[Uucf-bible] Easter for UU Xians?
Carol Stamatakis
cheshirecat at nhvt.net
Thu Mar 4 10:00:22 EST 2010
Hi Ron -
I thought I would use this opportunity to share a collection of postings
from one of the UUCF lists from 2005, when the former minister of my
church, who is not a Christian, was struggling to find meaning in Easter.
With her permission, I posted her dilemma, and many members of the list
responded. Some of the responses were quite inspirational, so I saved and
formatted them into a document and look for opportunities to share them.
The comments of Clint David were particularly moving to me.
Ron - Maybe some edited version of this (and any other discussion it might
generate) could be published in Good News or on the web site. I cut and
pasted it below. If you or anyone else would like this document sent as a
word attachment, please contact me off-line.
Carol
A Non-Christian UU Minister's Dilemma over Easter
A dialogue from The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship Listserv *
March 2005
From: Carol Stamatakis <Cms78 at alumni.cwru.edu>
Subject: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 12:43:41 -0500
I am posting below a recent column by the minister of my church expressing
her personal dilemma over Easter. I sought her permission to post it on
this list serve as I thought the responses might be helpful to her and
perhaps to members of the list serve. Your responses could also indirectly
benefit people in our congregation.
Sue is a sensitive and compassionate woman who has been very good for our
church. She has been supportive of my and others' efforts to offer
programs of interest to UU Christians or those who wish to better
understand
Christianity.
Thanks,
Carol
Rev. Sue Phillips
Keene Unitarian Universalist Church
Minister's Column
March 2005
Easter is right around the corner and I must admit that I want to take
cover, to go away for a long vacation and return once it's over. I'm mad
at Easter because it is coming so early this year! I want it to be later
so I have more time to figure it out. I never know how to think about
Easter, much less what to feel about it: all of my ambivalence about
historical Christianity, all of my pent-up biblical-literary criticism,
all of my residual anger at the violent imagery of Christianity, comes
rising up this time of year right along with the Son.
Christmas is so much easier somehow, with its cuddly little baby, all warm
and snug and loved, lying in a manger, surrounded by friendly beasts,
bathed in starlight. Christmas doesn't have to be metaphorical; it's a
simple story of promise and hope. It doesn't seem to matter as much if
that one particular event "really" happened, because miraculous births
happen every day. I think I understand Christmas.
But Easter! The crucifix. The empty tomb. The resurrection! It seems
dishonest somehow to make of these events a metaphor. They are so stark
and concrete, and beg to be engaged as literal events. It seems to me that
Easter is the fulcrum of Christianity - either one believes in the literal
story of Easter or one doesn't. But questioning the story of Easter
doesn't absolve nonbelievers of the responsibility to understand what this
paradigmatic holiday means to believers. This is part of why I want to
push Easter away. I truly do want to respect the deeply held beliefs of my
brothers and sisters in faith. If I am to honor them, I need to understand
the centrality of Christ's resurrection. And yet Easter represents all
that is hard for me about the faith of my birth and my culture.
Yet it also feels dishonest to redeem the holiday with what my colleague
Mark Belletini calls "the purist idea that tries to reduce Easter to some
ancient ritual that's the real Easter, with 1962 years of complex history
of the day simply chopped off." I love chicks and bunnies as much as the
next person (especially if they are Sweet Tarts), but I have trouble
passing Easter off as a spring festival of rebirth. It is that, of course,
but it is not only that.
In the West, Easter is celebrated on the Sunday following the first full
moon after the vernal equinox. It's right around the corner, and it's
coming whether we're ready or not! So perhaps you can help me prepare. In
the coming weeks, as the chocolate bunnies and pastel plastic eggs start
filling the aisles, perhaps you will engage the deeper questions of the
season: how might we honor Easter's complexity, its layers of meaning? How
can we do justice to both our well earned faithfulness and our well earned
suspicions?
I hope you will share what you discover with me, and more importantly with
each other. In the mean time, I'll be the one buying those pink and purple
Sweet Tart chicks and bunnies. That's the only thing about Easter I know
for sure.
