Author: Doug Slagle

(c) Rev. Doug Slagle, The Gathering at Northern Hills, All Rights Reserved

In less than ten days, across half the planet, the sun’s rays will reach their northernmost point.  For a few days, the sun’s northern trajectory will stop.  It will go no further before it begins its long journey, over several months, to the southern horizon.  Of course, the sun does not journey north and south every year.  It’s us – our planet earth – that revolves and tilts in relation to the sun.

For ancient Druids at Stonehenge, Egyptians at the Great Pyramid or Mayans at their Temple, summer solstice was one of the most spiritual days of the year.  Light conquers darkness, the sun god gives its blessing to mother earth, and all of creation’s lesser gods respond with vigor and abundance.   Summer solstice, for ancients, was the culmination of the creation story retold every year.  Born in the cold of winter, the sun matures and grows until it reaches full adulthood in June.  All of nature is growing and responding to it – all the better to nourish and feed.

This miracle of the sun’s journey is better understood now.  There is no supernatural ability of the sun and earth to bless or punish.  They are not gods.  The sun and planets operate according to inexorable laws of physics set in motion billions of years ago according to the push and pull of mass and gravity.

My purpose today is not to offer a message on astronomy but to instead encourage our focus on what I call summer spirituality.  We will not gather outdoors here on the summer solstice and sacrifice an animal, our crops or some misbehaving Board member!  We might, however, use the entire summer season to immerse ourselves in nature and find times to meditate or even pray about our connections to the universe.  As we throw off the shackles of indoor climates and heavy winter clothing, we will reunite with the larger universe – in the woods, in our backyards, at the water’s edge.  In doing so, we cannot help but thrill at the miracles of existence – and the great mysteries that still perplex our greatest scientists and philosophers.  Why do we exist?  What purpose does life serve – if any?  What set in motion the sun, earth and stars – and why?  For me, such questions constitute spirituality – much like they did for the ancients.  Basking in the joys of summer,  I’m face to face with things much greater than me.   And so I often turn inward to reflect and try to better understand myself and the world around me.  My message today is meant to encourage our contemplation on such matters.    

I believe every person wants to be connected, in some way, with mystery, inspiration and awe.  For many people who do not believe in a personal, all powerful and all knowing theistic God, including myself, belief in the power of science to explain all things is unsatisfying.  For me, science offers an incomplete understanding of the existential questions I just posed.  In that sense, I’m a spiritual seeker far more than I am a “rejecter”.  I’d rather focus on what is positive and so, instead of framing my beliefs on what I’m against, I instead speak of a positive spirituality.  Therefore, contrary to some who do not believe in a theistic God, I believe that a little ‘g’ god force does exist.

For me, this god force is a part of the observable and definable natural world even if humans do not fully understand it.   This god force is a function of exquisite complexity found in nature, physics, astronomy and biology.  To believe in this type of a natural god is not belief in a religious god.   Instead, I’m a believer in a mysterious force that exists in all things.
This belief of mine is nothing original.   Most say a form of this natural spirituality began in the seventeenth century with the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza who was described at the time as being “god-intoxicated” since he saw a little ‘g’ god in everything.  Spinoza advocated what has come to be called pantheism – a combination of the greek root words ‘pan’, meaning ‘all’, and ‘theos’, meaning god.  Spinoza saw a universe of remarkable intricacy that nevertheless worked as an integrated unit.   God, for him, is not some outside anthropomorphic Being manipulating all creation like a puppet master.   God is pervasive, immanent, and all-encompassing.  God is everywhere and in everything – in a tree, a stone, a star, a child’s face.  While some state that pantheism is merely a reverence for nature, others reject that simplistic definition.  Many people like me believe there is a separate force that is common to all things – a force that fundamentally explains everything.
As a religious pantheist, Spinoza asserted that god is not a being but rather a truth that animates nature.   Science can explain the mechanics of how many things work but it cannot yet explain the why of their first creation.  Such is the force that spawned the first cellular life, initiated the Big Bang or pushes the boundaries of the universe ever outward – feeding on a dark energy cosmologists believe exists but can’t explain.

For some, pantheism is the theology of Paganism.  Pagans provide the structure and ritual practices that express pantheism – that god exists in everything.
And that leads me to a similar investigation of Albert Einstein and his much discussed spiritual beliefs.  While many, including Richard Dawkins who is a modern Atheist, say Einstein was in reality also an Atheist, Einstein himself would have none of that.  As he said, “There are people who say there is no God, but what makes me really angry is that they quote me for support of such views. What separates me from most Atheists is a feeling of utter humility toward the unattainable secrets of the harmony of the cosmos.”
Einstein later clarified this thought by writing, “Many Atheists are like slaves who are still feeling the weight of their chains which they have thrown off after hard struggle.  They are creatures who—in their grudge against the traditional ‘opium of the people’—cannot hear the music of the spheres.”   

He added, “The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion.  Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science.  Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment, is a dead man.”
Despite his disapproval of some Atheists, Einstein was certainly NOT a believer in a supernatural god.  For him, science and religion may seem incompatible but they instead share a common inquiry – to understand what operates and began the universe.   Einstein said that science without religion is lame, and that religion without science is blind.  He declared himself to be a, “deeply religious nonbeliever.”  I relate to that spiritual irony.
What Einstein attempted to do all his life was to make sense of the complex and seemingly inconsistent thoughts he had about theism, god and religion.  How can one be a religious nonbeliever?  In his vastly superior mind, this was not paradox.  As he observed the universe, and as he discovered physical laws that describe how things work, he was awestruck.  His mind could understand how things function but not why they function.  What force initiated relativity and the balanced interaction of light, time and space?  Why do so-called black holes defy physical laws like gravity and operate according to their own strange principles?  Why is the universe expanding infinitely?  Indeed, if we can even wrap our minds around the idea of an infinite universe, why is it that way?   Being infinite, there should be no beginning and no end.  But science can trace a beginning of the universe to the so-called Big Bang.  But what caused the Big Bang and why did it happen?   What created the infinitely dense mass of stuff that exploded at the Big Bang and thus formed stars and planets?  What existed before the Big Bang?  Are there other universes that caused it – or, could this universe have been born from nothing?  These unanswerable mysteries made the universe all the more profound to Einstein.   They were the essence of his spirituality and his humility before the almighty cosmos.
When Einstein was asked by Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben Gurion whether he believed in God or not, he replied that despite his groundbreaking theory on the equilibrium between energy and mass, E=MC2, there must be something that created ‘E’ – or original energy.  In other words, something mysterious must have initiated the energy that caused the Big Bang.  Implicitly, Einstein replied that, “Yes!” he did believe in a type of god – but not the god of man made religion and theism. 

Einstein gave voice to his beliefs when he said, “A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms – it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude.  What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility.”
For me, Einstein and Baruch Spinoza describe my paradoxical spirituality.  Reason tells me there is no theistic God, but yet there is a great mystery, a little ‘g’ god force in all things. 

Our minds give us great power, but they can take us only so far.  We stand as if at a window gazing into the cosmos – but the glass is dimmed and not completely clear.  We see a natural creation that is supremely captivating, intricate and far more complex than anything we can comprehend.   In seeing such finely tuned intricacy, we are rendered speechless and in awe.  Despite our own intellectual abilities, we are suddenly aware of how much we do not know and we are left humbled.  It is in that precise moment when we might be closest to ultimate spiritual truth. It is a moment when we perceive greatness we can never fully understand.
That is the humble spirituality Einstein pursued.  His reason told him there is no big ‘g’ God or puppet master.   Angels don’t dance on pinheads, there is no hell, people do not come back to life after dying, and there are no supernatural miracles.  But he did say that, given the choice, he’d prefer the company of religious believers over many Atheists because at least they are in awe of something.  His humility told him there is a lot he did not understand.  God, for him, may not be real but the mysteries of the universe ARE real.  In his awareness of that truth, he felt himself in the presence of things far greater than him.   One of the greatest intellects in history was one of the most humble.  Personally, I find that attitude inspiring.
Like Einstein, we at the Gathering at Northern Hills similarly reject all forms of dogma. It is a stated premise of who we are that we begin from a foundation of humility toward matters of spirituality.  Your journey to ultimate truth and enlightenment, what some might call God, Yahweh, Allah, Krishna, or Venus, is yours to choose.  It is beautiful and good in its own right.   We rely upon are our own limited powers of reason and observation to tell us many things.  But our minds, and those of scientists like Einstein, cannot tell us everything.

That is why I  believe in a form of atheistic theism – or pantheism – a worship of the god force in nature, our bodies and the physical laws that control them.  Like so many things, however, I choose a middle way – a path within the grey zone of mystery that is neither black or white, good or bad, theist or Atheist, natural or supernatural.

For the three months ahead, I encourage a summer spirituality of reflecting and meditating on such matters.  How might you hear the music of the spheres – to which Einstein spoke – the sublime harmony of atoms and molecules, birds and flowers, stars and galaxies all singing the same magnificent tune?  To do so, you might venture into your back yards, the beach, the woods, the majestic mountains –  or stare into the inky black of space.   I trust you will find there the glories of which I speak – the fantastic beauty of creation and the inspiring wonders of all existence.  At the altar of tree, star and ocean, we can unite in awe and wonder.  As humbled people, we will find reconciliation with one another, and our diverse spiritual journeys.  God is a paradox.  God is dead…and god is alive.  God is nowhere…and god is everywhere.

I wish you all much peace and joy…

(c) Rev. Doug Slagle, The Gathering at Northern Hills, All Rights Reserved

I have very few memories of the 1960’s.  I was born at its beginning and so I remember a few events from that decade – but not much about its cultural, spiritual and political significance.  Even so, the decade clearly shaped both me and most of us here today.

