Flower Communion: It Takes a Village

A Flower Communion service titled ‘It Takes a Village’, led by Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall, with readings given by Hannah King, John Humphreys, and Patricia Brewerton, and music from Tara McCarthy, Tara Viscardi, Caitlin Mannion, and Andrew Robinson.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 5:00

Welcome to this morning, this day. Welcome to this opportunity to be together in community. A time of joy, of comfort, and sometimes of challenge. This congregation is a place where we come to learn more about being human. We're not here because we've figured out the answers to life's questions or because we think we've got it all right. We come here to learn more about being in relationship together. How to listen, how to forgive, how to be vulnerable, and how to create trust and compassion in one another. So let us move into this hour of worship, willing to be authentic with each other, honest within ourselves, and open to connection in all its forms. These words from Erica Hewitt, welcome all who have gathered this morning for our Sunday service. Welcome to those of you here in the building at Essex Church, and to everyone joining from far and wide via Zoom or indeed tuning in on YouTube at a later date. For anyone who doesn't know me, my name is Jane Blackall, and I am Minister of Kensington Unitarian. This morning's service is our annual flower communion. It's a uniquely Unitarian tradition which celebrates our human diversity and also the sense of give and take that is required to live together in community. The importance of contributing according to our abilities and receiving according to our needs. Norbert Chapek, the Czech Unitarian Minister who first devised this ritual a hundred and three years ago, described it as a new experiment in symbolizing our liberty and unity in which participants confess that we accept each other as brothers and sisters without regard to class, race, or other distinction, acknowledging everybody as our friend who is a human and wants to be good. Each year we try and explore a slightly different slant on this tradition. So this year I've given our service the subtitle, It Takes a Village. I expect most of us are familiar with that phrase, it takes a village to raise a child. The premise of this morning service is that it takes a village for each and every one of us to flourish, not just children, but all of us for our whole lifespan. We all need to be embedded in a diverse community of people, living alongside each other, and doing what we can to help each other along the way. Let's light our chalice flame. It's a moment for us to pause and arrive, be here now. Set aside anything we don't need to be carrying for the next hour. And it's a ritual that connects us with Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists the world over, and which reminds us of that proudly progressive religious tradition of which this gathering is part. A community united by common ideals. Look around, think about who's gathered here. Become aware of the beloved souls all around you and indeed on the screen. Each one an individual, each with our own particular story, our needs, our strengths, our thoughts. We like this chalice today, honouring our common connection and also the uniqueness that exists within each and every one of us. Time to sing now. Our first hymn is number thirteen in your purple hymn books, all the ones that we only get to sing on Flower Communion Day. Bring flowers to our altar. If you're on Zoom, the words will be up on screen. Feel free to stand or sit as you prefer and sing up hymn number thirteen. You might want to adjust your position to get more comfortable. You might want to close your eyes or soften your gaze. Perhaps there's a posture to help you feel more settled and centred. Whatever you need to do to get into the right state of body and mind for us to pray together now to be fully present in this sacred time and space we're co-creating. Present to ourselves, to each other, and that which lies within us and beyond us. In whom we live and move and have our being.

SPEAKER_04 17:07

They come in many shades and colors. They come in many sizes and shapes. They carry different scents. Yet all were created by the same miracle. The miracle that these blossoms grow every year out of the divine mixing of water, soil, and sunshine. And let us not forget, our lives are miracles as well. Despite all the trials and disappointments we may face, we come together every year to celebrate flower communion. To re be reminded that all of us have value and all have a place in the beauty of the world. To be reminded that where we come from is not as important as the fact that we are here now. To be reminded that all are truly welcome and all may receive at the table of this church. We all come to be a part of something greater than ourselves, so may we each gladly and boldly play our part in the flourishing of this world we share.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Thanks, Hannah. Time to sing again now. Our second hymn today is on your hymn sheet. If you're in the building, bring a flower. If you want to follow the music, that's in the middle of the hymn sheet, or if you need the large print words there on the front. It's a very short hymn and a very simple tune, but as we only sing it once a year, I'm going to ask Andrew to play the tune through once before we sing. And I'm going to suggest we sing the whole thing through twice so that we have a chance to take in the meaning of the words and the meaning of this flower communion ceremony. Bring a flower.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

