Moses Said

We've been looking at the last couple of weeks, and how to listen and hear your voice, but today, I want to talk about how once you've found it, how you hold onto it.

I too often forget who I am, and who I want to become. I just do. Let me explain by means of a confession. Two years ago now, I made a commitment from that pulpit over there. I said I would commit myself to no new clothes for 6 years. Yes, I know, I saw some of you gasp. 6 years. I did it because I value deeply living as green a life as possible, and trying to live out of the best of my values. The money saved with no new clothes would go to a savings account for a live-plant roof for our house. So for 2 years I've done pretty good, but now, I'm telling you it is getting hard. Everywhere I look there are voices telling me - "You need that shirt. And oh wouldn't that look good on you Kaaren." I'm turning green with envy - over my friend's new purchases. I can't look at fashion magazines, which means standing in the aisle at Wegmans, or the drugstore, is torturous. And I can't go to the mall for a simple household appliance without feeling this hand of consumerism, pulling the front of my jacket forward. "Come Kaaren, this is a cute outfit, come on, what can it hurt?" And I've failed at times with my mission. I have talked my husband into buying me "gifts" of a few new purchases, so I could "make it through" or I've made trumped up occasions where I needed. But for the most part, cut spending of new clothes by 7/8 of what I used to do. Now, after 2 years, this is getting rough. I'm not finding what I want at the second hand store, and I'm ready to wrestle my friends to the ground for their sporting new pants. You think I jest I know, but I'm telling you, this is getting hard. Because all around me there are voices competing for my attention, telling me to drop my deep held commitment and value. Just give it up. Besides, who knows your betraying your commitment, really except yourself? Plus what does it matter, if you stall the roof for another year, look at that sweater. Don't you want to help out the economy. Shop, shop, shop! That will help. Holding on to this green commitment all the time, isn't easy. To be true to myself and my deepest held values, is turning out to be a pain in the rear end! And I find, I want a quick antidote, I want to give it up at times, I want to just get the competing voices to be quiet, and they will if I just buy something. So yes lately, I am forgetting who I am, and who I want to become because of these loud voices, are competing for my attention.

But jeez, please tell me I'm not the only one. Please tell me, that you too get caught up in these competing voices for your money, time, talent, affirmation, inspiration, that goes against, your most deeply held values. I mean come on. Do you too forget who you are and who you want to become? I wonder? I found a set of questions that I think can help us think about this further - and I asked Erin if she would read them for us.

I want to know if some of these are true for you?

• Does your constant focus on making a living sometimes dictate your life and prevent you from giving time and attention to the other people and priorities you care about? A simple "hmmm" will do.
• Have you ever gotten so enamored with an idea, or a political cause, that you began to feel contemptuous of anyone who didn't share your viewpoint?
• Do you sometimes idolize people or hold them in great esteem too much for their looks, status, intellect, or ability to express themselves?
• At the end of a hard or stressful day, do you find yourself tuning out people who care about you or who need you because you'd rather be consumed by watching television, playing a video game or spending hours on the internet?

Thank you Erin.

OK, so I went through this list myself, and I was guilty of those too. Almost every week, one of these rears its head, and that's on top of distractions I've been feeling toward my earth friendly goal.

The questions remind us all how easy it is to forget who we are and who we want to be. And it got me wondering is this a modern day question - are the demands of modern life so alienating that we can forget who we are, and want to become? Are there just too many voices competing for recognition that this has become a modern day ADD syndrome where we can't or won't live out our deepest values because of those voices?

We'll before you start blaming the internet or our TV's, it important to point out, this isn't a modern day question. It's an ancient one. How do you quell the voices around you to live truly in alignment with your most deeply held values is not a modern day question.

