Elements from Flower Communion on June 19, 2022
Lucille LePage
“Wisdom Moment” story
Almost 100 years ago, in Czechoslovakia, Dr. Norbert Capek and his wife Maja started the Unitarian Church of Czechoslovakia in Prague.
There, in 1923, Norbert Capek created the Flower Communion ritual. Each participant would bring a flower, join it with the flowers brought by others to form a bouquet, and then at the end of the ceremony choose a different blossom from the bouquet to take with them.
Czech Unitarians called it the Flower Festival or Flower Ceremony to avoid confusion with the traditional bread-and-wine forms of Communion.
Rev. Maja Capek, Norbert Capek’s wife, was touring the US in 1940. While visiting Cambridge, MA, she introduced the Flower Festival to the Unitarian Church in that city. In time, this new ritual was adapted and warmly embraced by many UU congregations, until it became a treasured annual tradition in our denomination.
Maja Capek was unable to return to Prague and to her husband there because of the outbreak of World War 2. Then, after the war, Maja received tragic news about her husband. Because he preached about the inherent worth and beauty of every human person, the Nazis had found Norbert Capek to be too dangerous to be allowed to live. He was sent by the Nazis to the infamous Dachau concentration camp, where he was put to death.
Shortly before his death, at Dachau, Dr. Capek had written these words:
“I have lived amidst eternity. Be grateful, my soul. My life was worth living.”
Clearly, his life had indeed been worth living – a life of courage, hope, compassion, wisdom, and profound goodness.
Norbert Capek’s vision and the spirit of his life are still with us, in many ways.
And the Flower Ceremony that we celebrate today, as many other Unitarian Universalist congregations do at this time of year, is one of those gifts.
So, let us honor Dr. Capek by trying to live bravely, joyfully, in appreciation of the earth’s gifts, creatively, and compassionately, and, today, by carrying on the meaningful ritual of the Flower Communion.
Thank you for making it possible by being here and by the gifts of your flowers.
Readings
The Simplest of Sacraments by Jacob Trapp (#725 in grey hymnal)
Simply to be, and to let things be as they speak wordlessly from the mystery of what they are.
Simply to say a silent yes to the hillside flowers, to the tree we walk under.
To pass from one person to another a morsel of bread, an answering yes, this is the simplest, the quietest, of sacraments.
Within the Heart of the Flower by Amy Zucker Morgenstern
Within the heart of the flower, the fountain of beauty
Within the heart of the community, a fire that warms and dances
Within the heart of each of us, a spark of the spirit of life.
Holy,
holy,
holy.
Flower Communion Reflection by Lucille LePage
Here they are.
As you probably know, these flowers or flower pictures that you have brought and that are gathered here are meant to reflect our church community: many diverse individual elements joined into something new, vibrant, complementary, and greater than the sum of its parts.
Typically, the Flower Communion blossoms are in the form of a bouquet – lovely, harmonious and coherent.
While I was preparing these remarks earlier this week, my expectation was that we would be looking at something much more random than a real bouquet – more of a varied but rather chaotic jumble. After all, the flowers would have only recently been introduced to one another, and without benefit of any careful arrangement.
It turns out that I was mistaken. Somehow, they have ended up in a delightfully congenial display. It’s a wonderful surprise, which probably holds a good lesson for me!
The flowers are, in fact, working together, very agreeably. And as we can see, they reflect our community in other ways.
Just by being together, they make an impact stronger than any one of their individual members.
They are just bursting with variety, color, cheer, and presence.
They are glorious.
Each blossom is beautiful, both individually and together. I think you could say they are miraculous.
So what I would like to suggest is that we take a moment just to look at them – feast our eyes, savor them, give them the attention and appreciation they deserve.
Let them speak for themselves.
And now, why don’t we do the same with one another?
We are at least as miraculous as the flowers.
So I encourage you now to look around, in appreciation, at the beautiful faces of your fellow church members.
As you do, you might want to share a gesture of greeting: a wave, a smile, a salute, Namaste, a thumbs up …
And don’t forget to look at the streaming camera and in the same way greet those church members joining us via YouTube.
Each of us is unique, valuable and irreplaceable. It’s so important to pay attention.
