Sermon from 10-21-12 in Astoria Oregon

Sermon "Nothing Better to Do Than Listen" Amy Beltaine In the Hospital a man lay dying in a room down the hall. His 5-year-old daughter and I played together with some brightly colored toys while her family paced, wept, and raged. This sweet little girl had pink and yellow barrettes in her hair. Her green lollipop had turned her mouth green. She said that her aunt had told her that her daddy was going to be an angel. I asked her if that would be OK, for her daddy to be an angel who watched over her. She said “no -- I don't want my Daddy to be an angel.” I had no words for her. I wished for words. I wished I could fix it or failing that, Run Away from this terrible situation! I wished that something I could say would make it better. I could not do either. Nothing would make it all better. It is a perfectly normal response, the fight or flight response. When something feels bad or wrong or scary, your instinct is to fix or flee. Luckily, we humans are more than just skills and instinct! What that little girl did need was a safe space where she could rest into her own truth. To allow, to let be. We both created that space as we played quietly together. We talked about the bunny rabbit we played with. I stayed open and calm and waited for her to share with me. I was a safe person, not falling apart or needy. I didn’t want her to do or be anything except herself. I began to learn to truly listen and not just wait for my turn to speak. My path to ministry required that I learn to actively listen. To succeed, I needed to wait for the other person to set the level of the encounter. Deep or Receptive Listening is a time away from time. A time when people meet one another, holding the awareness of the divinity within each. You may have heard it called Spiritual Direction. That term doesn’t quite work for me. The “director” in spiritual direction does not DIRECT! The spirit of Spiritual Direction happens when a person who is seeking, is companioned by a person who is listening. It’s when people encounter one another, without fixing or fleeing. A better term might be “spiritual friend”. Spiritual direction helps people tell their sacred stories, hear their own truths, make decisions, and take actions consistent with their best selves.. Like prayer, contemplation, and meditation, spiritual direction nourishes the spiritual aspect of being human. Each moment can be a moment of contemplative listening. It’s important after a national tragedy or when visiting a loved one in a hospital. It is also possible to have a spiritual encounter every time another person is met, not just during times of sorrow or loss. Often someone has asked you to listen, like your best friend’s latest tale of woe. You can practice deep listening during the coffee hour after the service, or when you arrive home. You can practice reflective listening at work this week, or the next time you answer the phone. How can we nurture an attitude of contemplative listening? We recognize sacred space. How can we listen to the soul and hear its truth? We create an… “atmosphere … of spaciousness and underlying peace; of openness and receptivity; of a kind of quiet clarity in which it is easier to allow and let be” (Gerald May) This can be really hard work! To allow and not to fix. To let be, and not to control. We need that space of listening when we get bad news or hear of tragedy. At times we all need a safe space to be our hurting or grieving selves. We need a safe space and a companion who doesn’t fix, or flee. (More on the Website: Amybeltaine.com... Preaching)

Class: the bleeding edge of social change

I've been having adventures in the meaning of class and how class privilege works in my own life. I was raised "landed class". My parents both grow up in families where they owned their own homes. Then, when they got married they bought a home. By the time I graduated from high school our family owned three pieces of property. I was raised "educated class". Both parents had bachelors degrees. My dad had a doctorate. I earned a bachelors (and when I decided to pursue a second career, earned a masters.) So I carry class power and privilege (along with my skin color privilege) with me wherever I go. However... Now I am an upperclass attitude inside a working poor body. I rely on food stamps and unemployment, my spouse, and piece-work to make the food and shelter and health care commitments I have. The first time my beloved went with me to a grocery store she was horrified. Watching me select organic vegetables. High end processed foods. Watching me walk past sale items and select products based on how much I enjoyed them, without once looking at the price tag. She recalls feeling physically ill. -I've had to learn that money isn't something that just automatically appears if you work hard. -I've had to learn that without money, it is hard to make money. -I've had to learn that if you spend money on priorities like organics, you might not have money for priorities like fixing a filling in a painful tooth. Slowly I'm learning to think like someone who needs to pay attention to money. Slowly I'm realizing that I hold the belief that paying attention to money is "crass" and is not done by civilized people. Slowly I'm learning to erase that old message. I'm wondering if unlearning that message, which is carried by people who share my class background, is a fruitful place for us to start unlearning classism. Maybe my next blog post will be about how the privilege operates in my life. Even now when I actually don't have the money, just the attitude!

introducing the Amybeltaine.info web site...

