Touchstones a monthly journal of July 2015, Volume 4, Issue 11 Unitarian Universalism Harmony Wisdom Story Introduction to the Theme Making Beautiful Justice Rev. Kirk Loadman-Copeland Rev. Kirk Loadman-Copeland While there are efforts at harmony His father was a Harvard-trained pro- among world religions, the emphasis fessor of musicology and his mother, on harmony varies within the different who trained at the Paris Conservatory of world religions. Social harmony fig- Music, was a classical violinist. But he ures prominently in Asian Religions never cared for classical music, which like Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, may explain why he began to play the Hinduism, and Sikhism, while harmo- ukulele at the age of 13. He also learned ny with nature is emphasized in Tao- to play the guitar. In 1936, when he was ism, Neo-pagan, and Native American seventeen, he fell in love with a five-

This journal is published monthly First traditions. As the Buddha said, “Many string banjo. He heard it at the Mountain Universalist Church of Denver and is sup- do not know that we are here in this Dance and Folk Festival in western North ported by Unitarian Universalist congrega- world to live in harmony.” The focus Carolina near Asheville. Perhaps the tions through annual subscriptions. In all, on harmony within Judaism, Christi- banjo chose him, since a person once said the journal will explore 60 monthly themes. anity, and Islam is best understood as that he actually looked like a banjo. He This is in support of the UUA’s Congrega- harmony with the divine. Sachiko would later say, “I lost my heart to the tions & Beyond initiative and the ongoing Mirata observes that, “Islam is ...a old-fashioned five-string banjo played work of articulating a liberal theology. practice, a way of life, a pattern for mountain style.” establishing harmony with God and Month Theme his creation.” Harmony with the divine is also a foundation of mysticism. September Vision Within our own tradition, our com- October Creation mitment to social harmony is affirmed November Covenant in a number of our principles, includ- ing “justice, equity, and compassion in December God human relations” and “the goal of January Authority world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.” February Good & Evil Harmony with nature figured March Forgiveness prominently among the Transcenden- April Freedom & Responsibility talists, especially Thoreau. This em- phasis on harmony is expressed in May Mercy both our seventh principle, “respect for June Compassion the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part,” and our sixth July Harmony source, adopted in 1995, which asks August Sabbath that we be mindful of “spiritual teach- ings of earth-centered traditions which At the time, the banjo was thought of celebrate the sacred circle of life and as a “white” instrument, the province of instruct us to live in harmony with the poor Appalachian farmers, but the truth

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nurture your spirit, help heal our world Wisdom Story Love as Covenant Contemplations

