The dictionary defines resilience as a) the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness and b) the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.
In her reflection, “Come to Church Anyway!” Victoria Weinstein discusses that we should always show up. Sometimes showing up requires resilience.
This song is about resilience.
Struggle is a hard word to sit with. Many of us were taught that struggle meant we werr doing something wrong. Many of us struggle daily. Many of us have only known struggle. Many of us cause our own struggle.
According to Merriam Webster, struggle is a) to make strenuous or violent efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition and b) to proceed with difficulty or with great effort.
Merriam Webster defines bravery as the quality or state of having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty and as showy display.
I could think of nothing that exemplifies both of those definitions more than Pride. So for today’s words, I have chosen For Pride by Lois Van Leer.
Intention is fully understanding the what and the why of one’s actions.
This affirmation, “Constellations of Our Lives” by Karen G. Johnston, explores our human capacity for intentional awareness and can be found here on the UUA Worship Web.
Vulnerability – emotional openness that also leaves one exposed to possible emotional pain.
This blessing of emotional and spiritual courage, “Go Boldly” by Jean M. Olson, is found on the UUA Worship Web.
“Faith is that act of moving even though you do not know the outcome. We do not know the path that will bring us where we need to be, but we know that continuing the conversation is essential to moving beyond this point.”https://bit.ly/2GVXJ72
We can help our struggling loved ones by reassuring them that they can bring us their pain without guilt or shame. This article from Omid Safi is a good place to start.
“The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) denounces President Trump’s racist and xenophobic decision to declare a national emergency to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico.” Read more here
General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).
The Ware Lecturer for this year is Richard Blanco.
“Selected by President Obama as the fifth inaugural poet in U.S. history, Richard Blanco is the youngest and the first Latino, immigrant, and gay person to serve in such a role. Born in Madrid to Cuban exile parents and raised in Miami, the negotiation of cultural identity characterizes his three collections of poetry: City of a Hundred Fires, which received the Agnes Starrett Poetry Prize from the University of Pittsburgh Press; Directions to The Beach of the Dead, recipient of the Beyond Margins Award from the PEN American Center; and Looking for The Gulf Motel, recipient of the Paterson Poetry Prize and the Thom Gunn Award. He has also authored the memoirs For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey and The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood, winner of a Lambda Literary Award. His inaugural poem “One Today” was published as a children’s book, in collaboration with renowned illustrator Dav Pilkey. His latest book, Boundaries, a collaboration with photographer Jacob Hessler, challenges the physical and psychological dividing lines that shadow the United States. A new book of poems, How to Love a Country, is forthcoming from Beacon Press in April 2019. Blanco has written occasional poems for the re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, Freedom to Marry, the Tech Awards of Silicon Valley, and the Boston Strong benefit concert following the Boston Marathon bombings. He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and has received numerous honorary doctorates. He has taught at Georgetown University, American University, and Wesleyan University. He serves as the first Education Ambassador for The Academy of American Poets.
The 2019 Ware Lecture is Friday, June 21 at 7:30 p.m. PDT at the Spokane Convention Center. General Assembly registration is required to attend the lecture in Spokane. The Ware Lecture will be streamed live on uua.org/ga.”
A Prayer for My Queer and Trans Siblings
“Here you are.
Here, in this holy space,
standing on this ground that is holy
because you are here.
Here you are, in flesh and bone,
filling up this body that belongs to you alone.
Your pumping heart is a wonder
because it keeps you alive.
Your loving heart is a blessing
because it keeps all of us alive.
The Spirit of Love has a home in you.
May we all see that love in you
and let our hearts become mirrors
for the compassion at your core.
The Spirit of Justice has a home in you.
May we light our wicks
from one another until we are all aflame,
until we burn out every prejudice
we carry in these bones.
Here you are.
Holy as you are.
Blessed be.”
Jess Reynolds
Love Like Thunder
West Fork Unitarian Universalists 