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Listen to Rev. M.J. Pierson’s message by clicking here:

Samhain 2016

Written by Mary Jean Pierson

INTRODUCTON (MJ Pierson)

In paganism we often honor the directions to form a circle or sphere.  It is our way of recognizing the presence and sacredness of all life and particularly the place in which we perform our ritual.  In addition to the traditional directions there are correspondences.  This is how East has come to be known as Air and yellow, North as Earth, etc.  These correspondences are not universal.  Native Americans use the directions but give different aspects and colors to each direction.

Today, for Samhain, we are going add another level of correspondence talking about the pagan understandings of aging with the many roles women and men play over the course of their life.  Our calling today will include these ages and rolls of humans as we recognize this sacred space.

EAST –YELLOW 

Spirits of the East, colors of yellow, elements of air. 

You represent the formative times of our lives; the maiden, the lad, the youth.  

Learning, discovery, play, development; these are the tasks of the young.

We call upon you eternal child, that you may witness and bless our service.

Hail and welcome!

All: Hail and Welcome!

SOUTH – RED 

Spirits of the South, colors of red, elements of fire.

You represent the productive times of our lives; the Mother, the Father, the Parent.

Creativity, productivity, passion, nurturing; these are the tasks of parenthood towards our children, our work, or the world.

We call upon you eternal parent, that you may witness and bless our service.

Hail and welcome!

All: Hail and Welcome!

WEST – WATER  

Spirits of the West, colors of blue, elements of Water.

You represent the reigning part of our lives; the Queen, the King, the Sovereign.

Mastery, competence, leadership, guiding; these are the tasks of the mature adult, the sovereign.

We call upon you eternal majesty, that you may witness and bless our service.

Hail and welcome!

All: Hail and Welcome!

NORTH – EARTH 

Spirits of the North, colors of green, elements of Earth.

You represent the ageing part of our lives; the crone, the mage, the wise one.

Instruction, knowledge, mentoring, grace; these are the tasks of the wise ones.

We call upon you wise ones, that you may witness and bless our service.

Hail and welcome!

All: Hail and Welcome!

BELOW–FIRMAMENT 

Powers Below, color of orange, element of the firmament.

You represent the warrior; warriors can be found in any age, any gender, and any situation.

Surviving, hunting, combating, seeking justice; these are the attributes of the warrior.

We call upon you warriors, that you may witness and bless our service.

Hail and welcome!

All: Hail and Welcome!

ABOVE – SKY

Powers Above, color of indigo, element of the sky

You represent the soul, the person we are before we are born and after we pass away,

Depth, immortality, faith, essence; these are the attributes of the soul.

We call upon the souls, that you may witness and bless our service.

Hail and welcome!

All: Hail and Welcome!

WITHIN – SPIRIT  

Powers Within, color of purple, element of spirit.

You represent the spirit within, that which ties us each to the other and to the universe.

Ageless, timeless, eternal, infinite; these are the attributes of spirit.

We call upon you spirit, that you may witness and bless our ritual.

Hail and welcome!

All: Hail and Welcome!

Welcoming the Goddess and God

Female (Kimberly Tenai):   “Feminine Devine, Wise Crone, this is your time to rule. Darkness and decay begins to envelope the world and death knocks upon the door. Bring to us this day your wisdom and clarity and envelope us within your love. Challenge us to look into ourselves and reflect upon what we find.  We invite you witness this day to watch over us within our circle.

Hail and welcome.”

All: Hail and Welcome

Male (Brad Baron):    “Masculine Divine, Lord of the grain, thou you leave us for a time, we know that you will soon return! While we mourn your passing we rejoice and await your return at Yule! Through your sacrifice we live and understand that death is a natural part of life. You show us that there is no true death for we shall be reborn. The wheel of life forever turns.

Beyond :  The chalice is already lit, as the symbol of all that is. It is all that is beyond our knowing; beyond male and female; it represents infinity.

Listen to guest speaker Fred Gross’ message by clicking here:

 

(c) Doug Slagle, Minister to The Gathering at Northern Hills, All Rights Reserved

There is a story that has spread across the internet about a brothel in Nevada that sued a neighboring church.  While I can find no evidence the story is true, it’s not only amusing, it speaks to my message theme today.

It seems the brothel in question was very successful and so it decided to remodel and expand its size.  Across the street, however, was a conservative Christian church.  As the brothel began construction on its major remodeling, the church responded by starting a payer vigil.  It enlisted most of its members to hold morning and evening prayers in front of the brothel.  They prayed for God to prevent it from reopening.

Only a few days before the brothel was to celebrate its grand reopening, it was struck by lightning, caught fire and was severely damaged.  The church and its members were overjoyed.  They said the fire was a miracle and God’s answer to their prayers.

A few months later, however, the brothel owner filed a lawsuit against the church and its minister.  In the lawsuit, the owner claimed the church’s prayers to God were the direct cause of destruction to his business…..and he sought $2 million in damages.

In its legal brief answering the lawsuit, the church denied responsibility claiming its prayers were not really petitions to God, that their prayers could never cause a fire, and they even cited a Harvard University study that prayer is totally ineffective.

The judge in the case quickly summarized the case.  She wrote, “I have no idea how I will solve this unusual case where we have a brothel owner believing in the power of prayer, and a church, its minister and its members denying the power of prayer!”

The story is amusing and it highlights how many people profess beliefs but do not act according to them.   They are hypocrites.  Indeed, even though I do not think of myself as a hypocrite, when I examine all that I say and do, I find that I am.  Indeed, most psychologists claim nobody acts and speaks in ways that are completely consistent with what they believe.  In other words, we’re all hypocrites in one way or another.

As most of you know, I’ve examined in my messages this October what I call three scary Halloween masks one might wear.   Today, I look at the hypocrite mask which, as I said last Sunday, is perhaps the scariest of costumes because, when considering a hypocrite, it’s difficult to know when the person is being authentic or not.  What do the church members in my opening story really believe about prayer?  If they believe it to be real, why do they not defend it?  Shouldn’t they be willing to lose a lawsuit as a way to prove their beliefs?

But the church’s dilemma is one many people face without realizing they engage in hypocrisy.   How many of us know of a doctor who smokes?  What about a police officer who speeds when off duty?  Or a financial adviser who is broke?  Or a psychologist with significant emotional problems?

On a more personal level, what about some people’s moral value of honesty?  Does that mean they never tell a lie?  What about the value of not procrastinating?  Many people procrastinate all the time even though they believe it to be unhelpful.  While these might seem relatively minor examples, they are inconsistencies in one’s beliefs and actions.  They are examples of hypocrisies. 

Many people are hypocritical in more serious ways.  Consider the point of view that using mind altering drugs is wrong.  Experts point out that alcohol is a mind altering drug, as is caffeine and so is marijuana which many adults, truth be told, have tried.  I, for one, am guilty on that score.  If we believe recreational drug use is wrong, then why do many people use recreational drugs like alcohol, nicotine, caffeine or marijuana – often in ways that are not addictive but still harmful?  Other adults teach the importance of birth control and safe sex to their teenagers, but how many times in their own lives have they not practiced what they believe on that score?

On a more political level, and without getting into nuances of this issue, how many progressives believe in a woman’s right to an abortion but also believe in abolishing the death penalty?  And, the same is true on the other side of that debate.  People who are against abortion are often ardently in favor of the death penalty.

Regarding the major issue of our time, racism, a vast majority of white Americans do not consider themselves racist.  They claim to have African-American friends, they may have voted for Obama, and they would never say or do anything overtly racist.  Indeed, I think most white Americans sincerely want to be anti-racist and pro-equality.

And yet, I also believe most white Americans still hold subconscious racism that is a latent vestige of their upbringing.  I admit to a form of racial hypocrisy myself.  I want to be someone who accepts and celebrates everyone equally.  Intellectually, I have a strong dislike for any prejudice and yet, when I honestly examine my inner thoughts, I know I can have racist feelings. 

I often have to catch myself and refrain from unkind thoughts when I see groups of African-American men hanging around street corners during the middle of a work day.  Issues of unemployment, unequal educations and centuries of white racism are primary reasons for this – not the fact that black men are somehow lazy.  Why is it, however, that I can know this intellectually and still not always think it?

  I am inwardly fearful when I encounter a group of black young men walking toward me on a downtown street at night.  I racially stereotype the black young men as possible criminals in ways that I don’t when I see groups of white young men.

Or, I sometimes mistakenly believe that I’ve earned my place in the world solely through hard work and diligence.  I ignore, in that thinking, the fact I’ve been given all the privileges of being white – attending good schools, being raised in well-off neighborhoods and never having to fear for my safety or my dignity because of my race.

Subconscious racism also causes me to forget that I had all the advantages of an excellent education – much of it provided to me because of where I grew up – in neighborhoods with high property taxes to fund good schools.  In my conceit, I can forget that many blacks do not grow up in similar neighborhoods and cannot attend well funded schools.  I am the product of white privilege.  Differences between my station in life and that of some black men my age is therefore not due to inadequacy on their part.  It’s due to systemic inequalities in how we fund our schools, in our criminal justice system and in politics.  I’m a hypocrite when I believe I’ve fully earned my way.

My point is that most people with thoughts and opinions are hypocrites on some level.  As imperfect people, we fail to fully practice our beliefs – and that causes many of us unease.  We either confront our hypocrisy, or we try to rationalize it.  Experts call hypocrisy “cognitive dissonance”.  A hypocrite’s mind is at war with itself.

When we confront our hypocrisies, psychologists say we take the first step toward growing out of them.  What is important is to be aware of our hypocrisies, admit them, and then find ways to to align our actions with our beliefs.

To do that, psychologists strongly recommend we avoid a judgmental attitude.  When we judge others, we immediately open ourselves to charges of hypocrisy since no person is perfect.  As a great human teacher, Jesus was clear about this.  “Do not point out the speck in someone else’s eye,” he famously said, “when you have a log in your own.”

That teaching is underlined in the story about his confrontation with a group of men who were about to stone an adulterous woman.  “Let the man with no moral failures cast the first stone!” he said.  When no stone went flying, it was clear he had pricked the mens’ consciences.   They had all, of course, sinned. 

The story is one many scholars believe is true.  The story was intended to highlight the terribly hypocritical and misogynist ancient Jewish practice to stone a woman to death for adultery, but not the man.  They based such a practice on the belief that women are the cause for most immorality, including adultery, since it was Eve, and not Adam, who was seduced by the devil.  Jesus, however, was horrified at such hypocrisy.  While he did not absolve the woman from any wrongdoing, the story has him furious at the hypocritical men who sat in judgement of her.  Indeed, he often taught that hypocrisy is the worst of sins.

And Buddhism echoes that teaching.  When we recognize a flaw or failure in someone else, according to the Buddha, we must not point it out but instead ponder how we are prone to do or be the same.  In doing so, we will recognize and want to fix our flaw.  Most importantly, we’ll avoid the hypocrisy of tsk-tsking about someone else’s misdeed when we acknowledge we have similar misdeeds of our own.

One story about the Buddha that teaches self-awareness relates that after a traveler from a far off land visited and got to know the Buddha, he was stunned.  He’d never encountered a person with such honesty and peace of mind. 

“What are you?” the man asked, “A heavenly being?” 

“No.” replied the Buddha. 

“Are you a holy man?” 

“No.” said the Buddha. 

“Well,” said the traveler, “Are you an ordinary person who only appears to be great?” 

“No.” said the Buddha. 

“What are you then?” asked the man. 

“Awake.” said the Buddha.

And that is a key concept for admitting and correcting hypocrisies in ourselves.  We must be awake to our true selves and, most importantly, awake to ways we are hypocritical.  The truth is that none of us are either saints or sinners, but instead fully human in our beautiful and yet imperfect glory.  If we understand that, if we both accept it and admit it – we’ll take off our scary masks. 

As I quoted the Dalai Lama last Sunday, we must be true to our reality.   And it is by facing our reality that we’ll no longer judge others and thereby fall prey to hypocrisy.

The last two Sunday’s, after my messages on scary Halloween costumes of scapegoating and Prima Donnas, several people told me they knew exactly who I was talking about – a politician who I shall not name.  And, truthfully, that politician was the inspiration for this message series. As much as I have said we must refrain from judging others, this politician’s words and actions are so extreme that they do warrant rebuke and disgust.

But, it’s easy to cast stones at this person even though I will not name  the person. I walk a fine line here since ministers and churches must not be political.  With regard to my belief that we must look inside ourselves, I suggest the unprecedented coarseness of this election is due to our collective coarseness.  All Americans have become divided not just by political beliefs but by hate and nasty vitriol.  I invoke the words of Gandhi.  We must be the change we want to see.  If we want to unify our nation and end the hypocrisy of some of our leaders, we must first begin with ourselves.

That means it’s all the more essential to examine ourselves to root out any hypocrisy.  Wearing even a faint version of a mask of the particular politician scares the heck out of me.  I must admit to all the ways I hypocritically assure myself that I’m so good, that I harbor no racist thoughts, that I don’t scapegoat, that I’m not conceited, and that I always treat others with respect.  It deeply pains me to think I’m not only sometimes a hypocrite, but that I sometimes wound others with my speech, demeanor or actions.  In the face of hate, we must love all the more.  We must be even more winsome and true to our values.

My friends, I’m a hypocrite and, forgive me, so are you.  If you agree, then we are both on the road to a cure.   More importantly, it’s a step toward not judging others and offering Instead kindness and peace.   Yes, that politician’s speech and actions toward women, minorities and immigrants are terrible.  But the person – the person – we cannot judge but instead hope for redemption and growth. 

For us, this person helps us by highlighting our own scapegoating, arrogance and hypocrisies.  If we focus on our flaws, and then on becoming the best we can be, we will emerge from behind scary masks and reveal our true, and beautiful, selves. 

 

 

(c) Doug Slagle, Minister to the Gathering at Northern Hills, All Rights Reserved

The Phantom of the Opera, a musical drama I imagine most of you have heard or seen, depicts several human weaknesses each of us strive to overcome.  Emotions of resentment, jealousy, fear and arrogance consume the play’s characters in ways that are both sympathetic and engaging.

The story plumbs the depths of the anguished Phantom’s feelings about his disfigurement, and his jealousy of the Opera company’s directors whom he believes are less talented than he.  The musical further explores the theme of jealousy in the character of Carlotta, the soprano star of the opera company who has the title of ‘Prima Donna’.  That title is given to the principle singer, usually a female soprano, in any opera company.  As the star, she carries the weight of a production.  If she has a poor performance, the rest of the cast might be great but the opera still suffers.  The audience will be disappointed.  If she has a bravura performance, however, the audience will cheer both her and the entire cast.

For many Prima Donnas, such power, responsibility and fame often influences their ego.  Opera Prima Donnas begin to demand extra attention and more perks because of their stardom.  They know the opera company both depends on their talent – and prospers because of it.  That realization of fame is difficult to manage for most people.  It causes many people to become consumed with their own grandiosity.

In the Phantom of the Opera, that is exactly how its Prima Donna, Carlotta, acts.  She is horrified that, despite a sore throat, she is replaced in an opera by a mere chorus girl named Christine – who goes on to become a star herself.  Carlotta believes she is the star and nobody can or should replace her!  Her arrogance and condescension toward Christine is one of the show’s dramatic highlights.

Because arrogance became synonymous with Prima Donnas, it soon defined not just an opera star – but any person who is demanding, boastful, and conceited.  Someone who acts as if they are the greatest at what they do, who thinks the world should listen to and hang on their every word (kind of like a minister on Sunday mornings!), who expects extravagant attention, wealth and luxury, who believes they are so perfect and great that they are irreplaceable – that kind of person is now referred to as a Prima Donna.

And that definition leads me to the second of my three messages this October on scary Halloween costumes one might wear.  My series is also a fanciful way of examining attitudes we can adopt from time to time but which we want to eliminate, as much as possible, from how we act and think.

