Living Memory 

The people we love who have gone ahead of us into whatever comes after this life can continue to inhabit our memories of them. 

Today is All Saints' Day 

  on the Western Christian calendar. 

I believe that this Feast day is an adaptation 

  of the ancient Earth based Feast of Samhain, 

    renamed All Hallows' Eve in English

      as a time to remember all 

        of our dearly departed loved ones. 

The evening is before is just as holy because 

  the holiest days begin 

    at sundown on the day before. 

For example, because of holy days 

  beginning on the evening before, 

    every Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown 

      on Friday evening. 

For the same reason, 

  Christmas Eve is as much a part of Christmas 

    as Christmas Day itself. 

Both Samhain (Halloween) and All Saints Day, 

  the evening before and the day itself,  

    celebrate the thin time, 

      a remembrance and making present 

        of the people and creatures 

          whom we have loved 

            who have gone before us into the life 

              that follows this life. 

No one knows exactly what that life is, 

  but many of us hope that it is more than memory. 

Even if it is only the memory 

  of those of us who are still in this world, 

    it is a meaningful and worthwhile matter 

      for our consideration, especially today. 

Because of the thin time, today is important 

  for considering the meaning of memory 

    and also for considering 

      whatever more there may be beyond memory. 

I often think and speak of the thin time 

  around this time of year 

    because the thin time is an important aspect 

      of the celebration 

        of this holiday 

          or holy day 

            for me. 

The term, thin time, simply means 

  that the veil between the worlds 

    becomes particularly thin 

      around this time of year. 

We are in a time of transition, 

  and we can often see ourselves and our world 

    in new ways when things are changing. 

This principle of seeing in new ways applies 

  to individual people 

    to nations and societies 

      and to the situations in which we find ourselves. 

So it also applies to our election season 

  and its denoument, as in a play or drama.  

In other words, 

  the resolution and its result are at hand. 

Regardless of our political commitments, 

  we are all hoping (and praying) 

    for a positive and peaceful result. 

As I've said before, 

  the most important part of this thin time for me 

    is the ease of observing nature spirits 

      around this time of year. 

Everything that breathes has spirit, 

  since breath is what the term spirit actually means. 

At this time of year, it seems to me, 

  we can feel the presence of spirit or breath 

    in ways that we might not even notice 

      at other times. 

Since today is All Saints Day, 

  I want us to think together 

    especially about the spirit and presence 

      of those who have gone ahead of us 

        into that which is beyond us, 

          even if they have simply gone 

            into our living memories. 

I'm making the claim that memory holds life 

  within itself, more than just the hope 

    of an afterlife. 

When we speak of someone 

  whose life in this world has ended, 

    we often say, "They breathed their last." 

What that amounts to, I believe, 

  is that those who have died 

    have breathed out their breath, 

      their life, their spirit. 

Where has it gone? 

That is what is not known, 

  even by those who claim that they know for sure. 

We all have beliefs about it, 

  but I want us to think about it together 

    in terms of the world we call memory. 

Memory can be a delicate thing, 

  in that it can be transformed in good and bad ways, 

    and it can be lost through disease or injury. 

Yet there is much more to it 

  than meets the mind. 

My mother had Alzheimer's Disease 

  for about the last 25 years of her life. 

Over those years, she lost 

  and occasionally recovered 

    more memories than I can conceive of. 

She certainly lives on in my memory 

  and in the memories of others as well. 

In her final days, she taught me 

  an important lesson 

    about the meaning and power of memory. 

I had spent a full day with my stepdad 

  helping him search for a care home 

    that he and my mother could move into. 

For the first time ever, I had paid no attention to her. 

As I was saying, "Good evening," 

  before heading home, a couple of hours away, 

    as I was standing near her, 

      still without speaking to her, 

        she kicked me! :-) 

Never in my life have I felt a more welcome,

  more meaningful, and more loving kick! 

At that time, very near the end of her life, 

  she was unable to speak, 

    and yet 

      she was quite able to communicate! 

In that moment I realized that she knew who I was, 

  and she was aware that I had ignored her all day. 

She was telling me that she was still right there 

  and I WAS going to pay attention to her. 

Needless to say, I took a moment 

  to talk to her and to tell her how much I loved her. 

I shared the story with her surviving sisters, 

  and they confirmed with me, 

    "Oh yes! That was your mother!" 

