Once, two friends were walking down the sidewalk of a busy city street during rush hour. There was all sorts of noise in the city; car horns honking, feet shuffling, people talking! And amid all this noise, one of the friends turned to the other and said, "I hear a cricket."
"No way," her friend responded. "How could you possibly hear a cricket with all of this noise? You must be imagining it. Besides, I've never seen a cricket in the city."
"No, really, I do hear a cricket, I'll show you." She stopped for a moment, then led her friend across the street to a big cement planter with a tree in it. Pushing back some leaves she found a little brown cricket.
"That's amazing!" said her friend. "You must have superhuman hearing. What's your secret?"
"No, my hearing is just the same as yours. There's no secret," the first woman replied. "Watch, I'll show you." She reached into her pocket, pulled out some loose change, and threw it on the sidewalk. Amid all the noise of the city, everyone within thirty feet turned their head to see where the sound of the money was coming from.
"See," she said. "its all a matter of what you are listening for.
"If it is language that makes us human," UU minister Jacob Trapp reminds us, "one half of language is to listen."
Today's sermon is devoted to listening. Not necessarily to the external sounds about us, those are fascinating in themselves, but listening to the messages deep within ourselves and the messages connecting to the greater presence of which we are all a part.
"Don't just do something" is an admonishment for me as much as anyone else. I've based, I'd say, the first forty years of my life on doing, responding, all kinds of industry to feel worthy. Sitting still has never been a forte of mine, and solitude, which is where we can experience the deepest listening, is a very new aspect in my spiritual life.
There are two major states of being alone with oneself. One is loneliness and the other solitude. Loneliness can also occur in the midst of a crowded room. It is not a state that needs lack of stimuli. Loneliness is based on fear and lack of self worth. Solitude is based on love and knowing life's worth within.
In this busy, frenetic world of constant noise and information, solitude is becoming less and less valued and loneliness, ironically, more and more prevalent. Busy-ness and constant things to do and see, the 24-7 mentality, will not dissuade our aching for deep connection, it will simply distract us from it.
Once successfully distracted we will need to keep up the pace of things to do and things to see, building walls of industry to keep the longing at bay doesn't stay at bay forever comes out in violence, cynicism, depression, greed and illness. But if we are lucky, we wake up long enough to see how time has passed as we were busy with distractions: perhaps a relative who was just a baby shakes our hand, standing nine years tall, or we visit our home town that just yesterday was a population three times less then now...or maybe a terrorist act shows what can crumble and what does not and shocks us into devoting our lives to that which cannot pass away...love, joy, compassion, wonder, awe, beauty, peace.
When was the last time you considered what genius of creation is within you? When was the last time you considered what lasting beauty is you? When was the last time you gave yourself true and intimate solitude...time with, for and by yourself?
What are the qualities that foster intimate solitude? Openness to mystery. Trust that the connection will enrich life. And a keen sense of identity, knowing who you are and what it is you are relating to the greater whole.
The concept of identity springs from the Latin root idem, meaning, "the same". Identity arises from the notion of something always being itself, having a constancy about it, rather than dependent on something else for its definition. This creates the ability to choose a togetherness as whole beings, not out of need, or coercion, or delusion, but as separate selves entering into a union. It is then that we become open to a deeper mystery within ourselves, the identity of being, connecting with that sacred sameness which pervades all things.
This is a very intimate connection, hard to keep strong in the course of day to day living. It is also a connection which transforms as experience dictates, for we are not constant beings, we are a part of this world of seasons, cycles, and systems. Our understanding of all that is expands and contracts according to what we encounter, how grounded we feel and how open we are to change.
The constant work of identity. The ebb and flow of recognition and confusion. We venture, sometimes tentatively, sometimes boldly, in our daily tasks and in our relationships. And just as we are not always conscious of our breathing, so we are more or less conscious of our self-revealing and concealing.
Identity is a relational understanding. We are defined as both part of a whole and as a unique contributor to that whole. In this rapid paced world of change and chance, competition and ambition, terror and hope, a solid sense of identity can be lost in the shuffle. Finding ourselves as we interact is tricky, vulnerable business.
