Death -- The Great Mystery of Life...

"On the day I die, don’t say he’s gone. Death has nothing to do with going away.

The sun sets, and the moon sets but they’re not gone.

Death is a coming together.

The human seed goes down into the ground like a bucket,

and comes up with some unimagined beauty.

Your mouth closes here, and immediately opens

with a shout of joy there."

--Rumi

Ah, death.  This is the October theme at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kern County, where I serve as Consulting Minister.  

Looking at a monthly theme is a time of wonder and awe for me, and this month I must reflect on death and what it means.  Having recently experienced the death of my father, this theme could not come at a more relevant time in my life.

Like the Rumi poem, I tend to think of death and rebirth together.  Or maybe I want to believe that something will come out of the death.  Not just pain for those left behind.  Not just the hope of a heaven in which we will all be reunited.  Not just a life in which we die and…”that’s all folks!”  Somehow, I long to know that my loved ones will come back to me reincarnated -- whether in another form -- but back to me because I miss them profoundly.  

As I write this, I cannot help but remember the many conversations I have had with my mother regarding the death of my father.  A few weeks ago, we remembered his image, lying there in the hospital bed.  An image that will forever be imprinted in my memory.  

He was pronounced dead before we arrived at the hospital in the middle of the night.  I held his hand and cried and said my last goodbyes.  But to whom or what?  He was not there.  That was the shell.  His temple, so to speak.  The husks, within mystical Judaism, that contain lights --  and that we are to gather together to create G-d.  So, does this mean G-d is present in life only?   

Ah, death.  The great mystery of life.  We fear it.  We find blessings and relief within it.  We feel guilt and sadness and experience tears and laughter as we remember the dead.  As the fellowship looks more closely at this theme this month, I pray that we never forget to live every minute to its fullest.  Easy to say, yet more difficult to actually do.

Of course, no October can go by, especially with a theme of death, without looking at Halloween or All Hallows Eve/Samhain and various festivals of the dead throughout the world. Perhaps, one of my favorite holidays will bring comfort as I don my favorite annual costume and trick or treat with my son.  We love to watch scary movies, attend Halloween parties, and even visit Disneyland to see the creative costumes of “Cast Members.”  

Let me look toward the festivities of October with wonder and awe as I learn more about death and life, so that I can live out my call.  Perhaps, this month of studying death will lead me to a rebirth of my commitment to this beautiful faith of Unitarian Universalism.    

Namaste and may you find life within death this October,

Summer  

Forgive Me

THE POET ASKS FORGIVENESS
by
Fay Zwicky

Dead to the world I have failed you
Forgive me, traveller.
Thirsty, I was no fountain
Hungry, I was not bread
Tired, I was no pillow
Forgive my unwritten poems:
the many I have frozen with irony
the many I have trampled with anger
the many I have rejected in self-defence
the many I have ignored in fear
unaware, blind or fearful
I ignored them.
They clamoured everywhere
those unwritten poems.
They sought me out day and night
and I turned them away.
Forgive me the colours
they might have worn
Forgive me their eclipsed faces
They dared not venture from
the unwritten lines.
Under each inert hour of my silence
died a poem, unheeded

September is a time for change. The summer is over and school begins again -- reminding us of time and order. Some will begin a new career. Some -- a new ministry.  Others will just begin, again.
There are new possibilities with September.  Yet, I am reminded that it is the month for Yom Kippur in which the Jewish peoples ask for forgiveness from God and others.  This requires humbling oneself before God and others.  It is, also, the first of monthly themes that will be explored in worship at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Kern County, Bakersfield, where I serve as minister.

Forgiveness. It’s a difficult concept to fully
grasp. Not so easy to do.

In the aforementioned poem by Fay
Zwicky, a Jewish writer, she asks for
forgiveness for the poet within. She
apologizes for not writing and ignoring the
poems that were clamoring to be written. I
wonder, at this time of change, what might
we forgive of ourselves so we can begin,
again. What have you left undone? What
part of you is clamoring to be expressed?

For me, it is writing more. For me, it is
sending my manuscript to a publisher, and
facing possible rejection. Can I forgive
myself for ignoring the muse within? Can
I forgive myself for not sending the
manuscript yet? Can I begin, again, and
face this time of change with wonder and
open arms -- open to the possibilities of
transformation when I forgive myself?

May your September be filled with
forgiveness and new beginnings,
Summer

Spring is Rebirth and Re-Commitment!

The sun is shining upon our faces, the days are getting longer, the smell of jasmine is in the air -- all reminding us that spring is here.  What does this time of year symbolize? 

For some of us, it is a reminder of life.  We have come out of the dormant and cold days of winter.  Like a flower we emerge from underground and greet the day.  I

t is that time of year for rebirth.  It is the time of year when we look back through the winter of our lives and affirm that we will emerge whole, transformed, ready to take on life.  

For me, this spring is a reminder of my commitment to parish ministry.  I remember the sermon in which I explored the possibilities of "congregations and beyond."  I emerge re-committing myself to this vision of Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) President Peter Morales.  

It was only a little over a week ago when Morales reminded me of this concept again.  I was at a conference for ministers, religious educators and musicians that identify as multicultural, in which Morales spoke to an expansion of vision of the UUA and our congregations.  

There was a sense of hope in transforming our world and I, lovingly, remembered how the congregation where I serve in La Crescenta affirmed their commitment to justice and transformation of society, as we danced out into the streets.  This was our collective rebirth as a community of love who dared to carry on the previous visions of our Unitarian Universalist forbears.  

How will you experience rebirth in your life?  What re-commitments will you make this spring?

My prayer for you is this:  May you feel transformation within your life and the lives of your loved ones...

Namaste and blessed be,

Summer