Tag: music

Evening Offering

September 12, 2020 
As the Sun sinks to its rest and the shadows deepen,
I raise my hands and begin to chant …
AWEN …AWEN … AWEN


I reach out in blessing to the North, offering peace.
I turn to the South ... but wait!
In the woods behind me, a raucous grunting and trampling of leaves and brush.
What’s that? Who’s there?
We are your brother and sisters, the deer from the wood,
coming to drink from the stream.
Welcome, welcome!
(Cernunnos, Lord, open the way!)

The deer, the birds, 
a spider in its nearby (enormous) web, 
the wind, and the trees themselves 
join me as I light the evening lights, 
Saying our goodbyes to the spirits of the day
And honoring those who come with the dark.

Music, a choir singing
“Sure on this shining night of starmade shadows round … “
What’s that I see?
The field beside me blazes with tiny lights
As fireflies welcome the night in a wondrous glittering display.

With Cernunnos’ woodland company,
I pray for love and understanding
And make my solemn vow to the Shining Ones.

Thank you, thank you for joining me and offering me your blessing.
Please be welcome, 
May this always be a place of peace and safety. 
AWEN … AWEN … AWEN

Rainbow Spirits

June 26, 2017

img_0266-1For LGBTQIA folks all over the world, June is Pride Month. This morning I led a worship service at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church celebrating Pride and the colorful rainbow of LGBTQIA humanity. Here is a transcript of my sermon. (Links to source material are provided in the text.)

Rainbow Spirits: Celebrating Pride

Sermon – ORUUC – June 25, 2017
FOR PRIDE
Reading By Lois Van Leer

[http://www.uua.org/worship/words/reading/pride]

They will march, walk, wheel, dance, shimmy and shake
Block upon block of undulating color, flesh, banners, signs, clothing or lack thereof

Hands raised, hands linked, apart, together

Singing, shouting, chanting, silent,

Joyous, tearful, nervous, afraid, proud, defiant, angry, happy, delirious, tentative, ecstatic, courageous, brave, free
The stereotype

The unrecognizable

The flamboyant

The ordinary

The parent, the child

The runaway, the lost, the lonely, the found
Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Trans, Queer, Intersexed, Questioning

Allies

Those who taunt and jeer

Their banners of hate 10 feet tall:

“God made Adam and Eve; not Adam and Steve”

“Burn in Hell”

The other slogans:

“Straight but Not Narrow”

“I love my gay child”

“Standing on the Side of Love”
One day a year

One out of 365

Mardi Gras out of season

Festive, bacchanalian, tame,

Booths, food, shopping!
Underneath there is a history:

Resistance.

It was the marginalized of the marginalized,

Drag queens, transvestites, the butch and the femme

Who unlike Rosa Parks did not sit down,

But in their tired rage

Stood up, rose up

fought back

holding the police captive in the bars they had come to raid,

their weapons: their oppression, their hands, beer bottles

Stonewall

Six days of riots in New York

June 1969
A year later a march in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, L.A., San Fran

And now, any weekend in June, anywhere around the world, PRIDE
Why do we march?

For those who are not able

For those who have been murdered

For those who are ravaged by disease

For those who are still beaten, still taunted, still harassed, still victims still targets
Why do we march?

Because some truths ain’t self-evident

Because all men ain’t protected equal
And we love a good party…
They will march, walk, wheel, dance, shimmy and shake

Block upon block of undulating color, flesh, banners, signs, clothing or lack thereof

Hands raised, hands linked, apart, together

Singing, shouting, chanting, silent,

Joyous, tearful, nervous, afraid, proud, defiant, angry, happy, delirious, tentative, ecstatic, courageous, brave—
Free.

************

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a club in Greenwich Village that catered to the LGBTQ community. This was nothing new, bar raids happened frequently. In fact, the Stonewall Inn had been raided just a few days before. This time was different. For starters, the police ignored the arrangement with the bar’s owners to warn them of an impending raid, giving them time to cover the illegal activities going on inside the club. Thus, the bar’s staff and patrons were caught completely off-guard and unprepared.

