“Sacred Streams”
Thank you for your wonderful stories from the water
communion earlier. There is such a rich diversity in our experience, and at the
same time a common thread. Because after all the adventures, the heartache and joy,
the learning and relaxing, after all that we are as individuals, we come back
together, to share with one another.
Today we recognize the flow of water, the give and take of
life. So many people have walked through these doors, countless people who you
and I will never knew. Countless people who have made this church possible
today have been here and moved on to new adventures. And our little church will
live on to shape the lives of still more people in the future, people who we
have not yet met, people who haven’t yet found us in the flow. All this
business about community and is slippery and difficult to trap.
But that is just our job, to catch the water of experience
and the souls that flow through our community. Our job is to create a strong
and hearty vessel, a space with room for all to join in. Let our church not be
simply an empty institution, but a vessel that will safely hold and nurture
this community.
After all, our community,
our relationships make us who we are. Our Western individualism tells us we are
our own people. We must go out into the world and make something of ourselves.
We must be independent and strong. But, no matter what we do, no matter how
much we achieve, we will never escape the fact that we live in this world in
relationship with other people. From the very beginning, we are in relationship
with others and those relationships define us.
That means I am a son, a brother, a boyfriend, a minister, a
member of this community, I am a friend, and enemy to some. Those aren’t simply
labels for who I am, they are relationships that carve out my space in this
world. Each day those roles influence my life, those relationships rest in my
mind and my heart as I choose how I will live in this world. For better or worse, I am defined by my
connection with other people.
At the very least, we are each a child of someone, and we
fill a good many other roles for other people. Relationships do a large part of
making us who we are. So, who are you? What are the relationships that make you
who you are? What or who are the other drops of water in the sacred stream of
your own life?
I mentioned before that Western culture would have us define
ourselves as individuals. But the Western modern idea of self, the rugged
individual, is not the only way. In other societies the power of relationship
is central. The sense of interconnectedness is a core value, a religious value.
Most Eastern religious traditions share this sense of fundamental relatedness. That’s
why today’s reading and story came from the sacred Hindu text, the Bhagavad
Gita.
That’s the point of the story we heard earlier about the
salt in the water. I have used the story tons of times in my preaching and
personal meditations. This story is so powerful not because of a great
adventure or wonderful characters. It is powerful because it provides a perfect
metaphor for understanding the holy in our lives.
It is
the same traditional imagery that has been used by Hindus and Buddhists alike
for thousands of years. They talk about the holy, the spirit that infuses the
universe with life as salt. It is a very real and obvious thing when separated
out. But when it is dissolved water, it becomes an indistinguishable, part of
the water, just as the spirit of life infuses the universe and our own lives.
The only task then is to remember it. Though we may not see it all the time,
the spirit that sustains us, also courses through the rest of the universe. It
always has, and it always will.
Hindus aren’t the only religious group that uses water as a
metaphor. In fact every religious tradition that I know of uses water as a
metaphor in its stories and uses actual water to enact religious rites. It
evokes something in us that is beyond any one tradition.
Water alone is a holy and sacred thing, the object of
veneration, a source of life. It is literally what makes life possible on this
planet, and somehow, we seem to know that. Little reminders here and there
point to water as sacred. My biggest Summer adventure was going to the Beach in
Mexico with my family and Christopher. There was no agenda, just to be together
by the ocean, and occasionally go for a swim. That was it. And it was
wonderful. Even though I live just a few blocks from the beach here in Laguna,
still every morning there I was glad to be renewed and refreshed by the sight
of the sea. And I know I’m not alone in that.
I know I’m not alone because I see other people finding the
same sense of connection and groundedness simply being near the ocean. Some of
you know I go for runs through town every couple of days. I always make it a
point to run through Heisler Park. No matter what day of the week it is, there
are always other people running and walking, I see homeless people camping on
the beach, I see people doing Yoga and Thai Chi in the park. There are people
reading, especially Bibles in lawn chairs they had pulled out. There are the
essential surfers and sunbathers. On any given morning, here in this beautiful
place I see person after person transfixed by the ocean. Just spending more
time here has made me realize what a common human experience standing and
looking at the water is. There is an indescribable, unreasonable draw. The
Ocean, this vast powerful force seems to hypnotize us.
There is something about water, and the ocean in particular
that has a universal appeal. It is as if somehow we know that there is
something out there, something that connects us to deeper meaning, something
that speaks to our commonality.
As I said earlier, water is a bit of a slippery thing. It’s
not always easy to see the spirit that connects us, like the salt in the water.
And yet our job as a faith community is to build a strong and sturdy vessel.
Our task is to catch the disparate drops that come our way. It’s no easy task
though.
As we enter the Fall together, I want to invite you in
helping me to build the vessel that is our community. I’m not talking about
committees or projects. I’m not talking about budgets or communications. I’m
talking about a network of personal relationships that make a church a home.
I’m asking you, each one of you, personally, to help strengthen our vessel by
deepening personal relationships.
This is
probably an unorthodox story to tell you as my congregation, but I think it is
important to make a point. I am making more of an effort myself these days to
make some space between my work life and my home life. It’s so that I can be
more fully present to each of these needs at the right time. So, last weekend,
when I went out sailing, it was my first time to skipper the boat on my own. I
gave everyone a little introduction to the boat and described their jobs for
the day, what ropes to pull when, and that sort of thing. Then I gave the most
important instruction of all. I told my friends and family that while we were
on the boat, anyone who said the word church, Fellowship, or Unitarian owed me
a beer.
There
is a time for work, and there is a time for play. To honor those two very
different activities, sometimes we have to draw a line between the them. We as
Unitarian Universalists tend to be very busy people. We like a task. But I want
to encourage you to think about separating out what is church work, and what is
social time. Make the work time productive, and leave the business out of the
social time. If you need a place to start, come to the annual picnic after the
service today, enjoy the sun and the food, and leave the business for another
day.
The
other thing you can do to help strengthen our community is simply reach out. Every
Sunday, try to have a conversation with someone you don’t usually interact
with. I’m not expecting you to become best friends. But I do expect you to find
some point of connection between you. One person every Sunday. That’s something
each of us can do.
As our
time together draws to a close, let us continue to celebrate the sacred that we
have found in our journeys around the world, the sacred that we see in each
others faces, and the sacred that rests in our own heart. Remember, as the wise
father told his son, though are that. You are the spirit of life, this day and
every day, no mater where life takes you.
-Amen.-
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