From: Penny Michaels <PRMichaels at CS.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
In a message dated 3/23/05 11:44:23 AM Central Standard Time,
Cms78 at alumni.cwru.edu writes:
<< That's the only thing about Easter I know for sure. >>
She's way ahead of me, Carol. I no longer know anything for sure, but that
may be part of the aging process. :)
I think Sue is making more of it than necessary. Easter, for me, is no
different than Christmas--"a simple story of promise and hope."
Resurrection happens every day. Without it, life would be completely
intolerable. While the blood and gore associated with THE crucifixion make
it off-putting to many of us, I think the point is much larger than the
event of death itself. If I can accept a virgin birth as metaphor, I have
no problem at all with resurrection. The importance of the crucifixion, to
me, fades completely in the "promise and hope" of resurrection. It is, as
Martha would say, a good thing.
Penny
From: Rudy Savich <Rsavich at AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Easter is the realization that Jesus lives.
From: Clinton Davis <wagnerian1 at YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 13:25:48 -0800
Friends,
I would imagine that Easter is difficult for those who have become
hostile or ambivalent to Christianity. But for me, from what I know,
Easter is bigger than Christianity. No matter what religious
tradition I may find myself, I will always believe that Jesus lives,
and because of that, I know that all of us will live too, regardless
of whatever else might happen. It is a religious truth than is
simply too deep-seated to resist. I don't dare speculate on how we
might live on, but even the Easter story is so varied that we don't
get much clarification. It is as it should be.
However, that being said, I don't find Easter valuable unless Good
Friday is observed as well. For just as we shall all live on, we
shall also die, and some of us very horribly indeed. Good Friday
gives us a chance to remember those who died unspeakable deaths for
whatever reason. It allows us to reconnect with our own personal
tragedies as well, and not to flinch or turn away but look. When
Jews are burned in ovens, when gay people are tied to fenceposts to
die, when black men are dragged behind trucks to their death, it's
Good Friday all over again. The earth shakes, the sky is darkened,
and God dies.
But deep in the night, a flame is kindled. The light spreads, lives
are touched, the earth rejoices. What once was dead is alive again,
and alive forevermore, and the gates of hell cannot contain it. The
sun rises in the East, the tomb is empty.
This happens to all of us. This is Easter. It is no more
complicated than that. Jesus stands in for us, not to appease an
angry God, but because through him we observe our own lives and the
lives of those around us, and then we are enabled to put it all in
perspective.
Do you then have to buy the rest of the Christian package? Hell
no. You don't even have to be a Christian to see the mythic and
religious truth of the Story. You just have to be open enough to
find truth wherever it is to be found, and this is definitely one
place it is to be found. There are many others, no doubt. But
right here, right now, in the next few days, this is it. It's the
exact time of year to look this one in the face and allow ourselves
to be moved, as religious people regardless of our formal
allegiances.
This is a precious religious practice, given to the whole world for
our use, struggling, and enjoyment. Don't miss it.
--Clint
From: Rachel Nguyen <rachelnguyen at COX.NET>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Hi Carol,
It is good that your minister doesn't dismiss Easter. The fact that it
troubles her indicates a certain respect for it, which I, of course, think
it deserves.
Recently, I was surfing the 'net for more information about Good Friday
observances, and came across and ecumenical discussion about it. There
was a post from a Pentecostal woman that said that the point of the story
is the rebirth... not the death. For that reason, she doesn't observe
Good Friday.
I disagree for several reasons.
Jesus told us to be willing to take up our crosses daily if we want to
follow him. Death, in the metaphorical, and certainly in the spiritual
sense, is a part of this path for me. Jesus' death is not just a
metaphor, though. It was the physical acting out of the process. He
really did die on that cross. I can't imagine not being willing to be
with him in that dark hour. He, who is with me at all times and in all
places, deserves my love and attention for a few hours in HIS time of
suffering. (I can't even write that without tears in my eyes.)
