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Rev. Meg Barnhouse
September 1, 2019
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
Annual Water Ceremony: We bring water from a place that has fed our souls and spirits over the summer months and mingle these waters together to remind us of our connection to one another. In connections with friends, family, work mates and church members there is both joy and learning. How do we find ease and joy as we cross the rivers that present themselves?
Chalice Lighting
We light the fire of Truth and ask to be clear, wise, and humble enough to admit when we don’t know. We kindle the warmth of community and ask for open heartedness and patience. We are grateful to the Spirit of Life and ask to learn the secret to loving and being loved.
Call to Worship
WATER
Phillip Larkin
If I were called in
To construct a religion
I should make use of water.
Going to church
Would entail a fording
To dry, different clothes;
My liturgy would employ
Images of sousing,
A furious devout drench!
And I should raise in the east
A glass of water
Where any-angled light
Would congregate endlessly.
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Reading
WATER
Wendell Berry
I was born in the drought year. That summer my mother waited in the house, enclosed in the sun and the dry ceaseless wind, for the men to come back in the evenings, bringing water from a distant spring. Veins of leaves ran dry, roots shrank.
And all my life I have dreaded the return of that year, sure that it is still somewhere like a dead enemy’s soul. Fear of dust in my mouth is always with me, and I am the faithful husband of the rain. I love the water of the wells and the springs, and the taste of roofs in the water of cisterns.
I am a dry man whose thirst is praise of clouds, and whose mind is something of a cup. My sweetness is to wake in the night after days of dry heat, hearing the rain.
Sermon
Water Ceremony: Many Rivers to Cross
Many rivers to cross describes a feeling of defeat and despair, in what feels like a foreign land. Sometimes we are at home in this place and sometimes we feel like we are in a foreign land. This is one of the reasons we gather here. We need one another, more at some times in life than others.
In UU congregations across the country we have Ingathering services this time of year. In the old days UU churches shut down in the summertime. In September the “church year” started up again, and people would bring water from their summer travels. We go through the summer here, and we bring water from places that have nourished our spirits, which can be from far flung places or from the tap in the kitchen. The places are important, because we learn a little more about the people around us, but what’s most important is seeing the waters coming together. You can’t tell which water is from Brazil and which is from the Brazos. More of us are becoming more and more aware of how precious water is, and some cultures are putting into law their understanding of water as a being with rights of its own.
Lake Erie, last February, was granted the right to flourish without being polluted, and citizens of OH can now sue polluters on behalf of the lake. In the past decade the nature rights movement has grown, with rivers and forests winning legal rights in Ecuador, Colombia, India and New Zealand.
Living near Appalachia, it never made sense to me that someone upstream from your land could dump poison into the water, hurting your crops and your livestock, and that not be against the law. In our Western philosophy so far, humans have “dominion” over the land, and can take anything from it they want to. They take whole tops off of mountains, and that’s not against the law. This water is a precious resource, and clean water should be a human right, not just the right of someone with the money to buy water that Nestle has drawn from Florida springs or one of the great lakes.
This water also can be a teacher. What properties does water have that we might want to study? It’s very flexible in its liquid state. It runs around barriers, it sinks through soil, it flows down roof gutters into the rain barrel, down streets to the drains, down the sewers to the treatment plant, etc. Can we wonder, in a difficult situation, “I wonder what this moment would be like if I were like water?”
Water is also persistent. It trickles over rock and carves grooves, then canyons.
Can we wonder, as we struggle with despair over cruelty and injustice “I wonder what would happen if we were as persistent as water?”
I say “we” because one little drop of water is not going to make any kind of a groove, much less a canyon. These are our waters together, and they teach us that if enough drops get together they will have to work harder to evaporate us, to mop us up, to make us go away. Remember the story of King Canute, who ruled England long ago. Walking by the shore, his followers, sycophants and so called advisors praised him, the way some rulers like to be praised. “O King, you are the greatest man in the world, all bow before you. None would dare disobey you. You shall have anything you want, and your will shapes the universe.” Canute was a man of good sense, and he grew tired of this foolish talk.
“Bring me my chair and I will command the waves.” He sat and held up his hand, commanding the waves . “Very well. Sea,” cried Canute, “I command you to come no further! Waves, stop your rolling!. Surf, stop your pounding! Do not dare touch my feet!”
He waited a moment, quietly, and a tiny wave rushed up the sand and lapped at his feet.
“How dare you!” Canute shouted. “Ocean, turn back now! I have ordered you to retreat before me, and now you must obey! Go back!”
No ruler on earth, no company boss, no President can hold back the people forever if they demand justice. Hong Kong, Moscow, in myriad US towns, the people move. Like water. Flexible, persistent, together.
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