John Ockels, a lay-leader at the Red River Unitarian Universalist Church in Denison, Texas, preached this sermon decrying the “Theology of Running Away” two weeks ago to his congregation. He challenges the notion of religion as constant searching, and encourages us as Unitarian Universalists to put down roots, “Kudzu-style.”

And I, for one, say “AMEN.” How about you?

Shall We Dwell At the River?

by John Ockels

This morning Iʼm here to criticize what I call “The Theology of Running Away.” Enough already with the theology of Singing the Journey, This World Is Not My Home, running-all-over-creation-chasing My Elusive Dreams, and nostalgic floating around in a boat, never quite docking, never quite engaging. “I’ve been sailing all my life now, Never harbor nor port have I known.” Please. Enough with all that. Enough with the theology of always being on a journey. Itʼs officially wearing me out.

This morning I want to argue for an end to all that Hank Thompson “Iʼm Moving On,” “We are going, heaven knows where we are going, Woyaya,” Christopher Columbus, thereʼs a better world over yonder, “Go West Young Man,” Herman Hesse Journey To the East, somewhere over the rainbow, life must be better somewhere else or sometime else stuff. Forget all that. Makes me tired just to think about it.

This morning I want to argue for a radical theology of loving where you are, staying put, spreading out, putting down roots … and taking over. Like a plant. And doing so successfully, like a successful weed. In short I want to argue a theology based on radical engagement where we are standing right now. A theology based on observing how plants interact with their surroundings, not one based on continued roaming predator behavior. A theology of taking over like a weed. A theology of Kudzu.

(Read on … )

Another poem, in honor of National Poetry month, that you might hear in a Unitarian Universalist worship service or other setting, this time by Billy Collins. Mr. Collins was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001-2003 and is known for expressing big ideas with simple words.

I find this piece to be a wonderful metaphor for a spiritual journey, in addition to calling to mind many pleasant walks in the woods.

Directions

by Billy Collins

You know the brick path in back of the house,
the one you see from the kitchen window,
the one that bends around the far end of the garden
where all the yellow primroses are?
And you know how if you leave the path
and walk up into the woods you come
to a heap of rocks, probably pushed
down during the horrors of the Ice Age,
and a grove of tall hemlocks, dark green now
against the light-brown fallen leaves?
And farther on, you know
the small footbridge with the broken railing
and if you go beyond that you arrive
at the bottom of that sheep’s head hill?
Well, if you start climbing, and you
might have to grab hold of a sapling
when the going gets steep,
you will eventually come to a long stone
ridge with a border of pine trees
which is as high as you can go
and a good enough place to stop.

(Read on … )

Because Unitarian Universalism encompasses so many qualities different from a standard organized religion, first and foremost our lack of a prescribed set of beliefs, it is sometimes very difficult to explain to our children what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist.

The Unitarian Universalist Association’s Family Network has a number of good resources available for families to aid in the development of Unitarian Universalist identity in our children. This story from the Rev. Hope Johnson, who serves the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Central Nassau in Garden City, New York, is part of a 34 page document of stories about family religious traditions called “Family Stories as Faith Stories” (PDF). Her description of her faith journey transcends generations.

For consideration: what stories in your own family history inform your faith journey today?

My Faith Home

by Rev. Hope Johnson

Hi, my name is Hope and I’m from the island of Jamaica in the Caribbean Sea. I grew up all over the world but always went back home to my island. I was raised Anglican which folks here in the United States, call Episcopalian. My twin sister Janice and I went to Sunday School every single Sunday no matter where we found ourselves. And we would get in trouble every single Sunday. Our Sunday School teachers didn’t like the questions we asked each week when there was one thing or another that we did not understand.

“I don’t understand the Trinity. If God is God why do we need to pray to Father, Son and Holy Ghost? But you said ghosts are not real. But I don’t believe that the Devil is real. Where’s Hell? But I do love Jesus, I just don’t understand it the way you do. Now about this Virgin Birth…”

(Read on … )

This morning brings us a charge. The Rev. Dr. Marni Harmony of the First Unitarian Church of Orlando, Florida writes that we must see our connection to the world if we are to live in it fully. May none of us remain “chained to a rusty anchor.”

I Say It Touches Us

By Rev. Dr. Marni Harmony

I say that it touches us that our blood is
sea water and our tears are salt, that the seed of our bodies is scarcely
different
from the same cells in a seaweed,
and that the stuff of our bones is like the coral.
I say that the tide rolls in on us, whether we like it or no, and the sands of time keep running their intended course.
I say we have to go down into the wave’s trough to find ourselves, and then ride her swell until we can see beyond ourselves into our neighbor’s eye.
I say that we shall never leave the harbor if we do not hoist the sail.
I say that we have got to walk the waves as well as solid ground.
I say that anyone who goes without consciousness of this will remain chained to a rusty anchor.
May the journey find us worthy. Amen.

Source: “I Say it Touches Us,” Rev. Dr. Marni Harmony, minister at the First Unitarian Church of Orlando, Florida; Church of the Larger Fellowship Quest Newsletter, June 2006.

At the end of John’s second year of seminary, we attended the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas. A couple of days before the big event gets started each year, the ministers and many of their partners and spouses gather for “Professional Days.”

That year, the annual Berry Street Address was given by the Rev. Burton Carley, now serving the Church of the River in Memphis, TN. It was nothing short of remarkable:

“The Way Home”

The Rev. Burton D. Carley
The Berry Street Essay, 2005

Delivered at the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly
Fort Worth, Texas
June 23, 2005

The desire may begin without understanding what it is exactly that you are longing for. One thing is for sure. The urge is wrapped with a hollow feeling that has all the weight of missing something. You cast about for what it might be that haunts you. A fleeting shadow comes and goes at the corner of the eye. Quickly you turn to capture it without success. After a while you try to dismiss it, rationalize it, ignore it, but the yearning persists.

A story seeps up from the internal depths, breaking the surface between sleep and waking. It is Moses and God in conversation. I never know whether to envy Moses or be among those who were wisely thankful that there was someone either foolish enough or courageous enough to risk being in the presence of such sacred power. In that narrative from the ancient past God warns Moses that no one can look directly upon the divine face and live. Then it occurs to me as if by some revelation that this deep down desire may have a source other than my own making, and that the way there does not take me to a strange, awkward, foreign, and forbidding place. It occurs to me that the way there is the way home, a path out of the hollow up to the hallowed. A sense of place becomes clear and Meister Eckhart whispers in my ear: “God is at home. We are in the far country.”

(Read on … )