Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Buddhist
DREAMING ZION

DREAMING ZION

Last updated on: March 24, 2013 at 1:36 pm by James Ford

DREAMING ZION 2013-03-24T13:36:17-07:00 James Ford

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

DREAMING ZION
A Canvass Sermon

James Ishmael Ford

24 March 2013

First Unitarian Church
Providence, Rhode Island

Text

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Psalm 137: 1-6

Tomorrow evening Passover begins. And with that the great story of the Jewish people is recalled one more time. It is a story of bondage and of resistance, and ultimately it is a story of freedom. I love this story. Deeply. Of the stories of our Western religious heritage it is the one I find most tells me who I am, and what I might be.

And I love it even knowing the likelihood not a word of it is history. The best of contemporary scholarship, at least among those with no dog in the hunt, is that there was no Egyptian captivity, no Moses, no forty years wandering, and no military assault on the shores of the Dead Sea.

Rather more likely there was among other peoples living in that area we now call Israel and Palestine, a rag tag band of refugees from various conflicts and abuses that cobbled together a community in the hill country. A small kingdom grew there, not really a lot different than any of the others in that area. Until, that is, the Babylonian armies marched through. As often happened in those days, we’re talking the sixth century before our common era, the conquerors took the cream of the local crop, the artisans, the poets, the intellectuals and carried them captive to Babylon.

It was there, in the Babylonian captivity that they began to weave together the stories we now know as the Exodus. Actually, I love this story even more for not being so much a history lesson as the aspiration, as the dream of a crushed and dominated people seeking an identity and then in that creating out of their own human imaginations and hearts something quite wonderful. And, yes, the story has lots of tribal shadows, including dreaming vengeance on their enemies. As something also so human, I find warnings in that for myself, as well.

All together a great song was composed by those waters of Babylon, the beginning of a universal message, a hint at a deepest knowing that in fact, we are all born to some great promise, something beautiful and common. By the shores of the Euphrates they dreamed Zion into being. And then with the fall of Babylon to yet another empire, they returned to that hard land near the Dead Sea, and began a tradition which included in it at first as a very small light, just a flickering candle, really, a dream of human unity before the face of a universal god. Along the way it becomes a song of intimacy.

Which brings me to us, to our Unitarian Universalist experience, and to what we are up to here at the First Unitarian Church of Providence. It is another dreaming of Zion, or rather a continuation, one more step toward a wisdom way for the human heart. But, also, I hope we all see, our telling of this good news still has the contours of that old Exodus story.

Today I might sing it this way. We’re still to some degree in bondage; it seems pretty obvious. Bound by old resentments of wrongs done us, as well as our grasping after things that do not serve, but which we cling to all the same. From that many hurts continue, the bondage of the human heart continues. And, and, at the same time, wonderfully, truthfully, we are already launched on the way to our freedom, toward Zion. We have by grace and our own actions taken those steps toward release from those things that bind us. We are continuing on, making our life a journey, a pilgrimage toward something holy. And. And, and, in a truest sense of all, we have never been bound. As we look into our heats as they are, we can see all that is necessary for full lives, joyful lives, sacred lives. Everything necessary is already here, right here in mind numbing abundance. We are, in a truest sense possible, already in Zion.

That’s our message. But, what does this look like where the rubber hits the road? Let’s consider that. Here’s how I see it.

When I arrived here at First Unitarian just shy of five years ago, you’d gone through a hard decade. Following a long and generally successful ministry, through a combination of events beyond your control and others in your control, you had a ministry that ended in what we euphemistically call a negotiated resignation, followed then by a minister whose beautiful sermons turned out to be written by other people. Along the way you also had four different interim ministers, some amazing, and others not so much. This much chaos is not a formula for success. And, so, of course, I saw lots of problems.

At the same time I saw how in the midst of those troubled years you had a successful capital campaign and put up a sorely needed addition to the Parish House, launched the food pantry, and during all this time never got into seriously blaming each other for those difficulties. This church as I saw it, in what I think they say in the real estate business, had good bones. I was absolutely confident of that.

And, so I threw my hat into the ring. And, I’m endlessly grateful you all saw someone in me who might be the right minister for these particular times. When called, my first task really was pretty simple. It was to remind our community, and particularly our leadership that not only did we have a message of healing and hope, but also were a healthy institution. We really do play well together.

