Standing on the Side of Love 2-17-2013
Opening Words from Angela Herrera
Don’t
leave
your
broken
heart
at
the
door: / Bring
it
to
the
altar
of
life.
Don’t
leave
your
anger
behind / It
has
high
standards
And
the
world
needs
vision.
Bring
them
with
you, / and
your
joy / and
your
passion
Bring
your
loving / and
your
courage
/ and
your
conviction
Bring
your
need
for
healing / and
your
powers
to
heal
There
is
work
to
do / And
all
that
we
need
to
do
it / is
here.
So
let
us
come
in / and
then
reach
beyond
the
walls
of
this
church /
Let
us
fill
this
sanctuary
with
love /and
then
harness
its
power
to
stop
oppression
Let
us
join
together
in
worship / and
together
let
us
stand
on
the
side
of
love.
Introit
Jesse Blue & Christina Bjorling
Lighting the Chalice
In the light of truth and the warmth of love,
we gather to seek, to sustain, and to share.
Reading: From Rev Martin Luther King Jr’s 1967 address to anti-war group Clergy & Laity
Concerned:
When I speak of love, I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that
force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is
somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-ChristianJewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of St. John:
“Let us love one another; for love is God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God.”
L: May I become at all times
R: both now and forever
L: a protector for those without protection
R: a guide for those who have lost their way
L: a ship for those with oceans to cross
R: a bridge for those with river to cross
L: a sanctuary for those in danger
R: a lamp for those without light
L: a place of refuge for those who lack shelter
R: and a servant to all in need.
Buddhist
prayer
of
peace
(published
on
WorldPrayers.org)
Musical Meditation
& Candle Lighting At this time we remember and hold in our hearts all those who struggle, all who are
homebound in nursing homes, ill or deep in grief. Today we remember: Carmen Linn, Bruce McDuffie,
John Rowland, and Kay McCurdy’s brother, Bob.
If you have something weighing or dancing on your heart, you are invited to come up now and light a
candle. And may the white light of its flame bring you peace.
#1011 Return Again
Orison – our prayer today is from Angela Herrera
O spirit of life, we pray, not to request your presence, but to call ourselves into it for sustaining peace,
the wisdom, the silence nearer than breath. You are the ground of being, the mover, the fire, and the
place of rest. Within us lies your strength. These are our prayers:
For
the
wounded
let
there
be
comfort.
May
the
weary
be
gathered
in
strength.
Let
the
downtrodden
be
lifted
up,
And
may
we
have
the
courage
to
make
it
so.
You
move
through
our
lives,
O
Spirit,
And
through
us
your
work
is
done.
With
clarity let
us
give
voice
to
compassion,
Without
wavering
May
we
stand
on
the
side
of
love.
Amen.
Story for All Ages
Love Math
Invite all young & young at heart to come up front for our story.
Pass out candy – what happened? Empty baskets…
If we have one candle and light more – less light? Will we run out?
Love is like that. More you give away, more you have…
Invite children – and young at heart – to take supplies and create something beautiful to
share at the end of the service. We’ve just passed Valentine’s day – a day to appreciate all the love
we have in our lives. If you’d like – create 1 or more Valentines and then find someone in the
congregation to share it with. Maybe someone you know – or maybe someone you don’t know –
share the love you have today.
Special Music
Jesse Blue & Christina Bjorling
Youtube Video – Two Who Dared: The Sharps Story
Sermon
Share the Love
Share the Love
February 17, 2013
Rev Pam Rumancik
Pam Rumancik
May I become at all times both now and forever
a protector for those without protection / a sanctuary for those in danger
a place of refuge for those who lack shelter / and a servant to all in need.
The Sharp’s story is a really an amazing one. Two ordinary people asked to do extraordinary things…
and they said yes.
I hope you’ll come join us for the movie on Friday evening. It’s a really amazing piece of history and
it’s a really amazing piece of our UU history, and it’s an amazing story of the power of love.
Two people – standing on the side of love – in 1937. Standing on the side of love in 1940. Standing on
the side of love when it was not easy or popular or safe. But standing there, working there, none-theless.
