2009 SERMON LIST

Rev. Ann C. Fox
(508) 992-7081
RevAnnFox@aol.com

Unitarian Universalist
Society of Fairhaven

Towards Nonviolence

 a sermon on the International Day for Peace

by Rev. Ann C. Fox

September 20, 2009

Note: A  reading is attached, which you might like to read first

One day, I came across a young Buddhist monk on the steps of the Auditorium at Stonehill College in Easton, MA. He was doubled over in anguish or pain, his face buried in his hands. I didn’t quite know what to do. The dharma talk was about to begin.

It seemed to me that I should leave him to do what he needed to do for himself. I realized that he was struggling with his emotions, doing exactly what he’d been taught: to stop, go inwards, and inquire into what was going on inside himself.

This was a 5-day Buddhist retreat with the famous Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, a paragon of peace and sweetness. This incident took place some 5 years or so ago, yet it remains with me as if it happened yesterday.

Some of you might remember that during the Vietnam War, monks immolated themselves in Saigon in protest of the violence perpetrated by both Americans and Vietnamese. They were the monks of Thich Nhat Hanh’s temple, though he assured us that they committed this self-sacrifice without his permission.

What Thich Nhat Hanh counsels us is to be with our feelings, our emotions when they occur and try to understand the root of them by focusing intently upon them. In everyday life, this is a hard thing to do. Do we have to be a monk in order to do this? Perhaps there are many practices we can cultivate to turn inner conflict into an opportunity for understanding.

This week, the nation was hoping that a missing Yale University graduate student, Annie Le, would be found alive and well. Instead, a lab technician was charged with her murder. The news-hour speculations were endless. One said, “The most common cause of workplace violence is rejection. Annie Le must have rejected his advances.” We later found that it may simply have been an act of anger. While violent behavior can have many causes, anger is a common one. One Internet blog asked, “Could a workplace violence prevention program have saved Annie Le?” The writer went on to say:

• All workers in the lab should receive regular training on violence prevention.

• Threats and angry words should be taken seriously and required to be reported to the authorities (supervisors, police, etc.).

• Alarm systems, such as panic alarm buttons, silent alarms, or personal electronic systems could be in place and operational….

Has our world come to this—violence prevention programs in the workplace? I recall training in workplace safety and workplace ethics. There was much talk about anti-sexual harassment training, which never came to anything. But “violence prevention programs?” What does all this say about today’s society? It is hard to imagine that a major teaching in our culture is that of Jesus, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” It is right up there as one of the Beatitudes. These are our Beatitude windows. (Dear Reader, We have nine stained glass windows down the south and north sides of our mini-gothic cathedral. Each one has on it a Beatitude from the Gospel of Matthew.)

Last year, the Chicago-Sun (Sept. 2, 2008) newspaper wrote an editorial in support of an anti-violence program initiated by some inner-city Chicago schools. The editor said, “It's not enough to teach fractions: kids must be taught to get along. It's not enough to teach American history: kids must be taught to stand in each other's shoes. It's not enough to teach spelling: kids must be taught to express their feelings in words, not with their fists.

To stand in each other’s shoes is close to teaching compassion. To express feelings in words means that they have to listen to one another and to themselves. Things may well be looking up for the Chicago schools. They may even develop community amongst themselves. And don’t let us underestimate the power of an affirming editorial.

In his book Seeking Peace, Johann Arnold advocates some steps that will lead to a peaceful mind. Some of them are: simplicity, silence, prayer, trust, forgiveness, gratitude, honesty, humility, and repentance. “Repentance” is what the Jewish Holiday of Rosh Hashanah (that is going on this week) is about. It’s about saying sorry to those you’ve offended and making amends to restore peace, if possible. Both the Quakers and the Buddhist advocate many of these as well. This is a good checklist: simplicity, silence, prayer, trust, forgiveness, gratitude, honesty, humility, and repentance—all the things we talk about in church (except “repentance”—Hooray for Rosh Hashanah. We should have a UU version of it!). All of these qualities or activities bring us into the present moment—to awareness—mindfulness.

Thich Nhat Hanh says that pounding a pillow when we feel anger will at least let out some of the pent up energy around the anger but it won’t get at the root cause. Instead he says, “Mindfulness is like a lamp illuminating ourselves. As soon as the lamp is brought into the dark room, the room changes.” (p.96, Thich Nhat Hanh) He advises instead to go for a walk and practice breathing deeply. When the anger is calmed down, we can begin to observe the anger and its true nature. (p.98) He says that anger is rooted in desire, pride, and suspiciousness as well as confusion. “The chief roots of our anger are in ourselves. Our environment and other people are only secondary roots.” (p.99) Others make our lives difficult because of their own struggles. Someone has to begin the peaceful practice. Perhaps that ‘someone’ is us, all of us gathered here.

