Metamorphosis

 I’ve been considering metamorphosis this morning. No, not the Franz Kafka novella that we read in our literature classes.  I try NOT to think about that!  But real biological metamorphosis that many species go through.   More specifically I’ve been thinking of moths and butterflies and the wonderful process involved in their transformation from their larva state, commonly known as caterpillars.

I found these stages of the moth’s life cycle to provide a good lesson for us as our congregation begins our next stage of development. The quotes and pictures are from an article at this link:  https://www.pestwiki.com/moth-life-cycle/

The very first stage of the life cycle of a moth is the embryonic stage. This is the stage where the embryo develops inside of the egg. I envision this as the part of our history where we were just beginning, meeting in houses or other temporary places, trying to find out who we were  and what we were going to be. 

The second stage is the larva stage (commonly referred to as a caterpillar).  “When the caterpillar first hatches, before it molts and sheds, it is said to be in its first instar. It continues to go through this process as it grows.”  I envision this as what has been occurring in our congregation since we hatched out of temporary housing and became more visible and active in the community.

The third stage is the pupa stage.  “A caterpillar has the ability to spin a type of silk made out of proteins which it produces. A caterpillar spins this silk into a protective shell called the cocoon, inside of which the transformation process will occur. The purpose of the cocoon is to offer protection for the vulnerable larva while it transforms, plus it keeps everything contained.” Some think of the organism as resting during this period.  But it is not resting.  It is in a cocoon so that it can be protected as it works to transform.  I feel like this pandemic and our pulling into our shells for protection has been a time that our congregation has found new ways of being together and new ways to serve one another.  We were not growing bigger, but we were transforming.

Stage four is the adult moth or the imaginal stage!  An adult moth is technically called an “imago,” therefore making this stage of its life the imaginal stage. And here is something important to remember: “It takes quite a while for the adult moth to emerge from the cocoon, as at this time it is soft, weak, and quite fragile. Getting out of that cocoon is a difficult process. When the moth first emerges from the cocoon, it will have a severely bloated abdomen and shriveled wings, rendering it unable to fly for the first few hours of its adult life.”  Wow!  I think this is important for us to remember as we emerge from our pandemic life.  We will need to be patient with one another and know that not everyone will be ready to fly!  It will take some time and planning.  We also may be worried that we seem to be weaker than before the metamorphosis process.  But this is natural.  It takes some time for the transformation.  Indeed, we may even be smaller than that big caterpillar.  But, folks, if we do this right, we can fly!  May it be so!

 

The Teacher and Preacher in me Agree

In addition to being a Unitarian Universalist minister, I’m an educator, having retired from a long tenure at Georgia Southern as a Professor and former Department Chair for Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading.  In writing this letter, I’m drawing my background from both of those careers.  I am very concerned about the proclamations by many leaders regarding banning the teaching of “critical race theory” (CRT) as well as “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) in our schools.  One high ranking state official weighed in before the Cherokee County ban with a letter to the state board of Education calling CRT a “dangerous ideology,” and encouraged them to consider banning any curriculum related to it.  This shows either a deep misunderstanding of Critical Race Theory, or a REAL attempt to keep students from using the highly valued “critical thinking skills” when thinking about “Race” or “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”  Why would we want to discourage critical thinking about anything?

Here are some things I’d like your readers to consider when they hear about this subject.

1^st:  CRT is not a curriculum.  It’s a theory.  It is complex and has evolved.  There is no simple clear definition.  It began about 40 years ago as a framework for academics to use when looking at race and racism.  I was introduced to it by my colleagues in education who had done research using this framework.  And, in fact, I realized that much of my work was connected to it as well, though I did not have the words or expertise to be able to articulate that before doing more extensive reading.  A relatively simple explanation was provided by Donna Lowry on a recent GPB podcast.  She states CRT supports an understanding that “race issues are embedded in all aspects of society, legal systems, policies.”  It also acknowledges “the legacy of slavery, the legacy of segregation on Black Americans and other people of color continue to permeate the social fabric of this nation.”  

