Sermon given by Marie Morey, August 7, 2022

One of the highlights of this past church year for me was the retelling of the David and Goliath story during A Time for All Ages when Rev. Frank portrayed David and Tori was Goliath.  It was a noteworthy performance by Rev. Frank and an illustration of the power differential in the war on Ukraine by Russian forces.  The David and Goliath story has always been one of my favorite Old Testament Bible stories especially after learning of the inner meaning of the story from a Swedenborgian philosophy perspective.  Emanuel Swedenborg was an 18th century scientist, theologian and mystic whose extensive writings and mystical experiences have influenced many people over the years—Helen Keller was a Swedenborgian as well as Johnny Appleseed and Swedenborg was read by the Transcendentalists and most well-educated folks of the19th century which was the heyday of Swedenborgianism. 

In Swedenborg’s teachings the Bible has an inner meaning as well as the literal story that most are familiar with.  Swedenborg used the term Correspondences to describe his system of reading the Bible and viewing the natural world.  Like the spirituality of many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Swedenborg saw nature as being the living connection between the earth and the spiritual world. The physical world is a representation of the spiritual world. They “correspond.” In the story of David and Goliath, David represents our journey of spiritual growth while fighting against our less than helpful tendencies, Goliaths or evils, that we are trying to overcome.  All those on a spiritual journey have “evils” they are fighting against—think of the oft-quoted “seven deadly sins” or perhaps your journey is about your desire to be a kinder, more loving presence in our world and what may be hindering your progress.  

Robert Frost was raised by a Swedenborgian mother and I often use his poem The Road Not Taken to illustrate Swedenborg’s teaching on the Bible.  When you read “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”, most folks see the two levels in the poem—the literal choice between 2 paths in the woods and the inner level of making life choices.  It wouldn’t matter if it was a “red” wood or 2 paths on a beach dune—the lesson remains the same.  Swedenborg’s contention is that the inner meaning of the Bible is more important than the literal story.  The Bible is not a science book or a history book or a weapon to be used to deny another’s worth but it is a story of the journey of a growing and transforming human spirit.  

The part of the David and Goliath story that I love is-- “Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.”  Stones correspond to “truths” or things we have learned and smooth stones mean truths we learned and have used to anchor our lives and overcome those Goliaths keeping us from being our best selves.  Just as running water smooths the stones, living your truths will embed them in your heart and strengthen your spirit.  In Swedenborgian philosophy truth is how we know love and love is what life is all about.  God is love and God transmits love to us through truths that teach us how to love.  Each of has each learned different truths at different times in our lives through our unique lived experiences, diversity is an intentional part of creation, but there are probably many classics you can think of—the Golden Rule; in the end, only kindness matters; one day at a time; love conquers all; we are all one.  David was able to bring down Goliath not with sword and shield but with faith grounded in lived experience of God’s care and love.  

When my boys were young, there was a little magazine put out by the Sunday School Association of the Swedenborgian Churches of North America and it was titled “Five Smooth Stones” with the purpose of helping children find their truths and feel connected to a loving God.  I loved this idea of collecting five smooth stones so I when we went to the beach or on vacation where there was water, I would collect 5 smooth stones.  A good reminder of the inner strengths I could use to overcome times of sadness or difficulties and a reminder of the joy that comes from living a spirit-filled life.  I have collections of all black ones, all white ones, different shapes, all the same shapes not unlike Mary Oliver.  I have been doing this for about 30 years.  My collection isn’t as clever as in the book from A Time for All Ages and I don’t always put them back as Mary Oliver promised her stones.  

I have a favorite story I like to tell about collecting the stones.  Ten years ago, my younger son got married to our lovely daughter-in-law in Kennebunk Maine.  We went for the weekend and stayed at the Seaside Inn right on Kennebunk Beach.  After we checked in on the first day, Ed and I went for a walk on the beach before the evening gathering dinner.  As we walked down the beach, I was not looking for 5 smooth stones, I was worrying and ruminating about the upcoming events and all the obstacles in the life of newly married couple.  As we approached where the Kennebunk River enters into the ocean, we climbed up onto the large granite stones that lined the riverway.  In the middle of some of these large stones were those small, shallow round blast holes you often see in these types of granite construction stones.  In one of the holes was---five smooth stones—five perfect white small stones!  I said “that’s mine, those were left there for me!”  What a wonderful reminder to stop and “be here now”!  Not only did I get the lesson I needed but I was reminded that everybody gets the spiritual lessons and help they need and I can let that worrying go.  Anybody can find their own five smooth stones to help them through life’s joys and sorrows.

