A Pretty Scary Time Coming |
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By Dr. Bruce T. Marshall
January 8, 2012 Reading: The reading this morning is from a sermon given in the year 1885 by James Freeman Clarke, a prominent Unitarian minister of the time. In this piece, he is struggling with an issue that is always with us, as a creedless faith. That is, how do we articulate what we believe? His method here is to contrast his interpretation of Calvinism—the “old theology”—with what he calls the “new theology.” He lists five points of contrast between old and new. In this section, he offers the fifth of his five points. “The fifth point of doctrine in the new theology will, as I believe, be the Continuity of Human Development in all worlds, or the Progress of Mankind onward and upward forever. “Progress is the outward heaven, corresponding to the inward heaven of character. The hope of progress is one of the chief motives to action. Men are contented, no matter how poor their lot, so long as they can hope for something better. And men are discontented, no matter how fortunate their condition, when they have nothing more to look forward to. The greatest sufferer who hopes may have nothing, but he possesses all things: the most prosperous man who is deprived of hope may have all things, but he possesses nothing. “The old theology laid no stress on progress here or progress hereafter. The essential thing was conversion: that moment passed, the object of life was attained. A man converted on his death-bed, after a life of sin, was as well prepared for heaven as he who had led a Christian life during long years. And there was no hint given of farther progress after heaven should be reached. Eternity was to be passed in perpetual thanksgiving or in perpetual enjoyment of the joys of paradise. Such, however, was not the teaching of Jesus. The servant, in the parable, who earned two pounds, was made ruler over two cities: he who earned five pounds had the care of five cities. And the Apostle Paul tells us that one of the things which abide is hope. If hope abides, there is always something to look forward to, -- some higher attainment, some larger usefulness, some nearer communion with God. And this accords with all we see and know: with the long processes of geologic development by which the earth became fitted to be the home of man; with the slow ascent of organized beings from humbler to fuller life; with the progress of society from age to age; with the gradual diffusion of knowledge, advancement of civilization, growth of free institutions, and ever higher conceptions of God and of religious truth. The one fact which is written on nature and human life is the fact of progress, and this must be accepted as the purpose of the Creator.” Sermon: “Onward and upward, forever.” The view that progress is inevitable, written into the nature of things, even the intention of God, has been an article of faith among Unitarians. That same faith has defined the philosophy and politics of liberalism: that we have the capacity to create better lives, a better human community, that life’s meaning comes through participating in and contributing to this process of change. It’s not just Unitarians and Universalists and liberals who have embraced the doctrine of progress: a core belief of American society is that our lives can and should continue to improve. Parents work and sacrifice so that their children will have better lives, more opportunity, higher incomes than they have had. The children, themselves—nurtured in this environment—expect that “I will go farther than my parents have. My life will be better than theirs, more engaged with what truly matters.” And it’s not just self-identified liberals who preach the message of progress. Listen to today’s conservatives. If anything, they are stronger proponents of these classic liberal affirmations than are today’s liberals. They say, “We’re going to get this economy going again.” They say, “We’re going to return to prosperity, like it used to be.” They say, “We’re going to unleash the creative genius of our people so that we can continue to make our lives bigger and bigger, better and better, more and more.” But what if that is not going to be? What if our current economic travails do not represent a temporary blip on the eternal pathway of “onward and upward?” What if the challenges we now face anticipate a future that is harder and rougher than what we have known in the past? What if our children will not easily slide into a lifestyle better than our own? What if all will have to adjust to a different landscape than we have known throughout our lifetimes? That’s the topic of this sermon this morning. Nothing can be onward and upward forever. At some point, we reach an arc and start to come down. What if we are at or approaching that point in the arc right now? In a meeting of my Transition Team here at Davies, we were talking about this prospect. On member commented that it’s “a pretty scary time coming.” Hence my title: What does Unitarian Universalism have to offer in this “pretty scary time” coming? ● ● ● The 20th century has often been referred to as the “American Century.” It was a time when the economy grew dramatically, despite challenges such as two world wars and the Great Depression. With the growth of the economy, the standard of living for many Americans—not all but probably most—got better. Many of the achievements of the 20th century: our steadily improving lifestyle, the advances in technology, our increased mobility, the increasing number of young people who are high school and college graduates, the extension of human rights, the increase in life expectancy and in general health—these took place against a background of economic prosperity. The 21st century, on the other hand, has not begun auspiciously. The first decade of the new century showed incomes that were flat, two seemingly endless wars that have drained our economy, increasing levels of debt both personally and nationally, stubbornly persistent levels of unemployment. Maybe as Herbert Hoover put it, “prosperity is just around the corner,” but maybe not. Because there are other challenges ahead that we already know about, let alone those we have not yet anticipated. There is the rate of world population increase. We reached 7 billion people this year. Some estimates are that by the turn of the next century, that number will be 14 billion, barring major war, famine, or natural disaster. The increase in population challenges our ability to support all these people—from food production to supplies of clean water to providing sufficient land to live on to waste disposal. There is the phenomenon of global warming that appears to be proceeding