This month, as we explore our theme, We are Many, We are One, we are reminded that it is so very human to need joy, beauty, and connection. Sometimes beauty just breaks through the muck that may be around us. This week, terrible things have continued to happen. We won’t name them. There are plenty of places to read about them this week.

And still, two amaryllis started blooming at our home. One of them was a gift from members at UUSS -whose kindness is also worth appreciating. These large blossoms seem to call out, “we are here! notice beauty! it will soothe your weary spirit!”

We hope that some audacious beauty has broken through into your week, too. And, if not, we hope you can drink in a little beauty from this photo. “We are here! We are here! Notice beauty! It will soothe your weary spirit!” And also come to worship and plan to come to the Stewardship Launch Luncheon on Mar. 2 and the Music Team’s Lunch, Coffeehouse, and Dessert Auction on Mar. 9 – because UUSS is here! and this diverse and intentionally inclusive community can be a beautiful thing that provides opportunities for connection and joy.

Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

This week, as we reflect on February’s theme, “We are Many, We are One” and consider the onslaught of federal decisions and actions, we are clear that many, many of us are being impacted, and that we, as your ministers and as part of the community of UUSS, are committed to responding with care and in solidarity whenever possible.

At UUSS, we are many: we are teachers, immigrants, and people receiving social security benefits. We are worried about our families, our neighbors, and those most vulnerable in the world. We are cisgender, transgender, gender queer, and non-binary people. We have folks who are state and federal employees, or who have family members recently let go from their federal positions. We have a variety of philosophical and spiritual perspectives and beliefs.

And, we are one, in that we know that that which harms any of us, hurts us as a whole. We are interdependent. We might not feel it as much as the people most directly impacted. But it ripples whether we are cognizant of it or not.

We are grateful to those of you who have asked for some support as you face personal losses, as well as the worries, hardships, migration, and challenges brought on by the new regime. We can’t help one another if we don’t know what is needed. Thank you, to folks who have been doing big and small acts to speak out, to resist, and to care for one another. Keep doing them. They are having an impact. And remember to Breathe.

Breathe. Act. Breathe.

Stay connected to what sustains you.

Breathe. Ask for help when needed.

Breathe. We can overcome this if we listen, learn, and act together.

With care and in faith~ Rev. Lynn and Rev. Wendy

Dear ones,

Breathing in… I know I am breathing in….Breathing out…I know I am breathing out… Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh faced deeply troubling times during the Vietnam war. We can learn from his wisdom even as he is now with the ancestors. Breathe in this present moment.

Once we are even a tiny bit more centered, we can act and reflect more effectively.

Here are some things you can do:

Check out the UUA Resilience Hub.

See the 30 Days of Love resources listed below.

Read/listen to Heather Cox Richardson, Rebecca Solnit, Robert Reich, adrienne maree brown, and others who are giving you truth, strength, and direction.

Consider connecting to Progressive Schenectady, the local Indivisible Chapter, and learn what they are doing during this horrific time.

Call and write to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Rep. Paul Tonko. Thank them for what good they are doing and ask them to get much more vocal and much more resistant to all the evil that is happening. The Constitutional Crisis is a coup attempt. It must be stopped. Musk is engaging in illegal activity and must be stopped. Most of the appointees are incompetent and should not be approved. They must use all their power to stall and slow the process down and confirm as few as possible, articulating clearly and often to the American people that these people are unfit for office or unfit for the position. Tell them you are a person of faith and that you value integrity, justice, equity, and so forth…

Consider calling Congressional leaders in other places too if you have the time. If you don’t get through or can’t leave a message, call after hours, too.

Engage in your spiritual practice(s) with intention, attention, and repetition. Need some ideas? Ask!

And come to worship. Bring your friends. We need one another and we need to embolden our networks, focus our efforts, and strengthen our resolve.

With care,

Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

Breathe in…………

Breathe out………….

Overwhelm is their goal. Pause. Feel your body. Breathe.

