Opening words: Laura Horton-Ludwig Fire and water, ancient opposite s Sun and ocean, the cradle of life Dancing flame and dancing river— We invoke them together today As we kindle our chalice flame.
Song #1067 Mother Earth, Beloved Garden
Water Gathering Sunday: Some Lessons of Water
Each of us comes to this precious space today to dip into the well that nourishes our hungry spirits. Each of us comes with our own cup of goodness to pour into the well. With this water, which we will place in this vessel, we also place our common hopes, our shared dreams, our mutual commitment to one another and to a world made peaceful and whole. (Adapted from the chalice lighting in Www.uupuertorico.org) In our opening words and opening song we called upon the four elements: air, water, fire and earth. The Greek philosopher Empedocles, in his work On Nature, claimed that everything was composed of the four eternal and equally balanced elements of air, water, fire and earth and Aristotle made them the basis of his physical theories. These elements carry far more than physical import, though. Their presence has been called upon for centuries -- for blessing, for protection, for purification, for connection, for revelation, for wisdom. Their spiritual qualities have long been recognized by many religious traditions.
Today we focus upon one of those powers: water. It seems we have focused upon water the whole of this cool, rainy summer. Our tomatoes did not grow; our basements smelled dank; the rain barrels overflowed; mosquitoes feasted on our blood. What else does water have to say to us right now? The Tao te Ching, #78, says “Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it. The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid. Everyone knows this is true, but few can put it into practice…. True words seem paradoxical.” Water puts into practice the seeming paradox of persistence with flexibility. A yielding persistence. Water flows around obstacles, it constricts to fit through narrow places and it expands in wideness. Nevertheless, in the doing of that, water changes everything it touches. For us, the lesson translates to dreaming the dream, setting the goal, making the decision, walking the path, but not so single-mindedly that we cannot see what’s going on around us and respond to it. Persisting in ways that are flexible.
Margie Allen, UU minister, writes: “I took a five day white water canoeing course in North C arolina. Managing a canoe on white water is not nearly as much about strength and control as it is about perceiving and yielding to the wisdom of the water. The skill you learn in such a setting is the skill of “reading the water,” and then using that knowledge to take the path of least resistance down that part of the river you have just scanned. Dimples in the water tell you about rocks; eddies describe complex dynamics under the surface. Over time with a good teacher, we learned to read the map the river taught and to use our paddles not to force a path we chose, but to make small corrections to keep us in the path the river chose.” Persistence that yields. As I read that story of Margie’s, I realized that my own experience with white-water also encompassed a persistence that yields. It is a general practice of mine to try to grow past the edges of anything I fear. In other words, I don’t want fear to make me rigid and so when I come upon something I fear, I will, within reason, persist in walking toward it rather than running away from it. Water frightens me and so a lot of my experiences of this nature occur around water. Once in my life I went white-water rafting, I think on class III rapids in Pucon, Chile. I was terrified. Nevertheless, I put on the blue body suit and helmet and, despite my dismay at resembling a blueberry more than a human, I got into the raft. They did not allow me to paddle. They told me just to hold onto the rope on the side. I sat as close as I could to the pilot, the guy whom I fervently prayed knew what he was doing. Do you know how hard it is to yield control when you are so very afraid? Have you ever had such an experience? I had to do it, though, if I was going to persist in my desire to move beyond fear. So I did. Off we went. And the pilot guided us thrillingly through the rapids. Kind of a wet parachute jump-roller coaster ride of dips and twists and turns, totally within the power of the water, as read by the skill of the pilot. Would I do it again? Well, it still scares me, but having persisted once, I’m a lot more flexible in relationship to my fear of water. Persistence that yields.
Can you recognize within yourselves the ability to be like water: to persist and to yield; to persevere in a flexible way? It could mean dedicating yourself to a task and a willingness to change course if circumstances call for it. It could mean dreaming a dream and making a compromise. It could mean learning from people you disagree with. In our congregation we have just embarked on a great change. Our early service moves from 9am to 9:30am and our religious education program through fifth grade moves to 10am, while religious ed for the older ones remains at 11am. Why did we do this? To persist in our choice to grow and to have enough room in our sanctuary and farmhouse for the people who can find a home here. We understand this choice to be an ethical outgrowth of who we are. At the same time, we are committed to flexibility in our persistence. We will see what works about this new arrangement and what might work better if we tweaked it. We hold the goal and we read the water and make our way through it. Now the pay-offs of such persistence are great. Either individually or joined together in a group, persevering in our dreams and our goals brings about change. We make a difference. We take part in creating the world we long to live in. To illustrate what I mean, I want to tell you the story of Higgins: a Drop With a Dream. (Bucketful of Dreams: Contemporary Parables for All Ages – Christopher Buice)
Once upon a time there was a drop of water named Higgins. Higgins was no ordinary drop of water. He was a drop with a dream. Higgins lived in a valley where it had not rained in a very long time, so all the lovely green grass was turning brown, all the beautiful flowers were wilting, and all the trees were starting to droop. Higgins had a dream that one day the valley would be a beautiful place again. But what could he do? After all, he was only a drop of water.
