A Caring Celebration
Sunday Service, April 27, 2008
Introduction of program: Linda
Pickle
In
February 2006, during the workshop at which this congregation drafted the
mission and vision statements that have guided us ever since, we recognized a
focused caring effort as one of the greatest needs to address. The creation of
the revitalized Caring Committee last fall was the result. Today we members of
that group want to celebrate with you the caring culture of our church that
this initiative seeks to support. The elements of the service this morning have been chosen with that celebration in mind.
Now we’ll continue with several readings that we think reflect various aspects
of caring.
In
every survey done in this church since I joined it nine years ago, one of its
strongest qualities and one that people value most in it has been its warmth
and friendliness, its feeling of community. So these aspects of caring, of
reaching out to one another and showing our interest in and concern for each
other, are nothing new to us.
Our
first reading, an excerpt from the writings of Starhawk,
speaks to this foundational ground tone of caring. Starhawk is famous
as the author of "The Spiral Dance", "The Fifth Sacred
Thing", and other books that link an earth-based spirituality to action to
change the world. Holly will give us this reading.
Holly Oglesbee:
Excerpt from the writings of Starhawk
We are all longing to go home to
some place we have never been—a place, half-remembered, and half-envisioned we
can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are
people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our
throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light
up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own
power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that
needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of
healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where
we can be free.
………..
I
think members and friends of our congregation agree that we have found this
circle of healing, this circle of friends, of free community here. We give
support to each other in many ways – in our individual spiritual searches, in
times of sorrow and rejoicing, in efforts to make a difference in the world.
This is spiritual and emotional sustenance for the community within, and it is
important to celebrate it.
Our
tradition of social action and social justice, both in our own congregation and
in Unitarian Universalism generally, is caring directed outside of our
immediate circle. The second reading reminds us of
this. It is from the writings of a Unitarian minister with a long and active
ministry, David Rhys Williams. Williams, who died in 1970 at the age of 80, was
a leader in many areas of social justice, such as birth control, conscientious
objection, women suffrage, labor arbitration, racial tolerance,
anti-McCarthyism, and free speech. In 1952 he was given the
award as "Champion of the Oppressed" by the Unitarian Fellowship
for Social Justice.
Charlie Pickle:
Excerpt from the writings of
David Rhys Williams
The precious life that is in you
and me is the same in all. Rich and poor, wise and simple, strong and feeble,
we are joined together by a mystic oneness whose source we may never know, but
whose reality we can never doubt. When one suffers, we all suffer.
When one hungers for bread, we
all hunger.
When one tramps the streets in
search of work, we all tramp the streets.
When one defrauds another, we are
all implicated.
When one destroys a human life,
we all share the guilt.
When one attains their heart’s
desire, we are all partners of their joy. This mystic identity of the one with
the many was divined by Hosea, Buddha, Jesus and has
been glimpsed by nearly all the great seers and prophets of humanity.
We are our neighbor’s keeper,
because that neighbor is but our larger self.
Let a sense of our vital unity with all people everywhere possess our
minds and hearts.
Behold, thou shall love they
neighbor as thyself, because thy neighbor is thyself.
……….
Both kinds of caring,
to the community within and the community without, require thought,
intentionality, and above all, action. This action usually takes a concrete,
physical form, whether it is showing up for church work days, cooking for the
family of a new baby, assisting the ill or home-bound, running a booth at the
International Festival, selling and buying free trade coffee, or participating
in a peace rally. One of the readings in our hymnal that will be familiar to
many of you speaks to the need to turn intention into action.
Marge Piercy is a well-known contemporary poet, the granddaughter
of a Lithuanian rabbi and an activist in many social justice causes since the
1950s. In the last fifteen years, she has become more
actively involved in her childhood faith, teaching often at a Jewish renewal
center near her home on Cape Cod. Her poem, “To be of use,” will be read
by Peggy.
Peggy Steele:
To be of use
Marge Piercy
The people
I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half submerged balls.
I love
people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
I want to
be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who stand in the line and haul in their places,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.
The work
of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.
………
The real work that
Marge Piercy describes has to be done in this church
as well. Surely to “move in a common rhythm” is a sign of a community in
harmony within itself, a state of communal life to aspire to. If you look
around you and pay attention to what is going on in our RE programs, our
committees, and interactions of all sorts among us, you can see and feel that
common rhythm. It is often a pure and even selfish joy to feel part of it.
Service to our church life is rewarding, not only because we promote the goals
that we identify with, but because serving the common good also nourishes our
own inner lives.
Some of us in this
congregation receive a daily e-mail message from Daily OM. On April 14, the
following excerpt from the new Daily OM book appeared in my mailbox. It
addresses the reciprocal good and solace gained by acts of service. Roger will read “Solace in service.”
