UU Source 3: The Wisdom of the World’s Religions

First UU Church of Berks
UU Source 3: The Wisdom of the World’s Religions
Rev. Sandra Fees
March 2, 2008
Page 1 of 4
© 2008, Rev. Sandra Fees
Excerpts may be quoted with attribution.
Several years ago I had the opportunity to hear Huston Smith speak and
attend a dinner with him. There were about 15 or so of us who went to
dinner. Huston Smith has difficulty hearing, and at the restaurant he
suggested the use of a talking stick. Some of you know the idea.
The talking stick has been used for centuries by many Native American
tribes. They used it to designate who has the right to speak and also to facilitate a just and
impartial hearing.
The person holding the talking stick has the respect and attention of all others who listen actively
until it is their own turn to speak. This avoids the kind of cross-talk and talking over one another
that often makes it so hard to have a meaningful exchange in a larger group.
This practice of the Native Americans is an example of the wisdom found in other religions. In
this case, the talking stick offers the wisdom of listening. The talking stick made it possible for
each of us at that dinner to have a turn to ask a question or have dialogue with Smith, to hear
each other, and to hear his response. In the presence of a wise teacher, our desire to hear and be
heard is strong. We didn’t have a real talking stick so we improvised. Any object works – a
feather or stone. Smith passed around one of those light pointers used during presentations.
During the conversation, Huston Smith mentioned the way spiritual seekers sometimes treat
religions like a buffet table. They sample a little of this and a little of that. Because we UUs are
spiritual seekers who indeed can do this, I asked him whether he himself had one primary
religious tradition that he is part of. He shared that he is a Methodist. This is where he finds
meaning and belonging.
But he also said, “the wind bloweth where it listeth.” (John 3:8) Quoting from the Gospel of
John, Huston Smith acknowledged that the spirit like the wind moves where it will. It really isn’t
possible to limit it, even if we want to. It simply isn’t possible to limit the truth and religious
meaning to one and only one way, to one and only one religion be it Unitarian Universalism or
another.
He actually explained this idea in a bit more detail in an interview I read later. In it, he was asked
whether he would call himself a Christian or an adherent to all traditions. He said:
I have a body and I have a soul. My body remains in the Church, the faith to which it was
born, the Methodists, and I will be buried in a Methodist Church funeral. But I also have
a soul and no institution can contain completely my soul. And then I quoted Ibn Arabi,
who said “my soul is a Mosque for Muslims, a Temple for Hindus, an altar for
Zoroastrians, a Church for Christians, a synagogue for Jews, and a pasture for gazelles.”
And so that's the way I identify myself. (“Mystics Speak the Same Language,” an
interview with Huston Smith by Liza Hetherington)
UU Source 3: The Wisdom of the World’s Religions (cont’d.)
Rev. Sandra Fees
Page 2 of 4
© 2008, Rev. Sandra Fees
Excerpts may be quoted with attribution.
We can be steeped in one tradition. We can embrace one religion, while also listening from the
heart to what other religions have to say to us. The spirit seems unwilling to have it any other
way. In our Unitarian Universalist tradition, we are unwilling to have it any other way. We try to
follow the light wherever it may lead us.
We have recognized that by naming the wisdom of world’s religions as one of the sources of our
faith. It is the third of our six UU sources.
For those who may not have been here for the services on the first two sources, each of our
sources in some way seeks to answer the question: “Where can I turn for inspiration and meaning
in my faith and spiritual life?”
The first source points us to direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder. The second
directs us to the words and deeds of prophetic men and women which challenge us to justice,
love, and compassion.
The third is “Wisdom from the world’s religions, which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual
life.” The insight, rituals, and history of the world’s religions can deepen our experience of the
sacred and inform the way we live in the world.
Our foray into world religions as a denomination began in earnest with the 18th century
Transcendentalists who introduced Eastern religions into Unitarianism. The 1893 Parliament of
World Religions marked another milestone. Jenkin Lloyd Jones, a Unitarian minister, organized
the Parliament of Religions at Chicago’s World Columbian Exposition where representatives
from Eastern and Western religions gathered.
This launched formal inter-religious dialogue worldwide. Swami Vivekananda’s introduction of
Hindu thought at the Parliament, for example, is believed to have given birth to a genuine
interest in Hindu philosophy and religion in the West. (“The Cathedral of the World,” A Chosen
Faith by Forrest Church)
In the many years since then, religious pluralism and world community have grown
tremendously. They have grown not only in our religious tradition but throughout this country.
The presence of Taoism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Hinduism, African, and Afro-
Caribbean religion can be felt throughout the world.
The architectural signs of these religions can be found in places across this country if we stop to
notice. The mosques of Muslim Americans are visible in many of our larger cities.
Buddhist temples and Hindu temples have sprung up on hillsides across the nation. And
synagogues and Christian churches have long been part of the American landscape.
