Sermons

I'D LIKE TO start by giving the expanded title for this presentation. Instead of "Colorado Parables", the expanded title is "Unitarian Universalist Parables set in Pre-Statehood Colorado". That's a mouthful, so let's deconstruct that title.

We'll start with "pre-Statehood Colorado". That's easy. Take the current boundaries of the State of Colorado and set the action before 1876 when Colorado became a State. Next, a "parable" can be defined as a narrative using human characters with events that could happen. This contrasts with fables, myths, legends or fairy tales, which include animals, plants, inanimate objects, and/or forces of nature as characters. Parables also teach a straightforward moral or spiritual lesson. Well known parables of Jesus include The Prodigal Son and The Good Samaritan.

Lastly, a "Unitarian Universalist parable" differs from a typical parable in two important ways. 1) There is no straightforward moral or spiritual lesson - you search for your own truth and meaning; and 2) the living tradition we share draws from many sources; aspects of Buddhism, Christianity, Humanism, and Native American religions, to name a few, inspire but do not rule these stories.

Now the disclaimers. 1) These parables are fiction. Any resemblance to real persons or events is unintentional. 2) These parables are inspired by historical events, but as works of fiction are not intended to be 100% historically accurate. 3) I am the sole author of these parables. Please throw any rotten vegetables at me alone. Out of respect for our carpet, please wait until I have left the building.

Parable of the Gold Miners

In 1859 gold was discovered in what is now Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Like so many others, two brothers came west in hopes of striking it rich, then returning home to buy farms and raise families. They found a promising mining site, staked their claim, and built a log cabin along a beautiful mountain stream. In their second year of mining, the brothers discovered the mother lode. Day after day they hacked away at solid rock until they had as much gold as a mule could haul. The younger brother said, "Let's take our gold into town now." But the older brother said, "No. Once we cash in our gold, everyone will know we have a rich mine and ruffians will steal from us. We have two mules; let's go to town when we have two mule loads." The younger brother agreed, but added that, to be safe in the meantime, they should hide their gold.

They thought and thought, trying to come up with a safe hiding place. Finally, they came up with a perfect spot. Before dawn, so no one could spy on them, the brothers waded out to a small waterfall in the river. Behind the waterfall was a cave just big enough to hold their gold. So the brothers rigged up a pulley system between two trees on either side of the river and transferred the last of the gold just as the morning sun rose on the horizon.

The brothers returned to their mine, but as luck would have it, the gold ran out after just a short time. After several days of fruitless toil, the brothers decided they would load up their gold and belongings, go to town, then return east with their earnings under the protection of an armed guard. That afternoon, they went to the river to retrieve their gold. But to their dismay, they could not find the waterfall which hid their treasure.

In a panic, the brothers went to the cabin of their closest neighbor, Mr. Wu, a wise Chinese man, also a gold miner, whom they had come to trust and admire. They explained their problem, to which Mr. Wu replied, "Follow the Zen." "What does that mean?" asked the older brother. "Return to that place and time, and you will find your gold," said Mr. Wu. The brothers left. Although they felt the advice wasn't much help, they decided their friend was suggesting they retrace their steps.

The following afternoon, the brothers were much more deliberate in their search for the hidden gold. They repeated exactly what they did when they hid the gold. First they led the mule down the path from their cabin. Then they set up their pulley system, tying off to the same trees they had used before. But they could see no waterfall. They tried to follow the pulley to where the cave should be, and feel for a void, but the river seemed faster and stronger, and they could not find the gold.

The brothers returned to Mr. Wu to see if he had any more advice. He asked the brothers, "Did you follow the Zen?" "Yes." "Describe to me how you followed the Zen." The brothers told him how they retraced their steps and did everything exactly as when they hid their gold. "Where was the sun?" asked Mr. Wu. "It was afternoon, but what difference does that make?" cried the younger brother. Mr. Wu just shrugged.

To humor Mr. Wu, the brothers returned to the river just before dawn the next morning and to their astonishment, there was the waterfall! The brothers gave Mr. Wu a handsome reward and soon left Colorado with their gold, never to return. Technical note: The river was fed by snowmelt. Each day, the sun would melt more snow, so that by afternoon the river was swollen and flowing wildly. By dawn, the snow melt would abate and the waterfall would reappear.

