July 24, 2011

Mike Quayle

There are those who ask, “Why do we need to keep on talking about GLBT rights ? Is this really something we need to talk about in a church or congregational setting.” Then there are those who are just tired of hearing about it. Some wish we would just move on and talk about something else. It is my greatest hope that the day will come when we can stop talking about this.

The goal of any great movement; women’s rights, reproductive rights, the right to die, racial equality, the green movement, the peace movement, and the right to love whomever one chooses to love, ought to have as the final goal, becoming obsolete. The sure sign of the success of ANY movement is when the movement is no longer needed. When speaking about the goals or beliefs of the movement becomes redundant. This morning, in our choral reading called, “The Arc of the Universe Bends Toward Justice,” we retraced the steps of the GLBT movement. Of course, the movement is much older that the reading would indicate; There were countless others who stood for this movement. Thousands of others who gave their careers, resources, and even their lives. Thousands of others who were murdered or tortured for the cause….

But, in the brief summary we heard today of this movement, we realize that we are standing on the shoulders of those who went before us. We realize that any progress we have made, any rights we have gained, have been passed to us as a gift from those who stood strong in the face of insurmountable odds

Many of the worlds religious movements have at their core the ideal of self-sacrifice for one’s beliefs. Before Christianity became entrenched in doctrinal and theological debates over the meaning of the atonement and the death of Christ on a cross, we had a simple truth. The world does not like to be challenged. Society does not like to be questioned about assumed values. The status quo enjoys the power of being in charge.

[Read more…]

Laura Dent
July 10, 2011

Dawn of Light

When I was 16 – like many young people in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s – I was questioning the religion I grew up with.  I was yearning for something  more profound, more expansive, more universal.

Just at that moment, when I was the most impressionable, my brother played for me this album:   Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes.

When I saw from the liner notes that the music was inspired by ancient Hindu scriptures, I glimpsed the vast possibilities of many spiritual paths.  That awakening launched me on a journey of spiritual exploration that I have continued to this day.

The opening chant I’ll play for you introduces the four movements of the piece – the four sides (remember “sides”?) corresponding to the four Hindu scriptures you heard in the readings.

[opening album and holding it up:] I’ve spent many hours gazing at this, and it’s amazing to see it again now.

Oh, and to let you know, I get so into this music that I can’t help singing along.  Feel free to observe, to close your eyes and have your own meditative experience, or to follow along with the lyrics in the program.  I encourage you to enjoy the music in your own way.

[PLAY “Dawn of Light …” “The Revealing Science of God: Dance of the Dawn” – 1st movement (“side”) of Tales from Topographic Oceans, 1974: Part One and Part Two]

To give you a sense of how important this music is to me:  when Noel and I got married a little over three years ago, that opening chant to Tales from Topographic Oceans is what I chose to play as my brother walked me down the aisle – the green felt runway in the woods – in the rain.

As I was listening to this album the first time when I was 16, I was reading this introduction, from Jon Anderson, the singer and spirit of Yes:

1st movement: Shrutis. The Revealing Science of God can be seen as an ever-opening flower in which simple truths emerge examining the complexities and magic of the past and how we should not forget the song that has been left to us to hear.  The knowledge of God is a search, constant and clear.

Now, many years later, I find that these words express my personal creed:

“The knowledge of God is a search, constant and clear.”

For me, this means:

Direct experience of the divine – God, or Spirit, or the universal – is an ongoing exploration.  And when Spirit speaks to me, that voice is clear:  the still, small voice.

Sometimes I have to be very quiet to hear the voice of Spirit.  And through this music – I learned to listen for that voice.

The Ancient

When I listened to Tales from Topographic Oceans again to prepare for this talk, the line that jumped out at me was:

“Attuned to the majesty of music, they marched as one with the earth.”

That’s from the third movement, “The Ancient:  Giants Under the Sun.”

In Music and the Mind, Anthony Storr writes:

“No culture so far discovered lacks music.  Making music appears to be one of the fundamental activities of [hu]mankind.”  There is even speculation that singing preceded speech.

Any time we sing we are bringing joy to ourselves.  Any kind of melodic expression is almost by definition spiritual, and spiritually uplifting in some form.

