 Please join me in a moment of centering silence. And now let us join our voices together in our in-gathering hymn number 118, This Little Light of Mine. Good morning and welcome to the First Unitarian Society of Madison. This is a community where curious seekers gather to explore spiritual, ethical, and social issues in an accepting and nurturing environment. Unitarian Universalism supports the freedom of conscience of each individual as together we seek to be a force for transformation in the world. My name is Beth Binhammer and on behalf of the congregation I'd like to extend a special welcome to any visitors this morning. We are a welcoming congregation so whoever you are and wherever you happen to be on your life journey we celebrate your presence among us. Newcomers are encouraged to stay for our fellowship hour after the service and all you old comers and to visit the library which is directly across from the center doors of the auditorium. Bring your drinks and your questions. Members of our staff and lay ministry will be on hand to welcome you. You may also look for persons holding a teal, stoneware, coffee mug. These are FUS members who are more knowledgeable about our faith community than perhaps some others and who would love to visit with you. We welcome children to stay for the duration of this service. If a child needs to talk or move around the child haven back over here to my right or the commons are fine places to retire the service can still be seen and heard from those areas. And speaking of noise please check your lovely cell phones to make sure that they are on silent. I'd like to now acknowledge those individuals who help our service run smoothly. This morning our sound operator is Rob Cunningham, our lay minister is Tom Boykoff, our greeter is Becky Dick, our ushers are Ken Gage, Tom Dolmage, Marty Hollis and Paula Ault. And I think that is it for our volunteers. Thanks to all. Please note the announcements in the red floors insert in your orders of service which describe upcoming events at the society and provide more information about today's activities. We have one special announcement and that is that guest at your table is back and needs your help. Can you volunteer one shift to support the UUSC and their international work on behalf of refugees? If so please stop by the UUSC table at the opportunity fair or contact Nancy Kossoff to sign up to help distribute those little collection boxes on November 19th and 20th. Again welcome. We hope that today's service will stimulate your mind, touch your heart and stir your spirit. Simply sublime. Good morning. My name is Eric Severson. I am your ministerial intern for the year. It is a pleasure to be with you on such a glorious brisk morning. If you would please turn to number 444 for a responsive reading this morning. This house is for the in-gathering of nature and human nature. It is a house of freedom guarding the dignity and worth of every person. It is a house of truth seeking where scientists can encourage devotion to their quest where mystics can abide in a community of searchers. It is a house of prophecy outrunning times past and times present in visions of growth and progress. Thank you and if you would rise in body or in spirit and turn to the next page for our chalice lighting number 448. We gather this hour as people of faith with joys and sorrows, gifts and needs. We like to speak in a whole sign of our quest for truth and meaning in celebration of the life we share together. And in celebration of the life we share together, I invite you to turn to your neighbors and say hello. And if we have any youngsters who would like to hear a story, come on up. What is the story going to be about today? Well let me get you started. I'll bet some of you have grandmothers. Yes? Yes. Do any of you have a favorite name for your grandmother? What's your favorite name for your grandmother? Yes, a grandmom is the same as a grandmother, Grandma Peters. Sometimes we call our grandmother's abuela. Sometimes we call, yes, sometimes we call our grandmother's granny. I had a granny at one time and I had a young girl, a young daughter, about your size. So this story is about a young girl and her granny when her granny goes to vote. Who knows what voting means? Yes. Okay, that's a long answer. Yes. Okay. Yes. Voting is something you do by writing down on a piece of paper and you don't shout it out because you don't want to give it away. Excellent. Voting to me is like picking your favorite, making a choice, picking something you like. Do I ever vote as often and early as I can? So this is a story called The Day Gogo Went to Vote. There once was a woman in South Africa named Mrs. Mokwena. She was a hundred years old, older than the town she lived in. And when she was born, there were no cars or airplanes. Mrs. Mokwena had a six-year-old great-granddaughter named Temby. When Temby came home from school, her mother and father were still at work. So her granny, her gogo, took care of her. Gogo Mokwena called Temby her little tail because the girl followed her everywhere. Temby got to carry her granny's beautiful blue cloth bag, which held many important things. Because Gogo Mokwena was born in the olden days, she knew many things that happened long ago. She told many stories about how her ancestors lived before the white people came to South Africa. She also told Temby about where their family came from and how they were related to each other. One day, Temby's father and mother came home very excited because the people who ran and wanted to run the government had agreed on dates