Muppet Theology

August 26, 2018 by tom Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Sermons

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
August 26, 2018
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
austinuu.org

Jim and Jane Henson created their lovable puppet characters over six decades ago, and the Muppets really began to gain prominence in the early 1970s. Through their decades of television and movies, what have the Muppets had to tell us about life, love and creating community?

Sermon

Swedish Chef Video

I have waited my entire life to begin a sermon with the Swedish Chef doing Rapper’s Delight.

And, choosing this service topic gave me an excuse to wear my new Muppet boots, featuring Animal.

In actuality, I have been thinking about doing this service since back when I was in seminary and having to read many, many, many theology books and write many, many theology papers.

One evening I decided I needed to clear my head of the deep thinking for a bit, so my spouse Wayne and I went out to see a movie.

Thinking it would get me about as far away from theology as I could get, we went to see the muppet movie that was playing at the time that was simply titled, “The Muppets”

By the way, for Unitarian Universalists, theology does not have to involve a God or Gods, though it can. It can also be about a way of thinking about and understanding that which is ultimate, that which is most important for living richly and fully, that which is larger than ourselves but of which we are a part.

Anyway, I am sitting there watching the movie, and I’m like, “Wow, there’s a kind of theology happening here.”

It’s about creating community and struggling together toward a common purpose. The Muppets have always had each other, even when things looked bleak. They stuck together. They stayed in relationship even when they had conflict.

They never let one another give up – they carried each other when needed.

And I sat there thinking, here we have a band of quirky, intelligent, creative oddballs and misfits who somehow find each other and create a caring community where they laugh, cry, play and sing together.

My God, they’re Unitarian Universalists!

I told Wayne all of this. He said, “Shut up and watch the movie.”

I’m joking about that last part. We talked on the way home, not during the movie. We were at Alamo Drafthouse, and the ghost of Ann Richards would have taken us out if we had done so.

Over the past 63 years now, in television programs like “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show”, as well as in their movies, the Muppets have modeled spiritual themes rooted in community, belonging and interconnectedness: we can help each other follow our dreams; reconciliation and redemption are possible.

They’ve modeled staying true to yourself and your calling; mysticism and wonder; the effort and the struggle being more important than the outcome; being willing to ask for help when we end it; and to quote one line from the movie, “Life’s a happy song when there’s someone beside you to sing it”.

A while back, I put a public post on Facebook, asking folks, “Over the years, what have you learned about life and living from the Muppets.

Now, I should have known in a mostly Unitarian Universalist crowd that I would get some typically smart aleck responses like:

It’s not easy being green.
Don’t be a grouch or you’ll end up living in a garbage can.
Cookies are good.
Don’t play with electricity like crazy Harry

The more serious responses all also focused on belonging and relationship. Folks had gotten from the Muppets:

The importance of listening deeply to one another.
The power of music to turn strangers into friends and friends into family.
How friends make life exponentially better.
That you might as well embrace life’s weirdness because life is already weirder than you think.
Caring and curiosity will make your own life better.
Our differences are what make life more interesting and creative.
Even with our differences, we can all live on the same street and get along.
We can all come together and create something beautiful if given the chance.

I loved it that one of church couples has decided that everyone has a “Spirit Muppet” in life (you know, like spirit animals), and they have chosen Ralph the Dog and Grover as theirs.

They decided this after reading about slate. com Supreme Court reporter Dahlia Lithwick’s “Unified Theory of Muppets Types” which theorizes a singular factor that divides us in our society: “Every one of us is either a Chaos Muppet or an Order Muppet. “

Here’s how Lithwick explains her Unified Muppet Theory:

“Chaos Muppets are out-of-control, emotional, volatile. They tend toward the blue and fuzzy. They make their way through life in a swirling maelstrom of food crumbs, small flaming objects, and the letter C.

Cookie Monster, Ernie, Grover, Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and-paradigmatically-Animal, are all Chaos Muppets.

Zelda Fitzgerald was a Chaos Muppet. So, I must tell you, is former Justice Stephen Breyer.”

Order Muppets-and I’m thinking about Bert, Scooter, Sam the Eagle, Kermit the Frog, and the blue guy who is perennially harassed by Grover at restaurants (the Order Muppet Everyman)-tend to be neurotic, highly regimented, averse to surprises and may sport monstrously large eyebrows.

They sometimes resent the responsibility of the world weighing on their felt shoulders, but they secretly revel in the knowledge that they keep the show running.

Your first grade teacher was probably an Order Muppet. So is Chief Justice John Roberts.

And in this way, we can understand all societal conflict.

Are you an order muppet or a chaos muppet?

Now, whether or not you buy Lithwick’s “Unified Theory of Muppet Types”, I do think that the muppet characters can be thought of as archetypes that capture some of our human traits and, more specifically, our Unitarian Universalist faith characteristics rather well.

Of course, we have to start with Kermit the Frog, who I think can be thought of as representing our Unitarian Universalist rootedness in rationality and the use of reason. He’s a steadfast thinker and philosopher and a natural leader.

There is a great drive in this part of our faith that leads us to contemplation, discovery and progress in our state of knowledge. The shadow side of it though is that we can get so caught up in our heads that we sometimes do not actually act upon that knowledge.

But either way, how can we keep from loving a frog who does a cover of the Talking Head’s “Once in a Lifetime”.

Kermit Video

In contrast, I think Animal can be thought of us as representing our embodied, emotional, passionate side.

This is the side of us that drives to acting upon our faith but can also result in us being hasty and irrational.

Still, it is where a deep well of compassion and love resides. ÇAnimal VideoÈ

Next, I think Fozzy the Bear can represent how we can enhance our faith by infusing it with a sense of fun, fellowship, joy and humor.

While our faith would become shallow if these were all that it involved, fun, fellowship, joy and humor can very much help us sustain and deepen the other aspects of our spirituality.

