Sing Now the Future
A Sermon Given
by Rev. Alida DeCoster
May 24, 1998
at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church
Bethesda, Maryland
I think my favorite class in seminary was an in-depth study of
the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Raised as a Unitarian Universalist,
I had little knowledge or experience of the Bible, and my teacher, Joe
Everson, taught me how rich and interesting and very inspirational the
Bible can be. There were at least two authors of Isaiah. The first,
Isaiah ben Amoz wrote the first 39 chapters. Second Isaiah begins
with the famous passage of chapter 40: "Comfort, comfort my people.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended
. . . " This second Isaiah was a prophet to Israel in exile under the
Babylonians. One thing I remember vividly about Isaiah is a passage
from one of the so-called servant songs, chapter 43, verse 19. In it,
the God of Israel, Yahweh, declares, "Behold, I am doing a new
thing." This is a very important line in the Bible. The new thing
Yahweh is doing is causing Israel to be liberated and saved by Cyrus
of Persia, a foreigner. Not a king or liberator from within the
community, such as David or Moses, but an outsider. It is Cyrus who
allows the exiled Hebrews to return to their promised land. This is
often seen by Christians as a precursor to the new thing God does in
sending Jesus.
Doing a new thing is lifted up as good, exciting, and important.
Liberation can come in unexpected ways. Doing a new thing is
something we all have to undertake once in awhile. Behold! A new
thing, an unexpected course.
There is a force at work in the world spurring us forward to new
possibilities. The human imagination is a marvelous gift. We can
imagine a new and different future, and it excites us. I read recently
in the newspaper about the public library in Queens that is filled to
overflowing day after day with recent immigrants. They are reading
and learning voraciously, excited about the possibilities of life in
America.
I received a mailing from the UU Affordable Housing last month
describing their impressive accomplishments: they have helped to
create or preserve more than 375 units of affordable housing, enabled
more than 1240 individuals to have a safe and affordable place to
live, and made 42 loans and commitments to 20 nonprofit borrowers.
I remember back in 1989 when this was just a dream, a possibility.
A bold group of dedicated UU's determined to do a new thing. It has
worked.
We've also been hearing about the new Euro dollar currency, a
remote dream for decades, now practically a reality, a reality that will
change the course of Western history and will give us a run for our
money. Dreams of future possibilities spur us forward. We can do
a new thing. It does not always turn out the way we plan, however.
That is why we need to have a willingness to experiment with a bold
new idea. Not every idea turns out to be a good one. Thomas Edison
designed countless light bulbs before he finally got one to work.
Perry and I celebrated our first anniversary last weekend. For months
we had been planning to try something new: a fun excursion that we
imagined would delight us both. We booked a ride on a glider plane.
Last Saturday, we drove three hours to Kutztown, Pennsylvania to go
aloft in a tiny motorless plane. We were really excited. It was a hot
clear day. We brought cameras. When we arrived, there was the
little plane and our jolly pilot, Ken. He was wearing a brown
jumpsuit, baseball cap, dapper "Van Dyke" beard and had a twinkle
in his eye. We squeezed into the tiny back seat as Ken climbed in the
front. I was already taking pictures. The bubble roof came down and
I realized I was too short to see out. All I could do was look up to see
sky. Hmm. I was still optimistic. The tow plane ahead of us pulled
us up and up, higher and higher until finally we were a mile up in the
sky. When we dipped from one side to the other I could see a little
country side. But it was pretty hazy up there. Ken kept talking loudly
about his qualifications, how safe it was, and as much of his life story
as he could get across. When we answered, he would yell, "What?"
and we would repeat our responses. Gradually I realized that I was
feeling quite nauseated. Then Ken demonstrated a downward
spiraling twirl to the right. I gripped Perry's arm, saying I felt sick.
We asked Ken not to do that again. Then he tossed us his wallet. He
told me to put it on my knee. He wanted to demonstrate
weightlessness for us. It would float up when we were weightless.
I was dubious. We went into a free fall. So did my stomach. From
then on, at our insistence, we took a gradual steady descent. We cut
the trip short, and decided it wasn't really any different than riding in
any small plane. It certainly was not what we had imagined.
It was an experiment. Well, we had a nice drive, a nice dinner and we
can say we've done that. And we still enjoyed our anniversary. The
momentous experiment of our marriage is turning out to be as
wonderful as we had hoped.
In my last sermon, I reviewed some of the important past events of
our years together here at Cedar Lane during my ministry. Today, I
want to look to the future, both mine and yours. I want to tell you
about some of my upcoming experiments and make some suggestions
about your future experiments: some new things to try.