One day Higgins decided to travel and tell others about his dream. All the other drops listened very politely, but no one believed that his dream would come true. "Higgins," said one, "get your head out of the clouds. You can't spend your whole life dreaming." Higgins decided that he had to do something to make his dream come true. So he began to think and think and think. One day, as he was walking by a rusty old bucket, he got an idea."If enough of us drops of water got together in this bucket," Higgins thought, "there would be enough water to sprinkle on a few flowers to help them grow and become beautiful again!" Eagerly, Higgins told everyone his great idea. But everyone thought he was being foolish. "That Higgins is nothing but a dreamer," they said.
Higgins decided he had to do something to convince the others that he was right. So he said to them, "I don't know about you, but I'm getting into the bucket! I hope some of you will join me. Then there might be enough water to help at least some flowers grow beautiful again." So Higgins ran as hard as he could, hopped way up in the air, and landed with a kerplunk in the bottom of the bucket. And there he sat . . . JUST A DROP IN THE BUCKET.
For a long time Higgins was very lonely. It seemed like no one else was going to join him. But after awhile some of the other drops could see that the grass was dying and the flowers were wilting and the trees were drooping. They all agreed that something must be done. Suddenly, one drop shouted, "I'm going in the bucket with Higgins!" And he leaped through the air and landed— kerplunk —in the bucket. Then two other drops yelled, "Wait for us!" And they hopped through the air and landed in the bucket. Then ten drops jumped through the air into the bucket. Then thirty. Then fifty! And then hundreds of drops came from all around just to hop in the bucket!
Soon, the bucket was completely full of water. But there were still more drops that wanted to join, so they found another bucket and hopped in. Before long, there were two buckets of water—then three—then four—then ten—and then hundreds—and then thousands of buckets of water! Along came a powerful breeze that blew over all the buckets, and all the water flowed together to make a mighty stream. Everywhere the water flowed, the grass turned green again and the flowers bloomed and the trees stood tall and straight once more.
All this happened because Higgins had a dream and his dream came true. Because he knew that although he was just a drop in the bucket, enough drops in the bucket make a bucketful, and when there are enough buckets with the wind behind them, then justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Persevere with strength and power, though not with rigidity. Be like water. We are water, after all.
Song #1007 There’s a River Flowin’ in My Soul
Meditation
Joys and Sorrows
Offering and Offertory
Gathering the Waters
Water teaches us to yield even as we persevere. We know this lesson because we are intimately related to water. It connects us. “The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.” (Tagore) “Every language has a word for water; no living thing exists without water. It soothes the spirit and sustains the body; its beauty inspires art and music. Emplo yed by cultures around the world in rituals and ceremonies, water bathes us from birth to death. Water is essential to life as we know it. And as it cycles from the air to the land to the sea and back again, water shapes our planet—and nearly every aspect of our lives.” (www.amnh.org/exhibitions/water) "Every drop of water that we bring to our ceremony today has been on amazing adventures. Our water, this very water, has witnessed the birth of life as well as the death of dinosaurs, has been a part of the body of Buddha, Bach, Jesus, Michael Jordan, and the Queen of England. Each tiny molecule of water has been on its own unique journey. . . (Lynn Ungar) Imagine.
The water we have on earth today is all the water we will ever have. Therefore we must persist in responsibly using it. How can we do that? Think of all the cleaning and hair products we have at home. What’s in them? Are they okay to put down the drain and into the water systems? Think about how long we leave the water running as we do the dishes or brush our teeth or take a shower. Think about the waste treatment plants in our communities. Could they operate better? Think about s eptic systems. Could they operate more effectively? The majority of water use on our planet is for agriculture. Think about what we eat and how it grows.
We can do this. We can take care of water as individuals and as families. We can use our water wisely and carefully as communities because like water, we move with the strength of many drops in a bucket. Like water, we persist in ways that are ever-changing, ever-responding to the circumstances of each other’s needs and the needs of our planet. Come and add yourself to these life-giving waters. Those who wish are asked to form a line in the back of the sanctuary, and one by one, come forward to add your water into the common bowl of our hopes and dreams.Tell us briefly what this water means to you, why it’s important to you. For those of you who have forgotten water, there is also a pitcher of "symbolic water" up here. Pour a little from it into the common bowl. It can become anything you want it to. After the service I will scatter the water, symbol of all that we bring to this community and all that we dare to dream we can do, around the perimeter of the sanctuary, thus allowing it to go deep and further nourish us.
People come up and pour their water into the bowl
Closing Words: Be Like Water by Kendra Ford run deep run clear fill any space to its own dimensions respond to the moon, to gravity change colors with the light hold your temperature longer than the surrounding air take the coast by storm go under ground bend light be the one thing people need, even when they're fasting eat boulders, quietly be a universal solvent