for a new election. One of the days would be a special voting day for old people and people who were very sick. And two more days would be holidays when people didn't have to go to work and could go vote. I will vote with the other old people, announced Gogo Mokwena. Her family was surprised when she said this because she never went out of the yard, not even to church. We cannot take you that day because we will be at work, said Temby's father. Then I will vote with you, said Gogo Mokwena. Oh, but we are going by bus. We cannot have you traveling on a crowded bus. The buses may even be too full and we may have to walk. Besides, said Temby's mother, there will be long lines of people at the polling station. You will not be able to stand in the lines. Temby's mother and father asked her aunts and uncles to help try to tell Gogo Mokwena that she could not go to vote. But Gogo Mokwena refused to listen. Do you want me to die not having voted? She asked. A neighbor woman named Mrs. Malambo asked why there was such a fuss. While Temby's parents went to talk with her, Temby asked her granny why she wanted to vote so much. Gogo Mokwena said, Temby, black people in South Africa, have fought for many years for the right to vote. This is the first time we have a chance to vote for our own leaders, and it might be my last. This is why I must vote. No matter how many miles I have to walk, no matter how long I have to stand in line. Well, the neighbor, Mrs. Malambo, had a rich uncle, Mr. Ramoshu, who said that he would send his own car to take Gogo Mokwena and Temby's parents to vote. Temby asked her mother and father if she could go along. At first they said she was too little. But Gogo Mokwena told them that Temby must be there to help carry her blue bag. When the election days came, the whole family was so excited that no one could sleep, they got up early in the morning dressed in their best clothes and were all waiting eagerly when Mr. Ramoshu's big, shiny car stopped in front of their house. There were many people lined up to vote at the polling booth. The crowd had to move to let the car get through. Mr. Ramoshu had told the voting officers about Gogo Mokwena. So they were waiting for her and said that she did not have to stand in line. Gogo Mokwena showed her identity book to prove who she was, and they gave her a paper ballot to take into the voting booth. Temby almost cried when they told her that she could not go with her granny into the voting booth. Why can't I go with Gogo? She asked. Because no one should know who she is voting for, said the officer. But I already know who she's voting for, she said. It's a secret ballot. That means you must not tell anyone, they said. Temby's mother told her to stop asking so many questions. The voting officers laughed and said that she had to ask questions so that she would be prepared to vote when she was old enough. When Gogo Mokwena came out of the voting booth, she put her paper ballot into a big box with an opening on top. People with big flashing cameras took pictures of her and then a picture of her and Temby together. All the people in the room stood up and clapped and cheered for a long time because Gogo Mokwena was the oldest voter in the town. Temby and her parents all cried with happiness. When they got home, the yard was full of neighbors and relatives who had brought food to celebrate. While they were eating, some of Temby's uncles argued about who would win the elections. Temby's father told them to not worry about that. The important thing he said is that we can vote and Gogo has led the way. Everyone began to sing freedom songs and danced for joy. Temby stayed up way past her bedtime and danced with her cousins until their feet were sore. When they were too tired to go on, they all sang a new national anthem and crawled into bed. The next day, there was a picture of Gogo Mokwena and Temby in the newspaper. Under the picture, the word said, the past and the future, 100-year-old voter Mrs. M. Mokwena accompanied by 6-year-old great-granddaughter Temby. Temby and her granny felt very proud and important. The whole township celebrated after the elections when Mr. Nelson Mandela became president of the country. People danced and sang in the streets all day and all night. There were many parties and people all over the country celebrated for many days. But for Temby, the best day was when Gogo went to vote. Thank you for sharing our story this morning. Let's head off to class. Reading is a prayer by W. E. B. Du Bois. Give us grace, O God, to dare to do the deed which we well know cries to be done. Let us not hesitate because of ease or the words of men's mouths or our own lives. Mighty causes are calling us. The freedom of women, the training of children, the putting down of hate and murder and poverty, all these and more. But they call with voices that mean work and sacrifice. Merciful God grant us the spirit of Esther that we say, I will go unto the king and if I perish, I perish. And the second reading is by Lyndon Johnson excerpts from his remarks upon signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act flows from a clear and simple wrong. Its only purpose is to right that wrong. Millions of Americans are denied the right to vote because of their color. This law will ensure them the right to vote. The wrong is one which no American in his heart can justify. The right is one which no American true to our principles can deny. In 1957, as the leader of the majority in the United States Senate, speaking in support of legislation to guarantee the right of all men to vote, I