Green Sanctuary and the Seventh Principle
Rev. Dr.
Gaye Williams Ortiz
Unitarian
Universalist Church of Augusta
August 2,
2015
“We
are the generation fated to live in the most interesting of times, for we are
now the weather makers, and the future of biodiversity and civilization hangs
on our actions.” (P306) That’s what the author of The Weather Makers, Tim Flannery, says. (New York: Grove Press, 2005) And what a heavy responsibility it
is to live in these “interesting” times!
Sometimes
when I’m asked to explain what Unitarian Universalism is, I only half-jokingly
say, “We believe in life before
death.” But I would venture to label Unitarian Universalists as people who care
about the here and now, but also care about the future.
Take, as evidence, the time described by the Rev. Scott Alexander in
his sermon for Earth Day in 2004 at River Road Unitarian Church in Bethesda,
Maryland:
“Back
… when the Unitarian Universalist Association labored for several years to
revise our statement of religious principles that would take us into this next
century, we added A NEW SEVENTH PRINCIPLE. In addition to all our long standing
HUMANITY CENTERED PRINCIPLES (about justice and equality, respect and
compassion)” ...this 7th principle “promises the world and one
another that we will "Respect...the interdependent web of all
existence of which we are a part."
The Rev James Ford
writes about this occasion on June
25th, 1984, when Unitarian Universalists from across the United States and
Canada gathered at the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, for the
eleventh General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of
Congregations.
If any of you have been to General Assembly you’ll
know that we meet in a massive convention center hall where thousands of us do
the business of the Association in long sessions of discussion and debate.
On this instance, Ford reports, “the Reverend
Paul L’Herrou made his way to the microphones… he was lanky and bearded, and
stood at the microphone with the ease of an experienced pulpit minister. He
looked around, briefly stroked his beard and then addressed the proposed
seventh principle, which was a call to “respect for the Earth and the
interdependence of its living systems.” Ford writes, “In my mind’s eye, as Paul
stood there, the hall fell to a hushed silence. I think, I’m pretty sure the
world outside grew quiet, as well. Perhaps one or two stars broke through the
Ohio daylight, shooting beams in the general direction of Columbus.
Out of that silence Paul pointed out how that
wording fell far short of what it could be, and he proposed new wording for the
seventh principle: a call to respect “the interdependent web of existence, of
which we are all a part.”
Ford writes, “I’m pretty sure, although I have to
admit there’s no hard record of it, that with those words the ceiling blew off
the convention center and a host of angels and many other celestial beings from
all the world’s religions, past, present and future, descended from the
heavens, some playing instruments of astonishing beauty, while others sang a
Gloria that reached out to the farthest corners of the universe. Even the stars
danced in joy at the revelation of this great secret of the universe within a
gathering of Unitarian Universalists in Columbus, Ohio, in the United States,
on the North American continent of a tiny planet circling a middling star at
the edge of one of a hundred thousand million galaxies. The call: to know that
interdependent web of existence, of which we are all a part.”
“And then,” Ford goes on, “it was over. The
ceiling resealed, the beings were gone, only a hint of their song remaining in
the hearts of the assembled, who then voted. They accepted that proposed
change, and with that our little band found itself marked with an astonishing
charism, a particular channel of divine blessing aimed at healing this poor,
broken world. I suggest in that hour our future was articulated with as much
authority as if it were from the tongue of an ancient prophet.”
Rev. Scott Alexander explained the 7th
Principle to his congregation in similar praiseworthy terms, that “in part,
this new affirmation arose out of our RATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AWARENESS of how
endangered our planet's ecology truly is. But our 7th UU principle also arose
out of a growing SPIRITUAL AWARENESS in our religious movement (and, mercifully
many other faith traditions as well) of THE SACRED AND HOLY INTERCONNECTEDNESS
OF ALL LIFE FORMS ON THIS PLANET.
