You are the light of the world! This is my message this morning.
Each of you and all of us as religious community are the light of the world.
Together, we are a healing light.
How do I know this? Because I have seen your light shining in;
-your generous giving in response to Hurricane Katrina
-I have felt your light as I stood in our new, almost finished sanctuary
-I see your light in the smiles of the children and youth and in their comfort
and sense of belonging to this church
- and I have seen your light as you care well for one another.
Two things have been shown to us through the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina. First , we have been reminded that all of us are vulnerable. We feel that vulnerability almost daily. As we drive the beltway. As we send our children off to college.
As we contemplate our next chemotherapy treatment. As we give birth.
As we live through each night of worry and wonder.
We know in our gut and in our head…that we are vulnerable.
(Did you see the photo in yesterday’s paper of the soldier returning from Iraq and collapsing as he learns that his brother was killed in New Orleans)
Vulnerable means that we can be hurt. We can become sick. We can be displaced by a hurricane, a flood, a sniper, a job loss, The death of someone we love. We can all be hurt. We also hurt each other. We can be yelled at by a friend. We can be misunderstood. We can become angry. We can fail to be there for someone we love.
Being human means that we are limited…that we will suffer.
Being human means that we can be hurt.
Being human means that we sometimes hurt others.
Thus we stand in need of healing.
Originally, I chose this title of “Healing Together” because today is September 11th. And it is just four years since the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon….just 3 and half years since the beginning of the War in Iraq. The loss of so many lives. The grief of so many families.
Our country and the world stood in need of healing long before the Hurricane hit the gulf coast.
And the poor people of New Orleans and Mobile and Washington DC and Montgomery county stood in need of healing long before the long walk to the New Orleans Superdome.
And our government agencies on the national, state, and local level all were in need of healing and repair…long before the current crisis exposed their wounds of confusion, mistakes and excess pride.
Our society, our country, the United States of America, has been in need of healing for a long time.
The flood came and exposed the wounds that were already there. I am ashamed….How could it happen?
And now we must learn how to heal together. We can’t do it alone. We need one another t put on the band-aid, to dry our tears, to listen to our sorrow, to hold our pain.
We all need a safe harbor.Ysaye Barnwell, of the African American singing group “Sweet Honey and the Rock” wrote and composed a song called, “Would You Harbor Me?”
The words are questions. Questions which get to the heart of the need to sheltered – the need to help someone in trouble- the possibility of moving together toward healing. All of us, not just the small child…need a village to survive, to thrive, to meet our potential, to be happy and safe.
The village let down the people of New Orleans this week.
The village must be kept strong.
Here are some of the words: sung acapella…in deep rich tones…chantlike
“Would you harbor me? Would I harbor you? Would you harbor me?
Would I harbor you?
Would you harbor a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a heretic, convict or spy?
Would you harbor a runaway woman or child, a poet, a prophet, a king?
Would you harbor an exile or a refugee, or a person living with AIDS?
Would you harbor a Tubman, a Garrett, A Truth, a fugitive or a slave?
Would you harbor a Haitian, Korean or Czech? A lesbian or a gay?
Would you harbor a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a heretic, convict or spy?
Would you harbor me? Would I harbor you? Would you harbor me?
Would I harbor you? Would you harbor me? Would I harbor you?
The people made homeless by Hurricane Katrina…need a safe harbor. Many people in our country today are offering space in their homes and helping to rent apartments for families in need. Many are saying yes, I will harbor you, a stranger in need.
Rising out of the Hurricane is a spirit of generosity. Rising out of the Hurricane is a new light. A compassionate light, a light of help and hope. People and groups, companies, and congregations, schools and neighborhoods are becoming healing lights….lights to the world. I have hope!
For all of us have within …a healing spark….all of us have the capacity to be a light for the world.
One good coming from this tragedy in New Orleans is that other countries- some small and not so rich countries, and our neighbors Canada and Mexico, are sending Aid to America. The United States, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, the nation which often provides aid for crises around the world…we are now, in this moment…learning to receive.
It is written that it is more blessed to give than to receive. But for the wealthy and powerful, for the middle class and the rich…giving is easy. Learning to receive can be hard, learning to receive can be an important spiritual lesson.
Philosopher and theologian, Schlemacher defined religion as absolute dependency. This is where many Unitarian Universalists have trouble. We like to focus on freedom, and independence, but we also talk of connecting to something larger than ourselves If we wanted to be purely independent then why would we come here. We come looking for something we can trust.
It is hubris, whether of nation or of denomination to think we can go it alone. We may think we can be extreme individualists, but again and again in tragedies personal and global, we learn that we need one anther.
As a nation, we stand wounded and hurt. As a nation we stand in need of healing. Let us receive graciously and humbly from those countries who wish to help. Let us recognize that we are no better, no more perfect, no less vulnerable, than other nations. Let us bow our heads as a nation and give thanks for the help we are about to receive. And let us ask for forgiveness for the poor of the gulf region, and in all other poor communities in our nation, who have suffered hurt and neglect for so long.
In a few minutes we will sing…”This Little Light of Mine”. As we sing, I want us to feel our power as a people, our power to do good…our power to serve human need…because we are all a light to the world.
And together our light will shine brightly enough to guide people to harbor with us as a religious community. Because it is so very hard to heal alone. When we are hurt or lost, homeless, or afraid, we need someone to stand with us, we need a community, a place where we can gather in safety.
The symbol of light as a healing power comes to us from many religious traditions…it is one of the meanings of our chalice flame…that as a faith we are a healing light…and a beacon of safe harbor… All of us are sparks of light retrieving hidden light and repairing the world. We are called to repair our part of the world…to find the light that is hidden around and among us…to bring more light into the world… And thus to contribute to healing and wholeness.
As a religious community, we are called to work for healing, for repair, -right here where we live, we are called to provide harbor and safety, we are called to a light to the world.
Let us be about the work of healing together. Let us fulfill our obligation to create the good we envision.
So May it Be.
Amen