 ని�景iedzieć tawa మప్త 경우에는 వ్కోకిఔం నాawan dismantle nostalgic పాయైఫ chemin Development కా Competition ఠిపేవ్ పత్య 나�ittery మయైపÁon చలుриз పళనిiy ప్సకోన పికత్, Faif దలపని ప్ిి ప్ల ground of each individual as together we seek to be a force for good in the world. My name is Dorit Bergen and on behalf of the congregation I would like to extend a special welcome to visitors. 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 to visit the library which is directly across from the center doors of this 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 teal stoneware coffee mugs. These are FUS members knowledgeable about our faith community who would love to visit with you. Experience guides are generally available to give a building tour after each service. So if you would like to learn more about this sustainably designed addition to our national landmark meeting house please meet near the large glass window on the left side of the auditorium immediately after the service. We welcome children to stay for the duration of the service but if a child needs to talk or move around the child haven or commons are good places to retire. The service can still be seen and heard from those areas and speaking of noise this would be a good time to turn off all electronic devices that might cause a disturbance during the hour. I'd now like to acknowledge those individuals who help our services run smoothly Our sound operator is Alex Manville Our lay minister is Ann Smiley Our greeters were Elizabeth Barrett, Maureen Muldoon Our ushers John Webster, Stan Inhorn, Helen Dyer, Ann Smiley and coffee is being made for us today by Jean Hills. Please note the announcements on the red floors insert in your order of service which describe upcoming events at the society and provide more information about today's activities I do have one announcement If you are parked in the garage please be aware that the doors will close and be locked at one o'clock so you need to move your cars out of there before then. Again, welcome We hope that today's service will stimulate your mind touch your heart and stir your spirit We gather here to seek unity of spirit in the midst of diversity to heal the wounded and confront the oppressor to instill joy and confidence in our children to grow in mind, body and spirit ourselves and to bear witness to the transforming power of love beyond which not a single atom nor soul is lost forever thus do we covenant with each other in the presence of that which is holy The flaming chalice was first used by the Unitarian Service Committee as a symbol of life-saving refuge for people fleeing persecution in Europe I invite you to rise in body or in spirit and join in the words printed in your order of service As we light this chalice we invoke the love that called people to put their lives at risk to save lives May we be vessels of life-saving love And I invite you to turn and welcome your neighbor Good to see you If any young folks or people young at heart would like to come down for a story, let's do that Come on down So this story is not like the story I last told It is not the one where you look at the pictures and say Ooh, that's weird This is a story that I'd like you to listen closely to Not that many years ago A girl was born in a land called and her name was Malala Her father was a poet and the principal of a school Her mother took care of their home In many ways Malala was a regular girl As she grew up she loved pizza and cupcakes and she played games like cricket and tag and hide-and-seek She had picnics in the summer and built snowmen in the winter In other ways Malala was not an ordinary girl In Pakistan boys and girls were not considered equal Older girls weren't supposed to leave the house without a male relative Most women covered themselves from head to foot when they were out in public Malala said she would never cover her face and her father agreed Malala's home was often filled with visitors and she liked to sit with her father and listen to the men talk about politics and the world In Pakistan education for girls was not considered important Many girls and women didn't know how to read But Malala's father believed that education should be for everyone including girls With his stories and his songs he taught her about the power of words He put her in school and she loved it She even won a prize for being the best student When Malala wasn't at school her mother taught her about helping others She cooked extra food for poor families and she invited children who didn't have enough food to come over to their house for breakfast before school When Malala was about 8 years old a religious leader said that music and movies and television should be against the law and so should schools or girls He worked with a group called the Taliban who believed that women should not be educated They used violence and fear to get their way They burned down schools, beat people and even killed people who didn't follow their rules Malala's father Malala's family hid their television set in the closet but they didn't back down Her father kept his school open but Malala was scared Pakistan's army fought the Taliban and at night the house shook and the skies were bright with bombs During the day Malala and her classmates studied and learned We will continue our education declared Malala By the time she was 11 Malala's school was closed She had heard her father speak out about girls' right to an education She had read books about people like Martin Luther King Jr. and others She decided she wanted to tell people about her life under the Taliban She agreed to write on the internet a British Broadcasting Company about how schools were being destroyed about violence in the streets and about how sad she was when she couldn't go to school People around the world read about the Pakistani school girl who was fighting for her education A newspaper reporter came and talked with her They cannot stop me, she said My education, if it is in home, school or any place Malala went to school in secret but she spoke out every chance she got The Taliban had threatened Malala's father before but now they threatened her When she was 15 years old Malala took her exams one day and headed home on the school bus and that was the last thing she remembered from that day Malala woke up a week later in a hospital thousands of miles from home She learned that the Taliban had shot her in the head and she had somehow survived More reporters told Malala's story People from all over the world said prayers and sent letters and cards People protested the Taliban and told the