Sermons

Preacher: Rev. Charles J. Stephens

Opening words: Albert Einstein, “A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe’ —a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings, as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
 
“Standing on the Side of Love
Depends on A Sustainable Earth”
Sermon by the Rev. Charles J. Stephens
 According Albert Einstein, we experience our self, our thoughts, and feelings, as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of our consciousness.
            So true, we do go about our daily life with the sense that we really are separate from the world. We see and experience our self as separate from other animals and we feel separate even from other humans. Those moments when we feel connected, when we feel in union with nature or in union with another being – are moments that seem so extraordinary that we often refer to them in spiritual ways.

Standing on the Side of Love is an interfaith public advocacy campaign that seeks to harness love’s power to stop the oppression of other humans. It is sponsored by the UUA and people of all faith perspectives are welcome to join. Standing on the Side of Love is an intentional effort to bring together diverse communities which sense a connectedness with others in the face of oppressive and violent acts motivated by ignorance, biases, fear and hate. This movement is based on the principle that no one should be dehumanized by acts of exclusion, oppression, or violence because of their identities or because of a lack of resources.

The goal of Standing on the Side of Love is to elevate compassionate religious voices to influence a sense of inclusion into public attitudes and public policy. Some of the ways SSL works is through community activism, networking with others and reaching out through personal relationships and through the media. Those involved in Standing on the Side of Love share the hope that when people across the nation and around the world are joined together they will be equipped to counter fear and make love real in the world.

We as Unitarian Universalists are drawn to stand on the side of love because we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of all people. And we believe that we are part of an interconnected web of existence.

The Standing on the Side of Love campaign started out working to build a society where the color of our skin, the conditions of our birth, who we love, how we worship, and how we express our gender do not determine our worth, our rights, or the opportunities before us. Standing on the Side of Love speaks truth to power within the larger society in relation to the issues of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation, Immigration, Religious Freedom and Ableism.

My original Standing on the Side of Love sermon was scheduled to happen on Feb. 16th. It was focused on those issues, but Mother Nature had a different idea about what would happen that day. We had to cancel our Sunday Service on Feb. 16th because of the severe warning of a Nor’easter that could dump a foot to twenty inches of snow in Downeast Maine.

I rescheduled the SSL service for today, inspired by the wierding of the weather I made the connection between Climate Change or Climate Weirding and the resulting oppression and dehumanizing that often happens when there are shortages of food and water. Erratic and unusual weather that causes storms, floods, draughts and fires are clearly on the increase because of Climate Change.

We have all heard about the green crabs invading the waters and shorelines of Maine decimating shellfish. We were informed that the Maine shrimp season was canceled this year. We know from personal experience that there is a gradual but steady warming of temperatures here in Maine and worldwide. True we may joke about how nice it will be to have a longer growing season, especially after last month being the coldest March on record. But in reality we know that climate change really means weird weather in the face of global warming. This winter the jet stream pattern brought brutal cold to us in the lower 48 states while at the same time delivering shockingly mild air to Alaska. Sections of Alaska recorded temperatures unheard of this winter – 40 degrees warmer than normal.

I recently finished Barbara Kingsolver book, Flight Behavior. This book combines an intimate treatment of the impact of rural poverty on people and how their situation causes reluctance to an awareness of climate change. I was entertained, impressed and moved by the story she told. She is a great story teller and writer who was originally trained as a scientist and worked as a scientist before becoming an acclaimed author.  In an interview with The Sun literary magazine Kingsolver said: “I understand biology. I continue to read science. So I’ve known for a while that climate change is underway and has already progressed to a tipping point. It’s shocking even to the scientists who have been studying it, because the rate of temperature increase is outstripping their predictions. It is already bringing significant changes to biological systems. It’s devastating to farming.” I would add that it is becoming just as devastating to the seafood harvesting and Forestry.

The hope of Standing on the Side of Love is based on people across the nation being equipped to counter fear and make love real in the world. What is needed today is the motivation to hope – hope that people across our nation and around the world will be able to overcome fear and make love real enough before it is too late.

In his reflections, Kent asked the question, why we seem to continue marching toward the greater and greater risks that Climate Change brings. We see and understand some of the gradual changes happening and we sense that our weather is increasingly weird, still, it is difficult for us to fully grasp what Climate Change is causing, it just seems to be such a huge and abstract idea that we often despair of being able to do anything.

I believe that you here in your congregation, here in Castine and the surrounding area, here in Maine love and cherish the natural beauty all around us. We love living here because we know that it is not only beautiful but meaningful and inspiring.

Generally we live here because we love being close to the natural world. We enjoy walking along a path or along the shore line or sitting in a sail boat or on top of a mountain. We are moved when observing nature so that we begin to feel at one with the natural order of things. Being out in nature is one of the most common spiritual experiences among Unitarian Universalists and among people in general.  Deepak Chopra posits that “…understanding our basic nature as human beings and how to follow the laws of nature are basic to success.”

Being in a natural setting – in touch with the earth speaks to me physically, emotionally and spiritually.  When I was undergoing chemo and radiation therapies 15 years ago, I felt a spiritual connection when sitting peacefully out in our back yard or when walking along forest path. At the same time, I felt physically stronger.

After leaving Maine in 1989, Alison and I always felt that our spirits were fed when we returned here for our vacations. We always knew that we would move back to this area when I was ready to retire from my ministry in Washington Crossing.

It is important to me that my children and future generations will have the opportunity to deeply connect with the natural world. Feeling at one with the natural world motivates me to examine my life style and dedicate my commitment to work for an ever more sustainable society. My guess is that you and most of the people living in here feel the same.

Stan Bourne made me aware of William Bryant Logan’s book Dirt. I like the way Logan writes about people not even knowing where dirt comes from other than to know that it seems to arrive here on earth as stardust. Stan read a passage from Logan where he said (soil or rather dirt) “…does not have the same unchanging character as a mountain or a river; it is a recent and ephemeral product. We owe it our lives and our energy, and the bodies we give back to it are not payment enough.” (Dirt, p. 37)

I appreciate Logan’s insistence on using the word dirt rather than cleaning it up and calling it earth or soil. Both my mother and father grew up in farming and when one of my sisters complained about dad using the word manure, mom responded that she should be happy because it took long enough to get him to use that word.

Alison and lived out at the Nearing “Good Life Center” a couple of summers ago. This week, the Bangor Daily News has run a series of articles about the Nearings and the back to the land movement they helped influence in the 1960s & 70s. Scott Nearing was a relentless and strong advocate for enriching his garden dirt by the means of composting. I have long believed in the importance of composting, but while living at the Good Life Center I learned some important lessons about composting and about the value of good rich dirt.

Gregory was a composting expert quoted in Logan’s book Dirt. He was asked “Aren’t there things that just have to be thrown away? To which he responded, “There’s no such place as ‘away,’” When asked about waste, he said that there isn’t any waste until something is wasted.

We need to stand on the side of love in reference to climate change. It is an important way to stand on the side of the less fortunate and those who have no voice. We are being called to start recognizing the difference between what we need and what we want. Once we are aware of the difference between “need” and “want,” we can began to learn to be happy and content with what we actually need. Only when we can be happy with what we need, can we avoid using more of the earth’s goods than is necessary.

By learning to be content with what we need, there will be more to share with one another and with other life forms. When we began producing less CO2 – the cause of Climate Change the future of humans and other sentient beings will become more hopeful.  

            There are those who are truly confused by all the conflicting messages they hear about climate change. Remember, Einstein said that we live in a kind of optical delusion, a delusion that imprisons us and restricts our vision.  And, to make matters worse there are individuals and organizations who want to confuse us. ExxonMobile is one organization that has been spending millions on PR companies for over a decade to create doubts about climate change. We need to remember that these are the same PR companies that tried to hide the fatal connection between smoking cigarettes and cancer.

The East German astronaut Sigmund Jähn: said that “Looking at the Earth, the Northern Lights, the fragile-looking atmosphere, the sunrises that followed quickly one after another — these images are etched into my memory forever. From space, one thing is clear: This planet isn’t so big that humans couldn’t destroy it with their greed for profit.”

Scientists who don’t have a dog in the contest agree that the carbon we mine and burn ends up in the air. Those who understand chemistry and physics know that when increasing amounts of carbon goes into the air, our planet will get warmer. Those who understand biology know that the warmer the globe becomes, all the systems we humans depend on will be disrupted and damaged.

I am not talking about choosing to live in poverty. In her interview, Barbara Kingsolver said “We all know the numbers about resource consumption here versus elsewhere: that giving birth to one U.S. child costs the same, in terms of consumption and carbon footprint, as giving birth to thirty children who live in Bangladesh. It’s not that an American body needs more to survive. The problem is the hungry American brain.” She continues, “I certainly have one of those. I own plenty of things I could live without, and somehow there are always so many muddy shoes piled up on our front porch you’d think a whole village of people lived in this house.”

The bottom line is that by consuming all those material things that we think we need literally puts an unbearable pressure on the actual climate we need to survive.  By striving to live a sustainable life style we will obtain more and more spiritual gratification. We won’t be doing enough at first, but we need to learn how to be the type of animals that no longer fouls its nest and the nests of future generations.

It is difficult to make major changes and they go slower than we wish they would. But there is hope.  When society reaches a critical mass that is ready for change the change happens. We have a current example of just that. Think about all the opposition to the acceptance of same sex marriage. I remember it wasn’t that long ago when UU congregations started becoming fully welcoming to GLBT people. I remember speaking at countless state legislative hearings in favor of the right for gay and lesbians to adopt and then for marriage equality and both being voted down. Then in the last several years a critical mass within the population was reached and things began to change.  True there is still plenty of fear and hate that exists, but more and more it is being replace by acceptance and hope. The critical mass has reached a point were societal acceptance is inevitable.

I am convinced that the same will soon be true in regards to working to counteract climate change. More and more people and organizations are recognizing the need to change our human behavior. True there is still plenty of fear and even hate directed at those speaking and working for alternative sources of energy and a sustainable society. But the tide, I believe is turning. It is time we launch strong campaigns that can move us into a new era with sustainable innovations and behaviors that help us live in harmony with the earth, and at the same time stimulate  sound sustainable jobs.  It is not too late to mitigate the impact of the pollutions we are putting into the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.

As Stieg Larsson’s fictional character in his Millennium series, Lisbeth Salander frequently reminded herself when confronted with seemingly impossible challenges: “Consider the consequences.”

There are some words from Goethe that are important to remember they remind us to not lose hope and courage:

Until one is committed
There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back
Always ineffectiveness.

Concerning all acts of initiative (and Creation)
There is one elementary truth
The ignorance which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:

That the moment that one definitely commits ones self
Then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one
That would never otherwise have occurred.

A whole stream of events issues from the decision
Raising in one’s favor all manner
Of unforeseen incidents and meetings
And material substance
Which no one could have dreamt
Would have come your way.

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

CLOSING WORDS: from astronaut  Sigmund Jahn
E. German pilot, who became the first German to fly in space as part of the Soviet Union’s Interkosmos programme.

Before I flew I was already aware of how small
& vulnerable our planet is; but only when I saw it
from space, in all its ineffable beauty & fragility,
did I realize that humankind’s most urgent task
is to cherish and preserve it
for future generations.

Reading from “Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by William Bryant Logan