Prayer – Its Place & Purpose in Our Lives – First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin

April 30, 2006

First UU Church of Austin

4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756

www.austinuu.org

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button.

PRAYER:

Dear Father/Mother God; Dear Old Friend; Dear Mystery of many names and Mystery beyond all naming, we stand within the mystery today to discuss the very thing that we’re doing right now.

We know that there is something greater than us out there and within us. We know, we feel, we sense that there is a portion of what we partake of that is greater than anything we can bring to the table.

Some have called that something God, some Mystery, some the Divine Mother, some the Great Spirit, and some the Holy Spirit. Help us mystery beyond naming not to be thrown off by the names that you are known by. We all recognize a dog when we see one, and yet each dog we see is called by a different name. If we like dogs and have become acquainted with one that we later find out has the name of Ralph, we are not offended when that dog’s human calls it Ralph.

In the same way, let us recognize in others the ability to speak to their creator, their source of energy, their place of groundedness in whatever manner, and by whatever name that they see fit.

Let us not think that Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Milerepa, Mother Earth, or Father Sky are alien beings that we have no contact with.

Help us, that which is greater than us, to surrender ourselves to the storm of spirit that comes over us in sacred moments.

Help us to give credit where credit is due, and to see that everything that we see, hear, touch, feel, taste and sense is but a portion of that great elephant that we blind earthlings grope at and philosophize about.

This we pray in the name of everything that is holy and that is, precisely, everything.

Readings:

If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.

(Gospel of Thomas, saying #70)

Humor is a prelude to faith. Laughter is the beginning of prayer.

(Reinhold Neibuhr)

SERMON: Many Voices

Do you ever feel like someone is watching you? I mean, you’re doing something – something quite ordinary and all of a sudden you stop, you look around – you can feel someone’s eyes on you.

As the world and especially this country gets closer to George Orwell’s 1984 – ah – 1984 – if it were only 1984 – as we get closer to a society that seems to be watching us – well, that’s certainly one way to explain or understand this feeling of having someone’s eyes on you – Big Brother and the Holding Company is watching!

When I used to do the ride-a-long program in Berkeley, California back when I was attending Starr King School for the Ministry there was a sign in the Berkeley Police Department that read, “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you!”

Now, admittedly, this is a few steps past feeling like you’re being watched – this is a feeling that malevolent eyes with ill intent are watching you.

But the feeling of being watched I’m talking about isn’t akin to either one of those feelings. It’s not Big Brother and it’s not paranoia.

Do you remember when you were a child and your family was at the beach or the lake and you were down by the water’s edge playing in the sand, playing in the water – totally lost in your child’s imagination, but then you’d look up and there behind her Foster Grant’s was your mother’s gentle smile? She was watching and maybe you pointed to your sand castle and waved, or maybe you simply returned to your childish games.

This level of being watched isn’t intrusive, but as a child it seemed omnipresent. I feel that this is where a great deal of the world’s religions get the notion that GOD is in God’s heaven, and God and all the saints are in their glass bottom boat in heaven and looking down upon us.

Surely, this is what the Psalmist meant when he sang,

I lift up my eyes to the hills where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will no harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life. the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121 NIV)

But this is not the feeling of being seen/watched that I’m talking about either.

There is a story in Hinduism; I believe it’s in the Upanishads that speaks of the soul being occupied by two birds. One is the bird of appetite. This is the bird that eats, defecates, loves, makes love, the bird that fears and flies away, or the bird that fears and fights.

The other bird’s job is to watch the bird of appetite. As far as I can figure out this “watcher bird” is the one that sees without judgment everything that we do, hears everything we say and the feeling of being watched that I’ve been talking about is somehow narratively explained to me by this concept of the “watcher bird.”

In Peter Barnes’s wonderful play, “The Ruling Class,” the main character, the 14th Earl of Gurney, named Jack, is asked by his aunt when he first realized that he was God. The 14th Earl of Gurney sees himself as God. Jack replies, “One day while I was praying I realized, I’m talking to myself.”

There’s a great deal of wisdom in this remark. For, I believe, that when we are praying, we are praying to ourselves. We, the birds of appetite, pray to our watcher birds.

The God within us – that which seems to be watching us at all times – is mostly a mute God. And we don’t have a remote control – we can’t hit the mute button and all of a sudden have the God within talking – it doesn’t work like that. But just because the God within is mostly mute does not mean that the God within is powerless. Remember there is the still small voice.

I’m going to tell you something now that you might not believe. But why should that stop me – after all you are Unitarian Universalists! Just add it to the list of things you don’t believe! You are praying right now. The Hebrew word for breath (Ruach) is also the Hebrew word for Spirit. As is the Greek word for Spirit and breath – both the same both are pneuma. According to Hebrew scriptures God breathed the breath of life into us and each time we take a breath we are echoing that moment of divine creation. After all, they don’t call it inspiration for nothing! To inspire is to inhale – to breathe in – to breathe life into.

