Event: B2017 0625 Morning Worship 9AM CST Captions Provided by: Hear Ink Http://www.hearink.com Phone: 314 427 1113 **********DISCLAIMER********** THE FOLLOWING IS AN UNEDITED ROUGH DRAFT TRANSLATION FROM THE CART CAPTIONER'S OUTPUT FILE. THIS TRANSCRIPT IS NOT VERBATIM AND HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD. TO DO SO IS AN EXTRA FEE. THIS FILE MAY CONTAIN ERRORS. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE SPEAKER(S) FOR ANY CLARIFICATION. THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED TO ANYONE UNLESS YOU OBTAIN WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE OFFICE OR SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT IS PROVIDING CART CAPTIONING TO YOU; FINALLY, THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE USED IN A COURT OF LAW. **********DISCLAIMER********** >> Good Morning and welcome to our very special Sunday morning worship service. My name is Mark Vogel, and I am so honored to be this year's GA Choir Director. Are you ready for some inspiring music this morning? We couldn't do it without the help of our amazing . We're here to inspire you today. We invite you to rise in body or in spirit and join us as we sing and dance in true Orleans style, beginning with the rousing African‑American spiritual down by the Riverside. Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside Gonna study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more I ain't gonna study war no more Ain't gonna study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more Ain't gonna study war no more. Gonna lay down my burden Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Gonna lay down my burden Down by the riverside Gonna study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more I ain't gonna study war no more Ain't gonna study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more Ain't gonna study war no more. Gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Down by the riverside Gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside Gonna study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more I ain't gonna study war no more Ain't gonna study war no more. I ain't gonna study war no more. Ain't gonna study war no more Ain't gonna study war no more. Ain't gonna study war no more. Ain't gonna study war no more. [Applause] >> And while we are down by that riverside, let us "Wade In the Water." We know there is going to be trouble in that water. But let us have the courage to face those challenges that lie in our path. We invite you all to join in on the refrain. The choir will sing the verses. Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's gonna trouble the water. Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's gonna trouble the water. See that band all dressed in white. God's gonna trouble the water. The leader looks like an Israelite. God's gonna trouble the water. Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's gonna trouble the water. Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's gonna trouble the water. See that band all dressed in red. God's gonna trouble the water. It looks like the band that Moses led. God's gonna trouble the water. Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's gonna trouble the water. Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's gonna trouble the water. See that band all dressed in blue. God's gonna trouble the water. It must be the children a‑comin' through. God's gonna trouble the water. Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's gonna trouble the water. Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's gonna trouble the water. Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's gonna trouble the water. [Applause] Glory, glory, hallelujah! Since I laid my burden down. Glory, glory, hallelujah! Since I laid my burden down. Glory, glory, hallelujah! Since I laid my burden down. Glory, glory, hallelujah! Since I laid my burden down. Feel like shouting, "Hallelujah!" Since I laid my burden down. Feel like shouting, "Hallelujah!" Since I laid my burden down. Life is sweeter, so much sweeter Since I laid my burden down. Life is sweeter, so much sweeter Since I laid my burden down. Oh, when the Saints Go marching in Oh, when the Saints go marching in O Lord, I want to be in that number When the Saints go marching in Glory, glory, hallelujah! Since I laid my burden down. Glory, glory, hallelujah! Since I laid my burden down. Love is shining all around me Since I laid my burden down. Love is shining all around me Since I laid my burden down. [Applause] >> Spirit of life, spirit of love, come unto us. We call on the spirit of our ancestors our religious ancestors like Ballou and Channing Sophia Fahs and Ken Patton Ancestors who bequeathed to us a faith that promised love for all of us and saw hope in each of us. Our religious ancestors like Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, Ethelred Brown, Bill Jones and Marjorie Bowens Wheatley Ancestors who spoke from the margins and began to shape a faith, a hope