 We're going to do that. But it's going to be here. Yeah. We're going to do it here. Yeah. They're actually on the street floor. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to do it here. Please join me for a few moments of centering silence. Please remain seated as we sing our in-gathering hymn, which is printed in your order of service. It's only two lines, but they're good two lines, and we'll sing through them twice. Welcome to the First Unitarian Society of Madison. This is a community where curious seekers gather to explore spiritual, ethical, and social issues in an accepting and nurturing environment. Unitarian universalism supports the freedom of conscience of each individual, as together we seek to be a force for good in the world. My name is Karen Rose Gredler, and on behalf of the entire congregation, I would like to extend a special welcome to any visitors who are with us this morning. We are a welcoming congregation, so whomever you are, and wherever you happen to be on your life's journey, we celebrate your presence among us. Newcomers are encouraged to stay for our fellowship hour after the service, and to visit the library, which is directly across from the center doors of this auditorium. Bring your beverages and your questions. Members of our staff and lay ministry will be on hand to welcome you. You may also look for persons holding teal-colored stoneware coffee mugs. These are FUS members, knowledgeable about our faith community, who would welcome visiting with you. An experienced guide is generally available to give a building tour after each service, so if you would like to learn more about this sustainably designed addition and or our National Landmark Meeting House across the parking lot, please meet up here near your left side of the auditorium close to the windows, and I have it on a good source that we have a guide who will meet you there. We welcome children to stay for the duration of the service, although it's a bit difficult for some in attendance to hear in this lively acoustical environment, so our child haven back in that corner and the commons are places to go if they would like to sing, dance, run around in circles, talk, or whatever they'd like to do, you may go there. Although, like another time recently, today we had the darling sounds of a gurgling baby in the service, and at least we all enjoyed it, so maybe we'll get that to benefit again today. Please also though, for sure, turn off your cell phones or the ringers or anything else that might make noise and disrupt the service. Thanks for that. I'd now like to acknowledge the individuals who are helping our service run smoothly today. We have Mark Schultz, whoops, sorry, I was going to wait, back on the sound hiding behind the big sound console. We have Anne Smiley as our minister. We have as our greeter, Elizabeth Barrett, and our ushers are, again, Anne Smiley, also Chuck Evenson and Stan Inhorn. Jeannie Hills is on hospitality back in the kitchen, making coffee and water for Coco. Not sure what else she has back there, but definitely coffee, because after all, this is a Unitarian Universalist congregation and we always have coffee. Please note the announcements in the red floors insert to your order of service. That's this little folded brochure where there's lots of information about what's going on here in the next few days and other opportunities available to us as Unitarian Universalists. And Steve Goldberg, whom you all know as our longtime host for Cabaret would like me to say, Friday, May 12, 89 days from now is Cabaret, and you've all heard him say that or sing about it or whatever. Again, welcome. We hope today's service will stimulate your mind, touch your heart, and stir your spirit. Thank you to our choir. It is a pleasure to welcome to our pulpit today the Reverend Scott Rudolph from the UU Church of the North Hills of Pittsburgh. Good morning, everybody. It is great to be with you here on this very, very blue and sunshiny day. I'd like to open our time together with this reading by Nancy Schaefer from her wonderful little book, Instructions in Joy. Witness. Witness to that place before words know how to say themselves or thoughts have an inkling that they will be born. To that quiet place where the holy dwells, that place before knowing, stillness before form, where tears cannot stop, confined no ending, and crying out fills the sky. And also to that place where the earth first turns and turning turns to bounty and we stumble upon hope. Out of love, out of longing, you come. Indeed, we come together on a Sunday morning to witness life unfolding in front of us and to find new ways to participate in it. Let us rejoice in our hearts and with one another as we begin our worship together. And if you would, please rise and body or in spirit to join in the words printed in your order of service as we light our chaps. May the lighting of this flame renew in us our endless search for all that is right and true, our abiding love of life and all who share it with us and our unending dedication to following paths of peace and justice. And I invite you to turn that abiding love to your neighbors. Good morning. The children would like to come forward for our time for all ages or the young and the young at heart or really anyone who'd like to come down front, you're more than welcome. There are a lot of kids in this church. There were this many kids this morning too. What a wonderful thing. Good morning everybody. Good morning. It's nice to meet you all. I'd like to tell you a story. Does that sound good? Stories? All right, we all like stories. So most stories begin. Well, sometimes they begin. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago. Right? This story begins. Once upon a time, not that very long ago at all, there was a minister who woke up on a Sunday morning and he woke up and he stretched on this Sunday morning and he thought, oh, man, this bed I'm sleeping in is so comfortable. It's so comfortable. I'm so glad that I have a bed to sleep in. And he got out of bed and he started his day and he was sleeping in a hotel. He was on the fifth floor of this hotel. Do you all know what elevators are? Right? Elevators are super cool? Well, elevators are amazing because you get into an elevator and the doors close and you're somewhere and you push a button and the doors open and this minister believes that's amazing because he really doesn't actually know how elevators work but he uses them all the time and elevators are amazing. So he got downstairs and he saw a newspaper and on this newspaper was printed all kinds of information that happened in that town the day before and in this country the day before and in the world the day before all in this one little folded up piece of paper for him to read. And then he got out his phone as people often do and he started looking at it and he thought, these phones, smart phones, you know, hopefully none of you have them yet but maybe your parents or guardians do and he thought, wow, these phones are amazing and he looked on the phone and what did he see? He saw that one of his friends had had a baby and it was so amazing and he was so full of joy and then, since it was Sunday and since he was a minister, he headed for church and so he got in a car with his friends and drove the church and on the way to church he was thinking, you know what? I don't know how cars work either but they are amazing because if I had to walk from if this person had to walk from the hotel to the church it would take, I don't know, an hour and so the minister arrived at that church that particular morning and it was a beautiful day and he got there kind of early, there was no one there yet and it was dark and it was a beautiful church this particular church that he showed up at he had never seen a church like it there was all kinds of wood everywhere and all these angles everywhere and everyone seemed so happy to be at this church and then something even more incredible happened people started to fill the church and all these people were so happy to be there and they showed up and they brought their children and it was great and then something even more amazing happened about nine o'clock at about nine o'clock church worship service started and there was music and there was singing and then this minister got a special surprise one of his friends that he knows from his old life old, when he was your age when he was like three years old an old friend that he only gets to see once a decade showed up and it was amazing for him and so church started and there was music and it was beautiful and there were people singing and it was wonderful and there was community, a sense of community coming alive and it's what happens at church on a Sunday, it was great and then there were some opening words and then there was another song and then there was some wonderful music by some children singing and then this minister said something like if the children would like to come forward for the time for all ages, please do or the young at the young heart or anybody who would like to come down it all is more than welcome to come down and then one of the coolest things that's going to happen all day happened to this minister he came up with all these kids and they all started looking at the minister the end what? oh, this? you're right I am that minister and that's the story of my morning that's the story of my day so far and you know what, because I've been paying attention and thinking about it it has been an absolutely amazing day but it doesn't always happen like that but it doesn't always happen so let me ask you what do you think is amazing in this world or in this life or about your day? what do you think is amazing? your dog, yes what else is amazing? your cats your dog excited animals are amazing indeed, what else is amazing? what about over here? puppies, we have some animal lovers up here this morning people are just knowing how to do stuff like read and write if we have brains that can make us work as humans what else is amazing? what about over here? what else is amazing? anything? your cats your cats are amazing raise your hand if you have a pet in the front room a lot of animals so here's one of the things I do when I'm not exactly sure what's amazing or maybe I'm having a bad day over here, here's a trick you can do you can close your eyes, cover them and look at the first thing you see when you open your eyes and I bet it's amazing so I'm going to try this here look at that guy right there and he's wearing glasses and I'll tell you what, glasses are amazing can you imagine if we didn't have corrective lenses we all would be walking around not being able to see let's try it again I saw that light back there I feel I've noticed that awesome light back there it's covered and these lights are coming through it it's speckled, it's a beautiful design behind the light that's amazing and so you can do this anytime you can close your eyes and you open them and if you think about it, whatever you look at it's probably going to be amazing so let's try this one time those flowers are amazing indeed so let's all try this one more time let's put our hands over our eyes and look this way and open them look what we see we see the choir and they're amazing and they're going to sing us another song before you all go to your religious education classes rainbows are beautiful morning comes from Clark several years ago shortly parents attention to a shining star the parents were occupied with time and schedules the irritabilities of the day and other worthy preoccupations yes, yes we see the star now I'm busy, don't bother me on hearing this the young one launched through the porch door fixed a fiery gaze and said you be glad at that star I will not forget the incident or his perfect words it was one of those rare moments when you get everything you need for the good of your soul reprimand disclosure and blessing it was especially good for me that surprising moment because I am one who