Roger Phillips:
Solace in service
Excerpt
from new Daily OM book, April 14, 2008
When we reach out to people we can help, we
confirm that we are not alone in our own need for support and inspiration, and
we also remind ourselves that we are powerful and capable in certain ways. Even
as our own problems or moods get the better of us sometimes, there is always
someone else who can use our particular gifts and energy to help them out.
They, in turn, remind us that we are not the only people in the world with
difficulties or issues. We all struggle with the problems of life, and we all
feel overwhelmed from time to time, but we can almost always find solace in
service.
………
An aspect of caring
and of giving service that we may lose sight of is that receiving such gifts
can be difficult for some of us. We can feel weak, “in debt,” diminished by
needing care of whatever kind it may be. But receiving is the necessary pole to
giving. Just as it is ungracious to refuse a gift that we may not feel we need
or like, it is hardhearted to refuse the gift of caring offered us in our times
of need, for this denies the giver the opportunity for growth and fulfillment.
In that vein, Michele
has our next reading, “Spirit of Life and Love,” by Amarette
Callaway. Callaway is the author of many meditations, prayers, and opening
words found at the UUA website.
Michele Newcomb:
Spirit of life and love
Amarette Callaway
Spirit of life and love, thank you for the gifts of life and
love. Help us to embrace fully the sweet and the bitter moments
of our days. Help us to treasure the times of abundance and to find meaning in
the times of emptiness. Help us in our abundance to reach out to those who
hunger -- and help us in our times of hunger to admit our neediness and to
accept the caring hand of our neighbor. Amen.
……….
We all
have gifts, and we all have needs. In our contemporary world, and perhaps
particularly in our American culture, it can be difficult to bring these gifts
and needs together in a communal context that encourages the giving and
receiving of loving care. We are doing this in our church. I am sure that many
of you could tell of kind words and acts that you have experienced from others
in this sanctuary. In a few minutes you’ll have the opportunity to do just
that.
But
first another reading, one to remind us of the holy nature of caring for others
and for the world around us. Katrina will now read “For We Are in Need” by Judith L. Quarles,
minister at the UU Church in Oneonta, N.Y.
Katrina Phelps:
For We Are in Need
Judith
L. Quarles
Holy Spirit,
We feel you moving among us here.
Bless us with your presence.
For we are in need…
…in need
of strength and courage.
Our road is filled with rocks,
with boulders stewn,
boulders so high we
sometimes wonder whether we can climb them,
We are in need…
…in need
of comfort and encouragement.
We long for a cooling hand upon
the forehead,
your still voice
whispering in our hearts, “It’s all right now…”
We are in need…
…in need
of cheerleading.
When we see what is to be done
for others, for our lovely earth, for
those we love, we
would hear your voice shouting at us to get moving.
As we sit here in this lovely,
loving room,
let us realize
that this Spirit of encouragement, comfort and love,
is within
ourselves, within this congregation.
WE are the instruments of the
Good that abounds.
May we feel the Spirit and carry
it with us all our days.
Let us now in the Holy Quiet
listen for the voice of love within our hearts.
Amen.
……….
[Moment of silence]
In a few minutes, I
am going to ask you to help celebrate our caring culture by writing down an
example of it. It might be something you received – support for your spiritual
search, a ride to church, a note or call or kind words from another church
member. It might also be an opportunity you had through the church to care for
others within or without our community. We’ll collect these notes and publish
them on our website.
But first, to remind
you that caring cannot happen without people to do it, the Youth Religious
Exploration class and I will give a reading by Max Coots, a reading appropriate
for this season of the year, as we plant our gardens and look forward to the
harvest to come. Coots is a UU minister who has published “Seasons of the
Self,” a booklet of his own prayers and meditations at Beacon Press. He has
also contributed to several collections of opening and closing words,
meditations and prayers, and chalice lightings.
Linda and Youth RE:
Let us give thanks
by
Max Coots
Let us give thanks
for a bounty of people.
For children who are
our second planting, and though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon
blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where
their roots are.
Let us give thanks:
for
generous friends. . .with hearts as big as hubbard
squashes and smiles as bright as their blossoms;
for
feisty friends as tart as apples;
for
continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that
we've had them:
for
crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;
for
handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of
corn, and the others, as plain as potatoes and as good for you;
for
funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem
artichokes, and serious friends, as complex as cauliflowers and as intricate as
onions;
for
friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent
as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini, and who, like
parsnips, can be counted on to see you throughout the winter;
for
old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, and young friends
coming on as fast as radishes;
for
loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our
blights, wilts, and witherings;
and
finally for those friends now gone, Iike gardens past
that have been harvested, and who fed us in their times that we might have life
thereafter;
for
all these we give thanks.
………..
