Where's the fire?
April 06, 2009
Why am I afraid to dance, I who love music
and rhythm and grace and song and laughter?
Why am I afraid to live, I who love life and
beauty of flesh and the living colors of the
earth and sky and sea? Why am I afraid to
love, I who love love? Euguene O'Neil
In everyone's life, at some time our inner
fire goes
out. It is then bust into flame by an
encounter with
another human being. We should all be
thankful for
those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
Albert Schweitzer
A long time ago, there was a man who invented
the art
of making fire. He took his tools and visited
a tribe in
the north, where the climate was bitter cold.
The man
taught the people how to make fire. And the
people
were spellbound. He showed them many uses for
fire
-they could cook, keep themselves warm, keep
predators at bay, dance by firelight. So they
built fire and were
very
grateful. But before they could express
their gratitude,
the man disappeared, because he wasn't concerned
with recognition or gratitude. He was
concerned only
with their well-being.
The fire-making man visited a different tribe, and began to teach the art of making fire. Like the first tribe, this tribe was mesmerized. But the tribe members' passion unnerved the tribe priests. It didn't take long for the priests to notice that the fire-making man drew large crowds, and the priests worried about lost influence and power. Because of their fear, the priests determined to kill the fire-making man. Worried that the tribe people might revolt, the priests devised a clever plan.
Can you guess what they did? The priests made a portrait of the fire-making man, and displayed it on the main altar of the temple. The instruments for making fire were placed in front of the portrait, and the people were taught to revere the portrait and to pay reverence to the instruments of fire. The veneration and the worship went on for centuries.
But there was no more fire.
Where's the fire?
Where's the freedom?
Isn't this what our spiritual journey is all about?
Why is it so easy to lose the fire (and worship the "idea" of making fire)?
When did it happen to me?
Thankfully, the Magnolia trees revived me.
They reminded me of fire.
There is a street in Seattle lined with Magnolias, and this week they began blooming. When I drive by, my car slows, because it is as if I am in a parade, and there are throngs of people who line the streets waving white handkerchiefs. As if the blooms themselves stand and clap and cheer.
Make no mistake, the Magnolia flower is not the petite and sweet blossom of the cherry or the plum. No. These blooms are flamboyant. Extravagant and idiosyncratic explosions of white. These are flowers designed to be worn by Elton John or Liberace. Their bloom is so brief (in some cases a matter of days) but without limitation in unbridled passion and yearning and dancing and celebration, as if proclaiming to the world, "We will not go quietly into the night."
How do we re-kindle that?
It snowed on my island on April first. Making it a knee-slapping cosmic prank, or a test of our mettle, or given the voices from my childhood, more punishment for our non-church ways. I felt the weight of the storm, and felt how easy it is to "be at the mercy of," or to shut down and to just life happen. To feel like Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey's character) in the movie American Beauty, "I have lost something. I'm not exactly sure what, but I know I didn't always feel this...sedated. But you know what? It's never too late to get it back."
In the movie Walk the Line, Johnny Cash is auditioning for Sam Phillips. And he is playing an uninspired and insipid version of a gospel hymn.
And Phillips tells him no.
When Cash demands a reason, Phillips says, "Because I don't believe you."
Phillips continues, "We've already heard that song a hundred times. Just... like... how... you... sing it.
Cash says, "Well you didn't let us bring it home."
Sam Phillips answers "Bring it home? All right, let's bring it home. If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing 'one' song. Huh? One song that people would remember before you're dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. You tellin' me that's the song you'd sing? That same tune we hear on the radio all day, about your peace within, and how it's real, and how you're gonna shout it? Or, would you sing somethin' different. Somethin' real. Somethin' 'you' felt. Cause I'm telling you right now, that's the kind of song people want to hear. That's the kind of song that truly saves people."
Yes.
Here is what I know. There is fire when I give myself fully and completely to this day.
To my laughter and my tears.
To my sadness and my jubilation.
I began holy week in Piedmont, California. I preached today, made new friends, reconnected with old friends, and tasted great wine and cooked and laughed and sipped 30-year-old port. And I sat on my friend's deck and watched the sun set over Mt. Tamalpais and the San Francisco city skyline. And, like a Magnolia blossom, I lived exuberant, and I was glad to be alive.
And if worship isn't leading to the fire, if adoration isn't leading to love, if the liturgy isn't leading to a clearer perception of reality, if God isn't leading to life, of what use is religion except to create more division, more fanaticism, more antagonism? It is not from lack of religion in the ordinary sense of the word that the world is suffering, it is from lack of love, lack of awareness. Anthony De Mello
Notes from Terry
1. Mark you calendars
May 15 - 17 in Davis, California. Grace in Action, a faith-based ministry serving the homeless in our community invites you to GRACE IN THE GARDEN, a weekend celebration of gardening, spirituality, and embracing life.
Friday, May 15 -- Picnic in the Garden with Terry Hershey / Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis
Saturday, May 16 -- Grace in the Garden with Terry Hershey, Warren Roberts and Others / Davis Community Church
Sunday, May 17 -- Worship with Terry Hershey / United Methodist Church of Davis
A weekend benefit for Grace in Action
Contact: office@grace-in-action.org or call 530-792-1053
2. Terry's new CDs, Born to Dance and Sabbath Moments are coming soon. They have been slightly delayed in production. Thank you for your patience.
The fire-making man visited a different tribe, and began to teach the art of making fire. Like the first tribe, this tribe was mesmerized. But the tribe members' passion unnerved the tribe priests. It didn't take long for the priests to notice that the fire-making man drew large crowds, and the priests worried about lost influence and power. Because of their fear, the priests determined to kill the fire-making man. Worried that the tribe people might revolt, the priests devised a clever plan.
Can you guess what they did? The priests made a portrait of the fire-making man, and displayed it on the main altar of the temple. The instruments for making fire were placed in front of the portrait, and the people were taught to revere the portrait and to pay reverence to the instruments of fire. The veneration and the worship went on for centuries.
But there was no more fire.
Where's the fire?
Where's the freedom?
Isn't this what our spiritual journey is all about?
Why is it so easy to lose the fire (and worship the "idea" of making fire)?
When did it happen to me?
Thankfully, the Magnolia trees revived me.
They reminded me of fire.
There is a street in Seattle lined with Magnolias, and this week they began blooming. When I drive by, my car slows, because it is as if I am in a parade, and there are throngs of people who line the streets waving white handkerchiefs. As if the blooms themselves stand and clap and cheer.
Make no mistake, the Magnolia flower is not the petite and sweet blossom of the cherry or the plum. No. These blooms are flamboyant. Extravagant and idiosyncratic explosions of white. These are flowers designed to be worn by Elton John or Liberace. Their bloom is so brief (in some cases a matter of days) but without limitation in unbridled passion and yearning and dancing and celebration, as if proclaiming to the world, "We will not go quietly into the night."
How do we re-kindle that?
It snowed on my island on April first. Making it a knee-slapping cosmic prank, or a test of our mettle, or given the voices from my childhood, more punishment for our non-church ways. I felt the weight of the storm, and felt how easy it is to "be at the mercy of," or to shut down and to just life happen. To feel like Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey's character) in the movie American Beauty, "I have lost something. I'm not exactly sure what, but I know I didn't always feel this...sedated. But you know what? It's never too late to get it back."
In the movie Walk the Line, Johnny Cash is auditioning for Sam Phillips. And he is playing an uninspired and insipid version of a gospel hymn.
And Phillips tells him no.
When Cash demands a reason, Phillips says, "Because I don't believe you."
Phillips continues, "We've already heard that song a hundred times. Just... like... how... you... sing it.
Cash says, "Well you didn't let us bring it home."
Sam Phillips answers "Bring it home? All right, let's bring it home. If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing 'one' song. Huh? One song that people would remember before you're dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. You tellin' me that's the song you'd sing? That same tune we hear on the radio all day, about your peace within, and how it's real, and how you're gonna shout it? Or, would you sing somethin' different. Somethin' real. Somethin' 'you' felt. Cause I'm telling you right now, that's the kind of song people want to hear. That's the kind of song that truly saves people."
Yes.
Here is what I know. There is fire when I give myself fully and completely to this day.
To my laughter and my tears.
To my sadness and my jubilation.
I began holy week in Piedmont, California. I preached today, made new friends, reconnected with old friends, and tasted great wine and cooked and laughed and sipped 30-year-old port. And I sat on my friend's deck and watched the sun set over Mt. Tamalpais and the San Francisco city skyline. And, like a Magnolia blossom, I lived exuberant, and I was glad to be alive.
And if worship isn't leading to the fire, if adoration isn't leading to love, if the liturgy isn't leading to a clearer perception of reality, if God isn't leading to life, of what use is religion except to create more division, more fanaticism, more antagonism? It is not from lack of religion in the ordinary sense of the word that the world is suffering, it is from lack of love, lack of awareness. Anthony De Mello
Notes from Terry
1. Mark you calendars
May 15 - 17 in Davis, California. Grace in Action, a faith-based ministry serving the homeless in our community invites you to GRACE IN THE GARDEN, a weekend celebration of gardening, spirituality, and embracing life.
Friday, May 15 -- Picnic in the Garden with Terry Hershey / Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis
Saturday, May 16 -- Grace in the Garden with Terry Hershey, Warren Roberts and Others / Davis Community Church
Sunday, May 17 -- Worship with Terry Hershey / United Methodist Church of Davis
A weekend benefit for Grace in Action
Contact: office@grace-in-action.org or call 530-792-1053
2. Terry's new CDs, Born to Dance and Sabbath Moments are coming soon. They have been slightly delayed in production. Thank you for your patience.
Poems / Prayers
For uplift, check out Hazel McCallion
www.youtube
New Terry Hershey videos
http://www.terryhershey.com
Capable Flesh
The tender flesh itself
will be found one day
-quite surprisingly-
to be capable of receiving,
and yes, full
capable of embracing
the searing energies of God.
Go figure. Fear not.
For even at its beginning
the humble clay received
God's art, whereby
one part became the eye,
another the ear, and yet
another this impetuous hand.
Therefore, the flesh
is not to be excluded
from the wisdom and the power
that now and ever animates
all things. His life-giving
agency is made perfect,
we are told, in weakness-
made perfect in the flesh.
Saint Irenaeus (c.125-c.210)
A Different Language
I met a little girl
Who came from another land.
I couldn't speak her language
but I took her by the hand.
We danced together,
Had such fun
Dancing is a language
You can speak with everyone.
Anonymous
For you shall go out in joy; and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12
Peace,
Terry Hershey
