a position to call a minister.  It may be something HUU decides not to do even if it were possible.

We are experiencing remarkable growth and what seems to be a new vitality.  There are pains that come with growth.  There are fears that we will change too much.   Each of us needs to be honest about those fears and challenges.  But, we also cannot let fear and challenges define who we are.  We are not our fears.  We are not our challenges.  And, when we choose to look at the word MINISTRY in only one way,  we greatly  limit who we are and what we can become.  Ministry is not about calling a person to come and serve this congregation or any other congregation.

MINISTRY IS ABOUT YOU….  THE MEMBERS OF HUU.

Ministry is about HOW we live out our particular passions and callings. Ministry is not about growing to the point where we can hire someone to DO it for us.
Rather…  ministry is about discovering where we feel we are called to give our time,  our talents, and our gifts.  A sure sign of impending death for a congregation is to believe we hire someone to do ministry for us.   Let’s never go to that place.

You as the members of HUU are a wonderfully gifted and beloved community. You are more competent that you think you are.  You have SO MUCH to offer this community.  This community needs you.  It needs your voice.

My belief about ministry is this;  It is the belief I will carry with me when the time comes for me to move to a congregation and accept the call to serve as their minister.
The purpose of a minister is to make it easier for you to do YOUR WORK.  My task as a minister will be to help others find their gifts and how to best use them.  My work as a minister is to nurture you……the real ministers….  so you can do the work that needs to be done.  I believe there is a place for professional ministry.  But professional ministry is a broad term.  It includes a congregational minister;  but it also includes leadership for religious education.  It includes music ministry.  It includes the ministry of being a parish administrator.  It includes serving in groups that strengthen the work we do together.  It includes washing the dishes and mopping the floors.  It includes caring for the children and creating a safe place where they feel nurtured.  It includes overseeing the church web site,  preparing the bulletin, and writing the  checks to keep the lights on.  Ministry is mowing the grass and pulling the weeds.

Don’t let negative associations about what some have done badly in the name of ministry sour you to the possibilities of doing ministry well and honoring the varied callings and gifts that exist within a congregation.

Many folks talk a lot about “being saved.”   I do believe we need to be saved….   but not in the sense that the TV evangelist speaks about being saved. Being saved is not about some reward we receive after death because we believed the right doctrines,  recited the correct creed,  or worshipped the true God.
Being saved is about how we live.   Being saved is what happens when we  speak out against violence in our society.  Being saved is talking and talking about the need to treat our world and environment in a way that is sustainable.

Being saved is about finding YOUR PASSION……not criticizing the passion of others.  Being saved is finding what sets your spirit and heart on fire andmoves you to action.  And THAT IS MINISTRY…….pure and simple.

So today…..  we join with thousands of fellow UU’s in celebrating “Excellence in Ministry.”

I want to close with a quote by Margaret Meade….it is one that you have heard often……but I want us to really hear it again today………..chew on it a bit……
She said,

“Never doubt that a small group of  thoughtful, committed, citizens can change
the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Now really think about that statement……..Think of any positive and good changes that have come to our world……When I allowed myself to really think about her words……   I was hard pressed to think of any meaningful and history altering change that was not brought about by a small, thoughtful, committed group of people.
THAT is EXCELLENCE IN MINISTRY.
We have good days ahead of us here at HUU if we focus on that goal……EXCELLENCE IN MINISTRY…… You are a small group………you are a thoughtful group…..you are a committed group………so let’s change the world………TOGETHER.  Because, that’s the only way the world will change !!!  SO MAY IT BE.    AMEN.

The veil between the worlds grows thin and the passage is easy; so it has been said for centuries, in religious [...]]]> Halloween ~ Samhain ~ Witches’ New Year ~ Day of the Dead

WHEN: 29 October 2011 7:30-9:30PM
WHERE: Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalist Fellowship | 4101 Rawley Pike | Harrisonburg, VA (Directions)

About the Holiday:

The veil between the worlds grows thin and the passage is easy; so it has been said for centuries, in religious traditions around the world.  We step into the realm of mystery and listen for the voices of those who have gone before us, whose footsteps we follow, whose choices made our lives possible.

We honor our beloved dead, our ancestors, friends, lovers, pets, trees; the living beings we have loved and lost.  We’ll listen to their voices, hear their messages, and let the light of their inspiration help us shape our lives and the world around us with greater wisdom and clarity.  What is remembered lives…

We also honor our descendants, those who have come and will come after us; those who will walk in our footsteps as we inspire them in shaping the future.  We listen to their voices and hear their messages bringing more awareness to what we will leave behind, our legacy, and our gifts to the future.