Now the youth will
help us carry out a UU celebratory communion. They are going to pass around
slips of paper on which we encourage you to celebrate our caring culture by
writing down an example as you have experienced it. As I said earlier, this can
be caring that you gave or received. Because we intend to publish your comments
on line, please do not use your own name or the name of someone who might have
shown you a kindness. Use an initial, if you like, but no names, please.
There are pens and
pencils in the baskets with the strips of paper. Take one if you need it. I’ll
ask the youth to collect your words and the pens and pencils at the end of 4-5
minutes, so please be brief! When the baskets pass by you, be sure to also pick
up a copy of the booklet created by some of the children and youth of our
church. They wrote short texts and drew pictures about what caring means to
them. We’ll put the booklet contents on line as well.
[After collection of
the congregation’s comments:] Thanks to all of our readers today and to all of
you for participating in this celebration. But most of all, thanks to all of
you who contribute in so many ways to our caring culture.
* *
*
(Following: Caring
Book created by children and youth, comments from congregation)
A Caring Book
A gift from the children, youth and families of the church
Presented April 27th, 2008
UU of BG
(Illustration by Shylo M.)
Caring is climbing in
bed
with
Mommy and Daddy and
making
a Soren sandwich.
Caring feels like me
and my
family
are happy together.
It feels warm. Tastes
sweet,
sounds like laughing
and
smells like clean air.
– Soren
B
(Illustration by
Hannah B.-S.)
(Illustration by Kayley R.)
Caring is when you do
something for someone else and feel good about it.
-
Kayley
R.
Caring is helping
someone when they need it, and
when
they feel down you pick them up.
-
Timmy R.
Caring is being nice
and helping others just because. – Niko R.
Caring smells like
fresh baked bread or homemade apple pie. – Tom B.
Caring is crying when
someone else is, feeling their paing
with them, staying up all night with worry.
Caring is sending a
card, or a phone call, a hug, to let them know you’re thinking about them.
Without people who care for others, we would live in a really sad place. – Kris
B.
(Illustration by
Hattie)
(Illustration by Alanis G.)
(Illustration by Keisjia M.-C.)
Caring is active. It
is difficult to care from the couch. – Sonja B.
(Illustration by
Sonja B., after Jon
J. Muth)
* * *
Comments on caring submitted by members of the congregation
at the service:
Caring is the
day-today little things (picking up my shoes, coming to get coffee with me,
asking how work went) that my spouse does for me.
Kindness and caring
of the folks who show up for the “grunt” work, do the
daily chores that keep us running.
Several
calls with offers of help when I was ill.
I have received
tremendous strength and inspiration from members of the congregation reaching
out to me to let me know they believe in me when times are hard and I am having
trouble believing in myself.
All those who serve
the church in leadership positions, doing their task with dedication and without whom this caring community could not function.
We were welcomed with
open arms by kind people who can see the inherent worth of all. Thank you,
everyone!
Too sick to get out
of bed – member of Caring Committee delivered a prayer shawl to me made by
other church members. - J.
You asked me my
thoughts at a time when no one was listening.
My
daughter in her gentle and persistent ways.
Supportive and kind, she never leaves me in the dark cold of turmoil. She is my
light. And I hope that throughout life I can give her the same. – M.D.
When I was depressed
by the ending of my marriage, UU friends were supportive and encouraged the
redirection occurring in my life.
Hanging out with UUs has re-energized my faith in the possibilities of
continued spiritual evolution – and thus the survival of our species.
Live your days as if
they were your last!!!
Birthday cards sent
faithfully (by the Caring Committee?).
When I first came to
this church, a member invited us out to lunch. I was so impressed that I
decided to pass that on to other newcomers. Another member invited us over to
supper, and again I try to do that with others so that they experience a
welcoming that I did.
I feel cared for each
time I enter our church and am made to feel a part – and honest and vital part
– of this community.
I’ve been a CNA for
about a year (on and off) and through the ministrations of my own training –
those I’ve tended to have shown me that the soul is
never lost even as the mind may wither… And my family and friends have helped
me build a loving and sustained foundation upon which my own acts of being a
CNA wouldn’t have been possible. – K.L.H.
V.B. spent several
hours one night listening to me and comforting me as I cried and whined about a
challenging personal relationship. Any time I am absent for a Sunday or two, at
least one person will tell me that I was missed. I get a lot of hugs and am
allowed to hug almost everyone.
Caring was when
everyone didn’t care about the way you looked, what you believed in, or your
personality style of clothing.
Received birthday
card.
Love and
understanding freely given, perhaps deserved, but unasked for, unexpected and
greatly cherished.
Services have
included my kids.
An
ear to listen when I was depressed.
I was so thankful to
be part of this church family when I lost a beloved family member and felt the
love and support of my church family. – C.
I teach RE over, and
over.