November
5 , 2006
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Martin Luther King, Jr., in being asked to publish some of his
sermons, wrote in the preface to his book, ". . .
a sermon is directed toward the listening ear rather than
the reading eye. . . I offer these discourses in the hope
that a message may come to life for readers of the printed
words." This is my hope for you, dear reader.
--Rev. Linda
November 5, 2006
WOODLAND MUSINGS:
How Much Wood Would A Woodchuck Chuck.
. .?
Wow! What an amazing Celebration Service this is and
so much to celebrate-this 1st Sunday of the month with
all these wonderful uplifting musicians, Friendship Sunday,
all the birthdays, starting our new theme Woodland Musings,
and getting ready for the big Election Day on Tuesday,
which reminds me of a story I heard this week.
A US senator was walking down the street one day and tragically
was hit by a truck and died, and St. Peter welcomed him
to heaven. "But," he said, "before you
settle in, we want to give you a choice of where to spend
eternity."
"Really? Well, I want to be in heaven," says
the senator.
"I'm sorry, but we have to show you the choices."
And with that, St. Peter escorted him to the elevator,
and the senator went down, down, down to hell.
The doors opened, and he found himself in the middle
of a green golf course. In the distance was a clubhouse,
and standing in front of it were all his friends and other
politicians who had worked with him. Everyone was very
happy and in evening dress. They ran to greet him, shook
his hand, and they reminisced about the good times they
had while on Earth. They played a friendly game of golf
and then dined on lobster, caviar and champagne.
Also present was the devil, who really was a very friendly
guy who had a good time dancing and telling jokes. In
fact, they were having such a good time that before he
realized it, it was time to go. Everyone gave him a hearty
farewell and waved good-bye as he got into the elevator
and ascended to heaven, where St. Peter was waiting for
him. It was time to visit heaven.
The senator joined a group of contented souls moving
from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They
were having a good time and, before he realized it, the
24 hours had gone by and St. Peter returned.
"Well, you've spent a day in hell and another in
heaven. Now choose your eternity."
The senator reflected for a moment, then he answered:
"Well, I would never have said it before, I mean
heaven has been delightful, but I think I'd be better
off in hell." So St. Peter escorted him to the elevator
and he went back down to hell.
The doors of the elevator opened, and he was in the middle
of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He saw
all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash
and putting it in black bags as more trash fell from above.
The devil came over to him and put his arm around his
shoulder.
"I. . . I. . . I don't understand," stammered
the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was
a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar,
drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now
there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends
look miserable. What happened?"
The devil just looked at him, smiled and said, "Yesterday
we were campaigning. . . today you voted."
Now I want you to know that's not a political statement
of any kind, except maybe to say that I do hope you're
all planning, and I'm sure you all are, to cast your ballots
on Tuesday.
Well, the title of my talk today is How Much Wood Would
A Woodchuck Chuck. . . ? And I know you're all familiar
with that tongue twister . . .
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck,
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
As much wood as a woodchuck would,
if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Well, I did a little research on this subject
and according to Cecil Adams, "[The Wall Street
Journal] reports on the work of New York state wildlife
expert Richard Thomas, who found that a woodchuck could
(and does) chuck around 35 cubic feet of dirt in the course
of digging a burrow. Thomas reasoned that if a woodchuck
could chuck wood, he would chuck an amount equivalent
to the weight of the dirt, or 700 pounds."
But the real answer is that it doesn't make
a bit of difference how much wood a woodchuck could chuck
because that's not what's important. The important thing
is why the woodchuck is chucking the wood in the first
place. Kind of like our senator story.
And that's really the question we all have
to answer for ourselves . . . about ourselves. Why? Why
are we doing the things we're doing? And the answer to
that question takes some real awareness. It takes waking
up to the difference between our real Self and our ego.
It takes remembering, as Tom so eloquently sang to us.
It takes questioning everything we do, everything we say
to see where it's coming from. Is it coming from our genuine,
authentic Self? Or is it coming from our ego?
Because if we really want to make a difference
in the world, we need to know the answer to that question.
We need to wake up from our egoic dreams. So what is the
ego anyway? Eckhart Tolle, in his book A New Earth, says
it's "a collective dysfunction, the insanity of the
human mind." (p. 76) Well, he sure isn't mincing
any words about it.
The ego is simply the way we've come to
see ourselves, and therefore live our lives, through our
perceptions of the past. So unless we wake up, unless
we become aware of what we're doing, we're actually living
our life today, in the present, as a reaction to our perceptions
of the past.
And what happened in the past that we're
reacting to? Well, first off, we came to believe that
we are separate from each other and from everything. Our
sense of Self, of I as the I Am, got mixed up with the
thoughts we think, and the ego was the result, what Albert
Einstein called "an optical illusion of consciousness."
