Go Love the World Curated by Rev. Tera Klein
  • Welcome
  • Sermons
    • September 17, 2017: "Like A Mighty Wind"
    • August 20, 2017: "Faith From the Ground Up"
    • February 5, 2017: "The Next Scary Thing: The Call"
    • January 15, 2017: "Integrity of the Spirit"
    • November 20, 2016: "Joining Role and Soul"
    • November 13, 2016: "Post Election - Our Work at Hand"
    • October 9, 2016: "We Begin Again in Love"
    • October 2, 2016: "Blessing of the Animals"
    • September 11, 2016: "Gift of Community"
    • June 12, 2016: "Sabbath Economics"
    • June 5, 2016: "Interrupting Time"
    • May 29, 2016: "Wrestling with Grace"
    • March 15, 2016: "Grace-Filled Leadership"
    • May 8, 2016: "Flower Communion: In Each A Gift"
    • April 17, 2016: "Earth Day Sunday"
    • April 3, 2016: "Liberating Women, Liberating Earth"
    • March 27, 2016: "Easter Message"
    • March 20, 2016: "The Act of Remembering"
    • March 6, 2016: "May Nothing Evil Cross This Door"
    • February 21, 2016: "A Spirituality of Work"
    • Christmas Eve Prayer: "Angels in the Stars"
    • December 2014 "Winter Solstice Finding the Light Within"
    • December 2014 "Long Road Home"
    • November 2014 "Resistance: Surrender"
    • June 2014 "Freedom From or Freedom To?"
    • May 2014 "Half the Sky"
    • June 2013 "Staying Awake at the Wheel"
    • May 2013 "Growing into Beloved Community"
    • April 2013 "Heaven Is Here On Earth"
    • April 2013 "One Voice"
    • March 2013 "Called Back To Life"
    • March 2013 "From Locusts to Honeybees"
  • Finding Meaning
  • Spiritual Practice
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"Integrity of the Spirit" 


"As for myself, I just kept walking, thinking: once more I am grateful to be present." - Mary Oliver 


Today like every other day 
We wake up empty and scared

Don’t open the door of your study
and begin reading. 

Take down a musical instrument
let the beauty we love be what we do

There are hundreds of ways to kneel
and kiss the earth. 


Those words, 
    woven together by Rumi, 
        feel like appropriate marching orders 
            to start us off on this week 
                of Sacred Resistance and Hopeful Resilience. 

It’s been awhile since you and I have been together, 
    and even though we may not have actually seen each other, 
        I’ve been thinking about you, 
            wondering if you’ve been waking up feeling empty, 
                or scared, 
                    on too many days. 
                        
And I’ve been hoping for you,
    hoping that you’ve been open to the beauty around you. 
        Perhaps shared your own throat praise
            during the recent days of rain. 
                 Felt compassion for Creation. 
                    Been a little kinder to those 
                        you come into contact with 
                            on a daily basis. 

And even more than that, 
    I’ve hoped that you’ve been able to see the beauty and goodness
        in yourself each morning, 
            and each evening, 
                as you look in the mirror. 

This month we are exploring Integrity as a worship theme. 
    For me, integrity means living an undivided life, 
        living a whole life, 
            where your inner values are matched
                by your outward actions. 
                    Everett spoke about Integrity in those terms
                        last Sunday. 

Creating a life where we can cultivate a sense of gratitude, 
    being grateful to be present in the midst of all there is: 
        the rainfall 
            the sunshine
                the green grass 
                    and brown leaves scattered on the sidewalk, 
                        grateful even for the days we wake up 
                            empty and scared. 
                                That speaks to a life of 
                                    wholeness and integrity. 

And for most of us, 
    we have to work at developing that. 
        We don’t just roll out of bed each day, 
            vibrating with wholeness and purpose and gratitude. 
                At least I don’t. 

This weekend we celebrate a man who is lifted up 
    his drive to live out his faith in the world, 
        despite the powers and principalities 
            organizing against him, 
                Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
                    A man who lived a life of integrity 
                        in so many ways. 

Rev. King was an incredible man, 
    and we still learn so much, and are so inspired, 
        by his teachings and his actions. 
            And his wholeness, 
                his faithfulness to his values, 
                    wasn't an accident. 
                        He tended it. 
                            Nurtured it. 
                                Developed it. 
                                    So can you. 

