“Every Soul is Sacred and Worthy”
Last
week I began introducing the worship theme for the Summer. We will spend the
next three months diving into some of the core beliefs that permeate Unitarian
Universalism. They are anchored in our history, but also flourish in our
congregations today. I listed five core beliefs:
Every soul is sacred and worthy,
Salvation is in this life.
There is a unity that makes us one.
Courageous love will transform the world.
Truth continues to be revealed.
Today,
we are focusing on the first of those beliefs, which not surprisingly is very
similar to our first Principle, respect for the inherent worth and dignity of
every person. What I want to do today is take this little theological
statement, and look at it one piece at a time. “Every soul is sacred and
worthy.”
Soul
Well,
let’s start with the core of this idea. Soul. For some of us the word flows
naturally. For others it has no meaning or is even offensive. So let me start
with the most down to earth description of soul that I know.
This
idea of the soul comes from my best friend’s mother. She is the Superindendant
of a school, but was a classroom teacher for years and years. She says that
when she is having a particularly difficult time with someone, when someone
just gets on her nerves and all she can feel is anger, she thinks back on
teaching second grade. And she remembers that this challenging person was also
once a second grader somewhere. This person was once silly and afraid and open
to new ideas. And somewhere, deep inside ,whether we can see it or not, they
still are that second grader. They still are a little afraid, a little silly,
and open to new ideas and full of potential. If the religious language of “soul” doesn’t float your boat,
just think of it as the magic that we see resting in an eager child.
Just
a few weeks ago, I preached about how the Unitarian forefather Ralph Waldo
Emerson understood the soul. One of the key ideas was about the soul being the
piece of us that connects with other people and with the rest of the world.
There is a spark in you that calls out to recognize the spark in another
person. In your core is a quiet reminder that every other person also has a
flash of the sacred in her or him as well. That piece of each of us that
recognizes the humanity, the good, the soul or another person is our own soul.
It’s also the piece of us that helps us feel connected to the rest of the
world. Emerson was very clear that the soul was the piece of the divine in each
of us that connects us to the rest of the Universe.
Emerson
was deeply influenced by the sacred text of Hinduism and other Eastern
religions. It should be no surprise that we hear echoes of his idea of the soul
in the common Indian greeting, Namaste.
I’ve been using this word at the end of our meditation time lately, but
never bothered to explain it. Throughout much of India the world “Namaste” is a
greeting and a sign of respect. It is basically the equivalent of “hello.” "Nama" means bow,
"as" means I, and "te" means you. Therefore, Namaste
literally means "bow me you" or "I bow to you."
Many
of us know the word as it is used in yoga studios here in the U.S. Western
oriented yoga practices have extrapolated a more elaborate meaning of the word
based on Hindu beliefs. They describe it as meaning, "the spirit in me
respects the spirit in you," or "the divinity in me bows to the
divinity in you.” Maybe this isn’t totally what they mean in India when they
casually use the word. It may not be the indigenous to India, but I like the
concept. The divine in me respects the divine in you. The soul in me recognizes
the soul in you.
Whether
we see it as the humanity that is so easily embodied in a curious scared silly
loving second grader, or the spark of the divine, the little piece of the
Universal Truth that animates each or our individual lives, we are talking
about the seed of potential in each person. It’s that core of our being that
may be well hidden, but can never be taken away. Every soul is sacred and
worthy.
What
then is this soul worthy of? In our Universalist roots the answer to that
question is very clear. Every soul is worthy of salvation. Universalism at its
core is about affirming a love of God, and proclaiming that no God worthy of
our attention would condemn anyone to eternal punishment.
In
the face of The Great Awakening, an overwhelming American religious trend that
preached hellfire and brimstone, early Universalists said no. Every person,
every soul must have the opportunity to reach salvation. God does not cut
anyone out of the family. They debated for a very long time about the mechanics
of how that salvation happened. But from the beginning, the answer to the
question, what every soul was worthy of, was Salvation.
The
Unitarian side of our heritage was also very much in line with the sense that
every soul was worthy. Like the early universalists, they fought against the
doctrine of an angry God, but for a different reason. The Universalists believed
that God was too good to condemn anyone to eternal punishment. But the
Unitarians believed that we as humans had too much potential for good, to be
condemned.
In 1819, William Ellery Channing preached the landmark
sermon, “Unitarian Christianity,” For the first time, he accepted the label
Unitarian, and at that critical moment made a distinction between his Liberal
peers and the Christian orthdox. That sermon was the catalyst that made our
church the separate religious tradition that it is today.
