“Sacred Ideals”
Reflection for Flower Communion Sunday
May 2021
Rev. Craig M. Nowak
“Are you languishing?”
That was the subject of an email I received recently from a Buddhist blog I apparently subscribed to some time ago, although I don’t remember doing so. The question caught my attention so I opened the email to find a short piece titled with the same question awaiting me. The question itself and that word, languishing, was a reference to a New York Times article published a few days earlier, that incidentally, I had read.
In the article “languishing” is used to describe what has been called the “dominant emotion” of 2021 so far. Summarized as, “a concoction of distraction, aimlessness, and what some folks have termed ‘Zoom fatigue’, languishing has led, for some, to, ‘the dulling of delight or the dwindling of drive’ and a slow slip into solitude.” And while in the Times article, languishing is attributed to the, “emotional long-haul of the pandemic”, it seems to me something to which we humans are susceptible regardless of the state of public health.
The story of flower communion we heard this morning is a case in point. Recall that in the story, church, both the building and the experience, was a pretty dull affair. That people came to church demonstrates they were committed, but the lack of life and vitality described suggests a commitment to what was no doubt a familiar routine over anything else.
In inviting people to bring a flower to church, Norbert Capek, offered them something else, a sacred ideal, if you will, to commit themselves to. For Capek, it was beauty; the beauty of the natural world and the beauty of one another as siblings, unique in myriad ways... yet born of one common source. Indeed, what we today call flower communion, Capek described as, “A new experiment in symbolizing our liberty and unity (originally brotherhood)...in which participants confess that we accept each other as brothers and sisters without regard to class, race, or other distinction, acknowledging everybody as our friend who...wants to be good.”
Capek’s commitment to beauty in the world and within others not only changed his congregation, it would prove instrumental during what was undoubtedly the most difficult period of his life. On March 28, 1941, the Gestapo raided Capek’s apartment, confiscating his radio, sermons and other writings. They also arrested Capek and his daughter Zora. Both were tried and sent to concentration camps.
Though confronted with the most profound ugliness of which human beings are capable, Capek’s faith in and commitment to sacred ideals, the beauty of the world and of his fellow human beings kept him from languishing. These sacred ideals enabled him to offer comfort and solace to his fellow inmates. They enabled him to write in his last letter to his wife, “I am faithful to my best and highest hope, resolve, and belief, wishing everyone well, believing in the future good of all of you: the family, the nation, humanity, and especially those most sorely tried.” And they enabled him, having been deemed, “too dangerous to be allowed to live” and sentenced to death by the Nazis, to proclaim:
It is worthwhile to live and fight courageously for sacred ideals.
Oh 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 wing to the mind is entering into the golden age of the victorious.
Revisiting Capek’s story and hearing his words again, I find myself thinking about that email with the subject line, “Are you languishing?” and wonder, wouldn’t a better question have been, “What are your sacred ideals?
While languishing may describe how many have or presently feel during the current pandemic, sacred ideals challenge us to set our vision beyond the appearance of things toward a deeper reality.
It’s not as complicated as it may sounds. You don’t need a carefully reasoned, neatly presented, or air tight theology to have and live by sacred ideals. Indeed, although Norbert Capek, being a minister and learned man might himself offer a more wordy, theological grounding and explanation of his sacred ideals, based on the story we heard I think “beauty” sums them up quite nicely.
Can you think of another story about sacred ideals?
I was reminded of one the other day while channel surfing for a movie. It is a story far better known than Norbert Capek’s and in fact, I bet each and every one of you here today, young and young-at-heart alike, know it: Cinderella. Although you may be familiar with one or two versions of this story, it is very, very old, with roots going all the way back to ancient Greece. The movie version I watched is far more recent, having been released in 2015.
The story presents two very different ways of viewing and living in the world. One is that of the hardened heart, manifest as cynical opportunism and fear and is represented in the character of the so-called “evil” step-mother. The other is that of the open heart, manifest as kindness and compassion, and is represented in the character of Cinderella.
By conventional standards, given all the tragedy and mistreatment she suffers, Cinderella would seem especially susceptible to languishing…and perhaps even moreso, justified in developing a hardened heart. And indeed, to some her kindness and compassion in the face of continued hardship seems naive, if not downright foolish. But it is her commitment to kindness and compassion, her sacred ideals, that is in fact what allows her to endure unbowed by cruelty and injustice directed at her. Something the trademark happy ending of the story, in some ways, actually obscures. After all, outside of fairy tales, the reward for courageously living and fighting for sacred ideals is not often a prince’s hand in marriage, material riches or the like, but something far more and truly ennobling. Something given expression by another inspiring figure…from real life and this side of the Atlantic…Booker T. Washington… who said, “I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.”
As those words suggest sacred ideals are not weapons of moral superiority to wield to soothe a fragile ego. Nor are they virtues that ensure a heroic escape from death or even simply a way of looking at things guaranteeing freedom from hardship, let alone life happily ever after. They are, rather, that which roots us deeply in our humanity, keeping us aware of the inherent worth and dignity of all by ensuring we never lose sight of and degrade our own. May it be so.
