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May 2005 Sermons
May 1, 2005 SermonRev. Nancy D. DeanMay 1, 2005Touchstones: Spirit and SubstanceI hear that I am getting a reputation as a minister who does not like to hear cell phones going off during the service. I deserve that reputation; but just to be clear, I do not like to hear cell phones going off during dinner at home or out, at the theater, or the library. I don’t mind having this reputation, but I do hope that you understand why I find cell phones going off during some times so much more egregious than if I hear them in the supermarket, for instance, which I actually don’t mind at all. It seems perfectly logical that a phone call could remind the shopper to pick up something important not on the shopping list. However, I don’t know that I need to learn that Lucy has a sleepover tonight and the speaker has to buy enough snack food to keep them nourished through the night since no sleeping is expected, but she can’t decide if Doritos is a better choice that potato chips, or should she get both (this was a conversation I heard Friday from a loud person). Though, as no doubt most of you have experienced, some of the things cell phone users share with all and sundry would make my mother blush, in fact sometimes make me blush. I have a feeling writers of novels only have to linger in just about any place nowadays to hear wonderful tidbits to enrich the characters and plots in their novels. No, I don’t mind having a reputation for wanting cell phone courtesy; for like any other courtesy we ask in human society, it is for the benefit of one another, for our mutual benefit, that such courtesies are extended. But, there is a reason beyond common courtesy that makes me want to preserve this one precious hour each week from all kinds of unnecessary interruptions, and it is precisely due to the fact that for many of you, perhaps most of you, it is only in this hour that you can devote your spirit to any serious renewal. It may be that only in this hour you have a chance to lift up the heartache that is hurting you, or to share the joy of another-both forms of sharing are healing. It may be that only during this time you can hear a message of hope and courage. So, it is for you and for me, for all of us, that I seek this settled hour of worship, lifting up the living spirit within each of us, the living spirit that needs at least one hour a week of peace. To free this hour so that we can let go of the noisy, busy-ness of life is a driving force behind our Sunday morning services. We seek this hour on a Sunday, because our spirits need some moments of peace, purposeful moments of purposeful peace. It is not too much to ask. We live in a time of high stress, indeed I don’t think I am stretching much to say that we are living in the most stressful time that has existed. Clearly, our prehistoric ancestors had some stresses that we rarely experience, like facing down wild, hungry creatures. But, if we view stress as the consequences of how much we expect to do in any given day, how much we are trying to balance of work, home, play involving heavy duty amounts of driving, communicating, and organization, then we are the most driven, the most wired (and you can take that two or three ways) people bar none. We are stressed. There is not a medical professional alive who does not tell us that unmitigated stress is unhealthy; some stress is not bad, that is what keeps us on our toes and kept our prehistoric ancestors ahead of the game. But stress that does not give us time for the things of the spirit in fact kills. More and more these days, we are hearing from doctors that we must take care of mind and body. A healthy mind is crucial for healthy body, and the healthier the body the healthier the mind. I did just read some interesting suggestions or directions for how to handle stress: • Use your MasterCard to pay your VISA bill. • Pop some popcorn without the lid on. • Put your toddler's clothes on him backwards and send him off to preschool as if nothing were wrong. • Read the dictionary backwards, and look for subliminal messages. • Bill your plumber for the time you spent waiting at home between 8:00AM and 12:00 noon. These might give some momentary relief, but I hope we all can be more intentional about finding time to calm the mind, to be here in the moment. Stress in life is to be expected, but not stress as life-for this we were not born. In point of fact I like most of modern technology. I like computers, I like email, I like cell phones, I like electricity, plumbing, telephones, and airplanes. I like modern technology for all the things that have been made easier, faster, and safer. But, every front has a back. We invent wonderful gadgets to aid and abet human lives, but we also have to remember what life was like without them, and not be afraid of life without them. Most of us are plugged into so many electronic gadgets that we’re on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, says Esther Sternberg, MD, director of the integrative neural immune program at the National Institute of Mental Health and author of The Balance Within (W.H. Freeman & Co., 2000). [Further] And the effect on our mental health is formidable: a waterfall of