2^nd:  If my fellow white boomers and others are honest with ourselves, there are a lot of things that were “whitewashed” for us as we were growing up in the Southeast.  Like Ty Seidule, author of Robert E. Lee and Me, we were taught a version of truth about the “war between the states” and slavery that highlighted the “lost cause” mythology.  And if we had any privileges at all, we were taught that it was solely due to hard work, that everyone had an equal opportunity for success.  This, my friends, was not so, and still is not so.  After speaking along with members of the NAACP as well as many progressive white folks about the need to move away from a very biased tracking procedure in the early 90’s, a former classmate said to me, “Jane, you were brought up right here with the rest of us and still live here.  What in the world happened to you?”  I responded, “I read.”  I wish I had also said, “I learned to think critically.”  In effect, critical race theory is simply thinking critically about racism.  If we want all our young people to be successful in the 21^st century, we need for them to learn critical thinking skills and certainly, to apply those skills in thinking about issues of oppression. 

3^rd:  Utilizing critical race theory is the right and ethical answer to many of the problems we face today as we attempt to adapt to a changing world.  And this is where I wear my ministerial hat.  My calling as a minister is to be a voice in southeast Georgia sharing (with a deeply southern accent) the need for us to repent.  That’s right – repent.  Recognize that many of us have followed others into a world view where we do not recognize the structures that systematically oppress many folks.  We have been blinded by our own previous failures in education and by our own unwillingness to open our minds and hearts to a new way of thinking that is more inclusive and equitable for all people.  But perhaps, we can one day sing the words of that old hymn with new meaning, “I once was blind, but now I see.”  Yes, that amazing grace is available for us to all be better people, to think more critically, and love more deeply.  And then after we repent, we can move into the world and work for peace, liberty, and justice for all!  May it be so!

Thank you for this opportunity to share some of my thoughts on these issues with my fellow southerners.  I know that many may disagree with me.  I’m not asking for “a fight.”  I’m asking that we listen to one another.  Thanks for listening to me by reading this letter. I too, am listening and hoping we can build some bridges between our divisions.

Sustaining the Biodiversity of our Blue Boat Home

 

On May 5, I was privileged to do something I had never done before in my 70 plus years on this beautiful planet.  I went on a birding expedition. Greg and I were among other UUs who had purchased this opportunity in a fundraising campaign before the pandemic close-down in Spring of 2020. Of course, the event had to be postponed.  And actually, I’d forgotten all about it  But, of course, Sally Revoile, an avid birder herself and the church member offering the experience, had not.  So she rescheduled after we all were vaccinated and felt safe to get outside together for a shorebird watching experience.   Sally had arranged for Dr. Abby Sterling, a shorebird biologist to share information with us as we walked along the shore with our binoculars, pointing out sightings of not only birds – but other creatures as well.  I even found out that I could save a life that day – and I did – of a horseshoe crab that was beached on her back – but still living.  Abby showed us how we could gently pick them up and put them back in the water.  If I had known that this experience was to be sermon fodder, I would have taken notes.  But then everything that may happen in a minister’s life is sermon fodder – so be aware when you invite me to something – you may hear about it from the pulpit. 

Because I did not take notes and am unfamiliar with the various species, I asked Sally to share with me what species she experienced that morning.  Here is her list:

Killdeer

Great Blue Heron

Red Knots

Sanderlings

Ruddy Turnstones

Semipalmated plovers

Wilson’s plover - female

Dunlins

Willet

Laughing gulls

Least tern

Whimbrel

 

That little piece of beach had lots of diversity that morning. 

And, though I didn’t take notes, I do have something called the internet that I could use to go to the Manumet foundation’s site – that Abby told us about – and remind myself of things she shared with us. 

Our section of the coast is studded with barrier islands and highly dynamic inlets and estuaries that support more than 300,000 shorebirds annually. The unique curved coastline of the Georgia Bight results in large changes of water depth between low tide and high tide every day. This intertidal zone of extensive salt marshes, expansive sand and mud flats, and undisturbed areas of beach creates huge areas of potential food resources that are exposed by the receding tide.