It's an age-old question. And I mean old - like ancient old. So much so, this gets addressed in the 10 commandments. And I guarantee you I know you didn't see that coming. Because around here the 10 commandments don't really come up that often. At best we think of them as the ten challenges, and most often as the 10 suggestions. But this morning, here in lies an answer for us. I know in the 10 challenges. It seems the Israelites had a hard time holding on to their core values too, They too could like us, forget who they were and who they wanted to become. And they could get distracted and do what? Worship false idols just like us.

"Oh come on, this isn't that, Rev." - you might be thinking, but yes it is.

But let me explain a little more. What does worship false idols mean for us in modern day.

Eric Fromm, a Jewish Humanist, says: "It can mean simply that we worship words and machines more often than we should or that we put too much faith in science or the opinions of others." But my favorite way of explaining this is Rabbi Ted Falcon, who explains modern day idolatry as "the moments when we forget who we really are and instead of remembering that we are sparks of the Divine, we start giving up our power to a guru, an ideology, a romantic obsession, a stressful job that begins to define us, or an unhealthy habit we think we can't live without. Even if we no longer build or worship physical idols like in ancient times, we have modern day addictions, pressures, and (voices) that cause us to forget that our purpose here is to be a vehicle for Divine energies."

Many theologians from many different paths would argue that the 2nd commandment in the Old Testament really has an underlying message. For in the warning "don't succumb to idols or false paths" is the encouraging statement - "Do find ways to awaken your true self each day so that you can stay on track toward your essential purpose in life."

And to think that we don't need help with this is a misnomer. You can go to Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist, Islamic and Christian practices, practically every religious tradition around, has some spiritual practice that reminds them, how to be awake to their true self, their core values, so they can stay on track toward their essential purpose in life. They do these practices so they do not forget who they are and who they want to become.

So how do people do it?

When I was in China after college, we walked down from the Peak each morning in Hong Kong, and if you got up real early, there were groups of folks in their 60's-70's going through a morning wake up call to life, and their purpose. They were collectively practicing Tai Chi. Practicing Tai Chi is supposed to wake up not only the body but the CHI- or the vital energy or breath of life that exists in each of us.

But there are other ways of doing it, simple ways that people all over the world, all over our own city use to wake themselves up to who they are and how they want to be in the world. To start off the day being in alignment with their values.

A man who sits in silent meditation with the words Baruch Yah (blessed is the breath of life) as his mantra, as he waits for clarity and direction on how to do good that day

A man who quiets his mind each morning and says, "Dear god, help me to grow and learn today on how to be helpful and not harmful to myself or anyone else."

A woman who writes in her journal each morning, which she describes as her best method for getting in touch with her daily purpose and her spiritual strength.

A man who walks in nature each day and says out loud, god guide me today to see the good in people and be of service.

I've heard of one person who takes a cold shower everyday, first thing, and she has for the last 10 years, as a means to wake herself up to her deepest longings first thing.

I myself don't have much time in the morning. But lately I put my hand on Scott before I get out of bed and say, "Let me be a blessing not a curse. A blessing not a curse today. If I am a curse, let me have humility and ask for forgiveness. Let me be a blessing. Amen."

Lately, I've taken to saying "May my grandchildren know that I lived with integrity to the earth." So just walk by the magazine, let it go, skip the shoes, let them go. Throw away the catalogue. You have the power. May my grandchildren know that I lived with integrity to the earth.

A Christian woman who rides on her exercise bicycle each morning and thinks about how to emulate one or more of the disciples

A man who listens to the CD's of the last week's sermon in his car on the way to work for several days afterward.

Several people start each day with the well known Reinhold Niebuhr prayer, "God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."

So I gotta ask. What kind of wake up call would you like to include in your morning ritual? And I do mean Wake up call. You may have a hard time, just getting out the door each morning, but what, if you listen to your life, and your particular distractions, might help you wake up each day, with your deepest values, held close to your heart, as the first thing you commit your life and day to. What kind of wake up call would you like to include in your morning ritual?

