An open mind

March 6, 2011 - 10:15am

Service leader Laurie Stuart will present a multi-generational service that explores the Unitarian Universalist emphasis of an open mind and the many paths to truth and meaning. Utilizing song, story and ritual, the service will examine the balance of holding critical thought and perception with the spiritual benefits of living with an open mind and heart. The service is suitable for all ages.

The fellowship meets at the Berlin Township Community Center on the Milanville Road in Beach Lake. Light refreshment follow the one-hour service.

Welcome:

Welcome to the Upper Delaware Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on this first Sunday in March. Today we are continuing with our tradition of having a multi-generational service. And today’s service is entitled Open Mind. It mirrors the children’s concept that we are the church of the open mind – the church where you are free to embark on your own quest for truth and meaning. We do this in the context of a liberal religious congregation which celebrates creative worship, good works and individual expression to build a sustainable and just world. We do this in relation to each other and the community at large.

Call to Worship:

As many of you know, my process of creating a service is to consider the topic, do research, and find different pieces that go together. I look for songs and stories. I look for videos. I try to consider every aspect of the topic, and look at it in a variety of ways. You might say that I look at it with an open mind. I gather pieces, throughout the week, and then in the end, put it together. Sometimes, all of the pieces that I gather don’t end up in the service. So not only do I have to have an open mind in gathering my material, I have to be willing to let some of the pieces go because in the end, they just don’t fit.

And sometimes I work for days, without finding a common key. That’s what happened to me this week. It wasn’t until I stumbled on Twinkle, Twinkle and considered what it was to wonder that I found a clue as to how to think about open mind. And that was when I considered a riddle. Riddles are complex word games that force us to think creatively, using both our imagination and our intellect. And it is my contention that the manner in which we apply ourselves to riddles forms the basis of an open mind. Having an open mind does not mean that we have mushy thinking or simply accept every bit of information that comes to us as equal. Solving a riddle asks us to wonder and to consider what we are seeing in terms of what we know and what we can imagine. It asks us to make connections between things that sound the same, look the same, or are twisted together in some fashion.

Consider the following:

What can run but never walks,
has a mouth but never talks,
has a head but never weeps,
and has a bed
but never sleeps?

Here’s another one:
A cowboy rides into town on Friday, stays two days, and rides out on Friday. How can that be?

Chalice Lighting:

Children’s Chalice Lighting
(Words and motions by Patty Collins)
We come together
(Bring hands together and clasp them in front of you.)
To remind ourselves
(Touch your index and middle fingers to your temple.)
To treat all people kindly
(Spread arms wide, encircling.)
Because they are our brothers and sisters,
(Fold your arms across your chest, in a hug.)
To take good care of the earth,
(Raise your arms above your head, in a circle.)
Because it is our home,
(Fold your arms, holding your elbows, and motion as though rocking a baby.)
To live lives full of goodness and love,
(Put both hands over your heart.)
Because that is how we will make our world
(Raise your arms above your head, in a circle.)
The best place it can be.
(Clap your hands quietly.)

First Reading:

Rainy Day, Sunny Day
(A story from the scripture, as told by Venerable Master Hsing Yun)
There was once an old lady who cried all the time. Her elder daughter was married to an umbrella merchant while the younger daughter was the wife of a noodle vendor. On sunny days, she worried, "Oh no! The weather is so nice and sunny. No one is going to buy any umbrellas. What will happen if the shop has to be closed?"

These worries made her sad. She just could not help but cry. When it rained, she would cry for the younger daughter. She thought, "Oh no! My younger daughter is married to a noodle vendor. You cannot dry noodles without the sun. Now there will be no noodles to sell. What should we do?" As a result, the old lady lived in sorrow everyday.

Whether sunny or rainy, she grieved for one of her daughters. Her neighbors could not console her and jokingly called her "the crying lady."

One day, she met a monk. He was very curious as to why she was always crying. She explained the problem to him. The monk smiled kindly and said, "Madam! You need not worry. I will show you a way to happiness, and you will need to grieve no more."

The crying lady was very excited. She immediately asked the monk to show her what to do. The master replied, "It is very simple. You just need to change your perspective. On sunny days, do not think of your elder daughter not being able to sell umbrellas but the younger daughter being able to dry her noodles. With such good strong sunlight, she must be able to make plenty of noodles and her business must be very good. When it rains, think about the umbrella store of the elder daughter. With the rain, everyone must be buying umbrellas. She will sell a lot of umbrellas and her store will prosper."

The old lady saw the light. She followed the monk’s instruction. After a while, she did not cry anymore; instead, she was smiling everyday.

From that day on, she was known as "the smiling lady."

In our service that we celebrate today – we will explore the idea that we can shift our thoughts, and in maintaining an open mind come to a different way, perhaps, of experiencing our day. Just like the woman with the two daughters.

The Cow and the Rope
By Mata Amritanandamay

There was a cowherd boy who took his cows to the meadows every morning and brought them back to the cowshed at the end of the day.

One evening, as he was tying the cows up for the night, the boy found that one of them was missing her rope. He feared that she might run away, but it was too late to go and buy a new rope. The boy didn't know what to do, so he went to a wise man who lived nearby and sought his advice. The wise man told the boy to pretend to tie the cow, and make sure that the cow saw him doing it. The boy did as the wise man suggested, and pretended to tie the cow. The next morning the boy discovered that the cow had remained still throughout the night. He untied all the cows as usual, and they all went outside. He was about to go to the meadows when he noticed that the cow with the missing rope was still in the cowshed. She was standing on the same spot where she had been all night. He tried to coax her to join the herd, but she wouldn't budge. The boy was perplexed. He went back to the wise man who said, "The cow still thinks she is tied up. Go back and pretend to untie her."

