Grace: "Angels Can Fly Because They Take Themselves Lightly"¹

In this solemn place
WE come together in a communion of hearts
"So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

Friends, Doctors of Durability. This morning the offering will go to provide a Nursing Scholarship in honor of Bill Ulp. Bill stood here as a Doctor of Durability and said, "I wonder what this teenager is doing in the body of an 80 year old." Bill also said, "If I knew I was going to live so long, I would have taken better care of this body." Another Doctor of Durability is Sheila Kennedy. For years Sheila was our Wedding Coordinator. She remembers that in the hundreds of weddings Jopie and I performed, we often gave a short sermon, a HOMILY. We would frame it in an acronym: SAIL for a couple who enjoyed Sailing. Or STAR for an astronomer who married his student: an S for shine: "choose something like a star." An R for Reach: "Unless a man's reach exceed his grasp, what's a heaven for?" "Not failure, but low aim is crime." "Reach, reach, reach for the sunshine out of the falling rain."

Our church was managed by Bill Ulp's wife, Grace. Today, my acronym is GRACE. We start our meals by saying GRACE: "Good beans, good meat, Good God, let's eat." Let us begin with the G for GRACE itself. How do we get out of the self-centeredness of the ego trip? Faith is not a matter of making the world conform to our belief. When we sing "God bless America," we are not commanding God to bless America. Rather, we are asking for grace to act in a loving way. The Protestant principle is "justification by faith through grace."

I just read that the Atomic Scientists at CERN in Switzerland have been given a grant of many millions to discover God. Perhaps they are looking in the wrong place. After God created the heavens and the earth, God decided to hide. "But where can I hide? I will hide in the human heart. To find me, people must search their heart. A Norwegian Doctor gave an inspired response to the research at CERN. He found the "God particle" not in the atom, but in TRUST. He found TRUST the most important element in the relation of Doctor and Patient. Trust begins with the "basic trust" between infant and mother. It grows to be the "God particle" which holds together nations and the community of the world. Trust is the word that links faith & grace. As Martin Buber wrote in his book, "I Thou," the Holy is not in I or in THOU, but in the living connection, the "I-THOU."

R is for RAGE. Not just the movie in which people are screaming, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more." But rather the anger that comes when we see evil. Yes, there is a UU doctrine of sin. It was stated by Lord Bullock, the first Unitarian to be Vice Chancellor of Oxford University. Alan Bullock wrote, "Evil is causing human beings to act in an inhuman way." To us there is evil in Guantanamo Bay. With many religions we say,

Piety in itself will not free us from evil. When Senator Frank Church ran for President, I put on my old tux and went to hear Frank Church. Seated next to me was Rev Jim Jones. Jim Jones ran Peoples Church in San Francisco as a caring interracial community. But at Jonestown he led those who trusted him to mass suicide. As a young man, Senator Church had a bout with cancer, but he survived for 30 years and became one of the most effective leaders of the Senate. Now his son Forrest is in remission from cancer. Forrest is minister of a UU Church in New York City. He is putting his thoughts into sermons and books. His latest book is titled, Freedom from Fear. He sites the words of President Franklin Roosevelt,

Sadly, in Britain, America, and much of the world, politicians are pushing the panic button. Instead of friendship, we are growing fear. This month a Noble Prize winning Economist wrote that the cost of the Iraq War to date has been five trillion dollars. Five trillion! That is like the number of stars in our galaxy. Just think what a different world we would have today if that money had been spent on peace making instead of war.

Don't just stifle your rage. Do something about it. Act.

A is for ACT.
This week I have been reading a marvelous book titled THREE CUPS OF TEA. It is the story of a man who turned from climbing the mountains of Pakistan to winning the trust in villages to build schools especially for GIRLS. As many of you know, Frederick Shaw of this congregation has a similar project in the Punjab. And I rejoice in ongoing support you give to your partner church in Transylvania. We are acting.

Currently, I am working with the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists, the ICUU. In February, seven of our Unitarian Colleagues were in Kenya leading a training programme for over 50 new African Unitarians. They also explored what is happening in Kenya. They were impressed by the education for girls in Kenya, supported by the South Korean Government. If you educate the women, you are also are educating the next generation. To my mind, the best hope for an end to war is a billion mothers for peace.

