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THE SACRED READINGS ARCHIVE


Universal worship service on the 5 elements
Given 7/20/08 at the Unitarian Universalist church in Kennebunk, Maine
Azima Abbe Anderson, cheraga

Invocation
Candle Lighting Ceremony
Saum

Earth

We’ll begin our journey through the elements with a song I wrote about reconnecting to the earth.

I Am Her Own

“On lucky days I find a sister in a tree,
a cousin in a firefly or shell.
Sometimes I believe that nature lives in me,
but often I forget what I knew well.
I flew to Mexico so I’d remember,
before the walls of winter closed around me.
I walked the ruins of Tulum and prayed
to have my senses stirred until I’d found me.
The softness of the heat, the red clay at my feet,
the purple sky a feast for tired eyes.
 I savored every gift. I felt my spirit lift
with every day’s adventure or surprise.

It was the kiss of the coatimundi.
It was the face of the crone Ixchel,
The touch of the shaman’s palm.
It was the tamarind fruit that fell.
The tail of the spider monkey, the belly of the crocodile,
The heat of a fresh tortilla, the altar in the stone pile.
The reef in the crystal water, the baking sun at noon,
The taste of the guacamole, skinny-dip in full moon.
A thousand miles from Maine, I have come home.
The earth has laid her claim on me and now I am her own
I am her own, I am her own, I am her own I am her own.”

If someone were to view us from outer space, we would not be distinguished as individuals. We would be seen as the earth. We are made of the fabric of the earth. Our bodies will become the earth when we leave them.

The Hindus realized the sacredness of our environment. They developed yoga by observing nature. Yoga means union, not just of body mind and spirit, but with all that is. The yogis learned to find the qualities they observed in nature within themselves.

The mountain is a fundamental yogic posture. Imagine all the qualities that go into being a mountain, and feel them in yourself. Plant your feet firmly on the ground, drawing strength up from the earth. Breathing the earth breath, in and out the nose. On the inhale, feel the strength, stability, durability and beauty of the mountain, the constancy, the patience, the generosity, the power to restore and rejuvenate.

On the exhale, release some of the earth-like qualities that may be holding you back. Wherever you feel stubborn, dogmatic, stuck in your ways, immobilized, let the earth take this from you. Let it drain out the soles of your feet back into the ground...


This is from the Hindu scripture, the Rig Veda:

“Impart to us those vitalizing forces that come, O earth, from deep within your body, your central point, your navel. Purify us wholly. The earth is Mother.”


We offer to the omniscient God our reverence, our homage and our gratitude for the light of the Divine Wisdom.


Water

The element of water makes up between 60 and 70 per cent of our bodies. From Masaru Emoto’s book the Hidden Messages in Water, we learn that the quality of our thoughts affects the clarity and composition of water. We see photographic proof of the impact of our attitude on water, and implicitly, on our own bodies, as well as upon others we encounter. We can’t hide from ourselves, nor can others escape our impact. We are all one fluid being, united in liquid resonance.

Let’s do the water breath, inhaling through the nose, and exhaling through the mouth. On the inhale, feel your receptivity, your empathy, and your compassion. Feel your fluid nature, the pumping of the heart, the pulse at the wrists. Feel your capacity to adapt to situations as water adjusts to the shape of its container.

There may be some qualities of water that you wish to release on the exhale. You may be too sensitive, and feel overwhelmed by what happens around you. Give those qualities back to the element of water.

The Buddhists teach us how to detach from our thoughts in meditation. Imagine the mind as a river. Let each thought flow downstream, letting it go, not engaging with the thought. If it is important, it will return.

If there is only one universal mind, then our thoughts were never our exclusive province, anyway. They drifted through the cosmic consciousness into our awareness, and need to be released back into the cosmic consciousness. They simply float through us for a while. For this reason, there is no reason to judge our thoughts. It is not our fault that they have arisen, only our obligation to release them when they no longer serve us.

This is from the Buddhist scripture, the Diamond Sutra:

“Creeds and doctrines are like a raft to carry one to the other shore, and then to relinquish. Neither cling to the raft forever, nor reject it when drowning. Even better, become a strong swimmer.”


We offer to the omniscient God our reverence, our homage and our gratitude for the light of the Divine Compassion.


Waterfall

Cris Williamson wrote this song about water:

Sometimes it takes a rainy day just to let you know
Everything’s going to be all right, all right.
I’ve been dreaming in the sun. Won’t you wake me up someone?
I need a little peace of mind.
Wake me from this dream
That I have dreamed so many times.
I need a little peace of mind.
O I need a little peace of mind.

When you open up your life to the living,
All things come spilling in on you.
And you’re flowing like a river,
The changer and the changed.
You’ve got to spill some over, spill some over,
Spill some over, over all.

Filling up and spilling over, it’s an endless waterfall,
Filling up and spilling over, over all.
Filling up and spilling over, it’s an endless waterfall,
Filling up and spilling over, over all.

Like the rain falling on the ground,
Like the rain falling all around.

