Here are some of my post-election thoughts on moral values:

UUs take religion seriously.  We want our beliefs, our words and our actions to agree.  We expect people to respect each other.  We expect people to use their faith and morals to live better lives.  Sometimes they do and sometimes they do not.

The foundation of our nation includes the separation of church and state. T his is a foundation, not an aberration.  Those who claim moral values too often want to impose church on the state.  Just thirty years ago Southern Baptists were bulwarks of this separation ­ now they are among the leading challengers advocating their special views of morality for the nation.  They are not alone.  Perils abound when church dogma acquires state power.

Marriage in our nation is not safer due to writing discrimination into our constitution.

The U.S. is not safer due to pre-emptive war doctrines.

The financially well-off are not safer due to cutbacks in social programs.

Religious conservatives are not safer due to success at the polls of their candidates.

Solutions abound, too.  The courts, public opinion, and political counter-movements are tools available to each of us.  Serving on juries, attending public hearings, always voting, reading and contributing opinion pieces, marching for causes: we do these well and they are positive and enjoyable.

Moral values are how we treat one another.  The test of morality is in relationships ­ and the success of moral values rests on inclusiveness and compassion.  We have a job to do: to carry the gospel of our moral values to the world ­ especially to our world in east County. Let's work to do just that ­ we need one another and we need liked minded friends more than ever.

At the last Seven-at-Seven dinner we were talking about the election.  One woman recalled that on her street there were signs for every position, party and cause. She said "I liked that.  The best I can do is love my neighbors one at a time no matter what political sign she or he displays."  Amen.

Love, David 

A colleague used a quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson in her newsletter:  “God is clothed in the flowing robe of events.”   I like that. While I have great difficulty understanding a super-natural deity, I can readily accept a God appearing in the everyday realm of politics, culture, work and play.  God as a totality of being (as best we can know it) fits my scientific training and my spiritual aching.

That's half of the background for this column.  The remainder was provided by an esteemed colleague Gordon McKeeman in a letter to two Eastrose Fellowship members:   “Even if we should become (I think it unlikely) a ‘Godly nation,’ it'll never float as long as we continue to do such ungodly things.”  Among developed nations, only the United States has such a high voluntary rate of belief in God and of membership in some religious group.  Given American individualism, the inherent amorality of capitalism, and the deep suspicion of government perhaps this high rate of formal belief overlies a nagging worry that our actions may not support our professed moral convictions.  We often are a godly nation doing ungodly things.

However, above all else, we are a democracy.  We vote to elect people to office and we vote to establish or change policies.   We vote out of desire to have a role in our governance and we vote out of frustration with “business as usual.”   Of course, we may also NOT vote out of a sense of meaninglessness or just because it's inconvenient.  Although, in a minimal way every vote counts, because those who refuse to vote grant to the remaining voters their franchise – at least for that election.

Just a few days ago while whining to a friend about his intention to vote for our current president, I had this uncomfortable realization.  While I knew for certain how I would vote, I also knew that in the broad context of “the flowing robe of events” we would, as a nation, be okay.  I knew that despite claims of having God or righteousness or justice or morality on “our” side, we would all complete our ballots and do the best we can do.  I knew that purity of purpose and benevolence of action would be imperfect (at best) for everyone.  I knew that no matter what the outcome of this election, it will be different come the next.

Finally, I knew that our Unitarian Universalist conviction of the great possibilities in every human being and of our being inextricably linked as one human family is the Good News we need to espouse as we vote and as we go on living with one another.  We need to say, over and over again, to a godly nation doing ungodly things: “we can do better tomorrow – and knowing we share this world together, we will do better because it benefits us all.”  In this way, we can be true to the God of events every day.

Love, David

The pond lay before me at the bottom of the steep bank.   At first I could not see a trail down ­ how would I get there?  When I walked over to the edge of the forest a trail plainly appeared through the trees. Next I had to decide: canoe alone or not?   As this would be my only chance to paddle out on the pond, I would go.