I mentioned in another post that I believe that on the day of my baptism I
died and was reborn. As I travel this Christian path, the line between
the two blurs. But it is clear to me, a year and a half in, that death is
absolutely necessary in order to be reborn. To me, the polarity of Holy
week is extremely important. I can't imagine the yin without the yang. I
can't imagine resurrection without the death and I can't imagine joy
without suffering.
My life today is made all the more sweet because I know what it was like
before.
Love,
Rachel
From: Rudy Savich <Rsavich at AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
In a message dated 3/23/2005 4:26:22 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
wagnerian1 at YAHOO.COM writes:
> But deep in the night, a flame is kindled. The
> light spreads, lives are touched, the earth rejoices.
> What once was dead is alive again, and alive
> forevermore, and the gates of hell cannot contain it.
>
Oh Clint. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That is just so beautifully put.
I've got a lump in my throat the size of an Easter egg and tears are
pouring down like a warm spring rain. Rudy
From: Rachel Nguyen <rachelnguyen at COX.NET>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Dear Clint,
Beautifully said, brother!
Love,
Rachel
From: Carter McNeese <carter.mcneese at COX.NET>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
I disagree with you here, Rachel. It is the rebirth, the life, which
gives the death meaning. Otherwise Jesus would just be another first
century Jewish radical that was killed by the Romans. The fact that he
lives is what is important.
The question then becomes how does he live? This is the aspect that I
have the hardest time with. I simply can not accept that there was a
bodily resurrection. I know that might not jive with some, but if I am
completely honest with my self I personally know that it can not be true.
What I do know is that something happened that morning, something that is
inexplicable and that seriously changed the lives of everyone that was
there. Personally
I think that whatever happened that one day, he at least continues to live
on in our thoughts, words and actions. These in us are what matters, just
like they are what made him special in the first century.
We could argue all day about all of this, but does it really do any good?
Probably in the fact that it helps us better understand our selves. By
the way, I as a theological Unitarian (and Universalist) do not believe in
the separate divinity of Jesus the man. His divinity, if any (which I
believe was there), came from his relationship with God, i.e. came from
without (or within, however you want to think of it) but not of his
person. (I hope that that makes sense, I am really tiered.)
By the way, my favorite part of the Holy week story is the cleansing of
the temple. What is every one else's? Also, what is you favorite movie
about Holy Week/Easter? For me it is a toss up between Jesus Christ
Superstar and The Last Temptation of Christ.
Just thought that I would throw some fluff questions out there for some fun.
Yours in Love,
Carter McNeese
Cell: (850) 499-8020
Home: (850) 678-6470
I have "sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility to every form of
tyranny over the mind of man."
-Th. Jefferson
If the plutocrats begin the program, we will end it.
-Eugene V. Debs
From: Samuel Schaal <SRSCHAAL at AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
It seems to me that one reason some UUs (and others no doubt) have trouble
with Easter is the violence and darkness of all the pre-Easter stuff.
Your minister in fact noted this.
I seem to recall many years ago that Bruno Bettleheim (sp?) wrote an
article in the Atlantic or Harper's about the violence of traditional
children's literature (think Li'l Red Riding Hood pushing the wolf in the
oven, or was that another story?) and how some modern parents of that era
thought it was too violent. He said that such fairy tale violence could be
understood by kids and actually helped them later deal with the violence
and difficult nature of life. That stuck with me, as I was then engaged
with raising young children.
Now settled in a Christian church and now in my second season of
Lent/Easter with them, I think that the violence of the Passion story
tells a truth about life beyond the historical occurrence of Jesus. That
violence, and how that violence wasn't final, gives Christianity
existential depth unlike (I think) any other religion. Buddhists wisely
say that life is suffering and the goal of life is to alleviate suffering.
Christians agree, but go one step further. They/we say that even when we
can't alleviate suffering, as is so often the case, there is a benevolence
at the very heart of life that ensures that suffering, though real, is not
final, and that life is of an eternal character.
