TIKKUN: mending the broken places
Rev. Ted Tollefson      
Sept. 23, 2007 @ UU Society of River Falls

I first learned about "Tikkun" from several Jewish grandmothers at an inter-faith wedding.  I asked them what they liked best about their religion.   Perhaps surprised that I was more interested in learning about their faith than selling them my own, they replied with enthusiasm: "Tikkun"!    Tikkun is doing what we can to make our world a little better.  Tikkun is picking up plastic and recycling it.  Tikkun is giving extra attention to so meone who's having a bady day.   Tikkun is working together for peace and justice.   Tikkun is how we try to make our common world a little bit better.

I learned more about "Tikkun" from Paul Wellstone our late senator from Minnesota.   In many of his speeches he mentioned "Tikkun", which he sometimes summed up in the words of Robert Kennedy:  "we can do better".   For Paul, Tikkun meant a life-time of service as a teacher, coach, trouble-maker and senator.   We can make the world a better place by taking responsibility to "become the change" we wish to see in the world.   We can make a difference if we work together.  

What do those who are good at Tikkun have in common?   What is the signature of Tikkun that we might join in the world of making our world a little better?  

Some people of good at repairing broken machines, tikkuning mechanical systems.  I think of my father-in-law, Glenn Arthur Eide. He never met a broken machine that he didn't like and didn't try to fix.   He loved to restore machines to full working order.  He enjoyed being of service to others.   And when he was tikkuning, he often whistled-while-he-worked.  That whistling was the sound of joy that comes from love made visible as work.   Who have you known who had a genius for fixing machines?

Some people are good at repairing natural systems.   I think of Lane from the tree service who came to cut up a wind-fallen tree for fire-wood.   Lane cares about trees.  He knows their names.  He also has a feel for the life-cycle of a forest: who the young trees grow in the shadows of the mature trees; how aging trees support one another.   He never does more cutting than necessary.  He thinks ahead to what our forest will become in 5 years.  Like us he knows that he "belongs to the forest".  That if we take care of the forest, the forest will take care of us, providing shelter from the wind,  cool shade in some, more oxygen to breathe.  Who have you known who was really good at taking care of living systems?

Some people special in the care and repair of human systems.  I think of Til, one of my teachers from seminary, who was initially trained as a mid-wife.   When students or faculty entered her office, we knew that she would give us her un-divided attention.  She could speak difficult truths with deep kindness.   She embodied a contagious faith that everyone had something to learn and something to teach.   Who have you known like Til who makes the silences sing and brings hidden resources to light?

Ted's Rules of Thumb

From these other my other mentors in Tikkun, I glean a few "rules of thumb".  Test them in the classroom of your own lives.

1. Care is the key to understanding systems.   If we don't care, we out not to meddle.

2. Get to know the territory in a deep, relational way before you try to fix anything.

3. Trust the wisdom and resources that abide in any living system and call upon those resources for creative change.

4. Take your time.  Haste makes Waste.  Remember the consequences for generations who will follow us.

5. Give the gift of undivided attention.

Rules of Thumb from the Members of UUSRF  (a partial list gleaned from notes)

6. Buy Local.

7. Just Being.

8. Service to others.

9. Follow the Golden Rule.

10. Active Listening.

11. Meet people where they are.

12. Embrace complexity and diversity.

13. Smile.

14. Be generous.

15. Cherish beauty.


Tao in the world is like a river coming home to the sea.