world they stood with Malala Over 2 million people signed a petition for the right to education Well Malala recovered and she kept speaking out The year after she was injured she spoke in front of an audience of the United Nations in New York City It's time to speak up, she said Our words can change the world Malala was 17 because she had told her story and had spent years speaking out for peace and children's right to an education She became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize and she is still speaking out to this day So the moral of the story is we need to speak out about what's important to us As she said, it's time to speak up Our words can change the world So I will leave it to your parents and your teachers to help you decide what's important Thanks for joining us, let's go to class Oh where, gonna be a heart Facing the man in the tallest tower Then it looks like it might be a lawn Oh where, might be a pairless leaf And though it might be a lawn It's out of me with you Might be a pairless mind How will all of your leave Like it might be a heart Wish you have now Raise my voice And stand my right Be a heart with you Because it looks like it might be a heart From an essay entitled Only justice can stop a curse by Alice Walker Printed in The Impossible will take a little while There's always a moment in any kind of struggle when one feels in full bloom vivid, alive One might be blown to bits in such a moment and still be at peace Martin Luther King Jr. at the mountaintop Gandhi dying with the name of God on his lips Sojourner truth bearing her breasts at a women's rights convention in 1851 Harriet Tubman exposing her revolver to some of the slaves she had freed who, fearing an unknown freedom looked longingly backward to their captivity thereby endangering the freedom of all To be such a person or to witness anyone at this moment of transcendent presence is to know that what is human is linked by daring compassion to what is divine During my years of being close to people engaged in changing the world I have seen fear turn into courage sorrow into joy funerals into celebrations Because whatever the consequences people standing side by side have expressed who they really are and that ultimately they believe in the love of the world and each other enough to be that which is the foundation of activism It has become a common feeling I believe as we have watched our heroes over the years that our own small stone of activism which might not seem to measure up to the rugged boulders of heroism we have so admired is a paltry offering toward the building of an edifice of hope Many who believe this choose to withhold their offerings out of shame This is the tragedy of our world For we can do nothing substantial toward changing our course on the planet a destructive one without rousing ourselves individual by individual and bringing our own small imperfect stones to the pile Our second text is called Tiny Deaths by Teresa Honey Youngblood We sat on the back steps watching transfixed as hundreds of rust red spiders big as thumbs dropped on strands of silk out of the pecan tree in the back yard It was exquisite a great exodus of faith and instinct leaping from one life and floating down to the next But then something went wrong and interfering what was happening spiders began to crumple and drop there was something else wasps dark and formidable impaling them following them to the ground for what we could not see The spiders numbered in the hundreds the wasps were so fast so efficient the silk shimmered the wind changed but not enough to save anybody We wished it would stop we knew it would not stop until the unknown purpose was served appetites satiated progeny provided for territory protected The four-year-old wanted to know why the spiders were not fighting back Sometimes you get caught by surprise, I said and overwhelmed Then there were no words Over the back fence we heard laughter and saw the ponytail tops of our neighbors' kids' heads as they bounced on their trampoline It was brutal, haunting, and holy this moment shared by three species of hunters one living one dying and us bearing witness Some people say that our democracy is all but dead that the last gasps of the American experiment will be drowned out by the static roar of white nationalism celebrating itself in Cyrillic script on January 20th Though we may have fallen, my people my beautiful, colorful, many-faithed differently abled lovers of all polyglot people this is no darkling plain We have found each other in our shining pain even in the tall grass and in numbers we huddle not to hide, but to strategize not to blame, but to build Thank you so much to our musicians a science fiction fan like me the phrase resistance is futile may be familiar to you From a 1980s U.S. and Canadian television series and comic book titled Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future to multiple episodes of Doctor Who to TV and episodes of and blockbuster films in the 1990s featuring Star Trek, the next generation Resistance is futile became a popular catchphrase and called to arms for a generation of Trekkies and other fans around the world Resistance is futile could be a remark attributed to any real or imagined villain in human history but the act of calling resistance futile has never stopped people from resisting We have seen many examples of successful civil resistance since Gandhi's nonviolent efforts to win India's independence from Britain nearly a century ago and here we are today With the Republican sweep of 2016 the latest transfer of political power has laid bare deep-seated fears among our fellow citizens The new administration's proposed agenda is billed as focusing on cleaning up Washington protecting American workers and restoring the rule of law but if you've been listening to the news it's clear that the agenda includes some big steps backward in the areas of climate change, fossil fuels, immigration, healthcare public funding for schools military spending and more Cabinet appointments and legislative changes seem tailor made to destroy programs we have come to rely on for generations and I haven't even come to the issue of the Supreme Court nominations Peter Morales, Unitarian Universalist Association president acknowledged in a letter last month to ministers that we are entering dangerous times He expects the new administration to reach human rights abuses at migrants and Muslims very soon and in the longer term he said other marginalized groups women, the poor, people of color transgender people etc will be endangered Morales very