Balance 

With the arrival of the Spring Equinox, we think not only of the balance of hours of the days and the nights, we can also seek balance in our personal and national lives. 

Early yesterday morning, the sun could be seen 

  directly overhead at the equator. 

Our day star is continuing 

  the apparent journey toward 

    the Tropic of Cancer, 

and so, yesterday and today daylight and darkness 

  are very nearly in perfect balance. 

Since we are entering 

  the wonderful Season of Spring, 

    the present equinox is known as 

      the Spring or Vernal equinox. 

Both equinoxes, Fall and Spring, 

  are characterized by the balance 

    of day and night. 

Balance is important in all our lives 

  in more ways than just the Seasons. 

Balance is quite an issue for me 

  in personal, physical terms. 

I have a disease of the inner ear (Meniere's) 

  that causes dizziness. 

After we are able to get together in person again, 

  if you see me stumbling around, 

    it doesn't mean that I'm drunk, 

      contrary to the rumors 

        in some of the congregations I served 

          as pastor 

            that I was hitting the Communion wine 

              a bit too much. 

The Christian love offered to their pastors 

  by some traditional church folk notwithstanding, 

    my purpose today is not to talk too much 

      about my medical conditions, 

        however much more fun that becomes

          as I grow older. 

(In point of fact, it has been pointed out to me 

  that Meniere's Disease is curable. 

It is curable, it's true, 

  but as far as I know at present, 

    the cure is too severe for me to make use of it 

      unless my condition worsens a lot. 

The cure would involve the injection of an antibiotic 

  that would kill the workings of the offending ear. 

There would be no more false reports of movement, 

  and no more hearing from that ear, 

    ever again.) 

Meanwhile, I'm able to maintain my balance 

  most of the time 

    with the use of an herbal cure, Valerian Root, 

      always under the supervision of my PCP, 

        the person formerly known as my doctor. 

This way, my cure is not worse than my problem. 

Despite the Nameless One, the "previous guy," 

  having said so, 

    it's true that a cure 

      can be worse than the problem. 

In the case of a need for balance, 

  the necessity of a cure that first does no harm 

    is obvious enough 

      that I may not even need to mention it. 

But then, you know how I can get! 

One of the dear friends of our congregation 

  sometimes calls me Mr. Obvious. (LOL) 

One form of balance I'm working on at present 

  involves the things I say. 

Some things may seem obvious to me, 

  but not so much to others, 

    so it can be helpful for me to say them. 

On the other hand, 

  some things may be so obvious to everyone 

    that saying them 

      could quickly become redundant. 

And so it is: 

  in my personal life 

    and in my work as a pastor 

      I'm (still) working to achieve a balance 

        between redundancy on one hand 

          and failing to say things that need to be said 

            on the other. 

In order to achieve balance 

  in our personal, community, and national lives, 

    it is important to be careful to consider each other,  

      and yet not to lean over so far 

        in order to meet each others' needs 

          that we all fall down! 

The example of nature's balance 

  is a good starting place 

    to understand what we need to achieve 

      and how we need to do it. 

The world of nature provides us so many examples 

  of the importance of balance 

    that all we really need to do 

      is to pay close attention. 

As always, observation of the world of nature 

  teaches us many of the things we need to know. 

Our own present time of year, 

  the season of the Equinox, 

    is one of the best examples of balance 

      we can find anywhere. 

The balance of light and dark, day and night, 

  is our experience in these sacred days 

    and also a metaphor of many 

      of the kinds of balance 

        that we need in our lives every day. 

Nature maintains a remarkable balance 

  in many other areas too: 

    not just between light and dark, 

      but also heat and cold, 

        wet and dry,

          and so on and on. 

Our need for balance in our personal 

  and social lives 

    is no less pronounced,

      but it's something we often miss. 

Lately there has been a strong emphasis 

  on the importance of freedom, 

    especially personal freedom, 

      as well as the civic freedoms guaranteed 

        by the rules of a constitutional democracy. 

The balance we most need to remember in our time 

  is the balance of freedom and responsibility. 

To state the principle as simply as possible, 

  my freedom ends 

    where your needs and rights begin. 

We are deeply responsible 

  for our neighbors' needs and rights, 

    especially when we consider the things 

      we think, say, and do. 

Freedom and responsibility are not opposites, 

  but they have to be kept in balance 

    in a civil society. 

Consideration of the needs of others 

  is especially important 

    in the time of a pandemic. 

Our wearing a mask 

  and keeping physical distance from other people 

    can protect us 

      and, maybe even more, 

        the vulnerable people around us. 

Many things that seem to be opposites 

  need to be kept in balance. 

Among those are 

  clarity of thought versus open mindedness, 

    need for other people versus independence, 

      and commitment to a cause 

        versus understanding of people 

          on the other side. 

