Anger and Courage

As a minister, it seems almost absurd to admit it but my favorite role on stage was Joan of Arc.  In fact, I cut my long hair to play her in a production at the University of Michigan where I double-majored in Drama and Psychology.  Theatre has been my passion from a very young age.  I have taken on a variety of parts, many of them leading roles but none of them with the same degree of personal satisfaction as Joan of Arc.

I am sure that most of you are familiar with her remarkable story.  One day while watching her flock of sheep, she receives a message from God through a vision of Saint Catherine commanding her to go to battle against the English to save her native France.  Joan casts aside all the conventions of the fifteenth century when she lived, and dressed as a man rides into battle leading the French to victory.  The play does not enact the battle scenes.  Instead the drama consists of Joan defending herself in the trial leading up to her being burned at the stake.

What was most satisfying about playing that character is the certainty with which Joan challenges the established order.  She is not afraid to speak and act for justice.  She speaks her mind directly and without hesitation to the Judge, to the Archbishop, to the Nobleman, and even to the King himself.  As you can imagine, the dignitaries are taken aback by her boldness.  Imagine a young peasant woman challenging the authority of the law, the government, and the church!  That is why I loved playing a character who was single-minded in her battle against principalities and powers.  Who could see clearly and act boldly against corruption in high places.

Many viewed Joan of Arc as a strident and foolish woman.  Some felt that her unconventional actions were evil in disturbing the status quo.  She could be viewed as a failure in that she died so young.  However, over the course of history she has become Saint Joan canonized in part for her refusal to recant to save herself from execution.  She lived and died with integrity never compromising her beliefs.  Even though she was convicted as guilty, she died with the conviction that her life was in service to God.

Some of you may have seen the current television show, “Joan of Arcadia”.  The premise of the program set in modern times is that a teenage girl living in Arcadia, California is visited by God and given instructions to follow.  However instead of appearing as an ethereal vision or voice, God manifests in human form.  God appears as a teenage boy, a black woman, a homeless man, in other words showing the divine in people of all ages, races, genders and abilities.  Joan of the TV show is not as courageous and committed as her namesake.  She finds God’s visits annoying as they interrupt her routine and make demands on her time.  Joan of Arcadia is often shown reluctantly following God’s orders only after much prodding.  As a viewer, it is very satisfying to see by the end of the hour-long episode how Joan’s actions made a difference in the life of another person.

Our lives are not like the historical or fictional Joan.  God does not send messengers to direct our actions.  As we go about our daily routines, an angel does not appear giving us a clear mission to follow.  Instead, our lives are filled with so many messages, in the form of experiences, information, people, and news.  We are constantly sorting through the relative values of programs, goals, ideas, and beliefs.  For ultimately, all people want the greatest good for themselves, their families, and communities.  It is the means for arriving at those goals that vary widely.  In the midst of all the conflicting messages and relative values, it can be difficult to discern our own beliefs, let alone to speak out or take action.

Then there is the magnitude of human needs in an age of growing anxiety and fear.  The speed with which we receive information from around the globe does not make it any easier to grasp our place on this earth.  In fact, the sheer volume and urgency of the news can become overwhelming.  Many people respond to current events with cynicism about the state of society or despair that the problems seem too enormous to address.  Some people decide to disconnect from the media all together in order to function in daily life.

Augustine wrote: “Hope has two beautiful daughters.  Their names are anger and courage.  Anger at the way things are and courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”  There are so many things that make me angry.  Most of them fall into the same category that causes outrage on the playground.  Children do not hesitate to cry out “That’s not fair!” when another child jumps onto a swing out of turn or someone breaks the rules of a game.  As parents, teachers, family members, neighbors, and fellow church members, it is important that we do not simply try to protect children but instead teach them how to negotiate with one another.  Instead of turning to an authority figure to fix all problems it is essential to teach children the values of communication and cooperation.

If a child is privileged, she may be older before she realizes that life is often unfair.  However, none of us, unless very sheltered, escape from the fact that events often unfold in a way that favors one person over another and often the outcome is unjust.  Increasingly many children are growing up without ever even having the illusion of fairness.

