Be Not Frogs!

And Other Lessons in the Pursuit for a Rational Religion

A Sermon Delivered by

The Rev. Thomas Schmidt

at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcountry

September 23, 2007

A few days ago, I was walking around our grounds here, as I often do.  For me it is a form of meditation.  I walk, and think and can often be found talking to myself.  I imagine if a stranger saw me, they might think that I was having a conversation with god and of course, who am I to argue with that logic.  However, if it is god I am talking to, and not merely myself, I sincerely wish the responses were more in keeping with human norms and far less vague.  

Is it too much to ask for just one plain yes or no response? 

The case in point, when I was walking the other day behind the building, near our little retention pond, I was talking to myself, trying to piece together ideas for this weeks sermon,  and as I approached a little closer to the pond than usual, I heard several small splashes and as I looked I saw several more critters splashing into t the water.  Upon further investigation, I discovered that we have any number of frogs living in our pond, ranging in size from the barely visible, (barely visible to me without my glasses) to the significantly more visible, but none Jumping Frog of Calaveras County big I’m afraid. 

After that little discovery, it was some time before I remembered why had been walking and talking to myself to begin with.  Those poor frogs, even though I had not come closer than seven or eight feet, they were alarmed enough to seek the safety of the water. What was I thinking about? The bigger frogs with the better hiding places, were able to wait until I was only a few feet away, but still they sought the same safety. What was I talking to myself about?  And if I made that same walk everyday, it is most likely they would, given the same circumstances, do exactly the same.   

Ah, there is  my thought.  Humans are not frogs.  We can choose to follow our natural survival instincts, fight or flight, or choose to not follow those instincts.  We can choose to act upon our emotional responses, or to control our emotional responses even under the imminent threat of violence or death.

No, that is a new thought and has nothing to do with liberal Christianity.  I was walking and talking about early Unitarian thought in Romania and Poland.  I was thinking about what those traditions have in common with modern Unitarian Universalism and other modern liberal religions.  I was thinking about  the three things that all those traditions seem to have in common, Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance.  

Back into the office, time to work on something else. I still need a “Centering Thought” for the order of service.  I find this quote by Emerson and think, that will work: “Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of the prophets. He saw with an open eye the mystery of the soul. Drawn by its severe harmony, ravished with its beauty, he lived in it, and had his being there. Alone in all history he estimated the greatness of man.”

Bang, there it is.  Now I understand what those frogs have to do with liberal Christianity, with liberal religion in general.  My heart is pumping at fast at this point and my stubby little finger can’t move fast enough to type my thoughts into the computer.  The three elements common to all forms of liberal Christianity, liberal religion, are Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance.  

And that is exactly what Jesus was trying to teach his disciples.  And If I were to sum up his entire message, it would be this simple statement, “Be not frogs.”   

That is so simple, but there it is, “be not frogs.”  Now that I think about it, that is the core of all the great spiritual teachers of the past Confucius, Buddha, Tao Tzu, they were trying to say it as well.  they were all saying essentially the same thing, But unfortunately none so simply, and might I say, eloquently as “Be not frogs.”  Why hadn’t I seen this before? If you think I am at all kidding and in anyway being derogatory, then please reconsider.  I am most serious and I am most sincere in my gratitude to the teachers of the past.  However, I am a little disappointed that they could not boil their own message down so simply and so eloquently as “be not frogs!”

Now, a little explanation.  What makes us not frogs but our rational mind.  Because we can reason, we are unique among the worlds animals.  Now, please do not equate my use of the word reason with logic, as is often the done.  The ability to think logically is a factor of our reason, but it is not the whole of it.    Reason, as I use it, is that which allows one to transcend the often overwhelming power of our emotions and natural instincts.  Take for example fear.  Fear is likely the most basic of our instincts.  A healthy fear of being eaten by predators served our ancestors well and still works well when real physical danger is a possibility.  However, because of this large collection of neural cells at the front of the brain which allows us to reason, 

unlike frogs, we can choose to override that instinct.  

Consider the non violent  actions taken as part  of India’s fight for independence, and nonviolent actions taken in our country's struggle of Civil Rights for all Citizens.  To sit, stand or march unprepared and unwilling to defend the body from imminent danger, in full knowledge of the very real and very probable use of violence by the opposition,  is made possible because of reason.  Our instinct is to run or hit back,  fight or flight.