The sexual revolution began in the 1960’s and the gay rights movement emerged from that.  Attitudes about equality for African-Americans, women and other marginalized people also improved.  Spiritually, the sixties saw a wholesale change in religious attitudes.  No longer did most people accept, without question, the religion of their parents.  Universal values such as equality, justice, love, peace, simplicity, and humility were embraced by sixties youth as synonymous with what they considered to be honest “spirituality”.  Many hippies even became involved in the so-called Jesus movement which celebrated expansive love, radical equality and communal sharing.

The term “flower power” originated from the poet Alan Ginsburg who encouraged young people living in San Francisco to use flowers as a “visual spectacle” against non-violence.  For the so-called hippies of that era, flowers were symbols of their motto to make love and not war.  Flowers are the antithesis of guns and bombs.   

Indeed, flower power was a statement of peace.  It represented what activist Abbie Hoffman described as “friendly weakness” or a willingness to purposefully set aside anger and violence.  Flower power echoed the non -violence of Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., who all taught that the meek, gentle and humble people of the world are the truly strong.  It’s easy to be verbally or physically violent.  It’s far more challenging and courageous to be forgiving, gentle and gracious toward enemies.

During the summer of 1967, one which was called the summer of love, youth across the nation rallied in huge numbers against the Viet Nam war.  It was the high point of the flower power movement.  Using non-violent tactics borrowed from the civil rights movement, over 100,000 young people marched on Washington D.C. and surrounded the Pentagon.  Three thousand soldiers formed a protective ring around it.  Each one held a rifle with a fixed bayonet pointed at the peaceful protesters.  One of the most iconic images of the sixties is a photograph of a young man at that protest placing daisies in the gun barrels of soldiers lined up against him and others.

For us as Unitarian Universalists, the flower power movement of the sixties expressed many of the values we hold – ones which we celebrate today.  Flower children, as they were called, believed in equality such that many chose to establish communes in order to equitably share work and resources.  And those communities had a few similarities to ours.  People of all races, sexualities, beliefs and genders were welcomed.  There was minimal hierarchy.  They made decisions collectively.  They worked to achieve common goals of a peaceful, loving, and compassionate community.  And flowers were their symbol.

Interestingly, the flower children of the sixties were unknowingly following in the footsteps of one of Unitarian Universalism’s heroes – the Reverend Norbert Capek.  As the originator of flower communion, he was also a champion of the ideals flower children adopted forty years later.  Capek learned about Unitarianism during a tour of the US and, in 1919, he resigned as a Baptist minister and founded a Unitarian fellowship in Prague, Czechoslovakia.  His congregation grew in size to include 3200 members and was the largest Unitarian church in the world.  Capek dispensed with most religious trappings like the singing of hymns, prayer, clergy robes and ornate decorations in the sanctuary.  Services consisted mostly of lectures on universally accepted ethics.

In 1941, he was arrested by the Nazis who were against his liberal religious views.  He was tortured, imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp and killed in its gas chambers in 1942.  At his death, the President of the Unitarian Association, Frederick May Eliot, said, “Another name is added to the list of heroic Unitarian martyrs…”

Capek’s ministry had two foundational beliefs.  People must first love all creation.   In order to practice that ethic, he believed in the power of spiritual communities to improve the world by enlightening and empowering individuals.  He was a champion of positive thinking and having a happy outlook about life – no matter one’s circumstances.  His fellowship focused on compassion towards those who suffer while teaching that people who hurt can learn to adopt a positive attitude.  We must see beauty in ugliness, good in the midst of evil, joy in the throes of despair, and peace in the face of pain.  As he said, “The dominance of mind over the body is everything………and helps to overcome everything.”

Spiritually, he believed that each person yearns to be in harmony with the Infinite – his concept for God.  Every person is an expression of the Infinite not only because each person has inherent worth, but because we can also act much like The Infinite in our compassion and love for others.   The Unitarian church’s task, he said, should be to “place truth above any tradition, spirit above any scripture, freedom above authority, and progress above all reaction.”

In 1923, Capek initiated the flower communion ritual.  The first one he conducted looked almost exactly like what we and hundreds of other Unitarian Universalist congregations celebrate every year.  He intended it to echo his congregation’s spiritual belief in the dignity and diversity of all people.   For Capek, flowers brought to the service symbolize individual uniqueness.  Their placement together in one vase represents the communion and shared love people must have for each other.

Blessing the flowers at the first flower communion, he said, “In the hearts of humanity is the longing people have to live in neighborly love.   In the name of the highest, in whom we move and who makes the mother, the father, brother, and the sister what they are; In the name of sages and great religious leaders who sacrificed their lives to hasten the coming of the kingdom of peace and justice – Let us renew our resolution sincerely to be real brothers and sisters regardless of any kind of barrier which estranges person from person.”   

As I said earlier, many of us have been heavily influenced by the ideas of 1960’s flower children.  Indeed, some of us may have even been flower children – or at least sympathetic to them.  As Unitarian Universalists, we are also heirs to the principles of Norbert Capek.  What we celebrated today in flower communion is not just a nice way to conclude our September to June program year.  It’s not just a simple ritual with tradition and history.  Its imbued with a meaning that exemplifies who we are and what we believe.  The diversity of flowers is not just a pleasant thought.  It is a perfect symbol of our values. 

We believe that everyone is welcome here, and everyone is celebrated as they are – no matter what.  To that end, those who choose to join us also accept that value.  We don’t just say we respect and honor differences in spiritual belief, age, gender identity, race or whom one romantically loves.  We practice it.  Everybody has a voice.  Everybody seeks to listen more than opine.  Everyone speaks gently, with kindness, and with love.  We may disagree, we each may hold opinions on a range of subjects that are deeply important to us, but that does not prevent us from listening to, respecting and trying to understand the views of others.

Toward that end, we are like the flower children of the 60’s.  We are one community united in purposefully seeking collaboration with one another and with the wider world.  Ours is not a community that shuts itself off from those outside our doors and arrogantly assumes we have all the answers to life, death and eternity.  In a world awash with extremism where too many factions and too many religions believe they are right and all others are wrong, we say something very different.  We have more questions than we have dogmatic answers.   We are open to exploration and learning.  Such is the essence of humility and gentleness – with one another and with people who disagree with us.

This practice of friendly weakness is precisely what motivated flower power.  It was a response to American arrogance that presumed to tell Viet Nam how it should govern itself.  We fought a war against their people that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths – all based on the belief we were right and they were wrong.  Flower power, as a counter movement, offered another way.  The flower children of the sixties idealistically but sincerely believed people should make love, and not war.

Norbert Capek believed the same.  His beloved spiritual community in Prague, Czechoslovakia stood against the intolerance and violence of racist Nazism.  It taught compassion, gentleness and universal harmony – race to race, religion to religion, sister to sister, enemy to enemy.

We each implicitly know and accept those Unitarian values.  The flowers we brought here today represent them.  Consistent with my praise of us as people of action in my message two weeks ago, we don’t just say those things.  We don’t just put them in our Mission Statement and Unison Affirmation.  We don’t pat ourselves on the back because our Social Justice Action Team discusses them.  Each and every one of us endeavors to actively live according to them – in how we speak to others, how we disagree, how we act to improve the world and how we openly welcome, love and celebrate everyone.   Forgive me for borrowing the flower power motto and sounding a bit risqué, but we don’t just talk love here, we make love here.  That is a spirit in this place that we must forever honor and hold dear.  It is a Unitarian Universalist ethic – everyone deserves to be loved.  And every adult and child here strives to do their best to honor and practice that.

Flowers are brief but glorious displays of nature.  In truth, they are ways plants reproduce through beauty and a delicate display of color.  It may sound simplistic to compare ourselves to flowers but that is what we are like.  We offer the world the beauty of our principles.  And then we work to spread those seed values not by our words – but by our actions.  I look out here on almost any Sunday and honestly see black, white, child, senior, gay, straight, transgender, cisgender, male, female, Jewish, Pagan, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Humanist, Buddhist – all in communion together!  What I see is One Human Family – a vision of the world as it should be and one we must continue to help create.   (Stop and personal observation here).

As we end an historic program year, one which saw us legally merge, one that added many new faces to our midst, one in which we experienced highs and lows, laughter and tears, let us go off into our summers ready to boldly continue this good endeavor we call the Gathering at Northern Hills – a vibrant bloom of peace and joy for all.      

     

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In 1517, a young professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany nailed to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral a document that outlined ninety-five objections to Catholic doctrine and practices.  Most objectionable to this theologian was the practice of selling indulgences to raise money.  The Church decreed that a person could buy an indulgence – which was a means by which a Priest, Bishop or Pope could declare that the contributor may immediately enter heaven upon dying.  One could also buy an indulgence for a deceased relative and save his or her soul from spending centuries in purgatory – which is a waiting area to which Catholics believe souls must stay before entering heaven.

This theologian, whose name was Martin Luther, had committed a revolutionary act.  Because of it, he was excommunicated and labeled an outlaw.  Luther’s publication of his 95 Theses, as they are called, is considered one of history’s most momentous actions – an act of defiance that forever changed history.  Its repercussions impact even us here today.  Unitarian Universalism emerged from Protestant belief which originated with Martin Luther’s protest.

The primary theological argument Martin Luther made against the Church was its doctrine that a person is not saved from hell by belief alone.  A person must show acts of faith, or good works, in order to prove one’s inner belief.  Taking communion, regular confession, prayer, giving to the church, charitable works and clean living are all Catholic requirements to enter Heaven. 

