Sermons

OPENING WORDS:

The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

READING from Albert Schweitzer, Peace or Atomic War? 1958

We cannot continue in this paralysing mistrust. If we want to work our way out of the desperate situation in which we find ourselves another spirit must enter into the people. It can only come if the awareness of its necessity suffices to give us strength to believe in its coming. We must presuppose the awareness of this need in all the peoples who have suffered along with us. We must approach them in the spirit that we are human beings, all of us, and that we feel ourselves fitted to feel with each other; to think and to will together in the same way…

The awareness that we are all human beings together has become lost in war and through politics. We have reached the point of regarding each other only as members of a people either allied with us or against us. Now we must rediscover the fact that we–all together–are human beings, and we must strive to concede to each other what moral capacity we have. Only in this way can we begin to believe that in other peoples as well as in ourselves there will arise the need for a new spirit…

From “In a Dark Time” ed. Robert Jay Lifton & Nicholas Humphrey p. 134-135.

SERMON:

I actually wondered- what I could possibly say today, with all the violence that has happened here in our state, in neighboring VT., in the wider world, be it Ukraine, Israel Gaza, and yes the violence that has and is happening to our earthly environment. It is no wonder people are traumatized.

The negative energy swirling around us causes us to feel that we are, and humanity, in general, is so very imperfect and poorly prepared to change the direction of things.

We as Unitarian Universalists don’t have a well thought out theology or philosophy of suffering. What are we to do with our feelings of despair? And how are we going to have the will and energy to rise up and respond with positive actions during such a dark time as this? Like many of you, I have been actively working for peace and social justice for many years. And, I have often been confronted with how to face ever new challenges and repeated discouragement.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. And as a child growing up within the Lutheran tradition, I loved the lighting of the Advent Candles during the darkest time of the natural world. I didn’t then and I don’t now, like when it gets dark before 4 pm.

So, rituals such as lighting fires, lamps and candles at this time of year has been important to me. These rituals didn’t start with the Christian religion. Most of the traditions around this time of year, like Advent and even Christmas come from much older pagan traditions.

Religious traditions are part of an ongoing and evolving process which encourages hope, reinforces compassion, and strives for peace during dark times. Naturally, lighting candles during the darkest time of the year became part of the Advent tradition – in anticipation of the Christmas season. The word Advent came from the Latin word adventus, meaning coming, but the coming of what?

The 4 candles of Advent have been given many symbolic names, which have changed over the years, like promise, light, love, and hope. Right now, after what has happened over the past two months, those positive words sound pretty good. We could use a bit of promise for the future. We could use a great deal more light during this time of year. And yes, with all the hate, fear and violence in the world, we could use more love, peace and especially signs of hope.

We need to create space and a place where we can anticipate a spirit of hope and compassion as our state and our country continues to suffer from gun violence, happening week after week in our country.

And, we need to create space and a place where we encourage a spirit of hope as we try to understand and alter the self-destructive behavior of many in our country’s, House of Representatives, especially those who proudly identify as Christian while at the same time cutting support to those who are suffering in our country and beyond? I confess, it is troubling to my heart and traumatizing to my mind.

I found comfort and hope when I read the words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian and Lutheran Minister. He was executed by the Nazi’s in 1945 for his role in the resistance movement that tried to overthrow Hitler. Bonhoeffer and those in Germany, who still believed in Democracy and the promise of light, love, and hope during the horrible fascist rule of Hitler held onto the hope that they could and should act to make a difference in the face of fear, hate and violence.

If celebrating Advent is only possible for those as Bonhoeffer wrote, “... who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect...” Then I qualify. I definitely know that I am, and that we are, as a society, imperfect in meeting this dark time with the hope of moving forward.

Bonhoeffer lived and wrote about what was happening within his country in the 1930’s & 40’s. I remember how his words spoke to me as a young draft age seminarian when the Viet Nam War was raging.

Looking back now, as a 75-year-old, I fully realize, that difficult and traumatic times are all too frequent. It was a troubling time in the world when I started serving this congregation back in 1982. Remember, that was the time of the Nuclear Freeze campaign. We realistically feared that the U.S. and the Soviet governments would never halt the testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons. And this was also the time our government was funding the Right-Wing Contras in Nicaragua.

Little did we know, back then, when the Dutch Elm Disease was destroying millions of Elm Trees that 40 years later we would be dealing with the Climate Changes that now threaten to destroy so much more of the natural world, as we know it. Nor did we know back in 1982, when the Times named THE COMPUTER as “The Man of The Year,” that 41 years later we would be so fearful of what Artificial Intelligence might do to society.

