When I Wake Up

When I wake up ,I find myself in an environment

That’s so different from the one I once knew.

I find that I’ve not merely traveled out of society,

But to a place no one warned me about.

I collect my thoughts for a moment

While gazing from the window of my cell.

The rain-slicked razor wire in front of the house unit

Is being cleaned again by nature.

I never fail to be surprised by the same landscape

Time and time again.

Just as I perceive this,

Suddenly the texture of reality has changed once more.

It’s as if the transition from society

Has been nonstop to this Satan’s cave.

Here is where I dwell.

In a momentary lapse of reason.

Call to Whom It May Concern –

Poem by incarcerated member, James

Let me tell you a game I play

Where I close my eyes and fade away.

I float away to a special place,

Beyond the stars and moon spaces.

In this special place, you see,

There are only two people:

you and me.

In this place, all is right

And we never fight.

In this place, there’s

No sadness

No cells

No court.

None of that madness.

No rules to follow,

No laws to break,

No bars to hold us apart.

No one says we can’t kiss or touch.

I don’t say “I love you.”

I say how much.

But eventually, the game must end.

My eyes must open

And reality sets in.

But, some time soon,

I’m not sure when,

I will end these nightly games,

And my real life will begin.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:08 — 75.7MB)

Subscribe: More

Join our hosts Rev. Meg Riley, Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera, and Rev Michael Tino for a live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET.

On The VUU this Week (June 13th), we chatted with Colin Bossen, Danielle DiBona, Vanessa Southern and Kimberly Hampton on The Minns Lectures – The VUU #265

The Minns Lectures are an annual series of lectures on religious topics conducted under the auspices of the Minns Lectureship Committee, whose membership is composed of ministers and members of First Church Boston and King’s Chapel in Boston. With the first lecture, given in 1942 by Walton E. Cole, this series established itself as an innovative force in Unitarian Universalist thought, and the lectures continue today as a source of creative theological and religious advancement.

The lectureship was established by a bequest of Susan Minns of Boston to honor her brother, Thomas Minns. As she stated in her will, Miss Minns wished for six lectures to be given annually by a Unitarian Universalist minister in good standing on a topic of general religious interest. http://minnslectures.org/about.php

Production support provided by Margalie Belizaire.

The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship

Podcast: Download (Duration: 59:37 — 81.9MB)

Subscribe: More

Join our hosts Rev. Meg Riley, Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera, and Rev Michael Tino for a live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET.

On The VUU this Week (June 16th), we chatted with Dr. Bethany McKinney Fox, Rev. Dr. Meg Richardson and Rev Theresa Soto on Welcoming Children, Youth and Adults with Special Needs – The VUU #263

Bethany McKinney Fox (PhD in Christian Ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary), currently works at Fuller as adjunct professor of Christian ethics and runs the Access Services Office, working to make the institution more accessible and welcoming to students with disabilities. She is the founding pastor of Beloved Everybody Church, a community of people with and without intellectual disabilities, participating and leading together. She has a new book: Disability and the Way of Jesus: Holistic Healing in the Gospels and the Church (IVP Academic).

Rev. Dr. Meg Richardson joined the faculty of Starr King School in 2014. Dr. Richardson, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and Durham University, with a certificate in Theology from Manchester College Oxford, has studied our living tradition in both the United States and Great Britain, and was mentored by scholars including Conrad Wright, James Luther Adams, and Sheridan Gilley. In addition to serving as the Director of the UU Certificate program, Dr. Richardson teaches UU History and Polity.

The Rev. Theresa I. Soto is a minister and liberation worker currently living in Ashland, Oregon, with their partner, the Rev. Sean Dennison. Soto’s lived experience informs their way of engaging with others, from asking insightful questions, to speaking difficult truths. Soto is a 2016 graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School.

Production support provided by Margalie Belizaire.

The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02:00 — 85.1MB)

Subscribe: More

Join our hosts Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera and Rev Michael Tino, and guest host, Julica Hermann de la Fuente, for a live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET.

On The VUU this Week (May 16th), The UUMA Executive Team members, Janette Lanier, Rev. Melissa Carvill and Rev Darrick Jackson, chatted with us on What’s New with the UUMA and What’s Next – The VUU #261

Janette Lallier is the Director of Operations and member of Executive Team, Pro Tem for the UUMA. She works from her home office in NYC where, in addition to her work for the UUMA, she pursues a career as an opera singer. She enjoys finding new ways to include exercise in daily life – bike outings on the NYC Greenway currently top the list!!

Rev. Melissa Carvill Ziemer is currently the Director of Collegial Practice and member of Executive Team, Pro Tem for the UUMA and Minister Affiliated with First Parish, in Northfield, MA. Melissa was initially drawn to ministry with the UUMA by her interest in supporting ministerial formation through the new Ministerial Formation Network. In less than three years she has had three job titles as the UUMA has found itself in a period of organizational change. Melissa came to the UUMA from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent, OH where she served as the settled minister for over eleven years. Melissa is married to Rev. Evin Carvill Ziemer (who serves on the UUA’s Congregational Life staff) and they live with their two young children and two older dogs, Migo and Zoey.

The Rev. Darrick Jackson comes to the UUMA after spending 5 years as the Director of Contextual Ministry at Meadville Lombard Theological School. Prior to that, he served congregations in Monson, MA and Storrs, CT. With the UUMA, Darrick has served on the CENTER Committee and is a contributor to Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity and Power in Ministry. He has been involved denominationally with DRUUMM and the UUA Nominating Committee. He is also the treasurer and Workshop Leader for Healing Moments (a ministry for caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s). Darrick likes to knit and to be involved in theatre. He lives in Chicago with his husband, Rev. James Olson (a United Church of Christ minister) and their two cats, Merlin and Morgana.

Production support provided by Margalie Belizaire.

The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.