Sermon Library
“A Spiritual Summer Summary”
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
September 06, 2009
Service Theme: Pentecost XIV-2009
Pentecost XIV-2009 September 6, 2009
A Spiritual Summer Summary
A reporter was interviewing the great golfer Arnold Palmer in his home and he asked Mr. Palmer where he displayed all his trophies. Arnold’s response was “For what? That’s yesterday’s news!” Then Palmer explained: “I have enjoyed every victory and cherished the memories. But come Monday morning of the next week, I’m no different from the man who missed the cut last week. In fact, he’s probably hungrier for a victory than I. So if I’m to be ready, I must get my thoughts off yesterday and deal with today.”
There is an amazing phenomenon about creating a significant event, taking a great deal of time and a year’s worth of preparation to create a single special event. Most often the planning, promotion, scheduling, communication and attention to details are overwhelming for an event which may only occur within a very short period of time. As I think about this I can begin to think that this is a norm with many if not most special occasions.
One of the occasions that naturally comes to mind for me is a wedding. A wedding is typically planned in advance. There are very few events in our lives that include so many different dynamics, venues and vendors as does a wedding. A wedding may include printed invitations, programs, a church, a clergy, flowers, photography, wedding coordinator, travel, motels, dresses, tuxedos, rehearsals, rehearsal dinners, sporting events, social events, thousands of emails and phone calls, and last but not least, the spectacular reception with exceptional hors d’oeuvre, cocktail hour, exceptional entrée and exciting dance band. Add that all up for a day’s activities not to mention the expenses.
And then at the end of this very special occasion everything is quickly put away and cleaned up. The next morning, everything is gone as though it never happened. All the planning, the preparation, the anticipation, and in a few short hours it is gone. It becomes but a memory very quickly. Hopefully, people will talk about it for a long time and the pictures which have been generated will tell memorable stories for a long, long time. Sometimes I have thought that the primary purpose of a wedding is not just to get married, but to take a lot of pictures.
Is it worth it? Some people will question, but most people will say yes it was worth it because it was such a memorable experience. There are special moments in our lives, even if they were very brief, which stand out as a special symbol of meaning and sacred passage of great import. This is the first spiritual summer summary of this past summer. These rituals have always played a major role within any society and within any time of history. It is simply part of our nature and society. Do we let it go as the past like Arnold Palmer or do we treasure the very special events and accomplishments?
This summer has been a special summer for the Aspen Chapel. The schedule has included an exceptional event each and every Sunday along with many other special events during the week. I think I have entitled this Sunday’s message with the title of a “Spiritual Summer Summary” simply because it has been so full for me that I need to begin to comprehend and process the whole summer step by step. It has been quite deliberately and sometimes serendipitously planned, but it has all come together as a very full summer of spiritual presentations and purposes.
As I look back it dawns on me that Memorial Sunday on May 24 was a “simple gifted” service, yet quite personal and meaningful. Ellen Stapenhorst sang songs in keeping with Memorial Day and then people shared spontaneously about loved ones they wanted to remember on this day. It was wonderful. It was touching. So many people shared. Then we concluded by singing Amazing Grace. I would love to have more participatory worship occasions. Liturgy or liturgia means the communal worship or work of the people. It is good to worship together and mutually rather than having just a pulpit to pew presentation. This is the second spiritual summary of this summer.
Having a number of different people lead our services is another way of broader participation. On the day that the church celebrates the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost Sunday, Bo Persiko talked to us about Self Transcendence. The next Sunday, on June 14 we had a great “Beginning of the Summer” community picnic right after the service. People shared food. Music was played. People not only stayed immediately after the service, but they stayed for a long time, really talking to one another and getting to know one another better. Koinonia or community is essential to a worship experience. This is the third Spiritual summary of the summer. On Father’s day my message was entitled “Jesus, Fathers and Boats. I remember receiving a number of comments from people who identified as they thought and remembered their fathers.
On the last Sunday of June I introduced Albert Schweitzer’s theme of “Reverence for Life” as we began to acknowledge the sixtieth anniversary of Schweitzer’s presence in Aspen with a number of related events. The phrase “Reverence for Life” consists of three simple words, but they can be a mantra as to how we should approach life every day and every moment of our lives. Schweitzer certainly lived out his life’s motto. Reverence for life is the fourth spiritual summer summary of the summer.
My original plan was to remember Schweitzer on one Sunday with the scripted words of Schweitzer narrated, Bach’s music interspersed along with a continuous slide presentation. Somehow one thing led to the other and we had seven significant services related to Albert Schweitzer. This is another one of those life’s little lessons and the fifth spiritual summer summary of the summer. When you venture forth with one new event or experience it will lead to other new ventures and experiences. I would like to think that this is true for our spiritual journey as well. A spiritual journey is not much of a spiritual journey if one is just staying at home. It is good to have a home where one feels good, secure and “at home.” But the term is still spiritual journey. Let us look for new spiritual insights perhaps in new places. I suspect that the new journeys or insights will lead to other insights.
The whole point of Jesus’ life was to lead others to a much different place than where they were. He not only encouraged people to be on a spiritual journey, he literally beckoned to “follow me.” It is unfortunate when there are those who have taken this venturous spirit of Jesus and enshrined him into only one place or one message. I would say that is not following Jesus. Following Jesus is not just believing in an orthodoxed Jesus. Following Jesus is to practice Jesus. Schweitzer followed and practiced Jesus. This is the sixth spiritual summary of the summer.