Last Sunday I looked at the scapegoat as one scary costume.  Too many people blame others for their faults and failures.  Today, demagogue politicians turn Muslims, immigrants, African-Americans and others into the scapegoats of our time – people to blame for our nation’s economic and social problems.  On an individual level, we can make a child, a loved one or a stranger a scapegoat for our personal failures.  We can also adopt a perpetual victim mentality that refuses to overcome life challenges.  We thereby make ourselves a scapegoat. 

Next Sunday, I plan to look at how the hypocrite is perhaps the scariest of all costumes – a person who purposefully does not act as he or she believes – as someone who does not figuratively walk their talk.

But for today, a Prima Donna is someone who is defined by their arrogance.  While this can come from winning fame and fortune, most experts believe Prima Donna attitudes are formed at an early age.  In some unhealthy homes, parental affection for children is not unconditional.  Instead, it is conditional, and based on a child’s successes or failures – how beautiful or handsome he or she is, the grades they get, or their abilities in a sport or artistic endeavor.  Children learn that they must compete for parental affection and that any imperfection brings ridicule.  Such children learn to manipulate their parents’ perception of them.  They tend to brag, exaggerate accomplishments, and paint themselves as the good child.  And they later become Prima Donna adults.  Dysfunctional parents can shower love on their children who are cocky and boastful – who seem to be successful – and withhold love from quieter or less boastful kids who seem less successful.

Ultimately, psychologists believe Prima Donna attitudes are compensation for insecurity and weakness.  Since everyone has flaws, but not everyone is able to identify and admit to them, Prima Donnas use arrogance as a way to mask who they really are.

Psychologists further say that Prima Donna’s often have lots of friends but most of them are superficial friendships.  Prima Donnas have very few if any close friends and if they do, the relationship often does not last long.  Prima Donnas can be outwardly charming but that is often employed as a way to get something they want.

Prima Donnas are intolerant of people who are different, weak or less than successful.   They generally ridicule and tear down those they deem inferior – all as a way to feed their sense of superiority.

Prima Donnas usually dominate conversations.  Only they have anything important to say – or so they believe.  They often turn a conversation into one about themselves.  They are overly talkative and generally poor listeners.  They prefer to argue and debate instead of engaging in a mutually affirming conversation.

Prima Donnas have a great sense of humor about flaws in other people, but they are unwilling to laugh at themselves and their own everyday foibles.  Any comment they perceive as criticism brings out their insecurities and causes them to lash out in anger.

Finally, Prima Donnas rarely, if ever, admit their mistakes and apologize.  To do so would be to confess they are not as smart, successful or great as they believe.  As most psychologists say, Prima Donna arrogance is a mask for deep insecurity.

One of the problems with identifying classically Prima Donna behaviors is that it’s often assumed that the opposite of arrogance is a type of humility that is meek, self-effacing, and timid.  Many people feel  insecure because they too did not receive unconditional parental love.  Just like some kids respond to conditional love by becoming arrogant, other kids respond by becoming quiet and fearful.  They hesitate to stand out in fear they’ll fail and lose the affection of a parent.   These kids become adults who lack the confidence to do anything challenging.

The kind of attitude that we should strive to adopt is one that most psychologists describe as ‘healthy humility.’   It’s also a spiritual path which I believe leads to self awareness and inner peace.  To be humble in a way that is healthy is to celebrate one’s unique abilities and characteristics while admitting one’s flaws and areas for growth.  This kind of humble person has no need to boast since he or she already recognizes the skills they have.  They have learned not to be consumed by what others think of them since they already love and believe in themselves.  This person has usually been  unconditionally loved by a parent or partner.  They feel love not for what they do or don’t do, but simply because they are a child or person worthy of love and respect.

This is why most psychologists say that healthy humility is an attitude muscle we must work to develop.  Becoming humble is very similar to the Buddhist practice of mindfulness and self-emptying.  We must strive to let go of our inner ego – the part of us that desires material pleasure, the part that gets jealous, and that is prone to selfishness.  By freeing ourselves of most external, self-oriented desires, we will be more at peace about our abilities.  We’ll put in perspective our failures.  We’ll feel greater love toward not only ourselves but others too.

It’s an ironic fact but arrogance is rooted in a lack of self-confidence.  Humility is rooted, to the contrary, in an abundance of honest self-confidence.   Truly humble people have the confidence to know they are special in the same way they believe everyone is special.   Logic and self-awareness leads to such humility. 

We are each insignificant within an almost limitless universe.  We are each only one out of 7 billion humans.  And yet we each are also worthy and valuable.  In other words, you are nothing and yet you are everything.  That dual awareness is a hallmark of healthy humility. 

Humble people listen more than they speak because they want to learn from others.  Humble people are generous because they have no fear about their needs.  Honestly humble people build others up instead of tearing them down – since they have no need to compete.  They are already aware of their abilities.  People who have healthy humility are unafraid to apologize and admit mistakes since they understand that every person fails some of the time.  Love for others leads one to empathize with how one may have been hurtful, and so apology comes naturally to truly humble people.

Once again, its ironic but humble people are strong because they know and admit to their vulnerability.  Without fear of being unmasked as weak, they’re not afraid to try new things, accept people with different lifestyles and beliefs, or even of having someone outshine them.

The Dalai Lama wrote in his book, The Art of Happiness at Work, that a truly humble person understands their personal reality.  He or she knows that they, like every person, has gifts of ability that define who they are as individuals.  One might be artistic, musical, empathetic, witty, funny, gentle, athletic or intelligent – but each has a variety of qualities that not only make them who they are, they make them unique.  With that awareness comes peace, self-confidence and, importantly, healthy humility.

Arrogant people have no awareness of their true abilities.  They inwardly believe themselves to be weak so they exaggerate their specialness.  On the other hand, people who lack self-confidence, who have been beaten down by parents or others who offer only conditional love, they minimize their specialness.  Both extremes, arrogance or timid humility, are unbalanced.  Neither way is good says the Dalai Lama.  It is the middle path, as always, that is best. 

The self-aware, mindful and humble person continually examines their truth – the good AND the bad.  They neither deny their strengths nor do they boast of them.   They neither deny their weaknesses nor are they defeated by them.   They simply ARE – a fully complete, true and ultimately empowered person.

I have to be honest with you.  I’ve had a difficult week in my role as minister.  I was criticized by a few people and that distressed me.  I’ve watched with fear the hurricane that headed toward my house in south Florida and I despaired that I was not there to watch over it.  I’ve doubted my abilities and my work.  In truth, I gave in to the Prima Donna attitude.  I was hurt by criticism because I lacked confidence in the skills I do have as a minister.  I worried about my house because I still hold onto the false value of material things – and I worried about something so trivial compared to the challenges others face.  I doubted myself because I lost sight of what makes me – me.

I still struggle to find the kind of humility that is real – that is not afraid to claim my strengths while seeking growth in areas where I’m weak.  I could be wrong, but I don’t think most people would call me a Prima Donna.  And yet, in many ways, I am – I just wear that costume on the inside.

I tell you these things not to be boastful about how “confessional” I can be.  (It sounds ironic but some people can be arrogant about their humility.)  Rather, I tell these things to you because I believe many people, like me, struggle with finding the right balance between being humble and yet still being self-confident.  The struggle for us all is how to be authentic and celebrate our reality. 

I look out into this room and I see very successful people – individuals who are kind, giving, serving, creative, hard working, intelligent, and strong.  And, I also see a room full of challenged people who struggle with insecurity, fear, worldly desires or anger.

But these contrasting truths are what make us each beautiful and special.  If we strive to be true, to take off any inner or outer masks we might wear, we’ll find the power to be even greater than we already are.  In our self-awareness and honest humility, we’ll be kinder, gentler, more confident and happier.   We’ll have no need to wear an arrogant Prima Donna costume.  With true humility, we will already be so, so, much better.

And I wish you all much peace and joy.

Instead of a normal talkback time this morning, I’d like us to participate in a talkback to ourselves.   You’ll find on the back of your programs three questions that I hope you will now take the time to answer.  Write down the first things that pop into your mind as those are usually the most honest – and I encourage you to be honest with yourself.  I also encourage you to look only at your sheet and not try to see what a spouse or person sitting next to you has written.  These questions and your responses are intended to be about self-awareness – for only you to ponder.

