Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign: The Ethical Society

Sunday is my day of devotion.
And not just the part of the day I spend at church.
No, the whole day.
I have chosen this day as the day I will:
Watch carefully for signs
Be open to new things
Have an adventure
Listen closely
Wait patiently
Look for God
Stick to the plan but follow my heart

And every Sunday, without fail, there are signs. EVERYWHERE. Every Sunday, without fail, there are lessons and adventures. Every Sunday, without fail, I find a connection to God. Every Sunday, without fail, my understanding of God, myself, you, the universe, and this journey changes.

I listen to NPR because I'm intelligent and kind of a hipster and nerdy and enjoy the soothing deep voices that are drawn to radio talk shows. During my Sunday drive after church a man, with a lovely voice, was talking about traveling and pilgrimages. He said people often embark on a pilgrimage when they are trying to get over something painful and want to find something good. He said on a pilgrimage people take a journey that often involves religious exploration and placing yourself outside of your comfort zone. Oh, kind and faithful readers, your humble narrator had a moment of insight and clarity. Most Sundays I rise and question what the hell I'm doing and why. I've called it a "journey". I've said I'm "searching for something". But it wasn't until this moment that I was given a word that fully describes what this is really about. I am on a pilgrimage.

I stole this pic. I couldn't capture the true beauty of these rainbow
windows. Plus it wasn't sunny enough. Pretty place, eh?

On this rainy St. Patrick's Day I found a treasure at the end of the rainbow...The Ethical Society of St. Louis. A church with rainbow windows? I'm sold.

I'm all about holiday spirit, so naturally I wore my green and white polka dot dress to church along with my cowgirl boots and black cardigan. Due to the rain, I was sporting my oh-so-chic Gilda Radner hair. I found my way to the visitors table. Most places have some little section where visitors can get information and meet someone who will answer their questions, etc. A lady asked me to fill out a name tag. As always, I smiled, wrote down my name and then hid the badge in my purse as soon as she was out of view. I was given an envelope of visitors information which was perfect because I neglected to do any research about The Ethical Society. Now I had 10 minutes to educate myself.

The Ethical Society of St. Louis. Cool building.

What I Learned About The Ethical Society During The 10 Minutes Before The Service Started:

1. Ethics is the religion of The Ethical Society.
2. The Ethical Society is affiliated with Ethical Humanism, but welcomes all religious backgrounds including atheists.  
3. They believe in the worth and dignity and uniqueness of all persons. (We are all special snowflakes)
4. They believe we are all part of the earth and therefore must cherish it and all life on it. (Lots of vegetarians and vegans.)
5. They believe in the freedom to choose and question.
6. They believe in interrelatedness. We are all connected.
7. The Ethical Society/Ethical Humanism in nontheistic, but that doesn't necessarily mean members don't believe in "God". The believe in an ethical "God"? Hmm....

Okay. Service is starting.

Sidebar 1: I love signs. Love em. I'm always looking for signs, reading the signs and piecing the signs together to try to unlock the mystery of what the universe is telling me. Seriously. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I believe this crap with all my heart. It's exhausting, because signs are really confusing and easy to miss and easier to misinterpret. I chose my grad school because of a sign. I fell in love because of a sign. I started this journey because of a sign. It's deep, people.

Sidebar 2: I visited The Ethical Society before. When I was in grad school I did an internship at That Uppity Theatre Company (weirdest summer of my life - musical numbers about slavery, maybe slightly inappropriate lap dancing with a very kind disabled man and dealing with things way beyond my maturity level.) and the director was given an award from The Ethical Society so I attended her ceremony.

Anyhoo...

Okay, service. It's started. A group of people got up on stage and led us in a song, but a song unlike any song you've probably ever sung at a church service. It's called "The Rain Song". You use your voice and body to create the sounds of a rainstorm - blowing, snapping, clapping, slapping your legs, jumping, etc. It's one of the things we taught the Missouri School for the Blind children when I was interning at That Uppity Theatre Company. Yup, that's some kind of sign, though I have no idea what it means. The song was a blast though. Little old ladies howling like wind, stomping their feet and prancing around like monkeys - at the end animals come out because the rain is over. Everyone was laughing. It was sweet.

