In the midst of the holiday season, we receive constant reminders of the world’s need for more love, more compassion and more justice.  Yet, even as we hear this call, we are surrounded by so many places where fear opens the door to injustice and hate. As Unitarian Universalists we are called to respond from our highest values and principles. Some days that feels like an overwhelming responsibility. Some days we might prefer to pull the covers up over our heads and go back to sleep.  Perhaps your hope, which is an overarching theme of the December holidays, seems to be slipping away.

If so, I offer you these words from Unitarian Universalist minister and Soul Matters participant, Reverend Christina Shu,  “Advent is a time of anticipation and waiting… [but it] is not the silencing and oppressive, ‘Wait,’ told to the activist, but rather the internal preparation of holding stillness and building strength before action. If we need to wait, let it be the waiting of a farmer who knows that deep below the earth, her seeds are sprouting their roots. Let it be the waiting of a musician, who knows to count to just the right moment to strike the bell. Let it be the waiting of self-care, knowing that one’s body and spirit needs times of activity, and times of rest, in order to be effective.”

While we are waiting, we can still consider our responsibility to nurture hope in the young people in our lives. Celebrating the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s Guest at Your Table tradition is one way to do that. The little box on the table is a tangible way to nurture lasting connections to UU principles, build awareness about social justice and human rights, and strengthen the work of our UUSC.

At the end of the Holiday Season, we will have an ingathering ceremony to collect the money from the boxes to send to our Unitarian Universalist Service Committee for its valuable work to defend human rights around the world.

If you have not had a chance to get a box, they are available at the church, along with instructions for participating in the program.

Wishing each of you joy and restoration this holiday season.

In Love and Hope,
Rev. Alice