Blue Boat of Youth and Young Adult MinistriesReconnecting and Hope(lessness)
Commit2Respond: Week 3 I heard Rev. Dr. Miguel de la Torre, the liberation theologist and immigration rights activist, speak a few days ago. He started by saying, “I’m hoping to chat about how hopeless our work is.” I sat up straight, paying attention. I confess that these days I often pray for the doubters, for those of us who find it hard to believe that the arc of the universe bends toward justice, who wonder why we do what we do if the outcomes of our work are so often incomplete, when tragedies of epic and intimate scale surround. We may want to Commit2Respond to environmental injustice, but as we enter week 3 of Climate…
The Only Way Out is Through
Our Self-Wrought Epic Disaster “Would you stop yelling about how we’re all screwed?” my supervisor politely asked. Oh. Right. Not exactly the type of thing to yell when you work in an open office like I do at the Unitarian Universalist Association. Especially when perhaps you are using slightly less polite language than “screwed.” We were talking about climate change, of course in light of the new UU-led coalition effort Commit2Respond. And we are screwed. However you express it, we humans are really in trouble. Other life forms on this planet are really in trouble. And as I feel the first flutters of movement from the tiny human-in-progress I’m harboring in my uterus, I wonder…
A Poem From the Earth
If the Earth Could Speak of Her Gratitude for Us Who Belong to the Interdependent Covenant In a world of my innumerable heartbreaks, there you are. At a time when humans worship net worth not self worth, there you are. When busy feet trample my tiny, unnoticed joys and sirens muffle my songbirds, …there you are. A bird of paradise with a deep, sweet well that draws winged beings near. A blade of grass whose stubborn thrust widens concrete cracks. A sunflower, ever facing our first god. Absorbing, transforming light into life. A vine of ivy, slowly swallowing what man made. A dandelion, wings spread on chaos’ breath. Your nectar is encouragement. Your roots are my…
Commit 2 Respond With Young Adult Aly Tharp
And Thousands of Others of Every Age This Unitarian Universalist Young Adult has a message for everyone: Climate Change is real and there is plenty we can do about it – especially right now by joining the Unitarian Universalist Association initiative Commit 2 Respond. First, Listen to Aly – Then read what she has to say… My full name is Alyssa Marie Tharp. To my knowledge I am not related to the great marine scientist, Marie Tharp, one of two people who made the first map of the ocean floors and discovered the great underwater mountain rifts — perhaps the greatest remaining mystery of the natural wonders on Earth….
Youth Energy Solution
Brighten UU Youth Group Leads on Environmental Justice The Youth Group at Community Unitarian Universalists in Brighton (CUUB), Michigan has spearheaded an initiative encouraging energy utilities to adopt more energy efficient and renewable sources of energy. Learn about their work, strategy and how you can act for environmental justice at Youth Energy Solution. Learn more about Unitarian Universalist Association (UU) Youth Groups.
Beat ALEC at its Own Game
A Call to Action From the President’s Pen President Peter Morales writes in response to ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) raising funds to counter pressure brought by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) against this organization that works to undermine social, economic and environmental justice. – Ed. Friends, Last Friday, October 17, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) sent out an email asking their supporters for funds to fight the “smear campaign” waged against them by the Unitarian Universalist Church. ALEC claims that we UUs wish to “silence competing ideas and speech” because we have shone a light on their secretive activities to undercut voter registration, pass anti-immigrant legislation, harm the environment, and block…
Now Commit to Respond
The Climate Changed for the Better Last Sunday More than 400,000 people marched in New York City last Sunday, sending a message to world leaders in town for the United Nations Climate Summit that the time to act for Environmental Justice is now. Considerably more than 1,500 Unitarian Universalists (UU) were in the crowd, including many who arrived on the “Climate Justice train” from the west coast. The Unitarian Universalist Assocation acts for Environmental Justice as part of its mission to establish comprehensive social justice Progress was made but this issue of global of importance requires sustained mobilization. The UUA has launched Commit2Respond to help change the climate for better – and for good. Related…
UUCEF Joins Call for Investor Action
The Unitarian Universalist Common Endowment Fund (UUCEF) has joined other institutional investors in calling for Carbon Pricing and a comprehensive agreement to deal with the effects of climate change on people and the environment. Read the statement on uucef.org
Stop! Before Buying a Shiny New Gadget: Read This
Consumer – Or Principled Consumer, Who Do You Want to Be? With the shiny new iPhone 6 just around the corner and that fancy Apple Watch that Jimmy Kimmel was able to convince passersby was the same as a $20 Casio watch – remember, smartphones aren’t just shiny they’re deadly. Your smartphone is one of the most dangerous things on the planet. No, not because it might explode at your ear if you use it while charging, nor because you can pop a piece of popcorn if you point enough phones at it and make them ring simultaneously. Those stories are just new urban myths. Your smartphone is one of the most dangerous things on…
Change the Climate for the Better
And Change it for Good Although the effect of human activity on the climate is accepted (by most people), governments have thus far failed to address the problem collectively on a global scale with effective solutions that undo the damage done to the environment or the consequential injustices it has creates across the world. Arresting climate change can only be successfully addressed by the world community, and the United Nations (UN) has for several years tried to create that consensus. This September the UN will try again, hosting the Catalyzing Action Climate Summit 2014, at its headquarters in New York City. Representatives from hundreds of member states will be present, but this summit will be…
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