Story & Sermon: The Next Step

This is a story about a kid named Robby. Now what is interesting about Robby is that Robby is a Lobster. Robby is a young Lobster living deep in the Great Ocean.

Robby likes to play and go to school. Sometimes Robby and friend Max play hide-and-seek in the sea anemones.

One day Robby noticed her shell was a little tight and it was snug at the corners. Robby ignored this and went on playing.

Robby’s shell kept getting tighter and tighter, but was embarrassed to talk about it with anyone.

Robby asked Max, “Do you ever get that … not so roomy feeling in your shell?” The friend squirmed and squiggled a little nervously and looking away said, “ I don’t know what you are talking about.” Max was blushing and avoided the subject.

Robby was now getting very stiff, and cranky, and not having fun. It was hard to move around and really play. Robby’s shell was too tight.

Finally the discomfort was enough for Robby to seek out someone she felt safe asking about this problem of too tight a shell. Robby decided to ask advice from Grandmother who always had a kind word and lots of experience to share.

Robby - “Hello dear Grandmother. I need to ask you about a problem I have.”

Granmother - “Yes, I will help if I can.” she said adjusting her claws.

Robby - “ My shell is too tight. I am scarred and don’t know what to do.”

Grandma, “ I was wondering when you would be coming around to this question.”

Robby - “How did you know?”

Grandma - “All of us Lobsters eventually get too tight for our shells. If we are lucky.”

Robby - “Lucky?! What is so lucky about being all tight and stiff and cranky?”

Grandma - “ It means your insides have grown. It means you have learned lessons and are ready for a transition.”

Robby - “What is a transition?”

Grandma - “It is when we are ready to let go of our shell and grow a new one.”

Robby- “Let go of my Shell?!  I can’t do that! It’s part of who I am. I can’t live without it!”

Grandma - “Yes you can. I have done it more than seven times already and expect to do it again soon.”

Robby - “You have? does it hurt? How do you do it?

Grandma - “First thing to know is that you are not your shell. Your shell is just a protection in the world. If we are lucky we outgrow this shell and shed it to make room for new growth. Next, know that the letting go does not hurt. It is the holding on that is painful. Our fear of change keeps us in the pain.”

Robby - “What if I turn into a clam?”

Grandmother - “You won’t. You are a Lobster. You have to trust in the Universal Love of the Great Ocean. The Great Ocean will still feed you and hold you. Transition is a tender time and you will need to be gentle with yourself. You will even find that without your shell the Great Ocean has a very gentle nature about her. There can be dangers in the transitions, but the alternative is stagnation and pain. Try to find friends to do it with.

Remember these tips for letting go. They will help you:
A) Accept who you are, admit that your current shell exists.
B) Believe the Great Ocean accepts and Loves us as we are.
C) Be willing to accept Change and the unknown.
D) Do remember part of who we are as Lobsters is that we change.
E) As we accept our changes we can become closer to the Essence our nature and the Great Ocean herself.
F) For goodness sake, start small. Let go one piece at a time.

Robby tried hard to remember all of this, but most of all felt more relaxed and loved. As Robby relaxed, a small piece of shell gently fell off. As Robby looked at it curiously, another piece drifted off with the ocean current. This didn’t hurt. It was rather a relief.

Robby - “Wow, I need to find friends to share this with. I need to get out of the open waters for a while and take shelter in a cave.”

Robby went to the Lobster Community Cave and who was there? Grandma, Max, Father, Mother, and cousins. They all smiled at Robby.

Robby said, “Whew, glad that is over.”Grandma said, “Yes, until next time.”

What is your next step?

Christmas day is past and most gifts are unwrapped. The papers and boxes in the recycling bins. Cut trees and wreaths are getting dry and becoming fire hazards. Some of us are weighing in to see what the Christmas season damage is to our pant line. And some of us are ready for school to start again.

Today is New Year’s Eve and I feel the great cultural pull of making resolutions. Maybe I will shave off my beard, maybe I’ll try skipping across the chancel in my minister’s robe, or start playing a jaw harp. But these are just little things representing the yearning of a spark for inner change. And so, the year 2007 is upon us if you are following the Gregorian calendar. The coming Chinese New Year is 4703 and we are in the middle of the Jewish year 5767.

Some Christian traditions celebrate the 12 days of Christmas, the 12 days following December 25th, marking the arrival of the wise men from the East. Today I want to share some research and ponderings about the wandering wise, camel riding, star following, gift bringing Kings of the Orient:

The Orient is Persia. “Magi” is the name of the Zoroastrian priestly caste from the Persian empire. Magi is, in fact, the origin of our word “magician.” The Magi were considered the wise priests of Persia and were astronomers, astrologers, alchemist/physicians. They were not kings, but priests that made sacrifices to the Zoroastrian God, Ahuramazda.

What do we know about the Magi gifts?  Gold, frankincense and myrrh are objects of traditional Zoroastrian temple offerings, with no precedent in the Old Testament. Frankincense is incense to make prayers and offerings. Myrrh was used as a ritual healing ointment by Zoroastrian physicians. Yet what about the gold? Western tradition interprets it as a sign as Jesus’ “kingly” nature.

I am choosing an interpretation that sees the gold as a symbol of internal divine nature. The Magi were alchemists. The tradition of alchemy is to symbolically transmute our basic nature, lead, into the eternal nature of the gods, gold. The gift of the Magi is recognition of the divine nature in all humanity as represented by the infant Jesus. The gift from the Magi is a message to humanity that the most precious gift is the one we carry with us. OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BELOVED.

Rumi invited us again today to “come whoever we are” to embrace the Beloved. Come “as wanderer or worshiper” to enter into relationship with the divine within. Rumi, out of the Islamic Sufi tradition, is known for his poetic call to ecstatic union with the Beloved.

I interpret the “Beloved” as the place where self-essence and divine-Universal-essence meet and mingle. Through embracing the mingling of the self and Universe we create healing in the world. The Unitarian transcendentalists Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau wrote beautiful poetry sharing their experience with this intimate ecstatic divine nature. It is our challenge to return, and return again to the Beloved amidst our daily routine. It is a spiritual journey to return, and return again to the home of our soul.

Look within ourselves to see the Magi’s gift, accept the gifts we have to offer world, accept ourselves as we are, shells and shedding.  Start small, accept the Unconditional Love of the Universe as ours to have, and take the next step.

Ritual Introduction: We are going to have a New Year’s ritual today and I invite you to think about what small thing or habit you might let go of that may be blocking your communion with the Beloved, the mixing of Self essence and the Universe essence.

Remembering the wise Lobster’ Tips for letting go:
Accept who weare, admit that your current shell exists.
Believe the Universe accepts and Loves us as we are.
Be willing to accept change and the unknown.
Part of who we are as Lobsters is that we change.
As we acceptour changes we can become closer to the essence our nature and nature herself.
Starting small, let go, one piece at a time.

One next step for us in this growing community may be to learn how to sit next to a newcomer or someone we don’t know. During the ritual I invite you to return to your seat in a different place. Embrace the newness and change of the growing congregation in the new year.  ♦