BROOKFIELD UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
Taking Stock: Managing Our Spiritual Inventory
Sermon given at Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church
September 15, 2013
The Rev. Craig M. Nowak
Last week I stumbled across an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “How to Cope When Your Spouse Embarrasses You.” Hmm, to read or not to read... I decided to read the article after convincing myself the article might be helpful in some future pastoral care scenario or premarital counseling session.
As it turns out the article was not especially illuminating as it offered little more than some rather obvious common sense advice. Still, it did get me to thinking about my own marriage and some of the ways in which my husband and I differ. One of the things that came to mind was a difference in what we deem “necessary” when we travel. For example, I tend to be a minimalist when packing...if I forget something I can either do without it or buy it wherever I’m going. My husband however is more of a “just in case” minded packer...stuffing his luggage with extra shoes and clothing...just in case... which accounts for the “Heavy” sticker airlines have affixed to his suitcase on more than one occasion.
As a married couple this doesn’t create too much friction between us. It mostly means he has more wardrobe options than I but a heavier bag to carry and I have less wardrobe options than he but a lighter bag to lug around.
Of course suitcases aren’t the only type of baggage we human beings carry. We’ve all heard of emotional baggage...feelings, experiences, memories or beliefs that “get in the way” and prevent us from living a healthier, more harmonious life. Now, not all feelings, experiences, memories or beliefs constitute emotional baggage. Indeed we can’t escape the accumulation of feelings, experiences, memories and beliefs...it’s just part of what it means to be human. Rather, these tend to become burdensome or what we’d call emotional baggage when we try to ignore or neglect them. What they need is our attention. I realize this may sound counter-intuitive since we’re so often advised not to dwell on our feelings or to “get over” some memory or experience. While such advice may be well-intentioned, you know what they say about the road to...well, you know.
But, here’s the thing...all those feelings, experiences, memories, and beliefs we accumulate are more central to who we are than we might think, for they form what I call our spiritual inventory.
The contents of our spiritual inventory shape who we understand ourselves to be and how we relate or connect to others, ourselves, God (no matter your conceptualization), and the world in which we live. When we neglect or forget about the contents of our spiritual inventory we can start to accumulate feelings, experiences, memories and beliefs, both pleasant and unpleasant, that weigh us down...like an overfilled suitcase....or emotional baggage.
Now, most modern people, including most of us I imagine, live lives that are busier than we’d probably like. When we live a busy or overbooked life we can start to lose track of things. And this is as true for our spiritual or interior life as it is for soccer games, doctor’s appointments, and oil changes for our car. The point is that in our busyness, it is easy to forget or ignore something or to simply shift into auto-pilot and approach life with partial attention. Indeed, the oft hallowed skill of multi-tasking has elevated dividing one’s attention as some sort of modern ideal in every realm of our lives from work to time with family and friends. The Dalai Lama has called busyness a form of laziness, meaning busyness provides cover or more plainly, an excuse, for avoiding a more awakened or mindful life.
It begs the question, what are people, including many churchgoers, afraid of? What are we trying to avoid through our busyness? Perhaps we’re afraid of our interior or spiritual lives? It certainly seems so given the way we, collectively as a nation, deal with issues spiritual and social issues like climate change, economics, and racism to name a few. We seem to be afraid as individuals and as a society from asking questions that matter...or what we might hear if we did.
I remember the first time I encountered William Stafford’s poem “Ask Me” with its haunting, unsettling opening lines...”Sometime when the river is ice ask me mistakes I have made. Ask me whether what I have done is my life.” I still get a chill up my spine when I read those words. Stafford’s words point us toward a central, essential spiritual question, “Who am I?” What makes Stafford’s word’s so unsettling is he confronts us with the possibility that our answer to such an essential question, if unexamined or given only partial attention, can be wrong. Stafford reminds us is it not only possible, but even likely, we are living a life not our own...and too busy to ever notice.
I first read Stafford’s poem “Ask Me” in a book called Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by the Quaker Teacher, Parker Palmer. “Ask Me” is a discernment poem. The questions it asks are difficult and unsettling, but ultimately, liberating for they cut through to the essentials and demands of us a brutal honesty with ourselves and the discovery of truth from which we cannot hide.
Discernment is a type of spiritual practice, a tool that can be used to take stock of and manage our spiritual inventory. Discernment is a way of keeping track or sorting through the feelings, memories, experiences and beliefs we have accumulated over time and determining their value...relevance...or necessity in relationship to who we are as a person...that is, who we know ourselves to be versus who we have been told we are or to be. It can also be used in communities to explore and articulate identity and vision.
Yesterday our Jewish friends celebrated Yom Kippur, the most important and widely celebrated of the Jewish holidays. References to Yom Kippur can be, in part, traced back to the passage from Leviticus I read this morning. Yom Kippur is part of what is known as the Days of Awe, a ten day period encompassing Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, during which the faithful are called to serious reflection, to look back over the past year at where one has fallen short and to repent for one’s shortcomings or sins.