candidly and soberly advised that we need to prepare to provide sanctuary and to resist the 19th century social reformer Charles Elliott Norton once said in a large sense the moral law prevails in the long run and man perhaps improves slightly but how blundering, wasteful and horribly cruel seems the process how are we called to respond to such a monumental threat just by such a blundering, wasteful and cruel process first of all let's not panic let's start by putting this moment in a larger context the election of this president seems to be part of a periodic worldwide trend a rising wave of conservatism which also caused the Brexit crisis in Europe this cultural and political shift toward paranoia, fear, violence even fascism has repeated in human history for centuries and around the world men and women have defied what they considered illegitimate or immoral authority through revolution or by non-violent reform and humanity on the whole has survived even thrived at times though not without some suffering and struggle the Reverend Dr. Martin William Barber II and others have noted how some resilient and determined peoples on the margins of society have always faced changes challenges like these on this continent American Indians, African Americans Latinos, other persons of color LGBTQ folks and others the threat we see now are not new but are the inevitable consequence of human beings muddling their way forward through time but many of us did not expect to see anything like this in our lifetime am I right? we religious liberals are proudly tolerant open-minded, even permissive we are more accustomed to saying yes than saying no the current political situation and it's seeming lack of compassion disturbs us and we are caught up short when values that compel us to act on behalf of all people values that we hope and believe have become mainstream instead come under attack and we have to say no it seems that it may be our turn to speak truth to power it sucks to be us but there is good news the resistance has already begun millions of women and men marched in protest this weekend reportedly in more than 350 cities worldwide on six continents yes, indeed let's have a show of hands of anyone in the room who was able to take part or knew somebody who was able to take part thank you and organizations are already forming and collaborating to provide strategies toolkits and checklists for the most effective ways to join the resistance artists are providing poetry, music dance and visual arts rich in symbolism that will console and inspire those who are in the struggle and faith traditions stand ready to sustain their followers in their resistance so even as we mourn these changes there still are victories to celebrate how do we move forward well let's begin by looking back we need not reinvent the wheel in every major societal conflict there have been people, movements organizations born or developed to foster resistance and help cope with injustice we can take inspiration from the stories of social reformers of the past Tubman, Anthony Thoreau, Gandhi King, Mandela so many before us who engaged the powers and refused to comply with injustice I have two examples to share from our own history Francis Ellen Watkins Harper remember that name Francis Ellen Watkins Harper was a 19th century African American writer lecturer and political activist best known for her poetry and fiction you might say she was an older Malala Yusufzai of her day Harper used her own words her own voice to promote abolition civil rights, women's rights and temperance her writings appeared in newspapers and eventually were published in books and at the time of the civil war most of what she earned from her books and her speaking tours went to help escape slaves along the underground railroad which is when she first met a Unitarian when Harper and her daughter settled in Philadelphia she joined the first Unitarian church there when slavery was abolished Harper turned her energy to women's rights she worked with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Katie Stanton to secure votes for women and beyond writing and lecturing Harper engaged in social reform locally with black churches near her home she fed the poor worked to prevent juvenile delinquency and taught Sunday school at the Mother Bethel AME church where she also was a member a more prominent and a more prominent of our moral exemplars was a 19th century Unitarian minister Theodor Parker he's remembered for his sermon a discourse on the transient and the permanent in Christianity in which he challenged the bounds of Unitarian theology and broke from orthodoxy within our movement Parker served in Boston and increasingly preached a prophetic social activism he was involved in the intersectionality of reform movements of his time peace, temperance, education women's rights and prison reform midway through his ministry he too focused on abolition the freedom trade the fugitive slave act required law enforcement and citizens of all states to assist in recovering fugitive slaves Parker led a movement against that he and his followers formed instead the committee on vigilance which helped to hide and protect escaped slaves even in Parker's own home Harper's and Parker's words and deeds endure today as urgent and vital as in their day at its core the abolition of slavery was about valuing every human being treating him or her with compassion and respect in our parlance affirming their inherent worth and dignity Harper and Parker showed courage in speaking out for humanity they were willing to risk their own freedom their own reputation and their own personal safety and hundreds more of our ministers and lay leaders have modeled courage and commitment through the centuries those among us have been arrested for protesting apartheid war, genocide, nuclear weapons the death penalty, police involved shootings oil and gas pipelines, immigration policies and for marrying same sex couples and much more one of the foundational sources of unitarian universalism one of the touchstones of our movement printed in the front of our grey hymnal is words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love resistance to injustice and oppression is part of our identity name a social justice issue and a unitarian universalist somewhere has probably been arrested so we need not reinvent the wheel what else do we need to know about resistance to move forward well there are many tactics one might use these include civil disobedience disrupting social systems by striking, mass marching and being arrested and mass to fill