Sermon by Toni Maddi
Preached at Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation
March 13, 2005
Reading:
from Michael Casey’s
The Undivided Heart: The Western Monastic Approach to Contemplation
The
whole concept of purity is currently not much in favor, probably because it was
used, in the immediate past, in a way that seemed to make the noble virtue of
chastity both unattractive and unattainable. The major effect of the discussion
of chastity was a sense of guilt; it inspired dread rather than generosity....
The monastic emphasis on purity of heart... explained in terms of singleness of
purpose, inner undividedness... in this case the image is seen not so much as a
whiteness as a matter of being true to one’s essential nature. Pure orange
juice is devoid of additives...pure water is water and nothing else... a pure
heart is a heart which is fully alive, with all its energies directed to a
single end... Purity of heart comes from being drawn toward God.
Sermon:
Spiritual
practices, the rhythm of spirituality, seems to have changed over the years from
setting aside time to renew to a time you have to grit your teeth and get
through. I remember when Catholics were first allowed to attend Mass on
Saturday afternoons. This was after the Second Vatican Council in the 60s.
Rather than setting aside a day to rest and renew and starting that day with a
little worship, that “little worship” became an obligation. The church changed
their policy and parishioners were allowed to fulfill their obligation the day
before. Gone was the day of rest. This, of course, is not a change made only
by Catholics. I remember, as a child, reading books like The Great Brain or the
Little House books. In them, the children rankled at having to do nothing on
Sundays. And so the Sabbath of most Christian religions became a day of boredom
and irritation.
Most of
us have turned from this idea of Sabbath. Many of us have rejected it because
it was a part of a broader range of religious practices we have rejected.
I work
part-time at a spa-type place in Bucktown. I greet clients, answer the phone,
work some spreadsheets and whatever else needs doing. I was at work a couple of
weeks ago and a client came in and, I’m not sure how it happened, but the
conversation turned to Unity Temple and then to my giving this sermon. He asked
what I wanted people to walk away with. I told him I wanted people to find
small, simple ways to be spiritual everyday. He asked me if I ran the reception
desk for God. At that moment, I had at least three conversations running
simultaneously through my head. First, the God language. My mind was saying, I
don’t do anything for God, but I do try to find the purpose in a situation.”
And another part of my brain was arguing, “Same thing.” The second (or is it
third?) voice was chanting a little mantra, ”Please don’t let him turn this to
Jesus. Please don’t let him turn this to Jesus.” And finally, I was trying to
come up with something to answer his question. I thought about that
conversation for a long time. I found that I was still rejecting parts of the
religion of my childhood long after I had decided that, in the end, we all
basically believe the same things. When I realized that, I found myself
reframing what he said and changing the words to create common ground.
Today,
when I say “God,” please substitute whatever word you use to describe the
ineffable. I don’t want you to have three voices going in your head.
In
rejecting the religious practices of our childhood, in dismissing customs of
mainstream religions because of the dogma that surrounds them, have we thrown
the baby out with the bathwater?
For a
short time I had a column in our monthly newsletter. I interviewed a different
member of the congregation each month and then wrote about their spiritual
practices. So I know that many of you have daily and weekly practices. But
some of you don’t and some of us who did may have moved away from them or may be
looking for new ways to inject a little spirituality into your day.
A
monk’s day is filled with more than a little spirituality. Have you ever
thought about being a monk or a nun? It has always sounded very relaxing and
satisfying to me, spending the day in worship, meditation, learning and helping
the community, whether the community within the monastery or the larger
community. The Tibetan Buddhist’s daily schedule goes something like this: 5:45
wake up bell, morning prayer in the prayer hall with breakfast, recitation and
memorizing prayer and ritual texts, Tibetan language class, English language
class, lunch, more Tibetan language class, revision of the day’s lesson, a tea
break, revision of the recitation and memorization of the prayer and ritual
texts, a break followed by the evening prayer and recitations, some individual
study, all ending at 9:30 with bed and lights off. 1
Buddhist nuns of the Theravada tradition have a similar routine: 5:00 wake up
immediately followed by group sitting with chanting, breakfast at 6:45 followed
by Sutta (discourse, the Buddhist teaching on an aspect of the doctrine) study.
Work some, have a drink and clean up, more group sitting, food offering and
chanting, a half-hour Dhamma (teaching) talk and a blessing. At noon: clean up
and rest until 2:00. Then individual practice, Vinaya (the foundation of
training in a monastery, the written rules and traditions) class or individual
practice and work around the monastery, evening drink, then showers, ending with
group sitting and chanting and maybe another Dhamma talk. Bedtime is 9:30.2
But we
aren’t monks and I doubt any of us plan to be. Yet in the book Blessed
Simplicity, Raimundo Panikkar says, “There is a monastic archetype or
contemplative dimension innate in every human being... the monastic archetype is
a living, dynamic reality that must find a new expression in every generation.