The Sacred Sound

My husband Noel asked me recently, “If you hadn’t found Yes, then what?”

I responded, “If it hadn’t been Yes, it would have been something else.  I was already questioning. And, Eastern spirituality was already prevalent in the counterculture, and in the music of the time.”

For instance, I heard this, from the Moody Blues.  Here I invite you to go into a meditative space, even to sing along to feel the vibration.

[play “OM” The Moody Blues – “The Word” (spoken poem) + “OM” from In Search of the Lost Chord, 1968: ]

The ancient sacred sound of OM [pronounced “AUM”] resonates deeply in the body.  In the yogic tradition, the vibrations of the sounds travel up the spine and stimulate each of the chakras, the energy centers of the body.

The deep sound “AAAH” starts in the first chakra that roots you to the earth, setting a strong foundation.  The sound travels up (AAH, OH, OOOO)  through the navel, the solar plexus, the heart chakra, the throat, the third eye, then to “mmmm” as a high vibration in the crown chakra that connects you to the cosmos.

“To be in tune with OM is to be in tune with All.”

The Chord

The “OM” song is from the Moody Blues album In Search of the Lost Chord.

The piano piece I played at the offertory is an improvisation on a chord I’ve been playing since my sophomore year in college, a very difficult time in my life.

One day after playing the piano in the studio, I came running back to my dorm room and announced to my roommate:

“I just found the chord that says everything there is to know about me.”

She replied, in all seriousness, “You’re lucky to have found it so young.”

That’s how I feel about Yes music:  I’m lucky to have found it so young.

Spending My Life

Another powerful musical inspiration for me was when Noel and I got together, seven years ago now.  One evening I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and he was in the living room playing the piano.  As I listened to him playing, I felt deep within me the certainty:  “I could easily spend my life with this man.”

A couple of weeks later, same scene:  I’m in the kitchen, he’s in the living room playing the piano.  It dawned on me:  “I am spending my life with this man.”

I’m sure you can understand, since you’ve heard Noel playing many times, including this morning – how beautifully he plays,  expressing the beauty within him.

The Finger Pointing at the Moon

The musicians I admire have the humility to acknowledge that their inspiration comes from a source beyond themselves, or perhaps deep within themselves.  After all, they are human – and they work with the very deeply-rooted human endeavor of making music, and expressing themselves through the poetry of the lyrics.

Joni Mitchell said, “It’s very hard, peeling the layers off your own onion.”

The Moody Blues said later, “I’m just a singer in a rock & roll band.”  Perhaps they were tired of people looking to them to be “gods.”  But what did they expect, with that “OM” song?!

Like the Zen saying, “The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.”

I realize that my experience of Yes, and of other musicians, is like the finger pointing at the moon.  They’re saying, “Don’t look at me, look where I’m looking.”  I receive from them, through their music, the inspiration for my own spiritual growth, my own experience of the moon.  (Wow.)

Unbroken Spirit

Many decades later, I’m still in touch with my original musical inspiration.

Just two months ago, I saw Jon Anderson, now the former singer of Yes, in a solo concert.  I was thrilled to discover that I still love Jon!  (And I mean that in the most spiritual way, of course.)

It was a joy to sing along with Jon to the opening chant to Tales from Topographic Oceans, as you heard earlier.  Afterwards he said to the audience, “That’s a LOT of words!!”

Jon had a respiratory illness from which he nearly died – twice.  He told a story of being rushed to the hospital – and somebody in the ambulance asking for his autograph!!

Jon was ousted from Yes – his own band – who wanted to keep touring when he was sick.  So he had been through his share of challenges.

At that concert, Jon played this song, Unbroken Spirit.  Again you can find the lyrics in your program.

[PLAY Unbroken Spirit]

That’s Jon, forty years later!  His new album is called Survival and Other Stories.

There’s a new husky quality to his voice, after his illness and recovery, that underscores his message of optimism in the face of adversity.

La Grandezza dell’Anima

Recently I received a similar inspiring message from another beloved musician and dear friend, Aldo Tagliapietra, whom Noel and I visited in Italy last year.

