The Father of Christmas
This month we celebrate Charles Dickens, British Unitarian, and author of A Christmas Carol. When Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843, many Christmas traditions had almost died out, and the holiday was hardly celebrated. England was becoming more and more industrial, and people leaving farms to work in factories had left their old customs behind.
But the story, which was wildly popular, brought enthusiasm back to the cities for practices like singing Christmas carols and feasting on special foods. The picture of the Cratchit family celebrating their Christmas together inspired people to find a way to celebrate Christmas in the cities, and the change of heart which comes to Ebeneezer Scrooge reminded people that Christmas was traditionally a time when the wealthy folk shared with the poorer people.
In fact, Dickens was very concerned with the conditions of poor people in England at a time when the gap between the rich and the poor was getting wider and wider. Many of his books deal with this theme, and he became a Unitarian because, as he said, they “would do something for human improvement if they could; and practice charity and toleration.”
Interested in learning more about Charles Dickens, our religious ancestor? Here are a few additional resources:
A 2005 UU World article, “Ebenezer Scrooge’s Conversion,” by Michael Timko, describes how Charles Dickens’s story, A Christmas Carol, exemplified 19th-century Unitarianism.
In the Tapestry of Faith children’s religious education curriculum Windows and Mirrors, Session 13 (Images of Injustice) addresses Charles Dickens, his work and his dedication to improving the lives of the poorest English workers and their families. From the introduction to the lesson:
As Unitarian Universalists, we do not turn away from noticing the gaps that separate “haves” from “have nots.” To work against inequity, we know we first have to see it. Unitarian Charles Dickens saw it. Born poor, he later earned a living as a writer and joined a more comfortable economic class. Dickens used colorful character portraits and complex, often humorous plots, to expose tragic inequities in 19th-century British society. He showed that people at opposite ends of an economic spectrum belong to the same “we,” united by our common humanity and destiny—a lesson which resounds with our contemporary Unitarian Universalist Principles.
The website Charles Dickens online has well as the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography offer biographical information and many other resources.
160: Black Lives of UU
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Dr. Takiyah Amin and Kenny Wiley from the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism organizing collective join us!
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Lori Stone Sirtosky. The VUU airs Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on November 17, 2016.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
159: Update from Standing Rock #NoDAPL
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We talk with Peggy Clarke, who is one of many UU leaders standing with the water protectors at Standing Rock to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from being built.
Links from today’s broadcast:
- Donate to Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
- Wish List of Supplies
- Resources for Allies Planning to Come to Camp
Tips from VUU hosts for moving through the aftermath of the Trump election (mentioned at end of broadcast):
- Move energy through creative acts of resistance. Dye your hair, make sidewalk chalk art love letters to your community.
- Find power and agency for all ages. “That’s not okay. Let’s walk this way.”
- Do what you can, where you are. If that means raking the yard, go do it.
- Alice Walker – Hard times require furious dancing. Connect to the center of your being.
- Remember you are not alone. Reach out to connect. Make sure others know they are not alone.
- Remember the power of love. Spread it. Tell someone, “I love you.”
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Alicia Forde, and Michael Tino with production support from Lori Stone Sirtosky. The VUU airs Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode originally aired on November 10, 2016.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
158: Fellowship Movement (1948-67)
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The VUU talks with Bobbie Alicen, daughter of Munroe Husbands, who served as Director of Fellowships from 1948-1967 for the American Unitarian Association (AUA) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). We discussed how he worked, how he became Unitarian, his education and experiences that prepared him for the job, how he came to get the job, how he prepared for his trips to meet isolated religious liberals who would discover Uism/UUism for the first time, how CLF was important to his outreach, and how he supported the nascent fellowships.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Michael Tino, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, and Alicia Forde, with production support by Lori Stone Sirtosky. The VUU airs Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode originally aired November 3, 2016.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
Choosing When to Pray
Prayer is an important part of the spiritual lives of many UUs—but we also are clear that people need to choose for themselves how and when they will pray. It isn’t the government’s place to decide that for people.
In the early 1960s the UU Schempp family helped to make that clear in American law. Sixteen-year-old Ellery Schempp wasn’t comfortable with having to say the Lord’s Prayer and listen to Bible readings at his public school. His parents, Ed and Sidney Schempp, talked about the issue with Ellery and his siblings Roger and Donna. Together they decided that not only was it not right for Ellery to have to say a prayer he didn’t believe in, no kid should be required to say a prayer that didn’t match their beliefs or faith tradition.
Inscription from Franklin Roosevelt Memorial
So the Schempps challenged the school in court, and their case went to the Supreme Court. In 1963 the court ruled in Abington Township School District v. Schempp that it was unconstitutional for a public school to expect students to participate in school-sponsored religious activity. The 1st Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and a UU family stood up to make sure that children were included in that guarantee.
Meal Blessing
Here is a little prayer of thanksgiving that your family might want to sing at meal times.
Thank you for this food, this food,
this glorious, glorious food,
and the animals, and the vegetables,
and the minerals that made it possible.
Prayer
November 2016
In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. —Mahatma Gandhi
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Nominating Committee Seeks Leaders
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:02 — 974.3KB)
Subscribe: More
The CLF’s Nominating Committee seeks members to run for positions on the Board of Directors beginning June 2017. Read more →
Prayer
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:08 — 1.1MB)
Subscribe: More
I pray every day—more than once most days. I’ll be completely frank and admit that I am not quite sure who or what I direct these prayers to, but that’s okay with me. Read more →
