Yesterday, I went over to get a dozen eggs from my neighbor, whose chickens had gone on an egg laying marathon of sorts. Although she knew I was coming, I startled her because she had gotten so lost in “doom scrolling” about the election. “I feel like I should be doing something, but I don’t know what! I feel so helpless.” she lamented. I told her that unless she knew the five people in Pennsylvania on whose votes it seems this election rides, the best thing to do at this point is vote and then prepare ourselves to meet whatever comes next as best we can. As I have been saying for several weeks now, I don’t think the election itself will suddenly solve everything. It is one mile post along this long road of whatever this time in our country’s history is about. I can’t provide reassurance that everything will be okay because I don’t know that it will be. We are living through a time of fear and conflict. Which means we are living through a time of change. Which means also that we are living through a time of possibility and imagination. Therein lies the hope for me—not in the reassurance that everything will turn out the way I wish but in understanding that I don’t yet know what is emerging. I keep thinking of the Chinese folktale that Sadie Kahn-Green, our former DRE, told many years ago about the farmer and his son. Each time something that appeared to be bad happened, the neighbors came over to commiserate, and the farmer would say, “Could be good, could be bad. Too soon to tell.” And then when something good appeared to come out of it, the farmer responded again, “Could be good, could be bad. Too soon to tell.” This is the spiritual practice of equanimity: staying centered and open to meet life as it is.
November’s Soul Matters theme is “Living Love through the Practice of Repair” which feels like the work of the next few years, never mind the next month. Unitarian Universalism is a faith tradition grounded in gratitude for this life and this earth. We know that we have been given this time on this planet with one another, whatever else we might believe. This calls us then to live our lives oriented in the spiritual practice of love for the larger interdependent web of existence, of which we are only a small part. I have been saying for weeks now that we can only really influence what is within our reach so we must strive to “live love”, to do the most good where we can actually make an impact. I found it interesting that this past weekend, two of the blogs I return to often—Krista Tippet’s On Being and Carrie Newcomer’s The Gathering of Spirits were both about the work of spiritual repair. Tippet wrote: On the day after this election, whoever wins, my country will be as fractured as the day before. That is where I am throwing my care, life force and social creativity. John Paul Lederach…said to me the other day that the task in working for long-term evolution — as this also works in the natural world — is to attend “not to what has arrived but what is being stitched;” I’m holding fast to this wisdom, this challenge, this calling. Of being a stitcher, and building up the stitchers. On a similar theme, Carrie Newcomer wrote: But today… lets remember what is still soft and kind in this world. Do something that reminds you of what you love. Do something that lifts up what is tender and true in this world. Lean into what is still fierce with love. Do something that supports and inspires you for the long haul – get out in nature, bake, garden, have a conversation with a trusted friend, dive into a good book in your favorite genre, listen to music, make music, dance, paint, draw, stop and breathe in the rarefied autumn light, or wander around in a hardware store….because there is so much be to mended and so many ways to mend.
The UUA is holding an online program called “Forward Together: Anchoring in Community Post Election” which will offer opportunities for spiritual grounding and social action. You can register here: https://secure.everyaction.com/l5x6AKkABECevkjhSHyQhw2
Whatever happens Tuesday, let us breathe, take care of each other and find the next good thing we can do.
In faith,
Rev. Ellen
