Long Walk... Part of Gift Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society, Madison, CT The Rev. Jeanne Lloyd August 21, 2016

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1 Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society, Madison, CT The Rev. Jeanne Lloyd August 21, 2016 One more step, we will take one more step, till there is peace for us and everyone, we ll take one more step... SLT 168 Gathering Music Sonata, K. 311, Andante Grazioso, Mozart Carol Wright Bell Welcome and Announcements Jennifer Swenson, Pres., Board of Trustees Prelude Invention in G major, Bach Carol Wright Opening Words The Need To Be Still by Robert T. Weston, Seasons of the Soul, Each and all of us, whatever we be, must come to the time when we need to be still. There comes a time when we must know the need to go apart and meditate, to seek the meanings of our lives, to reconsider the purposes we have accepted, and to establish peace within ourselves. The world presses on us too insistently; the appetites too imperiously demand of us, and we forget, to be real persons in ourselves. May this moment be one of redemption, of renewal of faith in life and the living of it; May the disciplines of humility and courage be strengthened from this time. May it bring a re-discovery of the self and a lifting of the heart with a sense of newness from that discovery: new courage, fresh vigor, and a deeper thoughtfulness for the living of life from this day. Chalice Lighting Chalice Lighter Jere Armen #*Opening Hymn SLT #168 One More Step 1 Montgomery, Kathleen, Ed. Day of Promise, Collected Meditations, Vol 1. (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2001) 4.

2 Page 2 of 7 Sharing of Our Joys and Sorrows And, now, if you woke this morning with a sorrow so heavy that you need the help of this community to carry it; or if, in the spirit of thankfulness, you woke with gratitude in your heart that simply must be shared, now is the time for you to speak. Please wait for the microphone so that all will be able to hear. PAUSE Prayer for Those Gathered in Worship by Barbara Pescan (Morning Watch, 1999) 2 Find the silence among these people and listen to it all breathing, sighs, movement, holding back. Hear the tears that have not yet reached their eyes, perhaps they are your own. Hear also the laughter building deep where joy abides, despite everything. Listen [and] rejoice... in the power of being together. Musical Meditation Arabesque no. 1, Debussy Carol Wright *Hymn SLT #131 Love Will Guide Us Offertory Words Offering and Offertory Music Sonata, K. 311, Rondo, Mozart Jennifer Swenson Carol Wright Reading Long Walk... Part of Gift I want to share with you a story by David Blanchard 3 about a young boy in California and his teacher. You see, he had come to love his teacher very much. It wasn t just that he had learned so much from her, but that in her way of being with him, he had learned patience, and fairness, and how to laugh, and how to love. So, too, she loved him. She was proud of all he had accomplished, but more than that, when she was with him, she felt a trusting admiration that was priceless. She had been careful to do nothing that would violate his trust. 2 Montgomery, Kathleen, Ed. Day of Promise, Collected Meditations, Vol 1. (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2001) Adapted from How We Are Called: A Meditation Anthology, 2003 Skinner House

3 Page 3 of 7 But, her mother was ill, and she needed to return home to New England. She would be saying good-bye to him to all the children that she had helped grow. She didn t want to say good-bye. Though she tried to hide it, the boy was somehow wise enough to know she was sad about leaving, and he wanted to comfort her, even though he had no money and his options were few. He wanted to give her something that would remind her how much she would be missed, and how much she would still be loved. He thought and he thought, and he knew that the best gift would be one of the heart, not one from a store. There was something special that he could just pick up off the beach, and it would cost nothing... but the beach was miles and miles away. His family had no car. He had no bike. He had no friends that could take him there. The day before his teacher left, he asked to see her. When they met, he gave her the most beautiful, huge, glistening seashell that either one of them had ever seen. She asked, Where did you find such a shell? He said, There is only one spot where such special shells can be found... a beautiful bay many miles away. The teacher was speechless. She knew that bay. She said, Why... why, it s gorgeous... wonderful, but you shouldn t have gone all that way to get a gift for me. And, this wise child, with eyes bright with love, said, Long walk... part of gift. Bell tone Reflection Long walk... part of gift. And, so we begin the long walk. But, it isn t as though we are starting the walk that we affectionately call SUUS, fresh, for the first time now. As though, there is a start line, right here, and behind the start line, nothing existed, with only the future ahead of us, and no past. No... we each come to this shared start line, having already been on our own individual journeys across hill and dale, through many blessings and challenges in our separate lives, and in the lives shared with each other. Imagine a people coming from many places, all the way from Old Saybrook to Milford, from Branford to Killingworth, each coming at their own pace, in their own way, with their own stories, needs, expectations, and desire to give of themselves to each other and to this religious community. And, I? My husband and I also come from a different direction, similar but not identical, also from across hills and dales, across rivers, through towns, each of us having had different life experiences, each of us rooted in this faith, each coming with our own

