The Force of Possibility

Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button above.

Rev. Michelle LaGrave
and Casandra Ryan, VP of the UU Service Committee
May 19, 2024
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org

From fighting for climate justice in the South Pacific, to assisting refugees in Ukraine, supporting migrants in Central America, and helping rebuild civil society in Haiti, please join us to learn about UUSC’s work around the world and how UU’s are partnering to promote peace, justice, and global solidarity.

Chalice Lighting

This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.

Call to Worship

Our first task in approaching another people,
another culture,
another religion,
is to take off our shoes,
for the place we are approaching is holy,
Else we find ourselves treading on others’ dreams.

– Max Warren, adapted

Affirming Our Mission

Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.

Reading

SUMMONS
by Aurora Levins Morales

Last night I dreamed
ten thousand grandmothers
from the twelve hundred corners of the earth
walked out into the gap
one breath deep
between the bullet and the flesh
between the bomb and the family.
They told me we cannot wait for governments.
There are no peacekeepers boarding planes.
There are no leaders who dare to say
every life is precious,
so it will have to be us.
They said we will cup our hands around each heart.
We will sing the earth’s song,
the song of water,
a song so beautiful that vengeance will turn to weeping,
the mourners will embrace,
and grief replace every impulse toward harm.
Ten thousand is not enough, they said,
so, we have sent this dream, like a flock of doves
into the sleep of the world. Wake up. Put on your shoes.
You who are reading this, I am bringing bandages
and a bag of scented guavas from my trees. I think
I remember the tune. Meet me at the corner.
Let’s go.

Centering and Meditation

This is a prayer for all the travelers.
For the ones who start out in beauty, who fall from grace,
who step gingerly,
looking for the way back.
And for those who are born into the margins,
who travel from one liminal space to another,
crossing boundaries in search of center.

This is a prayer for the ones whose births
are a passing from darkness to darkness,
who all their lives are drawn toward the light,
and for those whose journeys
are a winding road that begins and ends in the same place,
though only when the journey is completed
do they finally know where they are.

For all the travelers, young and old, aching and joyful,
weary and full of life;
the ones who are here, and the ones who are not here;
the ones who are like you (and they’re all like you)
and the ones who are different (for in some ways, we each travel alone).

This is a prayer for traveling mercies,
And surefootedness,
for bread for your body and spirit,
for water,
for your safe arrival
and for everyone you see along the way.

– Angela Herrera

Sermon

THE FORCE OF POSSIBILITY
Casandra Ryan, VP of the UU Service Committee

Hello Friends! It is a joy to be with you on this beautiful day.

Thank you for welcoming me, and thank you to Mary and David Overton, for inviting me to be with you today, and to also be a part of last night’s celebration of legacy giving.

I know that many of us are working in different ways to promote justice in the world and at home – you are working to help your local community and protecting our nation’s democracy-thank you! And I know that there is so much strife and devastation around us, in Ukraine, Palestine and Israel, Central America, and in the U.S. So many important causes that demand our attention.

It’s why I am especially grateful to be with you, to share a bit about some good that is happening.

***

In her 2019 message of support to the youth climate strikers, author, Rebecca Solnit shared some important guidance … she opens her letter with this,

I want to say to all the climate strikers today: thank you… for being un- reasonable.
Your actions matter, and your power will be felt.
Today you are the force of possibility.

***

At the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, we are blessed to be in relationship with partners who imagine what is possible. It is this fundamental principle that I believe is needed, for the sake of a world that reflects our commitment to peace, and justice.

I am grateful for the opportunity to share stories of UUSC’s history, and the work we are doing, with our members and our grassroots partners around the globe, and with you.

***

UUSC has always depended on the support and vision of the UU community. And the values of UUSC are at the center of our congregations.

More than a hundred years ago, Lewis Fisher, dean of the Ryder Divinity School in Chicago, famously said, “Universalists are often asked to tell where they stand. The only true answer to give to this question is that we do not stand at all… we move.”

I have the honor to travel around the country visiting UU congregations, and each UU community is so unique. The elements of the service, the configuration of the space, the ambiance; all very different from each other.

However, there is one thing that solidly connects us. At every single gathering, there is a chalice, lit to begin our time of reflection.

It is the chalice itself, the very thing that binds UUs together, that calls us to the work of resisting oppressive systems, such as racism, sexism, and fascism, promoting human rights for all people, and caring for the earth we share.

***

Our chalice was not always the symbol of the Unitarian and Universalist faiths. In 1940, Reverend Charles Rhind Joy was sent by the newly created Unitarian Service Committee, to Lisbon, to aid refugees fleeing the Nazi regime. Dr. Joy worked with Hans Deutsch, an Austrian refugee and artist, to create documents with an official seal to match other travel papers. That seal was the flaming chalice.

It was at this same time when Waitstill and Martha Sharp, were also sent to Europe by the Service Committee-and from these efforts, UUSC was born. If you are interested in learning more about our founding and the Sharps, the terrific Ken Burns documentary, Defying the Nazis, will be shown in this congregation on Wednesday at 6 PM!

***

So, the thing that binds Unitarian Universalists together –the chalice– was founded on our commitment to human rights. Since the founding of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, we have been committed to supporting the work of liberation, even when, and maybe especially when, it involves making trouble for the powers that would deny anyone’s full humanity.

***

UUSC now works with more 30,000 members and over 50 grassroots partners in 20 countries. We galvanize our members to advance Climate Justice, Emergency Response, and the rights of displaced people.

The key to our success is our very dedicated membership and working in close partnership with locally led groups. We invest in these grassroots groups to help them implement their own plans for relief. UUSC engages in the work of human rights through what we call “radical trust.”