Even when the jokes are really bad. Waka. Waka.

Fozzy Video

And then there’s Janice, our guitar rocking, deep thinking, mystical side of ourselves.

I also suspect Janice may be Buddhist.

Janice (and we) though have to be careful sometimes to avoid thinking we’re being deeper than we really are.

Janice Video

I have always loved Statler and Waldorf, the grumpy guys that sit up in the balcony and offer unsolicited commentary.

I think maybe they can be thought of as representing our Unitarian Universalist history of skepticism and questioning.

A healthy dose of skepticism and questing has helped keep ours an honest religion.

I think the danger may be that too much skepticism can devolve into sitting on the sidelines and criticizing the efforts of others in our faith.

Statler and Waldorf Video

And, of course, we cannot leave out Ms. Piggy, who as you heard in our reading earlier considers is a feminist, as well as I think represents that there is probably a spark of Diva along with that spark of the divine within each of us.

In fact, in 2015, Ms. Piggy received the Sackler Center First Award for her feminism from the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Gloria Steinem, presented her with the award.

Ms. Piggy has a particular kind of feminism, I think. She embraces her femininity and feminine charm, but is also tough as nails, knows karate and will take you down if you mess with her!

I like to think of Ms Piggy as representing our strong and steadfast commitment to feminism and all struggles for equality and human rights – our affirming and promoting the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

Here’s Ms. Piggy in her own words with some advice on being stylish and living life.

Ms Piggy Video

So, those are just a few of our Muppet archetypes.

My apologies if I left out anyone’s favorite Muppet character. I leave it to you to figure out what archetype they may represent, as well as to discern your own “spirit muppet” if you are so moved.

I am leaning towards Gonzo.

So, to summarize, Muppet theology is about our need for connection, community and belonging.

It is about knowing that creating community can be messy and difficult sometimes, but, if we stay in relationship with each other even during the challenges, we can become our best selves and create something greater than ourselves at the same time.

Muppet theology is about learning that the things that may be our greatest strengths can also be aspects of ourselves that can contain challenges and potential pitfalls.

It is about being there for each other, carrying each other when it is needed, as well as celebrating our uniqueness and our differences.

In these times, wherein cynicism abounds, it occurred to me as I working on this service that the Muppets might seem a bit naive and simplistic these days.

Then I thought, “or perhaps they are expressing some very basic human values from which we can too easily become separated”.

Maybe we could benefit from a return to simple compassion, caring and communality. The Muppets model for us that sense of caring and compassion. They model how if we stay in community, stay in relationship through good times and bad, we can make beautiful music together.

And so it is that I am left with no choice but to close by offering you at least a small part of the Muppets performing Bohemian Rhapsody.

Bohemian Rhapsody Video

And Amen.

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them here.

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.

Loving, Laughing, Living

August 19, 2018 by tom Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Sermons

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Rev. Chris Jimmerson
August 19, 2018
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
austinuu.org

For many of us, the stories and images we have been witnessing in our news and social media have felt like trauma. In fact, some notable authors have suggested that Americans have begun to show the signs of trauma as a people. We will explore some of the ways to lower our trauma responses and foster resilience, love, and joy.

Reading

After the Blinding Rains
Chris Jimmerson

After the blinding rains came and washed away the foundations;

After the howling winds blew through windows, shattering glass and tearing apart wooden blinds and curtain fabric;

Once the bombs had knocked down even the walls made of such precise and rugged stone, and fires had ravaged wooden rafters.

I stumbled amidst the rubble of what was left, crying out at all that had been lost, unable to make repairs and build anew, searching for some new materials that might withstand such devastations.

And then I saw you, and also you, and all of the ones following each of you, each carrying with you your own fragments of what had been.

Some of you bringing new elements to strengthen our possibilities – replace what had been lost.

And together, we built new structures of meaning.

We created soaring towers of beauty; deep wells of understanding; walls held aloft by an infrastructure of love.

And there we dwelt for a while, fortified once more, having chosen our new place and our new way of being.

Sermon

In 1972, in the mountain town of Buffalo Creek West Virginia, a rudimentary damn that had been holding back waste water and sludge deposited behind it by a coal mining company collapsed during a rainstorm. A huge wall of thick black waste flooded town after town below, destroying homes, churches, roads, businesses.

One hundred twenty five people died.

The waste avalanche wiped out the entire infrastructure supporting community after community.

Sociologists visiting the area a year later discovered not only individual trauma, but also collective trauma.

Entire communities experiencing collective disorientation and disconnection, shock.

Entire communities struggling to find meaning and purpose because the structures and institutions, relationships and routines that had defined their daily lives for generations had been swept away.

Collective trauma is when the familiar ideas, expectations, norms and values of an entire community or society are damaged, plunging them into a state of extreme uncertainty and confusion.

Studies have found that collective trauma can be trans generational, passed on to the children of communities that have experienced trauma. One study evert found that holocaust survivors had passed a genetic tendency toward stress hormones associated with trauma to their children, though others have questioned this study.

Individually and collectively, trauma is the result of experiences that pose an existential threat to our well being or even our very existence.

We can also experience secondary trauma when we witness such experiences happen to other people.

I’m going to go through a list of some of the signs and symptoms that can indicate trauma in a society and/or in individuals. As I do so, I’d like to invite you to reflect on what we are witnessing in our u.s. society these days, as well as what you mayor may not have felt or experienced.

Anxiety, fear, tension, inability to relax, trouble sleeping.
Increased rates of substance abuse and other addictions.
Impunity, social injustice, inequality, discrimination.
Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
Rumors, disinformation, tendency toward conspiracy theories.
A sense that one can never do enough.
Hyper vigilance, chronic exhaustion, paranoia, a sense of persecution.
Loss of communality, polarization, tearing of the social fabric.
Depression, despair, increased physical ailments, shortened life expectancy.

