Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
Corvallis,
Oregon
“Wearing a Chalice-Now What?”
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Rev. Gretchen Woods
Reading:
“This House” by
Kenneth L. Patton
This house is for the ingathering of
nature and human nature.
It is a house for friendships, a
haven in trouble,
an
open room for the encouragement of our struggle.
It is a house of freedom, guarding
the dignity and worth
of
every person.
It offers a platform for the free
voice, for declaring,
both
in times of security and danger,
the
full and undivided conflict of opinion.
It is a house of truth-seeking,
where
scientists can encourage devotion to their quest
where
mystics can abide in a community of searchers.
It is a house of art, adorning its
celebrations with
melodies
and handiworks.
It is a house of prophecy
outrunning
times past and times present
in
visions of growth and progress.
This house is a cradle for our
dreams,
the
workshop of our common endeavor.
Sermon:
"Wearing
Your Chalice--Now What?”
I ran into
Winco last week after one of our congregational functions to pick up some food
for supper. As I went through the check-out, the young clerk remarked how
pretty my necklace was. I off-handedly responded that it is the symbol of my
faith. The conversation went no further. Are you relieved?
But what if
she had asked me more, as some other curious folks have. What if it had been
you? Do you own a chalice or a chalice t-shirt or anything else that would
identify you as a Unitarian Universalist? I know many of you have invested in
this wonderful t-shirt with a vivid rainbow chalice on it. How often do you
wear it? As one of my colleagues asks, “If you were charged with being a
Unitarian Universalist, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” I would
add, “And what would you say to the charges?”
The current
President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, William G. Sinkford, has
spent considerable time since 2003 encouraging those of us who claim Unitarian
Universalism (and there are at least twice as many of us who claim Unitarian
Universalism as have signed our official membership books across this
continent) to develop what he calls our “elevator speech.” He defines the “elevator speech” as the
answer you have ready if someone in the elevator on the sixth floor of the
hotel asks you, notices your chalice, then asks, “What is a Unitarian
Universalist?” You have until you get to the lobby to answer. Bill’s answer is
“One God, no one left behind.” BAnd he is very clear that this is not “the one
true answer.” Each of us must find an answer that works for us and conveys our
commitment to the “good news” of Unitarian Universalism.
So let’s
take a few minutes to actually explore the meaning of symbols, the history of
the symbol of the flaming chalice, and how each one of us might actually be
able to respond to that nice young checker should she have asked, “What does it
mean?”
Webster (Webster’s
New World Dictionary of the American Language, college edition, 1968)
defines a symbol : “something that stands for or represents another thing;
especially, an object used to represent something abstract; emblem: as, the
dove is a symbol of peace, the cross is the symbol of
Christianity.” Karen Armstrong elaborates on this in a useful way:
A symbol can be defined as an object or a notion that we can
perceive with our senses or grasp with our minds but in which we see something
other than itself. Reason alone will not enable us to perceive the special, the
universal or the eternal in a particular, temporal object. That is the task of
the creative imagination, to which mystics, like artists, attribute their
insights. As in art, the most effective religious symbols are those informed by
an intelligent knowledge and understanding of the human condition. (Armstrong. A
History of God. p. 234.)
The meaning of a symbol is what we
make of it, how we personally experience “something other than itself.” A fish
is something you catch and eat, unless you happen to be a devout Christian who
wishes to use the fish as a symbol to self-identify by placing a plastic fish
on the bumper of your car – or you are a believer in evolution who adds the
name Darwin and legs to the symbol on your car bumper. Then you get into bumper
wars with fish with “truth” in them eating fish with “Darwin” in them. Talk
about dueling symbols. Whew!
Unitarianism
did not spend much time or energy on symbols through its early history, other
than letters of the alphabet. Unitarians were truly “people of the word,” which
has required letters and abstract concepts, but symbolism was often limited to
words. Universalism cherished the Christian cross for many years, but set it
off side in a circle, to note that the circle of love is larger and more
central than the cross.
Then, in
the 20th century, Kenneth L. Patton, the Universalist minister who
wrote the reading for today, asserted that “religion cannot operate without
symbols.” Not only did he focus upon the symbols of the world’s religions (the
cross, the six-pointed star, the crescent moon), as made manifest in a lovely
collection of brass sculptures in the Charles Street Meeting House in Boston,
but he added a mural of the Great Nebula in Andromeda and a sculpture
symbolizing the atom (David Robinson, The Unitarians and the Universalists .
p. 303.). He wanted to create symbols for a religion that is related to the
discoveries of science.
