Mother's Day 2012

Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.

Pearl S. Buck

Rev. Joe Cherry; middle-aged, brown hair, brown beard turning to grey When you close your eyes and think about the imagery of Mother's Day, what comes to mind?

Do you see children clumsily making a breakfast, to be served to their Mom in bed, and do you see a woman graciously eating it, no matter the actual edibility of the meal?

Do you see a family, in their Sunday best, piling into a big, shiny, chrome laden car, heading off to church, girls in Mary Janes, boys in clip-on ties, and Mom with matching hat, gloves and bag?

Are there a lot of flowers and flowery cards in your image?

Do you hear the poem by Sojourner Truth, the one entitled "Ain't I A Woman?"

What did you expect when you woke this morning?

Like many holidays, Mother's Day is heavy with expectation and emotion.

As hinted at in this month's newsletter, Mother's Day didn't start off being about breakfast in bed, flowers, and pretty cards.

It started out as a call to action. 19th Century Unitarian Woman, Julie Ward Howe, writer of the poem "Battle Hymn of the Republic" wrote her "Mother's Day Proclamation" in 1870. Even as we listen to her words this morning, knowing that peace and peaceful resolution of conflict is preferable to war, we remember and acknowledge with open hearts that even today, many mothers have children in military service.

Arise then ... women of this day!

Arise, all women who have hearts!

Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:

"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." 

From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!

The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

Blood does not wipe out dishonor,

Nor violence indicate possession.

As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil

At the summons of war,

Let women now leave all that may be left of home

For a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means

Whereby the great human family can live in peace ...

Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar but of God -

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality, may be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient and the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.

It's a far different tone from the Battle Hymn of the Republic, written in 1862, when the country was in the early Civil War, Howe, an abolitionist, trying to inspire troops to carry on as the war was not going well for the North.

Shocked by the carnage, the loss of a generation, she wrote her declaration five years after the conclusion of that war.

Also shocked by the arrival of war on her doorstep, Clara Barton, 19th century Universalist, became a nurse, following closely Florence Nightingale, British Unitarian who established the world's first non-religious nursing school.

Credited by Abraham Lincoln as "the little lady who started this great big war," Harriet Beecher Stowe was both the daughter and wife of Unitarian ministers. As an abolitionist in her own right, in 1852 she authored "Uncle Tom's Cabin", in serial form, for a paper called "The National Era."

A less dire, but no less influential, book was written by domestic scientist, Fannie Merritt Farmer. In her revolutionary cookbook, Farmer introduced the United States to standardized measurements and a more scientific approach to cooking and baking. If you doubt her influence, just try to find a recipe that uses phrases like "a pinch."

Lest you think that influential Universalist, Unitarian and UU women went out of fashion with the Gibson Girl hairstyle, Sophia Lyons Fahs, who lived from 1876 to 1978 - yes, 102 years - was a religious educator who changed the way we treat our children for over a century. Sylvia Plath and May Sarton are two very influential poets in the 20th century, and Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley was a vital part of starting the conversations about healing around race and class issues within our own faith.

Marjorie wrote our Litany of Restoration. Please open your hymnals to reading #576, and read with me:

If, recognizing the interdependence of all life, we strive to build community, the strength we gather will be our salvation. If you are black and I am white,

It will not matter.

If you are female and I am male,

It will not matter.

If you are older and I am younger,

It will not matter.

If you are progressive and I am conservative,

It will not matter.

If you at straight and I am gay,

It will not matter.

If you are Christian and I am Jewish,

It will not matter.

If we join spirits as siblings, the pain of our aloneness will be lessened, and that does matter.

In this spirit, we build community and move toward restoration.

From these famous women we turn to the countless number of women whose names will never be recorded in books, the presidents of congregations, the Sunday School teachers, the treasurers, the tenders of our gardens.

Who mothered your own spirit? What aunts / grandmothers / personal heroes / mentors / teachers do you have? Please share their names with the congregation now.

[Pause, while the congregation said names aloud.]

Thank you.

So, to paraphrase Julia Ward Howe:

Arise, as you are able, you women of today!

Arise and be recognized for the work you do in the world that makes the world a better place!

Arise and be celebrated for the work you do in this very Fellowship that keeps it running as smoothly as it does, even today!

