Saving and Savoring: Two Paths to a Good Life
Rev. Ted Tollefson
©February 1, 2009 @ UU Society of River Falls, WI
1. Prologue
Many Unitarian Universalist ministers have preached on this
topic. We do so out of gratitude and respect for James Luther Adams,
one of the great Unitarian Theologians of the 20th century. It
was Adams (affectionately known to his students as JLA) who said that
there were two paths to a good life: "saving and
savoring." I would add that both saving and savoring are natural
and necessary as breathing in and breathing out. They
are distinct but complementary. We need both for a
wholesome and meaningful life. Some of us may be more inclined to
save or to savor. Many of us seem to devote chapters of our life
story to savoring or saving. But they go together, like the two
fish circling each other in the Yin/Yang logo of Taoist sages.
2. The Path of Savoring
"Savoring" can be traced back to an Old English and Old French word
"sapore" which means the scent of, the sense of smell. Behind
this is a Hebrew word applied to freshly burnt offers when they
are "acceptable" or "delicious" to God. The Chinese have a
similar term "wok chi" for the scent emitted by food when it is "just
done" it emits a flavor/scent/energy to signal "come and get it!" or
"savor me now". Savoring is a scent/flavor/energy that is
delicious to both gods and humans. For many of us this
primary sense might begin with savoring Mom, mother's milk and the
whole unified field of sense and sensed. Hence Savoring is
unitive knowledge, primary delight, integrated-awareness before
reflection splits the field into subject/object, like/dislike,
I/thou. Zen Buddhists call this the "one taste" of Zen.
Western psychologists have called it "primary process" (Freud),
"peak experience" (Abraham Maslow), "the flow" (Mihaly
Csikszent) or entering "the Zone" (Andrew Cooper).
The poetry of Mary Oliver is an open invitation to bask in the field of sensory delight:
....light
is an invitation
to happiness,
and that happiness,
when it's done right
is a kind of holiness,
palpable and redemptive.
Inside the bright fields,
touched by their rough and spongy gold,
I am washed and washed
in the river
of earthly delight---
("The Poppies")
Many Zen stories point us back to a primary, pre-reflective field of
consciousness-body-senses-world. We enter this field most easily
through delight, wonder, amazement and joy. In mythological
terms, this can be represented by the tree that Adam and Eve seem to
have taken for granted or ignored: the unitive Tree of Life. Some
Zen masters have suggested that Biblical religion built its
fortress-like theologies around the wrong tree in
the Garden. Perhaps the easiest way to the "beginner's mind" of
Zen or the "natural mind" of Taoism is through the sacrament of
Savoring. When we sink into Savoring we can move with TE:
the effortless power, natural goodness and original grace that is
evident when people dance, embody love or do T'ai Chi.
There are countless examples of Savoring in our world. Our new
president, his family, friends and supporters were savoring a
low-awaited Change when the walked through the Inaugural and danced
into the night. Many couples experience a state of grace on their
wedding day: no matter how difficult or awkward the rehearsal, they and
their friends usually manage to shine when the Wedding begins.
Perhaps this is why the first miracle of Jesus took place at a Wedding
Feast: to celebrate the power which trans-forms the water of
embodied life into the wine of embodied love.
When we Savor, we-and-the-world are Enough---just right, just the way
it is. Nothing needs to added, subtracted, improved or changed.
"Everything that lives is Holy" says William Blake and Peter
Meyer. "Happiness done right is a kind of holiness" says Mary
Oliver. Yes!
Like any gift/state/trait, Savoring can become problematic.
Sometimes what brings us pleasure causes pain to others.
Sometimes we can get hooked by a certain kind of delight and the
seeds of addiction are sewn. If your family system is anything
like mine, you've seen/heard/felt the harm that addiction can do.
When we can't get enough of something and spend most of our lives
thinking about it, an all-consuming passion is born. If it
continues, our capacity for love and work and our health are diminished
or destroyed.
There are several levels of Savoring. As children many of
us focus on Quantity: more is better. This might be called
the indulgence of the senses. If we're lucky, we get too much of
something and learn the hard way about "Enough". A higher level
of savoring focuses on Quality: better is better. We learn the
difference between Hershey's chocolate and Lindt's. We learn that
Guinness is better than Bud or that there's more to tea than "orange
pekoe". This might be called the refinement of the senses.