A couple of months ago when our mutual friend in the music community, Rob, was undergoing heart surgery at 42, Aldo wrote to us one of the most beautiful statements of the purpose of spiritual growth I’ve ever heard:

(I’ll give you my English translation first, and then Aldo’s original Italian.)

“Life very often puts us through terrible and unfair trials, but our faith gives us hope that all this serves to increase the greatness of our soul, (and here the Italian is particularly beautiful:  “aumentare la grandezza della nostra anima”) and the greater our soul becomes, the more we are prepared one day to be united with that All that pervades all and contains all.”

And here’s how Aldo wrote it:

“La vita molto spesso ci sottopone a delle prove terribili e ingiuste, ma la nostra fede ci fa sperare che tutto questo serva ad aumentare la grandezza della nostra anima e più grande diventa l’anima, più siamo preparati un giorno ad unirci a quel Tutto che tutto pervade e che tutto comprende.”

Aldo gives us a new possibility of the meaning of faith:  Our faith can give us hope that through the trials of life, we can expand our soul to prepare ourselves to join with the ALL.

Wow.  And the amazing thing to me is, that’s just Aldo being himself.  He just tossed that off in an email!  in support and compassion for his friends in need.

There’s a sense of divine wisdom flowing through him, and that he is a clear channel for that wisdom, after spending several decades developing his spirituality and expressing it in his music.  Again, the finger pointing at the moon.

All Things Must Pass

When George Harrison, another enlightened being from the music world, was on his deathbed, his doctor said he had never seen anyone who was so unafraid of death.  George knew:  “All Things Must Pass.”

Still, as Aldo says, our faith gives us hope that somehow it’s all worthwhile.

Since we don’t know what happens when we die, what happens when we live?!

If all things must pass, what do we make of our lives, NOW?

Could it be that the purpose of our lives, of all the trials we endure, all the growth we achieve by peeling our own onion to find the core of love within, is to expand our souls so that we can glimpse the ALL, NOW, while we are still alive?

Well, these are the Big Questions.  And the music takes me there.

The knowledge of God is a search, constant and clear.

Sempre una Luce

Now I’d like to play for you a song by Aldo Tagliapietra – “Come un vecchio indiano” – “Like an old Indian” – again the connection to Eastern spirituality.

You’ll find the lyrics and translation in your program.  The song begins “Like an old Indian, I sit on the earth to listen to the breathing of the world”.

I meditated on that phrase this morning:

“ascoltare il respiro del mondo” –

“to listen to the breathing of the world” –

and got:

“I am breathing because the world breathes.”

Here are the words to the chorus:

Nell’oscurita esiste sempre una luce – In the darkness there is always a light

In ogni silenzio senti sempre una voce – In every silence you always hear a voice  (again, that still, small voice)

Nelle parole, anche quelle piu’ amare – In words, even the most bitter

C’e` qualcosa che ricorda l’amore – There is something that reminds us of love

“In even the most  bitter words, there is something that reminds us of love.”

In that play on words:  “amare” (bitter) / “amore” (love) there’s a profound message:  If we listen closely, with compassion for ourselves and others, to even the most bitter words, we can hear, behind them, the longing for love.

[PLAY “Come un vecchio indiano”]

Transformation

Here is my personal reflection as I was preparing this service – just some notes I jotted down that I then realized were a poem!

Not just unbroken spirit –

expanded spirit –

growth is its own imperative –

why does a flower grow?

why does a soul grow?

because that’s what souls do.

sometimes there’s a transformation required –

darkness into light –

bitterness into love –

and that transformation itself expands the soul.

… aumentare la grandezza dell’anima.

Blessed be.

Benediction:

“May you always find the light in the darkness – the voice in the silence – and the compassion to transform bitterness into the love that expands your soul – aumentare la grandezza dell’anima.”

by Beryl Lawson

July 3, 2011

The celebration  of Independence Day brings forth many nostalgic ideas about our founding, the people who made it possible and questions as to how we are doing today. How well are we keeping to the ideals of those who started it all, what might we change of those ideals, do they need changing, and how can these ideals carry us through the difficult times ahead.

