SNV: Acceptance and Respect Dr Seuss and The Sneetches Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars. Those stars weren t so big. They were really so small, you might think such a thing wouldn t matter at all. But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches would brag, We re the best kind of Sneetches on the beaches. With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they d snort We ll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort! And whenever they met some, when they were out walking, they d hike right past them without even talking. When the Star-Belly children went out to play ball, could a Plain-Belly get in the game?? Not at all. You could only play if your belly had stars and the Plain-Belly children had none upon thars. When the Star-Belly Sneetches had frankfurter roasts or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts, they never invited the Plain-Belly Sneetches. They left them out cold, in the dark of the beaches. They kept them away. Never let them come near. And that s how they treated them, year after year. Then ONE day, it seems while the Plain-Belly Sneetches were moping and doping alone on the beaches, just sitting there wishing their bellies had stars a stranger zipped up in the strangest of cars. My friends, he announced in a voice clear and keen, My name is Sylvester McMonkey McBean. And I ve heard of your troubles, I ve heard you re unhappy. But I can fix that. I m the Fix-it-Up Chappie. I ve come here to help you. I have what you need. And my prices are low. And I work at great speed. And my work is one hundred percent guaranteed! Then, quickly, Sylvester McMonkey McBean put together a very peculiar machine. And he said, You want stars like a Star-Belly Sneetch? My friends, you can have them for 3 dollars each! Just pay me your money and hop right aboard! So they clambered inside. Then the big machine roared and it klonked. And it bonked. And it jerked. And it berked and it bopped them about. But the thing really worked! When the Plain-Belly Sneetches popped out, they had stars! They actually did! They had stars upon thars! 1
Then they yelled at the ones who had stars at the start, We re exactly like you! You can t tell us apart. We re all the same, now, you snooty old smarties! And now we can go to your frankfurter parties! Good grief! groaned the ones who had stars at the first. We re still the best Sneetches and they are the worst. But, now, how in the world will we know, they all frowned, If which kind is what, or the other way round? Then up came McBean with a very sly wink and he said, Things are not quite as bad as you think. So you don t know who s who, that is perfectly true. But come with me friends. Do you know what I ll do? I ll make you, again, the best Sneetches on beaches and all it will cost you is 10 dollars eaches. Belly stars are no longer in style, said McBean. What you need is a trip through my Star-Off Machine. This wondrous contraption will take off your stars so you won t look like Sneetches who have them on thars. And that handy machine working very precisely removed all the stars from their tummies quite nicely. Then with snoots in the air, they paraded about and they opened their beaks and they let out a shout! We know who is who! Now there isn t a doubt. The best kind of Sneetches are Sneetches without! Then, of course, those with stars all got frightfully mad. To be wearing a star now was frightfully bad. Then, of course, old Sylvester McMonkey McBean invited them into his Star-Off Machine. Then, of course from THEN on, as you probably guess, things really got into a horrible mess. All the rest of that day, on those wild screaming beaches, the Fix-it-Up Chappie kept fixing up Sneetches, Off again! On again! In again! Out again! Through the machines they raced round and about again, changing their stars every minute or two. They kept paying money. The kept running through until neither the Plain nor the Star Bellies knew whether this one was that one or that one was this one or which one was what one or what one was who. Then when every last cent of their money was spent, the Fix-it-Up Chappie packed up and he went. And he laughed as he drove in his car up the beaches, They will never learn. No. You can t teach a Sneetch. But McBean was quite wrong. I m quite happy to say that the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day. The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches and no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches. 2
That day all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether they had one, or not, upon thars. THE END The end of the Sneetches story but not ours! How easy it is to laugh about silly Sneetches and then cautiously glance down to see if there is a star upon ours. Or sadly resign ourselves to knowing we will never have a star. Dr Seuss explores the ways we segregate, isolate and oppress amongst ourselves. And we base it upon some characteristic--a star--that some part of our humanity designates as having some special value. One of my favorite things about any sermon is the research I do. It sometimes surprises me! I had this great analogy in mind. What if we could all be more like brown bears? Brown bears are all brown, right? Nope, they are a variety of colors from reddish to blond. Dolphins are all alike, maybe I could use that? Nope, each dolphin develops a unique