Friends,
What a week! We had a rich, reflective remembrance service on Sunday and then on Tuesday, quite a few of you were out working the polls or voting. Many of us stayed up late Tuesday night watching results come in… I could tell you were tired because I got far fewer emails on Wednesday than I normally do =). I am proud of our faith movement’s tireless work these past months working to get out the vote, get people to the polls, and have difficult conversations about issues that matter to us. It’s hard and sacred work. Well done.
You can read our Unitarian Universalist Association’s press release statement regarding the election here. My favorite line is the reminder that “democracy is more than elections. It is created through the ways people show up for one another, build trust across differences, and embody their values in public life.” I am appreciative of the reminder from one of my colleagues, too, Rev. Chris Buice, who wrote that “in democracies there are no permanent victors or permanently vanquished. Winners get a chance to prove they are worthy of the office. Losers get the opportunity to organize for the next contest… I do not identify as either a victim or a victor… I am a fighter for the causes in which I believe and for the people I care about.”
The conditions under which we organize will shift in the months to come. But our organizing and building and reaching out and serving others will continue. It is work we know how to do and that we do well. It’s work we’re so lucky to be immersed in together!
This Sunday’s service, “What Shape Will Freedom Take?” will invite you into reflection about the ways in which the larger culture we are part of thinks and speaks about freedom, and how that has shaped Unitarian Universalism as a faith movement since its beginnings. What are, in the words of Rev. Dr. Paul Rasor, the “prophetic tensions” of liberal religion? Does our grounding in the liberal tradition impede our ability to be a liberatory faith? Can a movement rooted in a philosophy of individual liberty and rights truly succeed in moving from the individual to the collective… to liberation for all? How do we live out these prophetic tensions in our work for social change and in the life we share together in community?
After worship I’ll lead a New to UU Class in the Gathering room from 11:30-1:30. Register here if you’re interested! I look forward to seeing you in church.
In faith,
Rev. Tara