The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
June 28, 2026
I was sitting where I usually sit last Sunday when I suddenly understood something about: my call to music, to this community, and the singalong. So I told Peter, who was scheduled to preach today, that I’d like to do this sermon so I could share my insight. He said “okay.”
Do you remember that I gave a sermon on April 19th,, a couple of months ago? Today I am continuing that sermon. I talked about my time with Group 4 and the important work we did. I was asked to describe Seekers desire for basic fairness and respect that lies at the heart of the community. I made a list of actions that Seekers could do:
1. create partnerships with people or groups who share our values and beliefs.
2. practice disciplines that promote spiritual growth, courage, and introspection.
3. promote and support creative and artistic projects that express our social values.
Journey Inward, Journey Outward
In that sermon I focused on making friendships because that is what we already do. We open our building to many people who have used and appreciate our welcoming and beautiful spaces. Many people are using our building to do wonderful things in the world and for this neighborhood. In these confusing and scary days we are becoming known as a place for community activity; and our own social justice warriors are doing great work in that area. Thank you for your work. You know who you are, and everyone else knows who you are.
Today I want to explore the other points more fully. As I looked at these statements, I saw that “Practice disciplines for spiritual growth, courage, and introspection,” means self-discovery or insight, and “Support … projects that express [those insights]” means action and expression. It’s the familiar script we inherited from the Church of the Savior, “the Journey Inward, which fuels the Journey Outward.”
We look into our hearts to discover what is good and true; that internal well where we find the spiritual energy that is always available from God. Then find an outward expression which can blossom into anything we can imagine.
Call
Last time I told you about the place where I grew up. Today I’ll talk about my life with music.
I have been interested in music since I was a kid in Los Angeles. From my early days music was connected to the religion and faith. My first exposure to making music was singing hymns, and listening to the piano in church.
I was twelve I started learning how to play the guitar and after awhile became the songleader for the youth group, but I wanted to learn more about music theory so I studied music composition and arranging in college but I didn’t name this as call.
I learned that making a living as a composer or arranger in those days was almost impossible; but many of my fellow students were working musicians, or trying to become classical concert musicians; preparing to become performers. God bless them, I hope they found success.
Knowing myself, I knew if I tried to be a professional my love of music would be lost under the endless hustle, low pay, travel, late nights, and missed holidays. I wanted my life to run on a normal schedule; I wanted to see Deborah (I wasn’t married yet but I expected her). So I switched my major and graduated with an electronics technology degree. I still did not have a calling.
I got jobs fixing electronics and forgot about doing music. I decided that I would focus on work, paying the bills, and being married. When Deborah and I arrived at Seekers I had forgotten that I played the guitar. Eventually I remembered that I was a musician.
I remember how it came back to me. A long while after we joined Seekers we were at an overnight at Wellspring and Pat Conover wanted to sing Michael Row the Boat Ashore but couldn’t remember how it went. Without thinking I said “I know how it goes” and picked up Jesse’s guitar and started playing. Pat was really surprised, and I wasn’t far behind him. I had actually forgotten that I could play the guitar. This is how I remember the story but I’m not sure if this is how it actually happened, but I did remember that I played the guitar.
After I saw the brilliance of the Cycle of Call (thanks to you Marjory) I was able to name in myself a call to music. From my younger life, before the case of mild guitar-playing amnesia, I reclaimed an interest in making music.
Part of my call is organizing the music for Seekers services. My goal is that some bit of the music you hear might help you find a new truth, or expand your thought or emotion in a useful way, or cause you to be, perhaps unconsciously, stronger, braver, or more honest.
I consider the monthly singalong a large part of my call. It doesn’t look like much from the outside: a group of people singing familiar old songs together. Some of you have been to the December singalong at Billy and Kate’s house so you know how ramshakle and arbitrarily a singalong is organized (this description is for the person who has never attended a singalong).
The group of around ten people try, and often succeed, to make the best music we can. Over time we have created a list of favorite songs; some that make us sad, or hopeful, and others: funny or just feel better. I assure you we have fun making music together, and the singalong is full of love, trust, and inspiration.
