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I first came here in November 2001 and joined January 2002. It's
almost been 3 years. When I first came here, as you all know, my
family gave me "living hell" about my move to what they thought was
a very obscure, a very strange religion. But my conviction and
belief has slowly won them over I do believe. I talk about our faith
whenever I can. I share our principles. I don't let them get away
with one-sided theological constructs. I try to always present the
opposing viewpoint to give them a more objective understanding.
My mother said, after we first joined, that we were a cult. But now
she said recently, "Perhaps on my off Sunday's I can come to your
church to sing?" A big change isn't it! I guess I should work here
into the musical rotation (smile). My brother-in-law calls himself a
UU at heart. My best friend, a fundamentalist Christian, who was
beaten up pretty badly on the Davies chat line and angry at me for
months (I did set him up a little bit) has recently called and said,
"If that is the religion you have chosen, John, I cannot criticize
it because you are my best friend and I love you and I know you, and
so that religion cannot be but so bad." Then my father-in-law, a
major religious influence in my life, who has been the hardest to
win over, bought me an interesting father's day gift. In June I
opened his package in the mail and it was a book on tape. The book
on tape was "Sacred Hoops" by Phil Jackson. Jackson is the coach of
the L.A. Lakers, and before that led the Chicago Bulls to a bunch of
NBA championships. Well, he's also a Zen Buddhist. Hello. And guess
what? Dad bought one for himself. He said he really liked the book!
Every so often, I send him a few sermons. Now he still doesn't agree
with all we say and do but he knows now that we are legitimate and
the fact that he gave me a gift of a Zen Buddhist philosopher coach
tells me he is coming around! New levels of understanding are coming
out of Sharon and my conviction and commitment to our beliefs and to
our faith!
Friends, don't be shy! If you believe you have found your truth in
this place; if you believe there is something meaningful here,
something special for you; if you believe you have been impacted in
some marvelous way here - share it. When the opportunity allows you,
share your message. Share our message of hope for sake of humanity.
And don't be afraid that you're being "like them", the other
religions. We're all just humans, no better, no worse, no matter the
religion, trying to find our space in the Universe. We are no better
than "they" are, we're just on another path. It is the path that
fits us. And we must seek to reach those who are like us
religiously.
Believe it or not, there are several thousand people in this area
who are like-minded or UU like. The JPD Growth Consultant, Bob
Johnsen gave me sum stats on our area and of the 400,000 people in
Southern Prince George's County, 7% fit our profile. That means
there are over 28,000 people in our neighborhoods, and this doesn't
even include Charles County, that would be at least curious about
our brand of religion. This means that over 21,000,000 (21-million)
would be willing to check us out nationally. And so, we've got work
to do - don't we?
If you came to the leadership retreat you might have noticed that I
was "snappy". The fact is, Don and I have both been a bit "crabby"
at times. The good part is that when Don is "snappy" I'm not and
when I'm "crabby" Don isn't so that's the good part. The bad part is
if we're both "snappy" at the same time. You'd better watch out then
(smile). You see, we are passionate and believe in the cause and
understand the historical ramifications. And our personalities are
quite the same. We are visionaries and see the best of a situation
and see the best in people. We are convicted and held captive by the
dream of the beloved community, and creating a multi-cultural church
that can be an example to this community, this Association and even
to the world. There is a fire in our bones to spread this faith and
to tell somebody about what we believe because we believe this will
be a model for future generations. And we need your help. We cannot
do this alone. With that said, we are planning two more
"Bring-A-Friend" Sunday's. And this time I would like you to be even
more committed to bringing a friend to church with you that day.
Someone who you think would enjoy what we have to offer.
You know, something interesting. If we all committed to reaching out
to one person per year, in five years we would have shared our
inclusive message, as a church, with over 4,000 people. In 8 years,
we would have reached over 30,000 people and I'm sure those 28,000
potential UU's in So. Prince George's County would have been
reached. Some of you may be thinking, "Where are we going to put
those people?" I'm thinking on another line. I'm thinking about the
vision of Joseph Priestly and Davies and King. And thinking, "Look
how influential our message will be in the Washington Metropolitan
area, and what other synergies and movements will we create as a
result of our commitment to present the other side of religion to
this community?" This is what I mean when I say we must be
INTENTIONAL about sharing our faith. I ask you this morning to
commit this new church year to just one person; just one friend who
is a lot like you; just one associate; just one person. And if you
need a few pointers, let me know.
Dawn Star's song spoke to me deeply and the words say it all. I want
share them with you again as I close:
Could you be a window
In a darkened hall
To give a passing soul
A way of seeing through the wall
And people stop in front of you
And into you they peer
Uncertain what they see because
You're not exactly clear?
Could you be a lighthouse
Standing on a shore
Meant to send a light out
To the sailor in a storm.
But even though you show your light
Not a boat can tell
You didn't know you're not supposed to shine it on yourself?
Could you be a siren
Made to raise your voice
But sinking in the silence
Afraid of making noise
Even though the enemy is flying overhead
Even though the fire is continuing to spread?
Are you a spear afraid of flight?
A constellation afraid of night?
A principle unknown?
A pilgrim holding on to home?
Could you be?
A flare afraid to burn?
A wheel unfree to turn?
A compass shunning north - In a vessel straying way off course?
Could you be?
Could you be a lighthouse - Standing on a shore - That the lost are
looking for?
COULD YOU BE?
DON'T BE SHY!
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