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This is the beginning of the Christian liturgical year, the season of Advent, which means, "coming toward." It is a time when Christians prepare themselves for the birth of Jesus and what that means to them. It is an interval of 3 or 4 weeks before Christmas when they are in an attitude of waiting expectantly, listening for mystery and new birth. Over the years, this has become for me a time of conscious hunkering in and down, taking some time to be with my spirit and trying to recognize how much love I have in my life. Something interesting happened last night. I was almost done with my sermon when I hit some combination of buttons and erased the whole thing. I had just been writing about mystery and wonder, and, poof, all gone. I had to sit back and let Lao Tsu settle me down. "Muddy water/Let stand/Becomes clear." I had to sit back and wait to calm down, wait for the words to come back. I decided to wait to hear what really wanted to be said, culling the wheat from the chaff. It was an Advent moment. Listen to this Covenant that member congregations of UUA churches affirm, as printed in the front of the hymnbook: "THE LIVING TRADITION WE SHARE DRAWS FROM MANY SOURCES. Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces that create and uphold life….' Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves…" I would like to consider how we might walk through this Advent and Christmas season from two vantage points: listening for that "which moves us to a renewal of the spirit," and doing - "loving our neighbors as ourselves." Paul Tillich, an eminent Christian theologian in the mid-20th century, wrote that "Faith is the state of being grasped by something that has ultimate meaning, and acting and thinking on the basis of this as a centered person." He sounds like a Unitarian. In Emmanuel's Book, ultimate meaning has a code word, God. "To truly know God, you must find out who you are. For now, you can think of God as a higher truth, a wider reality, natural order, Divine safety and love. By this I mean eternal reality that is generous and kind and loving. You can make any human image of this that you will, but once you have located your core, your shining Light, you will know who God is." Think of some time in your life when you may have been swept away by mystery, when you glimpsed, perhaps for only a moment, that your life made sense and was part of a larger whole. There was a window that opened to a view of things way beyond your petty complaints and concerns. Perhaps you had just completed a demanding project or you had given birth to a child. Perhaps you had just climbed a mountain or gone deep sea fishing. You had created something. Chances are that that moment did not last long or that you have forgotten it. Those transcendent moments cannot be grasped and held. Nonetheless, something can be done to prepare room in ourselves for more of them. Being available, in an expectant mode, can be a way of listening for "transcending mystery and wonder." Can a seeker of beauty, mystery and wonder come upon them by listening to music, painting a picture or writing poetry? Sometimes. Or can you find them if you interrupt some unthinking pattern in your life and do just one habitual thing differently? Sometimes. If you seek some special place, a holy location, may limitless wonder be yours? Sometimes. Can you enter into a space of Light and tenderness by sitting still and waiting for something to happen? Sometimes. Lao Tsu said: "When the mind is quiet, The heart listens." Sometimes, all we can do is make ourselves available for wonder to come and dwell with us, or strike us silent. That is the message of Advent. We cannot force the visitation of Absolute Love in our lives, but we can listen and look all around us in a vital, receptive mode. There is nothing passive about this waiting, though it can be trying, but "flamelessness can also be a kind of burning." This is the dark night of the artist who has had a vision and is awaiting the inspiration to deliver on that vision. It is the Lover longing for the Beloved. It is the days and weeks before the birth of a child, the mystery of birth so near and yet so far. Simone Weil wrote the following in Waiting for God: "Over the infinity of space and time,….infinite love comes to possess us. (It) comes at (its) own time. We have the power to consent to receive (it) or to refuse…If we consent, God puts a little seed in us and…goes away again. From that moment, God has no more to do; neither have we, except to wait." Many, many people have been born who had an unusual connection to mystery and Light. Some started religions or went to caves or deserts. Others went to work and had families. Others lived and died known only to a few people, who talked about them after they had died. Some are very near you, but they are disguised, even from themselves. Might we recognize another seeker of wonder? How would we do this? Here is the second vantage point from which we could move gracefully through this season of Advent, by loving others as ourselves, better known as service. The Hindus have a saying: "When I do not know who I am, I serve you. When I know who I am, I am you." This season provides many opportunities to practice one of the UU principles, namely, to respect the "inherent worth and dignity of every person." Where? Anywhere. When? Now. How about that long line in the store you will patronize after this worship service, the line with those grumpy and frazzled people? You know that just starting up a friendly conversation with someone next to you can alter the whole environment around you. You have done it and seen it happen. You can talk about anything, or you can just smile and say something about the weather, but you can say it in a way which creates connection. Oh, yes, and that frazzled look on people's faces? It has nothing to do with being busy or having SO MUCH shopping to do. It is a facial expression that accompanies a person who has no one to be with them in that moment. You can provide a human being for the other person for that moment. Do you think that the UU principle of fostering "justice, equity and compassion in human relations" isn't needed right downtown today while you are shopping? You have work to do! You can say to the exhausted, cranky checkout person, "I really appreciate your help with this. Thank you so much." Or, "what a lovely pin." On the home front, you could take an extra amount of time writing a personal note on those greeting cards to people you haven't paid any real attention to for years. You can live out your faith every single day in your witness to the inherent worth and dignity of every person. That is exactly the Christmas message and the Christian message, bringing some light into your world. I am sure that people in this church celebrate Christmas in different ways. I am also sure that you can be the UU lights in this community over the next few weeks. The minister at the Raleigh UU church, Rev. Julie, wrote in a recent newsletter that UUs can all be ministers. She said that "to minister means to make change..You won't all become clergy, but you can all become ministers…to each other, to the Fellowship, and to a hurting world." So we have these two vantage points, the first leading to the second: while listening and looking for some unexpected delight, being open to wonder in the most mundane places, you can be UU ministers bringing smiles and connections wherever you are. T'is the season to be listening and longing for what calls to your heart. T'is the season to walk your talk. T'is the season to be ministrin' and living out your faith. Go ye forth and touch a life today. Amen © 2000 The Reverend Eileen L. Epperson |
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