{"id":20496,"date":"2017-10-30T07:51:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T13:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/?p=20496"},"modified":"2017-10-30T07:51:59","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T13:51:59","slug":"those-that-have-gone-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/those-that-have-gone-before\/","title":{"rendered":"Those who have gone before"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_7595\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-20496-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2017-10-29_Those_who_have_gone_before.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2017-10-29_Those_who_have_gone_before.mp3\">http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2017-10-29_Those_who_have_gone_before.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2017-10-29_Those_who_have_gone_before.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/?powerpress_pinw=20496-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2017-10-29_Those_who_have_gone_before.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"2017-10-29_Those_who_have_gone_before.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p align=\"left\">Rev. Meg Barnhouse<br \/>\nOctober 29, 2017<br \/>\nFirst UU Church of Austin<br \/>\n4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756<br \/>\naustinuu.org<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><i>Using an Appalachian practice brought from Cornwall, we will have a cloutie tree. People will be able to breathe the names of their beloved departed into pieces of cloth and put them on a symbolic tree.<\/i><\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>You will lose someone you can&#8217;t live without<\/b><br \/>\n<i>Anne Lamott<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">You will lose someone you can&#8217;t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn&#8217;t seal back up. And you come through. It&#8217;s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly &#8211; that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><i><b>&#8220;The Thing Is&#8221;<\/b><br \/>\nby Ellen Bass<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">to love life, to love it even<br \/>\nwhen you have no stomach for it<br \/>\nand everything you&#8217;ve held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,<br \/>\nyour throat filled with the silt of it.<br \/>\nWhen grief sits with you, its tropical heat thickening the air,<br \/>\nheavy as water<br \/>\nmore fit for gills than lungs;<br \/>\nwhen grief weights you like your own flesh<br \/>\nonly more of it, an obesity of grief,<br \/>\nyou think,\u00a0<i>How can a body withstand this?<\/i><br \/>\nThen you hold life like a face<br \/>\nbetween your palms, a plain face,<br \/>\nno charming smile, no violet eyes,<br \/>\nand you say, yes, I will take you<br \/>\nI will love you, again.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>&#8220;Daily Prayer&#8221;<\/b><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Grandmother, Grandfather,<br \/>\nGuardians of the four directions,<br \/>\nGreat Spirit at the center of all things:<br \/>\nThank you for this day and for our lives.<br \/>\nThank you for the bounty and blessings and abundance that you provide for us to enjoy.<br \/>\nThank you for the lessons that you place before us each day<br \/>\nThank you for the vision to recognize these lessons for what they are.<br \/>\nThank you for the wisdom to understand the meaning of these lessons for our lives,<br \/>\nand Thank you for the courage to live in this new understanding.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>&#8220;All Souls&#8221;\u00a0<\/b><br \/>\n<i>by May Sarton<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Did someone say that there would be an end,<br \/>\nAnd end, Oh, an end, to love and mourning?<br \/>\nThe cold bleak voices of the early morning<br \/>\nWhen all the birds are dumb and in dark November &#8212;<br \/>\nRemember and forget, forget, remember.<br \/>\nAfter the false night, warm true voices, wake!<br \/>\nVoice of the dead that touches the cold living,<br \/>\nThrough the pale sunlight once more gravely speak.<br \/>\nTell me again, while the last leaves are falling:<br \/>\n&#8220;Dear child, what has been once so interwoven<br \/>\nCannot be raveled, nor the gift ungiven.&#8221;<br \/>\nNow the dead move through all of us still glowing,<br \/>\nMother and child, lover and lover mated,<br \/>\nAre wound and bound together and enflowing.<br \/>\nWhat has been plaited cannot be unplaited &#8212;<br \/>\nOnly the strands grow richer with each loss<br \/>\nAnd memory makes kings and queens of us.<br \/>\nDark into light, light into darkness, spin.<br \/>\nWhen all the birds have flown to some real haven,<br \/>\nWe who find shelter in the warmth within,<br \/>\nListen, and feel new-cherished, new forgiven,<br \/>\nAs the lost human voices speak through us and blend<br \/>\nOur complex love, our mourning without end.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>&#8220;In Blackwater Woods&#8221;\u00a0<\/b><br \/>\n<i>by Mary Oliver<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Look, the trees<br \/>\nare turning<br \/>\ntheir own bodies<br \/>\ninto pillars<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">of light,<br \/>\nare giving of the rich<br \/>\nfragrance of cinnamon<br \/>\nand fulfillment,<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">the long tapers<br \/>\nof cattails<br \/>\nare bursting and floating away over<br \/>\nthe blue shoulders<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">of the ponds,<br \/>\nand every pond,<br \/>\nno matter what its<br \/>\nname is, is<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">nameless now.