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Rev. Florence Caplow and Rev. Chris Jimmerson
July 14, 2024
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
How do we take care of ourselves in tough times, whether those tough times are personal or societal? How do we continue to show up for what we believe in when it is so easy to lose heart? In this service, our guest speaker Rev. Florence Caplow will share stories and practices from the Buddhist tradition for resilience and renewal in tough times.
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.
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Reading
When the The Vietnamese refugee boats met with storms or pirates if everyone panicked, all would be lost. But if even one person on the boat remained calm and centered, it was enough. It showed the way for everyone to survive. I am inviting you to go deeper, to learn and to practice so that you become someone who has a great capacity for being solid, calm, and without fear. Because our society needs people like you who have these qualities. And your children, our children, need people like you in order to go on, in order to become solid and calm and without fear.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Sermon
(NOTE: This is an ai generated transcript. Please forgive any errors.)
Almost all of the people I know, It seems, are talking about this particular moment in our history and whether its challenges are unprecedented or not. On hiking trails and cafes, on a phone with each other, we are talking about this. Maybe you are too. Maybe you’re feeling dread or fear or confusion. How could this be happening? I know that you in Texas have weathered literally just this week both extraordinary heat and an unprecedented hurricane that caused massive power outages in your state that are continuing. And then there is the looming hurricane in our country, this upcoming election with all its uncertainties and even terrors. I personally am of the view that both climate change and what is happening politically, not just here, but around the world is indeed unprecedented.
For quite a while now, my own personal spiritual vow is to help in whatever way I can when the storms that seem to be on the way break over our heads.
How, how do we live in this time, engaged, brave, and like the person in the boat that Thich Nhat Hanh wrote about, tall enough somehow to help everyone around us survive. This is not about turning away or turning inward, but about each of us building our own capacity, both for societal challenges and for the challenges in our own lives, in our own communities, our own personal hurricanes.
Today, I’d like to offer some possible ways, simple ways, as both a UU minister and a Buddhist teacher. And although these ways are informed by my Buddhist training, you do not have to be any kind of Buddhist to engage in them.
Many centuries ago, a Zen student in China asked their teacher, “What is the fundamental teaching?”
And the teacher replied, “An appropriate response.”
What is the appropriate response right now in these strange and scary times? Well, I can’t tell you. It’s really for you to find out. But I don’t think it is turning away or tuning out with the latest Netflix series, although that can be a helpful break, nor do I think it is drowning in fear or anger. I think at times like these spiritual practices are essential so that we can engage.
Now, I don’t really believe in giving advice, because honestly, who actually follows advice. But I’m going to break my own rule this morning and offer a little advice. Five spiritual practices for tough times. As you listen, see which one where maybe several of them really speaks to you. Even one of them could make a difference. Or consider what is already a spiritual practice for you, perhaps one you hadn’t even thought of as a spiritual practice.
The five spiritual practices I’d like to share this morning, very simple practices, are: pausing, appreciating, not knowing, staying together, and feeling your feet, with a little bonus practice at the end.
So first, and I think most importantly, find a way, or ways, to pause, to slow down, to rest, to feed your spirit. Many of us, maybe all of us, are moving so fast and so frantically, either in an attempt to survive economically or to address the wrongs around us, that spiritual practices become an afterthought or luxury. And the more we panic, speaking for myself, the more it may seem like we simply don’t have the time for spiritual practices.
Please don’t think of them as an afterthought. Think of them whatever they are or could be for you as a foundation, as essential in these times as drinking enough water. Maybe some of you feel like you’re running a And in a marathon, although honestly, I have never participated in a marathon, but this is what I hear you need to be sure to get enough water and pace yourself. Same with mountaineering, which I have done. Rest breaks are absolutely essential. When you get up into the high elevations for mountaineering, you actually have to rest with every step.
And I’m more than half convinced that there are people out there who are trying to get us to never rest, never stop surfing of the net so that we won’t stop and think what is happening. Sometimes those of us who are Activists feel that we can’t rest, that the problems are so dire, we need to be doing whatever we can 24 /7. For you, us in that category, or anyone who overworks, I want to offer these provocative words by the late Trappist monk and writer, Thomas Merton.
There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist (that’s us) most easily sickens activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. It kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”
Or as the Black activist and founder of NAP Ministry, Trisha Hershey writes,
“Consider rest a radical act. Walk in the woods, cuddle with your loved one, or a dog, or a cat. Drink a cup of tea, Go to church on Sunday, go on retreat. Take a moment to breathe with awareness, just right now. Take in an in-breath, in an out-breath. And know that you are not turning away from the troubles of the world. You are strengthening yourself for the journey and the struggle.”
It’s said that Gandhi used to meditate for an hour a day but one day there was a big political action coming up and his followers said today is so busy that we won’t be meditating, right? Gandhi said today is so busy we will be meditating for two hours.
Maybe you’re saying to yourself I can’t meditate. That’s just not my thing and certainly not for two hours. I am here to tell you that there is such a thing as homeopathic meditation. Even a moment of presence goes a very long way. Even a breath can be a moment of Sabbath and pause. It doesn’t take any special equipment. You always have it with you. It’s always available, even one breath.
So my first piece of advice to summarize, find a way, find ways to slow down and be present, whatever you call it. I promise you that your adrenal glands will thank you if no one else does. and probably others will thank you as well.
