Waun Welcoming Summer
Welcoming Summer
By The Rev. Renee Waun
POSTED: June 20, 2009
It is Father’s Day weekend, the summer solstice (first day of summer) and an occasion for many Unitarian Universalists to remember Norbert Capek, the father of the Flower Communion service, where participants each bring a stemmed flower to place in a common vase and then reverently choose someone else’s flower to take home.
The bouquet that is created by all the flowers represents the great diversity and sublime beauty of the gathered community. In it we are reminded to recognize, to appreciate, to support each other as we journey on our chosen paths together.
We are aware that no two flowers are alike, so no two people are alike, yet each has a contribution to make. Together the different flowers form a beautiful bouquet. Our common bouquet would not be the same without the unique addition of each individual flower, and thus it is with our church community, it would not be the same without each and every one of us. Thus the eclectic bouquet is a statement of our diverse community.
By exchanging flowers, we show our willingness to walk together in the search for truth, disregarding all that might divide us. Each person takes home a flower brought by someone else – thus symbolizing our shared celebration in community. This communion of sharing is essential to a free people of a free religion. As we take our chosen flower from the vase, we try to handle it carefully. It is a gift that someone else has brought. It represents that person’s unique humanity, and therefore deserves our kindest touch. It shows that we accept one another and that not only do we give, but we also receive from the treasury of grace.
Norbert Capek was born in 1870 in what is now the Czech Republic. He was originally Roman Catholic but became a Baptist missionary. However his liberal beliefs led him to move to the US and become a journalist. This is where he met and married his wife Maja, also from his home country, and who introduced Norbert to Unitarian Universalism. The two returned to Prague to establish the first Unitarian church there.
Capek devised simple services and introduced various elements of worship, starting with the singing of hymns which he wrote himself. On the third Sunday of June, 1923, Dr. Capek introduced the Flower Communion Service at the first anniversary of his congregation’s founding.
In March, 1939, Nazi troops invaded Czechoslovakia. At the age of 70, he formed a committee of resistance, which met at the Unitarian church. Maja came to the United States in 1940 to lecture and raise money for the Prague church. During this tour, World War II broke out, and Maja was unable to return to Prague.
Dr. Capek was sent to Dachau, and was later executed. Maja did not learn of her husband’s death until the war ended in 1945.Survivors have reported that even in Dachau, Dr. Capek inspired those around him with hope. Even there, prisoners were asked to bring together flowers or bits of beauty for a reenactment of the flower communion.
Especially there, his ministry touched people as it could not have touched them elsewhere.
The Flower Communion service has become an honored ritual in the UU churches as we remember Capek’s vision of peace, love and acceptance of all people. (Adapted from the history of the Flower Communion service provided by the Unitarian Universalist Association www.uua.org.)