I've told this story many times before, 

  maybe to you, 

    mostly to make clear 

      that memory has more about it 

        than we can understand. 

One of our beloved NIUU people 

  shared a view of our final moments in this world 

    that he anticipates finding meaningful: 

Even if there is nothing awaiting us 

  on the other side of death, 

    we will have our memories 

      to spend our final moments with. 

To be honest, 

  I do not find that a frightening thought. 

Memory is a world unto itself, 

  inhabited by the people and events 

    that we have held on to 

      for good and ill. 

It can motivate us to confirm and think of 

  our memories in positive ways, 

    using them to understand good things 

      about the meaning of our lives. 

Living memory is inhabited by love, 

  and with it we create a world we can inhabit 

    along with the people who remain with us 

      through our lives here and now 

        as well as there and then. 

Living memory is part of our lives 

  until we breathe our last. 

I find deep comfort in the idea 

  that living memory is a world of love 

    inhabited by people we have loved 

      who have gone there ahead of us. 

I find equally deep comfort in the idea 

  that living memory is a world of love 

    I myself will inhabit one day 

      after I breathe my last. 

Will I be conscious there as an individual? 

Honestly, I don't know. 

I do believe that consciousness is a reality 

  beyond the constraints of time, space, 

    and the physical boundaries of the synapses 

      it inhabits in our world. 

I think of our brains as a matrix 

  that consciousness can inhabit 

    rather than thinking of them as 

      the creators of our consciousness. 

These thoughts and beliefs 

  are not at all defensible, scientific fact. 

There may be good reasons for that. 

We shall see. 

Meanwhile, in our present world, 

  before I close this sermon, 

    I want to offer a few more thoughts 

      about the thin time we are in together. 

The election that is culminating 

  the day after tomorrow 

    is a scary prospect 

      no matter what happens. 

Because of a movie by the name, 

  The Day after Tomorrow, 

    it's a scary idea. 

The movie was about terrifying consequences 

  of climate change. 

We are living through 

  some of the consequences now, 

    but none of them are as scary 

      as those portrayed in the movie. 

At the same time, 

  the thin time itself 

    is not necessarily scary or spooky. 

Halloween is fun, after all, 

  and I've believed for many years 

    that part of the fun 

      is getting to laugh at the things that scare us. 

So keep that in mind, please, my friends. 

Whatever happens 

  over the next days or even weeks, 

    our life together as a nation 

      is far greater and stronger 

        than the threats we are facing together. 

The key word here is, "together," 

  because we are E PLURIBUS UNUM, 

    out of many one. 

United we stand, divided we fall. 

The divisions of our time are ultimately an illusion. 

As a people we have been deeply divided before, 

  and those divisions have been healed. 

Let the healing and unity begin now. 

Amen. 

So let it be. 

PLEASE. 

 

Autumn Joy 

The Season of Autumn brings a festive time, traditionally following harvest and preparing for new beginnings. It brings its own kind of joy and a sense of well being for people in our planet's northern hemisphere. 

I have to admit that for most of my life 

  October has been my favorite month of the year. 

Now that I live in the North, 

  April is running a close second, 

    but October is still definitely on top for me. 

It may be partly because of the 

  now undeniable effects of climate change, 

    but October still marks 

      the escape from heat for me. 

This year I wondered about my escape from heat 

  for the first couple of weeks of October, 

    but the weather has at last begun 

      to feel more like Fall. 

It's no accident that Thanksgiving celebrations 

  happen in Autumn, for us, 

    and for our neighbors to the north in Canada. 

In the northern hemisphere, 

  Autumn is the primary season for harvest. 

Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, 

  and this year it was 

    a week ago as of tomorrow, October 19 - 

      that is, it was October 12 this year. 

Our Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. 

  is November 26 this year. 

It makes sense 

  that Canadian Thanksgiving comes earlier. 

In the North, harvest comes earlier. 

Canadian Thanksgiving 

  is the second Monday in October. 

U.S. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday 

  in November. 

Cooler weather brings its own kind of good feelings, 

  but Autumn also ushers in a season of celebrations, 

    high holy days for various faiths 

      and national celebrations like Thanksgiving. 

The coming holiday of Halloween, 

  much longer known as Samhain, 

    is the holy day that is coming soonest, 

      at least for those of us in the U.S. 

On the ancient pagan calendar, 

  it marks the start of winter, 

    the season of cold weather, 

      not just pleasantly cool weather. 

