Sermon

INTRODUCTION: How many of you took typing or keyboarding? Do you remember the statement that is one of the simplest and easiest to type fast: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” It’s easy to type because it uses both hands, both sides, equally. Today is such a time. We need leadership from both parties…both sides…equally.

Because today, America is in a crisis…not the crisis of Iraq…nor the crisis of 300,000 homes in foreclosure – 22,000 here in Lee County alone – nor the crisis of health care in America. No, although each of these crises is real, the true crisis is our democratic capitalist system. The fissure…the break in the dike…the failing in the foundation…is that our lending institutions are afraid to loan money…to extend credit to worthy borrowers. To put it very bluntly, our American brand of capitalism fails if credit is not available.

At one time or another, one of hundreds of thousands of banks, businesses, and lenders have all extended us credit – to buy cars and homes, clothes and furniture…to open businesses, to go to college, to take trips – all done on credit.

But Friday the biggest bank in America – Washington Mutual – failed and was seized by the government. Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest holders of home loans in the world were taken over only a week or so ago by the government. The largest insurance corporation in the world was seized last week. An old and trusted investment bank went under, and even Merrill Lynch – almost synonymous with the stock market – was swallowed up by Bank of America.

The reason? Our system was infected by runaway, rampant greed, which has turned in on upon itself. As a result, the combination of all those banks, lending institutions, insurance companies and stock holding companies – the system which enables them to operate, is at risk of crashing. And our government…elected and appointed…is trying to do something about it, so as to avert an economic meltdown.

Meanwhile, those living closest to the edge in the system are experiencing the failures of our system up close and personal…losing their homes…losing their jobs…searching for food distribution centers…and worried not only about today, but tomorrow, the future and the future of their children.

In Lee County, the United Way has a telephone number for people in trouble to call: 211. When people call, most times a friendly United Way person gives them the name, address and phone number of the agency or agencies that can address their specific needs. But in September 2008, it’s not unusual when they call that agency, that they will be told that its resources have been maxed out…they have no food to give away…or they have no money to help pay the rent that is due...or they can’t assist in paying part of the bill for the utility that is about to be cut off.

Then the people call back to 211, and tell their story about not finding any agency which can help. They’re then told to call the churches and see if they can get help there. And so the people in need go to the Yellow Pages of the telephone directory. They get on the phone and follow the listings church by church by church. They ask: “Please, can you help?” And when they are told it’s not possible, they sometimes ask, “What should we do?” You want to say, call 211, but you know that’s who told them to call in the first place.

But you know what? It’s not only people out there. It’s also people in here. It’s you and I, or people we know, or even our family or circle of friends. It’s those who are struggling with cars they can’t afford to repair, or an absolute lack of money as they near the end of the month. All of which is to say that these are tough, tough times. And in tough times, what do we do?

It was so hard in writing at this point not to wade in on the situation and the people and practices that got us here. But name calling and finger pointing will do little in terms of concrete help…as the presidential debates demonstrated Friday night. Our system is in trouble…the system that enabled us to set aside savings for retirement…or to plan for our children’s college…or to have insurance.

But it’s not only the credit crisis in Washington and on Wall Street. There are other struggles that are very real. Last week, I visited over the phone with one of our members who because of the advancing stages of her cancer has moved out of state so as to be near her son and grandchildren. But the pain from her cancer is so intense that she is unable to take care of the grandchildren that she moved out of state to be near.

I spoke with another member who suffers from intense pain in his back. He deeply desires to attend our services, but to do so he has to take pain medication, which then causes him to go to sleep at the services for which he was taking the medicine, so as to be able to attend.

There are some struggling with the traumatic ending of relationships. And some with the death of a spouse or partner. What does faith have to say to any of these life situations? What do we do – we here at All Faiths?

To address that question, I want to turn to yesterday’s News-Press, for what we might call our contemporary scripture.[2] (The early 20^th century Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, said that every minister should prepare her or his sermon with the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. I’m batting .500.)

In the article, there is a beautiful display of paintings by Ft. Myers artist Chad Beatty, accompanied by a short but excellent article based on an interview by JL Watson. Here are some of the quotes from JL’s interview of Mr. Beatty:

n “I have a desire to work on projects that satisfy my search for things that make sense of existence….Symbolic paintings allow me to explore ideas.”

n JL says that much of Beatty’s work starts on a cerebral level. He thinks about what has happened in the past and what’s to come, before putting anything on canvas or paper. “I tend to focus on the larger questions in life and the answers to those questions.”

n JL writes that spirituality is a common theme, though it’s left to the viewer to decide if there is faith present in the piece.

n Beatty says, “As humans, we’re really not fulfilled. We’re put here, but we don’t know why. We can enjoy it, but there are harsh realities we have to deal with.”

