All Souls

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Michelle LaGrave
November 5, 2023
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

This is the time of year when spiritual traditions around the world, including our own, remember and honor the people from whom we came, our ancestors. This year we will focus on the importance of naming traditions while remembering those ancestors who have helped to shape us into who we are today.

Chalice Lighting

As we kindle this the flame, we honor and remember
Those who have passed into the mystery.
Their brightness lives on in our vision;
their courage lives on in our commitments;
and their love continues to bless the world through us.

Call to Worship

UNITED BY STORY AND BOUND BY LOVE
by Andrea Hawkins-Kamper

Gather we now into this space, this time when the Wheel turns and the Veil shatters.

Gather we now to remember, to grieve, to prophesy, to complete our harvests before the long Dark comes.

Gather we now to tell the Old Stories and sing the Old Songs, to be as we have always been -the Voice of our people eternal.

Gather we now to celebrate that which was, that which is, and that which will be. Gather we now, as we have always done, united by Story and bound by love.

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Reading

Image of a painting on the screen
ABBE MOSES THE BLACK
by Mark Dukes

My spiritual ancestor Abbe Moses the Black lived 1600 years ago. He used to be the leader of a gong of thieves. One day while hiding from the law he met a group of monks who lived simple, prayerful lives in the deserts of Egypt. He decided to join them.

In my picture he is talking to his gang about his newfound experience of joy in doing good. The thieves on the left drop their knives and decide to change their lives. The thieves on the right haven’t decided yet. later, they will drop their weapons, change their violent lives, and follow their leader, Abba Moses.

I’m one of the gang. Can you find me? Instead of a knife, I have a paintbrush. It’s the magic of my paintbrush that enables me to travel back in time.

Above us are two more saints. Tekla Haymanot is a legendary Ethiopian saint. Mahatma Gandhi is an Indian saint who lived in modern times. I put him with Tekla because I thought Gandhi would like a ride on a magic carpet of light. Wouldn’t you?

Sermon

Almost as old as time itself are the tales of this time of year; a time when the veil between this world and the next thins and spirits of the dead and otherworldly creatures cross over. This is a time of liminality; a time of in-betweenness – between summer and winter, between light and dark, between this world and another. This is the time of All Hallow’s Eve, Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, All Souls’ Day, Samhain …

I begin with an old Celtic tale, from a county in Ireland, from which rises an old mountain in the shape of a sleeping woman, and on top of which still rests an ancient burial cairn, near some rocks which naturally take the shape of a doorway. There once was a young man, a hunter and a warrior, in between his childhood and his inheritance, named Fionn, which means “fair”, for his hair which had turned unnaturally white at a young age. One long ago Samhain, an otherworldly creature emerged from the cairn and stole a pig that was roasting over a fire. Fionn chased the creature and killed him with a spear just as the creature was slipping through a doorway back to the Otherworld. Finn’s thumb was caught in the door as it was shut. He pulled his thumb out and because it hurt, he sucked on it. Because his thumb had been in the Otherworld, Finn gained a great wisdom.

It is said that this tale is meant to explain how people gained wisdom from the ancestors.

Whether this tale comes from your own tradition or not, it is simply one of many the world over, which speaks of the wisdom of the ancestors. And, we all do have ancestors, some who are known to us and some who are not, some who come from our family lines, some who come from our cultural lineages, and some who come from our own, shared, living tradition – our Unitarian and Universalist forebears. There is a great wisdom that come to all of us from our ancestors, and from the living elders we have known in our lives.

In this season of liminality, many of us choose to honor our ancestors by creating altars and visiting graves, by placing photos, and food, and flowers, and by telling stories. I encourage you to engage in a spiritual practice of honoring the dead in whatever ways feel appropriate to you and your family and also, for all of us, to take some time to reflect on the wisdom we have gained from the ancestors and to share it with each other.

While some of that wisdom is fairly easy to hear, easy to take in, easy to apply to our lives, some is not. Some of that wisdom is gained by wrestling with our heritages. What can we learn from the ways in which our ancestors, intentionally or unintentionally oppressed others? Were oppressed by others? For me, in my direct family line, I have both Pilgrims and Pirates and I’m not always sure which heritage is more difficult to wrestle with. A beloved mentee, not so long ago celebrated Trans Power by holding a vigil and creating an altar to honor the transcestors. She has now become one of them. Her name was, is Audrey Gale Hall.

We do not only learn from, gain wisdom from, our ancestors. We also are the ancestors. While we are still living our lives, and beginning at any age, is the best time to think about our own legacies. What legacy do we wish to leave behind? What wisdom would we like to leave behind? How would we like to be remembered? BE THAT! One of our shared spiritual ancestors, the Rev. William Ellery Channing, once said: “May your life preach more loudly than your lips.” How wilt how does YOUR life preach?

Amen and Blessed Be.

Benediction

INSPIRED BY OUR ANCESTORS
by Leia Durland-Jones

For those who came before us,
we offer gratitude and thanks.
May their memories be a blessing.
May we feel surrounded by their love.
As we go forth from this time and place,
let us be inspired by their courage,
their wisdom, and their dreams.
let us honor them by doing the work
of living boldly, loving mightily,
and creating heaven on earth.

Amen and blessed be.

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