This is the sermon I delivered to the Unitarian Universalist Community in Manila last January 28, 2007.
“The Jungle Book” has always been one of my favorite cartoon movies. It tells the story of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the jungles of India. Mowgli loves life in the jungle, but when word gets out that Shere Khan, a menacing man-eating tiger is moving into the neighborhood, Mowgli’s animal friends realized that he has to leave the jungle for the nearby village and the safety of fellow humans.
Mowgli gets sidetracked by Kaa, a hungry python, Baloo, a fun-loving bear, King Louie, an orangutan, and four vultures who look and sound like the Beatles. Eventually Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera, their panther friend, defeat the man-eating tiger and end up in the edge of the jungle in the outskirts of the village. Mowgli is hesitant to leave all he knows and loves in the jungle. But eventually he is persuaded to move on to the village, especially after spotting a beautiful girl who is fetching water by the river.
What I really like about this story is that it tackles a subject that even as children, we must learn; the art of letting go. Mowgli had a great time in the jungle living with animals. But to realize his full potential, he had to live among humans, even though it was difficult and even scary for him.
As humans we move from one stage to another, like steps on a staircase. From infancy to childhood to adolescence, adulthood to old age. From grade school to high school to college to work to retirement. From being single to marriage to having children and raising them. And in every step we let go. Of toys, friends, classmates, ideas, girlfriends, boyfriends, thoughts, beliefs. And in letting go we leave behind what holds us back and embrace what can lead us to growth.
Just like Simon, Andrew, James and John in today’s scripture. They were fishermen, comfortable in their homes and professions. And yet they let go of all of that just to follow Jesus. They exchanged what was familiar and comfortable for the unknown, in the hopes that they would find something more precious and meaningful.
Fr. Manoling Francisco, the brilliant Jesuit priest who has written so many famous Filipino liturgical songs once quoted one of his Jesuit spiritual masters when he said that we are two beings; the biological being and the human being. The biological being grows by consuming things. Food, water, sunshine, affection. The human being grows by doing the exact opposite. By surrendering. By letting go. Moving on.
M. Scott Peck, the renowned psychiatrist and author, states it in another way in his classic, “The Road Less Travelled.” He talks about how people have to “update their maps.” Peck believes one’s worldview is like a map. When you are young, you have a map of the world. It’s probably not a very accurate one, because you don’t have much experience in the world. But as you grow older, have more experiences, learn more things and meet more people, that map has to be upgraded. Has to be updated. Must change to reflect the realities of the world. When someone refuses to update his maps, to let go of beliefs or attitudes or ideas that don’t conform to reality, then that person stagnates. Gets left behind. And stops growing.
Just last year, seven Episcopalian churches in the state of Virginia in the United States broke away from the Episcopal Church of the United States and instead joined the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). They left because they believed that the American Episcopalian church, a progressive church that has ordained an openly gay bishop, was too welcoming towards gays and lesbians.
‘The Church affirms our commitment to the total rejection of the evil of homosexuality, which is a perversion of human dignity… (and) is incongruent with the teachings of the Bible, Koran and the basic African traditional values,'’ said Peter Akinola, the Nigerian Archbishop who is leading CANA. It was also reported that the breakaway group considers the growing acceptance of homosexuality in the American Episcopalian church as a “satanic attack.”
What I believe is going on here is a group of people who simply cannot let go. For centuries our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters have been viewed as outcasts and weirdos. People who are sick who must be cured. And yet modern society has already let go of that idea. Modern society accepts gays and lesbians for what they are; as people who are just like us, except they choose to love people of their own gender. People who are different from us, but, hey, what’s wrong with being different? Everybody has let go of the hateful and prejudiced views of the past concerning gays and lesbians. Everybody but these people. They just can’t let go. And they refuse to move on to a better place where they can be more loving and accepting.
The Catholic Church is another institution that can’t let go of many things. One of them is the idea of women clergy. The church believes that only men can be priests. That only men can be in positions of leadership in church hierarchy. This in spite of the fact that there is an acute shortage of priests in the Catholic Church. If they would allow women to be priests then there wouldn’t be such a problem. But Pope Benedict has said that women have a well-established role in the church already. And being a priest or a leader isn’t included in that role.
I think they just can’t let go. The world already believes that men and women should be equal. And in many parts of society they are. In business, the schools, even the military. The idea that men have the right to lord it over women is an idea whose time has come and gone. And yet it’s an idea the Catholic Church cannot let go of.
Fortunately for us, Unitarian Universalists are pretty good at letting go. Why? Because we don’t have creeds, dogmas, or doctrines that keep us from letting go. We rely on conscience reason, and love to guide us.
A dogma is result of someone else’s thinking. Someone who may be from another time, another place, and another culture. Someone whose thinking may be completely irrelevant to the current time and place and situation. That’s why we are able to let go of dogma when we feel it’s unjust. And instead we move on to grow and become more loving, more just people.
No wonder then UUs have been accepting of gays and lesbians for more than 30 years. And why our
tradition has had women clergy since 1864, when Universalist Olympia Brown became the first female minister of any denomination in the United States.
But enough about religion. Letting go isn’t just about faith. It’s also about our daily lives. Each of us has something that is holding us back. Something that we have to let go. It could be an idea or attitude that isn’t right. Or an addiction to drugs or alcohol. Or it could even be a person. Are you in a relationship with someone who is stopping you from growing? Only you can answer that question. I invite each and every person on this room to do so.
As the born agains say, “let go and let God.” Let God work wonders in our lives and lead us to a better place of love, justice, and understanding.
