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Rev. Michelle LaGrave
December 10, 2023
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
Mystery abounds during this season of telling the old stories and celebrating the unknown. How does mystery feed our spirits or nourish our souls? How does embracing the unknown help us to grow?
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
IN THIS SPIRIT OF SEARCHING
by Joan Javier-DuvalOut of depths unknown
the spark of life ignites
and we are born
we enter a world, a universe
not of our making
our lives unfold
in mystery and wonder
questions abound
for which there are no definite answers
and so
we gather in community
to seek in one another
assurance
and recognition
compassion and strength
we gather in community
to be reminded
of what is most ultimate
and what is most sacred
in this spirit of searching
and of reverence
let us worship together this morning
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Reading
I have been looking for the words that come
before words: the words older than silence,
the ones not mine, that can’t be found by thought –
the ones that hold the beginning of the world
and are never used up, and arrive loaned,
and make me weep.– Nancy Shaffer
Sermon
There are so many kinds of mysteries in the world. The kind written in books, for which there is an entire genre. The kind for which there are no answers. The kind for which we suspect there might be a scientific explanation someday, even if not in our own lifetime. The kind which are hard to bear. The kind of which mystics speak. The kind that moves us to write a poem or compose a piece of music or create a piece of art. The kind that prompts us to study thea/ology or moves us to explore the stars. In this world of ours, one thing is clear: mystery abounds.
Rev. Michelle tells her personal story: “Music for Dance class.”
There are times when the joy is found in not finding an answer, enjoying the mystery, the experience of wondering, allowing the mystery to remain unnamable, unknowable, letting the mystery be.
Here’s another story, this one comes from Erik Walker Wikstrom …
One day a Religious Man approached a Mystic and asked, “Does God exist?”
“Allow me to go within for an answer,” the Mystic replied. After meditating for quite some time, expanding her heartconsciousness to embrace the totality of existence, she answered, “I do not know what you mean by the word ‘God,’ but I do know that this world is more mysterious and more wonderful than I could ever imagine. I know that you and I are part of something so much larger than our own lives. Perhaps this ‘something larger’ is what you seek.”
Then the Religious Man approached a Scientist. “Does God exist?” he asked.
“Let me think,” the Scientist replied. And so she thought. She thought about the vastness of the universe-156 billion light-years, or something like 936 billion trillion miles, in diameter-and the almost immeasurable smallness of a quark. She thought of how the energy of the Big Bang fuels the beating of her own heart. And then she answered, “I do not know what you mean by the word ‘God,” but I do know that this world is more mysterious and more wonderful than I could ever imagine. I know that you and I are part of something so much larger than our own lives. Perhaps this ‘something larger’ is what you seek.”
The Religious Man then thought to himself. He thought of what he knows and what he does not know. He thought about how he knows what he knows, and how he knows he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. He thought about his experience of the world and how it is but one tiny, infinitesimal fraction of all experience. He thought about his dependence on forces larger than himself, and he thought about the interdependence of all existence. He experienced wonder and pondered mystery. And then he knew-he knew in his soul the truth of what the Mystic and the Scientist said-that he is part of something so much larger than his own life.
And then, only then, did he think about what he’d call it.
Where is mystery in your life?
And what do you call it?
Or do you prefer for it to remain unnamed?
Sarah York writes:
We receive fragments of holiness,
glimpses of eternity,
brief moments of insight.
Let us gather them up
for the precious gifts that they are
and, renewed by their grace,
move boldly into the unknown.
May it always be so. Amen and Blessed Be.
Benediction by Eric Williams
We all emerge from
Dwell within
Are transformed by
And called back to Love.May your mind be humbled before this Mystery.
May your heart grow hopeful by it.
May you be sustained by this Love always.Amen and Blessed Be.
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