My first couple of years here we gave attention to making sure we weren’t just inward looking. We did this in two ways, mostly. One, was to make sure we were involved in the needs of our larger community, ranging from being active in things like our food pantry to taking public stands for justice for those who have been marginalized in our culture, addressing racial inequities and immigrants rights, and most notably because of time and place throwing our hearts into the struggle for marriage equality. Something, by God, we’re going to win, and I believe, win within weeks. The other is to be genuinely welcoming. We’ve thrown our doors wide open, and people have walked in. It’s hard to miss the energy here on a Sunday.

I dream of Zion. We dream of Zion. This dream manifests as a spiritual center, this place, this community, where we can look deep into our hearts, and from which, renewed and inspired, we can act in this world with more skill and grace than would otherwise be possible. We are a rest for the weary, and we are a goad for those who need a push to action.

So, let’s talk about how we support this dream and its manifestation. We need two things from our members. We need your time. We need actual commitments to participate, both in fun things, and in harder things. We need people willing to step up and work. And here’s a report on that: We’re doing a fine job of volunteering time, skill, and energy.

Now, as far as I can tell nearly the last big structural thing we need to address that keeps us from fully manifesting what we really are, turns on money. Sort of natural, I think. We humans, even when we reject dualistic notions where the spirit is good and above the yucky material, which is money, still can get squeamish when money and church are spoken of in the same sentence. So, we tend to put this sort of conversation off.

But, we need money. Flat out. Straight up. Money supports this church, money makes our projects happen. Money allows us to live into our vision. I admit I’ve always been reluctant to talk about this from the pulpit, in part because it’s so obvious I’m a direct beneficiary of our pledging. My salary comes from you. And, by the bye, thank you. But, this point is something bigger than me. Much bigger. For us to fully be what we want to be, we must talk about money.

Of course, many of us are just keeping our noses above water. And our way is to never push someone beyond their abilities. Also, I want to acknowledge those with fewer financial resources who give generously of time and talent. But, also, I can’t let us acknowledge those things and then too quickly turn away from the subject.

One of our structural problems is that we’ve never gotten a really healthy pledging culture going. As I read it this is partially historical. Right into the nineteen sixties we were relying on a couple of business men who would get together about now over at the Hope Club and divvy up the costs. Those guys are all gone, but our general membership has never quite gotten that. Also, people can look at the Meeting House and think we must be doing okay, maybe better than okay. And, there’s some truth to that.

We have, thanks to our ancestors, a healthy endowment. And, because of that, the truth be known, we have been able to live a bit beyond our actual means. A healthy church, at least as is said by those who study these things, suggest endowments should be for three things: For emergencies, for the care of the property, and to seed new projects. No significant amount of that money should go to ongoing expenses. The living congregation is responsible for this. But in fact too much of our budget is covered by the endowment. An endowment, by the bye, that was hit hard by the Great Recession. And with that our budget has taken some hard hits in recent years. More importantly for the long haul, the endowment is not being used for what it should be.

Here’s the situation we’re dealing with. If you take all Unitarian Universalists across the country, rich and poor, and average out their pledges of support for their communities, that number is fifteen hundred dollars. Our average pledge is a thousand. We have poor and we have rich in our numbers, and I don’t believe we should be that far off our national averages. And, and knowing this opens a whole range of possibilities.

What I am asking for us as a congregation is a reset on our financial commitments to this church. It is time for us to fully claim our ministry, for us to make sure we continue on the path we’ve undertaken of healing and of hope. If we just raised our average pledge to our denominational average, there is so much more we could do, so much more we could be. This is very nearly the last big part of what we need to do to set ourselves on a path of health and vision for years to come. This is my dream for us.

And, so, I am asking us to do that reset. I understand for some of us it will be a struggle to pledge a hundred dollars a year. If that’s you, and having looked at your situation and our vision, and you make that commitment, I cannot sing your praises high enough. Thank you. For some others among us, well, truthfully, a ten thousand dollar pledge might not be a real inconvenience. You might consider giving more. I hope you will. What we need, what we really need, is for all of us to set aside what we’ve done in the past, and to reflect anew about what this community is, what its promise is, what your part in it is, and to make a pledge from that place.

Zion.

Our call is to something great, to a new possibility, to a new Zion.