Even as we learn to function in this world, it is important that we stay in touch with our anger.  For as Augustine tells us anger is one of Hope’s beautiful daughters.  Like a messenger or a voice, anger arises within us when we recognize injustice.  We may try to push injustice from our minds through activity or entertainment or food or alcohol or drugs, but even as we try to numb our thoughts, we always carry that knowledge in our hearts.

Anger in itself is not enough.  Hope’s second beautiful daughter is courage; courage to see that things do not remain the way they are.  It is easy to walk away resignation.  It takes courage to speak directly and respectfully when someone’s words or actions have made us angry.  To add our name to a petition, to write a letter to the editor, to work for a cause, to articulate our vision, to risk exposure, and having our views questioned, all take courage and a hopeful vision that change is possible.  Even if the outcome is not exactly as we planned, we have succeeded in living with integrity by changing our own hearts.

We must recognize that we cannot reverse all of life’s injustices at once.  It is impossible to single-handedly work for affordable housing, education, jobs, and health care.  One congregation alone cannot end oppression in its many forms.  Even all of our congregations working in partnership with one another would not be able to strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and bring about world peace.  So it is essential that we share with one another what makes us angry and choose areas to focus our efforts as the Rhode Island UU’s for Social Justice has done.  It is also possible to form partnerships in the community, in your neighborhood, with your family members and friends.  Instead of just stuffing your anger, have the courage to share the events close to home and abroad that cause you concern, then consider some action that you can take whether it is to say a prayer, send money, read a book to learn more, write to politicians, volunteer your time or organize a response.

Liberal minister Howard Thurman wrote, “Do not ask yourself what the world needs.  Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

In June, I had the privilege of attending the General Assembly of our movement in Long Beach, CA.  Who here was also at GA 2004?  Who attended our General Assembly the previous year in Boston?  Who has attended any other General Assemblies in the past? 

For those of you who have had the opportunity to attend GA, you know how invigorating it is to be among thousands of people from across the United States, and other countries like Canada, England, Ireland, Romania, and India who share our liberal religious faith.  For those of you who have yet to experience the inspiration that comes from the GA programming, a combination of guest speakers, worship services, business meetings, and social witness events, I hope that you will consider giving yourself a week in June for a religious awakening.

One event that I attended at GA 2004 was the Starr King Lecture, offered by my alma mater.  The speaker was Gordon McKeeman.  The Reverend Dr. McKeeman was ordained as a Universalist minister in 1943 and has been very active in our movement as a minister, but also as a UUA Board member, President of the UU Service Committee, and later as the President of Starr King.  His eighty-year-old frame is slight but his voice still carries the power and insight of a great preacher.

I am going to close with a prayer by Gordon McKeeman, which so beautifully captures his message that the sacredness of the individual depends upon our solidarity with all.  Diversity is a given, it is our oneness which our Universalist faith calls us to strive for.  Humanity and life on this planet will be saved not through our freedom as individuals but through a growing sense of unity and purpose.  Each one of us is called to do our part in the fulfillment of this vision of peace and justice.  Our ministry to and with one another is shared.  So here is a prayer for all gathered here today and. . .

A Prayer For Any Who Minister [i]

O Thou Vast Life in which our little lives dwell

O Thou Spirit who art parent to our spirits

we rejoice in one great truth

            that our little lives can be partners in great enterprises

            that our little minds can contain great ideas

            that our little hearts can engender great hopes

            that our little spirits can conjure up great visions

            that our greatness is not of size, but of purpose

            that our strength is not of numbers, but of intent

            that our importance is not of duration, but of direction.

In the quiet and confidence of our own hearts

we have committed ourselves to holy orders

            to seek the holy in a world fragmented

            to seek peace in a world discontented

            to seek sanity in a world oft demented

            to seek health in a world oft tormented.

In our hearts we need great courage, lest it desert us in peril.

In our minds are shining visions.

            Let them not be tarnished by the smothering fog of the traffic

            and the obscuring mists of nay-sayings, doubts and fears.

In our souls is the unquenchable impulse toward the holy.

            Let it ever remind us that the ministry is

                        about wholeness

                        about healing

                        about health.

Steel our wills to venture into dark, dismal, and dreadful places.

We are seekers

            after the holy wheresoever it is hidden

            to beckon forth that it may shine

            with ineffable splendor of human possibility and human fulfillment.

Remind us, now and then, that such revelation is

            reward enough

            satisfaction enough

            paradise enough

            heaven enough.

Amen.