Luther, however, argued that the Bible says one is eligible to enter heaven merely by believing.  He pointed to a verse in the Biblical Book of John, John 3:16,  which is verse often seen on signs that people display for TV cameras at sports games.  It says, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

In other words, if a person believes in Jesus, that he died for one’s sins and was resurrected, then he or she will go to Heaven forever.  That’s it.  That’s all one need do.   Luther pointed to this verse, and to other Bible verses, to claim that just believing – or faith alone – is what makes a person right with God.

And therein lies the rub.  Luther was raising a fundamental theological issue – one that has been spiritually debated for thousands of years by multiple religions – and it still is.  Is being a good person, is going to heaven a matter of simple belief or a matter of also performing good deeds and following religious duties?

Jesus affirmed the latter.  He was a man of action and he encouraged the same.   He spoke eloquently about the need to serve others.  He did not simply engage in sermonizing.  He touched the sick and deformed.  He healed.  He sat down with and befriended so-called sinners.  He lived a life true to his ideals of simplicity and humility.  In other words, he acted.

Jesus challenged the talkers of his day – those who piously postured about their morality and generosity – while they ignored real problems all around them.  Such people loved to pontificate.  They loved to pray aloud for all to hear.  They loved to brag about their seemingly large charitable donations when they weren’t sacrificing much at all.  The religious hypocrites loved to scurry off to the Temple to worship while passing by and ignoring the hungry, the blind, the lepers, and the poor.

Overall, the point Jesus and other religious prophets like Moses and Mohammad have made is that being a good person, a so-called “godly” person, is a matter of doing.  One must offer evidence to the world that one’s inner heart is spiritually true.  One doesn’t do that with just a  profession of belief, but instead with acts that literally prove one is more loving, caring, giving, serving, humble, gentle, forgiving and peaceful.  One may not ever be perfect, but one had best examine whether he or she is at least changing for the better…….

You may ask, why do we need to be concerned about such a seemingly minor theological debate – between believing or acting?  As people who respect all beliefs, why does this theological issue matter to us?  Ironically, even though Unitarian-Universalism emerged from Protestantism, it rejects the standard Protestant dogma that faith alone is all that matters.  We claim that spiritual beliefs are a personal matter and one is never asked to change them so long as one respects the beliefs of others.  But more importantly, we hold that since every person has dignity, it’s we who must act to preserve and protect that.   Theologically, Unitarian Universalists claim it is us who are the little ‘g’ gods who create goodness and justice in the world.

Where racism, oppression and hate exist, we must both renounce them and practice the opposite – to love and respect everyone.  Unitarian  spirituality is invested in its actions.  Do you say you are a good person?  Show it.  Do you say you believe in principles of service, humility, equality and compassion?  Show it.  As one unknown commentator once said, “Actions prove who somebody is.  Words just prove who they want to be.”

In that regard, a fundamental hallmark of modern Unitarian Universalism is that spiritual action must be wedded to spiritual belief.

For my three part series this month, I spoke two weeks ago about the power of ideas.  We must not fear innovation.  We need a continuous flow of new ideas in order to change for the better.  Last week, I spoke of the power of character and how true morality is non-judgmental, empathetic and gracious.  Good character does not point out the flaws in others – as much as it looks inward to change oneself – while encouraging better character in others through positive reinforcement.  To conclude this message series today, I assert that since ideas and character are important, then plugging into the power of action is essential in order to prove them.

This is an important topic for us.  Congregations are supposed to be dynamic organizations that do much more than hold Sunday services.  They should be vibrant and supercharged with action.  As spiritual people, our primary goals should be to positively change ourselves and change the world.

There are several hallmarks of a healthy, action oriented spiritual community.   I encourage us to think about these criteria and how they apply to the Gathering at Northern Hills.  First, action oriented churches are inwardly strong but outwardly focused.  Second, they encourage spiritual insight AND good deeds.  Third, they value their impact in the wider community more than they do their number of members or the size of their budget.  Fourth, they would be greatly missed by the wider community if they ceased to exist.  Fifth and finally, they regularly ask, “Whose lives have been influenced for good because of this spiritual community?”

Interestingly, my thoughts on what constitutes a healthy congregation match those of many young people.  In a recent Pew Research analysis, there has been a 70% decline in affiliation with organized spirituality by the millennial generation, those who are ages 18 to 34.  What the Pew research discovered is that young people are increasingly disillusioned with contemporary churches, mosques and synagogues.  They see religious organizations and people who talk a lot about morality but who do very little to act and address issues such as inequality, poverty, and bigotry.  For millennials, religions and spiritual communities are often political and theological advocacy groups – one’s that involve themselves in politics, judgement and moralizing.  There is too little emphasis, they say, in doing the social work of Jesus, Muhammad, Gandhi, Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King.  Religions, they claim, are not action oriented.

As one twenty-something recently put it, “I don’t want to attend any more churches or be around any more church folks who are all talk and no action.  I don’t want one more person telling me they are religious when their actions scream that they are no more concerned with my plight than Attila the Hun.  Fake spirituality is everywhere in America, and it’s because it is centered on “self” and what we can get from it.   And plenty of pastors preach to that end, too – how we can get more from God while never addressing the issue of what we should be giving back.”

Millennials are often portrayed as self-absorbed.  But that stereotype is false.  80% of millennials, based on last year’s tax returns, contributed to a charity.  Large numbers of them volunteer for civic and charitable groups.  Demographically, they are the most diverse American generation in history – 40% of millennials are non-white.  And over 50% of their children are non-white – pointing to an even more diverse future generation.  As such, young people want to be a part of organizations that look like them and act like them.  Spiritually, millennials desire action over dogma.

What this means for the Gathering at Northern Hills is that we must evaluate and implement new ideas on how to be relevant to young people – if we hope to attract them as members and insure our future.  Fortunately, this congregation already meets one criteria millennials expect of spiritual places – we actively work to help the poor, marginalized and distressed.

But our level of compassionate activity can always be increased.  As most of you know, the Gathering at Northern Hills partners with local charitable organizations to help them serve.  To the Lighthouse Shelter for Homeless Youth, we prepare and serve lunch sixteen times a year.  We purchase hygiene supplies for them and our youth assemble those supplies into almost 2000 packets a year that are distributed to homeless youth.  We work every month at the Freestone warehouse assembling weekend bags of food for elementary aged children who experience food insecurity.  Over the last year, we’ve assembled thousands of such food bags.  We prepare lunches for 100 homeless children ages 5 to 10 for a summer camp organized by a local charity called UpSpring.  We will be preparing such lunches this year on June 15 and July 13 and many volunteers are needed.  Four times a year we help host homeless families by cooking and serving them dinner, playing with their children and spending the night with them.  We will hear about this Inter-Faith Hospitality outreach in a few minutes, as a part of our monthly SPARK presentation on ways to get involved in social justice.  Last December, we provided over forty holiday gifts to local youth in need – thanks to the organizing efforts of two of our members.   And, as was presented at last month’s SPARK third Sunday, and thanks to the work of one of our newest members, we will soon be actively assisting immigrant families in Cincinnati.  Several people signed up to help in this effort and I’m excited about ways our congregation will answer anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant attitudes.

And I am constantly thinking of ways we can do more.  Just this past week a member told me about four persons in our congregation who, on their own, tutor children at the local Winton Woods elementary school.  I know of other members who tutor at other area schools.  I plan to follow up on this, publish a training date to be held this summer at Winton Woods, and encourage members from our congregation to spend an hour or two a week tutoring children at risk in our neighboring schools.  This will be one additional way we, as spiritual people, can take action and give voice to our belief that insuring the well-being of ALL children is vital.  I encourage you to bring to the Social Justice Action Team other ideas on ways to serve the poor, hungry and oppressed.

Our mission is to plug into the power of action because that underpins what we believe.  We consider ourselves imperfect people who nevertheless want to improve ourselves and the plight of others.  We take spirituality to a high level – what we believe is what we also do.  And we must continue and strengthen that approach for our own sake, for the sake of insuring our future by attracting young people, and for the sake of being true to ourselves.  We are each ministers to the wider world.  We will plug into the power of action.  We will preach not with words – but with deeds of compassion and justice.  We will walk our talk.

I wish you each much peace and joy.

Immediately after the end of World War Two, after hundreds of concentration camps were liberated and their atrocities revealed to the world, most Germans insisted they had no idea about the killing of over six million Jews, communists, homosexuals and persons with physical or mental challenges.  Germans said they had been fooled by Nazi propaganda and that the level of inhumanity was kept secret from them.

Furthermore, German soldiers who had been concentration camp guards, workers who ran the railroads which delivered millions of Jews to the camps, and the owners of factories who used camp inmates as workers – all of them said they had been forced by Nazi officials to do such things or risk their own imprisonment.  In other words, these people did know about the Holocaust but they insist they were only following orders.

Many historians, however, have conclusively shown that the German population was aware of the Holocaust while it was happening.  As early as 1933, news reports in German media detailed how many people were being imprisoned.  Anti-Semitic laws were passed, Jews were fired from their jobs, they lost their homes and most simply and suddenly  disappeared.  The average German knew something very bad was happening to Jews and others.  Indeed, by the start of the war, camps were so numerous that citizens of cities located near them could not help but know what was happening within them. 

The fact that millions of Germans knew about the Holocaust, and many participated in it, is a subject psychologists and sociologists have studied ever since.  How could a nation primarily comprised of Christians go along with such inhumanity?  Why were there no protests or mass opposition to the Nazi political party and to Adolf Hitler once their murderous intentions became clear?  How could so many Germans participate in the killings?

