In the diary I wrote: Now we are ready

and each of us knows it   I have never loved 

like this   I have never seen

my own forces so taken up and shared

and given back 

After the long training   the early sieges

we are moving almost effortlessly in our love

In the diary, as the wind began to tear 

at the tents over us, I wrote:

We know now we have always been in danger

down in our separateness

and now up here together   but till now

we had not touched our strength

In the diary torn from my fingers I had written:

What does love mean

what does it mean   "to survive"

A cable of blue fire ropes our bodies

burning together in the snow   We will not live 

to settle for less   We have dreamed of this 

all of our lives

//

From:

        PHANTASIA FOR ELVIRA SHATAYEV

Adrienne Rich

(Leader of a woman's climbing team, all of whom died in a storm on Lenin Peak, August 1974. Later, Shatayev's husband found and buried the bodies.)

 

“…we are participants in an ongoing incarnation, bringing god to life in the world.  For god is nothing other than the eternally creative source of our relational power, our common strength, a god whose movement is to empower, bringing us into our own together, a god whose name in history is love – provided we mean by “love” not just simply a sentiment or unfocused feeling but rather that which is just, mutually empowering, and co-creative.”  From Till Now We Had Not Touched Our Strength, by Carter Heyward

 

//

 

And just like that (snap) it’s spring in Colorado

            Buds are budding, birds chirping, days growing longer

Some rainy days…warm windy days, mountains losing their

Winter white snow cover.

 

We shake ourselves alive, anxious to get out in the sun

Play, take it all in…the return of the light, welcome the wonder of warmth…

Especially after our winter of tremendous snow fall!

 

Just like that (snap) we’re brought into another season…

On hikes, we marvel at the sky – reflected in cerulean bodies of water,

Back yard barbeques with friends, riding bikes around the neighborhood,

Oh yes, it’s springtime again.

 

And on rainy days…movies inside, downing vege burgers and fries…

In fact, it was on one such day…the rain washing windows and trees,

That I got caught up in a conversation with a friend.

            We wound our way, up - over and through to the

Following question:

If you lived in the time of Nazi Germany, would you be willing

To be counter-cultural, risk everything, and provide safe passage

For those who were Jewish or gay.

Hmmm…I pondered.  My conversation partner knowing and trusting

Her own “yes”

            I hesitated: would I?

Would I? Would I be willing to risk myself?  My own life?

My own well-being?

            Do I have that kind of courage? 

I waffled…in silence…while the rain simply continued to fall.

 

//

 

Once, at Christmas time I asked a group of young children

What gifts they wanted to give to other people in the world.

Many offered answers that included words like:

            Peace, love, food, new toys…

And last year for Christmas, my Uncle-Friend Bruce gave me

This incredible calendar…Bruce is the Executive Director of the

Human Investment Project or HIP Housing in San Mateo.

The incredible calendar he gifted me with features 12 drawings

By young artists responding to the question: “What my home means to me”

4^th grader Candy Zhang’s drawing won second place and is featured with

The month of April

            Imagine with me – Candy’s drawing:

A small house, square, with one window thrown wide open,

And one brown door.  Her happy, smiling face is in the window;

Her arms raised up and out…  the roof is red, the walls are painted in a

 Salmon-ish color, with yellow vines growing up on each side.

            Surrounding the house lush patches of green…rich blues…

And white fluffy clouds. Candy’s caption reads:

“My home means that I am safe within it.  It is like a small world

In the big world.  I feel happy when I’m in my home, I wish

Everyone can have a home like mine.”

 

//

 

We have dreamed of this all of our lives…from the time of our 

Youth, we sensed that there was something we wanted to 

Gift the world with

               Something we had to co-create…we may not have known

Words like: social justice, anti-oppression, outreach…

But we knew we wanted to give, to help create more moments

Of peace, love, food, abundance – wanted to be sure that everyone

Would be able to have a home, like ours.

               We have dreamed of this all of our lives.

We have dreamed of being counter-cultural

            Of “helping people

Transform their beliefs and values into effective and meaningful

Action in the world¹

            Of offering Service, Education, Organizing, Advocacy, and Witness.²

Knowing that any one of these is important, and that working together,

they form the foundation for empowering a community to be a change agent;

counter-cultural and fearless in its desire to

Challenge the accepted social norm.

            We have dreamed of striving ever toward…

of being faithful to the sixth Unitarian Universalist principle:

            The goal of a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.

Oh, as youth we may not have had these words, but we, like many

Of the young people in our midst, have had the dream.

Somewhere in our youth, we heard the call stirring in our soul…all those

Dreams, all those dares, all those prayers:  

               I wish everyone can have a home like mine.

 

//

 

We have dreamed of striving ever toward…

of being faithful to the sixth Unitarian Universalist principle:

            The goal of a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.

 

  

We have dreamed of being faithful…

               what is it to be faithful, to have faith?

To put faith in to action?

 

When you hear it: FAITH…faith…what do you think of?

               What comes to your mind?  Who comes to your mind?

 

//

 

What comes to my mind?

               For me, faith is not static, it’s a dynamic enterprise

It’s alive – a sweet mixture of values, and deeply held beliefs that

Compel us to take action in our lives and in the world.

              

It is not blind, but informed through education and service,

shared and vetted in community.

It is not a private and individual rumination, but is held up for affirmation

And accountability by the larger community.