But so much of modern religion (UU especially, though other examples
abound) is a nice, happy little religion which addresses the way we wish
things were, not the way things are. Life is suffering. But at the heart
of suffering is eternal life, a goodness that is intimately with us
(closer than breathing, nearer than hands and feet) and -- most
importantly -- knows us and loves us and demands very little, actually,
except love in return.
Blessings of the season to all,
Sam Schaal
From: Dede Mitchell <dedequeens at YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Clinton,
This is beautiful and moving, especially the part about Good Friday. I
shared it with the minister at a UCC church I've been attending and he
would like to read it at the Good Friday service. Is that okay with you?
Blessings,
Dede
From: Clinton Davis <wagnerian1 at YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Dede,
Sure, go ahead. Tell me how it goes!
--Clint
From: Dede Mitchell <dedequeens at YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 09:33:10 -0800
Thanks, Clint. I will.
Dede
From: Rudy Savich <Rsavich at AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Clint. I forwarded your message to my minister, Rev. Breeden, as well. I
also gave him your email address so he could contact you directly. Hope
that's okay. Sorry I should have asked you first. I just think what you
wrote was so inspiring that I got carried away. I know Rev. Breeden is
working on his Easter sermon right now and wanted him to be able to try to
contact you if he was so inclined. I just keep reading what you wrote over
and over. Thanks again for sharing your insight with us. Rudy
From: Kimberly Hampton <magnolia_lilly at YAHOO.COM>
Subject: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
hello all.....
This is going to be a little longer than the emails I normally send....
because I am going to reprint something I think is helpful.
I think a lot of ministers have a dilemma over Easter, not just UU
ministers. I think, however, that the UU minister will voice their dilemma
before anybody else.
I've never really had a problem with Easter...even with all my questions
about resurrection. Things became even more clear for me when Earl Holt
said something that I had never heard of.... resurrection is NOT
resuscitation.
I'm going to reprint the last few paragraphs of "The Red Tent"...a book I
thoroughly enjoy and go back to often. Gaye, I think if your minister read
this, maybe she would have less of a dilemma.
-------From "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant------------
I died but I did not leave them. Benia sat
beside me, and I stayed in his eyes and in
his heart. For weeks and months and years,
my face lived in the garden, my scent clung
to the sheets. For as long as he lived, I
walked with him by day and lay down with him
at night.
When his eyes closed for the last time, I
thought perhaps I would finally leave the
world. But even then, I lingered. Shif-re
sang the song I taught her and Kiya moved
with my motions. Joseph thought of me when
his daughter was born. Gera named her baby
Dinah. Re-mose married and told his wife
about the mother who had sent him away so
that he would not die but live. Re-mose's
children bore children unto the hundredth
generation. Some of them live in the land of
my birth and some in the cold and windy
places that Werenro described by the light
of my mother's fire.
There is no magic to immortality.
In Egypt, I loved the perfume of the lotus.
A flower would bloom in the pool at dawn,
filling the entire garden with a blue musk so
powerful it seemed that even the fish and
ducks would swoon. By night, the flower might
wither but the perfume lasted. Fainter and
fainter, but never quite gone. Even many days
later, the lotus remained in the garden.
Months would pass and a bee would alight near
the spot where the lotus had blossomed, and
its essence was released again, momentary
but undeniable.
Egypt loved the lotus because it never dies.
It is the same for people who are loved.
Thus can something as insignificant as a name
--two syllables, one high, one sweet--
summon up the innummerable smiles and tears,
sighs and dreams of a human life.
If you site on the bank of a river, you see
only a small part of its surface. And yet,
the water before your eyes is proof of un-
knowable depths. My heart brims with thanks
for the kindness you have shown me by
sitting
on the bank of this river, by visiting the
echoes of my name.
Blessings on your eyes and on your children.
Blessings on the ground beneath you. Wherever
you walk, I go with you.
Selah.
