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After I was sealed in the cocoon of the cabin for the seven-hour
trip to Dulles, I considered what actions I might take to improve my
situation. I wondered if my decision not to stop in Paris had really
been smart, but it was too late then. So I considered what else I
might do. The conventional approach at that point is to pray for
help. But prayer is to some one or some thing. To whom should I
pray? What did I really believe? This was no intellectual exercise
in the Emerson discussion group on a Sunday afternoon – this was the
real thing, and the results really mattered to me.
It seemed clear to me that the universe is very well ordered and
operates according to a very consistent set of rules. It would be
easy to believe that this complex order was the result of some
superior intelligence. If someone wished to believe that, and to
call that superior intelligence “God”, I had no problem with that.
What I did have a problem with was the concept that sitting over
this order was some supernatural person or intellect or thing that
had the power to modify the rules on my behalf. It seemed to me that
the laws of nature were permanent and immutable, and the concept of
some entity arbitrarily modifying them solely in response to my
request was totally unacceptable to me. I simply didn’t believe it.
So prayer was out.
But I also realized that I did believe that our minds have
tremendous influence over our bodies and their operation. Any
physician will tell you that a patient’s mental attitude is
all-important to recovery, or to failure thereof. And there are
thousands of examples of terminally-ill patients who have willed
themselves to stay alive until some loved relative has arrived.
Although the mechanisms of this influence were (and are) poorly
understood, its existence was so universal that I could not reject
it. So I concluded that the most helpful thing I could do was simply
to decide to reach Dulles successfully – to harness my brain to
marshall my body to survive. This sounds naive and simplistic. But
it is really no more than an application of “The Power of Positive
Thinking”, which has worked successfully for many, many people. It
is important to note, however, that what I did was not a hope, or a
wish, it was a conscious decision – a determination. The rest of the
flight was given over to reinforcing that decision and strengthening
the determination.
Obviously I did reach Dulles successfully, where I was met by my
wife Jean who got me to a clinic. They determined that I had indeed
had a heart attack, and I was rushed to George Washington University
Hospital. There I spent ten days starting on the road to recovery.
Was this experience a “salvation”? Perhaps not in the usual sense,
but it certainly did provide comfort. And it was an epiphany, in
that it revealed to me what I truly believed. And still do. Last
March I underwent emergency surgery and spent a month in the acute
care wing of Washington Hospital Center. I find that the beliefs
which crystallized during that trans-Atlantic flight thirteen years
ago have not changed since, and seem to have served me well. So look
for me to be around for a good long time! (Dick is now memorialized
in our Virtual Memorial.)
"Hey, ain't that good news!"
John Corrado, a minister who once served this church, has written an
explanation of the gospel ("good news") of our faith in the form or
a responsive reading.
We believe there is a place at God's table for each and every child
of earth.
Hey, ain't that good news!
We believe the giver of life has been given many names and loves the
givers of all of them.
Hey, ain't that good news!
We are more interested in getting heaven into people now than
getting people into heaven later.
Hey, ain't that good news!
We believe that religious scriptures are open doors rather than
sealed vaults.
Hey, ain't that good news!
We believe there is still some holy writ yet to be written.
Hey, ain't that good news!
We believe true evangelism is more preaching practiced than
practiced preaching.
Hey, ain't that good news!
We believe peace and justice are not just words we form with our
lips, but realities we shape with our lives.
Hey, ain't that good news!
We believe in one race - the human race.
Hey, ain't that good news!
We believe we are one with the stars and trees and tigers and rivers
and all the stuff of life.
Hey, ain't that good news!
We believe our lives are all about growing hearts that love, minds
that seek, and hands that serve.
Hey, ain't that good news!
Amen.
The congregation was asked if they'd like to share stories of "being
saved by their faith" and several people responded. Here are some of
them.:
Angelique Berry shared about making a statement to her family that
Catholicism didn't speak to her and after an argument, she went to
the bookstore and found "Finding Your Religion" by Rev. Scotty
McLennan, which started her search. Then she donated that book to
our church library. Thank you, Angelique.
---------
Bill Grenoble: When I was growing up in the Lutheran Church, we
recited many creeds. I found myself wondering "Do I really believe
in ...". Thinking about what I was about to say or what I believed
in didn't exactly fit in the order of service. I learned that some
churches believe that the communion wine (sweetened grape juice)
represents the blood of Jesus while others believe that the wine
turns into the blood of Jesus and that one group would go to heaven
while the other would go to hell... I forget which one We were, but
We were the chosen ones.
In Bangkok I found a pamphlet written by a Buddhist suggesting that
if you read what the various religions are saying rather than the
exact words, the teachings become one. Kinda' hard to apply to the
communion wine, but perhaps that is merely the words rather than the
meaning. We can break bread and share wine (grape juice) as a sign
of community if we don't worry too much about the exact form of the
symbolism.
In the UU Church I have found a group that is willing to discuss the
matter of the communion wine while breaking Danish and drinking
coffee (or tea). A do-it-yourself religion. Or Do-it-to-yourself
religion... I find atheists and polytheists discussing the merits of
the Ten Commandments without the trump card "Believe as I do or You
will go to Hell!" Instead of rote recitation of creeds, we are
encouraged to build our own religions. There is room for everyone as
long as each one of us is willing to make room for everyone else.
An Indian (with a red dot, not a feather) friend knows that I go to
church regularly and that I sing in the choir. He asked if I am
"devout". My first reaction was "How can someone be a UU and be
"Devout"? What does a "Devout" Unitarian Universalist look like? A
Coan for the UUs.
I finally answered that "Yes, I am devout. I am devout in my
conviction that you have a right to be a Hindu and to practice your
religion as you see fit. If you were to visit our church wearing a
signboard declaring exactly what you believe in, you would be
welcome. You would find people willing (eager) to discuss your
beliefs from a point of better understanding, but there would be no
Right or Wrong."
In the discussion that followed, I agreed that while it would take a
lot of guts (might one say Chutzpah?) to walk into a strange church
with your beliefs listed on a physical sign board, it would not be
necessary to keep your beliefs hidden among Unitarian Universalists.
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