Living for Others

Law of Stewardship

Law of Emotional Choice

Law of Human Dignity

Law of Present- Moment Living

Law of Esprit

Law of Mindfulness

Law of Forgiveness 

Law of Unconditional Love

Law of Personal Peace

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Christ
Presbyterian
Church 
a center of faith 
for living abundantly

3400 State Road
Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 
USA 19026 

Focus on Certain Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness:
The Law of Human Dignity

sermon from the pulpit of 
Christ Presbyterian Church                    
a center of faith for abundant living
The Reverend Clyde E. Griffith, pastor

Some of you may have seen the academy award winning movie, Forrest Gump. If you haven't seen, rent a video tape and watch it. It's a cute movie. As the movie begins, camera focuses on a feather floating through the air as the opening credits roll across the screen. All you notice is the floating feather -- you don't know where it's been or where it's going, you don't know where it's from or why it's there. And then, as the camera pulls out, we see the feather float and fall at the feet of Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump is sitting on bench, waiting for his bus to come take him where he needs to go. He notices the feather and casually picks it up, and places it in his book.

And the adventure begins.

At the end of the movie, Forrest Gump's young son, Forrest Junior is waiting at the same bus stop where his waited a generation ago to catch the bus to go to school. And he is carrying the same book his Dad had. As he opens it, the same feather falls out and is swept up by the wind once again, taking it to who knows where.

Some see these scenes and conclude that life is like that -- life is like a floating feather that goes where the winds of circumstance takes it, making arbitrary twists and turns, until it coincidentally lands at one place rather than another. But, that's not really what the movie is about. That symbolic feather serves as a marker showing Forrest Gump that regardless of how his life may float along the wind currents of change, there is something that guides him and holds firm. The feather is not random, capricious and fateful. It is merely a marker showing Forrest Gump that what seems to be accidental, just being in the right place at the right time, is really meant to lead him on to his own destiny. It is not the floating feather, but the person of Forrest Gump that determines his destiny. It is Forrest Gump honoring his commitments -- commitments to his mother, 
commitment to Bubba, 
commitment to Lieutenant Dan, 
and most of all, his commitment to Jennie -- that determines how his life is lived.

You see, it is Forrest Gump's steady purpose that is framed and underlined so poetically by the image of the feather floating on the wings of the wind. Forrest Gump's brain is a bit slow-witted, but his spirit floats and soars.

The movie may be a bit unrealistic, but its message is not. And that is its great appeal. Forrest Gump sits on a bench looking back on his life, weaving the threads and the connections, the whys and the wherefores for anybody who will listen. While he may be incapable of comprehending and appreciating it, we are not. The movie makes it easy for us. Yet, when it comes to our own lives, we often are like Forrest Gump, aren't we? We may sit back sometimes and wonder, and reflect on where we've been and what we've done, and fail to see the destiny that may be there for us all along. 

A few years ago, the son of Harold Kushner was struck by a tragic disease. Harold Kushner was a Rabbi of a large congregation and felt called to make sense out of what was happening -- for him, for his family, and for his congregation. He wrote a book: When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Maybe you've seen it.
Maybe you've read it. 
Most people who read it are greatly helped by his thoughts and words. (It was a best seller for a several years.) The rabbi acknowledges that we really have no control over the fact that bad things happen in life. Maybe you've seen the poster or the bumper sticker that says "Stuff Happens!" 
Well, stuff does happen, doesn't it? 
You simply cannot keep bad things away forever. There is no amulet to wear to ward off bad things. There is no rabbit's foot to carry to protect you from bad things.
There is no medallion or icon to wear that will keep bad things from happening in your life. 
No, stuff happens. 
People we love get ill. 
People we trust let us down. 
People we love die. 
We get older. 
Things happen to our bodies and minds that we have no control over. 
We are victims of accident, craziness, or malicious behavior. 
Stuff happens.

But, when it does, Rabbi Kushner says, we have the ability to respond in different ways. And how we respond determines how things play themselves out.

(That's one of the lessons of Forrest Gump!) How we respond to whatever befalls us determines how things play themselves out. And Rabbi Kushner asserts the same things that we assert here at Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill: A deep underlying faith and commitment provides a foundation for dealing with what life dishes out. That's what we're really about, isn't it? There are several people in this room that can attest to the truth of this assertion. (Can't you?) 

And literally thousands of others can, too. Dr. Bernie Siegal has devoted his life to working with, what he calls, Exceptional Patients -- people who have been dealt the ultimate blow in life, people who have been diagnosed with an incurable illness, people who have been given a definite, finite, time for the ending of their life. (Some of you have faced this kind of situation with someone you love, or perhaps with yourself.) Working with hundreds of people over a period of thirty years or so, Dr. Bernie Siegal has witnessed time and time again the truth and the power inherent in Rabbi Kushner's assertion: It is how you respond to what life has dished out for you, that determines how things play themselves out. And there is nothing more vital and more important in helping you deal with whatever life hands you, than a deep underlying faith and commitment. Bernie Siegal's patients who consciously decide to make the most of the days they have left, and consciously go about the business of living each day with gusto, greeting each moment with relish, and relating to each person with genuine interest -- all of them, to a person, state that they only began to live that day they were told they were going to die -- and the miracle of miracles is that, once they start living that way, a huge percentage of them go on to live many days -- even years -- past the time of their immanent demise.

