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How goes it with your spirit?
This is the question that stays with me in the night when I think about our beloved congregations and communities, and all that we do to support one another in these times. I know these are difficult days, and that everything seems to be in motion all at once. The vigilance and openheartedness required to meet the needs of today can be exhausting. And yet, when I have the privilege to travel and spend time in our congregations and broader communities, I repeatedly notice a crystalline clarity among UUs about our shared values, our freely chosen faith, and our commitments to caring for one another and for our surrounding communities.
It is not lost on me that the faithful work of strengthening our congregations, showing up for our neighbors, and bearing witness to injustice in the world is wearying. It requires the kind of spiritual nourishment that is most often found in freely chosen communities like ours. In them we are reminded that we are not alone, that we do not need to take on all the trials of the world by ourselves, and that others will put their hands to the task when we need a moment’s rest.
I have seen this faithful living among us.
We need one another in these days. Not just for the worries and weariness of today, but for all that is to come. I can’t promise you ease in the coming months and years in the nation. But I can break open my heart before you and promise you community. Promise to be with you, and beside you, as we bear witness to the values on which we will never compromise. Values of justice, of interconnection, of democracy, and the dignity and worthiness of all.
The secret is that the love that lives at the center of our faith not only holds us accountable, it sets us free. I see that liberation and shared faithfulness in how our congregations and our leaders show up in response to injustice everywhere, from ICE facilities to food banks to shared resources to joy in multigenerational worship and more. I experience it through the notes of gorgeous new music in our virtual hymnal and in all the ways that we invest in our living tradition.
Beloveds, we have everything we need to meet this moment together. You have my gratitude and my love, always, for all that you do to live fully into the values that we hold in common cause. I have faith in us, and that faith keeps me hopeful and keeps me in the struggle. May it also lift your spirits and guide you through all that is to come.