Peace
Like a River
Delivered by
Calen Rayne, August 6, 2006
At the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, New Bern, NC
I am conflicted at times. One of my great-grandfathers fought for
the South and one for the North in the Civil War. One owned slaves and the
other used our old family homestead in Kentucky as part of the Underground
Railroad.
As a child I rode shotgun as my uncle delivered moonshine and
bootleg whiskey through the hills of Eastern Kentucky, got a nickel for
every police car I spotted, but have never had a drink of alcohol. I
counseled teens and adults with drug issues for years in group homes, and
my “hook” was that I have never taken any drugs of any kind. I started
out Pentecostal and passed through a number of religions before finding my
way to a Unitarian Universalist church 11 years ago.
I always wear a shirt and tie to church, always, but you know, no
one ever knows what you may be wearing under that shirt and tie, that
subliminal message you are sending from close to your heart. I
always wore a shirt and tie to church as a kid, and most would certainly
not think about going to the UU church in Concord, New Hampshire in
anything less.
I
remember a friend in Dayton who would show up most Sundays in cut off
shorts, tie-die shirt and then drink a cappuccino during the service. When
I was keynote speaker at the Interfaith prayer breakfast in Dayton, he
showed up in suit and tie. I remarked about his attire, and he said, well,
this IS like a church service… It seems the very individuality we UUs
demand and support is also what gives the mainstream fundamentalist
religions ammo to say we don’t matter…just a thought.
And I know I did my part early on in life. You can sort of tell
from the condition of my guitar case, held together in part by bumper
stickers from years gone by. I was President of 7 non-profit Boards, lived
off the land, marched for peace, rode buses to Washington, and directed a
Peace Consortium in that hot-bed of liberalism, the 4th
congressional district in Indiana that produced Dan Coats and Dan Quayle
(p-o-t-a-t-o) and on occasion I had to observe the following directive. I
did my time, as did many of you, and it seems like it should be time to
take a rest.
But my oldest brother convinced me it was time to enter the fray
once again. He’s a long haul trucker, and last summer he ran flatbed
truckloads of armor from Texas to Dover, Delaware to be flown to
Iraq for the Humvees. On one trip, we were talking as they unloaded his
armor in Dover as he stood and watched another 14 caskets from Iraq
carried off an adjacent plane, fourteen soldiers from Ohio, one from his
hometown of Grove City. I think he is being torn apart by this current
war, just like many other people.
I had the privilege of attending a service at All Souls UU Church
in Washington last year after joining over 100,000 people in the peace
march the previous day. Reverend Sinkford invited all who seek our
religious fellowship “to join our
cause to raise a liberal religious awareness in these troubled times.”
One of the purposes of liberal religion is to provide a community
where we can not only feel support for our beliefs and values but where we
can join together to effect positive change in the world. It is said that
geese fly together because they get an aerodynamic lift from one another
and they fly faster and farther than when they fly alone. This is true for
us as well. When we fly on wings of faith, we do better together than
alone.
Faith
is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark..
Rabinadranath Tagore
Many of us don’t feel at home in the old world or the new, we all
tend to live in the creases… A lot of us are conflicted, especially UUs.
Gosh, most of us can’t even decide if we are humanists or theists. It
seems time we merge insights from the old morality and the new to forge a
third understanding that transcends both and brings us closer to world
peace.
When the Enola Gay dropped its payload and lit up the sky over
Hiroshima, even those crew members were conflicted. In a Time magazine
article, we learned that while one person was happy because “The
war’s over,” co-pilot Robert Lewis asked, “My
God, what have we done?”
I always found the timing of the bombing interesting, for on August
sixth, Roman Catholicism celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration. It
was on this day Jesus transformed Himself into a beautiful and magnificent
light in front of Peter, James, and John. The Transfiguration foretells
the glory of the Lord as God, and His Ascension into Heaven. The
Transfiguration helps us to anticipate the glory of Heaven, where we will
be able to see God face to face.
The
Transfiguration happened when Jesus and the three apostles Peter, James,
and John went up to the top of Mount Tabor. When they arrived at the top,
Jesus disappeared and reappeared suddenly in beautiful light, talking with
Moses and Elijah. Jesus talked about the fulfillment of the purpose of
God's infinite goodness.
These are the words of Father George Zebelka, a Roman Catholic
priest who served as chaplain for American soldiers responsible for
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki…
“Modern
war and oppression are carried out by a long chain of individuals, each
doing his job meticulously while simultaneously refusing to look at the
end results of his or her work. There is no state or corporate evil that
is not the result of personal sinfulness. In August of 1945, I, as a
Christian and as a priest, served not as an agent of reconciliation but as
an instrument of retaliation, revenge and homicide. My explicit and tacit
approval of what was being done on Tinian Island that summer was clearly
visible for anyone to see. Beyond this, I was the last possible official
spokesman for the Church before the fire of hell was let loose on
Hiroshima on the Feast of Transfiguration 1945—and I said nothing.