For the Flower Communion, written by Evan Keely. This year marks the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the Religious Society of Czech Unitarians. Its first minister, the Reverend Dr. Norbert Kapek, created a ritual that is celebrated by Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists all over the world to this day. Flower Communion. Capek described the ceremony in a 1923 letter to Samuel Aitkins Elliott II, president of the American Unitarian Association. We have made a new experiment in symbolizing our liberty and brotherhood in a service which was so powerful and impressive that I never experienced anything like it. On that very Sunday, everybody was supposed to bring with him a flower. In the middle of the big hall was a suitable table with a big vase where everybody put his flower. In my sermon, I put emphasis on the individual character of each member flower, on our liberty as a foundation of our fellowship. Then I emphasized our common cause, our belonging together as one spiritual community. And when they go home, each is to take one flower, just as it comes, without making any distinction where it came from and who it who and whom it represents, to confess that we accept each other as brothers and sisters without regard to class, race, or other distinction, acknowledging everybody as our friend who is a human and wants to be good. The marvellous natural beauty of the flowers that are brought to these ceremonies is certainly inspiring. But it is of the utmost importance that we continue to learn the broader and deeper lesson that this rite teaches. The idea that we should accept one another with all our differences and that we should even celebrate one another's uniqueness is a radical notion in any age, but in Europe in the 1920s it was downright dangerous. It became ever more so, of course, in the decades that followed, especially as Czechoslovakia found itself amongst the first nations to succumb to the opportunistic infection that was Nazism. The Nazis, of course, represent the polar opposite of Capek's ideal. Flower communion is a defiant no in the face of the brutal racism of Hitler and of the fascist craving to erect towering, horrific empires upon pediments of subjugation and terror. And it is a joyous yes to diversity, equality, and liberty. As Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists all over the world celebrate Flower Communion, as so many of us do at this season of the year, we do well to consider what it is that we are saying no to, and where our joyous yes is. Do we continue to defy the forces of intolerance that seek to deny equal rights to all, which persecute minority groups and make scapegoats of outsiders in order to divide and conquer? Do we stand together, clutching bouquets of righteousness and justice in our hearts as we persevere in demanding compassion for immigrants, for labourers, and for the poor? Do we say yes to a future for our planet in which we will coexist with all life harmoniously? Arrested by the Nazis for the crime of listening to foreign radio broadcasts, Capek spent 14 weeks at Dachau before being martyred in October of 1942 in a Nazi gas chamber. He is remembered around the world for how he died, but more so for what he died for and what he lived for.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Thanks, John. So now we've heard about the origins and the meaning of the flower communion, it is time for us to enact that ritual once again. Hopefully, everyone who's here in the church will have either brought a flower or picked one up on the way in. You're welcome to join in if you'd like to. And in a moment, I will invite you to silently come up and add your flower to our common vase. We've actually got two, a big one and a little one, depending on whether you've got a short-stemmed flower. The flower that you offer represents you in all your uniqueness, the particular bundle of gifts and needs that you bring to this community and indeed to the world. And at the very end of the service, you'll be invited to choose a different flower to take away with you, to reflect the way in which we each engage in this flow of give and take with each other in community. Similarly, if you're at home, I invite you to hold up a flower or type into the box what flower you would have brought. I'm going to repeat Chapek's words. Each is to take one flower just as it comes, without making any distinction as to where it came from and who it represents, to confess that we accept each other as brothers and sisters without regard to class, race, or other distinction, acknowledging everybody as our friend who is a human and wants to be good. So we'll proceed in a prayerful spirit as Andrew's going to play some gentle music for us. I invite you to come up reverently, silently, and place your flower into the vase. I say, if you're online, please do hold up a flower or a picture of a flower or write a flower into the chat while the music is playing. And when the flowers are all gathered in, I'll offer some words of consecration from Norbert Shakpek himself to take us into a time of meditation. So we'll move into our time of meditation with some words to bless the flowers from Norbert Chapek. Those words will lead us into three minutes of shared silence, which will end with the sound of a bell. And in that time of silence, I invite you to focus on the flowers as a symbol of our diverse gifts and needs. May they remind us, amid diversities of knowledge and of gifts, to be one in desire and affection and devotion to thy holy will. May they also remind us of the value of comradeship, of doing and sharing alike. May we cherish friendship as one of thy most precious gifts. And may we not let awareness of another's talents discourage us or sully our relationship. But may we realize that whatever we can do, great or small, the efforts of all of us are needed to do thy work in the world.

