Renew You

A field of yellow and white daffodils

by Rev. Terry Davis

Delivered at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation on March 6, 2016

In his reflection this morning, Dave said that it’s the daffodils, not the groundhog, that announce the arrival of spring. Well, I think we can look around Atlanta right now and see that this is true.

Cassandra Danz, author of the book entitled Mrs. Greenthumbs, also reminds us that daffodils are not only spring’s earliest messengers, they’re also extremely generous in the way they multiply and give us beauty season after season. She writes:

A daffodil bulb will divide and re-divide endlessly . . . it is one of the few flowers you can find around abandoned farmhouses, still blooming and increasing in numbers fifty years after the farmer and his wife have moved to heaven, or the other place, Boca Raton.

The generosity of daffodils . . . the generosity of spring . . . I imagine most of us experience the beauty and magic of Nature this time of year with reverence and joy. Spring can make us feel so good! Why is that?

Dave’s reflection reminds us that Nature has, perhaps, an unparalleled ability to renew our sense of wonder and well-being. Scientists tell us that living in or near natural environments – or even just looking at photos of them – has the ability to relieve the stress and mental fatigue caused by our city and work life and lower incidences of depression, anxiety, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and migraines.

With all this evidence of Nature’s ability to renew us, why does it seem we are set on destroying the thing that is saving our spirits and saving our lives?

In my message to you this morning, I’d like for us to consider not just how we might get back to more fully embracing a day and a life that puts experiences of natural beauty at the center of our existence. I’d like for us to think about what it means to intentionally seek and make daily time for all those experiences that renew you.

And, I’d like for you to ask yourself how Northwest fits into the picture.

Because I believe that if we can get this right – if we can build a faith community and a life for ourselves and our children that makes personal renewal a priority – we will indeed be creating deep and lasting emotional and spiritual health for ourselves. And, by doing so, I also believe we’ll feel compelled to act in ways that increase our care for one another and our planet.

To begin, it might help to examine some of the meanings of the word “renewal.”

Renewal is the state of being made new, fresh or strong again. Renewal also involves the act of extending a commitment or contract. And, renewal also refers to resuming an activity or state after an interruption.

To be made fresh and new and strong . . . to extend a commitment to something . . . to resume an activity or state . . . all these definitions seem to apply when considering matters of the human heart and spirit.

As an example, a walk in the woods leaves me feeling fresh and new. It encourages me to make a commitment to myself to do it again and soon. And, it helps me resume what I believe is my natural state, which is to feel in harmony with all of existence.

I know that I’m in good company here. Dave Zenner and many of you have described similar feelings to me.

In a recent National Geographic magazine article entitled “This is Your Brain on Nature,” writer Florence Williams says that there is plenty of scientific data to support what our hearts and spirits have been telling us –  that Nature does indeed make us physically fresh and strong and new – in short, renewed.

“When we get closer to nature – be it untouched wilderness or a backyard tree – we do our overstressed brains a favor,” she writes. Williams cites several scientific studies that confirm what multiple researchers have suspected: nature works primarily by lowering stress – even if we’re not smack in the middle of it.

She writes:

Compared with people who have lousy window views, those who can see the trees and grass have been shown to recover faster in hospitals, perform better in schools, and even display less violent behavior in neighborhoods where it’s common.

Such results jibe with experimental studies of the central nervous system. Measurements of stress hormones, respiration, heart rate, and sweating suggest that short doses of nature – even pictures of the natural world – can calm people down and sharpen their performance.

No wonder why we like to stare out of our Sanctuary windows so much during our worship service! The view of the birds and the trees does more for our sense of well-being than the music, the prayers . . . or my carefully crafted sermons!

In her National Geographic article, Williams also notes that “perhaps no one has embraced the medicalization of nature with more enthusiasm than the South Koreans.” Many South Koreans, she says, suffer from work stress, digital addiction and intense academic pressures. And, more than 70 percent say their jobs make them depressed.

Williams quotes an ancient proverb that is still popular in South Korea today. It is “Shin to bul ee,” which means “Body and soil are one” (not “body and soul are one”). To renew its worn-down people, Williams says that South Korea is re-embracing its long history of worshiping nature spirits. And the South Korean government is making widespread access to Nature’s healing power a top priority.

As an example, Williams describes visiting a place called the Saneum Healing Forest, which is located east of the city of Seoul. She is greeted by someone whose is called a “health ranger,” who offers her elm bark tea, and then takes her on a hike through the woods.

She writes:

It’s autumn and the changing foliage and crisp air have lured scores of urban refugees to the woods. Soon we come upon a cluster of wooden platforms arranged in a clearing. Forty middle-aged firefighters who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder are paired off on the platforms as part of a free three-day program sponsored by the local government.

In North America groups of men in the woods would likely be hunting or fishing, but here, after a morning of hiking they practice partner yoga, rub lavender massage oil into each other’s forearms and make delicate dried flower collages.

Williams says that Saneum is one of three official healing forests in South Korea, but 34 more are planned by 2017, which means that most major towns will be near one.

A country that places such a priority on the healing power of Nature sounds like a remarkable place. And, yet, that’s precisely what the United States did a hundred years ago.

In 1916, after recognizing the immense and enduring value that national parks such as Yosemite in California, Glacier in Montana, and Rocky Mountain in Colorado had on the American landscape and psyche, our nation created the National Park Service. Today, our federal system of parks, seashores, and scenic rivers remind us that, as Americans, perhaps we, too, once embraced the ancient proverb Shin to bul ee – “body and soil are one” – and that we must embrace it again if we are to renew our sense of hope and well-being.

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Dave’s lovely reflection celebrates not only the renewal he feels in the springtime and in Nature, but also the renewal he experiences by being a part of Northwest and our Unitarian Universalist faith. He wrote:

My prayers are whispered on breezes.
My hymns are sung by wild birds,
my cathedrals are the spires and pinnacles of Earth.
Through these gifts my life is renewed.
And I celebrate that renewal here,
among Unitarian Universalists –
you who share my awakened understanding
that our profound interconnection is obscured
only by our own blind self-interest.[ref][1] From a reflection entitled “Renew You,” written by David Zenner.[/ref]

His words are a powerful testament of faith . . . and I also believe they offer all of us a powerful challenge to consider: is Northwest and Unitarian Universalism for us like it is for Dave? Is this the place where our love of Nature, or our love for the visual and written arts, for music, for human companionship – for all those things that enliven us – is met and shared?

Is Northwest the place where you are renewed?

I think some of you know that my introduction to Northwest was not when I first was called to be your minister. Rather, it was many years earlier than that – long before I even pursued UU ministry.

I was a relatively new member at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta and was just beginning to examine more deeply my beliefs about the sacred and my need for religious community. A former Oglethorpe English professor of mine called me one day and asked if I might be interested in coming to an acoustic guitar performance of hers at something called the Hungry Ear.

It was her first public performance and she was inviting many of her former students to hear her play.

I remember inviting my spouse Gail, who I had just started dating, to join me, along with two of our friends. We pulled into the Northwest parking lot, and my first thought was that the building looked like a park lodge. Dr. Taylor and another guitarist played several songs, including the Woody Guthrie folk song “Roll on Columbia, Roll On.”

As my professor sang the lyrics about the mighty Columbia River, I glanced around the place and took in my surroundings: a dimly-lit Sanctuary (there were no windows back then), tables and candles, and people kicking back and having a good time.

I was just getting to know my UUCA faith community then, so I didn’t feel compelled to check out Northwest further. But I remember liking the relaxed feel of the place and its natural setting. Fast-forward nearly 25 years later, and here I am, getting to know Northwest in a way that I never would have imagined.

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I have gathered that many of you experience this faith community as one of your spiritual fueling stations. It’s likely not the only one, as I’m aware that a number of you are active in social causes or organizations outside of Northwest.

But, perhaps like Dave, this is the place where you experience a sense of renewal. Perhaps like Dave, this is the place where you have discovered some important truths about yourself that have changed the way you think and act in the world.

And, perhaps like Dave, this is the place where, on Sunday mornings, the beauty of this natural setting and its springtime daffodils remind you that you are connected to the Earth . . . that your body and the soil are one . . . Shin to bul ee.

And, so I invite you this morning to carefully consider all of these things. I invite you to consider what makes you feel fresh and new and strong. I invite you to consider what encourages you to make a commitment to pursue these experiences. And, I invite you to consider what it is that helps you return to your natural state of harmony and peace.

Are you considering? Are you clear?

Now, I want all of us to do this: I want us to run like hell toward them and invest deeply in them – invest your time, your energy, and your financial resources. Because there’s likely nowhere else or nothing else that will nurture us like these places and experiences do.

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As we go from here, may we rejoice today in the coming of spring. May we celebrate the spirit of renewal this time of year brings. And may be filled with hope that to embrace Nature’s gifts is to claim our right to well-being and to peace.

May it be so. Amen.