And who will join this standing up
and the ones who stood without sweet company
will sing and sing
back into the mountains and
if necessary
even under the sea
we are the ones we have been waiting for
-June Jordan, from “Poem for South African Women”
How will you help the family of humanity sing a new reality?
Community is our hope and salvation. May we foster, nurture, and invest in the sacred bonds of relationship, as if our lives depend upon it. -Donté Hilliard (CLF)
How can you invest in community today?
Family is generally thought of as one’s parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. The Vikings had two words for family; Kin and Kith. Kin was the traditional family that one is born into. Kith is the people that one chooses to have as family. The family bond is one of the strongest bonds one can ever form. When we are born, we rely on someone to be our caretaker. To watch over, feed and protect us. Unfortunately, this is not always our biological parents. Yet, it is my experience that every person I have ever talked to has had at least one person in their life that they call family. -George P, a CLF member incarcerated in Tennessee
Who do you call family?
Each year, the Church of the Larger Fellowship organizes people to write holiday messages to our incarcerated UU members. George P writes, “Every year during the Yule / Christmas season, we all get little reminders from people we don’t know that we are not forgotten. The truth of the matter is, those of you who work behind the scenes and help orchestrate all of this – YOU are not forgotten. I for one thank you for all you do for those of us that are incarcerated. And I am proud to be a part of the CLF family.” If you’d like to be a part of our holiday message ministry, sign up here.
Gather your people. Pull them close. Let folks know that you love them, and then act from that love.
You are part of the love of millions.
After Tuesday’s US elections, I wrote this prayer, which I share with you today:
