THE CHEERFUL REAPER
10/21/07 Summit UU Fellowship
Rev. Kathleen A. Green
“I was standing in ninety-degree heat on black pavement looking at other people’s belongings. It was nothing good, just pitiful junk. Big Bill’s U-Store-It was cleaning out the storage units of people who hadn’t paid their rent in a while. Big Bill’s customers had apparently agreed to pay about a hundred dollars a month to store plastic princess play houses, doll beds, a bent TV antenna, and some limp sheets. The auctioneer brought out a box full of empty CD cases, coat hangers, an old microwave, and a couple of crib mattresses.
“Who will give me five dollars for this lot? Four? Three dollars, two, one?”
None of the people standing around would give a dollar for it. Obviously, most of these people had done this before. They looked at the things matter-of-factly. They were sensible and worldly-wise. Next out of the storage unit was a newer microwave, which someone did buy.
It was hard to stand in this heat so long. I tried leaning against a chain link fence but little ants were biting my toes. An office chair was next on the block. The stuffing on the seat was sticking out, and a roller was missing on one leg. “Who would buy something like that?” I wondered. A man bid two dollars for it and sat down.
Dang. That was a good trick. If I ever do this again, I will buy the first chair if I can. I wondered if I would have to take it home or if I could just abandon it where it stood when the auction was over. I wondered how many times that same chair had been sold.
At the auction, I wondered how my own belongings would look piled on the pavement. I tried to imagine the story behind some of the things the auctioneer pulled out of the units. Maybe the person who paid to store the ancient microwave had hoped to present it to a college-bound child at some point. Or maybe to a museum. Maybe the owners of the pink plastic princess castle couldn’t throw it away because they were hoping to have another child.
But life must have moved on, tossing, twisting, and spinning. Sweeping these people away from their past and on toward another hope, another idea. Maybe they realized that what they were hanging onto was not worth the space it was taking up, that the next chapter of life needed to continue less encumbered.
I then imagined an emotional baggage sale. Sweating strangers would stand over piles of other people’s sorrows and pain. I tossed my old resentments, worn stories of hurt and betrayal, misunderstanding, and missed chances into the pile. The strangers would evaluate with canny eyes, shaking their heads and wondering why anyone in her right mind would give storage space to such debris.
I pictured walking away from that baggage, leaving it there on the hot asphalt. Time to go home. Lighter.”
As much as I would love to claim this story as my own, I cannot! This comes from Unitarian Universalist minister, Meg Barnhouse, from her latest book. For me, it is a brilliant story of letting go – of release.
Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow; as thou dost plant the tree so it will grow – Hinduism.
Many of the world’s religions speak similarly. From the Christian tradition - Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
From Confucianism - What proceeds from you will return to you.
From Sikhism - Whatever man soweth, that shall he reap. If he soweth trouble, trouble shall be his harvest. If a man sow poison, he cannot expect ambrosia.
I especially love that one!
As ye sow, so shall ye reap. Some claim it is an inevitable law of nature.
But I’ve been thinking about harvest and abundance, sowing and reaping, and I keep coming back to the theory that while there is truth in the idea that ‘you reap what you sow’, in order to reap we need to make room for the harvest. In reference to the metaphorical harvest in our lives, we need to make room in order to then fully reap the abundance that is ours.
Autumn is the time of release in the earth-centered tradition. Light begins to fade and we enter a time of turning inward to reflect on our inner lives, a time of introspection and letting go. In this season, as the days grow shorter, we become more attentive to our inner life and intentionally release that which blocks us from fully living into our best possibilities.
How many of you are familiar with Feng Shui? Now I don’t know a lot about Feng Shui, but I understand that it is the Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment; in order to best tap into the energy of the universe. I’ve heard it spoken about in relation to clutter in our homes & offices, and how clutter keeps us from tapping into life’s energies, into that universal force. Feng Shui proponents believe that we need to clear out clutter in order to make ourselves ready for new possibilities in our lives. Physical clutter. But there is also spiritual and emotional clutter in our lives that gets in the way of our tapping into the possibilities of new opportunities. And I agree that there is something to that, clearing out clutter in order to be open to the new.
Buddhism promotes the idea of release, of non-attachment, of clearing out clutter, if you will. Thicht Nhat Hahn is a well-known Vietnamese Buddhist monk. I had the privilege of seeing him just a few weeks ago as he spoke at USD. We were led in a meditation that went, “I breathe in as I smile, I breathe out as I release.” I was reminded of a story I had read in one of his books.
“One day the Buddha was sitting with a group of monks in the woods. They had just finished a mindful lunch and were engaged in a small Dharma discussion. Suddenly a farmer came by. He was visibly upset and shouted, “Monks! Have you seen my cows?”
The Buddha said, “No, we have not seen any cows.”
“You know, monks,” the man said, “I am the most miserable person on Earth. For some reason, my twelve cows all ran away this morning. I have only two acres of sesame seed plants and this year the insects ate them all. I think I am going to kill myself.” The farmer was really suffering.
Out of compassion, the Buddha said, “No, sir, we have not seen your cows. Maybe you should look for them elsewhere.”
When the farmer was gone, the Buddha turned to his monks, looked at them deeply, smiled, and said, “Dear friends, do you know that you are the happiest people on Earth? You don’t have any cows to lose.”
