a potpourri of inspiration - harrisburguu.com potpourri of inspiration ... minister of first...

Robert Louis Stevenson: Judge each day not by the

harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.

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A Potpourri of Inspiration

Good Morning!

The usual meaning of potpourri is a mixture of herbs that provide

a pleasant odor. Other definitions include a mixture of unlike items. The

original meaning in the French language was “rotten stew”. You may

judge whether any of my subsequent comments fulfill the summer

service’s inspiration theme or are better in filling a waste can.

I am an “Old-Old” member of our congregation. (I will explain the

“Old-Old” adjective a bit later).

Following military service in Germany where I prepared

topographic maps for the Army, my spouse – Barbara – and I arrived in

Harrisburg in 1956. Friends of ours from Carlisle mentioned that a

Dickinson College Professor was speaking to a group of Unitarians on

Sunday at the Harrisburg YWCA. (Barb says it was at the YMCA.) As a

recently graduated geologist with a Master’s degree, I found the group

to be welcoming and interesting and the speaker, Professor Amos

Horlacher, to be without religious cant and with a rational view of

world events and humanity.

We joined the group and found them to be a community that

expressed our understanding of life and our place in this universe.

We have been here since then. We’ve enjoyed and/or suffered all

the Ministers that have served this congregation.

A few times in the many decades of our membership, I have felt

the need to speak to the congregation, generally inspired by my

understanding of the interaction of science and religion. In early April, I

was reading articles in the winter issue of the “Unitarian-Universalist



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World”, a publication of our U-U Association. Three articles therein

piqued my interest and I was inspired to contact David Spear and offer

one or more of the topics as a theme for a summer Sunday service. The

articles are: “On becoming old-old” by Sally Stoddard of Lincoln,

Nebraska; “The Dream of White Innocence” by William Sinkford,

Minister of First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, and past

President of our U-U Association; and “When Charity Disrupts Justice”

by Chuck Collins, a member of First Church Jamaica Plains,

Massachusetts.

At the same time, I was reading “Why Times Flies – A mostly

Scientific Investigation” by Alan Burdick. I was very much intrigued by

Burdick’s description of the Philosopher (and later Saint) Augustine who

first wrote “deus creator ominum”, Latin words that translate to “God

creates all”. Saint Augustine was also the originator of original sin from

his interpretation of the Adam and Eve myth and wrote more on the

sins of sex that still are rampant, even though in his youth he enjoyed

such joys profusely.

David accepted my offer with the comment that I could pick any

of the above for my theme. Later I learned that the theme for summer

services was “Inspiration”, specifically “Someone or Something that

Inspired me”. This gave me pause. A search of inspire, inspiration, and

associated words produced many important quotes from famous

writers, one of which resonated with me. Written by Robert Louis

Stevenson it reads:

Judge each day not by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you

plant

Reading and pondering Stevenson’s statement, I realized that the

“fruit” from “seeds” of ordinary human endeavors could be



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inspirations. It made me recall two specific instances where “seeds”

were “planted” by me and others, without our knowing that such had

occurred, which inspired another person to make an important life

decision.

The first instance occurred on one of several Valentine’s Days in

Harrisburg more than a decade ago where a group of our church’s

members was present at a “Freedom to Mary Rally” event. The rally

occurred for at least several separate years beside the Susquehanna

River along Front Street.

Members of Harrisburg’s Gay community organized the rallies

seeking to publically express that all persons should have the legal right

to marry whomever they chose, regardless of sexual identity. Initial

occurrences of the “Freedom to Marry” rally had experienced

protesters who interfered with the rally attendees, even though the

rally organizers had obtained a Harrisburg city permit. The protestors

interfered by broadcasting with bullhorns their hateful messages, and

exhibited posters and broadsides that spelled out their messages of

anger and hate.

Someone of the rally planners contacted Alanna Berger, member

of our church, who was an organizer and trainer for a group named the

“Silent Witnesses”. The planners invited her group to aid them in future

rallies by being a buffer between the hate-mongers and the rally

attendees. Alanna asked for volunteers among church members,

particularly those who sang in our church’s choir, of which she, my

spouse, Barbara, and I were members. Several of the choir agreed to be

trained and we become “Silent Witnesses”. We purchased “t”-shirts

and umbrellas that were emblazoned with rainbow colors. (We have



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these yet today) My daughter Donna recalls that we were “Silent

Witnesses for five successive years.

The specific event that I recall was on a cold and rainy Valentine’s

Day, miserable weather indeed. We were there for 4-5 hours silently

standing on the grass behind the curbs of Front Street. We were face

to face with the protestors with our umbrellas up against the rain or in

front of us to block the hate-filled visuals. Traffic was, as usual along

Front Street, noisy and smelly.

Years later, we dined with members of our church. One of them

spoke to me that his decision to join our church was partially a result of

his observing Barb and I, two old persons, standing there on a

miserable cold and rainy day for several hours so that he and his friends

could participate in their “Freedom to Marry” rally. As I recall his words,

it went something like this: “My final decision to join the Unitarian

Church of Harrisburg resulted from seeing you standing silent for hours

at our rally. A church that has members like you, two old persons who

would give of their time on a miserable day, is the church I want to

attend.”

