IN PRAISE OF FAMOUS UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS

A Sermon by
James Ishmael Ford

25 March 2001

I’m sure any number of heroines and heroes of liberal faith from our past immediately leap to mind. Perhaps John Sigismund, the first and only Unitarian king who promulgated an edict of religious tolerance in the middle of the sixteenth century. Or perhaps Thomas Starr King, who showed how our broad rational and yet heartfelt way can be made concrete as he struggled to lead California into the union as a free state.

Our spiritual ancestors who birthed Transcendentalism in its many forms might come to mind. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Henry Thoreau, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody are a worthy beginning to that list. Or, also from the middle of the nineteenth century, Olympia Brown, the first woman to be ordained in a national denomination, our Universalist Church in America, may dance in our minds.

Or, perhaps not. One friend, when I mentioned this intention of mine of celebrating our Unitarian Universalist heroes warned me how I might wish to be careful. Ralph Waldo Emerson, for instance, is quoted out on the web on some hate sites with some ill-conceived, downright distasteful statements. I remember, myself, how Henry Thoreau in Walden, writes disparagingly out of astonishing prejudice and ignorance about the Irish.

But such foolishness and even occasional outright hatefulness doesn’t exclude these people from my list. One reason I am a Unitarian Universalist is that our spirituality is naturalistic. Among other things this means we know, deep in our hearts, that we must take our people whole, warts and all. We don’t expect anyone to be more than human, ever.

That’s one reason I didn’t care all that much for the recent movie Crouching Tiger, Leaping Dragon. The implicit spirituality of that film was that as one grows wise one transcends nature. To be at one with the way within that story is to be able to dance, well actually fight, on top of tree branches.

But this is not our spirituality. Rather for us, to grow wise is to see how things are. We echo that strain of spirituality, which calls us to live fully within the world. To know ourselves and to act in kindness and care from that knowing: this is our way. Sigismund was a king, so we know he did many things in an arbitrary manner. He promulgated a decree of religious tolerance. But that he could make such a unilateral decision, speaks volumes of human shortcomings.

Do we, therefore, knowing he was a tyrant, not celebrate him? No. In our way, we take it all in. We engage with open hearts and with open minds. That means bringing a full heart and a clear head to all considerations. Such is our way. We celebrate these people, our guides for being human, and showing how the good can prevail, even within our warring hearts, even with our shortcomings, our foolishnesses, our misplaced anger, and desire, and ignorance. We celebrate how wisdom does germinate in that messy soil, and sprout, and rise, and flower.

Now should we think in this direction and cast our gaze upon this congregation, we still have rather famous names to consider. Horace Mann, Mary Peabody, and Nathaniel Allen, all immediately leap to mind. But, I want to ground this even further. I want to push the point. Disregarding history books, just for the moment, who among us should we count as our famous Unitarian Universalists?

Looking out into this room I can cook a quick list: at one end of the age spectrum I think of Andrew Holbein and Parker Rice our youth representatives at the Board. At another end are Ginny and John Taplin. John’s father’s portrait hangs in the women’s alliance room. These astonishing people have devoted a lifetime to quietly working for the greater good.

I look out into this hall, and the litany of care and involvement is so long. Some random names almost as they dance off the tips of my fingers: Susan Avishai, Tom Bean, Marion Bullitt, Judy Curby, Laurel Farnsworth, Vernon Ellis, Joellen Hawkins, Fiora Houghteling, Noreen Kimball, Arthur Lein, Peter Smith, Greg Sullivan, Peter Witt, Jane Yoffe and Bob Zeeb. A bouquet if you will, with stalks, dead leaves, thorns and most beautiful blossoms.

Amazingly, what is most striking about this random bouquet of names is who it omits. During the pledge drive dinners I had the opportunity to meet with over two hundred of us. As I was listening to people share stories of involvement, I realized almost every soul in these parties, over two hundred as I said, were actual observable in some tangible manner, leaders of this congregation.

