Getting There From Here
Reflection for Intergenerational Earth Day Service
at the Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church
April 15, 2018
by The Rev. Craig M. Nowak
“The trouble with the world," said the Master with a sigh,
"is that human beings refuse to grow up.”
"When can a person be said to have grown up?" asked a disciple.
"On the day he/she does not need to be lied to about anything.”
I love this little wisdom story by the spiritual teacher Anthony De Mello. In this age of increased focus on lies, lying and liars, particularly in the public sphere, De Mello challenges us to consider something we don’t often hear or talk about…our need to be lied to.
This need is something I hear echoed in slightly different, but equally critical language, sometimes leveled at churches seen or experienced as places that, “comfort the comfortable.” And so I was excited when, Laurel Burdon, our Director of Religious education shared with me that our children and young people wanted to frame the focus of today’s intergenerational service as, “moving from self-centered to earth centered.” I recall my exact response to Laurel was, “The kids get it!” Equally impressive, perhaps, is they’re confident the adults in the congregation can handle it.
Spiritual teachers and traditions from Jesus to Buddha, right up to our own Unitarian Universalist principles, call out, seek to counter or transcend human selfishness. Selfishness reinforced by lies we incorporate into our collective narrative which requires even more lies to keep it going and defend.
Now, not all of these start out as lies, but something closer to “used to thinks”. One example being for centuries human beings told one another that we are the most important or somehow exceptionally important creatures on the planet. And, as such, that we have dominion over the planet and its “lesser” inhabitants. And though certain religious ideologies have fed and reinforced this view, today this view lives on and is reinforced by ideologies that assume human technology and other scientific advances, rather an anthropomorphic God, will secure both the planet’s survival and our dominion over it.
This “used to think” now lie was challenged or exposed, if you will, long ago by people like Chief Sealth, “The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth… We did not weave the web of life; we are merely a strand in it.
I’m pretty sure most Unitarian Universalists get this even though it may be hard at times to accept we’re not quite the centerpiece of creation we’ve long been told and believed ourselves to be.
Still, not being the most important or exceptionally important beings doesn’t mean unimportant either. For as Chief Sealth also reminds us, “Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”
And indeed, Unitarian Universalism’s seventh principle calling us to affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part more or less asserts the same understanding. We are part of an interconnected web. A web we did not weave, do not own, but upon which our life depends and, importantly, which our actions or inactions impact.
Which brings us to perhaps a lie more detrimental than even the one that tells us we’re the center of universe or that passive faith in a God or technology will keep us there…And that is the lie that there’s no viable alternative. So many voices in the world outside these walls tell us, “You can’t get there from here.” That even if we know we need to make the transition from self to earth centered it is simply too complicated, too difficult or too late to transition.
Our children and youth discerned the truth that human beings need to transition from self-centered to earth-centered and they trusted the adults in room were ready and able to hear that. How are we going to respond?
Let us resist the lie and make the transition our mission!
How do we begin?
Well, consider what we’ve heard so far today in words and song….
“Look at the world…this pretty planet.” Which is to say, love it! Give attention, that most basic form of love, to “everything all around us and marvel everyday.” Frederick Buechner has said, “If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here is is love that is the frame we see them in.” The same is true of the earth and all life upon it.
And remember we belong to the earth, not the other way around…so as you look at the world, observe your ability to appreciate or feel gratitude unaccompanied by a desire to posses or manipulate it.
Next, remember the transition from self to earth centered is not simply a mental exercise. So, get out of your head. Experience and reflect on the web of life. Notice how “everything grows…and… everything has a season” from people to plants. And that change, from age seven to eight, like Caterina talked about, or from seedling to flower, is not only a natural part of life, it is, as Hailey alluded during Joys and Concerns, what makes the web of life both vulnerable and resilient.
Not sure how you’re doing? Look to “used to thinks”, as Jefferson encouraged. Use them to mark your progress. Remember everyone ages but not everyone matures. Maturity, including spiritual maturity, is a form of growth that is more dependent and better nurtured through openness and curiosity than the mere passage of time. The accumulation of “Used to thinks” indicates movement or change. When that movement or change creates beneficiaries beyond ourselves alone we’re likely transitioning away from self-centeredness.
And lastly, as Gretchen and Jack showed us, observations and insights gained through experience and reflection will only get us so far. If we’re serious about our transition, we must convert our observations and insights into actions. This means putting in the time to figure out how to do it, being willing to try, fail and try again, and adjust as necessary. This is, in part, why gather in community. To learn from and support one another in the faithful living out of our insights and observances about life.
From self-centered to earth-centered. For as long as the earth remains and humans dwell upon it, there will be those who say “you can’t get there from here.” But as our children and youth today so boldly proclaimed to us, getting there from here is not impossible. Rather, it is part of the transition that is our mission as people of faith. A life-long journey we’re called to as Unitarian Universalists. May it be so.
