First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany
“On Seeking a Language of Reverence”
Rev. Samuel A. TrumboreSeptember 21, 2003

Readings for Reflection

Presentation by Paint Branch Players: You Matter to God

Imagine a young woman walking slowly across the stage. There is nothing special or different about her. Suddenly, she is confronted by a person, who, in skillful mime with dramatic background music, makes it clear that he finds her hideous. She shrinks a bit.

Next she encounters another person, who with equal vigor silently tells her how stupid she is. Her body shrinks again. She is barely standing.

Finally, on her path she meets someone who in no uncertain terms informs her that she is unlovable. Completely undone, she falls to the floor, a sorry mess of a person.

There is a pause for the audience to recognize their own feelings of identification, anger, guilt and shame bubbling up.

Another woman entered. She put her arms around the first woman and, as words came over the loudspeaker, she told her in mime, “You matter to God.” At first, our shriveled piece of humanity didn't believe her. But gradually, she began to mime the same action. She then retraced her journey and at each encounter, as she reminded herself that she mattered to God, her confidence returned, and the degrading actions of the others did not touch her.

The scene ended with all of them together, including those who had hurt her, miming that powerful phrase, “You matter to God.”

From President Sinkford’s sermon in Texas that got this controversy going:

When I came to Unitarian Universalism, I was an ardent, some might say even a rabid, Humanist. If you had told me as a teenager that at age 56 I would be an ordained minister, using religious language in this pulpit, and have a prayer life that centered on thankfulness and gratefulness to God, I would have laughed out loud. The Humanist tradition was mine for a long time.

But we don't have this all permanently figured out at any discrete moment in time. In my case, it was direct experience of something I hadn't counted on--the kind of "direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder" which we also affirm as a source of our faith tradition--that changed my mind. It was in the midst of a crisis--my son Billy, then 15 years old, had overdosed on drugs, and it was unclear whether he would live. As I sat with him in the hospital, I found myself praying. First the selfish prayers for forgiveness…for the time not made, for the too many trips, for the many things unsaid, and, sadly, for a few things said that should never have passed my lips. But as the night darkened, I finally found the pure prayer. The prayer that asked only that my son would live. And late in the evening, I felt the hands of a loving universe reaching out to hold. The hands of God, the Spirit of Life. The name was unimportant. I knew that those hands would be there to hold me whatever the morning brought. And I knew, though I cannot tell you how, that those hands were holding my son as well. I knew that I did not have to walk that path alone, that there is a love that has never broken faith with us and never will.

My son survived. But the experience stayed with me. That is my experience, and my vocabulary for that experience. But "religious language" doesn't have to mean "God talk." And I'm not suggesting that Unitarian Universalism return to traditional Christian language. But I do feel that we need some language that would allow us to capture the possibility of reverence, to name the holy, to talk about human agency in theological terms--the ability of humans to shape and frame our world guided by what we find to be of ultimate importance.

Sermon
Almost two weeks ago, I participated in a presentation for Methodist clergy to interest them in joining with the ARISE community organizing project.I thought the presentation had gone well.Our organizer was articulate at explaining what we were doing and why we were doing it.Several of the Methodist clergy expressed interested in hearing more.I was feeling good as the session ended and I turned to one of the Methodist ministers and asked him what he thought about what he’d heard.His response surprised me.He said, “Where is God in your work?I didn’t hear you talking about God.”

I was at a loss for words.We’d opened with a prayer, closed with at prayer.Biblical imagery had been drawn upon.But I had to agree that we hadn’t explicitly discussed the theological grounding for our organizing strategy.Nor did I feel that comfortable doing it given we have secular neighborhood organizations as part of ARISE and non-Christian religious organizations.Still, I felt disturbed that I couldn’t immediately answer him in a language that was mutually affirming. 

Sometimes when I speak with people who have just been through a difficult, traumatic experience or have discovered they are suffering from an incurable disease, I hear a need to speak theologically about their situation.I hear a subtle, stifled cry to ask, “Why are you doing this to me Lord?”“What have I done to deserve this?”“Is there something I can do or say to appease you?”“Rescue me Lord, from my affliction.”

But I don’t often hear those words because they are, frankly, theologically incorrect in the rugged individualist approach of many Unitarian Universalists that might be expected to say something sobering like, “Buck up you sniveling coward.”Rarely, do we ask each other for help.Given our reluctance to ask for help, I am pleased to report the generous support we do offer each other, in times of need.

