July 28, 2010

"Where justice shall roll down like waters…"


Heathens at the gate
Originally uploaded by Citizen Rob
I delivered the sermon at a church on Sunday.

Okay, I know. But that's not as unlikely of a statement as you might think. I spoke at the Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Plano, so this isn't like, you know, that other time. Unitarians are a pretty accepting bunch. As one of them said to me after the service, "There's a saying that Unitarians are just Agnostics who have kids."

I delivered a sermon, recited a short excerpt from the essay I contributed to My Baby Rides the Short Bus and even read a story to the kids. (A Bad Case of the Stripes, by David Shannon) Everyone was exceptionally nice, I had a lot of very interesting conversations and no one made the sign of the cross or spoke in tongues before running shrieking from the room. It was my first time in a church in longer than I can remember; even my wedding took place in a university chapel, not an actual church. I felt very comfortable there. We might just have to go back for a visit one day.

If you're interested, both my reading and the sermon (which was really more of a speech) are available online at the church's sermon archive.

Immediately after I spoke, the congregation sang what I realized was a very specifically chosen hymn, "We'll Build a Land", that I wasn't familiar with, despite my years of playing church gigs as a semi-professional trombonist. I did a little reading and discovered that the words come from Isaiah and Amos (also the source of Martin Luther King's famous citation "Justice shall roll down like waters, righteousness like a mighty stream").

The hymn is quite simply a call to action. It invokes the same sense of community, of "the village", that I've been speaking about in every speech I've given since my book came out. It doesn't rely on God to make things right, but rather calls on all of us to bring peace and justice to the world. I think Jesus taught the same, not that God would come down and clean up our crappy, angry world for us, but rather that we should live lives that lead to righteousness. We have to take care of each other, and of the afflicted most of all.

Well, that's my understanding, anyway.

We'll build a land where we bind up the broken.
We'll build a land where the captives go free,
where the oil of gladness dissolves all mourning.
Oh, we'll build a promised land that can be.

Come build a land where sisters and brothers,
anointed by God, may then create peace:
where justice shall roll down like waters,
and peace like an ever-flowing stream.

We'll build a land where we bring the good tidings
to all the afflicted and all those who mourn.
And we'll give them garlands instead of ashes.
Oh, we'll build a land where peace is born.

We'll be a land building up ancient cities,
raising up devastations from old;
restoring ruins of generations.
Oh, we'll build a land of people so bold.

Come, build a land where the mantles of praises
resound from spirits once faint and once weak;
where like oaks of righteousness stand her people.
Oh, come build the land, my people we seek.

22 comments:

Adelaide Dupont said...

In my own experience, I would have said that the Unitarian Universalists are the ones who love children.

(A preponderance of young and young at heart in any congregation is a big selling point for this humanist).

Wonderful wonderful song about the world you want to create. Go for the land of bold people, the ones with the spirits no longer faint and weak.

Burke and Wills! Leichhardt!

Long time reader... said...

In my humble opinion, Jesus would give you a high five. You got His message—now if a few more Christians would just get it...

Niksmom said...

Love this, Rob. ALL of it.

Penny said...

Beautiful sermon Rob. Absolutely, exquisitely beautiful and touching and realistic and loving. Thank you for sharing.

Lisa said...

Unitarians rock. I'm not religious at all, and it's UU churches are the only ones I go to voluntarily. Glad to hear that your sermon went well.

Steph said...

Very nice. UU's are pretty awesome, and the comment about them being agnostics with children made me laugh because it's so true. They are also pretty big on social action and service - one of my favorite sermons ever was by the minister at the UU church we went to in Farmington Hills. The main point was that UU's talk a big game, but we need to make sure we're putting our money, time, and resources where our mouths are, on a daily basis. It was one of the most inspiring and rousing things I've ever heard.

Unknown said...

We were so glad to have you and your family there. Thank you for your words and your inspiration, and I hope our paths cross again!

Kathy E. Smith
Director of Religious Education, Children and Youth
Community UU Church

Daveat said...

