Sermons

READING ~ "A Prayer Among Friends," John Daniel

Among other wonders of our lives, we are alive
with one another, we live here
in the light of this unlikely world
that isn’t ours for long.
May we spend generously
the time we are given.
May we enact our responsibilities
as thoroughly as we enjoy
our pleasures. May we see with clarity,
may we seek a vision
that serves all beings, may we honor
the mystery surpassing our sight,
and may we hold in our hands
the gift of good work
and bear it forth whole, as we
were borne forth by a power we praise
to this one Earth, this homeland of all we love.

SERMON

I love the balance contained in that poem from John Daniel: “May we enact our responsibilities as thoroughly as we enjoy our pleasures.” It is a rarity to hear such appreciation for “the wonders of our lives” seamlessly woven into a call to care for “this one Earth, this homeland of all we love.” We must remember this balance as our birthright - to experience wholeness in our lives even as we step into our rightful responsibility as stewards of the world.

Still, the real reason I chose that poem as a kind of opening to our sermon is because of one phrase specifically: “May we seek a vision that serves all beings.” At times, I feel that my primary role as a climate chaplain is as an advocate for visions. I must confess, I often feel rather lonely in this task; it seems as though our culture has forgotten the true power of vision (despite its enduring presence in leadership dialogue).

In any case, I want to take the time today to share a vision with you… There is a time to ask how a vision can be implemented pragmatically (remembering the etymology of “pragmatic” can help in this phase; the Greek “pragma” means long-standing love). Still, before we ask “how,” we must feel a vision. In a certain sense, it must strike us with a sense of beauty and promise. Before we think about implementation, we must feel as though we have something to nurture and share with one another that makes our hearts sing - something that feels like a north star worth following.

It is very interesting to me that we have chosen “vision,” a word also representing sight, to mean a guiding light we hold in our imagination. We can be such visual beings, to be sure. But we must remember that there are many ways to “see” in the heart. Feeling emotionally, hearing, knowing, intuiting - a vision held in the heart can be as rich and multi-sensory as our waking lives.

Often, when I am working with small groups, I will suggest a visualization practice to help participants feel a sense that they share a common vision that they are co-creating. When gathering in large groups, however, it is often best to simply speak our visions into being together, inviting a resonance to emerge in our hearts much as sound resonated in a beautiful room such as this.

The vision I would like to speak of with you today has many names. It is a vision shared by many in this time. It is a vision of a world in which all are seen as worthy of dignity, respect, and care, a world in which all in the human family can know that they have solid ground on which they and their loved ones can stand, a world in which the sea will not rise and the sky will not be something that children have to fear.

Already we may notice our intellectual capacities weighing in on these images. Earthquakes have always kept some from knowing the security of solid ground. Waters have, throughout history, risen up to devour whole landscapes in the form of tsunamis and floods. Why should we uphold a vision of safety and care for all in the world when we know it has never been - and may never be - truly attainable?

Other than recognizing the reality given to us by the scientific community that the number of people threatened by environmental insecurity today is greater than ever before - giving the climate crisis an unprecedented moral gravitas - we may well ask ourselves what other visions may continue to hold sway over the world if we do not assert our own. World as Sanctuary, a vision of the world in which all can meet their needs in a world that is seen primarily as our home - our only sacred shelter - stands in opposition to viewpoints that might describe the world first as a marketplace, a resource field, or even a political arena.

If we recognize - like many business leaders and organizational experts - that vision charts the course of the histories we create in the world, we must recognize that by creating, upholding, and stewarding an ethical and compassionate vision of the world, we are playing an essential role in defying visions that would otherwise create greater conditions of harm in the world and degrade our collective recognition of the inherent dignity of the human being and all life in creation.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the work of Joanna Macy; many in left-leaning circles recognize her as a leader in the intersection of spirituality and environmentalism. Those of you who have studied her perspective may be aware that a pivotal moment in her life was a meeting with a Tibetan Buddhist lineage holder who shared a prophecy with Joanna. I imagine that prophecy may not be a part of all of our worldview - it surely has a place within the worldview of the Tibetans…

Regardless, the essential point that makes me share this story of Joanna’s meeting with this Tibetan is because of one main insight that Joanna gleaned from her conversation. She often shares this concept with audiences and in her writing. The Tibetan leader said that the challenges of our time will be overcome by those who, wielding wisdom and compassion in their hearts, recognize that every technology and system that threatens our world today is, in Sanskrit, “manomaya:” mind-made.

Of course, the Tibetan tradition has an ornate philosophy of mind that describes, in its own terminology, the mechanics that allow us as human beings to shape the world based on the contents of our psychology. For our purposes today, I share this insight to emphasize that among the first steps in changing the world is a stand we take in our own hearts. We must say firmly within: this is the world I want to see created. Nothing else will do. I will give nothing else my power, my hope, my intelligence any longer. I will stand by a vision that rings true to my heart.

In this primary step of visioning, we can - we must - be bold and audacious. We can speak in beautiful words: “This is the world of our sons and daughters, and all those yet to come. This is a world full of so many sweet houses, and beautiful shelters of tenderness and care. This is a world of countless precious things. We will not abandon what we know.”

Of course, once we feel we have touched into the spirit of our vision, we must bring it down to earth. At first, we may not at all know what we must do next to act on the vision that inspires us. Many give up here, letting a logistical analysis of probabilities overcome and dim our sense of the possibilities we have illuminated together. With bold visions that alter the seemingly iron-clad momentum of whole economies and political systems, we may only ever know the next step. If we persist, we may know another, and another, in due time. But if we do not keep our commitment to our vision - if we denounce it out of a false pragmatism that is surely not a “longstanding love” - we may never come to know the next steps available to us individually and as communities.

Though we may share a common vision of the world we wish to create, there is so much room for diversity and uniqueness in the practical ways we act on what we feel should be true. We can sign, we can write, and, in a nonviolent way, through civil disobedience, we can fight. There is so much we can do, each in our unique and self-discerned ways if we combine a steady commitment with a passionate creativity. We are more powerful than we know when we step into this balance. We all can be full of long-standing love - our world needs us so.

We must always remember that the foundational step of being whole-hearted participants in changing and securing the sanctuary of our world is keeping this vision alive within us, strong enough so that it can weather phases of doubt and carry us through the many moments when we will not know what to do next. Like a bright and beautiful flame tended on a winter night, let us tend to this vision of the possibilities available to us, for the sake of all beings and all those whom we hold dear in our hearts.

Let it be so.