Displaying 1 - 19 of 19
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I belong, and you belong, and we belong—just as we are.Reflection | By Li Kynvi | May 31, 2023 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Body, Courage, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Oppression, Pride Sunday, Privilege, Secular, Worship -
The person who enjoys privilege always knows less about the person who lives under the weight of that privilege than the people who are actually under it.Quote | By Ta-Nehisi Coates | November 24, 2020 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Justice, Power, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, WorshipWeb, Worship -
I once saw a little sign, carved in wood, that read, “There is only the hard way.” Many of us have been harmed by theology that told us that suffering was a sacrifice that would bring us closer to God. Many of us were told that our suffering would redeem us, even when we knew that actual...Reading | By Elizabeth Nguyen | November 14, 2019 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Humanism, Integrity, Interdependence, Justice, Living Our Faith, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Redemption, Sacrifice, Secular, Seven Principles, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism -
Can we strive to have the grace to back away when our presence doesn’t feel like safety?Reflection | By Misha Sanders | November 13, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Discernment, Humanism, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
Traditions and habits can be changed or broken and that’s not always bad. It doesn’t mean we didn’t learn or like what we did in the past, it just means that we moved on to something else and that’s okay too.Reflection | By Rayla D. Mattson | January 16, 2019 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), Body, Children, Choice, Direct Experience, Generations, History, Parents, Privilege -
You can’t be prejudiced, racist, sexist, or homophobic. After all, you belong to this faith. You don’t carry pitchforks and march with the Charlottesville gang. You don’t vote for Trump and you started the Women’s March chapter in your city. You are a good person with good intentions; you...Quote | By Brittany Packnett | June 24, 2018 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Relationships, Seven Principles, Solidarity -
Last year for Lent, I decided to say yes to any request. I made it all the way to Easter without having to honor my decision.Reflection | By Nathan Ryan | March 14, 2018 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), Choice, Christianity, Direct Experience, Humanism, Lent, Power, Privilege, Relationships, Spiritual Practice, Transformation, Unitarian Universalism -
In the moment that I switched to “teacher mode,” I recalled moments in which I had inadvertently said ungracious things. I was fortunate enough to have professors, ministers, and friends illuminate my clumsiness for me. They did so in a way that was gracious enough that it increased my appreciation and respect for them, and clear enough that I will never forget the teaching.Reflection | By Seanan R. Holland | August 2, 2017 | From Braver/WiserTagged as: Direct Experience, Growth, Humanism, Humility, Inclusion, Military, Privilege, Secular -
He phoned more than an hour ago to say he was on his way home. But I have yet to hear the scrape of the iron gate, the rattling keys, so I worry. Most married women fret about a tardy husband: black women like myself worry more....Reflection | By Rosemary Bray McNatt | March 29, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), America, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Family, Fear, Home, Humanism, Multiculturalism, Oppression, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Secular, Unitarian Universalism -
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a time when particular songs get sung; one of them is "Lift Every Voice and Sing." It gets sung in school, in church, and at various MLK day celebrations or over the course of Black History Month....Reflection | By Aisha Ansano | February 27, 2017 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 4th Principle (Truth & Meaning), America, Anti-Oppression, Arts & Music, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Direct Experience, History, Juneteenth, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Pain, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity -
Please join me in a litany of solidarity. Many of us face oppression, or our loved ones face oppression, and we fear that oppression will worsen....Litany | By Catie Scudera | November 10, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Activism, Anti-Oppression, Commitment, Disaster or Crisis, Humanism, Interdependence, Justice, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Relationships, Secular, Seven Principles, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism -
"The thing that's really slick about whiteness, if you will, is that most of the benefits can be obtained without ever doing anything personally......Quote | By john a. powell | May 9, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-Oppression, Direct Experience, Gender, Identity, Justice, Power, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity -
Bruises are a part of roller derby — a celebrated part. It’s not uncommon for players to take pictures of their biggest, most colorful shaped bruises: bruises that go deep into your tissue, and come out in amazing blues, purples, and blacks that eventually fade to greens, browns and yellows. A...Reading | By Dawn Skjei Cooley | February 23, 2016 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 6th Principle (World Community), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Body, Commitment, Direct Experience, Healing, Justice, Multiculturalism, Privilege, Race/Ethnicity, Secular -
#BlackLivesMatter Let the only burning be the fire of commitment in our hearts, minds, hands, spirits in our community of faith. Live solidarity. Use your voice. Demand justice... better, live it into being. Cry out for others to join you. Name hate as hate—without shrinking back without...Poetry | By Jeannie Shero | August 11, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 3rd Principle (Acceptance & Spiritual Growth), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Anti-Oppression, Black History / Whitney Young / James Reeb, Change, Direct Experience, Honesty, Humanism, Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, Oppression, Power, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism -
This charge was written to be led by several voices: one person says a line, and then all in attendance respond, “We charge you to engage.” Because your congregation is located in one of the poorest cities in the nation in the richest state per capita in the country We charge you to engage...Litany | By Cathy Rion Starr | June 19, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: #BlackLivesMatter, 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), 5th Principle (Conscience & Democracy), 6th Principle (World Community), 7th Principle (Interconnected Web), Activism, Faith, Humanism, Installations, Justice, Oppression, Ordinations, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Race/Ethnicity, Solidarity, Unitarian Universalism
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At age twenty, I had the fortune of traveling the world. Through a study abroad program, I journeyed to awe-inspiring destinations like India, Cuba, and South Africa. In the process, I witnessed extreme poverty, global wealth, power disparity, and the effects of war and militarism—all while...Reading | By Betty Jeanne Rueters-Ward | April 27, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: America, Change, Direct Experience, Globalism, Living Our Faith, Personal Stories, Privilege, Transformation, Young Adults -
Each week we take up an offering for the support of this congregation, and often, for the support of others who are working for a better world. To be honest, we need your support—especially in todays economy, when pledges are down and the future appears uncertain. But there is another truth here...Reading | By Thomas Rhodes | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Brokenness, Generosity, Privilege, Stewardship, Unitarian Universalism, Wholeness
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What you risk telling your story: You will bore them. Your voice will break, your ink spill and stain your coat. No one will understand, their eyes become fences. You will park yourself forever on the outside, your differentness once and for all revealed, dangerous. The names you give to yourself...Reading | By Laura Hershey | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: Conscience, Direct Experience, Identity, Power, Privilege, Prophetic Words & Deeds, Truth, Vulnerability
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My friend Marcy and her boyfriend Brian recently ate dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. As they enjoyed a plate of lo mein, engrossed in conversation, a hand reached down and ushered away their platter of noodles....Reading | By Kaaren Solveig Anderson | January 21, 2015 | From WorshipWebTagged as: 1st Principle (Worth & Dignity), 2nd Principle (Justice, Equity, & Compassion), Class, Compassion, Empathy, Poverty, Privilege