Police raids had shut down most of the other clubs, leaving the Stonewall Inn as one of the few remaining places where LGBTQ folks could gather, drink, and dance. The bar was also one of the very few places that welcomed drag queens and LGBTQ youth. The raid went down as usual at first. People were rounded up, and arrested. Then a police officer struck a woman over the head, and incited six days of rioting from a community that had. HAD. ENOUGH. Tired of the way they were being treated, the community fought back.

Though the Stonewall riots were not the beginning of the gay rights movement, they were certainly a catalyst for renewed activism, leading to the establishment of organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and PFLAG. In June of 1970, on the one year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the first Pride parade was held in New York City. There were also marches Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and other cities.

Fast forward to 1978, San Francisco had just elected its first openly gay city supervisor, Harvey Milk, who had campaigned on a message of hope for LGBTQ youth. Milk challenged San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker to create a positive symbol symbol of pride for the gay community, an alternative to the upside-down pink triangle that had been used by the Nazis to identify, persecute, and murder homosexuals. Though it had been reclaimed as a symbol of pride (and is still widely used), the pink triangle, for many, represented persecution and death.

Baker’s original handmade flag had eight colored stripes: hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet; the colors of the rainbow, chosen because it was a symbol from nature. Gilbert Baker recalls the moment when the new flag was flown for the first time:

Raising it up and seeing it there blowing in the wind for everyone to see. It completely astounded me that people just got it, in an instant like a bolt of lightning – that this was their flag. It belonged to all of us. It was the most thrilling moment of my life. Because I knew right then that this was the most important thing I would ever do – that my whole life was going to be about the Rainbow Flag.

A few of Baker’s handmade flags were carried in that first Pride march in San Francisco in 1978. On November 27, 1978, San Francisco woke up to the news that city supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone had been assassinated. Galvanized by grief and rage, activists decided that the rainbow flag should be flown from the light poles on Market Street during the next Pride parade. Soon after, the now six stripe rainbow flag was visible all over the city. Whenever a symbol of hope and pride was needed, the rainbow flag appeared. Gilbert Baker described the flag as more than just cloth and stripes; putting the flag on a house or car is not just flying a flag, it’s taking action. On a personal note, when I was in grad school, I hung a rainbow flag in my window. I didn’t really think anything of it, but one night, a young woman told me seeing that flag hanging in the window every morning as she walked to class gave her hope and helped her realize that she wasn’t alone.

Gilbert Baker died this past March. He lived to see his creation become something much larger than himself, a symbol transcending sexuality, gender, race, and religion. Its universal nature is multiplied by Baker’s desire to share the flag with everyone, even if it meant not making a profit. He never trademarked it, nor did he attempt to monetize it. The Rainbow Flag has appeared on all sorts of products: coffee cups, bumpers stickers, shoes and clothing, and even as a reaction symbol on Facebook.
The Rainbow Flag has become a universal symbol of acceptance and peace. Singly, the colors represent a different aspect of human experience; together they form a beautiful tapestry of hope and pride.

I would like to close with a meditation on the different colors of the rainbow flag, adapted by H. Adam Ackley from a prayer by Cherry Kittredge and Patrick Cheng, and further adapted by me:
[http://jesusinlove.blogspot.com/2014/06/rainbow-christ-prayer-goes-nationwide.html]

The Rainbow Spirit embodies all the colors of the world. In mythology, rainbows bridge different realms: East and west, heaven and earth, queer and non-queer. So we celebrate each color of the rainbow.

Red Candle

Lighting a red candle: The red of the rainbow reminds us to LIVE FULLY a renewed Life rooted in Spirit. We seek the grace of healthy well-being. We are renewed in body, mind, and spirit as we follow our own inner light and live as the person we were born to be.

