A Social Action Meditation

In the midst of checking your e-mail, can the sacred break in?

Take a second, and examine how you feel right now. What's in your head? What is your body experiencing?

When I check my e-mail, my goal is clear: clean up my inbox so that I don't have anything hanging over my head. Particularly when it comes to “e-newsletters” like this one, I skim as quickly as possible. If I ever stop and see how I feel, and sense what my body is telling me, it makes me cringe. There is tension and stress. My shoulders are up by my ears, and my teeth are clenched. My mind is racing, but getting nowhere. If I'm honest about it, I might as well just delete most of the e-mails, my stress is so high that it prevents me from getting very much information or enjoyment out of them.

Hearing the words “social action” can do that to me, too. I think about how much I'm not doing, how far my efforts fall short of my goals. I think about the chaotic messiness of social action, which is particularly acute in many of our churches. I think about my inability or unwillingness to do more.

Now take another second, and breathe deeply. Close your eyes, and imagine lighting a candle. Recall the stillness of the prayer the last time you went to church. Take just a few seconds.

If you did take that break, however briefly, I suspect that your moment was transformed. For me, it feels as if the light of the world came in and illuminated my inner spaces. The larger perspective of my best self made itself known. I was buried, but by simply stretching myself out I realized that I had only been surrounded by confetti, which now shimmers in the sunlight as it falls away.

Can you take a few more seconds, a read a slice of poetry, slowly and with intention, as poetry is meant to be read?

And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest and joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.
(From The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran)

A professor once described the difference between the frantic e-mail check and the succulent poetry reading as the difference between chronos, ordinary time, and kairos, sacred time. A thread that runs through many of the world's sacred traditions is the importance of kairos, and the potential to change all of our time into sacred time.

For many of us involved in social action at churches, nothing could be more helpful than a transformation of this sort. There are many ways for each of us to go about doing good in the world. But when we choose to do it at church, it has even a greater possibility of transcending itself and becoming sacred work.

If you are intrigued by the possibility of transforming your social action work from chronos to kairos, I invite you to join the small group that is convening for just this purpose. Starting Tuesday, February 24 at 7 pm at the Mass Bay District office at 182 Main Street in Watertown, we will continue every other week until May. Please contact me (grosenberg@mbduua.org) for more information or to RSVP.

Religious communities have the potential to play an important role in our social action. In addition to supporting the sacred aspect of social action, they can help us discern what social actions we should undertake, and how we should go about that work. On the flip side, whole communities can be transformed when they begin to see their social action as sacred work. When communities get together and reflect intentionally about their roles, as individuals and as a community, in social justice, the results can be powerful. I have been amazed by the great social justice work that is happening in the Mass Bay District, and beyond. You are truly transforming your communities and the world. I encourage you to see how the spirit of sacred time can allow your work to transform not only the lives of others, but your own life and community as well.

Resources

Sweet Dreams in America: Making Ethics and Spirituality Work. Sharon Welch, Routledge, 1999.
A traditional view of social action is that, through our work, the world will get better and better. But, Welch points out, “ we cannot know if we will succeed... How, then, do we work, with power and passion, for social justice without the assurances of eventual victory and without the ego- and group-building dynamics of self-righteousness and demonizing?”

The Prophetic Imperative: Social Gospel in Theory and Practice. Richard S. Gilbert, Skinner House, 2000.
Gilbert gives an historical and theoretical account of social action within the UU tradition. Then he presents models and resources for turning the theory into reality and for building on the rich legacy of UU social action.

In Our Hands: A Peace and Social Justice Program, Branch, Glodenberg, and Thomson. UUA, 1990.
This is a curriculum with resources for combining social justice with reflection and spirituality. It can be used as a package for an adult education offering or a social action committee retreat. Or you can pick and choose exercises, resources and reflections to bring an acknowledgement of sacred time into a regular committee meeting. Curricula are available for age ranges from 1st grade to adult.

When Youth Lead: A Guide to Intergenerational Social Justice Ministry (Plus 101 Youth Projects). Jill M. Schwendeman, UUA, 2007.
One way to make your social action work connect to the entire congregation, as well as to build a dynamic youth program, is to empower the youth to lead. This book explores the issues involved, gives concrete advice, and has those 101 projects ready to use.

Engaged Spirituality: Ten Lives of Contemplation and Action. Janet W. Parachin, Chalice, 1999.
Parachin presents biographical information and readings from ten historical figures from a variety of religious traditions who embody an integration of spirituality and action. Designed for use by groups, the book is organized around short readings, reflection questions, and suggestions for active follow-up. The historical figures include Howard Thurman, Elie Wiesel, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Rigoberta Menchú.

Transforming Church Boards into Communities of Spiritual Leaders. Charles M. Olsen, Alban, 1995.
This book was highlighted last month for the topic of leadership, but that includes social action leaders. Olsen presents ideas and resources for transforming the administrative aspect of social justice work into sacred time.