Both Sides By Rev. Nina D. Grey January, 2003

My old philosophy professor David Leonard (who also was a lay preacher in Unitarian Universalist congregations) used to give a sermon or talk that he called "America: West of History." Something like that, anyway. His theme, as I recall it? Settlers to the New World from Europe were on the move, to a large extent leaving history behind. They saw themselves as starting something brand new. Frontier life continued as men and women moved west to settle other parts of this immense land. Eventually the frontier life evolved as our country began experimenting with space travel.

Of course we know that some of our ancestors were here already in this so-called empty land. And we know also that some of our ancestors came here involuntarily and endured great hardships in the first centuries of their lives here.

Most European settlers brought their western religions with them. Primarily they were Christians, though some were Jewish. These western religions are historical in orientation, with worship of a God who acted in history and who, these religions assert, will still act to redeem history. These religions have a sense of past and future. But still, Professor Leonard said, there emerged a belief here that the United States of America is a land beyond history, a land that perennially can start all over. And, he warned, echoing a great thinker of the past, if we forget or ignore our history, we are doomed to repeat our failures.

I am especially aware of this warning in these New Year days, for we are a nation preparing for war. It is essential that we contemplate how we shall respond as a people of faith. It is important that we take note not only of the dreams of peace for which we hope, but also of our nation's history and the history of other nations. It is incumbent upon us to pay attention to the meanings in these histories as we try to understand the meaning of this war for which we plan.

It is January 1, again. We have been here before, making resolutions or not, celebrating each in our own way. The year, New Years Day reminds us, is not a straight line; it is a circle, or a cycle. Before western cultures celebrated New Years, nature based religions marked the beginning of the year. Born as they were in agricultural societies, they marked seedtime, growing time, harvest time, fallow time. Some of these religions considered seedtime the beginning of the year. Others considered harvest time as the beginning. In nature based religion, the blessings of new life are rooted deep within the gifts of nature, the seeds in the earth, the cycles of light and dark, warmth and cold, and also the patterns of the weather and water, air flows, earthworm cycles, the miracle of photosynthesis.

In western historical religions, the blessings of new life are grounded deep within human freedom, a gift given by the Creator of life. However you or I understand the source of our freedom, in whatever way we grasp its possibilities, however we accept the finiteness of our freedom, still we do understand that as individuals and as a community we are free: free to make choices that will, to some degree, shape our futures.

It is January 1. Again. Nights are long but getting shorter. We exist somewhere in the intersection between the cycles of nature and our sense of living within history. We are birthed in nature and nature's gifts sustain us. And history is important to us. We draw on the past, return to it, and understand it anew. And the openness of the future is also important to us: the potential of a new day, a new start made possible by human freedom. It is not that we forget the past. The past roots us if we do not ignore it. New possibilities, hidden in the future, draw us forward.

We live in the intersection somewhere between a historical view of life with its past, its present, its directionality toward the future, and a cyclical view of life. That is why it is good to honor both the holy days of our history, with their interpretations of human behaviors and their meanings that can help us shape our futures, and the holy days of nature, that point to the mystery of the life force itself.

It is January 1. Again. Mark the New Year. Be aware of today's events in light of our history, both personal and corporate. Think ahead to tomorrow's possibilities in light of our dreams and the freedoms we have to pursue those dreams, both individual and communal. Think. What shall we decide for ourselves? What shall we choose with and for our families? How shall we shape the future life of our congregation, for the sake of our young people, our growing people, our older people, all the people already in our beloved community, and those yet to come?

Let us be grateful for the gifts of nature and how they sustain us, moment to moment, through all our lives. Let us be grateful for the lessons of history and what we can learn from them, and for the gifts of freedom and dreams, for the privilege of shaping an open vibrant, meaning-filled future for the days and years ahead.

It is January 1. Again. Happy New Year!

With love, in faith,

Nina