Dear ones,
Eight years ago I attended worship at our New London congregation, in a November eerily like this one. There I heard Rev. Carolyn Patierno preach, “We will not lay waste our power.”* As we turn the corner of this year toward Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, we find ourselves again in a moment of our history where the forces of hatred, exclusion, nationalism, and division believe they have won.
Let us not lay waste our power now, either.
“What power?” you ask. “In a world where churches are in decline and have not yet recovered from the Covid shutdown?” But this is only part of the story. The need for sanctuaries of safety has not declined. The need for places where people gather for meaning making has not declined – in fact the need is growing! Anecdotally, know that new families are showing up in and joining UU churches in every state in New England. And we have heard that on the first Sunday after the election, new visitors showed up in many of our sanctuaries. If past is prologue, more will come, seeking a wider welcome, kindred spirits, safe sanctuaries, and help to create meaning in a confounding world.
Friends, we are not powerless. Here are things we can do in our homes and in our congregations to begin to repair the world in small, local ways:
Remember who we are.
We are a people of covenant, a covenant that places an obligation on us to be in relationships of care and accountability with one another. We are called to a spiritual discipline of Love. It is Love that guides us toward the world our faith insists is possible. This is who we are.
We are inheritors of the birthright gift of Spiritual Leadership. Each of us has this power to claim it. Spiritual leadership is how we discern and decide to navigate the spaces between our power and our powerlessness. Each and every one of us has the power to exercise our spiritual leadership in our daily lives, and collectively in our congregations. When some of our congregations had Progress Pride flags or Black Lives Matter flags stolen from their buildings or defaced, they chose to replace them. Over and over they choose their power to proclaim the abundant Love that grounds our faith over their powerlessness to keep thieves from stealing that symbol.
In the ways we welcome new seekers in coming months, and with the fierceness that we support and protect our Beloveds who are in fear for their lives and well being, we engage our spiritual leadership. We can decide to be prophets of a more loving world.
Remember whose we are.
Now is a time to look to our ancestors in faith for strength and resilience.
Every Sunday when we light the chalice in worship is an opportunity to remember. The first flaming chalice design was created by an Austrian artist for the UU Service Committee, then helping people resist Nazi forces in WWII. He conceived of the chalice as a symbol of sacrificial love. Also in that time and place were Unitarian minister Waitstill Sharp and his wife Martha, who left their Massachusetts home to help thousands of Czech refugees to flee to safety.
And in an earlier conflict that tore our own country apart, a New England Universalist woman learned that a train full of wounded Union soldiers would be arriving near her home. Clara Barton ran out to meet that train and threw herself into helping the wounded. She heard there were people hurting, and she answered, “I can help.”
No, dear ones, we are not all called to battlefields, but each of us does have a gift that our community needs to be more whole, more safe, more loving. We belong to ancestors who, in the face of need, answered ‘we can help.’
Remember who we intend to be.
Our hymn tells us there is more love, somewhere. We must keep faith with that vision. May each of our congregations be a haven for the hurting. Let our church bells ring out for hope. Let us be Sanctuary for one another. May every one of our beloved neighbors who fear for their safety, find it in our company. May we bring prophetic fire to the public squares and tend the fire of commitment in our own souls. May we be brave enough, and soft enough, to weather this coming winter.
May we stay together. And let us not lay waste our power.
PS: If you need some simple places to start directing your energy, remember the UU Disaster Relief Fund. And in case you missed it, our beloveds at First Parish Malden, MA have joined others to launch Pink Haven, a coalition to help Transgender and gender expansive people access gender affirming care. Find out more on Pink Haven from UU World.
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*A reference to William Wordsworth’s poem, The World Is Too Much With Us
