A Potpourri of Inspiration

Transcription

1 Good Morning! A Potpourri of Inspiration The usual meaning of potpourri is a mixture of herbs that provide a pleasant odor. Other definitions include a mixture of unlike items. The original meaning in the French language was rotten stew. You may judge whether any of my subsequent comments fulfill the summer service s inspiration theme or are better in filling a waste can. I am an Old-Old member of our congregation. (I will explain the Old-Old adjective a bit later). Following military service in Germany where I prepared topographic maps for the Army, my spouse Barbara and I arrived in Harrisburg in Friends of ours from Carlisle mentioned that a Dickinson College Professor was speaking to a group of Unitarians on Sunday at the Harrisburg YWCA. (Barb says it was at the YMCA.) As a recently graduated geologist with a Master s degree, I found the group to be welcoming and interesting and the speaker, Professor Amos Horlacher, to be without religious cant and with a rational view of world events and humanity. We joined the group and found them to be a community that expressed our understanding of life and our place in this universe. We have been here since then. We ve enjoyed and/or suffered all the Ministers that have served this congregation. A few times in the many decades of our membership, I have felt the need to speak to the congregation, generally inspired by my understanding of the interaction of science and religion. In early April, I was reading articles in the winter issue of the Unitarian-Universalist 1

2 World, a publication of our U-U Association. Three articles therein piqued my interest and I was inspired to contact David Spear and offer one or more of the topics as a theme for a summer Sunday service. The articles are: On becoming old-old by Sally Stoddard of Lincoln, Nebraska; The Dream of White Innocence by William Sinkford, Minister of First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, and past President of our U-U Association; and When Charity Disrupts Justice by Chuck Collins, a member of First Church Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts. At the same time, I was reading Why Times Flies A mostly Scientific Investigation by Alan Burdick. I was very much intrigued by Burdick s description of the Philosopher (and later Saint) Augustine who first wrote deus creator ominum, Latin words that translate to God creates all. Saint Augustine was also the originator of original sin from his interpretation of the Adam and Eve myth and wrote more on the sins of sex that still are rampant, even though in his youth he enjoyed such joys profusely. David accepted my offer with the comment that I could pick any of the above for my theme. Later I learned that the theme for summer services was Inspiration, specifically Someone or Something that Inspired me. This gave me pause. A search of inspire, inspiration, and associated words produced many important quotes from famous writers, one of which resonated with me. Written by Robert Louis Stevenson it reads: Judge each day not by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant Reading and pondering Stevenson s statement, I realized that the fruit from seeds of ordinary human endeavors could be 2

3 inspirations. It made me recall two specific instances where seeds were planted by me and others, without our knowing that such had occurred, which inspired another person to make an important life decision. The first instance occurred on one of several Valentine s Days in Harrisburg more than a decade ago where a group of our church s members was present at a Freedom to Mary Rally event. The rally occurred for at least several separate years beside the Susquehanna River along Front Street. Members of Harrisburg s Gay community organized the rallies seeking to publically express that all persons should have the legal right to marry whomever they chose, regardless of sexual identity. Initial occurrences of the Freedom to Marry rally had experienced protesters who interfered with the rally attendees, even though the rally organizers had obtained a Harrisburg city permit. The protestors interfered by broadcasting with bullhorns their hateful messages, and exhibited posters and broadsides that spelled out their messages of anger and hate. Someone of the rally planners contacted Alanna Berger, member of our church, who was an organizer and trainer for a group named the Silent Witnesses. The planners invited her group to aid them in future rallies by being a buffer between the hate-mongers and the rally attendees. Alanna asked for volunteers among church members, particularly those who sang in our church s choir, of which she, my spouse, Barbara, and I were members. Several of the choir agreed to be trained and we become Silent Witnesses. We purchased t -shirts and umbrellas that were emblazoned with rainbow colors. (We have 3

4 these yet today) My daughter Donna recalls that we were Silent Witnesses for five successive years. The specific event that I recall was on a cold and rainy Valentine s Day, miserable weather indeed. We were there for 4-5 hours silently standing on the grass behind the curbs of Front Street. We were face to face with the protestors with our umbrellas up against the rain or in front of us to block the hate-filled visuals. Traffic was, as usual along Front Street, noisy and smelly. Years later, we dined with members of our church. One of them spoke to me that his decision to join our church was partially a result of his observing Barb and I, two old persons, standing there on a miserable cold and rainy day for several hours so that he and his friends could participate in their Freedom to Marry rally. As I recall his words, it went something like this: My final decision to join the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg resulted from seeing you standing silent for hours at our rally. A church that has members like you, two old persons who would give of their time on a miserable day, is the church I want to attend. When we volunteer to serve a community need, the fruit that results can be another s inspiration. The second instance relates not to our church but to my activities as a scientist. For newer members of our church I am a geologist who was employed by our Commonwealth as a member of the PA Topographic and Geologic Survey. I began there as a paleontologist and field geologist preparing geologic maps. As a paleontologist, one of my first assignments was to prepare a pamphlet on Common Fossils of PA. This led to writing a book that located publicly available sites in 4