I want you to wrestle with that questions because I think it matters how we start our days out. There is a reason that all the worlds religious traditions have these moments of re-alignment with one's values as part of their spiritual practice. Because all of our lives are the same essentially as they have been for thousands of years. There are two paths in front of us. On one path, we can become fully awake, alive and in touch with the hidden truth that you are carrying a spark of divine light or universal oneness deep within your soul. On the more well-traveled path, you become distracted, numbed out, or spiritually asleep as you go through the motions of life day after day.

And here's the catch - if you asked most people which they would prefer, the vast majority say - heck yeh I want to be alive - awake - in alignment with my values, and honestly, I only get there every now and then. So if we want to sincerely, I mean truly in our bones take up the 2nd commandment, we need to develop some methods for firing up our deeper consciousness each day so we can avoid the false paths, false idols and ignore the many voices, and pay attention to our true purpose. So again, what kind of wake up call would you like to include in your morning ritual? - to help you remember who you are and who you want to be. If you already have a practice, I hope this reminds you why to continue it is so vitally important.

You see when we are in community together, I think we owe it and should expect if of each other to be as intentional about or living and loving as possible. Because in truth, that is part of our covenant together as a community.

Which brings me back to Moses. Because it was for him as well.

So I want you to imagine with me Moses, the keeper of those 10 commandments. The guy just battled it out with the Egyptians, and he is tired. He's not a spry fellow either, he's an old man, in his 80's, likely had some arthritis, might have needed a knee replacement, possibly lost some teeth by this point, might have had a weak heart. He's been walking through the desert now with a group of folks who are tired too, anxious about what is coming next, spent, exhausted, and getting grumpy. He just climbed up the mountain with these enormous stone slabs, for God to give him some directions for his people. And then he climbed back down the mountain with those slabs. He needs to give the speech of his lifetime, to address these wandering wayfarers, give them some hope, some order, some energy - some answers for the defining purpose to their lives. And he too is worried, they haven't exactly been the best at following directions, in fact he got back to the bottom of the mountain and they had created a false idol, a golden calf. He had work to do, and to make sure they were all on the same page.

Now you and I know that he explained what was on the tablets, the 10 commandments and gave the orders for the tabarnacle when he got off that mountain. But what we don't know is what didn't get written down. What didn't get included in that holy scripture. And I've always liked this leader Moses. I've always thought he might have more in him, than just those 10 commandments, that maybe he stood tall at 80 years old reaching the height he had at 40 and gave them a little added speech about that 2nd commandment. A speech that helped direct those Israelites from that time on. He helped decipher what was really in that - you shall have no false idols. And just maybe he said to them:

My dear ones, our future lies in our hands. Our future lies in us - gathered here - obeying, living and breathing this 2nd commandment. It isn't just asking us not to worship false idols- look deeper, think clearer. It's reminding us to daily align ourselves with our deepest values. Which means I need to say to you. We are gonna stay in this desert for a while and we will survive it together. I know the future is uncertain. But in order to lead you, I need to know you can internalize this 2nd commandment. I need to know you are on the same page with me. I need to know some things about you.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself, if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy. Because if so, then we can hold each other up in community together, we can hold onto that virtue of spirit when we worship together.

You see, It doesn't interest me who you are or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand in the center of the Fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Let us not forget that our purpose here is to be a vehicle for divine energies.

And when he said that he had them. They knew who they were and who they wanted to become. And each day, from that day forward, they had a practice to remind them of their truest selves. And sure they failed at times, but they worked on pulling each other back to that great calling each and every day.

But that calling didn't go anywhere. Those holy blocks of stone did not fade away. Those tablets were not given to Moses to make individual lives better. They were given to all of us so that we - as a community, as a church, as friends together could shine as a beacon of hope in our communities, in our neighborhoods and in our marketplace. WE shall have no false idols. Find a way to remind yourself each day of your truest voice and purpose, because that message of Moses to the Israelites is ours to claim too. May we live up to this mighty call and ancient purpose. Amen.

Kaaren Anderson, Parish Co-Minister
October 12, 2008