I lugged the green canoe ­ bulky but not too heavy ­ down the fifty feet to the dock.  The dock itself was askew and missing boards.  My brother had warned me that 17” of ice last winter had left it much worse for wear.  Nonetheless, I was able to launch the canoe and clamber aboard without foundering.  I was off.

The clear water glided beneath me while I paddled wide to counteract the wind.  I was enamored of the lilies.  Hundreds, maybe thousands of their one inch white blossoms floated on the lake.  In addition, I saw yards of green frilly stems (home aquaria escapees) growing among the lilies.  Even these had tiny white flowers sticking up above the water.

The clouds thickened and the wind picked up ­ a rainstorm was probably forming to the west. I turned back and spent my last few minutes savoring the silence and the lapping of waves on the canoe bottom.  A short while later, breathing heavily, the canoe rested again in the forest.

“I did it!” I thought. “I paddled my own canoe!”  Then I remembered:  it was an artificial lake, the canoe and paddle were light plastics, my brother's trail and dock made hauling in and out easy, and the plants were at the peak of their season.   My “I did it!” became a “we did it!”

As much as I enjoyed the experience personally, it was clearly the work of many others, known and unknown, who made it possible.   In gratitude, I said a silent good-bye to the pond and to my unknown benefactors.  “Paddling my own canoe,” while a nice thought, was equally a cause for respect and reflection.

As we conduct our annual Fellowship financial pledge drive, I guess I’ll be having a lot of these same thoughts.  Even as we paddle our UU canoes at Eastrose, let's express our thanks and support for all those who make it possible.

Love, David

Though there is a certain same-ness about the news most days, we do focus on topics.  This week there are the grand contests of the Olympics, the battle of presidential politicians, and the peril of terrorism in many form.  ON a more mundane levels, we are focusing on Back-to-School and Back-to-Church as opening day and Homecoming Sunday arrive.

Whatever we focus on places certain demands on us.  Focus requires a vision of some sort.  The Olympic vision is the benefit and ethic of sports.  The political vision is the well-being of our nation.  The terrorist  vision is how to win a war of ideals with a minimal force. The vision of Back-to-School and Back-to-Church is resuming an ongoing process to enhance and deepen our experience of living life well and abundantly.

Focus also requires work.  It takes an effort to see something clearly and to give it our attention.  It takes concentration to focus on one point and let a thousand others go by.  We can count on our focus being distracted by other demands -- drifting and re-centering is always a part of focusing.  Finally, when we focus on something, we must incorporate our integrity and honesty to respond in a healthy or useful way.

Fraud is that attitude that undermines focus -- often with disastrous consequences.  Fraud uses a clouded or even imagined vision.  Fraud leads one to fake the work or to deny the inevitable drifting.  Fraud contains a secret dishonesty which vitiates focus.  As W. B. Yeats wrote, "the center will not hold."  Fraud in sports, politics, war and even in school or church is a nasty business. 

Human life requires intentional focus as well as our autonomic responses.  LIfe often is experienced as a series of foci over time.  This happens even until death, when we ultimately de-focus.  Focus and fraud are on my mind as we begin a new Fellowship year.

As Unitarian-Universalists, we covenant to stay focused on that which enhances truth, tolerance, freedom, and integrity.  We UUs choose to focus on our personal and collective responsibility for how we live and the consequences of our actions.  When we drift, we must re-center.  If we encounter fraud, we must name it and correct it.   We do this not as some special people, but as people who expect our religious adventure to actually make a difference in our lives.

Join me for this new year as we focus on spiritual and social growth and as we help one another do the blessed work of centering and re-centering together. 

Love, David 

The closing Sunday for our Religious Education program on June 13 included a delightful mnemonic for the Unitarian Universalist Association Seven Principles.  Presented by the youth and Brett Mustard, son of Niya Standish, they were:

1. Red: “Respect” the worth and dignity of all people.
2. Orange: “Offer” fair and kind treatment to all.
3. Yellow: “Yearn” to learn.
4. Green: “Grow” by exploring ideas and values together.
5. Blue: “Believe” in our ideals and act on them.
6. Indigo: “Insist” on peace, freedom, justice for all.
7. Violet: “Value” our interdependence with nature.