SPEAKER_03 39:57

Some years ago, Hillary Clinton popularised a saying that's been around for a while. Suggesting that it needs multiple people to support a child to grow and thrive more than a nuclear family. I have come to know that it takes a village for all of us. I know I need a village. I need someone who is a good listener. I need a question asker. I need the sceptic and the intuitive. I need a co-dreamer, a dream framer, a filter, a provider, and someone to hand me a box of tissues. I need someone to listen to my ideas and cheer me on. I need the person to listen to my ideas and ask questions to reframe, help me keep from jumping from yet one project to another, or ask how the new idea fits into the vision I talked about the day before. I have a friend who is incredibly organized. It takes her 15 minutes to do what it would take me two hours. I used to beat myself up for not being able to be organized in such a manner. Now I am thankful that I know someone who I can invite into my life who is willing to share her gift of organization with me. I have a friend who jumps on every dream and idea I have, like it's the best thing she's ever heard. Sometimes I need friends like this, and she fills my love tank. I have a friend who asks profound framing questions. He will listen over time and give honest feedback from his perspective and challenge and speak truth as needed. I have a friend who immediately prays when I call, another who reads everything I ever write, another who is generous, and another who challenges me to work out. I told you I need a village. I could keep going with this list of individuals who help me navigate life with health and wholeness, but it could well exceed your level of patience. And honestly, even admitting that I have and need a village prompts feelings of vulnerability and insecurity. I just thought to myself, make sure those who read this know you're resourceful, capable, and can do things on your own too. How deep is the lie that we are to be perfect at everything on our own? Today I come out as a person who needs people, and I need a lot of them. Though culturally this idea is not celebrated in practice, I believe deeply that we are created to need others. When Paul, a follower of the way of Jesus, wrote about the followers of Jesus and how that collective best functions, he noted how every person has a role to play, and every role is crucial. Each role plays a part that the others need. Somehow I think we've lost touch with the importance of that concept. All of us everywhere need people. We need others who have gifts we do not. We need others who celebrate us. We need others to join us.