at a rate faster than has been predicted and whose full effects we don’t know—but among them are likely to be a rise in the sea levels, increasing intensity of storms such as hurricanes and cyclones, decreasing farmland acreage that can be effectively cultivated, and challenges to the viability of the oceans. Our energy resources are already under stress to meet demand. In petroleum, for example, we either have already reached peak oil production, that is, the point at which we have produced more than half of what is available to us—or we will reach it in the next decade. Emerging economies in what used to be known as the third world are showing their strength and competing in fields that we in the developed world used to own. Some contend that this list is unduly pessimistic. That there is room on this earth for lots more people. That we are still producing more food than we can consume—that the issue is not production but distribution. That a new energy source will come online that changes everything. That global warming is a hoax. That America’s ability to compete is compromised by high tax rates and endless red tape putting domestic producers at a disadvantage. That we can—as we have in the past—“grow” out of the challenges facing us. Maybe so. I do not claim the ability to predict the future. And I have lived long enough to have seen any number of gloomy scenarios not come to pass. But I also know that “wishful thinking” is a basic human characteristic—much of our political process is driven by wishful thinking. And the evidence mounts that we are facing some pretty basic changes in our way of life. At the very least, we should not look the other way. Instead, we could consider the implications and how we might respond. As a religious body, our concern is the meaning and value we find in our lives. If “onward and upward forever” should falter, then where do we find meaning and purpose and a sense of worth and a mission to take with us out into the world? ● ● ● My suggestion this morning is that we look back into our history as Unitarian Universalists and consider what we have stood for in the past—because what we have been can guide us toward what we can be, even in a future that will look quite different than what has come before. What affirmations from our past might help us address what lies ahead? I’ll suggest five themes: five themes drawn from our history as a religious movement that might help us approach the scary times. 1. First would be to redefine progress. The confidence asserted by James Freeman Clarke in 1885 that the course of human development was “onward and upward forever” seems to us today naïve—and subsequent history has shown that it was. But we need not abandon the ideal of progress. Rather, reinterpret what progress might mean. When I was new in the Unitarian Universalist ministry, a nearby colleague—that is, another UU minister—was an old-line socialist. He had started as a political activist but in midlife turned to ministry. He said that he still considered himself a socialist but he felt that the socialism to which he had previously committed himself had lost its way because of its emphasis on what he called “quantity socialism.” That is, focusing on procuring higher wages, greater benefits: more and more, bigger and bigger. Workers during that era did indeed enjoy higher wages and greater prosperity—but often at the sacrifice of quality of life. There seemed not to be recognition that quality of life and quantity of wages, benefits, and stuff don’t necessarily correlate. Instead of “quantity socialism,” my colleague had moved to the church to advocate “quality socialism.” That is, the mission of increasing the quality of our lives, even when the gross national product is not trending upward. Same goes for the ideal of progress. We tend to define progress in terms of the increase of wealth: gross national progress, higher incomes, individual net worth. When those indicators are rising, we assume that it’s progress. But is that true? Consider the times in our lives—in your own life—when you have made progress in some realm, professionally, personally, psychologically, spiritually. Were those the easy times when you felt flush and everything was working and your bank account was steadily growing? Maybe. But, if my experience is any indicator, often not. Often the real progress comes in times of struggle, times of stress, times when things are not working as we would want them to. And yet, that’s when we become stronger. That’s when we learn, when we gain experience, when we become the people we are meant to be. That’s when we make progress. My suggestion is that we rethink the nature of the progress, that we conceive of progress in terms other than wealth, prosperity and standard of living. Instead, think of progress in terms of our own development as people: as people of worth, as people of compassion, as people who try to make a difference, even when we often fail. That’s the kind of progress that can continue to grow onward and upward. 2. A second guideline for approaching scary times proceeds from the first and also has roots in our own Unitarian Universalist tradition. It is to develop character. Character can be defined as the core moral or ethical values of a person. It’s our grounding, the moral compass that keeps us oriented in good times and bad. Early Unitarians and Universalists emphasized character development as a key facet of what it was to be a religious person. Rather than depending upon an external creed or statement of belief, they sought to develop a moral center that would guide them in pursuit of what is right and true. “Salvation,” they said, was not a gift bestowed by God or by any divine entity. Instead, salvation came from within and could be cultivated by each person by choosing life-affirming values and seeking to live them. Salvation, they said, is by character, by the state of one’s inner being. How does one develop character? Well, it’s a process of learning by example, of reflection, of conversation with others engaged in a similar process. As a child growing up as a Unitarian Universalist, I remember learning about those we admired, people who stood for something, who made sacrifices because of what they believed in, who made a contribution to the betterment of human society. Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King,, Jr., Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, John Adams and John Quincy Adams. We read as a text, John F. Kennedy’s book, Profiles in Courage, that appears to have been mostly ghost-written by a Unitarian, Theodore Sorenson. That reading and subsequent conversation gave us examples of those who developed a strong moral core as it encouraged us to do the same. Perhaps, then, we might consider bringing back that old emphasis on character, becoming the kind of person who can embrace life both in good times and trying times. 