First Parish Unitarian UniversalistDifferences as Blessings
A Sermon Preached by the Reverend Diane Teichert
First Parish Unitarian Universalist - Canton, MA
April 28, 2002
(due to time constraints, much of this was not actually delivered)
We've had quite the week here at First Parish! A good many of us are pretty tired by now, but it's been fun, educational, inspiring, tasty, artistic, emotional, entertaining.
and it's been a lot of work!
For those of you who missed some or all of Diversity Days 2002, we offered a very varied fare. Whereas last year, the focus of our Diversity Days was on racial and ethnic diversity among youth in our community, this year it was on diversity in terms of sexual orientation, also focusing on youth.
On Monday evening, we held a forum with the authors of the book When the Drama Club is Not Enough and two high school aged students from the Safe Schools Program speakers bureau. We learned about how some schools in MA are creating environments in which gay, lesbian and youth who are struggling with their sexual identities may feel safe and affirmed for who they are, where bullying (and worse) behaviors are not tolerated. Cable 8 covered this event, so we can feel proud that we have made it available to the entire Canton community.
On Wednesday evening, we showed the new documentary video, just out from the Matthew Shepard Foundation, called "Out in the Cold," about run-away gay and lesbian teens who are living on the streets in America, most of them kicked out by their parents. We learned that there are an estimated 500,000 of them and that thirteen die each day-due to street violence, suicide, overdose, or disease spread by prostitution and promiscuity-rejected by those whose love they believed they could count on!
On Friday night, in the Parish Hall we offered a Coffee House with singer-songwriter and lesbian Maggie who is known for her contagious jazz-influenced rock and pop music, and we displayed upstairs "The Shared Heart" photography exhibit which you may view today in the Parlor. The Shared Heart is a touring exhibition of photographs with text, of and by forty young people who are facing the challenges of growing up lesbian, gay, and bisexual and are living fulfilling, empowered lives. The images and text that comprise the exhibit tell stories of courage and victory- expressing the fundamental needs all people share for acceptance, respect, and freedom of expression.
During the day yesterday, we hosted the Masons' Childhood Identification Program in association with the Canton Police Department and American Dental Association, which provides families with a means to ensure the identification of their children in case of an emergency, plus we produced puppet shows with these fantastic puppets created by Myrtle and her helpers, and created a Bistro with homemade food from around the world as well as crowd-pleasing fried donuts!
And, finally, last night, we hosted a dance put on by the Canton High School's Gay-Straight Alliance for GSA's from around the area. They hired a DJ and brought in pizza, and enlivened our old 1875 parish hall with their youthful energy, glad for a place to meet each other and have a good time in ways they feel they can't at regular high school dances. If you don't know what a Gay-Straight Alliance is, it's an extra-curricular activity, with an advisor and student leaders like any other after-school organization, that promotes a safe, and hopefully even affirming, environment at the school for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, those who are struggling with their sexual identity, and their straight allies. There are GSA's at many Massachusetts high schools.
I think it means a lot that we offered our First Parish hospitality to the GSA, kind of like when Xander befriended Zankey, the lonely red greenasaurus, in Glynnis' story this morning,
"You might be tall, and your skin is lumpy,
but I don't care that you are red,
And rather lumpy.
Yes, your feet are big,
but your head is not that small.
And I do like you, Zankey,
just the way you are!"
In describing the weeks' events, I shouldn't be saying "we" did this or that because it was YOU-a few shouldered the most responsibility (and here I must acknowledge the incredible effort of Peggy and Elizabeth), but members of the Social Action, Adult RE, Program, Buildings and Grounds, Membership and Religious Education committees did their parts and MANY of you as individuals helped in a myriad of ways, including Myrtle and her puppet-makers, sign-maker extraordinaire Elaine, stage-setter uppers, exhibit transporters, cooks and cleaner-uppers, and dance chaperones, and more, and that is how it all came together in the end!
Most of us were disappointed in the turnout at our events. The two evening educational programs were attended almost exclusively by First Parish folks. And though the Friday night coffee house crowd was enthusiastic, it was small. The Child Identification Program saw far fewer numbers of families than expected, thus our programs yesterday did not get the exposure we'd hoped for. Only the GSA dance was an unqualified turn-out success. Perhaps, though, if someone had to be disappointed, better that it was us and not the young people who, after all, were our concern throughout the week!
Whether Canton wasn't ready for our message, whether our publicity could have been better, or whether other factors played into the disappointing turnouts, the morning after is too soon for that discussion. In a few weeks, when everyone is caught up on their sleep and laundry and chores at home, we can hold a debriefing session like we did after last year's Diversity Days, to evaluate and learn from our experience. For now, it's important to take to heart that this work, the work of justice for gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, is not easy and won't happen quickly.
