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Undaunted by late snow
Heather Petit wishes us a “Happy Equinox.”
May all the things
that have been deepening their roots
and setting their form over the winter
start showing themselves,
expected, but also just suddenly there. (Facebook, 3.20.19)
We must sow love
In the wake of attacks on two New Zealand mosques, Chris Buice reminds us that where there is hatred, we must sow love.
The man who killed 50 people and injured many others in New Zealand is in custody tonight. He cannot hurt anyone anymore but his ideology can; the ideology of white supremacy; the ideology of white nationalism; the ideology of hatred, intolerance and Islamaphobia. There are a lot of people spreading hate all over the Internet. So we must spread love. There are many people posting polarizing messages to the whole world. So we must work for unity. Where people sow fear we must bring faith. Where there are violent acts of cowardice we must bring nonviolent acts of courage. (The Tao of Tennessee, 3.19.19)
Doug Muder examines the New Zealand shooter’s manifesto, asking, “So why don’t I, as a white American, feel as alarmed as he does?”
In my view, America (or Western culture, for that matter) isn’t something that arises from the essential nature of the White race. America is something we do, not something we are. It is an idea that can be shared by anyone who is inspired to share it. (The Weekly Sift, 3.18.19)
Everything is holy
Molly Brewer’s emerging Fat Theology affirms that all bodies are good bodies.
My body has been fat for a long time. That isn’t going to change. Because of my two abdominal surgeries, it’s now deeply scarred as well. Neither of these things are bad and I have no desire to change them, because my body is also strong, and vast, and resilient, a gravitic force and the home of my effervescent starstuff mind and soul. It is comet and mountain and planet, rainbow and lava, nebula and galaxy. And it is a good body.
And like YOUR body—and every body—it’s holy. It is the product of Gods and spirits, earth and sky and water, the flower and fruit that grows from the dark soil of being. (Facebook, 3.18.19)
Dan Harper reviews the contents of a “Risk Reduction Resource Kit” his congregation received from a nearby youth health organization.
These kits contain resources to help teens learn about sexuality and safer sex. . . . The whole point of the kit is that it’s supposed to be placed where teens can access it without adult supervision, to encourage them to explore the materials on their own. . . . Just in case your UU congregation can find the funding, I’m going to provide a complete list of all the resources in the kit below; at the very least, this list of resources might spark ideas for you. (Yet Another Unitarian Universalist, 3.15.19)
Liz James tells a story about asking her dad if he believed in God.
[He] said that he didn’t believe in God, . . . but that he wanted to show me something. He wrote on a piece of paper “e to the power of pi times I equals zero.”
He said, “To me, there are pieces of physics that look like God. We are part of something so huge, and so elegant, and it’s a miracle that it exists. It’s a miracle that we get to understand even the tiny sliver that we understand. It’s a miracle that we get to be part of something so much larger than ourselves.” (Facebook, March 15)