The answers to those questions are complex.  Many people cite reasons such as Nazi propaganda and historical European anti-semitism.  But those reasons fail to address the abandonment of fundamental standards of morality.  It’s as if Germany lost its moral compass.  It’s national character failed them.

And that leads to a question that is even more chilling.  What would you or I have done had we lived in 1930’s and 1940’s Germany?  Would we have looked the other way regarding the Holocaust?  If we had been ordered to work in concentration camps, would we have gone along simply because we were following orders?  Or, would our standards of morality cause us to protest, not participate and thus risk our own lives?

There are two landmark studies that attempted to address the question of how character and morality influence behavior.  Stanley Milgram, a Yale University psychologist, ran a study in 1962 where volunteers were recruited to serve as test givers.  Others were assigned to be test takers.   Each test giver was told to deliver an electric shock to a test taker if he or she responded incorrectly to questions.  What the test giver did not know is that the test takers were paid actors.  No electric shocks were actually administered even though the test givers did not know this detail.

Results from this experiment showed that a huge majority of the test givers followed orders to increasingly shock the test takers for each wrong answer.  Despite horrific screams, cries of pain and pleas to stop the experiment by the paid actors – each time they were supposedly shocked – the test givers continued to follow orders.  Most expressed concern about the harm they thought they were inflicting.  Some considered stopping.  Most exhibited some level of stress.  But when they asked to quit, they were told that for the purposes of the experiment and in order to achieve reliable results, they had to continue.  A few test givers continued to protest and they were then ordered to continue administering electric shocks.  Nearly 70% of the test givers proceeded to the point of administering what they thought were near lethal electric shocks.

Results from the experiment shocked experts and the general public.  Many believed the results were unique to that group of volunteers and that the results could not be duplicated with test givers from other cultures or with all female volunteers.  In every follow-up experiment, results were statistically the same.  Test givers, no matter age, race, religion or gender increasingly shocked the test takers and very few quit the experiment – despite the fact they believed they were causing extreme pain.

Dr. Milgram, the lead scientist, concluded that, “Ordinary people, even when the destructive effects of their work becomes patently clear and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few have the resources needed to resist.”

The other landmark study involved using Seminary student volunteers.  They were asked to prepare a sermon for a select group of VIP church attenders.  When driving each Seminary student to the location where they would speak, some were told they were very late.  Others were told they were early and had plenty of time.

On arrival at church, every Seminary student came across someone who had supposedly just fallen, hit their head and was in need of immediate assistance.  In almost every case, the Seminary students who had been told they were running late did not stop and assist the injured person.  Those who were told they were early, almost all stopped and helped.

This experiment, along with the Milgram electric shock experiment, indicated that human character and morality are often situational and not ingrained.  They are not a natural part of who we are but rather they depend on a number of variables.  Otherwise good people can and do act in ways that are contrary to standard morality.

In both of these examples, people were attuned to the morality of following orders.  Many of the test givers in the Milgram experiment reported that when they were told to continue shocking the test takers, they did not think about what was normal good behavior.  Their moral inclinations toward the test takers were superseded by their moral inclination to obey orders.   The same morality was true of the Seminary students.  They were focused on the importance of doing the right thing for those waiting to hear their sermon.  Their morality was not blind but was, instead, refocused.

The ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato both believed that morality is a function of choice.  Humans have the free will to choose to do good or do bad.  We have control over our character.  That fact, they said, separates people from animals which are controlled by instinct.

The Milgram study and the Seminary student study proved, however, that we do not have complete control in choosing our character and morality.  How we behave is subject to a number of external influences we cannot control – like the life situations we face, our level of education, how we were raised, our environment, our genes, the chemical mix of hormones within us, and our mental and physical health.  In other words, humans are just like fellow animals.  We are unable to fully choose, by ourselves, our character.

And that concept shocks most people.  It contradicts the foundations of society which seeks to judge human character by punishing the bad and rewarding the good.   What we’ve learned, however, is that our character and morality are not absolute.  They are subject to change and they evolve.  They are open to different circumstances.  Ultimately, the character found in any one of us is not perfect.

If all of this is true, how do we plug into the power of character to improve the world?  If our character is not always a matter of our choice, if we are prone to influences we cannot control that affect how we act, what can we do to become better people?  What is a standard of good character to work towards?

I believe we can look to the human Jesus as a role model in this regard.  We see from his actions a form of situational morality.  Despite the standard belief that he was peace loving and gentle, Jesus instead shouted at and name-called his opponents.  He often flew into a rage when confronting hypocrites – as he did when he saw supposedly moral people selling items for their own profit within the religious Temple.

When he faced imminent arrest and execution, Jesus was not calm or at peace.  He struggled with a desire to run away.  When he was invited to raucous parties with wine and single women, he eagerly attended.  Jesus  regularly sought out people and events that supposedly moral Christians of today would categorically reject.

Interestingly, Jesus understood the nuances of human character.  He challenged the hypocrites of his day to stop judging others.  He noted that only those who have done no wrong in their lives should judge others.  Implicitly, he pointed out that nobody can meet that standard of perfection and so nobody has a right to morally judge another.  He taught that we must stop condemning the misdeeds of others when we have major flaws of our own to correct.  He echoed what Confucius said, “When we see people of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see people of bad character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.”

Most of all, Jesus was deeply empathetic about human behavior.  He reached out to supposedly immoral people with compassion and understanding.  To the woman caught in adultery, he was tender and kind.  To a woman married and divorced many times, he gently counseled her to find meaning not in the arms of multiple men, but by caring for others.  He was similarly understanding toward thieves, prostitutes and the greedy.  He did not condone bad behavior as much as he sought to understand it and encourage change for the better through positive reinforcement.

For Jesus, character evolves.  Good character acknowledges past mistakes and learns from them.  Good character is not legalistic and judgmental.  It is open, flexible and generously empathetic.  Character is not defined by perfection.  Instead, character is life enriching and ever understanding of imperfections in oneself and in others.

Character, for me, involves just what Jesus offered to people he encountered – understanding and the benefit of grace.  I find that by seeing the good in people and praising for them for that is a way to encourage better behavior.  I’m also aware of my own failures and so I try my best to avoid hypocrisy.  I’m all too aware that what I might consider less than good character might be perfectly OK for others.  As a victim of people who condemn my homosexuality as immoral, how could I possibly judge others engaged in behaviors that cause no harm? 

Plugging into the power of character is about loving, encouraging and serving others so they can be their very best.  Character is about doing for others what we want done for ourselves – living out the one universally accepted moral standard: the Golden Rule.  Personally, I want to be forgiven my misdeeds even as I’m asked to learn from them.  I don’t want someone to impose their standard of morality on me – just as I don’t seek to impose mine on them.  If one is following the Golden Rule, he or she will do no harm to others and exhibit, in my opinion, good character. 

What Jesus could not tolerate were the hypocrites of his day who pretended to be pious and moral people but who were secretly arrogant, greedy, lustful, and hateful.  For Jesus, hypocrisy is the greatest of sins.  The power of character, therefore, lies in understanding our own foibles and those of others, placing them in their proper context and, if they are harmful to others, encouraging positive change in the offender.

All of this is to say that what occurred in Germany during the Holocaust can never be condoned.  It was evil taken to a horrific extreme.  But the sobering reality is that most humans are capable of acting in similar ways.  In that regard, we must be aware of negative influences on us and undertake ways to counteract them.  Demagogues, discrimination and hate must be immediately rejected whenever they occur.  People must be on guard against false propaganda that appeals to our worst instincts.

While I purposely avoid expressing political views in my role as a minister, I believe this nation faces a serious threat in its choice for the next President.   Character demands that we confront bigotry from any candidate.  It demands that we confront violent, discriminatory or misogynistic speech.  It demands that we speak against hate in any form.  As spiritual people who do not claim to be perfect, we should nevertheless do all in our power to prevent the election of someone who expresses values totally inconsistent with universal standards of goodness.  I will not mention a candidate name who should be opposed, but I trust in our wisdom to identify him or her – and then do all in our power to defeat that candidate.

What I’ve hopefully outlined is a way to plug into the power of true character.  In doing so, we will understand our imperfections, we’ll empathize with flaws in others, we will practice the Golden Rule by doing to others what we seek for ourselves, and we will avoid, as much as possible, hypocritical judgements.  The power of character, therefore, lies in genuine humility, gentleness, love, understanding and compassion for ourselves……..and for each other.

I wish you all peace and joy.

To conclude my message, I asked Michael Tacy if he would learn and perform a powerful song that relates to my topic.  The song he will sing would be be highly controversial in many churches – but I trust that here it will be understood in the context of my message.  The song, “Take Me to Church” by the artist Irish Andrew Hozier, was nominated for a song of the year Grammy in 2015.  It was one of that year’s most popular tunes.  Hozier said he wrote it in protest against Catholic Church judgement of gays, lesbians and other supposed sinners. 

        I relate to the song because it speaks of what happened to me when I came out eleven years ago to my previous church congregation.  It speaks of how religion in general has judged and excluded millions of otherwise good people for behavior that harms nobody.  Even today, I will invite gay friends and others to visit here, or other spiritual places, and most decline.  They have been so wounded by organized religion that many want no part of anything remotely similar.

        Let us listen to this song, the lyrics will be displayed for you, and let us reflect not in order to condemn religion, but rather in sorrow at the human propensity to judge, hate and scorn people who may be different.  Let us reflect on what it means to show grace to others, to praise people instead of tearing them down, to love instead of demean.  Ponder, if you will, what truly good character means to you and how you can plug into its power.  May we listen now and reflect on the song “Take Me to Church” – with humility, with honest self examination and with a continued willingness to stand against those who hate.