I am ready to begin the ministry for which I have trained and prepared. I offer:
 -A compassionate personal presence, holding each person in loving regard, and calling forth your deepest and most authentic self. Whether in pastoral care after the death of a loved one, or in spiritual direction as you explore your relationship with what you hold holy, I create a safe sacred space that invites your healing and growth.
 -Ceremonies, rituals, and worship experiences which celebrate and integrate our life milestones, and connect us into one human community of beloved souls. Weddings, memorial services, Sunday morning worship services, celebrations of other life milestones and of holy days are all occasions to affirm life and love and renew ourselves for the work we must do. I create a sacred space that invites reverence, healing, and inspiration.
 -Learning experiences which deepen our relationship with the divine and the holy, our relationships with our selves, and our relationships with one another. Drawing on the wisdom of world religions, insights from psychology and myth and story, the awesome power of nature, and the creativity within every human being, I create a sacred space that invites exploration, vulnerability, creativity, and growth.
 -Coaching and companioning for those who wish to develop their ministries. Whether your ministry is governmental leadership, caring for young people, or rising up for a just world, I create a sacred space that invites your experimentation, growth, application of your skills, and development of new skills. I have done my work when I see a board president facilitate a meeting that used to scare her, or when I see a parent express patience and hope with a teenager who was spiraling out of control.
 -A grounding in the theologies, values, aspirations, hope, and love which inform and inspire us to create a just and compassionate world.
Main Web Site

Spiritual Direction

Amy's Spiritual Direction Web Pages

As a Unitarian Universalist minister I celebrate the inherent worth and dignity of each and every person. It is a blessing you were born. What each of us knows about the sacred is a piece of the truth. It matters what you choose to do and how you choose to be. You do not need to do it alone. I also begin from a conviction that we are all interconnected, people, animals, earth, indeed the whole universe. We will find the sacred in all our relationships.

We are here to do contemplative listening together. We are not alone, the divine is present with us and listens to us - and we are here to listen to the holy as well. 

I listen with compassionate and joyful curiosity to your story and the meanings you make from your life.

Our time together is a time when we are open to what is, what arises, and what calls to us. We may be silent together, talk together, or use one of the many techniques available (see below) to help us to listen and to go deeper.

I will listen with you to the call of the holy and seek to invite you to a more authentic life, a deeper understanding of your self and your place in the universe, and a stronger connection to the love that flows through all life.

Spiritual landscapes we may explore include "What is calling to me now?" "How do I experience my relationship with the holy?", "Where is my source of strength/inspiration/love?", "How might I become more whole?", "How can I live in integrity with mind, heart, body, and soul?"

All our lives are works of art in progress, whether they be a dance, painting, song, journey, or something else. What are the colors, sounds, movements, feelings, and guideposts of your life? What do you choose for yourself from now forward? What are you being called to do? Who are you being called to be?

We may meet one-on-one for an hour per month, you may wish to join with a group experience, or to participate in a topic-specific class, or to meet for 3-4 sessions focusing on one area of discernment. We may be together at my office in SE Portland, or speaking over Skype, or in a larger space with 4-15 others.

The Bounce: Sermon from April 15, '12

Click to hear the Sound File for BOUNCE Sermon (April 15, 2012)

Mercy

Wednesday Afternoon Reflection on MERCY, with the Staff of First Unitarian of Portland

OPENING SONG: "White Wing Mercy", by Ferron

CHALICE LIGHTING:

"Sisters Of Mercy" Leonard Cohen

Oh the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone. 

They were waiting for me when I thought that I just can't go on. 

And they brought me their comfort and later they brought me this song.

Oh I hope you run into them, you who've been travelling so long. 

Yes you who must leave everything that you cannot control. 

It begins with your family, but soon it comes around to your soul. 

Well I've been where you're hanging, I think I can see how you're pinned: 

When you're not feeling holy, your loneliness says that you've sinned. 

Well they lay down beside me, I made my confession to them. 

They touched both my eyes and I touched the dew on their hem. 

If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn 

they will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem. 

When I left they were sleeping, I hope you run into them soon 

GUIDED MEDITATION on Guanyin, Boddhisatva of Mercy, who "hears the cries of the world" 

TRIAD SHARING:

Share an experience when you received mercy. When someone heard your cries of pain or distress.