When Greg Anderson was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer, he drew deep on his faith and acted out Rabbi Kushner's assertion, that how we respond to what life dishes out determines how things play themselves out. Eleven years later, Greg Anderson has just published a book about some of the factors that help and enable us to live each day of our lives to the fullest -- as he says, how to feel better, think better, and live better than you ever thought possible -- a interesting byproduct of which is that not only can you feel better, and think better, and live better than you ever thought possible, but (BUT!) you can actually overcome illness and prolong your life. It has happened to others, it happens again and again, and it can happen to you.

Greg Anderson spells out some of the factors that helped him live his life with gusto, and overcome his disease, and survive some eleven years now after he was given a just a few weeks to live. He calls these things, 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness. We've already talked about some of them: what he calls the laws of Life Mission (the power inherent in living your life with a purpose), the Law of Purpose Through Service (investing in others), the Law of Stewardship (connecting with future generations), and the Law of Emotional Choice (the power that comes from exercising your choice over how you feel about things).

In weeks to ahead we will hear about what he calls the Law of Present Moment Living (the power inherent in living for today), the Law of Esprit (living life with joy), The Law of Mindfulness (finding the incredible in the ordinary and commonplace), the Laws of Forgiveness, Gratitude, Personal Peace, and Unconditional Loving. And today, I want you to hear about what Greg Anderson calls the Law of Human Dignity. He writes, that "With the practice of human dignity, magic happens."

Beginning with the first basic building block of our faith, the very first book of our Bible asserts that God created man in his own image -- all of us, male and female -- each one of us is created in the image of God.  It is this fundamental belief that is behind Jesus' exhortation to Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
You do unto others as you would have them do unto you, because they, too, like you, were made in the image of God. 
Sometimes that's real hard to swallow. But, that is the first assertion of our faith, God created man in his own image. When that becomes a part of your gestalt, a part of your underlying philosophy of life, a part of the way you look at other people and a part of the way you treat other people, you actually experience life on a different level than most folks.
And you become a part of a power that goes far beyond the limits of your measly body and mind -- a power that enables you to experience the abundant life Jesus promises.

This respect for other persons is far more than abstract mouthing of platitudes. But must be spelled out by concrete actions. We practice our understanding of human dignity through our attitudes and our words and our actions. There is powerful magic in the practice of human dignity. 
We all accept the truth that what goes around comes around. People will treat you the same way you treat them. And so, we may scratch someone's back, because, someday, they may scratch ours. And that's good -- its good for us, its good for our society, its good for building a future. 
But, that's not the real magic in this universal "law." Jesus is clear here in Luke that we don't do for others because we expect a tit for a tat. 
Why are we not to judge others? 
Why are we not to condemn others? 
Why are we to pay attention to the way we treat others? 
It is not because they may turn around and judge us. It is not because they may turn around and condemn us. 
It is not because they may treat us the way we treated them. 
No! 
The way you treat others is the way you will be treated. [This is a promise, not some idle statement].

Not by others. 
But by God! 
The way you treat others is the way you will be treated by God! 
Judge others, God will judge you. 
Condemn others, God will condemn you. 
Its that powerful!

Human dignity, respect for others, is not a tenet to be mouthed. But a belief to be practiced. And when it is, you tap in to the power at the center of the universe -- the power that created man in his own image -- the power that promises that we will be treated just as we treat others. 
Friends, this is a promise we can count on. 
This is a promise that can change our lives. 
This a promise that enables you to experience a life full of grace and abundance. Amen.

How to Live Healthier and Longer:
Focus on Living Certain Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness:
The Law of Life Mission (Living A Life of Purpose)
The Law of Service (Living for Others)
The Law of Stewardship
The Law of Emotional Choice
The Law of Human Dignity
The Law of Present-Moment Living
The Law of Esprit
The Law of Mindfulness
The Law of Forgiveness
The Law of Unconditional Love
The Law of Personal Peace

References:

The 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness: Feel, Think, and Live Better Than You Ever Thought Possible
by Greg Anderson

Healing Wisdom: Insight, Wit and Inspiration for Anyone Facing Illness
by Greg Anderson

Journeys With the Cancer Conquerors: Mobilizing Mind and Spirit
by Greg Anderson

Sound Mind, Sound Body: A New Model for Lifelong Health
Dr. Kenneth Pelletier

Research Study: