Today we welcome Crystal Zerfoss, a UU ministerial student, to our pulpit. Take a journey into the depths of imagination. Explore the expanse of creativity. Join us in this multi-generational experience, as we delve into creative approaches to living our Unitarian Universalist values.

Today, East Shore joins more than 600 UU congregations in learning about the water we swim in and what we can all do to dismantle systemic racism in our congregations, denomination and nation. Learn more at https://youtu.be/mIfNAEFPsy4.

White Supremacy Culture

Whites Receiving Feedback

Racism is a System

Safety Pin Box

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

Turn and look at your neighbor.  Today, we bear witness to the death of Jordan Edwards. We will offer a part of his story.. When I extend my hand to you, please respond with, We bear witness.

Today we honor in word and song the sacrifices of immigrants who fought for decent working conditions against long odds, and reflect upon their struggle as it impacts our own spiritual and social challenges today.

May 1 is a holiday in most of the world outside the United States.  It is a celebration of the struggle for workers rights. But the holiday that we don’t formally celebrate is founded upon events that occurred in the United States, and specifically in Chicago in May 1886. It’s no coincidence that the holiday is not formally celebrated in the United States. After severe labor unrest, Pres. Grover Cleveland declared Labor Day to be a holiday that would focus on the virtue of labor.  He placed it September to avoid focus on the events in May, in part to discourage protests.  That diversion of attention increased when President Eisenhower instead designated May 1 as Loyalty Day.

But the events of May Day are highly relevant to us today.  It involves a story of oppressed workers fighting for rights against enormous odds, while being demonized for their status as immigrants.  I like to summarize them briefly.  On May 1, 1886, an estimated 300,000 industrial workers around the US organized a one day strike.  They protested, and their cause was the demand for an 8-hour workday.  Chicago was the center of the movement, where 40,000 joined the one day strike.  Most were German and Bohemian immigrants.  Business owners strongly opposed the strikers.  They looked for a way to generate public opposition to the rather popular concept of an 8-hour workday. 130 years ago, they figured out that in the US, you could distract people from the substantive issues by claiming that  these immigrants didn’t belong here in the first place, and were ruining our country.  They knew that there was great prejudice towards new Europeans immigrants, and religious bias against Catholics.  They controlled the newspapers, and used them to spread fear.  For example, an article in the Chicago Post Mail described Bohemian immigrants, and I quote, as “depraved beasts, harpies, decayed physically and spiritually, mentally and morally thievish and licentious.”  Another Chicago paper agreed, saying that the city was becoming, and I quote, “the cesspool of Europe.  Let us whip these Slavic wolves back to the European dens from which they issue or in some way exterminate them.”

Protests in Chicago continued through the week.  On May 3 outside the McCormick Reaper plant where immigrant workers struck, police shot and killed several workers at the end of a rally.  This police action was very sensitive in Chicago, where a decade earlier police had gunned down hundreds of workers during a railroad strike.  On May 4, strikers gathered at Haymarket Square to protest the police shootings the previous night.  It was a peaceful protest. The Chicago mayor attended, but went home before it ended, finding the event unremarkable.  But near the end of the rally, the Chicago police ordered the crowd to disburse.  175 police started marching towards the protesters in a line.  At that point, someone, whose identity is unknown to this day, tossed a bomb into the crowd that killed a policemen and injured others.  Police returned fire, killing unknown numbers of civilians.

This terrible act of violence by one person became the opportunity to demand retribution against the strikers.  A typical newspaper headline read “Outcasts from Foreign Lands Bring Their Horrible Practices Across the Ocean.”  The next day, Marshall law was declared in Chicago.  Homes were searched without warrants.  Police initially jailed about 200 labor organizers.  They went on to arrest 8 labor leaders and charge them with murder and conspiracy.  Of 8 charged, only 2 of the 8 were even present at the rally at the when the bomb was thrown.  Days after the protest, another 6 police died of wounds suffered on the night of May 4.  The newspapers reported that they

Easter Sunday tells the archetypal story of the hero. We tend to crucify our heroes- for some very profound reasons. Today the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth has a tale to spin that reflects each of our lives, and spiritual journeys.

A word from the led

This is my 23rd Easter AM sermon…. and what does one say for the 23rd time? Unitarians Universalists do not do well with Easter – we do not believe in anyone dying for our sins- we do not believe in miracles, which includes rising from the dead- and we have no interest in Jesus coming back to life- so what do we do with Easter?

Being surrounded by the images of Easter, in a predominantly Christian culture, can either inspire reflection or resistance in us.  If we allow our humanist, atheist or agnostic resistance to Christian myths to rule the day, we might miss out on one the most universal human themes of human development- the hero’s journey to maturity and inner peace- the journey of   sacrificing personal comfort in service to something greater than Self.

Joseph Campbell defines a hero as someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. He specifically says “to” not for. That is because heroism is not about dying- it is about living. Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr., Franklin D. Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Gandhi, Malcolm X- all were heroes, not because of their dying, but because of their living. They lived by extending themselves, risking unequivocally, status, and money, life itself, in selfless conviction.  Joseph Campbell says to die without regret, “… We each have to find what best fosters the flowering of our humanity in this contemporary life and dedicate ourselves to that.”

Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed- the Gods and Goddesses of ancient myths all endured a time of questioning, of struggling with the suffering of the world, the meaning of life, from which they emerged triumphant- knowing, understanding, assured of their purpose in life.

Heroes do not necessarily set out to be heroes- They set out to confront some hurt or injustice, to be true to what it is that they believe to be right.

Jesus never intended to save the world.  He spent 40 days and nights in the desert wrestling with what he believed in- trying to decide the purpose and meaning of his life. He left the desert for Jerusalem. Inspired by his convictions- he was determined to serve something greater than self.

The story is told that Jesus intentionally traveled by the broad light of day and went directly to the temple courtyard. In front of the temple, in front of the Roman fortress, he spoke about love of God and Love of neighbor. In front of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Romans, all his enemies, he demanded that the poor be taken seriously, overturned the moneychanger’s tables, destroyed the profits and undermined the authority of the Pharisees, threatening the power and authority of both Jews and Romans.

It is sometimes hard for the world to live with such heroes. Seeing self-fulfillment conviction, courage or compassion in another can raise a sense of inadequacy- “What am I doing wi

It has been said that good manners are the first line of defense against a nuclear holocaust. What constitutes good manners? Is there one set of rules that fits everyone?

How we speak to each other is one of the fundamental examinations for interim process. How will we be together? How will we respect differences, engage conflict and enable resolutions? Before we step into our interim work, appreciating and understanding healthy communication and process will be important.