When we volunteer to serve a community need, the “fruit” that

results can be another’s inspiration.

The second instance relates not to our church but to my activities

as a scientist. For newer members of our church I am a geologist who

was employed by our Commonwealth as a member of the PA

Topographic and Geologic Survey. I began there as a paleontologist and

field geologist preparing geologic maps. As a paleontologist, one of my

first assignments was to prepare a pamphlet on “Common Fossils of

PA”. This led to writing a book that located publicly available sites in



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each Pennsylvania County where anyone could relatively easily and

freely collect rocks with embedded fossils.

Additional assignments that I performed was to organize multiple-

day field trips where upwards of 200 or more geologists, students,

professors, consultants and environmental engineers were led to sites

(mainly quarries and roadside outcroppings) where I had collected and

interpreted geologic data. For each site, I prepared a guidebook with

text, photographs and maps. At the site, I then lectured about the

specific geologic data present in outcroppings. I directed their

attention to where in the site they could specifically examine what I

had seen and then accept or argue with me over my scientific

interpretation.

At one such site that included fossils, after lecturing and the group

was milling about talking, a young man approached me and asked me

to identify a fossil he had collected. He was a recently graduated

student from one of PA’s many colleges. As I recall, he said to me “Dr.

Hoskins, I want to thank you for preparing the book “Fossil Collecting in

Pennsylvania”. It was because of what you wrote; I decided to become

a geologist”.

In writing that book, it was not my task or intention to affect

another’s decision of a life career. Yet, I interpret from his words that

my writing inspired him. I learned from him that what I did and what I

wrote could have far-reaching affects from the original reason of

performing a task.

Now to examples when I was the one who was inspired. As a

small child, barely able to peek over a table at which people were

seated, registering citizens to vote in the small town where I lived, I

asked my father why he was there when he should be at home playing



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with me and my siblings, he responded (as best I can recall) : “It is the

responsibility of folks to volunteer to assist others to do important

community tasks”. My father’s words inspired me to be a volunteer

when needed in our congregation and communities to which I

belonged.

Others have inspired me. In high school, my class started with 12

students. Six of us graduated. The school Principal, J. Bentley Hobart,

taught a class in Earth Science. It included field trips to examine the

many examples of sediment deposited by glaciers that covered our

Black River valley. Many limestone quarries (with fossils) existed on the

western valley slopes. The metamorphic rocks of the Adirondacks were

to east as well as in our basement. Mr. Hobart’s course inspired me to

become a geologist.

As you might imagine, when I went to college with more than 200

students, it took me a long time to acclimate and learn how to be a

successful college student. I did not get any “A’s” in any 1st semester

classes and I failed in Spanish. At the beginning of the 2nd semester, I

was called to the Dean’s office where he said: “Mr. Hoskins, I see that

you have had a good time. Mr. Hoskins, you have had your good time.”

Needless to say,I was very much inspired by Dean Huntley.

Later, near graduation, I asked for his opinion as to whether I

would succeed in graduate school, because I recognized that I was but a

middling student as an undergraduate, and to be a research scientist

required additional education. Dean Huntley’s response was: Mr.

Hoskins, “are you prepared to work”? I affirmatively responded. He

then said, “You will succeed if you are prepared to work hard.” That

response inspired me to seek out a graduate school.



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Enough of Inspiration! I hope that my personal stories resonate

with one or more present. If not, please tell me whether they are

merely foolishly sentimental recollections of an old fart, or have some

meaning.

The articles I read in the “UU World” and listed at the beginning of

my words are important because they relate to issues that our

congregation, as well as all other UU congregations, should be aware

and work to resolve, if we are to fulfill the principles we weekly repeat.

I urge that you read them. You may access them on the home page of

our UCH website. Along the right side and near the bottom there is a

clickable icon that takes you to a list of current and recent editions of

the “UU World”

“old-old” as defined by Sally Stoddard in the first article I

mentioned means you know that there is a difference of being tired at

77 from being tired at 87. I can attest to her conclusion now being 87

and having survived more than 5 years of chemotherapy.

I focus on her story because in it she comments that churches

need to implement the “Americans with Disabilities Act” in their

buildings. We need congregational resources to maintain and upgrade

our buildings so that we can serve all who find U-U their church home.

Treasurer Ed Sykes earlier told you that we, as congregants, need

to contribute additional funds so that we can end our fiscal year

without a deficit on June 30. At the June 14 meeting of our Finance

Committee, committee members learned that we need an additional

$20,000 by June 30 to pay our staff and bills. Knowing of this immediate

need Barb and I will be contributing an additional $2,500, and raising

our following year pledge by the same amount.



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My closing words include some written by Robert Kaufman:

Mine “are just words. The hymns we sing are just songs.

All our reflections are just idle thoughts. When we convert them

all into loving and responsible action throughout the week, then

and only then will this morning become what we want it to be --

a time of worship”.

Go forth and be inspiring. Your planted “seeds” may

inspire!

a potpourri of inspiration - harrisburguu.com potpourri of inspiration ... minister of first...

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