Return again, return again, return to the home of your soul

Return again, return again, return to the home of your soul

Return to who you are.  Return to what you are.  Return to where you are.  Born and reborn again.

Introduction

There is a very special tradition that is taking place in most Unitarian Universalist churches today.  It’s called Water Communion and it generally happens the Sunday after Labor Day Weekend.  This is a celebration of coming home after being away.  We bring water from all the special places we went to this summer.  Those special places may be far away, they may be right here in St. Louis.  We symbolize our coming back together by taking some of our water, and pouring it into this communal bowl.  And when we pour that water, some of us will share why that water is important and special to us. 

You are all welcome to take part in our Water Communion whether you have been here for years or are just here for the first time.  In this time, and in this place, we are home, and all are welcome at the table of this religious community.  If you forgot your water and are holding a vial that you got here, let that water symbolize the water you would have brought.  After all, water flows everywhere and at all times, and it is highly likely that the water you hold did, at one time, flow through the place that you hold so dear.  If you do not have water and would like some, please raise your hand and one of our ushers will bring you some. 

As Unitarian Universalists, we draw from many religious traditions, and the religious tradition that we will draw from this morning is that of the earth-centered religions, sometimes called Paganism.  In earth centered religions, the four directions have great sacred meaning, and so in our communion this morning, we will call forward the water from the four directions.  We will call the Water from the North.   If your water comes from the north, that is the time for you to come forward and pour your water into the communal bowl.  When you line up, come down the north side of the sanctuary.  And so we will travel from North, to East, to South to West.  After we have gone through one direction, we will sing that water and our own spirits home with the song we just sang, and we won’t do it as a round as we just did, we’ll do it in unison and once through. 

So let us prepare for this most sacred ritual, this ritual of coming home. 

Return again, return again, return to the home of your soul

Return again, return again, return to the home of your soul

Return to who you are.  Return to what you are.  Return to where you are.  Born and reborn again.

Calling the Water and the People

Today we will call the water in all its forms, from all points and directions.  We will call people in all their forms, from all points of view and all directions. 

Calling the Water from the North

I call the water from the North.  I call people from the North.

The body of water closest to us in the North is the Missouri River.  The river is fed by other rivers and streams, and north of that we have the Great Lakes, the Hudson Bay, and eventually the Arctic Ocean.

In the Pagan tradition, North symbolizes earth.  It is our grounding, that place of solidness from which all things come.  Did you know that earth pours through us, replacing each cell in the body every seven years.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we ingest, incorporate and excrete the earth, are made from the earth.

Where I come from, Canada, the north has a very special meaning.  It is freedom, it is the last frontier, it is the barren wilderness, it is rugged nature.  Although most of us live in cities, the north calls to us, over and over, and many of us answer the call.  It takes us away from our worldly comforts and helps us to return to the core of what is really important in our lives. It strips away all the noise, leaving in its wake a full and rich silence, one steeped in wisdom.

I call those who carry the Water of the North to come home.

Calling the Water from the East

I call the Water from the East.  I call people from the East.

The body of water closest to us in the East is the Great Mississippi River, and beyond that the Ohio, and beyond that the Hudson, and finally the Atlantic Ocean.

In the Pagan Tradition, East symbolizes air. The inhale and the exhale.  The dance of the air cycle, breathing the universe in and out again.  Every time we breathe, the universe rushes through our bodies.  The East also symbolizes new beginnings, as it is daily filled with the radiance of the rising Sun. 

Here in the West, the East has come to symbolize fear.  Tensions in the Middle East dominate our airwaves, and often our thoughts, as we deal with the threat of terrorism, both real and manipulated through political spin.  When have we been more called upon to meditate upon the inhale and the exhale, breathing the universe in and out again, and to remember that we are one.  We need new beginnings, for the old ways are failing us.  In these treacherous times, we can call on the essence of air to strive for unity and strengthen our resolve.  

I call those who carry Water from the East to come home.

Calling the Water from the South

I call water from the South.  I call people from the South.

The body of water closest to us in the South is the Meramac River, and then the Current River, and numerous other rivers that flow through this beautiful state.  And beyond that rivers and streams that empty into the glorious Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.

Two years ago, when I served the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans, there was an audible gasp in the room when I called the water of the south.  Hurricane Ivan was churning towards the coast.  In the following two days, thousands of us, including me, evacuated.  That time, New Orleans was spared.  Last year, it was not, and we have just passed the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina that devastated so much of the Gulf Cost.  For us, the waters of the South have become a threat, and the damages wrought by it have exposed the tremendous frailty of our society and laid bare the bindings of racism and classism which so many would rather ignore.

In the Pagan tradition, the South is connected to the element of fire, fire from the sun.  All of life comes from the sun.  The inner furnace of our metabolism burns with the fire of the Big Bang that first sent matter-energy spinning through space and time.   This is an element filled with restless vibrant energy.  May we find a way to harness that energy so that we are truly aligned with the dispossessed.  

I call those who carry the Water of the South to come home.

Calling the Water from the West

I call water from the West.  I call people from the West.

The bodies of water closest to us in the West are Lake of the Ozarks, Pomme de Terre Lake, Stockton Lake,  and beyond that the great rivers of the west, and ultimately the Pacific Ocean. 

In the pagan tradition, the West is connected with the element of water.  Just as we are earth, just as we are air, and just as we draw all our energy from the sun, without water, we would be nothing.  Blood, mucus, sweat, tears, inner oceans tugged by the moon, tides within and tides without.  Moisture pours in and through and out of us in a vast hydrological cycle. 

In the modern world, the West has come to have a very different meaning.  We in the West see ourselves as the bastion of democracy and freedom.  But in many places in the world, the West has become synonymous with self-absorption, oppression, and hypocrisy.  Tomorrow is the 5^th anniversary of 9/11, that awful day in American history.  This was a brutal and unconscionable attack on us.  It was an attack on democracy and freedom.  It was also an attack on oppression.  This painful paradox is one we must approach with courage and brutal honesty.  The West has emerged both as spring of water that gives life, and as a polluted stream that needs to be cleansed.

In the element of water, there is always hope.  Nothing is stained forever.  You can always be washed clean.  You can always be reborn.   And so I call forth in all people the essence of water that washes and nourishes through endless river ways of the heart, mind, soul, and body.

I call those who carry the Water of the West to come home.

As we come to the close of our communion, let us return to where we began, the North.   This community, not unlike the essence of the North, helps us return to the core of what is really important in our lives.  It helps us strip away all the noise, all those things that take us away from ourselves and from those we love.  The power of this ritual is that it calls us into community.  Every year, this sacred space, this church, calls to us, just as the ocean calls out to drops of water.  “Come back. Come back.”  And every time we gather here, we make this space sacred yet again.

It’s as simple as being together.  In this complex world, it’s as simple as pouring water.

I add water on behalf of all who cannot be with us in body and yet are with us in spirit.

I add water on behalf of all who would do so if they only knew that Unitarian Universalism existed.

I add water on behalf of all who would be here if they only knew that this Unitarian Universalist community existed.

And I add water on behalf of myself, because I am so honored to be ministering among and through and with you. 

We have come home!

*This communion was inspired by the Homecoming Sunday Water Ceremony written by Steve Storm of the Boulder Chapter of Unitarian Universalist Pagans at the UU Church of Boulder Colorado.  Other material was drawn from a reading  by John Seed and Joanna Macy published in Earth Prayers from around the World eds. Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon (pp. 130-131).