Hillside Swedenborgian Community Church

Suffer the little children to come unto me and as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. Next to the 23^rd Psalm these are my favorite readings from the Bible.

Those of you who know me may be aware that the doctrine of the Swedenborgian church that is closest to my heart is the doctrine of use.  I can’t say why this strikes such a deep chord with me but it does. While I grew up in this church from the time I was a toddler I can’t say that this is the doctrine I have heard the most about as I sat either in Sunday School or as an adult in services, but I certainly have seen it in action among the adults that nurtured and raised me, both at home and here at Hillside. It is the exemplification of this doctrine that causes me to admire those in public service that I do, and those in private life who quietly go about taking care of others and their well being.

What is the Doctrine of Use?  Swedenborg wrote, “Everything in heaven, in the world, and in the human body, both great and small, was created from use, in use, and for use”. [Apocalypse Explained, 1194]

 In the pamphlet, “Swedenborgianism: A Spiritual Journey”, by our own Jim Lawrence it is stated:

“Perhaps the most popular of Swedenborg’s teachings are his Zen-like discussions on being useful. Teilhard de Chardin once said, ‘Do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous things (although we must have this ambition) as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value’. For Swedenborg, this sentiment is at the heart of religion. The simple endeavor of being useful in an aware state of mind provides profound fodder for spiritual transformation, because it is only in the practice of use that the real stuff of life is encountered.”

To quote from Wilson Van Dusen’s Country of Spirit:

“The simplest and most powerful method for personal spiritual development in Swedenborg’s theology lies in the idea of uses. Part of its beauty is its simplicity, which permits carrying it out in the midst of ordinary duties and labor, indeed, in any human act. It can be applied anywhere, anytime, by anyone. Part of its power lies in its wonderful concreteness. Much of religion has to do with masses of words and ideas. Use lies in concrete acts. Words are unnecessary. The very concrete immediacy of uses takes us out of ourselves, out into circumstances, out toward others and a larger world.”

I wonder what this means to you? Can you think of ways that your life is touched by this principle – either in your own actions or those of others? Can you think of examples where this principle was acted upon, either purposefully or just in the course of everyday life?  It was obvious in Annie Sullivan’s care and nurturing of Helen Keller.  Johnny Appleseed reached out to many in his dissemination of both appleseeds and Swedenborg’s writings across the country. Eleanor Roosevelt had a well thought out and far reaching plan of use with which she attempted to better the lives of people around the globe. These are people and stories that we have all heard of and in which we can see “use”.  But these are the large examples – small, everyday uses are just as important and also change the world.

Practicing the idea of uses isn’t hard.  Many people practice it without realizing that they are doing so.  Others selfishly withhold it – again without realizing that they are doing so.

When I think about this principle I look back on those in my childhood, in both the stories I heard and the actions I experienced.  I think of the stories about my great-grandmother.  Grandma Lizzie lived in a small town in the mid-West on a farm.  This was during the depression and prohibition and the story that was told and laughed about in our family was of when the government men came to town and began asking questions about the Rohrer farm, suspecting that Grandma was selling moonshine based on the numbers of itinerants that continually darkened her door.  The joke was on them!  Grandma Lizzie (pretty much a tea totaller) was feeding the masses of hobos and tramps.  They passed the word around that if you needed a square meal you should go to Lizzie’s door and you would be fed.

I also think of my maternal grandmother.  As a teen-ager and college student I knew that Maw was always good for a hand out, whether it was an apple pie, $5 for books or a shoulder to cry on when things weren’t looking good.  She taught me about family holidays – that if someone didn’t have family or couldn’t go to them for Thanksgiving or Christmas or birthdays we should bring them home with us and include them in our family.  As a minister’s daughter this is what she had been taught and what she practiced.  When she was young money and food were scarce but all strangers in need were welcomed at her family’s table and the family code was “FHB” or family hold back, to be sure that guests were well taken care of.  Later in life as a young married couple with small children living in Oakland, my grandfather came across a family of Okies migrating out of the dust bowl.  They had gotten this far when their old truck broke down and they ran out of money.  They had small children and were in desperate straits with nowhere to stay, no money, no job. Paw told my grandmother about them and her response was to tell him to bring them home. Once under her wing they were fed, used but serviceable clothing and shoes found for the children, toys shared and with all of the assistance Maw could muster my grandparents sent this family safely on their way.

