A Sermon Delivered to the Gulf Coast Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

by Rev. Marie E. deYoung

October 19, 2008

A Cajun neighbor took out a beautiful violin, gently opened the case, and caressed the strings while telling me that she had purchased this violin to help her husband realize his dream -- of keeping the family's heritage of Cajun fiddling alive.

As I have been introduced to neighbors, and members of the community in the heart of Cajun country, I have been awestruck by the deep reverence with which family members handle the fiddles that have been handed down to them. Another family brings their violin to the school where I teach, after hours, to protect their heirloom from the knocks and bangs that happen when students wander from class to class. Can you teach our daughter? We want her to play "Amazing Grace" so that our parents will know the tradition has been passed down.

If I didn't have my own strong family musical heritage, I would be envious of my neighbors, who are numinous when they take out their sacred fiddles. But, I do have my own powerful family musical heritage. I was raised in the city, but our family matriarchs all lived in the mountains of Pennsylvania. When we gathered, we had large meals together. The men drank high balls, and the women sat and gossiped. And after dinner, we all gathered around the piano to sing songs from Broadway, Irish lullabies, and eventually, when my aging godmother finally gave in to pop culture, we even sang the pop tunes of the sixties.

There are many families, churches, schools where children do not have this musical heritage. They do not have the cultural expectation that we can make each other happy by gathering around the piano, or by gathering our fiddles and guitars, and singing through a rich repository of tunes that make you laugh and cry at the same time. And I think this is very sad.

As Unitarians and Universalists, we have a heritage, and we have traditions that go back to the founding of our nation. Many Unitarians and Universalists signed the Declaration of Independence, and helped our country to craft the first constitution.

-John Adams, whose egalitarian relationship with his wife, Abigail, was only recently portrayed in a television biography. He was a president, and later, his son became president.

-Indeed, Thomas Jefferson, who never "signed the book" to join the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, sat in its pews with the likes of Benjamin Rush, and other great leaders. Jefferson did write that he could envision the day when every reasonable American would become a Unitarian -- so attracted was he to the capacity of Unitarians to embrace scientific method as well as the ethical teachings of Jesus.

-Joseph Priestley, the Unitarian preacher and scientist who discovered oxygen, migrated to the United States in search of religious freedom after his science laboratory was burned to the ground in England. This is a man who would appeal to Gulf Coast Unitarians. His persecution in England did not cause him to abandon the faith, but rather, to move to the New World, where he could build the faith, and build on the religious freedom that Unitarians and so many others hoped to achieve.

Joseph Priestley helped found American Unitarian churches, and in his lifetime, our denomination grew.

I worry about Unitarian Universalism in our day, because we have highly educated members, and the same access to high tech media that fast-growing fundamentalist denominations have. Yet, fundamentalist denominations are growing by the millions, and we have not grown as we should, given our rich heritage of American thinkers who bettered our nation and our world as Unitarians and Universalists.

Part of our heritage includes the free search for meaning and truth. And this has resulted in unique journeys for many members of our faith. For those who joined our church as adults, needing the freedom to question, to shape new truths as the complexity of our physical and psychological universes unfold -- the capacity of Unitarians and Universalists to quest for new truths is attractive.

But at the same time, we still have the problem of losing so many Unitarians who embrace the search for meaning, stay with us for a while, and then, they move on. It is probably still true, as it was when I was in seminary, that we lose 90% of the children who were raised as Unitarians -- to other more conservative faiths.

How could this be? How can it be, that a faith that gives so much freedom to the individual, can also become unattractive after a time?

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I think I have a few ideas that may help us to move out of this stasis -- help us to grow - not only as individuals, but as a fellowship.

For one, I think we need to be more intentional about handing down our heritage to our children, and to our new members. We do a wonderful job of teaching our children to question, to make up their own minds about matters of faith. But do we teach them any of the truths, past or present, that impelled men and women to build our nation as a democracy, committed to the worth and dignity of every human being?

Not that we must believe or act exactly as our forefathers and foremothers did, but their truths should inform our present lives so that we can respond to our circumstances with the same integrity and moral courage that they did.

How do we do this? Every church needs to have an active group of religious educators, those members and leaders who take fiddles out of the closet, so to speak, and teach our youth and our new members all the classic tunes, all the important cadences that will enrich their lives and help them to find their place in the band.

For our own personal growth, we need to know and celebrate the men and women who courageously moved to the New World to give themselves and their descendents the right to expand religious thinking from doctrinal limitations to rigorous exploration of scientific and spiritual truths.

Take a second here. Could we name any of these great thinkers who paved the trail for the scientific and religious freedoms that we enjoy right now? (Congregation responded with several names.)

