{"id":689,"date":"2023-11-13T20:17:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T20:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rebelrebel.org.uk\/?p=689"},"modified":"2023-11-13T20:27:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T20:27:19","slug":"being-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rebelrebel.org.uk\/?p=689","title":{"rendered":"Being Human"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reflection #77 (17th September 2023 at Essex Church \/ Kensington Unitarians)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Church is a place where you get to practice what it means to be human\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These words, from the 20th century Unitarian theologian James Luther Adams, have long resonated with me. As Jeannene mentioned at the start of the service, we made a poster with that quote on it some years ago, and it was on the \u2018wayside pulpit\u2019 on the street outside the church building for a long time (we\u2019ve still got the poster somewhere and perhaps we\u2019ll dig it out and put it up again).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Church is a place where you get to practice what it means to be human\u2019. What do you make of that saying, I wonder? Although the saying appeals to me I realise its meaning is really quite ambiguous. There are all sorts of connotations and associations I have with this notion of \u2018being human\u2019 and in this short reflection I thought I\u2019d offer up a few of them \u2013 along with a few more quotes from wise souls on the subject \u2013 in hope of us getting a better grip on what Adams might have been on about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

We could start, perhaps, by grounding our inquiry in the most central principle of Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists, that is, affirming the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. And it\u2019s not just our Unitarian principle, of course; the preamble of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: \u2018Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be human is to have inherent worth and dignity \u2013 maybe we can accept that to be true in theory \u2013 but in the midst of everyday life and all its challenges it can be hard to keep that noble perspective front and centre in our minds. It is not always that easy to actually live alongside fellow humans, in the real world, where we are liable to rub each other up the wrong way and get up each other\u2019s noses on a regular basis. But it\u2019s when we\u2019re struggling, when there\u2019s conflict, when times are tough \u2013 in our homes, in our communities, or in the big geo-political crises that are so painful to witness \u2013 that\u2019s when we need to cleave to that principle more than ever. So maybe Adams is hinting that we need to gather together on a regular basis to remind ourselves and each other that, as Desmond Tutu once said, \u2018human beings are at the centre of the divine enterprise as creatures of infinite worth and dignity independent of our work, our ability, or our success. We are each created by God, like God, for God.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This might be at the heart of \u2018practicing what it means to be human\u2019: at church, in our small groups especially, we can keep calling ourselves and each other back to awareness of our inherent worth and dignity. Let\u2019s not forget, this is quite a counter-cultural message, in a world that seems hell-bent on convincing us that our worth is dependent on our productivity, our bank balance, our appearance, our ability, or any other accidents of birth that happen to have given us a more or less privileged situation in life. We need to reject and resist this false narrative, deprogram ourselves, and affirm that all of us are indeed \u2018creatures of infinite worth and dignity independent of our work, our ability, or our success.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an aside, I want to tell you, this narrative has got its claws in me as much as anyone; these last few weeks when I\u2019ve been first on holiday and then laid up with Covid for a fortnight, there\u2019s been this nagging feeling in me that I must hurry back to work, I can\u2019t sit around doing nothing, I must be seen to be doing something productive \u2013 even though on a conscious level I really object to that attitude \u2013 thankfully many of you have kindly reassured me that I\u2019m not letting the side down, that the to-do list can wait, that people would muck in to cover for me, and health and rest have got to come first. I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not the only one who, at some level, needs that sort of reassurance, needs to be told I\u2019m still alright, still enough, still deserving of love and support, I don\u2019t need to earn it by relentless efforts. To be a human being is enough. By virtue of being a member of the human family I have \u2013 and you have \u2013 and everybody has \u2013 \u2018infinite worth and dignity independent of our work, our ability, or our success.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that means all of us. Maya Angelou got straight to the point, as she so often did, when she said: \u2018No human being can be more human than another human being.\u2019 It\u2019s easy enough to speak of the inherent worth and dignity of all humans, but when you think through the implications, it\u2019s pretty challenging to live by\u2026 and that is why we need to \u2018practice what it means to be human\u2019; if we accept this central principle we need to work out what it means for the way we actually live our lives, and how we get along with other humans, with all our many flaws and foibles, in community. We often speak of our \u2018common humanity\u2019 \u2013 and we know in some ways we\u2019re all in the same boat, as we tend to face universal human struggles, though the particular circumstances and challenges we have to deal with vary enormously \u2013 but as has been pointed out before this notion of \u2018being in the same boat\u2019 isn\u2019t quite right \u2013 it might be better to say we\u2019re in the same storm of life, but we\u2019re in very different boats, with some clinging on to rickety life-rafts and others swanning about on luxury yachts. From the moment we\u2019re born we find ourselves thrown into the world, with a particular set of traits from our genes, and a particular shaping and inheritance from the situation in which we are brought up. We find ourselves suddenly on stage, in the middle of this epic human drama that\u2019s been unfolding for millennia, and we are required to take our place in this ongoing story, to improvise as best we can, no matter how ill-equipped we might feel. That\u2019s what we\u2019re all doing. All 8 billion humans that are currently alive (and indeed all of the humans, apparently over 100 billion of us, that have ever lived).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that we\u2019re all just making it up as we go along, more-or-less, I\u2019d suggest that another key aspect of \u2018practicing what it means to be human\u2019 requires us to cut ourselves, and each other, some slack. Terry Pratchett made this pithy observation, he said: \u2018There is no doubt that being human is incredibly difficult and cannot be mastered in one lifetime.\u2019 I think he\u2019s probably right about that, I suspect we probably do only have one lifetime to play with, so we can let ourselves off striving for perfection. And yet\u2026 that\u2019s not to say that we can\u2019t make a meaningful mark on the world while we\u2019re here on Earth. Even if you don\u2019t especially believe you\u2019re here for a reason, even if you don\u2019t imagine you have a particular calling, at the very least you have an opportunity in life to make a difference \u2013 to touch the lives of others \u2013 to offer a little bit of help, or comfort, to those who are within reach. Rollo May said: \u2018the essence of being human is that, in the brief moment we exist on this spinning planet, we can love some persons and some things, in spite of the fact that time and death will ultimately claim us all.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To close, I want to offer some more words of wisdom from Desmond Tutu, to encourage us to stick at it, to keep on coming together as a church community, to practice what it means to be human. He said: \u2018We are made for a delicate network of relationships, of interdependence. I would not know how to be a human being at all, except I learned this from other human beings.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So \u2013 who knows \u2013 maybe what we learn from being together, faithfully showing up for one another week in and week out, in our small congregation \u2013 maybe that will generate ripples that spread out into the rest of our lives, and out into the wider world. May it be so, for the greater good of all. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection by Jane Blackall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An audio recording of this sermon is available:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\nhttps:\/\/www.kensington-unitarians.org.uk\/pod2011\/KU_jeanneneP.janeB_hybrid_sermon_22.10.23.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n