Kittens and Puppies

This morning, my church graciously allowed me to speak. Here is what I said......

'I would like to thank Sharon for the special music this morning. I’d like to thank Eric for helping me with the slide show presentation. Thanks to Dan for providing sound for the service. And thanks to all of you who turned on lights, made coffee, brought treats, distributed Orders of Service. It truly takes a village of volunteers to get a church service going.

                I thank you for being here this morning. Truly, I thank you for being here, in this sanctuary, with the rest of us, this morning. We all come for different reasons, but somehow we ended up here, together, this morning. Perhaps it’s as simple a reason as you agreed with the words of our Covenant, and thought you’d stay around to see what else you might agree with. Perhaps you came for the music, perhaps you came for your children. No matter why you’re here, I’m grateful for the time you’re giving us.

                A few weeks ago, Dianna spoke on the First Principle Project, and began the dialogue in this congregation by asking, “What is a BEING?” Because the First Principle Project would like to expand the current First Principle of Unitarian Universalism from its current form: “The inherent worth and dignity of every person.” to “To affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every BEING.” It was a wonderful, thought-provoking service, and Kat Braz even got our kids thinking about the topic. Kat got an interesting response to her questioning of the youth from one young guy whose Legos come alive (in his imagination).   

                For me, Dianna’s sermon dove-tailed nicely with the discussion the UU Book Group had had in May, prompted by the reading of the book Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel. In this novel, Beatrice and Virgil are characters in a play written by an elderly taxidermist. Beatrice is a donkey, and Virgil is a red howler monkey. As you read the novel, you discover, as does the main character, Henry, that these animals are a central piece of the re-telling of stories of the Holocaust. At the end of the book are a series of moral dilemmas called “Games for Gustav”—each of the “games”, the moral dilemmas, are straight out of the history books—they were those faced by ordinary people under the Nazi regime. The book is filled with powerful images, and is hard to read at times. But I found it so very eye-opening. Every one of us has read many, many, many things about the Holocaust. For me, it’s hard to fathom that so many people were killed, but when Yann Martel uses animals to tell the same stories, I CAN imagine the horror.  Odd, isn’t it? And being a good Unitarian Universalist, I spent a lot of time thinking about its’ truth and meaning. 

                I thought about it, and then, of course, I decided to bring my thoughts to you.

                So, just what is it about kittens and puppies?

                I’ve noticed something interesting happening on the internet. Kittens and puppies, cats and dogs are REALLY popular. Not a day goes by that I don’t see a cute puppy video, or a cat making a face and a tagline appearing underneath that expresses some sentiment perfectly. PERFECTLY. I look, I laugh, and I agree or disagree. But, by using a cat or a dog to express the opinion, I find myself more likely to look, to notice, what someone has to say. Human babies work too, but there’s just something about that cute little puppy with its’ pink belly and funny little tongue.

                Oh, to be sure—this is not a new phenomenon, nor is it just an internet thing. Advertisers have been using kittens and puppies forever! Who can remember the old Coppertone ad, with the dog pulling on the cute little girls’ swim trunks, revealing her tan line? Or the more violent image from the 1973 cover of National Lampoon magazine, with the tag line, “If you don’t buy this magazine, we’ll kill this dog?”              

                There’s just something about kittens and puppies! I’m really glad the local animal shelters have found out what works—“Animal mobiles” to street festivals? Works. Photos in the newspaper? Works. Photos on Facebook of the cuteness? Oh my goodness! Works! [As an aside, friends of mine just fostered a kitten that had to have a leg amputated. When I asked if it could ever be adopted with just 3 legs, they assured me that it would be quickly adopted—they said people will more willingly adopt an animal like that, because they fear nobody else will want it.] Local animal shelters have found that you can SAY you have dogs and cats, kittens and puppies available for adoption, but when you post a photograph? People respond—it’s hard to ignore those furry faces! Animal shelters have also found that, if an animal in their care requires surgery, if they post a photo on Facebook with a note about what is needed to help Mr. Mason the Dalmatian, they’ll get some much-needed money. I don’t fault them at all; if it works, and helps a few animals out, I’m all for it.

                Yes, there’s just something about those kittens and puppies.

                When preparing to do this service, I decided to conduct a little experiment. I was fairly certain what would happen—so certain that I typed these words into my notes a full three days before today! I prepared a slide show, with photos of congregants…and kittens and puppies. The slide show ran before the service (don’t worry, Eric will restart it after the service too). Sure, you enjoyed seeing everyone’s smiling face, but you really reacted to those kittens and puppies!

                There’s just something about those kittens and puppies. Our youth, during the Time for All Ages, knew a lot about the animals in the photos, but struggled when asked about the people holding those photos….they too fall under the spell of kittens and puppies of all species. It’s just human nature.

                One last example—at home, is it easier to ignore your significant other or your cat or dog? You don’t have to say the answer out loud—I don’t want to start anything here today, just have you think! For me, if the cat is sitting anywhere near my keyboard, it’s got my attention….          