       

 

Of the billions of ideas put forward in history, some have proven so profound and of such lasting benefit that the course history was dramatically altered.  Other ideas were simply silly.  In Victorian England, a time period of extreme prudishness about sexual behavior, books written by women could not be placed on library bookshelves next to books written by men……unless the two authors were married.  In seventeenth century Europe, high heeled shoes were invented for wealthy men – so they could physically announce their supposed superiority.  In ancient Egypt, prospective brides were jailed if it was shown that their makeup disguised facial imperfections from potential husbands.   And, during Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” to drugs campaign, millions of pencils were distributed to high school students with the motto “Too Cool to Do Drugs” printed on their sides.  As with many silly ideas, this one ended badly.  Students avidly used the pencils – but the more they were sharpened down, the motivational message on them soon became “Cool to Do Drugs” and, eventually, “Do Drugs.”

My message series this month will focus on three powers I believe are necessary for creating lasting change in ourselves, our Community or the world.  The power of ideas, of character and of action sound like standard ways to succeed – but there is an ironic truth about each power that challenges us to move beyond prevailing thinking.  

About sixty years ago the philosopher Thomas Kuhn coined the phrase “paradigm shift” to define a moment in time when the worldview fundamentally changes because of a new idea.  Without ideas, progress is not achieved, change does not happen and human development stops.  The power of ideas is in their unique ability to initiate change.  As much as we might believe that brute strength, wealth or bombastic speech causes change, such abilities are nowhere as powerful as a simple, but profoundly innovative idea. 

Imagine what the world would be like today had not a physicist in 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, lamented that research was inadequately disseminated between scientists?  Those working in one lab or university were often unaware of developments discovered in others – even in labs nearby.  He put forward the idea of computer to computer communication – a network to allow scientists access to research stored on computers at multiple locations.  The internet was born and it has proven to be so monumentally significant that humanity will never again be the same.

Indeed, ideas such as farming, Newton’s mathematical principles of gravity, Einstein’s theory of relativity, Darwin’s ideas on natural selection, Enlightenment concepts of human rights, vaccinations as a way to prevent disease and even the health benefits of soap – these ideas have changed history.  No King, army or demagogic Presidential candidate has achieved as much.

The history of spirituality has been much the same.  As an idea, spirituality has been around since the earliest days of human evolution.  Ancient spirituality helped make sense of a chaotic natural world.  Early humans held ideas that natural things are governed by gods who must be kept happy.  As humans moved from small clans to larger cities, spiritual ideas and gods became more complex.  Powerful gods allowed societies to exert control over their citizens and that initiated greater progress.  Eventually, so-called universal religions developed which were specifically intended not just for one nation, but to be spread to people everywhere.  Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are such religions and each has had deep impacts on history.

Within the last two hundred years, a response to those religions has developed.  Exploring other religions is a hallmark of contemporary spirituality.  That involves an inner search for meaning which relies on personal experience and reason.  This new spiritual idea acknowledges an ultimate unknown reality but the emphasis is on improving present day life through humanist ethics of compassion, tolerance, patience and harmony.  For many of us who subscribe to such spirituality, it is a hopeful idea – one that is not divisive but instead inclusive – and one that sees a realm of goodness right now and not in some unknown afterlife.

  For each spiritual idea, human society was altered.  Religious ideas have helped initiate social growth allowing for ever larger groups of people to live in common cause. 

What is true about science and spirituality, however, is that the power of ideas lies in the concept that no idea should be fixed.  It’s not just the novelty of a new theory or invention that has power.  Ideas cause change and therein lies their power.  Stop ideas and you stop progress.  In order for ideas to have power, they must constantly be refreshed and replaced.

For instance, as much as Einstein’s theory of relativity was first hailed as an immutable law, it is now questioned.  The continuous expansion of the universe, perhaps caused by something called dark energy, may well redefine Einstein’s relativity.  Dark energy has opened up an entire new study into the nature of the cosmos and it might be the elusive unifying theory that scientifically explains everything.

Christianity, as a spiritual idea, has also underdone change.  The current Pope has undertaken a modern effort to dramatically change Christian ideas.  Responding to contemporary realities, Pope Francis is challenging boundaries of ancient dogma on divorce, sexuality, the environment and the ability of non-Christians to enter heaven.  He’s also helping to initiate a paradigm shift in religion about what it means to follow God.  Is the goal of any religious belief ultimately selfish – to assure the well-being of one’s eternal soul?  Or should spirituality be more concerned about the present well-being of all creation? 

Pope Francis chose as his papal name that of Francis of Assisi – a man who equally challenged and altered the prevailing ideas of his time.  Born in 1181 CE to wealthy parents, Assisi was a playboy in his youth.  After a paradigm shift in his thinking, he realized how miserably the poor in Italy lived – while Priests and Bishops basked in luxury.  Francis renounced his wealth and founded the Franciscan order of monks who committed themselves to the idea of simple living.  They dedicated their work to help the sick, marginalized and poor.  Their guiding idea is something Jesus taught: Those who are great are not Popes, Princes, and the wealthy, they are humble servants.

Assisi’s idea was to build caring communities where each person renounces self-interest to serve the needs of others.  By doing so, he saw the ironic benefit that if everyone cared less for themselves and more for the needs of community members, everyone got their needs met.  Self-less-ness is a powerful idea for helping others, and paradoxically, it’s a powerful way to help oneself.  If my concern is to help you – and your concern is to help me, we’re both better.

At the lowest end of society in Francis’ time were the lepers who were forced to live outside any village.  To get food and water, they could enter towns only at night and had to ring a bell to announce their presence.  Most villagers ran away, hid themselves inside their homes and locked the doors.  But Francis and his fellow monks did the exact opposite.  Instead of running away from lepers, they ran to them with food, clothing, and compassion.  It’s this idea of radical disregard for one’s own well-being that still clashes with the desire to primarily look out for oneself. 

After Francis was ordered to accompany a Christian crusade against Islam in the Middle East, he was so horrified by the slaughter of innocent Muslims that he sought out the Arab Sultan and asked for forgiveness in behalf of all Christians.  The Sultan was so impressed that he agreed and reached a peace treaty with Francis that ended the crusade.  On his return to Italy, Francis ordered all Franciscans to no longer evangelize and convert non-Christians.  His idea of peaceful cooperation between religions is one that, again, was far ahead of its time and it still has the potential to change humanity.

  Francis of Assisi was also an early environmentalist.  Depictions of him show a man who is surrounded by animals.  He spoke about nature in ways similar to native-Americans – the fire, moon, forests and animals are our sisters and brothers.  We must therefore care for them and tend to their well-being.

Francis’ ideas were spiritually revolutionary for his time – as they still are today. The modern Pope Francis has reminded the world of those old and yet new ideas which hold the promise to fundamentally alter society – if humanity would only heed their goodness.  If we serve others at least as much as we serve ourselves, if we are truly tolerant of people who are different from us, if we cherish and tend the environment, the world will be better and, as I’ve said, we will each individually be better.

The power of ideas therefore speaks to us on multiple levels.  Ideas promote change.  We cannot fear change as much as we ought to fear stagnation.  As individuals, as a spiritual community, as a city, nation and one human family, we must be creative, thoughtful and idea oriented.  No practice should ever be safe from a new idea.  Too often, it’s a standard refrain in many cultures and churches that whenever something new is proposed, the idea is rejected because it’s not the way things have always been done.  That way of thinking is fear based and leads to the demise of any society or organization.

Being open to new ideas is a way of thinking that asks questions more than it accepts dogmatic answers.  Binding ourselves to any belief which is not open to exploration is a declaration that reason and intellect are worthless.  The power of ideas is, in truth, the power of our minds, spirits and hearts to innovate and explore.

In that regard, it’s essential for us to always question the way we live.  What paradigm shift in my thinking or actions do I need to move beyond safe but stagnant waters?  What paradigm shifts must you undertake?  What new ideas do we need for this Spiritual Community?

I used this argument in favor of our recent merging efforts.  Unfortunately, the merger idea resulted in some members departing, some difficult moments of transition, and some expense of time and resources.  I personally embraced the merger because I saw in it both a new opportunity and a new challenge for myself as a minister.  How can I take my abilities to a new a level?  How can I expand my horizons? 

And I asked the same questions of both congregations.  It felt safe to stay within the familiar confines of our former communities instead of moving to a new place or adding different people to our midst.  While our merger has so far succeeded, many mergers do not and ours certainly could have failed.  Most of us did not allow that possibility to deter us.  Ideas do fail, but, as Teddy Roosevelt said, “It is not the critic who counts; not the person who points out how the strong one stumbles…the credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who errs…who comes short again and again, but who does actually strive to do the deeds…who spends himself (or herself) in a worthy cause.” 

The power of our idea of a new and combined spiritual community was found in its worthiness.  I firmly believe that the Gathering at Northern Hills is now many, many times stronger and more influential than either the Gathering or Northern Hills Fellowship would be alone.

But we cannot let the power of that idea to allow us to be complacent.  We need continually new and creative ideas.  I love the ideas that sometimes percolate up from our groups and committees – new ways of organization, new social justice efforts, new Sunday practices.  But there are far more ideas we can and should pursue: new collaboration with other congregations, new ways to serve others, new statements of justice to publicly proclaim.  There may also be paradigm shifting ideas to ponder that would fundamentally alter what we currently do.

I don’t, however, support change and new ideas simply for the sake of change.  At heart, I’m a cautious person.  Reason demands that we use prudence when considering any idea.  But, I strongly support us being a place where ideas, good or bad, are always welcome and always given careful consideration.  I challenge myself – I challenge each of you – do not be afraid of new ideas and do not hesitate suggesting any innovative idea to our Board, a committee, to me or during our talk back time. 

