TWO LENSES…
All the work we do in the church should be viewed through (at least) two lenses: How do we promote anti-racist and anti-oppression values? How do we live sustainably on our “Blue Boat Home” in the face of a growing climate crisis.
Both of these questions address the deepest theological work we are called to as Unitarian Universalists in our times. My sense of this grew more and more clear while working with the 545 Force and church leaders to create our next Five-Year Plan. The plan that is nearing its final draft, and which the congregation will vote at the Annual Meeting in June.
We are in a third or fourth wave of a Civil Rights movement. Great work was done in the 1950s and 60s, though the work was not finished. People of color knew that all along, and are asking all in our culture to deepen the work and get farther down the path, keeping our “eyes still on the prize.” Using this lens on all we do will help keep that prize in focus.
The climate crisis is lurching toward catastrophe. This is an existential crisis for us all. We face a sense of the mortality of our very species and much of the life on Earth. This lens will help us focus on our actions lead us in positive, earth-healing directions.
We have groups in the church directly addressing these issues: the Seventh Principle Environmental Action Team, the Action Team for Immigrant Rights, the Social Action Coordinating Committee. Classes and workshops help deepen our understanding – our second round of Beloved Conversations about racism, the class Coming Back to Life about being hopeful and active in the midst of environmental crisis.
Yet we also need to look through these lenses in all we do. How do auction events deepen this work? What does our worship look like through these lenses? How do we welcome people into the church? What goals should the Board of Trustees set? How do we bring this awareness to our children and youth? The lenses can guide choices of books for book groups and movies we watch together, topics for the UUniques, women’s and men’s groups.
These lenses are not our only focus, of course. The church is always about caring for one another; building community through fun and music and food; weaving a tapestry of love that holds us in joy and sorrow; deepening our sense of spiritual connection; strengthening us for our work in the world. Still, these lenses can lead us to questions that help us make decisions and choices. They may give us direction in creating an embracing, inclusive, spiritual community that transforms lives and transforms the world.
May it be so,
Rev. Dana