“One of the ongoing themes of the Days of Awe”, writes Tracey M. Rich, “is the concept that G-d has "books" that G-d writes our names in, writing down who will live and who will die, who will have a good life and who will have a bad life, for the next year. These books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but our actions during the Days of Awe can alter G-d's decree. The actions that change the decree are "teshuvah, tefilah and tzedakah," repentance, prayer, good deeds (usually, charity). These "books" are sealed on Yom Kippur,” the Jewish Day of Atonement.
As Judaism is not our tradition, but one from which we draw inspiration and wisdom, I invite you to suspend whatever theological differences or judgments you may have here and listen to the hope and promise beneath the words...life, your life, can be different, that is, deeper, lighter, freer, no matter who, what, or where you are. How? by taking time to slow down, pause, and reflect...by discerning and focusing on the essentials of life.
What this is really about is religious observance. Yom Kippur is a religious observance, a setting aside of time to attend to one’s spiritual inventory through rituals and spiritual practices including discernment.
The passage from Leviticus decrees or provides for the observance, including quite remarkably no fewer than five prohibitions against doing any work. “It shall be a sabbath of complete rest...” No busyness allowed!
Yom Kippur serves to awaken Jewish observers from an auto-pilot approach to life...to put the breaks on busyness and shift attention elsewhere.
We, as Unitarian Universalists don’t have the same ‘built in” religious observances or practices, certainly none decreed by any particular scripture. Instead it is up to each individual UU and each UU congregation to determine what observances and spiritual practices to engage in by exploring the wisdom of the ages and supporting one another in our seeking. This is among our most crucial tasks as Unitarian Universalists, and one we avoid at our peril, for no matter our theological orientation, we need religious observances and spiritual practices to snap us out of our own busyness and remind us we exist in relation to a greater whole. What are the observances, rituals, and practices you hold most dear here at Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church or in your daily life?
It is worth noting religious observance and spiritual practices are not intended to be impositions or the addition of yet another thing on one’s to do list. Quite the contrary, they are intended for our liberation, and most especially for those of us who, in the words of the Rev. John Buehrens, “...yearn for deepening more than escape; who can...be shaken in conscience...and who are not afraid to grow in spirit.”
It is through religious observance and spiritual practice that we break out of the slumber of our busyness and begin to awaken to our spiritual life...where the truth of who we really are resides.... where we dare ask questions of meaning and purpose...questions about mistakes we have made…questions of identity and direction and where we learn to live a life that is deeper, lighter, and freer than the one we might otherwise live. Together religious observance and spiritual practice are the ways and means we, as people of faith, can use to take stock and manage our spiritual inventory. May it be so.
Amen and Blessed Be
Sermon given at Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church
September 15, 2013
The Rev. Craig M. Nowak
Last week I stumbled across an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “How to Cope When Your Spouse Embarrasses You.” Hmm, to read or not to read... I decided to read the article after convincing myself the article might be helpful in some future pastoral care scenario or premarital counseling session.
As it turns out the article was not especially illuminating as it offered little more than some rather obvious common sense advice. Still, it did get me to thinking about my own marriage and some of the ways in which my husband and I differ. One of the things that came to mind was a difference in what we deem “necessary” when we travel. For example, I tend to be a minimalist when packing...if I forget something I can either do without it or buy it wherever I’m going. My husband however is more of a “just in case” minded packer...stuffing his luggage with extra shoes and clothing...just in case... which accounts for the “Heavy” sticker airlines have affixed to his suitcase on more than one occasion.
As a married couple this doesn’t create too much friction between us. It mostly means he has more wardrobe options than I but a heavier bag to carry and I have less wardrobe options than he but a lighter bag to lug around.
Of course suitcases aren’t the only type of baggage we human beings carry. We’ve all heard of emotional baggage...feelings, experiences, memories or beliefs that “get in the way” and prevent us from living a healthier, more harmonious life. Now, not all feelings, experiences, memories or beliefs constitute emotional baggage. Indeed we can’t escape the accumulation of feelings, experiences, memories and beliefs...it’s just part of what it means to be human. Rather, these tend to become burdensome or what we’d call emotional baggage when we try to ignore or neglect them. What they need is our attention. I realize this may sound counter-intuitive since we’re so often advised not to dwell on our feelings or to “get over” some memory or experience. While such advice may be well-intentioned, you know what they say about the road to...well, you know.
But, here’s the thing...all those feelings, experiences, memories, and beliefs we accumulate are more central to who we are than we might think, for they form what I call our spiritual inventory.
The contents of our spiritual inventory shape who we understand ourselves to be and how we relate or connect to others, ourselves, God (no matter your conceptualization), and the world in which we live. When we neglect or forget about the contents of our spiritual inventory we can start to accumulate feelings, experiences, memories and beliefs, both pleasant and unpleasant, that weigh us down...like an overfilled suitcase....or emotional baggage.