 

candleOrangeLighting an orange candle: The orange of the rainbow reminds us to be thankful for the gift of creativity, including the fire of sacred human sexuality, We are open and free us to pursue meaningful and grace-filled relationships. We forgive the past and now embrace this present moment, freely expressing our passion and our desire in creative, healthy, grace-filled ways.

Yellow CandleLighting a yellow candle: The yellow of the rainbow reminds us to REJOICE in the very gift of self, each of us filled with the divine spark, empowering us, radiating in and through us. We value and trust ourselves and each other enough to “come out” continually from secrecy, shame, and self-rejection into the light that illuminates and affirms the holy in each of us.

Green Candle

Lighting a green candle: The green of the rainbow reminds us to LOVE. When we seek to fill our hearts with untamed, compassionate love for all beings, including ourselves and each other, in every area of our lives, we give and receive love with happiness, balance, grace, and harmony.

Blue Candles

Lighting a blue candle: The blue of the rainbow reminds us to GIVE VOICE to the liberating spirit within us. We seek to use gracious, prophetic, active, and just voices to speak out with calm, confidence, and power against all that demeans and oppresses.

candlePurpleLighting a purple candle: The violet of the rainbow reminds us of the inner vision that seeks and knows the highest Truth, which is LOVE, the deep intuitive wisdom of the universe. Love grants us the grace of interdependence, freeing us from isolation.

 

As all the colors of the rainbow are connected and yet distinct, we are connected with each other and with all of creation in ways that bring peace, wholeness, balance, and nurture of our spirits. Like the rainbow, may we too embody and reflect light, color, beauty and promise. So may it be.

***********
[music starts]
Several years ago, UU minister and musician Jason Shelton wrote a song in response to President Bush’s announcement that he was supporting the introduction of a Constitutional amendment to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman. Following the 2008 shootings at Tennessee Valley UU, the song, Standing on the Side of Love, inspired a public advocacy campaign, initiated by the Unitarian Universalist Association, to promote respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Recently, Jason Shelton, in thoughtful, heartfelt response to concerns about the ableist language in the song, changed the words to Answering the Call of Love. It is those words we will sing together now. Please rise in body and/or spirit and let us join together in singing #1014 in the teal hymnal, Answering the Call of Love. [Click here for video.]

[Additional source material from: http://www.sftravel.com/article/brief-history-rainbow-flag and http://www.history.com/topics/the-stonewall-riots]

Rainbow Spirits: Celebrating Pride

June 25, 2017
Sermon – Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, June 25, 2017

For LGBTQIA folks all over the world, June is Pride Month. On June 25, 2017 I led a worship service at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church celebrating Pride and the colorful rainbow of LGBTQIA humanity. Here is a transcript of my sermon. (Links to source material are provided in the text.)

They will march, walk, wheel, dance, shimmy and shake
Block upon block of undulating color, flesh, banners, signs, clothing or lack thereof
Hands raised, hands linked, apart, together
Singing, shouting, chanting, silent,
Joyous, tearful, nervous, afraid, proud, defiant, angry, happy, delirious, tentative, ecstatic, courageous, brave, free

The stereotype
The unrecognizable
The flamboyant
The ordinary
The parent, the child
The runaway, the lost, the lonely, the found

Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Trans, Queer, Intersexed, Questioning
Allies
Those who taunt and jeer
Their banners of hate 10 feet tall:
“God made Adam and Eve; not Adam and Steve”
“Burn in Hell”
The other slogans:
“Straight but Not Narrow”
“I love my gay child”
“Standing on the Side of Love”

One day a year
One out of 365
Mardi Gras out of season
Festive, bacchanalian, tame,
Booths, food, shopping!