and a love in which the margins hold the center. We call on our personal and family ancestors All those who have mothered and fathered and parented and helped shape us into the persons and the community that has gathered Here today. We call on a great cloud of witnesses, whose hope lives on through us. They are present within us and Somehow present also among us as we come together in this faith that is our religious home. As we come together, held in the chalice of this community inspired by the promise of love which we do not need to earn and the commitment to justice which is our abiding hope. >> Dear friends and community. It is with sadness that I share with you the news that two members of the UUA's information technology services staff were attacked last night in the French quarter. James Curran, our senior support specialist, was treated at the hospital and released. Tim Burn, our database specialist, remains hospitalized in serious condition. I and a number of senior staff were with Tim in the hospital last night and others, including our chaplains, are with him now. Tim's husband is in route to New Orleans from Boston. Our UUA staff are profoundly shocked and filled with concern for their colleagues. I would ask that all of us be mindful in this time not to overwhelm them with our questions about the incident as they continue their work at General Assembly, but to hold them lovingly in our hearts and in our prayers. And I ask that you join your hearts with me. Tim Burn needs all of our prayers. If you will open your hearts with me, let us join in a moment of prayer. Spirit of life, spirit of love, love that connects us all. We hold in our hearts or colleague, our friend in faith, Tim Burn, in this time. We offer our prayers for his strength and his healing. May he be surrounded by the light of healing energy and of love. May he feel the strength holding him from these 4,000 hearts lifting him up. Spirit of life and love, hold Tim, hold his partner, his family, his colleagues, his colleague James, and all of our love and in the larger love and light that holds all of us. Blessed be. And amen. Bright morning stars are rising Bright morning stars are rising Bright morning stars are rising Day is breaking in my soul. Oh, where are our dear fathers? Oh, where are our dear fathers? Oh, where are our dear fathers? Day is breaking in my soul. Oh, where are our dear mothers? Oh, where are our dear mothers? Oh, where are our dear mothers? Day is breaking in my soul. Bright morning stars are rising Bright morning stars are rising Bright morning stars are rising Day is breaking in my soul. >> Welcome everyone.welcome everyone to this worship. I want to greet the folks from the larger New Orleans community and from our congregations in the area who have decided to come and worship with us here this morning. [Applause] >> We gather in worship to nurture spirits, to renew our commitments, and to remind ourselves of who we are and whose we are. We father on this final day of this General Assembly. We gather in faith, in hope, and in love. Come now and let us worship together. This morning our story for all ages is in video form. >> As evening has descended on our "Bus Called Heaven" let us rise in body or in spirit as we join together to sing a vesper hymn of togetherness and celebration. Now on land and sea descending Brings the night its peace profound; Let our vesper hymn be blending With the holy calm around. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. Soon as dies the sunset glory Stars of heav'n shine out above Telling still the ancient story Their Creator's changeless love. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. Now, our wants and burdens leaving To the Care that cares for all Cease we fearing, cease we grieving; Quietly our burdens fall. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. As the darkness deepens o'er us Lo, eternal stars arise; Hope and faith and love rise glorious Shining in the spirit's skies. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. Jubilate! Jubilate! Jubilate! Amen. >> The first reading comes from Debra Frasier's picture book, On the Day You Were Born. Frasier was born in Vero Beach, Florida and now makes her home in North Carolina. >> On the eve of your birth Word of your coming passed from animal to animal. The reindeer told the Arctic terns Who told the humpback whales Who told the Pacific salmon Who told the monarch butterflies Who told the green turtles Who told the European eel Who told the busy garden warblers And the marvelous news migrated world wide. >> While you waited in the darkness Tiny knees curled to chin The Earth and her creatures With the Sun and the Moon All moved into their places Each ready to greet you The very first moment Of the very first day you arrived. >> On the day you were born The round planet Earth turned. Toward your morning sky Whirling past darkness Spinning the night into light. >> On the day you were born Gravity's strong pull held you to the Earth With a promise that you Would never float