 

Abby explained to us how our coastline is a major stopping off place for birds that migrate all the way from the artic to South America.  During periods of fall and spring migrations, Canadian and Alaskan nesting shorebirds such as the Short-billed Dowitcher, Red Knot, Semipalmated Plover, and Black-bellied Plover use our islands to rest and replenish themselves on the rich, abundant foods. The Georgia Bight is equally important for shorebirds that spend the winter here including the Great Lakes breeding population of the Piping Plover, and the American Oystercatcher. Breeding birds such as Wilson’s Plovers, and American Oystercatchers also rely on the barrier islands, shell rakes and offshore sand bars along the Georgia Bight.

 

Sadly, many of the species that rely on this important landscape are exhibiting population declines.  And that is why it’s so important for us to protect this habitat.

 

Did you know that yesterday, May 22, was the International Day for Biological Diversity, a day proclaimed by the United Nations to raise awareness about the threats to Earth’s rich biological communities. It is a time to reflect on the importance of stability in the web of life and the risks we face when a species is lost to extinction. I received an email about ten days ago  from a board member of the UU Ministry for the Earth asking UU ministers to consider honoring the biodiversity of our Web of Life on Sunday, May 23 (today).   I had already selected “Blue Boat Home” as our special music and theme for today – and thought – wow, that’s a remarkable coincidence – that I’m asked to focus on this earth and the web of life on the Sunday when I had planned to do so anyway.  Now some would say that it’s not just a coincidence.  Hmmmmm.  I’m open to that!

The email encouraging our acknowledgement of this day goes on to say:

For those of us who feel a deep spiritual kinship with the millions of species who share our Earthly home, the idea that extinction is a natural and inevitable part of evolution can be difficult to acknowledge. Though we know intellectually that life on Earth has endured a series of mass extinction events, including the Cretaceous extinction 66 million years ago that allowed mammals like us to evolve and flourish, the perishing of a species has a finality that can evoke the pain of grief. Reading about the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon in the early twentieth century whose flocks once darkened the sky or seeing the images of emaciated polar bears threatened by the disappearance of sea ice due to climate change can bring us to tears and fill our hearts with anguish. The biologist Edward O. Wilson suggests we human beings possess an innate “biophilia” – a love of life – that makes us feel a connection to the wondrous diversity of life on Earth, so it is only natural that we should feel such sorrow.

But the mass extinction event we are witnessing now was not caused by massive volcanic activity or the unfortunate collision with a meteorite. Human-caused climate change, habitat destruction, and simple indifference and wastefulness has decimated animal and plant populations and accelerated the rate of extinction far beyond natural levels. Familiar species, and species we never got to know, are disappearing forever far too soon, leaving us with a biologically and spiritually impoverished world.

And though I’m sometimes a little cynical about those ads on TV with the sad music showing those Polar Bears on those icebergs and such – I realize that the Polar Bear is just the poster child for the need to save all endangered species – because we are drawn to them and their beauty – and perhaps  they aren’t seen as dangerous to us because they eat fish. 

What we don’t see with the sad music is the disappearance of many species that may hold the cures for diseases that kill us.  I’m going to share my screen to show you a page from the National Wildlife Federation which makes this a little clearer with some examples.

SHARE PDF

 

Previous mass extinctions on our planet were caused by Natural phenomena like the meteor that hit the earth.  This time it’s caused by us.  And this time, we are not powerless. We can do something about it if we have the will. Let us grieve as we must, but then let us take action to preserve and protect the biodiversity that remains. Billions of our fellow creatures are counting on us.

What can we do? Too much for one sermon to share – but here’s a nice summary of six possibilities offered by Yale Biodiversity website:

1. Support local farms.

Regularly buying from small local farmers at stands or markets helps to keep dollars in the local economy and supports agricultural efforts to conserve biodiversity.

 

2. Save the bees! 

Bees are important to preserving biodiversity – and they are increasingly under attack from varroa mites. You can help save them by planting nectar-producing wildflowers in your backyard, or even building bee boxes for local bees to call home.

 

3. Plant local flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Research the flora, fruits and veggies native to your area, and plant a variety in your backyard or a hanging garden. To aid in this effort, support local nurseries that specialize in native species. Nurseries can be great sources of information about plant maintenance and care.

 

4. Take shorter showers!

Biodiversity depends on the abundance of local fresh water. Taking five-minute showers and turning the water off while washing your hands, doing the dishes, or brushing your teeth are all easy ways to conserve water.

