Human Choices & the Angels
Reading & sermon preached by Reverend Carolyn Patierno
March 25, 2007 – Dedication Sunday

Jacob’s Ladder by Kim Bridgford

At first, I saw their faces, close together,
And in their distance they were like the weather,
The satisfaction found in abstract thought,
The feeling of the sunlight when it’s caught.

Then they moved closer, barefoot on the ladder,
And less transparent as they moved toward matter.
And so it was that they became more human,
Their otherness unfolded to illumine

How I could be.  Inside my human body,
I tried to understand, but was not ready.
I slept.  I watched the swaying of the rungs,
Heard whispering of nighttime on their tongues.

Then nothing but the planets in their voices.
The space they left was filled with human choices.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Though the road is steep and rugged … we are climbing … climbing on

Beginning last summer these lyrics became my own private anthem – an anthem that ultimately led to December 10th – our first service here in Unity Hall.  Initially, I revisited Jacob’s ancient story as inspired by Bruce Springstein’s recent musical endeavor – that of reinterpreting Pete Seeger’s music.  Some of you may remember that I reflected on the song at a service last summer.  It has stayed with me in a most powerful way, this walk with Jacob.  We surely did and we surely have been climbing on a steep and rugged road. 

But this morning, unlike this afternoon, we turn our attention to climbing toward our future.     

We’ll start with Jacob’s dream. 

Jacob.  A man from what we moderns would likely consider a dysfunctional – or, depending on your experience, typical – family.  In many ways Jacob was rather ordinary but for his extraordinary dream.   The story goes …

[H]e dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.  Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land.

Before the dream catapults Jacob in new directions he knows not what the vision means.  Says the poet, He tried to understand, but was not ready. / [He] slept.  And then a truth emerges through a voice that eventually he is prepared to receive.   The angels’ otherness unfolded to illumine how [he] might be. 

And then the most amazing thing happens.  Jacob gets it.  He wakes up and recognizes opportunity right there before him.  Opportunity that he’d missed in his wandering - missed in the drama of his life.  He nearly missed the place upon which he sets out to build a house of faith.   Instead, he wakes from his sleep and says,

“Surely the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!”  And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.  He called that place Bethel.

So it happened that the first religious building project of all time came to pass.  And he called that place Bethel. 

Building projects from Jacob’s Bethel to our own Jay Street are in large part about faith outweighing fear.  It’s no mistake that on the heels of Jacob’s proclamation that surely the Lord was in that place, comes the admission that he was afraid.  After all, his faith, like our own, was put to the test.  Let me just say that although a Unitarian Universalist religious life demands of us consistent challenge regarding a search for meaning, well, sometimes we forget about that part of the deal, don’t we?  It’s easy to get distracted after all.  But there it is.  Said the poet: 

At first, I saw their faces, close together,
And in their distance they were like the weather,
The satisfaction found in abstract thought,
The feeling of the sunlight when it’s caught.

At the start of his dream, Jacob is faced with an illusive mystery to which he is compelled to assign meaning.  He does not know where these angels will lead him and so he remains in sleep because he is not yet ready to figure it out.  But eventually as the angels draw closer he recognizes in them a humanness.  Lo! In them, he begins to comprehend how he could be.  Yes, he is afraid but nevertheless, he pushes through to set down that rock and embrace a new vision. 
I watched the swaying of the rungs,
Heard whispering of nighttime on their tongues.

Then nothing but the planets in their voices.
The space they left was filled with human choices.

Jacob makes an inspired choice.  He makes an inspired human choice. 

Today, in this place, in the Bethel we have created together, we are the angels climbing Jacob’s ladder.  We arethe angels who created the human choices that have led us here – to our new home. 

And yet, the life we now set out to create and pursue from this time forward is as much set in mystery as was Jacob’s dream.   We have built this house of God, so to speak.  Our next task must be to deeply claim this house as “home.”  To come to know who we are in this place and who we endeavor to be as a People in our next hundred years – or at least in the next five years.   But the next five years will lead to the next and on & on it will go as new angels set their feet on the rungs of the ladder. 

Look around you and see there the faces of the angels with whom you will join hands and create new miracles.  The hymn says we are brothers, sisters all.  So we are.  True, we may not all be traveling at the same pace.  As well and at this point, a clear vision of where the angels may lead may be elusive.  We may be fearful of approaching the swaying rungs.  For now, let’s instead hold on to what we know.  This house has been built on your dreams with the blessing of many who dwell beyond these walls.   All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation sought to create beauty out of what had long been, let’s face it, a moldy mess.  But now, as we turn our attention to how we could be from this day forward, it is up to every single one of us to infuse this house with the unique beauty and faith we each hold.  It is up to us to put down and anoint the stones of inspiration, recognize these as opportunity and claim the dream.

And then tomorrow will come. 

This morning we consider that future.  This afternoon, with the help of the wider community, we will celebrate our past and what we have accomplished.  To tell you the truth, I’m just about done celebrating our accomplishment.  Nearly.  I’m really excited about this afternoon as, like you, I have dreamed of this day for many years.  But this afternoon will mark an ending of sorts.  Because once this place is made sacred through the thanksgiving, blessing, and dedication that we will offer as well as that which our friends and neighbors offer, it will be time to turn our full attention to tomorrow. 

I am glad for most this amazing day.  For this day of ceremony marks a rite of passage for us.  And as is true for all rites of passage, there is a range of emotion.  As Jacob was inspired and afraid, so we are inspired and ...  at least little afraid, right?  Let’s put our proverbial cards on the table.  We’ve talked quite a bit about change and transition.  This one is big.  And so, one of the purposes of this dedication is to re-dedicate ourselves to the faith tradition we share … and individually, to rededicate ourselves to the part of our religious commitment that we sometimes forget about.  The part I mentioned earlier about the ongoing search for the meaning of our faith as we face our future with eyes wide open. 

I will conclude with a story I have shared on many occasions over the past five and a half years – one that I shared again last night.  This building’s future was questionable when I first arrived nearly six years ago to serve as your minister.  For several years the building had not been occupied.   It was neglected.  Last night Reverend Tricia Hart recalled that at that point in time, this building one that was “hard to love.”  It was a summer day and Spencer Johnson arranged to take me for my first look.  Spencer and I did not know each other very well yet.  Although I was prepared to keep an open mind Spencer put the key in the door, paused, looked to me and said, “We are limited only by our imagination.”   And so, fittingly, a glass was raised last night to “divine vision.” 

What will be our divine vision for the future?  How will we interpret the voices of the angels?  Are you willing to get up on that ladder, put your foot on that first rung to make that steep and rugged journey – really, can the journey be anything but steep and rugged, my friends? 

Intimidating?  Sure.  So, perhaps while we struggle through fear we need to rest in a state of repose in order to reach new meaning and purpose.  But eventually, we will awake and when we do, there will be no limit on what we may build upon the strong pillars of community – and a good portion of audacity and yes, faith.

This morning is about the future.  We need only to discern what new dreams lie ahead knowing that we will be held in all the places we will go no matter how steep and rugged the journey.   We will be climbing  … climbing on …

Amen.

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