Well, October has arrived which means the final month before the
election. An election that seems to be carrying the fate of the country
and the weight of the world on its outcome. It is hard to know how it
will all play out, but it does make for a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. I
keep reading the opening to our newly revised UUA covenant: Love
is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared
values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living
our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love. Learning to
stay grounded in this discipline and responding to the events around
us from this place is the call and challenge that lies ahead.
As I often say for the offertory, sharing our gifts of time, talent, and treasure in community allows us to do more together than any of us might accomplish on our own. Individually, we can’t make a significant difference in how the election goes or mitigate the impacts of climate
change, for example. But adding strength to strength, gift to gift, time to time, we can build momentum to shift things toward Love, even if we can’t immediately see the result. To that end, here are two invitations for us to add our gifts of time, talent and/or treasure.
First, there is the UUA’s Get Out the Vote: https://uuthevote.org/get- involved/. They are looking for volunteers to participate in virtual phonebank opportunities:
• October 8 with UU Justice North Carolina
• October 15 with UU Justice Pennsylvania
• October 22 with Texas UU Justice Ministry
• October 29 with Michigan UU Social Justice Network
They also welcome donations and updates on your actions and activities through their reporting form.
Second, yet another hurricane has caused major flooding and damage,
this time in the Asheville area of North Carolina. And we do have UU congregations in the area who have been impacted. The UUA is requesting donations to their Disaster Relief Fund: https://www.uua.org/giving/disaster-relief
Finally, our Soul Matters Worship Theme for October is “Living Love Through the Practice of Deep Listening.” One way to help us get through all the next month is to listen underneath the noise and chaos and lift up the ways the Spirit of Love is moving in the world around us. To amplify that Still Small Voice. And remember to breathe.
In faith,
Rev. Ellen