About the Ritual: Please bring photos of beloved dead (ancestors, friends, lovers, family, pets, trees, etc.) to add to our community altar.   No cost to attend.

There will also be a workshop help earlier the same day.

Mystery, Magic & Power” a workshop with Willow Kelly and dragonlily

WHEN: 29 October 2011 7:30-9:3010:00AM to 5:00PM
WHERE: Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalist Fellowship | 4101 Rawley Pike | Harrisonburg, VA (Directions)

About the Workshop – We will explore our connections to our ancestors of blood, spirit and heart, honoring their gifts, sharing their stories, and listening to their wisdom as we create a day of ritual, trance, magic, music, and movement to celebrate their lives and the futures we’ll create in this chain of legacy.

For full details on both events, Samhain Ritual and Workshop (flyer is in pdf format.

Today we pause to reflect on the meaning of Labor Day. For many of us the arrival of Labor Day marks the end of summer, schools have resumed, vacations have been taken and the church schedule returns to a predictable rhythm.

In many places, politicians emerge during Labor [...]]]> Rev. Mike Quayle
Labor Day 2011

Today we pause to reflect on the meaning of Labor Day. For many of us the arrival of Labor Day marks the end of summer, schools have resumed, vacations have been taken and the church schedule returns to a predictable rhythm.

In many places, politicians emerge during Labor Day celebrations and rally their supporters with stirring speeches and great promises of what the party will accomplish in the coming year. Those seeking office use this day as a platform to rally support and gather votes.

Families gather; picnics are held; and we all hope for a final weekend of good weather.

The first Labor Day was observed in 1878 in Boston. It became a federal holiday in 1894 following the deaths of a number of worker’s at the hands of the US Military and US Marshals during the Pullman Strike. Within six days of the end of the strike and fearing more protests, congress rushed through legislation mandating a federal holiday in hopes of avoiding more violence.

For most who gather this weekend, there will be little thought about the origins of the day or reflection on the meaning of work.

I don’t know about you, but I grew up in a time and place where there was an unspoken agreement between the employer and the worker. I still recall the days when the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company dominated the lives of my father and my uncles. Generations of Quayle’s had worked in the Iron Mines. Some had died when conditions were so unsafe that cave-ins were frequent.

Our neighborhoods were named by the mine. The mine owned all of the land and to this day homeowners hold 100 year leases on the land for the sum of $1.00.

I remember going to the company store. I can also recall when pay for the miners was in the form of “credits” at the company store with cash making up only a part of the pay.

Then the unions came in. The United Mine Workers promised that if the miners organized, they would find the good life, higher pay, freedom from intolerable work conditions and a better future for their children.

Strikes were a frequent event. Whenever the contract were about to expire, the union would present a list of demands and the Iron Company would counter. Some of the strikes went for several months and meals got very simple. When a new contract was signed, there were parties and picnics.

But, underlying all of that was a basic belief that, in the end, an agreement WOULD be reached and life would go on. We believed in the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company and we thought they believed in us and would always be there to take care of us. Most young men who graduated from my high school had their future set. They would work in the mine as had their fathers and grandfathers. It was our way of life.

Then the bottom fell out in the mid 80’s. The mines had stripped the supplies of iron ore and slowly, mines began to close. There were massive lay-offs. Downsizing became a familiar word. The rug was literally pulled out and life was changing in ways that could not have been imagined a generation before. Sure it had happened to the copper mines before us…. but we never believed it would happen to us. There would always be iron ore and there would always be jobs in the mines.

During my childhood, the Iron Mines of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan employed some 40,000 workers. Today, they employ 4,000.

Whatever we may have believed a few decades ago about employment, we know the game had changed and all bets are off.

Few of us expect to hold the same job for our entire working career. Companies lay people off with no warning and no cause except decisions made behind closed doors in some other place. Companies can and do reduce salaries, eliminate benefits, and make no promise of a secure retirement.

In the same way, workers fully expect their jobs to be eliminated. We may not say it, but there is a feeling of vulnerability which chips away at morale and motivation.
Some of us have been seeking full time work for a good while. Employers solicit resumes and then don’t bother to acknowledge they have received them.

In reality, we are dealing with a crisis. It is a moral crisis; an ethical crisis; an economic crisis; and I believe in many ways, a spiritual crisis. When I say spiritual I am speaking of the human spirit; which is chipped away and diminished as people feel less valued and less “human” in an increasingly challenging marketplace.

The deeper crisis is the blame game we play. On the one had we flock to the major discounter in town with their yellow smiley faces and demand that they give us the lowest possible price. Then we complain about jobs being sent overseas.

