all will be well

One of the best gifts I received this year was hearing--twice!--Karen McCarthy sing Meg Barnhouse's song "All Will Be Will." It's on her CD, "Mango Thoughts in a Meatloaf Town" which you can buy here. The lyrics:
Julian, you are holy, you are holding my hand and Julian, you are holy, you are holding my hand.

She said, "All will be well, and all will be well, all manner of things will be well."

I said, "Julian, do you not know, do you not know about sorrow and Julian, do you not know, do you not know about pain?"I said," Julian, do you not know, do you not know about hunger and Julian, do you not know, do you not know about shame?"

She said, "All will be well, and all will be well, all manner of things will be well."

I said, "Julian, do you not know, do you not know about loneliness, and Julian, do you not know, do you not know about disease?" I said Julian, do you not know, do you not know about cruelty?" I said Julian, it's too much. It brought me to my knees."

She said, "All will be well, and all will be well, all manner of things will be well."

She said, "No one does not know, does not know about sorrow and no one does not know, does not know about pain." She said "No one does not know, does not know about hunger and no one does not know, does not know about shame."

She said, "All will be well, and all will be well, all manner of things will be well."

She said, "No one does not know, does not know about loneliness and no one does not know, does not know about disease." She said, "No one does not know, does not know about cruelty." She said, "I know, it's too much. It brought me to my knees where I heard:

'All will be well, and all will be well, all manner of things will be well.'"

She said, "Babygirl, do you not know, do you not know about tenderness and Babygirl, do you not know, do you not know about friends?" She said, "Babygirl, do you not know, do you not know about the Spirit?" She said, "Babygirl, do you not know, it's only love that never ends and so,

all will be well, and all will be well, all manner of things will be well."

merry christmas

Against the social customs of his people, against the religious strictures of his faith tradition, against the civil laws of the most powerful government on earth, Jesus treated every person he met with kindness and respect, and insisted that we could, too.

He was a child of God in exactly the same way we all are, and he lived up to that potential far beyond what most of us do. Let us honor his birth by living closer to his example.

Merry Christmas!

GA teachable moment

While I, too, am deeply disturbed by the steady erosion of our civil liberties, I am more inclined to see the Fort Lauderdale GA (where the Convention Center will require government-sponsored ID to enter) as a teachable moment. I respect those of us who choose to protest by their absence, and I think we can do more good by engaging the issue in creative ways. The official response offers some responsible suggestions, such as placing chaplains at each point of entry. If we enact some creative theater at these checkpoints, perhaps the message will sink deeper into our members, and inspire real action in our congregations around the country (“Unless you wish to show ID to access places in your town, do something!”) If our theatrical activism is creative enough, and well-publicized enough, we could get some local or even national press coverage—and that is a venue by which we might inspire real reflection and change. [And it might attract more visitors to our churches.]

Our UUA has already offered to dedicate part of a plenary session to consciousness-raising about this, and similar issues. Such (a) session(s) could inspire and equip folks to take up the fight in their local arenas.

I am most concerned about our worship services—that by holding worship inside a restricted zone, we ourselves are ceding our rights to free assembly and free exercise of religion. Again, creative responses such as webcasting the worship service on big screens outside the security perimeter (or holding multiple street worships, or other more creative ideas) might not only recapture our free exercise, it might offer a teachable moment in the public discourse.

I’d like us to satisfy our consciences AND get condemned on Fox News. Repeatedly.

glurge

"Glurge" is the word that snopes.com uses for "chicken soup with several cups of sugar mixed in...the sending of inspirational (and supposedly 'true') tales, ones that often conceal much darker meanings than the uplifting moral lessons they purport to offer or undermine their messages by fabricating or distorting historical fact." Their glurge gallery demonstrates the quiz attributed to Charles Schulz is false, but the last email sent by late UU astronaut Laurel Clark is true, as is the tale of the life-saving hug of an infant twin.