Here at Throop Church, Everett, the Adult Programs Committee, and I 
    have started exploring program ideas
        that will help you develop your own sense of spiritual wholeness, 
            through nurturing an Integral Transformative Practice. 

What does that mean? 

Put most simply, 
    an Integral Transformative Practice is paying attention 
        to the following four areas in our lives: 
            - spiritual development
            - physical health 
            - emotional life 
            - intellectual development   

And doing so enables us to develop a more balanced, 
    more complete sense of self. 

If you want to go more in depth on the theory, 
    a good book on the topic is Ken Wilber’s Integral Life Practice. 

For those of you who looked at the January worship titles, 
    you might notice that we broke the large topic of integrity 
        into each of those quadrants: 
            - Integrity of the Mind (last week with Everett)
            - Integrity of the Spirit this week
            - Integrity of the Heart next week, 
                and I share the pulpit with Rev. Anne Hines
            - Integrity of the Body, the last Sunday, 
                and we welcome Megan Dowdell, 
                Starr King Professor of Ethics. 

When Catherine, Everett and I chose the monthly themes last spring, 
    we had no way of knowing what our country would be facing this month, 
        had no idea of knowing just how relevant the topic of Integrity 
            would be at this time in the world. 

- We could not imagine that the Affordable Care Act 
    was in serious danger of being repealed. 
  • We could not imagine that the Russians interfered with our elections. 
  • We could not imagine Scott Pruitt heading the Environmental Protection Agency. 

We could create a whole litany of the “we could not imagines.” 

And yet, here we are. 

And I think you all know that I want you to act.     
    That I want you to take seriously your responsibility as a citizen
        of these United States, 
            whether or not you have papers identifying you as such. 

And you all have been amazing at showing up. 
    I brag about you all to my colleagues.  
        You show up to city council. 
            You Write letters. 
                You call your legislators. 
                    You showed support for a progressive agenda 
                    when we hosted 
                    Congresswoman Judy Chu. 
                        I hope some of you can stay this afternoon 
                            for the MoveOn conversation. 

In the next four years, 
    there is going to be a lot of showing up 
        we will need to do together. 
    
And in order to show up in the way we want to show up, 
    as religious people, steeped in our UU values, who are 
        - grounded
        - present
        - thoughtful
        - fierce 
        - effective 

Our spirits need to be as finely honed and tuned as our politics are. 

And we tune our spirits through a spiritual practice. 

In preparation for today, 
    I came across a story about Martin Luther King Jr, 
        and the power of his own spiritual practice, prayer. 

The story talked about one evening of the Montgomery Bus boycott. 
    It was January 27, 1956, 
        just eight weeks after the boycott began. 

Dr. King returned home, weary from a long day of organizing. 
    Of holding people’s hands. 
        Of telling them their actions, 
            their sacrifices, 
                would be worth it in the end. 

That night, he received a particularly nasty death threat. 

Agitated, he made a pot of coffee, 
    and began thinking of ways he could get out of 
        leading the movement
            without seeming like a coward. 

King said, “I sat there and thought about 
    a beautiful little daughter who had just been born … 
        I started thinking about a dedicated and loyal wife, 
            And I got to the point 
                that I couldn’t take it any longer. 
                    I was weak.”

In the midst of his fear and doubt, 
    feeling empty and scared, 
        he sat in front of his untouched cup of coffee
            and began to pray out loud: 

“Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right. 
    Now, I am afraid. 
        And I can’t let the people see me like this 
            because if they see me weak and losing my courage, 
                they will begin to get weak. 
                    I am at the end of my powers. 
                        I have nothing left. 
                            I’ve come to the point 
                                where I can’t face it alone.”


King heard an inner voice assure him, 
    “King, stand up for justice.”  
        King describes this experience 
            as one of his most revelatory spiritual experiences.” 

Friends, we will need more than our books and intellect
    for us to make it through the next four years, 
        though our books and intellect are vitally important, too. 

We will each need to prioritize developing a spiritual practice, 
    or maintaining the one we already have. 

Your spiritual practice need not be overly complicated or demanding - 
    in face, it should not be either of those things. 

My guess is all of you already do something 
    that could become your spiritual practice 
        if you put the right intention behind it.
            There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the earth. 