away . . . . . . while deep in space the burning Sun Sent up towering flames, lighting your sky From dawn to until dusk. >> On the day you were born The quiet Moon glowed and offered To bring a full, bright face Each month to your windowsill . . . . . . While high above the North Pole Polaris, the glittering North Store Stood still, shining silver light Into your night sky. >> On the day you were born The Moon pulled on the ocean below, and wave by wave A rising tide washed the beaches clean For your footprints . . . . . . while far out at sea Cloud swelled with water drops Sailed shore to shore, on a wind And rained you a welcome across Earth's green lands. >> On the day you were born A forest of tall trees collected the Sun's light in their leaves Where in silent mystery They made oxygen for you to breathe . . . . . . while close to your skin And as high as the sky Air rushed in and blew about Invisibly protecting you and all living things on Earth. >> On the day you were born, the Earth turned, the Moon pulled, the Sun flared, and then with a push You slipped out of the dark quiet Where suddenly you could hear . . . . . . a circle of people singing With voices familiar and clear . . . >> "Welcome to the spinning world," the people sang As they washed your new tiny hands. >> "Welcome to the green Earth," the people sang As they wrapped your wet, slippery body. >> And as they held you close they whispered into your open, curving ear >> "We are so glad you've come!" >> I invite us to open our hearts together in the spirit of meditation and prayer: Spirit of Holiness, and Mystery of life God of many names we come together in praise and possibility to remind ourselves of all that nurtures the best of our human living. We who commit ourselves morning by morning and day by day to be bearers of love and justice in the world find ourselves strengthened by these days of gathering together in common cause and hopeful in our time of new beginnings. Yet we do not forget that even as we are held in the chalice of this community both in this hall, and across the country and globe online our voices and values are needed perhaps more than ever before to respond to the needs of a hurting world. Our own Universalist heritage teaches us of an All Embracing Love that holds us in our living. In recognition of the inherent worth and dignity of all peoples in celebration of the potential of every one of us, both known and unknown and resting in the immense potential born of our connections to one another ‑ This love lies at the root of all that might be understood to save us. May it remind us in the moments when we falter that we are part of a greater whole that our very faithfulness might be key to building the world we so dream about. May it remind us in the moments when we harden our hearts that this greater love preserves the possibility of a world shaped by justice, by wholeness, and by a shared communion. May it remind us when we are weary from struggle, contention, and disappointment that there is a larger promise of goodness and kindness and mercy that shelters all. As we enter into a brief time of silence, I invite us to reflect on this All Embracing Love, and on the promise of this community. Is there an example of that larger possibility that comes to mind for you, and can you offer its grace, in silence, to our gathering as a whole? [Brief moment of silence] Each of us is part of a greater love. May it guide us in moving faithfully toward the beloved community. Amen, Ashe, and Blessed Be. Comfort me, comfort me. Comfort me, oh my soul. Comfort me, comfort me Comfort me, oh my soul. Sing with me, sing with me Sing with me, oh my soul. Sing with me, sing with me Sing with me, oh my soul. Dance with me, dance with me Dance with me, oh my soul. Dance with me, dance with me Dance with me, oh my soul. Comfort me, comfort me Comfort me, oh my soul. Comfort me, comfort me Comfort me, oh my soul. Lord, I will lift mine eyes to the hills Knowing my help is coming from You. Your peace, You give me in time of the storm. You are the source of my strength You are the strength of my life I lift my hands in total praise to You. Amen. [Applause] >> The second reading is the poem "Gate A‑4" from Naomi Shihab Nye. Shihab Nye was born in St. Louis, Missouri in the 1950's to a Palestinian father and white American mother. During her high school years, she lived in Ramallah in Palestine, the Old City in Jerusalem, and later, San Antonio, Texas, where she lives today. "Gate A‑4." Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement: "If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A‑4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately." Well‑one pauses these days. Gate A‑4 was my own gate. I went there. An older woman in full traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing. "Help," said the flight agent. "Talk to her. What is her problem? We told her the flight was going to be late and she did this." I stooped to put my arm around the woman and spoke haltingly. The minute she heard any words she knew, however poorly used, she stopped crying. She thought the flight had been cancelled entirely. She needed to be in El Paso for major medical treatment the next day. I said, "No, we're fine, you'll get there, just later, who is picking you up? Let's call him." We called her son, I spoke with him in English. I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and ride next to her. She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it. Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and found out of course they had ten shared friends. Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian poets I know and let them chat with her? This all took up two hours. She was laughing a lot by then. Telling of her life, patting my knee answering questions. She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool Cookies‑little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts‑from her bag‑and was offering them to all the women at the gate. To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo‑we were all covered with the same powdered sugar. And smiling. There is no better cookie. And then the airline broke out free apple juice from huge coolers and two little girls from our flight ran around serving it and they Were covered with powdered sugar, too. And I noticed my new best friend‑by now we were holding hands‑had a potted plant poking out of her bag,some medicinal thing, with green furry leaves. Such an old country tradition. Always carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere. And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and I thought, This is the world I want to live in. The shared world. Not a single person in that gate‑once the crying of confusion stopped‑seemed apprehensive about any other person. They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women, too. This can still happen anywhere. Not everything is lost. [Applause] When we move, when we sleep, when we rise. We are one. When we laugh, when we sing, when we cry, when we run We are one. And we shall love one another with all our hearts. And we shall care for each other with all our soul and our might. When we stand, when we fall, when we rise. We are one In the cold, in the heat, in the dark, in the sun. We are one. And we shall love one another with all our hearts. And we shall care for each other with all our soul and our might When we're hurting one another. That's the way we hurt ourselves With our sisters and our brothers, we will rise And we do, and we try, we must live or we die We will reach, we will climb, we will rise, we will fly We are one And these words shall be forever within our hearts. And we shall teach them to our children. And remember them in our lives. When we move, when we sleep, when we rise We are one. When we laugh, when we sing, when cry, when we run. We are strong, we belong We are one! [Applause] >> we belong, we are strong it, we are one. Those words represent a core Spiritual value taught my many faith which we as Unitarian Universalists, we also claim. And yet, we know that the world we live in daily tragically fails or falls short of that promise. it falls short of that promise with unjust systems and structures that divide our human family. They marginalize, de‑humanize and owe press. Our faith calls us to name those systems, to work to dismantle them every way we can. Folks, particular that in. We are one. We belong and we are strong. This morning, through our Offering, we have the opportunity to support an organization here in Louisiana that is doing this work every day. It is my honor to introduce Ms. Verna Carr, from Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children, who will tell us more about their lifesaving work and her own family and their experiences. We are also thrilled, thanks to the generosity of three supporters, our offertory gifts this morning will be matched this morning by a generous foundation. Through our shared generosity, we are one. May they be able to receive every penny. >> Hello Unitarian Universalists! Welcome to New Orleans ‑ we are so glad you are here! [Applause] My name is Verna Carr, and this is my family ….And also the men of black men rising. [Applause] with his hands handcuffed in front of him like he was a mass murderer, like a terrorist. I was broken mentaly, physically and financially in the situation. And this is when FFLIC came into my life. They comforted me and let me know I wasn't alone. They trained me on civic engagement, know your rights, advocacy 101, how a bill becomes a law, and how to organize to challenge power and win. [Applause] Where I thought I was broken, they helped me to gain back my own power. Now I advocate for others and I train others to advocate. As a result of my time with FFLIC, the New Orleans detention center asked me to become a mentor and through FFLIC, I proudly provide the same thing for others. [Applause] I meet with young girls weekly at the youth study center and I let them know, this is not your destiny. This is not your goal. We live in our own