After you finish, please look at what you have written and reflect on how your responses define the special, good and flawed you.  Reflect on how you can live each day with awareness of your answers – fully knowing all the ways you are great, and all the ways you want grow.

While Michael plays some soft background music, let us participate in this exercise for just a few minutes.

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

Approximately three thousand years ago in ancient Israel, Solomon was King of the Jewish nation.  He built what was then considered one of the seven wonders of the world – the Jerusalem Temple.  Each year on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, Temple priests gathered to lead the celebration of Yom Kippur which literally means in Hebrew: ‘Day of Atonement.’  Jews from all of Palestine came to Jerusalem for this holiest of Jewish holidays.  Nine days from now, Jews all over the world – even secular and liberal Jews – will celebrate Yom Kippur.

Solomon’s Temple, in ancient times, was an immense edifice built of solid blocks and whitewashed so it gleamed in the sun.  It was divided into several courtyards to separate people of different grades of alleged holiness.  The outermost courtyard was reserved for women – who were considered the least holy.  The next was for non-Jewish men.  The next was reserved for Jewish men over the age of thirteen.  Next came the courtyard for Temple Priests.  Finally, at the innermost point of the Temple, was the Holy of Holies structure into which only the High Priest – the religious ruler of all Jews – could enter.

On Yom Kippur, two goats were randomly selected and brought to the courtyard of Priests.  One goat was ritually sacrificed.  Its throat was cut, it’s blood drained into a large bowl, and its flesh burned on an altar.

The High Priest took the bowl of blood into the Holy of Holies.  This was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept and where Yahweh was said to dwell.  Before he entered the Holy of Holies, something the High Priest only did on Yom Kippur, a rope was tied around his waist so the other priests could pull him out in case he was blinded by the presence of God.  Once inside, he sprinkled the goat blood over the Ark as an annual gift to Yahweh.

Back outside, the High Priest took the other goat, placed his hands firmly on its head, and ritually transferred a year’s worth of Jewish sins and misdeeds into it.  A young priest then took this goat far into the Judean wilderness where he let it go.  In this way, Jews atoned for their sins.  Their anger, lies and moral failures were cleansed from them and placed into the abandoned goat.  From this ritual, the term ‘scapegoat’ was derived to now mean an innocent person who is blamed for the bad actions of another.      

During October, my three messages will focus on what I believe are three scary Halloween costumes we might wear – today, that of the scapegoat, next week, the prima donna, and then finally  the hypocrite.  While these might be actual costumes to wear, they are also attitudes many people practice everyday.  Despite the inherent goodness I believe is born within each person, too often we allow our egos to take control and feed our fears, resentments and selfish desires.  We can become figurative demons – scapegoats, prima donnas or hypocrites – that are frightening to ourselves and others.

For today’s message, the term scapegoat came from the Jewish Yom Kippur ritual, but people of all cultures often blame others for their failures.  Indeed, scapegoating usually increases in times of hardship for an individual or a community.  Women who acted slightly different were accused of being witches during the Middle Ages and Puritan era.  Any drought, crop failure or disease was blamed on witches who were believed to have been seduced by the devil – much like Eve in the biblical garden of Eden.   These women were tortured and usually executed by drowning or burning at the stake.  They were the scapegoats of their time.

During the 1920’s and ’30’s, when post World War One Germany’s economy was in ruins, the Nazi party rose to power based almost entirely on their accusations that Jews, liberals and homosexuals were subverting the power and integrity of Germany.  Hitler appealed to people’s fears and resentments through scapegoating.

Today, demagogues in the U.S., Britain and France target immigrants, Muslims and blacks as a way to appeal mostly to white men who suddenly no longer have all the power.  As scapegoats, immigrants are blamed for unemployment and declining incomes.  All Muslims are blamed for terrorism.  Blacks are blamed for national deficits because they supposedly take more than they produce. 

Psychologists say that scapegoating is a hostile act done to shift responsibility away from a threatened group or person.  It serves the need of the group or person to both feel better about themselves while ignoring ways to correct their own failures.  Instead of doing the difficult work to fix true causes of a problem, it’s far easier to blame and punish another.  Identify a scapegoat and a problem is solved.

Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, said that it is a common tendency for people to shadow cast.  The dark parts of me that I inwardly hate, my insecurities and failures, are shadow cast on someone else, all in order to avoid looking at my ugliness.  “My failures in life are not my fault,” I can smugly tell myself.

Since it’s the fault of others, I can only make things better by venting anger and frustration on, for instance, a parent who perhaps didn’t toilet train me properly, on a teacher who did not recognize my intelligence, gave me an ‘F’, and supposedly kept me out of Harvard, on a spouse or partner whom I believe does not show me respect, or on a hispanic woman who got the high paying job that I deserve.

To punish my scapegoats, I’ll often support demagogues who promise to make my nation great again by ending immigration, outlawing Islam, promoting racist laws to restrict opportunity and equality, or restoring a supposed form of morality.  Hitler was a classic scapegoater.  So were, in American history,  Huey Long, Father Coughlin, Joseph McCarthy, Anita Bryant and Jerry Falwell.     

One problem with scapegoating is that I can both play the victim – while also victimizing others.  In other words, I can make myself a scapegoat, and I can scapegoat others.  The classic scapegoaters I just mentioned did this.  Psychologists say this attitude is fundamentally a problem of control.  Who and what do I believe controls my life?  Do I believe I am outwardly controlled – that other people and forces are responsible for what happens to me?  Do I think my successes are due to luck and my failures due to the malicious actions of others?  Do I see myself as a victim and my life as hopeless?

Or, do I believe I’m inwardly controlled, that I am mostly responsible for my success or failure?  Do I believe I have the ability to identify my deficiencies or setbacks and then work to correct them?  Can I change the way I cognitively think about life – to be a mostly positive, hopeful and caring person?

One funny story from a therapist relates how a husband in a marital counseling session exclaimed, “My wife is totally to blame for all that is wrong in our marriage!”  “Do you really believe she is 100% responsible?” the therapist asked.  “Well, no,” the husband admitted after pausing a moment.  “Her mother is at least partially responsible!”

Experts say those who frequently play the victim, or scapegoat others, believe good events in their lives are caused by luck.  Bad events are caused by other people or pure chance.  Perpetual victims and scapegoaters have difficultly controlling emotions of anger, fear or resentment. They irrationally vent, yell and blame.  They are generally unable to reason and think through an issue.  They usually refuse to look within themselves to find reasons for their failures.  When a scapegoater engages in an argument, he or she spends most time thinking how the other person is wrong – never conceding the other might be correct.  And, when truly challenged, people who scapegoat rarely persevere to find ways to heal and overcome.  Instead, they give up, quit, or end a relationship. 

Simply because some are false victims or stay stuck in victimhood does not mean there are not heroic victims.  A heroic victim is one who finds ways to move beyond and overcome.  In essence, if someone has hurt me, or maliciously made me a scapegoat, do I then always self-identify as a victim?  Or, do I take control of my victimhood? Do I refuse to be demeaned, speak up and re-assert control over my destiny?  Do I protest, do I become an activist, and do I find the inner strength to forgive, change, heal and ultimately overcome?

What inspires me are the true victims throughout history who have refused to play the role of victim.  The steadfast and stoic attitudes of black slaves who held onto their dignity and taught it to their children, the organizers of the underground railroad, blacks who sat at all white lunch counters or in the front of buses, who marched across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, who build vibrant black neighborhoods and businesses, who today march in Charlotte, Tulsa, and Ferguson insisting that black lives matter – such people do not play the role of victim.  They refuse to be scapegoated.

I also admire those who were raised in dysfunctional households but  who find ways to overcome their hurts by looking inward, taking control of their lives, and seek healing through counseling and introspection.  Such persons are victims only in the past.  As self-aware people, they forgive and let go.  It may sound cliche, but we are only victims if we think we are victims.

