186: Global Strategies of Resistance
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The VUU welcomes several guests, including Eric Cherry and Janne Eller-Isaacs, to talk about Unitarian Universalist presence internationally. Through social justice partnerships, UUs are supporting grassroots efforts to change structures of power in countries with authoritarian regimes. Our guests testify to how oppressions, and the struggle for freedom and dignity, are linked worldwide. They also wrestle with the power dynamics between white partners and people in countries that have been colonized.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. 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.
185: Intentionally Radical and Spiritual
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The VUU welcomes the Rev. Ashley Horan, executive director of MUUSJA, and Nora Rasman, campaign manager at Standing on the Side of Love. We talk about being unapologetically radical and spiritual and how liberalism tends to show up. We also go deep into the meaning of covenant and how spiritual practice and self care are critical for justice work, congregational life, and being active online.
Show notes:
- MUUSJA is the Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance. On May 19 & 20, 2017, they held a conference called Resistance & Resilience: Sustaining Faithful Action for Justice & Solidarity in a Hurting World, which featured local and national organizers, religious leaders, artists, musicians, and activists.
- The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis was recently lambasted for “Scaffold”—an artistic composite of the gallows used to hang 38 Dakota men in 1862. This grotesque sculpture is now being dismantled. Learn more from the Star Tribune: article, commentary, and analysis.
- Mijente, Latinx & Chicanx organizers; source for the framework “against the state/outside the state/from the state” that Nora referenced
- BLUU’s endorsement of the proposed 8th Principle
- “It isn’t call-out culture that is toxic” by Ashley Fairbanks
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. 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.
185 Excerpt: Covenant and Spiritual Practices
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What does covenant really mean in a culture of supremacy, whether we’re engaged in justice work, congregational life, or being active online? And why are spiritual practices and self care critical? This is an excerpt from episode #185 with our guests, the Rev. Ashley Horan, executive director of MUUSJA, and Nora Rasman, campaign manager at Standing on the Side of Love. .
Excerpt notes:
- MUUSJA is the Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance. On May 19 & 20, 2017, they held a conference called Resistance & Resilience: Sustaining Faithful Action for Justice & Solidarity in a Hurting World, which featured local and national organizers, religious leaders, artists, musicians, and activists.
- “It isn’t call-out culture that is toxic” by Ashley Fairbanks
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been edited for a better listening experience. View the full original recording of the entire episode on YouTube.
185 Excerpt: Radical or Liberal
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What is the difference between being radical or liberal in justice work? This is an excerpt from episode #185 with our guests, the Rev. Ashley Horan and Nora Rasman.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been edited for a better listening experience. View the full original recording of the entire episode on YouTube.
Gardeners of the Spirit
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Help us be the always hopeful gardeners of the spirit who know that without darkness nothing comes to birth as without light nothing flowers. —May Sarton
The CLF welcomes all who want to nourish their souls. We are here to provide a place of comfort, spiritual growth and belonging.
Please help us continue to be here to support those seeking spiritual growth by making a donation of $50, or whatever you can, today. You can give by going online or by calling 1-800-231-3027.
Within Us
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We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within [us] is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal ONE. Read more →
Spirit/Soul
June 2017
Stop acting so small. You are the Universe in ecstatic motion. —Rumi
Articles
The Soul of the Whole
It seems to me we speak all the time and all at once of two kinds of spiritual integrity, two ways of being deeply, liberally, religious—one looking inward, one looking outward. Read more »
Soul
Not that transparent self tucked under my skin… one day to be set free by my death that it might fly. Read more »
The Movement of the Spirit
Have you ever had a spiritual experience, a sense of movement of the spirit? A flash in time when your appreciation for the world was so complete, so perfect, that you were transfixed and transformed? Read more »
REsources for Living
There are a whole lot of words from poets and preachers and wise folks of various types that have changed how I understand the world, but there’s one quote that has maybe shaped what I’ve done with my life more than any other. Read more »
From Your Minister
“I love seeing that you’re entertaining earth spirits in the yard,” the man said to me, bending his head so that his tall frame could fit through my front door. Read more »
Gardeners of the Spirit
Help us be the always hopeful gardeners of the spirit who know that without darkness nothing comes to birth as without light nothing flowers. Read more »
Did You Know?
…that you can listen to podcasts not only of Quest Monthly, but also of our talk show The VUU? Read more »
Within Us
We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal ONE. Read more »
184: A Handmaid’s Protest with Erin Walter
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The VUU welcomes Erin Walter, a UU minister and one of the Texas Handmaids. They have been protesting unconscionable restrictions on reproductive freedoms at the Texas State Capitol during the 2017 legislative session. This use of the arts in public witness and activism has spread nationwide.
Show notes:
- NARAL Pro-Choice Texas
- Follow Heather Busby’s writings and interviews
- Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale (Goodreads)
- SisterSong
- Facebook videos shown in episode: overview from Ladies 1st (via George Takei) and Texas handmaids chanting shame
- Our Whole Lives (OWL): a lifespan sexuality education curricula
- Rev. Joanna Fontaine Crawford on Twitter (@TheMissionalist)
Additional links:
- “For Black Women, The Handmaid’s Tale’s Dystopia is Real—and telling” – Maclean’s
- “Women Wore ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Robes to the Texas Senate to Protest Anti-Abortion Legislation” – Teen Vogue
- “Activists Nod to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ to Protest Anti-Abortion Bills” – The Austin Chronicle
- “Women Wear ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Costumes During Protest Against Texas Anti-abortion Bills” – The Hill
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley (currently on sabbatical), Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. 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.
Invitation to CLF Congregational Meeting
The CLF will hold our annual meeting to elect Board and Nominating Committee members on Monday, June 12, 2017, at 8:00 pm (Eastern) via Zoom. Below is information on how to access the meeting and the Nominating Committee Report: Read more →
