Tapestry of Faith: Heeding the Call: A Program on Justicemaking for Junior High School Youth

Leader Resource 1: Presente Litany Opening

Feelings of uncertainty and hopelessness are understandable in a world with so much injustice. Yet the root causes of injustice did not come into being automatically. They were created by people, and they can be transformed by people, too. That's where you come in.

It is important to create space in your life for compassion and understanding and community because justice does not come into being automatically either. We create justice by being present. By educating ourselves on injustice and becoming allies to those who are working for justice. By being present in situations that expand our abilities to be compassionate and act on that compassion. And to be empathetic and act on that empathy. And we create justice by working together. Because we need one another. We need to listen to one another and learn from one another.

No matter one's age, these will be the days that we'll look back on when we're older and ask, "What did we do? Did we listen and learn? Did we share our ideas? If we were too scared to speak up or act in a particular situation, did we have the courage next time? Did we act on behalf of justice with our local and global communities?"

As Unitarian Universalists, we believe there is much to learn from those who came before us working for justice. And we believe it is our responsibility to learn from those lessons and work together as we create our own contributions to justice in the world. So the question is, "Are you present?"