GETTING OUR ACT TOGTHER, PART THREE: SPEAKING OUR TRUTH Rev. Don Beaudreault First Parish Brewster, MA October 19, 2014

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1 1 OPENING WORDS GETTING OUR ACT TOGTHER, PART THREE: SPEAKING OUR TRUTH Rev. Don Beaudreault First Parish Brewster, MA October 19, 2014 Though I may speak with bravest fire, and have the gift to all inspire, And have not love, my words are vain, as sounding brass and hopeless gain. MEDITATION adapted from 1 Corinthians The word is not just a sound or a written symbol. The word is a force; it is the power you have to express and communicate, to think and thereby to create the events in your life...the word is the most powerful tool you have as a human... But like a sword with two edges, your word can create the most beautiful dream, or your word can destroy everything around you. One edge is the misuse of the word, which creates a living hell. The other edge is the impeccability of the word, which will only create beauty, love, and heaven on earth. Depending on how it is used, the word can set you free, or it can enslave you even more than you know... The word is so powerful, that one word can change a life, or destroy the lives of millions... SERMON The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz, pp This morning we continue a five-part sermon series based on the books The Four Agreements and The Fifth Agreement by Don Miguel Ruiz. A descendant of the ancient Mexican people known as the Toltecs, Ruiz is a trained surgeon who returned to his ancestral teachings after a near-death experience.

2 2 These teachings sought to create a way toward understanding life, and posited the idea that we live in a dream state whose quality can be determined by how we dream. Essential to creating a better dream life is to practice the Agreements, including the one we will discuss this morning: Be impeccable with your word. Indeed, words have power. They create philosophies, religions, histories, and one's sense of self. They establish empires and destroy them. They bring ideas to life and they obliterate them. They make us feel as if we are royalty or paupers. Their power is palpable. They should not be underestimated. So, be "impeccable with your word" says Ruiz. Basing my own thoughts on this Agreement, let us explore the power of words and how we might move toward a state of impeccability with them; how, indeed, we can speak our truth. Religion and Words Cultures have attributed to words a spirit of sacredness or profanity. Consider this in the realm of religion. Words for that which people consider "divine" instil respect, fear, humility, obsequiousness. Conversely, words for that which people consider "satanic" instil loathing, fear, horror, repulsiveness. You disobey the commandments, the laws, the doctrine all words and you are cast off, ex-communicated, condemned to hell. You obey these rules and regulations and you are blessed, "saved in the blood," achieve eternal life. Holy figures the preachers and prophets; the shamans and imams, the rabbis and the priests hold forth with their pronouncements, saying that they are representatives of the divine - and that you better believe them or else Schools of theology are created, each with its distinctive lexicon words that express their specific viewpoint on human existence. Rituals are established with the appropriate words used; over time their institutionalization makes them appear as if they were always in existence.

3 3 Holy books are written and are interpreted the way an individual or group cares to do so. For example: "God" can be a noun, a verb, a pronoun, or an adjective whatever forms of speech the adherent chooses. Sense of Self and Words Think about the power of words in relationship to one's sense of self. How would you answer the existential question: "Who are you?" You might answer with your name, your gender, your age, your family status, your role in society, your group associations. You box yourself in for your own sense of security perhaps; or so that others can feel secure around you. You fill in the requested questionnaires, take the tests, vote, pay your bills, and join clubs. You are such and such and such and such... And you start to believe that the words can describe you until one day you wake up one morning, get a glimpse of yourself in the bathroom mirror and wonder: What happened Or you get a bad result from a medical test. Then you start to think of yourself in different ways. You realize that not only life is brief, but also that your life is brief. You know now that the words you have attributed to your sense of self are inadequate. Throughout your existence you can think of your "self" in negative ways, or positive ones. Most of us go negative. We are conditioned to do so. We do not think of our self as good enough, wise enough, rich enough, good-looking enough, accomplished enough. Spiritual wisdom of the Toltec or other varieties teaches us to love our self; to respect our self; to describe ourselves in positive ways. And to think of others in this way, too. But we fail again and again. Beliefs and Words Consider how we feel we must defend our beliefs.

4 4 We talk and talk out our beliefs we write them down or if we do not do these things, we are thinking about them when others are defending their beliefs. We use words to say who we are and what we believe. But, we get stuck, if we are not careful. We get hold of something we learn something new, make it our own (or so we imagine), and it becomes part of our sense of self. But then someone comes along with other beliefs, with a sense of their self. And they seem to be challenging us. They make us feel uncomfortable. But most of us try to listen, all the while planning our own responses. Not that everyone is bold about actually expressing their thoughts. But everyone has them. You know, it is a deeply kind act to really listen to others; to really hear what they have to say. It is a mark of profound respect to put your own ideas on hold so that you can relate to another person. And you hope that this gift will be reciprocated. Gossip and Words But gossiping can be a most insidious form of human communication... Consider today's tabloids. Gossip provides a hefty income for the purveyors of supermarket rags. The paparazzi glory in stimulating the public with lurid photographs of the inflated bellies of once svelte Hollywood stars hanging out for all to see on the Riviera. If only water coolers in business offices could talk retelling the gossip that employees have spread In effect, just gather human beings together, and the gossip will spread told "in confidence" of course. That is until the next listener comes along and the story is told again. What is it about our human penchant to spread spurious stories? Is the human DNA preordained to be the purveyors of smut, of rumor, of innuendo? There really is nothing impeccable about gossip, even though some sociologists proclaim that it is a valuable way for humans to spread information to one another.

