Making Our Dreams Come True
A Sermon by the Rev. Susan Manker-Seale
February 22, 2004
…Spend all you haave for loveliness,
to buy and never count the cost:
for one singing hour of peace
count a year of strife well lost,
and for a breath of ecstasy
give all you have been, or could be.
(--Hymn 329, "Life Has Loveliness to Sell")
Is it strange to think of buying an hour of peace? Or of paying for sunshine or a breeze that holds Spring in its breath? Maybe if we are going on vacation, maybe then, in a way, we're buying the beauty of nature in a different place. But at home, here, we look out from our ridge at Mt. Lemmon and our hearts soar. People sit out under the mesquite tree and peace descends as they take in the view. What cost is that to us?
Does life have loveliness to sell? And how would we buy it, anyway? This hymn is an analogy to wake us up and help us attend to the beauty around us that really is not for sale, except in the cost in time it takes for us to notice it, to appreciate it, to revel in it. If we value loveliness, if we value the beauty of nature and peace and delight, we will give it, not money, but time and attention.
Of course, money is our time and attention. It's just that nature can't use human currency. Money is how we have translated our time and attention into a tradable form. It's still good for many things, especially for building dreams and upholding values. Money isn't just for survival and playtime. Money is how we make our dreams come true.
Now, some people dream about a big house, and money sure helps with that. Others dream about cruises, and money buys that, for sure. Money gives us the ability to keep our families fed and clothed and pays the mortgage or rent, but most of us are beyond that subsistence level. Those of you who are just making ends meet know that what you give is a stretch for you. We are grateful for your efforts to support this congregation.
Most of us, though, have enough money to make dreams come true. We can buy enough Christmas presents and we can pay for a car or two, or even three. Some of us have two homes. And some of us support charitable organizations in a healthy way. Here in this room, all of us, I would wager, use our money to support this congregation, which is also a dream which we are making come true.
What do we buy with our money here? Loveliness, for sure. We have had very few singing hours of peace, because we talk our way through them, but we do sing and we do have peace and quiet. We do share beauty here, within these walls and outside under the tree. Children's faces look up at us and hold wonder. Religious community has loveliness to sell, because it is life and embodies our common values.
I, and others, try to share values here with you using lovely words, creating a lovely space in which to imagine and be inspired. Unfortunately, money is probably the least inspiring topic to many folks. It's so uninspiring that there isn't even one hymn in the hymnal using the word "money." "Sell" was the closest I got, with this hymn. I'm actually in the process of writing a hymn that boldly says the word "money" in it. And it's got a good beat, so if I ever finish it, maybe by next year, we can play around with it, since I don't have a clue if I'm a good hymn writer or not.
But I am a reasonably good writer, and writing about money once a year is a requirement of being a minister. I've given eight money sermons here, since I've been here eight years, and I've tried everything to be inspiring. I've given funny money sermons and historical money sermons and theoretical/philosophical money sermons; all in the effort of overcoming our culture's hang-ups around money. I think I've done well enough, measuring by the relative success of our pledge drives, that you all don't have so many hang-ups about money anymore, if you ever did. So I've decided that in this sermon I want to just say it as I see it, to speak boldly, and go where I've never gone before. No, that's a quote from Star Trek. But boldness is what I want to talk about, so I will talk boldly about giving money boldly, and why.
First, though, a note for those of you who do believe you still have hang-ups about the "m" word. If you start getting upset at anything I say, just take some breaths, either fast like in labor, or slow and deep like in Zen meditation. In and out, in and out. You will survive this service today. Just repeat that over and over.
Some people think that it's gauche to talk about money, that money isn't anyone's business but their own. Well, families often get together and talk about the reality of their finances, and we are an extended family. We have to talk about money. Furthermore, you all know what my salary is, since it's in the budget and you vote on it every year. And you know Karla's salary, and Linda's, and Dorothy's, and you even know Leah's, which is nothing. Oh, she just gives her time and expertise out of the goodness of her heart, say some. Maybe, maybe not. But we value her work, do we not?
So, your money is not just your own business, especially when you become part of a religious community, and extended family, whose existence and health and growth are dependent upon your financial support. We have to learn to talk openly and boldly about money.
It is part of church financial lore that twenty percent of the members give eighty percent of the pledges. That holds up pretty well to scrutiny. And why is that? Why do only twenty percent give eighty percent? Because twenty percent have all the money? Not necessarily. Many of us have the means to give at the highest giving levels of the congregation. Those twenty percent have the means AND they have the commitment. They are not just folks with money, but folks who have invested their hearts in all of us here today as a religious community.
