Feb 9, 2025

“Imbolc and the Sacredness of Inclusion”

Rev. Kurt Hohmann

Inclusion: A Sacred Practice for All

  • Imbolc season symbolizes
    • Represents the first stirrings of spring
    • Renewal, light, and the promise of new growth
    • Midpoint between winter and spring
    • Celtic pagans honor Brigid, goddess of
      • Healers, poets, smiths
      • Childbirth and inspiration
      • Fire and hearth
      • Embodies creativity and transformation
      • Sounds like there’s a place at her table for everyone!
    • Seasonal metaphor: first signs of life stirring beneath the soil reflect the beginnings of inclusion
      • Small, intentional acts that grow into flourishing relationships
    • Bringing in the light
      • Embracing new growth together
        • Creating space for everyone’s unique contributions, much like the first signs of spring that emerge after a cold winter
      • Imbolc celebrates the awakening and nurturing of the earth
      • Inclusion symbolizes the awakening, nurturing, and cultivation of diverse ideas, identities, and experiences within a community
        • Seeds need warmth and care to thrive
        • People need support and inclusion to grow
  • Ugly Reality
    • Tough to think about those things given the kind of darkness we see being cast by new national policies
      • Verified with IRS rules that political issues can be discussed in a church
      • What I can’t do up here is endorse one candidate over another
    • Stuck for now with what we’ve got at the national level
      • But we don’t have to accept it or endorse it
      • Certainly don’t have to practice it
    • Personal level
      • Not giving up my morals, nor my ethics
      • Also not shutting up
      • The more I stand up, the more I embolden others to dissent
      • Each of us needs to stand on principle
    • Local / Community level
      • Plan to go on emphasizing themes of community, growth, and welcoming new perspectives or voices into the fold
      • The more we stand up as a group, the less power the other guys have
        • Because they’re not as popular as they think
        • The more of us who speak up, the harder it will be to persecute any single person who says trans rights are human rights or what’s being done to immigrants is terrorism
      • Animal examples:
        • Elephants, bison, reindeer, wildebeests
          • Put the calves in the center and circle up, facing outward
  • DEI under attack
    • What are Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion?
      • Diversity: valuing the differences between people
      • Equality: ensuring everyone can access the same opportunities
      • Inclusion: measure of how safe and welcome people feel
    • Meme: which of these things are you standing against?
  • Inclusion
    • Accommodating different needs and perspectives
      • Embraces and celebrates differences
      • Promotes open and respectful dialogue
      • Empowers individuals to bring their authentic selves to the table without fear of discrimination or marginalization
      • People feel valued, respected, and included regardless of their background or identity
      • Have the same opportunities as others, and are not overlooked or excluded
    • More than coexistence
      • Active practice of creating spaces where all are valued and belong
    • “Inclusion isn’t just inviting someone to sit at your table. It’s believing they belong there.” — Mia Carella
    • Reflection: “When have you felt deeply included? What made that experience meaningful?”
  • Inclusion as a spiritual practice
    • Honors shared humanity and connection to the divine in all forms
  • Unitarian principles
    • Inherent worth and dignity of every person
    • Interdependent web of existence
  • Pagan principles
    • Interconnectedness, balance of diversity in nature, and sacredness of all beings
      • Seasons embrace all phases of life — inclusion mirrors this natural cycle
      • Imbolc: returning light touches all, just as inclusion embraces all
      • Brigid’s hearth fire symbolizes warmth and welcome for all, inviting us to extend that spirit in our lives
      • Circle grows stronger and more beautiful as it widens to embrace diversity
        • Connection to the sacredness of the circle in rituals
  • Barriers to Inclusion
    • Acknowledging Challenges
      • Just as winter holds onto cold and darkness, barriers to inclusion — bias, fear, or ignorance — can linger
      • Unconscious bias affects all of us. Examples:
        • Affinity — people who act like us
        • Age — people our own age
        • Gender
        • Height, beauty, name
      • Self-reflection: What assumptions might we need to unlearn to be more inclusive?
      • Community dialogue helps
      • We are better than those who would set inclusion aside
    • Costs of Exclusion
      • Loss of
        • Perspective
        • Confidence
        • Creativity and innovation
      • Inclusion helps
        • Overcome prejudice and stereotypes
        • Boost friendship skills
        • Develop social skills
        • Promote equality
        • Build trust
        • Address poverty
        • Promote tolerance and respect
        • Foster acceptance of differences

