Prelude Melodia Africana I by Ludovico Einaudi
Opening Words Life is amazing by L.R. Knost
Life is amazing.
And then it’s awful.
And then it’s amazing again.
And in between the amazing
and the awful, it’s ordinary,
and mundane and routine.
Breathe in the amazing,
hold on through the awful,
and relax and exhale
during the ordinary.
That’s just living heartbreaking,
soul-healing, amazing,
awful, ordinary life.
And it’s breathtakingly beautiful.
Chalice Lighting (you may wish to light a candle in your own home at this point.) words by Cliff Reed
We light this chalice
to bring light to our minds,
wisdom to our souls, and
warmth to our hearts:
light to show us the Way,
wisdom to walk it truly,
warmth to enfold our fellow
pilgrims with compassion.
Opening Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love,
Be with us as we gather for worship,
Each in our own place.
Help us to feel a sense of community,
Even though we are physically apart.
Help us to care for each other,
In this world in which Covid has not yet gone away,
And the clouds of war and climate change hover.
May we keep in touch however we can,
And help each other however we may.
Help us to be grateful for the freedoms we have
and to respect the wishes of others.
May we hold in our hearts all those
Who are grieving, lost, alone,
Suffering in any way, Amen
Reading Our Common Destiny by David O. Rankin (adapted)
First, we must begin with our own creation. We must celebrate the miracle of evolution that resulted in a living entity named [your name]. We must assist in the unfolding of the process by deciding who we are, by fashioning our own identity, by creating ourselves each day. We must listen to the terrors, the desires, the impulses that clash in the depths of our souls. We must know ourselves, or we will be made and used by others.
Second, we must learn to affirm our neighbours. We must respect others, not for their function, but for their being. We must put others at the centre of our attention, to treat them as ends, and to recognise our common destiny. We must never use people to win glory, or to measure the ego, or to escape from responsibility. We must listen to their words, their thoughts, their coded messages.
Finally, we must value action more than intention. We must feel, think, judge, decide, and then risk everything in acts of gratuitous freedom. We must batter the walls of loneliness. We must leap the barriers of communication. We must tear down the fences of anonymity. We must destroy the obstacles to life and liberty. Not in our minds (as a wistful dream). But in our acts (as a daily reality).
Alternative Lord’s Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love, here and everywhere,
May we be aware of your presence in our lives.
May our world be blessed.
May our daily needs be met,
And may our shortcomings be forgiven,
As we forgive those of others.
Give us the strength to resist wrong-doing,
The inspiration and guidance to do right,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are your hands in the world; help us to grow.
May we have compassion for all living beings,
And receive whatever life brings,
With courage and trust. Amen
Reading from Return to Love by Marianne Williamson
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
There is a plan for each of us, and each of us is precious. As we open our hearts more and more, we’re moved in the directions in which we’re supposed to go. Our gifts well up inside of us and extend of their own accord. We accomplish effortlessly.
How could Leonardo da Vinci not have painted? How could Shakespeare not have written? In Letters to a Young Poet, Rilke tells a young writer to write only if he has to. We are to do what there is a deep psychological and emotional imperative for us to do. That’s our point of power, the source of our brilliance. Our power is not rationally or wilfully called forth. It’s a divine dispensation, an act of grace.
Do what you love. Do what makes your heart sing. And never do it for money. Don’t go to work to make money; go to work to spread joy. Seek ye first the kingdom of Heaven, and the Maserati will get here when it’s supposed to.
Prayer words compiled and adapted from a variety of writings of Joseph Campbell
Spirit of Life and Love,
The divine manifestation is ubiquitous,
Only our eyes are not open to it.
Awe is what moves us forward.
Live from your own centre.
The divine lives within you.
The separateness apparent in the world is secondary.
Beyond the world of opposites is an unseen,
but experienced, unity and identity in us all.
Today the planet is the only proper “in group.”
Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.
We cannot cure the world of sorrows,
but we can choose to live in joy.
You must return with the bliss and integrate it.
The return is seeing the radiance is everywhere.
The world is a match for us.
We are a match for the world.
The spirit is the bouquet of nature.
Sanctify the place you are in.
Follow your bliss. . . .
May we do so, Amen
Reading The Journey by Mary Wellemeyer
It’s a pilgrimage,
like a trek around Mount Kailash,
or perhaps Bodh Gaya,
but it’s life itself,
the whole thing, every moment.
On the high passes of Mount Kailash,
pilgrims hope for a kind of death,
a rebirth of spirit,
and it’s not a bad thing to go there, do that,
if time and money allow.