Beth once pointed out to me 

  that in our part of the world, 

    the first snowfall often comes 

      around Samhain, a.k.a. October 31. 

Of course it can come much sooner, 

  and with climate change, it may start coming 

    much later. 

My first year in the Inland Northwest, 

  the first snowfall came around November 7, 

    and the last of the snow that fell with it 

      finally melted completely away in April. 

I did not know at the time that the pattern 

  would not be repeated year after year. 

It's not my plan to speak 

  mostly about the weather today, 

    but weather profoundly affects the way we feel, 

      and that IS mostly what I want to talk about. 

Joy is far more important and more dependable 

  than the feeling of happiness. 

Of course, it depends on how we use the words, 

  but I think of joy as a sense of inner well being, 

    a kind of positive peace, 

      that sense of peace is not subject to being lost 

        in the face of life's changes and challenges. 

Autumn is more a reflection 

  of a sense of well being than its source. 

Harvest time is a source of well being 

  so long as the harvest is a good one. 

Our regional culture 

  is deeply entwined with harvest 

    and the well being 

      that it can engender. 

Over many generations, 

  people have had the good sense to help each other. 

One crop may fail 

  at the same time 

    that another crop greatly prospers. 

The hope of helping each other 

  is a far more dependable source 

    of joy and well being 

      than a single crop whose failure 

        could threaten many people 

          with the loss of joy, happiness, 

            and even many more losses. 

Many of us are familiar with some 

  of the history of the so-called 

    Irish potato famine. 

Very few Irish people call that period of starvation 

  by the name of potato famine. 

They tend to call it simply the Great Famine. 

It is true that the trigger of the starvation 

  was a potato blight. 

It is also true that potatoes were a staple 

  of the diet of the Irish people. 

When the potato crop failed, 

  as many as a million of the people left the country, 

    greatly damaging the Irish economy, 

      and, much worse, 

        as many as a million of the people 

          starved to death. 

At the very same period of time 

  other crops such as barley 

    achieved "bumper crop" status, 

      but most of those crops 

        were exported from Ireland

          even as many of the people 

            who raised and harvested those crops 

              died of starvation 

                because they did not own the crops 

                  or the land 

                    on which the crops were grown. 

Deep and enduring resentment were engendered 

  between Irish people and their overlords 

    on a neighboring Island (a.k.a. England). 

More than a century of war 

  and "troubles" came into being. 

Today most of Ireland is an independent nation, 

  and some resolution of the "troubles" 

    may be at hand as a result of Brexit, 

      but it's also possible that the troubles 

        may start up again in a new wave. 

Be that as it may, 

  the history of the Great Famine of Ireland 

    can serve as a paradigm of harvests and justice. 

To say the least, basic principles of justice 

  would require that people who work the land 

    must be allowed to share in the abundance 

      that the land produces, 

        enough to permit them to survive

          and even prosper. 

Autumn joy would ask no less of us. 

In truth, the act of sharing 

  can provide a basic and profound

    sense of joy of its own. 

The joy of sharing and enabling each other's survival 

  is an important part of life's meaning for us all. 

Giving thanks together 

  is enabled by acts of sharing 

    and helping other people to survive. 

As we deal with the coronavirus pandemic, 

  acts of sharing and helping other people survive 

    are taking on new meaning. 

The simple act of wearing a mask 

  can be a significant way to help others survive. 

The unwillingness of too many people 

  to engage in such a simple caring act 

    is a sign of denial as much as anything. 

We may not ever return to a way of life 

  that we used to regard as normal, 

    and such a loss can be really difficult to accept. 

What lies ahead may become something better, 

  a culture newly based on mutual caring and hope. 

My own hope is that we can learn new ways 

  of feeling and expressing gratitude 

    as we learn to care about others in new ways. 

There are indeed signs of such caring happening, 

  and we have a chance to see the caring 

    gain the upper hand 

      instead of the denial. 

What we will all need 

  is to learn to be kind to each other, 

    even when it is difficult to do so. 

According to the national legend 

  of the first Thanksgiving 

    sharing, caring, and enabling survival 

      were an important part of the story 

        of the first colonists from England. 

Three Sisters agriculture give us 

  a symbolic representation 

    of sharing and cooperation. 

Teaching the Three Sisters method 

  may well be a part of the way 

    that native Americans helped the colonists survive. 

Corn, beans and squash grow together, 

  helping each other with their unique qualities. 