So with Chad Beatty’s statements in the background, here’s my proposal to you this morning: What if we thought of our time together as an art class…we’re all art students…and we’re going to be painting…but we’re going to be painting with words, with ideas, illustrations, and quotations. But before we can do that there are some things we have to do.

We can never return to the past. Have you ever stood on the banks of a river or creek and put your foot in the water. What happened? The water rushed by. Despite how many times we put our foot back in the water, we can never put it back in the same water. We may wish for things to be the way they were, but they are past, just like the waters of the river are past. The past is past.

I’m saying that to myself as well as to you. “Bush bashing” may be cathartic, but ultimately it’s destructive and eats at our soul. We’ve got to get over it. As Winston Churchill said, “Democracy is the worst possible form of government…except for any other.” The American people elected this administration four years ago…and our U.S. Senate confirmed the U.S. Supreme Court judges that selected the same administration four years before that. In a democracy, we the American people have to pay the consequences for the incompetents we may elect and hope that the Ship of State can be righted the next time.

So how should we live in this period of uncertainty…in this time of loss of trust? What handholds are there to grasp…to hold on to? Remember, we are painting with words.

Do tough times mean giving up…letting go of the plow…leaving it to others? What does commitment mean for a liberal religious in the first decade of the 21^st century…when the things we had most confidence in – our very way of life has been squandered by out of control greed.

It only took eight years for the Congress, the administration, the courts, and the American people to put the richest, most powerful, most free and democratic nation at enormous risk. We thought in 2000, it was just a matter of the gauge going a little right as opposed to going a little left. Instead, in eight years, there’s been a ship wreck. The entire system is now in jeopardy. Permanence is a myth.

The Buddha said that the world is filled with suffering. We suffer because we want to hang on to some thing, some person, or some idea. Inner peace can only come from letting go.

One of the incredible stories illustrating that comes out of the genocide of Rwanda in 1994, when hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and the moderates of the Hutu majority were massacred. The village of a pregnant Rwandan mother of six was destroyed in a massacre. She was shot first, then buried under the bodies of her six children, and left for dead. She dug herself out, buried her children, bore her new child, and then adopted five orphaned children who had lost their parents. She reached out, and in so doing went on with her life.

What we need in times of turmoil, is not to vent, it’s not to hold on to the past, or keep thinking things will return to the way they’ve always been. What we most need is somehow to have an experience of the sacred and to re-center ourselves so that we do not lose that which is most precious – our caring nature, our sense of community, our trust and willingness to venture.

And to encounter the sacred always comes from connecting with something else – a person, a part of the earth, an idea, a feeling, a great tradition.

This particular time of year happens to be a very special part of two religious traditions, Islam and Judaism: Muslims around the world are close to ending Ramadan, a 30 day period in which they abstain from eating or drinking all day. They will be celebrating the breaking of the fast of Ramadan Tuesday.

At the same time tomorrow evening, Jews will be entering into the High Holy Days beginning with Rosh Hashanah, and ending on Oct. 8^th with Yom Kippur. For many those traditions enable them to renew the sense of the sacred in their lives.

In the News-Press article I quoted earlier, JL says that much of the artist Chad Beatty’s work starts on a cerebral level. He thinks about what has happened in the past and what’s to come in the future, before putting anything on canvas or paper. “I tend to focus on the larger questions in life and the answers to those questions.”

So think on the past, then on what’s to come. Then let us paint our faith in the present…our response to life’s questions.

And when we do, it might be good to recall these words written two hundred thirty two years ago, when the Declaration of Independence was signed. One of its most lasting phrases still is this:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

These are the scriptures of the United States. In ways that we’ve never had to do before, we’re having to determine if what they set forth can be reaffirmed. Can we work together for the common good? Can we rise above ideology, partisanship, and blame? I think we can. I think we must. And it begins here with us.

A cartoonist showed its lead character, Pontius, thinking to himself, "I wonder if God can really hear me." The next frame shows Pontius praying: “O God! What should I do with my life?" The third frame has a voice from heaven saying: "FEED THE HUNGRY. MAKE RIGHT INJUSTICE. WORK FOR PEACE!" The next frame Pontius says, "Just testing!" "Same here," God speaks back.

So what should we do in these troubled times? Continue to do the same things faith always does: Feed the hungry. Make right injustice. And to work for peace.

[1] A sermon presented September 28, 2008, as the fourth in a sermon series entitled, “Tough Faith for Tough Times,” followed by the Conversation Café of All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, meeting at the Crestwell School, 1904 Park Meadows, Ft. Myers, FL, with the Rev. Dr. Wayne Robinson, minister.

[2] Sept. 27, 2008: section C, page 1.