circle, so therefore, we create our circle. Thank you so much, so, so much for your contributions to FFLIC. Through your generosity, FFLIC will be able to work with families and children to find their own power to fight systems that seeks to bring harm to our other children, youth, and families. Your generosity will help us build capacity and leadership, provide mentoring to families and parents, and to educate each other. Thank you so, so much. [Applause] God bless you. [Applause] If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to pray on pray on If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to pray on. If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to pray on pray on If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to pray on. If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to walk on walk on If we want hope to survive in this world today. Then every day we've got to fight on. If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to work on work on If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to work on. If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to move on move on If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to move on. If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to march on march on If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to march on. If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to teach on teach on If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to teach on. If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to sing on sing on If we want hope to survive in this world today Then every day we've got to sing on. [Applause] >> Will you open your hearts with me, friends? Oh spirit of resilience and resistance, we dedicate our gifts in the spirit of justice and mercy. That they may be used to change the narrative. Amen. That they may be used end the evils of the school‑to‑prison pipeline.the legacy of our white supremacy culture. May these gifts marry with them the love and the commitment with which we are given. May they be used to serve and empower cherished families. Thank you, Ms. Verna. And Beloved youth whose lives matter. And in this moment, may we recommit ourselves to helping hope survive in this world. May we commit ourselves to fight on, to work on, to sing on, to hope on as long as it takes. Amen. Blessed be. >> How are you doing, my friends? We're good? Are we ready? I want to just take a moment here and shout out our amazing musicians. [Applause] On the day my younger son was born, the circle of greeters included those you might imagine: exhausted, euphoric parents; an unflappable labor‑and‑delivery nurse, our funny‑as‑hell delivery doctor, and an ever‑encouraging doula. But that Saturday evening in November, it also included a yellow‑gowned team from the neonatal intensive care unit (known as the NICU), who ‑ before we could clean his hands or wrap his body or whisper "welcome," whisked our newly‑born baby to a small station in the corner, where they set about helping him to breath. Earlier in the day, while news of Cassidy's impending birth was still making its way between the Arctic terns and garden warblers, there in our local hospital, word too had gone out And word is going out over here in the corner I hear. It's not my he know little one. He is home in Vermont. There in our local hospital, word too had gone out to the neonatal team that their services might be needed later. My amniotic fluid contained meconium, which in the technical language of childbirth, means a mammalian infant's first stool (aka baby's first poop!). While something I never imagined I'd be saying from a pulpit. [Laughter] But this is life, right? So this baby's first poop thing, many are unaffected by it, but some do have complications from it, thus, the presence of the yellow gowned team. But in our case, they were needed. Their skilled hands would be the first to care for Cassidy, and when it soon became clear he would need longer support, they took him down the hall to the NICU. An hour later, we joined them in a room filled with precious preemies, a place where we, with a plump, overdue baby, hadn't expected to be, listening to a kind but serious doctor explain that things could go one of two ways. We would know more, she said, in the morning. Best to get some rest now, she Suggested. [Laughter] Yeah, right. So back to our room we went and the mother baby unit, but without our baby. My husband Ben was overwhelmed and panicked and sad and my emotions were percent I feely darks mercifully blunt by post delivery hormones. Amen. But when our nurse poked her head in the room and asked if we would like to have head in later and asked if, by any chance, we would want a visit from spiritual services, the reference to my own trade broke through my oxytocin‑induced armor ‑ "Oh, yes!," I barked, surprising all of us. "We want some spiritual services!" [Laughter] I was like, if I am not holding my baby, I am going to have a visit from a chaplain. Right? A few minutes later, the nurse returned with the names of the on‑call chaplains. There were two choices, she said: Father something and someone else. [Laughter] We went with "someone else." [Laughter] When I mean as no offense to my Catholic colleagues. And Nancy is as amazing GA sermon last year notwithstanding. Remember that, you all? But I thought the odds were higher with someone else of having a theological match. Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. A middle‑aged man introduced himself as Matt, came in, and pulled up a chair. I explained that I was the Unitarian Universalist minister in town, and Matt told us that he was ordained in the UCC, our kindred cousin. I relaxed a bit. [Laughter] When he told us he had left his harp in the hall, I relaxed even more. [Laughter] I figured we were in good hands with a Congregationalist, harp‑playing chaplain.So we had the visit and it came time to wrap it up and Matt asked if we wanted some harp music. And though I wanted harp music, I wasn't quite in the mood and I asked if he would pray with us instead. And I wasn't certain, but I thought I detected a faint hint of surprise on Matt's face. Like oh, at receiving a prayer request from a Unitarian. But he didn't miss a beat. Matt came closer, and by now we were holding hands, my husband and me and our new friend, a human circle formed again, this time not to welcome the baby, but to pray for his well‑being. We closed our eyes. There was quiet. And then some more quiet, which began to seem long for a pre‑centering prayer moment. And as it stretched on, it occurred to me that maybe Matt didn't know how to begin, or to whom we should pray. [Laughter] And I realized I hadn't done my theological elevator speech for Matt. I had not assured him that yes, it's complicated, but God language would be great right now. Thank you. [Laughter] [Applause] >> And here was Matt trying to find the right name, the right language for us that would comfort us. Just as I was thinking I should Just jump in and get it all started myself, he began: What a day! [Laughter] This was not a name for the holy I had heard before. [Laughter] But it could not have been more perfect, because what a day. What a day indeed. So Matt went on to pray for the hands of the medical staff, and then that Cassidy would feel the love of his parents, which is when my own tears came. Because though what I wanted more than anything was for my new son to survive, what I wanted just as much was for him to know he was loved. Raymond Carver wrote In his poem "Late Fragment," when he was dying of cancer, and did you get what you wanted from your life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself Beloved. To feel myself Beloved on the earth. "Welcome to the green Earth," the people sang. And as they held you close they whispered in Your ear, "we're so glad you've come!"you know, that night, shrouded in deep uncertainty, Matt's prayer didn't magically disperse our worry or alleviate our anxiety. Lord knows we were worried. It doesn't assure us that everything was going to turn out just fine. It didn't tell us this was part of a plan. It didn't say my son's lungs would be healed by morning. But what it did do, simply and profoundly, was remind us that we were not alone, that we were part of larger world that welcomed us, just as we were right then: Scared as hell and desperate in our love. "I believe that when all is said and done," writes the wise Anne Lamott, "all you can do is show up for someone in crisis, which seems so inadequate. But when you do, it can radically change everything. Your there‑ness, your stepping into a scared parent's line of vision, can be life giving, because often everyone else is in hiding." Your there‑ness can change everything.Will you say that with me? Your there‑ness can change everything.I think that's the same lesson that the poet learned that night at the Albuquerque airport, isn't it? Naomi Shihab Nye hears the announcement, and after a little moment of hesitation, she responds. She could have stalled, she could have just scrolled through her phone a couple times. She could have looked at people and us weekly in the nearest magazine rack, but something in her compelled her to go there, to show up for a person in crisis whom she didn't know.at her gate, she finds the woman there just like her grandmother and she puts an arm around her and speaks haltingly in Arabic and from there, it changes. Well, not the flight delay or the uncertainty of air travel and I feel and wonder whether some of you meet have experienced that yourself this year. [Laughter] But what does change is the distressed woman's position of isolation and marginalization there at the gate. Shihab Nye extends a hand of human dignity. And in turn, that one loving act sets off a chain reaction of kindness and Connection. There are the poet's friends who answered the call. There's the woman passing out her cookies. There's the other woman accepting them. There's the airline offering free beverages. Now when does that happen? Did anyone get some apple juice this week? I