I guess it does take some risk. I wanted to have a multi-media presentation but Thurston Moore, creator of a theatrical organization called The Tennessee Players, also wanted to present the premier of his new one man show on Schweitzer entitled “Memoirs from Africa.” I interpreted this as a risk in a few ways, but the Chapel board said we should do this. Sometimes it is easier to take a risk when you are doing so with other good people. I would not have done it on my own. I was nervous. And then, not only was just the actor coming, but Thurston Moore wanted to be here as well in person. Then the president of the Schweitzer society, who also happened to be a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, wanted to attend. Then the Vice President of the Schweitzer society wanted to come as well. Now I am getting more nervous. Can we get people to attend? Will the one man show be good? Will we break even financially?
I know it wasn’t life or death, but I am perfectly capable of being worried about a lot of little things. It turned out to be okay. The Chapel was full and we covered all expenses. As I look back I wonder why I worried, my anxiety did not make the difference. Just doing it made the difference. Why can’t I do it without so much anxiety? After all, I trusted everyone involved. It is another life lesson I need to keep learning. Schweitzer said “reverence for life.” Perhaps we could add “trust life” as well. Another phrase or cliché we can insert here is “let go and let God.” The action is what is important. The anxiety is not as necessary. I just need to tell myself that over and over. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?” This is the seventh spiritual summary of summer.
The Bach Cantata performance was especially inspiring this summer. Worship and performance are unique partners. Worship should never be just performance and performance is not worship, but together the synergy uplifts our spirits and directs our spirits to our creator, to God. The Reformation and the Renaissance changed the Western world and that would not have happened without excellence in spiritual expression. Bach was motivated to do his best for the glory of God. Spiritual summer summary number eight - Worship and excellence are good partners.
We also had four excellent authors speak at the Chapel. These are people who have done their homework, both in classical theology and progressive application. Elaine Pagels entitled her talk “What Do We Know Historically About Jesus and What Difference Does It Make Today?” It is a long simple title, but the essence of the Christian pursuit. Seeking the historical Jesus is an incredible and constant pursuit. Spiritual summer summary number nine is - The closer we come to knowing the real Jesus of the first century, the greater the difference Jesus can make in our lives in the twenty-first century.
The title of Brad Hirschfield’s recent book is also a message in itself. His title is “You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism.” He taught us about tolerance. Spiritual summer summary number ten is - Compassion is about noticing the person in front of you before the ideology inside of you.
Ed Bastian and Tina Staley have another wonderful title which is equally expressive of their book “Living Fully Dying Well.” As we come to accept death as part of life, we will also come to live more fully now. Living fully is to go through a continual process of letting go. These are what Sister Bielecki calls the little deaths of life along the way and have become her most significant moments of her life. To die before you die is a provocative phrase, but when one begins to understand the implication it gives life. Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.” Spiritual summer summary number eleven is - We let go of life for the sake of more life.
Two Sundays ago we had before us at the Chapel Dr. Ed Bastian, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Swami Atmarupananda, Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault, Shaikh Kabir and Camille Helminski and Rev. Dr. David Trickett, President of Iliff School of Theology. We expanded the phrase Interfaith to Interspiritual. Interfaith is a big step for many. Interspiritual is a bigger step. Wayne Teasdale is the creator of this phrase. It states, “Humanity stands at a crossroads between horror and hope. In choosing hope, we must seed a new consciousness, a radically fresh approach to life drawing its inspiration from perennial spiritual and moral insights, intuition and experience. “We call this new awareness Interspiritual, implying not the homogenization of religion, but the recovering of the shared mystic heart beating in the center of the world’s deepest spiritual traditions.” This is spiritual summer summary number twelve.
The presence of the Tibetan monks creating the beautiful sand mandala in the middle of the sunlit chapel was another highlight among many this summer. The changed attitude of the hundreds of people emerging from their cars in the parking lot into the sanctuary to reverently observe the monks meticulously making the mandala was remarkable. Spiritual summer summary number thirteen is - People who truly dedicate their lives to spirit truly teach and make a difference.
Last Sunday we began our 40th anniversary of the Aspen Chapel. Many people attended. We read the liturgy of the founders and recited the Beatitudes as reflected in the stained glass windows. There were no balloons, birthday cake or firecrackers. Our task was not to call attention to ourselves, but to simply reiterate the Chapel’s purpose and vision and to remember the varied parts hundreds and thousands of people have played in making the chapel a church for many and a chapel for many more. Spiritual summer summary number fourteen is - It takes a person with a vision, a person with a resource and a multitude of people to make it a reality.
Several years ago, a reader of the British Weekly wrote this letter to the editor:
Dear Sir, It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending a church quite regularly for the past thirty years and I have probably heard three thousand sermons. To my consternation, I discovered that I cannot remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister’s time might be more profitably spent on something else? Sincerely . . . A number of various responses followed this letter to the editor. This one stopped any additional letters: Dear Sir, I have been married for thirty years. During that time I have eaten over thirty thousand meals, mostly of my wife’s cooking. Suddenly, I have discovered that I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I received nourishment from every single one of them. I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death a long time ago. Sincerely . . . This is spiritual summer summary number fifteen. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
Aspen Chapel
0077 Meadowood Drive
Aspen, Colorado 81611
970 925 7184
http://www.aspenchapel.org