“The Questing Community”
As we gather again we begin to turn our thoughts to cooler weather and hopefully more moderate tempers. This has been an angry summer of political and community discontent.
Regardless of your party affiliation our government has failed us. There is gridlock in Washington, we can’t reform Medicare and Medicaid or come together in any meaningful way to help those most in need. Our social safety net is under assault, the planet is at growing risk of global climate change and now the potential for conflict on the Korean peninsula grows. Corporations are flush with cash yet wages are static and people are working more for less.
For all these reasons and more I am glad to return to UUFP, my community of faith. Here we feel a measure of safety and comfort, where we respect and trust each other.
Our politicians have lost all perspective on the damage they do to the body politic. It is left to us and the other communities of faith to lead the way out of the wilderness and back to a more civilized society.
That is why this community is important. It is offers a safe-haven for the well-meaning, the disaffected, the free thinker; the people who dare to think and work for a better society…in the hopes of rising over and against the nastiness and destructiveness of our out of control politicians and corporate moguls.
That is why we come together after a long hot summer, hopefully refreshed, our batteries recharged…to renew our efforts, our social justice compact to fight for the dream for a better tomorrow, a better society, a better UUFP, our better selves.
I read the following and saw the play and it always has a visceral effect and a renewed sense of hope. I hope these words speak to you also of hope and possibility.
The Impossible Dream (The Quest)*
To dream … the impossible dream … This is my quest, to follow that star …
To fight … the unbeatable foe … No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ..
To bear … with unbearable sorrow … To fight for the right, without question or pause
To run … where the brave dare not go… To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause
To right … the unrightable wrong … And I know if I’ll only be true, to this glorious quest
To love … pure and chaste from afar … That my heart will lie peaceful and calm, when I’m
To try … when your arms are too weary laid to my rest …
To reach … the unreachable star …
And the world will be better for this, That one man, scorned and covered with scars, Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach … the unreachable star!
Welcome back to this blessed community of faith and hope.
We begin again in LOVE
-Rev. Paul
*from Man of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes