From the Minister

Dear Ones,

It’s not easy to focus on hope and peace as the stories continue to pour out from Israel and the Gaza Strip this week. As war continues in Ukraine. As conflicts continue around the world and here at home. As fear and anguish tend to turn into anger, blame and retaliation.

I am moved by Eleanor Roosevelt’s statement, written in 1946, “When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?”

This week, I joined with other clergy in the interfaith leadership council to offer prayers for Israelis and Palestinians, and seek our own faithful responses to the war. For me, that faithful response is to root myself more firmly in my source of inner peace and hope, that I may face the fear and anguish of a grieving world with an open heart.

I ask you to join me in focusing on peace – within us and in the world around us – even as we act in solidarity with those who are suffering. As Harvard President Claudine Gay says, “We can fan the flames of division and hatred that are roiling the world. Or we can try to be a force for something different and better.” In a statement issued last week, UUA President Sofia Betancourt notes, “We are one global family living tenuously on the same human-impacted Earth. Let us center ourselves in justice as we call for peace.” Her full statement is available on the UUA website.

In faith,
Pastor Susan