Unitarian Universalist
Meeting of
“You Are Invited to UUMSB”
Rev. Kathy Duhon
There is an old wisdom saying from Islam that if you have two pennies, buy bread with one and share it with the hungry. With the other, buy a flower and revel in its beauty. We rarely have more to begin with at any moment than just a couple of pieces of money, a couple of hours of time, a couple of gifts of talent, but we are invited in this story to make choices that show loving compassion for ourselves and our neighbors in need, and that open our hearts to a world of wonder. Invitation is on my mind today, as many of you have been invited to come here to visit with this congregation, and I hope you also feel invited to open your hearts to loving compassion and to a world of wonder.
Mail call, everyone. We have all just received this marvelous invitation. On the front is the message, “COME CELEBRATE THE JOY WITH US!” Inside it says, “You are invited to join together with a very special congregation on a wonderful journey of the spirit.”
Where: At this church building, but also, on hikes, at dinners, in people’s homes, at retreat centers, in foreign countries doing service work, on street corners doing social justice work, at Construct building a women’s shelter, at other religious homes for a visit, in hospitals and nursing homes, at the People’s Pantry giving out food, at the Walk for the Homeless raising needed funds and awareness, in many towns and 3 states – wherever we gather, we are together in the spirit.
When: Now and anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, whenever we want to be together, including at 2:30 a.m. to make the flight to Nicaragua for our Habitat for Humanity work, at 6:30 a.m. to walk Diane’s Trail before breakfast at the Roadside cafe, at 9:30 a.m. to meet and plan our worship, at noon to have a Happy Birthday lunch with one of our beloveds, at 3:00 to study about civil liberties, at 4:30 to help make the Breaking Bread supper for folks in need, at 5:30 to deliver a casserole to someone who’s recovering from surgery, at 6:30 to go to a committee meeting, at 7:30 to see a movie together at a member’s home, complete with popcorn and m&ms, at 9 p.m. to play word games and puzzles and cuddle a snake – that was last weekend’s retreat – you had to be there. When – now and anytime.
What: Faith, hope and love; acceptance, justice and peace; worship, wonder, and sanctuary; fun, lots of fun; eating, singing, dancing, and hiking; ministry with and for each other and the world; child dedications, coming of age ceremonies, marriages, funerals, and communions of many kinds; amazing expressions of wisdom, belief, and hope in our meditation manual, our lay-led services, our spirituality groups, and our heartfelt newsletter articles; respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part, and also 6 other principles we covenant to affirm and promote; and, a lively, loving, living faith tradition that we are growing here together.
Who: children, and folks of all ages; straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender; Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Humanist, atheist, pagan and more; and a diversity of ethnic backgrounds and colors. Who – anyone and everyone is welcome here at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting of South Berkshire.
Who sends this invitation? We do! Who is invited? We are. We are living this religion as a community of love and hope. As the Unitarian Thomas Jefferson said, “It is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be read.” And you can read our religion clearly by the lives we lead here. This is a growing, thriving congregation of wonderful people who have made a beautiful religious home together. You/We are invited to this very open home.
Some folks, though, when they get invited to something really good, still manage to find reasons why not to accept. “Too busy” may be the biggest excuse these days – we tend to lead ‘very full’ to ‘overly stressed out’ lives. And maybe when you heard the “what” and “when” parts of our invitation, you got a bit breathless, your heart beat a bit faster, and you ruminated to yourself, “Well, I only was half-thinking about maybe trying out one hour on Sunday – this sounds like too much.” But here is also rest and renewal, sanctuary and encouragement. This is where folks go to step away from the stress and messiness of their lives, and be refreshed.
While much is offered, there is no expected amount of participation – it is “each according to their need”. Sometimes what we need is a place to simply be ourselves, and accepted. Sometimes we need to be reminded of our dreams, of the great possibilities of our lives. Sometimes we need glimpses of grace and the hope of transformation raised up for us. And sometimes what we need most is to be needed. When we give, we receive so much – when we teach a child, bake a pie for others, write an article for the newsletter, play the piano so others can sing, advocate for the Earth, help others in need, create peace and justice, and always, always, we receive more than we give when we offer our own unique gifts to the world.
We are a group with diverse religious beliefs and practices, and some folks out there can’t understand how we do it – impossible! How could this be a religion? They may not accept this invitation to community and joy because they fear that this is all a sham, not a real religion at all. Like the invitations we get in the mail to win prizes and vacations, this invitation might feel too good to be true. How can Jews and Pagans and Christians and Buddhists and Humanists and Atheists all find commonality, let alone get along with each other? It is a miracle.
We are willing to risk the challenges, the occasional time of feeling uncomfortable – never for long – as we grow spiritually together on this journey of the heart and mind and soul. We celebrate our diversity and are deeply grateful for the gifts it brings to us, and I don’t mean just having the fun of being able to enjoy both Christmas and Hanukkah. We are grateful for the gifts of understanding this diversity brings us. We seek truth in all the marvelous expressions of the world. We are proud of our religion, Unitarian Universalism, and we believe it offers real hope for a world that is desperately in need of hope.
We believe it is our calling in this congregation to walk the sacred path together, to be present to each other, to notice the holy in each and all, and to nourish our relationships with compassion, truth and acceptance.
Moses, in the Book of Exodus, understands God to say to him, “I set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life. Choose the blessing.” Life is what must be chosen, first, over ending it, which occurs to everyone sometime, and then, life must be chosen in a deepening way. We choose the way of the open heart, of compassion and wonder, of shared bread and marvelous flowers. We have to keep remembering to choose it, which is helped along by being in this religious community. And we are blessed. You are invited to this community of joy. We hope you will choose this celebration. Together we choose life and choose the blessing. Amen.