Emerald City
by Chris Lihou
Service at UUCSS on August 5, 2001
Fisrt Reading
Without spiritual foundation there can be no society. Without spiritual
practice, confusion reigns. Even the softest prayer sends vibrations
moving through the air, just as the guitar strings stir the piano's song.
To call forth the voice, and to sing in joy and harmony, to let the beauty
flow in our hearts, is something all of our elders have talked about,
saying to us, "Let us pray together, let us do things together." People
come together to pray not only for social reasons; there is a real power
in joined voices. It is the power of human nature reweaving the sacred
web of light, acknowledging the whole community. All that we see is a
reflection of consciousness, and to see requires pulling the veils from
the eyes, pulling away the illusions that limit us in time and space,
the illusions that say we are separate. We are not separate. We are all
together. When we join our hearts in prayer, in singing and in sacred
dancing, in planting things together, we are returning something to the
earth, planting seeds of good cause.
Know that all our relationships are aspects of mind and that our thoughts
are always contributing to the forms around us. When we affirm love and
forgiveness as a stream within our hearts, we release in our bodies a
great energy, and the sacred flow within us flows more readily, more
fully. In that stream of forgiveness we see that we continue in a process
and that we have choice. Our thoughts, our words, our actions, our very
breath shape the fiber of our reality.
We are all creators. The very act of our calling ourselves together
- as family, as friends, as co-workers - is a creation arising from each
one's mind and being. We have chosen to be together. Consciousness of
choice and relationship is medicine for us in this moment. Let us know
that we can work together, see the best in one another, and diligently
and energetically maintain the idea of truth. We can hold in our eye,
within the sound of our voice, the concept of harmonious resolution.
This is a practice. Be happy; remember, it is our sacred duty to let
that energy of happiness flow from our hearts, rather than saddening
the flowers around us. This our elders have always taught.
Our status, our position, is determined not by the work we do outside,
but by the work in our hearts and how we assist others. The effort to
recognize and speak the truth is the greatest work that any of us can
do. It is to realize the power of our clear mind, and to call forth the
best from all the people with whom we walk along life's path. This is
a gift of giving and receiving. Then one's heart feels it will burst
with a sense of love and appreciation, free of confining fears.
From:
Ywahoo, Dhyani, Voices of Our Ancestors: Cherokee Teachings from the
Wisdom Fire
Shambhala Publications: ISBN: 0877734100
Second Reading
A shared vision is not an idea. It is, rather, a force in people's
hearts, a force of impressive power. It may be inspired by an idea, but
once it goes further - if it is compelling enough to acquire the support
of more than one person - then it is no longer an abstraction. It is
palpable. People begin to see it as if it exists. Few, if any, forces
in human affairs are as powerful as shared vision.
At its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question, "What
do we want to create?" Just as personal visions are pictures or
images people carry in their heads and hearts, so too are shared visions
pictures that people throughout an organization carry. They create a
sense of commonality that permeates the organization and gives coherence
to diverse activities. In fact, one of the reasons people seek to build
shared visions is their desire to be connected in an important undertaking.
In every instance where one finds a long-term view actually operating
in human affairs, there is a long-term vision at work. The cathedral
builders of the Middle Ages labored a lifetime with the fruits of their
labors still a hundred years in the future.
Shared vision fosters risk taking and experimentation. Shared visions
emerge from personal visions. This is how they derive their energy and
how they foster commitment. Caring is personal. It is rooted in an individual's
own sense of values, concerns, and aspirations. This is why genuine caring
about a shared vision is rooted in personal visions. This simple truth
is lost on many leaders, who decide that their organization must develop
a vision by tomorrow. Organizations intent on building shared visions
must continually encourage members to develop their personal visions.
If people don't have their own vision, all they can do is "sign
up" for someone else's. The result is compliance, never commitment.
You cannot have a cohesive organization without shared vision. Without
a pull toward some goal, which people truly want to achieve, the forces
in support of the status quo can be overwhelming. Vision establishes
an overarching goal. The loftiness of the target compels new ways of
thinking and acting. A shared vision also provides a rudder to keep the
process on course when stresses develop. Change can be difficult, even
painful. With a shared vision, we are more likely to expose our way of
thinking, give up deeply held views, and recognize personal and organizational
shortcomings. All that trouble seems trivial compared with the importance
of what we are trying to create. In the absence of a great dream, pettiness
prevails. In the presence of greatness, pettiness disappears.
From:
Senge, Peter, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning
Organization.
Doubleday: ISBN: 0385260954
Sharing of Joys and Sorrows
Words of Dhyani Ywahoo:
Let us recall that what each of us does and says will come around the
sacred wheel and touch us again. As the pebble in the stream makes many
ripples, so does each word and thought we hold in our minds.
We thank those who have honored us with the joys and sorrows of their
hearts.
The qualities of laughter, joy, and sorrow, and our thoughts and actions
weave the tapestry of life. There is a song arising in our hearts as
a community of human beings sharing and co-creating an environment. The
song is calling each of us to transform conflicting emotions, and to
reveal the inherent harmony. Speak the best of yourself and others, recognize
process and change, and affirm the healing power of peaceful thought.
Hold the form of peace. Realize that thought and action shape tomorrow.
As the melodies of life thread through our actions, each person is weaving
the tapestry that becomes our tomorrow. We will now observe a time for
silent reflection on all those unspoken things, which weigh on our hearts.
Sermon
The Emerald City
by Chris Lihou
In the Wizard of Oz, as Dorothy and her companions traveled along the
Yellow Brick Road, The Emerald city was always to be seen, just over
the horizon, beckoning them on. Last week we talked about The Yellow
Brick Road as a metaphor. We saw that the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and
the Cowardly Lion were symbols of the negative visions of herself that
Dorothy had in her subconscious. The companions thought that in the Emerald
City they would find that which they lacked - a heart with which to feel,
courage to be a magnificent person, and brains, ability and talent to
achieve skill and accomplished ease. When they got there, they found
that the answers were not there - the answers were inside them all along.
They found that they had the power and the ability to do what
they needed to do. The powerlessness symbolized by Dorothy's relationship
with the Wicked Witches vanished away - a few drops of water and the
witch just melted. And they found that they had all the noble qualities
they thought they lacked - and that they also deserved the fulfillment
of their dreams, their personal visions. Today, we look at this church
- UUCSS, and our beloved community, as the Emerald City - a community
of visionary aspiration - the destination for our lives and our hopes.
There are two kinds of visions, which are closely intertwined together
- intrinsic visions and extrinsic visions. They are intertwined because
we often need to realize our inner worth before we can achieve outer
success, and achievement of outer success often gives us the inner satisfaction
we want. Intrinsic visions are those visions of whom we want to become
- the aspirations toward goodness and wholeness of the Tin Man, the Cowardly
Lion, and the Scarecrow. Extrinsic visions are those of what we want
to achieve, and very often those visions cannot be realized alone
- we need the help and collaboration of others in a community of shared
vision to allow us to do those things. Martin Luther King had such a
vision. Nelson Mandela had such a vision. John F. Kennedy had such a
vision. All of them managed to inspire millions of people with the power
of their vision.
There is a strange thing about visions. It has to do with the nature
of time. All we have in our hand is the present. The past is gone, and
whatever was done there cannot be undone. Nobody will ever be able to
go back in time and prevent the assassination of Dr. King. It is history
now, closed off to us and unchangeable. The present is fleeting - today
dawned a few hours ago, in a blink it will be gone. The present instant,
this second, now its gone, here comes another, now that's also gone,
into history - the present is almost as illusory as the past. Therefore
all we have left is the future. And the future is only a vision. Nothing
more. It is a vast and infinite menu of possibilities for us - what will
we choose from this menu? Because only in the future do we have a choice.
So what is our vision for this church? You know, there are three things
we have to ask about a vision: What?…Why?...and How? What fulfillment
do we, each one of us, find here? What visions do we share now? What
should this community be doing to become great and wonderful? And: Why
should it become that? Why do we want those personal achievements, which
we believe will give us fulfillment? Why should we belong to this community?
And: How are we going to become all that we can be? How is this church
going to become that shining light on a hill, that Emerald City, which
we know it can become? How is our community going to find its shared
vision?
Peter Senge says:
"There are two fundamental sources of energy that can motivate
organizations: fear and aspiration. The power of fear underlies negative
visions. The power of aspiration drives positive visions. Fear can produce
extraordinary changes in short periods, but aspiration endures as a continuing
source of learning and growth. Many organizations truly pull together
only when their survival is threatened."