This is a reading from a tiny booklet by Thich Nhat Hanh called “be free where you are” (all lower case). The section is called, ‘The Art of Handling a Storm”:

“When a storm comes, it stays for some time, and then it goes. An emotion is like that too—it comes and stays for a while, and then it goes. An emotion is only an emotion. We are much, much more than an emotion. We don’t die because of one emotion. So when you notice that an emotion is beginning to come up, it is very important that you put yourself in a stable sitting position, or you lie down, which is also a very stable position. Then focus your attention on your belly. Your head is like the top of a tree in a storm. I would not stay there. Bring your attention down to the trunk of the tree, where there is stability.” (p. 38)

He goes on to advise us to breath deeply for 10 or 15 minutes until we are feeling strong and the “storm” has passed and our anger quelled. This is what the young monk was doing when I encountered him—crouched down with his head bent (out of the storm) and breathing to gain stability and strength!

There’s another way of keeping peace. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Policeman who asked the little boy, "What are you running for, Johnny?"

“I'm trying to keep two boys from fighting,” he said.

"Who are the boys?"

Bill Perkins and me!!"

What did you think this morning when you saw the cover of the Order of Service? (Dear Reader, You can enter “knotted gun” into Google and see an image of this shocking yet appropriate symbol of nonviolence.) This sculpture is outside the United Nations Building in New York City/span>.. There are versions of it around the world. I found it on the Internet when I inquired about a symbol for nonviolence. Apparently, we can buy tee-shirts with it on. I found it an appropriate sermon on nonviolence, especially at this time and in this place.

There has been much violence across our nation and especially in our area this year, much of it with the use of illegal guns. You may have read in the newspaper or in my church news column that all the clergy, including Catholic clergy, in this Greater New Bedford area are having a sermon and prayers on peace this morning. That’s a lot of energy gathered for peace. And it is appropriate that this is International Peace Day weekend!

We are to ask our congregations to join together next Sunday, September 27 at 2 PM/span> on William Street in downtown New Bedford. We will all walk (rain or shine) down the street together to the steps of City Hall where many city leaders and leaders of organizations, such as the Women’s Shelter, will sign a covenant to lead the City in peace. It will not take up much time and will be a memorable experience. Will you join me? Bring the family. Bring the kids. Later that day, people will be able to turn in illegal guns to three churches, no questions asked. Word has gone out on the street. The Inter-Church Council clergy, the Catholic Priests, and the rabbis, are all hoping for lots of guns to be turned in.

I don’t know what you all think about the power of prayer. No matter what your belief, we all surely believe in the power of the mind, the concentration of energy. Some of us have been doing “Metta (loving-kindness) Meditation” and found it to be a good practice for being peaceful. In your Order of Service is a prayer for peace printed on blue paper, the United Nations’ color for peace. On this International Day for Peace, will you join me in saying it together, slowly so we can take in its meaning and it will be for us “like a lamp being brought into a darkened room” as Thich Nhat Hanh would say. (Dear Reader, The prayer follows.)

Metta (loving-kindness) Prayer for Peace

Note: Please put this on your refrigerator and say it with your friends and family once a week, perhaps on a Sunday. Perhaps our prayers will help turn the tide of violence.

Prayer for Yourself:

May I have loving-kindness.

May I have peace and love.

May I be happy.

May I be free from harm.

May I have ease of well being.

Prayer for the Community:

May the Greater New Bedford community have loving-kindness.

May they have peace and love.

May they be happy.

May they be free from harm.

May they have ease of well being.

Prayer for Perpetrators of Violence:

May those who live by guns and violence have loving-kindness.

May their hearts be embraced by peace and love.

May they know the happiness that comes from doing The Good.

May they turn away from doing harm.

May they come to know the mental ease of bringing peace.

Prayer for All Beings:

May all beings have loving-kindness.

May all beings have peace and love.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be free from harm.

May all beings have ease of well being.

Will you put this on your refrigerator and say it once a week to keep the energy going for peace in our cities and towns? I think it is a way to keep peace in our hearts as well. May we continue to have in our lives the practices of simplicity, silence, prayer, trust, forgiveness, and gratitude for these will surely help us cultivate a nonviolent, peaceful way of being. May peace be with you!

References

Hanh, Thich Nhat. Chapter on “Seeds of Compassion” from the Essential Writings. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2001.

Rosenberg, Marshall B. Ph.D. Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, Encinitas, CA: PuddleDancer Press, 2003.

Skog, Susan. Peace in Our Lifetime. Colorado: Cliffrose Communications, LLC, 2004.

A Reading from Seeking Peace
by Johann Christoph Arnold

We live in an unpeaceful world, and despite constant talk about peace, there is very little….No one will deny that violence affects public life everywhere around our globe, from current hot spots such as…Iraq and the West Bank, to the streets of our own decaying cities. In personal life too, even in the most “peaceful” suburbs, unpeace is often the order of the day….

Violence hides behind the most respectable facades of our supposedly enlightened society….Yet the need for peace….is one of the deepest longings of the heart. Call it what you will: harmony, serenity, wholeness, soundness of mind—the yearning for it exists somewhere in every human being….

The longing for such a time and place is as ancient as it is universal. Thousands of years ago, the Hebrew prophet Isaiah dreamed of a peaceable kingdom where the lion would dwell with the lamb. And down through the centuries, no matter how dark the horizon or bloody the battlefield, men and women have found hope in his vision. (pp. 3-5)
 

© The Rev. Ann C. Fox

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