The current attack on our country from the “Religious right” comes in the form of a statement that they want this country to “return to the Christian principles on which it was founded.”  However, a little research into American history will show that that statement is not true.”

The men responsible for the building the foundation of the United States had little use for Christianity . They were men of the Enlightenment. They were Deists who did not believe that the bible was true.

Most of the founders were deists, which is to say they thought the universe had a creator, but that he, she or it does not concern itself with the daily lives of humans and does not directly communicate with humans, either by revelation or sacred books

They spoke often of God (Nature’s god or the God of Nature as mentioned in the Declaration. But this was not the god of the bible. They often praised the benevolent teachings of a man called Jesus but flatly denied his divinity.

The Constitution has only two mentions of religion and both times in negative terms. First amendment, congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion  …  and no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

Jefferson-letter in 1802: “ I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the g=free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.” [Read more…]

INTRODUCTION TO FLOWER COMMUNION:

In the city of Prague, in the land of Czechoslovakia, in the year nineteen hundred and twenty three, there was a church. But the building did not look much like a church. It had no bells, no spires, no stained glass windows. It had no organ to make beautiful music. It didn’t even have a piano. It had no carvings of wood or statues of stone. It had no candles or chalices. It had no flowers.

The church did have some things. It had four walls and a ceiling and a floor. It had a door and a few windows. It had some wooden chairs. But that was all, plain and simple.

Except… the church also had people who came to it every Sunday. It had a minister, and his name was Norbert Capek (pronounced CHAH-peck). He had been the minister at the plain and simple church for two years. Every Sunday, Minister Capek went to church, and he spoke to the people while they listened, sitting quietly and still in those hard wooden chairs. When he was done speaking, the people talked a little bit among themselves, and then they went home. And that was all—no music, no candles, no food. Not even coffee or doughnuts.

Springtime came to the city of Prague and Norbert Capek went out for a stroll. The rains had come, the birds were singing, and flowers were blooming all over the land. The world was beautiful.

Then an idea came to him, simple and clear, plain as day. The next Sunday, he asked all the people in the church to bring a flower or a budding branch, or even a twig. Each person was to bring one.

“What kind?” they asked. “What color? What size?”

“You choose,” he said. “Each of you choose what you like.”

And so, on the next Sunday, which was the first day of summer, the people came with flowers of all different colors and sizes and kinds. There were yellow daisies and red roses. There were white lilies and blue asters, dark-eyed pansies and light green leaves. Pink and purple, orange and gold—there were all those colors and more. Flowers filled all the vases, and the church wasn’t so plain and simple anymore.

Minister Capek spoke to the people while they listened, sitting quiet and still in those hard wooden chairs. “These flowers are like ourselves,” he said. “Different colors and different shapes, and different sizes, each needing different kinds of care—but each beautiful, each important and special, in its own way.”

When he was done speaking, the people talked a little bit among themselves, and then they each chose a different flower from the vases before they went home. And that was all—and it was beautiful, plain and simple as the day.

And so Dr. Capek turned to the native beauty of their countryside for elements of a communion which would be genuine to them. This simple service was the result. It was such a success that it was repeated every year.

Dr. Capek was arrested by the Nazis and killed in Dachau concentration on October 1942. He was charged with listening to radio broadcasts and “high treason.” As is the case so many times in human affairs his treason was reaching out to his fellow citizens and helping them be their highest selves as the world was closing in on them.

The following paragraph was written by Sy Safransky, editor of The Sun magazine. It appeared in this year’s March issue.

“I don’t know what’s harder to fathom: the atrocities committed by the Nazis, or a prayer found written on a piece of wrapping paper in Ravensbruck, the largest concentration camp for women in Nazi Germany. The prayer asks God to remember ‘not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us. Remember the fruits borne of this suffering: the loyalty, the humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits which we have been borne be their forgiveness.'”

Like most Unitarians Dr. Capek’s spiritual journey took him through various religious traditions. As WWI ignited and his religious views became increasingly liberal, the threat of arrest by the authorities made it necessary for him to move to the United States.

