01/09/11 "The Sacred, The Holy, The Divine" by Rev. Annie Foerster

Fifteen new members and their children joined us on this morning.  It is a joy to see our community growing.

According to the poet Allen Ginsberg, spirituality should be like singing in the bathtub.  I loved this image.  Unpracticed, not for an audience, and purely for its own joy.  I would do well to remember this.

Rev. Foerster asked us what altars we have in our home.  Where is the sacred center of your home?  There are places where I like things to be "just so" because I think they're beautiful.  She talked about the junk that is precious to children--sea shells, gold paper, pretty buttons--that they collect and hold sacred.  I have some of these kinds of things collected on top of my dresser.  I have always held these small items in high regard but I would have never called it my altar until today. 

Many of us have rejected the deity or practices of our previous religions.   "If I've rejected the deity, haven't I rejected the sacredness?" Annie reminds us that there is joy in all.  She describes some of her own altars--quilts she made, a collection of bulls, Buddha, and Guanyin.  "When I notice them, they are holy.  When I look at them, I remember." 

Annie mentioned the book by Linda Sexson, Ordinarily Sacred.  And the poet Anne Sexton's "Welcome Morning."  There is joy in all.

Go out into the world,
G.