January 2021: Continuing Conversations
Happy New Year!
Dear UUCLV family and friends,
I wish you all a Happy New Year with lots of health, peace, and love. These are the sentiments I was holding on to as 2021 this New Year opened. These are the thoughts I still have despite the difficult situations that are everywhere.
The challenges for our congregation, our communities, our nation, and our world couldn’t be higher! All of the values we share as Unitarian Universalists, our work for justice, the communities we love, and the beloved community we seek to create are feeling the pressures of a world struggling with Covid-19 along with the sociopolitical realities of our time. Our denomination, this UUCLV, we the individuals that name and claim Unitarian Universalism as our chosen faith must speak with moral courage and act with prophetic clarity in these times.
Hatred must never win! Ignorance must never be allowed to prevail! Anti-oppression is our duty to promote. We seek not just tolerance but a dismantling of anti-Semitism, anti-immigration, anti-black racism, anti-Latinx, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and all things that demean or oppress the human family. The cycles of hate have taken an enormous toll on our world, our nation, and this community we love. In short, racism and all that separates us must be dismantled and replaced with systems that are built with love, equanimity, and affirmation.
In the words of the UUA President, Rev. Susan Frederick- Gray: - “Our UU values of interdependence, democracy, and the inherent worth and dignity of all people are direct antidotes to the fear, bigotry, and inequity that define our world. In this political moment, UUs are called to join forces with all people who want to organize our communities and our nation to #DefeatHate.”
Dear friends, in the words that the great Pete Seeger sang: -
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome, some day!
Deep in our collective hearts and minds, I do believe we UUs can make a difference today!
May each of us have healthy, prosperous and engaged seasons filled with love,
Rev. Gordon Clay Bailey
Dear UUCLV family and friends,
I wish you all a Happy New Year with lots of health, peace, and love. These are the sentiments I was holding on to as 2021 this New Year opened. These are the thoughts I still have despite the difficult situations that are everywhere.
The challenges for our congregation, our communities, our nation, and our world couldn’t be higher! All of the values we share as Unitarian Universalists, our work for justice, the communities we love, and the beloved community we seek to create are feeling the pressures of a world struggling with Covid-19 along with the sociopolitical realities of our time. Our denomination, this UUCLV, we the individuals that name and claim Unitarian Universalism as our chosen faith must speak with moral courage and act with prophetic clarity in these times.
Hatred must never win! Ignorance must never be allowed to prevail! Anti-oppression is our duty to promote. We seek not just tolerance but a dismantling of anti-Semitism, anti-immigration, anti-black racism, anti-Latinx, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and all things that demean or oppress the human family. The cycles of hate have taken an enormous toll on our world, our nation, and this community we love. In short, racism and all that separates us must be dismantled and replaced with systems that are built with love, equanimity, and affirmation.
In the words of the UUA President, Rev. Susan Frederick- Gray: - “Our UU values of interdependence, democracy, and the inherent worth and dignity of all people are direct antidotes to the fear, bigotry, and inequity that define our world. In this political moment, UUs are called to join forces with all people who want to organize our communities and our nation to #DefeatHate.”
Dear friends, in the words that the great Pete Seeger sang: -
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome, some day!
Deep in our collective hearts and minds, I do believe we UUs can make a difference today!
May each of us have healthy, prosperous and engaged seasons filled with love,
Rev. Gordon Clay Bailey