The Elephant

  • A group of people heard that a strange animal called an elephant had been brought to their village, but none of them knew anything about elephants. None had even seen a picture of one.
  • Their curiosity got the better of them.
    • They waited until late at night.
    • They snuck into the tent where the elephant was being kept.
    • Not wanting to turn on any lights, they felt their way through the darkness until each person placed a hand on the elephant.
  • The first person touched the trunk.
    • “This creature is like a thick snake.”
  • The second touched the ear.
    • “No, it’s like a great leathery fan.”
  • The third touched the leg.
    • “It’s like a tree trunk.”
  • The fourth touched its side.
    • “The elephant is a wall.”
  • Another felt the tail.
    • “It’s like a rope.”
  • The last felt the tusk.
    • “It’s hard, smooth, and sharp like a spear.”
  • Standing in the darkness, each insisted they were right.
    • Each kept their hand where they first touched the elephant.
    • Each believed everyone else was wrong.
  • The argument became so loud that the elephant’s handler came in and turned on the lights.
  • Suddenly everyone could see the whole elephant.
    • Each person had been correct.
    • Each had experienced only one small part of a much larger reality.
    • And then they all got arrested for trespassing and elephant harassment.
  • Lessons from the story
    • One’s subjective experience can be true without being the whole truth.
    • If we only see the world through our own experiences, we will never fully understand reality.
    • The pursuit of truth requires openness to the experiences of people who are different from us.
    • Curiosity leads to empathy.
    • Empathy leads to greater understanding of one another and of the world.

Practices of Inclusion

  • Treat everyone with respect and kindness.
  • Make people feel welcome.
  • Use inclusive language.
    • Avoid stereotypes and bias.
    • Acknowledge diversity.
    • Example: avoiding ableist language in the elephant story.
  • Practice deep listening.
    • Active listening honors the stories and experiences of others.
    • The people touching the elephant were not listening to one another.
  • Make space.
    • Share power.
    • Create room for voices that have been marginalized.
  • Speak up for inclusion.
    • Be authentic.
  • Create safe spaces.
    • Places where everyone feels welcome and included.
  • Celebrate diversity.
    • Don’t simply create diverse groups.
    • Make sure everyone truly feels included.
  • Challenge stereotypes.
    • Recognize unconscious bias.
    • Question cultural assumptions.
    • Recognize the influence of media.
  • Continue learning.
    • Diversity training helps people understand different cultures and learn to cooperate with others.

Closing

  • It’s easy to grow disheartened in troubled times.
    • But just as spring always follows winter, we too will prevail.
  • Hávamál 127
    • A poem written during the Viking Age (approximately 900–1000 CE).
    • Two possible interpretations:
      • “Where you know of evil, declare it to be evil and don’t give your enemies peace.”
      • “Where you know of evil, declare it to be directed against you and don’t give your enemies peace.”
    • Should we respond to injustice as though we ourselves were the ones being harmed?
    • The perpetrators of oppression—even when we are not personally affected—must still be opposed.
    • Call out lies, cruelty, fascism, violations of the Constitution, and violations of human rights.

Call to Action

  • Take tangible steps toward greater inclusion in our lives and in the broader world.
  • Walk together in the light of inclusion, carrying the warmth of this community into the world.
  • Remember that inclusion, like tending Brigid’s fire, requires continual care and attention.
    • The warmth it provides is a gift to everyone.
  • As the days grow longer and the earth awakens,
    • May the seeds of inclusion we plant today take root.
    • May they grow strong.
    • May they bring beauty to our shared world.

Closing Joke

  • Six blind elephants were discussing what men were like.
  • After arguing, they decided to find one and determine what it was like through direct experience.
  • The first elephant felt the man and declared,
    • “Men are flat.”
  • After the other blind elephants felt the man, they all agreed.

Reading: We Are One

by Marites C. Cayetano

The color of your eyes,
the color of your skin,
the color of your hair
may not be the same as mine…

The god you praise,
the language you speak,
the way you eat
may not be the same as mine…

But we are one.

We cry.
We laugh.
We feel pain.
We feel hunger.
We feel thirst.
We feel love.
We feel hate.
We hope.
We dream.
We get tired.
And we rest…

We are one.