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Prayers for kids and parents
Erin Walter offered a pair of honest, tender prayers this week. The first is for kids:
Beloved humans in your own right
Your golden light is your own
You were birthed but no one owns you . . . (Facebook, February 7)
The second is for parents:
This is a prayer for parents who are about to snap
A prayer for the ones who are leaving the room before they go off
Breathing when they feel like yelling, or hollering when they feel like hitting
Keeping it one notch below the fury . . . (Facebook, February 7)
On living and dying
Kari Kopnick remembers former UUA moderator Denny Davidoff, whose memorial service was held February 3.
Denny looked people in the eye, listened. She held back nothing, and moved forward with full faith that the toughest troubles in the world could be overcome if we just kept working on them. (Kari Kopnick, February 4)
When comedian Leslie Jones tweeted that she feels like she might die alone, the Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein’s response generated lots of attention and prompted her to write a longer reflection.
Even the rare birds who mate for life (and I have known many in my years of ministry) wind up with one at bedside and one taking their last breath, and one is left to rely on their own strength and community relationships to see them through what comes next. The fact of this matter is why I always bristle when I hear the expression, “You’re going to die alone,” as a kind of threat or insult. It’s no insult. It’s no threat. It is just reality. (Peacebang, February 2)
Opinions and perspectives
The Rev. Joanna Fontaine Crawford is thinking about tattooing “Stewed rutabagas” on her hand, as a reminder not to offer an unsolicited opinion about everything under the sun. (Boots and Blessings, February 2)
Liz James notices the difference between a systems psychology perspective on conflict, and that of the Maasai people she visits in Kenya.
In the end, our different conflict approaches are not just a translation issue. Salaash’s concepts are actually different from mine. I see a community as a group of things-called-people. He sees the community as the “main” thing, made up of parts-called-people. The community owns, is affected by, and has the power to solve the problem. (Liz James Writes, February 8)
Everyone is awesome
Cindy Beal works to help young people love their bodies—and to help adults support them.
All bodies can’t do all the things. Some bodies move easily, some bodies move slowly or with discomfort and pain or in directions that weren’t intended, but all bodies can experience pleasure and can do something strong and brave. Our job as good grownups is to support young people to find out the ways their body is strong and brave. (Justice and Peace Consulting, February 6)
The Rev. Dawn Skjei Cooley objects to a billboard she sees frequently, one that portrays a white man as a would-be entrepreneur.
I cringe for the same reason that I cringed when, at a workshop on entrepreneurial ministry recently, it was quickly pointed out that in Unitarian Universalist ministry, we invest more innovation dollars and think of entrepreneurial ministers almost exclusively in terms of young, white, charismatic men (even with a sketchy return on investment). Why do we continue to perpetuate the myth that an entrepreneur is a young, white guy? (Speaking of, February 2)