At a spiritual level, to keep going despite disappointment, three things help a lot.
One is enjoying and valuing the process, so that reaching our goals is not the only measure of success. In the process, it is the spirit of our relationships as we work together that is rejuvenating. Today we celebrate the spirit of creativity and cooperation and how mutual understanding and even friendships develop in the process of working for justice!
Second is to extend the spirit of our relationships-the spirit of life and of love-toward those we are trying to help and those we are trying to change. In the face of disappointment, sometimes we feel anger towards ourselves, but let's not go there: it too easily becomes despair.
Sometimes, in the face of disappointment, we feel anger towards those we were hoping to reach and teach, but let's not go there, either: anger will surely diminish any potential for future communication! It becomes a communal spiritual practice, then, to extend not anger but love toward the community around us and in our work to develop real relationships in which transformation may take place.
Third is to pace ourselves for the long haul with time for exercise, meditation, gardening, family time, whatever renews the spirit and heals the soul. Today we celebrate the power of worship to renew our spirits and heal our souls.
Why is "doing diversity work" so difficult? Why does the incredible diversity of humanity sometimes seem like a problem or a weight to shoulder, and not something to celebrate?
I can think of two reasons.
One, "diversity" may feel like a problem because here at First Parish we don't have much of "it" and feel we should. I'll return to that point later.
Two, the reality is that when we begin to learn about differences among people, it comes to light that there are built in advantages for some folks and disadvantages for others, based on those differences, but due to no inherent betterness or worseness of some people versus others. This, we realize, is unjust.
Once injustice is realized, work is in store: it's work to suppress knowledge of injustice and it's work to right the wrongs. That's true for those with the advantages as well as for those with the disadvantages-for everybody, either suppressing knowledge or working to right the wrongs takes energy.
Suppressing knowledge of injustice uses up precious energy because it goes against our instincts toward fairness and wholeness, not to mention our principles and purposes as UU's.
On the other hand, working for justice requires energy too.
How (I ask myself and you), how would you rather use your energy: to suppress knowledge or to work for justice?
A few minutes ago, when Russ was telling the "good news' about the success of Norwood-Walpole Citizens for All Families in convincing their state rep John Rogers not to re-file his ban on gay marriages, I felt excited and proud. That was one piece of very good work and isn't it grand that UU's were an important part of it? Not just Russ and his wife Linda, but also Gisele and Giuseppe, Kevin and Nancy, all First Parish members, plus the UU minister in Braintree who happens to live in Norwood, Kathy, and her husband.
That piece of very good work took energy, yes, plus intelligence, organization, perseverance, and commitment. And, wow! It's something to celebrate. A concrete victory for the cause of justice! And UU's helped to make it happen! Let the people say AMEN!
And where did they get the energy? Let us hope they got some here, right here, in these pews, surrounded by this community of joy and sorrow, in this place of memory and hope. Let the people say AMEN!
For, indeed, one of the most important gifts our worship together can give us is the energy for such work.
For I do believe that what is truly important is what you do when you leave this place and not who sat next to you while you were here.
Do we each need to understand those from whom we are different? Yes! That's why we do Diversity Days, hold classes like the series last year called "Weaving the Fabric of Diversity," or the workshop on the "Bible and Gay Sex" last November, and that's why I've preached about racism and class issues and gay marriage and ableism, and, most importantly, it happens when we are just simply honest with each other about who we are.
Do we need to change ourselves? I say, Yes! If that's what it will take for us who are here now to be ready, with understanding, to embrace more persons of color or more lower-income people or more gays and lesbians, bisexual or transgender persons, I say Yes, lets change ourselves to be ready!
Is it our goal to attract more of such persons? Not exactly.
Our goal is to be doing the work of justice. May our co-workers in that effort join us for worship and fellowship, to replenish their energy. I hope they do. But, that's not the goal.
I'm with our recently elected President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, Rev. Bill, when he declared, "Who we are is not the question; the question is what we are called to do."
So, today, it's time to celebrate, to celebrate life, as it always says at the top of our order of worship-but on this day to celebrate what we've been called to do, to celebrate us, you, all our differences, all our commonalities, all the hard work, all we've learned, all we've accomplished, and all the cooperation and energy that made Diversity Days 2002 happen!
Like in the poem we heard earlier, to which I've added one more stanza, we've done it to improve the world for others, but we've made ourselves happier too by doing this work. The poem ended,
Zankey had never been so happy
When they went off to play.
They were both alike
But in a different way.
And, I'm taking the liberty of adding:
And I suspect that Xander, too,
Had never been so gay
As off he went with Zankey
His new friend on that day.