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:

1. The inherent dignity and worth of every person;
2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part….

Love, David 
 

        In early June I attended a memorial service for Reverend Dr. Peter Raible, 74, who died May 17 in Seattle. For 36 years he served the University Unitarian Church before retiring in 1997 as minister emeritus. When I interned here in Portland in 1975-1976, Peter was one of three major UU clergy figures in the Northwest (Alan Deale in Portland and Phillip Hewett in Vancouver were the others). Peter was the bishop as he brought to our movement a passionate concern for the institutional church, for collegiality, and for the importance of congregational polity.

        As one eulogist said during the packed memorial service, when Peter entered a UU gathering, the room came alive with expectations. Those present knew he would be attentive, direct, intense and passionate in whatever he shared.  He expressed concern for our institutions to ensure they served Unitarian Universalists well now and in the future.  He expressed concern for congregational polity as a constant reminder that the church is always we.  He expressed his concern for collegiality to support clergy in their calling and also to remind ministers of their part in a much larger whole.  Finally, Peter was, if nothing else, persistent in his passions.  We were reminded that he saw failure as success in processand that one must never let go of the dream regardless of current circumstance.

        Dr. Raibles dream was of the vital Unitarian Universalist role in our lives and the world.  He exhibited throughout his ministry a living commitment to the beloved community of memory and hopewhich is our legacy.  I am pleased to have known and benefited from him.  I am even more pleased to know what he would want from me ­ and you ­ is to never let go of our dreams or of our dedication to this five hundred year-old Unitarian Universalist tradition.  That is a passion worth sharing.

Love,  David

P.S.  I'm on vacation in July ­ contact the Fellowship office or President Floyd Roell to reach me in an emergency.

The photographs and reports from the Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad are vile and disgusting.  The dash of military intelligence and CIA agents to cover leaving Reserve MPs to take the fall is equally vile and disgusting.  The assertion that our Secretary of Defense neither knew about nor approved the use of such torture is totally unbelievable.  Any self-righteous justification of gratuitous violence by Al Qaeda or Iraqi resistors now has a nearly perfect foil:  “Look what the Americans do to US!”    Wartime creates enemies.  Enemies must be dehumanized and often destroyed.  Acts which would be unspeakable in a time of reason become tragically normal.

Evidence is emerging that we engage in the same behaviors in Afghanistan.  It strains credulity to think that we would not do the same in Guantanamo.  Whether our intelligence agents engage in this as federal employees or as private contractors matters not a whit:  it’s being done in the name of the United States of America.

The foundation for these behaviors is secrecy.  Be it a torture protocol or vast sums of money flowing to military contractors or cleverly crafted news stories or the hidden parade of caskets descending on the Dover, Delaware air force base: the element in common is secrecy.  In a democracy the deadliest poison is secrecy.  Few federal administrations in memory have embraced secrecy as intimately as the current one.  The effects of the poison are spreading.

Secrecy does this because of human nature and power.  Unbridled or unchallenged power leads people – all of us – toward selfishness and corruption.  It’s not a matter of this only happening to a few individuals.  Any person in this situation will drift that way.  One easy sign of this is the move to equate patriotism with politics.  Secret political decisions cloaked in the flag will be overlooked or justified.

We citizens of our democracy have four major choices: quiet or tacit acceptance;  resigned support; criticism and challenges;  and outrage.   I struggle with and move among these four all the time.  I know from experience that the latter two choices will leave me feeling better as time goes by.   I’m expressing my outrage in this column and expanding my support of critics.  The United Nations, the ACLU, peace groups and a few members of Congress are worthy recipients.

Being duped by our political leaders is nothing new.  Having portions of our military engage in horrendous behaviors (blithely ignoring the Geneva Conventions, for example) is nothing new.  Nastiness growing in the darkness of secrecy is nothing new.  What is always new is the decision of citizens to individually express outrage and to challenge the misbehavior.  That “newness” is always needed – and never more needed than today.  Let Senators, Representatives, social change groups and your friends and co-workers hear from you.  It’s the right time to stand up.

Love, David

Have you been attending to what’s going on?  For over one billion Buddhists, paying attention is the core concept.  “Awake!” is Buddha’s actual injunction.  I have found attending to what’s going on around me is a vital spiritual lesson.

“Attending to nature” is important. Have you been watching this cool Oregon spring?  Pink “snow” lies in small drifts on the streets of Portland.  Patches of spring blow with the breezes, pile up against the curbs and steps and cover the grass with a delicate mix of light and dark pinks highlighted by milky whites.   The density of the flower petals on the ground is only matched by the bushels of petals yet to fall from the heavily laden ornamental cherry branches above.  Last week the “snow” was mostly white as the earlier blossoming trees dumped their loads on sidewalks, streets and lawns.

Once the blooms fade, they become just another summer green tree.  Likewise the lilacs perfume the air and display a haze of light purple tightly shaped cones of small flowers.  Smelling them improves anyone’s day -- I try to smell them as often as possible.  Once the blooms go, they, like the others, become ordinary summer bushes in the corners of our yards.

“Attending to church” is important, too.  Like showing up on Sundays and for other events. Inquiring about fellow Eastrose members and friends and following up with a phone call, letter, or smile is another.  Supporting the Fellowship financially and with time is another.  Sharing parenting at the Fellowship of our young folks is another.  Keeping our physical space clean and attractive is another.  Twenty years ago in a former ministry I tried an experiment: I crumpled a piece of paper and left it visible in a corner of the entry hallway.  It stayed in place for over three weeks before I gave in and removed it.  Paying attention asks something of each of us.  Attending need not be a task, but a privilege.  Not a responsibility, but an opportunity.

I attend to and treasure the sweet moments of spring.  They pass all too soon.  Actually, this happens with Eastrose people and events, too.  Every moment I attend church or attend to spring is the best moment.   The wonderful challenge of life, I find, is to recognize and attend to these moments as they come along.

Love, David

April 2004  Waiting

Last month I wrote about Pruning and Preparation. This month I am thinking about Waiting. I’m pondering those expectant moments such as the excitement of standing in a railroad station looking down the tracks for the arrival of the train that will take you on a journey.  There is simultaneously a mixture of discontent and satisfaction.   How long must I wait? What shall I do while waiting?  What will happen when my train (or bus or plane or ship) comes in?   Will my expectations be met?

In this Instant Age of fast transportation, foods, internet information, political “meet-ups” and even relationships, we’re not especially good at Waiting.  The process of Waiting can be rather drawn out: organizing, researching and actually changing are best done deliberately.  Even when a change seems thrust upon society, for those most affected it is high time after a lot of Waiting.

The 50th Anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education reminds me that African-Americans waited nearly fifty years to have “separate but equal” overturned.  I just recently read a sermon from 1858 by Reverend Thomas Starr King on the awfulness of the Supreme Court Dred Scott decision legitimizing discrimination against blacks.  Susan B. Anthony and women campaigned over seventy-two years for the right to vote.  Just in my lifetime, we’ve waited over thirty years to move from same-sex Services of Union to marriage.

Even if we prefer Instant, we still must often Wait when it comes to social change.  We still must consider the questions:  How long?   What shall I do? If we are successful, then what? In one way, Waiting is a core theme of Easter.  If we are not waiting for a Messiah, perhaps we are awaiting a new dawn or a new era. If one wait is now over, we will find another has begun. We might wish to bypass Waiting, but it is, in fact, as much a spiritual discipline as prayer or gratitude.  Religiously, I hope that while we Wait, we will love and support one another.  That’s a good job for April.

Love, David

March 2004  Pruning and Preparation

This is the season of Lent in the traditional Christian calendar. These six weeks are preparation for the crucifixion events of Easter. Beginning with the excess of Mardi Gras, the believer expects to experience some degree of personal denial and some measure of community reflection. To deliberately hold back on self-gratification and to intentionally take time to ponder the meaning of one’s life creates a window of spiritual opportunity in the midst of the year.