What is 1 thing you can do right now to attempt to stop the fear and overwhelm? You can reach out to someone you love and tell them. You can send a thank you note to someone doing something useful, kind, and/or brave. You might also consider the following:

Can you learn more about what your rights are regarding ICE raids? Try this page for many resources.

Are you upset that the US House of Representatives is trying to censor and punish Bishop Budde? Learn more here and then consider calling the House of Representatives.

You can contact Rep. Paul Tonko at Washington D.C. Office Phone: (202) 225-5076; Albany Office Phone: (518) 465-0700 or Saratoga Springs Office Phone: (518) 374-4547.   Or if Rep. Elise Stefanik is your rep, you can call her Greenbush office Phone: (518) 242-4707. Tell them to get their noses out of religious business. Or Tell them that this service is to remind everyone of UNITY for the country and Christianity teaches mercy and so do just about all the religions.

Or maybe you’re worried about this freeze of funding and the wildly inappropriate overreach of the Executive Branch into the Legislative Branch. Contact Rep. Tonko, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (202) 224-4451, and Sen. Chuck Schumer (202) 224-6542 and tell them to stop the Administrative Coup and stop the freeze on those funds.

And if you are seeing this message and live someplace else, look up your representatives and contact them.

If calling makes you nervous-write down what you want to say and then just read that into the phone. And if that feels like too much, pass this info on to the extroverts in your life. And put those numbers in your cell phone for the next time we’ll all need to call them.

Keep breathing. Rest and take a break from scrolling when you can. Center yourself in Love. Remember our UU values-of justice and equity and practice whatever you can do this week to help your voice, as a person of faith, be heard.

We’re breathing with you. And hope to see you tonight at the Good Trouble Congregation designation celebration!!!!!!!

Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

Breathe.
It’s bad. We knew that.
The bad is swift. We knew that.
Knowing doesn’t make it any better.

Breathe.
Do the next right thing.
Do the next right thing to take care of yourself and your family.
Come to church. Invite friends who are scared right now.
Offer one another patience, grace, and mercy.

Breathe.
Choose wisely where to place your attention.
Actively withdraw your attention from clickbait.
Don’t be distracted from your values, from the world you want to create.

Breathe.
Stay connected to what buoys your spirit.
Engage in what increases your resilience.
Find your courage to speak truth to power as kindly and clearly
as Rt. Rev. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde.

Breathe.
with care and in faith~ Rev. Wendy & Rev. Lynn

With this month’s theme of repair, renewal, and resilience, one of the most inspiring people that dedicated his life to repairing the racial rifts in the U.S., is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was brilliant, fallible, humble, courageous, flawed, and a human deeply committed to making the U.S. and the world a better place for Black folks to live and thrive.

This weekend, we’ll honor his life by focusing on justice, equity, creativity, and interdependence. We will choose to not give our energy to the news or the event of the inauguration, except perhaps if Heather Cox Richardson speaks about it later. Why focus on evil? We know he’ll lie. We know other people will say things to marginalize people of color, immigrants from certain countries,

Many of King’s best quotes are truncated and simplified but they all had a larger context in which they were spoken or written. In a commencement address at Morehouse College, likely in 1959, titled Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, he wrote, “First, we are challenged to rise above the narrow confines of our individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. The individual or nation that feels that it can live in isolation has allowed itself to sleep through a revolution. The geographical togetherness of the modern world makes our very existence dependent on co-existence. We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools. Because of our involvement in humanity we must be concerned about every human being.”

Interdependence is a deeply held value in Unitarian Universalism. We are most certainly going to need one another to make it through these tenuous times. There are lots of activities, concerts, brunches, events, and opportunities for service in the greater Capital Region to honor King’s life and legacy. May you find one or several that help inspire you to stay connected to your faith community and our shared values.

-Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

From the Dec. 31, 2024 issue of Circuits:

At the cusp of the turning year, may you and your loved ones choose some time to reflect on the year gone by. What have you learned? How did you bring more kindness and compassion into the world? What and who are you grateful for? And in that reflecting, perhaps you share them with others-in your family and in your radiating circles of connection.

