Rev. Ann C. Fox
(508) 992-7081
minister@uufairhaven.org
Unitarian
Universalist
Society of Fairhaven
A Larger Self
a sermon by Rev. Ann C. Fox
September 27, 2009
Note: A reading is attached, which you might like to read first
The hymn we just
sang, “O star of truth downshining through clouds of doubt and fear…”
ends with “though I be lone and weary, lead on, I follow thee.” It was
written by a famous and beloved
nineteenth century Unitarian minister, Minot Savage. Inspired by
This was exciting
heresy and very likely spiritually
moving. People wanted to hear
about a religion that was free of
doctrine or
creed. His belief was centered in humankind as
moral creatures and that moral
portion was related to the great moral consciousness, so to speak, or “God”
as he still called it. This was
religious humanism.
In the early
1900’s, Minot Savage went to minister in Henry H. Rogers’ church in
As religious
humanism developed, two important themes arose and continue to influence
Unitarianism today. One was spiritual
freedom and the other was a dedication to
worthful causes. It was
not enough to be moral; the morality had to be expressed in
social justice. We’ll return to
this last part later. Let’s look at
spiritual freedom.
In the reading,
we heard the phrase “Higher Self.” Because I am spiritually free, I chose
this reading because the concept of Higher Self, or Higher Power, was new in
the 1970’s and ‘80’s. However, if we delve more deeply, we would see that
this idea was in the earliest Hindu
scripture and was called the small “s” self and the big “S” Self, The
big “S” Self being the Atman, or the divine in humankind. And the small “s”
self, the personality or the ego.
So what exactly
is this Higher Self, or Higher
Power? Perhaps you’ve heard the story of a
Sunday school teacher who said to her children, "We have been learning how
in the Bible there were very powerful kings and queens. But, there is a
higher power. Can anybody tell me
what it is?" “Oooo, I know,” one child blurted out, "Aces!"
An excellent
description of Higher Self is in one of the most remarkable books I’ve ever
read. It is called The Untethered
Soul by Michael A. Singer. He refers to the Higher Self as
“Consciousness.” He says, “Consciousness is the highest word you will ever
utter. There is nothing higher or
deeper than consciousness.
Consciousness is pure awareness.
But what is awareness?” (p. 28,
Singer)
Your
consciousness is you without the
judgment. Imagine you are at a party. There is a piano playing background
music. You look at all the people in the room. You make no judgment. You
just observe. You don’t say, “That’s a nice red dress. I’d look good in
that, too.” You don’t say, “What a handsome man, just like my husband!” You
just look and observe what
is. Now, take away the piano
from the party; then, take away the people; finally, take away the
room. There’s just you; there,
without judgment, just pure awareness. Your inner and outer world is one. It
is the real “You” (with a capitol “Y”) of you. [All rephrased from
The Untethered Soul by Michael A.
Singer.
This is what
meditation practices encourage us to do: be in the space of pure
awareness—the present moment awareness—as much as possible. We experience
this spontaneously when we’re involved in a creative endeavor, even an
endeavor with others when there is pure involvement and no judgment.
One major thing
that prevents us from living in this place of pure awareness, or Higher Self
for any length of time, is suffering
from past experiences, such as childhood abandonment or mistreatment, or
even mistreatment in adulthood. The second thing is
fear, which is usually
fear of
change. Big stuff, eh?!
Michael Singer
suggests a way out of the suffering, at least from past experiences. He
would like us to think of our bodies and minds as
energy systems. He says, “This
flow of energy comes from the depth
of your being. It’s been called by many names. In ancient Chinese
medicine, it is called Chi. In
yoga, it is called Shakti. In the
West, it is called Spirit. Call
it anything you want….that spiritual energy is what you’re experiencing when
love rushes up into your
heart. That is what you’re experiencing when you’re
enthused by something and all
this high energy comes up inside of you. You should
know about this….[This energy
doesn’t get old.] Some
eighty-year old people have the energy and enthusiasm of a child….What this
energy needs is openness and enthusiasm…..” (p.44, Singer) It seeks
expression.
He recommends
that we allow this energy to “wash over” the suffering and we allow this
whenever suffering arises. This energy keeps
flushing it and
flushing it, until eventually the
suffering becomes less and less significant. This is what our spiritual
practices need to be centered around: bringing this Higher Self, Higher
Power, or big “S” Self into
prominence more and more.
