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SERMON
December 3, 2006
"Be Still: Dynamic Waiting" by Rev. Alicia Roxanne Forde
Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return.
Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source. Returning to the source is serenity.
If you don’t realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow. When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king. Immersed in wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you, [and when death comes, you are ready].
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In the Christian tradition, we have now entered into the season of advent. The season of watching and waiting For someone to be born In these days, Mary & Elizabeth meet And greet Each unexpectedly pregnant…both waiting…for the coming Of the light
In earth-based traditions, we are approaching the Winter Solstice The growing season has ended, Darkness lengthening…days seem to stretch on to eternity And the people watch and wait for the return of the light They pull inside themselves, pregnant with thought, with reflection With hope for the future.
In the Buddhist tradition, this is the season of enlightenment. This is the time in the life of the Buddha, when After seeking and engaging many practices unsuccessfully, He sits, under a bodhi tree and there he is still...attending… waiting. For eight days…he sits, he waits…and on the eight day It comes – his enlightenment.
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Sitting still Doing nothing Spring comes And the grass grows by itself Writes the Zen poet.
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The earth as teacher reminds us that there is time for Budding and blossoming, For sprouting, growing tall in the sunlight… there is time for falling away…letting go…shedding And there is time for being still. Slowing down, pulling in, breathing… The season of Advent is such a time. One of stillness and quiet and hope.
In the midst of the busy-est, nosiest, brightest season of our calendar year, How do we remember to move slowly? To reflect? To go deeper into our lives and birth our own light? Our own hope?
In a culture that values increasing speed, do we dare Make time to contemplate? To sit? Do we have the patience to wait until our mud settles and the water is clear? Can we remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself? asks Lao-tzu.1
Silence and stillness stand outside the world of profit and utility… They can be the seedbeds where our connections to others take Root and grow.2
For Lao-tzu, right action arises out of the willingness to be still. For Buddha, enlightenment arose out of the willingness to be still. For the Zen poet…the earth springs alive…out of being still.
Contemplation, writes trappist monk, Thomas Merton, is the spring of living water, and action is the stream that flows out from it to others; it is the same water. But if action is out of touch with an interior source in prayer / meditation it eventually becomes arid and barren, and prayer / meditation that does not flow into action is cut off from life. This is the integrity of contemplation and action.3
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In the opening reading, Lao-tzu invites us to empty our minds. Watch, contemplate, return to the common source… I don’t know about you, but, for me, sitting in silence In stillness can be difficult. Someone says: Let’s have a moment of silence, and I immediately begin Thinking of all the things I need to get done. I find myself wanting the read the bulletin Whisper something to my neighbor Jot down a few words I don’t want to forget Compile my to do list Re-play the last conversation I had It goes on and on…until, that moment of silence is over.
Trying to meditate – can be worse. I sit on my maroon cushion. I got the maroon one Because a friend assured me that maroon was a grounding color, I sit. I think. I wander…I remember I haven’t called my mom in a few days… And I should call her – right in that moment. But I sit. I remember that my favorite tv show is about to come on; I Could watch it and then meditate. But I sit. I think: it’s cold in here, I should get up and turn up the heat. But I sit. I have an itch, I want to yawn, I’m hungry, memories and images from Times long past demand my attention. Sometimes, I follow them. Sometimes I breathe with them. Sometimes, I grasp on to them. Sometimes, they rise, they fall, they go.
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From Joan Halifax: In the presence of silence, the conditioned self rattles and scratches. It begins to crumble like old leaves or worn rock. If we have courage, We take silence as medicine to cure us from our social ills, The suffering of self-centered alienation. In silence, sacred silence, We stand naked like trees in winter, all our secrets visible under our skin.4
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Being in silence is no easy thing. I think too of all the ways we have been silenced: Children should be seen and not heard Being told to be quiet…to shut up Laughter at what we thought was a profound idea Made invisible and silent by the color of our skin, our gender, our religious affiliation, who we choose to love…silence thrust upon us by others have caused us pain, and yet, our own decision to invite silence, to find stillness…to be can offer healing.