We are not our thoughts. For another thing, we came to
believe that we are the things or forms that we desire.
"What? That can't be right," you say. But it
is. Take a minute and think of something you have that
you really like having. . . . Now, use your imagination
and in your mind's eye, see someone accidently ruining
this thing that you really like having. . . . How do you
feel about that? Are you upset? Why? Ask yourself, honestly,
what do I get out of having this thing? Does it make me
feel more important because I have it? Maybe even a little
superior? If I didn't have it would I feel inferior to
others who do have this thing?
So what should we do? Give up all possessions
so we can be more spiritual? Possessions have no power
to make us less or more spiritual. We can't be more spiritual
than we already are. Possessions are not the problem.
It's our perception of them and of ourselves in relationship
to them that makes the difference, the importance we give
to ourselves when we have them.
What if every time we said "my"-"my
car, my house, my money, my husband, my teapot"-we
stopped to observe our relationship with the "my"
thing to see if our sense of self is caught up in it?
Do I think my self-worth is more with this thing, or less
without it? Now we have to be really honest with ourselves.
Let "my" be a buzzer going off in our heads,
a reminder to check on our ego and see what it's up to.
When we can say "'I am the awareness that is aware
that there is attachment,' that's the beginning of the
transformation of consciousness." (p. 46) So says
Eckhart Tolle.
Our ego is just the thoughts from the past
that we act on. It's not bad or good. We don't have to
fight it. We just want to be aware of it. Eckhart Tolle
says, "If you consider the ego to be your personal
problem, that's just more ego." (p. 42) And giving
up things won't free you from it. You know why? Because
then you'll just identify yourself as someone who's given
up possessions. And aren't I good, far superior to most
of those materialistic people. Ego is always looking for
a way to be superior because it believes it's separate,
that it has its own identity to maintain-me, I, mine,
my. And one way it maintains it is through things.
We always feel like we don't have enough
yet, don't we? But what we're really feeling is I'm not
enough yet. I need more to feel special, to build up my
identity. Tolle says "The ego wants to want more
than it wants to have. . . It's an addictive need, not
an authentic one." (p. 46)
How many times do I go to the cupboard or
the refrigerator wanting something, and then nothing appeals
to me. I just want . . . something. I don't even know
what. But you know what I don't want? What is: The present
moment. "Unease, restlessness, boredom, anxiety,
dissatisfaction, are the result of unfulfilled wanting,"
Tolle says. (p. 47)
And then he adds, "As long as you don't
recognize those thought forms within yourself, as long
as they remain unconscious, you will believe in what they
say; you will be condemned to acting out those unconscious
thoughts, condemned to seeking and not finding. . ."
(p. 48) And what that really means is . . . suffering
and unhappiness.
It's the ego that makes us want to be right,
be in control, superior to others, be the roles we play.
Too often we think we're the roles we play. We think we're
the mother, the father, the teacher, the minister. We
are not that. But if we think we are, then when the children
leave or we retire from our jobs, then who are we? We
are not those things. They're just something we do. Doing
is not Being. Can you be with your children or your parents
as an authentic person, not playing the role of parent
or child? Can you be with the person serving you at the
bank as your authentic Self, not playing a role as the
customer?
Would you be the same person with Prince
Charles as you are with the homeless person you see on
the street corner? Or would you be like the monk with
the sweaty palms? Well, I don't know too many people who
could be that authentic with everyone, including myself.
And that's okay. Because I do know I'm becoming more and
more aware of my thoughts every day. And that awareness
is The Presence. Awareness is The Presence. Awareness
is The Presence within me, the Presence that I am.
So when we're feeling unhappy, when we're
suffering in some way, we can acknowledge that, but not
by saying, "I'm unhappy" or "I'm suffering,"
because unhappiness and suffering have nothing to do with
who we are. Instead we can say, "There is unhappiness
in me" or "there is suffering in me." And
then we can investigate it. Tolle says, "The primary
cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts
about it. . . Separate them from the situation, which
is always neutral, which always is as it is. . . Facing
facts is always empowering. . . Rather than being your
thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them."
(p. 96) And that awareness is the Presence within.
Our founder Dr. Ernest Holmes wrote in Help
for Today, ". . . people with spiritual self-reliance
have a deep conviction that they are attuned to an Infinite
Intelligence, and that they are One with the All-Knowing
Spirit. . .
"First of all, there must be an awareness
of the Presence of God. Next, and equally necessary, is
faith in the spiritual self. . . Spiritual self-reliance
comes only to those who have a deep awareness of the availability
of the Creative Spirit through the medium of their spiritual
self and their Oneness with the Presence of God."
(p. 17.2-4)
So why would a woodchuck be trying to chuck
wood? Only if he's trying to be something he's not. If
he's being his authentic self, he'll be chucking dirt.
And that's what is, and that's okay.
