This was before 6^th street was invented. He had no web page, no flyers, nor the benefit of the crack marketing team of Kessler & Company. John never appeared on the weekly interview program, "Soul Talk," the automatic ticket to pass go and collect the proverbial $200!

Yet, through perseverance Hus graduated, and was ordained a Catholic priest. In 1401 he was appointed Rector of his school, and became the University Preacher.

Control of educational institutions was a hot political issue then as it is today. About this time the government sought to control the universities.

Making a bold political statement, John preached in the everyday language of the people, rather than in the scholarly Catholic Latin. In lieu of tedious doctrinal sermons he spoke of here and now concerns.

He declared; "If God had intended himself to be revealed through theology, we would have all been born with doctors’ degrees." ( The Irrepressible Yes! p.1)

Hus was an outspoken critic of priestly corruption; and your educated guess is correct. The hierarchy wanted rid of him. One Sunday morning the archbishop stood up in the middle of the service and began to read a decree of ex-communication.

The sheep like congregants put John in a submissive hold and tossed him in the street, robes and all. And I thought the Ministerial Fellowship Committee was rough!

Things went south from here, making a Dan Quayle presidential bid look stellar. All books critical of Rome were banned. Then, a papal edict came down stating that if Hus didn’t stop preaching all the clergy in Prague would be executed.

John went into exile, which I feel confident aided many of his pastoral colleagues in sleeping more soundly at night. The predominant church party razed his church to the ground. Some of Hus’ courageous parishioners gathered stones from the structure, which eventually were proudly built into the walls of Protestant churches.

In 1414 Hus was ordered to appear before the great Church Council of Constance. Upon his arrival, he was chained hand and foot to a dungeon wall. A kangaroo court promptly condemned him.

John Hus was burned at the stake for his convictions and principals of the symbol you see over my shoulder today. (The Flaming Chalice)

John had taught that the communion wine and bread did not magically turn into the blood and body of Christ, but that the Eucharist was a symbolic memorial meal. He directed the chalice to be passed among the people to demonstrate the equality of worshiper and priest.

To this day in Czechoslovakia, the chalice represents the liberty of the common person. Hus’ martyrdom adds the flame to our current chalice.

Fast-forward now your historical VCR 500 plus years, to a time not so long, long ago.

The year is 1941. The newly formed Unitarian Service Committee is laboring in Portugal to assist Eastern Europeans, among them Unitarians and Jews, seeking to escape Nazi persecution.

From his headquarters in Lisbon, Rev. Charles Joy, Executive Director of the Service Committee oversaw a secret network of couriers and agents in this mission.

In the clandestine, cloak and dagger atmosphere of these operations, being the new kid on the block was treacherous business for the Unitarian Service Committee.

Establishing trust quickly across barriers of language, nationality, and faith could determine life and death. Disguises, signs, countersigns, and midnight runs were the staples of survival in this climate.

The USC had attracted the attention of Hans Deutsch, an Austrian artist, who had been living in Paris. Deutsch was producing critical cartoons of Hitler when the Nazis invaded France. He fled, and eventually maneuvered his way into Portugal.

Deutsch wrote to Charles Joy; "I am not what you may actually call a believer. But if your kind of life is the profession of your faith- as it is, I feel sure- then religion, ceasing to be magic and mysticism, becomes confession to practical philosophy and- what is more-to active, really useful social work. And this religion-with or without a heading- is one to which even a ‘godless’ fellow like myself can say wholeheartedly, Yes!" (The Flaming Chalice, p.2,3)

Joy commissioned Hans to create a symbol for their papers "to make them look official, to give dignity and importance to them, and at the same time to symbolize the spirit of our work… When a document may keep a man out of jail, give him standing with governments and police, it is important that it look important." ( The Flaming Chalice, p.3)

Deutsch designed a chalice with a flame. Joy wrote his board in Boston that the "the holy oil burning in the chalice is a symbol of helpfulness and sacrifice…The fact that it remotely suggests a cross was not in his mind, but to me this also has merit. We do not limit our work to Christians. Indeed, at the present moment, our work is nine-tenths for the Jews, yet we do stem from the Christian tradition, and the cross does symbolize Christianity and its central theme of sacrificial love." (Chalice, p. 4)

The flaming chalice was made into a seal for papers and a badge for agents moving refugees to freedom. Today it remains as the emblem of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. ( Show copy)

The Unitarian church never had a visual symbol for itself. The Universalists did. It was a circle with an off set cross. ( Show copy) At some point after the 1961 merger of the two denominations, the icon, which is now the official representation of our association, was developed.

You see two outer circles, which signify the two traditions. The off center chalice and flame include the imagery from the Universalist emblem, and is a revised take on the Unitarian Service Committee symbol.

Ultimately, the meaning of the flaming chalice is in the eye of the beholder. The chalice can reflect the sustenance, generosity, and sharing we all need. The flame might mirror courage, sacrifice, witness, and illumination.

Or perhaps you could interpret the chalice as the ground of being, and the flame as the universal search for meaning, compassion, and purpose.

This icon has evolved as our common, unifying, visual metaphor. Take some time along life’s way to contemplate its messages. Allow it to nurture your innermost self. Let it speak to the specific circumstances and decisions on your path.

Lore has it that when John Hus was being executed he proclaimed; "Today you are burning a goose (the word ‘hus’ in Czech means ‘goose’), but out of my ashes in a hundred years will come a swan which you cannot burn." ( Yes!, p.1)

History reveals this swan to be Martin Luther, and the Reformation, out of which our Universalist and Unitarian beliefs have ripened.

Spiritual sage Walter Rauschenbusch offers this exhortation; "Theology needs periodic rejuvenation. Its greatest danger is not mutilation, but senility."

We assemble here this morning as the most blessed people on the planet; with economics, opportunity, knowledge, and far reaching communication tools at our behest.

Responsibility is weighed in proportion to these measures. The gospel of Luke lays it out thusly; "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." ( Luke 12:48)

What will our children’s children think of the religion, morality, family mores, and society they have inherited from us? Will we be a twinkle in their eye or bruised shiner? Will they view you as a goose or a swan?