 

5. Respect local habitats.

Plants growing in the parks and nature preserves near you often play an important role in preserving the local ecosystem. When you’re outdoors, protect local biodiversity by sticking to the walking path or hiking trail. Help your children and pets to do the same!

 

6.Know the source!

Check the products you buy and the companies you support to ensure that your buying habits are not contributing to destruction of habitat elsewhere. Look for labels such as FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or Rainforest Alliance Certified.  Both organizations are committed not only to the conservation of the Earth’s resources, but also to advocating for the human rights of the native peoples who inhabit the land many products are sourced from. 

 

I’ll end with these words from the song “We are the Boat” by Pete Seeger and Lorie Wyatt

 

We are the boat, we are the sea,
I sail in you, you sail in me.

The stream sings it to the river,
The river sings it to the sea.
The sea sings it to the boat
That carries you and me.

 

The boat we are sailing in
Was built by many hands,
And the sea we are sailing on,
It touches every land.

So with our hopes we set the sails
And face the winds once more.
And with our hearts we chart
The waters never sailed before.

 

We are the boat. We are the sea.

I sail in you. You sail in me.

 

Amen – and Blessed be to Our Blue Boat Home.

We Are...

 

This message was inspired by the Ysaye Barnwell song, “We Are”

Shared on April 25, 2021 via Zoom to the UU Congregations in Brunswick and Statesboro, GA

I picked out these songs that I’ve been using from Singing the Journey for my sacred text – mainly because I liked the songs.  And this is a good one. And when I made out my schedule –I also placed a topic in parentheses by the song title – that summed up what I thought I would share.  By this one, I put “Identity.”  And as I started preparing for it, it occurred to me that I may have done a sermon on Identity before.  So, I looked on my sermon page – and sure enough, back in February of 2015, I shared with both congregations a message entitled, “Who Goes There:  An Exploration of Identity.”  I didn’t have a text for that sermon because I was trying to be more extemporaneous and let my PowerPoint images guide me as I shared.  And I no longer even had the PowerPoint – having all my files corrupted in a changeover of computers.  BUT this was after Costya started videoing my sermons in Statesboro, so I had the video to watch.  And I discovered that it was a really good sermon!  I was drawing from my knowledge of various theories that I used to teach about when I taught a class called “Human Growth and Development” at Georgia Southern.  And I shared all the stages and steps related to identity formation provided by the expert psychologists, sociologists, and all the other ologists.  So perhaps I was teaching more than preaching, but I ended up with some inspirational and spiritual stuff that made it sermon -like.   So, I thought, “You know – I could just show them this video tape.”  A lot of you were not here in 2015 – and the others –may be like me and not remember things you read or heard yesterday – much less, six year ago.  But then I decided to challenge myself to try to prepare something from a different perspective – maybe with less book learning stuff.  If you ARE interested in the other sermon though, I encourage you to just google revjanepage and Who Goes There?  It will pop up. 

Since I wasn’t going to use science as a resource, I decided to use YOU as a source – so I asked folks on Facebook to respond to the question, “Who Are You?” in two sentences or less but not answer with your name.   I got some interesting responses. 

Most of the responses included various roles you were in – including mother, father, grandmother, professor, veteran, student, friend, and spouse.  Some included other categories of identity such as female, heterosexual, Christian, Buddhist, Taurus, black Irish, and English.  And many of you included personal characteristics like healthy, happy, spiritual, sarcastic, and loving, (some specifying WHAT they loved like animals, nature, poetry, friends, sunshine, and ME).

Tanya Carden shared that every time I asked that question (meaning she DID remember the sermon from six years ago), she thought of Tolkien’s character, Tom Bombadil.  And Tanya gave me permission to use her name in sharing this.

" 'Who are you, Maser' [Frodo] asked.

" 'Eh, what?' said Tom, sitting up, and his eyes glinting in the gloom. 'Don't you know my name yet? That's the only answer. Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless?'"

 

I am one small thread in the tapestry of life, less vibrant than many, less entangled than some, yet still vital to the part of the picture woven around me.