5 each Pennsylvania County where anyone could relatively easily and freely collect rocks with embedded fossils. Additional assignments that I performed was to organize multipleday field trips where upwards of 200 or more geologists, students, professors, consultants and environmental engineers were led to sites (mainly quarries and roadside outcroppings) where I had collected and interpreted geologic data. For each site, I prepared a guidebook with text, photographs and maps. At the site, I then lectured about the specific geologic data present in outcroppings. I directed their attention to where in the site they could specifically examine what I had seen and then accept or argue with me over my scientific interpretation. At one such site that included fossils, after lecturing and the group was milling about talking, a young man approached me and asked me to identify a fossil he had collected. He was a recently graduated student from one of PA s many colleges. As I recall, he said to me Dr. Hoskins, I want to thank you for preparing the book Fossil Collecting in Pennsylvania. It was because of what you wrote; I decided to become a geologist. In writing that book, it was not my task or intention to affect another s decision of a life career. Yet, I interpret from his words that my writing inspired him. I learned from him that what I did and what I wrote could have far-reaching affects from the original reason of performing a task. Now to examples when I was the one who was inspired. As a small child, barely able to peek over a table at which people were seated, registering citizens to vote in the small town where I lived, I asked my father why he was there when he should be at home playing 5

6 with me and my siblings, he responded (as best I can recall) : It is the responsibility of folks to volunteer to assist others to do important community tasks. My father s words inspired me to be a volunteer when needed in our congregation and communities to which I belonged. Others have inspired me. In high school, my class started with 12 students. Six of us graduated. The school Principal, J. Bentley Hobart, taught a class in Earth Science. It included field trips to examine the many examples of sediment deposited by glaciers that covered our Black River valley. Many limestone quarries (with fossils) existed on the western valley slopes. The metamorphic rocks of the Adirondacks were to east as well as in our basement. Mr. Hobart s course inspired me to become a geologist. As you might imagine, when I went to college with more than 200 students, it took me a long time to acclimate and learn how to be a successful college student. I did not get any A s in any 1 st semester classes and I failed in Spanish. At the beginning of the 2 nd semester, I was called to the Dean s office where he said: Mr. Hoskins, I see that you have had a good time. Mr. Hoskins, you have had your good time. Needless to say,i was very much inspired by Dean Huntley. Later, near graduation, I asked for his opinion as to whether I would succeed in graduate school, because I recognized that I was but a middling student as an undergraduate, and to be a research scientist required additional education. Dean Huntley s response was: Mr. Hoskins, are you prepared to work? I affirmatively responded. He then said, You will succeed if you are prepared to work hard. That response inspired me to seek out a graduate school. 6

7 Enough of Inspiration! I hope that my personal stories resonate with one or more present. If not, please tell me whether they are merely foolishly sentimental recollections of an old fart, or have some meaning. The articles I read in the UU World and listed at the beginning of my words are important because they relate to issues that our congregation, as well as all other UU congregations, should be aware and work to resolve, if we are to fulfill the principles we weekly repeat. I urge that you read them. You may access them on the home page of our UCH website. Along the right side and near the bottom there is a clickable icon that takes you to a list of current and recent editions of the UU World old-old as defined by Sally Stoddard in the first article I mentioned means you know that there is a difference of being tired at 77 from being tired at 87. I can attest to her conclusion now being 87 and having survived more than 5 years of chemotherapy. I focus on her story because in it she comments that churches need to implement the Americans with Disabilities Act in their buildings. We need congregational resources to maintain and upgrade our buildings so that we can serve all who find U-U their church home. Treasurer Ed Sykes earlier told you that we, as congregants, need to contribute additional funds so that we can end our fiscal year without a deficit on June 30. At the June 14 meeting of our Finance Committee, committee members learned that we need an additional $20,000 by June 30 to pay our staff and bills. Knowing of this immediate need Barb and I will be contributing an additional $2,500, and raising our following year pledge by the same amount. 7

8 My closing words include some written by Robert Kaufman: Mine are just words. The hymns we sing are just songs. All our reflections are just idle thoughts. When we convert them all into loving and responsible action throughout the week, then and only then will this morning become what we want it to be -- a time of worship. Go forth and be inspiring. inspire! Your planted seeds may 8