Share an experience when you forgave someone when strict justice would have you not forgive. When you showed mercy.

CHALICE EXTINGUISHING:

We are all in this together, Carole King

The just are seeking justice

The meek are reaching out

For something only children

Can really know about

And some men cry for mercy

While they deny their brothers' pain

And some men laugh for reasons

They can never quite explain

We are all in this together

And maybe we'll see that one day

When we conquer our fear together

When we finally find a way

And we all need forgiving

For all the damage done

For the things we do, not thinking

For the hurt that we've caused someone

But me, I keep on living

Caught somewhere there between

The reason and the meaning

The vision and the dream

We are all in this together

ENDING SONG:"Mercy" by Dave Matthews  (Thanks John Boelling for learning and performing this not-yet-released song!)

Coming Up in May!

Midweek sharing and healing circle
Beltane: May Day and Workers Day. A celebration of the renewal of spring and a celebration of the work we all do, and the people who labor. What do these two have in common? Come for a sharing and healing circle. Come to share your stories of renewal through dedication to a cause or commitment or celebrate the common person’s struggle for dignity. Some may be invited to share their offerings again at the worship service the following week. Wednesday May 9th at 7 PM Buchan 202-203.
For more information, contact intern minister Amy Beltaine at abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

Midweek Service

Wednesday May 16: Beltane: May Day and Workers day
Beltane: May Day and Workers Day. A celebration of the renewal of spring and a celebration of the work we all do, and the people who labor. What do these two have in common? Bel-Tinne or Fire of the sun God (Belenos) is a Celtic holiday for blessing the livestock. International Workers Day commemorates the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, when police fired at people striking for the right to an 8 hour workday.  Join us as we light a bonfire for the work that we all do and celebrate those who labor in factories, farms, shops, homes, and offices. Wednesday May 16th at 7 PM Buchan 101-102.
For more information, contact intern minister Amy Beltaine at abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

Sacred Fool Service

The Sacred Fool
The Trickster, the Prankster, the Jester and the Muse. Keep us humble by revealing our limitations; show us that anything is possible when you let go of expectations; teach us the healing power of laughter; inspire us to share our joy and sadness so that others may laugh and learn and grow; remind us to see the world with new eyes; and sting us out of complacence and stagnation, returning us to the path. Travel with Mona Warner (voice/banjo) and Amy Beltaine (intern Minister) to find the healing side of humor and surprise. 7 PM Buchan 101-102 Wed. April 18. More information: abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

HOMILY:
Wednesday Service Apr. 18
First Unitarian Church of Portland Oregon
The Sacred Fool
Order of Service

“When you step out in faith like the Fool, others may declare you insane. And the end result (or what I call “the form”) is never guaranteed. What is certain though, is that you can’t be The Magician unless you’re first willing to be The Fool.” ~Kimberly Schneider
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(1) Prelude – “Turtles all the Way Down” by Cassandra Sagan performed by Mona Warner
(3) Welcome – Amy Beltaine - Story from Copper Woman by Anne Cameron
(2) Call to Worship - “Swans” from Swans by Mary Oliver
(2) Chalice Lighting - The Bluebird Wish
(3) Singing together – “Happiness Runs” by Donovan (See Music Notes)
(4) A Coyote Moment – Ministerial Candidate Kevin Lawson
(3) Singing together – Simple Gifts (See Music Notes)
(15) Homily - Sacred Fool - Minister Amy Beltaine
(15) Activity/Sharing – Your Fool’s Journey Fable - with Music by Mona Warner
(3) Singing together - “Surrender” (See Music Notes)
(1) Chalice Extinguishing – The Circle is Open (See Music Notes)
(1)Benediction – “For the Artist at the Start of Day”, from To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by John O’Donahue

To have fun.
To learn to make beautiful things.
To remember to finish what I begin.
To want to keep my temper most of the time.
To learn about trees and flowers and all of nature.
To have adventures with all sorts of things.
To make friends.

For the Service April 15th: The Bounce

The Bounce. Finding our resiliance. Why do many people and organizations crumble in the face of difficulty, while others use adversity to bounce back even stronger? The experience of bounce can range from an uncanny feeling of levitation to a supreme tranquil relaxation. It is precisely when all seems lost that the opportunity exists to rewire your brain. It's often during life's most difficult times that we discover our most critical hidden strengths and that we forge our most important capabilities.