                Kittens and puppies and human nature. And who am I to argue with human nature?

                I’d like to propose a radical thought. I know UUs like radical thoughts!

                Think of us, in this church, as kittens and puppies. It’s really not so far-fetched, once I explain it.

                If you look around this room, or if you reflect on the images from the slide show, you will see many smiling faces. Friendly faces, eager faces, shy faces, tentative faces. Faces of beings who you might like to get to know, or who are interested in getting to know you. Interested in getting to know all about you? Because face it, we all came here this morning to be a part of a community. Just as kittens and puppies are welcomed in to our lives, we welcome each other in to this place.

                This place, this church, is a shelter. For some of us, it’s a place of safety, a sanctuary. If you’re like me, you find that this church is a haven—a place you come to because you know you will be accepted. If you are a minority of any kind, you know how precious acceptance can be. You know as well as I do that there are plenty of churches who will turn their backs on LGBT folks, on other races, and other religions. I have been cut off by family members because of my religion, and I know others who have been excommunicated from the church of their childhood because they no longer fit the mold. Can you imagine? I don’t think I can express the gratitude I have for this congregation, for all of you, who have been there for me no matter what.

                Perhaps you come to our church because you are looking for a refuge. There is so much ugliness in this world, so many words of hate and incivility thrown about, it’s a comfort to come into the peace of this sanctuary and experience the harmony and serenity of others. Perhaps you want, you need that peace, and the kindness of others, for your children. They can find that here. There are so many times my fellow humans cause me to despair. What kind of people are we? Then I come here, and my faith in humanity is often restored. I hear what people are doing, are thinking, are helping achieve in this world. My faith gets a boost.

                This shelter provides nourishment too! Spiritual nourishment, physical nourishment, and snacks, treats, tidbits—little nibbles that leave you wanting more. More thoughtful discussions, more spiritual exploration, more music, more religious education! More potlucks, more coffee, more communion with others. I have said before that I came to this church for my kids—I wanted them to be free to decide for themselves about their spirituality—yes, I came for them, but stayed for me! I have never ceased to be amazed by our religious education program. If you have children, be assured they will explore the religions of the world, will delve in to the Bible and its’ stories and teachings, will learn about the history of Unitarian Universalism, and will even plant a pizza garden. And, best of all, they can talk about human sexuality! I do not say that jokingly. Young teens, for the most part, would rather walk across hot coals than talk to their parents about sex (and sometimes, that feeling is mutual). Here in our church, we offer the Our Whole Lives curriculum—our youth can attend these classes, and find a safe place to talk about sexuality and, in return, get some correct and non-judgmental information. But our religious education is not just for the young—AREC—Adult Religious Education—offers numerous classes and workshops. NUMEROUS! (And maybe someday, there will be a human sexuality class for adults).

                Who can argue with the devotion of an animal shelter to the kittens and puppies of the world? Similarly, perhaps you support our church because you believe in the mission? I’ve talked to numerous people over the years who sheepishly admit that they don’t attend church as often as they could, but they still believe our church is an important, vital presence in the community. Perhaps you are like me, are like most people, and want this world to be a better place when we leave it. A wise person (by the name of Fritz Smith) once said to me—“I can’t give to every cause I want to. I cannot contribute to every charity. But I CAN contribute my money to this church, and I know this church will use it to do good things.” Think about the Unitarian Universalist commitment to social justice.  We support human rights and dignity for all, beginning locally—we are trying to make changes to our church building to make it “greener”, we have marched with others at Purdue for women’s rights, we have a table every year at OutFest, we are a part of Family Promise, we do Change for Change, we participate in LUM Jubilee, next month we are hosting the Monks, Rev. Charlie provides monetary assistance to those in need, our youth and others have trained to be leaders in the wider world, and on any given Sunday, meeting HERE, we speak the words of commitment to service.

                Yes, like our local animal shelter, filled with kittens and puppies, dogs and cats, our doors are open to those who need us. While there’s no strict policy for check-in, we do ask that you take the words of our covenant seriously, and try to follow our Seven Principles.

                But here’s the thing. We’re it. The only UU church for miles around. And, this church is here because of you. It is here because you have committed your time, talent, and money toward its’ existence. This church is here because you want it to be here; you BELIEVE it’s important to have this Unitarian Universalist Church in this community. We are here because we believe in this church, in its’ mission; we come through these doors, we commit ourselves to the Covenant every Sunday, because we believe it. If we didn’t believe it was important, the Unitarian Universalist Church on Meridian Street would be gone. Look around you. There is no other place, anywhere, where you will see us all gathered together. There is no other place, anywhere, where you can enjoy the things you enjoy here. Because you contribute, you pledge, our church exists. We don’t get funding from anywhere else but here. And our hopes, our dreams for our church depend upon you, and your hopes and dreams. Just as your hopes and dreams for the church depend upon the rest of us. We’re all taking a leap of faith together, and as I look around this room, the future is bright.

                So thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being here together."