Any of that ring a bell? And the list could go on.

A growing number of sociologists and others are suggesting that u.s. society is exhibiting signs of collective trauma.

And would that really be so surprising? Let’s review again some of what we have been experiencing and witnessing.

Rapidly growing wealth and income inequality that has resulted in greater and greater numbers of American households living in poverty or only one lost paycheck, one unexpected major expense away from it. People having to crowd fund insulin and other basic healthcare necessities. This is an existential threat, folks.
News reports full of violence, terrorism threats, renewed fears of nuclear warfare, mass shootings. School children having to participate in active shooter drills where they hide under their desk while uniformed men with guns burst into their school room. How can we think they wouldn’t be traumatized?
Climate change that is driving a new age of species extinctions and making whole geographic areas of our world uninhabitable.
The Me Too movement revealing harassment and abuse women continue to endure in this country.
Polarizing and sometimes violent political rhetoric and attacks upon the very institutions of our representative democracy.
Those of us who are LGBTQI and our allies witnessing our hard fought rights protections being reversed and moves to make discrimination against us legal.
The continued brutality against and killing of African Americans by police who are rarely held accountable for it. Clueless white people calling the police on African Americans for the crimes of having a barbecue while black, napping in their own dorm lobby, a black child selling lemonade in front of her house.

I find it horrifying to read these stories and view these images and videos. I can only imagine how traumatizing it must be for African Americans and other people of color.

Our government ripping small children apart from their asylum seeking parents, some who may never be reunited. Our gross mistreatment and human rights violations of immigrants more broadly.

Again, I experienced what I can only honestly call secondary trauma over these stories and images. The trauma experienced by these children and their parents must be devastating, as well as that experienced by their collective communities.

These are just some of the societal issues we are experiencing that could very well be leading to collective trauma.

Now, I have to talk about our 45th President here for a moment. Every time I do, I hear back from someone who thinks we should not talk about politics from the pulpit (or our senior minister Meg gets an upset email about it).

The thing is, that set of religious principles that we read together earlier – as Unitarian Universalists we make a covenant (a sacred promise with ourself and with one another) to affirm and promote them.

And we cannot be true to that covenant, that sacred promise, if we remain silent while those religious principles are trampled upon and violated in the political policy sphere.

So, when the Obama administration was holding small children in prison like facilities, I spoke out against that too.

And I do not think we can begin to address the societal ills I just described if we do not acknowledge that the policies and rhetoric of 45 and his administration are creating some of them and making others of them much worse than they had been.

And while I am getting myself in trouble, there is one more potential source of collective trauma that some social observers have proposed we may be experiencing.

I want to read a definition for you.

“Gas lighting is a form of psychological manipulation that seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity. Using persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying, it attempts to destabilize the victim and delegitimize the victim’s belief.”

Collective trauma is when the familiar ideas, expectations, norms and values of an entire community or society are damaged, plunging them into a state of extreme uncertainty and confusion.

The Washington Post Fact checker found that as of August 1 of this year, our 45th President had made 4,229 false or misleading claims in 558 days.

That’s an average of almost 8 falsehoods per day, and they found his rate of daily denials, misdirections, contradictions, and lies has been increasing.

If you watch his rallies, I think he is even traumatizing his own supporters in this way

OK, enough about that. Since I am on my iPad, I’m just sending Meg a text warning her not to check her email until she gets back from vacation and study leave.

So, if we accept that we may be experiencing collective trauma, how do we heal? How do we reduce our trauma responses and foster resilience?

Well, the first step may be recognizing the trauma. I think sometimes because what we are experiencing may be at a lower level than people who have experienced the horrors of genocide or individual abuse, we discount our own feeling and experiences.

To become whole again though, requires that we share our feelings collectively, share our stories with each other, and that can feel very vulnerable. It is a paradox of trauma that it understandably causes us to want to put up an emotional shield because our vulnerability has been abused, and yet expressing our emotions can be one way through it.

We can work to change the conditions that are leading to trauma in the first place. We can join with groups that are pressuring our current governmental officials to institute policies that alleviate these social conditions and create a more equitable economic system.

We can work to elect officials more committed to social justice and economic fairness. We can encourage and help others to vote. And my friends, there is an election coming up – so vote!

And my beloveds, I called this sermon, “Loving, Laughing, Living” because one of the things trauma causes us to do is to withdraw from the very things that bring us joy in life – that are what our lives are all about.

During times such as this, connection and belonging with our loved ones, and expressing that love with them becomes even more important. Finding larger communities of compassion and support, such as we have with this congregation can be vital.

Taking care of ourselves, eating well, exercising, getting plenty of rest will help.

Here’s some advice that really helped me – only access news and social media once or twice each day and set time limits on how long.

Tending to our spirits, engaging in practices which ground and calm us, whether that is attending worship, meditation, yoga, hikes in nature, taking time to list all that for which we are grateful, whatever the practice might be, tending our spirits can also help shield us from collective trauma.

And it is OK to take a break from life’s struggles – immerse ourselves in beauty and the things that bring us joy. In fact, it is not only OK, it is necessary to our wellbeing. It is one of the strongest ways we resist collective trauma.

Playfulness and fun. Humor. The arts. Music. Goofing with our pets. Exhilarating in natural beauty.

Collective trauma (and progressive guilt) can cause us to rob of us these experiences of beauty and joy. We can feel that we do not deserve them because, after all we have it better than many other folks do.

The truth is we need them to sustain our spirits and give us resilience in our struggles to create a better world wherein we no longer experience human caused collective trauma.

Allow yourself the joy, my beloveds. I’ve come to think of joy as divine love finding expression in our lives.

I’ll close with the words of the poet Jack Gilbert:

“If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction, we lessen the importance of their deprivation.