 

And I thought – well, that’s my sermon.  I’ll just pull this from Tolkien and go from there. So, I tried to find the entire quote – and I found the first part where Tom responds to Frodo.  But I couldn’t find that last part about the tapestry of life.  I put the quote in google – and that usually works – but nothing came up.  So, I went to the passage where Tom was responding to Frodo to see if it was after that – and it was not.  So, I thought – well, maybe Tanya was doing that from memory, and she misremembered what it said.  I messaged her to ask for her help in pointing me to where I could find that passage and whether it was Frodo who said it.  And she responded, “Oh, that was all me.” I should have known – because there were no quotation marks around it.

So, our prophet is not Tolkien – it’s Tanya!

Let me read that prophetic quote from Tanya again: 

“I am one small thread in the tapestry of life, less vibrant than many, less entangled than some, yet still vital to the part of the picture woven around me.”

 

Now, of course, Tanya’s not the first person in the world to talk of the tapestry of life.  Others have used this metaphor in slightly different ways.

The poet Maya Angelou said:

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”

And Marilyn S. Bateman wrote:

“On a clear day we can see forever and ever.  We know where we came from and why we are here on earth and where we ultimately are going. The threads woven into the fabric of our lives are beginning to create a beautiful tapestry.”

Rainer Maria Rilke wrote:

“Destiny itself is like a wonderful wide tapestry in which every thread is guided by an unspeakable tender hand, placed beside another thread and held and carried by a hundred others.”
 

And there are many others – all good – and perhaps all worthy of other sermons.  But Tanya’s was different in that it especially showed the significance of each thread in the tapestry and the metaphor used each thread as an individual’s life in the bigger tapestry of life.  Most importantly, Tanya points out that her thread – though it may be less vibrant than some, though less entangled than some – was still VITAL to the part of the picture woven around her.

So, who is Tanya?  She’s a VITAL part of the tapestry of life.  It would not be the same without her.  And the same is true of you and me.

At Christmas time, I always love to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his personal dreams, in order to help others in his community.  But he feels like a failure because of the failure of the savings and loan company and the money that is owed.  His imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence. Clarence shows George how he, George, has touched the lives of others and how different life would be for his wife Mary and his community of Bedford Falls if he had not been born.  I love this film because it demonstrates that we all make a difference – for better or worse – we change the world. 

President Biden recently shared how George Floyd’s little girl said, “My daddy changed the world.”  And indeed, he did.  As did the young teenager who videoed his death, and the police officers who were finally able to cross that blue line and share with the jury that this action in opposition to their training and good policing.  For once, there was some accountability.  And there were many individuals who made a difference – including those who took to the streets last summer, even during a pandemic, to say – we will not be silent about this.  We demand accountability. We demand justice.  Everybody working together made a difference.  It took every thread – some more vibrant than others – but every thread mattered.  Every thread was a vital part of this piece of the tapestry of life. 

Tanya’s quote includes the words, “still vital to the part of the picture woven around me.” What are the pictures that include your thread?  Family, work, friendship, your congregation?  You may not have a statue erected to commemorate your life – and even if you did – it my come down some day, as some should.  But these parts of the picture are different because you are there – and here. 

I spent most of my teaching career at Georgia Southern.  And when I stepped down as Department Chair to focus more on preparing for ministry, the dean tried to get the Department to buy one of those bricks in the little garden area by the College of Education in my honor.  I told them not to do it, that I didn’t need a brick.  It became kind of a joke – and when we had our little departmental party at the end of the year, they presented me with a real brick that had this written on it with magic marker.  Jane Page wuz (spell out) here.  And we laughed – and I kept it in my office till I retired in 2005.  Then I thought – what should I do with this brick?  So, I took it to the women’s bathroom on the second floor and put it there on the counter by the sink. I think it’s still there.  One day, someone will be cleaning up who never heard of me and throw it away – and that is okay.  Because if you’ve spent any time at Georgia Southern as a student, faculty, or staff member – you have made a difference in that part of the picture of the big tapestry of life.

In some of our communities or “pictures in the tapestry,” we may have good intentions, but our thread and the direction that we take it may have a negative impact for others, and we need to evaluate that impact and move in a different direction.  When I was part of the Meadville Lombard Theological School Community (perhaps still wearing my Professor hat), I criticized a book in class which perhaps prompted other students to continue in a very  negative direction – including our instructor – and then found out that what we had done had been extremely painful for one among us.  We took a break, and I immediately went to this friend and said, “I’m so sorry. You know my heart.  I would never have intended to hurt you.”  And we hugged.  But I later came to understand that I needed to look at the impact of my actions, not just my intent, and I did and worked hard to change myself and the culture of that community (which like most of our institutions was still deeply flawed by systemic racism and white supremacy culture).  For better or worse, in that community, what I was doing was making a difference.

