Love is the Spirit of this church, and Service is its Law

Rev. Meg Barnhouse
October 7, 2018
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
austinuu.org

“Love is the Spirit of this Church, and Service is its Law.” Most people look for ways to feel useful, to find good meaning in their lives, and to connect with others as they seek to leave the world a better place than they found it.

Call to Worship

This House
by Kenneth L. Patton

This house is for the ingathering of nature and human nature.

It is a house of friendships, a haven in trouble, an open room for the encouragement of our struggle.

It is a house of freedom, guarding the dignity and worth of every person.

It offers a platform for the free voice, for declaring, both in times of security and danger the full and undivided conflict of opinion.

It is a house of truth-seeking, where scientists can encourage devotion to their quest, where mystics can abide in a community of searchers.

It is a house of art, adorning its celebrations with melodies and handiworks.

It is a house of prophecy outrunning times past and times present in visions of growth and progress. This house is a cradle for our dreams, the workshop of our common endeavor.

Reading

A Litany for Survival
By Audre Lorde

For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children’s mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours;

For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother’s milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.

And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid

So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.

Sermon

Useless Fury. Have you been feeling some of that? I don’t think I have seen such distress in many years.

How long can you live with such distress? Lifetimes, if you read the writings of historically marginalized and powerless folks. Lifetimes. Feeling like the heavy-footed are silencing us.

I’m going to tell you something about women. Something most of you already know.

“We were imprinted with fear like a faint line in the center of our foreheads. Learning to be afraid with our mothers milk.” For by this weapon the illusion of some safety to be found the heavy-footed hoped to silence us. The heavy footed have reinforced this lesson now. It might be easy to give up. But we won’t, because we have a voice together. Together is the first word of our mission. Together is powerful. From time to time, individuals are called to step forward in Courage. Almost always, though, this courage has its roots somewhere in together.

We come to this place with our pain, our fears, or limits, and our strengths. we come to this place to learn to love and just serve. We come to this place to build the Beloved Community. Together. In order for this place to be here, we have to work together.

Sometimes when we are distressed and afraid, our first instinct is to shut down, to become isolated, to get depressed.

At my house what we do is watch a garden show called “Gardeners’ World.” The show has Golden Retrievers and volunteers. It has old ladies glowing with gardening and older couples discovering new species of orchids.

Transformation through service

Today is about transformation through service. That’s the name of a new program we have been beginning.

Every time we light our chalice, we say together, “Love is the spirit of this church and service is it’s law.”

There is so much service that has been done here. People help with the stewardship campaign, people help with Fellowship, people teach, people clean, people pitch in to proofread things, too right cards, to sit at the welcome desk so that everyone always gets a human voice when they call the church, I have a volunteer who assist me and helps me do more than I could do by myself. We have people who help us count the money and keep it safe as it comes in so that it can all be used well, we have people who write cards and make visits to those who are ill or in distress. Just to get an idea of how much human power it takes for us to make this congregation work, would you please raise your hand if you have done any volunteer service for this congregation?

I ask this so we can look around and see how many people it takes. Some people are in a position in their lives and spirits to do more than others people are temperamentally suited as givers. Other people are in a place in their lives where it’s all they can do to keep the home fires burning. We are all in different life stages.

There are many different kinds of jobs to be done in this congregation. Some require physical presence and others don’t. How can you tell if there is a job that might suit your life stage your spirits energy your gifts and talents? Transformation through service program.

Give and You Receive

“It is better to give than to receive” may have a biological basis. A new study found that the brain’s pleasure centers became activated as people decided to donate part of a new stash of money to charity, rather than keeping it all for themselves. The findings may shed light on why some people contribute to the public good, even at a personal cost.

Researchers at the University of Oregon took advantage of an advanced brain imaging technique known as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which shows when specific regions of the brain are activated. Their study was supported by NIH’s National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Science Foundation. At the start of the experiment, 19 women received S 100 and were told they could keep whatever money remained at the end of the session. They then lay in an fMRI scanner for about an hour, while a computer screen displayed a series of possible money transfers to a local food bank. About half of the proposed transfers were voluntary – participants could decide whether to accept or reject the donation. In other cases, the proposed transfers were required, similar to a tax. Occasionally, additional money was unexpectedly added or taken away from either the woman’s or the charity’s account.

As described in the June 15, 2007, issue of Science, the brain scans showed that three very different situations – receiving money, seeing money go to a good cause or deciding to donate money – all activated similar pleasure-related centers deep in the brain.

Greek philosopher Aristotle once surmised that the essence of life is “To serve others and do good.” If recent research is any indication, serving others might also be the essence of good health.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The research revealed the following about each of the study’s populations:

Men Enrolled in Baltimore Experience Corps – This group experienced the greatest increase in brain volumes over the two-year study.
Women Enrolled in Baltimore Experience Corps Women showed modest gains in brain volumes, but they also began the study in generally poorer physical condition than the men. By the study’s end, women had made the most significant improvements in physical activity. Dr. Carlson noted this could lead to future increases in brain volume and improved executive function among the women.
Control Group Members – This group showed typical age-related shrinkage in brain volumes.

The study involved 702 retired men and women, 352 were trained to serve as Baltimore Experience Corps volunteer mentors. They worked in libraries at Baltimore City Public Schools, helping young children learn to read. The remaining 350 study participants – control group members – were not involved in Baltimore Experience Corps. Volunteer work involved:

Working in teams
Problem solving
Walking throughout the day
Sharing their knowledge

Within this larger study, researchers also conducted a “nested study” (a study within a study). This involved 111 of the research participants, 58 from the Baltimore Experience Corps group and 53 from the control group. These people underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans – an exam that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to produce detailed brain images – and memory tests at scheduled points during the research.

“We expected the brains of study participants to shrink as part of the normal aging process,” said Michelle Carlson, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Core Faculty at Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health. “Instead, after two years in a program that involved them in meaningful, social activity, their memory centers either maintained their size or grew modestly.”

“We learned that activity with a purpose may benefit cognitive function and memory in older adults,” Dr. Carlson said. “The magic ingredient seemed to be getting out of your home and getting out with a purpose.”

Learned helplessness

Learned helplessness can be taught. The way that you get taught learned helplessness is that nothing you do seems to make any difference to your situation. You get a shock whether you press the little paddle or not. You get your food or you don’t get your food; it doesn’t matter what you do. And you learn that nothing you do makes a difference.

We will not let them teach us this. This is a place where we can be together. We can learn that we are not helpless. We can learn our powers. We can join our voices. We can keep going TOGETHER.

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Most sermons delivered at the First UU Church of Austin during the past 18 years are available online through this website. You will find links to them in the right sidebar menu labeled Sermons. The Indexes link leads to tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on the topic to go to a sermon.