So my friends, if you have cows, look deeply into the nature of your cows to see whether they have been bringing you happiness or suffering. You should learn the art of releasing you cows. The key is to let go and free yourself….” We all have ‘cows’ in our life, don’t we?
Our lives are a process of release and harvest. The more we are willing to release, the more abundant the harvest we can reap. There are three basic steps in the process of release:
First is to recognize what it is that we need to let go of. Perhaps it’s old resentments or grudges, perhaps it’s need for control in a certain situation. Maybe you have emotional scars from your childhood that you’ve been holding onto for a very long time. Maybe you have fear or anxiety about something in your life, something that’s coming, for instance, or something that you have no control over. Maybe you’re in an unhealthy relationship, and you need to let go of people around you who are holding you back from doing what you need to do in your life. Maybe you’re in a dead-end or life-draining job and it’s time to quit and move on and find something else that gives you more life. Perhaps you’re dealing with old grief or loss from a divorce or a job or a move. Perhaps you need to let go of a person, someone who has died, a friendship that has ended, or a child who has gone off to school or who has gotten married. Maybe it’s the loss of health that you need to release, or the loss of your youth. Or maybe it’s simply the image that you had of where you would be in life by this point, or who you would be at this point in your life, and it hasn’t been realized. Consider and claim the things that you need to let go of, things that are holding you back from experiencing life to the fullest.
Second is to accept the wisdom and necessity of not embracing whatever it is that’s holding you back, and to realize that it often takes much more energy to stay in one place than it does to move on. Contemplate the image of a hovering humming bird. Do you realize that it takes a hummingbird over 1,000 heartbeats a minute just to keep flying in the air? Imagine the energy that is expended by trying to hover in one place, instead of moving on to the new.
The third step is to pull together the will to take action. Again, it’s never easy, and it often takes awhile. It is a process, not something that happens all at once.
You may ask, “Why bother risking the discomfort and disruption of letting go, of release?” One has only to consider the wonderfully powerful possibilities the harvest offers if we are willing to release.
“ Fourteen years ago, at a small summer camp in the woods of western Maine, forty-six young Israeli, and Arab teens were offered an unprecedented opportunity to break the cycle of violence and work together to bring peace to a world of war and conflict. It’s called The Seeds of Peace Camp for Conflict Resolution. The “seeds” have taken root and now each summer, some four hundred-fifty campers from the most war-torn areas in the world gather in rural Maine to attempt to do what governments can’t: create peace and understanding one person at a time.
Intentionally grouped by conflict areas, the teens bunk together with others from their region: for example, Israeli youth share accommodations with Palestinian and Arab youth. Professionally facilitated, intense daily dialogues allow campers to share their fears, frustrations, and hopes for the future. Even the simplest activities such as living and dining with each other provide opportunities for bonding and sharing. Upon graduation from “Seeds of Peace,” the campers reintegrate into their own societies with a new perspective. Some return to their countries knowing that military duty awaits them; the reality of war cannot be ignored.
One powerful story comes from a Palestinian youth from the Gaza Strip. In 2000, when the second Intifada broke out, the Israeli army took over the house Yusuf was living in. His father refused to allow the army to destroy the family home and insisted that they be allowed to stay. The soldiers moved in, occupying the top floors of the home while the family of seven was relegated to living in one room on the main floor. Family members were required to get permission to use the kitchen and bathroom and were always accompanied by a soldier. In February of 2004, the United Nations representatives were finally granted clearance to meet with the family. After a short visit, Yusuf and his father walked the workers to the front gate. As they were saying their goodbyes, a soldier from the upper floor shot the 15-year-old Yusuf in the back. Paralyzed, and with a bullet lodged in his spine, Yusuf was transported to a hospital in Israel. There he received the medical attention he needed to enable him to walk again. However, they were unable to remove the bullet and he lives each day in constant pain. In the summer of 2005, Yusuf was invited to the Seeds of Peace Camp where he interacted daily with both Palestinian and Israeli youth. Upon his return to Gaza, he gifted one of the soldiers still living in his home with a green Seeds of Peace T-shirt. When people ask him how he feels about Israelis, Yusuf explains that only one Israeli shot him and dozens of Israelis helped him regain his life.”
I would speculate that the success of this camp and the incredible leadership it has inspired in these young people was possible because the program founders and supporters were willing to release their own fears and anxiety around starting this program, and more importantly, the young people were willing to release – release their prejudice, their hatred, their fear, their insecurity, their pre-conceived notions – willing to release in order to reap the abundant harvest of peace in their lives and abundant hope of peace for all of the world.
The seeds planted by this Beloved Community, and the forthcoming harvest, will be dependent upon the harvest of our individual lives. What we as individuals release and harvest will greatly impact the work of Summit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
There is a need for each of us to release what is holding us back from fully experiencing life; whatever might keep us from our call to promote spiritual growth, to promote social justice, to promote environmental awareness and to fully participate in the greater surrounding community.
Recognize what it is that you need to let go of.
Accept the wisdom and necessity of not embracing whatever it is that’s holding you back,
Pull together the will to take action.
Live life as a cheerful reaper. Reaping the abundant harvest.
As Joseph Campbell said, “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.”
So may it be.