(Continued from page 1) Beautiful Justice A New Harmony Contemplations allows you to explore a was that the banjo went back to the early reading and life in a deeper way. Philip J. Newell days of slavery in America. The African- The word kosmos in Morning Practice influenced banjo had a body made out of ancient Greek means “a Quiet your Mind: Sit in a comfortable a gourd and a wooden stick for the neck. harmony of parts.” In place and take a few breaths to quiet In the fall, this novice banjo player the classical world, eve- your mind and focus your attention. began attending Harvard, his father’s rything in the universe Engage the Reading: Engage the text alma mater, but dropped out two years was viewed as moving in relation to by reading it silently and aloud several later when he failed an exam. He decided everything else. This ancient under- times. Allow the words and their mean- to explore America with his banjo in standing of the cosmos is being born ing to settle within you. hand. He began learning folk songs as he afresh today in radically new ways. We Contemplate: Consider the reading traveled across the country hitchhiking are realizing that the whole of reality is and your response. You may want to and hopping freight trains. By 1940, he one. In nearly every dimension of life— write down your responses. Are there had traveled with his five-string banjo whether economic or religious, scien- certain words or phrases that especially through forty-eight states. That year in tific or political—there is a growing catch your attention, words that comfort New York City he met Woody Guthrie at awareness of earth’s essential interre- or unsettle? Why? How could the read- a concert hosted by the John Steinbeck latedness. This new-ancient way of see- ing, its meaning and wisdom, inform Committee to benefit farm workers. ing is radically challenging us to see your actions on this day? Guthrie became the young man’s most ourselves as connected with everything Act: Allow the wisdom that resonates important teacher. The lessons were not else that exists. And it means that any in you through your contemplation of just about music, they were also about true vision of reality must also be a cos- the reading to inform how you act. What social justice. mology, a way of relating the parts to does this wisdom mean for you life? While he loved to sing, his vocal range the whole, of seeing our distinct jour- What does it mean for this day? was limited. C minor was too high for neys in relation to the one journey of him. His solution was to have a longer the universe. Evening Practice neck installed on his banjo. The first one Quiet your Mind: Sit in a comfortable added two frets, later his custom banjos place and take a few breaths to quiet would have three additional frets. This your mind and focus your attention. made the songs he wrote fit his voice, and Reengage the Reading: Read the text they in turn, made it easy for people to one more time to make it present for sing along. You have probably sung some your evening practice. of his songs. One came from lines in a Listen to Your Life: Now, turn your famous Soviet novel written by Mikhail attention to the day itself. Recall the ex- Sholokhov and published in the 1930s. periences that were especially meaning- The lines in English were “Where are the ful, comforting, or disturbing. What do flowers? The girls have plucked them./ …Carl Jung speaks of “moon-like these mean to you? These experiences Where are the girls? They’re all married./ consciousness,” a way of seeing in are the sacred texts of our lives. They Where are the men? They’re all in the which we more readily perceive one- have the power to teach us if we allow army.” Pete Seeger rephrased the lines ness than differentiation. When I walk them to do so. You may want to record and added two more: “Long time pass- under the light of the moon, I am at your reflections in a journal. ing” and “When will we ever learn?” You times almost speechless with wonder. Intention for Tomorrow: Consider know the song as Where Have All the Flow- Under the moonlight, life’s edges are how you would live this day differently ers Gone? It is a wonderful example of the not so sharply defined. The boundaries if you could do it over. What would you ways in which Pete Seeger made both are less distinct. In the daylight, in con- change and why? Choose one thing that beautiful music and beautiful justice for trast, I have much more to say because you would like to do differently in the more than 50 years. I am seeing everything more analytical- future and set an intention to do so. It is Its why in the 1960s he hand-lettered ly. The parts are easily distinguished surprising how powerful this intention- the following words on from the whole. Moon-like conscious- setting can be in shifting our behavior the head of his banjo, ness is ours in dream life and medita- and experience. “This Machine Sur- tive practice as well, as it is in some of For this practice use the readings on page 3 rounds Hate and Forces our earliest memories of childhood or email [email protected] to It to Surrender.” when we glimpsed the “Golden automatically receive a brief reading on World,” as Robert Johnson calls it, the Monday, Wednesday & Friday mornings. 2 (Continued on page 8) Readings from the best given by producing harmony in Day 20: “The harmony that holds the stars one’s own life. “ Hazrat Inayat Khan on their courses and the flesh on our bones resonates through all creation.” the Common Bowl Day 9: “Happiness is not a matter of inten- Morgan Llywelyn sity but of balance, order, rhythm and har- mony.” Orison Swett Marden Day 21: “Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.” Plutarch Day 10: “When we feel, a kind of lyric is sung in our heart. When we think, a kind Day 22: “We planned for betrayal. They of music is played in our mind. In harmo- planned for deceit. No one ever thought to ny, both create a beautiful symphony of plan for harmony.” Jonathan Hickman

life.” Toba Beta Day 23: “God against man. Man against

Day 11: “How is it they live in such har- God. Man against nature. Nature against mony, the billions of stars, when most man. Nature against God. God against men can barely go a minute without de- nature. Very funny religion!” D.T. Suzuki Day 1: “You are only afraid if you are not claring war in their minds?” Day 24: “The mathematician’s patterns, in harmony with yourself. People are Thomas Aquinas like the painter’s or the poet’s must be afraid because they have never owned up Day 12: “Three Rules of Work: Out of beautiful; the ideas like the colors or the to themselves. A whole society composed clutter find simplicity. From discord find words, must fit together in a harmonious of men afraid of the unknown within harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies way. Beauty is the first test….” G.H. Hardy them!” Hermann Hesse opportunity.” Albert Einstein Day 25: “The ultimate aim is reverence for Day 2: “Because we all share this planet Day 13: “The physical powers of the body the universe. The ultimate aim is love for earth, we have to learn to live in harmony cannot be separated from the rationale of life. The ultimate aim is harmony within and peace with each other and with na- the mind and the emotions of the heart. oneself.” Helene Cardona ture. This is not just a dream, but a neces- They are one and the same, a compilation sity.” Dalai Lama XIV Day 26: “Though it might be nice to imag- of a singular being. It is in the harmony of ine there once was a time when man lived Day 3: “There is a balance, a harmony to these three—body, mind, and heart—that in harmony with nature, it’s not clear that be nurtured, between the head and the we find spirit.” R.A. Salvatore he ever really did.” Elizabeth Kolbert heart. When the intuition rings clear and Day 14: “We don’t get harmony when true, loving impulses are favored.” Day 27: “Peace is more than the absence of everybody sings the same note. Only notes Brian L. Weiss war. Peace is accord. Harmony.”