whistle, like its name or identity. Skunks? Nope, unique stripes. My original analogy was about how special our human uniqueness is. Well, or not. What remains special is the ability of our humanity to mess up the gift of diversity the Universe has given us. The Universe seems intent on creating diversity. Even when it is not so obvious to us, there is diversity in many species INCLUDING ours. Surely all the truly unique things about each of us are gifts from Spirit. So I find it interesting that in our humanity, we come to believe that one of the approaches to fostering acceptance is to eliminate diversity. Throughout history and today, there are those who believe the path to a peaceful acceptance of everyone depends on eliminating everyone without a star. But, of course, we are still having a bit of trouble agreeing on the exact stars we are preserving. Is the star for skin color white or more tan? Is the star for language English or should we all learn some other language? Is the star for religion Chrisitanity or are there other religions that have more stars and we will have to adopt that religion? But our star is the best isn t it? Or should just the biggest number rule? What is the correct height and weight and education and attire? Oh my! This process to get everyone the same is a little trickier than we thought! If we can t agree on the stars to keep, we can t justify getting rid of those without our stars. And in the end, Sylvester McMonkey McBean made a lot of money but he still left the Sneetches with bellies that were plain and bellies that had stars on thars. So what happened that day on the beach? 3
The Sneetches stopped making stars so important! All by themselves, without coercion by religion or legislation or bullying, they recognized they were all Sneetches! What could be so important about a star on your belly? How could having or not having a star mean you were allowed to join in the games and parties and frankfurter roasts? Having a star didn t make you better at marshmallow toasts! So Dr Seuss raises the possibility that humans like you and I are NOT as smart as Sneetches. Not only do we still believe we can divide people by stars, we spend vast amounts of money to try to look like we have stars, or to pay for legislation to force others to bow down to our stars, or for therapy because we lack a star. Oh how wealthy Sylvester McMonkey McBean will remain because we cannot see our equality on the beaches. What if our human diversity was as valuable as our oneness in spirit? Isn t that the divine paradox? If we were created in diversity, why is it so hard to live in it? We have the power, just like the Sneetches, to use our minds and our imagination. Why don t we try? Today. Go with me in your mind. What if every color of skin was okay? What if every height and weight was okay? What if everyone was valued, not by our human abilities but because each of us is an expression of Spirit? Our presence in the world is a special and unique contribution. What if we tried harder to communication beyond our language barriers? If I think my dogs and cats communicate with me, why is it so hard to imagine communicating with the deaf or with foreign language speakers? What if every path and no path to the Divine was okay? What if every gender identity and no gender identity was okay? What if we worried more about how loving we are and worried less about who someone else loves? What if we began with our children and taught them to play with everyone? What if we actively demonstrated how to include everyone in our marshmallow toasts? What if we stopped caring about how others look and began caring about how others feel? What if we stopped giving our money to ways to manipulate our stars and started investing in inclusive beaches? Last week we talked about the concept that in our judging, we judge ourselves. To let go of judging frees us as much as it frees others. To accept ourselves more fully also leads us to accepting others. I do not have to condone acts of another to be able to say, I behold the Christ in you and I respect the divinity in you. 4
I respect my spiritual essence in its perfection and accept my humanity in all its wonder and flaws. I respect that same spiritual essence in you and accept the same wonder and flaws in your humanity. I am worthy of respect. The Divine in each of us is worthy of respect. This week, think of the Sneetches. Whether you have come to believe you have a star or not, I invite you to spend less time focused on the stars of our diversity and more time focused on the bond we share as human beings. I invite you to detach from the values we have been taught to divide us and nurture the sense of oneness that strengthens and unites us. And please be aware of the difference between detaching from the values and ignoring our differences. I do not ask you to stop seeing the color of someone s skin, or their appearance or the cadence of their speech. I ask you to stop believing that because of the color of their skin or their appearance or their speech they are better than or less than you. Notice the values you use judging yourself and others as you practice detaching from them. Notice how attached you are to certain stars and any resistance you have to letting go of the value you have placed on that star. Let us all be Sneetches, happy together on the beaches, whether we have a small star or not! 5