stress that can mess up brain chemistry and send us spiraling toward a variety of anxiety disorders or even, in some cases, an episode of major depression. The last vacation my husband I took was to coastal North Carolina, we had a cell phone, a Blackberry, and a laptop. I say “we” loosely. Now what is the purpose of a vacation if it is not to turn off the workaday mind, to turn off the workaday gadgets? This was N. Carolina, so we were not in some remote desert or mountain range, help was always near at hand. So it was not for any other reason than the need to continue to stay plugged into work that we had these devices. This is not rare. Everything I read on the subject of stress says that this is indeed common. It may be common, but this inability to turn off from work, to tune out from the normal daily routine, is not healthy. The spirit is with us 24/7, but we are often so mentally and spiritually segmented that we begin to lose our sense of well-being and wholeness. We need time to quiet the mind, time to quiet the awake mind; sleep may or not be quiet time depending on how stressful your life is. I, for one, tend to be wakeful at night, to dream stressful dreams, have nightmares, and this happens far more when I am not attending adequately to quieting my awake mind/spirit. There is no mystery. Much of what brings us so much stress has to do with work, with trying to make a living, trying to acquire a certain lifestyle, and so forth. The problems begin when we get so caught up in these things to the exclusion of the important things of the spirit; this is when we get in trouble. The spirit suffers when we lose the important balance between the things we want and the things we truly need. Eugene Halton, professor of sociology at Notre Dame wrote: "Though we devour
the expected goods of a consumer culture, they're not necessarily [what] we find
most meaningful later in life." The highly respected University of Chicago sociology professor, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, stated in The Meaning of Things, a study he co-wrote, that he found that "we go from coveting kinetic objects as children to contemplative objects as adults.” Based on this and other works of his that I have studied, I suppose him to mean that in a healthy human being, one who finds great meaning in life, that as we mature, we find that physical objects give pleasure less as we age while people and things that stimulate our thoughts become more important. Lately I have talked with some people who are in treatment for cancer, or recently have been. Virtually all have learned the healthy value of meditation for healing; how important it is the direct the mind to thoughts that are nurturing, peaceful, healthful. I am always profoundly touched by the deep well of caring that I see rise up in people who have to deal with this frightening disease. This is true for people who face any frightening disease or situation. Such people become so filled with compassion for others, but, more importantly, they become filled with compassion for themselves as well. How few of us have compassion of ourselves. Is this because we are too busy to be compassionate with or for ourselves? This ability to feel compassion is part of the real substance of a meaningful life. It seems a shame that all too often we don’t realize how important it is to do this healthy mindfulness until we are fighting major illness or trauma. As Dr. Andrew Weil stated in the reading: “Health necessarily encompasses our bodies, minds and spirit, and true health can not be easily attained without a strong connection to our spiritual selves.” One of the surest signs of intellectual and spiritual maturity is that we begin to understand what the touchstones are of our lives. In the older understanding, a touchstone was a hard black stone, jasper or basalt, which was used to test the quality of precious metals like gold and silver, by comparing the streak left on the stone by the metal in question with a streak left by a standard alloy. In other words, it was a reliable measure, a constant by which to judge the worth of a suspect metal. Over time the general idea of a touchstone has lost the metallurgy references, and means a reference point, or: An excellent quality or example that is used to test the excellence or genuineness of others: “the qualities of courage and vision that are the touchstones of leadership” (Henry A. Kissinger). Naturally, having to confront the realities posed by a major illness gives us such a touchstone. We have a true basis for comparison between the things that are of real worth and the things that are extraneous or of less significant. But what about those of us who are not confronted with major illness or difficulties? What are our touchstones? Where do we find them? One place where I find a touchstone is in comedy. Comedienne Monica Piper said: I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, smoking too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? This is my idea of a great day! Comedy is usually lifting up the truth in a way we find much more palatable. We can learn while we laugh; I call that a pretty good tradeoff. We have long since learned the healing virtues of laughter. I even heard you could lose weight