On Facing The Unknown
Rev. Holly Baylies
UU Church of Wakefield MA
September 18, 2005

Last Sunday immediately following the service, Eric Reid approached me with his usual coffee hour question, “ What is your sermon title for next week?” No matter how I try to plan ahead, I have never been able to crank out my sermons ahead of time. I attribute that little flaw to that pesky strain of creativity that is imbedded in my genes, levied upon me by a long line of musicians, and artists, photographers and opera singers, all of which I am not! My pat answer has always been, ‘one cannot orchestrate or man handle the creative process, I comes in its own time…’ and I have always voiced that excuse. 

I must confess, I try to hide when I see Eric coming towards me. That tactic has never been successful and alas, once again he found me. “Gee, Eric,” I said, “I have no idea what I am preaching about next week, I just don’t know yet!” He smiled, that impish smile and queried, “ Facing the Unknown?” “Yes,” I replied, I guess so.” Later, I told Eric I would call him sometime during the week with the title. “You don’t have too, It’s already on the board.”

I raced outside to see what topic he had selected for me to preach about this Sunday and there it was, “On Facing The Unknown.”

I had to laugh, I deserved that and should have known better! I could adopt the stance of the Practical Generalist and simply state, “How can one prepare for something that we have no clue is going to happen? Were we to actually try and predict everything that could happen, then every waking moment would be spent on hoarding food, digging shelters, installing moats or walls around our homes, stocking up on first aid supplies, reading survival manuals, attending do it yourself courses on kitchen table appendectomies, and how to effectively subdue terrorists without wrinkling your new suit! 
There would be no time for play, or work or school or church or Christmas or Birthdays , and It would be just our luck we would fall in the bathtub or be hit by an asteroid.

Or, I could give you the Evangelists answer. “ Live a good and Godly life, weather all the bad stuff and God will reward you in heaven. If you fail then  Satan will deal with you in hell, or you will hang around in limbo until the After-life Destination Committee decides what to do with you!”

Or I could give you the Pessimist- Realist answer,“ Who knows where we came from, who knows where were going, who knows why were here, it doesn’t matter what we do, we’re going to die anyway. So what. Period”

Or. I could give you one Unitarian Universalists answer. Now, Where do I start? 

I believe that I can safely say that we are a faith of individuals. We base our beliefs on knowledge, experience, family influence, history and an acute awareness that  #1 we did not create ourselves, and,  number 2,  we have not unanimously concluded exactly what happens to us when we die. No ones story claiming to have come back from a romp in a celestial paradise, has been universally accepted as absolute truth and such claims are more often met with skepticism and scorn by many of the religious and scientific authorities, which simply brings us back to the unanswered questions and to the reason why we are Unitarian Universalists in the first place. We don’t know.

So for us, true preparation for facing the unknown is difficult as we do not necessarily agree with the generalist, the evangelist or the pessimist- realist.

Therefore, I can only speak as one Unitarian Universalist minister, whose job it is to try and sort all of this out, and I thank Eric for this mind stretching opportunity!  

Foremost we are all creatures of experience. We do not ponder the milliseconds that make up each moment. We are only capable of absorbing the immediate here and now and our past experiences which determine how we choose to address the future. 

Of course we are much more likely to believe and to prepare for what options both science and medicine have offered or and tells us is looming, Katrina, Ophelia, the Blizzard of 78, polio, chickenpox and cancer, to name a few. Technology has given us tangible choices and ways to prepare. For that reason we are much more likely to follow the advise of those who can offer us alternatives for preservation and  survival, than we are to take to heart the ominous warning waved about by the raggedy man on the street corner holding a placard that reads “ Repent…The world is coming to an end.”

Experience and technology has given us the means to prepare for some of these plagues of nature and are offering more alternatives all the time. However, I have come to the conclusion that our ability to respond is sadly all too often a matter of economics. And it is often economics alone that determines the options we feel we have. Those who have the financial means to afford to prepare for an impending disaster, or the treatment needed to terminate the threat of a serious illness, do so and have the option of heeding  the warnings or taking action. Many others do not have the financial resources to take advantage of those options in order to preserve their own health and safety. For many in that position, their belief in God’s will, God’s choice of who will live and who will die, is the only option they can afford. Their only way to prepare, is to pray for mercy.

True, we may be able to see the hurricane coming, but we cannot predict the aftermath of anything. We can only choose to follow the route of the generalist, the evangelist, or the pessimist -realist, or make up our own scenario, and that is exactly why the churches have remained intact in so many forms, to address the very human emotions generated by the unknowns of life, of loss, of tragedy and illness, of explaining our creation and our mortality, of conjuring rituals to protect us, and selecting prophets to lead us; all critical elements that science and technology has yet to solve. 

We can face it all through fear, fact or faith, in sadness or with good humor. That part is our choice.

Philosophically we are stuck in a mire of unknowns, some are devastating and others, the ones we face every day, are just a nuisance! As a minister I often encounter many situations that are unexpected or unplanned for. There was one incident in particular which I would like to share with you this morning, which is far more in keeping with the majority of unpredictable events that pepper our everyday lives.

Many years ago as a new minister, I was asked to officiate at a wedding at the now defunct King’s Grant in Danvers. It’s attraction was  its unusual décor as a tropical rain forest, complete with a steaming pool, exotic plants, and the piece de resistance’  live parrots flying about and  nestled in this fantasy wonderland was a beautiful snow white gazebo equipped with an invisible sound system and accommodations for live music. At the rehearsal the night before I noticed several parrots flying around and spoke to the Concierge who assured me they would all be removed for the ceremony. The bride and groom were from very traditional families and the ceremony contained all the pomp and circumstances and bells and whistles that traditional couple request. Everything was in place and the ceremony began. Just as I was asking “who gives this woman to be married to this man,” A shrill cry emanated from the rafters, interrupting my question. “Hi Cutie,” it rang out, “Nice ass,” to be followed by a string of obscenities that I cannot repeat in church or anywhere else for that matter! (I even took a chance on saying, “ass,” in church)

Then there was silence.  The bride burst into tears, the groom was catatonic and clueless, The parents were paralytic and began that telltale sway, then both sat down with a thud, their faces the color of a bleached out bed sheet. Then from the back, someone began to laugh, The whole place fell apart. 

I was strangling on my own need to howl, however, I kept my cool and managed to calm the bride, yanked the groom back into reality and continued  with the ceremony, keeping one eye on the rafters. Obviously the crude little parrot was satisfied with his commentary and flew away. 

When the wedding was finally over with no more unrehearsed interruptions, I marched myself off to the Concierge’s office to give her an earful. Apparently she had seen and heard the whole thing and was doubled over her desk, guffawing and snorting in a most unprofessional manner. I managed to get this couple a free wedding out of this little fopah and  when I was finally able to leave, I laughed until my sides ached all the way home! 

The Seminary could never have prepared me for this, nor would I have expected them too. It was one of those times I could never have anticipated, which is the way most of us go through this life. Facing the unknown isn’t all bad, and for the most part it is not always something we can imagine, even with the best of preparation. There will always be life’s unknowns and little surprises, that keep us laughing, keep us wondering and keep us believing that in spite of all that may come our way, this life is surely remarkable. Facing it head on, preparing when we can, helping one another and accepting it’s wonderful surprises along with the hard ones is a matter of experience of choice, of circumstance, of economics and of course of faith.

 Robert Frost once said, “Dear Lord, If you will forgive my little jokes on Thee and I will forgive thy great big one on me!”

So be it
Amen