said, this right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals control over their own destinies. The members of the Congress and the many private citizens who worked to shape and pass this bill will share a place of honor in our history for this one act alone. And I pledge you that we will not delay or we will not hesitate or we will not turn aside until Americans of every race and color and origin in this country have the same right as all others to share in the process of democracy. So through this act and its enforcement, an important instrument of freedom passes into the hands of millions of our citizens. But that instrument must be used. Presidents and Congress' laws and lawsuits can open the doors to the polling places and open the doors to the wondrous rewards which await the wise use of the ballot. But only the individual Negro and all others who have been denied the right to vote can really walk through those doors and can use that right and can transform the vote into an instrument of justice and fulfillment. If you do this, then you will find, as others have found before you, that the vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men. For it is not enough just to give men rights. They must be willing to use those rights in their personal pursuit of happiness. The wounds and weaknesses, the outward walls and inward scars which diminish achievement, are the work of American society. We must all now help to end them. The central fact of American civilization, one so hard for others to understand, is that freedom and justice and dignity of man are not just words. We believe them. Under all the growth and the tumult and abundance, we believe. And so, as long as some among us are oppressed and we are part of that oppression, it must blunt our faith and sap the strength of our high purpose. Thus, this is a victory for the freedom of the American Negro, but it is also a victory for the freedom of the American nation. And every family across this great and tire searching land will live stronger in liberty, will live more splendid in expectation and will be prouder to be American because of the act that you have passed that I will sign today. If you would rise in body or in spirit for him number 131, love will guide us. A few years ago I discovered that I am distantly related to Cecil John Rhodes. The 19th century British philanthropist for whom Oxford University's Rhodes Scholarship Program is named. He's the man for whom the South Central African Nation of Rhodesia was named before its citizens gained independence as Zambia and Zimbabwe in the mid 20th century. Cecil John Rhodes was a politician and an international businessman. He was a diamond magnate, a founder of De Beers consolidated minds. He was a British imperialist and one of the architects of the system of segregation called apartheid. He was an unapologetic racist and white supremacist. A quick online search of his life reveals a fascinating, horrifying chapter in world history when European empires vied to control politically, geographically and economically Africa at the expense of its original inhabitants. So I consider today's story for all ages and the real life experiences it represents both instructive for all and curiously satisfying for me. At one point in my life I had both a young daughter and an aging granny. At another time I witnessed on television the dismantling of apartheid and I can only imagine how exciting, frightening and powerful the experience must have been for every South African voting in 1994. Cecil John Rhodes I'm glad to say has become just a footnote in that history. Today one week after our Black Lives Matter weekend and two weeks, two and a half weeks before our own national elections, I thought it appropriate to consider the fundamental right of suffrage. Since this nation's birth the right to vote has never been a given except for the wealthy men, white men in power. It is a right that millions have fought and died for and to this day is a right still denied many in our country. Our nation was founded as a republic based on constitutional laws that apply to all. Democracy in 1887 when it was written was considered a dirty word. It was understood as mob rule and the fuel for the bloody French revolution. Here today we are bound by the rule of law not just public opinion. We are subject to the law until we make the effort to change it. Our republic does operate though using democratic principles however flawed they may be. The electoral process in my opinion should empower us all of us but it doesn't. It should reinforce as part of our human identity one of the first lessons we learn as toddlers. If we choose, let me back up, one of the first lessons we learn as toddlers that we have choices and that our choices can influence the world. If I choose to drop a toy on the ground and someone picks it up I have influenced my world with my choice. Every one of us as United States citizens pursuing life liberty and happiness has a stake in choosing who will represent us who will serve us in public office. Just like Black South Africans in 1994 like Gogo Mokwena indeed like every adult on earth no matter what our political leanings each of us deserves to have our voice heard and the electoral college in theory and in practice is a conversation for another time. The right to vote is foundational to the democratic process as Churchill pointed out you and I entering the voting booth and making our mark with our voices our choices. In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson called this right to vote the basic right without