Through the Looking Glass by Rev. Michael McGee, April 11, 2010

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“Through the Looking Glass”

         You probably heard that last week Governor McDonnell declared April as Confederate History month – not Civil War history, mind you. I'm pleased that our governor is so interested in history, but his problem is that he is history; he seems to still be living in the 1860s when on this side of the Mason-Dixon Line the ''War Between the States'' didn't have anything to do with slavery. Perhaps our governor is trying to take the pressure off the attorney general by becoming the second Virginia official to become a national laughing stock. Well, aren't we so proud!

         I think the governor and the attorney general need to look in larger mirrors, mirrors that help them see that America is much larger than their tribe. I assume all of you look into mirrors frequently. Have you ever thought of how many mirrors we have available? We have mirrors in our cars, purses, covering the walls of stores and restaurants, in almost every room of our homes. I understand some people even have mirrors on their bedroom ceilings. Even many of our city buildings are covered with glass that reflects the skyline surrounding them.

         Unlike our ancient ancestors we have the opportunity to look at ourselves a multitude of times in a single day, from any position imaginable. Why so many mirrors? I suppose we are a people who believe that personal appearance is of utmost importance.

         But there is another way to look in mirrors. It was Socrates who said, ''The unexamined life is not worth living,'' and yet it seems that most people take little time to reflect on who they are and why they're here. Perhaps it's because we don't always like what we see.

         I remember hearing of a unique diet plan where all you do is to stand in front of a full length mirror every morning for a full minute – naked as a jaybird. The theory is that if we are fully aware of what we look like, we'll act accordingly, hopefully by adjusting our eating and exercise habits. For some reason, that diet never did catch on.

         But the concept is a good one. I imagine that people would lose pounds if they gazed into a mirror every morning buck naked. But can you imagine holding a mirror up to your inner self every day?

         Many people call this mindfulness meditation, and there are many ways to do it, but the simplest is to be quiet, away from all the distractions, and simply reflect. The hard part of meditating is not just the external noise but all the internal noise that assaults us, the demanding voices, the guilty feelings, the persistent expectations, the regrets of the past and fears of the future.

         The Zen master, Thick Nhat Hanh, describes it this way: ''The mind is like a television set with hundreds of channels. Which channel will you turn on?'' That's a scary thought, isn't it? Can you imagine sitting in your living room with this large group of people from your past and present who keep passing the remote around to each other, but you can never get your hands on it. So you have to watch whatever everyone else wants you to watch, such as endless reruns of being in the seventh grade (yuck!) and growing up in a dysfunctional family – who didn't? – and losing people you love and failing and being lonely and miserable. And probably on a large screen high density screen! Talk about bad reality TV – it doesn't get worse than that.

         Through reflection and mindfulness we're able to be aware of the channels that are playing in our heads and then finally get hold of that darn remote and tune into what we want to see, such as our successes in life, the love we share, the forgiveness we're moving towards, the courage that makes us strong, and most importantly, the moment we're in right here, right now.

         Isn't it sadly ironic that Michael Jackson's song, ''The Man in the Mirror',' that the youth choir sang so well this morning was written and sung by a man who failed to look at himself in the mirror, other than in a narcissistic way. And that failure led to his disgrace as a pedophile and eventually to his death. But the song still works, and I love it.

         ''I'm Starting With The Man

        In The Mirror

        I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways

        And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer

        If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place''

         There's no doubt that the best way to change the world is for each one of us to look in the mirror of our own lives, to reflect on our purpose in the universe, and then to live in a way that fulfills that purpose. One way to look in the mirror is to finish this sentence as honestly as you can: ''I am a person who...'' Who what? What is it that you do that makes you the person you are?

         We like to say that our Unitarian Universalist faith is about deeds not creeds, and that's true; we affirm that what you say you believe is far less important than how you live out your beliefs as an ethical and compassionate person. It's the same for our own lives: we are what we do. I am a loving person only if I show my love to others. I am a good person only if I am kind and act ethically in the world. I am a spiritual person only if I live out my spirituality in acts of caring, generosity, and justice.

         As conscious human beings, we also have a responsibility to hold up a mirror for others and for the world around us so that they may better see themselves. Most people are driven by myths and fantasies rather than reality and consciousness, but by honestly looking in a mirror we can see what is real instead of what we pretend is real.