Perhaps we might treat ideas as if they are like our children.  We enjoy creating them.  We nurture them.  We hope for their best.  The scope of their ambitions are not belittled – but instead championed.  And, even if they fail, we still love them as we learn from their mistakes.

Within ourselves, within this spiritual community, within our nation and world, we must continue to plug into the power of ideas to advance the well-being of humanity and all creation.

I will each of you peace and joy.

For our Talk Back time, I’m interested in three possible comments from you.  Your thoughts on the topic that ideas do have power, OR, an idea that has was a paradigm shift – an “aha” moment in your life, OR, an innovative idea you suggest for this congregation….

I welcome your thoughts.

Thank your comments!  While Michael plays some background music, let us now take a few moments for silent reflection or prayer on ideas of goodness at work in our lives and in the world.  Let us pray for good ideas, that they might spread far and wide, that you and others here this morning will promote them, and that ideas such as servanthood and humility will  change the world as we know it.

In the annals of American history, Harriet Tubman looms large.  She was born into slavery and suffered beatings and injuries at the hands of  white oppressors.  In 1849, Harriet escaped and made her way North to freedom. She quickly returned South and helped guide to freedom her family and seventy other slaves.  She founded the Underground Railroad of safe houses for escaping slaves.  She helped John Brown recruit others for his raid on Harper’s Ferry.  During the Civil War, she worked as a Union spy – helping guide one military raid that freed over seven hundred slaves.   After the war, Tubman was active in the women’s suffrage movement.  William Lloyd Garrison, a leading abolitionist of the time, gave her a nickname that stuck.  He called her “Moses”.  Like that great Prophet, Harriet Tubman was an activist who not only promoted freedom, she risked her life to achieve it for others.

In my series “Dancing with the Prophets”, two of the prophets I’be  discussed, Jesus and Mohammad, are proven historical figures.  While some of the claims about what they did, like various miracles, are not proven history, both men were real people.  But the prophet we’ll consider today, Moses, is an unproven figure.  There exist no non-Biblical accounts of his life.  Moses and The Passover accounts in the Old Testament are, therefore, not literal history but, instead, allegorical stories intended to inspire.

Even so, Moses has come to represent any person, like Harriet Tubman, who fights for freedom against forces of oppression.  His character was a patron saint to millions of African slaves, and modern commentators see Moses as similar to more recent freedom fighters like George Washington.  He is an inspiring but fictitious Prophet – a religious, political and military character who fought for freedom.

I spoke three weeks ago on Easter how Jesus represents the importance of personal and public renewal.  Last week we considered how the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, represents values of peace and non-violence.  Today we’ll look at how Moses is a Jewish prophet who represents freedom.  And the Passover holiday, which begins this coming Friday, celebrates freedom and its many meanings. 

For those who struggle with negative attitudes or inner flaws, Moses is a symbol of change and redemption.  To people who suffer discrimination due to racism, religion, poverty, sexism or homophobia, Moses is a symbol for justice.  It’s in these ways that Moses and Passover honor hard won freedoms of the past and those that still must be won.

The important lesson of Passover is how the story of Moses applies to us.  What negative forces within ourselves work to enslave us?  Are we angry, fearful, haughty, addicted, depressed, unconfident, or unexamined people in need of freedom from those issues?  Is our culture, nation or world a violent and hateful place for refugees, blacks, Muslims, women, gays, or the poor?  Is a modern day Moses needed for them?  If so, is it we who are called to be Moses figures who fight for personal or social liberation?

The beauty of Passover and its Seder celebration meals are in how they call people to remember, learn and ask questions.  The joy of gathering with friends and family to share a Seder meal on Passover is given added purpose by symbolic rituals and foods.  Each Seder food item, the egg, the bitter herb, the lamb, the matzah, the sweet apple mixture, and the wine have meaning and are intended to be consumed thoughtfully and in reflection.  During a Seder, one does not simply eat good food and think good thoughts – as one might do at Thanksgiving.  Instead, Seders are a combination worship service, celebration meal, history lesson, prayer time, social justice reminder and call to action.

During this message, I’ll guide us in celebrating and eating three foods that represent some of the freedoms the character Moses inspires.  The word ‘Seder’ means order.  A full length Seder, or ordered meal, will be offered here by MJ Pierson this Friday evening and I encourage anyone who has not participated in a Seder meal to sign up with her to reserve your place.

I’ve placed on our Chalice table a typical Seder plate – similar to one that will adorn thousands of Passover tables this Friday.  On it is an egg symbolizing new life, a Spring vegetable symbolizing hope, a lamb bone symbolizing sacrifice needed to realize freedom, a bitter herb symbolizing the pain of injustice, an orange symbolizing human equality and, last but not least, matzah bread symbolizing the blessings of life.   Also on the table is a cup of red wine symbolizing forgiveness.

As most of you know, Passover celebrates the events of the Exodus Bible story.  It is common at every Seder meal to recount the allegorical story.

It describes how Moses, acting as leader of Jewish slaves, asked Egypt’s Pharaoh to let his people go and allow them to return to their homeland.  Pharaoh refused.  Using power granted him by God,

Moses increased pressure on Pharaoh by causing ten plagues – from an infestation of locusts, to the death of cattle, to turning the Nile River into blood, to finally causing the death of all first born sons.  But for that tenth and worst plague, God gave the Jews an escape by telling them to paint their doorposts with blood from a sacrificial lamb so that the Angel of death will pass over, and not kill, Jewish boys.

Once it was realized many Egyptian boys were killed, Pharaoh relented and allowed Jews to leave.   Moses told his people to hurry and bring with them needed bread.  Because of the rush, they could not give the bread dough time to rise and were forced, instead, to bake it unleavened and without yeast – exactly the same as modern matzah.

So the Jews fled, Pharaoh and his army pursued them to the Red Sea where Moses commanded the ocean to separate and provide a dry escape.  He used the same power to cause the ocean to drown pursuing Egyptians.

Once they were saved, the Jews forgot all of God’s miracles.   The story says they began to grumble and complain – better to be a slave and eat well than be free and live poorly, they said.   Even though Moses and God hoped the Jews would unite as a pious people, they did not.  They rebelled against God’s rules – the Ten Commandments.  They returned to a lifestyle of wine and partying instead of piety and obedience.  They began to worship multiple God’s including a gold statue of a calf.  Even Moses acted contrary to one of God’s commands.  As punishment, both he and the Jews were ordered by God to wander in the desert for forty years.  Only a new and more pious generation could enter Israel. 

Later, from a mountain overlooking Palestine, Moses peered into the land of milk and honey – one he would never visit.  He died the next day and soon, his successor Joshua, led Jews into their new land.

Annually remembering this Passover story is a command written into the Jewish Torah.  Today, even liberal and Reform Jews honor that command.  The holiday symbolizes the historic Jewish ability to survive countless challenges and tragedies.  Significantly, the story has meaning for us too.

Just as Jesus and Muhammad taught universal lessons for all people, so too does the fictional Moses.  One lesson is embodied in the Seder meal consumption of what is called a Hillel sandwich – named after a famous rabbi.  Combined on a piece of matzah are two of the symbolic foods found on a Seder plate – a bitter herb or horseradish called maror, and a sweet mixture of apples, raisons and nuts called charoset.  We will soon sample these elements.

The maror or bitter herb symbolizes the heartache of bondage and slavery.  Jews on Passover consume maror to remember not only their past slavery, but also the pain of other past oppressions – especially the Holocaust.

On a personal level, Seder participants are asked to remember, when eating the bitter herb, the forms of bondage in their own lives.   What ways might one be enslaved by a personal flaw like anger, lack of forgiveness, fear, depression, addiction, greed, or prejudice?  Passover calls people to free themselves from any personal negativity.  Eating a symbolic food representing the pain of bondage – a bitter herb – is one way to do that.

The charoset, or apple mixture, is intended to symbolize sweetness of life and freedom.  By escaping Egyptian bondage, Jews were set free.  There was joy in that and so Jews commemorate it by eating sweet food the ancients might have consumed.   In doing so, they celebrate ancient freedoms but also ones they might individually have won – freedom from bitterness or freedom from fear as two examples.

Complementing the maror and the charoset, is the matzah bread.  Matzah plays a central role in Seder meals for it represents all that is good in life.  Whatever one believes God to be……she, he, or it – is a force of love.  That force of love grants us food for nourishment, life to enjoy, companions for support, minds to think, and all of nature in which to enjoy and be inspired.  Matzah represents all good things that God provided the ancient Jews and all the blessings we now enjoy.

Like the Jews in the Exodus story, we can take for granted our blessings.  Bread has always symbolized life and goodness.  Placing bitter herbs and a sweet apple mix on matzah bread is a way to understand and remember the contradictions of life.  It’s filled with pain but, ultimately, it’s to be enjoyed and valued.  Love, family, friends, food, wine and our very existence are not to be taken for granted.  Seder meals remind participants to be grateful for all they have and Matzah is a symbol for that.      

To finish my message, I want us take a few moments to actually engage in a brief Seder moment of reflection, prayer and food.  Debbie and Bill Palmisano, our Seder meal attendants, will pass around trays of matzah pieces spread with horseradish and apple mix.  As Michael plays soft background music, please take a napkin and a piece of matzah spread with horseradish and apple mix.  Please hold it until all are served.

Let us use this time to eat and reflect on the symbolic meaning of the food we hold………in doing so, may we celebrate an early Passover, may we show unity with the spirit of Jews and all others who have suffered oppression………….As you now eat, taste the bitterness of the horseradish and remember some of the past challenges in your life – how you have endured and overcome……a health issue, a relationship breakup, the death of a loved one, an addiction, an attitude problem, racism, sexism, homophobia or anger directed your way……Remember also the pains of our world – hunger, poverty, violence, disease.  Allow the hurt of suffering around the world to fill you with sorrow.