4 Page 4 of 7 stories, needs, expectations and desire to give this portion of our lives to our new religious home, Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society. Each of us comes separately, from our myriad of ways, and now, and now, our journeys join. Now the stream of paths coming home to SUUS, join. Now, we become the greater sum of the parts. Now we become a community that never existed in quite this way before. Now we stand on the threshold of tomorrow together, peering into the future, trying to imagine what we will become together, trying to create a SUUS that lives even more deeply and more broadly than it has done before. We peer into the crystal ball, and see our own faces reflected back, showing our eagerness, excitement, enthusiasm, and growing affection each other. Long walk... part of gift. Your long walk to this moment. My long walk to this moment. I want to name the obvious, and name it clearly. Your presence here today, and every day for the many years before this moment, has been a gift of love to this congregation. Your living in and living through the hard and good times here, is a precious gift all too rare in this world. Your long walk represents a gift of great enormity, because for each of you, there is contained within the gift, sacrifice no one else knows; moments of love and challenge, tears and beauty, loss and wholeness. Your long walk contributes to the whole and health of this congregation. And, you are here. Still. Loved, valued, and prized for exactly who it is that you are today, and also for who you will be tomorrow. This is what we do, what we strive for. We try to expand our hearts in the face of challenge, to offer love in moments of hurt, to strive for justice when injustice abounds, linking hearts and hands and arms with those who have walked too long unseen. Yes, we are hard to describe, and hard to categorize, but at our best moments, we are those who defy hate by expanding our hearts to love one another and those we do not know. And, me? I join you on this journey, a little surprised to be here! Though I ve had a crush on you for years, I truly never thought I d be standing here as your called minister. As this congregation (you) moved through the milestones of your life together here, I watched and listened. I noticed how you handled things, and I noticed your growing pains. I also noticed and continue to notice the many things you do well. This congregation has a certain strength of character, no doubt reflective of members past and present. It does not falter at taking on whatever challenges must be addressed to assure its health and that it continues to thrive. Mostly, I notice your good humor, your tenderness with one another, your willingness to discuss difficult topics, your commitment to being not just individual people of integrity, but a community. A whole community of moral authority that stands for compassion, justice and reason, in the face of all that seeks to divide people from one another. That is who we strive to be,