We need to know what Unitarians like Theodore Parker contributed to our heritage and we need to tell our children about the great men and women who fought to abolish slavery, to give women the right to vote. We had union organizers who worked to end terrible factory conditions. Did you know that Jane Addams, who is considered the only woman in the group of five Unitarian men who founded the profession we call "social work" associated herself with Unitarians, although she did not formally join? Do you know the woman who worked in WWII to rescue orphans in Czechoslovakia? She and her husband also persuaded Nestle to get milk products to children who were starving in France during the war. Can anyone guess whom I am talking about? (Martha Sharpe Cogan).

While I was an intern at All Souls in New York, she was honored for her work at a reunion event, where the children who were rescued gathered for the first time in fifty years... I met with her to find out what ethical principles and theological teachings inspired her to step out of her skin, her life of comfort, to go to the aid of those who were desperately in need. In the middle of our conversation, she winked and noted that she had Christian leanings, that were not in vogue with the intellectual Unitarians of her day.

But another not well known truth: there are Unitarian churches all over this country that have continued to embrace Christian theologies as essential to their Unitarian identity.

Now, I am not suggesting that we learn about our heritage as a qualification for membership. I am not suggesting that we associate ourselves with every factoid of history that makes us seem more courageous and activist than we really are as individuals or as a church.

What I am suggesting is this: as Unitarians and Universalists, we can get so caught up our momentary existence, that we forget that everything about our faith life has a context. There are sacred fiddles in closets that are begging to be played, to be caressed, to be used to renew the spirit and life of all our members.

This morning, as I invite you to think about the sacred fiddles in our closet, I also invite you to think about what your role will be, as we begin to hand down our heritage. Will you be the fiddle teacher, who dusts off the old books, and helps us to digest the thoughts of the men and women who shaped our movement? Will you be the fiddle player, who takes inspiration from the tunes of our past, shaping new music, new destinies for our church and our world? Will you be the audience, respectfully listening, enjoying, embracing the music, the heritage that helps us to understand who we really are?

Whatever role you choose, my prayer is that our heritage will be passed on, and our faith community will grow, because we have chosen to take out our sacred fiddles and enrich the lives of all through the sweet music that we take out of our closet and pass on to all who are willing and eager to hear. So may it be.

Meditation:

As we reflect quietly, let us be thankful for the music in our souls. The music that helps us to dance, to laugh, but also to cry, to mourn. Let us remember that our ears are a precious gift, to help us to receive the music of nature - trees swaying, birds chirping, coastal waters rippling…. As we go out into the world, may we use our ears to be soothed by the sounds of nature, to be healed by the stories and the music that our friends and family want to share. May we find our own music and stories that help us to know who we are, to be at peace with who we are….

A Sermon Delivered to the Gulf Coast UU Fellowship
In Gulf Port, Mississippi on October 5, 2008
By Rev. Dr. Marie E. deYoung