Our mission affirms the inherent dignity of all people. We are often the first funder of these partner groups, helping them launch movements for justice and to grow into mighty forces for good.

UUSC partners consistently and stubbornly claim their power and reject the notion that there is little we can do. We are committed to standing with them and helping them achieve their goals-our shared goals.

***

How can we use the power of possibility to imagine action that can lead to different and better futures?

UUSC’s grassroots partners see a better future. Getting to know their work offers us a chance to see new possibilities. Through them, we reach beyond ourselves, to marshal our efforts and resources, to create a new world.

Let’s learn a bit more about the important ways we are all advancing justice:

With our migrant justice work, for example, UUSC focuses on three aspects of the crisis people are experiencing. First on supporting grassroots organizations working so people can remain safely at home, in Honduras and Nicaragua and Guatemala. And providing safety to people migrating along the trails through Mexico, and finally, access to asylum here in the United States.

One of the ways we are supporting access to asylum is in partnership with UU congregations, and other progressive faith communities, to provide support to the congregations as they sponsor and accompany asylum seekers. We are also doing similar work to support trans folks in the United States through the Pink Haven Network, helping them to relocate and resettle in safety and community.

Recently, in another area of work, 27 Pacific Islands Students worked with UUSC to form a group fighting Climate Change. They took their vision from a theoretical law school project to the floor of the United Nations General Assembly, where it was adopted by unanimous consent. UUSC was their first funder and, we were able to connect them with even larger funders, so that they could become a force for indigenous communities across the globe.

In Haiti, we have launched an emergency response fund to support our partners and people facing extreme violence and immediate threats to their lives. We do this by building upon the deep relationships we have established in the country over the last decade. This work at its core is all about relationships.

UUSC partners cannot deny the devastating systems of oppression that order so much of our world. Yet with courage and imagination, they resist.

In this work, we see possibility and courage, in our partners and with UUs across the country. And I love the way that our being a small organization makes BIG, important things possible.

***

A few weeks ago, I returned from a trip to Poland where we visited with partners who are supporting refugees from Ukraine.

One after the other, I found each of our partners, as I always do, to be immensely inspiring and dedicated to their cause.

One group, Toward Dialogue is working with Romani people in Eastern Europe, including Roma refugees from Ukraine, a largely ignored population. The Alliance for Black Justice Poland is a team that fights against the racism that is rampant in Eastern Europe and, among many NGO’s.

We are working with groups to support refugees and combat human trafficking. Martynka is the only group in Poland that exists specifically to protect refugee women from gender-based violence. And sadly, the need is great.

I am humbled by the brilliance and compassion of our partners. And they are so grateful to us and to you, and those who support UUSC. Margo from Toward Dialogue, told us that UUSC is different. We listen, our support is flexible, unrestricted, and long-term.

And I hear this again and again. From UUSC partners all over the world. They tell us that UUSC works differently. Ours is a better model, one that works. All of us together, we are creating possibilities. We are lighting sparks of hope that burst into fire of commitment and justice.

***

In rejecting the notion that there is no other way, and little we can do, aid workers in Poland, the Pacific Students, grassroots groups in Burma, feminist farmers in Nicaragua, water defenders in Honduras, democracy activists in Haiti, are recreating a world where all may flourish and thrive.

It is not always easy to see what is possible.

BUT, what our partners have shared with us, provides me with the hope that we can, and we, in fact, do effect change. Here are just a few more examples from what I have heard from them: Like,

Ana Lorena from Mexico City. She is working to reunite lost and displaced people, along the multiple migrant trails that runs through Mexico to the United States, who said that, together, “We are putting Justice on the Move.”
And Joseph from the South Pacific, who works with indigenous groups fighting to save their countries and cultures from the ravages of climate change, he boldly declares that “We are not drowning, we are fighting.”
Jasmin and Marissa, of LEGIS in Macedonia are supporting refugees from North Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. They shared that where larger aid agencies swoop in and absorb available resources and staff, their relationship with UUSC has transformed the organization, making it stronger so they can aid more refugees and save more lives.
Kasia from Poland, she works at the Association for Women’s Rights. Kasia said that she remains hopeful because she knows that where there is injustice, good people will organize.
And Juan Antonio, from Honduras – he is one of my favorites. Juan Antonio is a quiet, sweet man, defending human rights defenders from corrupt corporate and government officials who are stealing land and resources, and committing crimes with absolute impunity, exasperating the migration crisis. His life is constantly under threat. He has been wrongfully detained multiple times, and his friends and coworkers have been murdered. Yet he insists that “Hope is the act of defiance I commit each day.”

As a staff member of UUSC, it is one of my great privileges to travel to meet these partners and learn about their life-saving work. It is also my privilege to visit congregations, to thank folks in person for their social justice efforts.

I know this congregation is doing so much good both locally and globally. I am grateful to you for standing with UUSC. Though, I am hoping that more of you will join our ranks. A member of this congregation has offered to match donations of new or renewed supporters, up to $2,000!

A gift of any size will make you a member-and all gifts make a difference. To those of you who are supporting UUSC, I thank you.

Whether you are a current member or not, I want you all to be confident that this organization is doing great things in the name of Unitarian Universalism, and that you are a part of that.

The struggle for justice is real. But if you are ever tempted by despair, please remember UUSC and our partners. And know that we can all resist injustice, by joining together.

Together, we are a force of possibility. Thank you.

Extinguishing the Chalice

We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.

Benediction

We have a calling in this world:

We are called to honor diversity,
to respect differences with dignity,
and to challange those who would forbit it.

We are people of a wide path.

Let us abide in affection
and go our way in peace.

– Jean M Rowe

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