We must risk delight… We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil. If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down, we should give thanks that the end had magnitude. We must admit there will be music despite everything”.

Amen.

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them here.

Truth Telling

August 12, 2018 by tom Posted in Audio available, Guest Speakers, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Kye Flannery
August 12, 2018
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
austinuu.org

So many people in so many ways have said “the truth shall set you free.” What are the truths that set us free? What sounds like truth but doesn’t liberate us at all? Together we’ll be exploring our experience, how we know ourselves, and how we speak from our deep truth to create better relationships and a better world.

sermon

I must say it’s easy to deliver one’s truth by sermon — pull your argument together, write it out — read it — I get to take 15-20 minutes of your time, uninterrupted — most of the time — 😉 Much harder in real life.

When you don’t think someone will care
When there’s no one to help
When we don’t want to risk a relationship
When you’re low on the totem pole…

as Ashley Judd, one of the actresses who came forward to help start the #metoo movement — in speaking out about harassment she’d faced from Harvey Weinstein, she pointed to this truth: ‘Were we supposed to call some fantasy attorney general of moviedom?’

No. No such person. It can be hard to tell the truth. It can put us in a place that feels dangerous, or is dangerous. But let’s face it. Our Universalism infuses how we view our own lives and the lives of others. We don’t believe that anybody’s condemned, and we believe that everybody and everything is interconnected. The time is ripe for us to get talking, and sharing our truths — with neighbors and law-makers, family members, oil companies and educators.

And I’ll just say there are a lot of grey heads out there that I bet have been telling difficult truths since I was in diapers. So, I’m sharing my truth today, and I look forward to hearing yours. Let’s start by bringing the spirits of other great truth-tellers into the room… who are they, in your life? Who lifts you up with the way they speak truth?

We’ve gathered those brave spirits into the space, a host of angels around us, supporting and inspiring.

One of the strongest voices of truth I know is a woman who spoke it with such courage, and it was so integral to her character, that she gave herself the name Truth — Sojourner Truth.

When I stop to think about that auditorium in Akron, Ohio — the Women’s Convention – May 1851 five male pastors had spoken — one, a universalist — and all had given theological reasons that it was inappropriate for women to have the vote or speak in public to advocate for themselves.

Nobody asked Sojourner to speak — she just stood up and walked to the podium. Organizer Frances Gage ALLOWED her speak, but all around there were rumbles from white women about a black woman speaking at the assembly. 1

If you were striving for respectability, it was considered unseemly for a woman to speak in assemblies or churches… 2 Olympia Brown wasn’t ordained by the universalists until 1863. But Sojourner stands, and she speaks:

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne five children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?”

Just grok for a moment the courage it took to say that to a room full of white folks, confronting us with our stereotypes about strength, and womanhood, and blackness, all at once —

Book Crucial Conversations – I recommend it – I have been enjoying it and have incorporated some of its wisdom into what I bring you this morning. Here’s how I see the process of truth-telling:

We must first know our truths.
Then we must share our truth while staying in connection.
Then, we must find the path forward.
Courage – Listening – Translation – Creation

We must first know our truths.
Sometimes threats to our health, financial stability, physical safety, immigration status mean it isn’t safe to tell a truth that needs to be told. The first rule of caring for each other is believing that we each know what is safest for us, and to honor that.
But within the bounds of safety…

Is there something you really need to tell the truth about…? It’s possible to shy away from truth, even inside our own hearts, because it’s messy, because we suspect people don’t want to hear it, because we’re ashamed of it, because it’s ugly or painful.

And it takes time to transform the things that might be holding us back.
Truth-telling takes connection. Do we really want connection?
Truth-telling takes fairness. Are we willing to be fair?
Truth-telling means working through our fear. Are we afraid?

Buddhist teacher and climate activist Joanna Macy writes about fear of climate disaster, what we’re doing to the planet keeps us from even looking at it. 3 Fear keeps us ignorant of our own motivations and feelings, not to mention the feelings and motivations of others. So, this path to knowing our own truth involves facing fear, being with fear. After all, we can’t ask others to be brave and lay something on the line unless we set the example.

I know I get this *ding* when things fall into place — when I’m seeing from a big enough perspective that both the other person’s truth and my truth can fit there together, when I believe I can see a person’s goodness and good intent while also knowing I have a piece of the truth that they need. 4 And it is my job to walk with them to this truth… starting with what we both want, and showing how I believe we can get there.

I want to share words from a woman who is masterful at this.

Rigoberta Menchu — 1992 Nobel acceptance Speech… “Peace cannot exist without justice, justice cannot exist without fairness, fairness cannot exist without development, development cannot exist without democracy, democracy cannot exist without respect for the identity and worth of cultures and peoples… We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle, or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected, not to be victims of intolerance and racism… It is said that our indigenous ancestors, Mayas and Aztecs, made human sacrifices to their gods. It occurs to me to ask: How many humans have been sacrificed to the gods of Capital in the last five hundred years?”

It’s clear she’s done some very hard work – figuring out what’s in her heart, and also how it doesn’t fit what the dominant narrative said about her people. 5

I hear her facing fear — here’s what they say about us — they say we’re animals, savages — and I don’t accept it.

I hear her walking people along the path, from the end goal – peace – back to its roots — respect for the cultures and identities of all peoples…

There’s something so strong and undeniable in our words when we face our fear.

I really believe that we can’t connect with others on the issue racism unless we’ve connected to our own racism… I want to tell you a story about that.

There was a man I met at a church where I worked in Boston. He did cleaning in the office. We became friendly over time and I learned that his family was from the Dominican Republic. He’d had some brushes with the law, but was now doing better. He had a lovely little boy who I met once or twice. I was just getting to know him. I liked him, he was soft-spoken — eager to learn new things — One morning he came into the office late and he… I couldn’t figure out what was going on with him. I asked him the regular questions, how are you, how was your weekend, how’s your son — but he didn’t seem to comprehend my questions, he was barely able to answer them. I let him be and went about my day. I started to wonder in that moment if … maybe he wasn’t very smart. Did he not understand my questions?

