Another entry to my worship materials workbook, these quotes for on the theme of non-violence.
"Do you know, Fontanes, what astonishes me۬most in the world? The inability of force to۬create anything. In the long run the sword is۬always beaten by the spirit."۬ Napoleon Bonaparte
"That which distinguishes us from all the animals is our capacity to be nonviolent.۬And we fulfill our mission only to the extent that we are nonviolent and no more."۬ M.K. Gandi, "Nonviolence: The Greatest Force"
"Power can guarantee the interests of some, but it can never foster the good of all.۬Power always protects the good of some at the expense of all the others."۬ Thomas Merton, "Blessed are the Meek"
Poems, Meditations, and Worship Material: September 2005 Archives
Part of a long time project to compile worship resources for services in congregations of the free spirit. The following illustrate different takes on the theme of "misuse of religion to serve power.
"And I also want to say that this is the very first time I have felt that God is in the White House."۬ Gary Welby, American Republican
"We are on the right side, and God is with us, and anyone who has God on their side never loses."۬ Muhmmad Al-Mehimmad, Iraqi insurgent
"Tragic is the role of religion in contemporary society."۬ Abraham Joshua Heschel, "Religion in Modern Society"
"The names of the heroes,۬I was taught to memorize.۬They had guns in their hands,۬And God on their side. . . For you don't count the۬dead, with God on our side."۬ Bob Dylan "God on Our Side"
Long long ago Dawn came to Darkness, and Changing Woman was born. Golden rays of light carried her from the sky to a mountain top. The Four Winds swept down and breathed life into her, printing spirals on her fingers, head and toes. The Flowers surrounded and cradled her. Joyfully, the Blue Birds sang.
The Holy People, who lived below, sent Talking God up the mountain to find out what all the commotion was about. When Talking God reached the top, he found a beautiful baby girl lying in the grass. Gathering her into his arms, he carried her down the mountain. The People were delighted by her, and fed her pollen, animal broth and dew from the loveliest flowers.The little girl ran races. And Talking God sang to her. In four days, she was fully grown.
This is a story I heard from another storyteller, and I have told it for at least ten years. I have embellished it I am sure. It is good for homecoming. If anyone knows its author please let me know. A Unitarian Universalist native of Japan remembers the story from his childhood.
Kori was a poor stone cutter,
everyday Kori went up the mountain and knelled down
Kori banged and chipped and chisled
at the stone mountain,
everyday he took stone away, stone for building,
beautiful stone.
But Kori felt weak and insignificant,
Kori wished to be great and powerful.
Now in Japan in those days there were many gods,
and one of them overheard Kori wishing to great,
"I wish I was the greatest thing in the whole universe"
Kori was heard to cry, "great like the sun."
and lo and behold Kori's wish was fulfilled
and he found that he was the Sun.
Powerful and magnificent,
he beat his rays down upon the mountain.
Kori felt powerful now.
But then a cloud passed by
and blocked Kori's view of the mountain,
so he couldn't beat down his rays,
Kori was immediately transformed into the cloud,
now he was powerful,
he could block the Sun,
but in a moment a strong breeze blew Kori the cloud away,
and Kori was transformed into the wind,
now Kori thought the wind must be the most powerful thing,
and he blew some leaves around,
and picked up a child's kite and made it soar,
and then he really came roaring along
and hit the side of the mountian,
But Kori the wind was easily defected by the mountain,
and Kori was transformed into the mountain.
Now Kori thought to himself as mountain
I must be the most powerful thing in the whole universe,
powerful enough to withstand the wind,
that blows the clouds around,
the clouds that block the sun's rays at will,
and the sun that beats down its heat on the mountain all day.
And Kori reveled in his power as mountain,
just then he heard high up on the mountain,
the sound of a stonecutter,
banging and chipping and chisling on the face of the mountain,
and taking stone away for building,
the powerful mountain could not withstand
the slow determined work of the stonecutter,
and just as quickly as before Kori became Kori again,
and Kori understood that the most powerful thing
one can be in this creation,
is finding all that you really are.
Kori came home and found himself,
but he never would he have ever known himself,
unless he gone out,
become the sun, and the clouds, the wind,
and the mountains.
He would not have know who he was.
We like Kori have gone out,
and now we have come home again, gathering with our wiser heads,
and our refreshed spirits, and our renewed hopes,
for another year.
Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was coming time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or one of his own children, he decided to do something different.
He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!"