responds automatically and negatively to the usual exhortations to quote pause and be more appreciative of life unquote fortunately I was caught grandly off guard there is a notion with some truth to it that we cannot command joy, happiness appreciation fulfillment we do not engineer the seasons of the soul or enjoy the quality of mood in another and yet I do believe there is right and wisdom in that imperative declaration you be glad at that star if we cannot impel ourselves into a stellar gladness we can at least clean the dust from the lens of our perception if we cannot dictate our own fulfillment we can at least steer in the right direction if we cannot exact a guarantee for a more appreciative awareness of our world for persons and stars and breathing and tastes and the incalculable gift of every day we can at least prescribe some of the conditions through which an increased awareness is more likely to open up in the skies for us and for our children it is not always the great evils that obstruct and waylay our joy it is our unnecessary and undignified surrender to the petty enemies and I suggest it is our duty to scheme against them and make them subservient to human decree time and schedules our irritabilities of the day and other worldly preoccupations matters more subtle and humane should command our lives you be glad at that star I invite you to rise and body or in spirit for our next hymn which we will sing twice sometimes this voice shows up and it offers us some peace some comfort other times it might suggest some soft insight into our life and sometimes this voice shows up just to say wow my dad does this thing whenever we're in a large crowd he's done it my entire life whether it's a sporting event or a parade or anywhere where there's lots of people gathered he shows up and he stands there and he says wow would you look at all the people and he does it without fail it's hilarious and so it became somewhat of an inside joke between my brothers one of those inside jokes if you have siblings that you have behind your parents back and they don't know that you do it and they keep reinforcing the joke over and over which just makes it more and more funny but he would do it all the time without fail he'd show up and you could count on this musing from him and the thing is he meant it he meant it every single time he was amazed and he would stand there motionless at people gathered doing whatever it is that humans were doing wow would you look at all the people what I think what my dad was doing in these moments is being glad at that star he was just taking it in and appreciating it you'd be glad at that star that's some good advice from a three and a half year old and a three and a half year old is a good place to get some great advice the world around us is brilliant and sometimes we just forget to notice we shove it off to the side because we're busy we have schedules to keep and our minds are preoccupied and worried or there's the monkey mind that will never stop but sometimes if we're lucky or forced out of our routine we might remember to be glad at that star whatever that star might be on that given moment because at any given moment there is a star to be glad at like rotten logs or dirty puddles the poet Hubbard wrote oh god how wonderful are thy works thou makest the rotting log to nourish banks of violence and from the stagnant pool at thy words springs forth the lotus that covers all the fragrance and beauty rotten logs and dirty puddles there's brilliance and so I think there is a difference between awe and appreciation and gratitude though they are similar there is slight difference awe is that thing that Nancy Schaefer is talking about that before words even formed that sense of being struck and awe and gratitude is much more linked to a response it's thankfulness but appreciation is something that happens right in between those two appreciation that moment that act and art of noticing of seeing in life the good and the possible and the incredible who you're caught up in a moment and you think to yourself wow and I find that I'm in times that I need to remind myself and ground myself in the good and the possible as I think to the spiritual and cultural and justice challenges that are ahead for us in this country and in our world I need to ground myself in this spiritual place there is a bumper sticker that says and when a minister says there is a bumper sticker that says you know he could not find the proper attribution for this phrase so there is a bumper sticker that says if you're not angry you're not paying attention very true if you're not outraged at the things that are happening in the world you're just not paying attention because they're there but another bumper sticker that could fit right next to that other one on that bumper would be if you're not astonished at the beauty of life then you're not paying attention both are true Albert Einstein said there are only two ways to live your life one as though nothing is a miracle and the other is as though everything is a miracle and so I prefer the second no I choose the second okay I try to choose the second on a good day when things are going right and I remember to I might choose the second but this noticing of life in itself is a miracle it can be hard to notice those moments of the miraculous and the mundane and so we take things for granted until oftentimes they're not there anymore when it's taken away from us and we notice the absence of the beauty rather than the presence of the beauty and this can show up in things as mundane as starting our car when we start our car it's only when that key doesn't start and the engine doesn't fire that we think how important our car is in our afternoons activities how we rely on it how complex that system is inside the hood it's that time that we think of that and probably not before and so we hear we get to the part where the minister says well you should just appreciate things more make lemonade out of lemons and this is