Love at the Center
The theme this month for our congregation — and for many across the country — is Love. Although it coincides with Valentine’s Day and our young kids are taking a deep dive into our sexual education curriculum OWL (see Sandy’s post), we’re not just talking about romantic love. Love is at the heart of everything. At our best, our choices are made in love; at our worst we’ve forgotten how truly we are lovable, loving, and loved.
The seven principles of Unitarian Universalism are each a different expression of love. However, you might be shocked to realize that the word “love” doesn’t appear even once in our current principles! It’s time to make our commitment explicit. Our delegates to the UU Association’s General Assembly will have such an opportunity when they vote on the new Purposes and Covenant section of our by-laws this June. The updated version names love as our central value, surrounded by our other shared values: equity, justice, transformation, pluralism, interdependence, and generosity.
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Love calls us to institutional transformation at all levels these days. It’s exciting to be a part of an association of congregations — or more generally, what Paula Cole Jones calls a “community of communities” — embracing change while holding love at the center. While the UUA transforms our by-laws, UUFM is discerning what new structures we need and considering whether to move into called, rather than contract, ministry. The Call Process Task Force will lead a Sunday Service on this topic on February 19th. I will take the Sunday off so that you can ask all the questions you need without concern for how they’ll land with me. Though the Call Process impacts my relationship with the Fellowship, it is ultimately the members’ process, not mine. It’s your responsibility to identify what kind of ministry you want and what kind of professional support the Fellowship needs to move toward our mission.
As a congregationalist faith, we have long been committed to autonomous covenantal collective transformation. In other words, we make decisions as a congregation — rather than being told what to do by a denomination — rooted in our loving promises to each other to uphold our values. And our values have always included personal and shared growth and change.
Not all institutions are blessed with such firm commitments. The US justice system, for example, was set up to maintain the structures of power run by wealthy white men, reigning in disruptive behavior while not necessarily looking out for community well-being. At many times and places, justice has been bypassed as people with social power manipulate the structure to terrorize people who have threatened social hierarchies. But good, loving people also work in our justice system, using it to minimize harm and create space for healing. At the February 5th Sunday Service, we’ll be starting our month of love with reflections on love and justice. Focusing on decriminalization, we’ll hear from our own Chris Bailey, advocate and counselor within the Manhattan justice system. His reflection will be complemented by the words and prayers of UU leaders from around the country, shared with us via Side with Love, the justice advocacy arm of the UUA.
The first of our seven principles names “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” In the new by-laws, “We declare that every person has the right to flourish with inherent dignity and worthiness.” Every person, no matter what they’ve done, no matter where they came from. This includes ourselves. The habits of punishment and oppression rife within our institutions are also causing harm in our own bodies and minds, so healing can begin very close to home. Decriminalization is as much a transformation of our understanding of ourselves as sacred and interlinked as it is a call for change in our legal and penal systems, policing, and law enforcement. As we come to understand ourselves as worthy of care, justice, and accountable institutions, and build inclusive communities around these values, we heal and become stronger advocates for others.
Self-love and justice are two ends of a spectrum of spiritual practice. This month we’ll make note of the multiplicity of expressions of love: advocating for love at the statehouse with Kansas Interfaith Action Feb 6, doing the spiritual practices from our Soul Matters packets and then reflecting on them in our Chalice Circles, considering membership at our Who Are UU class Feb. 12th, healing from white body supremacy with the Racial Justice Team Feb. 21, and more. Feel free to take a breath right now to feel love: love for your body and mind, love for your family and friends, love and gratitude for the many people and ecosystems supporting you, love and care for those who are suffering. And take another breath.
This is life well-lived, in love.
Pastor Isa
Contact Rev. Dr. Isabel Call at pastor@uufm.net. You can schedule a meeting with her or call or text her at 785 748-2533.