by laughing! The connection between stress and spiritual and physical well-being has been known as far back as Hippocrates who talked about it. But not until fairly recently have studies been done that show conclusively how vital this connection is. Esther Sternberg, M.D., is among the top researchers in this field, in her book, The Balance Within, she discusses how nerves, molecules, and hormones connect the brain and immune system, how the immune system signals the brain and affects our emotions, and documents how our brain can signal the immune system, making us more vulnerable to illnesses. Whether we call it heart-mind awareness, or body-soul connection, we are now talking about a singularity of being that does not permit us to ignore the spirit or heart or soul-- however you understand that essence of being-without consequence. The touchstones we most appreciate in keeping our mind and body in a healthy balance are those we love, our family and friends, and our communities, especially our religious communities. These are the touchstones against which we can measure the rest of the stuff of our lives. We need some time to quiet the mind, to rest the soul, to listen to the spirit. This is why we are gathered this hour in this place we have created and made sacred to the mind/spirit. May this place and this time be here for as long as there are thirsty souls looking for a deep well from which to drink, by which to rest. So be it. May 29, 2005 SermonRev. Nancy D. Dean with UUSMC member Jim Young a veteran of WWIIMay 29, 2005Fond Farewells: A Memorial DayAmerican Soldiers who have died so far in Iraq: 1656; wounded: official 12,350, estimated 15000-38000. American Soldiers who have died so far in Afghanistan: 183 WWII American Soldiers dead: 407,316; wounded: 670,846 (12.25 of forces) WWI American Soldiers dead: 126,000; wounded: 234,300 (4.6 % of forces) British Soldiers dead: Just under 3million, almost 1 million dead American Civil War dead: 624,511; wounded: 475,881 (11.1% of forces) Revolutionary War: dead 4,435; wounded 6,188 (5.7% of forces)
Wilfred Owen, British poet of WWI, who was killed by machine gun fire in France one week before the Armistice in 1918, is noted for his poetry of war which remains among the best of testimonies to the horrors of war: Soldier's Dream I dreamed kind Jesus fouled the big-gun gears; And there were no more bombs, of ours or Theirs, Today this service is to honor those who have died in our country’s wars, and to honor those of our loved ones, both those who served in the armed forces and those who have died in other ways and other times, that we would have remembered. Like many of you here, I grew up in the shadow of the Second World War, in fear of a third as we waged the cold war with the Soviet Union. Many of us also grew up with the reality of the Civil War remembered on Memorial Day which had originally been instituted as Decoration Day (the last veteran of that war died in 1958, and for some reason I remember that from the news which my parents watched religiously every evening), with Memorial Day reminding us of the First and Second World Wars; and, all of these wars marked by memorial statues on the greens and in the squares of our home towns. It would be lovely to think that there will be no more World Wars, but somehow I cannot quite reach that far even with my perennial optimism. No doubt many also grew up with family members who served in Korea and Vietnam, and now we are experiencing the current Iraq war. I have had family members in all of these. Further, as you know, that does not cover all the small conflicts that have intervened between these major wars. From earlier in this year I read this statement: It is important to know that from World War II to present, there have been 612,875 Americans, mostly young, who have lost their lives in the service of the nation. An additional 928,900 returned to their homes suffering from wounds they received on the battlefield. A lot of patriotic service for our country. Today and tomorrow, Memorial Day, we will remember. This morning we have a rare privilege of hearing from Jim Young, one of our own members, who served in the Navy during World War II; this is a generation who are passing from us even as we gather this morning. Jim will share some of his thoughts with us in honor of the war dead and dying. [Jim Young speaks] I have not been to war, though my son was in the Air Force during 2001-03 flying in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq; often bringing home the injured, the dead-and the insane, a group we rarely hear about, but we should remember that war does make some soldiers lose their minds. My 25 year-old nephew lost his leg when the Hum-V he was riding in was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. For most of us, war is over there, somewhere. Only with the 9/11 acts of terrorism that killed 3000 civilians, American and from around the world, did war seem close. But with all that in our faces, already part of our history, the news papers this morning had little on the front pages; only small squares on the front pages of either the New York Times or the News Journal. You have to turn to page 15, of the News Journal to get the real war news. There seems to