Chalice Art by Selma Blackburn
Rev. Bob Klein
UUCLR April 17, 2005
CHALICE, FIRE AND WATER: THE RITUALS THAT BIND US TOGETHER
WATER COMMUNION SERVICE
This morning as we gather for our Ingathering Water Communion Service to celebrate the beginning of the main church year 2005-2006, we are confronted with a date that lives in infamy and the reality of the still unfolding disaster in New Orleans. The Hurricane Katrina disaster began just two weeks ago, but we may not know the real toll for months or years. The September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center Towers in New York with hijacked commercial airliners inflamed a ‘War on Terrorism’ which sparked US attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq. We live in challenging times, and yet our religion remains hopeful.
Our symbols of Chalice, Fire and Water are ambiguous symbols, mixed metaphors. The chalice, lifted from its common use as a cup for drinking water or wine, symbolized the life sustaining provision of fluids, the sharing of a living ‘blood’ connection for Jesus and his followers. It is also the holder from which fire burns for Unitarian Universalists. The Flaming Chalice has been connected with the death of martyrs like Michael Servetus to the liberal Christian, Unitarian and Universalist faiths by fire, but fire also serves as a cleansing and renewing flame, purifying the Gold by burning away the dross, cleansing forests and opening pinecones to release seeds that bring about rebirth. Water is essential for human beings and all of the plants and animals of earth, but water in the form of hurricanes, Tsunamis and floods can also be tremendously destructive. Chalice, Fire, and Water are symbols of life and death, basic to our existence, fundamental to our faith experience. Out of destruction and death have been forged new faith and resurgent community, a rebirth of life’s vitality and creativity.
The lighting of the chalice is one of the most common regular elements of worship in Unitarian Universalist congregations, and the Water Communion is gaining widespread use as an ingathering celebration in the fall. The mingling together of waters symbolizing our unique individual experiences and travels is indicative of our sharing of those experiences, our interest in the experiences and our acceptance of the inherent value of others, and it is symbolic of the importance of our individuality within the beloved community that we form in this congregation. The lighting of our chalice by a mixture of new and longtime members and friends, by young and old alike, symbolizes our inclusion of all persons who share our Principles and wish to be a part of this congregation for today, for a time, or for a lifetime.
As American citizens we have surely faced difficult times in the past, and yet these are particularly trying times we face this fall. Conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to claim the lives of American military women and men as well as American contract workers, not to mention the unknown toll of the people of Iraq. The disaster in New Orleans is without parallel in our experience. We do not have time to today to look in detail into these matters, but many of us wonder how much these conflicts and this disaster can be attributed to greed, human arrogance, racism, hetero-sexism, abuse of the natural world, and religious discrimination.
In the face of all of this we remain a hopeful, even optimistic people. Few Unitarian Universalists spend their time worrying about heaven or hell, we are anchored in this time and its possibilities. Sometimes we spend too much time discussing possibilities, but we are grounded in our experiences and in the ways that we can make a difference now! We are ready to act and willing to share our resources when needs arise. We are generous in responding to human suffering and also generous in our criticism of those who have caused human and animal suffering. We share tremendous wisdom and ability in our community.
Today we celebrate the beginning of a new year in the life of this church. We also celebrate the transitions of recent days in the congregation, as Director of Religious Education, Jolinda Stephens, says farewell, and John Willis begins his tenure as our DRE. We also celebrate the process which is leading to the hiring of a new Director of Music and look forward to new leadership for the choir.
Unitarian members and friends shaped this great nation under visionary liberal leadership of Jefferson, the Adams’s, and many others. We have a deeply vested stake in the future of this great land. Our growth as a movement has not kept pace with the growth of population, nor have we clearly articulated what it is that we seek to accomplish, nor that which we believe in recent years. Even in the midst of our celebrated diversity of thought and belief, we are challenged to come together in a way that truly will make a difference in the lives of people and in the future of our nation and the world. This is the moment, now is the time, and we are those who are called to step forward, to take action, to make a difference.
On Thursday, I participated, along with Glen Hooks and Marvin Schwartz and other progressive individuals in teleconferences with our Senators over the need for an independent judiciary. In my short time here in Arkansas, I have spent more time talking with our Senators, especially Senator Lincoln, than the total of the contacts I have had with Federal office holders through the rest of my life. This is just one of the ways that we can make a difference.
I am confident to say that thousands of dollars have already been donated to relief for people and animals affected by Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans by members of this congregation. I know that dozens, if not hundreds of hours of assistance have already been donated to the Red Cross efforts by members of this congregation. Friends of this congregation who serve in the National Guard and the active military have also been involved in the relief efforts at the Little Rock Air Force Base and in New Orleans. Members of this congregation have been reaching out to help those in need, opening their homes, their schedules, and their wallets. This is our faith in action!
The assistance needed by Hurricane victims may last months or years, but there is an area in which we may be even more successful in making a difference. Unitarian Universalists, though a small group now, are world changers, visionaries, advocates for change and progress. I have already invited you to join me in assessing the meaning of our diverse theological beliefs, and a group will start soon to work on that matter. Now I challenge you to come together in groups like our UU Ministry for Earth/7th Principle Project Group to formulate a plan for advocacy to make sure that a disaster like that in New Orleans does not happen again. I challenge you to take a stand that living beings will come before profits, to look at the Greenhouse effect, pollution, and deforestation, to advocate for mass transit and fuel economy, and solar and wind energy production. In the aftermath of the oil wars and the intensification of hurricanes due the warming of waters and air of earth, it is time to stand up and make a noise!
These are matters of political concern, but they are also matters for prayer and study and meditation. What are your dreams telling you about these events in the world? What is your spirit calling you to do in response? These are times that vex people’s souls and spirits, but they are also times which call us to respond! The prayers, energy, time, money, and commitment we give to caring for people and animals who are now suffering will make a difference. These actions will help to build a better world, a brighter tomorrow, a future more ecological and more egalitarian.
As members and friends of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock, we are called to gather our energy, pool our resources even as we mingle our waters, join our hearts and minds together to strengthen this congregation, to invite in those who are seeking, to reach out to those in need, to make clear what we believe, and to take action to make our city, state, nation, and world healthier, more compassionate, and more just! So May it Be!
WATER COMMUNION INSTRUCTIONS 9-11-05
As you come to pour your water into the common basin, please share a word or two about where the water came from or what it means to you, and if you have a word of hope for this congregation in the coming year, please share that as well!
The children will assist as we form lines to the outside of the front of the sanctuary, then come up front to share our words and water, and then return via the center aisle.
There is some additional water for those who did not bring some today, if you would like to symbolically share by pouring some of this water into the mix!
Thank you all for sharing in this ingathering service. Some of this water will be saved for next year, some will be taken to our District SWUUSI event and some will be taken to water the fern that was planted last year and first watered with our shared waters thus returning them to the earth and sky!
May this sharing of waters symbolize our joined hearts, hands, heads, and voices here in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock, State of Arkansas, United States of America, planet Earth!
Shalom, Salam, Blessed Be, and Amen!