We need balance in all of those areas, 

  especially in these times. 

True balance can enable us to talk to each other, 

  to communicate with people on opposite sides 

    of some of our biggest controversies. 

We can learn to disagree 

  without being disagreeable, 

    to use a phrase that Art Linkletter loved. 

He was not one of my favorite celebrities, 

  especially after I learned about 

    his attitude regarding wealth. 

He spoke of wealth as a way of keeping score, 

  to me not entirely unlike the disgusting old saying, 

    "Whoever dies with the most toys, wins." 

Yuck! 

And yet, he was quite correct 

  about the importance of learning how 

    to disagree without being disagreeable. 

Governor Gavin Newsom of California 

  recently described the way we can do 

    what we need to do about immigration 

      in our country today: 

        "We're gonna solve it 

          by good people coming together 

            across their differences." 

If we can learn to disagree with each other 

  in a civil manner, 

    we can sustain more personal relationships 

      and we can work together more effectively 

        for the common good. 

The whole concept of the common good 

  is not an outdated idea. 

The common good is a vitally important concept 

  for the sustenance of life 

    in our beloved communities. 

The common good also involves balance 

  in our lives together. 

As long as we all have enough resources 

  to sustain life and well being, 

    our lives are in balance. 

When some people have much too much 

  and others have far too little, 

    there is an imbalance. 

When some people have so much 

  that their needs and wants are all met 

    and they still accumulate more 

      as a way of keeping score 

        or some such foolishness, 

          there is the possibility of dangerous imbalance. 

For a few to have so much, 

  the many are likely to have 

    much less than they need. 

One of the 613 laws of Moses 

  sought to deal with the problem. 

Landowners were forbidden 

  to glean or harvest their fields more than once. 

The right to go over a field for the second time 

  belonged by law to the poor. 

It was the ancient equivalent of titled property. 

The land belonged to the property owner, 

  but the right to the second harvest 

    belonged to the poor. 

In our time, the term Second Harvest 

  is often used as the name of a food bank. 

I'm certain that it has its roots 

  in the Hebrew Bible's form of social welfare. 

Our food banks provide emergency help 

  for people who don't have the resources they need 

    for adequate nourishment. 

They were not meant to be a long term solution 

  to the problems of imbalance in a society, 

    but during the present pandemic, 

      they have often functioned in exactly that way. 

Balance among rich and poor 

  is a matter to be addressed by a whole society, 

    and it is my deep hope that we are beginning 

      to seek exactly that kind of balance. 

If we are, 

  we may begin to reflect the beautiful balance 

    of the natural world all around us, 

      including the balance of the equinox, 

        with light and dark in equal measure. 

Amen. 

So let it be. 

Blessed be. 

 

Holy Lent, Great Lent 

Lent means Springtime. It also refers to a period of personal, spiritual discipline. For the natural world and for us, it can be profoundly beneficial. 

The approximately forty days of Lent 

  are a time of renewal, 

    a hope for new beginnings. 

For Unitarian Universalists, as for many others, 

  especially in times like ours, 

    hope is a most welcome experience. 

Most of all, we need hope for new beginnings. 

We human beings are all too capable 

  of making something as important as hope 

    into a source of division between us. 

Early Christianity split 

  into eastern and western factions. 

At different times, 

  the factions even fought wars against each other, 

    often over things as small 

      as the way they would make the sign of the cross. 

The use of different languages, 

  Greek in the East and Latin in the West, 

    became the emblem and source of divisions. 

The word, Lent, was used for the season

  of preparation for Easter, 

    but in the East it was called Great Lent, 

      and in the West it was called Holy Lent. 

Those terms persist into our own times, 

  as does the human ability to find or create 

    ways to divide ourselves, 

      even among people of good will. 

I hold on to the hope 

  that good will among human beings 

    will prevail over and above 

      our penchant to emphasize 

        the differences and disagreements between us. 

Hope is something we especially need to sustain us 

  in the times we are living through. 

With the wider availability of vaccines, 

  we are hoping for the beginning of the end 

    of the worst days of the coronavirus pandemic. 

There is yet another more universal hope 

  that we have with the changing of Seasons now. 

Many of us have a strong feeling that this Season, 

  whether we think of the Season of Lent 

    or the coming Season of Spring,

      really is a time of hope, 

        despite some of the appearances. 

The hope is not only for all of us human beings, 

  but also for all living things, 

    including, and maybe especially, 

      the Planet Herself. (Gaia) 

If you had the script of today's service in front of you, 

    you would see that the H 

      in the word Herself is capitalized

        as is often done 

          when the pronouns refer to God. 

This is out of respect for the Gaia Hypothesis. 

One approach to the hypothesis says, 

  "It is a theory, put forward by James Lovelock, 

    that living matter on the earth 

      collectively defines and regulates 

        the material conditions 

          necessary for the continuance of life. 

