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Rev. Beverly Waring Sermon
August 28,2011
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Feminist theologian and teacher, Nelle Morton, spoke of “hearing each other into speech.” Here is my understanding of what this
means. To hear another into speech is to ask questions, to listen deeply to the answers, and to care. It is listening to one another’s
stories with love and understanding – putting judgment aside and simply listening.
Others have expanded the concept of hearing someone into speech as “being present to someone who is unable to articulate her or his
inner thoughts and feelings, and offering gracious, respectful space until the words are shaped and spoken.” This is an example of the
power of deep and respectful listening.
It is my hope this morning that you will "hear me into speech," - that my words today will help you get to know me better and, more
importantly, serve as an invitation for you to share your life and faith journeys with me. It is my prayer that as we walk together this year
we will continue to hear each other into speech and be that listening presence for one another that helps to envision, to transform, to
recreate, this faith community.
Sometime this past spring, you learned the news that Rev. DR. Deane Perkins was leaving UUCGF. Later you heard that I would be
joining you as your Interim Minister starting in August and I met many of you when my spouse, Donna, and I came for a visit in late June.
Now, I know you all read your newsletter and the information put up on the bulletin board very carefully, so this is just a reminder of some
details you may not have memorized. I have a contract with the Board for one year. The purpose of hiring an interim minister is to help
assure you that you will have ministerial support and guidance while you do the hard and important work of searching for and calling your
next settled minister.
During my tenure here, I will be supporting the efforts of the Board and the soon-to-be-formed Ministerial Search Committee. I will also be
working closely with many of the committees while together we assess strengths (of which I already know there are many) as well as the
areas where redirection, changes, and growth may be desirable.
You’ll see me in this pulpit at least twice a month and, of course, I’ll be available for pastoral needs and concerns.
The most important message I want you to hear this morning and as we move forward together through this year is that I am here as your
minister, working with the lay leaders to provide the best ministry I can during this time of change and transition. I have heard some
colleagues refer to Interim Ministers as “pre-fired.” The fact that I am an Interim and that my expected departure after one year is pre-
determined, does not diminish the effort or compassion or mindfulness with which I am approaching my time here.
Several years ago, I attended a workshop in which a colleague listed four simple truths from basic Buddhist writings in a way I had never
heard them described before:
• Show up.
• Speak the truth.
• Do what you do with intensity.
• Don't get attached to outcomes.
At the time, this way of thinking was easier and more meaningful for me than to speak in the more common Buddhist language of suffering
and impermanence and it still holds true for me today.
• Show up.
• Speak the truth.
• Do what you do with intensity.
• Don't get attached to outcomes.
As we embark on this ministry together I think these four truths are a good roadmap for you to understand my approach to ministry – and
often all of life for that matter.
Let’s look a little deeper. What does it mean to show up? What does it mean to be present? Fully present to another person, during a
meeting, while providing worship – What does it mean to truly be in the moment?
For me, showing up is the building block for the rest of these truths.
To show up is to speak the truth. Saying the hard things – with love and compassion but with honesty - is showing up. Speaking the truth
with emotion because you are fully present, you are feeling and living and being the truth is part of showing up.
When you are fully present, silence is also truthful. Often words get in the way – sometimes they are an attempt to steer us off target
towards another’s agenda or into a more comfortable but less truthful place. Remember - hearing each other into speech – can mean
letting someone tell their story, in their time, with their words.
So, first show up, then speak the truth, then "Do what you do with intensity." Intensity can be hard or soft. It can be loud or quiet. The
power of concentration is intense. But, intensity must always be authentic. You have to be present, you have to have shown up for
intensity to be real and valid.
It is possible to try too hard. Often trying too hard to be intense means you are trying to influence rather than to simply state an
observation or opinion. Intensity coming from passion is authentic. Coming from a desire to change another or get one’s own way no
matter the consequences can make that intensity seem forced and artificial.
And what of our 4th truth? Don’t get attached to outcomes. If you are attached to outcomes, you are more connected to your own agenda
than to the process. Truth be told, if you are attached to outcomes, you really haven't showed up. We all do it at times. We spend time
and energy imposing ourselves, steering the car rather than helping others navigate.
It is like what Robert Pirsig said in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. On a cycle, he said, “You’re in the scene, not just
watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.