that are different can harmonize. The same Laini Taylor Day 4: “With an eye made quiet by the is true with people.” Steve Goodier power of harmony, and the deep power of Day 28: “In 1921, a New York rabbi asked joy, we see into the life of things.” Day 15: “But life at its best is a creative Einstein if he believed in God. ‘I believe in William Wordsworth synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmo- Spinoza’s God,’ he answered, ‘who reveals

ny.” Martin Luther King Jr. himself in the orderly harmony of what Day 5: “I want …to live ‘in grace’ as much of the time as possible. …By grace I mean Day 16: “Wandering re-establishes the exists, not in a God who concerns himself an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, original harmony which once existed be- with the fates and actions of human be- tween man and the universe.” ings.’” Jim Holt which can be translated into outward har- Anatole France mony. …I would like to achieve a state of Day 29: “Peace and harmony do not re- inner spiritual grace from which I could Day 17: “The highest education is that quire perfection. Thank goodness for function and give as I was meant to….” which does not merely give us infor- that—because life so often seems to be an Anne Morrow Lindbergh mation but makes our life in harmony itch here, a glitch there, a mess waiting to

Day 6: “Give up being right. Instead radi- with all existence.” Rabindranath Tagore happen. Harmony is flexible. It bends with

ate peace, harmony, love, and laughter imperfection. So should you.” Jerry Spinelli Day 18: “The search for meaning is really from your heart.” Deepak Chopra the search for the lost chord. When the lost Day 30: “You can not hope to arrive at