Sad: Hard Love, Kilkelly Ireland
Hopeful: Mary Ellen Carter, The Great Storm is Over, Bread and Roses
Funny: Waltzing with Bears, The Cat Came Back, A Talk With Your Mother, If I Only Had a Brain
Better: Loch Lomond, Spoon River, Country Roads, Penny Lane, City of New Orleans
God: In All the World Below, All My Trials, Deep River
And finally, the call to music is for me. Even after decades of playing, the guitar is still filled with challenge and mystery. I am amazed at the elegance of the mathematics of harmony, pitch, and rhythm in music theory. Music is made up of thoughts, emotion, and movement; the sounds mix in my mind and inspire me to continue learning and being a better guitarist.
[explore the beauty and magic of hearing music from Bach, Beatles, Dylan, Springsteen, Cole Porter, Sam Cooke, Michael Franks (popsicle toes), Thelonius, Nina Simone]
Peak?
I want to ask your indulgence as I talk about something that has bothered me for a while: “peak experiences” I remember when that term was applied to things like parachute jumps, climbing to the top of a mountain, surfing a huge wave, or bungee jumping. Then the phrase was expanded to mean a great meal, attending a sporting event, or seeing a famous band.
But I’ve met people who seemed to be chasing spiritual highs; calling those peak experiences. They yearn for a miraculous experience at a sacred mountain, at a monastery, or an energy vortex. When they were living their ordinary lives they seemed restless and unfocused. A man I knew told me after he’d returned from a spiritual retreat that he could now be silent in himself, that he felt fulfilled and centered, but I’m not sure about that because, his energy was jumpy, he could not sit still, and would not stop talking.
The quest for peak experiences seems wrong to me. If I overvalue a rare experience, I might undervalue the larger part of my life. It’s my plan to pay attention to every moment and not wish away any of my time. I will listen to my heart when I’m washing the dishes. I will count my breath while folding the clothes. I will not be bored. I will live every moment of my life.
Near the other end of the peak-experience continum lives the Japanese concept of “Wabi” and “Sabi.” The word Wabi describes the beauty of empty spaces, and Sabi means the beauty of natural weathering or the effects of time. You might hear them together: wabi-sabi to suggest the whole complex of meanings that explore the qualities of emptiness, asymmetry, irregularity, or transience, and the effects of patina, aging, and natural processes.
This concept of beauty allows us space and time to appreciate the world God made for us.
Scripture
In the scripture passages this week I would like to look at the Romans text in which Paul sets up a progression from sin to grace. He argues that if we “present ourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life” sin will cease to have dominion over us and we will be free to live eternally in Christ. He warns us that the wages of sin is death and the gift of salvation is eternal life. Paul is saying “choose life.”
It’s not a hard choice to make. So where do we find life, or the things that allow us to live? One place I know is in this room on Sunday morning.
We gather here on Sundays to feel the love of our friends; and to offer back our appreciation. What we receive is what we have given. We share. We sit in silence together, and somedays in the silence my spirit expands to fill the space created by our prayers.
The spiritual lesson can come from any aspect of the service. Maybe a prayer, maybe the flame of a candle, maybe the very ordinary silence between syllables of a song, maybe the way a spot of sunlight outlines an edge.
And so, point two, about disciplines for growth, courage, and inspiration. We can come together on Sunday mornings to pray and use our senses to find the leading of the spirit. The spiritual gift might enter through our feelings.
I will see where the thoughts of music take me. I will feel courage when I remember days of hatred and oppression and how spirituals and hymns brought strength to our fellow travelers. I can slow and quiet my thoughts until I can appreciate the hidden beauties everywhere around me.
Finally, to support creativity and artistic projects I will then let the inner power move outward from my hands, heart, and voice into this Sanctuary on Sunday morning, or into a singalong on a Saturday night. Where and how can your gift from God move outward?
And the cycle begins again. How wonderful.
Conclusion
Last Sunday as I sat in my usual spot I thought of the Singalong, just the night before; how we sang simply and beautifully with joy and energy. My gratitude and love went out to those who had joined me, and I felt a current of hope returning to fill my heart. God is with me. I knew I was not alone, and I was happy about that. Amen.