SERMON: "In Times of Trouble"
Rev. Paul Beedle
May 11, 2008
Life is good. Love is grand. What a wonderful world! True, all true, but of course it's not all the truth there is. Life challenges us. Love is just hard work sometimes. And the world holds some ugly things. Even if we don't know much about life and love and the world, we know what we like. We like to have life and have it more abundantly, to cherish our blessings. We like to love one another into thriving. And we like to leave the world a better place than we found it. If faith is a way of moving and being in the world, spirituality is about cultivating our capacity to move and be that way. Spiritual and religious practices are meant to help us remember that life is good and love is grand and the world is wonderful, and to help us accept that life challenges us and love is hard work sometimes and the world has some ugly things in it, and to help us live so that we cherish our blessings and love others into thriving and leave the world better than we found it.
Our Sunday service is a spiritual practice meant to remind us of our core values of love, truth and service; to affirm our ministries of friendship and mutual support; to remember our neighbors in the community who are in need; to practice the disciplines of stillness, prayer and reflection; and to return to the world in a spirit of gratitude and generosity. We take with us what is offered that Sunday, but also – because worship is active, it is a practice – we take out what we put into it. It is the same with our individual spiritual practices. The morning walk (with or without the dog), or the daily prayer or meditation, or the inspirational reading, or whatever it is that we do individually to center ourselves, ground ourselves, renew our capacity to cope may offer something in and of itself – walking the dog is good exercise – but when we engage it with our full attention and presence we stand to gain much more – the smell of the air and touch of the breeze, the beauty of the sky and the grass and the blossoms, the calls of birds, the sense of blessing to be part of all this and the will to thrive in it. Spiritual practice is meant to nurture and renew our will to thrive amid life's blessings and cope with life's challenges.
There is much in life to distract us from that focus, and to deplete us. The news these past two weeks has been full of tragic and troubling stories about natural disasters. The biggest one is the cyclone in Burma, which some say has killed more people than the Tsunami that hit Indonesia and India not so long ago. There have also been severe storms in our country, causing damage and deaths from the plains to the Atlantic seaboard. There was a wildfire near Pasadena, California, very near where I used to live. And you might have heard about coyotes invading some southern California suburbs, getting into houses or attacking small children in their back yards. That also happened in communities near where I used to live. There are always natural disasters in our world. And there are critters in the wild trying to survive. That's just how it is. But our hearts go out to those who are hurt or suffer losses or the deaths of loved ones, whether we know them or not. And we may feel our sense of safety in the world challenged by such events. That's just how we are. That's how it is to be human and live in this world.
The news has also featured a lot of tragic and troubled human deeds and relationships. The biggest one is the military government of Burma refusing to accept aid, or seizing what supplies arrive there. There was also the story about the Mormon fundamentalists who were arrested in west Texas, and their distrust of law enforcement folks and the DNA testing and all the rest of it. And there's the usual varieties of crime stories, car chases, political scandal, and so forth. We always have these things in human societies, too, hard as we work at building communities and being good neighbors, and setting fair and just legal limits and boundaries, and providing education and opportunities to folks, and helping our neighbors when they need help, and trying to work for peace. That's just how it is. And our hearts go out to those who suffer, and we may feel frustration or even despair about all the bad human behavior in the world. We may lose heart, lose our sense of hope. That's just how we are. That's how it is to be human and live in this human world.
Within the familiar circles of our lives – in the Houston Unitarian Universalist community, in our professional or business worlds, in school and community groups we belong to, and in our extended network of family and friends – we can also know troubles. We don't get along, we irritate each other, maybe we don't or can't trust someone and wish we could, we put pressure on each other and don't mean to, and on and on. In more familiar circles, we're more vulnerable. Small hurts hurt more. Conflicts can be devastating. That's how it is. And when real trouble comes to our more familiar circles, our heads and hearts and guts can physically hurt from stress and distress. That's how we are. That's how it is to be human and be close to other humans.
Within ourselves we can know troubles. Our feelings move through us like the weather, our memories can haunt us, past hurts can linger, fears can distort our best efforts and intentions. We can feel confused. Sometimes we regret things we have said or done. Sometimes we wish we could take it back. That's how it is. Can we cherish our blessings and strengths, accept our failings, and try to leave ourselves better than we found us? In times of trouble, we might not be so sure. That's how we are. That's how it is to be human.
Some troubles one can do something about. Some one can't. Some troubles it seems like there's nothing to be done about, but then a light goes on or a friend appears or grace happens. Some troubles are just a long hard slog, and we muddle through. Whether or not there's something that can be done, we still need to center ourselves, to ground ourselves, to nurture and renew our will to cope with life's troubles when they come.
The more I've thought about this topic, the more appropriate it has seemed to me for Mothers Day, because sometimes when troubles loom large doesn't part of you want to cry out to Mother or whoever it was in your childhood who made things better? For me, it was my mother. And for all that some memories can haunt us, others can sustain us. And I find in times of trouble that memories of my mother and father and other teachers and mentors and what they would say or do often do sustain me and help me move through whatever it is I need to do or can do to make things better.
We're all different. We all have different experiences behind us. Different memories haunt or sustain us. We have different temperaments. We have different strengths and challenges. I've asked James and Ron to talk about how they center themselves, how they ground themselves, what they do to cope in times of trouble. After they offer some prepared reflections, I'll invite whoever would like to share a few unprepared reflections to do that.
[James, Ron; others]
Keep this conversation going. Keep talking together about what you do to center yourselves, to ground yourselves, to cope with your troubles. Know that we all have troubles. Don't be too proud to admit that you're human. And don't put your wisdom about how to sustain and strengthen yourself in times of trouble under a bushel. And when troubles come, know that this faith community wants to be here for you and to help. And if it's big trouble, or sensitive trouble, please know that that's what I'm here for. Call me or come see me. Talk to me. Tell me the story of your troubles and how you're coping. I want to be here for you, too, and to help if I can.
May we remember that life is good and love is grand and the world is wonderful, and accept that life challenges us and love is hard work sometimes and the world has some ugly things in it, and live so that we cherish our blessings and love each other into thriving and leave the world better than we found it. So may it be. Amen.