The Intimacy and the Ultimacy
Written by Margie King Saphier Sunday, 11 October 2009 00:00
I thank Linda Hansen, who taught philosophy and literature before becoming a UU minister. She wrote a wonderful analysis of the story Wizard of Oz. Hansen suggests Dorothy and her friends are not sure about their place in the world. Right before the cyclone lifts her house up, Dorothy is trying to save her little dog Toto from the clutches of Miss Gulch, who wants Toto destroyed for digging up her garden. When Dorothy tries to enlist the help of Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, they are too busy and imply that her concerns are a distraction. So their responses leave Dorothy questioning what is her place in her home, in Kansas, in the world.
Hansen’s analysis led me to the conclusion that Dorothy needed to belong to a covenant group; she was lacking fellowship and meaning. Fortunately for Dorothy, the friends she met on her journey have the same problem. They believed the solution to their individual problems was through seeking qualities they believed they lack; but what they sought, they already possessed. Ironically once they know they have these qualities, their lives will be more complicated, even more painful, but life will also become more meaningful.
Brains for Scarecrow, a heart for Tinman, and courage for Lion,will also bring Scarecrow the pain and anxiety of more complex questions, as well as the joy of figuring out answers to some of them; Tinman will experience the joy and pain of increasing love and the knowledge of love lost, and Lion will learn that courage means acting in the face of fear, exposing him to more risks. Dorothy is seeking home, where she can confidently be herself. Being yourself invites judgment as well as affirmation.
Each one of us has probably experienced the anxiety of not knowing what to do in a particular situation; or had the experience of loving so much that our heart was about break in sorrow or burst with joy, and of being scared about what to do or not to do. Like all of us, Dorothy wants to go home, not as the projections of others, but confidently in being her true self. This is what it means to be at home in the world.
Being at home in the world is about ultimacy. Being at home in the world is at issue for the other three characters, and it is their relationships – the friendships they developed, the faith they had in one another – which made their pursuit for ultimacy possible. This is also the beauty of covenant groups. It is the trust that develops over time that supports the freedom to explore possible meanings.
When I was a Hospice chaplain, the words “roots hold me close, wings set me free,” in the hymn Spirit of Life, enabled me to feel at home while I visited people who practiced very different faith traditions from Unitarian Universalism. I visited them with firm roots in my faith tradition enabling me to be free to provide them the space and freedom to explore their fears and celebrate their joys in the tradition that was most comfortable for them.
In many ways covenant groups do the same for each of their members. Through acceptance, non-judgmental listening, and respect, each member is able to discern their own truth. There will be times maybe even many times – one member says something, and a judgmental thought arises in another member thinking, “I can’t believe you said that.” This thought is not a signal that it is time to leave the group, it is a signal to suspend judgments and personal points of view and to become compassionately curious about the other. The metaphor of the blind men feeling the different parts of the elephant, thinking their part is all there is a good example of how we all cling to our own cherished ideas. Instead in a covenant group, each members’ contributions are welcomed as a part of the puzzle of life.
As Rebecca said in her reflection and Bill in his chalice lighting, the members of the group do not care what each do for a living but they do care HOW each member lives and thinks. Mark shared it is about putting voice to one’s part of the journey of life. Each contribution from a member helps to create an ever-changing kaleidoscope of meaning.
The Unitarian Universalist minister Forrest Church, who recently died, said religion is “our human response to the dual reality of being alive and knowing we must die.” Having this awareness, Church believed “To be fully human is to care.” In the same vein John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop of Newark, NJ, says, “Religion ultimately becomes not an activity in which we explore the meaning of God, but an activity through which we explore the meaning of the human. … The challenge of humanity is not through the external projections of our needs onto a god, but through entering the depth dimensions of the human experience. Religion is a journey into the heart of our humanity, where we break out of our separation fears and enter the meaning of transcendence, oneness, timelessness and finally, eternity.” When we journey into the heart of our humanity, we feel at home in the world knowing the gifts we bring are needed.
A Covenant Group is one way to explore what it means to be human.
Take courage friends. The way is often hard, the path is never clear, and the stakes are very high. Take courage. For deep down, there is another truth: you are not alone. Wayne Arnason