There was a listening circle that happened later that month, talking and listening facilitated circles on the topic of race. I learned what happened that morning. That morning he had been driving a green car, and there had been a call about a crime, they were looking for “a black man in a green car.” He’d been stopped by the police in his car, put face-down on the pavement in the rain in front of his 1.5-year-old son, who was in the back seat of the car.

Suddenly I felt that grief and horror WITH HIM — anger — such a sense of loss — what would it have been like if I had been a trusted person for him to talk to —

Him telling his truth was me Claiming sorrow that had been mine all along, I just didn’t know it — Cultural grief. And we need to be able to both share this and hear this from our people.

Francis Weller, therapist, grief counselor in California 6

He writes about grief and conducts grief rituals, encouraging us to get in touch with the grief we are all carrying. He writes: “We send into the shadow the parts of ourselves that we deem unacceptable to ourselves or to others, hoping to disown them… The lack of courtesy and compassion surrounding grief is astonishing, reflecting an underlying fear and mistrust of this basic human experience… We must find the courage, once again, to walk the wild edge of grief.”

If we don’t even know how to feel one another’s pain when they’ve had a death in the family, how can we grapple as a culture with the effects of slavery, of failing refugees and asylum seekers, how can we willingly get into the imaginary space of truly GETTING what we’re doing to the planet, minute by minute? There’s that courage again —

We shape our lives to get away from discomfort! But as Pema Chodron puts it: “That’s the definition of Ego, just trying to get away from our experience, which never adds up to inner strength…it just makes us more scared and more uptight. And saddest of all, it isolates us and cuts us off from each other…” 7

We actually move away from each other because we’re afraid we can’t handle the things others bring up in us.

BOTTOM LINE:
When pursuing truth, we must do those things which cultivate our courage.

What gives you courage?

Jumping in the springs gives me courage. Everytime, I dread it, and everytime I do it, I’m glad I did.

This leads us into sharing our truth, while staying in connection.

(Translation)
WHEN I TELL THE STORY I just shared with you — about my friend who was harassed by the police because he was a man of color driving a green car– it becomes easier for people who haven’t understood how racism functions in our society to understand how deep it runs — how much it hurts — both of us — him, and me — and how UNTIL I KNEW ABOUT IT, he was carrying all the grief and heaviness of that experience. He was the only one who knew. One of us was living in a police state, the other wasn’t.

So I’m not often going to tell someone the “truth” about their own racism. But I will tell them the truth of my racism, and that’s opened up more than one conversation. Because that is MY story, my vulnerability, my shame and grief.

Jungian psychologist James Hillman 8 — INDIVIDUATION — “Transparent Person, who is seen and seen through, foolish, who has nothing left to hide, who has become transparent through self-acceptance; her soul is loved, revealed… she is just what she is, freed from paranoid concealment… her transparency serves as a prism for the world….”

I like this idea. When we have courage to be seen and seen through, we become prisms. You know how being around a truthful person is like being around a clear light, when they use their power for good and not evil? I think that’s what he means. Sometimes, a truth is simple — that doesn’t mean it’s easy to say.

“I don’t like the way this conversation is going”
“I’m sorry, I don’t think it’s at all fair to say that Muslim people are dangerous, I don’t see evidence that this is the case.”
“If you want to talk seriously, we need to talk in terms that are serious and respectful.”
“I see the changes happening in our environment and I’m afraid for us… I see our planet and our species in danger.”
“I don’t feel that you’re doing your share of the work, and I’m tired of picking up the slack.”
“I know you’re a spiritual person, and I expect more compassion from you.”

For me, this is the hardest part — engaging with another person’s truth without resorting to SILENCE or VIOLENCE.

Silence
Purposely withholding information from the dialogue, to avoid creating a problem.

Masking – understating or selectively showing what you actually think
Avoiding – not addressing the real issues, shifting the focus to others
WIthdrawing or even exiting

Violence
Convincing, controlling or compelling others to our view

Controlling: Cutting others off, overstating facts, speaking in absolutes, dominating the conversation
Labelling – stereotyping, name-calling
Attacking – belittling or threatening the other person

As truth-finders, we run into our own discomfort, As truth-tellers, we are likely to run into our own AND OTHER PEOPLE’S cognitive dissonance – ” The discomfort experienced when we simultaneously hold two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values.”

For instance,

How could we be walking through everyday life like things are normal if our planet is in crisis?
How could a man I’ve been friendly with cross the line into assault or harassment? How could it be that I have been a predator for 40 years?
I always thought other people were racist. What if I am too!?

AT THAT POINT our work is three-fold: not to get hooked on our own emotion, not to get hooked on other people’s, and to help them try to disentangle if they’re stuck.

Creating safe space
Those who are terrible at it: Ignore the need for safety, express without regard for how it will be received
Those who are good at it: May sense that safety is at risk, but do the wrong thing — water down content, which avoids the real problem
Those who are best at it: Step out of the content of the conversation, make it safe, then re-enter
Stepping out of content and then moving back into the content of the conversation.
When someone (including ourselves) begins to move into silence or violence, we recognize it.
Say, hey, what’s happening for you right now? Address the kind and generous soul in front of you who’s not feeling safe. How can you help to reduce this, without stepping away from truth? 9

I’ve done this with my mom — Ha, this was a pretty funny conversation, if you have a daughter or a mom you can probably hear how this went in your head 😉
Mom, can we talk about what this is bringing up for you?
“Don’t you chaplain me!!”