one of the reasons why I really like this reading this morning he puts it right out there you know what I don't like being told to appreciate things he acknowledges that you can't force happiness and gratitude he says we do not engineer the seasons of the soul or enjoying the quality of mood in another you can't just make it happen and that is the truth for if I am in a car and it does not start the last thing I want to hear someone say in my ear is but isn't it great every other time it does start no I want my car to start then and they're both true but there are places in our life where we can remember where we can try to orient ourselves towards this there's no way that we could not take life for granted it's too large and too varied and too wonderful and too unbelievable I mean life itself we're here how do we even begin to grapple with that and appreciate that and so when deep philosophical questions like that are posed I will turn to the comedian Louis C.K. who once spoke about this so very well and this is adapted because when you quote Louis C.K. in church you have to adapt it he says that I was on an airplane and there was high speed internet on this plane and it was the newest thing I didn't even know it existed and I'm sitting on the plane and they say open up your laptops and you can go on the internet and it's fast and I'm watching YouTube clips and it's amazing because I'm on a plane on the internet and then it breaks down and they apologize because the internet's not working and the guy next to me goes this is ridiculous right I mean how quickly the world owes this guy something that he only knew existed 10 seconds ago and flying is the worst because people come back from flights and they tell you their story like it's a horror story they say it was the worst day of my life first of all we didn't board for 20 minutes and then we got on the plane and we had to wait for 40 more minutes they made you sit for 40 more minutes and what happened next did you fly through the air incredibly like a bird did you take part in the miracle of human flight I mean everybody on a plane should just continually be saying oh my god this is awesome because you are flying through the air in a chair in the sky but all we can think is no it just doesn't lean back quite enough and so yes this is me and this is you and this is all of us it is good to fly with my children they remind me that it is amazing to fly and to look out that window on our earth below us and just remember how amazing it is I get expectant and the good becomes normalized there's so much that is amazing and we don't always remember because there are obstacles in our way our brain sometimes tend to see the negative in life rather than the positive negativity bias it's the psychological phenomenon that points to the power of negativity and how we perceive and process life it's those unpleasant memories that are easier to recall than the pleasant ones it's the idea that negative things can stick out stronger and be more instructive as we are forming our impressions and opinions of people and places and we often go out of our way to behave in patterns that will not replicate negative experiences of the past and sometimes negativity is just more attractive for some strange reason right like who doesn't enjoy a good wallow every once in a while in your own misery and perhaps this is the same reason this negativity being attractive that I keep reading the news over and over and over again I have bad days and I have good days and even on my best of days when there's one little thing that's out of place that can be the thing that I'm thinking about when I go to sleep negativity can pile up and start to take hold and that's all before we think about hedonic adaptation and this is the idea that humans adapt and adapting is a good thing but we keep adapting to better and better things and so I had an experience of this just this morning I was drinking coffee with some people and one of them said oh thank goodness finally some good coffee I had some coffee at the hotel and it was not good coffee who here likes to drink good coffee fantastic who here still doesn't mind drinking bad coffee you who have your hands raised never drink good coffee ever again because you will be happy with your bad coffee and once you go to the good coffee you'll never want to go back and this shows up all over in our life this undue satisfaction our personal life and our family lives and our work with our friends and I know I see it at church all the time how much love and how much energy and effort does it take to make this church happen from name tags to orders of service to setting up chairs to the music to all the planning that happens throughout the week and sometimes we come in and we just notice that little thing that's off maybe the unswept stairway or something that didn't quite go our way we fail to see the miraculous because we expect the miraculous all the time and we simply can't do that we would never even make it through a meal contemplating where the food came from how incredible it is to have it in front of us how incredible forks are to eat our meal so we don't but sometimes we might offer a blessing or grace before the meal to simply appreciate it before we rush headlong in to life and to our eating and so it becomes a spiritual task to remember and notice this beauty and goodness in life and so I'd like to pose to you the same question that I asked the children this morning what is it that you find amazing about life what is miraculous and wonderful if you have something just say it children absolutely health family and the sun especially when we can see it right and a shower your animals you could have come down earlier you would have been a good company what what else is incredible amazing listening to my preschool friend that's the friend I was talking about earlier that I only get to see once every couple decades my neighbors books beautiful outdoors about this here's a different one what's incredible