Psalm 136         

What Makes the Trip Worthwhile                                                 

Mark 10:32                                                                             St. Mark’s

Rev. Dr. Paul David Sholin, Pastor Emeritus

7 Sept 2008

INTRODUCTION

It’s a privilege for me today to get to preach again where I spent 38 of my 88 years wrestling with the scripture for the people of this church.  I thank you all.  At my age my granddaughter might ask, “Viejo, were you with Noah in the Ark?”

You have heard a lot through the Shalom and the clergy that we all are on a journey.  And it’s true.  I am using ‘trip’ this morning instead.  What Makes the Trip Worthwhile.  In the past, whenever something or an event came up that was interesting or fun the kids used to say,  “ Wow, what a trip!”  LET’S THINK ABOUT YOUR TRIP IN LIFE.

I use the alphabet to help me remember when I can’t think of a person or thing. It is fast if it is Almquist, but it takes more time when I’m looking for Smith or Taylor.  Today I will use A through D in what I have to say.

AWARENESS

Awareness is needed on the trip.  We are aware around here that your trip, your life, is a gift from God.  Joseph Campbell often stated that most religious myths are intended to get the follower to be alert, aware, that they are alive in the moment, the now of living.  How often we just go through the motions when we stagger out of bed to get through the day.

My granddaughter Kelley, when she turned three was very upset because she wondered what happened to her ‘two’s.

Recently when going into a medical appointment, I saw a little boy about 4 years old.  He was hunched down, staring at some bees that were busy with flowers.  His mother called to him, “Let’s go now”.  Reluctantly, he turned away waving and saying, “Bye bye bees, bye bye.”  That’s the kind of awareness we often lose.

When you take a walk you go one step at a time.  The trip goes one day at a time.  The day can be lost by living in the past or by spending it thinking about what is going to happen in the future.  A worthwhile trip requires an awareness of what is going on that one day we are given.

When you start your day are you aware of your body?  Depending on your health and age, if, for instance, it needs exercise, make sure you take some.  The weather may affect what is possible that day, but notice what is going on.  Lorca, a poet from what I call my home town, Granada, Spain, once wrote.  “En los arboles canta el viento.”  The wind sings through the trees. Take time to notice stuff like that.  Stop and be aware of the past while you are on this trip.  My wife and I used to take the five kids on swings through the State in the car.  Whenever we would drive past one of those signs on the road I would pull over and read every word of the history on them.  The kids would groan, but they were made aware of the importance of what had happened there.

If there is work to be done that day, make sure it is the best that can be accomplished.  Stay alert and be as aware as you can.

There is always some risk on the trip. We live in a dangerous world.  When family or friends take to the highway to go anywhere I don’t pray that they have a safe trip.  I pray that God will keep whoever is driving aware and awake.  My prayers changed when I lost a son in a plane crash many years ago.

The Gospel lesson reads: ‘They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him’.  They were walking into real danger.  If you are living for the love and justice God wants, you will face real opposition and danger on your trip.

BAGGAGE

 Choosing the baggage to take on a trip is a chore. American Airlines wants to charge us for extra bags these days. I like to travel light anyway. Here is a list of what NOT to take if you want the trip in life to be worthwhile.

Inordinate pride, self-absorption, is one.  If everything and everyone you meet has to make you the center of attention, the trip is doomed. I once had a friend who always seemed to be looking at his reflection in the glass of display windows while talking to you on the street--not a fun traveling companion, believe me.

One of the ways to really spoil your trip is to have racial prejudice in your baggage.  Looking down your nose at people who are different is still widespread in our culture. The world is shrinking and there is little room left for the old prejudices in our time.  I fear for our country if it plays too much of a part in our current Presidential race. If you have any of that prejudice, get rid of it with God’s help.

Rabid Patriotism is another thing to avoid.  Of course it is very right to love the country to which you belong, but to make it your god can be disastrous. “My country, right or wrong” gives a clue to how a person feels about this.

It takes money to make a trip. For some however, pursuit of the dollar becomes the major drive most of the way. There is an engraved tombstone in a British graveyard that reads, “Here lies a miser who loved for himself.”  “Give us this day our daily bread” is a good reminder of how much is enough.

By the way, It is good to leave behind regrets. Morbid reflection does not add to the enjoyment on the way.  “If only …” need not be included in your baggage.

In case you are wondering what should be included, St Paul has a suggestion. How about:

 “Love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity,

Faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”

  Gal. 5:22

COMPANIONS

Everyone starts off their trip with family as their first companions. Some get a better break than others on this one.  I grew up in a family that had two sons. My brother was two years younger than I. There was what is known as sibling rivalry. We were stuck with each other as our busy parents took us around the world in Spanish=speaking countries.

Today he is a right-wing Republican and I am not. I always thought my Mother favored Bill, because she almost lost him at birth. No justice!!

Right or wrong I started my drive for justice in the world whatever the cost. As Vonnegut used to say, “So it goes”.

My friend Kendall once shared a line from a priest friend of his: “Friends are God’s apology for family.” Having said that, I do want to acknowledge how meaningful it has been for my immediate family to share my life, with all of our ups and downs.

Have you ever counted how many friends you have? I do not mean acquaintances, some think of them as FRIENDS. A worthwhile trip requires real friends to be there on the way. It takes work to keep them, but it is a must in life.

