Sermons

'An Ethic That Can Hold the Curse: A Moral Vision for the 21st Century:'

"An Ethic That Can Hold the Curse: A Moral Vision for the 21st Century"
A Sermon by Charles Blustein Ortman
April 21, 2002
At the Unitarian Church of Montclair
67 Church Street, Montclair, New Jersey 07042
973-744-6276 WWW.UUMontclair.org

Two weeks ago this morning I woke up in Washington, D.C. My wife Judy, our daughter Shana and I were on the last leg of our week-long vacation tour to the Southeast. It was a great trip. Three days on Amelia Island, off the coast of Florida had been sun filled, restful and perfectly undemanding. Our afternoon in Savannah left us wanting more. The two days in Charleston were intriguing, educational, palate-pleasing and somewhat unsettling, especially in regard to obvious racial disparities.

But then at the final leg of the tour, we were in Washington—at Cherry Blossom time. I know we have Branch Brook Park here, which boasts of having even more cherries than D.C. And I know it's wonderfully beautiful, too. I've enjoyed our own Cherry Blossom Festival several times. But I don’t think there’s anything like Washington when all the trees are in bloom. And this year's was said to be the finest in recent memory.

The greatest concentration of the trees surrounds the Tidal Basin, which is the body of water over which the Jefferson Memorial looks. After breakfast we set out to take in the waiting experience. Of course a few other people from around the country had the same idea, and so parking was just a bit of a challenge. But hey, I'm from New Jersey. We found a spot that would become legal only ten minutes after we parked in it. It was fairly near the far end of the tidal basin, not so distant from the Lincoln Memorial – just about perfect.

A Korean man from Maryland (who'd also hit the parking jackpot) pointed out the way. And with lots of blossoming cherries already about us we set out for the bigger trove. Within just a few steps though, we stumbled onto an unexpected surprise that made our day every bit as much as the cherry blossoms. It was the national memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

For those of you who haven't seen it, the memorial is much more vertical than it is horizontal. Spread out over about an acre of land, it consists of cherry trees (of course), grass and gardens. There are precisely 31,239 granite stones used in the creation of floors and walls that form a maze of outdoor rooms and passageways. There are several fountains and waterfalls, and many brass statues and reliefs. Spread throughout the monument are wonderful quotations by FDR carved into the stone or molded into the metal. Simply put, it was a deeply profound and aesthetically elegant experience.

The designing architect, Lawrence Halprin, wrote of the considerations that were included in his goals: “Memorials are archetypal. They speak of life's meanings, of value systems held in common, of significant challenges and events in the history of a tribe or a nation. Memorials speak to us over the ages. They transmit universal truths and experience; they pass the torch of meaning from one generation to the next…”

What Halprin went on to create for the nation and for the world is not only a deeply moving tribute to one of the finest historical figures of the last century. It is also a magnificent celebration of a liberal ethic in which humanity can see itself – as FDR saw it – interconnected, interdependent, indomitable, dependable and responsible. It is an expression not only of FDR's faith in humanity, but also of humanity's faith in itself. It spoke clearly of universal truths.

The Roosevelt Memorial is an uplifting monument to the kinds of principles and values held very dearly by Unitarian Universalists (despite the fact that FDR was Presbyterian). The monument embraces democracy and expresses a faith in the individuals who come together to form it. It promotes the interdependent existence of all the elements and characters of our earth. Tears came to my eyes several times as I experienced the congruency between these memorialized ideals and what I have internalized as our liberal religious visions and values. We're not alone in our beliefs. They're All-American and they're memorialized in Washington, D.C.

The very first area we entered had a large granite wall, maybe 12' high and 20' across. Framing and draping the upper right hand side—two weeks ago, at least—was a fully blossoming cherry. The left side of the wall abutted an equally-sized cascading waterfall. The words carved in the granite reached out to this, our own moment in history: "In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice…the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man." (FDR Campaign speech, Detroit, MI, October 2, 1932)

With the exception of the gender-exclusive language, easily dismissed (I hope) to the errant grammatical tendencies of another era, I knew that I was somewhere where I belonged and where I needed to be. And it only got better from there.

My title this morning, "An Ethic That Can Hold The Course: A Moral Vision for the 21st Century," might suggest that a new ethic is needed for the new millennium. I don't think that's the case. Two more quotations: Speaking to our present age again, but writing a letter to the American Committee for Protection of Foreign-born in 1940, Roosevelt said, "We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

And following the second war to end all wars, he wrote: "Unless the peace that follows recognizes that the whole world is one neighborhood and does justice to the whole human race, the germs of [yet] another World War will remain as a constant threat to mankind."

A new ethic is not needed. Roosevelt's ethics, stated over a half century ago, were a clear articulation of a compelling moral vision for this our new century. And if we listen very closely, and consider his words carefully, we might even hear within them the echo of another great leader of a yet far earlier era, "Love God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind… And…love your neighbor as yourself."