By promising to respect the interdependent web of
which we are a part, we are saying that humanity must cultivate and deepen OUR
SENSE OF KINSHIP...WISE AND COMPASSIONATE AND CARING KINSHIP with this incredibly holy web of life into which
we were so miraculously born. We must learn that we are… bound up in a FAMILY OF LIFE AND LIVING THINGS that demands and
deserves our CARE, our RESPECT, our LOVE and steady, trustworthy PROTECTION. “
Rev. Alexander declared that as a Unitarian
Universalist, he is “passionately convinced that if he spiritually opens himself
to the mystery, beauty and glory that is this LIVING SYSTEM THAT SINGS WITHIN
AND AROUND him, then he will find the wisdom, along with others of wisdom and
good will, to preserve and protect our living planet earth.”
He stated that “we all owe it to ourselves (and to
future human generations) to read (and respond appropriately to) what the
ecologists and earth scientists are straightforwardly telling us about the
environmental dangers our planet is facing. There is so much we can do to
ensure the future of our planet just by heeding the facts of our world and doing
what we can.”
And many of us do try, some by “driving
earth-friendly hybrid cars, by recycling or living with voluntary simplicity.
Some of us work to persuade neighbors that they can make a difference in local
environments, and some of us try to make sure that our governmental leaders
adopt the right environmental policies and programs.”
But Alexander says, “we must also truly open our hearts to the wondrous, living world
around us. If we are to truly develop an EMPOWERING KINSHIP with natural
life around us, we must TAKE THE TIME
TO GET OUTDOORS in this stunningly beautiful world of ours and QUIET
ourselves...and OPEN ourselves...and LISTEN to the RHYTHMS [of life] that sing
out from every rock, river and tree...from every bird, bug and branch.
We hope there is still time for us human beings to collectively change our
relationship with our Mother Earth to ensure Her health and survival, and our
salvation as a species will depend both on: 1) GOOD SCIENCE and 2) DEEP
SPIRITUALITY. Both HEAD and HEART will be required of us in the days ahead.”
For Unitarian Universalists, climate change is not
only something that we are concerned about because of our seventh principle,
but because it is a social justice issue.
Our Unitarian
Universalist Association of Congregations recognized this in a statement in
2012 on Climate Change:
“Environmental justice is the
recognition that environmental degradation disproportionately harms those who
are poor and marginalized, even while they derive less benefit and have less
control over how our resources are used. These concerns are especially true
with climate change. As weather patterns change, causing drought in some areas
and flooding in others, poorer peoples lack the resources to respond to these
disasters and bear the brunt of suffering when they happen.
Our Unitarian Universalist (UU)
spiritual values call us to act on the personal, local, and national levels to
adopt practices that will reverse climate change, and to do so in ways that are
just and equitable.” (UU Guide to 2012 Preach-In)
This
statement draws attention to the levels of connection to one another in this society
and this world, as well as our common life together. Valerie Freseman writes
that this weekend we can see the ancient holiday of Lugnasadh as symbolizing
“many connections to harvest and so many opportunities, both expected and
unexpected, to draw strength from community. Every time the wheel turns we have
more than just the customs of the seasons to get excited about, we have their
intrinsic lessons and values to think of as well.”
Let
us continue to value good science, deep spirituality, and THE INTERDEPENDENT WEB OF ALL EXISTENCE OF WHICH
WE ARE A PART.
Blessed be, Amen.
"RESPECT FOR THE INTERDEPENDENT WEB OF
ALL EXISTENCE OF WHICH WE ARE A PART", Rev. Scott W. Alexander, River Road
Unitarian Church, Sunday, April 25, 2004
A
sermon in an occasional series: The Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism.
For
Earth Day, 2004
“TRYING RELIGION: EMBRACING THE NEW
UNIVERSALISM” (A Meditation on the First & Seventh Principles of Unitarian
Universalism as a Saving Message, Together With a Buddhist Midrash), James Ford June 28, 2014 http://www.uuworld.org/articles/embrace-new-universalism
“Lughnassah:
Deepening Community”, Valerie Freseman July 10, 2015 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/naturespath/2015/07/lughnassah-deepening-community/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Pagan%2007%2022%2015%20(1)&utm_content=&spMailingID=49165936&spUserID=NjY3ODU4NDEwOTgS1&spJobID=723003634&spReportId
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