Victor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and author of Man’s Search for Meaning, wrote that during the darkest hours of his time in Auschwitz, he could not and did not allow the guards to strip him of his humanity.  For him, that meant to love and serve others.  He intensely focused and meditated on the profound love he had for his wife.  He focused on helping, as he could, prisoners less fortunate than himself.  He wrote of the example of a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz who one day jumped into a large vat in which rancid grease had been stored.  The man rolled around in it and smeared the stinking grease residue all over himself.  The guards derisively laughed at the man.  

      Later, back in the communal cabin, the man took off his clothes and tore them into nine strips, all smeared with grease.  He then fashioned a crude Hanukkah menorah so he and others could light and celebrate that holiday.  The man, like Frankl, defied the Germans, refused to play the scapegoat, and undertook ways to serve and love – instead of also engaging in scapegoating.

Such attitudes are ones any of us can adopt.  We can take off the scary scapegoat mask forced on us by others.  We can assert our control by communicating with the offender, by establishing future boundaries to prevent added hurt, by asserting our dignity and demanding respect, by forgiving, by working to build reconciliation and, most important, by rising above fear and hatred to instead love.

From a spiritual perspective, asserting control over our thinking and the way we live is key to self-awareness, empowerment and peace.  No matter what comes at us – illness, the end of a relationship, genuine hurts caused by others – only we have the power and ability to heal ourselves and overcome.  If we turn inward, we’ll find the strength to fight back non-violently, we’ll recognize the trap of self-pity, we’ll see our flaws and ways we can grow, we’ll let go of our egos and belief that life is unfair and we don’t deserve to suffer like any other person.

By engaging in the task of inner exploration, by taking control over our destiny and our identity as a scapegoat or victim, we can find the keys to more contentment.  Equally as important, we will no longer feel the urge to make others a scapegoat in our revenge.

The mantle of being a great person, the mark of being a great nation, is never in blaming others.  It’s in identifying the faults within oneself and changing them.  It’s in refusing to lash out with anger, frustration and blame at others – even if they truly are persecutors.  By letting go, by forgiving, by serving and caring and loving and healing – never tearing down but always building up – our nation and each of us as individuals will achieve the kind of greatness that endures.

To choose to wear a scapegoat mask, one is truly scary.  Being forced by others to wear a scapegoat mask is even worse.  Blacks, Jews, Muslims, immigrants, women, gays, the physically and mentally challenged – they all know the sting of being a scapegoat.  What is remarkable about these groups of people is they also know the joy of triumph and victory!  To refuse to be a scapegoat, to pursue being a gentle, humble, caring, empathetic, forgiving and assertive overcomer – that is a costume, a robe of truth, that we should all aspire to wear.

I wish you each much peace and joy!

Talkback

Interested in thoughts on how to prevent / stop hateful scapegoating in our nation – to look inward instead of outward – for accepting esponsibility for many of our national problems…..

Closing meditation

Let us close our service this morning with a few moments of meditation or prayer – while Mary plays some soft background music.

We are grateful people – for life, for the beauty of nature outside our windows, for this time together in friendship and love.  Let us depart from here renewed in some way – with enlarged perspectives, with open hearts to friends and strangers, with peace of mind…

May they carry us through the week ahead so that we are gracious, generous and caring.

May we heed the message this day – to find within ourselves the power and insight to grow……to heal……to lift up, but never to blame. (Wait)

Let us now share our peace and our greetings with one another.  Join together in the Quimby room for coffee, snacks and friends.

          

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

Every July 14th the French celebrate Bastille Day to commemorate their defeat of religious and aristocratic authority.  The French Revolution is one of the most significant events in human history.   It was the culmination of the Age of Enlightenment and its ideals of freedom and values of humanism. 

As I’ve related in my previous two messages this month, the Enlightenment was humankind’s escape from immaturity.  Previously, most western Europeans were unable – or forbidden – to think for themselves.  The Enlightenment, and particularly the French Revolution, dramatically changed that by encouraging reason over superstition and fear.

      The French are rightfully proud of that revolution.  Despite its radical violence, it nevertheless initiated most modern freedoms we now take for granted – but which the French celebrate as proof of their early move toward spiritual and political maturity.  Indeed, some of the rights begun by the French Revolution are ones often debated today – ones like equality for women, decriminalization of same-sex relationships, and full equality for non-whites.

The French Revolution and the Enlightenment have cast a wide influence around the world.  Unitarianism, as one example, emerged during the Enlightenment in Europe, but became a major form of spirituality in 1819 just after the French Revolution.  Early Unitarians, like leaders of the American and French Revolutions, determined that human values must supersede religious ones – that worship at the altar of a god must be secondary to worship at the altar of compassion, respect and freedom for humankind.  Ultimately, we as Unitarian Universalists uniquely celebrate the human spirit to live and worship freely.

Today, I conclude my September series on pathways to enlightenment by focusing on a final path – that of celebrating.  It’s an appropriate topic for this service because I believe celebration of enlightenment is often not taken to heart.  The very act of becoming enlightened IS a big deal!  It means one gains greater awareness, sensitivity, and intuition to goodness.  It means one begins to understand serving others.  It means one is a seeker, a skeptic, a dreamer and an explorer.  It means one commits toward becoming more kind, humble, gentle and giving – free from fear or obligation.  Becoming enlightened is comparable, for me, to what most religions believe is the process for going to Heaven.  For us, we aspire to possess enlightened hearts and minds that are at peace with ourselves, other people and the universe.

Buddhists understand that concept.  They believe that reaching a state of Nirvana, a state of perfect peace, is a cause for celebration.  Bodhi Day, or Buddha Day, takes place every year on the first full moon in May or June.  It is the supposed anniversary of when Siddhartha Gautama, otherwise known as the Buddha, became enlightened.  It’s when he finally let go of his ego – the part of him that desired worldly pleasures – to instead be filled with contentment and kindness.  Indeed, the word Buddha means: ‘one who is enlightened’.  On Bodhi Day, Buddhists across the world celebrate with feasts and festivals in order to show devotion to that pursuit.

We celebrate Water Communion for similar reasons.  We use water, as the essential element for life, to be a symbol of where we have been and where we intend to go.  It’s a celebration not to arrogantly boast of what we do, and what we know, but to instead honor and renew our commitment to the path of becoming enlightened.

That’s why I chose this month’s message theme, why I paraphrased that theme and placed it on our new sign, and why there is a photo of the sign on the cover of your programs.  It’s my belief of what defines us as spiritually progressive people, members of this beloved community, and activist citizens of the world.   We are servants and we are seekers – who joyfully dedicate ourselves to those tasks.

We celebrate, first and foremost, our freedom from fear.  The opposite of love is not hate, but instead fear.  If we think about it, if we were not afraid of anything, we would be open to total love – of ourselves, of others, and of life itself.  Indeed, the Buddha taught that freeing ourselves from fear is a crucial part of letting go of the ego.  It’s fear that one will personally suffer – from any multitude of causes – that prevents full  enlightenment.  People fear the suffering that they’ll feel if they don’t have enough – so they become selfish and greedy.  People fear the suffering that comes from dying – or from going to hell – so they believe in supernatural gods who promise eternal life.  People fear the humiliation of being inadequate so they become arrogant and self focused.  People fear those who are different so they shun, discriminate and demean.  Fear of Jews and their success motivated the Holocaust.  Fear of Islam motivates hatreds and banishment of desperate Muslim refugees.  Fear of losing jobs and wealth motivates angry laws against immigrants.  Fear of people of color, their abilities, their different complexion, their cultures – all motivate racism.  Fear of same sex romantic love motivates bullying, gay bashing and outright murder.

Freedom from such fears, however, is a hallmark of Unitarian-Universalism and is a core reason many of us are here.  We come here to be free of being told to be fearful – of death, of hell, and of man-made religions that teach about vengeful gods and pre-scientific scriptures that are racist, homophobic and misogynistic.

Since fear causes hate and discord, we also come here to be free of those sentiments.  Freedom from spiritual fear opens our hearts to love all our neighbors.  We love them not as some perverse way to change people, to convert them to our way of belief, but as a way to honor their dignity and equal rights.   We may not yet be perfect in our love, but we commit to learning ways to improve.  That is a reason to celebrate today and all Sundays!