My future is unknown of course, but we must all imagine a future.
Perry and I are planning to adopt as most of you know, and that is the
main reason for my resignation at this time. I do not have the energy
for both parenthood and full time professional work. Many people
have asked where we are in the process. Now that our first
anniversary is past, we qualify to apply to the two agencies we know
of who will accept us at our ages. We are still deciding between the
two, but should accomplish that in a couple of weeks. We had been
quite sure we wanted to try for a domestic adoption by advertising for
a birth mother. That has certain advantages and disadvantages. There
are many factors to weigh. Then just recently we heard that one of
the two agencies we are interested in has a new program in Viet Nam.
We are not too old for that program, and it is possible to get younger
children more quickly through that program than through others we
have heard of. So, we are looking seriously at that. We should be on
a particular course within the next month or so. Then there will be a
wait, and we hope it is not more than a year. Meanwhile, I will take
a break and do some studying and free lance work. There is a lot to
do around the house too, and I have always loved the so called
domestic arts of cooking, sewing, gardening, even cleaning. I
probably would not have been unhappy in the era when most women
were housewives.
And yet, how grateful I am for the opportunity to be a UU minister.
Let me also tell you about some of my future professional plans,
where my call is leading me. About twelve years ago, in May, I
delivered my candidating sermon here. Its title was "Simply Divine,"
about finding the divine in everyday life. People ask me what
mysticism is, and this is my definition: an emotional experience of
feeling that all of life is divine, a sense of immanence, of miracle in
the here and now. It doesn't mean going away to sit on a
mountaintop or gazing at one's navel, though those are also ways to
experience it. Anyone may be a mystic. It's just a way of being and
perceiving. I think that mystics are mystics by temperament. I am a
mystic. This element of my personality is becoming stronger and
stronger. I want to live it out in my future ministry.
The day of my candidating sermon, I went over to the parsonage
waiting while you voted on whether to call me. You will do this for
a new Associate Minister a year from now. The vote was about 95%
positive, but one negative voter wrote on the ballot that I was "hung
up on God." This was an accurate observation. I was hung up on
God then and I still am. I must say, I'm not sure the word "God" is
the best name for the divine, but as a mystic, I live in awareness of the
miracle of life and I need a word to refer to that. Or, different words
at different times to refer to the same reality. I often use the words
Life and God interchangeably. When UU's are uncomfortable with
traditional religious language, I do not think that they are people
without faith or religion. The use of these words reminds people of
old fashioned, unhelpful definitions of these words. I think of
traditional religious words -- such as, God, salvation, grace, prayer,
worship -- as poetic language that can be interpreted many ways.
When these words bother you, think of them as metaphors. Religious
language can never be as precise as scientific language. Religious
language implies rather than denotes. That's OK. You might call it
experimental language. Use it if it works for you. Let it go if it
doesn't.
So, yes, I am hung up on God, that is, the divine force in all that is.
I feel actually called out of parish ministry to a ministry that focuses
more specifically on spiritual growth. I see myself as a healer of
body, mind and spirit, and I will be experimenting with that
possibility. My experiences with illness have drawn me into a new
world of healing. I have taken training in Reiki, which is a hands-on
technique that creates a great sense of relaxation and peace in the
receiver. When I offer this service, I feel a kind of electricity flow
through me and my hands into the other person. It is like being a
jumper cable. This kind of technique seems to be more effective for
some people than for others. But it really can be effective. I am
hopeful that more research will help us to understand what is going
on in this kind of work.
The other dimension of ministry I plan to pursue, am pursuing, is
becoming a spiritual companion. When I spoke of this before in a
sermon, I called it spiritual coaching, but I am still searching for the
right words. The traditional term for this is spiritual direction, but I
do not think I will be doing much directing. Suggesting, maybe.
What I will do is sit with people as we pay attention to their spiritual
journey. We will reflect on their burning questions about life and the
future. We will sit in silence and await promptings from the still
small voice within. We will pray, meditate, sing and listen. We may
use art. We may use dreams. I will provide loving presence and
attention as well as suggestions as each individual's path becomes
clearer. This is not therapy. Therapy deals with healing the past.
Spiritual companionship looks to imagining the future with divine
guidance, opening up the possibilities of new experiments.
So I imagine myself in my new study at home, with a massage table,
lots of books, a comfortable couch, sunlight and a computer for
writing. In that home office I will experiment with these new forms
of ministry: healing and spiritual companionship. I will also write,
perhaps poems, perhaps essays. Occasionally, sermons. I will
perform weddings, memorial services and retreats for UU's and
others in the community. This is my future plan. We'll see what
happens. Being a mom will be the main event for quite some time I
imagine.