The corn provides a pole to hold the beans 

  as their vines grow. 

The squash provides a living mulch 

  as the plants' large leaves protect the soil. 

Squash, Corn and Beans provide nourishment 

  that humans need to survive and prosper. 

We modern humans can learn to use our own gifts 

  to help each other in new ways day by day. 

As our days pass in the season of Autumn, 

  we are preparing not only for the holy days 

    of Samhain (Halloween) and Thanksgiving, 

      we are also preparing for celebrations of Light. 

The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah 

  will begin on December 10 this year.   

With menorahs and the candles for the eight days, 

  it's a Festival of Light. 

The Christian celebration of Christmas 

  is preceded by a Season of preparation

    known as Advent. 

This year Advent begins on November 29, 

  still technically within Autumn. 

With the candles of Advent wreaths, 

  it, too is a season of Light. 

The Winter Solstice, December 21 this year, 

  marks the end of Autumn, the start of winter, 

    and the beginning 

      of longer days and shorter nights. 

As such, it is the source 

  of all our celebrations of light. 

Ancient earth based spirituality marked it 

  as a sign of hope. 

Darkness and cold will not dominate us forever. 

Our Autumn Joy culminates in the Season 

  that celebrates the Rebirth of the Light. 

In times like ours, 

  we need the joy and beauty of Autumn

    and the hope of the coming season of light. 

Amen. 

So let it be. 

 

Genes and Memes 

Genes are sequences of information used to make proteins and carry out most of the work in our bodies. Memes are units of culture that carry information about our hopes, feelings, beliefs and actions as individuals and groups. Understanding both can help us live consciously and meaningfully. 

Most of us have read books whose stories or ideas 

  become a part of us, 

    and we carry them inside ourselves 

      through most of our lives. 

About 20 years ago, I read one of those books, 

  and it has affected the way I see the world 

    ever since. 

The book was _The Meme Machine_ 

  by Susan Blackmore. 

It was especially interesting to me. 

The book describes the meme as a tool 

  that can be used to help us understand 

    the society in which we live. 

Our culture shapes us, and we also help to shape it. 

Memes and meme theory 

  can help us understand 

    both our society and our culture. 

In college, I had a double major 

  in sociology (as well as music), 

    so the concept of the meme 

      has long fascinated me as a way to analyze 

        the development 

          of human societies and cultures. 

I get the question fairly often, 

  "What is a meme?" 

    so I hope today to address the question 

      and help us all see the idea of memes 

        as a way to understand the sharing of ideas. 

Genes are well known and understood as sources 

  of important information about organisms,

    both plants and animals. 

The information from genes 

  is passed from generation to generation 

    to provide information about a species 

      and its characteristics. 

Individual creatures are formed at least in part 

  by the genes they inherit from their ancestors. 

We ourselves are part of the genetic process, 

  also known as heredity, 

    both in terms of giving and receiving genes. 

The color of your skin, your hair, and your eyes, 

  for example, is a result of the genes 

    you have inherited. 

In much the same way, 

  memes are units of culture, 

    expressions of ideas, 

      and they help form and reflect 

        societies, cultures, and their development. 

There have been memes 

  as long as there have been human societies, 

    but they are being supercharged in our time. 

There have also long been supermemes. 

The oldest and most obvious supermeme is religion. 

Hymns and songs are among the most ancient 

  forms of memes, and they reinforce a sense 

    of belonging to a given supermeme or religion. 

Doctrines are also memes of religions, 

  but doctrines are generally 

    not as much fun as hymns.  

In our own UU tradition, 

  each of our Seven Principles is a meme, 

    as are the six sources of our faith. 

I hope you are getting a feel for something 

  that I consider important: 

    that a meme is a tool 

      for understanding the formation 

        of society and culture

          in much the same way that a gene is a tool 

            for understanding the formation 

              of animals and plants. 

Supermemes are ways 

  of spreading many memes at the same time. 

Conspiracy theories are scarier kinds of supermemes

  than religions, even though some religions 

    are and can be scary enough. 

Whether there are any real alien invaders or not, 

  UFO culture is a supermeme. 

A conspiracy theory that deserves to be obscure 

  but is becoming famous lately 

    is Q-Anon. 

It's an obvious example of a super meme. 

Some of the memes that it spreads are so ridiculous 

  that it's difficult to imagine 

    that anybody could actually believe them. 

And yet... 

