"Walk With Us"

Just when the jokes about geriatric rock and rollers had seemed to put his generation in its place, along came Neil Young-again. Electric guitar pounding out his passion. Lyrics that take you deep, and a voice as soulful as ever, now girded with a strength acquired from years of living.

A friend emailed me a link to the video of Neil playing "Walk With Me." It shattered the cozy context of my Pastor's office, and simultaneously rocketed me to the fourth dimension. It's so rock, that I'm sure many people will love and rock out to this song, without ever associating a religious thought with it.

I hesitate for a moment as I write. Perhaps I should do my homework before writing. But I don't care if Neil Young intended to write a religious song. He did. And oh, um... I don't think that it's a coincidence that the video appears to be shot in a church, that the camera gives us long glances up from darkness into light,... or that stain glass windows frame the background. The fact that he passionately sings "walk with me" and mentions unconditional love do not go unnoticed by this religious man.

For all I know Neil Young might have had a real life flesh and blood lover in mind when he wrote his song. I don't care. This is rock and roll Hafiz, or Rumi. Don't express that kind of passion, and tell me it's not religious. Wait, am I suggesting that all passion is religious? Come to church on 2/13 for "Love, Sex, God and Power" and find out.

Neil Young isn't the only one who expresses religious thoughts and themes in a way that enables people from a wide range of religious perspectives to relate. For years UUs have played with language and tried to make room for theologically diverse people to find common ground. However, we went so far into code that many people forgot we were engaged in a religious endeavor. We are in the business of symbol that points toward the eternal, the sacred, the ultimate concern.

The intention to journey together, as in "Walk with me" has been reason enough for most of us to be UU. When our congregations did their job, they helped us to hear the inner voice that cries "walk with me" and recognize it as a longing for connection with something larger, something as large as life itself.

Although the song is newly written, we have been singing it for years. We have been singing to the Eternal, and we've been calling each other to find "the Eternal" in the spaces between us. We've been looking for and finding "the Holy" in our relationships, in our covenants and congregations. BTW, If you don't like the words "Holy" "Eternal" or "Sacred" substitute a word of your choosing. But realize that any word that we use in this sentence will be inadequate to express what goes there.

We find divine revelation by walking and working together striving to create "the beloved community." We encourage spiritual growth by walking together on a journey toward wholeness. When we walk together, we find meaning and purpose. When we walk together we also find our answers questioned. And in our characteristically UU way- we recognize the questioning as essential for our faith development. In the challenges of walking together, when our answers no longer define truth for us, or when they fail to serve as bridges to others' souls, then we become willing to struggle, reflect and acknowledge that there is more love somewhere beyond our thoughts and words. We become willing to open up to truth that is greater then our predetermined maps and plans. It is in this manner that we call to each other with the plea "Walk with me." In our journeying together we find meaning and purpose, and we find meaning and purpose in our journeying together.

Thanks Neil!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUGej_ofcAQ