Reflection #123 (24th May at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
I’m not sure how many Unitarian churches will be marking Pentecost Sunday today – but it’s always been a story that has spoken to me – though I tend to focus on different aspects of it than are emphasised in more traditional interpretations. Many years ago, I read a sermon by the UU minister Robert Hardies, who makes that case that Pentecost is ‘the Creation Myth of Unitarianism’ because it describes ‘a diverse group of people, speaking about God in different languages’ who ‘come together with a… faith that though we speak many tongues, we will all be understood [and] we will all understand… [so] the Spirit is found in translation.’ That take really stuck with me, so I keep coming back to the story, though I want to take a different angle today, and use the story as a jumping-off point to talk about speaking up and speaking out.
The context of that passage we heard earlier, from the book of Acts (the Acts of the Apostles), is that Jesus had died, been resurrected, and then ascended into heaven. His followers, left to their own devices, were asking ‘what now?’ They were still living in a hostile environment, an occupied territory, under the Romans, and wishing their lives were better, the world was otherwise. Wishing there would be justice and peace. They got together to pray, and support one another, and make decisions about what to do next, now their leader was gone, now that it was up to them to act in the world.
And when they gather, the Spirit comes upon them, like great winds and fiery flames. Some dramatic power seizes them, and enables them to speak, with passion. And, crucially, it enables them to be heard. To be understood by all kinds of people. The apostles speak up and speak out with such zeal that bystanders think they must be drunk (even though it’s only nine in the morning as Peter points out a few verses later). This transformative moment sets them off on a journey of sharing their Good News. They go around sharing teaching, and prayers, and meals, living in close fellowship and (notably) sharing their wealth and resources in common to meet everybody’s needs.
Imagine being in that state – fired up and empowered by the Spirit – with a sense of purpose and clarity about your ‘Good News’ – in the face of dreadful circumstances. After a devastating loss, and in the midst of terrible, oppressive, political conditions.
It seems to me that these people were, by definition, followers: focused on Jesus, reliant on his guidance. They were not expecting to be left in charge, required to lead, and speak out! I’m guessing that most of them wouldn’t have felt up to the task (and I know that feeling). But as the old saying goes, ‘If not me, who? If not now, when?’
So how might this story speak to us in the here and now, as individuals, and collectively as Unitarians? One question I find myself asking is this: what is our this-worldly ‘Good News’? Have we got ‘Something to Say’? Something that speaks to the troubled world we find ourselves in? Something important that the Spirit is calling us to embody and express? When I asked myself that question (today) the words that came to me were: ‘It doesn’t have to be like this; there is a better way for us to live together on this planet.’ If I’ve got something to say, something I keep returning to, that’s probably the heart of it.
You might think ‘Is that it?!’ Or ‘that’s OK as far as it goes…’ Of course, that short statement needs a lot of unpacking! It’s a principle that plays out in every aspect of our individual and collective lives and it must be translated into thousands of choices that we make each day. We still need to work out what it looks like in practice. But the core of the message, as see it, is this: we must not submit to the oppressive and unjust forces that are crushing our humanity and ruining our planet. Destruction and cruelty is not inevitable; there is another, better, way to live, and we can discern that way together. In these times, I think that’s Good News we need to keep speaking out loud.
I wonder what your particular message to the world might be? Your ‘Good News’? Something that will help to counter the voices of division and derision all around us. You’ve got ‘something to say’, I’m sure of it. Some unique message for the world. And what about us as Unitarians? What are we called to say, collectively, to the world? I put a quote from UU minister Krista Taves on the front of today’s order of service and I want to share a slightly longer version now. She says: ‘It is time for us to be clear about what we stand for, because if we don’t, others will. If we continue to be quiet, we will be branded the religion that stands for nothing, where you can believe anything you want. We do stand for something. We stand for freedom, equality, and compassion. Unitarians have something to say and something to do. The time for silence is over.’
Taves makes a key point – there are plenty of loud voices out there spreading ideas which make the world worse for us all – and we can’t afford to sit on the sidelines, quietly disapproving, but letting those destructive messages go unchallenged. We must not let those who shout the loudest drown out the more compassionate voices. If we want to see a better world we must be courageous and speak our truth. All of us.
Another UU, religious educator Janeene Grohsmeyer, said this (and this quote comes from a piece that was directed at children and young people, so she really gets to the point, her language is pleasingly direct): ‘We believe every person should stand up and speak out for what they think is right and true. We believe everyone should have a say about matters that concern them. And no one should be put in jail for speaking out.’ Those final words might strike us particularly sharply right now, when people are being locked up in this country for speaking out in support of Palestine, or against fossil fuels.
As our readings from Audre Lorde and Vianne Valiente acknowledged, we might be too scared to speak up – we might fear making a fool of ourselves – we might fear being misunderstood, judged, or rejected by our peers – or dismissed and discredited (just like the apostles who were accused of being drunk) – we might simply fear being visible. But Lorde, having had a brush with mortality, shares the insight that pain and death ultimately come to us all, ‘our silence will not protect us’, so we must break the silence. We must face our fear and speak anyway, to connect, and to bridge across differences.
Donna Schaper, a UCC minister, makes a similar point in her book ‘Sacred Speech’, she writes of something that is often asked in the aftermath of terrible events: ‘“Why didn’t anybody say anything?” It’s a question we hear much too often. There are risks involved in “saying something”. Often “nobody said anything” because nobody was secure enough to take a risk. They – and we – thought that fear should prevail. Of course, when fear prevails, trouble multiplies. There are alternatives – and one of them is learning to speak the truth in love. Many of us think that if we “say something,” there will be retribution. We will find ourselves in more trouble. But we let fear rule us and end up in the very trouble we were trying to avoid. We internalise the oppression we fear may come from the outside.’ Words from Donna Schaper.
So what does it look like for us to ‘say something’? We don’t have to use a megaphone, address a demonstration or a rally, or even stand up here and preach from a pulpit. There are other ways – possibly more effective ways – for most of us to use our voice. Perhaps don’t get drawn into ‘bad faith’ debates on the internet if you can help it! We need to be aware that much of the media (not just social media) is a hostile environment which is engineered to waste people’s time and energy – to distort and demoralise – to reward ‘hot takes’, controversy, conflict, and rage. This tends to have the effect of causing thoughtful and sensitive people to simply withdraw and it drives nuanced speech out of public life. Contrast such hostile environments to the counter-cultural spaces we try to create here at Essex Church, where we take care with our speaking and listening, and try to give people enough time and space to think carefully about what they want to say.
Let’s cultivate more spaces where we speak positively about the things we care about, the values that guide us, and the vision of a better world that we want to help create. We have got something to say – and each one of us can speak up – not in shouting matches, but in conversation, with friends, family, acquaintances, strangers – sharing our message of freedom, equality, and compassion – and spreading the ‘Good News’. We never know what impact our words will have or what we might ultimately influence. Perhaps when we dare to speak in service of the Good, we will know that the Spirit is with us, and we will be heard and understood, like the apostles all those centuries ago.
And I’ll close with one last bracing quote – a call-to-action – from social activist Maggie Kuhn who charges us to speak with boldness and courage. She said this: ‘Leave safety behind. Put your body on the line. Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind – even if your voice shakes. When you least expect it, someone may actually listen to what you have to say.’ May it be so, for the greater good of all. Amen.
Reflection by Jane Blackall