Today is Share the Love Sunday. Stories about the power of love are being told in churches all across
the country. 30 Days of Love – period beginning on MLK day and ending the Sunday after Valentine’s
Day. Today stories about regular people – like you and me – who saw an opportunity to help, who saw
an opportunity to make the love they held in their hearts visible and real in the world, and stepped up
and took that opportunity.
I’m going to share with you four stories, but first I’m going to remind you where this Standing on the
Side of Love campaign comes from – because it’s just up the road.
A little over 5 years ago a gunman named Jim Adkisson entered the Tennesee Valley UU church in
Knoxville and started shooting people. It was a morning service and the children were giving a
performance when people suddenly heard shots.
Luckily the gunman was tackled by church members within seconds but there were still two people
killed and a half dozen injured. One of the men who was killed was Greg McKendry, who had stepped
into the line of fire to prevent others from being hurt.
It was a tremendous blessing that the gunman was subdued because he’d left a note in his truck indicated
that he’d planned to keep killing people until the police arrived and killed him. Thankfully it didn’t
happen that way.
These people were acting from love – their actions saved lives and kept many others from being hurt.
Gunman’s note said that he was targeting liberals – UU’s representing people who were welcoming of
GBLT and queer folk. All that is wrong with the world.In response, church didn’t back down or act
from fear or anger. Church made a conscious decision to act from love.
This tragic event became a spring board for a national campaign called Standing on the Side of Love,
which works to harness love’s power to challenge exclusion, / oppression, / and violence based on
sexual orientation, / gender identity, / immigration status, / race, / religion, or any other identity which
‘others’ or ‘isolates.”
It began as a UU campaign but has spread across the country and we’ve been joined by people all across
the religious and political spectrum who care about creating a just and caring world.
We are just finishing up the time period called 30 days of love, a spiritual journey for social justice,
which goes from MLK day through Valentine’s Day and devotes that time to holding up heroes who
demonstrate examples of courageous love.
These following stories are of people who have been given courageous love awards by their
communities.
Stories like the one about Esther Attean and Denise Altvater. Because of their work, Maine’s Gov.
Paul LaPage and the chiefs of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Indian Nation, the Houtlon Band of
Maliseet Indians, and the Aroostook Band of Mickmacs signed an agreement to initiate a process of
truth and reconciliation with regard to the child welfare practices in their state.
In Maine native children are 20 times more likely to be removed from their home and tribal community
and placed in foster care. Maine is the first state in the country to initiate a process of truth and
reconciliation with our indigenous communities.
Esther and Denise, Passamaquoddy tribal members and founding staff of the TRC, were recently
honored with Courageous Love Awards at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speaker Breakfast in
Winthrop, Maine. Denise and Esther have worked countless hours to bring forward this historic and
unique partnership. They are changing lives and bringing the power of healing and transformation to
people throughout Maine.
Maine is the first state in the country to initiate a process of truth and reconciliation with
indigenous communities. They saw something very wrong in front of them and made a difference.
Standing on the side of love.
Or the story of Joan Nelson. As Unitarian Universalist in California, she cares deeply about the plight
of homeless and hungry people. She doesn’t shy away from people with mental illness and often eats
dinner at the local shelter in solidarity with people living on the streets.
Two years ago, an interfaith community decided to provide shelter during the rainy season. Joan led the
effort for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin to provide shelter Sunday nights from
December through March. Not content with just offering people a place to sleep on the floor, Joan
ensures that each guest is treated with dignity, sometimes receiving a massage or a musical serenade.
Joan has led the rotating shelter for the last two years. She was honored by her congregation for
welcoming the homeless, the down and out, the mentally ill and treating each of them with dignity.
Looking out into the world and finding a place to make a difference in lives around you –
Standing on the side of love.
Or in Phoenix Arizona, the story of a 12 year old little girl named Flor who is waiting at the border
of Mexico trying to find out what happened to her father. She had been living in Phoenix with her dad,
a chef at a French restaurant, her mother who worked two jobs- a seamstress and at a restaurant, and her
little brother, Antony for the past 11 years. Things were going well until her grandparents both became
very ill in Oaxaca, Mexico. Flor’s paternal grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer and her
maternal grandfather was dying. The family took a big risk—they headed to Mexico so that Flor could
meet her grandfather for the first and likely the last time. Flor did get to meet her grandfather and hold
his hand, although he never was able to open his eyes to see her.