Now, most modern people, including most of us I imagine, live lives that are busier than we’d probably like. When we live a busy or overbooked life we can start to lose track of things. And this is as true for our spiritual or interior life as it is for soccer games, doctor’s appointments, and oil changes for our car. The point is that in our busyness, it is easy to forget or ignore something or to simply shift into auto-pilot and approach life with partial attention. Indeed, the oft hallowed skill of multi-tasking has elevated dividing one’s attention as some sort of modern ideal in every realm of our lives from work to time with family and friends. The Dalai Lama has called busyness a form of laziness, meaning busyness provides cover or more plainly, an excuse, for avoiding a more awakened or mindful life.
It begs the question, what are people, including many churchgoers, afraid of? What are we trying to avoid through our busyness? Perhaps we’re afraid of our interior or spiritual lives? It certainly seems so given the way we, collectively as a nation, deal with issues spiritual and social issues like climate change, economics, and racism to name a few. We seem to be afraid as individuals and as a society from asking questions that matter...or what we might hear if we did.
I remember the first time I encountered William Stafford’s poem “Ask Me” with its haunting, unsettling opening lines...”Sometime when the river is ice ask me mistakes I have made. Ask me whether what I have done is my life.” I still get a chill up my spine when I read those words. Stafford’s words point us toward a central, essential spiritual question, “Who am I?” What makes Stafford’s word’s so unsettling is he confronts us with the possibility that our answer to such an essential question, if unexamined or given only partial attention, can be wrong. Stafford reminds us is it not only possible, but even likely, we are living a life not our own...and too busy to ever notice.
I first read Stafford’s poem “Ask Me” in a book called Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by the Quaker Teacher, Parker Palmer. “Ask Me” is a discernment poem. The questions it asks are difficult and unsettling, but ultimately, liberating for they cut through to the essentials and demands of us a brutal honesty with ourselves and the discovery of truth from which we cannot hide.
Discernment is a type of spiritual practice, a tool that can be used to take stock of and manage our spiritual inventory. Discernment is a way of keeping track or sorting through the feelings, memories, experiences and beliefs we have accumulated over time and determining their value...relevance...or necessity in relationship to who we are as a person...that is, who we know ourselves to be versus who we have been told we are or to be. It can also be used in communities to explore and articulate identity and vision.
Yesterday our Jewish friends celebrated Yom Kippur, the most important and widely celebrated of the Jewish holidays. References to Yom Kippur can be, in part, traced back to the passage from Leviticus I read this morning. Yom Kippur is part of what is known as the Days of Awe, a ten day period encompassing Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, during which the faithful are called to serious reflection, to look back over the past year at where one has fallen short and to repent for one’s shortcomings or sins.
“One of the ongoing themes of the Days of Awe”, writes Tracey M. Rich, “is the concept that G-d has "books" that G-d writes our names in, writing down who will live and who will die, who will have a good life and who will have a bad life, for the next year. These books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but our actions during the Days of Awe can alter G-d's decree. The actions that change the decree are "teshuvah, tefilah and tzedakah," repentance, prayer, good deeds (usually, charity). These "books" are sealed on Yom Kippur,” the Jewish Day of Atonement.
As Judaism is not our tradition, but one from which we draw inspiration and wisdom, I invite you to suspend whatever theological differences or judgments you may have here and listen to the hope and promise beneath the words...life, your life, can be different, that is, deeper, lighter, freer, no matter who, what, or where you are. How? by taking time to slow down, pause, and reflect...by discerning and focusing on the essentials of life.
What this is really about is religious observance. Yom Kippur is a religious observance, a setting aside of time to attend to one’s spiritual inventory through rituals and spiritual practices including discernment.
The passage from Leviticus decrees or provides for the observance, including quite remarkably no fewer than five prohibitions against doing any work. “It shall be a sabbath of complete rest...” No busyness allowed!
Yom Kippur serves to awaken Jewish observers from an auto-pilot approach to life...to put the breaks on busyness and shift attention elsewhere.
We, as Unitarian Universalists don’t have the same ‘built in” religious observances or practices, certainly none decreed by any particular scripture. Instead it is up to each individual UU and each UU congregation to determine what observances and spiritual practices to engage in by exploring the wisdom of the ages and supporting one another in our seeking. This is among our most crucial tasks as Unitarian Universalists, and one we avoid at our peril, for no matter our theological orientation, we need religious observances and spiritual practices to snap us out of our own busyness and remind us we exist in relation to a greater whole. What are the observances, rituals, and practices you hold most dear here at Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church or in your daily life?
It is worth noting religious observance and spiritual practices are not intended to be impositions or the addition of yet another thing on one’s to do list. Quite the contrary, they are intended for our liberation, and most especially for those of us who, in the words of the Rev. John Buehrens, “...yearn for deepening more than escape; who can...be shaken in conscience...and who are not afraid to grow in spirit.”
It is through religious observance and spiritual practice that we break out of the slumber of our busyness and begin to awaken to our spiritual life...where the truth of who we really are resides.... where we dare ask questions of meaning and purpose...questions about mistakes we have made…questions of identity and direction and where we learn to live a life that is deeper, lighter, and freer than the one we might otherwise live. Together religious observance and spiritual practice are the ways and means we, as people of faith, can use to take stock and manage our spiritual inventory. May it be so.
Amen and Blessed Be
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