"Spiritual Teachings of Earth-Centered Traditions"

Today we are considering the sixth, and last, "Source of the Living Tradition." This Source is stated with these words:

"Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which
celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live
in harmony with the rhythms of nature."

If you had opportunity to read last Sunday's "LA Times Magazine" you know something about "spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions." In an article, entitled, "In Realms of the Spirit," Catherine Watson described her visit to the Native American Pueblos in New Mexico. [Catherine Watson, "In Realms of the Spirit," "LA Times Magazine," October 16, 2005, pp. 25-27 +] Watson wrote:

"The Pueblos share a powerful belief system so encompassing and
so interwoven with all aspects of daily life that to call it 'tradition'
or 'religion' is to limit its scope."

What does that mean? Joe Garcia, Governor of the San Juan Pueblo said:

"One of the first things traditional people do (each morning) is give
their blessing to the sun, give their blessings for being alive and then
blessings for others, blessing for people in need up to and including the
USA. That's the way our day starts, he said."

Another man in the same Pueblo said:

"If you really listen, you can pick up on a different energy in these
places. They're still alive, because people leave their energy
wherever they live."

Finally, a graduate student home for vacation talked about Native American dancing; not dancing as done for demonstrations. He called dancing "prayer . . . a way of connecting all these elements people and land and animals and ancestors."

I'll speak more about "spiritual teachings of earth- centered traditions" in a moment. First, permit me a brief review. I have asked us to consider these "Sources of the Living Tradition" because I find them a very helpful way to understand our Unitarian Universalist liberal religion. One way to know more about who we are is to consider the Sources.

More than that, we encourage each person in a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning." However that search is not simply dropping someone in the wilderness of various religious beliefs and saying, "Good luck." The Sources provide a compass to help us in our search. These six "compass points" are:

The first compass point, "direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder," reminds us of the words of Emerson and the Transcendentalists who talked about the "soul within."

The second source, "words and deeds of prophetic women and men" remind us that we can learn from and possibly emulate people who dared to question the status quo. By the way, Diane Winston's column on page 2 of this morning's "LA Times" editorial section raises questions about the status quo concerning capital punishment. I recommend this article.

The third source, "wisdom from he world's religions" is a reminder that we can learn from everyone. I am talking about multiculturalism, but not the trendy, fashionable sort which is confined to interior decorating or over- priced fashions. We can be enriched by other religious understandings.

The fourth source, "Jewish and Christian teachings" is a reminder that the heritage of both Unitarian and Universalist faith is the Judeo-Christian tradition, which can be helpful in our search for truth and meaning.

The firth source, "Humanist teachings" is a reminder of our human responsibility. We have been freed by modern science and humanist teachings from some of the old hide-bound, primitive religious understandings. However that freedom is not license. The best humanists also question humanism.

The sixth source, "spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions" was added several years after the first five. The hope was this source would provide some specificity recognizing mythologies both ancient and modern which informed many of these other traditions.

For example, Jewish teachings had a keen sense of responsibility for the earth. Ancient Jewish laws included a sabbatical for the earth by allowing tilled soil to lie fallow occasionally in order to replenish itself. In modern terms, this is an ecological concern as old as "spiritual teachings of earth- centered traditions."

This ecological concern is present in the creation myths of most religions. For example in the creation myth in Jewish scripture, human beings are given "dominion" over the earth and everything on the earth. (Genesis 1:26) However
that responsibility has been misinterpreted to mean that human beings can do whatever we please with the earth. Dominion has meant control.

Betty and I happen to have a private "Hebrew Scholar," our son-in-law, Rus, who is one of the scholars working on the Dead Sea Scrolls and a student of ancient semitic languages. He tells me that the Hebrew word translated into English as "dominion" actually means manager. The manager doesn't own and doesn't control, but manages for an absentee owner. I'm talking about the traditional emphasis on stewardship; namely the steward as manager who uses wisely the resources entrusted to his or her care.

One of the primary reasons we need to be aware of this sixth source has to do with ecology. We are meant to manage the earth's resources, but not to abuse our trust. We are trustees. We betray that trust when we treat the world as though it is our private property to use or abuse as we wish.

