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Upside-down world
Doug Muder answers the question, “Are men victims now?”
We live a nation that is becoming increasingly unequal, that is ever-more-harshly divided between winners and losers. If you are a winner with any semblance of a conscience, you probably are uneasy about that, whether you think about it consciously or not. It’s very soothing to be told that the situation is exactly the reverse of how it appears, that you, the winner, are the “real” victim.
It’s soothing, but it’s false. And the more we indulge in this kind of thinking, the more unjust our society will be. (The Weekly Sift, October 8)
The Rev. Joanna Fontaine Crawford realizes that she is more shocked by the news these days than her mother is—because she and her Gen-X cohort were raised to believe in a world of increasingly equal opportunity.
Good women and men and non-binary people came before me and carefully crafted a vision of a world that they laid out for me in songs, books, tv shows, and movies and they said, This is your world, Baby Girl. A world of equality, of Beloved Community. You can be whatever you want to be.
Baby Girl is pissed.
Baby Girl is mobilizing.
And Baby Girl is not alone. (Boots and Blessings, October 8)
Molly Brewer writes that “hard times call for furious women.” (Facebook, October 8; image used with permission)
© 2018 Molly Brewer
Wishes and prayers
The Rev. Audette Fulbright offers a prayer for these overwhelming times.
Beloveds, let us pray. Pray for the ability to remember and hold many different things. Pray for discernment, so we know to what we can give our efforts, money, attention - and what we will let go of. Pray for wisdom and power to flow through the people, as we do the people's work. (Facebook, October 11)
When the Rev. Joe Cherry was a child, he wished for superpowers like superstrength and the ability to fly.
Today I wish I had the ability to comfort all those who feel exposed, raw, vulnerable and tired.
And I wish that this power was balanced by a 1,000 yard stare that would frighten and silence those who would do harm. (Facebook, October 7)
Strategies for revolution
The Rev. Lynn Ungar acknowledges that, “Bad is avalanching into worse and we are all in its path” and offers strategies for revolution.
Disarm yourself of the need
for comfort. Go lightly
into places where you are a stranger.
Disarm yourself of loyalty
to what is normal, but false.
Pledge allegiance
to the tree outside your window,
to your neighbor’s children,
to the speed of light. (Facebook, October 6)
In these tumultuous times, Julie Fanselow finds herself in need of steady joy.
I named this blog for Henry David Thoreau’s affirmation that “surely joy is the condition of life.” But another quote about joy speaks to me now: Brother David Steindl-Rast’s observation that joy “is the happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.” This is steady joy, and it’s a gift to be treasured—and a practice to be cultivated—especially at a time like the one we find ourselves in. (Surely Joy, October 7)
The people who side with love
The Rev. Monica Dobbins asks her UU friends who their heroes of faith are. (Facebook, October 10)
The Rev. Dr. Meredith Garmon is grateful for the hope he sees in “the people who side with love.”
My life as a Unitarian Universalist has kept me in the company of people with an intuitive revulsion to cruelty. . . . I'm so grateful to all of you who keep UU congregations going, who give your lives to sustaining liberal religious communities, who see cruelty as the worst thing we do and therefore see care and kindness as the best, and who keep lit the flame of care and kindness as the supreme value. During these times when the celebration of cruelty seems to be ascendant, the only hope I see is . . . you—the people who side with love. (Voices of Liberal Faith, October 10)
John Beckett offers an instructive list of what things Pagan communities owe to newcomers—a warm welcome, an environment safe from predators, respectful boundaries, honest history, clear expectations, loving support, and an unlocked door should they choose to leave. (Under the Ancient Oaks, October 7)