This is all the
being part of Higher Self
or Higher Power. And so, now I come back to Minot Savage’s “moral being,” or
the doing part of big “S”
self. He and the Religious Humanists knew we were more than what the old
time religions taught. We’re not
lowly creatures destined to depravity.
We are magnificent beings on a
path to becoming gods, if we would but walk that path! How do we know this?
Well, we discover it in our
work together.
This week, I
attended a committee meeting. Though the agenda was daunting, the ideas
flowed with non-judgment, enthusiasm followed, and plans were made.
Spirit was operating amongst us
magnificently. I think we all
left with a sense of great
appreciation and accomplishment.
It must have been
my week to experience
spiritual highs for I also went to a meeting at the Inter-Church Council
where clergy of vastly different denominations met with the chief of police,
the district attorney, a member of the Mayor’s office, and a community
organizer. We were there to plan the Peace Walk for Sunday, today, at
I notice that
Michael Singer’s book, The Untethered
Soul, is endorsed by many interfaith clergy. Rabbi Zalman Shalomi wrote,
“Deep spirituality is within your reach in this book. In it you will find
the mirror to see your unconditional, holy Self….” Yom Kippur begins today
at sundown. By today, Jews will have wanted to have made amends to anyone
they might have harmed since last Yom Kippur; this is their “atonement.” Or
we could express it as “at-one-ment”, which Rabbi Shalomi would identify as
being at one, or restored to, the
Holy.
Your church
offers you incredible opportunities to grow a soul, to express Spirit. You
do it on our Committees and at the events we participate in, in the name of
the church, such as the peace walk today in
Also, our
District has fall and spring conferences. These conferences have workshops
on spirituality and leadership. These are experiences that can build
leadership confidence in us. We
can attend the workshops and see people just like you sharing what they
know. You’ll listen without judgment and with enthusiasm and you’ll bring
back your ideas to us.
You are being a
leader when you sign up to be an usher or coffee host, organize a potluck,
launch or participate in a new program like the Green Sanctuary, or teach a
class in our church school. The workshops at the conferences give you lots
of information on Unitarian Universalism and how its principles are lived
out in what we do and I assure you that you will feel proud of what you
belong to. I encourage you gently, very much indeed, to attend. It is next
Saturday in Brewster and the flyers are on the table in the hallway. It
costs only $15, including lunch. We can organize a car pool for you. Don’t
miss this opportunity to help you grow your soul, your magnificent Spirit.
Seemingly solutionless problems can be solved more wholesomely when we do it
from the wise place of Spirit.
Mindful of the
boarder and wiser perspective within us, may we take the time to notice the
inner self and heed its counsel.
References
Lazarus.
The Sacred Journey: You and Your
Higher Self,
Singer,
Michael A. The Untethered Soul: the
Journey Beyond Yourself,
To begin your
Sacred Journey, the first step is love. It begins with self-love and expands
into loving others. The Sacred Journey involves giving love, receiving love,
and…being loved. (p.57)
Love is an
emotion and a state of being. It is both feeling and a level of
awareness….It is universal. (p.57)
Love is also an ideal….a
state of being or consciousness that you are always seeking. Though you will
never fully embrace the totality of love in your search, while you stretch
and reach, you become more and more of the ideal you pursue. You become more
and more the very love you seek. (p.58)
Love is a state
of doing and being….Give. Start giving to yourself and others in as many
ways as you can. Give physically, emotionally, intellectually, and
intuitively. Do not worry about getting…just really develop your ability to
give. (p.62)
With the momentum
of love, you then let go of the past….[so that you can]….turn to the future
fully aware that you live in the now. You develop elegance, gratitude, and
aliveness. The excitement increases. You begin to see your way home! (p.89)
…. It really is about you and your Higher Self….You have to decide whether
there is a Higher Self….Only you
can decide. (p.93)
As well as accepting the reality of your Higher Self, you need to understand the importance of connecting with it. [But why do it?] (p.94) The world is filled with solutionless problems. More and more you are aware that as one solution is proposed, it tends to create ten more problems….Linear logic needs to be replaced with exponential visionary thinking. (p.99)
© The Rev. Ann C. Fox