So when we take an honest look at human history, we must face the fact, that there never really has been a time when humans have not experienced traumatizing fear of violence or witnessed the divisions caused by racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination. Because of the horrible things that people do to one another there have always been things that cause fear and weeping.

This does not mean that we should dismiss such negative events as normal and give up hope. On the contrary, it means that humanity has faced trauma and challenge over and over again throughout history and still we have found ways to hold onto hope and move forward.

Lauren Artress wrote something that speaks to me during overwhelming and troubling times. She wrote that, “Crying for yourself can heal deep wounds.” Then she added, “This is not the same as feeling sorry for yourself, which happens when the ego is in control but feels helpless.”

What this says to me, is that it is not only OK, but at times it is good for us to openly weep for the deep wounds within our human community. I know for myself, when I feel the pain from local or world news and feel moved to tears, that is exactly when I also feel most strongly united with the wider world. My heart, our hearts are able to cry not only for ourselves, because we sense our own personal wounds, but we can also feel empathy and compassion for the wounds of others.

Of course there are times when we feel an inability to challenge and change what is happening in the world. And yet, it is at such moments, when we realize we need to join with others in order to build hope. It is when our hearts weep, that deep within, we as individuals and we as a community are intimately united in our shared human condition which encourages and motivates us to act for the common good.

This is the time when we need simple rituals to help us realize our common humanity and our unity with all that is. Be the ritual the lighting of an Advent candle or mentally reciting the Zen verse, in rhythm with the breath, as part of a meditation, such as the one used by Thick Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk, whose life was disrupted and traumatized by the Viet Nam War: Breath with me now:

Breathing in, I calm my body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment
This is the only moment.

It is when we realize that we are not in control of the events of the world around us that we start to gain the hope in the possibility of renewed patience with ourselves and with one another. That is the moment when we can reach out and help others.

Not everyone has the courage or the ability to speak out and act as Dieterich Bonhoeffer did when he felt united in the human suffering he shared. But, we can realize that there are things we can do to help bend the arch of our human history in a more just and peaceful direction. We may act in different ways, after all we are not all equally able to respond, but we all can be moved to act. Act as individuals and act as a congregation.

15 years ago, I traveled to Israel and Palestine on a Compassionate Listening tour with a group of Rabbis, Imams, Ministers and active lay members. We went to Palestinian communities and Israel Settlements to talk with and share food with a variety of people who had experienced violence, lost love ones, and yet who were working to prevent further violence and to create seeds of peace between Jews and Palestinians. They faced unbelievable opposition and discouragement from their own communities and yet they continued to work for peace, planting seeds of peace, they hoped would sprout and grow and they continue to work for peace yet to come.

There were those who explained to us that it was when they allowed themselves to feel the intense pain and weep openly that they eventually were able to weep not only for themselves and their losses, but also for the deep wounds within the human community that surprisingly included those they had feared and even hated. As the Sufi verse says, ‘When the heart weeps for what it’s lost, the soul rejoices for what it’s found.’

For many, the season of Advent is a time of when they look for a singular savior or the coming of a God to deliver the promise of light, love, and hope. I think it is safe for me to say, that is not what most of us are looking for during this Advent Season. For many of us, those who bring a promise of light, love, and hope will be people whom we may never know. And most frightening, we may have to accept that there is a possibility that such help may not come in time for everyone as it failed to for Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It takes a community or many communities of people working together to bring about the change for which we so fervently hope.

Some like Dietrich Bonhoeffer died working for peace and a better world. There are those still working for peace and a better world in the Middle East, and in Lewiston, ME, in Burlington, VT, and the many other communities where gun violence has occurred.

And whether we are able to recognize it or not there are those elected leaders who in good faith are working through political and diplomatic ways to bring about a more peaceful and livable world. The human community is broken and imperfect and still, and still, there are those working to make it a better community and I anticipate that there are those yet to be born who will help change the the direction of the world in new and promising ways in the years to come.

It is essential that we remember during this Holiday Season that that there are people, possibly yourself included, who will be called and motivated to work toward the promise of greater light in this world, more love that reaches beyond race, color, creed or gender or gender orientation and yes the hope for our shared world.

We need to regain the awareness that we are all human beings together. Such an awareness is often lost during war and in political battles. As Albert Schweitzer said: “Now we must rediscover the fact that we–all together– are human beings…”

This rediscovery comes when we stop and compassionately listen to the other and hear their cries. This is when we become more aware of suffering and know that we need to learn new ways to prevent the killing that is all too common in our world.

During this dark time, the seeds of coexistence may seem dormant and buried under violence and death, but this is exactly the time we are being called to affirm life and compassion. Because it true that “In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” Theodore Roethke