I
was the officially designated Catholic priest who by silence did his
priestly patriotic duty and chose nationalism over Catholicism, Caesar
over Christ, as the Bockscar manned by Christians in my care, took off to
evaporate the oldest and largest CHRISTIAN community in Japan—Nagasaki.
No, the fact that I was not physically on the planes is morally
irrelevant. I played an important and necessary role in this
sacrilege—and I played it meticulously. I am as responsible as the
soldier who stuck the spear in the side of Christ on Calvary. I come to
Hiroshima
and Nagasaki to repent and ask forgiveness from the Japanese people, from
my faith community at Nagasaki and from God.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama tells us that to live together on this
planet “we need kindness, we need
a kind atmosphere rather than an angry one.” And though our
social/religious factors may differ from continent to continent, all
religions indeed have a goal of living in peace and practicing some
variation of the Golden Rule. So we need to understand that the basic
tenets of all religions are the same. We must learn to work together, for
only by working together can we achieve peace. God is too large to be
contained by any one religion.
If we are to traverse the world, it is possible to find cities
without walls, without letters, without wealth, without coin, without
schools or theaters; but a city without a temple, or that practices not
worship, prayers and the like, no one has ever seen.
Plutarch
But we must not be content to build churches and temples and
ashrams and houses of worship and ignore the teachings we receive there.
We cannot stand by as Father Zebelka did, ignoring the core teachings of
his religion.
I can remember when soldiers entered the monasteries of Cambodia to
bring violence and death to Buddhist monks. They took their boots off
before entering, acknowledging the teachings in part, but not the greater
teaching on compassion.
I managed a small apartment complex for concentration camp
survivors at the Jewish Home for the Aged in 1976. Those perpetrating the
Holocaust were clearly in violation of the teachings of their religion,
and the entire system was run using IBM punch cards… Think about it…
One of the gentleman there said that he prayed to their same God every
day, and he thanked God that he wasn’t like them.
We
need to understand what we must do spiritually to heal our world, to
realize one of our UU principles, “the
goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all”…
and to this end… reverence is our vehicle. In the words of Paul
Woodruff,
“Reverence runs across religions and even
outside
them through the fabric of any
community,
however secular. We may be
divided
from one another by our beliefs, but
never
by reverence. If you desire peace in the world, do not pray that everyone
share your
beliefs.
Pray instead that all may be reverent.”
Often we hear an
expression, “marching to the
drumbeat of war”. But a Cheyenne proverb tells us that “When
you lose the rhythm of the drumbeat of God, you are lost from the peace
and rhythm of life.”
What if that drumbeat
sounded a different theme, one of an inherent commonality among nations
and people in a world seemingly fractured beyond our comprehension. Might
we one day “march to the drumbeat
of peace?”
Martin Luther King, Jr
tells us:
“Human
salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted. We must make a
choice. Will we continue to march to the drumbeat of conformity and
respectability, or will we, listening to the beat of a more distant drum,
move to its echoing sounds? Will we march only to the music of time, or
will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul saving music of
eternity.”
Peace needs to remain a focus in our world today. In the absence of
peace, we step backward from what is important. If peace is present, all
is possible… love, compassion, and forgiveness. But first we must find
peace within ourselves, believe in our own inherent worth and dignity, and
reach an equilibrium of sorts that allows us to embrace and express a
willingness to live as one with others. Our spiritual journey, no matter
where it leads, must bring us to this realization. Only then will peace be
mirrored in the world.
Wovoka of the Paiute explains:
“After showing me all of heaven, God told me to go back to earth
and tell his people you must be good and love one another, have no
quarreling, and live in peace…”
I was co-facilitator of a series of Interfaith Dialogue dinners
this past year in Asheville, part of the “Kindness Campaign.” Though
participants came from a variety of faith traditions, they realized that
core teachings are similar, and compassion was an integral part of those
core teachings. We must strive to develop a “spiritual
resonance” of wisdom and compassion which emanates from ourselves to
others on our spiritual journeys.
“I believe in compassion
and love and the fact that when you love others as you love yourself,
that’s compassion”
Matthew Fox
If we truly want to
change the conditions of our outer world, we must become a living example
of compassion and peace, “practice what you preach” some would say,
and become the conditions of our desires from within… From Matthew
5:9:
“Blessed
are the peacemakers: for they shall
be called the children of God.”
We will never get this day back so we must live it with enthusiasm
and an acknowledgment of what it is we truly believe in, and how best to
honor that…we must be aggressive in enjoying working toward a more
peaceful world and step forward in faith in pursuit of that dream…
“There
are going to be thousands of people in life who will tell you can’t do
something. It is important to realize that you’ve got to believe in
yourself no matter where your dream leads you.”
