I have felt a presence that disturbs me with the joy of elevated thoughts;

a sense sublime of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky and the mind of Man

A motion and a spirit, that impels all thinking things,
all objects of all thoughts
And rolls through all things.

In this poem by William Wordsworth, he points to
a presence that disturbs
a sense sublime
a motion and a spirit.

What’s out there?
Where is this sense of calm, this peacefulness? When is it? How is it?
Is there a being out there? A veil to be lifted and a wonder revealed?
Is there anything out there at all?

What do you think is out there?

Our theme for the month of May has been vision. And vision is one of those words that holds multiple meanings depending on the context in which it’s used. Vision involves asking the big questions, searching into the unknown, inquiring what can be and how to make it so. You can’t have vision without asking the questions.

Last week, the Women’s Choir crafted our Sunday worship service around the beautiful music they shared while centering the words and actions of women of vision throughout history. People like Sojourner Truth and Eleanor Roosevelt. Women who lived out their values heroically, often at great risk for themselves. Women who worked tirelessly to bring about change, not only for themselves and those they cared about, but for generations to come.

These women believed in something greater than what was right in front of them; they envisioned a brighter day, a more just world, a kinder, more loving reality where all people embody equity and compassion for one another and for themselves. And they moved toward that vision with the hope of achieving all they could dream.

One of the many definitions of the word vision includes the act of anticipating that which may come to be.
And for me, talking about vision brings up these existential questions:

Why are we here? (Not here in this sanctuary particularly, but here at all,
in this life, on this planet?)
What does it mean to be human?
What is our purpose?
What’s out there? What’s beyond our knowing?
And really, how important is it to know, to figure out the answers to these questions?

Tomorrow, we as a nation, observe Memorial Day, a time to remember and honor those who gave their lives serving in the armed forces. Beyond the family gatherings and festivities of this spring holiday, it’s a day when many visit the graves of loved ones, adorning them with flowers and ribbons. Bands play and parades fill our streets.

We pause to remember the brave sailors and squadron leaders, the second lieutenants and corporals, the enlisted privates first class and the highly decorated admirals, the coasties and the jarheads.

They are our spouses, our parents, siblings, children, friends, teachers, coworkers, fellow soldiers – I suspect many of you know someone, love someone, who died in service to this country. It feels right to pause now while we’re together and lift them up.

So I invite you to bring these loved ones into this space. Conjure their memories, the moments you shared, the joy and the laughter, perhaps the tears and the grief. We’ll take some time in silence to hold them and honor their memory. Let us enter into a space of reverence, and as you feel so moved, please name aloud those you wish to remember.

*SILENCE*

We lift up those who died to further the ideals of freedom and democracy.
May their spirits be at peace.
May our spirits be at peace. Amen.

It may seem a bit disjointed to pause in the midst of a sermon on existentialism and spirituality to draw in and name those we remember on Memorial Day. On the surface it seems a bit of a stretch to tie the loss of life in war to the deep questions of Why are we here? and What’s the purpose of this life? But upon further reflection, it actually makes a great deal of sense to tie these two together into a neat, overlapping bow.

Why are we here?

For those of you who have served or are currently serving in the military,
for those who have family and friends who serve,
for those who have lost loved ones in service –
there was something that inspired that level of commitment, that sense of honor and fortitude to move you/them to the point of giving their lives for an ideal, for a cause, for a community, a country. That level of fierce loyalty and the honor of living one’s values nobly and selflessly, that kind of commitment and willingness to sacrifice comes from somewhere.

Now I’m not suggesting that someone’s decision to join the military is equivalent to our spiritual seeking; I’m posing this question – What is so important to you that you would give your life to it, for it?

Do you give your life over in service to raising your children into loving, independent adults?
Do you give your life over to a pursuit of wisdom and knowledge?
Do you give your life over in sacrifice and service of specific values, principles, beliefs?

Perhaps you give your life over to a specific set of religious beliefs – are you a child of G-d? A student of the Qur’an? A believer in Christ? A mover for peace? A worshipper of Shiva? One with nature? Are you rational and competent? Do you embrace your Buddha nature? Or perhaps reject it all?

Do you give your life over to a particular way of moving in the world, of showing up in relationship with others, to a certain way of being uniquely you?

