There are times when it feels like everything is happening at once, and now feels like one of those times. The panoply of emotions seeded by the Election continues. I treasure all the emotions and experiences that you have been sharing with me. We are here to acknowledge and bear these emotions together, and it is my honor to be with you on this journey. Many of you are scheduling visits via calendly.com/uurevjoe, but regular old phone calls are great, too! I want to check in with all of you, so I am making many calls each week, but I’m not always the greatest at being systematic, so if you know someone who I should be sure to be in touch with, or if you would appreciate a call yourself, I really appreciate your help and being in touch.
Tomorrow, Saturday, November 16, along with members of your Social Justice Team, I will be attending the New York UU Justice convocation being held at Albany UU where we’ll get a chance to hear from experienced Albany insiders and benefit from some workshops. You can still attend online! Click here.
I urge us to attend the local vigil being held this Sunday afternoon, Nov 17 at 3:00. It’s in observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, to honor the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence in 2024. It is more important than ever that we raise our voices and show up for those of us who are transgender.
Looking a little further ahead, you are invited to a potluck following the worship service on Sunday, November 24. You are invited to bring a pot of your favorite soup recipe to share. Please bring your own place settings if you can, in addition to whatever you feel you can bring to share. If you can’t bring a dish, please come anyway. There is always an abundance when our community gathers to share together!
Bring a glass for a toast to the Nov 24 potluck, too. The New Home Task Force will lead us in a toast to mark two accomplishments: Our successful capital campaign and the city giving the green light that now allows us to begin to build at 400 Louden!
During the Nov 24 potluck, items from the recently unearthed time capsule will be on display, thanks to the Butterflies. During the potluck, the Butterfly Team will also be encouraging us to write down the thoughts and hopes and wishes we have now for our future.
Read more from the Butterflies here. Read more from the New Home Task Force here.
Several people have shared with me that they were moved by many elements of the service last Sunday. It was so good to be together! You can find last Sunday’s sermon, “We Hold It, Together,” right HERE and in our growing sermon archive on our website. When I put the sermons on the website, I’ve often been added some pictures or graphics with them, so I encourage you to take a look! (If you’d like to see the “Feelings Wheel” again, I included a large version of one on the page with last Sunday’s sermon.) You’ll find audio of past services, too, lovingly curated by our own Alan Bartenhagen.
Many were especially moved by Spencer LaJoye’s “Plowshare Prayer” that I sang at the beginning of the service. I encourage you to listen to their performance of this generous, consoling, and inspiring musical prayer, which you’ll find below.
Others mentioned the poem by Alberto Rios that I shared at the end of my sermon. I didn’t share the poem’s title last Sunday, so let me share that with you now: it’s called “We Are of a Tribe” and you can find it here.
This coming Sunday I’ll be sharing ideas from the writer, psychologist, and climate activist Báyò Akómoláfé about an African saying he learned: “The times are urgent; let us slow down.” We’ll also hear the story “Starfish on the Beach”, an adaptation for children of ideas from the environmentalist writer Loren Eiseley.
See you Sunday, if not before!
In the love the holds us all,
Rev Joe