In dialogue with other faiths or in response to the needs of those suffering amongst us, what I think we lack as a religious community is a commonly held theological language that allows us to pour out our hearts in grief, supplication, devotion and reverence that compels us to action.

Participants at General Assembly in Boston this year were all buzzing with Unitarian Universalist Association President Bill Sinkford’s call for a language of reverence.In his President’s report, he told us nothing had generated as much mail and email in the recent history of our Association as his recent remarks.He seems to have touched a nerve.

For some people this is a new and threatening concern.It stimulates fear of a regression back into the grips of traditional religion.

For everyone who enters the Unitarian Universalist ministry, President Sinkford is speaking about one of our daily concerns.Every time I am called upon to pray at an ARISE meeting, every time I meet someone in need, every time I stand in this pulpit, I’m cautious about what words I can or can’t say and who might be offended.

We have this difficulty largely because of our non-creedal approach to religion.Believing there are universals in religion that cannot be contained in language, we have relegated matters of belief and faith to individual conscience as the final arbiter as a way to fight religious oppression.This is a good thing.Unfortunately this hasn’t solved the problem, just buried it.

You see, having different beliefs under one roof, at times, creates friction.If the minister reads from the Bible, prays to Jesus, or proclaims God’s demand for justice, all consistent with our purposes and principles, the atheist objects and may even walk out.If the minister never refers to theological concepts, the theist complains that the services aren’t spiritual enough.The effect of these conflicts over the last seventy years in our movement has been to water down or drive out theological language from our services and from our interpersonal conversations.I know Unitarian Universalists, for example, who pray but would never admit to it in their congregation for fear of being shunned by those who don’t.President Sinkford believes the net effect of our non-creedal approach, as we practice it today, has been to limit our practice of religion.

So, to enhance our practice of Unitarian Universalism, President Sinkford is calling on our congregations to begin defining a “language of reverence.”To indemnify himself from the atheist attack that he is driving us toward God-talk, he quotes one of our most articulate and inspiring humanists, The Rev. Dr. David Bumbaugh who said:

"We have manned the ramparts of reason and are prepared to defend the citadel of the mind, but in the process of defending, we have lost…the ability to speak of that which is sacred, holy, of ultimate importance to us…” 

The word reverence is an interesting one because it straddles the atheist/theist divide.The word stretches beyond the mundane but doesn’t quite leap into sacred terminology.To revere is to regard as worthy of great honor, to admire profoundly and respectfully.Reverence presupposes intrinsic merit and tenderness of feeling.Love and devotion, awe and wonder, are all compatible with feelings of reverence.

Paul Woodruff, in his book, lent to me by Lois Griffin, titled, “Reverence, Renewing a Forgotten Virtue (Oxford University Press, 2001),” captures well this middle ground in these words:

Reverence begins in a deep understanding of human limitations; from this grows the capacity to be in awe of whatever we believe lies outside our control—God, truth, justice, nature, even death.The capacity for awe, as it grows, brings with it the capacity for respecting fellow human beings, flaws and all.This in turn fosters the ability to be ashamed when we show moral flaws exceeding the normal human allotment… Simply put, reverence is the virtue that keeps human beings from trying to act like gods.

Woodruff gets right to the heart of why I think we need a language of reverence.If we do not look beyond ourselves for sources of reverence, we run the risk of trying to act like gods, projecting our views as the embodiment of truth or denigrating those sniveling cowards with whom we do not agree.

A good minister knows intimately the temptation to usurp God’s throne.Most of us have tried to do it on occasion and suffered the humiliating consequences.The wings we fly with are made of wax, married to the earth not to the sky.

All of us must acknowledge there are powers greater than ourselves that limit us.As I learned quickly after being hit by a car that badly broke my leg in 1977, these bodies are frail.Without a few minutes of breath, we perish.Staying up more than 24 hours will begin breaking down our mental functioning.Witnessing the devastation of a hurricane, tornado, volcano, or earthquake, the fearsome weapons of modern warfare, or the institutionalized violence that can be applied by the IRS, the FBI or the CIA, can make one feel very small, vulnerable and alone.

Thankfully, there are other powers greater than ourselves which draw us beyond our individual limitations.Have you ever been struck with a profound, yet wholly unexpected, creative inspiration that seems so odd as to make you wonder about its origin?Have you ever had a moment of awe-filled wonder that literally drove you involuntarily to your knees in gratitude?Have you ever been in the presence of someone whose talent seemed to soar beyond human limitations?Do you know any ordinary people who have become caught up in a moment of heroism you know they wouldn't have rationally chosen? Do you know any researchers who are inexplicably driven by a frenetically inquisitive mind?Do you know of any martyrs whose spirit could not be broken while everyone else around them recanted.These are examples that suggest a source beyond the self that can inspire reverence.