Another reason we need this source is related to what Gregory Bateson, zoologist and anthropologist - and also husband of Margaret Mead - called the "reification of the self." That's "reification" with an "r" not "deification;" although reification easily leads to deification and idolatry. Bateson's point is that because human beings tend to see themselves as separate entities and not related to the larger universe "we imagine that the unit of survival is the separate individual as a separate species." We egotistical human beings tend to separate ourselves from the rest of the earth and fail to see that we are part of an "interdependent web."

I ran across an article by someone named Joanna Macy. I do not know who she is, but I liked her article. Macy says the ecological crisis is the result of what she called "a pathological notion of the self - a mistake about (human) place in the order of things." The result being ". . . (humans) are so aloof that as individuals, corporations, nation-states or species we are immune to what we do to other things." ["Common Boundary," July-August, 1990]

More than anything else, this sixth source will help us remember our interdependency with the whole universe. We need to be reminded that everything is interconnected with everything else. A few years ago Betty and I visited the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, which had recently opened a new exhibit dealing with the traditional concept of the earth. On a plaque in that exhibit were these words:

"How would I, an 'O'odham, explain 'biodiversity?' Other cultures may
regard the air, water, land, plants, and animals as separate elements
and develop approaches for protecting these 'resources' accordingly.
For us biodiversity is a concept that is all-encompassing. We call it the
Himdag or way of life."

This "spiritual teaching of earth-centered traditions" is a witness that the "circle of life" is an interdependent circle. We are part of a planetary community. There is now evidence that cutting the Amazon forests in South America has an effect on the polar ice caps. Closer to home, pesticides not only kill pests, but also kill bees needed to pollinate crops.

My understanding of this sixth source is a reminder enriched by traditional spirituality that stewardship of the earth and the earth's resources does not mean I can do as I please, when I please.

I had a practical reminder of this a few years ago. One of the realities of living in California is that we share our space with ants. I do not particularly want to share my space with ants. When I saw some in our new home I reached for the can of "Hot Shot" someone had left in the garage. I happened to notice the warning label: "It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling." I stopped to read the label. I'm not sure I want to live with ants, but I'm also sure I do not want to use a product as toxic as that spray seemed to be. So Betty did some research and discovered that ant trails can be eliminated by talcum powder as effective as insecticide, without harming the environment.

So, for six Sundays we've thought about these six sources. I hope this series has been helpful as we understand our Unitarian Universalist liberal religion. I hope it has been helpful as we engage in our individual search for truth and meaning. I hope this series has been helpful as we share our Unitarian Univeralist "light" with others.

There's an old story: What do you get if you cross a Unitarian Univeralist with a Jehovah's Witness? Someone who knocks on doors with nothing to say. I hope the "Sources of the Living Tradition" will help us have something to say when someone asks, "Tell me about Unitarian Universalism." Thank you for listening.

Addendum
As I prepared this sermon for printing, I remembered a poem by UU Minister, now deceased, Jacob Trapp. Using a Native American prayer he wrote:

"Great Spirit, whose voice is heard in the stillness
whose breath gives life to all,
we come before you as children
needing the help of your strength and wisdom.

Give us to walk in beauty,
seeing the uncommon in the common,
aware of the great stream of wonder
in which we and all things move.

Give us to see more deeply
into the great things of our heritage,
and the simple yet sublime truths
hidden in every leaf and every rock.

May our hands treat with respect
the things you have created.
May we walk with our fellow creatures
as sharing with them the one life that flows from you."
[quoted by John Buehrens in "A Chosen Faith," pp. 204-205.]

Reading for Sunday, October 23, 2005

"The native people of North America speak of their relationship to the Earth in terms of family. The Earth is not something to be bought and sold, something to be used and mistreated. It is, quite simply, the source of our lives - our Mother. And the rest of Creation, all around us, shares in that family relationship. The Okanagan people of the Pacific Northwest speak of the Earth as Mother, the Sun as Father and the animals as our brothers and sisters. This view of the world was held by the Navajo and the Abenaki, the Sioux and most of the aboriginal people of this continent. They saw their role on this Earth, not as rulers of Creation, but as beings entrusted with a very special mission - to maintain the natural balance, to take care of our Mother, to be Keepers of the Earth. Life was seen as a great circle; each person had a place on that circle and was related to everyone and everything. Even an individual life could be seen as a circle, beginning with creation and ending, not with death, but with a return to Creation itself. The very old and the very young were close to each other on that circle, because the beginning and the end of life were near each other on that round, just as winter is close to spring."