Day 7: “If humans can live in harmony chord is discovered by humankind, the harmony in your life while stirring up with other forms of life, the world rejoices. discord in the world will be healed and disturbances in another’s….” the symphony of the universe will come Rasheed Ogunlaru If not, the world suffers—and may not survive.” T.A. Barron into complete harmony with itself.” Day 31: “The universe is John O’Donohue Day 8: “There are two aspects of individu- not required to be in per- al harmony: the harmony between body Day 19: “Is it always to be a winners- fect harmony with hu- and soul, and the harmony between indi- losers world, or can we keep everyone in man ambition.” Carl Sagan viduals. All the tragedy in the world, in the game? Do we still have what it takes to find a better way?” Robert Fulghum the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony. And harmony is 3 of unity.” Actually the jazz I listened to that Risk. When they night wasn’t easy for me to get into at play, musicians risk first. I’m a fan of bee-bop and free jazz their individuality, forms where combinations of instru- their sense of autono- ments throw ideas back and forth, build my, even their egos. on each other’s ideas and references, en- Conflict is inherent in the fabric of what gage in an intricate challenge and re- Music and Mediation they are doing. In fact, the greater the sponse that ultimately resolves into the Rev. Bret Lortie risk, one might argue, the more powerful great “AH!”—the awesome, “OH …Many have noticed the outcome. Think of the John Coltrane YEAH.” Here was a single guy sitting at the powerful effects of piece..., A Love Supreme. When that re- a piano playing from the American song- jazz. Sharon Welch, a pro- cording was released it blew people’s book. (He later told me he was playing fessor of religion at the minds. They just hadn’t heard anything what he thought Unitarians would like.) University of Missouri, like it—a fusion of bee bop intellectual- As the evening progressed, however, I says that she has learned ism, Coletrane’s own drive toward unity watched this lone piano man start to shift from jazz how to work and healing, and love. A Love Supreme, a things up a little, respond to us. It all with limits and opportunities, possibili- more powerful and spiritual piece of mu- came unglued for me when he played ties and ambiguity, obstacles and chal- sic I’ve never heard. Old Man River, with a syncopated on-the- lenges. She says it reveals a new model What if we could approach all conflict edge-of-the-piano conclusion that pushed for resolving conflict, even globally. “In with this in mind? What if we could ap- right into our zones of risk and said jazz,” she says, there is a model of proach all conflict with the same drive “listen to my history, where I’m coming “responsiveness without progress or rep- toward healing and unity and love? from.” etition, without self-abnegation or self- Creating music takes commitment. It …Let’s push a little more at Sharon righteousness. As part of the cultural is more than thinking things through— Welch’s metaphor of jazz music as it re- resources of Americans, it can lead us it’s delving into the midst of a complex lates to conflict resolution. What does it into a new way of resolving conflict.” tradition and feeling your way through a take to improvise? First, a respect for the Avant guard composer Jonathan Har- lifetime of accumulated stories and feel- tradition, one we can learn and practice vey says that “music is both emotionally ings. I attended a conference ...led by without falling into repetition. Next, a intense and possessed of Sharon Welch, titled Being respect for other players. As James Colli- a deep sense of harmo- Good Neighbors in a Brave er once said, the worst that can be said of ny.” He points to how New World: Truth, Justice, a jazz player is that he or she doesn’t lis- music disproves Aristo- and Jazz. Welch’s work is ten. Finally, an openness to learning, tle’s Law of the Exclud- foundational to what I’m working with difference and novelty, and ed Middle, which says talking about…. Of practice—lots of practice. that a thing cannot be course, at this conference If we look at the chord progressions two things at once—The were the requisite periods that are written into every jazz score as Law of the Excluded of lecture and workshop that which binds musicians in communi- Middle, which says a discussion groups. But at ty, the logic of jazz teaches us something thing must either be this one point in the weekend else about transformation: that the social thing or that thing and we were treated to a demonstration by fabric is not held together by our intellec- cannot exist in ambiguity. Think of how jazz pianist James Williams, one of Art tual ideals, but through the reality, and many times this dualistic notion has Blakey’s former Jazz Messengers. proximity, of people interacting with gotten our world into trouble. Right ver- The concert was an optional evening each other. That is, the ground of social sus wrong. Us versus them. Evil doers session, and after eight hours of sitting in transformation is not the ideal versus the versus, well, who? But music offers us an a hotel chair I didn’t feel like climbing real—not the ideal versus the real—but alternative, for as Harvey says, if music is onto a rented school bus and being carted the real versus the real. to be meaningful, it must be more than across town to where the concert was …I think the world deserves to hear one thing at a time. Beautiful and abra- being held. In fact, probably two-thirds our song. If we believe in peace, if we are sive. Harmonious and dissonant. It must of the conference participants didn’t get against war, the world deserves to hear exist in ambiguity, or as poet John Keats on that bus. It was such an intellectual our song! If we are in consensus that vio- put it, it must be full of “contradictions… thing to do: dive into the theory without lence is not the only answer, then the uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without going to a place of risk; absorb the intel- world deserves to hear that song. any irritable reaching after fact and rea- lectualism of the conference while miss- Go now and sing. son.” ing the heart that was behind it. The con- When Harvey composes music, he excerpt from Music and Mediation: Resolving cert was a place of risk: what kind of jazz Conflict in a Warring World, http://www.uua.org/ says he pulls “together these dark con- would be played? aren’t I too hungry and worship/words/sermon/8786.shtml flicts and contradictions in an intui- tired to go? do I even like jazz? 4 tive drive toward the promised land Family Matters