A few are 


  • Meditation 
  • Prayer 
  • Yoga 
  • Gardening 
  • Reading poetry in the morning 
  • Journaling 
  • Reading books on spirituality 
  • Walking your dog 
  • Ethical eating 
  • Singing in the choir 
  • Creating art 


I’d love to hear what your ideas are. 


Taking some of these activities 
    into the real of a spiritual practice 
        means making it a formal discipline, 
            and something that you commit to doing 
                a certain number of minutes, 
                    a certain number of days a week, 
                        with attention and focus, 
                            that you do with concentration, 
                                freeing your mind from the 
                                    daily anxieties 
                                        and reminders. 


I want you to try maintaining a spiritual practice of your choosing 
    for the next 8 weeks. 
        It takes that long to establish a new habit. 
            If you think you might not hold yourself to it, 
                find an accountability buddy.             
                    Someone you can text or email 
                        each time you do your practice. 
                            Choose someone right here 
                                in this room! 


If you feel stymied about what such a practice would be, 
    talk to Everett or me about it, 
        or to people here who already have a deep personal practice, 
            like January Nordman or Reni Fulton. 


We will need to gather up our strength
    in order to meet the days ahead. 
        
I share an exercise with you now, 
    that you can take with you, 
        to help you remember the inner strength you carry within yourself.


The exercise is from a book 
    Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience 
        of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom.


Take a breath. 
    Close your eyes if you are comfortable doing so. 
        Breathe, and come into yourself. 


Be aware of thoughts passing through your mind, 
    without any need to engage them. 
        Feel the strength in your awareness, 
            always clear and everlasting, 
                no matter what passes through it. 

​Now sense the vitality in your body. 

    Notice how your breathing has a strength of its own. 
        Sense your muscles, 
            your capacity to move in any direction. 
                Even if your body feels weak in some areas, 
                    connect to where you feel strong. 


Recall a time in your life when you felt really strong. 
    Imagine that situation as intensely as you can. 
        Bring to mind the sense of strength you experienced. 
            Strength in your breathing. 
                Strength in your arms and legs. 


That same strength is beating today in your powerful heart. 
    Whatever you feel is fine. 
        And continue to be open to the sense that you are
            strong, clear, determined. 
                Notice how it feels good to feel strong. 
                    Let strength sink into your being. 


Now, continuing to feel that strength, 
    bring to mind a person, or group of people, 
        who supports you. 
            Make this as real as possible. 
                Imagine their face, 
                    the sound of their voice. 
                        Maybe those are people in this room. 


Let yourself feel supported, valued, believed in. 
    Sense how this feeling of support increases your sense of strength. 
            Notice how it feels good to feel strong. 
                Let strength sink into your being. 


Notice any other feelings coming up, too; 
    perhaps even opposite feelings like weakness. 
        Whatever is arising is fine. 
            Just notice it, 
                let it be, 
                    and let it go. 
                        Turn your attention back to your sense
                            of being strong. 


Finally, abiding in a sense of strength, 
    bring to awareness a challenging situation. 
        Solid in your strength, 
            feel a spaciousness around that difficult situation. 
                Allow it to be what it is 
                    while you continue to feel strong and centered. 


Be strong, with no need to grasp or struggle in any way. 
    Any problems are flowing through awareness like clouds across the sky. 
        Be spacious, relaxed, and easy. 
            Feel the strength, in your breathing, 
                in your awareness, 
                    in the clarity of your mind, 
                        in the wholeness of your body, 
                            in your good intentions. 


As you go about your day, 
    pay attention to the sense of feeling strong. 
        Notice how it feels good to feel strong. 
            Let strength sink into your being. 


Feeling that strength, 
    become aware of being here in this room, 
        gently open your eyes. 


This is just one of many guided meditations
    you can incorporate into your own practice. 
        I’ll share resources on where to find them
            in this week’s Tuesday Tidings electronic news. 


The world is calling out to us, 
    you are needed to help create positive change. 
        Developing an Integral Transformative Practice 
            that nurtures your 
                - spiritual development
                - physical health 
                - emotional life 
                - intellectual development   


    helps you fully show up - 
        in the public square, 
            on the streets, 
                neighbor to neighbor,
                    friend to friend, 
    
however you are called to teach the mission of our faith: 
    - offering the art of hospitality
    - revering the critical mind and generous heart
    - encouraging diversity 
    - witnessing to all that we must hold the whole world in our hands. 
                                                    
        ​
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