Yeates has these lines:     

“Think where man’s glory

            Begins and ends.

And say my glory was

I had such friends.”

I have not read Moby Dick in some time but Ishmael has a great line too: “I’ll try a pagan friend since Christian kindness has proved but hollow courtesy.”

Foes are a necessary part of the trip as well. If you stand for justice, peace, and love for all in this world, you will run into enemies for sure. I evaluate my ministry in this place by the foes that showed up through the years.

One of my favorite stories is about a man who was bitten by a rabid dog. He called for a piece of paper and pencil. Standers by asked if he was going to make out his will. “No, he said,  “I want to make a list of the people I want to bite.” I am not recommending that attitude. Let’s not forget that God loves our foes as much as we are loved.

Companions in the faith are needed on the trip. Sixty years ago what was then the Presbytery of Southern Arizona came out a mile from town into the desert to establish this Church. We had gathered just over 60 people for the occasion.  It was in the desert, having left Egypt and bondage, that the Children of Israel learned the tough lesson of being a free people on that trip to the Promised Land. God was with them on the way with instructions for life that are still with all of us—The Ten Commandments, for instance. The Prophetic presence of Moses began a line of voices still heard today.

Passover every year commemorates the story and what a price has been paid by the Jewish people for their faithful following of that heritage since. . We soon found out as a church that there was a price to pay for being faithful to God’s justice and love for all people, not just the privileged. Tucson was a Southern town then, with all the graciousness and the prejudices that went with it. Mexican-Americans as well as African-Americans lived in separate communities with restrictions galore. Anti-Semitism was also part of the picture.

It is hard to put in few words how much members of this church have meant to me as companions in the faith on our trip together. The staff over the years worked together like a family. You know two of them today.  Barbara Lauver, who ran the office, and Mike Smith, one of your preachers, who is now helping you out as you search for leadership for tomorrow. Not all were as good as those two.  Outstanding members as well as officers gave companionship and challenge as we saw the church grow and take on the tasks around us.

We ordained the first woman Elder in the Synod of the Southwest.  The role of women, civil liberties, racial prejudice, (the FBI used to attend services to check if we were Communist sympathizers.) Housing,  juvenile delinquency, school segregation, Civil Rights (we lost almost as many members as are on the rolls today when I reported back from the March on Washington in ’63).  Ecumenism was big with us. (One of the family stories that comes out of the new friendship with Catholic neighbors lead to my embarrassment. Norma and I went to Mass at the nunnery on Country Club just south of Speedway one evening.  When it came time to pass the Peace, we were standing in a circle, and I shook hands with my wife, and embraced the nun next to me.) We participated in protests on Vietnam.  Central America exploded and we found ourselves taking a major leadership role in the Sanctuary Movement. We also helped relocate refugees from different parts of the world as the need arose.

I could go on, but would add that I am glad to still be the Pastor Emeritus of the courageous community that still acts responsibly with our stewardship of the Gospel. Your focus on the environment is one very important concern right now. 

Inspiration and insight also came from outside our faith community.  I had met some of them such as Caesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Bishop Romero, Dr. John Mackay of Princeton Seminary and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Arthur Pack was very influential in this church’s development.  He was a philanthropist known for giving us the Desert Museum, local Commission on Human Relations and the gift of Ghost Ranch to our denomination.

Others also helped show us the way: Albert Schweitzer, theologian, musician and missionary, theologians Emil Brunner, Reinhold Neihbur, Bishop Tutu, Nelson Mandela and many more.

DESTINATION

Every worthwhile trip has a destination.  The Children of Israel had the Promised Land.  Jesus’ trip to Jerusalem has resulted in shaping the life road taken by billions of followers over the centuries. 

God awaits us as our destination.  Some people today believe that God is a fictional companion like the one kids make up as imaginary playmates.  The Living God is known by trusting a love you simply cannot prove.  Trust, not proof is required.  When you think about it, there is no proving if you love someone or are loved.  Trust, not proof!  A trip taken with that sort of trust is real living.

Billy Graham and his followers have made much of getting into heaven and often discounted the trip we take here. By the way, there is no earning your way in at the end by good deeds.  Constipated moral effort does not do it.  The struggle for justice and love in this world is embraced because we trust the grace and love of God that awaits us at our destination.  Bruce Willis, in one of his violent movies, while pouring lead into someone said, “I’ll see you in Hell”.  That’s a different destination.  It has been said, no one is prepared to live until they face the fact that they must die.

Quoting Santiyana, “There is no cure for birth or death, save to enjoy the interval.”  He said “nice trip” too!

If you’ve been made aware that the trip was God given so that you’ve stayed alive to all around, checked your baggage, acknowledged the God given companionship, family, friends, foes and the church, then you may know what it is like to have a meaningful trip so far.

I once interviewed Edna Hudler-Hudler Hall is named after her at the church.  She was a great teacher and close friend of mine.  She lived to 103.  The interview came toward the end, and I asked her what she was facing at the end of her trip.  She said, “I have known love here, Dave.  I expect to know love there.”  At 88 today, I am close to my destination as well.

So, we have done awareness, baggage, companionship, and destination.  Kids usually ask, “are we there yet?”  Well, we are not there yet.  Let’s make the trip worthwhile.