By

Elmer Gillette

In February 1966, David Bryan, your pastor, was one of the first visitors to enter our home. He didn’t just invite us to worship, he said that this church wanted us as part of your family in Christ.

This certainly was made clear that first Sunday with the enthusiastic greetings from the Gelands and the Burch’s. This congregation did become our family and support for many years.

We were invited to join a Sunday school class taught by Vivian Umbarger and the choir.

That October, this church honored me with the responsibility of becoming the Scoutmaster of Troop 7.

As I look back on my life’s journey, two of the spiritual pillars still leading me are the Boy Scouts of America, mainly Troop 7, and this community of faith.

That is why it is such an honor to be here today, again feeling that overwhelming openness and love. To celebrate with you 125 years of loving service to humankind. Torch bearers for our teacher, Jesus.

These pillars have taught me that each of us must follow our own given path. That the only God we can know is the one that speaks to each of us from within.

Vivian Umbarger had an exceptional way of teaching me this by taking each class member’s diverse views and weaving a golden thread of agreement and similarity through those views. Her unique ability taught us to see that we were all going in the same direction.

Yet this is very difficult to do. It is so easy to spend so much time and energy finding ways that we are different that we don’t have any time left to see how many ways we are the same.

Vivian, may we look at the similarities in the Scout Oath and Law and the Shema?

In the gospel of Mark, a scribe asks Jesus what was the greatest commandment. Jesus quoted a part of the Shema that this man and all Jews pray every day.

Shema: Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. [Deut. 6, 4/5] Jesus goes on, quoting Leviticus [19:18b] So we must love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus taught us to look at things in a different way. What I hear him saying is this: since God is One, meaning, all there is – Creator and created – all there is means, trees, rocks, buildings, sky, grass, bird, animals, human kind, the universe. Everything is part of the One/ Whole.

Saint Francis of Assisi would say all brothers and sisters.                        [TOP]

As his holiness, the Dalai Lama would say, "Each of us is a part of us".

Does it really matter how or where we worship or what name we use for "All there is"? Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Judaism, Muslim, Christian, Universe, Collective Mind, or what we call God; Ala., Buddha, Spirit, Brahman, Creator, Jesus, and Elohim. God created all of us with the desire to search for enlightenment/truth/love.

Does it matter whether we are black, white, brown, tan, have black hair, blonde, none?

Does it matter if some have different sexual beliefs?

Or different beliefs in creation?

The chair of the Kansas City Interfaith Council states that, "religious diversity is not a problem to be solved but a gift to be shared."

If any of this makes sense, could there only be one race on this planet? The human race.

The principles in the Shema, written thousands of years ago are similar to the principals embodied in the Scout Oath and Law written less that 100 years ago.

On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the scout law. To help other people at all times. To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

The Boy Scouts of America started February 8^th 1910. Troop 7 started under the leadership of Scoutmaster Lyman E. King in September 1920. Each young man since that time has memorized, repeated and taken this Oath just like young Jewish men have memorized and prayed the Shema.

The principals embodied in the Scout Oath include:                                  [TOP]

Duty to God/Love. The foundation of the Scout Law is a scout is reverent. My Scout handbook published in 1948 states under " a scout is reverent" and in part, "It is your duty to respect other people for their beliefs…to train yourself to respect others for what they do instead of being influenced by their color or creed".

The book " One River Many Wells", by Matthew Fox shows us the similarities of beliefs or creeds in many religions.

Duty to country. But what is our "Country"? Our grandson, Brandon Gillette, taught Shirley and I a lesson on what country is in today’s world when he asked, "haven’t people seen a picture of earth taken from space?" There are no boundaries! In today’s world we can’t afford boundaries, if the human race is to survive!

Boundaries cause conflicts and conflicts can not end around us until conflict ends within us.

One way to end conflict from within is to spread love not hate, peace not war, compassion not indifference.

To look into the eyes of each person and embrace him or her with unconditional, nonjudgmental love.

To do something to correct the injustices in the world? Our country?

Jesus talked with the lowly, women, Samaritans, and tax collectors. Jesus was not white, blue eyed and blonde. He was only one thing. The essence of our Creator’s love.

Aren’t we all neighbors?

So what is love of neighbor? To help other people at all times?

Chuck Marsh taught me this when he would pray the offertory blessing the gifts given, many times he would also pray for the money we kept for our own use: that all would be given for the glory of God. The love of humanity, of neighbor.

When Harlan Lundry taught me this when he gave of his time to make Troop 7’s trip to Colorado a success, He was helping the youth of this troop.

When Jan Keeler told Shirley and I about a young minister we might want to meet, Michael Stephens, she was thinking only of our spiritual growth, not the growth of Longview Chapel, her church. Helping others.                                          [TOP]

And look at the example of love at the north end of this complex. Housing and a better quality of life for our seniors. Love of neighbor.                    

Sometimes the most difficult challenge is to Love self; to keep mind, body and spirit wholesome.

There is a Sufi story about a little stream that grew until it became an important river. Then it came to the desert and was absorbed by the sand.

The old and wise desert, feeling the exasperation and fear of this great river losing its identity and control whispered to the river. Let the wind, which blows across me every day carry you over me.

"But if I do I’ll loose my identity."

Well, if you don’t you will just be a marsh, so you will still lose you identity.

Giving myself up to the wind is very scary; I’ll loose control. Where will the wind take me or will it release me?

That you will have to take on faith.

After pondering its fate, the great river gathered its courage and faith and surrendered to the wind. It was carried a long distance. Then the wind released it and it became the part of an even greater stream but now, no longer cared about its own identity because it had over come such fear and its ego. Now it realized this was what it was created for.

What are we created for? Is it be possible us to give up our identities, prejudices, egos.

Is it possible for us to live the Shema prayer and the Scout Oath to an even higher level, and allow the wind or spirit to carry us to a greater place where fear, differences and egos are erased by unconditional and radically inclusive Love?

No longer having to have our own way but allowing others with different paths of belief to travel beside us.

The Scout Oath, the Shema and this church became my desert of wisdom.

This church celebrating 125 years of service. Troop 7 spanning 85 years of service to boys.

Will this wisdom continue to grow into an even greater desire for Peace, Love, and Compassion for all of humanity?

Can we greet others with the meaning of the Sanskrit word Namaste; the God in me honors the God in you?

Prayer:

Creator God, Creating still, with will and word and deed. Create a new humanity to meet the present need.

And so it is! Amen

Namaste, brothers and sisters of the human race, Namaste                        [TOP]