don't know. There's the little girls serving them. I have gone back to this poem again and again. For me, it is sacred scripture. And every time I did, what strikes me about the scene is not just how widespread the generosity is, but how fluid it is. Who plays the role of giver and receiver shifts as the hours unfold, doesn't it? Right? At first it is the woman, the confused elder woman who is the cultural outsider at the gate. What's wrong with her, says the attendant? But then soon, two hours later, she is the center of a party. Right? Her cookies with the powdered sugar gracing everyone at the gate, as perhaps you have been graced by powdered sugar this week, too. [Laughter] I would venture to say that through the accumulation of these acts, that little gaggle created maybe just for an hour a little version, a little version of Beloved community right there at the airport gate. It reminds me of how the late teacher and writer Henri Nouwen describes hospitality: "a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy." Shihab Nye describes just that: I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and I thought this is the world I want to live in. The shared world. Not a single person in that gate . . . seemed apprehensive about any other person. This can still happen anywhere.So my friends, old and new, I look around at this room and I think of those who are worshiping with us around the country, and though it is a bright morning here in New Orleans, I think, too, that all of us are in some sense like the travelers at Gate A‑4‑late and weary ones. We may be weary for many reasons but certainly among them because what a night! And what a week! And what a spring. And what a year! Has it been a year or what? It has been hard work, this resisting, this ministering, this leading, this teaching, this changing systems, this Changing or trying to change ourselves. This care for the vulnerable, this grieving, this dismantling centuries‑old systems of white supremacy, this fighting for justice, this fighting with each other, this building a new way, this calling Washington five times a day, this listening deeply to those with whom we disagree, to those we don't like very much. This showing up. This being there again and again. But I'm going to tell you this, too. I look around at you, beautiful and weary and hopeful ones, and I think this is the world I want to live in: The shared world. The shared world. And the poet tells us, she tells us, she is preaching to us that this can still happy in where. Do you believe that? >> Yes! >> Then let us say, this can still happy in where. >> This can still happy in where. >> It can happen at the airport. Sometimes. [Laughter] It can happen in a hospital room. It can happen at the courthouse. It can happen at a prison, preached Bryan Stevenson to us last night. [Applause] It can happen at the bus stop. It can nap a plenary hall. It can spring up suddenly, like the appearance of an abandoned bus on our street one morning. Or it can come to birth slowly, like a long and arduous labor. But/and, alongside that enduring truth, which we know deep in the bones of our being, we also know, don't we, with equal certainty that just because it can happen does not mean that it will. Right? Can is the possibility of the shared world and will is its guaranteed arrival. And as is so much with our life on this precious green earth, there are no guarantees. Okay? There is no guarantee that we will get exactly what we want in this life, for even as the Stone sang to us, if you try sometimes, you get what you need. I should have run that with Mark beforehand. [Laughter] But you've got the point. Thank you. Thanks, Elizabeth. There is not a guarantee that the cure will be found in time or that justice will be done in our lifetime. There is no guarantee that our healthcare will hold or that the despots will fall. There is no guarantee that humankind will once and for all lay down our swords and shields or that the generosity of the human spirit will win out over its greed or that our sense of shared humanity will triumph over our primal tribalism. And there is no guarantee that we'll be able to stop the rising seas in time to save the islands and the coastal cities or prevent the deep suffering that that change in climate might bring. Much is uncertain, and there are no guarantees, and maybe you are thinking just quietly, you're not going to admit it to the person next to you, but you are thinking, so what is the point? What is the point of all this heavy lifting when there are no guarantees? Maybe it's better to hunker down, circle the wagons, turn off the news, return to our familiar patterns, retreat to our comfortable world. God love those comfortable little worlds. And stop worrying about the shared world. And if you are thinking that, I wouldn't blame you. It's a tale as old as time, and it is utterly human. But I would still say to you, don't do it! Don't do it! Resist that urge. Circling the wagons, getting into our little comfort zone may feel like the path