I didn’t stop chaplaining though. In a really defensive place, a person is wanting to be able to relax and trust, but can’t. We have to establish — sometimes over time — that our approach is loving and dependable — Marge Piercy: “fight persistently like the vine which brings down the tree”

Being aware of the other person’s emotions and our own emotions!! Being able to hold both of those at once! 10 Tonglen Practice. This is breathing in what’s difficult, and breathing out something lighter. Breathing in what’s difficult, breathing out something lighter. Breathing in what’s difficult, allowing it to open our hearts and wash over us and the situation, lightness and peace.

In that spirit, we find the path forward.
The examples of this peaceful courage are in this congregation and all around us

Isabel Pascual is a 42-year-old strawberry picker, She was interviewed in Time Magazine , when Time named the #metoo ladies their Person of the Year. Isabel is not her real name. Isabel was harassed in the workplace by a man who threatened to harm her and her children. “That’s why I kept quiet,” Isabel said. “I felt desperate. I cried and cried. But, thank God, my friends in the fields supported me. So I said, ‘Enough.’ I lost the fear. It doesn’t matter if they criticize me. I can support other people who are going through the same thing.”

Isabel spoke out about sexual harassment while working without documents. Her courage gives me chills.

Part of the creativity of finding the path forward is going where we don’t normally go, where others reside, (#metoo is a movement of both movie stars and migrant workers) — people continuing to put themselves on the line for others — courage and creativity go hand-in-hand.

When finding our path through truth together, we pratice courage — listening — translation — creativity — and, I believe, we must cultivate cheerfulness —

In Shambhala Buddhism there are several sources of energy and power for the self — different sources of life force. The one they call Windhorse: “gallantry, cheerfulness, upliftedness, gentleness” (Thea!) “Primordial confidence” — Let’s just breathe with our windhorse right now — deep breaths, bringing up that primordial confidence, gallantry, cheerfulness — 11

Taking up the path of truth doesn’t mean we are perfect In fact, if we are perfect, we probably aren’t practicing very much. 12

Another favorite mystic: Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul “The soul becomes greater and deeper through the living out of the messes and the gaps — this is the negative way of the mystics”

COURAGE – Listening – Translation – Creation

What’s the worst that could happen? What do the voices tell you? That we won’t be liked or respected? That we’ll lose our words? And there is a voice inside me that says if I speak out I’ll die — for some people that may be true.

But for me, in most situations, it isn’t. So if that voice speaks to you, too, I leave you with some words from sister Sojourner: “I’m not going to die, I’m going home like a shooting star! ”

Benediction

(are you holding a truth that needs to be told that will bring healing?)

In the tradition of UU ordination, we lay hands on ministers to offer them strength,e energy, courage. I say, let us join our hands right now and bless one another as we move forward into the world as ministers:

We bless each other as seekers of truth. We start with the courage to listen. In the words of John O’Donohue:

To all that is chaotic in you, let there come silence…
Let there be an opening into the quiet that lies beneath the chaos,
Where you find the peace you did not think possible,
And see what shimmers in the storm.

We bless each other as sharers of our truth — It is in us to offer safety for ourselves and others in our words. In the words of Audre Lorde:

…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.

Let us bless each other as finders of the path forward — in the words of Rumi

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.

May it be so, Amen.

1 There are only a few accounts of this speech, version I’m going with was shared by Ms. Gage, 12 years later, in her autobiography. So take it with a grain of salt.

2 Though there are some itinerant women preachers from this time who were supported by specific communities… three of them left behind autobiographies… Sisters of the Spirit, Indiana Univ Press

3 She created an activist community to check out online: “The Work that Reconnects”

4 “Every time God’s children have thrown away fear in the pursuit of honesty, trying to communicate, understood or not – miracles have happened.” – Duke Ellington

5 International Indigenous People’s Day was this week — August 9 — gratitude for Rigoberta, the water protectors still doing the work of protecting the earth and our water supply here in the U.S.

6 Francis Weller “The Wild Edge of Sorrow”

7 Staying with Discomfort From Fear to Fearlessness

8 “Myth of Analysis”

9 It’s totally possible to do this badly! I remember speaking directly to a man who shouted at me and cut me off once in a board meeting — pulling him aside when we took our break and asking him what was going on, and saying that I didn’t feel that was appropriate, asking if we needed to talk about what feelings I was bringing up for him. Unfortunately, this set him off again — my tone, rather than helping him to feel safe, threatened his sense of calm and safety, which he was keeping by dominating the conversation. I think this made him feel shame and anger to boot.

10 When deepening engagement, we must cultivate Tolerance/Patience/Khsanti – Tonglen practice

11 Windhorse energy “Warrior’s gentleness: this is elegance, not arrogance. This is fearlessness, not heavy-handedness. Genuineness is not trying to convince ourselves something is there when it doesn’t exist. Gentleness is not being polite… Windhorse could be described as a bank of energy, which is the product of genuineness…” –Chogyam Trungpa

12 Joanna Macy’s 5 vows of a leader in the climate movement. Mix of our own growth and courage and engagement:

Committing to the healing of the world and the welfare of all beings. To live in Earth more lightly and less violently
Drawing strength and guidance from the living Earth, from our brothers and sisters of all species.
To help others in their work and to ask for help
To pursue a daily spiritual practice that clarifies my mind, strengthens my heart

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them here.

Making Our Alphabet Soup

August 5, 2018 by tom Posted in Audio available, Chris Jimmerson, Guest Speakers, Sermons

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Rev. Chris Jimmerson
Guest Speakers: Michael Thurman, Becca Brennan-Luna, and Tomas Medina
August 5, 2018
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
austinuu.org

With the LGBTQ Pride Festival and Parade coming soon, members of our “Alphabet Soup” group will share their stories of finding a spiritual home at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin.