Arise and recognize the Sisterhood of women that goes back to the mythical Eve and Lilith!

As there is joy in womanhood, there is also sorrow.

See these candles burning to my right? They are candles burning bright with the hope of healing. Earlier this morning we held a service from which it is hoped that healing may be encouraged. [note 1]

For many, Mother's Day isn't just a day to celebrate the women who gave them birth, or the children they themselves have born.

For some it can be a bitter-sweet day.

Remembering their Mom who has died.

Remembering a child who has died.

Remembering abuse.

Remembering being abandoned or shunned.

For this part in each of us, let us pause now for a moment, and gaze upon the candles of hoped for healing.

[Pause observed.]

It is good for us to remember both the sorrow and the joy in life. For together they represent the fullness of our time here together on this planet.

Often we loose track of what brings us happiness. In the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day lives, it's easy to forget things. Like how absolutely amazing it was the first time you looked into the eyes of someone you loved. Or the wonder you first felt when you held a new baby, especially if that former baby is now working very hard to push the envelope, or your patience, on a regular basis.

Think back for a moment to the story that Denis told. The old man in the story had to be reminded that he had a good life. It took a cacophony of animals to get him to re-appreciate the gentle sounds of his partner, happily knitting beside him. [note 2]

These are our challenges:

to not wait until a holiday to have a good look around and appreciate that which we have;

to allow ourselves to mourn and feel sorrow as our spirit calls us to;

to realize that everyday can be made special in some way, if we engage in the spiritual practice of being aware, or mindfulness.

Be inspired by our Universalist, Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist fore-mothers. Be inspired by those who have mothered your own soul, and nurture the souls around you to the best of your ability.

And when imperfection happens, and it will, be gentle with yourself.

Blessed Be.

Rites of Spring

Written for and delivered to
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County
May 06, 2012.


Life is cyclical.

Those “close to the land” don’t need to be reminded of this. They see it every year. The sprouting of new plants and crops, a new set of lambs, calves, pups and kittens. It’s hard to miss.

Those of who have a more casual relationship with the land, due to allergies or apartment dwelling, we need a little more reminding about the nature part, but still, we too know that life is cyclical.

And as it as a micro chasm of so many things, this Fellowship reflects Life in this way, too.

We return again to Spring, and Annual Meetings.

For those who are new to this part of the cycle, the Annual Meeting is one important place that Unitarian Universalists practice the 5th principle, “the use of the Democratic Process in our churches and in society at large.”

At every annual meeting, held in every Unitarian Universalist congregation, we both reach back deep into our history and reach forward into the future.

A future we can’t predict, guarantee or as in the case of the far-off future, even see.


In Cambridge, MA in the year 1648, the leaders of several churches got together and created what’s known as the Cambridge Platform. This is a very important document to us, even if you’ve never heard of it.

In fact, you’re more likely to have heard of Robert’s Rules of Order. Mr. Robert was a member of the 1st Baptist church in New Bedford MA.

In Cambridge, these leaders of Puritanism got together to discuss how churches should be in relationship to each other. It’s quite a long document, and if you’re curious, I have a re-print copy of it that I can show you. It’s actually very interesting.

The part that I want to lift up today, though, is the cornerstone of our church polity. Polity is defined as: “a form of political organization.”

All church systems have a polity. We share ours with our cousins, the United Church of Christ. There are others who share a similar system of polity, but the predecessors to the UCC and the processors of the UUA, loosely, were the Puritans, and at one time we were all one church, supported by the government.  In every town in New England people paid taxes and some of those taxes went to support the town church. Whether you went to church or not, some of your money supported the institution.

This is part of why we have the separation of church and state. It was our own Unitarian ancestors, especially John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who pushed for this separation.

Anyway, back to the Cambridge Platform. Because of the polity spelled out by our, yes our, Puritan ancestors, each of our churches is a legal entity onto it’s own. With the power to build, raise funds and call a minister.

This Platform and our polity proclaims that is it only the congregation that has the power to ordain a minister, and no other power structure may do so. In September 1971 the First Universalist Society in Franklin MA, ordained Bill Greer. The First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco ordained Leroy Egenberger on October 22, 1972 and Denis Paul on March 29, 2009. My home church, the First Unitarian Society of Chicago ordained me last May 14th.


Frequently, you’ve heard me say that we are a free church, independent and essentially, for good or ill, on our own.

This truth also comes directly from the Cambridge Platform.

Yes, it’s true, this congregation is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, but the UUAC has no legal or fiscal responsibility for us.

What does this have to do with Spring, Renewal and Annual Meetings?

Because we are a free church, out here in the Central Valley, it takes a lot of volunteer hours to keep this place running smoothly. It takes people who are willing to do all the things that people are willing to volunteer to do around here.

And some of it is less pleasant than others.

Lately, the Board, the Finance Committee and the Stewardship folks have been having a bit of a hard time of it.

I want you to know that they have been working very hard.

All of their work, their service, is inspired by their love for this Fellowship.

By now you either already know, or you’re going to know very soon, that this year’s pledge campaign has not gone as well as hoped.

The congregation is growing, and we are doing a lot of good things in the world, and between us. Just last week, when Vance Whitaker’s Mom died, 11 people from the Fellowship showed up to do volunteer duties to help Jewel and Vance at the memorial service.

That’s about 10% of the entire Fellowship. They just showed up, split up the duties, and made sure that Vance and Jewel could do the grieving they had to do.

To me, that is really amazing.

And it is only one example of the sort of things I see around here a lot.


And so what I want to do at this moment is ask you to remember all of the hard work these volunteers on the Board, and the Finance and Stewardship Committees have done, and are continuing to do, when you have a really good look at the budget the Board was forced to pass on May 1st.

Because of the by-laws of the church, the Board of Trustees is mandated to offer the congregation a balanced budget, in writing, two weeks before the annual meeting. This is so that the congregation can either approve or make adjustments until approval is granted.

In part because of the Cambridge Platform of 1648, this is part of the duty of our free and independent church. The congregation decides, not some other entity.

In order to balance the budget, the board had to make some hard choices about how the Fellowship functions.

In the end, the Board had to cut lawn service, cleaning services, landscaping many other things and staff hours. What this means is not only will the congregation have to find volunteer hours to do weekly cleaning of the campus and lawn mowing services, there will be no new flowers and plants, there would be, in short, a lot of changes. There will be tasks to be done that had been done previously by staff members.



There is so much good going on here. This is what we need to focus our energy on: How can we continue to nurture that good, that growth.

It’s hard for me to talk about money and fundraising in general, and from the pulpit, it’s down-right uncomfortable. I worry that somebody is visiting us for the first time, and potentially the only message they’ll hear about Unitarian Universalism is that the minister talked about money from the pulpit.

And I can’t help but feel like I’m listening to Cap Radio.

So instead, I want to talk with you about what religious community means.

At least what I think it means. (insert list here.)


We are a life-affirming church. Anyone is free to walk through our door and sit with us. We will never tell a visitor or a member what to think on a topic.

But this doesn’t mean that we, as a congregation, don’t serve a vital role in people’s lives.

Since that was a double negative, I’m going to re-phrase that:

We, as a congregation, serve a vital role in people’s lives.

Institutions in our lives that play such an important part in our lives deserve our support.

As I have come to know this congregation, I have met more than a few amazing people. I guess this shouldn’t surprise me too much, but either way, it has been a great joy for me. For the vital role this congregation plays in the lives of its members and friends, it deserves to thrive.

For the people out there in the rest of Stanislaus County, who haven’t yet been exposed to our Gospel, yes Our Gospel of good news, of a Loving community, of transformation encouraged in a supporting community, of grief held in the hearts of an entire gathering of people, this church needs to thrive.

Because, just like there was a time when you first walked into a UU congregation somewhere, maybe here, maybe not, and thought “Finally, I’m home!” there are others out there, looking for us. And we need to be here for them.

May we, as a free people of faith, find a way to lovingly support each other in this difficult time, may we find a way to see each other through the next few weeks as we figure out our budget concerns. May we thank the people who are doing the hard work of the Board and the Finance and Stewardship committees.

With our precious religious freedom comes a responsibility. May we rise, joyfully, to the task.

Blessed be and Amen.

Rites of Spring
© Rev. Joseph M Cherry