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In the Christian tradition, the practice of Lectio Divina is a holistic way of praying that leads the pray-er to her deepest center, her life-giving dwelling place…using scripture Lectio follows four movements:
These movements are not necessarily linear.
In Lectio, we prepare ourselves to listen. We prepare in body, we prepare in mind. How are we sitting? Standing? Firmly, grounded…shoulders Back, heart open. Spine erect if possible. Feet firmly planted.
And the mind…working with the breath. Are we breathing deeply, slowly? Inviting the chatter to slow…ease… We listen, and in listening, we may find that a word, or phrase From the reading stays with us. We begin reflecting on it…
Moving into Meditatio…staying with a word, a phrase Internalizing… Connecting… And eventually feeling.
This movement from the intellect to the heart is Oratio. It is the experience of being touched, shaken, awakened. It is the place where we feel what is being spoken And it’s relevance for our experience.
We will return to contemplatio.
But for now, I ask you to be with me in prayer, in meditation, in quiet waiting, Waiting with patience for these words to come alive in you After each reading of the text, we will be still together In growing silence First listening, Then silently reflecting on a word or phrase Then allowing ourselves to feel that word or phrase.
Our minds will wander…it is the work of minds to wander. It is the joy of our breath, to bring us back to the present moment. Back to listening, reflecting, or feeling We are here now, We have this time together The to-do lists, incessant whispers, places that itch will wait…even as we practice waiting, stillness. Let your heart move toward a place of peace Even if it’s only for this time that we share together.
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We begin in Lectio. In reading…feet grounded, shoulders back, hearts open, minds ready, eyes closed…we listen to a reading by Anne Hillman.
We are all on a journey together…to the center of the Universe… Look deep / into yourself, into another. It is to a center which is everywhere / that is the holy journey… First you need only look: Notice and honor the radiance of / everything about you… Play in this Universe. Tend / all these shining things around you: The smallest plant, the creatures and / objects in your care. Be gentle and nurture Listen…as we experience and accept / all that we really are… We grow in care. We begin to embrace others / as ourselves, and learn to live / as one among many….
[1 minute]
Second reading, we reflect on a word or phrase.
We are all on a journey together…to the center of the Universe… Look deep / into yourself, into another. It is to a center which is everywhere / that is the holy journey… First you need only look: Notice and honor the radiance of / everything about you… Play in this Universe. Tend / all these shining things around you: The smallest plant, the creatures and / objects in your care. Be gentle and nurture Listen…as we experience and accept / all that we really are… We grow in care. We begin to embrace others / as ourselves, and learn to live / as one among many….
[3 minutes]
Third reading we open, we feel…what we feel…
We are all on a journey together…to the center of the Universe… Look deep / into yourself, into another. It is to a center which is everywhere / that is the holy journey… First you need only look: Notice and honor the radiance of / everything about you… Play in this Universe. Tend / all these shining things around you: The smallest plant, the creatures and / objects in your care. Be gentle and nurture Listen…as we experience and accept / all that we really are… We grow in care. We begin to embrace others / as ourselves, and learn to live / as one among many….
[5 minutes]
Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return.
Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source. Returning to the source is serenity.
If you don’t realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow. When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king. Immersed in wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you, [and when death comes, you are ready]. Says Lao-tzu
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Contemplatio is that “realizing” It is what happens after we sit, we wait…we listen… The move back into the world, into relationship Into life more mindfully. “Immersed in wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you”
and for us, this does not mean we travel alone conquering all things. It does mean we grow more and more aware of how we Can act with and assist each other how we too can ask for help how we can slow down long enough to hear others who may be in pain…may want to share our joy This, sitting, waiting, being is the gift we can offer to ourselves And to others, especially in this season of busy-ness It is part of our learning to live as one among many. Part of our journey to a center of the universe…to the life-giving Center of ourselves It is but one small and vital way we grow in care…
// We return to the common source Breath Breath Breathe In moments of quiet, in moments of stress…we return to the Common source Using breath…and perhaps words that we find meaningful: Accept all that we are Grow in care Embrace others as we embrace ourselves Breathe…
In slowing down, we too give birth to our own light. Namaste, amen, and blessed be. Benediction:
Live in Joy, in Love,
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