As we head into a new year, at least by the Gregorian calendar, what do you hope for? What hope will you bring? What will you do when hope is hard to find? What are you willing to do to help UUSS thrive into the future, so it can be a beacon of hope in these uncertain times? We hope you’ll share your answers and your questions in response to these queries with your family, with your wider circles, including with us.

This year’s Annual Focus of Ministry is to celebrate who we are becoming through living our UU values in and beyond the congregation while we courageously embrace learning and growing to meet the needs of a changing world.

May your New Year celebrations bring you joy, peace, and hope in community, this community!

With love and hope,

Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

“Light a candle, sing a song

Say that the shadows shall not cross

Make an oblation out of all you’ve lost

In the longest night

 

Gather friends and cast your hopes

Into the fire as it snows

And stare at God through the dark windows

Of the longest night

Of the year

 

A night that seems like a lifetime

If you’re waiting for the sun

So why not sing to the nighttime

And the burning stars up above?”

 

We have been humming Peter Mayer tune’s ever since the weekend’s concert and worship service… we hope that the music brought you joy and some peace.

As we head toward Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s, we hope you find some time alone and with those you love to sit in the dark, to listen to the still small voice within, to welcome the rising sun or moon, to sing to the stars or the ancestors, or in the circle, and to give thanks for the gifts we already have received.

For those who are struggling or grieving, know that you are not alone. Not everyone feels merry right now. You don’t have to be anything other than you. Come to worship, connect with other people. That can help us feel less alone. It can also help our brains and our bodies to be in the company of others.

For those who are traveling, may your journeys be safe and hassle-free. For those who will be enjoying a break from school, work, or usual routines, may there be time for rest, contemplation, beauty, and celebrations.

In faith~ Rev. Lynn and Rev. Wendy

Thank you to everyone who organized and participated-helping the Holiday Hangout be so much fun!

In this past Sunday’s shared homily, Worship Team member Tom Comparin shared how what he hoped for and imagined was expanded when he found this congregation and experienced community in a new way. This coming weekend, we all have an extra opportunity to gather our hopes in community together, at Saturday’s concert with Peter Mayer. Music can be a wonderful source of hope!

Peter’s songs are joyful, hopeful, and often express a deep reverence for the Earth and the power of love. He also has some lovely songs that contemplate the holidays in some profound ways.

The concert is open to all. Tickets are available here or scroll down for the article about the concert and click there. If you are a person of means, consider contributing a bit more. If things are tight for you right now, come to the concert and let the care of community and the generous offering of shared resources give you the gift of attending. Bring yourself. Bring a friend or a family member. It will be a wonderful night!

With anticipation~ Rev. Lynn & Rev. Wendy

Happy December! We imagine that many of you have inboxes that look a bit like ours today, full of requests and reminders for Giving Tuesday. As we named in a recent sermon, one of the tools for resisting authoritarianism is supporting institutions. If you are in a position to contribute to institutions that matter, we hope that you give generously, leaning in to our UU value of generosity. You will see a way to contribute to UUSS later in this newsletter for Giving Tuesday. Feel free to share that with others in your life who share our values.

This month at UUSS we are exploring what it means to be a community of hope. Hope can come in many forms. Just this past week, some folks shared hope at the UUSS Thanksgiving dinner, and others shared hope with a visit from the Caring Team. Some fabulous kids and youth shared words of hope in last Sunday’s worship service, while some elders gathered on Monday and shared ways that they made it through times that felt hopeless.

Sometimes hope is hard to find. It can be very helpful to gather with others, particularly when we feel hopeless. Coming to worship, participating in classes, committing to serve on a Team, Committee, or Board, volunteering in other meaningful ways, and offering our financial support are ways we can increase our hope when things seem bleak. Being part of something matters. Come to the Holiday Hangout! Attend the Game Night! Come to the Peter Mayer concert! Attend worship! You just never know when your kind presence, a listening ear, a hug or high-five, or singing together might be what gives someone else hope. You can also make a big difference by supporting the Dining for Dollars event that supports a fantastic organization listed later in this newsletter.

With care,

Rev. Lynn and Rev. Wendy