Greetings, Chalice!

I knew January was going to be a tough month, but it turned out to be tougher than I expected. The devastating fires in Los Angeles filled me with shock and sadness and not a little bit of anxiety. Week upon week of Santa Ana winds just didn’t let up, fueling the flames as we, along with the rest of the country, watched in horror. And then we had our own local fires here in San Diego. Thankfully they were not as large or destructive as the fires in LA, but I know they affected some of you directly. I’m thankful for all our first responders and firefighters. As I write this letter, the winds are dying down and there is rain – blessed rain – in the forecast.

Then there was the tough part of January that I was expecting, the beginning of our new administration. It turned out to be as bad as I feared with pardons for people involved in the January 6 attack, crackdowns on migration and asylum seekers, and the rollback of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility initiatives, to name just a few. It hurts.

And … it helps to face this together. It also helps to do something.  On Jan 19 as part of our Martin Luther King Day service, Wendy Metzger encouraged Chalice to step up our social justice game, and shared these three websites as a way to get started and inspired:

• https://thekingcenter.org/ The King Center provides online and virtual nonviolence  training and education for individuals and organizations (for a fee). Each January they hold a Beloved Community Global Summit and the 2025 Summit is now available to watch on their website free of charge.
• https://interfaithalliance.org/ Interfaith Alliance forges powerful alliances among people of diverse faiths and beliefs to build a resilient, inclusive democracy and fulfill America’s promise of religious freedom and civil rights not just for some, but for all.
• https://uusj.net/wp1/ Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice has a mission to “Advance equitable national policies and actions aligned with UU values through engagement, education, and advocacy.” This website offers many ways to take action.

What heartens me about these and other websites is the knowledge that we are not alone in our pain and we are not alone in our desire to resist. I found this article helpful in combating the despair of the moment: https://americansofconscience.com/how-to-resist-without-losing-your-peace/. The idea is to use positive affirmations to shift your mental and emotional baseline for the better. As someone who tends toward cynicism, this was useful for me.

One of the hymns that we sang during our Martin Luther King Day service was “Woyaya”. This is one of Susan Llewellan’s and Paul Courtight’s favorite hymns as they knew it from their time spent in Africa. This song is about the resilience of African people. As we sing it we can remember and call forth our own resilience. If you want a bit of joy, watch this video of “Woyaya” sung by Ghanian singer, Wiyaala. It will make you smile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwckMpR9V-Q

Blessings to each of you,

Lara Brown

President, Board of Trustees