-Harriet Tubman : “if you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches, keep going. If you hear them shouting, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

- bell hooks : “Contrary to what we may have been taught to think, unnecessary and unchosen suffering wounds us but need not scar us for life. It does mark us. What we allow the mark of our suffering to become is in our own hands.”

- Howard Thurman : I have never since lost sight of the far-flung mystery and redemption of the sacrament of pain.

It is small wonder that so much is made in the Christian religion of the necessity of rebirths.  There need not be only one single rebirth, but again and again a man may be reborn until at last there is nothing that remains between him and God.

[Alice Walker describes her  book, The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart as]...” the stories that came to me to be told after the close of a magical marriage to an extraordinary man that ended in a less-than-magical divorce. I found myself unmoored, unmated, ungrounded in a way that challenged everything I'd ever thought about human relationships. Situated squarely in that terrifying paradise called freedom, precipitously out on so many emotional limbs, it was as if I had been born; and in fact I was being reborn as the woman I was to become."
- Alice Walker

Sermon: Bring Many Names

Sermon: Bring Many Names, delivered at the First Unitarian Church of Portland Oregon on March 4.

Coming up in March!

midweek service
Spring Equinox: Like the Grasses
Like the grasses, through the dark and the soil to the sunlight, we shall rise again. We are thirsty, for the waters of life we are reaching, we shall live again. Come to share our strengths and renew hope. Have there been fallow periods in your life? Times when you were sure that you were a failure? Times when Winter felt like it would never end? Perhaps you are in a low period now... Every Spring the earth wakes up to new life and reminds us that hope is possible. What sustains us through the painful periods in life? 7 PM Buchan 101-102 Wednesday Mar 21. For more information, contact intern minister Amy Beltaine at abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

midweek sharing and healing circle
As the earth renews life we turn to the times in our own lives when we weathered a Winter and sought a Spring. Come for a sharing and healing circle. Come to share your stories of walking through the valley of the shadow, or share readings which have helped you to renew your hope. Some may be invited to share their offerings again at the worship service the following week. Wednesday Mar 14 7 PM Buchan 202-203.
For more information, contact intern minister Amy Beltaine at abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

Midweek service for February

Imbolc: Redivining the Body
“Imbolc” or “Brigid” is the Celtic festival of early spring, also celebrated as Candlemas, and in the U.S. as Groundhogs day. (All of these related holidays are usually observed on February 2nd.) As we emerge from our winter coats, what do we see? Is the shadow we cast whole or are we looking at all the ways in which we are not perfect? Let us gather to divine our miraculous bodies, our beautiful souls. If you have ever thought that your body is too fat or thin or your hearing aid is a flaw... If you have ever run into an inaccessible doorway or airplane seat or experienced disrespect for your service dog... Join us to re-member, to re-divine our sacred selves. Let us stand together on the side of love for every-body!
7PM Buchan 101/102 Wednesday Feb 15

midweek sharing and healing circle
If you have ever thought that your body is too fat or thin or your hearing aid is a flaw... If you have ever run into an inaccessible doorway or airplane seat or experienced disrespect for your service dog... If you have ever been treated as “less than” because of your complexion or gender... Come for a sharing and healing circle. Come to share your stories, or readings which have helped you to remember your sacred self. Some may be invited to share their offerings again at the worship service the following week. Come to remember that we are whole and sacred and have worth. Wednesday Feb. 8 7PM Buchan 202.
For more information, contact intern minister Amy Beltaine at abeltaine@firstunitarianportland.org