and amazing about this church and this church community music as I'm quick learning that concern for justice and peace good coffee but don't be tempted you people who have not had it this place to ask questions open the architecture absolutely many schools of religious thought coming together and us taking what is good what about this question even more localized what is amazing and incredible about you anyone brave enough to be so bold wake up every morning with open minds and open hearts absolutely you are resilient I'm sure you are anyone else so brave we can love we have the capacity to love this happened this morning too a humble congregation people are less willing to share those things that are amazing or incredible about themselves but I'll encourage you to believe those and hold those and notice those because they are true and they feed us and we can ignore those amazing things inside of ourselves as well in doing this attention to what is beautiful is not not naive or blissful it's not wishing away pain without seeking growth or experiencing that pain sometimes things in life are hard of course there's illness and death and grief and struggle and depression and shame and failure all of that is very real and we know that growing is important too constructive criticism is important that's how we as individuals grow that's how our institutions improve and get better this is inherent in our liberal religious philosophy and we know that justice is rooted in a sense of finding and seeing the hard truths in life and being dissatisfied with kindness and with inequity and so the religious life invites us to hold multiple things at once if we can to accept the struggle and also see the beauty because this is how life happens right it doesn't all get bad it doesn't all remain good it all happens at once life all happens at once E.B. White wrote if the world were merely seductive that would be easy if we're merely challenging that would be no problem but I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve or save the world and a desire to enjoy or savor the world and this makes the day hard to plan when planning our day the field of positive psychology is one of those things that can lead us toward a happier life and that we can actually cultivate it we have a say in this and so one of the ways we can do this is to find tools just to remind ourselves and remember because often times it's just a matter of remembering and so you can do different things like when bells go off appreciate something when you see the color red let that be your reminder or maybe a bracelet or how about this one when we go off let that cue you to think about what around you is amazing we can practice mindfulness we can smile we can appreciate others which helps them and helps us in turn and one way that I have certainly found to remind myself about what is good and beautiful and true in the world is coming to church this place where we lift up our values of love, faith and justice and peace and fairness this place where we come together as a religious community to be in bonded fellowship and see what happens this reminds me of the deepness of the spiritual well that is available to all of us and so last summer I found myself at a large outdoor concert it was on a huge lawn and folks were throwing frisbees back and forth they were having fun and I looked out and I kid you not without thinking under my breath I muttered wow look at all the people I really did and I was glad I did we can't make ourselves be glad at celestial bodies we can't force appreciation or gratitude it comes from within but I can do my best to try and remember what sparks the kindling and lights that fire of gratitude in front of inside of me because that is the place that appreciation points to is deep gratitude over time there are things that get in our way of course a routine of life or schedules deadlines, grievances, apathy but it only takes a moment to look up at the sky and see a star twinkle and be filled with an ineffable awe and so that's our challenge only to remember to find those moments and to claim them and to invite each and every day into our life to be glad at that star whatever that star may be but to be glad at that star amen we are joined by acts of creation and compassion we now take an offering that allows us to exercise that all-important generosity of spirit an offering that will support the self-supporting church and its many ministries the gifts of the congregation will now be gratefully received thank you Linda we gather each week a community of memory and of hope to this time and place we carry with us the joys and sorrows of the recent past and seek a place where they might be received, celebrated and shared we take a moment now to share those joys and those concerns that are living here within our congregation we hold Hathaway Hasler and her family in our hearts as they grieve the death of her daughter Hathaway Happy Brooks Happy passed away suddenly in her sleep on January 30 the fifth and memorial service was held on February 4 we send our love to the Hasler and Brooks families we send our love and care to Kirsten Carlson and her family on the loss of Kirsten's father John Carlson after a bone marrow transplant we send much love and strength to them and for all those joys and sorrows that remain quiet in the silence of our hearts let us take a moment of quiet and hope may our coming together and sharing of lives lighten our sorrows and expand our joy I invite you to rise in body or in spirit for our closing here I invite you to place your hymnals in your chair if you are willing if you are also willing will you please place your hands over your eyes and turn and face some slight different direction than you were previously facing and now open them and see what you see isn't that amazing go forward into this day with eyes to see new beauty in the world refreshed and made anew by the spirit of love that is alive in this place and created by these people by you people