Underneath there is a history:
Resistance.
It was the marginalized of the marginalized,
Drag queens, transvestites, the butch and the femme
Who unlike Rosa Parks did not sit down,
But in their tired rage
Stood up, rose up
fought back
holding the police captive in the bars they had come to raid,
their weapons: their oppression, their hands, beer bottles
Stonewall
Six days of riots in New York
June 1969

A year later a march in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, L.A., San Fran
And now, any weekend in June, anywhere around the world, PRIDE

Why do we march?
For those who are not able
For those who have been murdered
For those who are ravaged by disease
For those who are still beaten, still taunted, still harassed, still victims still targets

Why do we march?
Because some truths ain’t self-evident
Because all men ain’t protected equal

And we love a good party…

They will march, walk, wheel, dance, shimmy and shake
Block upon block of undulating color, flesh, banners, signs, clothing or lack thereof
Hands raised, hands linked, apart, together
Singing, shouting, chanting, silent,
Joyous, tearful, nervous, afraid, proud, defiant, angry, happy, delirious, tentative, ecstatic, courageous, brave—

Free.

For Pride, Lois Van Leer (http://www.uua.org/worship/words/reading/pride)

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a club in Greenwich Village that catered to the LGBTQ community. This was nothing new, bar raids happened frequently. In fact, the Stonewall Inn had been raided just a few days before. This time was different. For starters, the police ignored the arrangement with the bar’s owners to warn them of an impending raid, giving them time to cover the illegal activities going on inside the club. Thus, the bar’s staff and patrons were caught completely off-guard and unprepared.

Police raids had shut down most of the other clubs, leaving the Stonewall Inn as one of the few remaining places where LGBTQ folks could gather, drink, and dance. The bar was also one of the very few places that welcomed drag queens and LGBTQ youth. The raid went down as usual at first. People were rounded up, and arrested. Then a police officer struck a woman over the head, and incited six days of rioting from a community that had. HAD. ENOUGH. Tired of the way they were being treated, the community fought back.

Though the Stonewall riots were not the beginning of the gay rights movement, they were certainly a catalyst for renewed activism, leading to the establishment of organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and PFLAG. In June of 1970, on the one year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the first Pride parade was held in New York City. There were also marches Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and other cities.

Fast forward to 1978, San Francisco had just elected its first openly gay city supervisor, Harvey Milk, who had campaigned on a message of hope for LGBTQ youth. Milk challenged San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker to create a positive symbol symbol of pride for the gay community, an alternative to the upside-down pink triangle that had been used by the Nazis to identify, persecute, and murder homosexuals. Though it had been reclaimed as a symbol of pride (and is still widely used), the pink triangle, for many, represented persecution and death.

Baker’s original handmade flag had eight colored stripes: hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet; the colors of the rainbow, chosen because it was a symbol from nature. Gilbert Baker recalls the moment when the new flag was flown for the first time:

Raising it up and seeing it there blowing in the wind for everyone to see. It completely astounded me that people just got it, in an instant like a bolt of lightning – that this was their flag. It belonged to all of us. It was the most thrilling moment of my life. Because I knew right then that this was the most important thing I would ever do – that my whole life was going to be about the Rainbow Flag.

A few of Baker’s handmade flags were carried in that first Pride march in San Francisco in 1978. On November 27, 1978, San Francisco woke up to the news that city supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone had been assassinated. Galvanized by grief and rage, activists decided that the rainbow flag should be flown from the light poles on Market Street during the next Pride parade. Soon after, the now six stripe rainbow flag was visible all over the city. Whenever a symbol of hope and pride was needed, the rainbow flag appeared. Gilbert Baker described the flag as more than just cloth and stripes; putting the flag on a house or car is not just flying a flag, it’s taking action. On a personal note, when I was in grad school, I hung a rainbow flag in my window. I didn’t really think anything of it, but one night, a young woman told me seeing that flag hanging in the window every morning as she walked to class gave her hope and helped her realize that she wasn’t alone.

Gilbert Baker died this past March. He lived to see his creation become something much larger than himself, a symbol transcending sexuality, gender, race, and religion. Its universal nature is multiplied by Baker’s desire to share the flag with everyone, even if it meant not making a profit. He never trademarked it, nor did he attempt to monetize it. The Rainbow Flag has appeared on all sorts of products: coffee cups, bumpers stickers, shoes and clothing, and even as a reaction symbol on Facebook.
The Rainbow Flag has become a universal symbol of acceptance and peace. Singly, the colors represent a different aspect of human experience; together they form a beautiful tapestry of hope and pride.

