| Sermon: Bless this Child |
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Bless This Child A sermon delivered by The Rev. Kathy Schmitz on May 8, 2011 At First Unitarian Church of Orlando, Florida "There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings." ~ Hodding Carter, Jr. Sermon Summary: On this Mothers' Day, we will welcome children new to the First Unitarian community with a Child Dedication Ceremony. (Another Child Dedication Ceremony is planned for Fathers' Day, June 19.) Later in the service, we consider the role of the community throughout life of the individual. “As Surely as We Belong to the Universe,” Margaret A. Keip Meditation: Rev. Mary J. Harrington, in honor of Mother’s Day Responsive Reading: “To Worship,” #441in Singing the Living Tradition Reading: "And How Are the Children?" Pat Hoertdoerfer, from Bless This Child, Page 93-94 Closing Words: “May You Be Challenged and Transformed,” UUA Moderator, Gini Courter Permissions: Permission is granted to quote freely with attribution. Permission is granted to use as a whole in worship with notice to the author. To reproduce in print, please contact the author. Sermon: Who are you? Where do you belong? Do you know? This morning we welcomed children in our Child Dedication Ceremony. We said: "We welcome these children and commit ourselves to their nurture." We name and welcome our children. We dedicate ourselves to their care – to creating a religious community and a world that will nourish them. My question for our shared pondering this morning is: Do we know what that means? What does it mean to create a religious community and a world that will nourish our children? I would suggest that in part, it means helping them know the answer to these questions. Who are you? Where do you belong? There is a lovely little book titled Bless This Child. It is a collection of readings suitable for occasion such as this morning’s ceremony and put together by a Unitarian Universalist minster. When looking through the book in preparation for today, I found myself wondering, in a Unitarian Universalist context, what does it mean, to Bless this Child? This led me to research different understandings of the word "blessing." There are many. If I had to choose the one on which we might find common ground, I would say this: When we say "bless this child", we are wishing for the child, the unmerited good of life. We are hoping that this child will have every opportunity to grow into their potential, not because they have earned it but just because they are. We seek blessings for the children in our lives. Of course, we do. But, then, wouldn’t we want that for every child? Wouldn’t we want that for every person? Shouldn’t all people be able to answer those questions? Who are you? Where do you belong? A story from the Sufi tradition: From Soul Food edited by Jack Kornfield and Christina Feldman page 44 “In the spiritual community that G. I. Gurdjieff led in France there was an old man who was the personification of difficulty -- irritable, messy, fighting with everyone, and unwilling to clean up or help at all. No one got along with him. Finally, after many frustrating months of trying to stay with the group, the old man left for Paris. Gurdjieff followed him and tried to convince him to return, but it had been too hard, and the man said no. At last Gurdjieff offered the man a very big monthly stipend if he returned. How could he refuse? When he returned everyone was aghast, and on hearing that he was being paid (while they were being charged a lot to be there), the community was up in arms. Gurdjieff called them together and, after hearing their complaints, laughed and explained: 'This man is like yeast for bread.' He said, `Without him here you would never really learn about anger, irritability, patience, and compassion. That is why you pay me, and why I hire him.'" What do people need from their religious community? What is the purpose of our spiritual gatherings? In the field of Christian theology this is know has Ecclesiology – the study of the church. Why are we here and what are are we doing? Ecclesiology is the field which asks the church as an institution, the congregation as an organization: Who are you? Where do you belong? For the sake of our children we dedicate ourselves…. to what? Eleanor Roosevelt said: From Bless This Child, Page 59 “One of the most important things for our young people to learn is the difficult art of being at home in the world. Ahead of them lies the gigantic, but infinitely rewarding, task of learning to know and understand other peoples, and the equally difficult task of helping other people to know and understand them.” We need to understand and we need to be understood. This is not always easy. Our Responsive Reading put it this way: “Worship is the mystery within us reaching out to the mystery beyond.” Our communities support us on this journey. However, since the journey will not be easy, neither will life in community. We have much to learn. We seek to understand and we need to be understood. It is always a dance between the individual and the community. Who are you? Where do you belong? Our Unitarian Universalist Principles might answer these questions using the First Principle and the Seventh Principle. The First Principle affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Who are you? A person with worth and dignity. The Seventh Principle affirms respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Where do you belong? Here, in this amazing, unfolding, interconnected web. Our Unitarian Universalist Association Principles are made up of seven statements that offer a description of our shared values and world view. They are ordered starting with a focus on the individual and moving outward in expanding circles until all existence is included. You are a person with worth and dignity who is part of interdependent web much greater than yourself. Depending on what is going on at the moment or in our lives or in our world, we may focus more on the individual or we may focus more on the interconnections? Still, both always matter. Neither can be ignored. We have seen individuals engage in the community breaking behavior. We have seen communities that repress individuals. The tyranny of either extreme does not serve us well. I recently heard idolatry described as worshiping only a part of God. What might we call it when we ascribe value to only part of human existence? When we focus only on ourselves, ignoring our connection to something larger. OR, when we focus only on the collective and fail to remember that we, too, matter. There is a human need for inclusion, to be part of something, to be cared for in community. We need to know we belong. And… There is a human need for identity, autonomy, integrity. We need to know that we are accepted and recognized for who we are. We need to know that we have something to offer, our own unique gifts to bring to the table. A story: Soulfood, Jack Kornfield and Christina Feldman A family went out to a restaurant for dinner. When the waitress arrived, the parent gave their orders. Immediately, the five-year-old daughter piped up with her own: ‘I’ll have a hot dog, french fries, and a Coke.’ ‘Oh no you won’t, interjected the dad and turning to the waitress he said, ‘She’ll have meat loaf, mashed potatoes, milk.’ Looking at the child with a smile, the waitress said, ‘So, hon, what do want on that hot dog?’ When she left, the family sat stunned and silent. A few moments later the little girl, eyes shining, said, ‘She thinks I’m real.’In our meditation this morning, we heard, “We sing a song of gratitude for all the moments of being known, being cherished, being found. In our Dedication Ceremony, I said to each child, “I speak your name before all these people that they may know who you are and welcome you. We affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and that mean you. But there is more, you are more. The words to our children continue “… may you know as well We affirm our part, your part, in the interdependent web of all existence. It is always a dance between the individual and the community. And so, What do people need from their religious community? What is the purpose of our spiritual gatherings? Perhaps they need a place to dance. A place to practice being human. A place to find balance in life. A place to know that we matter and that we are not all that matters. In our consumer culture it can be tempting to think that we come to church to get our needs met. And maybe, at some level, we do, depending on what how we define needs. But sometimes the needs that we are aware of and can articulate are different from our real needs. We sometimes think that we come here to for a kind of sanctuary from any kind of challenges and learning and growth. When a challenge arises, we are shocked. We are like the folks in the spiritual community with the difficult man. Until they are told, `Without him here you would never really learn about anger, irritability, patience, and compassion. Gini Couter, the Moderator of our Unitarian Universalist Association, put it this way. “You don’t go to church to find the people you love. You go to church to love the people you find.” Who are you? Where do you belong? Do you know? May our quest together be long and fruitful. And may we find our truth… some place between our ideals and reality, some place between my needs, your needs, and our needs, some place between you and me.
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