April 2, 2006

Rev. Henry Ticknor
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley

The Interdependent Web

As we have strolled through this church year, we have been engaged in the exploration of our seven Unitarian Universalist principles.

We began back in October with our first principle, that we covenant to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and now on this beautiful morning in early spring I think it is appropriate that we turn our attention to our seventh and last principle which states that as a congregation we covenant to affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are apart.

Following years of committee meetings and sermons and coffee hour conversations our Principles and Purposes were adopted in 1984 at the annual General Assembly of UU congregations held that year in Columbus, Ohio.

After considerable debate, and several amendments from the floor the statement, which came to be known as "The Principles and Purposes", was agreed upon.

It now has a place in the bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Association, as well as in our hymnals where it can be found immediately preceding the first hymn.

The original document proposed at the meeting in Columbus contained the wording of the first six Principles but nowhere was there a mention of interdependence.

While the concept might have been suggested in the wording of the other principles there was no wording speaking directly to humanity’s connection to the world of nature.

Many voices were raised in support of such wording and some threatened to vote against the document unless appropriate wording was added.

"As the debate wore on and patience grew thin," relates one participant, "The Reverend Paul L’Herrou stood up and proposed this seventh Principle. Some word crafting ensued, but because almost everyone agreed with it in substance, the final draft passed, with few, if any, dissenting votes.

A funny thing has happened since then. We appeal to these Principles for all sorts of things, from supporting social action projects to theological discussions and beyond. Of all seven, it is the last Principle that is appealed to by far the most often."

During the story for children of all ages we had fun with the Native American story of spider woman and how she used her loom to create the world and all the creatures in it. And we visibly created our own interdependent web right here in this sanctuary. (Some of you may still be trying to untangle yourselves from this experience!)

But, Barbara Merritt in an essay on our seventh principle says that, " The interdependent web of life is not simply a poetic metaphor.

The interdependent web is a fact of our existence; it is an essential way of understanding the world in the twentieth century...It is not just a self-evident proposition about the space we occupy in the world. It is a religious statement that necessitates certain fundamental truths and disciplines."

So what might be some of these fundamental truths and disciplines that our seventh Principle calls on us to live by?

I believe that first and foremost it calls on us to be active participants in the world.

Many of us are drawn to Unitarian Universalism because it celebrates the individual. We speak of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual. We affirm the right of each individual to control his or her own destiny.

We celebrate each individual’s right to search for what is true in the lives and to seek out sources of meaning and revelation that speak most directly to them as individuals.

We speak of our individual right of conscience. Indeed these are many of the qualities that our principles instill in our congregations and us. But is it enough just to celebrate the individual?

I think not. I think it is our seventh principle that calls on us to participate in the lives of others, to be aware of our impact on our natural surroundings, to be aware that, in the final analysis, we are not alone in this world.

It calls on us to be mindful that humanity is but one more life form in the totality of all existence.

Perhaps as Unitarian Universalists it is this Principle, more than any other, that gives us the credibility to call into question the validity of the biblical writings that permit humankind to have "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps."

For if we are to live lives that reflect our place in the universe we must be mindful of the size of the footprints we leave behind.

How is the tendency of western countries to be mass consumers going to impact our environment?

How is the increased burning of fossil fuels going to impact the air we breathe? How is the steady destruction of our wetlands and our rain forests going to make our planet a better place to live?

If we care about the environmental impact of our lives, what steps should we take to lesson the amount of trash we add to our landfills, the amount of fuel we consume and the amount of land we destroy to build McMansions and shopping centers. What is our individual responsibility?

The seventh Principle urges us to demonstrate a reverence for life and to lead lives that will enable us to be good stewards of this one earth that supports us and sustains us. In the long term what we do today will directly impact life on earth into the far future.

When we look at climatological changes we see an increase in severe storms, and greater fluctuations in local climates. This March has been one of the driest on record.

Will some future weather reporter go live with a story called "The Day the Rain Stopped?" Or the day the grasses of the world all died? Or the day the last shovel full of coal or barrel of oil was taken from the earth?

I believe our seventh Principle calls us to live in right relationship with the earth.

But it goes farther than that. For me the web of all existence goes beyond our relationship with nature and includes our relationships with all of humanity.

Who will we welcome with respect and dignity and whom will we banish?

If we are all a part of the great family of humankind, as the similarities in our DNA would suggest, how will we respond to the needs of those whose cultures are different from ours?

Whose laws are different from ours, whose religion is different from ours, who lack the means to care for themselves?

Who have broken the law and have entered this country illegally so they might earn five dollars an hour rather than fifty cents?

Does the interdependent web permit us to choose who we will look after and whom we will ignore?

Are we not all dependent upon one another?

"Interdependence," according to Ken Collier," is an energy that flows in both directions. If the wolf is dependent upon the caribou, then the caribou is dependent on the world; if I am dependent on you then you are also dependent on me. We cannot escape each other.

When our government gets tough on crime that hardness rebounds not only on criminals but also on all of us. And when we raise the level of anxiety and despair among the poor by forgetting that they are real people who need help, then we raise our own level of anxiety fear and despair."

Nancy and I recently watched the movie Crash that won the Oscar for best picture. For a moment I thought I might show the film this morning rather than preaching because I feel it so accurately captures this sense if interdependence.

During the film several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of characters that includes a black police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the distracted district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist veteran police officer, who is caring for a sick father at home, and who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful black Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with racist cop, a Persian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter.