<br \/>\nEvery year<br \/>\neverything<br \/>\nI have ever learned<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">in my lifetime<br \/>\nleads back to this: The fires<br \/>\nand the black river of loss<br \/>\nwhose other side<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">is salvation,<br \/>\nwhose meaning<br \/>\nnone of us will ever know.<br \/>\nTo live in this world<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">you must be able<br \/>\nto do three things:<br \/>\nto love what is mortal;<br \/>\nto hold it<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">against your bones knowing<br \/>\nyour own life depends on it;<br \/>\nand, when the time comes to let it go,<br \/>\nto let it go.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>&#8220;Hold On&#8221;\u00a0<\/b><br \/>\n<i>by Nancy Wood<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Hold on to what is good,<br \/>\nEven if it&#8217;s a handful of earth.<br \/>\nHold on to what you believe,<br \/>\nEven if it&#8217;s a tree that stands by itself.<br \/>\nHold on to what you must do,<br \/>\nEven if it&#8217;s a long way from here.<br \/>\nHold on to your life,<br \/>\nEven if it&#8217;s easier to let go.<br \/>\nHold on to my hand,<br \/>\nEven if someday I&#8217;ll be gone away from you.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>What do we become when we die?<\/b><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">What do we become<br \/>\nwhen we die?<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Stars,<br \/>\nnight,<br \/>\nleaves,<br \/>\nash,<br \/>\ndirt-<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Souls wandering<br \/>\nto help those<br \/>\nwe wronged &#8212;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">The great breath<br \/>\nof space<br \/>\nand light<br \/>\nand nothing?<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Think<br \/>\nnot just beyond this but here + there,<br \/>\nnow + now-<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">What do we become<br \/>\nwhen we die?<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Quiet<br \/>\nmoving<br \/>\nbodiless<br \/>\nearthy<br \/>\nhope.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>&#8220;Those who are dead are never gone&#8221;<\/b><br \/>\n<i>by Birago Diop, African Traditional Religions<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Those who are dead are never gone:<br \/>\nthey are there in the thickening shadow.<br \/>\nThe dead are not under the earth:<br \/>\nthey are there in the tree that rustles,<br \/>\nthey are in the wood that groans,<br \/>\nthey are in the water that runs,<br \/>\nthey are in the water that sleeps,<br \/>\nthey are in the hut, they are in the crowd,<br \/>\nthe dead are not dead.<br \/>\nThose who are dead are never gone:<br \/>\nthey are in the breast of the woman,<br \/>\nthey are in the child who is wailing,<br \/>\nand in the firebrand that flames.<br \/>\nThe dead are not under the earth:<br \/>\nthey are in the fire that is dying,<br \/>\nthey are in the grasses that weep,<br \/>\nthey are in the whimpering rocks,<br \/>\nthey are in the forest,<br \/>\nthey are in the house,<br \/>\nthe dead are not dead.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><b>&#8220;We Remember Them&#8221;<\/b><br \/>\n<i>by Roland Gittlesohn<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In the rising of the sun and in its going down,<br \/>\nwe remember them;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter,<br \/>\nwe remember them;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In the opening of buds and in the rebirth of spring,<br \/>\nwe remember them;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In the rustling of leaves and in the beauty of autumn,<br \/>\nwe remember them;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In the beginning of the year and when it ends,<br \/>\nwe remember them;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">When we are weary and in need of strength,<br \/>\nwe remember them;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">When we are lost and sick at heart,<br \/>\nwe remember them;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">When we have joys we yearn to share,<br \/>\nwe remember them;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">So as we live, they too shall live, for they are now a part of us,<br \/>\nas we remember them.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"center\" noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"4\" width=\"300\" \/>\n<p align=\"left\"><i>Podcasts of this and other sermons are also available for free on iTunes. You can find them\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/podcast\/first-unitarian-universalist\/id372427776\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Most sermons delivered at the First UU Church of Austin during the past 17 years are available online through this website. You will find links to them in the right sidebar menu labeled Sermons. The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/category\/sermons\/indexes\/\" target=\"_blank\">Indexes<\/a>\u00a0link leads to tables of all sermons for each year listed by date (newest to oldest) with topic and speaker. Click on the topic to go to a sermon.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rev. Meg Barnhouse October 29, 2017 First UU Church of Austin 4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756 austinuu.org Using an Appalachian practice brought from Cornwall, we will have a cloutie tree. People will be able to breathe the names of their beloved departed into pieces of cloth and put them on a symbolic tree. You&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19,16,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio-available","category-meg-barnhouse","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20496"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20498,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20496\/revisions\/20498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}