3. Hold onto hope. In the sermon I quoted by James Freeman Clarke, he speaks of hope as the true determining force in our lives. He wrote, “The greatest sufferer who hopes may have nothing, but he possesses all things: the most prosperous man who is deprived of hope may have all things, but he possesses nothing.” We tend to think of hope in terms of material progress. But there other expressions of hope that can also guide our way. Hope for justice. Hope for relationship. Hope for inspiration. Hope for moment of beauty. Hope for doing something that can help another person, even if just a bit. “Look to this day,” says an affirmation in our hymnal. “Look to this day, for it is life the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence.” Look to each day as an occasion of hope, when possibilities present themselves and continue to present themselves. For what James Freeman Clarke said in 1885 still holds today. When there is hope, we can survive and even thrive even in under challenging circumstances. Where there is not hope, even prosperity does not sooth the soul. 4. Reach across lines of difference. In both Unitarian and Universalist history we find an emphasis on seeking connections with those who might initially seem quite different from us. Unitarians and Universalists were the first American religious groups, for example, that reached out to and sought to understand the then-exotic faiths of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam. In 1893, Unitarians and Universalists were instrumental in organizing the World’s Parliament of Religions which gathered representatives of faith traditions of both east and west, the first such conference in our country and the beginnings of serious inter-religious dialogue. The affirmation that guided such efforts: that we are more alike than we are different, that what we share in common is more important than what keeps us apart. This is a role that we may profitably continue to play. We are, let’s face it, quite small as a religious movement, even though we have a worldwide reach. But we still can have a significant role in promoting the process of bringing people together. In recent years, we often haven’t done that as much as we could have, choosing instead to join partisan battles. But we have a history of seeking to bring people together, and we have a theology that supports it. Perhaps in increasingly scary times, this can again be an important role for Unitarian Universalists. 5. A fifth emphasis: build community. In hard times, human society tends to splinter—we look out for ourselves and those like us. We don’t care much about anybody else. But hard times are precisely when we need each other. Hence, community-building. It’s a role we can play. Community building is often based in service. That is, doing something for somebody else that this person needs. Communities come together through mutual need and mutual service. That’s the starting point. Doing something for somebody in your community, doing something for someone that reaches beyond your community—that draws others closer to your community. I’ve used this example before, but it sticks with me so I’ll call upon it again today. This takes us back several years to my previous ministry when I served as consulting minister to the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church after a gunman opened fire during a Sunday service, killing and injuring several people. For a time after that event and I think still continuing today, people came together—people of different faiths, different politics, different lifestyles—they came together. They declared: this shall not happen in our city, in our community. We are better than this. In hard time, in scary times, that’s what we will need: people coming together in service, affirming each other despite hard times, upholding an ideal of community in which people are treated with care and respect. “The Beloved Community,” is what Martin Luther King, Jr., called it. As Dr. King wrote, “...the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men.” ● ● ● Hence, some thoughts about how as Unitarian Universalists we might approach this “pretty scary” time that may be coming. Specifically, how we as faith communities might contribute to alleviating the scariness, bringing growth and possibility to a time when challenges may well be greater than what we have faced in our own lifetimes. These are: 1. Not abandoning our tradition emphasis on progress, “onward and upward,” but reinterpreting it. Seeking progress in the quality of our lives, not just the quantities of our lives. 2. Developing character. That is, the courage and fortitude to make it through hard times, emphasizing the importance of developing a moral center. 3. Affirming hope: hope as what draws us into the future. 4. Reaching across lines of difference. In a time when we tend to associate mostly with those who agree with us and see life like us, find ways to make connections with those outside our natural circles. 5. Building community, starting with service to each other and service to those beyond our immediate communities. Finding others with whom to share the common goal of creating the Beloved Community. Because, of course, we’re all in this together. More than ever, we are all in this together. When we anticipate a future that seems more challenging than the present—a future that potentially contains many scary things, it is easy to fall into one of two attitudes, neither of which is helpful. One such trap is taking it too lightly. Refusing to take seriously the degree of change that is likely to occur. Assuming that our current challenges will just go away, returning us to bigger and bigger, better and better, more and more. The other trap is despair. Letting ourselves become overwhelmed, throwing up our hands in dismay at the enormity of the problems the next generations will likely encounter. We have faced daunting problems before—and we have gotten through them. The basic strategy that has worked in the past is likely to also work in the present and the future. That is, find a piece that will be yours—find something you can do. And devote yourself to that. With heart and soul, devote yourself to that. You start somewhere and see where it takes you. Our own Ralph Waldo Emerson offered this observation during the 19th century which still applies in the 21st century. “This time, like all times, is a very good one,” Emerson said, “if we but know what to do with it.” So be it. ● ● ● |
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