Where we get into trouble is trying to name that source.Is this source the power of Fate, God, Allah, Ahuru Mazda, Satan, a guardian angel or a spirit guide, or just social conditioning and brain chemistry mixed with dumb luck?

A language of reverence arises through our mutual recognition that there are humbling powers beyond us we don’t fully understand that can control and shape us.Whether there are or are not gods, we definitely are not their equals.

Implicit in our approach to religion has been the belief that at the core of the various world religions is a common reality grounded in human experience, an unspeakable Universalism that allows us to translate each other’s language of faith.We can penetrate each other’s language by connecting each term to human experience.

Embracing the possibility of multiply true languages of faith can allow me to worship in an African American Missionary Baptist Church and translate the minister’s appeal to give your life to Jesus into a call to make a firm commitment to love-–a translation that is meaningful to me.It allows me to pray with the Rabbi, Shema Israel Adonai Elohenu Adonai echad  Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One, and translate this as an affirmation that there is one and only one Ultimate Reality.It allows me to chant with the Sufi, “La Illaha, Il a’allah.” There is no other God but Allah which I can translate and use to point to the same Jewish concept of the universality of Ultimate Reality.

To be sure, these terms are not equal, each is unique and independent of the other, and, common threads of meaning can weave them together to show their compatibility in the realm of human experience.

For those who remain uncomfortable or unwilling to translate traditional theological languages, you'll be happy to know new languages of reverence are emerging.I strongly encourage you to come to this room Saturday, October 11th and hear the Rev. Dr. David Bumbaugh speak to us in person and articulate a Humanist Language of Reverence derived from the Humanist Manifesto.I and the ministers in Glens Falls, Schenectady and Saratoga Springs will respond with our languages of reverence.I will offer a class starting at the end of October for us to explore and share our own language of reverence so we can practice this process of translation and perhaps find some common terms.

This is what I believe President Sinkford is calling us to do.He is not pushing us toward becoming liberal Christians and praying to God.He is not banishing secular humanists from our movement.He is challenging us to leave our theological closets, risk talking about our beliefs with each other, try doing a little translating and seek a language that is generally acceptable for this congregation.Each of our fiercely independent congregations has a unique language that can be enriched with a larger vocabulary.A larger vocabulary will deepen, and enhance the quality of our Sunday services.Being able to use both contemporary and traditional language and translate between the two will greatly enhance our ability to persuasively share the good news of Unitarian Universalism with others.

Dwelling in irreverence will only isolate us and make this congregation irrelevant.We carry precious insights into how to do religion that defend against authoritarianism and idolatry through respecting the integrity of the individual.Let us not fall prey to over-inflating the greatness of these insights.We have much to relearn from others that we have forgotten or fearfully rejected.

The phrases “you matter to God” and the inherent worth of every person do not mean the same thing.And I believe they point toward the same life-affirming human values.The key to understanding and translating multiple languages of reverence is listening for the human dimension.At heart, they are all languages of love.

President Sinkford’s inspirational story of praying at his son's bedside and feeling his hands held by something greater than himself was a human experience.However we symbolize these experiences, the stories that describe them have a resonance that communicates a greater truth than language can impart.

Human experience is the universal language we can speak together.Let us use it to find a common reverential language that will set our hearts free. 

Benediction
Yes, we must continue to man the ramparts

And defend the value of reason in religion
And we must learn a little humility
And acknowledge the limits of our thinking and experience.
Human experience may be universal,
But none of us have lived each other’s lives,
None of us have traveled every byway
of the human heart and mind.

Let us find our own language of reverence
that both expands our possibilities for meaning
And contracts our desire to conquer them.
Once we find some reverential words grounded in human experience
Then let us begin learning how to translate
Our personal language into the language of others.

You are in the right place to do that kind of learning and growing.

May we find a way to recognize and translate
the reverent human experience that inspired these words:
“there is a love
that has never broken faith with us
and never will.”

Go from this place,
Filled with the spirit of love that extends beyond us,
Chastened by a broader awareness of our human limitations
Awed by the gift of human possibility,
And energized to make a positive difference,
reverently.

Copyright © 2003 by the Rev. Samuel A. Trumbore. All rights reserved.