Homily: The Way of the Whoosh – the Power of Spirit

The Way of the Whoosh – the Power of Spirit

By, Nancy Witherell

June 26, 2016

I am so happy to be standing here in front of you, giving back a fraction of what this community has given to me.   I’m here today because of a whoosh.  I bet you are wondering what in heck is that?   Let me explain.  When I thought to myself that I would like to lead a worship service, a whoosh came over me.  What I call a whoosh, a word that came to me out of my unconscious, expresses onomatopoetically the stimuli I experience in my body.  The whoosh seems like divine energy arising from my deepest Spirit, gently whooshing through my body and soul, infusing me with well-being and bringing me information and/or direction.

I was sorely tempted to let my fears take over and back out of giving this service.  I knew it would be difficult to carve out of the endless possibilities exactly what I want to say.  But I know deep down I want to follow my whoosh because it is inviting me to express my deepest Spirit.  The whoosh is inviting me to ignore all the fear based roadblocks I throw up in my way in order to be safe:  for example, you can’t do it, it isn’t safe to express your deep Spirit, you’ll be made a fool of, etc.  And I know that if I do not carry out the invitation of the whoosh, I am suffocating my deepest Spirit, or in common lingo I am shooting myself in the foot.  Deep down I know I want to be able to give a voice to my Spirit.  I love the expansion and freedom I feel in my body from overcoming fear

In my career as a practicing psychotherapist, I took great delight when the social work profession added “spiritual” to the mix they believe makes up our beings:  bio-psycho-social, and now bio-psycho-social-spiritual.  When I started practicing in 1977, before spiritual was added, I was very receptive to my clients’ spiritual messages.  Now science is finding that the deepest Self, which I am calling Spirit, is important to mental health.  Specifically, a person’s Spirit is unable to blossom into self-expression, if a child’s caregivers do not engage in mutually responsive relationships with the child.  I am using Martin Buber’s concept of an I-Thou relationship to define the highest level of mutually responsive relationships.  An I-Thou relationship focuses on the uniqueness of each individual, and assumes openness and trust.  Relating this way frequently leads to the disclosing of deep, private aspects of ourselves, and adds a resilient richness to life, creating a font of blessings in our lives.  To illustrate, I want to share an example from Bessel van der Kolk’s study of the stress level in children who saw people jumping from the World Trade Towers.  The children who had high levels of stress felt passive and helpless and continued to feel high stress levels after the event.  Bessel van der Kolk found these children had not enjoyed mutually responsive relationships with their caregivers.  Such relationships help the internal processing of trauma.   On the other side, one young boy, with low levels of stress, had been encouraged by his responsive parents share his responses and questions about what had seen.  His creative and compassionate, response was   PAUSE  to draw a trampoline  PAUSE  at the base of the Trade Towers expressing his deep desire to help.  PAUSE.  Imagine:  The resilience and bounce of a trampoline which creates a soft landing.   PAUSE

How do we grow life-affirming responses in our Spirits and turn our horror into help and hope?  How do we build the resilience and bounce of the trampoline into our Spirits so we can feel the trauma, and yet still bounce back from the 9/11’s and Orlando’s?   How can we feel safe enough to not turn our energy into building walls as the fear mongers would have us do?  How do we keep enough resilient energy to take personal risks, including fighting for seemingly overwhelming social justice issues?  How do we gain the conviction and resilience of the Democrats who staged an illegal sit-in on the floor of the House?  Where do we go to build a trampoline for ourselves and others in these dangerous times?

I come to a very special place, First U. How about you?  For those of you who are new, First U is the beloved nickname of our Church.   I cherish the Unitarian Universalist values. Whenever I read our Mission statement and Seven Principles I feel inspired.  I breathe a sigh of relief and joy that I am a participant in a loving , playful, spiritual community that practices such life affirming values.   I am going to read these documents, and am asking you to listen carefully and notice anything that comes up for you.

SLOWLY and thoughtfully

Our Mission Statement:

The First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn is a joyful, caring, religious community that inspires and empowers people to Grow spiritually, Care for one another, and Work for social justice and stewardship of the earth.

 

And now the 7 principles:

1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

PAUSE

Would anyone like to share and speak  out what came up during the reading?

Now, let us imagine that our UU values create a big interconnected web holding each of us in right relationship with all existence.  And imagine that a trampoline is that big web of interconnectedness.  Imagine that each of us makes our self and the web stronger and more resilient by making day-to-day choices to live out and act on our mission statement and our seven principles.  Imagine that the strength and resiliency we have helped create, rewards us richly by our being able to bounce back.  Instead of hunkering down surrounded by isolating  walls of fear,  I know I feel more resilient and bouncy when I live my UU values.

I am so very grateful for the many opportunities I have been given here at First U to deepen and practice my beliefs.  One of the most important opportunities was the anti-racism training offered here several years ago.  The anti-racism training changed my outlook dramatically:  I got, on a visceral gut level how the playing field is so unlevel and so unfair, or more bluntly,  that the deck is so stacked against black people from the moment they set foot in America. My understanding created new clarity and compassion.   I gained enough courage to talk with black people because I had so much less fear of putting my foot in my mouth.  I published about 8 well-received columns in the Church newsletter on racism.  I also love meditating on Sunday mornings, with hopes of being able to learn to do it  on my own.  On the receiving end of our community, I am still touched by the outpouring of love and support, including a spiritual gathering to promote my healing, when cancer walked into my life several years ago. Note – I am cancer free now.   I hope each of you will recall the opportunities you have accepted here at First U, and, how and if, they have deepened your Spirit and Spiritual practice.

There is one more thing that I need to say to be honest and inclusive.  Many of us who did not have I-Thou relationship with our caregivers, cannot gain a resiliency of Spirit from just participating in the community at First U.  I am one of those.  Many years of psychotherapy, and many years of being a UU, has created a synergistic spiral of Spiritual growth for me.  I wish the same for those of you who have needed psychotherapy or other outside support.

In closing – A  Shout out for Spirit and Trampolines !

Amen and Blessed Be.

Benediction:  As you go out into the world, know that you are loved. 

And that you have an inner reliance and bounce somewhere inside you