For the last year or so, every time I go on facebook, I think to myself, \u201cWhy am I on facebook?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I should really delete my facebook account, I think. I should just opt out of the whole Russian hacker, deep-fake video, hysterical, unhelpful, and often just plain mean conversation, amoral, corporate, sell your soul or at least your personal information, social media culture. Surely there is some other way I can see my friend\u2019s vacation photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you remember when your friends used to come home from vacation and you would all go over to their house and watch their slides? Doesn\u2019t that sound nice? That sounds like a nice evening to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019m still on facebook. And I still check facebook now and then, although I almost never post anything. Except when I go on vacation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then this week, when I was sitting down to write this sermon, I checked facebook, and a friend posted a video that I thought was pretty cool, and is relevant to the theme of today\u2019s worship: courage. Courage as a spiritual goal. Spiritual courage that you might hope to get from coming to church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The video was of a lion and a group of herd animals. I don\u2019t know what kind of herd animals exactly, so I\u2019ll call them wildebeests, although that\u2019s probable wrong. Just imagine something like smallish cows, or fat antelopes, with up-curled horns like a bull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The video looked like it was taken from a jeep while the photographer was on a safari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A little way off in the grass we can see a lion that has downed one of the wildebeests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wildebeest is on its side with its four legs up in the air, held out stiff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first it looks like the wildebeest must be dead. But then the legs flex a little and you realize it isn\u2019t dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the video gives us a better angle and you see that the lion doesn\u2019t have the wildebeest by the neck. In which case it would be a short and sad video. Instead, the lion has its mouth around the wildebeest\u2019s snout. So, the wildebeest is held tightly, and surely in a bad situation, but it has a chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the rest of the wildebeest herd is still there. About thirty or so animals. Hanging around. The front of the herd is only a few feet away, actually. Clearly, they are concerned about their friend. They\u2019re trying to see what\u2019s happening. They\u2019re scared of the lion, of course. But they\u2019re also wondering if there\u2019s something they can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, as a herd they move a little closer. And the wildebeest at the front of the herd closest to the lion, gingerly approaches the lion, and then runs back again, frightened. And then another wildebeest does the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lion doesn\u2019t move. And the one wildebeest is still clenched in its jaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, whichever wildebeest is at the front of the pack, closest to the lion, is in the most danger. But it\u2019s remarkable how one after another several of the animals take a turn at the front, hesitantly confronting the lion. At one point a wildebeest who is farther back in the pack even comes out and goes around the wildebeest at the front to try and take a poke at the lion. I love that guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually, you realize watching the video, and maybe at about the same time the wildebeests realize the same thing, that the lion is in a bad position. The lion is as much trapped in the situation as is the wildebeest in its jaws. The lion can\u2019t defend itself from the herd without letting go of the one animal it has. And the lion, by itself, is probably no match for the hooves and horns of a whole herd of wildebeest who are now beginning to surround it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, a brave wildebeest charges at the lion more aggressively. The lion lets go and runs away a short distance. The downed wildebeest gets up, injured but shaking it off. The wildebeest keep an eye on the lion and a couple of them charge at the lion again. And at last, the lion gives up and runs off completely and the video ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s why I\u2019m still on facebook.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re talking today and for the next several weeks about personal spiritual goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is it that you are hoping to get from having a faith life, from working your spiritual practice? Practicing for what? What is worth, to you, the not inconsiderable investment you make in signing up as a member of a Unitarian Universalist church?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve been working with the Stewardship Committee this year to plan the Stewardship campaign for the coming year. And it occurred to me, what is actually fairly obvious, although I hadn\u2019t thought about it so starkly before, that everything this church is, and has, and does, comes because you all want it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the resources we have are built up from previous generations of members of the church, so we have some investment income. And we have some rental income, because we have the asset of owning our church buildings, again because previous church members bought them, built them, and we all continue to maintain them. But we have a church because you all think having a church is worth it and you give generously enough to have it. It\u2019s that simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s beautiful to imagine a community coming together and saying, we want to be together, we want to work together, we want to play together and celebrate together, and learn together, and raise our families together, and make a difference together in each other\u2019s lives and in the community around us. And we want, so much, what a church can do, that we\u2019re willing to pool our resources to make it happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s beautiful.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we have a church. You have a church. For what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week I proposed that one personal spiritual goal that some folks in the room might be looking for is \u201cwisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today I want to propose a second spiritual goal: courage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A healthy, strong, spirituality, honed by commitment to a spiritual practice, and grounded in a spiritual community, makes us courageous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courage to get through the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courage to say no to the voices that hold us back, or oppress the vulnerable we care about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courage to take the risk so that we can blossom into that best version of ourselves that we can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courage to advocate for ourselves, and to advocate for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courage to face bad news, or sad news, with equanimity, resiliency, and resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courage that leads to hope, when voices are crying despair all around us, or when despair rises inside us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courage to know that when the lion has us by the snout, hang on because friends are on their way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courage so that when a friend is in trouble, we\u2019re willing to step up and confront the lion.