We know that Dr. King was a student of Gandhi and based much of his own teachings about nonviolence on Gandhi, but where, we might ask,  did Gandhi get the idea.  He, according to his own writing, credits two pieces of literature for the idea.  One is Henry David Thoreau’s essay ‘”Resistance to civil disobedience” and the other is the Bible, more specifically the gospels and most specifically the sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth. The lessons he learned from both men could be summed up thus, “be not frogs!”

These are some the words Thoreau actually used to express that same sentiment. He wrote:  

I have paid no poll-tax for six years.  I was put into a jail once on this 

account, for one night; and, as I stood considering the walls of solid stone, 

two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron, a foot thick, and the 

iron grating which strained the light, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if I were mere flesh and 

blood and bones, to be locked up.  . . .  I saw that, if there was a wall of 

stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one 

to climb or break through, before they could get to be as free as I was.  . . .   

In every threat and in every compliment there was a blunder; for they 

thought that my chief desire was to stand the other side of that stone wall.  

I could not but smile to see how industriously they locked the door on my mediations, which followed them out again without let or hindrance, and 

they were really all what was dangerous.  As they could not reach me, they 

had resolved to punish my body. . ..

And What did Jesus say that impressed Gandhi so much, well, likely we have all heard the words before but like most, have missed the deeper meaning hidden just below the surface. 

In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5 verse 38, Jesus is reported as saying, “As you know, we once were told, “An eye for any eye and A tooth for a tooth.”  But I tell you: don’t react violently against the one who is evil: when someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other as well.”    Scholars have shown us that in the time of Jesus, it was Roman custom to slap a slave or any person of lesser status with the back of the right  hand and a person of equal or greater status with the palm of the right hand.  Using the left hand would have been completely taboo and without question unacceptable.   To slap a person on the left cheek would require a person to use either the back of the left hand, a taboo, or the palm of the right hand, an act reserved for equals.”  

To resist as Jesus recommended requires two things, first is to recognize one’s own potential to not act from instinct, from emotion.  Because of reason, we can choose to not respond in kind when we are slapped. (be  not frogs!)  The second requirement, is that we recognize the same potential in the person doing the slapping (That person is not a frog either).   

Because of Reason, we are freed to choose to act  from our emotions and instincts or to not act. This is not saying that emotions are necessarily bad and should be avoided.  It is only saying that emotions, when acted upon without forethought and due diligence, can and does often lead us into undesirable circumstances.  

When Jesus forgave his tormentors and killers, he did so from this place of rational thought, that recognized their shared humanity.  He recognized that in his pain and suffering, he was actually more free than those that would see him suffer. Reason, leads to freedom, freedom leads to tolerance.  Be not frogs!  Our capacity to reason frees us from slavish dependence on our emotions and desires and allows us to see the same potential in all people.  When, because of reason we know that we are more than the needs and desire of the body, we come to realize our own inherent worth and dignity. When, because of reason, we recognize our own inherent worth and dignity, we are free to see that same inherent worth and dignity in all people and all living things.   As Emerson pointed, out, Jesus saw this great potential in the human animal but I don’t necessary think that he was the first.  Unfortunately, those that followed Jesus did not fully understand his message or found it too difficult and in turn, chose to worship Jesus rather than emulate him.  It is most unfortunate for human history that this is the case, but for those willing to look past the language of deification that was added after the fact, as Emerson and Gandhi managed to do, and countless others as well for that matter, there is a rich store of spiritual wisdom waiting to be discovered. It has been the rational interpretations of those texts that have lead to the development of liberal religions throughout history, including our own.

Reason, Freedom, and tolerance, for those that would control and destroy the world, these are the most dangerous of truths. For those that seek domination, it most often begins by appealing to our base instincts.  Quite frankly, those that seek to control and dominate would have us jump into the pond at even the slightest of threats.  They would have us forget our human potential, have us deny our rational mind, and act with no more discretion than frogs.

So let it be shouted from every mountain top,  let the words be spread across the land, Be not frogs!