So in this way I learned about use from family history.  I also learned about it by example of the members of this church in the early days.  From the teen-agers and young people that physically built this church; from the adults like Elizabeth’s mother Emily Bateman, who devoted their time to teaching Sunday School; from the church member of name unremembered who acted as a substitute father for one of my school friends without a father when it was Dads & Daughters night at school; and from Babette Krentz, our youth group leader, teaching us the original art of recycling.  From Babette we learned about caring for the environment and wildlife.  Throughout her life Babette paid special attention to children and young people who needed some extra attention.  She nurtured generations of other people’s kids.  She rescued animals of all sorts – all by performing small things – all types of usefulness. Into her 70s Babette continued being of use, swinging a hammer for Habitat for Humanity and pet or plant sitting for neighbors when they were away.  Into the last days of her life Babette was useful.

I look at my mother and see use.  Another family joke is my mother’s mail – no one I know gets more “gimme mail” than Mamma, her mailbox is filled with pleas for help, many of which she responds to. She has donated to many different causes from political to social to wildlife.  From the March of Dimes to Native Americans.  From money to blankets to food and time. She has made phone calls, canvassed the neighborhood and donated time with the Read Aloud program. I also hark back to Tasha, a foster child enrolled in the school where Mamma worked as the librarian.  It was obvious to Mamma that Tasha’s foster home wasn’t top notch and that she was missing a lot.  So Mamma started out by bringing vitamins to school to give Tasha, spending extra time with her in the library and eventually by bringing her home on weekends to be sure that she got some of the attention she was lacking.  She helped put Tasha in touch with her natural sister, made sure she got to the dentist, bought her clothes and provided her with books.  I know that she wished she could do more – but she did a lot.  As Tasha grew and thrived she didn’t forget the little things that Mamma had done and over the years they have continued to have sporadic contact with one another.

Today considering the conflicts over the war in Iraq I remember the 60’s when during the Viet Nam war, with which my family held no sympathy, many young men from all across the country shipped out of Oakland Naval Base to fight.  They shipped in and out of Oakland and even when they were “home” were not home with their families and loved ones.  I was dating a sailor and Mamma would invite him and his fellow sailors to come to the house when they had leave. She would feed them and give them a place to relax and feel at home.  They frequently would take the bus from the Naval Air Station to El Cerrito, getting off the bus at the corner by the El Cerrito Police Station.  In those days the Police Station was always open and there was a pay phone (no cell phones then) from which the boys would call us and one of the family would drive down the hill to pick them up.  Our friend Judy overheard me one day asking someone to go down to the Police Station to pick up one of the boys and she exclaimed “Is that where you are getting all of these boys?”

During his late teens my brother Tony, always interested in electricity, building repair and car repair began stepping up to the plate by helping a widow up the street whenever she needed a handy man.  He would repair her plumbing, dig holes for her plants, and fix many little things that need attention.  He has continued throughout his life doing this sort of thing.  These days he also donates much of his time to the Boy Scouts as a troop leader.  This is a wonderful interaction with his own sons for Tony, but he doesn’t limit it to his boys – he also fulfills that role with several other boys who do not have fathers.