Wednesday Service Feb. 15
First Unitarian Church of Portland Oregon
Imbolc: Redivining the Body
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No-one is immune from messages about your body. 5 years ago, American men spent: $4 billion on exercise equipment and health club memberships, $3 billion on grooming aids and fragrances, and $800 million on hair transplants. Americans spent over $59.7-billion on diet products last year. Hair straighteners and bleaching cream are used to change hair and skin color and texture. Ten years ago there were at least 43 million Americans living with disabilities that had some significant impact on one or more major life activities. Yet we rarely see them portrayed in movies and even have special ‘sheltered’ workplaces which keep people with disabilities segregated from the rest of society. Each one of you here today may have something that you feel is imperfect, or challenging about your body. There are many ways that we are taught to hate our bodies, all different, and all based on expectations that we conform to a norm that, was never, and will never be, normal. We are here to day to stand on the side of love for every body. No matter how thin, how fat, how able-bodied, no matter what color or gender or orientation. No matter how your brain functions. You are lovable and have inherent worth and dignity. We are here to ask our bodies for forgiveness for all the harsh things we have said and thought about them, and to accept the blessing of forgiveness and celebrate our precious and miraculous bodies, together. We are here to stand on the side of love for EVERY body.
Call to Worship “Let Us Worship” by Kenneth Patton (adapted)
Let us worship with our eyes and ears and fingertips
Let us love the world through heart and mind and body.
We feed our selves with the mystery and revelation in the stories of our brothers and sisters.
We seek to know the wistfulness of the very young and the very old, the wistfulness of people in all times of life.
Let us worship with the opening of all the windows of our beings, with the full outstretching of our spirits.
Life comes with singing, and laughter, with tears and confiding, with a rising wave too great to be held in the mind and heart and body, to those who have falen in love with life.
Let us worship, and let us learn to love.

Homily from January midweek service

As I read the news, study our history, and hear from victims of violence and oppression. As I struggle to retain health insurance and watch friends face death without health insurance. As I worry about my cousin serving in Iraq. I am Angry. I am afraid for my niece, what sort of planet am I leaving for her? And I feel the weight of my personal responsibility with every piece of plastic I toss or mile I drive. Grief, Anger, Fear. Not fun emotions. I could retreat, but I’ve learned that hiding is a lonely business, and it doesn’t work for long.
The work is vast. The problems are enormous. Often it feels that there just aren’t enough people pitching in.
Often it seems like the fabric of our world has been torn asunder and the weaving, mending, and stitching it will take to put that beautiful tapestry back together again is well beyond my puny skill and strength.
But.
From Alice Walker
"It has become a common feeling, as we have watched our heroes falling over the years, that our own small stone of activism, which might not seem to measure up to the rugged boulders of heroism that we have so admired, is a paltry offering toward building the edifice of hope. Many who believe this choose to withhold their offerings out of shame.
This is the tragedy of our world.
For we can do nothing substantial toward changing our course on the planet, a destructive one, without rousing ourselves, individual by individual, and bringing our small, imperfect stones to the pile.
Sometimes our stones seem mis-shapen, odd. Their color seems off. Presenting them, we perceive our own imperfect nakedness. But also, paradoxically, the wholeness, the rightness, of it. In the collective vulnerability of presence, we learn not to be afraid about the bright moments one can experience at the pile of stones. Of how even the smallest stone glistens with tears, yes, but also from the light of being seen, and loved for simply being there.”
Thank you Alice Walker for remembering that we are all imperfect and that we are all important.
If you try to do something constructive you will make a solution more likely. If you recruit companions to work toward a solution you will achieve even more and you may be amazed years later to hear how much you have empowered others.
And, at the very least, you will feel much less like you are a part of the problem.
Question-How do you drink a lake? Answer-One sip at a time.
Question - How do you drink a lake? Answer-With lots of help.
Question - How do you drink a lake? Answer-You don’t. You love it and take care of it and it will provide you with water when you need it.
Almost any problem can be viewed in bit-sized pieces, and almost every time it can be dealt with better that way.
We need each other. This is our great heritage of Unitarianism and Universalism. A faith that calls us to pray with our hands. To join hands with our brothers and sisters. To join hearts and to be faithful to the work that must be done.
We human beings are capable of great evil, but we are capable of equally great good. We can build community, build love, and heal the world by joining hearts in our homes, in this congregation, in our city, and in our country.
Question- How do you save the world? Answer - one act at a time.
Question- How do you save the world? Answer - with lots of help.
Question- how do you save the world? Answer - with love.
As Alice Walker said:
"Because whatever the consequences, people, standing side by side, have expressed who they really are, and that ultimately they believe in the love of the world and each other enough *to be that* - which is the foundation of activism."
Gandhi asks you to “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” How are you doing that?

Sermon: Each New Day Your Heart May Pray

A Christmas Morning sermon
The Dance

Sunday October 9, 2011, First Unitarian Church of Portland Oregon