Harmony in Flowers color. Color is very often the single most social behav- Judith Babb important element contributing to the ior of ten The basic principles of flower arrang- harmony of your arrangement. By using different ani- ing have to do with ...form, line, shape, monochromatic or analogous color com- mals through balance, texture, color, unity, proportion, binations, a flower arrangement can look short, but po- harmony, etc. By following the basics, harmonious and visually striking. The etic descrip- your flower arrangement will be aes- simplest way of being sure that your tions of bio- thetically pleasing and visually appeal- color combinations are going to work is logically in- ing. to check their positions on a color wheel. nate animal behaviors. Orozco explains One of the more important principles, Adjacent colors generally belong togeth- that, “We have a lot in common with one which ties together all the other ba- er. For a contrast, opposite colors on a animals. We experience love, pain, hap- sics … is harmony. color wheel can be used. piness, and sorrow. Animals do too. We …[H]armony in floral arranging is Finally, harmony in a floral arrange- share these feelings and others as well. when all the elements used in the ar- ment is achieved by of choosing the But animals could show us a thing or rangement are in complete sync with right elements and experimenting with two about responsibility, community, each other and seem to belong together. different materials, colors, textures, generosity, and tolerance.” The animals When discussing harmony, you are not shapes, and styles. Source: http:// featured include a howler monkey only talking about the flowers matching www.artisticflowerarrangements.com/principles (altruism), a flamingo (community), a -of-flower-arrangement-harmony/ dolphin (communication), an elephant or belonging together, but also the flow- ers and foliage, the flowers and foliage Family Activity: Flower Arranging (generosity), an armadillo Two books worth considering on the (responsibility), a crocodile (trust), an subject of flower arranging for children octopus (commitment), a penguin are DIY Flower Arranging for Kids: Book 1 (solidarity), a wolf (brotherhood), and a wildebeest (tolerance). by Mercedes Sarmini, Create Space Inde- pendent Publishing Platform, April 4, Family Activity: It’s Our Nature 2013 and Ikebana: Create beautiful flower Read the book, It’s Our Nature. As you arrangements with this traditional Japanese focus on each animal, discuss how this art by Shozo Sato (Asian Arts and Crafts trait helps animals get along with each for Creative Kids), Tuttle Publishing, other, which is a basic goal of social har- July 15, 2004. mony among people. The possible family activities within with the container, the container with flower arranging are broad. It can be as Family Activity: Harmony the space it has to share, the texture, simple as looking at pictures together of Consider purchasing and reading with shape, size, color, etc. …[A] harmonious flower arrangements and sharing which your children the book Harmony: A floral arrangement is striking to the eye arrangements you especially like and Treasury of Chinese Wisdom for Children without being over the top and without why to watching videos on the internet and Parents by Sarah Conover, Chen Hui, seeming …contrived. It should look on flower arranging and ikebana, and and Ji Ruoxiao, paperback, Skinner effortless to the viewer. beginning to create flower arrangements House Books, May 1, 2010. It contains 24 One way of achieving harmony in together. popular chengyu (i.e., brief sayings about wisdom) from China and the stories your arrangement is by trying to select It’s Our Nature those elements which have something based on them. Rev. Kirk Loadman-Copeland (at least one thing) in common with each Children’s author Rebeca Orozco writes, other, so that they fit together. This “In the grasslands, the forests, the de- could be in size, color, texture, …[or] serts, and the seas, animals learn to get shape. If blended well…, harmony has along. They tolerate each other’s differ- been achieved. For example, you should ences and embrace diversity. We are avoid choosing to put small flowers with part of the same animal kingdom. We, oversized leaves as they don’t match. too, can learn to live in harmony with Similarly, if you put giant marigolds in a the world around us!” Her book, It’s Our small vase, it will definitely look out of Nature, illustrated by Menena Cottin, is place. for children ages 5 to 8. Appreciating [H]armony in a flower arrangement that indigenous people regard animals can easily and best be achieved through as spiritual teachers, she explores the 5 Introduction to the Theme Wisdom for Life