Symbols can
be useful. Just before Germany slammed shut the door in 1939, a handful of
Jewish children were rescued from the Nazis and brought to the United States by
the American Unitarian Service Committee. The AUSC used a flaming chalice as a
symbol on the doors of those who would help with this “underground railway” for
the children.
When the
American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America merged in
1961, it was clear that two non-concentric circles could represent our joined
faith stances: one that there is only one god (as some of us would say, “at
most.”) and the other that god is love. The chalice itself is an invitation to
all to come together in the communion of our faith. The flame is viewed as the
lamp of knowledge, the fire of commitment, and the warmth of love.
When
recognition of hunger for symbols among us arose in the 1970’s, that chalice
began to claim our interest more deeply. Gradually, our congregations began to
light chalices all across the continent to symbolize the fire of commitment,
the warmth of community, the enlightenment of the mind, and a host of other
experiences we treasure as those who share the Unitarian Universalist Purposes
and Principles. Some of us found this ritual – or any ritual – too “churchy,”
but many of us felt it touched a deep need to symbolize that which is most
important to us and to represent it to our world.
Chalices that one could wear were
given to our youth as they prepared to leave the congregation and move out into
the world. The symbol was adopted and adapted by congregations to suit their
own environments and visions of themselves. If this is your first UU
congregation, you probably don’t know that the chalice displayed proudly in our
metal sculpture, inlaid wood, and banner in the foyer is very particular to the
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis. You may wonder why all of the
chalices I wear don’t look like that one. That’s because a jeweler has yet to
reproduce this chalice so I can wear it. I wear those made for the larger
Unitarian Universalist audience –and I wear them proudly, so I can practice my
elevator speech and invite anyone who has been feeling lonely with their
religious questions to join our search and our community. In some ways, the
chalice is an invitation to another to receive a listening ear and an open
heart.
I can’t
develop your “elevator speech” for you, nor convince you to wear a chalice. But
I can invite you to examine what is most important to you about being part of
this religious community. Maybe it is the shared search for truth and meaning.
Maybe it is the values that we assert in our Purposes and Principles. Maybe it
is the sense of community with wonderful people. Maybe it is knowing that here
you will be accepted for who you are with all you questions and uncertainties
and acknowledged for all your gifts and talents. Maybe it is the support for
taking our values out into the larger world and sharing them with those who
might hold common cause for the greater good of all.
Just
remember that the flaming chalice symbolizes so much. It symbolizes what our
faith means to us and how we are called to carry it forward. I am reminded of
Olympia Brown’s words:
Stand by this faith. Work for it and sacrifice for it.
There is nothing in all the world so important as to be
loyal to this faith which has placed before us the loftiest ideals, which has
comforted us in sorrow, strengthened us for noble duty, and made the world
beautiful.
Do not demand immediate results but rejoice that we are
worthy to be entrusted with this great message,
that you are strong enough to work for a great true
principle without counting the cost.
Go on
finding ever new applications of these truths and new enjoyments in their
contemplation, always trusting in the one God which ever lives and loves.
May our
symbols and our study, service, and celebration of life inspire such optimistic
joy. So be it! Blessed Be!
“Wearing a Chalice – Now What?”
Sunday, September 25, 2005
9:30 and 11 am
Welcome and Announcements
Choral Introit
“Be Light For Our
Eyes”
Chalice Lighting
Opening Words
Opening Song
#188 “Come, Come,
Whoever You Are?”
Time For All Ages
“Follow the Flame”
Religious
Exploration begins
Reading
“This House” by
Kenneth Patton
Celebrating With Music
“Rejoice and
Sing!” by David Haas
Sermon
“Wearing a
Chalice – Now What?”
Sung Response
#113 “Where Is
Our Holy Church?”
Spoken Response
Candles of Joy and Sorrow/Offering
Meditation
Closing Song
#317 “The Human
Touch Can Light the Flame” (verses 1 & 2)
Closing Words
Closing Song
#317 (verse 3)
Please Greet Your Neighbor