Dear Friend, When I first came across these words from Rev. Egbert Ethelred Brown nearly 10 years ago, I knew they would be a part of me for the rest of my life. His prayer, then and now, resonated with the heartbreak I felt watching our world spiral further into destruction and unholy violence. How could a heart not break, a faith not tremble, a spirit not droop, and soul not despair in these troubling and puzzling times? Of course, the grief and disappointment is not all Rev. Brown managed to capture. His prayer - a portion of which I wear on my "sleeve" every day as a tattoo on my arm below a broken-open heart on fire - calls upon the deepest yearnings and convictions of my faith as a Unitarian Universalist and as a Muslim. In these troubling and puzzling times, we are here to learn how and bring about love. In these moments when hope fades, we are here to plant new seeds of possibility and creation. In these moments when our faith is shaken, we are here to reach out to one another and remember that we are never alone in our struggles, personal or prophetic. "Teach us therefore to love." This year especially, I have had to learn new meanings of and ways to love. Whether it has been in creating virtual communities for online actions, praying and marching six-feet-apart for the release of incarcerated community members at risk of COVID-19 complications and/or deportation, or gently reminding myself that these are spiritually-demanding & traumatic times and it's okay to stay in bed a little longer - there has been so much learning to love in new ways that I know you too have experienced. And, no doubt, there will be more learning and loving to come.
Friend, I cannot tell you what lessons we will learn tomorrow, or all the kinds of love we will find ourselves manifesting in 2021. But what I can tell you is that your UU Justice Ministry of California will be there, connecting justice makers and communities, collaborating with our partners, and building towards a vision of collective liberation shaped by the values of our faith. And your financial gift as 2020 comes to a close is absolutely essential to that work of learning and loving. With your donation, UUJMCA can expand and adapt our regional justice trainings for online engagement in 2021, so that UU justice makers and congregations are even better-equipped to engage the work of justice in California. With your donation, UUJMCA can offer young adult leadership development opportunities like the SALT Fellowship at no cost to participants. With your donation, UUJMCA can mobilize UUs around the state to be a loud-and-proud progressive faith voice that advocates to #FreeThemAll, #DefundThePolice, and create a #FossilFreeCA. With your donation, UUJMCA can be a teacher and creator of love in California. As we wrap up 2020, I hope you'll help us meet our goal of raising $20,000 by December 31st. Whatever you can give, know that it will be gratefully used to manifest justice and love in our state and world. In Faith, Love, & Justice, Rev. Ranwa Hammamy
Executive Director, UUJMCA |