And the same is true of your presence in these congregations.  Now some have many visible threads over a substantial period of time.  We’ve had several folks in the last year or so who have needed to step back from leadership roles, and we are so appreciative of their service and their continued presence among us.  They have made a big difference.  And new folks coming in are stepping up to fill these leadership roles and move us forward.  Others may not be able to lead – but their very support and presence in our mission is VITAL – to quote Tanya once more.  VITAL.  We need all of you. 

I think Barnwell’s song does a good job of sharing who we are as Unitarian Universalists.  She says:

We are mothers of courage and fathers of time,
we are daughters of dust and the sons of great visions,
we’re sisters of mercy and brothers of love,
we are lovers of life and the builders of nations,
we’re seekers of truth and keepers of faith,
we are makers of peace and the wisdom of ages.

We are our grandmothers’ prayers
and we are our grandfathers’ dreamings,
we are the breath of our ancestors,
we are the spirit of God.

Regardless of your theology – we are the breath and spirit of all that we proclaim as holy and sacred in this Tapestry of Life.

My challenge to you today is for you to consider how you might contribute to this part of the tapestry of life.  We have lots of opportunities for your thread to be woven into our UU picture.  And we will be grateful.  I’m SO grateful that I’m going to sing you a song of gratitude to end this message.

Oh, we give thanks

For each precious soul

Threads red, green, blue, brown, purple, and gold!

For the very young - to the very old

Oh, we give thanks

For each precious soul.

 

Amen and Blessed Be!

Resurrecting Joy - A Message for Easter 2021

 

Three days ago, it was Maundy Thursday on the Christian Calendar.  It was also April Fools day.  And that morning, I was in a good mood.  You see I had set aside time that morning to finally put this sermon on” Resurrecting Joy” together.  I had been working on it by placing good quotes and articles, etc. in a folder on my desktop, but that morning was the time for more analysis and composition.  And that brings me JOY – especially when the topic was JOY.  As I was getting started, I got a message on my phone from someone saying they had forgotten the password for our UU Statesboro directory.  I didn’t recognize the phone number so said – “Who is this?”  I got a response with a name of one of our Statesboro members who has been doing a lot of good work.  But I did have enough sense – I thought – to make sure it was him by asking sort of a “security question.”  And I messaged, just to be safe – tell me what committee you are on.  And he responded with the correct committee.  SO – I gave him the password – and even created a contact in my phone with his name and this new number he was using.  A little later he messaged back that he had a friend he was trying to help, and he was having problems with his cash app – and wondered if I could use mine to send his friend the money, then he would pay me back.  Dang – this was a scam.  I said, “Call me.”  He responded – “Can’t call now – I’m at the bank trying to get this thing straight.  It’s urgent that he get this right away, and I can send you his Cash App and I can send you his cashapp name.” Then later he did call with music playing, then hung up.  I called back and he answered – and of course it was not the voice of our member and he hung up.  So I spent the  -rest of the morning working to change passwords (knowing that he had probably already printed out our entire directory). And, of course, I tried to contact our UUFS folks via email, Facebook, and constant contact to share with them how I had messed up and that they would probably be getting an email from someone pretending to be me.  And, indeed, many did.  Thankfully – I think I was the only April Fool that day!

 In any case – all of that just sapped away my JOY – and I was not in a joyful mood anymore. Isn’t that the way that it seems to have been going for many of us?  We sometimes feel like we are climbing back up and that everything is going to be fine – then we are ZAPPED with something that drains our joy.  And I needed to try to resurrect some Joy for this Easter sermon.