Call to Worship

We Answer the Call of Love
Responsive Reading By Julia Corbett-Hemeyer

In the face of hate,
We answer the call of love.
In the face of exclusion,
We answer the call of inclusion.
In the face of homophobia,
We answer the call of LGBTQ rights.
In the face of racism,
We answer of justice for all races.
In the face of xenophobia,
We answer the call of pluralism.
In the face of misogyny,
We answer the call of women’s rights.
In the face of demagoguery,
We answer the call of reason.
In the face of religious intolerance,
We answer the call of diversity.
In the face of narrow nationalism,
We answer the call of global community.
In the face of bigotry,
We answer the call of open-mindedness.
In the face of despair,
We answer the call of hope.

As Unitarian Universalists, we answer the call of love —
now more than ever.

Reading

Let Us Make this Earth a Heaven
By Tess Baumberger

Let us make this earth a heaven, right here, right now.
Who knows what existences death will bring?
Let us create a heaven here on earth
where love and truth and justice reign.

Let us welcome all at our Pearly Gates, our Freedom Table,
amid singing and great rejoicing,
black, white, yellow, red, and all our lovely colors,
straight, gay, transgendered, bisexual, and all the ways
of loving each other’s bodies.
Blind, deaf, mute, healthy, sick, variously-abled,
Young, old, fat, thin, gentle, cranky, joyous, sorrowing.

Let no one feel excluded, let no one feel alone.
May the rich let loose their wealth to rain upon the poor.
May the poor share their riches with those too used to money.
May we come to venerate the Earth, our mother,
and tend her with wisdom and compassion.
May we make our earth an Eden, a paradise.
May no one wish to leave her.

May hate and warfare cease to clash in causes
too old and tired to name; religion, nationalism,
the false false god of gold, deep-rooted ethnic hatreds.
May these all disperse and wane, may we see each others’ true selves.
May we all dwell together in peace and joy and understanding.
Let us make a heaven here on earth, before it is too late.
Let us make this earth a heaven, for each others’ sake.

Homilies

Michael Thurman

How I found this church. It was the 90s, Every week there was another funeral another friend diagnosed with AIDS. My LGBTQ family were being villafied around the globe. we were feeling scared, guilty and helpless. We were living in full crisis mode. Feeling alone and shunned by family, friends and the whole community at times.

We leaned on each other and time was spent on vigils, helping our dying friends as much as we could. Cooking for them, some of us opened our homes so during the day no one had to be left alone, while their partners worked. Our social lives had changed from bars and dinner parties to hospital visits, Benefits and collecting donations. We got the notice for a 24 hour benefit called The mostly music marathon. It was being held in a church?

Now I was raised in a Southern Baptist Church. (Its where I learned the word HYPOCRISY) I grew up hearing the hate spewed out in my church against homosexuality. I was lucky though, coming out was no problem for me. I came out after high school graduation in 1979 and my mother always had my back. She would get upset while we were out together and ask “Why do you have to let everyone know your gay?” Because they need to know gay people exist! My mom and step dad even left the family church after a sermon (as they described) as a ignorant unkind attack on their son.

So the day of the mostly music marathon I got prepared, picked out my clothes made sure my belt matched my shoes and then started to prepare for entering a church again.

Practiced my smile and nod I would muster up when I heard “Love the sinner Hate the sin” “accept Jesus Christ as your savior and denounce your homosexuality before you die and you might make it to heaven” and hoped I did not get whiplash when smacked upside my head with the bible. My montra was brain first mouth second.

We pulled up in front of the church, walked to the front double doors and the first thing we see is a sign that stated “This church has a open door policy and accepts all that step through its doors” WOW! That still makes my hair stand up on end (and with all this hair that is saying something) As we walked in we were welcomed by several church members and smiled at, a little small talk, no entrapment so far! Then we hit the sanctuary and found a place to set. As I sat there a kind of peace fell over me. Here in this church there was every kind of person, all colors, ages, sexuality and families with children, not afraid to be around us gays. During intermission in the fellowship hall got to meet and talk to members of the church, gay and straight all welcoming and thanking us for being there. Heard of the gay mens group that met once a month. Even heard a rumor the new pastor was going to be a gay man.

The next sunday got up and went to our first Unitarian service. After a few more services my partner and I became members. Worked on committees gathered things for the annual fundraiser auctions. Being gay here was just a normal thing. I had found my place of peace. Now as all things do, things change, a breakup, a move out of town, several health challenges and church fell to the side. Then on my birthday a couple of years ago a small gift from a fellow Unitarian. My First Unitarian Universilist name tag. I found my place of peace again back in this church!

It was a little confusing that first Sunday back, All those Rainbow stickers on a lot of name tags had me confused. I thought “this church has become overrun with the gays” Then realizing allies wore them too, my heart felt so supported. Thanks allies for all the love and support. You are definitly part of my peace here. THANK YOU.

Becca Brennan-Luna

Hi, my name is Becca Brennan-Luna. I have been a member of First UU since last September, so almost a year. My wife Amy and I have been married for over two years and together for over 6 years. We had a few setbacks, and some discrimination at first, but we just recently found out that we have become licensed foster parents!

I was raised Mexi-Catholic in El Paso, TX. My family went to church every Sunday. We celebrated Christmas and Easter and gave up something for the 40 days of Lent. We were REALLY super Catholic! It was a big part of my life for a long time. I was baptized, had my First Holy Communion, and my Confirmation in the Catholic Church. I grew up believing that if we prayed and sacrificed and confessed our sins, that we would go to Heaven. I believed that God created us in His image and that He loves us, but that He would punish us if we sinned.

I’m sure we all have an idea about what the Catholic Church thinks about homosexuality, right? Well, Pope Francis is a good guy, but it was different when I was growing up. I heard a lot of anti-gay sentiment and hate and judgement based on fear. Despite this I did believe that God would be there for us when we needed Him. I still believe that, and I still pray. Okay, maybe my image of God is different now. He is a She, for one.