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does a strong spiritual life make us courageous?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week I talked about the many ways that if wisdom is your spiritual goal the church can help make us wise. The connection between the search for wisdom and religious education, adult faith development, discussion groups and study groups, and worship that includes a provocative, thoughtful sermon, seems clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does the church offer to build our courage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the answer comes from the same phrase I mentioned last week in reference to wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unitarian Universalism strives to be a reality-based religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wisdom is about understanding what is real about the world around us. Wisdom seekers strive to know the reality of the material and immaterial parts of existence. Wisdom seekers ask, \u201cWhat is real?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courage, I think, also comes from being clear about reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are dangers in the world. There are real dangers, like lions, out there, that we should recognize. Fear doesn\u2019t help, because it paralyzes us, like that wildebeest with his legs stuck straight out in the air, helpless. But cautiousness is warranted when confronting the real dangers in the world. Concern is warranted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recognizing the reality of climate change should concern us. Recognizing the real damage being done to our democracy by the current President and his supporters should concern us.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But our faith also teaches us to have courage in the face of danger. \u201cWe are good enough, smart enough, and strong enough to make lives of joy and health for ourselves and others, and to care for the planet we share.\u201d As my elevator speech describing Unitarian Universalism puts it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the message repeated again and again at church. Yes the world has it\u2019s dangers, that\u2019s living in reality. Yes, you and we together, can confront those dangers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, to be sure, there are some dangers that are beyond our ability to overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A healthy spirituality also teaches us acceptance in the face of reality. We know that illness, aging, eventual death, is a part of reality, and a part of life. We know that accidents happen beyond our control. We are sometimes victims of the bad decisions or ill intent of others. We are good and smart and strong. But we are human. And some humans have more power than others. And all human beings are limited in power, finite, and vulnerable in all the ways that mortal creatures are. That\u2019s reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, our spiritual practice teaches us to take a deep breath and accept what we cannot change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe you\u2019re thinking of Neibuhr\u2019s serenity prayer right now. It\u2019s appropriate to last week\u2019s sermon and today\u2019s:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, And finally, the last way that a reality-based religion helps us grow in courage, is that we learn to see that some of the dangers we see around us, are not really there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like that unreal world of facebook, healthy spirituality helps us recognize when our anxious minds are fooling us with fake news. That video playing in our head might be a deep-fake video our minds are feeding us, perhaps because we\u2019ve grown used to feeling anxious, and it\u2019s more comforting to our mental habit to imagine the worse and stay helpless then to try moving to the front of the herd and test the reality of the perceived danger, and then perhaps to discover that the lion is actually the helpless one and you are strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The spiritual community is the place that \u201cencourages us\u201d to spiritual growth, as it says in our third principle. Or, as we say in our church\u2019s mission statement, the church is here \u201cto inspire and encourage each other in our spiritual journeys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The church is a place where we say the truth, as much as we can. And the congregation helps to test our subjective views of the world against what I call, \u201cthe corrective of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did he really say that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is that really what the evidence shows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hear you, but I had a completely different experience. Would you like to hear my story?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the reality,\u201d the courage-seeker asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is the danger real, and we should be concerned?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is the danger beyond our control, and we should practice acceptance and equanimity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is the danger imagined, and we can learn to tell a different story?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this church we, \u201csing the heart courageous\u201d and we teach the song of courage to each other. I think at last that the most helpful lesson of that video of the wildebeest herd and the lion, is that the courage of the wildebeest came from not being alone against the lion. Courage came because each animal was part of a herd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One by one they took their turn confronting the danger, at first hesitant and retreating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But eventually they and the lion realized that alone the wildebeest were vulnerable but as a wildebeest herd the lion was vulnerable. And finally, the danger ran away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, you beautiful congregation. Oh, you beautiful, courageous, herd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take courage friends.
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The way is often hard, the path is never clear,
and the stakes are very high.
Take courage.
For deep down, there is another truth:
you are not alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"