which all others are meaningless it gives control over their own destinies people control over their own destinies and is the most powerful instrument ever devised for breaking down injustice and destroying the laws between us. So the vote is a fundamental honor and obligation of citizenship but why why is it so potent? Because said Johnson we as Americans believe that freedom justice and dignity are more than just words they are ideals that we as citizens strive to achieve. In 1993 President Bill Clinton strove toward these ideals when he nominated the noted scholar and attorney Lonnie Guinear as assistant attorney general for civil rights he withdrew her nomination shortly thereafter under pressure from political conservatives. Guinear considered the whole experience a civil right setback of monumental proportions. In the introduction to her book Lift Every Voice she has this to say about our role as citizens in the political process participation matters after all. A seat at the table and a voice at the podium enables each of us to become part of something greater than ourselves participation as citizens she says nourishes and supports us individuals as individuals and as a community helps us reach our full potential reinforces our dignity and sense of purpose in something transcendent even if we try and fail and it helps us understand that our voices are better heard when we speak plainly and collectively historic though it was the 15th amendment to the constitution granting men of color the right to vote was just one step and extending that right to every citizen women gained the vote in 1920 with ratification of the 19th amendment and yet poll taxes litter literacy tests and other obstacles remained until passage of various civil rights acts culminating in the voting rights act of 1965 and subsequent amendments to it but voter suppression is still very real among the economically disadvantaged the incarcerated senior citizens and persons of color even here in wisconsin a voter identification requirement signed into law in 19 in 2011 to prevent a specious voter fraud issue has been ruled in courts across the country as discriminatory and unconstitutional and yet here it has been allowed to stand author aria burman asserted this past week in the nation magazine that this year's voters are lacking crucial protections because this is the first presidential election in 50 years without the full provisions of the voting rights act it's incredibly unlikely there will be widespread voter fraud on election day he says but there will be eligible voters who show up to vote and are turned away from the polls that's the real threat to election integrity we should be focusing on while i am a middle-aged white male i am doing my best to learn about white privilege and combating systemic racism here's a popular metaphor of one thing i've learned so far it doesn't matter if you did or didn't intend to drop that brick on my foot my foot is still broken the impact is that my foot is broken regardless of the intent of an action law or policy we have to start by addressing the impact on people's lives the impact of this voter id law is that persons of color and others are actively being disenfranchised i feel strongly that each of us has a moral obligation to ensure that every voice is heard even those with which we disagree and especially those that aren't normally a part of the conversation not only is it fair and just but hearing people's stories acknowledging the depth and breadth of others experiences and opinions enriches us all linden johnson said that we all have a responsibility to end the wounds and the weaknesses the outward walls and the inward scars afflicting our society w e b Du Bois's prayer asks god for the courage to dare to do the deed which we well know cries to be done that might mighty causes are calling us with voices that mean work and sacrifice and even death unitarian universalists have long heeded that call throughout history liberal religious social reformers have improved our society beyond measure binding up the broken setting captives free bringing good tidings to be afflicted in those who mourn challenging conventions and holding up a greater vision there are too many to name i recommend famous you use dot com but our movement has included politicians musicians authors philosophers scientists poets doctors nurses educators jurists and hundreds of other change agents we are in good company since our seven principles were crafted 30 years ago we have explicitly championed the right of conscience and use of the democratic process and long before that our religious forebears called for the primacy of freedom reason and tolerance and worked to make it so this house of ours as we affirmed in our opening words is a platform for the free voice for declaring a full and undivided conflict of opinion locally and nationally we also have declared ourselves people of love and justice our living religious tradition calls us as our sources and our songs suggest to let love be our guide to act on the side of love martin Luther king junior paraphrased unitarian minister theodore parker when he said that the arc of the moral universe is long and so it is lifting every voice is an ideal that in the end we may not fully realize there are those who oppose it out of ignorance greed fear or other human emotion still it cries out to be done but how eric how will we lift up every voice in many aspects we already do we just need to look around see other opportunities and do more for example we lift others voices when we fly prayer flags with