Before Dr. Capek and his new wife Maja returned to Czechoslovakia in 1921, they were introduced to Unitarianism by two of his children. Upon their return to a now independent Czechoslovakia, Capek established The Prague Congregation of Religious Fellowship. Nine years later this congregation would get a new name: The Unitarian Church of Czechoslovakia and official recognition by the Czech government.

From the pulpit Dr. Capek encouraged his fellow citizens to have courage in the face of the growing Nazi madness: “We are today” he said in 1938, “the only nation in the whole of Europe that is ready to resist oppression…. Confronting our descendants, we will never have to feel ashamed of the fact that as a small nation in the middle of Europe we were ready to defend human dignity, freedom and justice from violence, lies and lawlessness.” And as certain as death, his speaking out against blind and murderous power cost him his life.

On March 28, 1941 Norbert Capek, the Minister of the Unitarian Church of Czechoslovakia and his youngest daughter Zora were arrested by the Nazi Gestapo. They were charged and convicted of listening to foreign radio broadcasts. This was not a made up charge, it was a crime in his country at that time to try to find out the truth.

Capek was sentenced to a year in prison, and eleven months that he had already been confined while waiting for trail were to be counted in the sentence. Unfortunately, at that time the German official in charge of the occupied Czechoslovakia was killed, and Dr. Capek became a victim of German retaliation for his murder.

Capek spent a year is Dresden Prison before being sent to Dachau where he met his death.

Flower Processional:

By exchanging flowers in this service, we will follow the example of Norbert Capek.  He believed that each of us is different and unique and when we gather together to worship or learn, we create a bouquet of beautiful people.

Today, we have placed our flowers in a common vase, remembering we are all individuals but we are also people of a common faith.

The communion we are about to celebrate has taken place all over the world in Unitarian Universalist churches since 1923. Norbert Capek started this ritual to celebrate the beauty of our faith and the people in it. In each flower, Capek saw hope for humanity, even though he would later die because of his beliefs. Let us remember him and his principles and dreams.

Let’s share in flower communion. Each of you will come up in silence and choose a flower brought by another. Hold it with care. It is a gift someone else has brought for you with love.

(Have participants silently line up to go up to the altar to find a flower.)

(pause for reflection)

READING

The following are three verses from “For the Flowers Have the Gift of Language,” which I obtained from a service by Reginald Zottoli.

For the Flowers Have the Gift of Language

The flowers have the gift of language.

In the dark depths of a death camp

They speak the light of life.

In the face of cruelty

They speak of courage.

In the experience of ugliness

They bespeak the persistence of beauty….

For the flowers have the gift of language:

They transport the human voice on winds of beauty;

They lift the melody of song to our ears;

They paint through the eye and hand of the artist;

Their fragrance binds us to sweet-smelling earth.

May the blessing of the flowers be upon you.

May their beauty beckon to you each morning.

And their loveliness lure you each day,

And their tenderness caress you each night.

May their delicate petals make you gentle,

And their eyes make you aware.

May their stems make you sturdy,

And their reaching make you care.

READING

composed in Dresden Prison in 1941, shortly before he was transferred to Dachau concentration camp, where he died in October, 1942

It is worthwhile to live and fight courageously for sacred ideals.

O blow ye evil winds into my body’s fire my soul you’ll never unravel.

Even though disappointed a thousand times or fallen in the fight and everything would worthless seem,

I have lived amidst eternity — Be grateful, my soul — My life was worth living.

He who was pressed from all sides but remained victorious in spirit is welcomed into the choir of heroes.

He who overcame the fetters giving wings to his mind is entering into the golden age of the victorious.

by Rev Mike Quayle
June 5, 2011

Some of us may seen today’s sermon title felt a little pain or apprehension.  We may carry baggage from our days in other churches or from a bad experience with someone trying to shove their religion down our throats.

One of the struggles being identified by many leaders in the UUA is this: UU’s are very good at saying what they do not believe….   We have a knee-jerk reaction when we hear something that for us, is not truth.  We can spend a great deal of time talking about what is wrong with other theologies and churches,  but perhaps, too little time talking about what makes UU’s different, distinctive, and needed in our world today.

I am going to ask you this morning to set aside the baggage, bad experiences, and the stereotypes.  I am asking for open minds and hearts to hear what I believe is a vital message for UU’s today.

Let’s start with the word EVANGELISM.  The word comes from Greek.  The root of the word is EVANGEL– One who tells good news. Evangelism is the act of telling good news. Nothing more, nothing less.  Let’s not confuse the meaning of the word with the abuses we have seen.

That leads to the next question;  Do we as UU’s in 2011 have any GOOD NEWS to tell ? If we do, what is that Good News ?

Our theologies are as varied as the number of people in this room.  We draw truth from many sources;  We speak of the 6 sources of UUism, but there are in reality, many more than 6.  Let’s sum it all up by saying we approach this thing called life in many different ways. That’s a good thing !

We may not be able to agree on what we consider to be Good News.  But, you are here, in this room, gathered with others on a journey of discovery.  So is it safe to assume that none of us came here to make ourselves miserable.

Maybe it is the open minds, lack of creeds, freedom to find our own way, being part of a community of people, mutual support, the strength of uniting with others to promote issues we consider important….  We all have a reason for being here and I doubt that it is to punish ourselves by enduring these weekly sessions where we see nothing good ! [Read more…]

Sermon for HUU’s 20^th Anniversary
Rev. Wade Wheelock and Rev. Anne Marsh

May 15, 2011

Wade: We are honored to have been asked to participate in this very special service of the Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalists.  We’re so glad Kirk, Emma, and Mike are here this morning, along with many of the lay leaders who have been instrumental in bringing HUU to this day of celebration.  We offer our congratulations for what you have accomplished already and our best wishes for the future you will build together.

On this day of looking back at our history, I am reminded that some religions have the practice of actually preserving the bodies of important figures from their past, especially their founders.  In our readings and travels, we’ve seen examples among Catholics in the American Southwest and in Quebec, and also in Buddhist and Daoist groups in China and Japan.  These embalmed saints or heroes are usually kept in a gilded case on a side altar, but on special occasions are brought forward for a more public display.

Today seems a little like such an occasion.  Anne and I don’t need chemical preservation — yet — but we are ghosts of a sort, specters from the earliest days of the HUU community.  In a way, we represent your pre-history, for we were already in seminary in Chicago when you had your official Charter Sunday, whose 20^th anniversary we mark today.  But we were here at the very first gathering of this group and throughout the first year and a half of its evolution.

Anne; In my mind’s eye, I can still see the 20 or so folks who sat on folding chairs in Deb and Randy Mitchells’ back yard in the summer of 1989.  Some were strangers to each other; none knew whether they could form a congregation and if so, what shape it might take.  I was an outlier from Charlottesville, preparing to go to theological school in a year, but asked in the meantime to join District Executive Roger Comstock in assisting the formation of the Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalists.  Those gathered in the circle on that sunny afternoon brought different life stories, different hopes, different ideas — but all were drawn by a desire for religious community.

That in itself is somewhat unusual, for after all, not everyone feels a need to be part of a religious community.  How many times have you heard: “If I went to any church, it would be UU, but I’m just not into organized religion”?  Of course, it’s often said that Unitarian Universalism is a disorganized religion, but still — despite the fact that each of us can think about life’s Big Questions on our own, people came to that first meeting.  Many of them stayed to help grow this church.  And this morning you are here, instead of home reading the paper or out hiking or running errands.  Why?

UU minister Mark Belletini says, “A free thinker alone out in the woods is not a Unitarian Universalist.  He or she is a free thinker alone out in the woods.”  Spirituality involves a sense of belonging to something larger than self, an awareness of deep connections to other people, to nature, to the sacred.  Out in the woods — or in solitary meditation — we may indeed catch glimpses of our connection with the cosmos.  But only in community do we learn how to celebrate and practice this interconnectedness.

And that is what we gather to do — to celebrate and practice our inter-connectedness, and thereby to grow our souls.  Alone, none of us has the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Spiritual growth occurs most creatively in a community whose members share their ideas and experiences, and respect and support each other.  Our free faith is not just faith in ourselves as individuals, but also faith in our ability as a community to find meaning and value. [Read more…]