But what of this journey of every day,
and what can we learn from the pilgrims there?
They, light-headed in the altitude,
gasping in amazement
at the alternation of clear, bright sunlight
and windblown snows
amid the vast, craggy highlands
and steep, worn paths.
It seems to me a wind blows here
from Mount Kailash or somewhere,
and so we pilgrims of sidewalk and parking lot
are sometimes taken unawares —
not so much by windblown snows
as by apples in the supermarket,
or sunshine through the trees
next to the school.
We gasp in amazement,
lifted from our everyday selves,
for no reason at all.
Let it be a pilgrimage each day,
and may our journeys all be blessed.
Time of Stillness and Reflection Each Day by Andy Pakula (adapted)
With each new day, we are offered another step in life’s sacred journey
an invitation to join in the flow of life that streams around us
Today, we may face a barren desert landscape to cross
Parched as our reserves of hope dwindle
Some days, a lush oasis appears
Offering its succulent gifts of joy to delight our hearts
Each day, we arrive, but not to stay
We travel on…
Pilgrims in search of the holy land that glistens in our dreams
Journeying toward a destination that we must seek
And that none ever reach…
[silence]
Spirit of the journey, God of many names
May we step out boldly
Venturing eagerly forward
Accepting all that each mile has to offer
May we know that within the journey itself lies our destination
And that the holy city waits to be discovered in every heart.
Amen
Musical Interlude I Due Fiumi by Ludovico Einaudi
Address “May the Force be with you.”
When the first Star Wars film came out in 1977 (now subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope) George Lucas cannot have predicted what a global phenomenon it was to become. The phrase “May the Force be with you” has entered popular culture, and each May the fourth has been christened “Star Wars Day” by aficionados.
So what is this Force? According to Wikipedia, “The Force is a metaphysical, mysterious, and ubiquitous power in the Star Wars fictional universe. Characters refer to the Force as an energy that interconnects all things in the universe, maintaining cosmic balance. Particularly ‘Force-sensitive’ characters, usually through rigorous self-discipline, training, and mindfulness, are able to connect to the Force and thus access and wield certain supernatural powers.
Heroes like the Jedi, a peacekeeping group of warrior-monks, largely seek to ‘become one with the Force’, matching their personal wills with the will of the Force. This is evidenced by their ability to channel its powers, which they do towards selfless goals. Meanwhile, the Sith and other villains try to bend the additional abilities gained through the Force toward their own selfish and destructive desires. Throughout the franchise, this distinction is referred as the light side versus the dark side of the Force.
Characters’ actions are often described as either helping to bring balance to the Force, or its opposite, causing a disturbance in the Force.
The Force and the Jedi religion have been compared to aspects of several real-world religions, such as Buddhism and Taoism.”
For the first three Star Wars films (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) George Lucas followed the structure of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey quite closely. In this plot, an ordinary person is taken from their normal life by an inciting incident, meets a wise mentor, goes on a great quest with some companions to find or achieve something important, undergoing various ordeals and tests along the way, then returns home, somewhat changed. It has been used by hundreds of fantasy and science fiction writers, from J.R.R. Tolkien onwards. I think it is so popular because it underscores the possibility that change and growth are possible.
I think that the spiritual journey has much in common with the hero’s journey. It is not necessary to undertake a physical journey, a dangerous quest, to be changed in this way. Our own journey may begin with a certain sense of dissatisfaction with our everyday lives, the realisation that something is lacking. So we start to explore new ways of being in the world. We will often meet a wise mentor (or mentors – I have had several on my own spiritual journey), read some wise books, talk with other people a lot, being open and vulnerable in our sharing. And along the way, we are changed. We come home to ourselves and the divine, and realise that the sacred was there in our lives all the time, just waiting for our awareness. The trick is being awake and aware enough to see the lovely glimpses of the Divine (or the Force) along the way.
The spiritual path I have walked over the last decade or so has not been a straight one, leading to a specific goal. It has instead taken me in all sorts of unexpected directions, which have enriched my life no end. I think (I hope!) I have become more laid-back, more tolerant of the diverse ways of others, more willing to meet them where they are in a spirit of compassion, and less achievement focussed. I have learned, in the words of the Quakers, to be “open to new Light, from whatever source it may come.” And have finally understood that God loves me anyway, and that nothing I can do will destroy that love. I have changed and grown, which is rather the point.
What does this Force have to do with us as ordinary human Unitarians? We do not have Jedi powers (although some power-crazed politicians may think they do). What I’d like to talk about today is that mysterious Something that I do believe exists in our universe, whether we call it the Tao or Grace or Fate or God or the Light, and how we can tap into that Force to live better lives.
