I am writing this report on Sunday afternoon, December 17, 2000. It is has been a beautiful day in Green Valley. You will be reading it in the year 2001, the anniversary of my first year with you.. Some say this is really the beginning of the new millenium. For some reason, after the hullabaloo of last January 1, 2000, this celebration seems like an anticlimax. Speaking of anticlimax, I'd like to share with a story from the Buddha, which made a deep impression on me. It was in the beginning of his ministry. He was sitting in one of the parks, doing nothing, and while he was doing so, a group of people clustered around Him, drawn by the news that He was the Enlightened One. As is natural among some people, there had already been criticism, rejection, and derision of Him. They considered Him, in short, an impostor. Now as they gathered around the Buddha in the park, they began to voice their criticism, saying: "He is simply a person seeking fame and name with the masses," "He sits silently there trying to impress others," "One who is enlightened should give enlightenment and he is doing nothing," and so on.

At first they spoke in whispers and then as Buddha continued to take no notice, they spoke more loudly and their criticism and rejection became stronger. The volume of their voices increased and they began to openly abuse him until finally they turned to depart. Just then the Buddha spoke for the first time: "Stop a while, and pay heed. When a friend - a long lost friend, returns to your midst, you wish to give him presents. But suppose your friend does not accept your gifts, to whom do they belong? What happens to them?" The crowd laughed and said: "The presents are still ours and we keep them accordingly." "What you have said is correct," agreed the Buddha. "And so it is with your presents. The words you have used and the expressions you have displayed, I do not accept and I return them to you. You have wasted your breath and energy and you will now carry them back with you." That story makes a strong impression. When spoken abuse, which comes from a person, is not accepted by the other, then that abuse is reflected back to the abuser. So Buddha's first teaching was, "Beware of what you say."

It seems to me that the moral of this story is that we need to take care of the words we speak in this new year. Someone has said that if you can't say anything good about a person, it is better to say nothing at all. This certainly applies in the setting of a religious community. As I pointed out in a recent sermon on community, relationships are a critical part of a cohesive and functioning congregation, state, nation and world.

The fact that so many conflicts in our world at the beginning of this year are related to religious faiths should caution us in our own relationships. The results of the recent election brought doubt to many as to the validity of the ballot count. There is a threat that confusion and anger will continue into the life of the new administration making governing difficult.

Perhaps we can resolve that this year we will do what we can--in our congregation, in Green Valley, and in the society outside our community--to promote "good will to all". Let us try to make real the Unitarian Universalist principles, "Acceptance of one another" and "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."