We also celebrate our freedom from obligation.  Free from the fear of death and punishing gods, we are not obliged to honor, worship or follow them.  We have the freedom to believe – or not believe – as reason guides us .  We serve, seek, and come together not because we must, not because if we don’t we will be punished, but because we deeply want to.  We deeply want to grow as better people.  We deeply want to love and serve our neighbor.  Nothing motivates us beyond an intrinsic and innate desire to be good and do good.

I often hear apologies from folks who miss a Sunday or two.  They ruefully admit to a morning of sleeping late, enjoying a leisurely breakfast with family, or taking a walk outdoors.  In many ways, they engage in a spiritual activity of their own design.  And that is a good thing!  I never want someone to attend because they feel they must, or that they have disrespected the congregation, or some spiritual ideal if they don’t.  I want people to be here because they want to be here.  They want to hear thought provoking ideas, they want to enjoy the friendship and company of others, they want to share, smile, and serve.  Freedom from obligation is something to celebrate today and every Sunday you might choose to sleep late at home – instead of coming here to fall asleep listening to boring me!

Finally, I claim we are here to enjoy freedom from immaturity, as Immanuel Kant said.  We are not children whose minds are not yet capable to think on their own.  We do not depend on being told what to think, believe and know – from me or any Scripture.

I said in my message last week in Louisville that we only know ultimate truth when we admit and accept we don’t know it.  Being mature people, we understand the limits of human knowledge and thus our need to continue to explore, seek, discover, dream and dare.  It’s the same maturity of mind that compelled Galileo to look to the heavens with telescopes he invented to understand what makes the universe operate – and thereby challenge immature ideas that some God created everything to revolve around us as his playthings.

This is the same mature thinking that compelled Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. to practice an alternate way to advance human rights – to use civil disobedience, love and non-violence as catalysts for change.  A mature attitude is what compels any of us to empathize with the plight of others – the poor, oppressed and marginalized – and work to change that.  Through empathy and not judgment, we can understand how the humiliation of racism has affected ways African-Americans think and act – and their anger at ongoing discrimination.  It might help us empathize with the plea that Black lives matter.

Each of these freedoms – freedom from fear, obligation and immaturity, are triumphant reasons to celebrate today and any day.  I must remind myself, as I encourage each of you to do the same, not take to for granted the amazing wonder of this congregation and what it represents.  In here, through both our Sunday services and our volunteering, we celebrate the inherent human capacity to serve and to seek.    These are natural capabilities ingrained in our DNA, but they are also rights that were hard won by our forebears – the thinkers, visionaries and activists on the front lines against forces of fear, superstition, and obligation.  We do our freedoms an injustice if we do not remember them, celebrate them and commit ourselves all the more to their practice.

Today and upcoming Sundays may seem like a time of sacrifice – a time when our Board seemingly comes hat in hand and begs for our generosity.  I admit to my own concerns about this time and the fear that we ask too much, that members will be turned off by ongoing expressions of need for time, talent and treasure.

But just as I elaborated earlier, we are, in truth, free from such fears.  We are free from such obligations.  Our Board does not and will not beg.  Neither do I.  Our fundraisers, our pledge campaign, today’s Building Improvement Gift effort are not requests to be endured – like some painful root canal.  I, along with all of you, understand the value of hard earned money and the precious little spare time each of us has.  What I also hope we understand is that this endeavor we call the Gathering at Northern Hills, and its ideals, mean nothing unless we honestly believe that they are a force for good and something we want to support with our time, talent and treasure. 

We’re challenged today to match what an anonymous donor has given to the congregation to improve serious building needs.  These are not improvements so that we can bask in luxury.  We hope to address building needs that matter to the long term structural integrity of our home – this place we use to make our values and ideals happen.  The donor asked me to promise to never reveal his or her name.  The motivation of this person is not to enlarge their ego, but rather to celebrate exactly what I’ve said this community stands for.  This person anonymously gives only to celebrate and practice our collective desire to be enlightened.

We are under no obligation to place our checks for building improvements in the box right over there.  We are under no obligation to pledge, volunteer, attend, or support this place with thoughts and prayers.  We have no fear we will be eternally punished if we don’t.  We have not been told giving and serving are moral rules we must obey because an ancient Scripture says so.  If we do feel obligation or fear, I strongly encourage us NOT to give. 

No matter whether we do give today, and pledge later this fall – or we don’t – it is our freedom, our choice and our innate desire to do as we think is good, right and reasonable.  I hope I never forget that.  I hope you don’t either.  We are here, every single one of us, because through serving, giving and seeking, we hope to become more enlightened.  And, that, as I say, is one very, very big reason to celebrate!

I wish you all much peace and joy!   

      

(c) Rev. Doug Slagle, Minister to the Gathering at Northern Hills, All Rights Reserved

 

The following message was delivered by Rev. Doug at First Unitarian Church of Louisville, Kentucky as part of a Pulpit exchange with its Minister, the Rev. Dawn Cooley.

On January 7th, 1610, the famous Renaissance astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei pointed a telescope he had made toward the planet Jupiter.  During his observations, he saw what appeared to be three stars arrayed very close to the planet.  The next night he again saw what he called three stars, along with a new one, but they each had changed position relative to each other and to Jupiter.  Over the next week, he continued to see these stars remain in the vicinity of Jupiter while moving with it across the sky.  Very quickly he deduced that he was the first to discover small moons revolving around Jupiter.  This was long sought evidence, he concluded, of Copernicus’ revolutionary theory that the earth, along with other planets, likewise revolve around the sun.

Galileo later published his findings in several books.   His writings caught the eye of the Catholic Church which immediately condemned them as false.  Not only did a sun centered planetary system contradict many verses in the Bible, it was also in conflict with Christian theology which believes God created humans as the center of his attention.  It’s why he demands human obedience and loyalty.  The earth, as our home, must be the center of the universe.  For people to live on a relatively minor planet revolving around the sun, this renders them insignificant.  A sun centered cosmos questions not only the truth of the Bible, but the very existence of God.

As a result, the Church’s Council of Inquisition investigated Galileo, put him on trial and, in 1633, condemned him as a heretic.  It said about Galileo and his observations, “The idea that the Sun is stationary is foolish and absurd in philosophy; and formally heretical since it explicitly contradicts in many places the sense of Holy Scripture.”  At an advanced age, Galileo was sentenced to torture and imprisonment.  While the sentence was later reduced to house arrest, he was confined there for the remainder of his life.  His books were burned and banned.

The Church’s response to Galileo is a reminder of what motivated the horrific events that happened on September 11th fifteen years ago today.  Too many people close their minds and believe only ideas told to them by ancient texts, Ministers or other external sources.  Finding comfort in dogmatic certitude, as opposed to thinking on their own, many people are stuck in patterns of belief that close doors to learning, growth and discovery.

Each month, I present three messages based on a single thematic topic.  Instead of today interrupting my September message series on Pathways to Enlightenment, I decided to continue it for you with a message on one pathway to enlightenment through Seeking. 

Last Sunday, the first of my September messages was on what I believe is another path to enlightenment – through Serving.  I suggested that if we accept the fact that humans are not the reason the universe exists, contrary to what most religions claim, we will move beyond a mostly selfish desire to live forever in Heaven and avoid its alternative.  We will be more humble and thus discover our true purpose.  That is: Humans have an innate desire to do good, love, and act kindly to others.  We are servants, plain and simple.

Today, I hope to suggest that seeking is also a way to become enlightened.  To seek is to be ever curious about life, the universe and why things exist.  Seeking is a desire for inspiration, it’s a feeling of awe at the beauty of nature, it’s an embrace of change, it’s a yearning to explore one’s inward self, it’s a hunger to continually grow, it’s a willingness to dream and dare.  Seekers ponder the unexplainable, they question and doubt, and they are listeners more than talkers.

The opposite of seeking is to have a closed mind about anything new.  It is to assert absolute knowledge on any subject.  It’s what the Catholic Church said in response to Galileo’s observations – that only they, and the Bible, are correct.  It echoes religious fundamentalism and the hateful motivations of the September 11th hijackers who believed their interpretations of Truth are right – and all others are to be attacked.

