Forgive Us Our Sins

 

This Sunday’s theme (yikes! that’s tomorrow, isn’t it!) is forgiveness.  The framework for the service is Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement which marks the end of the Jewish “High Holy Days.”  There are so many different ways to go.

 

Everyone makes mistakes.  Everyone.  Sometimes I think that the definition of a friend is someone whose mistakes you have decided to forgive.  When a person decides no longer to forgive a friend’s mistakes, the friendship has died.

 

But, of course, it goes deeper than that.  I have always loved the part of “The Lord’s Prayer” that says, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  and I wonder, from time to time, how many of us contemplate the magnitude of that statement.

 

We ask the highest power in the universe (however we conceive of that power) to forgive us, as we forgive others.  The implication is, is it not, that if we don’t forgive others, the universe is off the hook.  If we can’t bring ourselves to forgive those who have hurt us, we can’t expect those we have hurt to be forgiving.

 

In so many ways, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” is simply putting the "Golden Rule” within the framework of forgiveness. 

 

Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you.

Love thy neighbor as thyself.

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

 

Beyond the Golden Rule, is the simple fact that atonement is crucial to being a complete human being.  We all screw up.  We all need forgiveness.  As Desmond Tutu so eloquently put it in his book of the same title, “There Is No Future Without Forgiveness.”

 

There is no future without forgiveness.  There is only the past.  Past wounds, past grievances.  We become stuck in the past, we cannot move forward without forgiveness.

 

So many of our conflicts seem to stem from this.  I look at the festering wound that is the Middle East.  Israelis cannot forgive Palestinians for past wounds.  And Palestinians cannot forgive Israelis for past wounds.  The wounds are not imaginary.  They are real.  But as long as the wounds remain open, there is no hope of peace. 

 

Yet atonement requires not simply forgiveness.  True atonement requires that we own what we have done.  Before we can honestly ask for forgiveness we must own that we have indeed committed a hurt.  And that’s hard.  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the half-hearted atonement of, “If what I said/did hurt anybody, I’m sorry.”  If?  IF? 

 

There is, as well, the question of long term atonement.  How can we heal ourselves, our communities, our country, our planet if we cannot forgive?  AND if we cannot own what we have done, first to ourselves, and then to the person or persons we have hurt, we cannot find forgiveness. 

 

Forgiveness is complex and difficult.  Or, as Elton John has put it, “Sorry seems to be the hardest word.” 

 

Should be an interesting Sunday.

And So It Begins!

 

So, about fifteen people gathered in a school cafeteria on a Sunday morning to be a part of the Living Interfaith Church. 

 

It was beautiful.  The joy.  The interest.  The diversity.  People from so many backgrounds, all come to celebrate our common humanity!

 

I’ll post the sermon elsewhere on the website.  “Living Interfaith Sermons.”  This will be the first.  It’s foundational.  I hope it’s worth reading and pondering.

 

But what was and is truly freeing is that the sermon did not make the service.  The people made the service.  Our readings were from two different sacred texts (Baha’i and Islamic), as well as ponderings on theology by a brilliant 20^th century thinker and a poem of great spiritual value.  All four readings chosen by the readers, not by me.  This is a group of people who have chosen to come together to learn from each other, to respect each other, and to take joy in their beautiful diversity.  It does the heart good.

 

“No one is asked to leave who they are at the door,” we are fond of saying.  “Bring it in with you.  Just remember that those sitting next to you have also brought who they are in with them as well.”  And so fifteen people did just that.

 

There is, here, in this small group, a sprouting seed of hope, of compassion, and of genuine acceptance.  We do not “tolerate” our differences, we celebrate them.  We celebrate them because we have come to realize that our differences can unite, rather than divide us.  Our differences can strengthen, rather than weaken us.

 

And I will confess that it brought a smile to my face that we collected more food for the food bank this past Sunday than any previous Sunday.

 

And speaking of food, it is such a joy to have our after service potlucks – which, as far as I’m concerned, are just as much a part of the service as the more formal “first half.”  One person brought a dish made from squash from her garden.  It was … I blush to say it … heavenly!  I’d go on but I’d leave someone out.  It was all wonderful.  And a great nexus.  We shared food with each other, and then with our community through the food bank.

 

Our next service will be September 26^th, where we’ll not only look at the theme of “Forgiveness” and the Highest of Jewish Holy Days, Yom Kippur; but also hear our new Living Interfaith Choir. 

 

I so look forward to seeing these wonderful people again.  I am a very, very lucky human being.