The modern monk does not want to renounce, except what is plainly...negative,
rather he wishes to transform all things. ...The whole challenge of modern
monkhood...consists in the impossible attempt -- at first sight -- to acquire by
its simplicity the fullness of human life.” 3 (emphasis
changed by me)
Simplicity. Transforming.
Simplicity is trendy. Getting rid of stuff is easy. You can go to seminars and
buy books on reducing your stuff. But getting rid of complicated artificiality
is not. The process of simplifying and becoming authentic is the monk’s way.
St.
Benedict is credited with being the father of Western Monasticism. In the 6th
century he wrote the rule that most Western monasteries continue to use today.
It is a simple plan for living a balanced life, a life in community focused on
God.
The
first rule of St. Benedict is: Listen4. Do you trust your inner
ear? Do you listen with your heart? When you listen for the Divine, what do
you hear? Can you distinguish the voice of the Universe from your own? Here’s
something to try if you don’t already do this: When you meet someone, send out
the question, “Why is this person here right now? What is there for me to learn
from him or her? Or is there something for me to give to them?” Then listen
for the answer.
The
second rule of St. Benedict is: Pray. I especially like what the Rule says
about prayer. It should be short and pure. It shouldn’t be in embellished,
stilted language; it shouldn’t employ persons or cases ye doth never use. You
don’t have to say “Oh, God...” at the beginning of every sentence and you don’t
even need to end with “amen.” Catholic monks pray five to seven times a day,
centering on the Psalms. Muslims also pray five times a day. The idea is to
haul yourself before the Divine everyday, no matter what, just like you would
haul yourself to the gym. You know you’ll feel better afterward. Or like you
haul yourself to work everyday.
Which
brings us to the third rule: Work. St. Benedict says, “Let there be specified
periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading.” Work is good for
us. We can listen while we work. Work reminds us that we’re not alone in the
world. Work isn’t a way to get to the weekend, it has value in itself. Ask, or
pray, how can I be of service with this task or job? What can I learn? Think
about all the people your job touches. Think about jobs others do that touch
you.
We have
our work. Most of us went to school, studied something that we enjoyed and now
have a job that interests us. But we also do other work and there is a
spirituality in those tasks. Take doing the laundry. It’s not a chore I’ve
ever heard anyone say they enjoy. But maybe we can transform it into an
opportunity to see renewal. Perhaps you can transform it into a way to connect
to your week. As you sort the clothes, briefly review what you were doing when
you wore that article of clothing. Were you present in that moment? Did you
take away from that day what you feel you were meant to take? Or you can see it
as a weekly version of the changing of the seasons, a way to remember the
promise held in the cycle of nature. As your clothes hit the floor each night,
or as you toss them down the chute, it’s autumn. The clothes lying dormant in
the hamper or in the basement are symbolic of winter. As you set the washer,
feel winter is ending and spring is about to start, renewal is about to take
place. As you fold the clothes and put them away, think of the summer, a kind
of “the clothes seeing the light again.” Or maybe you can get into the Zen of
laundry: honoring the process, studying patience as you wait for the cycles to
finish, listening to the rhythm and hum of the machines. It can be an
opportunity to say a small prayer of thanks for the luxury of an automatic
washer and dryer.
How
about making dinner? I usually see dinner as a chore to rush through. But if I
slow down, I can make it into a chance to feel a part of the interconnected web
of being. Think of all the people who were needed for you to make dinner: the
people who made the metal, nylon, wood and plastic of the utensils you’re using,
the people on the assembly lines and in the warehouses, those who packaged them,
the truck drivers, the clerks at the stores where you bought them. The people
who forged the metal for your knives and pots and pans. The engineers who
designed your refrigerator, stove and microwave, the marketing people, the
office workers involved. The farmers, corporate or otherwise, who raised that
chicken, grew those vegetables, harvested the rice, brought it to market, the
workers in the market... It took hundreds of people to produce the things you
use to make a simple meal. After remembering, you might want to pray, “I value
every individual who played a part in making this meal. May they feel a spark
of pride as I send my gratitude.”
Once
you get started, you’ll find new ways to transform routine tasks into a chance
for a little spirituality.
Before
I get up in the morning, I like to think of all the things I’m grateful for.
I’m grateful for a warm house, a feather bed, and Chris snoring beside me. I’m
grateful that Max and Nora have been so easy to raise. I’m thankful for the
crossword puzzle in the newspaper that’s on my doorstep and the coffeemaker that
I’m about to use. I’m grateful that I live in a community I like, in a house I
chose. I’m thankful for the internet, Bit o’ Honey candy, Burt Bacharach’s
music, my fuzzy slippers, the public library, knowing how to cook, Lady Clairol
and blue ink in my Parker pen. Starting your day with gratitude sets you in an
optimistic frame of mind. It’s one of the best things you can do for your
emotional and spiritual health.
