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By John T. Crestwell, Jr.
August 7, 2005
“The mass of men (people) lead
lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed
desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate
country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and
muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even
under what are called the games and amusements of mankind
(humankind).”
These pointed words are from the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau
a renowned 19th Century Unitarian. Thoreau would emerge from many
years in the woods, near Walden Pond, to later write the classic
Civil Disobedience. He moved from hibernation to participation,
writing first a reflective book about life and, second, a
revolutionary book about standing up for justice… Thoreau discovered
that indeed there is a time to rest and reflect but also there is a
time to be involved and active in the affairs of the world.
I can relate to Thoreau wanting to go away and reflect…. I can see
why he said, “I love to be alone. I never found the companion that
was so companionable as solitude.” You see, I can remember when the
foundation of what I believed left me and I needed to retreat, to go
away from what I felt was reality. At the time, reality was being a
Young-Adult Minister, Board of Trustees member, Disciple Bible Study
teacher, choir member, and candidate for ordained ministry in the
Methodist church. And yet in the midst of all of this
responsibility, I needed to get away from it all. So, abruptly,
without notice, I left the church and Sunday after Sunday for nearly
a year, I watched Sharon go to my childhood church with the kids… I
felt bad about that but there was a greater battle taking place in
my mind I had to deal with.
Joseph Campbell begin to speak to me, you know that great
mythologist. His book The Power of Myth, ministered to me and he
said in it that once you know what life is, you might feel like you
want to retreat. Once you know that you are a part of the games and
trivialities of humankind, you might want to run away. When you see
the matrix like state most live under—that quiet desperation of
people who create gizmos and gadgets to hide their true despair,
which is the realization that they are frail mortal creatures who
will die; when you see war and destruction, political corruption and
the mental games people play to seize power and control of
others—you might want to say “Calgon take me away!” But that’s when
you have to make a decision, Campbell believed, to fight or flight,
to run into the mountains or to the woods and live the life of an
ascetic, metaphorically speaking, or run to the city and participate
in the joy and pain of life. Campbell showed me that when you see
life, with all of its virtue and vice—you don’t run from it, you go
forth and participate— and Campbell believed that’s when you begin
to live! You are reborn in a sense…
I was afraid to leave my mental prison because I didn’t know where
to go. I had a ministerial call that gnawed at me every day. I
decided I had to remedy this zeal to serve so I wrote a book and
therapeutically worked my way out of my mental prison. And of
course, as many of you know, writing my book, led me, eventually, to
finding this faith that I have come to cherish. It is this religion
that allows me to participate in the “games and amusements of
humankind” so to speak, and it allows me to work at reshaping the
mythological construction of the world where so, so many are left
without a voice—marginalized, desperate and empty…
If you are like me and you stepped out of that conveyer-belt
experience where a few sizes fit all, religiously, and realized how
authentic you are, chances are, the traditional religious
formulations will not work as well as they once did and they may not
work at all for you! Chances are what you learned as a child will
not be sufficient.
Our system of life is much like bad reality television. We’ve all
seen reality TV I bet. One of the original reality shows was
Survivor. It was a hit! As a result, they’ve done several more
Survivor shows… Next thing you know there’s another one on the
networks—Big Brother…. Now you have Fear Factor, House, Extreme
Makeover; reality shows for blind dates, for boxing, for singers,
actors and actresses, models—there’s one for everything. Think of it
and there’s a reality show for it… The networks on broadcast and
cable have invested millions into reorganizing their programming to
copy the format of the original reality TV concept. Don’t get me
wrong, each show is creative in its own right… But the concept has
been so overdone that now many of the shows are beginning to fail
and this format is destined to experience a most certain death… Then
something else will come upon the scene and start a new trend of
copy-cats. The cycle never ends.
You see, I liken it to our system of life. So much of life is
predictable. So much of life lacks authenticity. So much of life
lacks originality. That’s why I love Thoreau and understand why he
left society for awhile. He was a unique human being. Ask anyone who
knows literature, Unitarian or not, and they will tell you that
Henry David Thoreau was an original and there will never be another!
What Thoreau and Campbell teach us is first, we must discover the
originality in ourselves and be authentically who we are! Don’t be
a copy-cat. You are a genuine article, a creation of the Universe!
All you have to do is look at your fingers… Your fingerprints are
originally you and no one else’s are just like yours—you are a
genuine creation of the Universe and how amazing is that! Yes, how
is it possible that new songs are written and performed everyday? It
should not be possible to hear another new tune and yet millions of
songs are written everyday. You see, these tunes come from the
creative expressions of human beings. How is it that Brian Scott can
play music that comes from the depths of his soul and continuously
create new sounds and beautiful tones? We hear something special and
new every time he plays? How is that possible? It is because there
is a magic within him and within you that only he and you can
perform. Then, as I said before, Campbell says, once you discover
that special YOU and accept life for what life is—play your song.
