HUU Sermon Archives

Moments of Transformation

By Ann Payne
January 28, 2006

*I am honored to be asked to be with you today. If even just one of find these moments meaningful, I will consider this venture successful. I have found that one of the most helpful practices one can develop is to be aware of the moment. This awareness brings about transformation. We are becoming…Our personalities are developing. We are forming beliefs, establishing confidence, through our experiences and encounters with others. By practicing and being aware of the inherent worth and dignity of every person, we are helping ourselves and others find transformation. Our lives are being transformed by the things we experience momentarily, daily, weekly or yearly. Thus our human experience is enriched by belief in and practice of the principle of the inherent worth and dignity of every person. The process of transformation is on going. Martin Luther said it like this:

This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness
Not health but healing
Not being but becoming
Not rest but exercise
We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing towards
The Process is not yet finished, but it is going on
This is not the end, but it is the road
All does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified

One of the basic principles of the Unitarian Univeralist is the power of transformation through the practice of daily showing the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

Words of Holy Scripture say it like this: Let love be genuine, build others up, live a life of love.

This love that we need comes in the package of respect. If other people respect us, then we feel that we can respect ourselves.

Drawing from a personal experience that “built me up”, I relate to my role as a chaplain in the Industrial Commercial (ICM) program to the employees in the Rockingham Memorial Hospital. The ICM program began in England in 1972 and was formed for the purpose of placing chaplains in the work place as a “caring presence” there. A quote from R. Whitson Seaman: “God’s servants are more needed in factories and business offices and in homes than in monasteries and convents” helps to explain how the ICM program was introduced. The idea is to have the chaplains in the workplace where people cross the crowded ways of life. In the offices the chaplains meet and bond with employees so as to create rapoire so that employees will come to trust the chaplain and share their inner most concerns in times of sickness, loss, or any kind of problem or to express their accomplishments and joy. As an ICM Chaplain I strive to establish relationships with people in the context of their daily work, offer whatever service may be required, and discover with employees at all levels better ways of living and working together. I am to be a listening ear, and give employees an opportunity to discuss any problems they may have with someone outside of the business environment. I was assigned to seven departments in the hospital, Learning and Education, Radiology, Laboratory, Information Systems, Central Sterile, Communications, and Medical Records. My job as described was to roam through the offices of the departments allotted to me. I was a stranger in unfamiliar territory. I was earnestly desiring to be accepted and to fulfill my role as a caring presence in the word place As I walked into the departments I felt the need for someone to reach out and welcome me and make me a part of the organization. I found that person in Grayson Sless. He encouraged and supported me, treated me as an individual of worth and dignity, me, a sojourner walking on what felt like sinking sand (needing a hand to hold on to). Often when others in the office were too buy to notice I was there, Grayson would change the atmosphere in his department with his warm smile and a cheerful word. If his schedule were not too tight, we would meet for a coffee break in the cafeteria. What a delight to find a friendly face where I was trying to provide service to strangers. These moments with Grayson were “Moments of Transformation” giving me faith to continue and reach out to other departments.

In accepting the ICM program, hospital management was saying that we respect the individuality of our workers and recognize their importance as individuals rather than just being a cog in a big machine. Thus giving to each individual employee the opportunity to choose for himself/herself the dignity of sharing personal concerns with an outside entity. The hospital administration is demonstrating the major theme of my remarks by treating employees with respect and dignity whether they happen to b the CEO or the chap on the loading deck. I have been an ICM chaplain at the hospital for six years. I have talked with employees who have health problems, family, martial, children problems, financial worries and divorce issues. I have also talked with people about their achievements, promotions, and rejoiced with them on anniversaries and just the celebration of life.

The people I see in my office as a Licensed Professional Counselor confirms my belief that to be mentally healthy and happy it is absolutely necessary to have a healthy self image. This image is not possible unless we receive abundant reinforcement from day to day which implies that that are respected for who we are and are treated with dignity. This reinforcement comes from “Moments of Transformation” by people like you and me who respect people for who they are rather than from the jobs they may perform.

We often underestimate the power of words as instruments of healing. Specifically we don’t recognize the power that comes from talking with one another about our feelings and our most private intimate fears. We need to be on guard to recognize offhand comments for what they often are—an invitation to listen and then perhaps to talk – providing “Moments of Transformation”.

My first job after Business College was credit clerk with Sears Roebuck. In 1946 they had an order office on South Main Street. In two years I was promoted to credit manager. I felt very important, I could approve credit but I also had to collect It was here that I learned my first lesson about how to treat people with dignity and respect. I found that the best method for reaching even the most hard past due customers was to extend to extend respect and help to restore human dignity in their lives. I learned much about human nature. I learned the truth of what William James said in “The importance of Individuals”: There is little difference between one man and another, but what little there is very important.” These were moments that transformed me...

My next employment was with Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative. My title was Benefits Administrator and Administrative Assistant. My employment with SVEC gave me many opportunities to improve my people skills. It was here that I matured; that I learned that employees perform best through motivation rather than fear; here I had an opportunity to meet and introduce new employees to the cooperative. In providing the insurance and retirement benefits I became familiar with the families and was able to be a liaison between employees and management. I found “Moments of Transformation” for both the employees and me.
After 31 years I retired from SVEC and found new challenges in the Adult Degree Program at James Madison University. I’ll always remember the dedication of my advisors and professors. Their words of encouragement still remain in my memory bank. These words gave me confidence and encouraged me to seek another degree in counseling at Eastern Mennonite University. Here reinforcement and support were abundant too. However, without the understanding, and real mentoring from my friend, Grayson Alexanxder, I would never have met the 4000 hours required for the state exam for licensing for professional counselors. Another supervisor, Marian Stickley. An LPC, gave me the supervision and support necessary to meet strict Virginia State requirements. All of these experiences were “Moments of Transformation” leading me to the opportunity to be with you today which I consider a high honor.

Concluding on the human element we must guard against seeming negative opinions based on appearances, beliefs or even life styles. There is something unique to the inner core of every person which deserves respect and to be treated with dignity Let us keep this principle ever before us when the temptation comes to treat someone harshly. The inherent worth and dignity of every person comes with moments of transformation. I found out early in life that heaven is not reached in a single bound. This poem learned when I was probably in the 5th grade and has been a reminder to me throughout life..

Only in dreams is a ladder thrown from the lowly earth
To the vaulted skies
And we mount to its summit round by round.
I count this thing to be grandly true
That a noble deed is a step toward God
Lifting the soul from the common clod
To purer air and broader view
We rise by the things that are under our feet
By what we have mastered of good and gain
By the pride disclosed and the passion slain
And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet
Only in dreams is a ladder thrown
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies
But the dream departs and the vision falls
And the sleeper awakes on his pillow of stone.