5 5 But what is gossip really, but the use of words to malign the character of someone else behind his/her back? What do you think would happen if ery organization that purports to be an ethical place would put this principle into effect: Do not say anything about anyone without that person being aware that you are doing so; nor repeat what someone has told you in confidence. If you can't say it to the person face-to-face, then don't say it. Truth and Words Emily Dickinson tells us: "Tell the truth, but tell it slant." Well, of course How else can we tell the truth but tilted? How could we tell it upright, given the reality that "truth" is ever changeable. One person's truth is another's manipulation. In fact, "truth" is not a singularity. In truth, truth is not a truth so much as it is a bunch of little truths, or perhaps a lot of approximations of so-called truth. Still, most of us want to believe that there is such a monolithic thing as the truth even if we question such a sure bet. Liberal thinkers question this more than most. "Liberal" comes from the word "libre" meaning to be "free. So, to be a free thinker, implies that we are open to ever new possibilities. This is quite the opposite from a close-mind that believes it is thinking the truth and speaking the truth based upon a personal need to be sure about something perhaps out of fear or self-aggrandizement. Liberal thinkers, on the other hand, are not sure about much, really. Except about change; process; fluidity; growth; possibility. Still, in our liberating attempt to speak and live with good intention, we try to speak and live the truth when we are rising to the nobility within us. On the other hand, we lower ourselves and the world a bit when we consciously tell lies or even "half-truths" (as if that term were not an oxymoron); And yet, sometimes we must out of decency and charity consciously tell the truth, but tell it slant. Sometimes, indeed, it is the kindest thing to do for another human being: to fabricate a bit.

6 Action and Words Now here is a complicated matter: trying to match what we say with what we do. Words are wondrous tools in fashioning obfuscation. They can cloak even the best intentions; cause havoc on the most philanthropic of plans; side-track the sweetest of desires. And when words are used to block, delay, destroy the hopes and dreams of a human being, they can really be the assassins of the soul (if you will). There is a point, you know, where people need to come to some agreement and not just continue to talk. Had not human beings figured that out long ago, we would not now have such human inventions as plastic, representative government, jails, or the Unitarian Universalist Association. Some people, though, just love to talk and not do although it can be argued by such talkers that they are, in effect, doing. Chatting on and on can be a sport for some. Never mind the end result which is merely... what? More talk? Organizations including churches - need to have caution with all this loquaciousness, lest mere talk becomes the end product. Committees, sub-committees, and sub-sub-committees, and committees on committees can sometimes become sub-par in actualizing one's potential, not to say that such human groupings are ineffectual, just that they need to know what their purpose is and then work hard to achieve it, not just talk about it. Discernment and Words Still, the Chinese philosophy called "Taoism" teaches us that words are ultimately meaningless when one considers the human inability to grasp the whys and wherefores of existence. Teachings from the mythical Taoist master Lao Tse tell us: "Existence is beyond the power of words to define." Christian teachers tell us similar things. From the book of 1 John comes: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 6

7 7 This is the "Logos" of Greek teaching one application of the word referring to the the wonder and mystery of it all In classical Stoicism, Logos is the divine, animating principle pervading the universe. It cannot be known. It is crucial in creating a spiritual life an existence that moves deeper into an awareness of one's self rather than lives on the surface of vain endeavor to relax into the concept that we are, after all, unable to articulate through words the ultimacy of our being. Realizing this can lead us to that depth of our existence to a place that some call "discernment." Perhaps to discern who we are, we must not use words at all, but stay silent. We must listen to that "still, small voice within" that is described in biblical (I Kings). s It is what George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, refers to when he says: "Be still and cool in thine own mind and spirit." Or as a modern Quaker thinker puts it: discernment is "allowing the rational to combine with the intuitive and numinous." Summary Statement Words In relationship to religion, one's sense of self, expression of one's beliefs, gossip, truth, and action; and beyond words, to discernment. Words So powerful, and so beautiful when we are in a state of pure heart and awareness, with the intention of accomplishing good rather than harm. When we speak and write and sing with love. So let us bid adieu to our words of ill-thought, anger, and misjudgement. Let us burn up transgressions this very instant, vowing to do the best we can to lead lives of noble speech and good intention. And so may it be. CLOSING WORDS: "But there really is no reason to suffer..." But there really is no reason to suffer. The only reason you suffer is because you choose to suffer The same is true for happiness. The only reason you are happy is because you choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice, and so is suffering. The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz, p.129