Amen and Blessed Be
Reflection for Intergenerational Earth Day Service
at the Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church
April 15, 2018
by The Rev. Craig M. Nowak
“The trouble with the world," said the Master with a sigh,
"is that human beings refuse to grow up.”
"When can a person be said to have grown up?" asked a disciple.
"On the day he/she does not need to be lied to about anything.”
I love this little wisdom story by the spiritual teacher Anthony De Mello. In this age of increased focus on lies, lying and liars, particularly in the public sphere, De Mello challenges us to consider something we don’t often hear or talk about…our need to be lied to.
This need is something I hear echoed in slightly different, but equally critical language, sometimes leveled at churches seen or experienced as places that, “comfort the comfortable.” And so I was excited when, Laurel Burdon, our Director of Religious education shared with me that our children and young people wanted to frame the focus of today’s intergenerational service as, “moving from self-centered to earth centered.” I recall my exact response to Laurel was, “The kids get it!” Equally impressive, perhaps, is they’re confident the adults in the congregation can handle it.
Spiritual teachers and traditions from Jesus to Buddha, right up to our own Unitarian Universalist principles, call out, seek to counter or transcend human selfishness. Selfishness reinforced by lies we incorporate into our collective narrative which requires even more lies to keep it going and defend.
Now, not all of these start out as lies, but something closer to “used to thinks”. One example being for centuries human beings told one another that we are the most important or somehow exceptionally important creatures on the planet. And, as such, that we have dominion over the planet and its “lesser” inhabitants. And though certain religious ideologies have fed and reinforced this view, today this view lives on and is reinforced by ideologies that assume human technology and other scientific advances, rather an anthropomorphic God, will secure both the planet’s survival and our dominion over it.
This “used to think” now lie was challenged or exposed, if you will, long ago by people like Chief Sealth, “The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth… We did not weave the web of life; we are merely a strand in it.
I’m pretty sure most Unitarian Universalists get this even though it may be hard at times to accept we’re not quite the centerpiece of creation we’ve long been told and believed ourselves to be.
Still, not being the most important or exceptionally important beings doesn’t mean unimportant either. For as Chief Sealth also reminds us, “Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”
And indeed, Unitarian Universalism’s seventh principle calling us to affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part more or less asserts the same understanding. We are part of an interconnected web. A web we did not weave, do not own, but upon which our life depends and, importantly, which our actions or inactions impact.
Which brings us to perhaps a lie more detrimental than even the one that tells us we’re the center of universe or that passive faith in a God or technology will keep us there…And that is the lie that there’s no viable alternative. So many voices in the world outside these walls tell us, “You can’t get there from here.” That even if we know we need to make the transition from self to earth centered it is simply too complicated, too difficult or too late to transition.
Our children and youth discerned the truth that human beings need to transition from self-centered to earth-centered and they trusted the adults in room were ready and able to hear that. How are we going to respond?
Let us resist the lie and make the transition our mission!
How do we begin?
Well, consider what we’ve heard so far today in words and song….
“Look at the world…this pretty planet.” Which is to say, love it! Give attention, that most basic form of love, to “everything all around us and marvel everyday.” Frederick Buechner has said, “If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here is is love that is the frame we see them in.” The same is true of the earth and all life upon it.
And remember we belong to the earth, not the other way around…so as you look at the world, observe your ability to appreciate or feel gratitude unaccompanied by a desire to posses or manipulate it.
Next, remember the transition from self to earth centered is not simply a mental exercise. So, get out of your head. Experience and reflect on the web of life. Notice how “everything grows…and… everything has a season” from people to plants. And that change, from age seven to eight, like Caterina talked about, or from seedling to flower, is not only a natural part of life, it is, as Hailey alluded during Joys and Concerns, what makes the web of life both vulnerable and resilient.
Not sure how you’re doing? Look to “used to thinks”, as Jefferson encouraged. Use them to mark your progress. Remember everyone ages but not everyone matures. Maturity, including spiritual maturity, is a form of growth that is more dependent and better nurtured through openness and curiosity than the mere passage of time. The accumulation of “Used to thinks” indicates movement or change. When that movement or change creates beneficiaries beyond ourselves alone we’re likely transitioning away from self-centeredness.
And lastly, as Gretchen and Jack showed us, observations and insights gained through experience and reflection will only get us so far. If we’re serious about our transition, we must convert our observations and insights into actions. This means putting in the time to figure out how to do it, being willing to try, fail and try again, and adjust as necessary. This is, in part, why gather in community. To learn from and support one another in the faithful living out of our insights and observances about life.
From self-centered to earth-centered. For as long as the earth remains and humans dwell upon it, there will be those who say “you can’t get there from here.” But as our children and youth today so boldly proclaimed to us, getting there from here is not impossible. Rather, it is part of the transition that is our mission as people of faith. A life-long journey we’re called to as Unitarian Universalists. May it be so.
Amen and Blessed Be
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