  Q-Anon is in the process 

    of entering the mainstream. 

By the way, 

  we provide energy to memes 

    by speaking of them in specific terms. 

It's hard to refute some of the crazy ones 

  without listing some of their more ridiculous ideas, 

    but refuting them 

      without describing them in detail 

        is a tightrope we are having to learn to walk. 

In that light, I feel a need to mention a meme 

  currently being spread by Q-Anon. 

To me, one of the most positive things 

  President Trump said about his and Melania's 

    contracting COVID-19 was, 

      "We'll get through this together." 

Well, Q-Anon followers 

  broke down the word, together, 

    to mean, "to get her," 

      that is, to get Hillary Clinton. 

I don't know any details about 

  the meaning of that, 

    and I don't want to know more than I have to. 

Maybe that's my small way of walking the tightrope: 

  showing how crazy the memes can get 

    without spreading them further. 

In any case, 

  memes are ways of sharing ideas, 

    but we don't have to share them. 

They are ways of spreading culture, 

  but we don't have to accept the culture

    they are spreading. 

Just as genes are not the last word 

  about the life and development of an organism, 

    so memes are not the last word 

      about the development of a society. 

Experience and choice are also powerful factors 

  in determining what we are like 

    as individuals and as societies. 

The combined effects of many choices 

  help determine the direction of a society. 

Hence there is a measure of individual responsibility 

  in any society's direction and development. 

The choice to say and do nothing 

  is still a choice. 

The age old controversy of nature versus nurture 

  applies to both genes and memes, 

    in equal measure, it seems to me. 

The gene is the first word 

  about the nature of an organism. 

It is not the final word. 

There is a necessary balance 

  between genetics and experience. 

Memes are like that, too. 

In the life of an individual, 

  they can be part of nurture, 

    but they are more like the first word, not the last, 

      in the life of a society. 

In the society of the U.S. today, social media

  provides platforms, prime launching pads 

    for memes of many kinds. 

Facebook is probably the premier platform, 

  especially for many mature adults (like me). 

Instagram is more popular with the young.

Supermemes have (and long have had) influence 

  over public opinion and so also over elections. 

Today the conspiracy theory of Q-Anon 

  will have some influence on the coming election 

    since some candidates 

      have expressed their support for it. 

Religions have influenced politics 

  in many times and places. 

In the Eastern Roman Empire, 

  the Emperor was considered also 

    the leader of the church.

In the Western Roman Empire, 

  the pope was also the head of a State, 

    sometimes larger and sometimes smaller, 

      until today it is a few square blocks (121 acres) 

        within the City of Rome, the Vatican. 

Especially today, 

  some political parties are becoming supermemes. 

Like religions 

  some of them are demanding loyalty 

    from their followers. 

In the middle of a fraught election season, 

  we can use the understanding of memes 

    to make sense of many things 

      that would otherwise be nonsense. 

There are some things 

  that we won't be able to make sense of, 

    but our own ability to retain some degree of sanity 

      could be helped 

        by increasing our level of understanding. 

If you visit social media platforms like Facebook, 

  if you watch news programming on television, 

    you are being exposed to many memes. 

Some of those are planted by supermemes 

  or other interested parties 

    in order to promote their own points of view. 

There is still such a thing as truth, 

  and it is still possible to verify truth vs. falsehood. 

Search engines like google and bing 

  are tools to find the source of a meme. 

Sometimes that is hidden. 

Sometimes it is easy to find. 

In any case, substantiation is easier today 

  than it was 

    when we had to use library card catalogs 

      to find most information about sources of ideas. 

Chaos is the goal of bad actors. 

Information is the antidote. 

Memes can be good or bad, 

  but they are not so by their nature. 

You can even create your own. 

Find an answer to an idea or meme 

  that you discover is false. 

Share it. 

Become part of the solution. 

I believe we can make courtesy and truth telling 

  fashionable again. 

Even that simple statement 

  could become a meme or two: 

Just say, "Treat each other with courtesy." 

or, "Tell the truth! It might not even hurt too much." 

A drop of water may not seem like much in an ocean, 

  but the ocean itself is made up of many drops. 

You and I are not alone. 

We have each other, 

  even if we have to learn 

    to share our relationships online. 

You and I can be a part of the giant turnaround 

  we all need. 

If it begins with the present election, 

  we may even be able to create good memories 

    to keep with us from this year of 2020. 

Amen. 

So let it be.