I find the spirit of Lent in our garden, too. This is a time of renunciation and reflection for those who raise flowers and tend orchards. The renunciation takes the form of pruning. The dead growth, the misdirected stems, the excessive foliage, the plant that simply does not fit in well enough: these must be pruned for the garden to remain healthy and to keep the garden vital. The overall balance of limb and bush, of color and variety, of digging and planting, requires reflective time from the gardener. All of this pruning and discarding is in preparation for the new growing season and the new opportunity to benefit in August from one’s work in February.

My contention is that nearly all religious myths and rituals, though they may well have outlived their usefulness, respond to some deep-felt and common human need. The challenge for me as a Unitarian Universalist is to accept that my needs are the same as any other’s, though our ritual and story to express it may differ. The added challenge is to find ways to meet those human needs, and not to simply discard traditions because they came from a source I no longer accept.

So, while I may not really know how to celebrate Christian Lent, I am learning how to prune and prepare the garden. As I move from bed to bed, from tree to bush, letting go of the past and thinking ahead to new life, I like to believe I’m just as faithful as any pilgrim. We’re all trudging toward tomorrow, leaving behind a past we cannot change. Here in this present moment I want to experience life to the fullest.

Love, David

February 2004  February Prayer

February is the month of ground-hogs, love, Susan B. Anthony, Presidents’ Day, Black Awareness and now and then a leap year.  February is the month of despair that the winter gloom continues and of hope as the bulbs emerge and longer days return.  February is the quick-paced month with its four weeks exactly and two holidays in the middle.  February is the month when 2004 finally takes hold – and fewer lingering last year looks.  February is the month when plans long for action and when new projects change from imagination to tentative first steps.

The on-going challenge in living is to stay awake to the world as it is (and, in like measure, ourselves as we are) rather than to fall asleep dreaming about times past or yet to come.  February, with its emphasis on the seasons, love, heroes, and mistakes wakes us up.  Any month, though, has some special appeal to live life more abundantly by taking events and people as they come.

My prayer for February is:

Spirit of all creation, as the days grow longer and as the stirrings of spring become inevitable, as my heart is filled with passion and as my mind turns to fresh designs, allow me to experience hope, to express gratitude, and to turn each moment to the energy and awareness you make available today.  May your will, not mine, be done.  Amen.

Love, David

January 2004  How Are We Doing? 

Isn’t that the task for the New Year and January?  To review and to renew.  To look back in gratitude or despair and to look forward in hope or with resolve?   To accept what is past and to plan for a better future?   The underlying question is: “how am I or are we doing?”

Reflection and renewal is a good habit.  Taking time to do it is the trick.  I believe our time is rarely better spent, however.  For those who have encountered the addiction recovery movement, taking a regular honest inventory of one’s mistakes and successes is the key to staying healthy.  This is considered essential to spiritual growth and healing. So, the task of  New Year’s resolutions is often a spiritual task after all.

Eastrose Fellowship members and friends have an opportunity in January to help with this task.  The Committee on Ministry will distribute a Survey of the Congregation, Minister and Religious Education Programs.  You can help us all reflect and renew our resolve to improve the role of Eastrose Fellowship as the Unitarian Universalist presence in the east county area.

You can also help me plan for the next twelve months of services and sermons.   Are there spiritual, social or personal growth topics you’d like addressed on Sundays?   Are there themes you feel are missed in the course of a Fellowship year?   Please let me or the Sunday Services Committee know.

Finally, as we face this year of 2004 together, I ask you to remember that Eastrose Fellowship is changing and growing.  That’s always a recipe for some problems as well as excitement.  We have quite a few new faces – 15 people have joined this past year.  Our membership is at 70 for the first time since 1996.  We have a steady stream of visitors and friends who seek to learn about and participate in our community.  We must each and all take responsibility for welcoming, involving and cherishing these folks, just as we were when Eastrose Fellowship welcomed us.

May you join me in having a reflective, renewing and happy New Year – and please remember it’s Leap year – enjoy the extra day!