Advice number two, Appreciating. The harder and uglier things get, the more important this simple practice becomes. Yes, you have a right to some happiness, even when things are falling apart. The intentional practice of gratitude, of gratefulness, of appreciation, has been shown scientifically to increase baseline happiness, reduce pain and depression, lower stress, and improve sleep.
Think about it, if we had a drug that did that with no side effects, it would be a runaway bestseller. And there are a thousand ways to practice this, or as Rumi said, to kneel and kiss the ground. But like most practices, it does not have to be elaborate. Two of the easiest practices are Sabering and Awe.
Sabering is to fully experience small pleasures and comforts like your morning coffee with tea or how it feels to get into bed after a long day to really notice and experience those things. And awe is our response to something vast or amazing, something seen, heard, or experienced. Awe can also arise from witnessing human kindness or greatness or courage.
I am currently visiting a little town in the Roaring Fork Valley of western Colorado where I served as a minister a number of years ago, and all around me are mountain landscapes that easily evoke awe. And last night, I went to a performance at the Aspen Music Festival. And I heard a British cellist, Stephen Isserlis, play a long, long, long lost Haydn concerto for cello. As soon as he started to play, The grace of his playing, his ease brought me into intense presence, and his very obvious bliss and joy in the music as he played was contagious. I experienced bliss too and awe.
But appreciation doesn’t need to be so special. One of my favorite quotes is from the Reverend Howard Thurman, the founder of the first intentionally interracial church in America, the church for the fellowship of all peoples in San Francisco. And this is from his Thanksgiving prayer, which starts with these words.
Today, I make my sacrament of Thanksgiving. I begin with the simple things of my days, fresh air to breathe, cool water to drink, the taste, the food, the protection of houses and clothes, the comforts of home. For all these, I make an act of Thanksgiving this day.
Advice number three, and this may seem strange to a bunch of UUs, but is it the heart of Zen and very helpful in hard times? Practice not knowing. What do I mean by that? Well, most of the time, we are so sure we know, and it certainly seems like a lot of people online or on the news programs know something as well. But our thoughts and their thoughts about the world and where it’s going can literally, literally drive us crazy, but they are just thoughts. And when we realize this, we can act with greater peace.
Thich Nhat Hanh used to tell his students to ask themselves always, “Am I sure, for instance, perhaps like you, I am sometimes filled with dread about our collective future?”
But the reality is, I don’t know the future. And no one does, not even the wisest pundit writing in the most prestigious publication, apologies to any pundits in the sanctuary. I can ask myself, am I sure, and then still act for what I believe in without being certain of the outcome? Give it to try. Practice.
And this really comes from my UU tradition. Remember to stay together. Remember that you are not alone. What brought me to UU ministry was witnessing and being a beneficiary of the tremendous care and love even for strangers that can be expressed in a UU congregation. What actually brought me to UU ministry was stumbling into a congregation in Flagstaff, Arizona, sad and unwell and being embraced almost before they knew my name.
Come to think of it, I experienced awe when that happened too. There is so much power and encouragement that comes from showing up for each other, Acting for the world standing in a picket line or marching for justice not alone, but together This is one of the many reasons that I think Progressive faith communities will matter all the more in the coming years Despite what the pundits say. We need each other. We can’t do this alone.
I want to share a poem that has been important to me since my teen years, written by the great Zen beat poet Gary Snyder in 1959.
FOR THE CHILDREN
the rising hills, the slopes,
the statistics
lie before us,
the steep climb
of everything going up
up, as we all
go down.
In the next century,
or the one beyond that,
they say
our valleys, pastures,
we can meet there in peace
if we make it.
To climb these coming crests,
one word to you,
to you and your children.
Stay together.
Learn the flowers. Go light.
Stay together. Learn the flowers. Go light.
Number five, the simplest of all. Pay attention to your feet. Pay attention to them right now. See how they are beneath you in contact with the floor connected to the earth. We spend so much time up in our heads. Meanwhile, our humble feet are supporting us all the time. To feel your feet is to feel your foundation, to quite literally ground yourself. Whether you’re standing in a grocery line, having an argument with your partner, or facing a line of oncoming police in a direct action, feeling your feet will bring you into your body, and in contact with the earth, which is always there, always supporting you, and which receives us all in the end.
And on a lighter note, a little bonus advice. I promised you a bonus, from the great satirist Kurt Vonnegut. His last words of advice, who knows if anyone listened, to an audience in 2007. “And how should we behave during this apocalypse? We should be unusually kind to one another, certainly. But we should also stop being so serious. Jokes help a lot. And get a dog if you don’t already have one.”
So if one of these spiritual practices spoke to you, I invite you to bring it more fully into your life.
And just to review, here are some simple spiritual practices for these tough times.
- Pause
- Appreciate
- Practice not knowing
- Stay together
- Feel your feet
- And don’t forget to laugh now and again.
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
You are not alone. You have generations of ancestors at your back. You have the blessings of interdependence and community. You have the great trees of the forest and steadfast allies. You have the turning of the seasons and the renewal of life as your music. You have the vast sky of emptiness to hold all things graciously. Now it is time to step forward, bringing your equanimity and courage, wisdom and compassion to the world,
– Janet Cornfield
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