But with the bitterness of horseradish, you also taste the sweetness of apples and raisons.  Use that taste to fill you with hope…….Despite the pains of life, we can still find goodness in our midst…….the hope of kindness extended by others……the love we feel from family…..the examples of charity and service we see in this congregation and in many others……the promise that from every negative experience something good will result…..and the resolve we can feel to do something about the challenges in ourselves and the world.

The Jewish Torah says that bad things in life are caused by negativity in us or in others.  But God, the Torah says, intends for all bad things to ultimately be turned to good……..There is a dawn for every nighttime…………a life in every death……….a hope in every defeat……..a Spring for every winter.

That’s the purpose of mixing bitter with sweet in Seder food.   The joy described in the Passover story when Jews were set free can be remembered in eating this food.   But each of us also have stories of overcoming, in the past or present, for which Passover and the food we’ve consumed can represent new hope, new life, new freedom.

What we know here is that our spirituality is not a trivial exercise.  To examine our minds and our hearts, to ponder the great questions of life, to seek after a power greater than ourselves – these are essential tasks for everyone.  By celebrating the Passover, Jews and non-Jews alike  undertake a spiritual exercise that reminds us to always be grateful, always humble, always aware of personal challenges to overcome………….and always ready to act and speak in the cause of justice and freedom.

I wish all of you much peace and joy…

To close our brief Seder experience, I’ve asked Mel Levrant to recite for us, in Hebrew and English, two Jewish prayers of blessing.  I’ve also asked Mel to share with us his own thoughts about Seder meals and their meaning…

Susanne Bjorner

(c) Rev. Doug Slagle, The Gathering at Northern Hills, All Rights Reserved

The Quran instructs Muslim faithful to greet others with the phrase, “assalaamu alaykum” which means, “peace be upon you.”   One is to do this whenever coming across any person – anywhere.  And the one who is so greeted is to immediately reply “wa alaykum us salaam” – “and may peace also be upon you.”

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, taught that greeting one another in such a way is a sign of respect.  It’s also an expression of Allah’s love and desire that. peace be a principle virtue. 

I want to add here that the Quran instructs that when mentioning the Prophet’s name, one should also wish peace be upon him.  When writing about him, Muslims often employ a shortcut using the letters “pbuh”.  For my purposes, please assume I wish peace be upon the Prophet every time I say his name this morning.  In doing so, both I, and you, pay him and Islam our respect.

Muhammad said that greeting one another with “peace be upon you” is a way to immediately put an encounter on good terms whereby no anger exists between two parties.  All meetings, even between enemies, is begun on an equal footing of friendship and forgiveness.  Even further, Allah forgives those who do his or her part to spread such peace.

When asked by a follower which of all Muslim teachings are the two most important to follow, Muhammad replied that the highest commands are first, to feed the hungry…………and, second, to say salaam to those you know, and those you don’t know.  In doing these things, he said, a Muslim will prove that he or she truly loves both Allah and other people.

I find it remarkable how similar Muhammad’s teaching on salaam is to Jewish and Christian values.   In truth, similar core beliefs among most world religions is not surprising.  While most sacred texts, including the Quran and the Bible, include verses which by themselves oppose other religious beliefs, the core teachings of most religious Prophets are the same.  Whatever one might call “God”, she or he is a force of love.  He or she calls people to be charitable to one another.   And, importantly, the God force at work in the universe is one of peace and not of violence.

It’s for this reason that Unitarian Universalism is so crucial in today’s world.  Whether or not people belong to the denomination, its respect for and celebration of all religions is a model to follow.  “One Truth, Many Paths” is more than just our UU slogan.  It’s a statement that celebrates religious diversity while acknowledging all faiths have valuable insights. 

My message series which I began on Easter is focused on this concept.  And I use the painting hanging above our chalice table as my inspiration.  On it, all of history’s great prophets are dancing together to the same universal tune.  It’s a fanciful idea but one that, as I said, is essential to the well-being of humanity.  Instead of religious wars and hatreds, people must seek after the heart of what is universally true and good.  Whether one worships Jesus, Allah, Yahweh, Braman or a science based Unifying Theory, each one is a force for love and peace.

And Muhammad, as a Prophet, taught and modeled those ideals.  In ranking the most influential persons in history, Muhammad is in the top three.  The revelations he received became the Quran and the foundation of Islam – now the fastest growing faith in the world and one that will soon become the largest.  While Muslims see Muhammad as the human messenger of God, he was more than that.  He was a spiritual, political and moral genius – a man who almost single-handedly changed the course of human events.  He was also a remarkably gentle man who chose the ways of peace whenever possible.

Because that was the way Muhammad lived, the Islam he helped to found is a religion of peace.  Indeed, the word “Islam” comes from two root Arabic words – from the world sa-laam and from the word “slim” which means to submit.  Islam therefore means peaceful submission to Allah and  peace with all humanity no matter one’s race, nationality, gender, economic status or religion. 

Muhammad was born in Mecca, Arabia in 570 CE.  His parents were poor and, at a young age, he was sold as a slave.  While he was later reunited with his mother, poverty and his experience as a child slave had strong influences on his life.   Arabian society at the time was highly stratified with a few wealthy elites having all the power.  To climb from poverty and slavery to be a man of great influence was virtually unheard of.

In his youth, Muhammad was known as a person of integrity and gentleness.  He was often called “al-amin” or, honest and truthful one.  That honesty attracted the interest of a wealthy widow who asked him to be her husband.  This woman, Khadijah, was both older than Muhammad and the owner of a successful business.   Due to marriage, Muhammad became a a rich and powerful man.

But his newfound privilege deeply troubled him.  He had seen firsthand the indignities of poverty.  He saw how money buys a better life for the rich but does so at the expense of the poor.   He began to question the fairness of his culture, the role of spirituality in fighting injustice and what the gods might say about those matters.  And so he began to take long retreats into the dessert to mediate.

It was during one of his meditations that he had the pivotal moment of his life.  Experiencing what he called a terrifying moment when life seemed to be squeezed from him, he saw a blinding light and heard a voice say to him, “Read!”  He replied, “I cannot read”.  Muhammad was illiterate.  He heard the same command over and over until he finally replied, “Read what?”

In shock, he returned to his wife Khadijah who counseled him to accept his spiritual experience as authentic.  She urged him to seek further revelation from the God he had heard.  Today, many Muslims credit the wisdom of Khadijah, Muhammad’s wife, for initiating the religion.

And so the illiterate Muhammad received revelations from Allah for the rest of his life.  The fact that he could neither read or write is key.  It proves, Muslims say, that the revelations were truly from God since there was no way Muhammad could have borrowed them from other religions or written them down.  He was simply God’s messenger – a great role model and figure of history – but just a man.  Muslims do not worship him.  They worship his message and his teachings.  It is because of this that they allow no images or statues of him or Allah.  Any depictions of Muhammad always have a white smudge over the face.  All art and decorations within mosques are confined to calligraphy of Quranic verses thus emphasizing that it is the message that one worships and not a man-made image.

Of greatest importance for us, however, is Muhammad’s life example and ethics.  Born into poverty but rising to be a leader of millions, countless accounts of his life – from Muslim and non-Muslim sources – indicate he was a humble, peaceful and caring man.  He lived in a modest home, owned virtually no luxuries and was committed to serving the poor by giving to charity almost all his wealth.

Countless times, Muhammad, as the messenger for God, advocated for the rights of all people – not just Muslims.  Soon after he began using his revelations to attract followers and initiate a spiritual movement, he insisted that conversion to Islam be by simple confession in front of two witnesses.  There must be no compulsion in becoming a Muslim.  People accept their spiritual beliefs freely and with peace of heart – no matter what one chooses to believe.  After gaining power throughout Arabia, he announced that the pagans of his time, even though they had tried to eliminate him and Islam, could follow their religion without fear of retribution.

When he fled Mecca with his followers and moved to Medina, a city about 200 miles away, he prepared what has come to be called the Medina constitution – the first of its kind in history.  Muhammad established a secular rule of law that granted equal rights to religious and ethnic minorities.   Jews, Christians and pagans were both acknowledged and granted equality.  All citizens of Medina were a part of the one community, or “ummah”.

This Muslim “ummah” concept of one human family died with him when Muslims began to compete with other religions.  But for Muhammad, the establishment of a diverse and tolerant community was a way to build peace.  When people of different faiths respect and honor each other, bitter competition subsides.  You choose your way.  I choose mine – but we remain kindred souls.

Muhammad practiced his ways of peace.  When Medina was surrounded by an army raised by the pagan elites who opposed him and his new religion, Muhammad decided not to fight back.  He wisely had a deep trench dug around the city which prevented an attack and thus prevented war. 

Many years later at a climactic moment when Muhammad had assembled a large army to surround Mecca and demand Muslim rights to visit and worship at the Kaaba shrine, he chose to negotiate and not attack.  After a time of negotiation and realizing the popularity of Islam, the elites relented and allowed Muslims to enter Mecca, dedicate the Kaaba shrine to Allah and take control of the city.  Living out his peaceful ways, Muhammad forgave those who had once tortured and oppressed Muslims.  They could continue to live within Mecca and enjoy the rights of being a citizen.  It was a Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. moment of intentional non-violence.