---------------------End of passage--------------------
For those of you who are lawyers on this list, please don't turn me in for
copyright infringement. I just reprinted it to show something that has
helped me.
oh well....that's it for now.....
blessed be,
Kim
From: Carol Stamatakis <Cms78 at alumni.cwru.edu>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
The responses I received to my inquiry have filled me with joy! In fact I
was so moved by the spirit that as I drove home from work I sang the Greek
Easter song from my childhood (see link below) at the top of my lungs!
Thanks to everyone who responded!
http://www.plasticsusa.com/ortho/xris.mid
From: Dede Mitchell <dedequeens at YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: A non-Christian UU Minister's dilemma over Easter
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:19:43 -0800
Clint, the minister read the section of your post about Good Friday. He
did it great justice. And he ended the reading at "...and God dies." He
said he'd never thought of it that way before. I've often thought of it
that way, but never read it put so beautifully. Thank you.
Dede
>From a different list serve (I decided to include it because it seemed on
point):
A message from Rev. Ellen Debenport
When I was new in Unity and still working as a newspaper reporter, I was
desperate to learn the "facts" about Jesus. Did he really rise again? Was
Mary really a virgin? I had a minister at the time who would say, "Does it
matter?"
Well, yes! I thought it mattered terribly. My childhood church had told me
that all of Christianity was based on these stories, and if they weren't
literally true, then what was the point?
What indeed? Stories don't last 2,000 years because they're factually
accurate, although they may be. They last and are retold for millennia
because they resonate deep in our collective unconscious. We recognize
them as Truth with a capital T.
Easter is meaningful to us not only because it reminds us of the
incredible life of Jesus but because it is our own story. We know the
feeling of false accusations, of facing those who are stronger, of losing
everything and feeling entombed. The Truth of Easter is that the tomb is
temporary. There is always a resurrection; we rise again. And we know that
deep within us, in that place where the Christ spirit dwells. We know that
death is not God's final word in our lives – whether it's the death of our
bodies or other attachments.
The Truth of Easter is that life is eternal, whether in this form or some
other. What a relief! That means no mistake or decision is final, no event
is irreparable, no failure is irredeemable. This is why we rejoice at
Easter. We know the Truth, and the Truth sets us free.
* The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship listserv is found at
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A0=uucf-l (last accessed June
10, 2008)
-----Original Message-----
From: uucf-bible-bounces at lists.uua.org
[mailto:uucf-bible-bounces at lists.uua.org] On Behalf Of
RevRonRobinson at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 11:25 PM
To: uucf-bible at lists.uua.org
Subject: [Uucf-bible] ***SPAM*** Re: Easter for UU Xians?
Jim, what a great conversation starter for this Lenten period. I am
actually going to sit back and let others respond for a while, I hope :),
on this one before chiming in, as there is a wide, wide open space among
us as you might expect regarding Easter and Resurrection, theology of the
cross and atonement, and I hope a full range will emerge. This is also
great because I hope some will be inspired to write more than a paragraph
response and offer it to the public through us as we collect UUCF voices
on Easter. And of course as not all here identify as UU Christians,
though they may or may not be close in sentiment and theology with
someone who does :), I hope you all will feel free to respond to Jim's
query also from your own stance.
Also, Jim, if you are a member of the UUCF-L general online community or
can join it I think it is a great conversation for there too. Let me just
plug some of the resources at our website on this too; you can go to
_www.uuchristian.org_ (http://www.uuchristian.org) and the Good News
section in the publications section of Resources and click on the past
Easter issues of the March/April newsletters for some good reflections;
also check out Easter sermons on the website; Carl Scovel's special issue
of the UU Christian Journal called "An Easter Faith" and through the UUCF
online bookstore can order a special collection of Lenten Easter
resources.
Now let the wonderful responses begin....
Thanks and blessings,
Ron Robinson
In a message dated 3/3/2010 10:04:09 P.M. Central Standard Time,
nanjim65 at verizon.net writes:
I find myself agreeing with much of Unitarian Christianity, finding
inspiration in the life of Jesus. But I struggle with Easter.
Help me come up with a coherent response to Easter, please Jim James L
Cavenaugh, lay chaplain Harrisburg, PA
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