When it was time to return to their home and jobs they found someone willing to drive them across the
border. Antony is legal, and their chances are good at making it back. The driver drops them off in the
U. S. and the family of four began their walk to Phoenix.
After one day in the desert, passing three dead bodies etched in great detail in Flor’s memory, they
rested under a tree but the border patrol seized them near Ajo, AZ.
It has been months and Flor hasn’t seen her father since that night. He was not deported with them and
they have no idea where he is. As the English speaker, Flor – 12 years old - is now in charge of
negotiating the system. She was given a phone number to call with the assurance that this number held
the key to reuniting their family. She called. No one had heard of her father.
This was a courageous love award on the website and it intrigued me. Of course Flor was courageous –
she’s trying to reunite her family. Was the person who wrote the story acting as her champion? Were
there others standing on the side of love with Flor?
Facing impossible odds and still walking with someone – Standing on the Side of Love.
And finally Fred Richter. Fred Richter has been standing on the side of love in the Statesboro
community for almost 40 years. As an English professor at Georgia Southern University, he chose to
live “out of the closet” as a “gay Christian” in a committed relationship with his partner, Bob, decades
before it was safe or socially acceptable to do so. He mentored countless GLBTQ students in and out of
crisis, and he advised the first gay student organization, originally the Triangle Club and now the GayStraight Alliance, for many years when no one else was willing or able to come forward.
Fred was instrumental in convincing the Georgia Southern administration to add sexual orientation to
the University’s non-discrimination policy, a move which led to more GLBTQ faculty and staff working
there without fear of being fired because of who they love. He wrote a regular column about gay issues
for the campus newspaper and was the first person appointed to direct the GLBTQ Office, which later
morphed into Multicultural Programs. Fred stood on the side of love when it was hard, when it was
unpopular, when it could have cost him his academic career or even his life. Because he had the courage
to do so untold numbers of people felt welcome, felt that it was ok to be themselves, that they had a
place in the world as well.
Standing on the side of love – courageously being who you are in the world – whether the world
approves or not.
These are four of many, many stories posted up on the website and we know – looking around the room
that we could tell our own stories of courageous love. Fred Wright, Nancy Anderson, Helen Solomon,
Bill and Sandy Kurtz – and so many more. Each of you could probably tell me a story that you have
participated in – a time you stepped up and stood on the side of love – over fear, over hatred, over
oppression or exclusion.
We need to start telling our stories. Not because of the recognition or the glory. No one can do truly
courageous things to look good. We do the really hard things in our lives, because we know we have to.
As Unitarian universalist we understand that we are not isolated, we are not alone, we are not
individuals making our solitary way in the world. We are part of an interconnected web – what effects
one of us affects us all. This is the deep theological truth which undergirds the choices we make.
We are not separate. We are not alone.
Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr called it “that force which all of the great religions have seen as the
supreme unifying principle of life.’”
We hold up these stories, we tell our own stories, to free and invite other people to live into this joyful
reality. Alone we are small but together we can move mountains. Alone we can be ignored or defeated,
together we can build a world of hope – a world where love is more than hearts and flowers and
Hallmark cards – where love is that unifying force behinds each and every one of us – that force which
strengthens and undergirds our work, which helps us be the people we are truly called to be in this great
and wonderful world.
Amen and blessed be~
Offering
Share the Plate – Minister’s Benevolence Fund #123 Spirit of Life
Closing Hymn
#1014 Standing on the Side of Love
Extinguishing the Chalice
We extinguish this flame,
but not the light of its truth
the warmth of this community
nor the fire of our commitment.
These we carry in our hearts
and share with all the world.
Benediction
By Laurel
S.
Sheridan
Take from life its coals, not its ashes.
Fan the flames of love and justice
Join hands and hearts in common endeavor
And there will be no limit
To what we can achieve together.
Postlude
Jesse Blue