A couple of thoughts: First, I hope no one needs to get their theological knickers in a knot. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that we do indeed all have our gods and that we are wise to pay attention to who or what those gods are. If "loving God" is language that works for you, that's great; if not then love Life with your whole heart, and soul, and mind. If God and Life aren't synonyms with one another anyway, then no amount of moral vision will ever be sufficient to see us through the 21st century. Life is—and therefore ideas of god ought to be—connecting, regenerating and filled with potential and hope. Maybe we could let Life be our god.

Second, I hope no one needs to get their political knickers into a knot, either. Roosevelt's liberalism was political, but it was much more than that. It held universal truths. He was liberal in a classical sense. His own education had been liberal—from sources broad and deep—in human beliefs and ideas. His ethic was liberal because it reflected what he had learned about freeing the potential humanity for good purpose. And that potential is what freed him to have hope in this great human enterprise.

If Roosevelt's words were liberal in classical sense, Jesus' words were radical. In his Inaugural Address FDR said, "Restoration calls…not for…ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now… I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor," FDR said. And Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

There is already a long-standing ethic that can hold the course. If we are to survive the 21st Century it will be in no small part because we have learned to act on this moral vision.

There's an old story about a Rabbi and a soap manufacturer who is a member of his congregation. The two of them go out for a walk one day after a rainstorm.

"Tell me, Rabbi," says the man. "Religion has been around for thousands and thousands of years. Despite its lofty ideals, the world continues to be plagued by theft, and famine, by murder, and warfare, and all kinds of untold problems. So tell me Rabbi, if after all these years religion cannot bring an end to these terrible problems, what good is it? How can it be of any value?"

The two men walked on in silence for a while. When the Rabbi spotted a group of children playing in a mud puddle near the street, he pointed the brood out to his companion.

"Just look at those children, will you! They’re filthy! They’ve been playing in that mud, and they’ve become utterly soiled. Think of it. People have also been using soap for thousands of years, haven’t they? All that soap, and still these children are simply filthy. How can that be?"

If a moral vision is going to see us through the 21st century, it will be because we have learned to act it; learned to use it, learned to follow it. There is no religion that has a lock on that vision. All religions, all true religions that promote reverence for life, own a piece of it.

Like FDR, Unitarian Universalism, takes a liberal approach to the vision. We draw from sources broad and deep in order to learn about the potential for humanity, and in order to learn how to act to promote, and protect, and to cherish that potential for ourselves and for everyone else. We draw from sources broad and deep in order to love Life with all our hearts, and soul's and minds, and likewise to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Life calls us not to ethics alone, but to action. Our ethics, our religion, call us to be in the world. We cannot know God/Life, without knowing that our neighbor is every man, woman and child. We cannot know Life without knowing it within the context of this blue/green orb we call earth. And we do not revere Life except by our service to it.

Tomorrow is Earth Day, a commemoration that postdates Franklin Roosevelt by several decades. But it’s one he would have surely embraced. The FDR memorial with its aesthetic emphasis created of steadfast granite and flowing water depicts FDR’s commitment to the earth’s proper use, conservation and development. It shows an appreciation for his understanding that civilization – that life – is rooted in the earth, in its land, and in its water. If civilization were to endure for the long haul, he instructed, it would require a sustainable use of the earth’s precious resources.

How can we serve life?

Our duty is first to ourselves. It is then no less to provide for our neighbor – love your neighbor as yourself. The committed life then reaches out in service to all humanity, and we do that by participating in our democracy, by making sure that the agencies that represent us do so by including, and not excluding, all peoples and nations in the distribution of the earth’s great gifts.

Finally, our service must be to the planet itself, our mother earth, which we do not own, but on which we are merely temporary residents. Here, we have been entrusted with use of the resources that have been left to provide for the birth and the sustainability of the future, not just future generations of humanity, but the future of life on the planet.

This is a moral vision for this or for any other century: to know and to love life through our service to it.

Let our commitment be then to action, so that indeed our ethic might be to contribute to the religious task of salvation—saving this human enterprise on every level, by finding and upholding the spirit of life within ourselves, within our interpersonal relationships, among our communities and throughout the world. This is a message as old as time, and it is time that we do our part to see it through.

Toward the end of the 19th century, Unitarian minister, William Channing Gannet said, “Ethics thought out is religious thought; ethics felt out is religious feeling, and ethics lived out is the religious life.”

One hundred years have passed. Thousands of years have passed. Still, plagues continue to confound humankind, and children go unclean. And still, ours is an ethic that can hold the course; ours is a moral—a religious—vision for this 21st Century. May we hold ourselves accountable by making adequate use of it. May we continue likewise.

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” Roosevelt’s words are carved in stone, and he continued, “Let us move forward with strong and active faith.”