Filling up and spilling over, it’s an endless waterfall,
Filling up and spilling over, over all.
Filling up and spilling over, it’s an endless waterfall,
Filling up and spilling over, over all.

Like the rain falling on the ground,
Like the rain falling all around.


Fire

The Zoroastrians see all of nature as sentient, shepherded by hierarchies of angels, or beings of light. Your guardian angel knows only light, and therefore sees only your potential for good, steering you in that direction.

Zoroastrian rituals involve fire, representing the divine presence of Ahura Mazda. This quote is from Zoroastrian scripture, the Gathas:

“We worship Ahura Mazda, the Creator, The maker of all good things; The Good mind, and of Asha, Immortality, and the Holy Fire of Ahura Mazda; the holy ones who think good Thoughts and perform good Deeds that Asha, Immortality, may come near unto us with Good minds, and that our souls may prosper in all that which is Good.”


We offer to the omniscient God our reverence, our homage and our gratitude for the light of the divine purity.


Let’s work with fire by doing the fire breath, in the mouth, out the nose. We are in a constant state of combustion, burning the calories we consume in our meals. Before the earth cooled off, it was a miniature sun. We have fire in our blood. We may experience our fire as radiance, illuminated thoughts, enthusiasm, and passion. Inhale the qualities of fire that would help you now. On the exhale, release the more destructive aspects of fire like anger, frustration, rage, or resentment. Let them go up in smoke.

Feel your heart as a sun, brightening in the light of your awareness, and radiating your essence to the world. The sun animates us, and is necessary to our survival. But we also have an inner light. It might be considered the light of the soul. The soul has been described as a ray of the sun, the unique expression of the divine that you carry within you. Feel your brilliance.


Baptism of Fire

This is a song by Julie Snow called Baptism of Fire

Baptism of Fire, never knew what that meant,
But now the flames are rising higher. I guess I haven’t seen anything yet
Because they’re coming down around me and I am rising up
Like a phoenix from the ashes, wings across the blue.
The only way out is through.

Forest of fury kindling our fears,
Oh see how dark the woods have grown
After all these years,
Cause they’re coming down around me,
And I am rising up
Like a lily from the shadows, glistening and perfumed.
The only way out is through.

All the detours taken never lead you home.
What a maze you find yourself in and still alone.
Oh you thought it would be easy, so the truth eluded you.
The only way out is through.

Baptism of fire, all happening within,
Illusions burn like tall grass in a wild and reckless wind,
And now they’re coming down around me
And I am rising up
Like a great bell resurrected, ringing loud and true.
The only way out is through.
The only way out is through.
The only way out is through.
The only way out is through.


Air

Contemplating air, consider the atomic model. Electrons spin far away from the solid nucleus. It is an illusion to think we are solid. There is more space between our cells and within our cells than there is solid matter. We are porous. Some would say that it is only the breath that animates us.  So if we are the breath rather than our bodies, our existence is diffused into outer space.

Let’s do the air breath, inhaling and exhaling from the mouth. Contemplate the qualities of air, spaciousness, spontaneity, freedom, and infinite possibility, inspiration. Release the qualities of air that you don’t need, like distraction, feeling pulled in too many directions, fragmentation.

The book of Exodus describes the flight from Egypt, led by Moses. For years, they searched for the Promised Land. Moses lived to see it but never set foot upon it. What motivated his people to continue? I would venture that, beyond God’s proclamations, it was hope, expanded possibility, a broader perspective. These are qualities of air. We have a dream and it propels us forward.

This is from Genesis:

“Jacob lay down to sleep, and dreamed that a staircase reached from earth to heaven, and he saw the angels of God going up and down upon it. At the top of the stirs stood the Lord, “I am Jehovah, “ he said, “the God of Abraham, and of your father Isaac. The ground you are lying on is yours. I will give it to you and to your descendants. For you will have descendants as many as dust. They will cover the land from east to west and from north to south, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and will protect you wherever you go.

Jacob vowed this vow to God: If God will help and protect me on this journey and give me food and clothes and will bring me back safely to my father, then I will choose Jehovah as my God and I will give you back a tenth of everything you give me!”


We offer to the omniscient God our reverence our homage and our gratitude for the light of the Divine Covenant.


Please join me in this song by Bob Dylan.

Blowin in the Wind

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Ether

The element of ether is the ground from which the other elements spring. It is the mysterious essence of all things, the divine spark that enlivens us.

We may think we are a body, but the body is useless without breath. And if we are really the breath, then where do we come from, and what is the extent of our being? What is this life force that is contained on the breath?

Let’s do the ether breath. Instead of consciously inhaling and exhaling, imagine some force exhaling into you. It is that force that causes your inhale. Then imagine some force outside you is inhaling, drawing the exhale out of your body. Instead of feeling yourself as the breather, feel you are being breathed. So then the question becomes, who is breathing?

Jesus knew he was the son of God, that the divine dwelled in him. He did not claim exclusive rights to the divine inheritance. He knew perfection lay latent within us all.

He exhorted his followers, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.”


We offer to the Omniscient God our reverence, our homage and our gratitude for the light of the divine self-sacrifice.