As you
get ready to leave in the morning, play through your day. How do you feel about
the events that are about to take place and the people you will interact with?
Good? say a little “thank you.” Are you cringing? Ask for the wisdom to get
through it gracefully.
While
driving, instead of cursing the crazy drivers and the developers who are
building condos and increasing the population density, look at the beauty around
you. Try to find funny bumper stickers and license plates. Being attentive and
present in the moment keeps us grounded and connected.
Reflect
before you eat. Ask yourself, “Why am I eating this?” If you don’t like the
answer, see if you can find a better way to satisfy that need. Self-examination
leads us to growth.
Is
there a ritual you can create the mark the weeks? Abe Opincar, like thousands
of Jews, marks his weeks with candles and hens and blessings. Not even a time
of great upheaval kept him from marking the Sabbath.5 Sure, we come
here on Sunday mornings, but is it enough?
I think
carving out a day to clear our heads is even more important now than it was in
ancient Israel. With relentless pressures of work and school, with the constant
bombardment of information and email, we need a day of disengagement, a day to
reorient ourselves and to regain perspective. We need some weekly rituals that
can help remind us of a reality that can transcend and transform. The weekly
discipline of the Sabbath is a guard against forgetting who we are, where we
came from and where we want to go spiritually. 6
Time is
holy. It is mysterious and elusive. You can’t “manage” time any more than you
can manage a hurricane. But you can mark it. In Benedict’s Way, Lonni Collins
Pratt and Father Daniel Homan say that, “...marking time is as simple as being
aware that turning on the light in the morning is saying yes to another day...
We enter into the sacred every day. We are often not aware of the ways we do
this.”
There
should be a time for everything: work, sleep, food and companionship. Noise,
silence, reading, and playing... too much work leaves you feeling burnt, too
much rest makes you lazy, too much companionship leaves you feeling threadbare.
There must be a time for reverence, praise and joy. There’s a lot of liberty in
not being so important, of seeing the majesty of creation and standing in awe.
Shirley
Lundin and I led a class called Building Your Own Theology last fall and one of
the class participants, was explaining why she wasn’t a member of Unity Temple.
She listed some of Unitarian Universalism’s finer points and said that when she
wanted to satisfy the hunger for a liberal religion she came here, but when she
wanted to “get her praise on,” she went to the Baptist church. But how do we
get our praise on?
Joy
doesn’t just happen to us, it’s a decision we make. We can choose joy -- or
not. Is there something choking the joy in your life? The emotions that choke
joy are usually about self-defense. How could love relieve the joy-chokers in
your life? Love, rather than courage, gets us past those emotions. Loving
others, opening up to love, not taking life too seriously and reclaiming a sense
of wonder will help you get your praise on.
Annie
Dillard said, “God does not demand that we give up our personal dignity... that
we lose ourselves and turn from all that is not him. God needs nothing, asks
nothing, and demands nothing, like the stars. It is life with God which demands
these things... God does not, I regret to report, give a hoot. You do not have
to do these things--unless you want to know God. They work on you, not on him.
"You do
not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the
stars, you will find that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require
nor demand it.” 7
Each
day find a way to begin anew. Find a conversion every day. Look for the “aha”
moments. Look for moments of grace extended to you by others. Each day become
more authentically human. Be grounded and centered. Listen. Find little ways
to get your praise on. Mark time. Create opportunities for renewal and simple
spirituality. You do not have to do these things -- unless you want to know the
Divine.
Benediction:
from Gerald May,
Simply Sane
Can
you, from time to time, just nurture a little warm feeling toward yourself? I
truly believe that’s all it takes (for sanity and realistic expectations). A
little warm feeling creates an atmosphere of acceptance, of allowing, of
permitting. And within that atmosphere there is a kind of encouragement for the
goodness to grow: the goodness that is you, the goodness that is life in you,
the goodness of creation in you, God’s goodness in you.
1Michael
Casey,
The Undivided Heart: The Western Monastic Approach to Contemplation
2
IBID
3
Panikkar, Raimundo; Blessed Simplicity; The Seabury Press, 1982, pp x –
36
4
Pratt, Lonni Collins and Homan, Daniel;
Benedict’s Way; Loyola Press, 2000
5
Opincar, Abe; Fried Butter; Soho Press,
Inc., 2003
6
Adapted from: Alternatives; To Celebrate:
Reshaping Holidays and Rites of Passage, Ellenwood, Georgia, 1987
7
Dillard, Annie; Teaching a Stone to Talk;
Harper and Row, 1982
© Copyright 2005 Toni
Maddi, All Rights Reserved.