Our son was "dedicated at the universalist in Newburyport Ma. if you plan a trip to the east coast I would recomend foregoing the cape or Martha's vinyard for the NorthShore of Mass. we loved the church, the zeitgeist and above all the renewed spirit to participate in a real and active way to help society and be part of the solution!!kudos to you and I am surprised of course that they have that in the State of Texas but either way if you ever go to Newburyport Ma, you three probably won't return to Texas!!

Amanda said...

Unitarian Universalism is perfect for agnostics with kids and also smartasses who might just be willing to consider the possibility of something bigger than them - since I'm both I ended up on the board of my UU church!

"We'll Build a Land" is one of my very favorite hymns we sing - for just the reasons you mentioned. It's about how *we* have to do the hard work here, not some gray bearded guy upstairs.

If you decide you'd like to visit another UU church someday we'd love to have you visit (and/or speak) in Shreveport!

mooserbeans said...

Every since I read your book I had a feeling you'd fit in with UU's. That is one of my favorite hymns. I'm glad you had a positive experience.

Alexis said...

What a beautiful sermon!

Anonymous said...

Oh hey Rob, did you see Selena Gomez using an auditory device on George Lopez's show? She had lost her voice and used one to perform the interview and it was later given to a childrens' hospital and seems like it might have done a bit to raise awareness and you should write about it because it was cool and neat and all that good stuff and... Oh wait screw that you'll never stop writing about yourself long enough to do that.

Robert Hudson said...

Did she apologize for her abysmal show on Disney?

I hope no one cries when I turn off anonymous commenting again. Apparently ass monkey season is starting up again.

Anonymous said...

How very ironic. Good thing you didn't fall for that God stuff. Next thing you know somebody would be giving your daughter an angel sticker and trying to indoctrinate her i to believing that God loves her and wants her to be happy.

Robert Hudson said...

Yeah, because both God and religious treats like yourself have been so good to Schuyler and have done so much to make her happy.

Sorry, everyone. Anonymous comments are now officially off. If you want to make a shitty comment, you'll need to attach your shitty name to it.

amylia said...

Geez, what the hell, anonymous? It's so much easier to be an asshole when you don't even have the fucking guts to (wo)man up and provide even a fake internet identity to back up your jack-assery.

Thanks, Rob, for continuing to be yourself in the face of assmonkeys like the ones who like to read your work then attach some idiotic comment to an otherwise lovely blog post.

Jordan said...

Look forward to that sermon! My UU church sings that song often, I love it.

Nicole P said...

Anonymous - I think Schuyler is perfectly happy knowing her PARENTS and the people in her life LOVE her and want her to be happy.

Doesn't your religion teach you anything about being a reflection of what you believe god is? If they do teach you, and you're making good, then your god must be an angry, frustrated, Disney-obsessed idiot.

This was a great post, Rob. The UUs are as accepting a group of people as you'll find anywhere. I love that many are actually people of faith, who believe in a specific idea/definition of god, and yet, are open to the idea that other people might not believe the same or might not have any specific definition of god. I also love that most UU churches have as part of their creed a culture of acceptance and of doing their best to help their communities.

Great sermon, great reading, too.

I'm glad you had such a positive experience.

CanuckinDC said...

As a UU I am thrilled that you had such a good experience and that you like us! Heheheh. Representin' All Souls in DC here. We're awfully fond of that hymn here too.

Renee from GA said...

As a long time follower of things Robly, my first thought after reading your first line was "he gave a WHAT at the WHERE?! Im glad it was a good experience!

Jenny said...

"There's a saying that Unitarians are just Agnostics who have kids."

That quote makes me wish there was a UU church around here!

Annie said...

Neat! You seem to be on a spiritual journey of sorts.. I am as well. Liam was very, very ill this year and asking lots of questions about God.. as if that weren't enough there have been some other things that have led me down the same path this year.. Glad you found a place where you can feel welcome and comfortable. I've just been reading thus far. Anyway.. is it appropriate to say good luck on your journey? Good luck on your journey! Hope yall are having a fine summer.

Anne Devlin and Liam