At the start of the film none of these characters is even aware of the existence of any of the others yet over time their lives become inexorably connected.

Crash tells a story of individuals so desperate for meaningful human interaction that they quite literally "crash" into one another. In this sense it is really a film about racism and the vulnerability and brokenness of humanity.

It is a film that suggests that by making the right choices in life, by living in right relationship with one another, we can have a positive impact on even the strangers in our midst.

It shows us that each one is capable of caring for another. It shows us that as individuals we are simultaneously capable of making even the most violent of decisions and of being immensely compassionate.

In the unpredictable and sometimes scary world we all inhabit the message of this movie is that we need to embrace the humanity that is present in each and all.

The movie suggests that when we respect the interconnected web of all existence then we are open to the notion of individual redemption.

I think, too, that our seventh Principle calls us to respect the interconnected web of the various religious traditions that inform our lives.

I’m sure that many of us were moved by the personal stories shared in last week’s service on atheism.

Rather than being of one mind we heard a variety of ideas on this important theological construct. Indeed, last week we witnessed the weaving of several individual stories into the fabric of our liberal religious beliefs.

Native Americans are keenly aware of the interdependent nature of their existence and that of the rest of the world.

In many Native American cultures, there is the belief that all things are alive and have souls.

They feel that to kill anything, even for food and shelter, is to take away the soul of the animal or tree that they are killing.

In order to not incur the wrath of such spirits, they pray to the spirits for forgiveness and ask for assistance in the hunt. These prayers are a reminder to them that in order for them to exist, so too must other living beings exist.

Buddhists implore us to be mindful of the interconnected nature of all things.

The word Buddha means the one who has awakened. The Buddha woke up from the malaise of existence to see how precious and special each thing and each person is.

He understood that his existence depended upon the existence of all other beings. He felt deeply the pain and suffering of others as if it were his own.

And even now, groups of Christian Evangelicals are starting to speak out in favor of activities and life-styles that are supportive of "the web of Creation."

According to The National Religious Partnership for the Environment, "Creation invests the world with a depth of meaning not fully captured by the terms ‘environment’ or ‘nature.’

Creation means that all things in heaven and earth are related to the One who gives them being. Creation means that our dealings with everything around us are bound up with our relationship with the divine. Creation means that we are creatures, too; the healing of the earth and the healing of human persons and human society must go hand in hand."

In fact, these religious folks are likely to turn away from such words as "dominion" as found in Genesis 1, and turn to these words found in Genesis 9: 12, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations."

So, more and more, Christian theologians are adopting a stand that suggests that at the core of living in right relationship with one another and the world is the dictum of the Great Commandment which admonishes believers to love God and one’s neighbor as oneself.

They ask this simple question, "Can we love the Creator without celebrating and caring for the creation? Can we love our neighbor without protecting the environment on which our neighbor’s health and life depend?"

And of course we owe a debt of gratitude to those among us who are devoted practitioners of earth-based spirituality for always having known that the earth is central to our existence as human beings.

Those who are very dedicated to this concept refer to the earth in a maternal sense. They will refer to the earth as "the mother of us all" or simply as "Gaia," the mother goddess.

"We are interconnected…this is as true religiously and spiritually as it is biologically." writes Ken Collier, ". ..(and) the minute we forget it and try to live as if we were autonomous units…we loose sight of any chance to bring genuine meaning and joy and even love into our living."

The interconnected web, he says is about "loving our neighbors as ourselves and loving our enemies…It is dispelling hatred with love.

If what goes around comes around, doesn’t it make sense for us to send love around, love and help and generosity and kindness and understanding and a gentle, healing and helping hand?"

It was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King who wrote the eloquent words, "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

My wish today is that we would live our lives as if we believed these words to be true. I am glad to be a part of a religious tradition that calls us to lead lives full of respect for one another, for our differing religious beliefs and theologies, for our differing abilities, ages, talents, and capacities to love and be loved.

I believe that we must get away from the notions of the "Me Generation" of the eighties and nineties and embrace one another as best as we are able—even when this is difficult.

In the Movie Crash there is a marvelous scene where a father comes home to find his young daughter hiding under her bed, scared of some sounds she has heard outside.

He gently places her on the bed and spins a marvelous fairy tale about an invisible cloak that can protect the one who wears it from all harm.

As the daughter listens in rapt attention the father undoes the imaginary cloak from around his shoulders and lifting her hair so it will not be pulled by the cloaks weight and he fastens the clasp under her chin.

He tells his daughter that he is giving her the cloak just as his mother had given it to him when he turned five.

In this simple gesture he is connecting father and daughter with generations that have come before and one assumes that eventually the daughter will be able to pass on the invisible cloak to a child of her own.

This simple act symbolizes the wonderful web of existence and love that can exist in one family.

In life, we don’t usually have access to such magic cloaks but by extending our hands in welcome and in empathy and in love, we are doing our best to embrace the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

When we do our best to honor the stranger among us we are showing our respect for the entire human family.

When we are good stewards of our environment individual actions intersect like the threads woven by spider woman and in increments large and small we are doing our part to participate in the very act of creation.

Every human being, in fact every creature that walks, crawls, slithers, or creeps and every plant, whether one cell or billions, indeed everything at that is connected to every other thing.

That is why, as Unitarian Universalists, we covenant to affirm and promote the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. That is why as Unitarian Universalists we strive lead lives that recognize the "oneness" of all creation and to leave a legacy of universal love.