My family was very close and very loving. But we definitely had a certain way of doing things, and a way things were supposed to be. Homosexuality is not something my family talked about all that much. My mom had one gay friend who lived in California and a distant gay cousin who lived in Mexico. We saw the friend sometimes, and my family was pleasant with him, but there was always an air of mystery about the men and their “lifestyle.” It certainly wasn’t something that would be acceptable for me in my family’s eyes.

I guess growing up I had crushes on boys. Yes, I swooned after the New Kids on the Block. But maybe that’s because that’s what all the other girls did. Maybe that’s just what I was “supposed” to do I honestly didn’t know crushing on girls was an option. I remember feeling very ashamed and confused for a long time.

I attended an all-girls private Catholic high school, with nuns and everything! If the mean girls didn’t like you, they would spread a rumor that you were a (whisper) leeeesbian! Oh, the horror if that rumor got spread around about you! Everyone would avoid you like the plauge and make ugly faces at you for being SUCH an abomination. Needless to say, finally coming to terms with my sexual orientation was a lengthy and difficult process. College was great for me because I moved away from home, met like-minded people, and felt accepted for who I was. I understood who Becca really was for the first time . So, I shared a bit of my coming-out story and we’re supposed to be talking about our experience at First Unitarian Universalist. I’ll get to that.

Even though I felt a little betrayed by the Catholic Church, I still continued to go for a while. I longed for that spiritual connection with a community. I loved the music, the singing, the prayers and “Peace be With You.” At first it was kind of ok to be there. Even though I personally was never turned away, it got harder to ignore the fact that I was not welcome.

I heard about First Unitarian Universalist from a few different people, so my wife and I decided to try it out. I LOVED it! People were so welcoming! It seemed like everyone was friendly with one another. The music was so lively and uplifting. I love hearing Reverend Chris and Reverend Meg’s messages acceptance, inclusion and love. I enjoyed the services very much.

What means so much to me was that I ALWAYS feel like I belong here. I joined the People of Color group, Alphabet Soup, and I got involved with Service Saturdays, Sack-Lunch making and Religious Education. Im just so thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful community. I have everything I used to love about my old church, minus all the judgement. I feel like I am welcome and accepted. I feel like I am home.

Tomas Medina

When I was growing up, my father used to tell me, “Gay people should be lined up and shot.” When I was growing up, the worst thing you could be called in school was faggot. In junior high and high school, I was called faggot, a lot. In fact, I had such a miserable time in high school, that I skipped my senior year altogether, opting to test out and start college at age 17.

The church I was brought up in was also not a place of refuge for me. I was taught that I should love the homosexual sinner, but that a homosexual act was a mortal sin, which not only prevented me from taking communion but would also condemn me to hell, if I was unlucky enough to die before having the chance to confess my sin.

As you might imagine, as a young man wondering about my own sexual orientation, I never felt particularly safe at home, or at school or at church. When I came out at 17 to my parents, I was seriously worried that they would react negatively and throw me out. They didn’t throw me out, but they did send me to a psychologist whose advice to me was to not look at the men on my college campus who were wearing shorts. Fortunately, at my college, I was part of support group for LGBTQIA students, and I quickly decided that I didn’t need to see a psychologist to help me get over my gay feelings. What I decided instead was that it was my parents who needed help to get over their homophobia.

Coming out to my parents was not the only time I felt like coming out might be risky. As a gay man, deciding whether to come out is something that I have to weigh on an almost daily basis. With every new situation and every new person that I encounter, I do a quick calculus as to whether it is safe for me to be explicit about being gay. And I don’t think I’m being paranoid about this calculus. Even in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, a very gay neighborhood, I’ve recently been called faggot by men who I not only had no romantic interest in but was downright frightened of. And I remember that when I was being interviewed for a job by a judge in a NYC court, he asked me how I could live in downtown NY where there were so many homosexuals and wasn’t I afraid that I’d get AIDS. There are only two places, where I don’t feel the need to do the mental calculus as to whether to come out. One is when I’m somewhere that is predominantly gay and caters to the gay community, like a gay club, gym, or beach. The other exception is here at First UU Austin. I think it’s remarkable that there is a community that is majority non LGBTQIA where I don’t have to wonder what the consequence will be if explicitly acknowledge my gay identity.

Here at First UU being lesbian gay bisexual transgendered, intersexual, questioning, asexual or straight is not something that is used to define us. But, at the same time, our struggles with the world outside of this First UU community are acknowledged, and our triumphs are celebrated.

Being part of a community that is majority non LGBTQIA , in which I feel both safe and acknowledged, has had transformative benefits for me. For one thing, it has allowed me to find a spiritual home. I couldn’t explore my spirituality anywhere where being gay somehow made me lesser than anyone else.

Something else I appreciate about First UU is that it supports our Alphabet Soup group. A group exclusively for those who identify as part of both the LGBTQIA and UU community. It’s a wonderful treat to be able to meet with other First UU’s who share similar experiences and to be able to relate to each other without the need to explain ourselves. And, not all members of the LGBTQIA community at large are interested in exploring spirituality, so it’s great t be able to form relationships with other member of this community who share similar spiritual yearnings.

I also love that at First UU I have formed relationships and friendships with many people outside of the LGBTQIA community. Being supported and loved by so many people in this congregation, has given me the confidence to be more myself in the outside world. As I find myself taking leadership positions in the church, I also find myself less willing to keep my opinions and beliefs to myself in my relationships outside of the church, whether I’m with family, friends, or at work.

Perhaps the most transformative aspect of being part of the First UU community is the optimism it has given me. I am confident that if we can build a loving and supportive community in here, it can happen in the outside world too. Being part of this community has given me more confidence to take the risk when I do the calculus as to whether to come out, yet again. And I know that every time I and others in the LGBTQIA community comes out, yet again, the world takes a small step towards becoming the world we know it can be.

Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them here.