As you inhale remember the core of your being that remains pure and untarnished regardless of what has happened in your life. With the exhale, give back to ether any feeling of being spaced out, out of touch, living on a cloud.

Spirit of Life

Please join me in singing Spirit of Life by Carolyn McDade.

“Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind. Rise in the sea.
Move in the hand giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold me close. Wings set me free
Spirit of Life, come to me. Come to me.”

Islam

The Muslims have a practice called zikr that draws us beyond ourselves. Zikr literally means remembrance. We will do the bowing zikr, whose words are illa ‘lla hu.

On illa, we bow our heads, releasing our limitations, giving up our sense of separateness. On ‘lla, we raise our heads and we open to the infinite possibility, the Divine Perfection. As we say hu, we incline the head toward the heart, and breathe the Divine Presence through us and back into the world.

As we repeat this zikr, let’s see our earthly existence as a vehicle for the unfoldment of the universe, for the Divine Being’s self discovery within us.

The Koran enjoins us to “Contemplate life as fresh rain showered abundantly on receptive ground from the Ever Present source, who is like the vast sky. This pure rainwater, mingling with the earth, causes the boundless variety of seeds to sprout and flourish, providing ample nourishment for all creatures.”

We offer to the omniscient God our reverence, our homage, and our gratitude for the light of the Divine Unity.

Native American

In the Native American tradition, there is a Lakota expression, mitakuye oyasin. It means all my relations. We are encouraged to see our relations not only as our blood relatives or even our fellow humans, but even finding grandfathers in the rocks, the earth as our mother, the sky as our father. If we relate to the elements as our kin, we will be responsible to them in a different way than we might be if we merely seek to exploit them. Let’s take a moment in silence to thank these relatives for their support.


 This is from a Mohawk prayer:

“Gratitude to Mother Earth, sailing through night and day
Gratitude to Air, bearing the soaring Swift and the silent Owl at dawn
Gratitude to Water: clouds, lakes, rivers, glaciers
Gratitude to the Sun: blinding pulsing light
Gratitude to the great sky who holds billions of stars and goes yet beyond that, beyond all powers and thoughts, and yet is within us, Grandfather space.
So be it.”

We offer to the omniscient God our reverence, our homage and our gratitude for the light of the Divine Dignity.

The Goddess

In the tradition of the Goddess, let us contemplate a flower, and how the elements come together in such perfection, the roots feeding from earth, the water flowing through the stem, the sun that coaxed it out of the earth, the air that it breathes. And now feel yourself as another beautiful coalescence of these same elements.

This prayer is by Kathryn Hellerstein.

Don’t let me fall as a stone falls upon the hard ground.
And don’t let my hands become dry as the twigs of a tree when the wind beats down the last leaves.
And when the storm raises dust from the earth with anger and howling don’t let me become the last fly trembling terrified on a windowpane.
Don’t let me fall. I have asked for so much, but as a blade of your grass in a distant wild field lets drop a seed in the lap of the earth and dies away, sow in me your living breath, as you sow a seed in the earth.


We offer to the Omniscient God our reverence, our homage and our gratitude for the light of Mother Earth.


Salat
Murshid

“Beloved, Thou makest me fuller every day. Thou diggest into my heart deeper than the depths of the earth. Thou raisest my soul higher than the highest heaven, making me more empty every day and yet fuller. Thou makest me wider than the ends of the world: Thou stretchest my two arms across the land and the sea, giving into my enfoldment the East and the West. Thou changest my flesh into fertile soil. Thou turnest my blood into streams of water. Thou kneadest my clay, I know, to make a new universe.”

We offer to the omniscient God our reverence, our homage and our gratitude for the light of the Divine Truth.


Sermon

In lieu of a sermon, I’m wondering whether any of you might want to share your experience of the elements or of nature. The floor is open.

I’ve had just a few special times where I felt totally connected to the environment rather than an observer. I remember one instance where the sun peeked out of a cloud after a storm. I was left without any words or thoughts to constrain the experience. There was no feeling of separation between my self and the sun. I just felt awe at being there.

I believe delight, and creative ecstasy are inherent in our nature. Nature is longing for us to put our self consciousness and concerns aside so this joy may burst forth.


Offering music: Sacred Ground by Azima Abbe Anderson

Didn’t know I had it in me.
I thought just getting by was good enough.
But like a battered rose after the rain,
A broken heart still knows how to love.
On an island in a river between the ducks and dragonflies
The sun danced on the water and it sparkled in your eyes.
No one would have seen
The buried treasure that I’d found
But I knew that we’d uncovered sacred ground.

I had cordoned off my heart
But now it wasn’t hard to find
Nestled there beneath the pine trees
With their branches intertwined.
Never saw you in the plan.
I’d grown accustomed to the cold
But you made me remember who I am.
You dusted off the mirror to my soul.
No one would have seen
The buried treasure that I’d found
But I knew that we’d uncovered sacred ground.

And when the sun packed up its final ray,
It left two flames so we could always
Light each other’s way.
No one would have seen
The buried treasure that I’d found
But I knew that we’d uncovered sacred ground.

Khatum
Blessing