Sunday Service: Native American Spirituality - January 25, 2015

Native American Spirituality

Reverend Tom Capo

Preached on January 25, 2015

Evan T. Prichard, a descendant of the Algonquin people, founder of The Center for Algonquin Culture, and currently Professor of Native American history at Marist College, wrote in the introduction to his book, Native American Stories of the Sacred:  “A religion—whatever its origin—is more than a spiritual path; it also invariably contains philosophy, numerous folk customs, and a wealth of stories or teaching tales.  The spirituality of a given religion, including meditation practices and revealed teachings, arises out of the depths of the illuminated soul; the philosophy behind the spiritual message arises from the clarity of mind that a true religious experience produces; the traditions, folk customs, health practices, and artifacts that affect the physical body arise from the religious culture; and the wealth of stories, teaching tales, myths, and legends, not to mention the poetry and songs that each religion preserves come from the heart of the faithful.  Each Native American subculture has all of these, so Native American spirituality in each of its forms could be compared with every world religion point for point.”

I found myself having some difficulty with this sermon.  My great grandmother was full blood Cherokee; my grandfather never told us of his Native American roots because he feared persecution.  And some of my ancestors were immigrants to the United States took advantage of and abused the Native American population.  Non-natives moved Native Americans off their land; they killed them when they resisted; and they took their sacred objects.  Immigrants educated Native American children in their ways, indoctrinating them into the Christian religion.  Many Native American traditions and rituals, artifacts and stories were lost.  What I wish to share with you is some of what has survived.  The rituals and traditions and stories that have survived are being used within different Native American communities.  

Sunday Service: The Complexity & Simplicity of Hinduism - Sunday January 4, 2015

The Complexity and Simplicity of Hinduism

Preached on 1/04/2015

By Reverend Tom Capo

First let me share a few interesting facts about Hinduism. (Hindu.BZ.com and hindu facebook)

1. More than 10,000 years ago the institution of marriage was founded and put forth in practice by Hindus.

2. The Rigveda, one of Hindu's holy scriptures, is the oldest literature known to humanity.

3. According to the Vedas, lending money on interest is a bad Karma.  We will talk about Karma later. 

4. According to the Vedas, Om, Hinduism's most sacred sound, is the sound which was present at the time of creation of universe.

5. Parents, teachers, and food are considered next to God.  That makes sense to me somehow.

6. Because of the usefulness of rivers, they are highly revered in Hinduism. People call them mother. 

7. Hindus believe that we get the human body when our soul passes through 8,400,000 species of plants and animals.

I could go on with interesting facts or tell you about the gods and goddesses of Hinduism, or the social caste system--the societal level that each person is assigned based on their birth; or I could talk about the various ways that people practice their faith, or all the religious texts and their meaning to various sects of Hinduism; or I could talk about the various rituals, holidays, and pilgrimages.  If I chose to talk about even one of these in detail, we would be here for a very very long time.  You see Hinduism is a collective term applied to the many philosophical and religious traditions native to India.  In a strict sense there was no 'Hinduism' before modern times, although the sources of Hindu traditions are very ancient.  And Hinduism has no definite starting point that anyone has been able to discover. The traditions which flow into Hinduism may go back several thousand years and some practitioners claim that revelation in Hinduism is eternal; sound familiar?

Sunday Service: Food and Religion - November 23st, 2014

Food and Religion

By Reverend Tom Capo

Preached on November 23, 2014

    What is the significance of food as it relates to spirituality or religious tradition?  In Steve’s story, little Carrie travels to different homes looking for her brother, but instead finds various cultural dishes made with rice.  Just like Carrie, I spent much of last week exploring the ways in which various religions include food in their rituals and traditions.  In this journey from virtual house to house, I was surprised by what I feasted upon.

    Our journey starts with the Sikh religious home. The Golden Temple Complex is the Central worship place for Sikhs around the world, and it is in Punjab, India.  The Sikhs are serving a free communal meal known as Langar.  The concept of `Langar' is a very old tradition of great importance for the Sikhs.  This tradition was started by the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak. It was designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people regardless of religion, caste, color, creed, age, gender or social status.  This was a revolutionary concept in the caste-ordered society of 16th century India where Sikhism began. In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of Langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community, inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind.

    Let’s now head to the Christian religious home.  I grew up Catholic and I felt I had some knowledge of this religion and food.  Communion.  The little wafer and a sip of wine that is given out in remembrance of Jesus Christ.   According to the Catholic faith, this wafer and wine is transubstantiated, actually becomes, the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  In Protestant Christian traditions, this wafer and wine is either though to be consubstantiated, that is, becoming the body and blood of Christ while still being wafer and wine, or is thought of more metaphorically, not actually changing.  The wafer and wine are used to remember Jesus, his wisdom and life.  But what is interesting to me is that this tradition of bread and wine didn’t really become part of the worship service in the Catholic Church until the time of Constantine around 313 CE.  

Sunday Service: Spiritual Practices - November 9th, 2014

Spiritual Practices  

By Reverend Tom Capo  

11/9/2014

 

As one of my spiritual practices, I read and reflect on a number of passages from different religious traditions.  Many of the passages I receive by email each day.  On October 26, I received this passage from Eknath Easwaran, the founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation: “Without a tank full of gas, no car can drive very far. The mind, too, needs a full tank of vitality to draw on for patience, resilience, and creativity. Filling that tank every morning is one of the most practical purposes of meditation. The test of your meditation is: How long can you be patient with those around you? In the beginning, you should aim to make it at least to noon acting like the proverbial angel.  Most of us, however, even if we start with a full tank, have little control over the thousand and one little pinpricks that drain vitality as we go along: worry, vacillation, irritation, daydreaming. By lunchtime the indicator may be hovering around empty.  Then it is that you have to be acutely vigilant. The tank is nearly empty, but by sheer effort and deft defensive driving, and using the mantram, you manage to coast through to the end of the day without any serious accidents.  The more effort you make, the more endurance you gain. The next day you may find the tank itself a little larger; you start the next day with a greater capacity for love and patience than before.” A spiritual practice, at least from my perspective, serves a number of purposes:  filling our vitality tank, grounding us in the truest part of ourselves, opening us up for enlightenment or deeper understanding of ourselves and the world, and connecting us to something greater than our own desires, needs, and feelings.

Ok, so, those are some purposes, but what the heck is a spiritual practice?  Well, let’s start with characteristics and then consider a definition that might be useful, that might help us to decide what spiritual practice we could incorporate into our lives or what characteristics we might add to our current practices.