John Mellencamp
It is our responsibility to pursue with passion that
about which we care deeply. If, indeed, peace on earth is important, then
we must be a living, breathing manifestation of that peace. As the Apostle
says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.” Faith is
a subtle chain that binds us to the infinite… Faith is the centerpiece
of a connected life. It allows us to live by the grace of invisible
strands. No person will find him/herself in a peaceful world who does not
first believe in its existence.
It is no longer good enough to cry peace, we
must act peace, live peace, and live in peace.
Shenandoah Proverb
There was a story in Kentucky when I was a child that
an old mule fell in a dry well, hopelessly trapped. The farmer gathered a
few neighbors to assess the situation. They determined that Old Beau was
done for, so they started shoveling dirt to fill the well. So Beau, mules
being stubborn you know, felt the dirt hit his back and had a decision to
make. He could be smothered to death, or shake off the dirt and step up.
And that’s what he did, shook the dirt off and continued to step up,
until his head peered out of the well, surprising the farmers.
Do
what you can, with what you have, where you are. Theodore
Roosevelt
We are in a similar situation, either sit back and let whatever is
going to happen to us and our planet just happen, or become pro-active,
shake off all the dissenters, step up, and do our part to bring peace to
the world.
“Things do not happen, they are made to happen…”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
There is a story of a man confronting the Buddha after one of his
teachings.
“No one listens to you, do
you think people care about what you say, no one will remember anything
you ever said.” The Buddha smiled and said “No
thank you.” “What do you
mean, no thank you?” The Buddha replied, “You
are offering me a gift I do not wish to receive, so no thank you.”
John Wesley invites us to
Do all the good you can
By all the means you can
In all they ways you can
In all the places you can
To all the people you can
As long as ever you can.
We must continually rejuvenate our spirits and seize the boundless
opportunities presented to each of us for healing our planet and
manifesting a compassionate nature… In Isaiah 66:12 the Lord said “I will extend peace… like a river.” We were not created to be
a reservoir that is always collecting, but rather a river that is always
flowing; a reservoir becomes stagnant, especially if it has no source of
fresh water, and nothing flows out to humanity….
There are some who would say it is
too late, and I am too tired, and I can’t make a difference…
Whether
you think you can or you can’t… you’re right.
Henry Ford
Our most important weapon against the enemies of peace and justice
and compassion for everyone is our imagination. When Ghandi marched to the
sea over the salt issue with the British, he called it “a social act of art.” This is PROPHETIC imagination… The real
cause of neurosis is using our imagination and creativity to punish
ourselves instead of using them in pursuit of the world we desire… or,
worse yet, to build better, more efficient implements for killing.
Secretary of Defense Rumsfield once asked about the Chinese
expenditures for the military since no one was threatening them; the
Chinese spent $35 billion on their military last year. Imagine what they
could have done with that $35 billion, but then again, of the 1.06
trillion$$ the world spent on military expenses last year, our country did
$455 billion.
We
should all be concerned with the future because we will have to spend the
rest of our lives there. Charles F. Kettering
If
we could reverse that mentality and invest $$1.06 trillion in building a
world community of compassion, truly, as Julian of Norwich might say, “all
will be well, will be well…” You
are soon to be blessed with a new worship space, and in this sacred
space, and your new one, you must learn to temper your tendency to doubt
with a capacity to believe… Jesus tells us in Mark 9:23…“If you
can believe, all things are possible to one who believes.”We
must search for the peace and acceptance in our own hearts that will
lead us to a world of beloved community. In order to achieve the
peace we all seek, we must step up like Isaiah and say
“I am willing, send me.”
In these times and on this earth, there are no other hands but
ours.
Noah's
Ark
Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's
Ark.
..
ONE:
Don't miss the boat.
TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone just may ask you to do
something really big.
FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be
done.
SIX: Build your future on high ground.
SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the
cheetahs.
NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile.
TEN: Remember, the
Ark
was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
And:::
no matter the storm, when you are with the Spirit, there's always a
rainbow waiting.
Deganawida of the Iriquois once said that:
Roots have spread out from the Tree of Great Peace. These are the Great
White Roots, and their Nature is Peace and Strength. If any man or nation
shall obey the laws of the Great Peace, they shall trace back the roots to
their source.
We light the flame of this chalice, and may it represent for
us today the Flame of Great Peace.
Matthew Fox from Original
Blessing
Playfulness is itself a way of resolving deep pain and
division.
There are Eskimo tribes, for example, who when a war with
another tribe is brewing hold a poetry contest between the two best poets
of each tribe. The jury is made up of equal numbers of members from each
of the tribes. The winning poet wins the war for both sides.
Here is an instance of art as healing and of what William
James called the “moral equivalent of war.”
Our so-called defense departments, so creative at building
sadistic weaponry, lack imagination when it comes to moral equivalents of
war.
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