Thornton Wilder in his play, OUR TOWN, tells the story of a young mother who died in childbirth. She is given the opportunity to go back and relive any one day of her life. She chooses her twelfth birthday. It starts well, as she sees the sun come up on new fallen snow. But at the end she says, "I can't go on. It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another. I didn't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed. Do human beings ever realize life while they live it?"

An ancient Hindu story tells of an argument about the number of Gods. The numbers keep going up to the tens of thousands. The question is put to Parjapati, the Primal Spirit. The spirit answers, there is one god, BREATH. No other gods can live without it. San Francisco UU Minister Harry Scholefield was asked, "How long do you meditate each day?" He answered, "I meditate for an hour, except when I am very busy. Then I meditate for two hours."

When you breathe deeply, whether sitting or walking, you LIGHTEN UP. Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly. Remember the words of Jesus, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. Yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." The religious leaders I love have a sense of humor. It is said that when the angels play for God, they play Bach. But when they play for each other, they play Mozart.

When you concentrate on your breath. When you breath deeply and slowing rather than panting, the spirit rises within you. You became aware that you are a part of the universe made alive. You become compassionate toward life.

C is for COMPASSION. As Howard Thurman said from this pulpit, "My heart must be a swinging door, that opens in and opens out."

Taking yourself lightly means an open generosity. Recently, I read a book titled, The Billionaire Who Wasn't. This is the story of one of the first billionaires in the 21st Century to give away most of his billions. It is an example now followed by multi-billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. None of us can give billions. But I have a case of spiritual constipation if I don't give. This billionaire had three practices: 1) Work with a team of friends to create your business and your charity. 2) Live simply, even if you are rich. He buys his suits off the rack, and flies economy class. 3) When you make a big gift, offer matching money. This way the gift goes twice as far. And universities, churches or hospitals that benefit care more, because they have an equal share in creating the dream.

E is for ENJOY. In his book, Brave New World. Aldous Huxley warned of what happens when we allow our culture to be controlled by fear. And yet, each year we seem to be getting closer to the "brave new world" in which "Big Brother is Watching You." Huxley's wife, Laura, was a dancer. She wrote her own book: You are not the Target. She recommends some wild things like dancing naked - in private. But the point she is making is simply, "Don't feel judged and controlled. Do things that bring you joy." Yes, every day is "Judgment Day," but the real question is "have you lived today?" Last month on British Television, I saw some teachers of "Happinessology." The science of being happy. Being happy involves getting out of your shell and making connection.

One of my Seminary classmates learned she had cancer. As she started treatment, she dreamed that she went up to heaven and met St. Peter at the Gate. And what did he ask her? He asked, "DID YOU ENJOY IT?" Sometimes when I get depressed, I think of her words. What a pity to live this life without Grace, Rage, Acts, Compassion, Enjoy: the joy of being a participant, and not just a spectator in the Dance of Life.

I am inspired by Frances Hanna, who teaches all of us, "If you stumble, make it part of the dance."

"Dance, as though no one is watching you.
Love, as though you have never been hurt before.
Sing, as though no one can hear you.
Live, as though heaven is on earth." (Sousa)

Our Personal Theology group at church was founded by Theologian Bernie Loomer. Jopie and I hope to spend the next two months next door to the Divinity School at Chicago where he was Dean for many years. When Jopie wished to go to seminary, she protested to him, "but I'm not an intellectual." Bernie replied, "What's an intellectual? An intellectual is someone who makes connections." And connections are not only with people, but with earth and stars.

Once Albert Einstein was sitting quietly. A friend asked, "what are you thinking?" Einstein replied, "I am thinking, after all, earth is a very small planet." Face the big realities of the Universe, take a deep breath, and sing to yourself,

I close with thanks to our Doctors of Durability. Many of you have spent much of your lives caring for others. I wrote this poem in memory of my Mother. They apply to many of you as well.

She loved more than her hands could show
She loved more than the mind can know.
Seeds of kindness she loved to sow.
When others laughed, she would smile.
She knew her failures all the while.
She trusted for the second mile.

In troubled times of many needs,
She found her truth in kindly deeds.
She knew hers was not the best of skill,
But she filled it with a loving will:
She filled it with a loving will...

She came with stories, gifts and flowers
To cheer up many lonely hours.
She loved and was a friend:
This will not end.
Whatever miracles the future will see,
It is by such love that the future will be.

So be it. Amen
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