Place your fingerprints in life and do it like it has never been
done before!
That’s what I decided to do back then—to be me! This was my epiphany
that brought me from the woods to the city, psychologically, some
years ago. Now, the other part of this message is that we all strive
to be a part of something special—at least what we define as
“special”. We come back from our wilderness experiences and we
want to do and be a part of something that gives us meaning and
hope. For many, religion gives us a voice to express our deep-seated
desires… But unfortunately, for many of us, we find bad reality TV
with religion too. We find the copy-cat syndrome. We find the same
story of “Believe or else” on our screen. We try to change the
channel but either the batteries are dead in the remote or the same
thing is on every station. We find the same words being read. We
find the same songs being sung. And for many of us, this is bad
television. What I mean is for those of us that seek to be
fully-alive and original, the traditional faiths do not give us room
for our creative expression. They don’t allow for questions to be
asked, for continuous struggle—when you discover, lose and
rediscover. They don’t give you room to “backslide” (hello!). They
don’t give you the space to think. They ask us, as John Spong said
well to “leave our brain at the door.” They make us want to shout
like Thoreau, “Simplify, simplify!”
I don’t mean to bash other religions… That’s not my intent. I’m just
saying that, for me, I chose Unitarian Universalism, not because of
its history which is a story very similar to the others—one tyranny
leading to another... I chose this faith not because of our
pioneering efforts to end slavery or how we helped women get their
God-given rights, or our great work during the Civil Rights
Movement. No, I did not choose this faith because I am an anti-trinitarian
and believe in the salvation of all souls. I chose this religion
as the one I will die for because it accepted me for who I was and
where I was and, it said I was okay... And that is the reason I am
here today.
I’m here to tell YOU—you’re okay just the way you are! This
religion allowed me to place my fingerprint in life, to be the
authentic and original me. It allows me to accept my place as a part
of nature; as a part of that creative sustaining force of life that
creates and creates and creates and creates. We are a micro of the
macro creative, expanding universe! Yes, I can make my own TV show
that won’t get cancelled (hello).
You see, I’ve been around this church awhile now, and looking back
at my Methodist roots and my experiences there, you know, we are not
that different from them or from any other faith when it comes to
operations—day to day stuff. Church’s have to pay their bills; folk
get into squabbles—there are personality conflicts. Members fight
about money. Yes, we also argue over who is going to clean up the
food after everybody messes up… That will never end. But when it’s
all said and done—we are still free thinkers. We are still seekers.
We are still free to express our individuality without fear of
censure or damnation and thank the Universe for that freedom!
Beyond the disagreements, our freedom to be means more than
anything!
I don’t think we truly understand the great religion we have,
because perhaps we are looking at the wrong TV show. We don’t have
anything to compare ourselves with. We are that original. I submit
that we must continue to stamp our original fingerprint in society.
We need not be a copy-cat faith. And we must begin even more to
proclaim our message loudly so that others who are living that life
of quiet desperation can hear our still small voice and come from
their slumber like Rip Van Winkle and awaken with a new song in
their heart that they are determined to sing so that they too can
help wake others up who have an original song in their heart.
I am not ashamed of what I am and where I am today. I am happy and
proud to be a Unitarian Universalist. That’s why I don’t mind
talking about what I am with other people because I see what I have
and I want to share it with somebody else. I’m not telling them “my
way or the highway”. I simply want to share with them that it is
okay to be different; that it is okay to produce your own show. I
want to tell them what Thoreau said that, “Most people (most
religious people—I add) lead lives of quiet desperation and go to
the grave with the song still in them.” But there is a little
churchat 7400 Temple Hill Road that believes not just in diversity
of color but in diversity of thought; that believes that each person
deserves a free and responsible search for their own truth and
meaning in life. I want people to know there is a religion that
welcomes the seeker and questioner. There is a religion that tears
down what A. Powell Davies called, “…those strange and foolish
walls.” And because of this religion,
I proudly call myself a Unitarian Universalist. How about you? Why
have you chosen such a faith as this? Ponder the question as Brian
plays another selection for us. When he finishes, the mike will be
open… Feel free to share your thoughts briefly. You may have shared
your thoughts before but share them again. We should always remind
ourselves that we have a unique and precious gift. Thank you for
your time this morning. Amen.
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