You all have heard of the "tithe," that dreaded word used in other religious congregations that means you either give or go to hell after you die. Ten percent is what many, many people give to their religious communities. Everyone gives ten percent! It is something they plan for from the day they begin to earn money. They put it into their family budget. It is always there, like the car payment. No wonder those religious communities have so many resources to influence our world!
We threw out tithes, because, of course, nothing will make us go to hell. Hell, we don't even believe in Hell! So, we have to rely on pleading with each other to give to our fund drives. "Please" goes a long way, and it's always fun for someone to beg you for money, so we do all right. Just kidding. We do try to give some sort of guidelines, but we always want to reassure everyone that we are not asking for more than they are comfortable giving.
Au contraire! Yes, really! There is a minister, I can't remember which one, who was leading the workshops for Ministry Days at General Assembly one year, focused on money. He said, "We don't want you to give until it hurts. We want you to give even more, until it helps!" How's that for a philosophy? Are we comfortable givers, not noticing the pledges we pay out every month for the support of our congregation, or are we hurting each time we write that check, hoping we'll make it through the month (and we usually do), or are we feeling that our money is really helping to make a difference when we give that pledge, a pledge of power to change the world, to create a second home that is a free religious community? Are our hearts in the giving so that it REALLY helps?
There is another piece of church financial lore that says, don't waste your time on trying to get the small pledgers to give a little more. Work on that twenty percent. Get them to give even more. Now, why would that be? Aren't they already carrying the congregation on their backs?
Well, yes they are. But who already has the commitment? Who already knows the value of their giving, and very likely has the means to give even more? Those twenty percent. You think they're ones who are rich or something? Let me tell you another story, which some of you have heard before.
There was a woman in my former congregation who was a school teacher. She lived in a small house with her two cats. No children. No partner. The church was her extended family. One year, we learned that she gave the largest pledge in the congregation: $4000. When she found out--and she found out because we were trying to be more open about money and we had asked her to testify for the pledge drive--when she found out, her initial response was to feel betrayed. After all, there were a lot of people making a lot more money than she was in that congregation. We talked about it, and soon she realized that she really loved the congregation. As I said, it was her extended family. She was totally committed to it, and gave from her heart. Her life-style had adjusted to including this large pledge as part of her budget. So, instead of lowering her pledge as she first considered doing, she challenged the rest of the congregation to match her commitment in giving. Not a few upped their pledges to be more than hers. Why? Because commitment is catching, and pride is too. People DO want to make a difference with their pledges. People DO want to make dreams come true, and give until it really, really helps.
So, there are many more members and friends of our congregation who could become part of that top twenty percent. It takes an examination of the heart, of what each person cares about. If you find a deep and abiding love for this congregation in your heart, then ask yourself if you are a comfortable giver? Or could you give a little more so that it hurts? Maybe you might have to give up something to make that pledge each month. And, could you then give a little more, even, until you really feel that it helps this congregation in a major way. This is work that no one can do for you. That is what we mean when we say your pledge is up to you. It takes some soul searching, and maybe some years of adjusting, to grow the ability to pledge beyond the comfort level, beyond the painful level, to a pledge that really helps make our dreams come true.
I didn't say anything about those dreams we share, because, frankly, we're dreaming really hard right now. We've got buildings in our eyes; property! We have presented a dream budget that supports growing programs and staff compensation to the tune of a 30% increase in our pledges to meet those requests. If you don't think we can do it, think again. We had a year, not too far back, when we lost the final yearly $10,000 from a property grant that the UUA was paying back, and we decided to choose as our Pledge Drive theme: "Twenty Percent, Yes We Can!" You know that we did it. People came up to me and said they were going to double their pledges, and did.
Today, we have so many more members and friends, and our commitment has also grown over the years, and so have our dreams. We can make those dreams a reality, by boldly supporting our operating budget even as we dream of capital campaigns and new buildings. Oh, ok, so you're only dreaming of the new building, but the capital campaign goes hand-in-hand with that. May as well include that in the dream. But don't let our daily needs fall short. Your pledge will help us keep supporting and growing this congregation to the point that we have enough members so that we can build that beautiful building one day. Maybe we even have enough right now, if our hearts are committed to making our dreams come true.
Spend all you have for loveliness,
to buy and never count the cost:
for one singing hour of peace
count a year of strife well lost,
and for a breath of ecstasy
give all you have been, or could be.
Lovely words! And this is a lovely congregation! And it's a lovely dream! Be bold and make it so!
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Northwest Tucson