Living Interfaith

 

This Sunday, September 12^th, the Living Interfaith church officially opens its door.  I can think of no more auspicious time for a church to model that we CAN truly respect each other’s spiritual paths; no more auspicious time for a church to model that compassion and love know no spiritual boundaries; no more auspicious time for a church to model that we can be bound, rather than divided, by our common humanity.

                   

A short blog today.  But I do want to share that my heart is very full.

 

Though my mind remains a bit puzzled.  So much attention is paid to a small church in Florida, that has dedicated itself to hate: hate of gays and lesbians, hate of Muslims.  And so little attention to a small church in Washington that has dedicated itself to compassion, love and the embrace of our common humanity.

 

I do thank the Herald, of Snohomish County, who indeed did run an article today.

 

http://heraldnet.com/article/20100911/COMM04/709119959

 

I sent a news release to the Seattle Times, and all three local television stations.  They decided to pass.

 

If you are so disposed, and you live in the Seattle area, you might write a letter to the Seattle Times and to KING, KIRO and KOMO.  Irrational hate in a church on the other side of the continent they will cover, but a church promoting our common humanity in their own backyard they won’t? 

 

But despite that, I must tell you I am deeply excited, and deeply humbled.  So many wonderful people have given so very much to help to get us this far. 

 

If you are anywhere near the Seattle area tomorrow, September 12^th, I hope you’ll look us up!

The Interfaith Life

 

I had this all set to go, until I read some comments on Facebook about what is happening in the U.S..  I KNEW I should have posted this blog last night!  Now: a complete rewrite.

 

Hate is being peddled in the U.S..  It’s for sale and cheap.  And fear?  Fear is being handed out for free on every street corner, in every newspaper, every television station.

 

I read in this morning’s paper a sincere comment from a sincere woman, pointing out how important it really is to know President Obama’s religion because, after all, Islam is based on the Qur’an (“Koran”), which, according to the writer, “teaches the destruction of any government system contrary to Islamic beliefs.”  Clearly she has never read the Qur’an.  But she has learned to fear it.

 

Then I read the Facebook comments, about one of our politicians who appears to be building a huge career on fear and hate.  She’s not alone of course.  There are many politicians, as well as radio commentators, and newspaper columnists who are building their security on the fear of others.  They seek to gain a following, if not love, by stoking the hatred of the “other.”

 

The question that those of us face, those who do not live our lives based on fear, and who do not build ourselves up by making the “other” into an object of fear is: how to react?  Clearly there is an entire political party flummoxed by this question.  It is not my desire or purpose to help them here.

 

But what about us?  You and me?  How do we react?  I made a brief comment on the Facebook page.  I made it because it’s hard to keep our balance in such times.  And if the past is any indications, we really do need to keep our balance. 

 

“There has always been an element of fear-mongering, and always an element of anti-intellectualism in the U.S. and really world-wide. But now there's also severe economic problems. The last era like this gave us Hitler (and less dramatically in the U.S. Huey Long). Hate is powerful. It has always been so. I think we need vocal, strong expressions of love to lighten the darkness.”

 

I did not mean to enter into my own version of fear-mongering.  But the patterns between now and the pre-Hitler years give one pause.  The “evil Jew” gave Hitler the glue he needed, just as the “evil Muslim” is giving many traction when they really have little if anything else to offer.  The only fear I have right now, is the fear that FDR warned us of nearly 100 years ago.  The only thing to fear is fear itself.

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man whom I admire greatly, wrote, “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.  Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

 

That is why I would urge that we reply to the fear and hate with “vocal, strong, expressions of love.”  That, as Dr. King reminds us, is the only way to lighten the darkness.  And anyone who feels that love cannot be strong and vocal needs to revisit the work of Dr. King.

 

Which does indeed bring me to Interfaith.  It is assuredly not the only way to bring light.  But it is a good way, a strong way, and a loving way.

 

What is it to be called to Interfaith?  It is to be called to the understanding of our common humanity.  It is to be called to the realization that there is no “them” – that we are all a part of us.  It is to be called to embrace the love that all of our varying spiritual paths have been begging us to embrace for thousands of years.

 

What is it to LIVE Interfaith?  It is not simply to talk with people of varying faiths from behind the comforting walls of right belief.  It is not to peep over the wall and wave.  It is not simply to work on a project with people who do not share our faith.  And to live Interfaith is not simply to come together once or twice a month to share sacred space.  To LIVE Interfaith is to live it twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.  To LIVE Interfaith is bring in and hold close to our hearts the reality that we are all, all in this together. 

 

There is no them.  There is only us.  This is the call of Interfaith.  It is becoming an increasingly urgent call.