Minilogue - June 2009 - We Move

We Move

By the Rev. Bruce Johnson

I was so proud of the turnout of UUCUV members at the first “public action� of the United Valley Interfaith Project last month! Twenty-four of the 219 people gathered in the cavernous basement of Sacred Heart church in Lebanon on May 17th were from our small congregation. There was a real sense of hope and energy in the room, as public officials and decision-makers pledged to work with UVIP on our goal of getting public transportation to Alice Peck Day Hospital, the only hospital in the area without such service. The meeting was very well-organized, and even finished ahead of schedule! My own role was simply to deliver a brief reflection and benediction at the end of the meeting, and I offer it here as a reminder to myself and others of the sacred nature of the work in which we are engaged:

Lewis Beals Fisher, a minister of an earlier generation in my religious tradition, once remarked that Unitarian Universalists are often asked to say "where they stand" on a particular issue. He replied that the only true answer to give to this question is that "we do not stand at all; we move."

I think that this statement is true of all us who are gathered here today, all those who are committed to the mission and vision of the United Valley Interfaith Project; we are involved in this work because we see in this organization the promise of movement, and we realize that we are that movement. Those of us in this room, along with other present and future partners and allies, are the movers and the moved; we are powerful precisely because we have been moved -- moved by the stories and the relationships that transmit and transform the energy and the spirit of life that we share. How appropriate that we begin our public work together addressing an issue of transportation, because the energy that has been released here today is indeed a force capable of transporting us, of moving us forward, toward a community that is ever more vital and inclusive and just.

So let this be our benediction, then, as we go forth from this place out into the wider community, as we move forward together on this project:

May the sacred spirit of life move with power in us and among us and through us as we make our way in the world. May we each travel our own path with joy and integrity, recognizing that all who move about in this world desire to do so with dignity and grace. May we allow ourselves to be moved by both the beauty and the suffering of our fellow travelers on life’s journey. May we be blessed in our going out, and our coming in, and when do we meet again, may it be a time for celebration and continuation of the movement that has begun here today. Amen.