This applies equally well to personal visions. Last week we talked
about how so many of us, when asked about our visions, give a laundry
list of what we want to get rid of, and not what we want to achieve or
become. Same with this community. So how do we find our vision? There
are some milestones to guide us. First, a vision starts with one person
- Martin Luther King, Mandela, Kennedy. Then it is tested against the
skepticism of other people. If the visionary is not truly inspired, the
vision can die at this stage. But if the visionary is inspired, and if
the vision is truly inspiring, the idea takes hold, and more and more
people in the community become committed to the vision, and its power
grows exponentially. About fifty of us from this church attended the
Million Mom March on the Mall - that whole event started as the vision
of one inspired woman. I still see the bumper stickers as I drive around,
although they are beginning to fade now.
Too many organizations see visioning as a process which can be done
by a committee, or by the Board of Directors, or by the CEO and vice
presidents in a closed workshop. They believe that their enthusiasm will
be infectious and inspiring. All these visions fail, because they are
not shared visions. All they inspire is compliance. Workers pay lip service
to the bosses' Vision Of The Month, so they can keep getting their paycheck,
and congregants pay lip service to the committee's Vision Of The Year,
so they can continue to get the coffee and company after service on a
Sunday.
Peter Senge again:
"In most organizations, most people are in states of formal or
genuine compliance to the organization's goals and ground rules. They
go along with "the program," sincerely trying to contribute.
There is a world of difference between compliance and commitment. The
committed person brings an energy, a passion, and an excitement that
cannot be generated if you are only compliant, even genuinely compliant.
The committed person doesn't "play by the rules of the game." He
is responsible for the game. If the rules of the game stand in
the way of achieving the vision, he will find ways to change the rules.
A group of people truly committed to a common vision is an awesome force.
They can accomplish the seemingly impossible."
Does this church really have a shared vision? By these definitions,
I don't think we do. A number of individuals have individual visions,
and a number of committees have group visions, but I don't think we as
a whole have any clear idea of what it is about this church that makes
us strong, what are the individual strengths and talents we have that
would allow us to do and to be whatever we want to be. This is such a
talented community - we are biochemists, musicians, engineers, teachers,
artists, oceanographers, gardeners, mathematicians, PhDs, poets, potters,
dreamers, old wise folks, young people with boundless energy, all of
us people of good heart and clear mind. If we found a common cause to
consciously strive for, even if it was only the cause of helping each
other to become as magnificent as each of us can be, or if it was the
cause of being known far and wide in our area as the church that moves
mountains, whatever our shared vision, if it was truly a shared vision,
we could move mountains.
From where will this vision come? It must come from us. It begins at
the grass roots. It starts with one person, then spreads sideways and
upwards, as a fire spreads upwards. A great forest fire does not begin
with a flashlight, or from the light of the moon. It can start with one
spark of fire, hot enough to set alight that which it touches. If the
forest is wet, the spark dies. If the forest is dry and the conditions
are right, if the time is right, it spreads and becomes unstoppable.
Is our time right? Are we complacent, satisfied and wet, or are we dry,
explosive and ready to catch fire? Are we a community of shopkeepers
and clerks, or a glorious, invincible tribe of warriors for truth, and
for infinite possibility?
So let's begin here and now to imagine the Emerald City, the City of
Light, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring. I invite each
of us to come up and say aloud the personal visions, the impossible,
wonderful dream of what this community could become. Let us not be shy.
Let's dare to dream. Be brave enough to be foolish - people would have
said a man locked in a stone cell for twenty-seven years on an island
in the South Atlantic was mad if he had dreamed of one day being the
President of his country. Even if, as Dhyani Ywahoo says, we only bear
witness to the beauty of our shared experiences, to the beauty of our
own lives, to the beauty of this community here and now, we will set
in motion ripples of good intention which will spread, and together may
become waves of great power, which may coalesce into the shared vision
we seek. The future is ours to imagine. Come, let us begin.
References:
Senge, Peter, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning
Organization.
Doubleday: ISBN: 0385260954
Benediction
The blessing of truth be upon us,
The power of love direct us and sustain us,
And may the peace of this community preserve
Our going out and our coming in,
From this time forth, until we meet again. |