Amen and Blessed Be
Reflection for Flower Communion Sunday
May 2021
Rev. Craig M. Nowak
“Are you languishing?”
That was the subject of an email I received recently from a Buddhist blog I apparently subscribed to some time ago, although I don’t remember doing so. The question caught my attention so I opened the email to find a short piece titled with the same question awaiting me. The question itself and that word, languishing, was a reference to a New York Times article published a few days earlier, that incidentally, I had read.
In the article “languishing” is used to describe what has been called the “dominant emotion” of 2021 so far. Summarized as, “a concoction of distraction, aimlessness, and what some folks have termed ‘Zoom fatigue’, languishing has led, for some, to, ‘the dulling of delight or the dwindling of drive’ and a slow slip into solitude.” And while in the Times article, languishing is attributed to the, “emotional long-haul of the pandemic”, it seems to me something to which we humans are susceptible regardless of the state of public health.
The story of flower communion we heard this morning is a case in point. Recall that in the story, church, both the building and the experience, was a pretty dull affair. That people came to church demonstrates they were committed, but the lack of life and vitality described suggests a commitment to what was no doubt a familiar routine over anything else.
In inviting people to bring a flower to church, Norbert Capek, offered them something else, a sacred ideal, if you will, to commit themselves to. For Capek, it was beauty; the beauty of the natural world and the beauty of one another as siblings, unique in myriad ways... yet born of one common source. Indeed, what we today call flower communion, Capek described as, “A new experiment in symbolizing our liberty and unity (originally brotherhood)...in which participants confess that we accept each other as brothers and sisters without regard to class, race, or other distinction, acknowledging everybody as our friend who...wants to be good.”
Capek’s commitment to beauty in the world and within others not only changed his congregation, it would prove instrumental during what was undoubtedly the most difficult period of his life. On March 28, 1941, the Gestapo raided Capek’s apartment, confiscating his radio, sermons and other writings. They also arrested Capek and his daughter Zora. Both were tried and sent to concentration camps.
Though confronted with the most profound ugliness of which human beings are capable, Capek’s faith in and commitment to sacred ideals, the beauty of the world and of his fellow human beings kept him from languishing. These sacred ideals enabled him to offer comfort and solace to his fellow inmates. They enabled him to write in his last letter to his wife, “I am faithful to my best and highest hope, resolve, and belief, wishing everyone well, believing in the future good of all of you: the family, the nation, humanity, and especially those most sorely tried.” And they enabled him, having been deemed, “too dangerous to be allowed to live” and sentenced to death by the Nazis, to proclaim:
It is worthwhile to live and fight courageously for sacred ideals.
Oh 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 wing to the mind is entering into the golden age of the victorious.
Revisiting Capek’s story and hearing his words again, I find myself thinking about that email with the subject line, “Are you languishing?” and wonder, wouldn’t a better question have been, “What are your sacred ideals?
While languishing may describe how many have or presently feel during the current pandemic, sacred ideals challenge us to set our vision beyond the appearance of things toward a deeper reality.
It’s not as complicated as it may sounds. You don’t need a carefully reasoned, neatly presented, or air tight theology to have and live by sacred ideals. Indeed, although Norbert Capek, being a minister and learned man might himself offer a more wordy, theological grounding and explanation of his sacred ideals, based on the story we heard I think “beauty” sums them up quite nicely.
Can you think of another story about sacred ideals?
I was reminded of one the other day while channel surfing for a movie. It is a story far better known than Norbert Capek’s and in fact, I bet each and every one of you here today, young and young-at-heart alike, know it: Cinderella. Although you may be familiar with one or two versions of this story, it is very, very old, with roots going all the way back to ancient Greece. The movie version I watched is far more recent, having been released in 2015.
The story presents two very different ways of viewing and living in the world. One is that of the hardened heart, manifest as cynical opportunism and fear and is represented in the character of the so-called “evil” step-mother. The other is that of the open heart, manifest as kindness and compassion, and is represented in the character of Cinderella.
By conventional standards, given all the tragedy and mistreatment she suffers, Cinderella would seem especially susceptible to languishing…and perhaps even moreso, justified in developing a hardened heart. And indeed, to some her kindness and compassion in the face of continued hardship seems naive, if not downright foolish. But it is her commitment to kindness and compassion, her sacred ideals, that is in fact what allows her to endure unbowed by cruelty and injustice directed at her. Something the trademark happy ending of the story, in some ways, actually obscures. After all, outside of fairy tales, the reward for courageously living and fighting for sacred ideals is not often a prince’s hand in marriage, material riches or the like, but something far more and truly ennobling. Something given expression by another inspiring figure…from real life and this side of the Atlantic…Booker T. Washington… who said, “I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.”
As those words suggest sacred ideals are not weapons of moral superiority to wield to soothe a fragile ego. Nor are they virtues that ensure a heroic escape from death or even simply a way of looking at things guaranteeing freedom from hardship, let alone life happily ever after. They are, rather, that which roots us deeply in our humanity, keeping us aware of the inherent worth and dignity of all by ensuring we never lose sight of and degrade our own. May it be so.
Amen and Blessed Be
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