Sermon by Dwayne Hunn, 1986-10-19

Two-sided letter-sized sheet with a sermon by Dwayne Hunn."First Presbyterian Church of Novato, 10-19-86Pace Making Sunday. Sermon.Dwayne Hunnpscermon/ pal-can-pcHaving been educated by Jesuits at St. Ignatius, I must admit that the non, Sister Jay Martin, you had walk in here reminded me of the Jesuits who intimidated me during my youth…. Than of any sweet nun I had ever met. (Regarding humorous ceremony performed earlier in the service.)Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you on your “Peace Making” Sunday.I was raised in an alley on the rough east side of Cleveland. Mr. best friend, Frankie Boris, was 5-6 yrs older than me.He was the toughest kid in the neighborhood. He could take any two kids his age in a real fight, and play fight 4 kids my age and teach us all new tricks.Frankie was so touch he never had to fight. He was soft spoken, never swore or raised his voice. He was skilled — he could fix biked and kites, knew sports, and he even knew how to talk to girls.He was accessible and always helpful to others. He made friends easily.During our friendship, Mom forced my dad to take what to Dad was a huge monetary gamble and move from that alley to the then fastest growing suburb in America - Parma, Ohio.It was prettier living in Parma. We had a much nicer house — even though only 12’ separated ours from the next house — in Marin most Neighborhood Groups would fight and die to stop such tracts from devaluing their neighborhood.I haven’t forgotten Frankie…..As years piled on… I made other best friends.One was Michael Clarke Rubel. Almost 25 years ago he bought 3 acres with some run down tin shacks and a 5 million gallon reservoir on it that used to be the lemon packing factory for a tract of citrus groves.Michael is probably the strongest man I know. For years he had been lifting boulders to build his dream — a castle.Five of us lived there with him for many years. While living there, he let us build whatever we wanted for ourselves — never asking or requiring us to help him with this dream.The materials we used were — America’s throwaways — bottles, rocks, rail road ties, used lumber, recycled tools….The neighbors — hated, opposed us. We were an.. eye sore, junk collectors, motor bike riding hippies,……. Strange. different.Today Michael’s dream Castle is 7.5 Stories high. Nothing’s built by the code. Yet it is registered as a state historical museum. It’s filled with $5-10 million dollars, or more, of antiques. Harry Reasoner’s done a TV special Barbara Walters tried to…Michael pushed her away for being too pushy. “It’s Incredible,” “Believe It Or Not,” “The Washington Post” and the “LA Times” have all done more than one special on the place.Today Michael needs an 8’ gate around the place token admiring neighbors and tourists out.Michael seldom has anything harsh to say about anyone… Although he has lectures me when I dropped a word that sounded the least bit foul to him, and he lets me tell only the most sanitized of dirty jokes.Sitting in his castle, sipping wine with him is one of the most tranquil things I or his army of friends do.I love those two guys.You probably all have best friends who elicit similar responses in your soul.They are strong — yet gentle.They build for themselves and ask for little — yet teach you to build so you too wellness little.They