Do You Remember Chad?

Sermon Delivered

By

Reverend Nancy Bouchard

October 26, 2008

Nearly two months ago I selected the title for this morning’s sermon, “Do You Remember Chad?” As election day fast approaches I was remembering the weeks that followed the 2000 elections. Suddenly there was a new buzz word and all of its derivatives, hanging chads, swinging chads, tri-chads, and dimpled chads (also known as pregnant chads).

LOTS of ENERGY was spent on chads. Not that it was unwarranted to demand integrity of our election process but the turmoil left many feeling disaffected, apathetic, hopeless and angry for a long time. Some of us lost sight of our principles and many lost sight of something basic, the future is a process not a single event.

In a couple weeks we will again be confronted with only one of two opposing forces prevailing. We are in community with some who will be celebrating and others who will agonize over the defeat. Are you prepared to be compassionate and thoughtful in words and actions with people you don’t agree with?

Two conversations followed my sermon topic selection both pertinent to discussion about how we live our principles, how we see the future and the challenge of walking the walk and talking the talk.

The first conversation I consider to be the epitome of future, it was selection of today for the dedication and naming of the Oran Michael Prentice. Kelly and Michael are fairly new members determined to raising their son in an environment of acceptance, compassion and justice. We are now part of Oran’s journey and protectors of his future.

Then our very hard working RE Committee approached me about Reverse Halloween. Once they told me all about it, I was on board: Reverse Halloween would provide all of us an excellent opportunity to learn about the issues of child labor, the exploitation of cocoa farmers and the breech of promises by chocolate manufacturers to pay fair prices for their product.

Ahh,.so many things to talk about and so little time! Sometimes on sermon writing days, there are a lot of things to weave together. Remember the pot holders we used to make as kids? We had a small plastic frame and a bag full of multicolored stretchy loops. We were supposed to put them together in such a way that a pattern emerged.

My sister and I were prolific potholder producers. My mom received a new pot holder regularly and each and every time she acted like it was the BEST pot holder ever, whether it had a clear pattern or not, and then she added it to her collection of 50 or so.
Themes sometimes come in these peculiar fashions for all of us. Sermon writing in an active church like ours has a lot in common with the task of working out any sort of pattern. How do we learn our lessons in life but through a series of encounters, some welcomed, others welcome but awkwardly unplanned and some very much unwelcome? AND we sort them out, use the old creative juice to juggle and add them to our stack of experiences.

Sometimes a bit wiser as a result.

Each of today’s subjects – “”chads”, a child dedication and Reverse Halloween - remind me how diverse are the lives we live, the people we know, and the many sudden turns in our perspective on our relationship to the larger world.

For example, before the RE Committee had talked with me about Reverse Halloween, I was already set for El Dia de los Muertos. I have 12 pounds of Halloween candy (minus the few pieces I bribed the choir with) ready to give to any monster, witch, grim reaper, or Sponge Bob Square pants who comes to my door saying “Trick or treat.”

I shopped for candy with one thing in mind…the unit price. With an addition $2.00 off, I walked away a proud consumer. I now realize I may have saved money, but because I was uninformed, I didn’t shop my principles.

Here’s what I didn’t know before I learned about Reverse Halloween. Nearly half of the 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate eaten annually is consumed by U.S. chocolate fiends, mostly at Halloween. That in itself is not a source of shame. (In fact the benefits of chocolate are highlighted quite often in medical journals) But the human cost of chocolate production will prompt me to be a different consumer in the future.

The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture reports the Ivory Coast of West Africa is the world's largest cocoa producer, providing 43% of the world's cocoa. Nearly 300,000 children work on Ivory Coast cocoa farms, many of them having been sold into child labor. Far more than half of them are under age 14. They work the fields from 6:00 in the morning until 6:30 in the evening. They spray pesticides, apply insecticides, and swing machetes. This is very dangerous work even for adults.

These children will never see the inside of a school house. They will never read a book or attend a movie. They will never eat a nutritious diet, or have dental or health care. Many will become HIV infected and most will die long before their time.

Now, this information is NOT about guilt. (I haven’t thrown out my 12 pounds of candy.) IT is about EDUCATION, about choices we make and about empowering us as consumers to hold manufactures and retailers accountable for the products they sell to us.
May this information make us all the more grateful for all the opportunities our little Oran will have. We long to make safety and health, good schools and education available to all children. We can't work for change unless we know what needs changing.

Elizabeth Lain Schell DRE from the Brooklyn Unitarian Society said it well. "If we do not start educating our youth about the connections of social activism, economic justice, and the day-to-day decisions they make in life (even the candy bar they buy at the corner store), then how can we ever expect to transform our world?" The RE Committee has purchased these cards with a piece of fair trade chocolate and some talking points. I hope you will consider being a beacon of information by sharing the cards and MAYBE the chocolate. This action may be a step towards what DRE Schell means by “transformation.”

In my mind our 5th principle “the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process are extremely important to transformation. UU Minister Rev. Parsa said it this way “The democratic process and freedom of conscience are about much more then voting…
We who live in a democracy are constantly asked... “will I act as if I am connected to something greater and therefore as if my…actions are significant or will I act as if I am separate and my actions are of no consequence. When at odds with the community’s decision, will I walk away in a huff? Or will I adhere to the “freedom of conscience which demands fidelity...faithfulness, even in disagreement…”

Fidelity, inherent worth whether you are conservative, liberal, Christian, atheist, transgender, celibate, poor or rich, likable or curmudgeon. By any label we can define… the future we promise to Oran, and the children of the world…

we ALL belong,
we ALL deserve respect,
we are ALL worthy.
And we are ALL part of the whole.

And, in this, a spiritual community is being part of the whole; it means responsibility… be it in the form of a child dedication, Reverse Halloween or remembering “chad”; and the annoying but powerful principle right of conscience.” Fidelity, especially post election!!

Blessed Be, Shalom, Om Namah Shivia, Amen