Maybe you dedicate yourself to a profession or an identity that serves to help and heal. Or partake in something that encourages you to go deeper.

Why?
Why do you do that? What is it that propels you into or out toward this lofty goal, this ideal, this vision of what may be?

Imam Jamal Rahman says, “Whether our egos acknowledge it or not, our souls know that an essential purpose of life is to identify and manifest the unique spark of Divinity at the core of our being.”

What is that unique spark of Divinity at the core of your being?
How do you tap into it?
And is it tied into the greater Universe in some way? If so, how?

I acknowledge that I’m asking you a barrage of questions this morning. And my invitation is simply for you to ponder with me. To think about how you might answer them or whether or not you want to or can answer them. I’m asking you to be present in the inquiry.

The Church of the Larger Fellowship hosts a Unitarian Universalist talk show every Thursday called the VUU. This week on the VUU, the Director of Research at the Institute for Humanist Studies, Dr. Anthony Pinn, spoke about our innate desire to make meaning. He described what he called a quest of complex inquiry, the asking of the questions as a method for finding meaning.

Dr. Pinn said, “Religion is really this quest for complex subjectivity, the human effort to wrestle with the fundamental questions of our existence. Who are we, what are we, when are we, why are we?”
He went on to say that it’s not about a particular outcome or specific answer; the deeper impulse inside of us, the struggle to foster meaning, is sufficient.

Put another way, it’s enough to ask the questions and seek the answers, regardless if the answers can be realized. The truth is in the asking.

Also this past Thursday, our First Unitarian LGBTQIA spirituality discussion group, Spectrum, met for the final time for this church year. Our discussion centered on similar questions:

Who we are? Why are we here?
How do we come to know ourselves?
What do we still have to discover?
Who do we want to become?

And the wisdom in that room, from a diversity of perspectives, included things like:
the understanding that we hope we aren’t the same people at some later date in the future that we are today, that we continue to evolve and learn more,
the knowledge that we have so much more to discover about ourselves,
and the hope that we can come to know ourselves more fully.

Whether at 20 or at 60, we find ourselves bumping up against similar questions and obstacles –
What’s important isn’t necessarily the answer or the obstacle itself or even at what age we encounter them; What’s important is how we approach them.

Do we throw open wide the door and invite in the infinite possibilities?
Do we expand our willingness to be transformed through the questions?
Or do we cower inside, afraid to risk what might be?

Part of our discussion in Spectrum included listening to and reading a poem by Tara Hardy entitled, “Bone Marrow,” in which she talks about her experience receiving a terrifying terminal diagnosis.
Her poem was an ode to eating avocados and traveling the world; doing all of the things that she may not get to do now as her life is cut short by illness. She exclaims that for whatever time she has left, on her agenda is joy. Dancing with a lover, floating on the ocean, whatever induces joy.

So I ask you friends, what’s left on your agenda?
What multiples your joy? What helps you sense life’s mystery?

Asking these questions is vitally important. It’s in the asking where we find, in the questioning where we locate, it’s in the visioning of what could be where we find meaning.

“Seek not the paths of the ancients; seek that which the ancients sought.” Matsuo Basho

Find your own understanding. Find your own answers, your own truth. Others can share their experience with you, can share their beliefs and convictions, and you may choose to hold similar or even identical beliefs as them, but remember, that the work is yours to do.

It’s about the questions you ask, the journey you undertake. It’s not like a math problem where you want to end up with the same answer as the calculator; it’s about seeking for seeking’s sake.

The truth deep within you, the guiding spark that draws you forward, is yours to discover, to envelope, to develop and nurture and bring forth into being.

Whether you’re Humanist or not, whatever your spiritual or religious beliefs may be,
It’s not only about what’s out there, but it’s also about what’s in here?

How do you make meaning in this life, in this body, in this moment?
For what do you live and for what would you be willing to die?

Tomorrow is not guaranteed
All we have for certain is right now, here, this breath.
“The secret of secrets is inside…”

Seek.
Ask.
Discern.
And most importantly, Love.

Love into the questions.
Love into what’s out there.
And Love into what’s in here.

For the one answer that truly matters most, is Love.
Amen.

Topics: Vision