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Rev. Michelle LaGrave and Rev. Chris Jimmerson
September 1, 2024
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
We come together to begin our new church year with the annual Water Communion Ritual. We share with one another water that symbolizes something meaningful to us as we blend and mingle the waters that remind us of our shared faith.
Chalice Lighting
This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.
Call to Worship
RIVER CALL
by the Rev. Manish Mishra-MarzettiBetween rocking the boat
and sitting down;
between stirring things up,
and peaceably going along,We find ourselves
here,
in community.Each called
from many different
journeys,
many different
life paths,
onto this river road.Some are here
because of the rocking of
the boat
has been too much:
too much tumult,
too much uncertainty,
too much pain.Some are here with questions
about where the boat is going;
how best to steer it;
where this journey ends.Others are here
as lovers of the journey,
lovers of life itself.Here in front
beside
behind
each a passenger;
each a captain;
doing the best we can.“Rest here, in your boat,
with me,” the river calls;
“Listen to how I flow,
the sound of life coursing all around you.”Let the current hold you,
let the current guide you;
the river that gently flows
through your soul,
whispers:“Come, let us worship.”
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Reading
THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS
By Langston HughesI’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Sermon
STORY OF WATER COMMUNION
Chris
On the first Sunday of September each year, it is our tradition at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin to begin our new church year with our much beloved water communion service.
We bring water, perhaps from a cherished spot – water that holds special symbolic meaning for us, and then carrying that meaning in our thoughts and hearts, we blend all of the waters each of us have brought together just as we gather to create shared meaning and a culture of love and care in this religious community.
If this happens to be your first water communion service, I promise more explanation and instructions will be coming soon.
Last year, we added a new element to our annual ritual – retelling the story of how our water communion tradition first came to be within our larger Unitarian Universalist faith.
For by remembering our stories, we are reminded of the wellsprings of our faith – values that flow to us from those who came before.
In 1980, a group of feminists within our UU movement were advocating a greater role for women in our ministry and in our worship, as well as eliminating sexist language, such as “mankind”, from our guiding documents of that period.
Two of them, Carolyn McDade and Lucile Schuck Longview put together a worship service for the Women and Religion Continental Convocation of Unitarian Universalists.
They called that service “Coming Home Like Rivers to the Sea”.
Here is how they described that first water communion ceremony:
“Making our way like rivers from places distant and near, we come together to give shape to a new spirituality.
… we come together to question. To hear. To share. To speak. To inspire. And to celebrate through new rituals, knowing that our energy and our love are transforming.
Celebrating now our connectedness, we choose water as our symbol of our empowerment … a spirituality that uplifts, empowers and connects.”
They used rinsed out cosmetics and perfume containers in which to bring their water as a symbol of, quote, ” … abandoning products that exploit perceived feminine inadequacies to make room for shared power”.
So we inherit these communal values, rooted in transformative love – a river of love that flows throughout our universe – a river that replenishes us and a river for which we serve as tributaries, adding to that river of ever growing love, centering our faith in love.
And this we do symbolically each year, with our water communion.
THE RIVER
Michelle
As Unitarian Universalists of the twenty first century, water communion is one of our most beloved rituals. Though it is one of our newer traditions, clocking in at only 44 or so years old, water communion has become an essential part of our living tradition; a tradition which changes and adapts over time, much as a river does.
Rivers shape the environment in which humans live as much as humans shape the environment in which the rivers flow. Rivers flood their banks, dry up, flow peaceably along, carve new paths, cool off hot bodies, and sustain life of all kinds. It is hard to imagine life in this corner of earth without rivers or the lakes, streams, creeks, and springs which they form or by which the rivers are formed.
And so rivers are an apt metaphor for talking about the Eternal – whether that is within the context of process theology or a never-ending stream of prophetic voices calling for our attention or a way in which we might begin to understand the Tao, or a way to embrace our own Living Tradition.
One of the things I have loved best about my calling as an interim minister, thus far, is how each congregation, no matter how big or small, has had a role to play in shaping, or forming, my own faith. And, as if that were not enough, once I have been re-shaped, or re-formed, I then have the opportunity to bring my new learnings, or insights, to the next congregation. As I have done already here, and would like to do so again now.
One of these former congregations had the practice of beginning each of the children’s religious education classes with a common sharing of joys and sorrows. That, in and of itself, was not all that unusual, but they added to the practice a ritual of passing a small bowl of water and a little dish of salt around the table as they did so. Each child would share their joys and/or sorrows, then add a tiny pinch of salt to the bowl of water, and stir it with their finger. The salt in the water represented the natural composition of human tears. Whether our tears are of sorrow, or of joy, they all contain water and salt. The bowl of water that was passed from person to person was a bowl full of the community’s tears – the happy ones and the sad ones, too.
Whether the river that carries you through the world is a river of Love, as Rev. Chris has described, or a river of Life, as I might say, the River carries with it the power to heal and the power to bless.
INVITATION TO WATER COMMUNION
Chris
In a moment, when the music begins playing, I will invite you to come forward down either of these two aisles, carrying the water you have brought with you, or you may use water we have provided at the table up front. When you reach one of the tables, please pour your water into one of the larger vases, holding in your mind and heart what it symbolizes that is holy for you, and, perhaps, what is sacred about the place from which it is drawn. You are welcome to stir in a little salt as in Rev. Michelle’s story.
You may return afterward down this center aisle and may also light a candle during this time if you are moved to do so.
If you have joined us online today, please feel free to replicate this ritual in any way that works for the space from which you are watching.
You may notice some folks bringing forward an empty cup, as a reflection of the water insecurity in Gaza right now. We have provided empty containers on our tables for anyone who may wish to join them in solidarity.
After the service, we have created a station in Howson Hall where you may create text and artwork expressing what the water symbolizes for you. If you are online, please feel free to post text or images in the comments.
Now, let our water communion begin.
BLESSING OF THE WATERS
Michelle
The waters gathered together, here, in these common bowls, and among all of you online, represent all of the symbolic meanings you have brought with you today. Memory, Hope, Joy, Heritage, Anger, Resilience, Justice, Friendship, Tradition, Forgiveness, Transformation, Love, and much more has been stirred together. These common bowls hold within them so much of the mystery and meaning of communal life so let us, together, bless these waters. All are invited to hold out our arms in a gesture of silent blessing … and then say together: These waters are blessed. May our lives also be blessed.
Extinguishing the Chalice
We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.
Benediction
As you sail along on the River of Life and of Love,
may the winds be gentle,
your sails strong,
the weather fair,
your friends plenty,
and the waters replenishing.
May the congregation say: Amen and Blessed Be.
Most sermons during the past 24 years are available online through this website. Click on the index link above to find tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on a topic to go to that sermon.
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