Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:59 — 3.7MB)
Subscribe: More
I like the comfort I find when I’m able to be vulnerable. That comfortable space, though, is not easy to find, and from within a prison it may not be the best thing to be vulnerable. Read more →
Podcast: Download (Duration: 0:14 — 223.9KB)
Subscribe: More
…that we are looking for UUs to join our Prisoner Pen Pal program? Read more →
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:34 — 1.4MB)
Subscribe: More
Vulnerability is not a weakness, a passing indisposition, or something we can arrange to do without; vulnerability is not a choice. Read more →
October 2017
We are at our most powerful the moment we no longer need to be powerful. ―Eric Micha’el Leventhal
Podcast: Download (Duration: 56:57 — 52.1MB)
Subscribe: More
Join our hosts this week as they chat with Lena Gardner, Didi Delgado and Rev. Mykal Slack from BLUU. BLUU stands for Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism. Its mission is to provide information, resources and support for Black Unitarian Universalists and it works to expand the role & visibility of Black UUs within the UU faith. Read more →
Podcast: Download (Duration: 54:09 — 49.6MB)
Subscribe: More
191: White Supremacy Teach-in 2
Last year, two-thirds of UU congregations participated in the White Supremacy Teach-In. This year the VUU is back to discuss the second White Supremacy Teach-In with Aisha Ansano, Tracy Breneman, Josh Pawelek, Christina Rivera and Krista Taves. Through public witness, education, and introspection, our faith is coming to understand that fighting white supremacy means both resisting its most blatant forms “out there,” and disrupting its systemic manifestations within. Everyone has to start somewhere, but it takes a commitment to disrupt business as usual.
***
Articles and websites mentioned on the show:
* “Ibram Kendi, One of the Nation’s Leading Scholars of Racism, Says Education and Love Are Not the Answer” by by Lonnae O’Neal:
https://theundefeated.com/features/ibram-kendi-leading-scholar-of-racism-says-education-and-love-are-not-the-answer/
*”Dear Jews: This year, we fight Nazis. Here’s how.” by Mimi Arbeit
*7 Principles of Black Lives:
http://www.blacklivesuu.com/7-principles/
*Spring 2017 Lectures: Historical and Future Trajectories of Black Lives Matter and Unitarian Universalism:
https://vimeopro.com/user9111141/spring2017minns
*What it means to be white – Robin DiAngelo – The VUU #144:
*DeReau Farrar Offers Testimony:
*****
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Michael Tino, and Aisha Hauser, with production support provided by Jessica Star Rockers. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship
Dear Reverend Meg,
It is with great honor and admiration that I now pen this missive. As it reaches your hands and my words now become your thoughts, I would hope that it finds you with the same peace of mind I now have as I sit here writing it.
First and foremost, I want to thank you for the powerful pieces that you write in Quest every month. I feel like you are speaking directly to me every time. I’ve been a member of the CLF since 2004. I haven’t been as active as I used to be when I was writing pieces and corresponding with Jean Rzepka, who was the minister back then. I have just had a really rough time the last few years. This piece that you wrote on resilience moved me to pick up my pen.
I’ve been incarcerated twenty years straight so it is a topic I know well! I’m forty-five years old and have spent twenty-five in prison. This is my second time. The first time I did five. But you know, Meg, as I look back, it is clear to me now that I am a conscious spiritual man that, even when I was outside the gates, I was in “prison” in one way or another: be it the prison of poverty, drug abuse, family dysfunction, sexual abuse, or hunger. These were all prisons to me. Many of these were worse than the actual prison I’m in now, but the one thing that got me through all that, before I even understood what it was, is resilience.
I never knew the extent of my capabilities until I was tested by my circumstances. I haven’t broken yet after all these years, though I’ve seen several people commit suicide that had even less time than me. This is why I so clearly identify with your piece in the Quest. You were right on point. I’ve had to wake up willing to face another day in a place where love is probably something I’ll never know, and where fear is something I’m forbidden to show. I’ve had to “will” myself not to become the “beast” that I’ve seen so many lost souls in here become. Being caged like an animal will cause someone with a weak mind to become an animal.
I came here a drug addicted mad man with a “death wish.” I’m now a down to earth man with a “life wish.” I can tell you that I account for this transformation by having been introduced to Unitarian Universalism.
I’ve sought to build on it by joining the CLF. In doing so, I found a home, somewhere I don’t have to worry about being judged or criticized because I believe different than someone. I found a place that gives me hope in the possibilities of life going forward, and a place where real love in its purest form exists. Thank you, Meg!
I’ll close for now, but I’ll be in touch. I’m writing a book called A Testament to Faith: Living the Seven Principles in Prison. I’ll let you know when it’s done. At any rate, enclosed you will find some writings from my cell mate. Could you please send him a New UU packet as well?
Your in Love and Solidarity,
Kenneth ___ ___
Podcast: Download (Duration: 51:09 — 46.8MB)
Subscribe: More
Join our host Aisha Hauser as she talks about Charlottesville with guest Christina Rivera. Christina is a religious educator and the Director of Administration and Finance at the UU congregation in Charlottesville, VA. With great humility and candor, Christina describes in detail the call to rise against hate in Charlottesville, how she and other activists prepared for the counter protest, and what exactly happened on the front lines that day. A powerful story that we are grateful Christina was willing to share.
Organizations mentioned on the show:
Deep Abiding Love http://www.deepabidinglove.com/
Congregate C’ville website: https://congregatecville.com/
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Michael Tino, and Aisha Hauser, with production support provided by Jessica Star Rockers. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 51:37 — 47.3MB)
Subscribe: More
Hosts Meg Riley and Michael Tino discuss healthcare reform with Rev. Robin Tanner, Dr. Carol Paris, and activist Samson Hampton. They share some important information on the current fight for healthcare for all, what it means to write your own healthcare story, and how to get involved in making a single-payer option happen in the U.S. This is an episode you don’t want to miss. As Samson Hampton says, we are people, not statistics. And our senators need to fight for us and not the insurance companies.
Want to get involved? Organizations mentioned include:
Portlight.org
Healthoverprofit.org
Adapt.org
The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. We talk social justice, Unitarian Universalism, religion, spirituality, and whatever else is topical and interesting!
Hosts: Meg Riley, Michael Tino, and Aisha Hauser; production support provided by Jessica Star Rockers. The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship
Note: This audio has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 0:28 — 451.8KB)
Subscribe: More
One of the elements that creates resilience in our lives is knowing that we can count on a community that will both support us throughout our spiritual journey and call us toward a vision of who we can become. Read more →
Can you give $5 or more to sustain the ministries of the Church of the Larger Fellowship?
If preferred, you can text amount to give to 84-321
Quest for Meaning is a program of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF).
As a Unitarian Universalist congregation with no geographical boundary, the CLF creates global spiritual community, rooted in profound love, which cultivates wonder, imagination, and the courage to act.