(Frederick Buechner in his book, Wishful Thinking – a Seeker’s ABC’s -) A modern day theologian says, “We all pray whether we think of it as praying or not. The odd silence we fall into when something very beautiful is happening, or something very good, or very bad. The ah-h-h-h! that sometimes floats up out of us as out of a 4th of July crowd when the sky rocket bursts over the water.”

I’m thinking now about September the 11th – 9/11, when I was sitting with my wife, Viv, on the couch at our home. As my wife and I sat there on the couch, closer than usual, holding hands like we’d just started dating, watching the people jump to their deaths, whether we knew it or not, we were praying. Think back on that day – those events – and asked yourself was your attitude prayerful for those people facing death?

If you want proof that prayer is not exclusively tied up with words than go on a silent retreat.

Many people see in Buddhism a peace and serenity that they could not find in Christianity or Judaism. They see in the seated image of the Buddha a peace that they can bring to themselves by assuming that same position. They go to their zafu, meditation cushion, just knowing that sitting will bring them peace. And I submit to you that such logic can be mirrored by the pentetentes – the evangelical Christian zealots – found mostly in Mexico, Central and South America – who volunteer to be crucified on Easter in order to get closer to God. “What,” you say, “how can seated meditation being likened to crucifixion?”

Looking at the Buddha – the inscrutable east – looking at the Buddha one would assume that since he is stationary and in a seated position that he is at peace, but is he?

Jonathan Winters, probably the most gifted comic of our age, parks in handicapped spots wherever he goes and he does not have a handicap sticker on his car. He admits this openly. When he is stopped by someone who says, “Hey, You’re not handicapped!” His response is always “Madam/Sir, Can you see inside my mind?”

It is common knowledge that some of the world’s greatest humorists have led personally tragic lives.

Here’s an exercise that grew from the bio-energetic school of psychology and it drives home this link between the humorous and the tragic – the so-called peace of the divine grin on the Buddha and Christ hanging on the cross. Sit in a room by yourself (and please do this in an empty house unless you want those who are there to call the men in the white coats) – sit in a room and begin laughing. Oh, at first it will sound false – like a bad stage laugh – but eventually you will really be laughing, then something strange will happened – after you have laughed heartily for some time, you will begin to cry. And this crying won’t sound false at all. In fact, it may alarm you how strident and real it sounds. And while you’re there crying – ask yourself prayerfully why are you sad? Investigate your life!

The masks of comedy and tragedy are really only the two sides of a common currency – our emotions. A frown is a smile turned upside down!

But you say, “Look at the Buddha; he is immovable, like a rock, a part of nature’s serenity oozes from him.”

There has been a lot recently in the news concerning torture. A man in China was tortured by being made to lie on a soft bed and told not to move. Days of this lying on a soft bed and not moving wracked his body with excruciating pain. In the end this man admitted that he would have preferred to have been beaten.

My point is this – if you think sitting quietly doing nothing is peaceful you haven’t tried, in any extended manner, to do so.

When I attended my first seven day sesshin, meditation retreat, at the Marie Kannon Zen Center in Dallas, Texas three and one half days into the sesshin and I knew I hated each of the people on either side of me and I didn’t even know their names.

Take it from me the bird of appetite does not want the ground and focus to change. The bird of appetite wants to remain the focus. The bird of appetite wants the watcher bird to stay background. The bird of appetite is hard-pressed to let consciousness shift to the watcher bird.

In John Paul Sartre’s novel, Nausea, he says he realized how ridiculous human life was when one day from inside a French Caf he watched two people conversing on the street. The glass prevented him from hearing and their gesticulations and gestures rendered them absurd and caused him to feel sick, nauseous, hence the title, Nausea.

In Albert Camus’ novel, The Fall, the main character, John Baptiste, has his world shattered one day when he hears laughter and imagines that the derision of that laughter is directed at him. The beginning of self-consciousness can be upsetting. The world that we thought we knew has changed and watching ourselves can be very unsettling. Think of the first time you heard your recorded voice or saw home videos of yourself.

We’re afraid of the watcher bird. As the philosopher once said, “The sharp points of moral and social criticism cannot pass through others without first passing through us.”

It’s easy – it’s simpler to simply put the Watcher Bird outside ourselves, call it God, call it mystery, but don’t call it home.

(Ralph Waldo Emerson in his Divinity School Address said) But that which places God outside of us diminishes us, and that which places the divine within empowers us.

I want to empower each and every one of you here today. I want you to take back the power of prayer. I want you to realize that you are praying and part of you is listening and the part of you that is listening may, in fact, be in a very concrete manner answering all your prayers.