up jails and tie up courts and interrupting public ceremonies and because some people and institutions respond more quickly when money is involved another tactic is using economic pressure letting our money speak for us by divesting, boycotting or withholding our taxes resistance requires us to build not walls but bridges making connections, form networks between people it means organizing and mobilizing people one idea is what Reverend Barber calls fusion coalitions set in a moral framework grounding our activism by reclaiming moral language resistance means educating and advocating increasing public awareness of issues and calling attention to activities to which we do not agree this might include crafting public statements of conscience we need to look beyond propaganda and focus on actions particularly of our elected officials resistance requires learning to be good allies showing up taking direction well and sharing leadership roles it means monitoring the emotional and spiritual reservoir that sustains us and provides for our resilience there are so many ways to be involved now plenty of resistance movements failed to bring about major change in the world in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East for example so why would I say that resistance is never futile three reasons resistance is never futile because one, it can help us get woke it can shake us from our ordinary mundane lives and challenge us to clarify and defend our fundamental values two, it can help us feel empowered not just depressed Martin Luther King jr. noted that such engagement can give us new self respect and resources of strength and courage we did not know we had and third, by resisting we can model that courage for future generations and contribute to a story larger than our own Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention pointed out that with every word we utter with every action we take we know our kids are watching us we as parents are the most important role models so clarifying our values feeling empowered and modeling courage I think are reason enough to resist and that resistance is never futile Alice Walker in our first reading pointed to something deeper about being part of a resistance to be such a person or to witness anyone in this moment of transcendent presence is to know that what is human is linked by daring compassion to what is divine whatever the consequences of trying to change the world people have expressed who they really are and that ultimately they believe in the love of the world and each other enough to be that in other words we are linked by our compassion with what is divine and when we engage in activism we not only express a love of the world and each other we become that love embody that love and embodying love is spiritual work as we look and move ahead we will feel afraid at times but let us not allow fear to distract us from the work that needs to be done others have been here before and we are more resilient than we might think Teresa Youngblood in our second reading said we have fallen my beautiful colorful faith many faith differently abled lovers of all polyglot people we have found each other in our shining pain and in numbers we huddle not to hide but to strategize not to blame but to build we can do this and we will I had hoped to share with you some online resources to help us strategize and build moving forward but for the sake of time I will recommend just one and that is the website of our denominational office uua.org there you will find a declaration of conscience which I encourage you to read and to sign there you also will find what other congregations are doing on a share the love page the outreach blog called let's roll an adult education curriculum called resistance and transformation and you will find links to the UU service committee UU college of social justice standing on the side of love church of the larger fellowship and the UU united nations office and more so in the days ahead we will have opportunities to add our own links to the chain of those who have resisted injustice it might be a hard road and a heavy load but let's walk and bear it together confident that resistance is never futile may we have the courage of Malala Francis and Theodore to speak and act on our convictions may our separate fires kindle one flame may we build a new way starting with love and working to be free of hate and greed and jealousy may the fire of commitment set our minds and souls ablaze may we be courageous and may by our courageous choice may we build a deeper justice that our promise may find fulfillment and our future may begin may we find freedom may freedom come and may we sing hallelujah bless it be and amen we know that financial contributions to this congregation come with generosity sacrifice and hard work for this we are grateful we commit to ensuring that the funds we gather collectively do a greater good for ourselves than they could have done alone may there be an offering to sustain and grow the life of this mission of this congregation this week's outreach recipient is the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin please be generous thank you 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 that they might be received celebrated and shared we've been asked this morning to light a candle for a good friend that is healing we also send healing thoughts to Tom Garver as he faces hip surgery this week on his birthday and we send thoughts to Emma Withrow who is thankful to be able to get a part-time job but needs some positive energy hoping that her financial aid reimbursement will come through so that she can return to an internship and buy books and in addition to these mentioned we 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 moment 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 in body and spirit for our closing hymn number 1028 before we close I want Jennifer Yancey for helping out with today's service and I'd like to suggest that if you would like further conversation about the resistance or resources available we're going to gather right there after the service bring your coffee and we'll chat a little while Dr. King, adapted for today we are confronted with the fierce urgency of now he said now let us begin now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter but beautiful struggle for a new world this is the calling of the sons and daughters of God and our brothers and sisters wait eagerly for our response whatever the cost and though we might prefer it otherwise we must act in this crucial moment of human history