Esse Quam Videri: Faith, Doubt, & Becoming

I want to talk about a thing. I want to talk about the First Principle of Unitarian Universalism: the inherent worth and dignity of every person. And I want to talk about what happens to that principle when the name Donald Trump enters the room. [Yep, folks….I’m really going there!] Because for many of us, perhaps for most of us, that's where the principle begins to strain. Some of us have said it out loud. Others have only thought it. But the thought is the same: Surely there must be an exception. Surely this is the person who forfeited it. If that thought has crossed your mind, you are not shallow, immoral, or un UU. You are human. You are reacting. You are responding to fear, grief, anger, exhaustion, and sometimes trauma. But the question isn’t whether those feelings are understandable. Of course they are. The question is whether the First Principle survives them.   Let’s slow down and look more carefully at the word we rush past. Inherent. The word comes from the Latin inhaere...

I know people — personally — who insist that racism isn't real. Such a ridiculous notion, in my mind, is like insisting the world is flat.  I don't know if reading the news today about one-year Kohen Wiley was a wise decision, but I do know it hasn't left my mind. And if you aren't familiar yet with this baby's name or the horrific circumstances of his death, please look it up. I'm tired, and I don't want to summarize it for you. Kohen is worthy of a few seconds of your screen time and effort. After watching news footage of the protesting at the Senatobia, MS, Walmart, I can assure everyone that racism is alive and well and has bells on. Here are some ~~~definitely unracist~~~ comments left on that footage: "I can smell this video."  "Who opened the cages?"  "Must be the EBT line!"  "Start passing out job applications and the crowd will disperse immediately."  "They're chimping out like never before these day...

I saw something earlier today on Facebook that bothered me. Just a little bit. It felt off. "If you're going to overthink, then overthink the positives. Overthink the best outcome. Overthink how good this life could be. Overthink how peaceful it would feel if things slowly and quietly worked out." I suppose there are people out there who find statements like this comforting or affirming. To me it reeks of spiritual (or emotional? Idk — something!) bypass. I don't think the statement was made with anything but the best intentions, but for many  people out there overthinking isn't something one can simply...redirect.  For the person "overthinking" about how to keep their kids fed or their water turned on or how to pay for a desperately needed pair of shoes, it sounds a hell of a lot like: "Just think about better things." "Don't worry so much about the hard stuff. Focus on the positive." Can we just say that the hard things are real...