The
thrust of the sermon was two fold. First, he insisted that we must use reason
to develop our faith. After all we were endowed with this great capacity and it
would be irresponsible not to apply it to religious life. Second, we as humans
are capable of moral development, and this, above all else, should be the goal
of religious life in America. Channing would say that every soul is sacred and
worthy of the opportunity to flourish in this life, the opportunity to develop
moral character, and in the process find salvation in this life.
Throughout
his short but powerful ministry, Channing railed against slavery, against
poverty, against alcoholism. He advocated for the creation of hospitals for the
mentally ill and encouraged progressive approaches to education. The first
American minister to proudly wear the label of “Unitarian” was a committed
activites. Most importantly, Channing’s commitment to these numerous causes was
an undying interest in the moral potential of each individual person.[1]
He
knew that with effort, people could live more moral and fulfilling lives. He
knew that we could mold ourselves into better people, and that work of
improving ourselves would in turn improve the world around us.
From
our beginnings as a faith tradition, we set our sites on respecting the
possibility in each person, the potential for a soul to flourish. And we have
made it our mission to protect that possibility for every person. For Channing
and many other early UU leaders the battle was about abolition of slavery. Soon
after was women’s suffrage and the political rights for African Americans.
Access to public education, recognition of same-sex relationships and demanding
a humane policy for immigration followed. Each of these political conviction
comes from our deeply held faith that every soul is sacred and worthy. Every
person deserves the opportunity to flourish and participate fully in what it
means to be human.
So
we have talked about what we mean by “soul.” And we have talked about what
these souls are worthy of. Finally, I want to talk about what is probably the
most tricky word in this whole statement, “every.” Every soul is sacred and
worthy.
Most
obviously it means that everyone, even that moron that cut you off in traffic
on the way to church today, even that radio news host that makes your blood
boil is sacred. The stranger at the grocery store and the person sitting next
to you here today, the same spark of the divine, the human potential that we
celebrate without exception is in each and every one of those people. This is
not small statement. Though we speak it readily, the first principle of
Unitarian Universalist is a tremendous affirmation, and an even more tremendous
thing to take on in our living. The challenge to affirm the inherent worth and
dignity of every person is tremendous and could easily fill a lifetime of
religious commitment.
Every
soul is sacred and worthy. Of all these theological statements of the Summer I
love this one the best. Yet it is also the one that I forget most readily. Why
is this reality so hard to remember? At first glance, it comes with an
overwhelming sense of responsibility. It requires that I treat people with
respect. It requires that I help people who need help. It requires that my
actions take into account the needs of others, all day, every day. It’s
exhausting to even think of the full weight of this commitment.
But
there is more than responsibility and dread in this profound statement of
faith. Every soul is sacred and worthy. More than responsibility, it is an
overwhelming statement of beauty and potential. Every soul is sacred and
worthy. Recognizing the sacredness that we swim in every day is inconvenient.
It rips our attention from the to-do list, it distracts from our need to
accumulate more stuff, it may slow down our jobs as we begin to treat others
not as numbers but as human beings. Yes, it is a burden to treat everyone this way, but even more
so, opening our hearts to really experience the sacred in every person is a
terrifyingly beautiful religious journey that we are called to make.
As
we live our lives we develop an arsenal of tools to avoid this reality. We
manage, I manage to convince myself that I am so busy that the few moments it
takes to have a face-to-face conversation is just too much. And now technology
does the work for us. We no longer have to come face to face with the
sacredness of each soul because we experience them only through an email or
text message. We have an arsenal of tools to help us avoid what we claim to be
true, lest we be overwhelmed by a sacredness that we swim in every day.
I
am convinced that what we forget that every soul is sacred and worthy, not
because it is a burden to treat everyone as human beings. I think we
conveniently forget that everyone is sacred and worthy because we fear our
little hearts might just bust at the seams if we allowed ourselves to really
experience that truth. It would make walking into any room of people like
walking into a gallery at the Louvre. Every face a masterpiece, a unique
expression of beauty crafted from a particular perspective.
And
perhaps even more overwhelming is the possibility of finally understanding
ourselves to be one of those masterpieces. I said earlier that truly knowing
that every soul is sacred and worthy is a dual commitment. It’s not just about
others, it’s about ourselves as well. You are a part of every soul after all.
You are a part of this holy family. I want to leave you with a quote from Marianne
Williamson. You have no doubt heard it before, but I invite you to listen
through the ears of a Unitarian Universalist today.
“Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are
powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens
us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small
does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that
other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as
children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light
shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are
liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Every
soul is sacred and worthy. Each and every person we know has a seed of
humanity, a spark of the divine inside. They are worthy of salvation in this
life they deserve the opportunity to participate fully in the human experience,
to have meaningful relationships, to find fulfillment, and the opportunity to
growth. And so do you.
-Amen-
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