Living the Dream - What Does It Require?

Rev. Deb Hill-Davis

 

This week we celebrate the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. one of my heroes, and we inaugurate a new president, Joe Biden.  It is a time to embrace the real American dream and release the nightmare of the past few weeks.  We have been a proud, powerful nation and lately we have been served a heaping helping of humble pie.  And that for us, is a good thing, a healthy thing.  You don’t appreciate the value of something until you almost lose it.  During the pandemic we have come to really, really appreciate community, connection and being together in the same space. Being able to sing together, pray together, eat together, play together!  Last Sunday we had the biggest turnout ever for our annual meeting.  We appreciate and love our spiritual community.  We appreciate and love our country.  What does it require to live the dream rather than living the nightmare?

 

When I sat in meditation on Tuesday to contemplate what should be in this talk, I sat in prayer just releasing and releasing my own anger, judgments and outrage about the desecration of our nation’s Capital.  I have been in that building, way back in 1976 during the nation’s bicentennial.  I lived in Nebraska and there was something called the “Nebraska breakfast” whereby you could have breakfast in the Senate dining room with your Senator or Representative if you made a reservation.  We did that with our Representative and I don’t even recall who it was, but I do remember the beauty and the history of the building.  And the deep sense of pride that I felt at that time, despite Nixon, despite the Vietnam war, there was always the American dream that life could be better in every way, no matter who you were or where you came from.

 

For the past two Sundays we have been in deep communion with God, with that which is greater than we are.  The Melting Bowl was to release all that gets in the way of living our Truth, our “Godness” our best selves.  We wrote a letter to God to share our heart’s desires expressing our intention for this coming year. Intention gives us a sense of direction, an anchor whereby we check ourselves regularly, asking the question, “Is this thought, word, action in alignment with my intention?”  It requires discipline to live in alignment with our intentions, spiritual discipline.  It is not a one and done, it requires vigilance and diligence.   It is simple, but it is not easy.

 

Next, we had a White Stone ceremony to select a word or name that reflected our calling to live into this higher consciousness, greater “beingness” in this new year.  My word was “servant” which will require a constant focus on the greater good and God only knows what else!  The intention of the ceremony was to recognize that we have the constant freedom to choose to live into this new consciousness represented by the word on our white stone or not.  We have the ability to surrender to that which is greater than ourselves and live into that higher reality again and again and again, rinse and repeat as needed.

 

In celebrating the life and work of Rev. Dr. King, we frequently move to his “I have a dream” speech, neglecting his huge body of work that gives instructions and guidance on how to manifest that dream.  The first steps we must take is a step toward “truth” which requires an abundance of courage.  In the nonviolence King’s civil rights movement, we saw the violence of segregation and racism.  We still see that today in witnessing the death of George Floyd and we are telling the truth about it on a broader and deeper level.  White Americans are reading and discussing White Fragility and How to Be Anti-Racist and other writings that explore white privilege.  It is all part of the journey of Truth, the journey of healing, because healing can’t start until you start telling the truth.

 

My intention for this year is for it to be an exploration of Healing and Forgiveness.  As I sat in my retreat, that is what the voice of Spirit was “saying to the churches.”  We are healing and recovering from the physical, emotional and psychological pain of the pandemic.  We are healing and in recovery from the physical, emotional and psychological pain of the divisiveness within our body politic that has infested communities, families and our nation.  Recovery is not easy, quite honestly it is challenging and painful.  It requires on step one, for a consciousness of surrender as we “came to believe we were powerless over the effects of hate-filled and divisive rhetoric and behavior; that our common life has become unmanageable.”  It is in seeing our powerlessness that we can take the next step to realize that “a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.” Sanity is wholeness, it comes from the Greek word sanos.

 

And that step brings us to embracing Truth, something that has been in short supply in race consciousness for a number of years. What is so powerful is that any step toward truth, especially in the healing or recovery process is a step toward God.  Matthew Fox had a meditation this week that was published by The Daily Good, on January 10, 2021 in which he said:

 

“To approach Truth is to approach God.  To seek truth is to seek God.  The pursuit of truth is a godly act; it is a prayer.…Theologian David Bentley Hart writes: “In God lies at once the deepest truth of mind and the most universal truth of existence, and that for this reason the world can truly be known by us.”  We all seek truth and we are all capable of finding some.

 

Our yearning for truth is deeper than ethics, as Rumi observes:

They say you bring the word of God

Yet all I hear is talk of good and bad—

Nothing of love or truth.

 

And again, “Beyond the teachings of right and wrong there lies a field.  I will meet you there.”  God is a field of Truth, the field where we encounter truth and truth encounters us.

 

 And he later also shares the thoughts of Nelson Mandela:

 

There is no God higher than truth.

See no evil, speak no evil.

Truth is my God.

Truth is the substance of all morality.

Truth is God, and truth overrides all our plans.

Without truth and non-violence there can be nothing but destruction of humanity.

Truth is the first thing to be sought for, and Beauty and Goodness will then be added unto you.

 

Thank you, Nelson Mandela, Rumi, and Matthew Fox.

 

When we seek to tell the truth, we seek our God Consciousness wherein all our good flows. There are two scriptures that are particularly relevant here:

 

Matthew 6:33

33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (NRSV)

 

Romans 8:28

28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (NRSV)

 

Together these Scriptures offer us assurance of support and sustenance for the healing journey.  When our heart’s desire is a greater expression of our Godness, our God Consciousness, then all that we need is provided.  That is my credo, what I personally live by and give my heart to.  And then, we heard about Paul last week in the White Stone ceremony and the second scripture comes from his letter to the Romans, assuring them that all things work together for good when love is at the center of all that we do.  When you look at the stories about Jesus, the sayings of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus the dominant themes are healing and forgiveness.  Let that be our theme as we strive to be followers of Jesus this year.

 

If we do that and follow Jesus and seek Truth, then we will join with Rev. Dr. King as he said in his talk, “Where Do We Go from Here?” in 1967:

 

“Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity.

Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not on the basis of the color of their skin. Let us be dissatisfied.

Let us be dissatisfied until every state capitol will be housed by a governor who will do justly, who will love mercy, and who will walk humbly with his God.

Let us be dissatisfied until from every city hall, justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Let us be dissatisfied until that day when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid.

Let us be dissatisfied, until men will recognize that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth.

Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout, "White Power!" when nobody will shout, "Black Power!" but everybody will talk about God's power and human power...

...When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.

Let us realize that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Let us realize that William Cullen Bryant is right: "Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again." Let us go out realizing that the Bible is right: "Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." This is our hope for the future, and with this faith we will be able to sing in some not too distant tomorrow, with a cosmic past tense, "We have overcome!  We have overcome! Deep in my heart, I did believe we would overcome."  MLKEC, INP, Martin Luther King, Jr. Estate Collection, In Private Hands, NYC-22A, 22B & 22C

 

I want to close today with statement of Faith from our own Myrtle Fillmore written in 1897:

 

My Faith

“I do not believe in evil, I believe in Good.

I do not believe in sin, I believe in Truth.

I do not believe in want. I believe in Abundance

I do not believe in death.  I believe in Life.

I do not believe in ignorance.  I believe in Intelligence.

There are no discords in my being.  Being is peace.

My faith, understanding, and love are

Becoming one.

What therefore God hath joined together,

let not man put asunder.”

~from How to Let God Help You, Myrtle Fillmore, Third edition, 2000 - Unity Books, Unity Classics Library, publishers

 

May we journey together in Truth, healing and forgiveness.