I’m writing this to you at the end of a painful week, knowing that as November unfolds there will be even more happening in our country and the world. Depending on when you’re reading this, you may be remembering the events of the past week, when we learned of federal administration efforts to erase transgender identities and there was a horrific attack on the Tree of Life synagogue, as well as other hate crimes. In the past few days the administration’s stance towards migrants and refugees has taken on new dimensions. I know these times are scary and many folx with marginalized identities are worried about what the future holds. Let me be clear: You are whole and beautiful people and this Unitarian Universalist faith will continue to affirm this, regardless of any oppressive laws or policies that may be passed. You will always be welcome here.
Sometimes the pace of all that’s happening and how it impacts the lives of so many people we care about – including many people in this congregation – takes our breath away. I hear many people speak of how it can be a struggle to simply keep going, to take it all in, and to really honor the events and their impacts. There’s a vast amount of anxiety in our world and in our country, which can’t help but affect and infect us. The pressure we feel comes out in many different ways.
As all of this happens, our communities and our individual and collective faith journeys become even more important. Sometimes when we’re feeling so much pressure it’s tempting to turn inward and disengage from our communities and our spiritual practices. We may not feel the connection we felt before, we may not be receiving the same nourishment. But often this is when we need those practices the most.
In times such as this, we need to continue engaging with and in our spiritual and community practices. Sometimes we simply have to continue with faith that, over time, continuing will help us once again find the peace and joy and sustenance we seek. In the faith that, as impossible as it sometimes seems, we truly are a faith made for such a time as this.
For we know that we must have love, joy, and compassion to sustain us. And we know that it’s by continuing to engage in our practices and with each other that we build it ever more fully. In fact, it’s often in the dark times and through continuing with our practices through the times that they seem lost that we grow more deeply in our individual and collective spiritual journeys.
This month, as we engage together in your interim work as a congregation and as you participate in listening circles, may we continue to engage in our individual and collective spiritual practices and thereby build our community and live out what Love means in the world.
May we do this work as our prayer.
Love and blessings,
Rev. Diana