(Continued from page 1) rocket during the lift-off of the Apollo 12 Balance rhythms of nature.” mission. This fades into a scene of a desert Rev. Susan Manker-Seale Harmony was also important in an- landscape followed by footage of chang- …My daily spiritual prac- cient Greek philosophy. While primarily ing ocean waves and cloud formations. tice is to balance. A major associated with Pythagoras, it figured in And so it goes. There is no dialogue in part of that practice involves the thought of other philosophers, includ- this 87 minute film. The soundtrack is a balancing the busy, taking-for-granted mo- ing Heraclites, who believed that harmo- score by Phillip Glass. It accompanies the ments of the day with moments to pause ny was part of the structure of the cosmos succession of moving images, many in and appreciate what is before me in my life. through which opposites were connected: either slow-motion or time-lapse cinema- …Spiritual practices are aimed at help- light—dark, good—evil, etc. tography. Some of the sequences are of ing us understand that connectedness, to East Asian cultures emphasize harmo- the natural environment, always offering sense our oneness, to the end that our ny and responsibility to groups, but West- a brief respite, but most focus on human yearning is appeased in actuality. For ern cultures, especially American culture, society, and they are jarring. The longest whether you call it God/dess, Nature, Spir- are structured around competition and segment of the film at 22 minutes is called it, or Oneness (or some other word), the responsibility to self. Harmony for Uni- The Grid. Its theme is the speed of mod- feeling of presence is very real for many of tarian Universalists is counter-cultural. ern life and the people in this sequence us. Musically, harmony is defined as the seem little more than ants. (All of these ...We can practice spirituality in our dai- “concord of sounds,” which more broadly segments are available on YouTube.) ly lives, in our daily activities, by remem- relates to a “concord of feeling.” This is The film asked, “Since this is how we bering to pause, pay attention, and feel ap- instructive since the literal meaning of live, we must ask ourselves why?” Ko- preciation for what is before us. Paying concord is “hearts together,” as well as yaanisqatsi is a word from the Hopi lan- attention means using all of our senses in “of the same mind.” We can experience guage that means “life out of balance” or being in the world and in the moment. harmony both intellectually and affective- “life of moral corruption and turmoil.” …Out of our busyness, we are called ly. A synonym, balance, is often applied Thoreau asked, “Why should we be in back into balance, back into ourselves and to opposites, but it also can mean such desperate haste to succeed, and in the silence of present being. But it is not just “general harmony between parts.” such desperate enterprises?” Why, in- back into ourselves to which we are called; To fully appreciate the importance of deed? Another meaning of the Hopi it is also to the awareness of the continuous harmony, we would do well to focus on word, which Thoreau would have under- presence of the environment around us and disharmony. It is the difference between stood, is “a state of life that calls for an- within us. We are called to remember our ease and dis-ease. In his journal (1845 other way of living,” one characterized by relationships and our dependencies. We are entry), Thoreau recalls the fable in which harmony. called to once again feel the oneness which Jupiter sent a plague to the island of Aegi- Native American author Tony Hiller- sustains our being in balance with creation, na that killed all of the inhabitants except man writes, “The Navajo word hozro ... and to do so with wonder and appreciation. Aeacus, who, in turn, prayed to Jupiter to means a sort of blend of being in harmo- … We live our lives too much in a shell repopulate the island. Jupiter responded ny with one’s environment, at peace with built of inattention and distraction. to the prayer by turning ants into people. one’s circumstances, content with the day, …The world is full of wonder, if we but Thoreau wrote, “Still we live meanly, like devoid of anger, and free from anxieties.” stop and pay attention. It is there, waiting ants; though the fable tells us that we Our task is to find our hozro, our way of to feed us, even in very difficult situations. were long ago changed into men.” living in harmony and in beauty. The day is made up of moments, and each This “ant-like” reality is captured in a Harmony operates on multiple levels: moment can be an eternity of peace to those cascade of visual images in the 1982 film inner harmony, which can also include experiencing pain or grief. They are like Koyaanisqatsi produced and directed by harmony with the divine, social harmony, blessings, and we count them, one by one Godfrey Reggio, which took almost six and harmony with nature. Ideally, these throughout the day. They help us keep our years to make. The first image in the film levels are mutually instructive and rein- balance. is an ancient pictogram by the Fremont forcing, yet each is challenging to culti- Pause for those moments every so often Indians locat- vate. Inner harmony is cultivated through to listen and to look, to feel and to smell, to ed in the spiritual practice. William James wrote, taste and to appreciate, to feel thankful for Great Gallery “Spirituality is the attempt to be in har- the beauty which is around us even in the at Horseshoe mony with the unseen order of things.” smallest grains of red dirt and in the grand- Canyon in the Social harmony is often achieved through est blue of sky. The mundane world is a Canyonlands work involving social justice. Harmony source of deep spirituality. Notice it, appre- National Park with nature, given ecological challenges, ciate it, for you are it and it is you. in Utah. The is facilitated by a combination of spiritual Source: Everyday Spirituality, edited by Scott Alexan- film starts slowly, and has a calming practice that deepens reverence for life der, 1999 6 effect until a close-up of the Saturn V and environmental justice. Wisdom for Life Compassion in Action

