• Home
  • rainbow flagA Welcoming Congregation
  • Safe Congregation SealKeeping Safe
  • Capital Campaign
    • Contact: Capital Campaign
  • DONATE/REALM
  • TUCWomen
    • About TUCWomen
    • Join Us
    • Events
    • Contact
  • Contact
  • Instagram

The Unitarian Church in Westport

10 Lyons Plains Rd., Westport, CT 06880 - Ph: (203)227-7205 Sunday Services: 10:00 AM

uua-logo-2
  • Calendar
    • Calendar
    • SOUNDINGS
    • Communications Guidelines
    • ZOOM Instructions
    • Tips For Making Videos
    • Event & Space Reservations
    • TUCWSocial Email List Ground Rules
  • Welcome Visitors
    • UU Orientation
    • Directions & Services
    • Special Ceremonies & Dedications
    • Our Congregational History
    • Our Faith
    • What is a Unitarian Universalist?
    • We are Unitarian Universalists
    • How did you become a Unitarian Universalist?
    • History of the Flaming Chalice
    • UU History in 8 Minutes
  • About Us
    • Our Mission Statement
    • Our Vision Statement
    • About Our Ministers
    • Our Staff
    • Getting Involved
    • Board of Trustees
    • Governance
    • The Naming Committee
    • Healing and Resilience Task Force
    • Congregant Celebration
    • Pastoral Care Chaplains
    • Our Welcoming Congregation
    • Photo & Video Galleries
    • Links – Beyond Our Walls
    • SOUNDINGS
    • Communications Guidelines
    • Events & Space Reservations
    • Pledging
  • FAITH FORMATION
    • Faith Formation for Children and Youth 2022-23
    • Welcome to Family Faith Formation
    • This Week in Family Faith Formation
    • Faith Formation Age Groupings 2022-23
    • What to Expect on Sunday Mornings
    • OWL Information at a Glance
    • Youth Ministry
    • Adult Faith Formation
    • Soul Matters
    • Keeping Safe
    • Faith Formation Registration
  • Social Justice
    • Welcome to Social Justice
    • Advocates for Prevention of Gun Violence
    • Beardsley School Committee
    • Immigration and Refugee Committee
    • KIVA Microfinance Committee
    • Racial Justice Committee
    • Westbridge Coalition
  • Music Program
    • Music Choir Schedules
    • Evensong
    • Our Minister of Music
    • The Music Committee
    • The Bell Choir
    • The Choir (Women and Men)
    • Special Projects Choir
    • Once & Again Singers
    • Children’s Choir
    • Teen Choir
    • The Chamber Choir
    • Sight-singing Classes
    • Cabaret
    • Voice Classes
    • Love Is the Spirit
    • Tune My Heart To Sing
    • Support Our Music Program
  • Sermons & Poetry
    • Minister’s Messages
    • Sermons – Audio
    • Sermons – Video
    • Rev. John T. Morehouse’s sermons
    • From Your Senior Minister: Facing Grace
    • Facing Grace – Rev. John’s blog
    • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – sermons
    • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – Dear Friends
    • Intern Minister’s sermons
    • Guest Minister’s sermons
    • Poetry & Readings
    • Communications from Your Ministers
  • Live Stream

Dear Friends – February 14, 2011

May 1, 2011 by Rev. Frank Hall - Minister Emeritus

Dear Friends,

At sunrise on April 19, 1775, on Lexington Green, the first shot rang out – ʻthe shot heard around the world,ʼ to begin the Revolutionary War.

We were reminded of that shot last week in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. The revolution in Egypt was characterized by non-violence on the part of Egyptʼs Minutemen who filled the Square for eighteen days. I wondered how many of them had read Civil Disobedience,Thoreauʼs famous essay in which he said:

“All men (sic) recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.”

Gandhi read it, and said that he carried a copy with him, a guide for his non-violent civil disobedience.

Martin Luther King, Jr. read it, and said, “I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest.”

As events unfolded in Egypt, influenced by events in Tunisia a week before, we knew the whole world was watching, and millions in Egypt were in direct communication via the new social media, the internet and cell phone.

Democracy cannot be exported – thatʼs a lesson weʼve learned the hard way.  But democracy is contagious.  Thereʼs something in us that longs for freedom and wants to participate in a democratic process. An individual may have freedom alone, but democracy happens only in a group, a collective; commitment to preserve, protect and defend it.  It requires responsibility among the members of the group.

As members of the Unitarian Universalist Association of congregations we ʻcovenant to affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.ʼ

Democracy doesnʼt work from the top down – it cannot be imposed on others.  It works from the bottom up, it comes from the people: the word from the Greek literally means ʻpeoplepower,ʼfrom demos, people and kratos, power.

As we watched events unfold in Tahrir Square we could not help thinking of our own country – first, because it reminded us of something precious that we might otherwise take for granted; and second because democracy depends on our vigilance; it is as fragile as each of us is fragile, individually, and it is as strong and secure as our collective commitment to freedom, justice and equality remains strong.

Our democracy is threatened today by flagrant economic inequality. We have more work to do.

Yours,

Frank

Filed Under: Dear Friends Tagged With: Dear Friends, Rev. Frank Hall

  • Minister’s Messages
  • Sermons – Audio
  • Sermons – Video
  • Rev. John T. Morehouse’s sermons
  • From Your Senior Minister: Facing Grace
  • Facing Grace – Rev. John’s blog
  • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – sermons
  • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – Dear Friends
  • Intern Minister’s sermons
  • Guest Minister’s sermons
  • Readings & Poetry
  • Communications from Your Ministers

     The Unitarian Church in Westport
     is a member congregation of the
     Unitarian Universalist Association

      CLICK HERE if you have any questions      about The Unitarian Church in Westport

Church Hours: Tuesday - Friday
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Summer Hours:
July & August until after Labor Day:
Tuesday - Friday 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM

CLICK HERE to contact the web master

CLICK HERE to opt in to receive
the Weekly Congregational Email Blast

Copyright © 2023 · Visit us at The Unitarian Church in Westport - 10 Lyons Plains Rd., Westport, CT 06880 - All rights reserved.