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

The Article II Study Commission did a lot of hard work over a few years to determine what values we Unitarian Universalists have in common. The list was overwhelmingly approved at the General Assembly in 2024. We’ll spend this month exploring Justice, Equity, Generosity, Interdependence, Pluralism, Transformation, and Love at the Center.

Gratitude has been found to reduce stress, improve relationships, and can even enhance resilience when facing adversity.

Today, we offer thanks for gentle rain, our sweet little dog, beloved family, dear friends, and pomegranate bbq tofu, mashed potatoes with our favorite free mushroom gravy all of which are vegan and gluten free.

We are grateful for a calling to ministry, to serve that calling at UUSS, the Staff team, the caring and open-hearted people we serve and serve with, and for tofu-pumpkin pie. We give abundant thanks for our UU and interfaith colleagues who speak and act on the side of love, for our home and garden, for wonder and curiosity, for all those who are organizing and working to resist harm and injustice, and for a big green salad with crunchy sweet New York apples.

Maybe pause for a moment and come up with three things you are grateful for right this moment…. ….. ….. And maybe this week, ask others what they are grateful for, what brings them joy. See where the conversation brings you-hopefully, closer together.

May your week be full of things that are delicious, nourishing, and that fill you with gratitude.

With love and in faith~

Rev. Lynn and Rev. Wendy

As we continue to move through the cycles of grief and worries of what acts of hatred may come or ways the incoming administration will try to thwart democracy, we consider the stories, poems, songs, and practices that can teach us how to effectively resist, to help us get through hard times, and to remember who we are. We have lifted up several of those in worship all fall, and especially in the last few weeks.

Sikh activist Valarie Kaur wrote a prayer for America back in November of 2016. She wrote, “What if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb?

What if our America is not dead but a country still waiting to be born? What if the story of America is one long labor?” We have been in presentations with her as she spoke of revolutionary love.

And she reminds us that the midwife says- first we breathe and then we push. Right now, as we feel our feelings and start organizing and strategizing for what’s to come, we are breathing, getting clarity. And soon, it will be time to push-to cast out hatred and acts of harm, to protect those we love and those we do not yet know who will be targets. We are in this together-even though we will experience it differently. But no matter what comes, if we face it in community, we can be more effective.

Today, consider checking on the resources and resilience hub here. Have conversations with your kin and friends about who and what you value and what you will help to protect. Come to worship and be filled by being together, by singing together, by listening together, by praying and/or meditating together. We hope to see you on Sunday for one of the long-time traditions at UUSS of bread communion-May all be nourished, may all be fed.

Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

When we wrote last week, it was still Election Day. A lot has happened since then.

This past Sunday we shared a quote from author, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit who wrote, earlier this week, “You may need to grieve or scream or take time off, but you have a role no matter what, and right now good friends and good principles are worth gathering in. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is. The pain you feel is because of what you love.”

We then invited folks to write down some answers to the ‘what you love, what loves you, what love is’ and consider putting the paper where you will see it, so that they can be reminders and incentives in the weeks and months ahead. Each of us has a role to play, maybe even several, in resisting hatred, in strengthening democracy, in caring for one another.

Know that you are loved, and that you are not alone. So many of us are reeling, raging, and/or raw. Feel your feelings. Even the uncomfortable ones. And sometime soon, we’ll keep feeling our feelings and move towards strategies and actions to care for and protect what we love, what loves us, and what love is.

With care, and in faith,

Rev. Lynn & Rev. Wendy

Here we are. Election Day 2024. Over 100 people in the congregation have participated in the UUSS #UUtheVote efforts over these past several months. Last night, we gathered with over 20 folks for a text bank to remind NY voters to go out and vote and to vote for Prop. 1.

Thanks to our UUtheVote organizing team and the efforts of our community partner Planned Parenthood, they provided training and support. And while some of our technology did not quite work for everyone, despite every effort and coordination, still-several thousand texts were sent by our diligent group. There were a few responses that were hostile. Given the climate created by some campaigns, this was unsurprising, though the ones with more threatening language were a bit unsettling. No state is a monolith of perspective and not everyone wants equity.

As we encouraged on Sunday, take good care of yourself. Reach out to folks you know. Check in. If you are in need of support, let us know. Many, many thanks to all the folks who are serving as poll workers, to those who have devoted energy to this election season, and to everyone who has voted or will today.

Breathing in peace, and breathing out love,

Rev. Wendy & Rev. Lynn