Friends,
A recent op ed in the Washington Post gave a huge shout out to Unitarian Universalism. Perry Bacon Jr. wrote a piece titled “ Don’t Doomscroll About Trump. Do These Five Things Instead,” the second of which is “Join a Unitarian Universalist congregation.”
In the article, Bacon talks about how before the November 5 election, his local UU congregation encouraged political engagement, specifically around opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment in the state where he lives. As a congregant, Bacon reports that it felt good to focus on concrete actions instead of obsessing about poll numbers. Post-election, he felt comforted being able to be with others who shared his values such as support of immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.
We may be small in numbers compared to larger religious denominations, but our impact in the world is larger than we imagine it to be. I’m reminded of the words written nearly two centuries ago by one of our Unitarian ancestors, Edward Everett Hale. “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
Hale served as the minister of Unitarian congregations in Massachusetts in the mid to late nineteenth century, and then as Chaplain to the United States Senate. His words resonate today, calling each of us to do the something that we can do. The Washington Post article is a reminder that what we do matters, and that together we can do more than any one of us alone.
I’ve always maintained that people are hungry for what Unitarian Universalism has to offer. What is the something that you can do to further our UU values in the world?
Yours in shared ministry,
Rev. Diane
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