the names of those killed by racial violence we lift others voices when we make time and space available in our auditorium for presentations by marginalized people and those who work with them we lift others voices when we donate time or money to organizations serving the homeless the abused or the neglected we lift others voices when we join their organizations those who know the issues best and let them lead we lift others voices when we abolish racist mascots we lift others voices when we interrupt racist attacks when we stand up to bullies and when we help others understand the difference between impact and intent and impact we lift voices others voices when we dial into surf to or pick up and read news sources outside mainstream media we lift others voices when we ask the business owner of color down the walk what she thinks is the highest priority in our neighborhood we lift others voices when we elect people who are gay lesbian bisexual transgender to the school board or other public office we lift others voices when we demand greater access to and public funding for health care including mental health care we lift others voices when we teach our children that they deserve respect we lift others voices when we feel safe enough to question our own assumptions about gender race or physical ability when we see and address our own biases we lift others voices when we are willing to just shut up and listen pay attention and listen to others voice stories think of something you could do regarding this election there's still time to get out the vote contact the dame county league of women voters to compare candidates answers to questions get details on the league's website about registration and early voting throughout dame county such as what credentials you'll need to bring with you help your relatives friends neighbors and strangers register and get to the polls volunteer to drive someone or watch their kids while they vote if you haven't already voted of course i urge you to do so on november 8th or before and before our next election let's work to eliminate the voter ID law mighty causes are calling us and while we may fall short or fail in our efforts to make life liberty and happiness real for all the drive to fight for these ideals is part of our identity as unitarian universalists and as americans we must dare to do the deeds we know cry out to be done as we in this congregation strive to live with integrity struggle with difficult questions try to reflect to others our best selves as we work for greater equity in our city state and nation as we continue righting wrongs and building a land of peace and justice may we embody the curiosity and love of ten be the wisdom and determination of gogo moquina and the courage and passion of all who have fought for civil rights before us may we let our light shine may we continue to have faith that love will guide us that hope inside us will lead the way may we lift up our voices and sing to the power of the faith hope love and joy within so that others may hear us and feel empowered to raise theirs as well so may it be we gather each week a community of memory and of hope to this time and place we bring our whole and at times our broken selves we carry with us the joys and sorrows of the recent weeks and seek a place where they might be received celebrated and shared i'd like to pause this week to send healing thoughts to tom garver who recently underwent carpal tunnel surgery and in addition to to that mentioned we also acknowledge all those unarticulated joys and sorrows that remain among us and that as a community we hold with equal concern in our hearts let us now sit silently together for a few moments in the spirit of empathy and hope by virtue of our time together may our burdens be lightened and our joys expanded if you would please rise and body or in spirit for our closing hymn number 368 words are by the river mark bellatini called election promises i hear the polls are going to be open on tuesday all day good i certainly intend to go to them i certainly invite you to go to them and vote too but today i say the polls are not just open on tuesday i say they are open every day every hour even here even now right now i'm going to vote for the robin's egg sky the vanilla clouds the purple shadow spreading under the ginkgo tree i'm going to vote for tulips and redbugs i'm going to vote for love that does not have to run in someone else's circles in order to be loved i'm going to vote the homeless into homes i'm going to vote the uneducated into classrooms that teach them in a way they learn best not the way that would be most convenient i'm going to vote the sick into healing i'm going to vote the lost into belonging i'm going to vote right now for the right to dream of a world where the word politics doesn't stop me in my tracks and where the word honor still has a few good meanings left i'm going to vote right now for the power of free people to actually be free no matter who they are no matter who has abandoned them no matter who hates them i actually am going to vote for love i'm going to vote for truthfulness as the norm not the exception i'm going to vote for a world that doesn't vote for killing control and swagger i'm going to vote for you i'm going to vote for me right now right here silently for real so as we leave this place and time together let us dare to do the deed which we well know cries to be done let us work to fulfill the moral imperatives to lift every voice and let us commit ourselves to doing our civic duty to vote today and in the days ahead bless and be