To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.
I thought of this quote, taken from the Bible, but recast by the classic rock
band, the Byrds, as I was driving to work --- past lush green fields, with a
family of mallard ducks hovering on the emergency lane of our rural
highway. I will have you know that our community brakes for mallards -- as
they brake for turtles and alligators -- but, the mallards often seem to wait on
the side of the road until they have the right of way.
The beauty of living in South Central Louisiana and Mississippi -- is that
every day, we have an exquisite relationship with the natural environment.
Where I live, the morning dew, and the gentle low lying fog that drift across
the fields and the roads remind me of August mornings when I bicycled to
orchestral conducting classes in the Netherlands -- and bicycle rides in the
countryside of Ireland.
If only this emerald green would last forever.
Of course, when I say this, I’m momentarily living in another American past,
thinking of the stunning foliage that clearly defines the fall season in more
northern parts of our country. Our pine stands in Mississippi and Louisiana
will not rust with brilliant fall colors as we can expect in the Ozarks or the
Smokies, or in Virginia, And, it seems that as soon as our farmers harvest
their rice, soy and other crops -- they’ve got another emerald patch sprouting
- not just to protect the soil from erosion - but for their next market
adventure.
As much as I delight in the lovely landscape that stretches for hundreds of
miles, I can’t help but wonder, is it the best idea to arrange our lives so that
we are perpetually growing, harvesting, producing?
It’s hard to be green - all the time.
Maybe the land needs time to rest. Time to relax, renew, rethink its genetic
purpose, and its future.
More importantly, maybe we need time to rest -- time to rust. Time to shed
our old leaves. Time to think about all those high speed gadgets and
appliances that we are storing in our shed that have fallen out of use. Once
they have been set aside for awhile, we can ask ourselves an important
question, a question that might change how we steward our resources in the
years ahead --are these gadgets, these tools that are piling up in our garages
really useful? Do we need to buy every technological miracle that is
advertised on QVC?
Don’t get me wrong. We know that some of our garage gadgets are essential,
and we will need to do the repairs and polishing to put them back in service.
But if we really thought about it, many of us would conclude that a lot of the
gadgets we buy to produce timesaving miracles in our lives don‘t really help
us to live better, to be more comfortable --they don‘t even save us some
time.
They just gave us a feeling of power - in that momentary decision to spend in
the hope that we would be freed of a mundane task that might have been
accomplished in less time - if done the old fashioned way. Maybe we should
just let the useless gadgets accumulate rust….
In the same way that we might live through the Fall Season by breaking away
from unnecessary collection of gadgets that don’t really make our lives better,
maybe we can use the time to spiritually rest and rust a bit.
Break away from our patterns, and after we get a little rusty - to think about
which patterns are really worth keeping? Which habits should we get out the
polish, and improve, and which should we just let go?
We are living in a season that is at once beautiful - clear brilliant blue skies
dimpled with billowing clouds. Crisp air, with temperatures warm enough to
sit to participate in the sunrise and sunset each day…
And, as beautiful as this fall season is, it is still perilous - For one, we must
monitor the storms at sea, and continue our efforts to make the coastline more
safe from the storm.
In the civic world, we live with the same contrasts. We are spirited by a
similar vibrant, crisp, dynamic climate. For the first time in many decades,
citizens are participating in the conversation about the future of our country -
and there is engagement among all peoples, young and old, black, white,
Latino, Asian - people of all orientations.
But, our civic climate is also perilous - we have profound decisions to make
as a people -- decisions
- about the nature of our civic commitments
- about the integrity of our promise to care for our senior citizens and
our children
- about the need to invest in the bridges, roads, hospitals, levees and
storm barriers that will keep our communities safe from accidents of nature.
- about the limits of our ability to engage in military operations in order
to … thrust democracy upon ancient nations.
In the religious world, we are also experiencing a colorful, enriching time.
We untold opportunities to practice our faith in this country - without fear of
being imprisoned, fired from our jobs, banned from civic discourse, or
tortured into confessing a faith that we do not embrace. We can build our
church, as millions can not in China, Saudi Arabia, or Iran. We can put up a
satellite, and speak the truths of our faith, as Christians can not in the Sudan.
We can use the internet to promote our values, and work for justice, as no
Christian can do in many parts of India.
Yet, in this historic moment, when “faith based” politicking can be used to
infuse the public discourse with racial, religious, sexual, ageist, and class
bigotry, we are living in very dangerous religious times.
We have a very short timeline for making a momentous decision about who
will lead our nation out of our malaise. And, the stakes are so high, that we
can expect vitriol, mudslinging, and the exploitation of sincerely held
religious beliefs to frighten people into bigoted, destructive behaviors.
To every thing, there is a season, and a time for very purpose under heaven.
A time for planting, a time for reaping
A time for watering, a time for weeding
A time for trust, and a time to rust
No, the Scriptures do not include these lines in the original Ecclesiastes
passage.
But in the weeks ahead, I hope we will incorporate the spirit of this passage
in our civic and religious work - whether as a church, or as individuals.
Every person of faith has a right to participate in the civic conversation about
the future of our nation, the future of our world. Let us strive to keep the
discourse respectful and constructive. Where we have -- as liberals or as
conservatives --taken up fractious, divisive, and hurtful commentary in order
to win the right to enact “higher principles,” I hope we let that habit rust.
In these dangerous times, it is critically important for us to engage those who
are religiously intolerant, racially intolerant, economically intolerant in a
deep compassionate conversation about our values, our dreams for America,
and our dreams for our children.
I believe that we will serve our faith most graciously if we refrain from
mudslinging, and if we challenge those who smear our civic leaders for the
sake of a political or religious ideology. We must work in the community
with a positive spirit, and invite those who disagree to let old their old habit
of vilifying those who are different to rust away in favor of a a respectful
conversation.
This conversation, this pattern of constructive engagement with those who
believe differently than we do has worked for our nation in previous critical
historical junctures.
Perhaps I am naïve in thinking that we can shape a civic and religious
discourse that is as life-affirming emerald green as our rural pastures are
today. Perhaps it is too hard for America to let go of its cruel politics of
destruction -because the price of losing power may be too great for those
who choose to destroy in order to gain their power.
But it is my hope, that all the tools that have been used to tear down our civic
and religious leaders in the past few months will be put in the shed for this
fall season. Let these destructive political tools rust, baby, rust.
And let our nation rest in the notion that all our citizens and residents deserve
rigorous, respectful engagement of the issues in our profound and sincere
national effort to restore our families, our communities and our nation to
peace and prosperity. So may it be.