Renewal, Restoration, Reclaiming

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Rev. Chris Jimmerson
August 18, 2024
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

The challenges of life and our current world can exhaust our minds, bodies, and spirits. We often think of renewal as finding nourishment and new energy from sources outside of ourselves, and that can certainly be valid sometimes. What if another source of reinvigorating our spirit comes from within though? How do we release the spark of the divine within us so that it can burn brighter than ever?

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

STRIPPING AWAY ALL THAT IS NOT WHO WE REALLY ARE
by Alan Seale

Michelangelo said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” There is nothing to add to our souls, to ourselves, or to our societies in order to find out who we are as manifestations of Source, Consciousness, or God. Our job now is to carve away everything that keeps us from being who we really are … who we are called to be from the depth of our human spirit.

Affirming Our Mission

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

Reading

THE UNBROKEN
Rashani Réa

There is a brokenness
out of which comes the unbroken,
a shatteredness
out of which blooms the unshatterable.
There is a sorrow
beyond all grief which leads to joy
and a fragility
out of whose depths emerges strength.
There is a hollow space
too vast for words
through which we pass with each loss,
out of whose darkness
we are sanctioned into being.
There is a cry deeper than all sound
whose serrated edges cut the heart
as we break open to the place inside
which is unbreakable and whole,
while learning to sing.

Sermon

As many of you know, but some may not, a few months ago my spouse, Wayne, had to go on home hospice care because of a hereditary, chronic immune condition. We have since tried one final potential treatment, but it caused dangerous side effects, so he is now on health maintenance and palliative medications only. He is pretty much homebound now.

We have some good days though, as well as some times that are hard. We are in a liminal space, where we have no way to know what to expect each day, though we do know we have fewer and fewer days left together, so we’d better get busy loving each other in each moment now.

But isn’t that really always true.

I start by sharing this with you this morning for at least a couple of reasons. One is just that, I know it can feel awkward to bring it up, even if to express your thoughts and support.

As we continue to build an even greater culture of caring in the church, we have to be OK with discussing these things. It’s OK to share what we’re going through. It’s OK to to express care and support for what others are going through. It doesn’t have to be awkward to raise the subject – even when it involves the minister. And, I want you to know how much your expressions of support have meant to both me and Wayne.

Now, in a church this size, it can become difficult though for folks to share updates with more than 400 people on an individual basis, so we’ve set up a system where the co-chairs of our First UU Cares Ministry and the ministers can let the church know what is going on with folks who are facing life challenges.

The same is true for me. I am keeping Rev. Michelle, and Susan and Toni of First UU Cares updated on our situation so that they can let you know what is happening with us, should you want to ask them. You can email First UU Cares through caring@austinuu.org.

The other reason I wanted to start with this it that today we are exploring how to find renewal when life depletes our energy and resources sometimes.

Wayne and I are pretty much having to find renewal every day in order to make the most of every moment we can, while we still can.

So, I thought I might share somethings that help me find renewal these days. Now, I didn’t just come up with this stuff myself – these are things out there in the literature that have been found to revive our spirits even during difficult circumstances.

And lets face it, we all go through challenges sometimes, whether in our own lives or more broadly – more broadly, like, oh, a pandemic, a climate crisis, an election where fascism will be on the ballot, witnessing and some of us experiencing experiencing ongoing, systemic racism and oppression, witnessing war, terrorism, genocide and more in world events – well, all of these and then some can kind of wear us down sometimes, can’t they – exhaust us, mind, body and soul.

And so here are some places we may find renewal even in challenging times:

Community,
Nature,
Rest and Reset,
Joy and Play,
the Sacred Self

COMMUNITY:
We so often find rebirth in relationship – find ourselves revived by the support of others.

Wayne and I are so fortunate to be held by so many wonderful communities of love and support, including this one.

And research is finding, for example, among social justice movements, that it is not possible to sustain our efforts, to consistently access these other sources of renewal without building community first.

Now, there is this interesting paradox about community though – sometimes we also need solitude in order to fully realize the depth of community. We have to go up to the mountain top alone in order to come back more fully interconnected and engaged than ever.

One morning recently, I snuck away to a little spot nearby that overlooks a babbling creek, just to have my morning coffee in solitude. And somehow, in that time alone, I sensed more strongly than ever how firmly held in community I truly am.