Folks, when we had Easter online in 2020 – very few thought we’d be here in 2021.  But here we are again.  It’s been a really tough year in so many ways.    All of us have been through a lot – some more than others. It’s a very anxious time regarding our future for many reasons – not all related to the pandemic.   Here’s what one of my colleagues, Rev. Kevin Carson, said about this:

 In uncertain times, when there is a need to fight for justice, and to defend the most vulnerable in society, to deny feelings of fear and anxiety would be insincere. It is hard to become what Rev. William Barber calls the “moral defibrillators of our time,” to shock the heart of America back into a healthy rhythm, unless you first acknowledge that America’s heart is in trouble.

So, in many of my sermons this past year, I’ve lifted up lots of concerns and worries and encouraged us to be there for one another in these difficult times.

Like many of you, I suspect, my uncertainty about our future has tempered the joy I typically feel around the Springtime and Easter.  But folks, it IS Spring and a glorious one here in southeast Georgia!  And it is Easter!  So today – I’m going to attempt to help myself and help you resurrect some JOY in our lives.  Now I know that many of you have found ways to focus on those things that bring you Joy. I asked folks in our two Facebook groups to share in 7 words or less what brings them Joy – and got lots of good responses.  I also found out that some of our folks can’t count to seven – or maybe as UUs, we don’t want our ministers to put any limitations on us! 

Of the 24 responses I received by 11 am Friday, eight of them mentioned children – their own or grandchildren – or other children.  For many children and activities with them bring joy.  I recognize that from recently keeping my two great-grandchildren for a few days.  It was very joyful and very exhausting.  Sometimes, joy can wear you out. Others expanded that joy to other family members – including their fur babies!

The second thing I noticed that brought our folks joy was connecting with nature.

Watching the sun rise, a freshly sprouted garden, time on the beach, watching hummingbirds, feeling a cool breeze, sunshine and leafy green shade, dancing in the rain, and walking in the woods.

Some mentioned other actions that brought joy.  Helping others, playing a musical instrument, completion of an anthem for our online services, manual labor, laughing, listening to music, the creative process of painting or other artwork, and observing others joys and successes.

All of these relate to connecting – don’t they?  And one person even brought it home to the joy of connecting with his own mind and body and reasoning. 

 I’m glad that folks have found some joy during this pandemic.

Sadly, there are folks who might try to diminish our joy.  Rev. Erika Hewitt wrote about a tweet by Roger Cooper that asked, “Could we, without relentlessly criticizing, let people have their pumpkin spice, and avacado toast, and their fandoms, and their D&D, and their too-early-Halloween-decorations, and whatever little harmless things in which they’ve manage to find a tiny, shriveled flower of joy?”

 

Erika went on to say, “To date, more than 332,400 people have liked this tweet. I did. I'm in favor of allowing people their ‘tiny, shriveled flower of joy’—what I imagine as small hearth fires that we each build to keep our spirits warm in a cold world. Surprise: it didn’t take long for the Twitterverse to pile on Mr. Cooper for spelling “avocado” wrong. He patiently thanked his critics for ‘helping me to know that I’ve made a mistake,’ declining to point out the irony in his suffering the very type of relentless criticism whose moratorium he’d been pleading for. (His follow-up tweet: ‘We’re all just trying to survive.’)”

 

Although some folks seem to make it their goal to sit in the judge’s seat on every little thing anyone says or does, we all can fall into this – especially on social media – when someone makes a mistake or something.  And I see folks saying how they cringe when someone uses the wrong “there” in a sentence.  Really?  Now sometimes we do need to point out an error or a problem, but I’m trying to do more “calling in” by sending private messages or calling folks on the phone rather than jump on that horrible bandwagon of calling them out in a way that embarrasses them or puts them on the defense. 

 

And as I get older – I just don’t let a lot of stuff bother me so much.  I try to make room for that Joy.  I walked over to see my Mama the other day – and noticed that her yard was covered with that weed that has those tiny little yellow flowers growing close to the ground.  I looked it up and I believe it may be Oxalis.  In any case, I realized that this weed had destroyed my mom’s lawn.  But then I thought – “but isn’t it pretty.”  And I tried to help Mama find the joy in them as well.  Life is too short to be bothered by the things that just aren’t that important. 

The author EB White knew how to look for the joy.  According to one source, “White and his family came to live full-time at their farmhouse on the coast of Maine.  By all accounts he loved his life on the farm, relishing the delight… of the natural world that surrounded him.  In fact, he once stopped in his barn, captivated, watching a spider spinning her egg sac.  That spider eventually became ‘Charlotte.’”  