For many of us, the spiritual journey is full of twists and turns, full of moments of joy and unexpected reverses. Rabbi Lionel Blue once wrote, it does not matter why we started on this journey, what matters is that we have begun. He calls it “God-seeking” and that may be the meaning of the spiritual journey for some of us. Others of us may be seeking truth and meaning in our lives. Which may come to the same thing…
One thing is certain: the spiritual journey is not a smooth, uninterrupted one. We have to take it gradually as we are affected by experiences and people we come across. It is very often two steps forward, one step back. But I believe that doesn’t matter as long as we don’t lose sight of our goal, whether that is to find God, to find purpose and meaning in our lives, to align our lives with the Force, or simply to be the best people we can, by acting in consonance with our values.
The 16th century German theologian, Martin Luther, who famously nailed his Ninety Five Theses (about all his issues with the Catholic church) to the doors of All Saints Church in Wittenberg in 1517, thereby starting the Protestant Reformation, has some good advice for the journey: “For we must ascend gradually, on a flight of stairs to other stages, no-one becomes the first (or perhaps, reaches their goal) in one fell swoop.”
As I say, this is good advice for the spiritual journey. At least, for Unitarians. I understand that some Christians can have a profound conversion experience and make the huge step from non-belief to accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour in “one fell swoop” as Luther said.
But on the whole, we Unitarians tend to be more cautious. Our faith is based on what our reason and conscience tell us is right and true. So our spiritual journeys tend to be a process of gradual unfolding, rather than bold leaps. Our beliefs may change over time – mine certainly have. What I believe now, in my mid-sixties, is very different to what I believed in my twenties. As the 19th century Unitarian minister Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.” And this becoming is rarely a straight road, with no diversions, no backsliding. Which is why most of us only manage to move two steps forward, one step back at a time.
There are many lovely quotations about the spiritual journey in Stephen Lingwood’s anthology, The Unitarian Life: Voices from the Past and Present. For example, Michaela von Britzke wrote, “A spiritually growing person – like a spiritually growing congregation – is developing awareness and a capacity to pay attention to what is at hand in daily tasks and encounters, as a template for understanding and filling a place in the wider scheme of things.” The spiritual journey is, in most cases, a gradual one, which will take all our lives.
And yet, as Unitarian Universalist Sarah York wrote in Singing the Living Tradition, sometimes we can receive a nudge from the Divine, which moves us along. “We receive fragments of holiness, glimpses of eternity, brief moments of insight. Let us gather them up for the precious gifts that they are and, renewed by their grace, move boldly into the unknown.”
These “fragments of holiness, glimpses of eternity” can help us on our journeys, enabling us to move onto the next step and “into the unknown.” But we often need the help of others to be aware enough, attentive enough, to see them for what they are.
The “fragments” and “glimpses” we receive will be unique to each person. The same event or words may burn through one person’s heart like a flash of lightning, giving them new insight about their journey, while they may not speak at all to the condition of another (to use the Quaker phrase).
Which is why being part of a Unitarian religious and spiritual community is so important. Good, open-hearted, open-minded company on the road can help us to interpret the signs we perceive. Being able to talk to other people about our own spiritual journeys and listening with full attention to those of other people can be a precious, life-changing experience. As Andy Pakula wrote, “With each new day, we are offered another step in life’s sacred journey, an invitation to join in the flow of life that streams around us.” And it is much easier to make this sacred journey in the company of others. Otherwise, as Cliff Reed warns, “The blind alleys of our folly wear a dreary look, we must break out and find a better way.” We need help to be shown “the path of deliverance from the byways and cul-de-sacs in which we wander, trapped in a maze of old ideas, old hatreds, old fears; condemned to tread the same old ground we have trodden before.”
I would like to finish by repeating the end of Andy Pakula’s prayer:
“Spirit of the journey, God of many names
May we step out boldly
Venturing eagerly forward
Accepting all that each mile has to offer.
May we know that within the journey itself lies our destination
And that the holy city waits to be discovered in every heart.”
May the Force be with you, today and always, Amen
Closing Words
Spirit of Life and Love,
Our time together is drawing to a close.
May we journey on together,
being alive to the glimpses of the Divine Force
along the way.
May we return to our everyday world refreshed,
May we share the love we feel,
May we look out for each other,
And may we keep up our hearts,
Now and in the days to come,
Amen
Postlude Melodia Africana II by Ludovico Einaudi