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.