Let us live into that possible world.

Together.

Amen.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 23, 2013

Intensive Training Opportunities at the Boundless Way Zen Temple in Worcester, MA

Next Post

March 26, 2013 A Small Hope that the Western Zen Community Will Grow Up & A Couple of Signs it Is

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Christmas Carol Abolitionist African-American Ahmadiyya Alan Watts Aldous Huxley Allen Ginsberg Amedkar Jayanti American politics American Zen Anaheim Zen Sangha Anglican Annie Besant April Fool Armageddon Art and Religion artificial intellegence Atheist Awakening B R Ambedkar Barlaam & Josaphat Beatnik Between Bhagavad Gita Bible biography birthday bodhisattva Bodhisattva Precepts Book burning Book of Common Prayer Book of Mormon Brahmo Samaj Buddha Buddhism Buddhist Buddhist Lord's Prayer Butterflies Calendars cartoons cat ChatGPT Chicken Tortilla Soup choices Christian atheism Christian mysticism Christian origins Christian Science Christian Zen Christianity Christianity and Buddhism christmas Christmas Truce Christopher Isherwood Church of Later Day Saints Cinco de Mayo circus covenant critical thinking culture D. T. Suzuki Dalit Buddhism Daniel Defoe Desert Fathers and Mothers dharma talk Dogen Donald Trump Dongshan's Five Ranks Dorothy Day dream Duty Easter ecology Edwin Arnold emptiness Empty Moon Zen Network Episcopal Church Eternal Now Ethics evolution existentialism Faith fantasy Fathers Day film film review fire Five Ranks Folk music food Form and emptiness Four Seals Francis of Assisi Francis Xavier Free thinker friendship George MacDonald Gerald Heard Glenn Taylor Webb God Good Friday Gospel of Gospel of Mark Gospel of Thomas grace Graduate Theological Unioin Graduate Theological Union Guanyin H R Blyth Hakuin Ekaku Hanamatsuri Hanukkah Harada Yasutani Zen Heart Sutra Henry David Thoreau Hermann Hesse Hinduism History and Religion history of religion Holy Spirit home Hospitality Icon Ides of March Isaac Newton Islam Islamic mysticism Jack Kerouac James Luther Adams Jiddu Krishnamurti Joan of Arc Johannes Gutenberg John Donne joke Judaism justice karma kensho King James Bible koan Koun Yamada Kyoto School Lewis Carrol Liberal Christianity Liberal Religion Life Plan Community Liminal literature Literature and Religion Liturgy Lord's Prayer Love Mahatma Gandhi Mahayana Martin Luther King Jr Mary Baker Eddy Mary Magdelene Mary Oliver Mayflower Compact Meditation memories memory metaphor money money and religioin Mormons Mother's Day movie review mysticism mythic Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church New Thought Nichiren Buddhism Nonduality not knowing Omar Khayyam Pacific School of Religion pagan Palm Sunday Passover peace Pentecost perennialism Phantastes Philip Kapleau philosophy Pilgrimage poetry Poetry and Religion politics Prayer Precepts Printing Press prophecy prophetic spirituality psychology Pure Land Queer religion queering religion Quietism Ram Mohan Roy rebirth recipe Relationships and religion religion religion and history Religious syncretism Resistance Retirement Retreat review Rissho Kosei Kai Ritual Robert Aitken Roshi Robert Ingersoll Rohatsu Romani religion Rosie the Riveter saints samadhi SanboZen Sangha Satyagraha science science and reigion science and religion science fiction seminary sermon Sesshin Sex and Religion Shinran Sikh Sikh tradition silence Social Justice Socially Engaged Buddhism Society and religion Soto Zen soul spiritual community spiritual practice Spirituality Sufism Suicide superstition Taoism Television Teresa of Avila Thanksgiving theological schools Theosophy Thomas Merton Time Transcendentalism Transcendentalist Trinitarian Trinity Uncategorized unitarian Unitarian Christianity Unitarian Universalist Universalism Vajrayana Vedanta Walking war Willa Cather William Ellery Channing wisdom women and religion women in religion World Teacher Writing zazen Zen Zen Center Zen inspired retriement zen meditation Zen Precepts Zen women

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet confronted King Ahab about his sins?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elisha Jeremiah Ezekiel Elijah