Tsunami Memorial Service

by the Rev. Don Beaudreault

December 30, 2004 - Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, FL

MUSIC

LIGHTING OF THE CHALICE

READING: "The rich and the poor listen to the voice of death…"

The rich and the poor listen to the voice of death;
The learned and the unlearned listen;
The proud and the humble listen;
The honest and the deceitful listen;
The old and the young listen.
But when death speaks to us, what does it say?
Death does not speak about itself.
It does not say, "Fear me."
It does not say, "Wonder at me."
It does not say, "Understand me."
But it says to us:
"Think of life;
Think of the privilege of life;
Think how great a thing life may be made."

-- Anonymous

READING: "Slowly receding surf…"

Slowly receding surf,
tide going down,

A time ago
you taught my eyes to see.

And you are here
alive
within my memory.

No sliding world takes you.

You're here
as sure as sea
as sun.

I trust this slippery world
because of you.

We're time and tide
and life and love
and linked
with moving stars.

-- Raymond J. Baughan

REFLECTION:

We who are gathered here this evening join with people throughout the world to mourn the tens of thousands (many of them children) who have died and been injured physically and emotionally as the result of the Sumatra earthquake and its aftershocks, and the resulting tsunami. This catastrophic event and the deadly effects of disease and starvation which will continue to take countless lives, creates within us a sense of shock and loss, and perhaps anger for the lack of human preparedness and/or at the forces of nature. It might also bring forth our resolve to help out in some way. Certainly, the easiest way for most of us to do this is to make a financial contribution to relief agencies, including our own Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.

We are historically a people of faith who possess both compassion and action. Our theology is a proactive one. So this evening as we mourn the deaths of so many who we will never know, as we gather to reflect on the mystery and wonder of life – its fragile and tentative nature - may we also be moved to service in the name of compassion. Service, in whatever form it takes.

May we know that in a way this catastrophe is symbolic of that which links us all around the globe – a tsunami that can travel as fast as a jet airplane and strike some 11 countries, and even raise the tides around parts of the North American continent (halfway around the world) by four feet. May this event stand as a metaphor for the interdependence of us all – for the truth of the matter is, the world is really one living organism upon which all sentient beings live. And the reality is this: there but for the grace of whatever fates there are, go you and I. We could have been the ones swept out to sea and it would have been people in other countries who would be holding memorial services for us. Are we not one world? One family?

In that sense, these deaths have diminished each one of us; in truth, the death of any person does that, even if that individual was a stranger thousands of miles away.

And this is also true in relationship to the deaths of all forms of life – both animal and plant. So, let us not forgot the widespread destruction of such life as the result of this tragedy. Yes, we mourn the deaths of the animals, of the trees, of the plants.

HYMN: #159 "This Is My Song"

REFLECTION:
Truly, such a horrific event – by its unsuspected, sudden nature should sharply remind each one of us of the limited stay we have on this beautiful but sometimes destructive planet of ours. Shakespeare says as much with these words:

Our revels are now ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded in a sleep.
-- ( The Tempest , III, iv)

And yet, what can we do? To be born is to die. This is philosophy, of course, and perhaps not of much solace to those who have lost their loved ones – like that one woman in the Indonesian town of Banda Ache who lost all eleven of her children. And truly, who of us can dare to offer her consolation – how weak our sentiments will seem. And yet we must offer that consolation, we must offer our love, our hope, and our effort.

As Taoist writings tell us:

Sometimes life hurts. Life is painful. Life is suffering.
Yet we must go on. We must persevere...
If we constantly seek, even in the darkness, guidance is sure to come.

-- ("Patience," from Everyday Tao by Deng Ming-Dao)

And then I think about those of us here and in other places in the world where we are so far removed geographically but also economically from so many who died this week. Like the two fellows in the locker room of the Young Men's CHRISTIAN Association (YMCA) who I heard discussing our country's emergency financial aid package to those devastated countries. Their words were ones you could cut with a knife, they were so thick with cynicism and bigotry:

" Those people," said the one fellow to the other, "expect too much." "Yes," said the other guy, "we're always the ones to bail out the rest of the world, aren't we?"

So much for the sense of charity – Christian or otherwise!

Sentiments that others in our nation and around the world – from our political and spiritual leaders to the ordinary citizen express - those whose xenophobia (fear of the stranger) and/or elitism prevent them from understanding that we are all one family, one world. That our different color, culture, or creed cannot deny this commonality.

I think that it must be so very easy in some ways, for some to ignore others who are in need of help – including the ignoring of children. Taoist words come back to call us out of our apathy and disdain:

It is easier to give up. It is easier to live a life of indulgence and confusion. It may be tempting simply to live like everyone else and to follow whatever society says is popular and right. But to do so is to abdicate our very lives as spiritual people. The alternative is to strive, knowing that striving is sometimes lonely and painful. But it is always a noble striving and an honest life. When you die, you will know what you are dying for.

MUSIC

REFLECTION:
So many have died. So very many. People of many faiths, or of no faith. In honoring them, let us reflect on these passages from some of the major spiritual pathways:

ISLAMIC : Every soul shall taste of death, and you shall only be paid fully your reward on the resurrection day; then whoever is removed far away from the fire and is made to enter the garden he indeed has attained the object; and the life of this world is nothing but a provision of vanities .

HINDU: In heaven there is no fear at all. Thou, O Death, art not there, nor in that place does the thought of growing old make one tremble. There, free from hunger and from thirst, and far from the reach of sorrow, all rejoice and are glad.

BUDDHIST: As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling, so mortals when born are always in danger of death. As all earthen vessels made by the potter end in being broken, so is the life of mortals. Both young and adult, both those who are fools and those who are wise, all fall into the power of death.

ZOROASTRIAN : We follow the paths of the stars, the moon, the sun and the endless light, moving around in their revolving circle forever. And truthfulness in thought, word and deed will place the soul of the faithful one in the endless light of eternal life.

EARTH CENTERED SPIRITUALITY: I, who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among the stars and the mystery of the waters, I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me. For I am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe. From me all things proceed and unto me they must return…Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you…For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.

JEWISH: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou are with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

CHRISTIAN: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

HUMANIST: And, in honoring those who have died and who have suffered the death of loved ones; in honoring those who are gravely wounded in body, mind and spirit; in honoring those who seek hope in the face of tragedy, let us affirm these humanist, indeed, humanitarian sentiments:

This day let us make a part of the song of life. There may be grief but if there be love, grief will be overcome; there may be pain, but if can be borne with dignity and courage; there may be difficulty, but it can be turned to strength. Remember: the world is still beautiful if we will let it be so. So this day, let us make a part of the song of life. ( Seasons of the Soul by Robert T. Weston)

HYMN: #21 "For the Beauty of the Earth"

CLOSING READING: from "Kaleidoscope"

There may be a plan, but we will never be able to stand back far enough to appreciate it. Somewhere life may make sense to a great cosmic someone, but not to us here; not to us, splintered in a struggle to do what is right in a world that presents us with complex, competing options. We may never see the larger picture, creation's perfected whole; we may be forever flickering fragments, fractured by the raw reality of immediacy from which there is no escape while we are alive…Well then, let us dance in the flame that we see. Let the arc of our creativity embrace our moments of time, and let us add our light to the kaleidoscope, trusting in the unity of the whole even as we seek symmetry with the part.
-- Elizabeth Tarbox

MUSIC

>>Liturgical Resources for Reflection on the Indian Ocean Tsunami

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100