Sunday, March 15, 2026
Reading and Sermon
Text of reading and sermon below the video.
https://youtu.be/igU79Sg11aY
Reading: Finding a Teacher
In the woods I came on and old friend fishing
and I asked him a question
and he said Wait
fish were rising in the deep stream
but his line was not stirring
but I waited
it was a question about the sun
about my two eyes
my ears my mouth
my heart the earth with its four seasons
my feet where I was standing
where I was going
it slipped through my hands
as though it were water
into the river
it flowed under the trees
it sank under hulls far away
and was gone without me
then where I stood night fell
I no longer knew what to ask
I could tell that his line had no hook
I understood that I was to stay and eat with him.
W.S, Merwin The Second Four Books of Poems (from Writings to an Unfinished Accompaniment) Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA 1993 p. 285-286.
Sermon: Listening to the Moment
By Rev. F. Vernon Wright V
Good morning and welcome to the stewardship Sunday, hand it over extravaganza Sunday! Thank you, Stephanie P. For leading our stewardship campaign and for the many who have spoken or already turned in their pledges. If you haven’t turned in your pledges, please do so today.
These things can be so awkward sometimes. To me its really about inspiration. If people are truly inspired, they will give of themselves- they will serve- they will join in because it’s not really about following someone, an organization, being inspired is really about being called into leadership itself.
Inspiring people is supposed to be what I am about up here. A trained preacher has many tricks- and there’s a long history of amazing preachers all over the world. Rabbis have great ways of teaching and inspiring, so do Imams. I used to love to listen to Ram Das. Zen Sangha talks are great, but they usually come after a long sit, so people are already pretty high before they begin.
What I’ve found, however, is that truly inspiring people is not really about calling people to become good followers- it’s more about helping them to become good leaders. Of course, you have to give the idea that you have something to offer just enough that they come close. But then its time to listen.
Telling people doesn’t really help so much in inspiring people. People really just need to be listened to with a calm, caring, reflective presence. According to a study sponsored by the World Economic Forum, the organization that sets up the famous Davos talks between nations, good listening by others promotes cognitive resilience and activates the brain’s reward system. Each of us is a garden with much beauty waiting to be nurtured to life. Some of us have weeds, some of us need our soil to be aerated. Some need water, others need fertilizer. Others need to be transplanted to a place that has just the right amount of sun. But only the person being listened to can understand what it is they precisely need to become that fuller, whole version of themselves.
That’s what I really love about this Merwin Poem. It gathers our attention closely. First of all, the teacher isn’t someone higher, or better, or anything like that- he’s a friend. The author is there because he has a question. He asks the question, and instead of answering it, he says wait.
Merwin then goes on to say something about this question, and the question goes on and on, because the true questions go deeper than words. Recall Rainer Maria Rilke in his Letters to a Young Poet
“Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”
Rilke was right… And that was written so long ago!
Suddenly, the guy watching his friend and teacher fish, realizes that the fisher has no
hook, and that they are supposed to eat together.
(Make a casting motion)
What is the question that brought you here today?
Anyone?
How about, “Am I living in a bellicose, oligarchic, fascist state?”
“How will my children and grandchildren fare?”
“What will the mid-term elections hold for us?”
“Can I make Murray an island of sanity?”
“Is there a salve in Gilead?”
“Can I connect with awe and wonder today?”
“Wait!” (Make a casting motion)
Before us is a beautiful hardwood table to seat many, Lisa sourced it from a thoughtful donation. See the chandelier? Tom just fixed the wiring and now it’s working great. Oh, look, (x) has brought a beautiful Swedish tablecloth. (X) has brought some beautiful candles. Is that a bouquet of peonies? Thank you, Wendy Loew, flower committee lone ranger! What a gorgeous fireplace, thank you, Bruce, for the roaring fire to keep us all warm. Oh, look, here come the people who can’t drive themselves and have health challenges. Thank you, Peddy and the caring circle people! Greg is playing some beautiful music in the background on the grand piano. Thank you so much. Oh, look, someone brought some games and things to keep the little ones occupied and engaged. Thank you, Carol!
What is that delicious smell! Who brought the pot of freshly boiled lobsters? Who brought the corn? Look at that platter of prime rib. Oh my goodness, who brought the vegan bulgogi! And the pies, oh, blessed Donna, thank you for the pies.
Are you getting hungry yet?
I like progressive values, but I can’t do it alone. I like religious exploration for our young people, but I can’t do it alone. I love this beautiful church with its Danish Modern lines and so much light, and the gardens and the nature trail, but I can’t sustain it alone. In fact, I’m really just the coach here. This is your church. You decide everything. You’re the ones who make things happen.
Your questions brought you here. Your commitment or faith brought you here. And so I have to ask you, as we listen to this moment together- with all those very unlovely decisions being made so counter to our tradition, can we step up to this plate together?
You ready to step up to the plate and co-create a powerful message to this community where faith and reason meet, where love and kindness is at the center, where the values of justice, equity, pluralism, and interconnectedness are central to our lives? A message so counter to a narrative important to so many, that only whiteness and maleness, and aggressiveness, and evangelical Christian Nationalist certainty matters?
You ready to create an RE program so strong it becomes a headquarters of learning and the development of awesome, capable, informed young people, in the face of the terrible idea that the liberal arts, together with critical thinking, should perish, and only the sciences and maths should be taught?
Are you ready to participate in a fantastic, broad-ranging music program that motivates and develops music of many genres and cultural backgrounds, in the face of people who only recognize the brightness of one single musical tradition? Are you ready to invest in this beautiful building to make sure that it can be passed down to future generations, in the face of areas where you must always pay to play?
I think we are ready. As we listen to this moment, we know what we must do. Let our living question create a powerful answer together.