The Woodcarver Original Harmony The Great Song Rev. David S. Blanchard Jack Kornfield Chuang Tzu, On sabbatical in East Africa, Here around us always is Taoist philosopher I heard a story of a people who the mystery. This great song Khing, the master believe that we are each creat- has joy and sorrow as its carver, made a bell stand ed with our own song. Their warp and woof. Between the mountains of precious wood. When it tradition as a community is to honor that and valleys of birth and death, we find was finished, all who saw it were song by singing it as a welcome when a every voice and every possibility. Spir- astounded. They said it must be the work child is born, as a comfort when the child is itual practice does not ask us to place of spirits. The Prince of Lu said to the ill, in celebration when the child marries, more beliefs on top of our life. At its master carver: “What is your secret?” and in affirmation and love when death heart it asks us to wake up, to face life Khing replied: “I am only a workman: I comes. Most of us were not wel- directly. In this way, our eyes and ears have no secret. There is only this: when I comed ...that way. Few of us ...know our are open. Zen master Seung Sahn, on began to think about the work you com- song. visiting the site of the Buddha’s enlight- manded I guarded my spirit, did not ex- It takes a while for many of us to figure enment in India, wrote: Once a great man pend it on trifles, that were not to the out which is our song, and which is the sat beneath the Bodhi tree. He saw the East- point. I fasted in order to set my heart at song that others would like us to sing. ern star, became enlightened. He absolutely rest. After three days fasting, I had for- Some of us are slow learners. I heard my believed his eyes, and he believed his ears, gotten gain and success. After five days I song not necessarily from doing extraordi- his nose, his tongue, body, and mind. The had forgotten criticism. After seven days I nary things in exotic places, but also from sky is blue, the earth is brown, and so he was had forgotten my body with all its limbs. doing some pretty ordinary things in some awakened to the truth and attained freedom By this time all thought of your High- routine places. For every phrase I heard beyond birth and death. ness and of the court had faded away. All climbing Kilimanjaro, I learned another in Buddhist practice offers us one of the that might distract me from the work had a chair in a therapist’s office. For every greatest of human possibilities—the vanished. I was collected in the single measure I heard in the silence of a retreat, I possibility of awakening. In this we thought of the bell stand. heard another laughing with my girls. For must listen to the whole song, as Sid- Then I went to the forest to see the every note I heard in the wind on the beach dhartha did. We will see how difficult trees in their own natural state. When the at Lamu, I gleaned more from spending this can be. We will encounter all the right tree appeared before my eyes, the time with a dying friend as her children stories we have held on to [in order] to bell stand also appeared in it, clearly, be- sang her song back to her. What came to protect ourselves from the suffering of yond doubt. All I had to do was to put astound me was not that the song ap- life. We will face the stories of grief and forth my hand and begin. peared, but that it was always there. fear, the contracted sense of self that If I had not met this particular tree I figure that the only way I could have withdraws from the inevitable hardship there would have been no bell stand at all. known it for my own was if I had heard it and sorrow of life. We will sense empti- What happened? My own collected before, before memory went to work mak- ness and loss in the lack of permanence thought encountered the hidden potential ing sense and order of the mystery of our of ourselves and all things. For a time in in the wood; from this live encounter beginning. Our songs sing back to us some- practice, all creation may appear to be a came the harmonious work that you as- thing of our essence, something of our limited and painful story.... But these cribe to the spirits. Source: The Active Life, Parker Palmer, 1990. truth, something of our uniqueness. When perspectives are only the first part of our our songs are sung back to us, it is not awakening. about approval, but ...recognizing our be- The second part of the great story of ing and our belonging in the human fami- awakening is not about loss or pain but ly. about finding the harmony of our own It is good to know our songs by heart song within the great song. ...In awaken- for those lonely times when the world is ing to this harmony, we discover a treas- not singing them back to us. ... ure hidden in each difficulty. Hidden in They can be heard as songs of love or of the inevitable impermanence and loss of longing, songs of encouragement or of life, its very instability, is the enormous comfort, songs of struggle or of security. ... power of creativity. In the process of [T]hey are the songs of life, giving testimo- change, there arises an abundance of ... ny to what has been, giving praise for all new possibilities, new expressions…. It we’re given, giving hope for all we strive is only because everything is changing for, giving voice to the great mystery that that such bountiful and boundless crea- carries each of us in and out of this world. tivity exists. Source: A Path with Heart, Ban- Source: A Temporary State of Grace, Skinner House tam Books, 1993 7 Small Group Discussion Guide Love as Covenant