What about your future? What about Cedar Lane's future? What are
some new experiments you might try? You are such a vital
congregation, I feel as if there is nothing you cannot do if you choose
it. Right now, there is so much going on! The conversion of the
parsonage will greatly expand the possibilities of religious education
for all ages. The Memory Garden will honor our deceased loved
ones. The Teen Center will support our young people. The Archives
will preserve our history. The Adult Programs committee is
implementing an exciting vision of developing a curriculum for adult
spiritual growth. The Board of Social Concerns is interviewing with
a community organization to develop plans for citizen action in our
county. Our Beacon House summer camp is taking off for its third
season. Cedar Lane is busting out all over as usual!
I would like to share with you some questions the Board of Trustees
has developed and will be discussing this Tuesday evening. This
shows you the kind of energy and dedication you have here to keep
growing and to try new things. A church's vision of itself and its
future must constantly be evolving and here are some of the questions
which will lead toward recreating your vision:
Is Unitarian Universalism as practiced at Cedar Lane a "low-demand"
religion? Should it be?
Are we too preoccupied with the professional ministry? Can the
congregation initiate discussion and activities as leaders without
waiting for ministerial leadership?
Are there sufficient opportunities to interpret our religious tradition?
Do we actually proclaim our values to the wider community?
Do Cedar Lane members set their own goals for personal growth?
Should the church facilitate this?
Should membership in Cedar Lane include an introductory period to
facilitate a fuller appreciation of the expectations of membership?
Is it easy for Cedar Lane members to share their passions and
enthusiasms with the church community?
These are questions for a church on the move. Your leaders will be
determining priorities and I know will welcome your input. They will
try some experiments with these and other ideas.
I have my own list of three suggestions to share with you. I know,
there are only so many experiments you can undertake at once. But
these are possibilities I imagine for you and your future as I leave you.
Number one, hear religious language as poetry, as metaphor.
Throwing away our tradition, whatever tradition, leaves us poorer.
Unitarian Universalists must not let rigid conservative religion
monopolize the whole Judeo Christian tradition. Along with the
liberal Christians and Jews, we can own and reinterpret tradition and
effectively integrate it into a vital contemporary faith. We often miss
or discount the great gifts available through religious traditions. A
healthy recognition of human limits and a stronger sense of reverence
for the greater force of which we are a part are things we can learn
from our religious heritage. I urge you as individuals and as a
congregation to stay open to the wisdom of ancient traditions. They
can inform modern life in profound ways.
Second, think of yourself as a religious leader. What does that mean?
It simply means speak of your passion. Say what matters to you. Say
it over and over in all different situations, at church and elsewhere.
Speak your truth, be the leader of your life, and join with others in
activities that express those values. You are a minister and great
vitality and effectiveness can flow from seeing yourself that way.
Each of the committees in the church could call themselves
"ministries." Other UU churches are doing this. It is empowering
and exciting. Nothing makes our lives more meaningful than feeling
we are making a contribution to the world. Determine your own call
to religious leadership.
Third, and finally, do not forget the poor. We live in a time of
reaction. I am deeply troubled by a prevalent attitude in our society
that it is OK to leave the problems of poverty up to the religious
community alone. The conventional view seems to be "let the
bleeding hearts take care of the poor." It was time for a new model.
I agree that many of the assumptions of the Great Society programs
were faulty and encouraged dependence. Drastic reduction of welfare
rolls may work for a time in a robust economy. We cannot count on
it to be a lasting solution. This congregation has a long strong history
of reaching out to those in need of emotional, educational and
financial support. Stay vigilant and informed about the fallout of the
recent changes in policy. Being tough on those who do not do their
part is reasonable but we cannot abandon those with few or no
resources who are trying. It takes time for issues to take shape in a
transition such as this. The religious community must stay involved.
Support Community Ministry of Montgomery County. Support
Bethesda Cares. Join with other congregations in monitoring how
this society treats its poor. Persist in being a moral voice in the
community. Come up with new ways to address old problems.
These are my three suggestions: Stay open to religious tradition, see
yourself as religious leaders, be allies to the poor. Cedar Lane is and
will continue to be a symbol to the world of hope, of refuge, of love.
Today, I close with this thought of Eduard Lindemann: "(I believe)
healthy people (are) those who persist in believing that the whole
human enterprise is a perpetual experiment. There is no time of
arrival. Always the zest will be in the experiment". So may it be.
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