Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley
Opening Words by Cliff Reed
We gather in a house of peace,
where violence of hand or tongue
are unwelcome strangers.
The Spirit is among us as we breathe and sing and pray,
speaking gentle, kind, and friendly words.
Within us and through us, may Divine Love reach out,
cooling hearts in which resentment burns,
warming hearts made deathly cold by hatred,
reviving hearts grown lukewarm with unconcern.
Chalice Lighting (you may wish to light a candle in your own home at this point. I will be lighting my chalice for worship at 11.00 am on Sunday morning) words by Cliff Reed
Out of the fires of war
let us kindle the chalice of peace.
Out of the fury of battle
let us create a passion for peace.
Out of the turmoil of conscience
let us weave the calm of peace.
In the one Spirit that we share
let us celebrate the vision of a
world made just and free – and
find the strength to build it,
a little at a time.
Opening Prayers
Spirit of Life and Love,
Be with us as we gather for worship,
Each in our own place.
Help us to feel a sense of community,
Even though we are physically apart.
Help us to care for each other,
In this world in which Covid has not yet gone away,
And the clouds of war linger.
May we keep in touch however we can,
And help each other,
However we may.
May we remember that
caution is still needed,
that close contact is still unwise.
Help us to be grateful for the freedoms we have
and to respect the wishes of others.
May we hold in our hearts all those
Who are grieving, lost, alone,
Suffering in any way,
Amen
A Prayer for Ukraine by Archbishops Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell
God of peace and justice,
We pray for the people of Ukraine today.
We pray for peace and the laying down of weapons.
We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow,
that your Spirit of comfort would draw near to them.
We pray for those with power over war or peace,
for wisdom, discernment and compassion
to guide their decisions.
Above all, we pray for all your precious children, at risk or in fear,
that you would hold and protect them.
We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Amen
Story Starfish on the Beach from The Shortest Distance by Bill Darlison (adapted)
While walking along the beach one day, a young man noticed that thousands of starfish had been washed up by the tide. The tide was going out and the starfish were stranded. There was no way that they could get back to the water, and within an hour or so they would all be dead.
In the distance, he noticed an elderly woman, who was picking up the starfish from the beach and throwing them back into the sea. He approached her and asked, “What are you doing?”
She replied, “The sun is up and the tide is out, I’m throwing these starfish back into the sea so that they won’t die.”
“But why are you bothering?” the young man protested. “There are thousands of them and what you are doing won’t make any difference And there will be thousands more on the next tide.”
The old lady stooped, picked up another starfish, and hurled it back into the receding tide. Then she turned to the young man and grinned: “Made a difference to that one!”
Alternative Lord’s Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love, here and everywhere,
May we be aware of your presence in our lives.
May our world be blessed.
May our daily needs be met,
And may our shortcomings be forgiven,
As we forgive those of others.
Give us the strength to resist wrong-doing,
The inspiration and guidance to do right,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are your hands in the world; help us to grow.
May we have compassion for all living beings,
And receive whatever life brings,
With courage and trust. Amen
Reading The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke Ch.10, v.25-37
Just then, a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’
Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go, and do likewise.”
Prayer by Sydney K. Wilde
Spirit of Life and Love,
your prophet Isaiah called us to worship you
by freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked and housing the homeless.
Your follower St Francis cried out,
“Make me an instrument of thy peace.”
Jesus instructed us to love our neighbours –
and our enemies – as ourselves.
Remind us again, dear God,
that ours are the hands that must do your work.
We are the ones who must comfort the sick and lift up the poor.
We are the ones who must challenge traditions to bring about justice.
Strengthen our resolve, we pray, to live out our faith as doers of good works.
Fill us with the spirit, which will give us both courage and strength
to move out into the world, and there, to make a difference.
