Dear Members and Friends
I was delighted to participate remotely with my son, Marco, in this past Sunday’s Cornbread Communion. Thanksgiving is an ideal time to participate in a communion ritual which essentially communicates: “We’re all in this together.”
The week prior, in a sermon to address how scary this time is for a lot of us, I shared some readings that several of you have requested. They follow this reflection.
It is important to acknowledge that for some of us, the Holidays can be difficult. Some of us have suffered a significant loss. Some of us are far away from family, geographically or emotionally. Fortunately there are many ways to engage at UU Westport, including a service on December 20, at 7:00 PM, provided by the Pastoral Care Chaplains. “Holiday Blues: Hope through the Winter Solstice” will be a good opportunity for those of us who struggle with this season.
Some of you commented to me that you will spend Thanksgiving, if not the whole weekend, with relatives who see the world much different than you, that you and several of them disagree on many political issues. I happen to be among this group.
My family will travel to Boone, IA, to visit Rosalie, my mom’s first cousin who was like a sister to her and her son who became a quadriplegic after falling from a ladder while hanging Christmas lights 26 years ago. Boone has the distinction of having the highest per capita of its residents serving in the armed forces—and my cousin served for several years, ironically having survived over 50 parachute jumps without any injury. And yes, my cousin and I disagree on many political issues. Yet, it is a tradition that my family has to be with them—and this is the first Thanksgiving since my mother died, and it is especially important to everyone to gather in her memory. Fortunately, we simply don’t talk politics—much. But when we do, it is civil. If he were to express contempt for my positions or say mean things, I simply wouldn’t return. They are the closest living relatives I have outside of Bakersfield. And we have a lot of fun together. Rosalie is like a grandmother to my children.
Wherever you are, and whoever you are with on Thanksgiving and through the weekend, I wish you a meaningful and safe Thanksgiving weekend. May this be a time to reflect on for what you are grateful. You all are in my thoughts.
Blessings of peace, grace and love,
Alan
Adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Twin Towers
FRODO: I can’t do this, Sam.
SAM: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened. But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.
FRODO: What are we holding on to, Sam?
SAM: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.
From Rev. Venice Williams, Alice’s Garden in Milwaukee
Pull yourself together.
And, when you see me, do not ask me
“What do we do now”?
How do we get through the next four years”?
Some of my Ancestors dealt with
at least 400 years of this
under worse conditions.
Continue to do the good work.
Continue to build bridges not walls.
Continue to lead with compassion.
Continue the demanding work of liberation for all.
Continue to dismantle broken systems, large and small.
Continue to set the best example for the children.
Continue to be a vessel of nourishing joy.
Continue right where you are.
Right where you live into your days.
Do so in the name of
The Creator who expects nothing less from each of us.
And if you are not “continuing”
ALL of the above in community, partnership, collaboration,
What is it you have been doing?
What is it you are waiting for?
Quotes from Audre Lorde:
- “Your silence will not protect you.”
- “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
- “If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.”
- “When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
- “What are the words you do not yet have? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? We have been socialized to respect fear more than our own need for language.”
- “There’s a mythical norm where power resides in each society. In america, this mythical norm is usually defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, christian, and financially secure.”