Usually it is associated with learning how much is "Enough".
There is third level of Savoring that might be called the enlightenment
of the senses. We focus on Awareness. When we move beyond
holding on to pleasant sensations or turning away from unpleasant
sensations, all events are transparent to their true nature which is
lovely, interconnected, shining with joy. When we practice the
art of being-present (or mindfulness), "every piece of meat is the
best".
3. Interlude
Listen to a favorite piece of music, have a good cup or tea or coffee, savor some good chocolate or your favorite sweet.
4. The Path of Saving
Saving is the flip side of the cosmic coin, the light fish circle the
dark in the Taoist Yin/Yang. Some trace the origins of our word
"save" back to a Latin word, Salve, which was a greeting that meant to
wish someone well, to make something better, to rescue someone from
misfortune. Saving begins with the perception of imperfection and
action to make things better. The first time that Mom failed to
deliver milk on time, many of us cried out in pain, hoping to be
'saved'. Saving is rooted in a sense of discontent, a significant
gap between what is and what should be. The Biblical religions of
my childhood often interpreted this as evidence of Sin: we always fall
short, miss the mark, are filled with moral faults and
imperfections. I prefer to view the gap between Is and Ought as
proof of a uniquely human power: to always be able to imagine a
better world, self, community, spouse or sermon than the one we are
experiencing now. Last time I checked, human beings are the major
gateway through which moral values enter our universe. As
Adrienne Rich writes in a poem in memory of a female mountain climber
who perished in a storm:
"We were not born to settle for less.
We have dreamed of this all our lives".
[Fantasy for Elvira Shetayev]
The ancient Hebrews called this impulse to save "Tikkun": to mend, fix,
repair or care for this world. Whenever we pick up and recycle
plastic bottles or aluminum cans, extend a helping hand to a
neighbor, revise a lecture, letter, sermon or plan, we are
Tikkuning. We are saving our world, making it better, one
gesture at a time.
We are surrounded by wonderful examples of Saving. Think of the
233 year journey from the signing of the Declaration of Independence to
the Inaguration of our first African American president. Remember
the years of hard work and sacrifice that it took to install a brighter
bulb at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When couples, families,
congregations and corporations try to improve what they do, they are
participating in this noble work of Saving or Tikkun.
Even the noble goal of Saving can become problematic. Sometimes
we can become so enthralled by our "Holy Crusade" that we fail to
notice the body count piling up. Recently 13 Israelis and 1300
Palestinians died from a collision of two noble causes: a homeland for
Jews and a homeland for Palestinians. In the 20th century, at
least 40 millions Russians and Chinese died to create a "classless
society". On a personal level, the adrenalin rush that often
attends a good cause can become addictive. We may create crises
to feel the rush or create enemies because we need someone to battle
against. Like any bad habit, too much of a good cause can steal
time, care, love and attention away from family relationships,
life-sustaining work and the care of our bodies and souls.
There seem to be at least three levels of Saving. The most
primitive level is unconscious identification with a cause. We
become "zealots" driven by relentless activity, little reflection or
learning. We may become unable to hear dissenting views and begin
to treat our adversaries as less than human. A more refined level
of activism is conscious discernment and skillful means. We
become effective change agents: knowing our own gifts and limitations,
listening to and learning from dissenting views, choosing contexts and
conditions where we can actually make a difference. At the
highest leve creating change are saints and sages. Look at the
lives of Gandhi and Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King and
Rosa Parks! Their passion for justice is tempered by compassion
for all who are trapped in oppressive systems. They delight in
using their gifts in service of the Common Good. The joy they
exude is contagious, as they go about the holy work and play of
creating win/win solutions in a win/lose world.
As the Tao Te Ching says: "When work is done people say we
did it by ourselves." This is the mark of saints and sages,
this is where Tikkun and Te join hands: effortless power,
natural goodness, original grace!
5. The Path of Integration
May these two powers, these two paths to Goodness live harmoniously in our midst:
breathing in----savoring what is
breathing out---making things a little better
breathing in---letting go
breathing out----making a difference
breathing in---savoring the world
breathing out---saving the world
Amen! Blessed Be!
Tao in the world is like a river coming home to the sea.