Showing up, being totally present in the moment, not thinking 3 steps, 3 days, 3 months ahead – not losing sight of the needs, the moods,
the tasks today because we “know” ultimately what will be needed, what we will want, our preferred outcome. Showing up is what I am
called to do. For me, showing up is a very large part of what ministry is all about.
• Show up.
• Speak the truth.
• Do what you do with intensity.
• Don't get attached to outcomes.
I believe we need all these ideas to achieve the state described by David Whyte in “Working Together.” He said, “So may we, in this life
trust to those elements we have yet to see or imagine, and look for the true shape of our own self by forming it well to the great
intangibles about us.” That is another part of my call to interim ministry, “trust to those elements we have yet to see or imagine, and look
for the true shape of our own self…”
In the information about this morning’s service that I sent earlier this month, I think I said I’d give you some insight into my theology.
Now, I cannot reveal all there is about myself on my very Sunday – where would the fun be in that for me or for you? But I will whet your
appetite and hopefully spark some deeper theological conversations with this.
When I was preparing to see the Ministerial Fellowship Committee (the group of Unitarian Universalist clergy and lay people with the final
word on if I should have been ordained or not) I had to write an essay of my theological call to Unitarian Universalist ministry. Here is how
I began that essay.
“When I entered Andover Newton Theological School in the fall of 2004, I defined myself as a Humanist and fully embraced the Atheist
label that many attach to that theology. Now, more than five years later, the theological context of my call to Unitarian Universalist ministry
is both clearer and less rigidly defined. I still feel a kinship to much of what defines a Humanist. I continue to embrace free will, reason,
ethics, and justice as essential for a moral code and I still reject the concept of a supernatural being as creator and/or protector. But I
now find that calling myself an Atheist no longer feels authentic.
Although I do not believe in a supernatural being that controls what happens in the world, I am no longer comfortable with a definitive
statement that nothing greater than myself, no higher power, exists. I do feel and respond to a call from something larger than myself in
the universe.”
I also feel an affinity with much of what defines Religious Naturalism; an approach to spirituality that does not assume the concept of a
supernatural being but that is concerned about the meaning of life while being equally interested in living daily life in a rational, purposeful
way.
Religious Naturalism embraces mystery in a way that Humanism does not. It acknowledges that we do not know everything, and even the
unknown is wondrous. And with Religious Naturalism comes a strong sense of interdependence with the Earth and all living things. Like
our seventh Unitarian Universalist principle, Religious Naturalism encourages us towards benevolent stewardship of the Earth.
The final piece of my theology I want to introduce today comes from Process Theology. Process Theology is a form of theology that
emphasizes the close relationship of humans, nature, and God. This may feel like a big leap for a former atheist to take but not once you
look deeper at the concept of God from the Process Theology perspective.
A Process God is not a God that is the creator of all things; rather it is a God that is present in all things. This is a concept that expresses
God as an energy that lures us toward what is good.
This is a God (and by the way, I personally do not often use the term God to describe what I mean) who fits my theology since what I
define as holy can be found in the experiences and interactions that humans have with one another and in relationship with the natural
world. Process Theology also asserts that the unfolding present is not yet concrete, it is changeable, and we can influence it. In Process
Theology, God is not separate, eternal, or transcendent but is an energy, that mystery from Religious Naturalism perhaps, which lures us
towards what is good.
I think that we have all had an experience of deep connection with another person, or perhaps during a sunset, maybe while walking in
the woods or while listening to a piece of music, or looking at a work of art, when a feeling comes over us that brings goose bumps, or our
emotions are so touched that tears come to our eyes.
What we are experiencing in that moment is a connection to a greater whole. What we are feeling in that moment is what Process
Theology calls creative interchange. In that creative moment, a new reality exists. We have been changed – it may be subtle or it may be
profound but change has occurred.
So, in a nutshell, there you have it. It is with excitement and curiosity and an open heart and mind that I enter your community as your
minister on this day.
I am excited about the opportunities and possibilities before us. I am curious to learn about all of you, who you are and what motivates
you to be part of this community. And my heart and mind is open to learning and changing and growing with and because of all of you. I
hope you will walk this journey with me.
Amen and Blessed Be
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Visions of A Transitional Ministry
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