 White once said, “All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world.” And here’s another quote from White that I can identify with….

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”

 On most days, I try to do a little of both. And I agree with the Prophet’s words we heard in our reading, that joy and sorrow go hand in hand.   But on this Easter morn, I want to focus on JOY for bit!

 We would all like to be more happy and joyful!  Can we do anything about it?  Aren’t we just supposed to be “surprised by joy?”  It does often surprise us – but we can live our lives in ways that we are ready to receive it. Another of my colleagues, the Rev. Matt Alspaugh, recommended Martin Seligman’s book, “Authentic Happiness” to help us find our way. And Matt’s ideas about this were helpful, so I’m incorporating them as well.

 In this book, Seligman (a founder of the Positive Psychology movement), suggests that there are several pathways to having a more joyful life.

 The first path is “A pleasant life.”  Seligman says that we should consciously choose activities that bring us pleasure and seek to do more of those.  Now as we saw in the responses that I shared from my little Facebook survey - for some of us, that’s singing or dancing.  For others, it’s reading or playing games.  And yes, for some of us, it’s work.

 The Dalai Lama says,“We create most of our suffering, so it should be logical that we also have the ability to create more joy. It simply depends on the attitudes, the perspectives, and the reactions we bring to situations and to our relationships with other people. When it comes to personal happiness there is a lot that we as individuals can do.”

But – you say – there’s no time for doing those things.  Well, we MAKE time for doing some things that aren’t so pleasurable.  For example, we schedule dentist appointments.  So, we can also schedule these happy moments.  My happy time when I’m on St. Simons is walking on the beach.  I check the tide chart – and schedule my work around the low tide – so that I can take my walk when I can get on the beach right around the corner from my condo.  Yeah, it’s a tough life.  And in Statesboro, I have beautiful places to walk as well that I schedule around the time of day when it’s not too hot.  And the planning for those joyful times – whether a full- fledged vacation or a good homemade supper with a loved one, can be wonderful as well – you know – Anticipation of those pleasant life possibilities. 

The second pathway to happiness is to seek what Seligman calls” the good life.” In this life, we seek to identify what he calls our signature strengths and engage those to obtain gratification. Signature strengths are those qualities, activities, virtues that you are both good at and passionate about.

The essence is: seek to do what you love. You typically know when you’re doing what you love, because you get completely immersed in it, maybe even losing track of time. You’re in the flow.

I’m not good at putting puzzles together.  My mom always thought puzzles were a waste of time, because once you finished it – it was just going to be torn up again.  But I really did try to join in with my cousin Aris in her joy of putting together jigsaw puzzles when we were children.   But she was so good at it.  And I was not.  Now perhaps with more practice I could get good at it, but it’s not really a strength of mine.  I do have strengths – and fortunately, I’ve found good ways to use them that help me have a good life – and I hope others as well.  So, examine your life, and see if you can do more of what you are good at – what you love, and less of what drains you. 

The third pathway to happiness is to seek what Seligman calls” the meaningful life.” In this case, we expand on the good life, so that we apply our signature strengths in service to something much larger than ourselves.

That’s why many of us become a part of a community like our congregations and serve on committees and more.  We become missionaries of a sort – because we are serving a mission that is larger than ourselves.  We are trying to repair what is broken and create a better world. 

The Dalai Lama describes what he does each morning.  “I set my intention for the day: that this day should be meaningful. Meaningful means, if possible, serve and help others. If not possible, then at least not to harm others. That’s a meaningful day.”

Like the Dalia Lama, we can attempt to have meaningful days and a meaningful life. 

These three pathways — the pleasant, the good, the meaningful life paths — are not exclusive. We can do them together. Seligman calls this living” a full life,” saying, “A full life consists in experiencing positive emotions about the past and future, savoring positive feelings from the pleasures, deriving abundant gratification from your signature strengths, and using these strengths in the service of something larger to obtain meaning.”

Yes, we’ve had a difficult year and more.  I know I have – and I’ve followed some of you knowing that you have as well. But my HOPE for our precious UU family is that we may all Resurrect some Joy on this Easter Day! 

Hallelujah!