So, what are my 5 current favorite “smooth stones”?  I thought I would share, remembering that as the journey continues, new stones help to anchor our days.  If you have spent any time with me, you might have heard some of them because I like short mantras.  

One of my favorite stones to go with our political times and the pandemic is “This too shall pass—it might be like a kidney stone—but it shall pass.”  I do believe “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” as Dr. Martin Luther King said.  Swedenborg put it as Divine Providence is at work in our world as in the creator spirit is always trying to bring the best and highest possible use out of all the seeming chaos in the earthly plane—that evils need to be exposed for good people to work to overcome them.  

A second smooth stone I find helpful is gratitude.  My mantra is “Wake at dawn with winged heart and be thankful for another day of loving” which is from Kahlil Gibran.  We have a lot to be grateful for and this mantra can start the day off on the right foot.  It’s not just another day of living but another day to love and be loved.

To go along with the gratitude stone, I like “Let us see the beauty everyday and source our lives from its presence.”  This mantra is great for lousy weather days, sub-optimum health days and scary news days.  This line is based on a poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer called The Invitation that was made into a simple song and sung as a round by Laurence Cole called Let Us See the Beauty.

 “I want to know if you can see the beauty 
even when it’s not pretty every day. 
 I want to know if you can see the beauty
 And source your life from its presence.” 

There is beauty every day—sometimes you have to look for it.

For smooth stone four, I especially like “Heaven is within.”  I don’t have a soul—I am a soul—I have a body—thank you body for being my vehicle in this earthly plane.  I am already whole—I am love, wisdom and usefulness in my innermost parts.  Heaven within.  It is my ego and busy life and worries that get in the way of feeling Heaven within.   I like this quote from my brother Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mitchell who is a Swedenborgian minister--“God is found within as well.  Every moment of inner peace, every moment of inner joy, every time we are graced to feel gratitude, or renewed hope, renewed inspiration, every time it is given us to love wisely a fellow finite human being—all these come to us from the God whose life flows into us from within.  To the degree that our hearts and our minds are open we come to realize that we are never alone but rather that we are always loved and invited to love in return.”  Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mitchell Theology Course session 2.  Helen Keller has an interesting perspective given her unique life, she said, “What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.”  “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”

My fifth mantra, “unlimited strength is given to those in the service of love”, is a corruption of a quote from Krishna Das— “Unlimited inner strength can only be awakened when it is in the service of love.”  When we first moved to Haverhill my father was alive and moved up here with us.  He loved our new little house and our neighborhood and went swimming in Plug’s Pond and liked to eat at Mr. Mike’s.  When we had only been here a couple months it became obvious that his metastatic colon cancer had returned.  He had 6 good years from when he had his chemo and radiation on the first return of his cancer and at age 87, he did not want to do any treatments and wanted palliative care and then hospice.  Ed and I said we would take care of him so he could stay at home with us and my mom.  Never having taken care of someone who was dying, it was a challenging but grounding experience in love and wisdom and usefulness—the Swedenborgian trifecta.   I had vaguely remembered reading the Krishna Das quote and used my version, “unlimited strength is given to those in the service of love”, to help me through.  I would repeat this to myself when needing strength.  He decided 5 days before his death that he wanted to go to the Hospice House in Haverhill to die and his journey quickened when he arrived.  On his final morning, I went very early and wondered what I would find—how would it be?  What should I do?  As I was walking down the quiet corridor, it came to me unbidden, as a voice within, “unlimited strength is given to those in the service of love”.  It was a peaceful death and we were there to say good-bye.  

I hope the next time you are at the beach or by the river, you get a chance to look for five smooth stones.  Think of what you have learned along the way and feel connected to the natural world.  Look for rocks that sing to you or ask the stones what they feel.  And remember “All that (and all those) we love deeply become a part of us.”