SPEAKER_01 44:10

Another hymn now. Uh the next hymn is on the back of your hymn sheet if you're in the building. Uh an a a recent favorite, Who is my neighbour? I want to share some happy news which a few of you already know about. Many of you will have met my friend Rachel Sparks. Indeed, quite a few of you will have danced with her. Um I first met Rachel when she taught me ballroom dancing more than a decade ago, and over the years she's run lots of tea dances for us here at the church. And we haven't had one for quite a while. We had one planned for Christmas last year, but we cancelled it at the last minute, and I couldn't tell you at the time is because Rachel had just found out she was pregnant. Any of you who are good with mental arithmetic will have realised the happy news I want to share is that uh Rachel's baby was born a couple of weeks ago. I understand that mother and baby are doing very well, and the little one is named Eden. Which it's nice that we've got a garden-related name on the day of the flower communion. And indeed, Eden's gonna have her naming ceremony at Essex Church later in the year. In the first days and weeks of Eden's life, it's become very clear that she's got what is shaping up to be a very solid village to help raise her. As well as Rachel's lovely supportive parents, uh Nonna and granddad, Rachel has an extended chosen family of friends in the queer community who are all pitching in already to help support the two of them in any way they can. And hopefully, when you're in that situation, when you've got a newborn, your people, your village will be attentive to your needs and use their varied gifts and resources to help you out. Perhaps as the months and years pass, the level of support may well fade a bit. But throughout childhood, it is generally accepted that adults should proactively uh uh step in to meet the child's needs. Wikipedia interprets that saying it takes a village to raise a child as meaning that an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children, and for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment. Now I don't think that level of care should stop just because we turned 16. That's why I wanted to share that last reading. It takes ability to raise an adult. And I found quite a few articles exploring that similar idea, so I want to share now an extended extract from someone called Claude Martinier who writes this. No one person can meet all of another person's need. We need ability not just to raise a child, but also to raise ourselves, be ourselves, heal ourselves, and see into the depths of ourselves. My definition of a healthy village in a modern context is a group of people who work together to meet each other's psychological needs. Ideally, our village would consist of families, parents, and children, but also uncles, aunties, grandparents, and friends, all of the diversity and treasure of a human experience. In various times and places, our village members would also work together to meet each other's needs for food, shelter, and so on, in reciprocal ways that build and dismember relationships. Sadly, a village now rarely includes all of these different age groups, and the growth economy has replaced the need for us to rely on one another for our practical needs, so we just have to build our villages with what we have. In simple terms, this is possible because different members of the village can be unavailable unconditionally by turns, when one person is offline or needy or temporarily dysfunctional because their own shadow material, their own unmet needs have been triggered. Somewhere else in the village there is another person who is fully present in the moment and able to step into the gap. When there are enough stable and resourced adults in the community to meet the practical needs around childcare or logistics and so on, and the mental and emotional and spiritual support that people need from each other, then everything gets much easier for everybody. I assume that once I found ability all my problems will be solved. Alas, it doesn't work like that. The reason that good abilities are hard to find is because actually you don't find them so much as building. And you build them from the inside out. We need a village in order to experience the connection that all humans need to thrive. And as adults, we are the village. Each offering our gifts, each receiving the gifts of others, this community of give and take. It depends on us being present to each other, showing up and making time to get to know each other, going beyond the surface level, being attentive and being real. But if we do put in the time and the effort and the care, then the rewards for all of us will be immense. So let us celebrate the diversity of gifts and needs that we bring. And in the year ahead, until our next flower communion, let us keep on showing up for one another. Remembering that we are the village, and that it takes a village to raise us all. Amen. Time to sing one last time. Our final hymn is number thirty-two in your purple books. Earth was given as a garden. Thanks to Ramona for hosting and Sherry for co-hosting online. Thanks to Tara, Tara and Caitlin for wonderful music today. Thanks to Andrew for accompanying and Benjamin welcome back for seeing support. Thanks to Hannah and John and Patricia for doing our readings. Patricia also for greeting and David for doing the tea. If you're here in person today, we've got Apple and Sultana cake or Jamaican ginger loaf. There may even be a little bit left of the lime and uh kiwi thing that we had on Wednesday night. Who knows? But once you've had your tea and cake, or indeed, um I should say, please do stay on for a chat with uh Sherry if you're online. Once you've had your tea and cake, there are lots of things going on this afternoon. You can come back and do yoga with Hannah at half past in this room. If you haven't done it before, have a word because you need to fill in a health questionnaire. Um next door from one, we'll have a both the craft noon, which is just a fun chill social time where you can rummage in the art and craft boxes or bring your own project. And also Patricia will be uh looking after the people who are doing Each Child Alike memorial quilt project for the children of Gaza. So have a chat with Patricia if you want to know more about that. Tonight on Friday, we've got our online heart and soul contemplative spiritual gathering. This week's theme is slow down. Email me if you want to join that and I'll send you the link. In case you haven't already heard, this month's Better World Book Club has been cancelled. Too many people were on holiday. We'll postpone that book until later in the year. Our next book club meeting will be on the 30th of August when we'll be reading Upstream by Dan Hay. And next week I'll have a few copies to learn out. Next Sunday we'll be back as usual at 11am when our service will be on Words of Wisdom, and that will include some reflect reflections from uh Pat and John and David, amongst others. And that will be followed by our congregational lunch. At least well, his congregate is coordinating that lunch. So if you can let her know what you plan to bring, that will be very helpful. If you don't have Lisa's contact details, you can tell me, and I'll pass the news along. All the details are on the back of your order of service or in the Friday email. We've very much got a life beyond Sunday morning, so do what you can to look out for each other and nurture those supportive connections. At the end of the closing music, I invite you to come up and choose your flower to take away. And if you're online, maybe put in the chat which one you would have chosen if you can see from there. Our closing words there. These flowers we have shared are signs of creation's profound beauty. Diverse and unique, but related and interdependent. They come to us as gifts from we know not aware. And we in turn have brought them to our common altar as gifts to one another. May they remind us of the grace we have known in this community, the forgiveness we have been granted and provided, love unearned and freely shared, recovery begun and established, generosity unforeseen and most sacred. May they inspire us now and in the days to come to seek, to notice, to embrace and to recreate beauty, to give unto the world as exuberantly as these lovely flowers. And may the meaning and message of flower communion be alive in our hearts as we leave this gathering, inviting us to be faithful partners in the creation of a beloved community and guiding us towards a right relationship with all our neighbors near and far. May it be so for the greater good of all. Amen.