be a tendency to keep death at a distance. We do not even show the returning coffins of our war dead, though for us here in Delaware, the Americans all come home through Dover Air Force Base not fifty miles away. We don’t see or read the war news in any newspaper in such a way as to be truly horrified by the daily loss of life that continues in Iraq. So many people die in wars. So many soldiers and civilians die in wars, or suffer as casualties of war-minded groups. Civilians usually die in much greater numbers. War is so much a part of our history and our understanding of human existence that perhaps we have forgotten in our cultural memory how to be horrified by war-unless it touches us personally. Not, though, the service men and women; they do not forget, for they have lived the horror of war. We have a Memorial Day to be reminded of the horror of war, but for all too many it is simply a long vacation weekend that marks the beginning of summer. It is hard to know whether to laugh or cry. Perhaps in one way, it is a fitting memorial to live happy lives, to go on and do the things all those who died would have wanted to do themselves. Yet, how can we ever learn enough if we do not remember enough? Aristotle taught, and philosopher George Santayana epitomized the truth in the famous line that, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Will my grandchildren, I wonder, grow up knowing what it means that we have Memorial Day? Will they learn the ugly truth behind the existence of this day? If we are going to base our predictions on the media, then it seems unlikely they will get the overwhelming message of destruction that brought Decoration Day into existence and furthered it into Memorial Day. I have turned this morning to the poets of war, those who lived its terrible reality in the trenches, on the battlefields, and on the seas. Because so many died in the First World War, a time when poetry was still a living art for people, some of the best and most memorable comes from the pens of those Englishmen like Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, and Wilfred Owen. Owen even assumed more war in this poem: The Next War War's a joke for me and you, Out there, we've walked quite friendly up to Death,- Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
Here are the thoughts of an American soldier poet of World War I, Alan Seeger: Rendezvous
John Jarmain who died in WWII wrote: At A War Grave No grave is rich, the dust that herein lies
This is a tribute to those who served and died in our recent wars, they who left these poems to speak their witness that we might remember. This is not too much to ask of us, we who have lived and thrived as a result of their sacrifice. It is important! It is important that Americans young and old alike understand the true significance of this Memorial Day holiday. Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Togo West said: A group of children were asked, 'What does Memorial Day mean?' And they said, 'It's when the swimming pools open. In many respects across this nation, Memorial Day has become a time when families have a little quality time together. And I don't think those who died to defend this nation would begrudge families that quality time. But Memorial Day is for the purpose of honoring those who died in service to the nation, so a moment of silence gives us all an opportunity to remember them and what they stood (for) and what they died for. Rupert Brooke who died on the approach to Gallipoli in 1915, wrote one of the most haunting poems of war, from which I will read only the opening lines: The Soldier, <http://members.aol.com/sonnetear/soldier.ra> If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware Let us think only this of each of our service men and women who have left hearth and home to fight, often with no clear understanding of what they are fighting for, only knowing that they are fighting for something precious they call home. That there is some corner of a foreign field for many of them that is forever that place called home, is what makes us need to stop and remember. There is some place in Iraq that is forever our nation’s young men and women, even if their bodies are brought home, their blood was left behind to stain on the desert sands of Iraq. Iraq, birthplace of civilization, of all places to be at war. My nephew’s leg was blown into pieces not recovered, so there is some place in a foreign field or road or street that is forever him; and forever all the wounded who bled, who lost limbs, who come back maimed in a hundred ways too gruesome to ignore. But, I am not I resigned to war; I am not resigned to forgetting. The poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay, whose life spanned both WW I and II, wrote this of death: Dirge without Music I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you. The answer quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave Let us not be resigned to war, my friends. Let us not be resigned to our loved ones dying apart from families and friends who love them. Let us remember that this is not how we are supposed to die. This is not how we are supposed to live, who stay behind. Blessed be, Amen. |
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