Hope is a spiritual armor for fighting righteous battles! These are the words of the great Dr. Cornel West who I was blessed to be taught by in seminary. He shouted these words to us just days after the 2016 election results came in–and then he put on the music of Sly and the Family Stone and Funkadelic and we formed a dancing, clapping, singing circle that made me think: “WOW, this is what hope feels like!”
Personally, I plan to do a lot of dancing, singing and music-playing over the coming month, because I refuse to lose hope or be stripped of joy. I tend to turn to those who, faced with adversity, oppression and hopelessness, made a joyful noise through music. I genuinely believe every one of us needs wisdom like this like we need…air.
Remember the popular adage about the oxygen mask on a plane? Grown-ups, put your mask on first, then help your child or neighbor. I sure hope you will seize on the many outlets you have in your life and in this church that will help you get oxygen into your bodies, so that you can have the wherewithal to turn to your neighbors and be of help to them–in the variety of forms this can take. Please take the time to discover all that’s being offered at FPW to help you with this, much of it is in this very newsletter.
I honor those of you who are working the polls, standing on the frontlines, making calls, and fighting every day for justice and goodness. I honor those of you who are bravely carving out time for rest, play, music, stargazing and time with your friends and families. I honor those of you who are anxious, exhausted, grieving, suffering in some way, or caretaking people in your lives who are struggling. Let us sit shoulder to shoulder in all our human wholeness and brokenness knowing that our lives are precious, tender and uniquely our own. Let this togetherness be our hope and spiritual armor!
And in the spirit of hope, take the time to enjoy a bit of Sly and the Family Stone singing ‘Everyday People’ and this beautiful version of America the Beautiful, sung by Ray Charles.
Take care of yourselves, and one another. We are in this together my friends.
In faith and with love,
Rev. Sophia
Reverend Sophia Lyons
Rev. Sophia is committed to radical welcome and spreading the good news that is our bold Unitarian Universalist faith. Some of her areas of interest include interfaith partnerships, addictions ministry, spiritual direction, and working towards collective liberation for all. Rev. Sophia aspires to live her life and fulfill her ministry guided by spiritual seeking, big love, and the seven principles of Unitarian Universalism.