There have been so many opportunities to use the image of a sanctuary as an upside down boat. The congregation is on a journey - always moving with a breath of fresh air sending us off wherever we are to be.
For me today the image of this upside down boat is all about the simple notion that no one falls out of the boat - no one. We get into the boat knowing that it is one place in which all that is and all that will be becomes a part of the motion of life that will become us - as we leave the boat. Worship shapes us for the days we spend walking around in the world. Usually when we turn things upside down - things fall out - things get lost - things break - things roll out of sight. That is not how this upside down boat works.
The boat is upside down to remind us of the manner in which we move through the world. When we hear of violence and hatred and bigotry - we turn it upside down - we create relationships in which the norms of the world are left behind and we move forward making peace - releasing our need to hate - enjoying differences. We are a people who are meant to be reminded of how upside down we are to be. I do not think we do that alone. Oh we may be alone during the week and walk into a situation in which we are living upside down even as everyone around us stays grounded in the ways of the world. That will feel odd. That will also give us an eye and an ear for those others who are also living in a contrary way. I find that I need to know who some of those other upside down people are so that I will be encouraged and inspired to keep my feet up in the air. It can be so easy to come back down to the earth of broken promises - blame games - segregation - self-indulgence - greed - and so many self-servimg desires that I never let my feet leave the ground.
Today, of great importance to me is the reality of the inside of the upside down boat being one in which no one falls out. First, it must be a boat in which we are blessed with the presence of people in the world who are so easily left out - pushed out - or simply forgotten. It is always too easy to fill the boat with those who are like us. Yet, even when we gather with people who dream the same sort of dreams as we do - or hold the same values as we do - or intend to walk in ways we will walk, the upside down boat too easily lets those who are other - fall out. Yes, no matter how brilliantly we have been able to dress up the boat with words and images and sounds that are meant to turn us upside down, look around. Even the most homogeneous communities still have those who are not present and accounted for - they are allowed to simply fall out of the boat.
Now, we must also remember that many folks don't fall out of the boat - they jump. When we tell the story of an unbounded love and it comes alive - some folk will jump ship in order to put their feet back onto a ground that can be divided - claimed - restricted. So, in the upside down boat - we must always keep things turned on their head as we also hold the hands of those who may suffer from a fear of being upside down - out of control. Therefore, we are meant to touch strangers and new comers as though we have been waiting for them - we are meant to guide and direct and assist as the reality of an upside down life begins to be unveiled in worship - we are meant to bow and bend to one another rather than an order or an object or a unbending tradition. When I visit a congregation, I find that I need someone to help show me how to walk upside down among those people. It is my hope that there will be people so caught up in the vision of being an upside down people that they will do whatever is possible to lead me and guide me - so that I don't fall out of the boat. Hospitality in this boat is never oppressive - it is patient and kind - gentle and forgiving - maybe even a bit thrilling for everyone.
TRRR
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