So, I thought, if I were to just spend a minute or two with three names of our heroes right now, how could I possibly pick? But, you know it seemed important for me to try. After all ours is a spirituality of the ordinary, of living choices and actions. Where else in a celebration of our aspirations and possibilities can I look, other than within this meeting room, among this crowd?
So, here’s the plan I cooked up. I simply waited for the first three names to be mentioned in the office without at that moment having an expletive attached. We all get those adjectives, of course, from time to time. Remember our spiritual way is about the real, warts, thorns, and all.

While hanging there in Fran’s office, the first name I heard mentioned was Brenda Roberts. Perfect, I thought. Brenda found Unitarianism; this was well before the merger, because of her college boy friend and future husband, Pete, who had been raised within our tradition. Brenda was raised Protestant, and while there were ministers in the family, she had only light denominational connections.

When she met Pete, just about the first day of school, as they shared the same last name and were thrown together in a mixer, he told her all about his tradition. This probably was the first time she heard about Unitarianism. I have it on good authority after hearing Pete’s youthful version of the faith, how she thought, "I could never marry a Unitarian." Ah, famous last words.

During the early years of their married life as they moved across the country they in fact rarely encountered Unitarian congregations. Then when they first arrived in Newton, their first visit to the Society showed a congregation with few young adults and no religious education program. At least it seemed so. Apparently most of the younger members were in fact at the spring picnic, something those present failed to mention.

So they spent several years at the Newtonville Methodist church. With the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., however, it became apparent to both Brenda and Pete that they needed a congregation where such significant issues as this event raised, would not be ignored. So once again they visited FUSN. This time it took. Brenda’s first major task within the Society was on the Membership Committee, which she has served ever since.

Brenda’s work within this congregation has marked us in so many ways. She is a presence in social action, in hospitality, in every spot that needs attention to detail and real work. Brenda is astonishing. When someone is hurt, she’s right there.
Brenda was chair of the membership committee longer than anyone in living memory. And speaking of memory she just remembers everybody. When someone comes to the table to get a nametag, Brenda remembers, and the next time they meet she asks about their children. In lay minister’s meetings Brenda Roberts is our anchor, our history, our insight into the net of relationships.

Hey, this works, I thought. Quite happy, I continued lurking in Fran’s office. Although by then I think she was becoming suspicious that I was up to something. However, quickly the next name was mentioned. And speaking of history it was Judy Zacek.

How perfect! I remember her telling how the Wayside Pulpit, of all things converted her. Judy grew up in the Washington DC area, when A. Powell Davies, an amazing minister, was going strong in the pulpit of All Soul’s church. She knew about him from the papers as standing up against McCarthy and was mightily impressed.

She told me how she would get off the bus across from All Souls and read that wayside pulpit message week after week. And those messages resonated with her young questing mind. Then when Life magazine ran an article on religions and she read about Unitarianism, she felt she’d found her faith. But, while still living in her family’s Jewish household and wanting to honor that, she didn’t feel she could attend church services.

But when she went off to Brown, the Unitarian church was right there next to the campus, and she started attending immediately. While doing her doctoral work at Columbia she began attending Community church with the noted radical theologian Donald Harrington preaching. And eventually she married in Unitarian church.

While living in Albany from nineteen sixty-eight to eighty-five Judy was very active in that congregation. She served on the Board, the women’s group, lots of things. I find this particularly interesting, because during this time she was a single mom raising a child and running her travel agency. But, perhaps that’s Judy, a whirlwind of activity.

When she came to Newton, she immediately came to FUSN. Noreen Kimball points out how along with everything else, Judy is someone who has been spectacular at two particular things. First in sharing her knowledge and skills with us all. And second in her commitment to social action.

Her heart really lies with her commitment, not just to social action, but to the cultivation of real relationships. I think of how she, with others, have woven us together with Myrtle Baptist church. I would say of Judy that she conveys a contagious enthusiasm for doing the right thing.

