Sunday, October 8th - The Shakers and Difficult Times

My fellow music ministers and I are getting really tired of having to scrap our plans for the upcoming Sunday in order to reflect on horrible current events. The Shaker song I wanted to do this week asks "O brethren, ain't you happy?" and the answer at the moment is a solid "no." Hurricanes, earthquakes, political unrest, and now the deadliest mass shooting in American history. It's exhausting and I know I'm not the only one whose heart is tired from hurting for others.

I've been continuing my research on the Shakers and this week I've found them to be not only intriguing, but a source of comfort and an inspiration. From the beginning, the Shakers practiced pacifism. The last remaining Shakers explain their approach to pacifism on their website: 

"We strive daily to put into practical terms, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' The central teaching of the New Testament is quite simply love, the love of God for man and that of man for God as evidenced in the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. This same love was always and is today the very cornerstone of Shakerism. For us as followers of the Christ we feel we show that peace as pacifists. This does not mean merely refusing to bear arms against another, it also requires us to never feel bitterness, never to feel any desire for revenge, but always to seek only the highest good of every person no matter what they may do to us. We further believe in the practice of universal Brotherhood as well as equality for all, the Shakers being forerunners in applying this to our daily life over two hundred years ago."

Where is the bitterness in my own life? Where is the desire for revenge? I must find these and root them out as they have no place in Christian love. The Shakers also believed their practice of total equality was a part of pacifism - the more you start to see someone as an "other," the more you might feel inclined to hostility toward them. 

But with all this study, I was still left with the problem of what to have my choir sing on Sunday. So I turned to one of my resources of Shaker music and found a song with lyrics that seemed to speak directly to the hurt in my soul.

I haven't been able to find any information on the song - I don't know when it was written or by whom. I can't find any recordings of it. I just know that it will be a continual source of comfort for me because of the words:

Soul Pleadings (author unknown)

On my way from earth to heaven, scenes of trial and of pain
Fill my soul with deepest sorrow, and my labor seems in vain
When I view the work before me, see the laborers how few
Oh, my heart becometh heavy, and I ask, Lord, help us through.

Help us through these scenes of peril that like clouds upon us frown

Or as angry waves of ocean threaten to engulf and drown

Lift thine arm, almighty Father, thou alone hast power to save
Thou canst calm the surging tempest, rule the storm and still the wave.

Thou canst draw, O heavenly Father, weak and doubting ones to thee

By the cords of love eternal and the truth which maketh free

I have felt thy warm embraces, and thy constant care have known
Sweet and tender is thy mercy unto erring mortals shown.

Though the burden may be heavy, lighter grows the weight each day

At the thought of many blessings that are shared along life's way
Many saints have gone before me, loved companions with me stand
Who have gained through faithful labor treasures in the promised land. 

The Shakers believed that the second coming of Christ was in his Church. So what can we learn from the Shakers? How can we as the Church make earth more heavenly? How do we ease the bitterness in our own hearts and the hearts of others? Who do we see as an "other" instead of a "brother"? It often feels like the work to be done is too great and there are too few of us. But the Shakers went from only 8 to over 6,000 in less than 60 years. Our numbers are so much greater, we can do so much more. Be a force of love. Be a force of charity. Don't be afraid of the storm. 

Amen.