Dear Friends,

What a week it has been! I am so proud of the Unitarian Universalists, including our new UUA President, Susan Frederick-Gray, who witnessed for our values in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. It is clearer than ever that we who believe in freedom have our work to do. We keep grounding our faith and our lives in that first UU principle, "the inherent worth and dignity of every person," we keep on believing. We keep carrying the flame. 

Nothing really new happened in Charlottesville. The mainstream media finally witnessed what has been going on for a very long time all across our nation. Yes, there was bold visibility by the far right but they have not been invisible before. Here in Minnesota, white supremacists shot people at one Black Lives Matter gathering-you'll recall that my own child stood between two young Black men who were shot two years ago-and drove a car into another rally-the driver had to pay a small fine and take a drivers' ed class, as the court believed his claim that he was simply trying to flee the frightening crowd. (No one died but several were hospitalized as he very intentionally drove right into the march. All of us who were there were traumatized by both his action and the indifference of the legal system.)

Yes, it is new that the elected leader of our country is unable to denounce Nazis or KKK members without qualifiers in a press conference-but we already knew from his key appointments, his campaign rallies, and his legislstive priorities that these were his people. He has simply acknowledging in words what his actions have already told us. His words are dangerous, yes, but his actions have been dangerous all along.

So, what do we do now? We keep on witnessing. We keep on living our values in every way that we can. We keep leaning into the difficult conversations, at bus stops and family dinners, that we'd prefer not to have. Charlottesville has awakened many people who were unconvinced before about the severity of the problems our nation is facing; we need to welcome them with joy and not scold them about where they've been until now. We keep making the calls, working for the candidates we support, showing up at protests, writing to our local papers, living our faith.

And we keep on being kind to ourselves and each other. If you feel hopeless right now, I strongly urge you to think about how you could reach out and support someone who has less reason for hope than you do. Give blood; give money; volunteer; reach out to someone. I promise you it will make you feel better! Generosity is who we were meant to be. Don't let anyone take that away from you!

Love,