 

It is akin to praxis…“helping people

Transform their beliefs and values into effective and meaningful

Action in the world”

 

It is akin to praxis in that it is the foundation

Upon which we trust that part of what we are here to do is

To transform our beliefs and values: “a goal of a world community with

peace, liberty, and justice for all” into effective and meaningful

action in the world

 

That is faith to me, sometimes a verb which says we ought to be taking

Action based on what we value, what we believe.

 

//

 

And so, if I were to say, for example that: transcendentalist

Margaret Fuller put her faith in to action,

               I mean, as a transcendentalist, she believed that

It is a built-in necessity of human nature to express itself, that self-expression, like self-development, is one of the purposes of life itself. 

 

She believed that, first, the well-being of the individual – of all the individuals – is the basic purpose and ultimate justification for all social organizations and second that autonomous individuals cannot exist apart from others.

 

She participated in the belief that…that the seed of the divine dwelled in all people…

all people, and the purpose of education is to facilitate the self-development of each individual.³

 

And these beliefs…this platform of faith, compelled her to act by

Using her position of privilege to start Conversations for and with

Her contemporaries.

               Instructing women in the manners of public speaking,

argument construction…paving the way for what has been called

the “feminine fifties” and though Fuller did not live to see it…

women of the “feminine fifties” went on to engage in the abolitionist

movement, suffrage movement…

               Fuller challenged patriarchy, the institution of marriage,

The notion that women were inferior by virtue of being born female.

She was not quiet…but steady and strong in her willingness to

Co-create a more just world.

               I am guessing she knew, trusted, believed that her survival –

Our survival was wrapped around her willingness, and the willingness of

Others to know…that we are in danger when we claim autonomy, separateness

But together… we will touch our strength…we will not settle for less

Than the putting our faith in to action – action that facilitates the wellness of the 

Greater whole.

 

               It seems like she was willing to be wildly counter-cultural,

Advocating and witnessing – arguing against a woman’s need to be married,

advocating for women’s independence from men – in the 1800’s!

              

               It seems like she was being a participant in an ongoing incarnation,

Recognizing and speaking to the divine alive in the world. Using her strength,

And encouraging others to use their strength, their love, their faith

To transform beliefs and values into effective and meaningful

Action….

 

And for me, when I hear the word Faith, that is what comes to my mind.

 

//

 

And so, I go back to that rainy day

            caught up in conversation with a friend.

Exploring together: would we be willing

To be counter-cultural, risk everything, and provide safe passage

For those who are being persecuted, made to suffer for simply being alive

.

            I hesitated: would I?

I waffled…in silence, believing that I am a participant in an ongoing

Incarnation

            And that means, where ever I am…I am called to join

My strength with others and co-create a world that we have

Dreamed of…all of our lives.

            I am called to move, and think, and believe, and speak, and act

Before things fall apart…before it’s too late

Here we are together.

            Here we are together in this place.

Called to join our strength with each other.

            Now we are ready; each of us knows it.

Now we are ready…to be an active social justice congregation…

More than a single committee.

Now we are ready…compelled by our faith…by this faith

Compelled by a faith similar in quality to that of Margaret Fuller’s

With its boldness and insistence on shaping a more equitable

Future.

            How could we settle for anything less?

 

//

 

Do we dare to say YES to becoming a Welcoming Congregation

Open and wild and passionate about educating ourselves

Regarding our own heterosexism…and creating a deeply welcoming

Congregational culture for members of the Queer Community?

Do we dare to commit ourselves to the intense year long process

That will take us there?

 

Will we risk stepping out and boldly forming a Parents and Friends of

Lesbian and Gays (PFLAG) Chapter here in the Loveland/Berthoud area

To offer support and radical acceptance for those connected to members of

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community?

 

Be bold in affirming Safe Zones for queer and questioning youth in

Our school district…advocating for education through and

with Gay & Straight Alliances…refusing to wait until “hate crimes”

come crashing against our own doors

 

Do we dare to say YES to working with an anti-oppression curriculum,

Examining our personal lives, our congregation’s governance structures,

our beloved communities 

Open and wild and passionate about service, education, and advocacy

That brings us closer to “peace, liberty, and justice…and shelter for all.”

           

Do we…would you, say YES to pausing and asking: what kind of service

Am I willing to make time for in my personal life?

Asking: If I were to lend my strength to one thing,

One thing that I dreamt of as a youth, one thing that exemplifies my faith now

One thing that helps me transform my beliefs and values into meaningful action – what would it be?

            Fuller believed in equality for women, for those locked in the bondage of

Slavery...she was not quiet, but loud…steadily chipping away at injustice.

 

What do you want to give some of your time, your strength, your love that is justice

To?

            Where will you act or continue to act with open, wild passion?

 

Envision it and commit to making it be…

 

//

 

Yes,

            Now we are ready.  Each of us knows it.

Individually, we have loved justice like this before.

As a community, we will draw on that love and love justice even more.

We will participate in an ongoing incarnation, bringing a god

Whose movement is to empower, alive in the world…

We will combine our own creative forces…

carry our own loud voices

…Surprised at and guided by our capacity to share,

            To give back

We will move effortlessly in our love for building a

Community we dream of.

 

For, somewhere in our youth, we heard the call stirring in our soul…all those

Dreams, all those dares, all those prayers:  

               I wish everyone can have a home like mine.

 

Yes, We will move effortlessly in our love for building a

Community we have dreamed of all of our lives.

 

Blessed Be, and Amen.