As we grow with experience and are affected by our personal histories, the outward gestures of identity and mystery become more subtle, even clever. It is common that in response to life's complications, the understanding of when we are concealed and when we are revealed -- when we are playing a role and when we are authentic -- can become blurred and confused even in our minds. There will inevitably be times in our lives when we feel lost and wonder if we will find ourselves and other times, perhaps, when we want to be hidden and wonder if we will be found out. It is quite natural for us to adapt to our surroundings, according to our sense of safety or establishment of trust. And so we may behave one way with our friends, another way with our business acquaintances, and, perhaps a completely different way with our families.
Trust: that which binds our relationships, upholds our laws, generates our communities and cradles our dreams. From our first moment on earth we must trust and learn of its consequences. Throughout our lives we must rely on each other. Trust. Quite a responsibility. Quite a challenge. Sometimes a scary place to be. Sometimes a daunting role to take. But there, nonetheless, in our lives and shaping what it is we can believe, shaping what it is we can become.
If we ask ourselves what it is we most trust, we will also find our sacred ground, that which compels our actions, that which nurtures our love, that which helps us find our footing when we are lost or confused.
Each time our trust is challenged, wounded or devastated we learn that much more about what it is that helps us survive, and if we believe in the ability to find that trust again in another form or from another source, we will know how it is we can thrive amidst the pain, the struggles, and the surprise.
That which damages trust also reveals truths. Truths that are hard to face. Truths that help us, eventually, cope with life's uncertainties. Truths which, eventually, heal our wounds, for we know that much more what we can survive and what we are able to risk to thrive. We know, that much more, what is real and what is pretense, what has lasting effect and what is a passing phase.
This does not necessarily mean we will have any more control or any more safety in this world. It does mean, however, that we have surer footing in fielding the changes. It does steady our doubts a bit with the knowledge of our power to love. It does give us courage to believe in our ability to open ourselves to one another, care-fully, respectfully, compassionately. It does help us receive bold acts of kindness and take personal risk.
Our ground of being is known through simple moments, genuine acts of heart and mind....Sing Maria Harris'song (sister brother)
We know that keeping things simple seems, at times, an insurmountable task, to let all the demands of social and business life go and simply be. The ground of our being asks only for awareness, an openness to that which is always there.
Martin Heidegger, German philosopher of the 20th century, spoke of humans as shepherds of being. Our gift of life is about caring for and minding the experience of consciousness. Our gift of life is to praise its presence and give our unique expression of being.
John O'Donohue challenges the concept of "spiritual journey", a phrase that I often use, being one who far prefers doing than being. Getting somewhere… A personal growing edge....
"If there is a spiritual journey," he comments, "it is about 1/4 of an inch long and it's just about coming into rhythm with your deeper nature and presence. You don't have to go way outside yourself," he admonishes, "to come into real conversation with your soul and with the depth of the spiritual world."
In those moments when we take the time to come into contact with the ground of our being, we are offering ourselves the chance to set aside the doubt and confusion, the tasks and deadlines, the commotion and expectations, to open ourselves up to the quality of our being, to intimately experience our lives.... All redeeming action flows from this simple knowledge.
At its best, religious fellowship can help us find and feel that redeeming action. When we are connected to a vibrant church community, such as this one, we know of a place that will keep the faith strong, even when we cannot. We know of a place where there's a possibility of renewal. We know of a place that is dedicated to sacred connections. For at first and truly at any part of our deepening in spirit, we may need company, the assurance of a being beside us, abiding with us. For the vastness of the mystery of being can sometimes be too much to bear.
I am reminded again and again that all that is really needed is for us to create a place where we can be heard, seen and cared for. All we need is to develop and nurture an atmosphere where we can speak of our hopes and fears and encourage others to do the same. The rest will flow naturally...if we believe and insist on each other's dignity...the rest will flow naturally...if we stay with the troubling times and not close down out of fear of conflict...the rest will flow naturally....when we find out who we are individually in our choosing to come to this place.
And then, in our listening, we will hear things and sense movement of being that far exceeds any expectation and we will find our joy, our eternity, our dwelling in the universe.
Copyright © 2001 Lisa G. Ward. All Rights Reserved.