of least resistance right now, but it is always a loss in the end. It may get you through some days, but it is not how our precious human lives were meant to be lived. Our faith reaches us, our faith teaches us we were made for this work and that we are called to this work, so hard at times, of loving and being loved, of welcoming and being welcomed, of sharing our lives with each other, of caring for and collaborating with one another, of comforting each other and getting uncomfortable with each other. Right? [Applause] Ever widening the scope of justice and mercy in our world. Our faith is so many of our ‑‑ as our wise ones have told us this week, testified that we come from a common source, which has given us this gift of life and that we head to the same place, which is love, the arms of love. And in the meantime, we have one precious sweet world, this one world we have been given to hold us close, us and the hump back whales and the salmon and the green turtles and eels and the warblers and the sun and the moon and the forests and the ocean. And I believe that the only way we're going to keep this world we love is to share it. The only way we will keep this world is to share it and to live lives and build communities within it that embody that beautiful, original, and holy promise that we are welcome here and that we are and always will be Beloved. This is the world I want to live in. The shared world. This can still happy in where. So on the day after my son wads born, he was struggling still a bit, but 12 hours in, he had rounded a corner. And on morning rounds, that kind, but very serious neonatologist approached with a smile and she gave us a little thumbs up. I'll remember that thumbs up. But right after our own pediatrician stopped in, and after checking the charts, he told me, with the grizzled wisdom born of a long career, in a few years you won't even remember be this. [Laughter] Hmmm. [Laughter] So I received those words with kindness. Right? And they were really a version of a prayer, I think. But I did know right then he was wrong on the facts. Because I had already been changed or Cheryl, should I say impacted, been impacted profoundly in those last 24 hours, and transformation like that born of heartache and struggle is not ever forgotten. Nor would I ever want to forget that holy encounter with the harp‑playing chaplain whose life‑giving there‑ness reminded me that no matter what happened, my son, and all of us, are held in the arms of an I know at this knit, abiding, and mighty love that, like gravity, will nerve let us go. "Welcome to the green Earth," the people sang. And as they held you close they whispered in In your curving ear, "we're so glad you've come!"friends, would you now rise in body or spirit, please? I want to invite you, if you are comfortable and the spirit moves, to make a physical connection with someone near you. Take a hand or touch an elbow or touch your hand to your heart. We can do it. [Laughter] My dear friends, on this day and in the days to come, may you call yourself Beloved. May you feel yourself Beloved on this earth. So may it be. Amen. >> amen. >> You can stay connected or not. [Laughter] >> Please join us in singing a stirring song of community. Here in rev'rence now we gather For the blessings we have known With a pledge to one another That we journey not alone. Joy and sorrow make us wise Kin to all that lives and dies; Love calls us on Love calls us on. Words and deeds of those before us Waken here to keep us strong; Blend our voices in the chorus Of creation's living song. Courage bids us lift our eyes Upward to the shining skies; Hope calls us on, Hope calls us on. We have shared a radiant hour When the truth has made us free And the spirit's gracious power Dreamed of good that yet shall be. Bright the path before us lies Joyful pilgrims now we rise; Life calls us on, Life call us on! [Applause] Gloria The tenacity of Earth and its creatures. Kyrie eleison These children who will go on to save what we cannot Baruch ata Adonai The ordinary tenacity of plants and of people. Om. The center of the universe which is everywhere, not the least place in the human heart. Alleluia Love that survives anger, and winter, and despair, and sorrow, and even death. Shalom Love that persists. Nam myo‑ho renge kyo Calm that is the seed in the dark. Ashe. For endings that are beginnings, for beginnings that are endings. Salaam. For the circle, the spiral, the web, the egg, the orbit, the center, the seed, the flower, the fruit, the opening, the death, the release, the seed. Amen We are going on. Amen It is going on.Amen Blessed be. [Applause] **********DISCLAIMER********** THE FOLLOWING IS AN UNEDITED ROUGH DRAFT TRANSLATION FROM THE CART CAPTIONER'S OUTPUT FILE. THIS TRANSCRIPT IS NOT VERBATIM AND HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD. TO DO SO IS AN EXTRA FEE. THIS FILE MAY CONTAIN ERRORS. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE SPEAKER(S) FOR ANY CLARIFICATION. 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