Parable of the New Church

In 1859, a group of Hispanic farmers and ranchers came north into what is now Colorado's San Luis Valley. Along with them came a humble priest everyone called Father Miguel. At Father Miguel's insistence, the party included a mentally challenged man named Jose, who was to be the church custodian. One of the first things the settlers did was to build a church. Next to the church, a tiny wood and mud cottage was constructed as the priest's residence.

After a few years, the community had grown. Father Miguel had to expand to two Sunday services because the church was too small to hold everyone. Baptisms, weddings, and funerals were a real problem, because everyone wanted to attend and there wasn't enough room. So the community set to building a new bigger church next to the original one. It was agreed that everyone in the community would devote Saturdays to building the new church.

The next Saturday, the men gathered to begin building the church, while the women and children tended the farms and made lunch. The men noticed that Father Miguel was absent. Jose, the church custodian said, "Father Miguel always go to the forest on Saturday so he ready for Sunday. I work in his place".

As the construction continued for several Saturdays, the men began to complain that Father Miguel was never around for the hard work. Grumblings and whisperings increased, to the point that a replacement priest was being advocated by some. When the supply of donated building materials began to run low, the men began to dismantle the old church to build the new one.

One Saturday, the new church was finally completed. The men all congratulated themselves. The women and children joined them for a big celebration. Jose asked one of the men, "where is my room?" For in the old church, there was a small cellar room for Jose to live. But the old church had been completely dismantled and no one had thought of making a space for Jose in the new church. One man suggested that Jose could share the priest's residence, but when they looked they immediately realized there was no space for another bed. No one had a solution and by the time anyone noticed, Jose had wandered off.

Jose spent the night curled up on the ground, cold and miserable.

The next morning the entire community, including Jose, gathered in the new church. Father Miguel led an inspirational church service. After the service, several leaders of the community came up to consult with Father Miguel. They were no longer angry that the priest had not helped build the new church. They were distraught that they had not thought of Jose, who was loved by everyone, and who had served the community so well. Father Miguel smiled. "I have a surprise. Follow me. Everyone", he called out. They followed him into the forest and eventually came to a lovely cottage. Father Miguel said, "I have spent Saturdays building a new priest's residence. The forest has always been special to me. I feel closest to God when I am here. Come look Jose, there's a room for you in my house." Jose still looked miserable, but then a smile slowly emerged. "Can I have your old house?" asked Jose. "Well, I suppose", began Father Miguel, "but this room is much nicer than that smelly old shack". Jose simply responded "my place with the church".

Parable of the Water

In 959, in what is now southwestern Colorado, an Ancestral Puebloan tribe welcomed a new baby boy. As was the custom, the entire tribe came to the pit house to celebrate the birth of a baby. The medicine woman even declared that this baby was exceptional. About the time of this birth, the region was beginning to experience a prolonged drought. The people were perplexed. As they always had, the tribe paid tribute to the Thunderbird who sent rain from the sky. The tribe also performed the ceremonial dances to honor the ancestor spirits who lived below. Why was the rain never enough?

The baby boy grew up. A boy becomes a man of the tribe when he has his awakening, the revelation of what his special purpose will be. It came to him in a dream. He would bring water from the ground. If the ancestral spirits live beneath the ground, couldn't they directly send water up from the ground instead of asking the Thunderbird to drop water from the sky? So it was that he received his adult name "Groundwater Man". Groundwater Man was a true innovator. He fashioned a divining rod which told him where underground rivers were flowing. He developed tools for digging down to the groundwater. He built wells using hollow tubes and filtered the groundwater through gravel and sand. He developed a foot-powered siphon pump to pull water from the wells. And finally, he created an irrigation system to spread the water to the fields of beans, corn, and squash.

Even with the new groundwater wells, life was difficult for the tribe. Bringing water from the ground was extremely hard work. Crops had to be planted in smaller and more remote fields. And as the drought continued, wild game and wild plants became scarcer so the people relied more and more on their domestic crops. As the drought worsened, the wells began to run dry. Groundwater Man continued searching for new underground rivers and digging new wells. But they had to dig deeper and deeper to find water. A deeper well meant more work for less water.

Groundwater Man began to wish that the tribe would move to a new land where he could find shallower water. But how could he convince tribal leaders that they should leave this land which had been home as long as the tribe's oral history could remember? He sought council from the wisest person he knew, who happened to be his wife. He asked her this question.

"If I believe moving would be what is best for the tribe, would it be wrong to lie and claim inspiration from the spirits?" She nodded and said "you know the answer".