I don’t know how many owe her for putting together those Enchanted April excursions. For those who don’t know, every two years a bunch of women from this congregation rent a house somewhere in Europe and spend some serious time together. If she did nothing else but organize those trips, Judy Zacek’s contribution would be astonishing.

Now about this time Fran threw me out of the office, telling me at least one of us had work to do. But, as I walked into the hall, I heard my third name. Allan Hartman. Now, in fact there was an expletive mentioned in general association with his name. But, I felt I was on a roll, and so, what the heck.

When Anne and Allan married, she was Catholic and he was raised in the reformed Jewish tradition, but in fact had no strong attachments. They did feel, however, that they needed an open religious community as they planned for their family. They did some church shopping, until a friend recommended Unitarianism.

While in Harrisburg, they visited the local Unitarian church, but like for many of us never quite got around to joining. During the sixties in Syracuse they began regularly attending May Memorial. Allan liked the juxtaposition of the senior minister’s more conservative style and the young associate who experimented wildly, for instance setting up a strobe light at a service.

In 1970 they moved to Newton and started attending FUSN. Allan couldn’t say when he actually became a Unitarian Universalist, it just gradually happened. Anne formally joined first. Allan in fact didn’t join until one day when Hanna Salzer called and asked if he’d be willing to serve on the Board. He had to admit to her he wasn’t actually a member, never having signed the book.

To which Hanna responded, "Well, my dear, of course now you’ll have to join." And he did. Like many of us the Hartman’s started attending church for their kids. But, at some point during high school when the kids stopped coming, they found that they were still attending, although now for themselves.

Allan has served the Board twice now, on RE, with Social Action, twice on the ministerial search committee, bylaws, service auction, walk for hunger, Christmas tree sales, etc etc. When talking with Noreen Kimball about his activities she replied, "The day isn’t long enough to speak about him. I adore that man."

Probably the most incredible thing about him is how much he seems loves us, just about unconditionally. Starting with the kids. The man was born with a special love and facility to relate to youth. Since our coming of age program began Allan has pretty much every year been a mentor.

Allan Hartman invented First Unitarian Dramatic Society: FUDS performs a play at Ferry Beach & Sandy Island. Most important is the talent show part of it, (or, as I’ve heard it called, the no talent show) which continues on even when there is no play, and is by most accounts just some of the most loving time we spend together. Watching a child scraping away at a violin when seven, then year after year as they become better and better: such a delight.

Of course these people and their work all speak to us of some mysterious and yet pervasive reality. They are way-showers. They demonstrate in their lives what it is we are about in this gathering. And so, of course, at some time we should take pause and celebrate. Jane Hirschfield, poet, editor and, I find, an emerging voice for spiritual insight in our times once made an observation I find particularly helpful in this context.

Hirschfield wrote how "in every spiritual tradition, the same truth appears: while it is necessary to undertake specific practices in spiritual life—prayer or meditation, the vows of right behavior and right speech, all the many paths that lead to being awake and aware at the core of our being—such practices do not create anything that was not there from the beginning.

"They only open the door to what is already present within us. We do not pray or meditate or engage in good works in order to reach a goal or to become in some way ‘better,’ but because these activities are the fundamental expression of the heart freed of the distortions of ego and dualistic thinking."

We are about uncovering what is already here, of noticing the sacred ordinary. Brenda, Judy, Allan, and all the rest of us constantly demonstrate something of this way, with its attention to the here and now, to the practices of presence each of us to the other, and to the movements of grace within our own human hearts. This presence and willingness to share a hand is the sacred life.

And so here we are. Thorns and stalks amidst the blossoms. But, I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is our glorious community. This is what we are about. Care, compassion, and hands made to work. Thank you all, famous Unitarian Universalists, for weaving this precious community. Thank you all for your generous support of this Society. Thank you.

And, amen