While many critics of Islam point to verses in the Quran that seem to advocate violence against enemies and non-believers, and there a few obscure ones – just as there are in the Bible when God commanded the ancient Jews to kill every non-believing man, woman, and child- the full intent of Muhammad and his Quranic revelations was one of peace.  One verse in the Quran commands that when an enemy asks for peace, one is to immediately agree.  Another verse indicates that war is only for self-defense.  To begin a conflict is wrong.  Another verse literally says that Allah hates violence.  Perhaps more emphatic than even the Bible, the Quran says, “…if any one kills a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he killed the whole humanity…”

In this light, the idea of jihad, or holy war, has been wrongly interpreted by some fundamentalist Muslims and by misinformed westerners.  Muhammad taught that the idea of jihad is a figurative battle within the heart of each person.  It does not mean a literal holy war but, instead, a holy “struggle” of conscience.  Will I follow the path of peace and charity, or not?  That is the idea of jihad which almost all of today’s one and a half billion Muslims follow.  The Quran says, “Go out in the name of Allah and…following the way of the Messenger of Allah… spread goodness and do good, for Allah loves those who do good.”

What we find about the life and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is that he was like all great prophets.  He was a peaceful revolutionary who helped change the negative ways of his people and culture.  Muhammad, like all Prophets, taught that God did not create people to attack and kill one another.  Nor did God build a world of hate.  The spiritual vision for the world, by all Prophets, is of an Eden like place filled with abundance, peace and love.  Those of us who yearn for the same, do humanity a disservice if we falsely characterize the intentions of any religion or Prophet – especially of Islam and Muhammad.  It is our spiritual duty not only to understand Islam, but spread the truth about it.   Muhammad is one of history’s greatest prophets precisely because he was a man of peace.  We should honor him for that, and, most of all, follow his example by being people of salaam… 

And I wish you all much peace and joy…

We’ll engage in our talk back time today in conversation with Sabura Rashad, who has been attending here the last few months and is now interested in becoming a member.  Please welcome Sabura Rashad to our little stage here….

(Edited to include few direct quotes from printed works.)

Message, Part 1:

 

Good Morning. Thank you all for coming here to be my neighbor. Whether you are part of the

Gathering at Northern Hills, or visiting with us today, we all share the Neighborhood of this Sanctuary, of

Greater Cincinnati, of North America.

I understand this congregation loves to wear ties, the uglier the better. So, in order to adapt to your

traditions, John and I have added ties to our outfits this morning. But don’t be surprised if they are taken off

soon – As you know, they can be a hindrance to communication – especially singing.

This service began when I was assigned the topic “Neighbors” for First Church and St. Johns UU. Of

course, that could go in many directions, but my immediate thought was – Mr. Rogers’ Neighbors. When my

young children were of appropriate age, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was a marvelous television show for them,

and of course the prelude song “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” was a major aspect of the welcoming, supportive,

creative impact of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

What is so special about Mr. Rogers? Here is what I remember from our own family time with Mr.

Rogers’ Neighborhood. He speaks slowly and quietly, follows the same routine at the beginning of each

episode: sings Won’t You Be My Neighbor as he removes his “work” sport coat and puts on a sweater; sits

down and changes from dressy “work” shoes to comfortable “at home” shoes. He includes Neighbors of many

varieties on his show – people with different backgrounds, work experiences, talents, abilities and disabilities –

and welcomes and affirms them all. He uses puppets and live actors to tell stories about his themes, and

always leaves us with a positive and hopeful feeling.

(While Mr. Rogers died in 2003, many of his programs are available online. The Fred Rogers Company

has also started producing an animated show called Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, which is about to start its

third season. It is based on Fred Rogers’ philosophy and experience with the Neighborhood – and includes

some of the memorable elements and puppet families of the original show. Check out pbskids.)

When I decided to talk about Mr. Rogers, I was so caught up in the idea, that I ordered 8 books from

the public library – written by and about Fred Rogers. I was amazed at the number of books he had written for

children and for parents, and was delighted with the titles of some written about him. If you need help

supporting your small child in new activities or emotional challenges, you could try, for instance, Going to the

Doctor, Going to Day Care, – or When a Pet Dies. There are books devoted to helping parents understand

child development, and providing support and ideas for each new developmental stage their child experiences

I was especially taken with three books written by Mr. Rogers: a collection of his “words of wisdom,” a

collection of letters written to him by children, and a book called Extraordinary Friends, Those of you who

know our son Artie, will understand why the cover of this book struck such a chord with me. [book has photo of

child in wheelchair grinning at a friend] I will have this, and the other books, available for you to look at after

the service (and the congregational meeting).

A 1996 book of letters to Mr. Rogers is titled Dear Mr. Rogers, Does it ever rain in your neighborhood?

In the Introduction, Mr. Rogers gives some insight into his show and his care for his “television neighbors.”

[He comments about the use of television to communicate, and the limitations it brings. He enjoys the mail

more, because he can learn a little about the writer, although he still knows only a tiny bit about each]

Here are some letters – and responses which stand out for me:

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[A letter from Hannah says she is afraid of the dark. Mr. Rogers tells her many children are afraid of

the dark, and suggests play, telling stories, or using puppets to help with feeling scared. He says he is proud

of the ways she is growing, including being able to talk about her feelings.]

Dear Mister Rogers,

Do you live in there? Philip, age 4 ½

Mr. Roger’s note to the reader: “That letter reminded me of a time a young boy came up to me and said in

amazement, ‘Mister Rogers, How did you get out of the box!’

[Another letter is from Katie, who worries about Mr. Rogers’ fish; she is blind and cannot see them

being fed, and she asks him to say out loud when he feeds them.

He notes to the reader, that he now tries to remembers to say so – and this is just one of many things

he has learned from children and families.]

________________________

Message, Part II: Our World Neighborhood: the Power of Love

The books about Mr. Rogers are a great source of information – and inspiration. He studied music

composition; as we know, he worked with puppets; and he later became a Presbyterian minister. At his

ordination he was charged with ministry to children via television – and that did indeed become his life’s work.

This television ministry was an expression of his own spiritual values, and many of these values were

counter to the culture of the day. A recently published book about him, called Peaceful Neighbor; Discovering

the countercultural Mister Rogers, by Michael G. Long, goes into detail about this history. Michael Long was

given access to not only the entire run of Neighborhood programs, but also boxes of Rogers’ letters, papers,

commencement speeches, and sermons.

Here are some of Long’s conclusions:

First:** Fred Rogers helped children acknowledge feelings, including negative ones. He stressed that

although it is OK to be angry, anger must not be used to hurt ourselves or other people. He talked about the

need to stop bad actions. His counter-cultural viewpoint advocated punishment only from love, rather than as

a show of power. This was directed not only toward children, but also to adult law-breakers.

What would Mr. Rogers do? Rehabilitate wrongdoers and help them re-enter society.

** Fred Rogers was a “radical pacifist.” The first week of programs was in 1968 just after the Tet

offensive in Vietnam during the war. It was very clear then that he was against war; he also showed the need

to work for peace; and included civil disobedience in his puppet story. During the Persian Gulf War (1991) he

called war “abuse of children” – for it inevitably brings fear, and children may lose the caregivers they count on.

He also felt that peace is indeed possible – if we refuse to take part in war, if we see the goodness in

others, and do constructive things to build a world where no one needs to be afraid of others.

What would Mr. Rogers do? After 9/11, Mr. Rogers responded to terrorism by calling all of us to spread

** Fred Rogers made it clear that peace is not only the absence of war. Long says:

“Rogers had a highly nuanced view of loving relationships, of treating others with the respect and

dignity due them, and so his vision of peace demanded not only the absence of war but also the presence of

relationships of deep love . . . Rogers used his program and other venues to address many other obstacles to

2

peace, such as racial discrimination, poverty, gender inequality, the killing of animals, commercialism, and

environmental degradation.”

Indeed – Fred Rogers was vegetarian long before the idea was part of popular culture. His early

programs showed and celebrated cultural and racial diversity. His stories showed “mothering” and “fathering”

done by both men and women. Regarding individuals with mental or physical limitations, he pointed out that

everyone has limitations – some are just more subtle than others. When President Reagan said there is no

evidence of rampant hunger in the United States, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood concentrated on feeding hungry

people, and featured a story about a hungry goat eating the Neighborhood garden. Mr. Rogers’ comment to

children: Can you imagine how hungry some people must be to take somebody else’s garden? He also

pointed out that everyone has needs – and everyone can both give and receive. People who have plenty of

money, have other needs; those who receive food or clothing, have other strengths.

What would Mr. Rogers do? In last summer’s newsletter of the American Friends Service Committee

(this is a Quaker organization – similar to the UU Service Committee), there was a story of their work in Haiti,

where we know there has been devastation and severe lack of resources – and the violence which can

accompany that situation. It says:

Every Saturday morning, leaders in the camp convene small groups, known as local peace networks, to

address problems facing community members. Participants range in age from 12 to 50 They’ve developed

sanitation systems; made goods such as sandals, bracelets, and necklaces to sell; and reduced violence.

One of the local organizers says: “Before the local peace network activities, inhabitants couldn’t even walk in

some areas,… But because we have selected the most violent and vulnerable youth and young adults to be

part of the local peace network, now the situation is really different. People are feeling safe and not afraid.”

I am certain – this is what Mr. Rogers would do.

** Fred Rogers was a Universalist. He said clearly that we are all worthy of love, and that there is the spark

of the divine in each of us. (Michael Long says of Rogers: Officially, he was Presbyterian. Unofficially, he was

A final quote from Fred Rogers himself: I believe at the center of the universe there dwells a loving

spirit who longs for all that’s best in all of creation, a spirit who knows the great potential of each planet as well

as each person, and little by little will love us into being more than we ever dreamed possible.”

Consider these words when you ask: What would Mr. Rogers do?