The planet, or rather the biosphere, 

  is thus likened to a vast self-regulating organism." 

One version of the hypothesis 

  treats our home planet as a Goddess 

    Whose name is Gaia. 

If some of this seems familiar, 

  the Gaia Hypothesis can be seen as an approach 

    to our UU Seventh Principle, 

      "Respect for the interdependent web 

        of all existence 

          of which we are a part."

So... What does all this have to do with Lent, 

  Holy Lent, Great Lent? 

In my view, at least for us as UU's, 

  the connection is deep and strong 

    even if it isn't exactly obvious. 

In the first place, 

  the very term, "Lent,"

    is associated with Springtime. 

As you may recall hearing me say before, 

  the word, "Lent," appears to have the same root 

    as the word, "lengthen." 

We watch the days grow longer, 

  as is becoming more and more obvious, 

    and the increase of light every day 

      can bring lots of hope to our hearts. 

So, the remembrance of our close connection 

  with all living things 

    and with the planet on which we all live 

      can bring new hope for well being 

        into all our hearts. 

Lent is more a time for hope and spiritual renewal 

  than a time for sorrow 

    in the face of our human weaknesses 

      and our mistakes. 

For us as UU's and for many others Lent can be 

  a time of spiritual renewal. 

As such, we need spiritual discipline, 

  and discipline means learning 

    more than any other single concept. 

The word "spiritual" refers to breathing 

  at its root, at its heart. 

So we can remember the "five finger breathing" 

  method of meditation we learned last week

    from Rev. Erin Walter. 

It's simple and so all the more useful, 

  just using our five fingers to remind us 

    to be conscious of our breathing in and out 

      through five breaths. 

To say, "Just breathe!" 

  can provide a method of spiritual discipline, 

    especially if we can keep it simple. 

Learning can be a source of great joy and comfort 

  to our human hearts 

    at any time of life. 

We learn to make new connections 

  among our experiences, 

    among the people we encounter in our lives, 

      and among many elements of our lives 

        and our world. 

Those connections are especially important 

  in these days in which so many people 

    are feeling isolated, 

      whether they are in quarantine or not. 

We do have new, technological methods 

  of staying in touch with each other, 

    such as the Zoom meeting we are using now, 

      and those make a huge difference. 

They aren't the same as seeing each other in person, 

   but they are a lot better than nothing! 

Until we see more signs of our pandemic isolation 

  coming toward its end, 

    we are in need of more and more opportunities 

      to learn new things about ourselves and others. 

The old saying applies: 

  "The darkest hour is just before dawn!" 

To begin to focus on the light that is increasing, 

  this Season of Lent and of Spring 

    is a wonderful metaphor 

      for the hope in our hearts. 

Hope has to be sustained, 

  and we have never needed the sustenance more. 

We can seek out new things to learn 

  that will help sustain the hope we depend upon. 

Hope is profoundly reliable. 

After all, in the Pandora myth, 

  the very last item to escape her container 

    was hope, the one thing needed 

      to enable everyone to endure the horrors 

        that preceded the arrival of hope. 

Poetry is often a great resource for feeding hope, 

  even if we don't understand the connections 

    at a first reading. 

As we are thinking of hope 

  and these Seasons of hope, 

    a favorite poem by a favorite poet comes to mind: 

"Hope" is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

- Emily Dickinson

As is often the case, 

  too much analysis could weaken 

    the impact of the poem, 

      but a few of the ideas need to be highlighted, 

        especially now. 

The bird of hope is a wonderful metaphor. 

Birds sing! 

They brighten their neighborhoods 

  with color and action. 

A study of birds could be a source 

  of personal and spiritual renewal 

    in the current season. 

The bird of hope according to Emily Dickinson 

  sings a song without words, 

    never stopping, 

      and never seeking any reward for itself. 

The bird of hope is a great example 

  of hope for everyone. 

We can offer hope for each other, 

  especially at times like ours 

    in which no words will bring hope or help. 

Sometimes the tune without the words, 

  never stopping at all, 

    brings a message that we are not alone, 

      that someone cares. 

Just remembering and reminding each other 

  that the bird of hope 

    perches in our souls 

      can remind us of the strong reality of hope 

        just when we need it most. 

Hope is the thing with feathers 

  singing the tune without the words 

    to bring us all 

      and our planet, Gaia Herself 

        the hope that better times 

          are indeed at hand. 

Lent is not the only time to hear the tune, 

  but it is a good time. 

Spring in our part of the world 

  can be a deceptive source of hope, 

    but it is a reliable reminder, 

      even on the days in which weather is not. 

Longer days, more light, and a hope of warmth 

  can be a symbol of new life and health. 

So may it be. 

Amen. 

Blessed be.