Sunday, July 01, 2007

"No Stupid Questions" - Prologue

On June 17th, I participated in my first ever Quesion Box sermon.
In case you are unfamiliar with that sermon format, let me give you a brief description.

At the beginning of the service, those in attendance are given a note card or a piece of paper and encouraged to write down a question for the minister. During the hymn or meditative music, the questions are collected. Then, with very little prep time (enough to order the questions), the minister answers the questions.

The Question Box sermon has a couple of things going for it:
1. If you are good at thinking on your feet and speaking extemporaneously, it can be very impressive.
2. It is more personal and engaging then most sermon forms.
3. It requires less work for the minister (no sermon prep time that week.)
4. It generates sermon ideas for the next year (questions that can't be answered quickly or briefly.)

I thought it went very well and the feedback I received was overwhelmingly positive.
I plan to make it an annual event in the summer.

Here are some of the questions I recieved-- and some brief answers.

• What does the rooster on the top of the building symbolize?
That is the Chanticleer. What it symbolizes, I do not know. The Rooster has many symbolic meanings depending on who you ask. When I think of it, I think of two things-- greeting the new day with joy and excitment and a caution against arrogrance and false pride.

• Do you believe in God? If so, why?
First, you will have to define God for me. Then, I will be able to answer that question.

• How would you define the meaning of our existence for those who are atheists or agnostics?
I wouldn't. I don't think we should be defining the meaning of other people's existence. I think that is solely your right and your responsibility. I can tell you what I think the meaning of my existence is though...

"We are here on Earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I don't know." WH Auden

• What is the meaning of life?
Short Answer: 42
Long Answer: See the previous question AND you are going to have to define your question better if I'm to answer it.

• What, do you percieve, is a universal question that is the most difficult to answer?
Good Question! I spent a good deal of time on this one during the sermon. I'll give my short answer here.
For UUs, the hardest question to deal with is the question of evil. What is it? Why does it occur? What should our response to it be? All liberal relgions tend to look at the sunny side of life and gloss over the more depraved parts of humanity. It has been so for hundreds of years and continues to be so today.

• Why is there no coffee today? Was the decision made on theological grounds?
I don't know if they meant to make that pun or not-- either way, it still makes me giggle.

• Who are some famous political UU's in our nation's history?
Well, if they were really famous, I wouldn't have to answer this question, now would I?
A quick search turns up a few websites with lists to answer this question-- though I'm never sure of the veracity of the claims. We do tend to "adopt" people into our faith tradition when we like what they do or say, regardless of whether or not they were actually members of a Unitarian or Universalist congregation.

• How does this church directly help "the needy"?
We donate food and money to Interchange, which runs a food pantry in the area. We volunteer and provide resources to a local women's shelter. Many of our other social justice activities are directed at indirectly "helping the needy" by working to achieve justice in mulitiple arenas.

• Take a circle and caress it. There is nothing more vicious than a vicious cricle on your hands.
Is this true or false? Is this a "koan"?

Often things are not this or that. They are both/and. And if you say it is a koan, I won't argue with you.

• Why do we gain and lose members? Our UU churches seem to have revolving doors.
Very true. There are many answers to that question. Here are a few to choose from:
- We don't have what our visitors are looking for...
- We don't make our visitors feel welcome and at ease...
- It is just the natural ebb and flow of people in an institution...
- We aren't evangelizing enough or living our faith enough...
- We are always changing and some people do not like change...
- We forget to engage with members who have been here a while...
- We don't have a parking lot...
- We need more space...

These are not my answers related to FUS, but rather answers I've heard in growth literature and workshops.
They might point us in the right direction for answering the question as relates to us.
(Though it should be noted that our membership is growing and growing at an above average rate.)

• Did you have a favorite teacher in high school? What was your favorite class?
Introductory Scientific Principles taught by Mr. Bockenhauer.

• What's enough?
and
• Is there really such a thing as balance in life? If so, how do you achieve it?
and
• Where do we find peace?
and
• What are some similarities and differences between the Unitarian tradition and the Universalist tradition?
Hmmm. Good Questions. I think these may be furture sermons.

• What do you like about living in Milwaukee?
Well, I don't live in Milwaukee. I live in Brookfield. (Stop booing and hissing. It doesn't become you.)
This is what I like about the Milwaukee area in no particular order:
- First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee (and our other UU congregations)
- The Lake Front and the Skyline
- Sprecher Root Beer
- Friendly People
- Friday Night Fish Frys
- Traffic Jams that only take 15 minutes to get through
- Changing Seasons
- Summer Festivals and Celebrations
- Being in Wisconsin

• What are the best two books you have read in the past year and why?
Hmmm. In the past, this would have been a hard question to answer because of the amazing number of books I'd read. This year, it is difficult to answer for the opposite reason. I have had trouble finding the time to read the books I want to read this year. In looking back at the year and my bookshelf, I really can't answer the question.
This leaves me feeling very sad.
I will have to work on this for next year.

• What advice would you give parents and grandparents as they raise their children in 2007?
EGADS! The first thing I would tell them is to not solicit or take advice from people who don't have children.
If they decided to disregard that advice, I would them the following:
Give them Love. Give them Honesty. Give them Reasonable Demands and Expectations.
Give them Forgiveness.
And the same applies to the parents themselves.

• Why do some people die while their loved ones are left to grieve?
I really hope the writer of this question comes to me in person. This is a question that deserves a face to face answer.
Until then, let me offer this incomplete and insufficient answer.
First, all people die. All people grieve. It is one of the universals of humanity (and beyond humanity.)
Why? Because that is the nature of life. Without death there can be no new life.
This is small comfort when someone you love dies-- and it isn't intended to be.
The hardest lesson I have learned amidst the dying and the grieving is this--
There is no comfort to be given, no explanation, no fixing the problem at that time.
The best I can do, the best any of us can do, is to be fully present and compassionate.
To be with someone during this time of hurt and sorrow and loss,
and to remind them with our presence
that they are not alone.

And with that, the question box is empty-- until next year.

1 comment:

ogre said...

Chanticleer is a figure in The Canterbury Tales and his story ends with a clear moral; to be wary of making decisions recklessly and not to trust flattery.

One can see why he might end up getting a place of note...