I would like to close with a meditation on the different colors of the rainbow flag, adapted by H. Adam Ackley from a prayer by Cherry Kittredge and Patrick Cheng, and further adapted by me:
[http://jesusinlove.blogspot.com/2014/06/rainbow-christ-prayer-goes-nationwide.html]

The Rainbow Spirit embodies all the colors of the world. In mythology, rainbows bridge different realms: East and west, heaven and earth, queer and non-queer. So we celebrate each color of the rainbow.

Lighting a red candle: The red of the rainbow reminds us to LIVE FULLY a renewed Life rooted in Spirit. We seek the grace of healthy well-being. We are renewed in body, mind, and spirit as we follow our own inner light and live as the person we were born to be.

Lighting an orange candle: The orange of the rainbow reminds us to be thankful for the gift of creativity, including the fire of sacred human sexuality, We are open and free us to pursue meaningful and grace-filled relationships. We forgive the past and now embrace this present moment, freely expressing our passion and our desire in creative, healthy, grace-filled ways.

Lighting a yellow candle: The yellow of the rainbow reminds us to REJOICE in the very gift of self, each of us filled with the divine spark, empowering us, radiating in and through us. We value and trust ourselves and each other enough to “come out” continually from secrecy, shame, and self-rejection into the light that illuminates and affirms the holy in each of us.

Lighting a green candle: The green of the rainbow reminds us to LOVE. When we seek to fill our hearts with untamed, compassionate love for all beings, including ourselves and each other, in every area of our lives, we give and receive love with happiness, balance, grace, and harmony.

Lighting a blue candle: The blue of the rainbow reminds us to GIVE VOICE to the liberating spirit within us. We seek to use gracious, prophetic, active, and just voices to speak out with calm, confidence, and power against all that demeans and oppresses.

Lighting a purple candle: The violet of the rainbow reminds us of the inner vision that seeks and knows the highest Truth, which is LOVE, the deep intuitive wisdom of the universe. Love grants us the grace of interdependence, freeing us from isolation.

As all the colors of the rainbow are connected and yet distinct, we are connected with each other and with all of creation in ways that bring peace, wholeness, balance, and nurture of our spirits. Like the rainbow, may we too embody and reflect light, color, beauty and promise. So may it be.


[music starts]
Several years ago, UU minister and musician Jason Shelton wrote a song in response to President Bush’s announcement that he was supporting the introduction of a Constitutional amendment to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman. Following the 2008 shootings at Tennessee Valley UU, the song, Standing on the Side of Love, inspired a public advocacy campaign, initiated by the Unitarian Universalist Association, to promote respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Recently, Jason Shelton, in thoughtful, heartfelt response to concerns about the ableist language in the song, changed the words to Answering the Call of Love. It is those words we will sing together now. Please rise in body and/or spirit and let us join together in singing #1014 in the teal hymnal, Answering the Call of Love. [Click here for video.]

[Additional source material from: http://www.sftravel.com/article/brief-history-rainbow-flag and http://www.history.com/topics/the-stonewall-riots]

Singing the Journey

March 17, 2017

cropped-imagejpeg_2_6.jpgDuring March, my Unitarian Universalist congregation has been exploring the idea of Covenant. When I googled the word covenant, I came up with all kinds of definitions centered around contracts and legal agreements, with added notes of religion and sacred use. It is true that we often hear about covenant in a religious context, the rainbow in the Judeo-Christian story of Noah’s ark being a very famous example. In this context, a covenant is a very strict defining of responsibilities of the parties in a contract. I agree to do A, but you must in turn provide B. While these kinds of contracts are helpful, and even necessary, they fall short of covenant.