One who prays is called a prayer, P-R-A-Y-E-R. What one does when one prays is called prayer, P-R-A-Y-E-R. Prayer and prayer – the same thing.

I have a friend, Ken Markum. He’s a therapist. He does most of his therapy over the phone. Hey, if you can have phone sex, you can certainly have phone therapy.

Ken’s got a great metaphor that he swears is more than a metaphor. Ken says that the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, – that part of us that in the Jesus’ narrative was sent to be with us – the paraclete – the defending counsel – the comforter – the advocate – Ken says the Holy Spirit is a big, black dog.

This big black dog is called the Spirit of Truth and is described in John 16:13. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

He will declare to you the future.

And that guide dog of truth is faithful to you. Whenever and whatever you speak the faithful guide dog will echo back to you and that echo will become your life. It is your future.

When was the last time you took a big dog on a walk? You’d better pay attention to her. She’ll drag you off after a squirrel. It’s time to judge our ability to command spirit. What does Spirit see in us? What does Spirit hear from us? What is happening in our lives that, perhaps unknown to us, Spirit is accomplishing?!

It is my opinion that this big, black dog, this Holy Spirit – the Better Angel of our nature – is in fact the Watcher Bird of the Upanishads. This big black dog is faithful to us. It listens to everything we say – it considers everything we say a command! And it carries out each of these commands to the letter.

This big black dog is listening all the time. When others are not around, when we’re by ourselves, when we’re in our car in bad traffic, taking a walk to blow off steam after a fight with the spouse or kids, the big black dog is there by our side – listening – listening.

Albert Einstein said, “The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

I submit to you today that our world is also what we say to ourselves and to change our world we must change what we say to ourselves – especially what we say to ourselves when we imagine no one is listening.

You’ve heard this a million times. Someone has a job to do, a task to take care of. They describe this task, this job and they say things like, “This is going to be hard!” or “This is impossible!” or “I’m just not capable of doing this!” “There isn’t enough time.” “This will never work, this is too difficult, out of my league, problematic, beyond me, so hard to understand.” We’ve heard it before. We’ve said it before. It’s the language of labor and our daily conversations are full of it. Start paying attention to yourselves and others – you’ll be flabbergasted how much language of labor fills our days. The Psalmist again, Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. (Psalm 28:3 KJV)

Well, my friends, the big black dog is watching, the big black dog is listening and when the big black dog hears its master’s voice – your voice – it can’t wait to fulfill your commands.

I like this notion of the Holy Spirit – it’s not a very discerning spirit – but it’s eager to please.

You say your life is crap. You life will soon be crappier. The big black dog will do everything in its power to deliver an abundance of crap.

You say you hate yourself, your life – your life will become hateful – hate filled.

You say you’re tired of living? The big black dog will find a way for you to die.

And you needn’t think of this as superstition. On the ground level this is simply self-fulfilling prophesy.

Why is it, do you suppose, that the great religions of the world all echo the sentiments of the Psalmist, “Be still and know that I am God.”

For at some point in the meditation process the doer bird, the bird of appetite will grow silent – judgment will stop passing his lips, the language of labor will cease and sitting on the couch of your soul the bird of appetite and the watcher bird will stop preening and settle down in the nest together, conscious of each other, watchful without judgment.

The content of the majority of traditional prayers are prayers of request. We’re asking for something.

Because we don’t know how to pray or don’t know we are praying, what gets left out of most prayer is thanksgiving.

We put Thanksgiving off to one day a year – the third weekend in November and we combine it with a Dallas Cowboys’ football game.

Do yourself a favor – get into gratitude. Give thanks, give praise for your life and “when you are weary and you can’t sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep.”

Prayer is not talking to some power source outside yourself, outside your being.

Prayer is also not the Bird of Appetite cheerleading the Watcher Bird through the valley of death. Self help books are mostly help yourself books and affirmations – as George Harrison sang, “By chanting the name of the Lord you’ll be free.” All these efforts are simply efforts to counter our language of strife and labor, but in the end they do not reach the source. They are cosmetic. They skim the surface much like the child’s notion of not hearing the parents (hands over ears and saying nah-nah-nah-nah).

Real prayer is consciousness directed toward the moment – this moment – right now. Prayer is power because it is only in the moment that anything can be done, thought, taught, brought up, acted upon, changed.

A Gestalt therapist would say, this kind of prayer is simply getting out of your own way and letting your life live itself. This kind of prayer is simply shifting consciousness to the watcher bird and being in the end a non-anxious presence in our own and others lives. Be passers by. The micromanagement of life is contrary to the process of life. The process happens in the moment. If you’re worried about the past, anxious about the future, you’ve just placed yourself the two places where there is no power and no life.

Be – here – now!

If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you. (Gospel of Thomas #70)

Always remembering, “Humor is a prelude to faith and laughter the beginning of prayer.”