Theme for Discussion Living the Questions: Explore as many of (Continued from page 2) A New Harmony these questions as time allows. Fully explore world of unitary vision rather than separa- Harmony one question before moving on. tion. Preparation prior to Gathering: (Read this 1. Is harmony a state of being that you …[A]ncient harmony …is deep in the issue of the journal and Living the Questions value? Why or why not? matter of the universe, the essential inter- in the next column.) 2. When and where have you experienced wovenness of all things. Everything, wheth- Business: Deal with any housekeeping harmony? Within yourself? With other er the expanding light of distant galaxies or items (e.g., scheduling the next gathering). people? With the natural world? What humanity’s inner light of mind and con- were these experiences like? sciousness, carries within itself the life of Opening Words: “One day, I heard a voice 3. Have you experienced dis-harmony in the universe’s shared beginning. inside me sincerely concerned for the future your life? What impact did it have on [Recognizing] the brokenness of our harmo- of the earth and humanity. That voice asked, you? ny, whether as individuals and families or ‘Would a world where all life forms on this 4. Is your life in or out of balance? What as nations and species, …our disharmony, earth live together in peace and harmony be does that look like? Feel like? If your is essential to finding the way forward. impossible?’ That voice answered, ‘If all life is out of balance, what do you need people really wanted that and chose that to do to get your life in balance? Confronting our brokenness, individually kind of world, why wouldn’t it come true?’” 5. Does the film Koyaanisqatsi characterize and together, is integral to the hope for Ilchi Lee American society? Why or why not? If healing. …[H]ow …can [we] be part of a it does, what can be done to restore new harmony? What is the cost, both per- Chalice Lighting (James Vila Blake) (adapted) balance? sonal and collective, of releasing life’s es- (In unison) Love is the spirit of this church, and sential oneness in radically new and trans- service is its law. This is our covenant: to dwell formative ways? together in peace, to seek the truth in love, to …We live at a costly moment. The ques- serve human need, and to help one another. tion is, what type of cost will it be? Will it Check-In: How is it with your spirit? What be the cost of transformation in which we do you need to leave behind in order to be reshape our lives and relationships, both fully present here and now? (2-3 sentences) collectively and individually…? Or will it be the cost of further and further fragmenta- Claim Time for Deeper Listening: This tion in which we take ourselves and earth’s comes at the end of the gathering where you 6. What role can a congregation play in species toward destruction? can be listened to uninterrupted for more promoting social harmony? Harmony Source: A New Harmony: The Spirit, the Earth, and the time if needed. You are encouraged to claim with nature? Inner harmony? Human Soul, Jossey-Bass, 2011 time ranging between 3-5 minutes, and to 7. How can we teach children to value honor the limit of the time that you claim. and cultivate harmony? Read the Wisdom Story: Take turns reading The facilitator or group members are invited aloud parts of the wisdom story on page 1. to propose additional questions that they would like to explore. Readings from the Common Bowl: Group Attribution for Images Deeper Listening: If time was claimed by Page 1: Pete Seeger by Van Gogh, photo by Roberto members read selections from Readings from individuals, the group listens without inter- Rizzato, January 31, 2014, (CC BY-NC 2.0), https:// the Common Bowl (page 3). Leave a few mo- www.flickr.com/photos/rizzato/2232819757 ruption to each person who claimed time. Page 2: Pete Seeger’s Peace Machine, photo by Paul ments of silence after each to invite reflec- VanDeWerf, June 10, 2007, (CC BY 2.0), https:// tion on the meaning of the words. Checking-Out: One sentence about where www.flickr.com/photos/pavdw/12188532496

you are now as a result of the time spent Page 2: Moonlight, photo by Fabrizio, January 3, 2007, Sitting In Silence: Sit in silence together, together exploring the theme. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0), https://www.flickr.com/ allowing the Readings from the Common Bowl photos/21080957@N07/2161975494 to resonate. Cultivate a sense of calm and Extinguishing Chalice Page 3: James Hake – Hump thrown bowl, photo by Liverpool Design Festival, September 7, 2010, (CC BY-SA attention to the readings and the discussion (Elizabeth Selle Jones) (In unison) 2.0), http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-4904281932 that follows (Living the Questions). We extinguish this flame but not the light of Page 5: Ikebana, One Row Form, photo by Tim Buss, truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of June 16, 2013, (CC BY 2.0), https://www.flickr.com/ Reading: “They sang the words in unison, commitment. These we carry in our hearts until photos/timbuss/9064155152 yet somehow created a web of sounds with Page 6: Great Gallery, photo by Ken Lund, May 14, we are together again. 2005, (CC BY 2.0), https://www.flickr.com/photos/ their voices. It was like hearing a piece of kenlund/67196659 Closing Words Rev. Philip R. Giles fabric woven with all the colors of a rain- Page 7: Master wood carver at work, photo by A. bow. I did not know that such beauty could (In unison) May the quality of our lives be Davey, taken in 1914, (CC BY 2.0), https:// be formed by the human mouth. I had never our benediction and a blessing to all we touch. www.flickr.com/photos/adavey/4943010482 Page 8: Still from the movie Koyaanisqatsi, https:// heard harmony before.” Anita Diamant anagitationofmind.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/ 8 koyaanisqatsi.jpg