We blame the immigrants who come in and “take” our jobs…. jobs which pay well below a living wage or minimum wage… most likely jobs none of us would even want.

So what do we do ? What can we, as people who talk about justice, human dignity, and the inherent worth of every person….. what can we do ? We are challenged to hold our leaders and those who hold the cards to a higher standard.

We are called to speak of a just world in the face of injustice. We are called to tell our state and national legislature that the current situation is unacceptable.

Many of us are gifted with minds and voices that can ask the hard questions about our current economic system and the direction we are moving as a nation and culture.

The voices of Unitarian Universalists have always been willing to speak in the face of oppression and injustice and we need to speak as a united voice.

We are not just speaking about jobs and job security. We need to reframe the conversation to talk about what it means to be a just society. About doing the right thing. We need to help our politicians connect the dots and deal with the reality that poverty, hunger, crime, immigration, job outsourcing, and a sense of moral aimlessness are issues DIRECTLY IMPACTED by the economic system we have created.

Finally, we need to be truth-tellers. In the old biblical image…..it is called being the voice of a prophet. We need to tell the truth that our economy and our whole economic system is beyond propping up. We have created with our own hands a system that rewards greed and dishonesty and encourages economic violence on those who are most vulnerable.

There are those who would say the task is too big…. it is just not possible.

History does not support that kind of resignation in the face of injustice and tyranny.

I am reminded of those throughout human history who have brought corrupt power to its knees not with violence, but with truth.
Our voices matter.

As one who has been engaged in full-time job hunting, there are some lessons I have been learning. I say “Have been learning,” because on my better days I am able to remember these lessons; other days, I have to remind myself of these lessons sometimes several times daily.

First, I am not my job. We tend to equate our sense of self-worth with what we do. Think about it. we meet a new person and the first questions we are likely to ask is, “So, what do you do ?” We ask that as though what a person does to earn a living represents who that person truly is. We are more than our work. So much more.

Second, All sacred writings from all religious traditions remind us of one fundamental truth: more money and more things will not make us happy people. Happiness comes from within us, and not from exterior circumstances. Sure, When folks say, “money doesn’t buy happiness,” I am tempted to think, “Well, just let me give it a try and see for myself !” But, deep inside I know it takes more than money and stuff to be happy.

I have found the exact opposite can be true. More money and more things can make us less happy. Why ? There is always the nagging fear that things might be taken from us; the money may run out. If our happiness is dependent on money and things, it can change overnight. As a result we have all heard the stories of those who losing everything in an economic crash take their own lives. They do this because they either feel like they have failed as a person or that life is too unbearable without money and things. Life is so much more.

Third, we need to let go of the belief that every generation must have more than the last. I heard it growing up and maybe you did too; “I want you to have more than your mother and I had… I want you to be better off than we were.” The truth is that that idea is simply unsustainable. Unless we believe that the day will come when every American will be a billionaire, it is just not possible for every generation to be better off than the last. Living under that illusion creates a sense of failure and we live constantly chasing unrealistic expectations and placing painfully unrealistic demands on ourselves.

Fourth, I have learned to live on less. I used to think a budget was a good idea for some people. I contemplated giving it a try someday ! someday has come. I have had to learn to live differently and live within a budget. I had had to say no to things I once took for granted. But, living on less can also restore us to some sense of sanity. It can give us mental break and we learn to live with what we need and not always live based on what we want.

Fifth, we have to avoid the temptation to go after quick fixes as a society to our economic woes. There are no quick fixes. The fix to our economic woes will be slow, painful, and will require us to think in different and creative ways.

I am especially concerned with quick fixes such as improving our energy resources through practices like fracking. It may provide a temporary solution. But as in off shore drilling the unanticipated consequences of a system failure can cause more harm than good. As our climate continues to change because of our poor stewardship of this planet, we need to think long and hard about the long term consequences of new technology and the ultimate price we might have to pay if the technology goes bad. Our planet is ever more fragile and we simply cannot afford to make any more mistakes.

Finally, we must begin to live in ways that honor and acknowledge our connectedness. We are part of that interdependent web. When we ignore that truth we do so to our own peril.
As our congregation undertakes over the next several months a focus on Karen Armstrong’s book, “Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life,” we will be challenged and called to examine how what we do affects the lives of others. We will be asked to look within and discover together what it means to truly live as a connected people and to allow compassion and our better selves to emerge and to treat each other with true compassion and justice.

The current system will not survive. What will replace that system is a question of serious moral and ethical consequences. Something WILL replace the current and unsustainable system we have created. What that will be remains to be seen.

May we have the passion to speak, the will to act, the wisdom to act wisely, and the compassion to uphold those who are suffering and hurting.
So may it be. Amen.