5 Page 5 of 7 that is who we will be as we begin the work we are now called to do together, joined as one, moving forward into a future we can only dimly see now. That s the long walk, and that s the gift we give of our lives to one another, that s the gift I now give of the future years of my life to you. PAUSE This summer, while we were waiting to join our lives with one another, waiting to have that opportunity to begin afresh, together, anew, it seemed at times as though civilization as we knew it was falling apart. This year, the summer living has not been easy, if ever it was. It has been an emotionally reactive summer, defying reason, where innocent people trying to live their lives or do their jobs the best they could, became the fodder of corrupt systems. It has been a hard political season, too, where at times, it has seemed that leaders have lost their moral compass, if they ever had one. One day, I remember feeling despair, after another death, when my own voice rose up from some place deep inside me, at the same time as so many others, to say enough. Enough of the insanity of our times, enough of the violence, enough of the legitimizing of those who do not understand kindness AND civility. Enough. PAUSE I could not wait to join you. Because amidst all the madness, there was a place, and oasis of sanity. A place I would soon call home, a community where my values would be valued, where each person s strengths and growing edges would be appreciated, and where kindness even in the midst of disagreement, is normal. That is who we strive to be, even if we sometimes miss the mark. It is in the striving that we become. Now, if there is a guest here today, visiting for the first time, you might think, Wow, she s making a lot of assumptions, about a place she doesn t really know yet! And, to them, I would ask, how often in the world have you seen, a community of people agree, in writing, before disagreement occurs about the ways they will try to be with one another, in the good and hard times? In this place, where our members hold so many different spiritual, religious, and philosophical identities; in this place of free religion, where there is no one dogma that commands how we will be with one another; in this place, you have voted on and put in writing a jointly held covenant of the heart and mind, that no matter what, we will: Act with good will and assume good intentions of one another Listen deeply and appreciatively to one another Speak with care and loving kindness

6 Page 6 of 7 Be willing to be changed Stay in relationship even in disagreement... Participate in our democratic process Take concerns to the appropriate people, not others Respect one another s roles, so that we can fulfill our mission and serve the greater good Enrich the community by freely sharing our strengths, talents and resources And, here s the most remarkable commitment you ve made to each other! To, continue to support each other even when we fall short of our covenant to one another, even when we make mistakes, and, then to help each other to come back into relationship. This congregation, these people, you, made these commitments to one another. It is not a contract, it is a promise of the heart and mind, it is a willingness to listen and to be changed by others, and, it is, my friends, a way of being for which our world aches. Will we make mistakes? Are we human? Of course, we will. Occasionally, I will zig when someone zags. Occasionally, our capacity to listen well, will be diminished by the stresses and strains of personal or congregational life. All that is true, but what our saving grace will be, is this: that if we aim to be true to our principles and highest aspirations, we will forgive each other and ourselves, and then, and then, begin again with love. For, we are the creators and the keepers of our core belief that all people are redeemable and all people are worthy of our extra effort to try just a little harder, to listen just a bit deeper, when a slight occurs. Here we affirm the value of life, and the importance of striving together to live up to our fullest human and spiritual potential. Our job, now, is to start this journey together, not knowing where the road will lead, but knowing, believing, trusting, that by our actions and care for one another we will provide for the health and wholeness of this community, and we will thereby, together, bring health and wholeness to this world. Long walk... with each other... and in the world... is our gift to one another... and humanity. May it be so. *Closing Hymn STJ #1028 Fire of Commitment Closing Words

7 Long Walk... Part of Gift Page 7 of 7 We extinguish this flame but not the light of truth, warmth of community, or fire of commitment. We extinguish this flame but not the power and meaning of our covenant calling us to our highest aspirations and ways of being with each other. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again. So may it be. Extinguishing the Chalice Closing Music Sonata, K. 311, Allegro, Mozart Chalice Lighter Jere Armen Carol Wright Rev. Jeanne Lloyd was unanimously called by this congregation to be its settled minister on May 1, Today is her first day, preaching at SUUS, in her new role. holds an M.Div. in ministry from Meadville Lombard Theological School (UU), an M.A. degree in Clinical Psychology from Radford College, and a B.S. in Experimental Psychology from VA Tech. Her community ministries have included work in the areas of disability, mental health, racism and other forms of oppression. She has previously served the Unitarian Universalist congregations of West Hartford, CT; Hartford, CT; Manchester, CT; Greenfield, MA; Woodbury, CT, as well as the UUA Clara Barton District as its justice intern. She is delighted to be joining SUUS and is looking forward to the deep fulfillment of our shared ministries. * Please stand as you are able and comfortable. # Latecomers may be seated. Welcome to our visitors and to Rev. Jeanne Lloyd! After this morning s service, please join us for a Welcome Reception as we rejoice in the arrival of downstairs in the Coffee Room.