By our efforts, may your will be done. Amen
Reading I can’t make the world be peaceful by John Roedel
I can’t make the
world be peaceful
I can’t stall tanks
from roaring down roads
I can’t prevent children
from having to hide in bunkers
I can’t convince the news to
stop turning war into a video game
I can’t silence the sound of bombs
tearing neighborhoods apart
I can’t turn a guided missile
into a bouquet of flowers
I can’t make a warmonger
have an ounce of empathy
I can’t convince ambassadors
to quit playing truth or dare
I can’t deflect a sniper’s bullet
from turning a wife into a widow
I can’t stave off a country being
reduced to ash and rubble
I can’t do any of that
the only thing I can do
is love the next person I encounter
without any conditions or strings
to love my neighbor
so fearlessly that
it starts a ripple
that stretches from
one horizon to the next
I can’t force peace
on the world
but I can become a force
of peace in the world
because
sometimes all it takes
is a single lit candle
in the darkness
to start a movement
“Lord, make me a candle
of comfort in this world
let me burn with peace”
Time of Stillness and Reflection It is easy to cry ‘peace’ by Cliff Reed (adapted)
It is easy to cry ‘peace’
when we are not oppressed by tyranny.
It is easy to invoke patience
when our loved ones are not in chains.
It is easy to call for restraint
when our children are free from fear.
It is easy to be even-handed
when our sister is not being raped
and our brother is not being tortured.
It is easy to mouth smooth pieties
when cruelty and injustice are not before our eyes.
It is easy to quibble about legalities
when we have laws that protect us.
It is easy to debate rights and liberties
when terrorists haven’t strewn our streets
with bloody, broken bodies.
It is easy to light candles
when our family isn’t burning,
or to sing sweet songs when hatred
isn’t screaming in our ears.
It is easy to be sure
when we are far away,
safe in our certainties.
[silence]
Spirit of Love, don’t let us use you
to excuse our failure to relieve those
who suffer torment at human hands,
or to make a difference when we can.
Help us to do what we can, where we are. Amen
Musical Interlude Welsh Wedding by Elizabeth Harley
Address Doing What We Can, Where We Are
The former President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, once said, “Hope is not about believing that we can change things; hope is about believing that what we do makes a difference.” And the old lady with the starfish in our story proves that no matter how old or tired or busy we are, we can still make a positive difference in the world. It may be only a story, but it is true, nonetheless.
I am sure that you, like me, have been horrified by the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, by the violence which is going on there. On February 24th, British Quakers issued a call for peace, which included these words, “Quakers call for a cessation of fighting and for all parties to observe international law, including international humanitarian law. This prominently includes the Geneva Conventions, which regulate the conduct of war, and to which both Russia and Ukraine are states parties. All sides should take the earliest opportunity to halt hostilities and to resume negotiations.
“Protection of human life should be of primary importance. ‘We know war leads to unimaginable suffering. In particular, exposing children to violence can have lifelong damaging effects’, said Paul Parker. He continued, ‘All sides should commit to establishing and respecting humanitarian corridors allowing civilians to flee the fighting. We also appeal for conduct that avoids embedding grievances and injustices that will become the seeds of future violent conflict. Crucially, this means doing everything possible to avoid and resist the creation of enmity between peoples. It also means persevering with efforts to engage in dialogue and preparing the ground for the return of people to their homes.’
“Although war makes dialogue and peace-making far more difficult, it does nothing to diminish the need for courageous peace-making efforts. We know there are people in both Russia and Ukraine working tirelessly for peace. We continue to uphold and stand in solidarity with them at this violent and perilous time.”
Some of you listening to this service may disagree with the Quakers and may believe that reciprocal violence is the only way of stopping the Russians. Others may be wondering what they, as individuals, might be able to do in the face of such armed aggression.
And I believe that the answer to the second question is perhaps “not much”, but as people of faith, we must do what we can, where we are. I came across the moving poem I can’t make the world peaceful by John Roedel, which was our final reading this morning, on Facebook the other day, and was struck by his words, which both embraced his feelings of despair about this terrible war, but also shared some hope. He said, “I can’t force peace on the world, but I can become a force of peace in the world, because sometimes all it takes is a single lit candle in the darkness to start a movement.”
“I can’t force peace on the world, but I can become a force of peace in the world.” And he suggests that “the only thing [we] can do is love the next person [we] encounter without any conditions or strings, to love [our] neighbor so fearlessly that it starts a ripple that stretches from one horizon to the next.”