NATURE:
So many of us replenish our souls through being in nature, in solitude or in community with others. Our UU transcendentalist forbearers thought of nature as a source for communion with the divine. Getting out in nature is a big one for me – at least when it is not 105 degrees out!

Well, I could go on and about the renewing nature of nature, but why listen to me when we have the poetry of Mary Oliver.

WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES
– Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beach, the oaks, and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness and discernment,
and never hurry through the world,
but walk slowly and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and callout, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again. “It’s simple,” they say.
“And you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

REST AND RESET:
Becoming a caretaker, I’ve discovered, adds so much extra. It means helping someone else do the things we normally do for ourselves. The chores and errands of daily life – laundry, doing the dishes, getting groceries, picking up prescriptions, – things that were once shared, must now be done by just one. So all that extra also requires extra rest.

The problem, says activist, performance artist and founder of the Nap Ministry, Tricia Hersey, is that we are programmed not to let ourselves rest. She goes on to say, “There is deep power in taking a break, honoring your body and actively participating in your deprogramming from grind culture. We have been brainwashed to be violent towards our own bodies by pushing it to exhaustion… Rest is a form of resistance…”

So, we, I, have to know that we can, and must, reclaim the right to rest! Now, another paradox is that rest can at times come from things that may involve some exertion, but that also help us reset: our spiritual practices such as meditation or gratitude journaling, music, arts, gardening – whatever helps us enter a new mindset and thus, reset.

Again, paradoxically, physical activity can be one of the major ways to rest ourselves by resetting ourselves – dancing, for instance.

Now, even if we can’t dance like they do, we can dance however we are able, even if in our imagination!

So, dance like no one is watching, as the saying goes, or better yet, dance and be fine with whomever may be watching. I love the joy, humor and playfulness they infuse into the dancing we just watched.

And that bring us to joy and play.

JOY AND PLAY
There may be nothing else that restores us like engaging in play and experiencing joy.

One thing that Wayne and I have always shared is playful humor, and that shared humor is helping us through this current journey together, even if the humor gets a bit dicey these days, like when Wayne keeps insisting that he wants the processional music for his memorial service to be Baby Elephant Walk.

And that’s OK, because once again, movements for social justice are showing us that joy is integral to building the resilience, the continuing ability to find renewal so necessary for sustaining ourselves.

As an example, a group called Revival Resistance Chorus helps infuse joy into social action through their music. Here is how they describe themselves.

Resistance Revival Chorus believes in the words written by the poet Toi Derricotte when she wrote, “Joy is an act of resistance.” We believe in the words of Mr. Harry Belefonte who said “when the movement is strong, the music is strong.” We sing to revive the hearts of those who fight for social justice, and we sing together for freedom.

We’ll hear more from them shortly! Well, I want to talk last about perhaps our greatest source of renewal, last in part because I think that everything we have we have covered so far helps us to access this – what I am calling the sacred self.

THE SACRED SELF
What we refer to each week in our service as a spark of the divine within each of us. What a psychological theory called Internal Family Systems calls the authentic self – an ever renewing wellspring that is joyful, playful, calm, courageous, compassionate, pure and loving.

And part of renewal often involves putting aside parts of us that mask our authentic self – parts that have often helped us get through at times, but that may no longer be helpful and may in fact be wearing us down – other parts that may have been internalized through our family and our culture.

Parts such as the always ready fighter, the perfectionist, the people pleaser, the procrastinator, the constant helper of every one else, the self-medicator. What are some parts of you that may have once been helpful but may now be keeping you from accessing your sacred self?

Like Michelango carving aways the excess marble to free the angel within in our call to worship earlier – Like how restoring an old house often involves not so much adding new, but getting rid of the ugly seventies wallpaper, tearing out the regrettable shag carpeting in order to reclaim the beauty underneath – Our renewal often involves thanking these parts of us for the ways in which they have served us, and then quieting them, letting them rest, letting them rest so that our authentic self can light our way.

As we enter a new church year, face this election year, sustain our work for justice, deal with all that comes in our own lives and our world, together let us remember: community; nature, rest and reset, joy and play – these will release the sacred self.

These will refuel that true, radiant spark of the divine within us, so that it may shine forth again, and again, and again. Shine on, my beloveds. Shine on. Amen.

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.

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