Reparations

The fall is a favorite season of mine. I enjoy the changes fall brings: cooler weather, the turning of leaves, and the food of the season. This month will also bring the opportunity to practice living our values and principles, to learn about ballot initiatives and engage deeply in important questions about who we want to be and what direction we want our country to move in as we approach the November election. Our monthly worship theme of Reparations is timely. This topic is both straight forward and complex. This topic brings up all kinds of emotions and there's a lot to learn together. For me, one of the biggest values tied to the theme of Reparations is truth-telling- recognizing the fuller story of our country's history and how it continues to play out in our lives today. This theme asks us important questions that affect our future. I recommend this article for you to read: Floyd’s America — Introduction: The Post-Slavery State, Homicide, and the New Case for Reparations.​

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With this worship theme, our congregation will be joining the multitude of conversations happening on the subject of Reparations - because we are a congregation that's relevant, that's current, that wants to learn and grow together. You can also find a chapter on Reparations in the UUA's Commission on Institutional Change's (COIC's) report Widening the Circle of Concern. This month will also see us having more variety in our worship services. On October 4, we'll be joining other UU congregations experiencing the worship service put together by our national UU the Vote team. Regardless of how you may feel about the upcoming election, our voices and action make a difference and there's still a lot of work for usto do. October 11 sees us recognizing and celebrating Indigenous People's Day. On October 18, the San Diego UU Cluster will have a shared worship service. We?re excited about this service and hope for other shared opportunities in the future. The month closes with our Earth Centered Spirituality Circle leading worship on October 25. We're in for a rich, meaningful, and important conversations and worship experiences this month. I hope you'll join in, however you can, as we open our hearts and minds and with curiosity and humility learn and grow together.