Which of course is also the message of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which was our second reading. The Samaritan, who was travelling along, minding his own business, was moved by the plight of the man who had been robbed and injured, who was the “next person” he encountered and chose to take care of him and show love to him. The great point of this story for Jesus’s Jewish hearers was that at the time it was written, Samaritans were considered to be social pariahs, to be avoided by all right-thinking Jews. Which made the facts that it was a Samaritan who showed the man mercy, while the priest and the Levite “passed by on the other side” shocking and unexpected.
But as Jesus asks the lawyer at the end of his story, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” And of course, there is only one answer: “The one who showed him mercy.” To which Jesus says, “Go and do likewise.”
We may not, as individuals, be able to do much about the situation in Ukraine (although we can of course write to our MPs to ask that Ukrainian refugees will be made welcome here, make donations, take part in vigils, and pray for peace, to give just four examples). But, I do believe that we can all make a difference to the world in which we live, by following John Roedel’s advice and loving the next person we encounter “without conditions or strings.”
Because the power of unconditional love is enormous. If each one of us genuinely tried to love our neighbour, which means each person we meet, and to treat each one with the utmost equity and respect, to see each and every one of them as “unique, precious, a child of God”, I believe our part of the world could be a happier, more peaceful place. And who knows where the ripples might end?
At the 2011 Annual Meetings of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, Unitarians in Britain voted to become a partner organisation of the Charter for Compassion. The Golden Rule, which the Charter for Compassion embraces, lies at the heart of all religions. It is stated in both negative and positive terms by different religions but may be summed up in the phrases ‘Do as you would be done by’ and ‘Do not do to others that which you would not like to be done to you’. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone followed it! If every person genuinely tried to behave to the rest of humankind with a concern and care for how they would feel. As it says in the Charter for Compassion “Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creature, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.”
If we want to make our faith more compassionate, it is we who have to do it – we who have to be the change we want to see in the world. We have to take responsibility for our own traditions. It is no good waiting for “them” to do something – even if “them” is the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches. It is us, the individual congregations, the individual people in those congregations, who need to take responsibility ourselves – to become activists *where we are*. We need to work hard, to think outside the box, to grapple with difficulties. There are no simple blanket solutions.
As Unitarians, our beliefs and values chime in closely with this. Let me share an extract from our leaflet, A Faith Worth Thinking About:
“Unitarians find their bond of unity in shared values, such as … mutual respect and good will in personal relations; constructive tolerance and openness towards the sincerely-held beliefs of others; peace, compassion, justice and democracy in human affairs.”
Each Unitarian congregation, each Unitarian district, is a Unitarian community. If we are to embrace the Golden Rule, we need to start here, where we are. Let us ask ourselves the questions
- Have I shown mutual respect and goodwill to my friends and neighbours?
- Have I practiced constructive tolerance and openness towards the sincerely-held beliefs of others?
- Am I doing as I would be done by?
- Am I avoiding giving pain to others by my actions?
And we need to be asking those questions not only as individuals, but also as a congregation, as a District.
- What can our congregation / district do to show mutual respect and goodwill to our friends and neighbours?
- How can we engage constructively with the beliefs and faith-traditions of other people in our town or area?
- What are we doing to show compassion to others?
- How are we avoiding giving pain to others?
If we can start a conversation about these questions, I believe that we, as individuals, as congregations, and as a District, can make a difference, can be a “force for peace in the world.”
I’d like to finish by repeating part of the beautiful prayer by Sydney K. Wilde:
Remind us again, dear God,
that ours are the hands that must do your work.
We are the ones who must comfort the sick and lift up the poor.
We are the ones who must challenge traditions to bring about justice.
Strengthen our resolve, we pray, to live out our faith as doers of good works.
Fill us with the spirit, which will give us both courage and strength
to move out into the world, and there, to make a difference.
By our efforts, may your will be done.
May it be so. Amen
Closing Words
Spirit of Life and Love,
Help us to become doers of good in the world,
So that we may make a positive difference.
May we choose to never “pass by on the other side”,
When others are hurting, suffering.
May we return to our everyday world refreshed,
May we share the love we feel,
May we look out for each other,
And may we keep up our hearts,
Now and in the days to come,
Amen
Postlude Lady of Lewesdon Hill by Elizabeth Harley