I have been listening to the hymns of creation, enchanted by the verses, yet still I am curious. What is this delight-filled universe into which we find ourselves born? What is this mysterious awareness shimmering everywhere within it?
-Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, Lorin Roche (trans.)
“Vernal clouds have turned the starwheel, summer is upon us. Gliding are the hawks, hovering above the hot and yellow hillside… Crickets in the night, chirping in our ears the sound of moonlit music…summer is upon us,” declares the Chant for the Seasons. Rainbows are also bursting forth with the arrival of Queer Pride Month, freedom rings with our celebrations of Juneteenth, and the Summer Solstice arrives with World Humanist Day. It is good for us to lift up these honorings when the threats against LGBTIAQ+ people, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and humanistic and evidence-based progressive change continue unabated.
While Pride Parades around the country are now drowning in seas of corporate sponsorships, we are seeing how performative allyship by many corporations is rooted only in the capacity to monetize. When faced with the bigotry that transgender and queer people have to face daily, corporations are removing the rainbows and are more than happy to acquiesce to their most bigoted clients. Politicians were willing to give lip service to Black Lives Matter but when it comes to real systemic reform, many are giving in to the political pressures to revert to business as usual. Education is under attack in this country by extremist ideologues who want to teach fiction in place of history and “alternative facts” in place of science. So we need to keep showing up and making our presences felt with the many diverse communities with which we are in relationship this summer. As the global pandemic recedes into history, let’s continue to emerge resilient and strong as advocates for our liberal religious values and the beloved community.
Our theme for congregational reflection this month is “the path of delight.” It can be defined as the experience of great pleasure. In my Sufi community, it is often said that we must bless pleasure as an act of resistance to the forces that exhaust, diminish, and dehumanize. In experiencing delight, we are reminded of the jubilation of existence and our lives. It can help us fend off negativities, identify our cherished priorities, and replenish our sometimes weary spirits. Each Sunday we gather for worship, I speak of the delight we all experience from being together in religious community and joining together in song, spiritual practice, and reflection. Being a part of a beloved community can bring so much delight to life, if we allow ourselves to be immersed in all of the goodness, beauty, and love that’s made available in our togetherness. So will you join me in intentionality blessing the delight that’s present in your life this month?
Our friends at Soul Matters invite us to reflect together in our committee meetings and small groups to deepen our spiritual lives with these thought-provoking theme-based ministry questions:
- What do you know now about delight that you didn’t know when you were younger?
- Who taught you the most about cultivating delight?
- How does your delight differ from your parent’s delight?
- Do you have a story you delight in telling over and over again? (Maybe that you tell so much that your family rolls their eyes when you begin telling it again.) What role do you think these frequently told tales play in our lives? What role have they played for you? And what gift have they given you?
- Whose ability to be delighted do you envy?
- When was the last time you told your partner that they delight you?
- Are delight and divinity intertwined? Is delight somehow a doorway into the holy? If so, what life experience of yours convinced you of that?
To request a conversation and companionship with a member of our Pastoral Care Team or to share a joy, sorrow, or milestone with the congregation, please be in touch with us at pastoralcare@uusm.org.
Yours in love and ministry,
Jeremiah
Rev. Jeremiah Lal Shahbaz Kalendae
Developmental Minister
