Listen to Readings and Sermon

The Good News Written

The Light of the Dhammapada

“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.”

The light of Malinda Elliott Cramer and Fannie Brooks James (from Divine Science: Its Principle & Practice)

“Being whole must be our realization. We unfold health eternal. The individual, as an expression of the universal Life, can be only what that Life is. The Infinite created us out of its own health; healing is the awareness of that health as our nature.”

Mark 10.46-52 (NRSV)

As [Jesus] and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus…, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” ⁵²Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, October 25, 2009.

Let me take you to the mid-sixties. Baby Durrell takes up residence on the planet in late 1966, exactly 9 months after Sophie Tucker dies… I’m just saying. And I don’t know what my first word was or when I spoke it, when I was potty trained or when I took my first step. But I do know the first song I ever learned. My parents taught it to me, and by age 3 or 4, I was entertaining them and other relatives with it. I didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it was the only song I knew… and so I sang it over and over and over. It wasn’t Mary Had a Little Lamb, and it wasn’t the Alphabet song… it was from a Broadway musical. Yes, as God as my witness, the first song I ever learned was a show-tune. And now you know the rest of the story.

So just imagine if you will, Toddler Durrell singing sweetly, “When the moon is in the Seventh House and Jupiter aligns with Mars; then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars. This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius, the age of Aquarius. Aquarius! Aquarius!”

Now the age of Aquarius is an astrological concept. For those who find merit in the ancient art of astrology, the idea is that every age lasts about 2 millennia. And in age, the human race evolves along the same lines. Some are ahead of the others, while some lag a bit behind… but for the most part, the human family is sharing experiences and growing together in a certain direction.

Well, in the mid to late 20^th century, we were supposed to enter a new age… according to those who take stock in that sort of philosophy. And the new age was to be the Aquarian age, an age where people longed for and worked for peace… where individuals took responsibility for their own thinking, and where walls of division and suspicion would crumble and we’d finally learn to live as one.

And in my earliest days of life, I was singing about an age of peace and love and goodwill… an age that was upon us. And that has remained in my consciousness for four decades.

Let’s stay in the mid-sixties for a minute. I direction your attention to the big screens… [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5zUL6pPWYg]

The Munsters! The Munsters were fabulous. Oh, sure, it was a silly comedy… but the story line is that the Munster family is really a bunch of freaks. They are different. A vampire patriarch with his zombie daughter and her reassembled husband and their werewolf child all live with their pet dragon in a dusty old house. They are odd, some might even say queer. But they honestly have no ill will toward anyone. They accept themselves for what they are, and in fact, they relish their uniqueness. And they love one another and care for one another. And maintain a sense of humor even while the rest of society shuns them, runs from them, fears them. There was a powerful message to an odd, different, queer kid in the rural South that the Munsters had to offer… and that message was SEE yourself as a person of sacred value no matter what others might say. Choose to be happy. Choose to be loving. Choose to believe in yourself, just as you are.

Well, rolling on to the mid-seventies… take a look at this… [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQnnZOJSlh0]

Wonder Bug! A piece of junk that had been thrown away… but three kids find it, SEE potential in it, love it unconditionally, and with the help of a magic horn it becomes a conscious, super-hero. A little far-fetched, but good enough for Saturday morning viewing. But again, a positive message was entering my spirit. When others say you’re junk, disposable, no good… there are angels among us who will affirm us, who will love us, who will remind us that we still have gifts to offer. And the magic of such affirmation can transform us into more than we ever thought we could be. The power of affirmation is something I learned on Saturday mornings, and I believe in and depend on and try to share that power even still.

One more little stroll down memory lane… let me direct your attention one more time to the big screens… [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9NY8R-LmIw]

If you’ve met me more than a couple of times, you know my adoration of Bea Arthur. But what you may not know is how influential her television show Maude was in my formative years. You see, in the 70s, women were still fighting for equality. And while advances have been made, let us not fool ourselves into believing that misogyny is dead or that the playing field is even yet level in our society. But in the 70s, there was Maude… championing feminism, speaking boldly and courageously for her liberal values. When men and male dominated institutions said that women should be secondary, there was Maude challenging those sexist notions trying to disguise themselves as traditional values. Maude seemed to say to women, “SEE yourself as a person of power and use that power wisely to challenge injustice in society.” And by extension, all marginalized people might hear the same message… SEE yourself as a person of power. Claim your power and use it with others, not over them… to establish peace and equality in the world.

Well, you’ve no doubt caught on that each of these vignettes is meant to help us SEE what we might have otherwise missed in life. We are meant to SEE our sacred value, our enormous potential, our responsibility, and our right to experience and express hope. That message is reinforced today from the ancient Buddhist text, the Dhammapada, and from our second reading as well. These empowering messages also come from the stories and songs of MY childhood, and yours.

Maybe that’s what Mark is getting at in the Gospel today. You see, when we approach scripture allegorically, that is, when we see scripture as symbolizing truths beyond the details of the stories it enshrines, we come to realize that scripture is at least as much about US as it is about the writers or about the characters they wrote about.

Mark is writing at a time of loss and uncertainty. Jerusalem and its Temple have been destroyed, and 40 years before that Jesus had been executed. The world is crazy and scary and the future seems uncertain… and yet, in the midst of all this chaos, Mark wants people to SEE that there is still reason for hope. That there are blessings that no military power or economic hardship or social pandemonium can take away. He remembers the stories of prophets who stood up to oppression and experienced amazing blessings. He remembers stories of Noah surviving a deluge, and Daniel surviving a lion’s den. He remembers one of the contributors to the book of Isaiah speaking for God saying, “Behold! I do a new thing!” He may even have heard some of Paul’s messages, saying, “If there is anything good… think about that!” And “rejoice in the divine always… I’ll say it again, Rejoice!”

Mark and his community have stories that are meant to help them SEE that possibilities still exist for them. Optimism is still warranted. Hope is still the better way. And so he reminds his community of the message that the scriptures have been telling them all their lives. And he does this by telling a story about a man who can’t see. But of course, what he wants most is to be able to see. And Jesus says, “Your faith… your trust in divine goodness has made you well.” And being reminded that he could trust the Source of life, he suddenly could see again.

Mark seems to be saying to people in crisis… focus on the crisis if you want to, but then you won’t be able to see much beyond the crisis. It’s a dark and scary place to be. Remember the power of hope. Remember your sacred value. Remember the story isn’t over yet, and we get to contribute to how it unfolds from this moment on. Trust divine goodness, broaden your perspective beyond just the difficulties. Learn to SEE the possibilities that still exist. You want to see beyond the problem, trust that there is Good beyond the problem… that kind of faith will restore your spiritual vision.

We have the stories… from the Jewish tradition, the Christian tradition, the Buddhist tradition, the Hindu tradition… from poetry and music and theatre and film and television… over and over and over the Source of Life seems to be reminding us… YOU ARE A PERSON OF POWER. Embrace that truth, and learn to SEE how good you are, and all the good you are capable of… and no matter where we finally hear that divine message, it is the good news. Amen.

The Good News Affirmed

I see today that I am a child of God.

I see today that amazing possibilities exist for me.

I see today reasons for hope.

I see today divine gifts being poured into my life.

And so I am thankful.

And so it is.

The Good News Repeated

“It’s not what you look at that matters; it’s what you see.” Henry David Thoreau

Audio readings and sermon (http://suncath.org/sermons/20091025_1.mp3)

Video readings and sermon (http://sunshinecathedral.org/sermons/video/20091025_1.wmv)