Chalice UU Congregation publishes a monthly newsletter. This is an article written by our Board President, Kathy Zapata for the February 2017 newsletter.
“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
― E.B. White
“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
― Frederick Douglass
I have been thinking about these two quotes since sharing them with the Board at our January meeting, this in light of the growing enthusiasm for activism in our community. Over 60 Chalice congregants and friends joined us at the Women’s Marches in downtown San Diego and in San Marcos on January 21. This appears to have been the best-attended exercise in activism in Chalice’s history. We welcome visitors every Sunday who express concern about the direction of the country under the new Administration and want to be part of a liberal religious community that will support them in doing something constructive and participatory. The Board will hear from the Social Justice Team at our February meeting about new procedures its members are developing to create a structure for sustainability and increased ownership by the whole congregation. The Strategic Planning Committee continued its ongoing long-range planning with a Visioning Workshop on January 28 – will activism be part of Chalice’s future plans?
Our church community often feels like a warm blanket, close and familiar and comfortable. But don’t our UU principles call us to action outside our walls as well? And if so, in what form? What Rev. Sharon refers to as the discernment process is ongoing, and your thoughts are valuable and welcome. Bring them to the table and let’s get moving!
Kathy Zapata,
President of the Board of Trustees