         For instance, in a NYT column last week by Frank Rich, called ''The Rage Is Not About Health Care,'' he explains that the ''tsunami of anger'' over what the right calls “Obamacare” including the vicious name-calling, trashing congressional offices, death threats, and the ramping-up of the language of hostility and violence, is really about what is being perceived by many conservatives as a loss of identity and power. When demonstrators chant, ''Take our country back,'' the people they want to take it back from are people of color, gays, women, and the young.

         "They can’t,'' writes Rich. ''Demographics are avatars of a change bigger than any bill contemplated by Obama or Congress... By 2012, the next presidential election year, non-Hispanic white births will be in the minority. The Tea Party movement is virtually all white... Their anxieties about a rapidly changing America are well-grounded.''

         So, those who want to take our country back to a past era that didn't really exist need to look in a different mirror than they've been looking in, not a tiny little hand mirror that reflects only those like themselves, mostly older, white, Christian men who have a vested interest in the status quo. They need a big mirror that reflects our entire country, a nation with a rainbow of races, a rich diversity of faiths, a wide range of sexual orientations, and healthy differences in our democratic political system.

         Then perhaps they'll realize that the Civil War is over! And the Cold War is over! But the Civil Rights Movement and the Gay Rights Movement and the Feminist Movement are not over, because they keep fighting it. Get over it people and join in a New Age! This past weekend we had a Social Justice Empowerment Workshop here at our church that helped us on the road to a New Age. We held a mirror up to see what we've done in the past and what we're doing now, and I was amazed at all of the justice activities that have taken place here in this church in our sixty plus years. Then we built on what we've done in the past by making plans for our future, and I must say that we are ambitious – even audacious – in what we want to accomplish.

         One of the exercises was to ask participants to write down why they believe justice work is spiritual, and the answers were amazing. Here are a few:

• ''Justice work enables me to make real and concrete the values of my life which are to love my neighbor as myself and to embody justice, equity, and compassion in my relationships with others.''
• ''Justice work is spiritual for me because I believe we are all interconnected and each of us is worthy of dignity and respect.''
• ''Justice work is an outward expression, a tangible outcome of my soul's mission here on earth, and I believe heaven can be on earth for all people who work toward peace, compassion, and justice.''

         I couldn't have said it better. I do believe that justice work is the most spiritual work we can do. That affirmation became evident to me when I visited Guatemala last year with a group from this church. It was transforming for me to look into the eyes of those Mayan people and see there so much pain and suffering, and yet at the same time so much courage and hope. They immediately became an essential part of my world, people that I would never forget and never forsake. I believe the essence of being a spiritual person and a justice person is to look in the mirror and understand, as Chris told us, “Saq a riq” in Mayan, “I am you and you are me.” This is the most powerful spiritual message in our world!

         One theme we reflected on was our congregation's committed work in civil rights, working for integration in the fifties and sixties in a state and a community where it was dangerous to do so. This congregation had the courage to hold a moral mirror up to people and force them to look at the wide gap between their stated religious beliefs and their unethical actions. We held up a mirror of conscience, and eventually it brought about radical changes across our land. I'm proud that our work on civil rights and human rights has been an ongoing theme throughout our church's history.

         Lately we've been holding a more literal mirror up to our own congregation, and when we do, what have we seen? A lot of beautiful people, no doubt, but we're missing something, aren't we? The mirror doesn't lie: we look very white. And no offense to anyone, but we tend to act white, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be unwelcoming to those who are not white. By holding that mirror up and seeing this reality, especially when we look in the mirror of our diverse community around us, we can't help but want to change not only what we look like but how we welcome those who don't look like us and how we do social justice in our world.

         So I want to suggest that we not shy away from mirrors, even though we may not always like what we see. Instead, every time you look into a mirror why not look deeper than your physical appearance, and take a peek at how your soul is doing. And while you're looking in that mirror, imagine it not only deeper but wider, and try to see all the other people in our church, our community, and our world who are a blessed part of our lives, whether they be in Guatemala or New Orleans or sitting right next to you.

         By having the courage to see through the looking glass, we can become more empowered to build the beloved community. By reflecting on who each one of us is as a human being, we can fulfill our promise as individuals. And by holding up the mirror of conscience to the world, we can bring heaven to earth. In the words of Michael Jackson, ''Take a look at yourself, and then make a change.''

I Believe Statement

• Chris Sutton
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Photos From The Service

Sermon Resources & Sources of Inspiration:

• The Man In the Mirror by Michael Jackson
• "The Rage Is Not About Health Care" by Frank Rich, NYT, March 27, 2010
• Spiritual Literacy edited by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
• The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield