Text: "The desire for safety stands against eveery great and noble enterprise."
-Tacitus, Annals, c. 110 A.D.
Today I want to speak with you about some hopes and dreams and visions I have been thinking about in your behalf for some time. I want to share a sort of "wish list" with you in the hope that some of my wanderings might bear a harvest here in years to come.
To begin, I would share a brief quotion that was written sometime during the year following the beginning of my professional career. Its author was the American essayist, E.B. White. He wrote the following:
"There is a period near the beginning of everyone's life when that person has little to cling to except his unmanagable dream, little to support him except good health, and nowhere to go but all over the place."
Today there is no doubt in my mind that his words were a perfect description of a young, wide-eyed, budding pulpiteer fresh out of seminary - yours truly! I may have been a nerdy student all my life; been subjected to ridicule, even occasional physical harassment; but with my paper passport to preach, my diploma, not to mention the pulpit in my first church which was nine stairs high, I was going to build a dream. I was going to "minister" and the world would most certainly know it!
So what else is new for the young? You know the strory. It's almost the same in each case. The ratio of success in any of our chosen fields is directly proportional to the realization of one's ability to risk, to get up time and again from failure and to dream. I have a colleague who has served for 20 years as minister to our largest church in Dallas, Texas. She has abided over the years by two dictums in order to keep her ministry "on course". The first is "don't get it right...get it written!" And the second is like unto it. "Suit up and show up!"
Peter Fleck was for many years the financial advisor to the Rockefeller Foundation. Late in life he entered seminary to become a Unitarian Universalist minister. He went on to become the author of several thoughtful books on the revelations and blessings of everyday life. In one, he asserted the belief that our lives our based on hope. He quoted the French philosopher/scientist, Francois Jacob, who wrote:
It is hope that gives meaning to our lives. And that hope rests on the vision of being able, one day in the future, to transform the present world into a possible world which appears to be a better world.
As I look back, it seems that comes close to articulating what has been my life credo. I live. I serve. While I live, I hope. And, as it has been in the past, and is also today and for the time to come my hope will inevitably be focused upon the life, vitality and effectiveness of the congregations I have been and may be privileged to serve.
At the outset of this sermon, though, I want to enter a small "caveat" The Roman philosopher, Tacitus, once said that "the desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.".
In most congregations there are at least two types of people. There are those who want to be safe. And there are those willling to risk. One familiar saying is that Ôit won't work - here's what will go wrong!" Countering this very human tendency are those who courageously and maybe even a bit tentatively say, "Aw, the heck with it. Let's try it! It may lead to something great!"
I once did a sermon on the imaginary law I learned from a colleague. He called it "Hadley's Law". It states that "You can never do only one thing." The implications of that non-existent dictum are many. We can see its results all the time. Many times "Murphy's Law" and its attendant results can follow. You know that one. "If anything will go wrong, it will do so and at the worst possible time." We who work in the church office have experienced that one especially as it has effected the smooth workings of our office copyier. The repair time for that machine ran on somany times that our valiant treasurer, Marta Reece threw in the towel and "persuaded" the company to give us a back-up machine.
The results that follow the wisdom of "Hadley's Law", though, are always possible. And this is certainly true as congregations wrestle with issues and decisions as to policies, procedures and power. Whenever someone dreams, whenever someone suggests a different way, there is obviously the possibility that it won't work. Then, of course, there is the delightful possibility that it will. And that's what I'm about today.
Wish List Number One has already come into being. Through the efforts of an excellent Search Committee and your wisdom in agreeing, you have called Victoria Weinstein to be your new minister. I know the covenant you will create together will be an exciting, challenging and enthusiastic one as you begin to work together.
My second wish is in support of the fine, noble and tirelessly loyal efforts being put forth by your Religious Education committee and the teachers who volunteer to work with Dr. Norma Cariglia through the year. I hope...I hope that more of you will step forward to assist in that work. There's an old saying that runs "If your only tool is a hammer then all your problems will look like nails". And as I said to the committee the other day, "if you continue without adding new people to your number with new insights and new ideas, you will continue to see the same problems through the same lens. And that doesn't get it done as effectively as it might. We want the best for our children and youth. That requires sacrifice. So don't run for cover or begin thinking up flimsy excuses when you are approached to serve. You are needed there. Know it. Own it. And please, DO IT!
My third wish. My third wish is that once Vicky is "on board" you will successfully complete the By-Law revision worked on so long by Dexter Robinson and his committee. We owe them a debt of gratitude and you as a congregation need to, openly and peacefully - decide the issues so that you will have an up-to-date, practical and working set of by-laws to take you into the next decade.
Along with this process goes the conversations and overall survey of the relation that exists between First Parish Church, the First Parish Nursery and the James Library. Under Jay McOsker's capable leadership, the Parish Committee is seeking legal advice on how to continue the excellent work of both institutions without jeopardizing the Church's tax free status. I know the deep and abiding value that the nursery has for the town of Norwell. Many of you have brought your children to its care and its excellence needs to continue. Also, there are a number of church members who work, sacrifice and administer the artistic and musical programs of the James Library as a wonderful jewel in Norwell's crown of excellence. We want simply to be assured that they can continue this work under the umbrella of the congregation's support and we need to thank them for all they do to that end.
My fourth wish evolves out of the energy and frustration that came with the vote not to go ahead with the Frienship Home, Inc. proposal. For a while folks were upset with each other at the time, forgiveness seems to have brought along its healing powers and we are together again. HOWEVER, I perceive a great deal of energy in this congregation that is tied directly to the wish to "reach out" beyond its walls and make a significan impact on the surrounding communities in some way to which all can agree and work to fulfill. I hope that energy will remain and that you will work with your tireless Social Concerns committee to energize new sources of need to direct that zeal.