I believe that Tony’s kids will follow in his footsteps as they have been taught by example.  Bradley in particular has a very generous heart.  One Christmas as we all gathered to celebrate Tony was playing a game with Brad where he would lay out change from his pocket on the floor and challenge Brad to tell him quickly how much money was there, forcing him to add and subtract and multiply and divide mentally. If Brad gave him the right answer on the first try Tony let him keep the coins.  Earlier Brad’s cousins had been discussing between them how much money they had and how much they still needed in order to purchase a certain computer game.  Brad had not commented but it became obvious that he had been listening and calculating.  He kept playing the coin game with Tony until a certain point at which he called a halt.  He then took his winnings to his cousins and handed them the coins, telling them that he had the exact amount they lacked and that he was giving it to them.

I also think of my friend Paul Hantzsche and all of the little things he did for so many. In particular I remember the day of his daughter’s wedding, the reception for which was at Paul and Olive’s home in Tiburon.  At some point during the reception Paul disappeared and when we went looking for him we found that he was repairing a punctured bicycle tire for a passing cyclist.  Whether it was a bike or a car, a kitchen appliance or a toy, if something needed repair Paul was there to help, no matter who you were.

More recently I have watched Linda Baker empty her refrigerator to be sure that Baby Benjamin and his family had something to eat.  I’ve watched her come up with plots to help them find work, to transport them to doctor appointments and to assist them in many little ways to improve their lives. This church has also assisted this family because of Linda’s lobbying to find help for them.  We have contributed quarters for laundry, gift cards for Safeway and hired Benjamin’s father for some casual gardening. We’ve purchased prescription drugs for them when Medi-Cal wouldn’t.

These may seem like big things on looking back at them, but at the time these people considered what they were doing as more random acts of kindness or generosity.  I admire them and wish that I could be this kind of person.  I’m not.  I do have a plan of use where it comes to rescuing dogs. Some people may think  “oh, just dogs” but it seems to me that frequently when I rescue a dog I also rescue a human – sometimes the person that the dog is going to and sometimes the person that had to give up the dog. I do occasionally buy extra groceries to pass to homeless people outside the grocery store begging for small change.  I do try to give hug here and there where it looks like it is needed.  I have never considered that I do enough to count.

My step son arrived on my doorstep as a pre-teen.  He came with a history of benign neglect and some obvious challenges that I knew would be present throughout his life.  I didn’t feel that there was much I could do to help him, but I loved him and have always tried to be there for him when he needed someone.  I wish I could have done more.  Wish I could have afforded orthodonture for him, wish I could have paid for his college education, but I did the best I could.  Today he works in Portland, OR and is involved in an active mentoring role for youth at risk.  He has a podcast of interviews he has done with some of these young people and this includes his philosophy of volunteering.  He reads the following story on this podcast. Few stories have gained internet popularity the way “The Star Thrower” has. Most often it’s sighted as “author unknown,” but it is actually a classic from 1979 written by Loren Eiseley, who has been hailed as a modern day Henry David Thoreau. Loren Eiseley was both a scientist and a poet, and to this day his writing is the subject of much discussion and inspiration. “The Star Thrower” is a classic story of the power within each one of us to make a difference in the lives of others.

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”

“I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, “I made a difference to that one!”

As I listened to Enrique telling this story I cried.  He has turned into a fine young man with good values and a generous heart.  I wished I could be as generous as he.  Then I received from him the biggest compliment and most valuable gift I have ever received.  In response to my email to him telling him how proud I am of him he wrote back that he was “just trying to be an Eileen”.  I cried again.

Enrique has taught me finally and conclusively that even little things can make a big difference.

So I would encourage you to do the little things: drop spare change in the Salvation Army kettle, go out and vote your conscience, help old ladies and little children cross the street, take a meal to a home bound senior, teach a child to read, give to “the least of these” from your heart. It will cost you little and reward you greatly.

Now I would like to introduce you to Melissa Mello.  Melissa is my neighbor.  She works as a teacher in a school for autistic children – which on its own is a good example of use, but Melissa went a step further this summer.  She committed her time and efforts to Peace House in Africa. Some of you contributed money to Peace House in support of her efforts there and today she is here to tell you how it went, what it meant to her and what it means to the children there.