This picture doesn't do it justice.

Have you ever seen geese fly in a V across the sky? It's amazing. One time I was coming home from a crap day at work and saw literally hundreds of geese in multiple V formations flying across the sky. It was breathtaking. It was also a sign.

After our rain song a woman got up and talked about why geese fly in formation. The uplift from the V creates a benefit for the birds behind one another and they can fly up to 71% faster than when they fly alone. When the leader gets tired another goose comes to take her place. The geese in the back honk continuously to encourage the ones up front to keep going. If something happens to a goose, sickness or injury, two geese fly down with her to keep her safe or wait with her until she dies. Then they rejoin the group - leading, trading places, and encouragingly honking until they reach their destination together.

That's the power of working together. That's the power of friendship. That's the power of nature. That's the power of love. (Cue Hewy Lewis song).

Nature gets this stuff. I can picture sitting and having a smoke with a very intelligent goose and her just being like, "Duh, Sarah. We all want to get somewhere warm. Why not help each other out? It's not rocket science." We are part of nature too. Why can't we tap into our collective power the way Geese do?



Service continued with a classic looking professor - silver ponytail, mismatched outfit, comfy shoes, flask in pocket (seriously) - who gave a talk on war. Of course, geese help each other. We kill each other. Way to go people! Hooray humanity! His talk was very intellectual and mentioned a lot of historical facts about war that I must admit I was not familiar with. My mind was still in Gooseland.

 



This is the ceiling of the auditorium. Isn't it beautiful?

The group that did the rain song, Occupy Ethical, got up and did a very cool drum song. I really enjoy drums. I've wanted to find a good drum circle. Sometimes at work I will start making beats and my kids will come along and create complimenting ones or bust out raps. After one such moment my kid turned to me and in all seriousness said, "Sweet jam session Ms. Sarah." Kids. During the drumming they took a collection for a charity. Guess what charity would be receiving the money from that offering? That Uppity Theatre Company. Why was I being reminded of that bizarre experience that I seldom like to talk about???

Ah, yes. Ladies and gentlemen, now I remember. Geese. Uppity. Interrelatedness.

During that time, I cut off all my loved ones. I barely spoke to my friends and when I did I was angry with them. I was angry because they didn't understand how difficult things were for me. They didn't understand, because I didn't tell them. I was flying solo. Well, trying to. And it was fucking awful.

 

Needing other people scares me. The one thing I prize most about myself is my independence. Though I suppose there's only so much you can accomplish on your own. Sometimes you need someone to give you a little lift. I'm lucky to have an expansive formation of family and friends backing me up. I just need to be honest about when I'm tired of carrying it on my own and need the gaggle to give me a little assistance.


Service ended with handshakes and introductions. Everyone was very friendly. I noticed one of the clerks from Target was a member. Yup, I frequent Target so often I know the staff. I spoke briefly with a few people, but had lunch plans and had to skedaddle.

After lunch I called up my dear friend Rebecca and explained that I was in bad need of fun and company. We watched The Craft and ate chocolate and drank wine and talked and laughed and I got some place sunnier much faster than I would have all on my own.

Um, so...I have this friend Kon and we sometimes make silly videos for each other. It's a fun thing to do. So, well, I made her this video of a puppet singing "Thank You For Being A Friend", you know, The Golden Girls theme (but actually an Andrew Gold song from the 70s). It's ridiculous, but so am I. I thought I'd share it, because 1. It's good for a laugh and 2. It's my small acknowledgment to all of you who have lifted me up during this journey and all the journeys before. Thanks friends. Enjoy this very random gem!

 

I like the Humanist perspective and I enjoyed their service. I like the concept of living by ethical standards, treating people with dignity, valuing the earth, learning from each other and putting a focus on building relationships with people. I agree with all of that, but there was something missing from the service for me personally. I can only describe it as God.

TTFN. Ta-Ta For Now. ♥ (that's from Winnie the Pooh by the way)