Love, David

December 2003 Words for the Wise

 In this season of celebration and light, I'd like to share three sets of "wise words" that have influenced me recently. I encourage you to listen for wisdom in your various daily interactions with people.  My experience is that whatever we can know about God or the Holy will come to us through the very fallible human beings we meet every day.

This is from a plaque pictured in the Marshall Field's Catalog, 2003: 
 

The following thoughts are from those who attended our October Sunday service on the Spirit of Tomorrow.  Each statement replies to the following: "My Hope for the Spirit of Tomorrow is that." (a complete set of the replies is posted in the hallway)

As I turn toward becoming 80 years old I find myself more concerned with the future. What I am working toward now I find deals with national - international problems, hunger, liberties --- finding our way to peace, better understanding and hope.

Although we all have our personal convictions about things, that we learn to "cut each other a little slack" and listen to each other's ideas with respect.

Our country will find leaders with the courage to seek peace in the world and be a force for justice and equality.  That they will end our policy of selfish pursuit of our own interests and work for the best interests of all the world.

Human beings gently let go of their attachments to self, identity, culture, etc. - all those things that separate us from one another.

People can remember the optimism they have once had.

We use our technology for reaching the stars, and for healing our wounds (the earths' and the people's), and for creating beauty - rather than for allowing us to decay into using our technology for our sole entertainment, convenience, reality, relationships, and worst of all, destruction.

We can grow into more loving and giving humans with deep understanding of our connection to each other.

Finally, from Mother Theresa: The fruit of Silence is Prayer. The fruit of Prayer is Faith. The fruit of Faith is Love. The fruit of Love is Service. The fruit of Service is Peace.

Love, David

November 2003  Getting Out the Vote

I was cruising Unitarian Universalist Association web site and encountered the latest Boston UU fad:  Get Out the Vote!  Our Association President Bill Sinkford writes:  “I believe that the greatest service our faith community can perform right now is to help Americans reclaim our democracy. We should never again have a president or a legislature elected by only half of the eligible voters as happened in 2000. …we have not, as a movement, committed ourselves to increase either voter registration or voter turn out. It is time we did.” Sinkford confesses to not having voted in the fall 2002 election and promises to mend his ways.

Our own Warren James, Sunny Fromm, Betty Gerold and Diane Lopatin and other Eastrose Fellowship members are active in the League of Women Voters East Multnomah County Chapter.  With our vote-by-mail elections, there’s no excuse other than laziness to not vote in Oregon. I’d like to think that we’re ahead of a national trend, although our state-wide voting rate is not especially impressive. I’ll add my encouragement to Bill Sinkford’s plea: it is time we focus on voting.

Speaking of which, there are two current ballot items directly affecting Eastrose Fellowship. First, there is the proposal to form a Public Utility District to manage our electric distribution system. Member Nancy Newell is a prime organizer and PUD Board candidate with her photo in the handbook. I’m voting “Yes” on these items for two reasons: first, I strongly object to the threatening PR campaign waged by the corporations and unions and second, I believe we’ve proven deregulation of electric power was a mistake.

Our Fellowship is inside the proposed Rockwood-West Gresham Urban Renewal Plan district.  Our part of the city suffers from increased crime, deteriorating employment and services, and some poor neighborhood conditions. If this item is on your ballot, I encourage your “Yes” vote on that, too.

Two recent actions by our federal government only augment my conviction that we need to exercise our democratic privilege to vote.  In Miami recently federal prosecutors indicted the organization Greenpeace for authorizing two members to board and unfurl a banner on a freighter bringing mahogany from Brazil. “Never before has our government criminally prosecuted an entire organization for the free speech activities of its supporters,” says Greenpeace.  Also, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with 380,000 members in 150 nations has banned participation by thousands of citizens of Iran, Cuba, Iraq, Libya and Sudan because our US government MIGHT declare the “evil empire” trade embargo rules to apply to reading, publishing and editing articles. The IEEE administration is not willing to risk facing fines and criminal prosecution.

These are major incursions on the sharing of knowledge and freedom of association and speech. The appropriate check is our right to vote. Let’s use it.

Love, David