A Work in Progress
I Corinthians 13: 11-12
"A Work in Progress" Discovery II
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Rev. Susan Cartmell
The Congregational Church of Needham
During June our worship theme is Discovery. Last week at Youth Sunday Elizabeth and Carolyn Bradley talked about how much they had learned growing up in this church. Over the years, they discovered that the church held a central place in their lives. Here they had learned about the world, and about themselves. On youth mission trips they discovered the joy of serving others in a group. In Guatemala they discovered how happy people could be who did not have as much as they did. In youth group they exercised their leadership skills. While they thought of themselves as shy in school, here at church they were called on to speak in public and voice their opinions. Through Shepherds' Staff they honed their musical skills and went on tour. Over time, Carolyn and Elizabeth discovered that their church friends were their best friends, even closer to them than their school kids. As they prepare to go to college in the fall, these young women have been able to look back over their years growing up in this church and track their own development and how the church supported it.
In our passage today the Apostle Paul talked about his life and how he had changed because of the Christian church. Growing up a devout Jew, Paul found a new faith, and new self-understanding in the Christian community of 2000 years ago. He saw his personal evolution. "When I was younger I spoke like a child, I thought like a child; I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult I put an end to childish ways. I expect to continue to change and grow in faith and self-discovery. Now I see in a mirror dimly but then I shall see face to face." Paul reminds us that life is a path of discovery.
What can we learn from Paul about discovery for our lives today? In the first place, life is a path of self- discovery. After the service last week, I lingered in the coffee hour talking to people until only a few folks were left. Then I had some time alone with Morgan and Emily Campbell's twin baby boys. Conrad and Hugh were thrilled to be set loose in Fellowship Hall. Used to a small apartment with a protected space for crawling, here they reveled in the big expanse, and they wanted to see everything. Hugh was fascinated by the echo. As I helped Emily chase the boys, I realized how new the world is when you are 11 months. Every random piece of foam or dirt could potentially be edible. You would not want to rule that out until you had discovered for sure.
Children remind us of the primal sense of awe and adventure at the core of each of us. When you watch a child learning to walk or speak, or examine a butterfly, you realize we are all born with this great curiosity. We humans delight in the process of discovery. It is a sense of discovery that propelled the first humans to migrate from Africa to Europe and Asia. It was the urge to explore that brought Native people from Asia across the Baring straits 10,000 years ago. It was a sense of discovery that brought Europeans sailors to these shores 500 years ago, and send astronauts into space today. It is a sense of discovery that makes kids love camp, and youth seek college and scientists look at atoms.
Discovery is a key asset to human nature. We are born with the urge to explore. Every infant has the capacity to speak all languages. When kids make sounds that sound like the precursors to Chinese words or German sentences they are experimenting with the full range of verbal possibilities. As they try out sounds from every language family members re-enforced in the sounds we recognize, so children learn one language. Born with the capability to speak every language, finding just one is an exercise in discovery.
Over the years we have all heard several interpretations of the story of the Garden of Eden. Many people point to that early Biblical tale as an example of disobedience. They see this as a time when Eve and Adam did not follow directions, and found that God was angry, and punished them. While that analysis is the predominant one in many churches, I think it assumes that God is punitive, human nature is pretty sad and God is not too bright. If you wanted a child to avoid a tree of knowledge, what would you do? Think about it. If you wanted to protect a child from an electrical plug would you point out all the plugs in the room to test the child's obedience? No, you would cover the plugs and distract the child. The Garden of Eden is not about obedience. I think the story of the Garden of Eden is more about discovery. It is a commentary on how human beings out grow paradise. Adam and Eve were too curious to stay put in a garden forever. Humans evolved to a place where they were no longer naked and innocent. Men and women outgrew nature's playpen and craved the fruit of more knowledge. Like children who are ready to ride their bikes on the sidewalk they wanted more freedom. Like teenagers who are ready to drive, they didn't follow all the adult rules. They got into trouble but that is the cost of discovery.
To say that the Garden of Eden is a story of disobedience is like saying Romeo and Juliet is a story of rebellion. It is also the discovery of life that pushes the limits, and youth who outgrow the rules of their parents' gardens.
Human exploration is the secret to our success as a species. We love the way our children are independent, and bold. And like God in the garden, we can be angry and ambivalent when our children ignore our advice. I don't see the Garden of Eden as a warning to be good. I see it as a statement about life. Like Adam and Eve, sometimes we push the limits. We try things that may be dangerous. Nonetheless , we are hard-wired for discovery.
Finally, being fully alive means staying open to discovery all life long.
When David was a boy his brothers were off fighting in battle with the Philistines. David was the youngest of 7 brothers so he father had him tend the sheep. David was a shepherd. When the lions came at night David had to figure out how to protect the lambs, so he learned to use his sling shot. He discovered he was a good marksman and athlete.
David's father sent the boy to take food to his brothers on the battle line. While he was there, David heard the men talking about a giant named Goliath who had challenged one soldier to fight for all of them. Probably too young to fully appreciate the danger, David volunteered. To the amazement of all, David slew the dragon with a rock from his sling shot. In that startling moment David discovered that he was a soldier.
As a boy David learned to play a stringed harp. He was summoned to the palace one day when King Saul was suffering from depression and no one knew how to sooth him. David tried to play music for the king. When the music salved Saul's spirit, David found the king's the king's weakness and discovered his own power. Over time David discovered his political ambitions and became a contender for the throne.
Each discovery had an impact on how David saw himself. Living with a sense of discovery allowed him to realize his potential. My mother is 86 and she startled herself when she was 73. She had to have angioplasty and so she decided after the procedure, to find a gym for heart patients. For the last 13 years she has worked out twice a week. She told me that my dad would be so stunned to discover that she enjoyed sports and had found her athletic potential at this age.
Two weeks ago I attended my reunion at Mount Holyoke. Mom wanted to go to her 65th reunion and I agreed to take her. We attended the same college and it happened to be my 35th so I decided to go to my events when Mom was busy with her class. I was more nervous about my own reunion than hers, and told myself all spring that I was going for Mom. But to my surprise I found that our class had changed in 35 years. We were less competitive, more accepting of ourselves and one another. It was like discovering a whole new group of acquaintances again, but in a new way. When I got home I dug out my old yearbook and looked at the faces. The biggest surprise was my own. I hardly recognized myself without wrinkles. I did not really think that most people looked better then. I liked the faces marked by the scars of experience and the decades of discovery.
When I was a child I thought like a child and reasoned like a child. Now I see in a mirror dimly, but as I grow in experience and continue to ponder life's mysteries and ponder life's truth, I see things more clearly. I hope that with each breath I take, I will deepen my wisdom and faith so that I will grow in understanding and find that I shall know more and more and find that I am more and at home in this world.