I do want to say one more thing about the moths, though. All of the readings on Sunday from The Conference of the Birds were challenging. Attar essentially tells us that if we want to experience the divine, we have to prepare ourselves. And that preparation allows us to be ready for leadership in a spiritual community. And we don’t do it alone. Any of it. The birds who are internally prepared see the fullness of the Beloved in their own reflections, in the context of interdependent relationship.

That’s the vision I take from Attar’s writings. It’s a distinctly Sufi perspective. The entire set of writings is probably challenging to a lot of us, just as it probably was for its original audience. That parable about the moths, though… That’s next level. 

The only moth that really knows the candle is the one consumed by it? We acknowledged on Sunday that the birds don’t really get annihilated. They flew on beyond that valley. They still got to the lake. They still beheld themselves and the Beloved as interwoven reflections. So what does this parable even mean?

Consider that a lot of people have read about community. Some people have even danced on the edges of being in a community of like-minded individuals or a covenantal community. Close enough to singe their wings. But who really knows what it is to be deeply committed to relationships of mutual interdependence except those who have experienced it fully? In other words, those who have immersed themselves in inextricable relationships of trust and care.

Consider that a lot of people have read about religions. People seem to know a lot of things about what different religions believe or practice. Sometimes, people learn about those things without ever experiencing them personally. I think some people learn a little bit about different religions so they can critique or challenge or debate. We often assume what a candle is like because we’ve seen it from a distance or read about it. And we can’t really gain meaningful understanding from that surface level information.

Some people have experienced religious traditions or spiritual communities that caused harm. We mistake the human constructs for the sacred they’re supposed to worship—or the values they’re supposed to center. It happens in UU congregations too. We say we value some impressive things, and then we behave like fallible human beings. It’s one reason repair is such an essential piece of covenant. We’ll never get it perfect.

So, we heard about liberating love from someone at a conference? We read a book of essays about it? We tested the fringes of what liberating love might be and got a little singed around the edges? We learned just enough about what would be expected of a person devoted to liberating love to reject it? We’re the moths that never really knew a candle. 

And I say “we” because it’s a challenge for me too. I’m still fluttering close to the flame. I haven’t flown away convinced I know all I need to. But I haven’t immersed myself in it either. 

I feel really excited and full of wonder when I consider the possibilities though. What would it look like for a community of people, prepared for spiritual depth, to gaze into that reflection and see themselves in the context of mutually interdependent relationship, and in that reflection behold the Beloved—the Divine, the Sacred, Goddess, God, the Interdependent Web of All Existence thrumming and alive with vibrant energy—and fly away on fire with devotion to manifesting liberating love in the world? 

Not to impress anyone or to get any sort of accolades or recognition. Not to earn or prove anything. Not out of anxiety about the state of the world. Just because being consumed with devotion to liberating love is the only possible response to that depth of connection. What could that even be? That’s what the moth parable is about, I imagine.  

Blessings on your work. I look forward to being immersed in it when I return May 1.

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