The 17th and 18th century Age of Enlightenment came too late for Galileo.  It began to flower soon after his death.  Enlightenment ideals emphasized reason over superstition, and science over religion.  Philosophers of the time like David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and John Locke advanced ideals of  Humanism.  Concerned with the well-being of people, it was and is a revolutionary belief system.  Indeed, Humanist and Enlightenment philosophy helped inspire the American Revolution and its assertion of inalienable human rights.

Contrary to Christian doctrine that says people are the reason God created the universe, Humanism is instead a humble belief.  We are not the pinnacle of creation.  The cosmos does not revolve around us, and neither is it designed to serve only our needs.  We are not privileged creatures who deserve to live forever in Heaven, or anywhere else.  Logic informs us we will die like all things.  Since that is so, Humanism leads us to see that it is we, not a god or goddess, who are to do the work of building a better world.  It’s we who must serve and advocate for those who hurt and suffer. 

This humble awareness also informs us how to think and act.  Since science tells us that we, like all things, are made of the same chemicals that comprise trees or distant planets, we can no longer believe we are special.  We also can no longer claim that any faith based Scripture is ultimate truth.  Indeed, a human centered belief system, versus a religion based one, helps us realize how inaccurate knowledge from supposedly divine revelation is. 

The universe and its forces of energy and gravity are far more complex and mysterious then most religions assert.  The cosmos was not made in six days, but instead was formed over billions of years – and it continues to form.  Man was not made from the dust of the ground.  Woman was not fashioned from the side of man to be his helper.  Other creatures and life forms, including humans, did not spontaneously come into existence.  Assertions found in many Scriptures are pre-scientific, faith based ideas that lack any reasonable evidence.

Immanuel Kant, one of the foremost Enlightenment philosophers, said that the Age of Enlightenment was an end to humanity’s immaturity that relied on Scriptures and external sources to tell them how and what to think.  Enlightenment, Kant said, is about learning to think for oneself – to use one’s mind to examine, analyze and understand things on one’s own.  “Dare to know!” is his most famous statement.  We must have the courage to use our minds to arrive at a truth that is logical and honest.

And that is the essence of seeking.  It is to be a skeptic toward any proposition one considers – even the idea that one should be a skeptic!  Seeking is deeply rooted in humility and the awareness that we know so little.  I believe that to be a seeker one must be radically open minded and tolerant towards all others, and their beliefs.  That does not mean one necessarily agrees with other beliefs – but rather that one endeavors to understand, listen and learn from them.  Only then can one make reasonable – but gentle – conclusions.

Seeking new awareness is also about having empathy for others.  Seekers refuse to judge, and instead try to figuratively walk in another’s shoes.  Such is a mindset, for instance, that empathizes with the racism African-Americans have historically faced.  It seeks to understand ways such humiliation has affected how black men and women feel, act and think.  It seeks to understand how conditions such as poverty, homelessness or addiction are the result of past and current racism.  A seeker is therefore someone who wants to learn, experience and grow.

By not judging, by seeking to instead empathize and learn, true seekers ask lots of questions.  Indeed, I believe that asking the right questions is a key to enlightenment.  Dogmatic answers close minds to further inquiry.  Questions open minds to potential new realities.  What purpose do humans have?  Is the universe infinite and, if so, what does that mean?  Are there other, parallel universes?  What is the value of doubt and skepticism?  What is love and how can we define it?  What are the legacies we can leave behind that allow us to figuratively live forever?

Seekers and questioners also find greater enlightenment by detaching themselves from strong opinion or belief.  By letting go of preconceived ideas, for example, about who is a friend or enemy, or who is good or bad, we can seek and perhaps discover the truth of what it means to be truly good.  Enemies are not necessarily those who oppose us, or people we may believe are bad.   And friends are not necessarily ones who agree with us, or people we think are good .

Many of you may have heard that Mother Teresa was made a Saint this past week.  Despite all of the stories about her compassion for the poorest of the poor, there are also criticisms that she lacked medical knowledge, relied on prayer as treatment, and thus ignored effective healing methods.  Many people in her care, it is claimed, needlessly suffered.  Was she truly a Saint and good person, or perhaps she was someone far more complicated?

What I find fascinating about her are recent disclosures that she lived many years in doubt about God and religion.  In letters she wrote to confidantes in the 1950’s, Mother Teresa seemed more like a skeptic than she did as a nun with strong beliefs.  In 1959 she wrote, “In my soul I feel just that terrible pain of loss of God not wanting me — of God not being God — of God not existing.”  She repeated this sentiment numerous times.  Clearly, she experienced a crisis of belief.

I have no idea what caused that, but I imagine it is similar to what most honest and aware people experience.  Many of us have our own dark night of the soul when we question all that gives us purpose and hope.  As painful as the episodes might be, for me such a time was immensely enlightening. 

I experienced my dark night of the soul twelve years ago when I came out as a gay man.  I finally determined to live my truth.  But with that came a time of despair.  Friends who once said they loved me, instead abandoned me.  My belief in a loving God suddenly became irrelevant and even false.  Organized spirituality, in any form, was something I turned my back on – since my previous church had proven to be judgmental and hypocritical.  It condemned me for revealing one small part of myself – even though I remained the same minister and person they once said they loved.

After over a year in that dark state of mind, I began to read about spirituality that is instead open, free and affirming.  I became a seeker.  I learned about alternative ideas and ways to interpret religion and the Bible.  I eventually rejected theism and found, instead, belief in what I call a natural, little ‘g’ god – a god in nature and in all people – a universal force of compassion, gentleness and kindness.

That period of time led me to conclude that even what I find spiritually true now, must still be questioned.  I have much to still learn and ways to still grow.  I still fail to do what I know is right.  I often don’t practice the  peace, love and humility I aspire to have.  I still hold unconscious prejudice in my heart.  All of this means I must continue to seek, question and learn.  It means I must still examine and meditate on everything.

Ultimately, I believe we only know truth when we realize we don’t know it – but that it must continually be pursued.  That is a hallmark of Unitarianism and it expresses itself in every part of our lives.  Seekers are first and foremost humble.  They know what they don’t know.  They know they are not special nor do they have access to ultimate truth.  Seeking will lead us to greater peace, gentleness, empathy, forgiveness, listening, curiosity, and, as I claim, greater enlightenment.

       And with that, as I say every Sunday to my beloved community In Cincinnati, I wish this beloved community here in Louisville, much peace and joy.    

(c) Rev. Doug Slagle, Minister to the Gathering at Northern Hills, All Rights Reserved

 

Many of you might be familiar with the famous eighteenth century Scottish philosopher David Hume.  He is often called the father of modern Humanism.

There is a story which he told about an event that happened to him at a young age.  One evening, while walking home, he found a bridge damaged and closed.  To get to the other side, he was forced to take a path through a swamp.  At some point he tripped and fell into the swamp.  He struggled to get out but only sank further.  Hume shouted for help and many villagers came out to investigate.  But they recognized him as the well-known Atheist and refused to help.  “The devil has ye by the feet,” they jeered.  “Let ‘im get ye out!”

One young milkmaid, however, remained behind.  “My dear,” Hume said to her, “doesn’t your Christian faith implore you to help others, even your enemies?” 

“Aye,” she replied, but ye shallna get out o’ that, till ye become a Christian yoursell, and repeat the Lord’s Prayer.”

David Hume promptly said the Lord’s Prayer and the milkmaid did as she implied she would – she swung a log into the swamp upon which Hume crawled to safety.  He is said to have repeated this story often – commenting that the young woman was the best Christian theologian he’d ever met!

Hume was one of the leading thinkers of his time.  Along with men like Voltaire, Locke, Rousseau, and Adam Smith, his philosophy defined what is called the Age of Enlightenment.  That period emphasized reason over superstition, and science over religion.  Immanuel Kant, another philosopher of the time, said the Enlightenment was humankind’s escape from mental immaturity – a mindset that cannot think on its own but instead depends on guidance from other sources – like Ministers or Scriptures.

My message series this month looks at what I assert are pathways to enlightenment.  What are three primary ways by which we find greater  knowledge, understanding and awareness about the meaning of life, ourselves and the universe?  My topic today, the path of serving, is a leading way to achieve enlightenment.

In broad terms, serving is not just about doing tasks for others.  Instead, it an outcome from Humanist ideals which place the well-being of people, not God or religion, at the center of concern and study.

That leads me back to my story about David Hume trapped in a swamp.  The young woman was likely conflicted.  Helping an avowed Atheist was contrary to what she’d been taught – to avoid nasty heathens.  But she was also motivated by a desire to assist someone who was suffering.  She solved her dilemma by asking that Hume make a statement of faith so she could in good conscience serve him.  As a practical and logical man, Hume was not one to foolishly stand on principle.  If saying a simple prayer saved his life, who cares?

And that gets to the heart of becoming enlightened through serving.  Ultimately, we must ask, who is it we serve first and foremost?  Ourselves?  God?  People?

Hume and other Enlightenment philosophers believed that most religious persons, like the milkmaid, are motivated to serve themselves first, God second, others last.  The milkmaid wanted to go to Heaven and was afraid of the alternative. To address that fear, she loved and served God.  Being more kindhearted than the other villagers, she also had sympathy for Hume.  She wisely concluded she could meet all three of these motivations with her cunning solution. 

As Hume said, she unknowingly expressed Christian theology better than any famous Minister.  Christians were and are, and I mean no disrespect here, motivated by self-interest to spend eternity in Heaven.  Pleasing God is secondary, but dependent, on that self-interested goal.  Helping others might come as a result of the first two.

But therein was a paradox for Hume, his fellow Enlightenment philosophers and, indeed, for any of us.  Without fear of death, and religious beliefs to address that fear, what is it that will motivate people to love their neighbors and serve?   Indeed, many commentators say that religion is the only reason people act morally.

Without religion, do we seek a quid pro quo arrangement when we serve others – I will rub your back only if you rub mine?  Or do we serve because it makes us feel good?

Some might say that since serving others makes us feel good, we are in fact motivated by self-interest.  If so, non-religious folks are no better than those who serve and love only in order gain eternal life.

Employing reason and logic, Hume responded “no!”    He returned to the core question.  Without religion and fear of death, what is it that will motivate people to serve?   Hume believed that wanting to serve others is a natural desire.  Empathy and benevolence are a part of human DNA.  We intrinsically WANT to serve.  If we feel good as a result, that is not what motivated us.  It is simply a by-product of serving – NOT the cause.

Therein is the pathway to enlightenment.  It is to dig beneath our egos and find that intrinsic part of us that desires to be good and do good.  We must understand ourselves by getting in touch with our motivations.  We must find our true – and good – selves.

I believe one does that by humbling oneself.  By doing so, we will see ourselves as mostly insignificant in the context of an immense universe.  Reason and science inform us that humans are nothing special.  We are subject to the same forces that influence all other parts of the universe – we’re born, we exist for a time, we die.  Even the chemicals that comprise us are no different then those in a tree or a distant planet. 

Indeed, Hume famously said that, “The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.”  Such a conclusion is a dagger at the heart of religious myth and superstition.  Most Scriptures say we are the reason God created the universe.  He made humans to please himself.   That’s why he demands loyalty and obedience.

But as we contemplate an almost limitless universe and as we understand the natural forces that created us, such delusions of a God centered importance are lost.  What makes me more special than an oyster, a planet or a tree?  The universe was not created for me or anyone else.  My fear of annihilation and death is, in truth, my self-interested desire to live forever – to be more important than any other created thing – all of which decay and die.

On his deathbed, David Hume was asked if he wanted to reconsider his Atheism and become a Christian.  At a point when death loomed near and fear can induce some to choose faith as a way to be at peace, Hume replied by telling a story.  In that story, he is standing on the banks of the river Styx, the mythical separation between life and death.  Charon, the boatman who transports people across the river, beckons him to come aboard.  “Wait!” Hume cries out.  “I’ve endeavored all my life to open the eyes of the public.  If you allow me but a few more years of life, I may see the downfall of superstition!” 

“Ha!” laughs Charon derisively.  “That will not happen for hundreds of years!  Do you think I should grant you a lease for such a long time?  Get in the boat now you lazy, loitering rogue!”

Faced with his death, Hume did not flinch.  His reason, sense of humor and deep humility remained.  The end comes for us all.  Why should anyone think they are exempt?

By seeking to understand my role in the universe – in light of an insignificant existence – that causes me to not only face reality, but also discover my true purpose.  If I am of no great importance, what is it that I  can bring to the world?  How can I make a difference?  Where can I touch the future – even though my name and life will be forgotten?   

I must find the true me and gain, as Hume implied, a more mature outlook rooted in reason, guided by love and absent fear. 

Awareness of my true but insignificant self does not demean me in an unhealthy way.  It does not mean I abandon meeting my basic needs.  Rather, inner awareness enables me to become a better “me”.  Freed from fear, freed from the need to pretend that I can live forever, that will empower me to understand my reason for living. And that is:   Because we each have goodness built into us, our purpose in life is to express kindness, love and service to others.

By arriving at that crucial discovery, I can then clearly see my path forward.  I might be of no greater importance than an oyster, but I can still find significance by how I live.  My impact on the future, my footprints in the sands of time, will come from whom and what I serve.  Shall I serve my ego and the immature self that only desires?  Or, shall I grow up, shall I embark on a path to enlightenment, shall I empower my inner goodness and SERVE the wider world?

I do not pretend that the prompts of ego are easy to throw away.  As much as I want to walk pathways to enlightenment, I can often fail.  Yes, I deeply want to serve, but my self-interest too often gets in the way.  I cannot say how many times when I contemplate my work and my responsibilities that I dream of finding a simple part time job and living a life of greater ease.  I admit to having a sense of obligation – and that partly motivates me.  But I’m also forced to challenge my selfishness and live according to my better angels. 

We each have many ordinary tasks to do in life, but there are also times when we can do extraordinary things – comfort someone who hurts, help a person in need, or advocate for marginalized and oppressed people.  Serving encompasses such deeds and it also includes speaking kindly, forgiving, and acting with humility.  If we are true to the goodness within us, if we have done the work to diminish our egos, we cannot help but want to do these things.  Service, love and kindness are what define us and what will last long past our lifetimes.   

Over the past few months, I’ve been asked by two members, at different times, what can an elderly Humanist do to practice their beliefs?  They want to know how they can still serve when the effects of aging make that difficult.

These two expressed what I’ve just stated – we all have built within us a yearning to love and give.  I told them the truth as I see it.  They still serve in countless ways.  They serve with their friendships, their gentleness, their wisdom, and their determination to grow old not with bitterness, but with grace, laughter and kindness.

The irony of enlightenment through serving is that it is continually self-fulfilling.  The more one serves, the more one gains enlightenment.  If you show me a person who serves without fanfare, who is regularly a person who gives and loves selflessly, I guarantee that person will be a humble, gentle and mostly enlightened soul.  I guarantee that person will leave his or her mark on the world in ways a thousand times greater than one who plasters his or her name across tall skyscrapers or emblazons it on a large jet.

Such is one reason this congregation commits itself to meet the needs of children.  We want to touch the future.  It’s why we serve in homeless shelters for young adults and kids.  It’s why we assemble weekend food packets for hungry school children or hygiene kits for homeless teens.  It’s why we’ve begun a new effort to tutor at risk children at a local school.  It’s why we are devoted to our Children’s eduction and OWL programs and why a few dedicated women – like MJ – sacrificially give up their Sundays to make that happen.  It’s why this congregation is committed to eliminate any vestiges of racism and white privilege in ourselves and our communities – so that all kids can grow up with opportunity.

We deeply believe in the value of reason and logic.  As David Hume wrote, reason tells us that humans are of no great importance to the universe.  We are not the reason it exists.  That can be a frightening awareness.  But with that truth comes our enlightenment – that we find our reason for living not from an external God.  We find it from within.  We find it in how we express the impulses of kindness and service that are knit into our very being.  We live, we find our value, we leave behind a legacy in what we do to selflessly serve.  Yes, we work to meet our own needs – but that work should only enable our true purpose.………….we are servants, plain and simple.   Knowing that, we know everything.

I wish you all peace and joy.