The boy did as he was told, and the cow happily left the cowshed.

Sometimes we are bound by things we don’t know.

Nasrudin the Smuggler

Nasrudin the smuggler was leading a donkey loaded with bundles of straw on its back.

An experienced customs inspector newly posted on that border check-post spotted Nasrudin and his donkey crossing the border.

"Halt," the customs inspector said, "Who are you? What is your business here?"

"I am an honest smuggler!" replied Nasrudin.

"Oh, really?" said the customs inspector, "Well, let me search those straw bundles. If I find something in them, then you will have to pay customs duty."

"Do as you wish, "Nasrudin replied, "but you will not find anything in those bundles."

The inspector intensively searched and took apart the bundles, but could not find a single thing in them. He had no choice but to say embarrassingly to Nasrudin, "You may pass the border."

Nasrudin crossed the border with his donkey while the curious and annoyed customs inspector looked on.

The very next day, Nasrudin once again came to the border with a straw-carrying donkey.

The inspector saw Nasrudin coming and thought, "I'll catch him for sure this time."

He checked the bundles of straw again, and then searched through Nasrudin's clothing, and even went through the donkey's harness. But once again he came up empty handed and had to let Nasrudin pass.

This same pattern continued every day for several years, and every day Nasrudin wore more and more extravagant clothing and jewelry that indicated he was getting wealthier.

Eventually, the customs inspector retired from his job after several years of service, but even in retirement he still wondered about the man with the straw-carrying donkey.

"I should have checked that donkey's mouth more extensively," he thought to himself, "Or maybe he hid something in the donkey's rectum."

Then one day he spotted Nasrudin's face in a crowd. "Hey," the inspector said, "I know you! You are that man who came to my border check-post everyday for all those years with a straw-carrying donkey. Please, sir, I must talk to you."

Nasrudin came towards him and the retired customs inspector continued talking. "My friend, I always wondered what you were smuggling past my border everyday. Just between you and me, you must tell me. I am retired now but I must know just to satisfy my curiosity. Please tell me what you smuggling were for all those years under my very nose?"

"Donkeys," Nasrudin said triumphantly, "I was smuggling donkeys!"

Sometimes we have to change our thinking, and examine the obvious.

Nasrudin and the Key

One blistering afternoon, under the blazing sun, people saw Mulla Nasrudin crawling on his knees in the middle of a road in broad daylight frantically searching for something.

The crowd observed him curiously for some time and then an inquisitive man asked him, "What are you searching for, Mulla?"

"I've lost my key," replied Mulla Nasrudin.

Being of a helping nature the man joined Mulla Nasrudin in searching for the lost key and soon there were a large number of people on all fours searching for the elusive key.

An extensive search was carried out but the key was not found, so someone in the crowd asked Nasrudin, "Mulla, do you remember where you lost the key?"

"I lost the key in basement of my house," replied Mulla Nasrudin matter-of-factly.

"What? You lost the key in the basement of your house?" the astonished crowd asked, "Then why are you searching for the key here in the middle of the road?"

"Because there is more light here," replied the wise Mulla Nasrudin.

Sometimes we have to be willing to look for things in less familiar places.

Homily/Meditation:

I was speaking to Maya’s mother, Kathy Grady, last night at the SkyDog Supper Club and I told her about today’s service and how I thought that riddles were a very good example of how to have and use an open mind. She told me that she had just read something somewhere that was kind of saying the same thing. It was four questions, she said, that the article said that adults get wrong and children get right. She said that she would try to find it for me and send it.
Well, she went home from the potluck supper and found them; she had read them in the Farmers’ Almanac:

How Would You Answer These Four Questions?
90 percent of adults get every one wrong, but preschoolers do well!
Question #1: How would you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
The correct answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. (This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.)

Question #2: How would you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
The correct answer: Same as above? Wrong. Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant, and close the door. (This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.)

Question #3: The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All animals attend, except one. Which animal does not attend?
The correct answer: The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. (This tests your memory.)

Question 4: There is a river you must cross, but it is known to be frequented by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage?
The correct answer: You jump in the river and swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the animal conference. (This tests whether you learn from your mistakes.)

So what do we make of all this?

As Unitarian Universalists, we are challenged to have an open mind. We are challenged to use what we know, what we have learned, and what we imagine, to build a better world, a more just world for ourselves, our family, our neighbors, our community. We are challenged to consider different ways of learning, different ways of seeing the world. We find meaning through the stories that have their origins in different cultures. We share our thoughts and learning with other people, like I did with Maya’s mother, and we help each other grow in our understanding of the world.

As one of our songs in our hymnal has a line in it – mystery, mystery, life is a riddle and a mystery.

Closing:

Let us be light-hearted and loving, see what challenges us as a riddle and use our special gifts to help the earth be all that it can be. With an open, curious and searching mind, we can be like that Twinkle, twinkle the little star, shedding light in the world, together in a night sky to help fellow travelers find their way home. This we will do until the sun comes up and we meet again.

Last riddle: What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in a thousand years?

Sermon PDF:

2011-open-mind.pdf