The English word covenant derives from the Latin word convenire, a word that literally translates come with. Other familiar words include convene and, a good witchy word,  coven. All three of these words connote being in relationship with others and being on a journey together. Sometimes, this does involve setting some guidelines, but more importantly, it involves a determination of how we want to be with each other. It’s not so much I do this, you do that as it is together, we will be this. To go deeper than a list of rules is both challenging and rewarding. Rules are easy, journeying together – not so much.

One of my jobs as Music Director of my church is choosing the hymns and songs we use in worship. As I was going through the hymnals looking for songs that fit the theme, I found that every song talked about covenant to some degree. Some songs, like Come, Sing a Song with Me or Come and Go with Me, address the idea head on, while others, Spirit of Life and Immortal Love, are more oblique. The Unitarian Universalist  hymnals, Singing the Living Tradition and Singing the Journey, speak of shared faith. Many Wiccan chants and songs emphasize our connection with the earth, each other, and the divine as working together to accomplish some purpose. The songs we listen to and sing apart from religious rituals imply that we as a culture are journeying together. I invite you to read the various texts of the songs you interact with to see how the songs address the idea of come with. How do the songs of our living tradition shape the journey we’re taking together?

Just for fun, here are a couple of video links: Come Together (Beatles) and Get Together (Youngbloods).

Bendithion llachar! (Welsh for Bright Blessings)

David

Songs against Hate

July 15, 2016

Last week, we heard about yet another black man killed by police. And immediately after that, we heard about another. As if that wasn’t enough, less than 24 hours later, a sniper killed five police officers who were working a Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas. A few weeks ago, it was a mass shooting at a gay bar in Orlando that left 50 people dead. As I write this, I’m being reminded on the news that one year ago today, a gunman opened fire on military recruiting stations in Chattanooga, killing five military personnel. And before that …

It seems that our lives are punctuated by acts of violence. We are constantly asking ourselves, “How much more? How many more people have to die?” We see politicians stirring up fear and hatred. We see religious folks carrying around signs, spewing hatred at funerals, LGBTQ pride events, and even at the UUA General Assembly. Thankfully, we also see people standing in front of the protesters, dressed as angels and, in their silence, speaking loudly about love.  We see a crowd of people assembled at a gay pride parade , shouting “Love, not hate,” overpowering the vile words coming out of megaphones. We see yet another group countering hate by singing hymns like Amazing Grace and Jesus Loves Me.

My response to the Orlando shooting ran the gamut of emotions, from raging anger to deep sadness. Though I’ve always supported the Black Lives Matter movement, I had never experienced the real import of it until I heard people trying to whitewash the LGBTQ community from our own story. For many of us, there was a feeling of overwhelming powerlessness and a strong desire to lash out at those who had hurt us; not just the shooter, but the culture and institutions that created him.

I turned, as I often do, to music. I searched out songs of peace and love on YouTube. Watching those videos and listening to the music, I found a way of dealing with all that raw emotion. And once again, I was reminded of music’s incredible power. Music speaks to us on a visceral level that words alone cannot. There are all kinds of studies, scientific and otherwise, suggesting that music, particularly singing, causes physical changes resulting in better physical and mental health. The ancient Greeks believed that listening to or playing in different modes led to behavioral patterns, an idea that is still around. For good or ill, music has been used throughout human history to rally people to a cause. Many of the great political movements in our own country have been accompanied by a soundtrack of songs, If I Had a Hammer and We Shall Overcome being just two examples.

As I listened to songs, I decided to put together a playlist that I could share and add to. The songs are in no particular order, other than the order I thought of them, and several friends have suggested additional songs. The songs cover a range of artists and genres, from the Judds to John Lennon. We have sung many of these at church, and I plan to program some of the others in the coming months. What songs speak to you about peace, love, and healing? Let’s keep adding to the list, so that the music of love overpowers the cacophony of fear and hate.

You can find the playlist at:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5cI3NOlEoerlwmMnuCugUT2Dauws-Jo4

Blessed Be,

David