give — not material things —— but things so much more essential.The make friends— not by catering to your whims and desires, —— not by flexing their muscled or using their power,But by merely being the good persons they are.By sharing the good that they know and love doing with those who gather around…By sharing, they make everyone who comes in contact with them better.Just tow people.On a larger scale, however, THEY ARE PERFECT NATIONS.American is like Frankie Boris. The toughest kid on the block. America can knock anybody out.Frankie & the neighborhood knew how tough he was but also how fair… so he never had to hit anybody.Instead he just went around on his bike making friends and breaking up fights. Like America often is…. but always should be.Everyone, except maybe Michael’s Mom and a couple old timers who raised him, was against Michael’s dream of building a castle.Everyone from neighbors to banks to City Councils attacked him. … But he just kept piling rocks in search of completing his dream.He used the few resources he had at any one time to build his dream — river bed rock, bags of bottles people left in the driveway, lumber discarded from tunnels and collapsed freeways,He got stronger.His friends and helpers grew. His resources expanded.His opponents got weaker.His opponents became his admirers & the community became a richer place to live.Michael was a lot like America — when she started out…"

双面信纸尺寸的讲道稿，作者为德韦恩·亨恩（Dwayne Hunn）。1986年10月19日，诺瓦托第一长老会教堂（First Presbyterian Church of Novato），‘缔造和平主日’（Peace Making Sunday）讲道。pscermon/ pal-can-pc
我曾在圣依纳爵（St. Ignatius）受耶稣会（Jesuits）教育，不得不承认，刚走进来的杰伊·马丁修女（Sister Jay Martin），让我想起了年少时令我心生畏惧的耶稣会士……比起我曾遇见过的任何一位温柔修女皆是如此。（谈及仪式前期举行的趣味典礼）
感谢诸位给予我在‘缔造和平主日’发表演讲的机会。我在克利夫兰（Cleveland）东侧破败小巷中长大。我最要好的朋友弗兰基·鲍里斯（Frankie Boris）比我年长五至六岁。他是街区里最凶悍的孩子：单打独斗能撂倒两个同龄孩子，和四个比我年幼的孩子打闹玩耍时，还能教我们新花招。
弗兰基性子沉稳，实则从无需动武。他说话温声细语，从不爆粗或提高嗓门。他技艺精湛——会修理自行车与风筝，通晓各类体育运动，甚至懂得如何与女孩交谈。他平易近人，总乐于助人，交友从不费力。
在我们的友谊存续期间，母亲逼着父亲做了一笔在父亲看来堪称巨额的金钱赌注，举家从那条小巷搬到了当时全美发展最快的郊区——俄亥俄州帕马市（Parma, Ohio）。帕马的生活环境更优渥，我们住进了宽敞不少的房子——尽管我家与邻居家仅相隔12英尺，在马林县（Marin County），绝大多数邻里社群都会不惜一切代价阻止此类住宅开发贬值社区价值。
我从未忘记弗兰基……随着岁月流逝……我结识了其他挚友。其中一位是迈克尔·克拉克·鲁贝尔（Michael Clarke Rubel）。近25年前，他买下了3英亩土地，地上有几间破旧的铁皮棚屋，还有一座曾用于柑橘林柠檬包装厂的500万加仑蓄水池。
迈克尔或许是我认识的最强壮的人。多年来，他靠搬运巨石实现自己的梦想——建造一座城堡。我们五人曾与他同住多年。在那里居住期间，他任由我们自行搭建想要的居所，从未要求或强求我们协助他实现梦想。我们所用的材料皆是美国的废弃物：玻璃瓶、石块、铁路枕木、旧木料、回收工具……
邻居们憎恶并反对我们。我们被视作……有碍观瞻的垃圾收集者、骑摩托的嬉皮士……古怪又另类。
如今，迈克尔的梦想城堡已高达7.5层。虽未按建筑规范修建，却已被登记为州立历史博物馆。馆内藏有价值500万至1000万美元甚至更多的古董。哈里·雷森纳（Harry Reasoner）曾制作过一档电视专题节目，芭芭拉·沃尔特斯（Barbara Walters）也曾试图……迈克尔因她过于咄咄逼人而拒绝了她。《难以置信》（"It's Incredible"）、《信不信由你》（"Believe It Or Not"）、《华盛顿邮报》（The Washington Post）与《洛杉矶时报》（The Los Angeles Times）都曾多次专题报道这座城堡。
如今，迈克尔需要在宅邸外围修建一道8英尺高的大门，以阻挡慕名前来的邻居与游客。
迈克尔极少对他人恶语相向……尽管当我说出任何在他听来稍有不敬的言辞时，他会训斥我；而他也仅允许我讲最无伤大雅的荤段子。
与他同坐城堡中，小酌葡萄酒，是我与他一众挚友最悠然自得的时刻之一。
我爱这两位挚友。想必诸位心中都有能唤起这般共鸣的挚友。他们强大却又温柔。他们为自己建造家园，索取甚少，却教会你如何搭建属于自己的小天地。他们给予你的并非物质财富——而是更为珍贵的馈赠。
他们结交友人，并非靠迎合你的随性与欲望，亦非靠展露肌肉或动用权力，而是仅仅恪守本心，做善良的自己。他们将自身所熟知与热爱的美好事物分享给身边之人……通过分享，他们让每一个接触过自己的人都变得更好。
仅仅是两个人。然而从更宏大的尺度来看，他们便是完美的国度。
美国恰似弗兰基·鲍里斯：街区里最强悍的孩子。美国能击倒任何对手。弗兰基与街坊邻里都清楚他的强悍，却也知晓他的公正……因此他从无需动手伤人。反倒时常骑着自行车四处交友，调解纷争。正如美国如今的模样……也本应始终如此。
几乎所有人都反对迈克尔建造城堡的梦想——唯有他的母亲与少数几位抚养他长大的长辈例外。从邻居到银行，再到市议会，都对他百般刁难……但他依旧日复一日堆砌石块，只为实现梦想。
他利用手头仅有的资源搭建城堡：河床石块、人们留在车道上的袋装玻璃瓶、废弃隧道与坍塌高速公路遗留的木料。
他愈发强大。他的朋友与帮手越来越多，资源也日渐充裕。他的反对者日渐式微，最终转而成为仰慕者，而这片社区也因此变得更加宜居。
迈克尔与早年的美国颇为相似……