I get stuck. I confess. Whenever racism dominates the news, as it does so frequently, it gets a response from me. I am like a Pavlovian dog, and I know it. The focus on NFL football players “taking a knee” during this last week is the latest example. A significant number of the players are people of color. And whether the players are Black or White, they “take a knee” to protest the police murders of young African American men. My reaction is solidarity with them...and it is instantaneous. I want to get down on my knee, just as my…

The politics around immigration continue to challenge us to defend the value of a pluralistic America and our dreams for the Beloved Community. This week Attorney General Jeff Sessions visited Portland to berate us as a “Sanctuary City” and to beg us to stop being “the trafficker, smuggler or gang member’s best friend.” At issue is whether our police will help enforce US immigration laws. Oregon’s position has been clear since 1987 when state law made such enforcement by local police illegal. Oregon was the first “Sanctuary State.” In March of this year, the Portland City Council affirmed that position…

This Sunday we will be installing the members of our Board of Trustees. It is an opportunity for all of us to see these congregants whom we have selected and who have said “yes” to senior leadership at First Unitarian. It will also be an opportunity for us to thank them and to bless them for their service. Their leadership was authorized by their election. That is the legal side of things. It will also be authorized by our blessing. That is the religious element. Both elements are involved in leadership of our church. We speak of Unitarian Universalism as…

Last Sunday’s “Question and Answer” service was wonderful. At least I enjoyed it…as I do each year. The unscripted, more informal quality speaks to many of us, but the questions you submit are its great strength. I responded to questions on theology, social justice, church finance, the culture of white supremacy and the erasing of racism. There was also one question about our worship at First Unitarian and why it is so similar to traditional, Christian, Protestant worship in form. Let me say a few more words about that one. In their book, Worship that Works, UU ministers Wayne Arnason…

Much of the American public is already wearying of news from Houston and the Gulf Coast. But the real story of the devastation will only be revealed as the waters recede. I find myself bracing for much more heartbreaking news. Living through this disaster and through the inevitable ups and downs of the recovery process will take many years. I remember my many trips to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I was serving as UUA President and we had raised money to support both rebuilding of our churches and to contribute to the community at large. Viewed from Boston, distributing…

The eclipse is now old news, dimmed by the daily rush of images and messages in our politics and happenings in our personal lives. Yet I remember the power of the gathering darkness and the stillness as the world seemed to enter a time-out-of-time. One person I spoke with described the experience of watching the eclipse as a life-changing event. She spoke of being awed, of feeling small and of remembering that the universe moves on despite the challenges of her own life. Religiously, humans have been reeling from the realization that we are neither the center of the universe…

History, so the saying goes, is written by the victors. People of color in this country know that the North won the Civil War on the battlefield, but we also know that white nationalism won the peace. From the failure to distribute land to the formerly enslaved people as promised (“40 acres and a mule”), to the imposition of poll taxes and literacy tests to prevent real citizenship, to the state-sponsored terrorism of the KKK, to the “Southern Strategy,” white nationalism won. President Trump tweeted this morning: “Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped…

Aretha Franklin got it so right. “All I want is a little respect.” And then, just in case we didn’t get the point, she sang out that yearning and that demand over and over…”give it to me, give it to me, give it to me…a little respect, just a little bit.” Amen. I was called to Boston, last spring, to help provide leadership through a crisis prompted by charges of racism within our faith community. Could it be that this progressive religious community operates out of and as part of a culture of white supremacy?  Some of us, including most…

I am glad to be back in Portland and glad to be turning my attention to the coming church year at First Unitarian. My brief return to the UUA as one of the three Interim Co-Presidents was very challenging and much appreciated. That service ended in New Orleans on June 25 with the election of Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray as the UUA’s next President. My co-President colleagues and I managed, in 11 weeks, to settle the denominational system, set some new expectations and point to some new directions. I look forward to sharing reflections about my service and about our denomination…

I am glad to be back in Portland and glad to be turning my attention to the coming church year at First Unitarian. My brief return to the UUA as one of the three Interim Co-Presidents was very challenging and much appreciated. That service ended in New Orleans on June 25 with the election of Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray as the UUA’s next President. My co-President colleagues and I managed, in 11 weeks, to settle the denominational system, set some new expectations and point to some new directions. I look forward to sharing reflections about my service and about our denomination…