My fifth wish flows directly from the fourth one. In but a few years I am told that the entire corpus of Helen Fogg's wonderul gift to the congregation will be coming under the oongregation's control. My hope is that you will find a way to create a dialog and perhaps even a Long Range Planning Committee once Vicky's here. Here's an example of what I'm getting at. Suppose you as a congregation were to find a way to use some of Helen Fogg's gift to continue her memory. Suppose you were to find a way to remember her dedication and her years of work on the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Suppose you as a congregation were to combine her love of children with her dedication to that wonderful organization and beyond the generous gift you've already pledged to it, envision a branch of the Service Committee and call it the Helen Fogg South Shore Center for Children.
Too often I have seen large gifts HURT churches, not help them when they begin to "worship" an endowment as if it's untouchable. And I now that it is only human to look at "all that money" and give oneself the excuse to lower one's pledge, one's sacrifice of time and one's dedication. Too often we hear of those "pork barrel" legislators in Washington who simply "thow money at a problem" so they can get elected again. Such inaction and apathy can kill a congregation; kill its spirit; kill it's "lean, hungry look" and kill the wish to tell the Unitarian Universalist story loud and clear so others can find us and be emancipated from religious tyranny.
An illustration of what I mean comes to mind. I was once a member of a Rotary Club that gave me constant vexation. Wnenever there was a community need, these men (and in those days there were no women members or things might have been quite different)...anyway, time after time, these men would unselfishly get out their check books and make a contribution. On only one occasion that I recall did they actually get together to do a fund raiser benefit by themselves. The rest of the time - checks. The Club died in a decade.
I have one final wish. Some of you might have heard, as I have, of a new program that is being developed in some of our Unitarian Universalist churches. Different churches have different names for it but, in essence, it is an effort to gather small groups of church members who agree to meet on a regular basis to discuss their personal faith; to exchange ideas, to relate what they have learned of the history of our movement; and, in so meeting on a regular basis, to become support systems with more emphasis than is possible in the larger gathering during Sunday worship. I am not sure this will be something Vicky will want to take on as she begins her ministry. But it seems to me that it has the stuff of genius about it. For it gives opportunity for folks to answer questions that remain unanswered about their UU faith and to become more articulate in relating it and understanding it. Just a thought. But, I think, a good one.
So I hope that you can take these ideas, these dreams if you will, and invest them with your wisdom, your experience and your ability to envision new ways to be a congregation. I'm sure The Reverend Weinstein will bring her own worthy and exciting challenges with her and it will be grand to hear and read about your work together.
In closing, I want to relate a story to you that appeared in (I think it was) Ken Kesey's book about the 1960's called The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. These are my words, not Kesey's, but they are a close approximation of the impish way he taught his readers.
It seems there was this village. And it found itself continually fraught with seemingly unsolvable problems. One day, one of the village elders said to the council, "I have heard of a wise man, a guru, who lives in the nearby hills. Perhaps if we asked him, he would come here and share his wisdom so that our problems could be solved.
So the council of elders went up into the hills to the cave of the guru. They told him of their plight and asked if he would come and speak to the village. They were delighted when he said that he would.
The appointed day and time arrived and the village gathered in the square. The guru mounted the podium and he said, "Good people, do you know what I am going to tell you?" With one voice, they all answered, "NO!" And the guru "split".
The council gathered and wondered at what had gone wrong. "Perhaps it is something we did," said one. "Maybe it was a bad day for him," said another. Then the youngest among them said, "Let us go again to see him. Maybe he will reconsider and honor us again with his presence. And so they did.
Surprisingly, the guru agreed to come to the village a second time. And the apointed day and time arrived and the guru mounted the podium and he said, "Good people, do you know what I am going to say?" And with one voice, they said, "NO!". And so again, the guru "split".
On meeting again some on the village council said, "You know, some of the villagers said they really thought they DID know what he was going to tell them. And another said, "Yes, but there were so many who did not know." So they decided to risk and go to the guru for yet a third time.
And so they did. Wonder of wonders! The guru graciously agreed to visit the village one more time. And on the appointed day and appointed time the guru mounted the podium for a third time and he said to them, "Good people, do you know what I am going to tell you?"
There was silence. A long silence. Then one out of the crowd shouted, "Well, good guru, there are some of us who do and there are some of us who don't."
"Good!", said the guru. "Let those of you who know tell those of you who don't!"
And again, he "split".
The days are dwindling down before Lorna and I take our leave of you. Both of us know how singularly blessed we have been in having the opportunity to live and work among you all. A portion of our time has been difficult. We are not only grateful that our son, Keith, continues to learn a new way of life and that he is alive. We are grateful for the many ways you were quietly there for us, supporting us, making it known that you cared and that you were there. And for a little while, too, there was that time of hospitalization when things went along smoothly without me around.
You are a talented, strong, vibrant congregation. And the future is filled with promise for you. I pray that our time together has been as inspiring for you as it has been for Lorna and myself. And.....
...how shall I say it more clearly? Let me try again. I hope you will consider some of my wishes spoken here to become yours, as well.
The words with which I conclude this message were spoken 25 centuries ago by a wise man named Lau Tzu, the founder of Taoism. Having said these things to you this morning, I take his words humbly to heart.
"If I keep from meddling with people, they take care of themselves.
If I keep from commanding people, they behave themselves.
If I keep from preaching AT people, they improve themselves.
If I keep from imposing on people, they become themselves.
So may it be for us all. Amen.