There is an ever-growing appreciation and desire for opportunities for dialogue, worship, and
work with members of other religions. There is an appreciation for the fresh insight and new
understandings other religions can offer on matters of faith and spirituality.
UU Source 3: The Wisdom of the World’s Religions (cont’d.)
Rev. Sandra Fees
Page 3 of 4
© 2008, Rev. Sandra Fees
Excerpts may be quoted with attribution.
There is an awareness we have for the need to introduce children to the religions of the world.
We have Sophia Lyon Fahs to thank for bringing about an important shift in the way we teach
children in our Sunday school about matters of faith.
Fahs knew back in 1952 when she wrote a groundbreaking book on children’s religious
development (Today’s Children and Yesterday’s Heritage: A Philosophy of Creative Religious
Development) that we were on the brink of a new religious landscape in this country. She saw
that children needed to be introduced to the wisdom stories from all traditions and cultures as
well as from their own. Fahs recognized that children needed to learn about the Bible, but not
exclusively so.
This is a matter of cultural and world literacy. But it is also more than that. It has to do with
helping children discover and develop their own religious beliefs. We teach them other religions
as well as our own.
This has to do with helping them honor their own authentic religious experiences – whether they
happen while meditating, chanting, or during some other spiritual practice. “The wind bloweth
where it listeth.”
Fahs knew children needed exposure to other religions so they can become ethically wellgrounded
and spiritually mature individuals. Just as adults do. So we have programs like
Neighboring Faiths to teach children about other religions.
It isn’t always easy for parents, though. I often hear from parents who are struggling with how to
help their children religiously when there is so much to learn and experience. How can a parent
responsibility teach this faith and all the others? We are also challenged, let’s be honest, by our
own preferences and prejudices in religion.
I think of the story of Sarah Conover. When her family’s Labrador retriever died, her children
confronted her with the question, “Where did Carmen go?” She found herself speechless. It was
then that she and her husband decided they needed to be able to provide more spiritual guidance
for her children and have a better understanding for themselves. (“Dharma and Damnation,” At
Work in Life’s Garden: Writers on the Spiritual Adventure of Parenting)
In her search, she found Buddhism and that’s what she and her family came to practice at home.
But after moving to conservative northeast Washington State, she soon learned that her children
needed to know about other religions, including Christianity.
Her family actually began to incorporate some of the rituals and celebrations from their own
upbringing, which was Christian. Conover says:
Though we’ve explained our preference for Buddhism, [our children have] also heard
that Jesus lived and breathed and taught love. We clarify certain terms along the way as
Christianity is far less familiar to them: [my daughter], for example, confused preacher
with poacher, Seventh Day Adventists with Seven Day Atheists. And it’s not always
UU Source 3: The Wisdom of the World’s Religions (cont’d.)
Rev. Sandra Fees
Page 4 of 4
© 2008, Rev. Sandra Fees
Excerpts may be quoted with attribution.
simple to draw clear demarcations in the complexities of postmodern hybrid faiths – I am
a Buddhist who also believes deeply in the mystery we indicate by the word God.
We live in a world touched by the beauty and complexity of many religions and many cultures.
Each presents opportunities to deepen and enrich our spiritual and ethical lives and the lives of
our families, if we will let them. We don’t need to be an expert at each and every one of them.
We don’t need to have all the answers for ourselves and our children. But we can be open to
learning and experiencing. We can listen to our own spiritual needs and those of our families and
be responsive to them as they arise.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d love for all our children and each of you to be Unitarian Universalists.
But there is something higher still – a higher calling. That is to have a powerful grounding as an
ethical and spiritual person. It is to be able to experience the sacred.
Over the last two weeks I have invited you into a reflection on how the source we were exploring
was at work in your spiritual life. I asked you to reflect on your direct experience of the sacred. I
asked about your experience of prophets and your being a prophetic witness.
Today I encourage you to reflect on the wisdom you have gleaned from the world’s religions.
What have you adopted into your ethical life and spiritual practice?
My own list includes but is not limited to these: From Zen Buddhism, I have learned mindfulness
meditation and the practice of compassion. I have been inspired by engaged Buddhism and the
peace activism of Thich Nhat Hanh. From Islam, I have been delighted and inspired by the
beauty of Sufi poetry. From Taoism, I have learned something that has turned out to be quite
counter-cultural in America. I have learned what it means to practice inaction. Judaism has
taught me the power of the covenantal relationship. Christianity is the faith of my childhood and
the religion that rooted me ethically and spiritually as a person of faith. From Christianity, I
learned to pray.
All these inform my faith as a Unitarian Universalist. They enrich my spirituality and contribute
to my experience of the sacred. And yet I am still learning, still opening myself so I can follow
the light.
May we each learn to follow the light wherever it may lead us, finding meaning there. May it be
so. Amen. Blessed be. Shalom.