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Fire cools
The Rev. Cynthia Kane’s recent cross-country move undermines the superficial comfort of a favorite piece of Taoist wisdom—that fire cools, and water seeks its own level.
Fire and flood aren’t just events that pass. They are events that burn and roil and rush and take their toll before equilibrium is restored. They change the landscape, sometimes beyond recognition. (Captain Reverend Mother, January 21)
No silver lining
When a radio show about opiate drug use refers to the “silver lining” of racism, it sparks the Rev. Krista Taves’ outrage.
A drug epidemic isn’t an epidemic until it hits middle class white communities. The crack cocaine epidemic fuelled the “get tough on crime” prison industrial complex. The opiate epidemic is fuelling reform.
Reform that is years overdue.
America owes the black community not only an apology but reparations for the irreversible damage done to countless communities and families. All “we” had to do was to listen, to believe, to care, and to act. (And the Stones Shall Cry, January 21)
The Rev. Dr. Carl Gregg draws our attention to the radicalism of Martin Luther King, Jr.
In this spirit of recognizing the “Radical King,” who sought to get to the root of the problem of systemic injustice, it is also vital to name that Dr. King’s “dream” is about so much more than electing our nation’s first black president. King’s dream of a Beloved Community is about organizing our society to recognize what my own tradition of Unitarian Universalism calls our First Principle, “The inherent worth and dignity of every person” — ultimately extending out to our Sixth Principle: “The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.” (Pluralism, Pragmatism, Progressivism, January 18)
UUA politics
The Rev. Tom Schade explores the implications of the new process of selecting a UUA president.
The Presidential Search Process refutes that populist assumption about where the candidates come from. Everybody you could think of, and many you would not, was suggested, invited to step forward, and then carefully vetted by a group of conscientious UU's in a long process that resulted in these two nominees.
No hidden cabal of elitists put forward one candidate; no plucky band of rebels put forward the other one. This isn't episode IV. (The Lively Tradition, January 18)
Schade also explains why he, personally, will take his time deciding which candidate to support.
We have a long time to decide, and a long campaign in which the candidates, and ourselves, have a chance to talk about the future of Unitarian Universalism. I hope that all of us will grow through the discussion.
I'm slowing my roll. I'm not choosing until real and substantive differences between the candidates become clear.
Let this season of discernment begin. (The Lively Tradition, January 17)
Justice seeking people
The Rev. Marti Keller explores the ways in which women and girls are discouraged from expressing anger.
My recent experiences listening to other women talk about anger tells me that for some of us it is still dangerous and destructive, something to be managed and channeled, perhaps a tool but a double-edged one and sharp at that.
For others, anger is best described in the words of bell hooks:
Take your anger and make it the compost for your garden. (Rev. Marti Keller, January 19)
The Rev. James Ford testified at City Council in favor of raising the minimum wage—and feels like he did less than his best.
For me going out into the world, particularly last night, was definitely an experience of that old Zen saying “one continuous mistake.” I blush at my ineptitude. And fear my eloquence failing me was also failing the people who are in such desperate need and are relying on their allies to be there.
And it was the best I could do. At the time.
So back to the pillow, as it were, back to watching.
And, of course, from there, back to engagement. (Monkey Mind, January 20)