UN: OUR GLOBAL CONSCIENCE

Protecting Human Rights to Life, Liberty and Security

The UN Millenium Goals as Witnessing For the Beloved Community

Hymn:   A Hymn to the UN    Music: Pablo Casals   Words: W.H. Auden

Introduction:


In 1945, after the atrocities and horror of World War II, the United Nations was founded as a place for nations to settle differences. Many hoped that war would be eliminated, that social problems would be addressed and the evils and ills of humanity would be eroded allowing the virtuous spirit of humanity to grow.
While there is still war and injustice in the world, the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office continues to stand by the ideals set forth in the Charter of the United Nations. To continue this important work, we invite you to join in our efforts. Celebrating UN Sunday in your congregations helps not only to educate about the work of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office, but allows you to engage in conversation about the interconnectedness of the world.
I ask you to consider and to reflect on how injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. It is important to draw upon the concept of the social conscious and the effects that individual social action can have throughout the world.

Lighting the Chalice: "At Times Our Own Light"

Each morning we must open the chalice of our being, to receive, to carry, and give back.

—Dag Hammaraskjold

Prayer:

Whenever we choose to leave the safety of a singular life, be that one family or one person. We are making an act of courage. We are being daring. We are risking everything. When we come away from the safety of the morning newspaper, Leave the garden with its sure beauty of spring, Gather ourselves up and walk out the door it could shake our foundations, we could lose control more than we are ready to bear.

From the look in the eyes of either a friend or stranger our hearts might break open from hurt or love. Who knows what will happen out here in the wild territory, even this place, this place where we pry ourselves open to be in the world.

Covenant: We, the Peoples of the United Nations SLT #475 Preamble of the Charter of the United Nations, 1945:

We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, and for these ends to practice tolerance and to live together in peace with one another as good neighbors, and to unite our strength to maintain principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of economic and social advancement for all peoples, have resolved to combine our efforts to establish these ends.

Story for All Ages:  (the children go to Religious Education at the end of the story and the adults sing "Spirit of Life" )

Hymn::    # 123  (STLT)   "Spirit of Life"   by Carolyn McDade (adapted)

Spirit of Life, come unto us,
Sing in our hearts all the stirrings of compassion.
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea;
Move in our hands, giving life the shape of justice.
Roots hold us close; wings set us free;
Spirit of Life, come to us, come to me.

Sermon: UN: OUR GLOBAL CONSCIENCE Protecting Human Rights to Life, Liberty, Security Witnessing For the Beloved Community

In 1945 the United Nations Charter was signed by 50 countries including the United States and New York City became the home of the UN headquarters. The UN aspires to facilitate co-operation in international law, security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues.

If these mirror your mental list of Unitarian Universalist values then it will not surprise you that Adlai Stevenson, a Unitarian Universalist, was Ambassador to the United Nations from 1961 to 1965. During its early years when the UN was controversial. the Unitarian Universalist Association supported it and in 1964, passed a resolution reaffirming and intensifying its support of the UN by urging congregations to give special emphasis to International Cooperation Year projects.

The UN has had an illustrious history so far, with many successes, failures, and controversies. Yet its basic aims are in alignment with the Principles and Purposes of our faith.

Why do I care so much about this topic of the UN? The Principles and Purposes of our denomination were created as a statement of our shared values. They have a great deal of similarity in content and phrasing to both the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The intertwining of the creation of a UN world vision and the document of our beliefs that came from the merging of the Unitarians and Universalists gives the feeling of optimism of the time: if only we would come together, understand each other, we could overcome the problems of the world.

In April of 1962, Unitarian Adlai Stevenson wrote to the President of the new UUA suggesting that Unitarians should continue to be aware of the UN and the issues that would come before it. His words are the precursor to those of religious and political leanings today.

Let me recommend the appointment of envoys in Unitarian Universalist Churches . . . to promote better knowledge and understanding of the United Nations. In this disastrous and shrinking world it is no longer possible, if it ever was, for local communities to be more secure than the surrounding world. Our ultimate security therefore lies in making the world more and more into a community . . . . All of you have the opportunity to share in the answer, and thus help us build a peaceful world.

In 1962 the Community Church in New York City offered space to a beginning Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office. The mission of the new UU organization was and is to promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty, justice for all as reflected in the UN Charter.

They speak and act on behalf of Unitarian Universalists at the UN and within the governments of Canada and the US. Their purpose continues to be to educate UUs about the UN.

Their issues include: Water for Life Campaign, problem of Modern Day Slavery, ending the use of Child Soldiers, ending the violence in Darfur and the spread of AIDS as a world-wide epidemic. Also included are the UN Millenium Goals:

• Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
• Achieve Universal Primary Education
• Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
• Reduce Child Mortality
• Improve Maternal Health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
• Ensure Environmental Sustainability
• Develop a Global Partnership for Development

I believe that supporting and acting to achieve the Millenium Goals should be our way to unite in a Global effort of Witnessing for the Beloved Community. What is a 'Beloved Community ? I know that some of you are familiar with the expression "Beloved Community" ,others may have heard it before, but are unsure of its exact meaning, and some of you may never have heard the term before. I believe that we all help to create the Beloved Community whenever we commit ourselves to the work of social justice. The beautiful expression "Beloved Community" was first used almost a century ago by the founders of an organization called the Fellowship of Reconciliation , which is one of the oldest international interfaith peace organizations in the world. The Fellowship of Reconciliation works closely with the United Nations as well as with many religious and denominational groups including our own Unitarian-Universalist Association. As you might expect, a great many Unitarians and Universalists (and, since our merger in 1961, Unitarian-Universalists) have been involved with the Fellowship of Reconciliation from the very beginning. If it concerns justice we like to think we are involved. One of the co-founders of the American branch of the Fellowship of Reconciliation was a Unitarian minister, John Haynes Holmes. Reverend Holmes was totally committed to the vision of the Beloved Community and, in 1919, he requested that his Unitarian church in New York, The Church of the Messiah, be renamed The Community Church of New York. The "community" in Community Church referred to the Beloved Community. Most of us, though, if we have heard of the Beloved Community probably recognize it from the words of yet another member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King first mentioned the Beloved Community in 1956, during the famous bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. He was talking about the end goals of non-violent protest and he said:

"the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the Beloved Community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends...[and] bring about miracles in the hearts of men [and women]."

First of all, Beloved Community is a vision, which means it is about hope and it is about believing in what is possible rather than what we see around us. The Beloved Community is a global vision, it should include all people, everywhere. The Beloved Community is a global vision of justice, and freedom and peace. The Beloved Community is a community that does not tolerate poverty or hunger or homelessness or discrimination or any of the miserable conditions that greed and selfishness and fear produce. The Beloved Community is about conflict resolution not military force, reconciliation not vengeance, a just peace not a pre-emptive war. The Beloved Community has a global awareness. The Beloved Community has a global conscience. The Beloved Community upholds and protects the rights of all human beings to life, to liberty and to security of person-the very rights all of you are affirming by being here. The Beloved Community is a vision of a more just and a more peaceful world for all of us to live in. So, you see...whether you knew it or not, bringing about the Beloved Community is exactly what you are doing! The Beloved Community is what you are committing yourself to by working towards social justice. The Beloved Community is exactly what you are helping to envision and what you are helping to create by being here. I don't need to tell you that we are living in a very difficult time. It can be really tough to watch the news and read the newspapers and get all the media reports about the terrible things going on in the world today.

It is easy to get discouraged, it can be difficult not to get discouraged. But I want to remind you that it is precisely at times like these that we must work hard at overcoming despair and hopelessness. And don't forget that it's when it is darkest that we most need light. Every time you continue working and speaking out for social justice and human rights instead of giving up, you keep faith with the vision of the Beloved Community-you are the light.

We must encourage each other and continue to share our hope and our vision for a better future. We strengthen and renew our commitment to peace and justice. We take heart that there are others who have the same vision and others who will work with us to make our shared vision a reality. We share our belief in the possibility of a Beloved Community. When we leave we take with us our renewed hope and commitment and we bring our shared vision and our belief in the Beloved Community. Thich Nach Hanh says that to bring about peace we have to be peace. Perhaps to bring about the Beloved Community we need to start being the Beloved Community. Right now. Right here. Be the Beloved Community. Be just, be peaceful, be respectful of each other. Be the Beloved Community. Before you know it, other people will become interested in our shared vision. Some of them will even be inspired to join in the work of making that vision a reality. And so it goes...each one of us inspiring someone else, and that someone else inspiring someone else, inspiring someone else-that's how the Beloved Community grows. Sharing your vision and your belief with another person-that's witnessing. Each one of us keeping faith with a vision of a more just and a more peaceful world and each one of us inspiring someone else to keep faith with that vision-that's what I meant by "Witnessing for the Beloved Community." Let it be. Amen. ----- A Sermon By Susan Julia

Extinguish Chalice:

We extinguish this Chalice but not the hope or the commitment to work for a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Closing Circle of Hands (We link arms while we read )

"Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and
powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or
willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for
success, but rather an ability and commitment to work for something because it is

Closing words: by Wayne B. Arnason (adapted)

Spirit of Life, We are here as a community dedicated to all that is good and just and beautiful. We ask that we might be strengthened in our dedication to a better world. In time of war, when national pride and anger overwhelms the call for world community, We would remember all those around the world who suffer from acts of violence, Whether committed by terrorists or by nations. We go to war as to a funeral, And so we hold in our hearts all those who are oppressed by forces of privilege and power, Whose lives are torn by war, Who are prisoners of conscience. May we find it within ourselves to capture a vision of a future that can be, To recognize a brother or a sister in a distant nation, That we may serve without fear the cause of justice for all. In the name of all we find holy, we pray.