On Saturday April, 4th, dozens of members of the Fellowship came out to stand up for our core values or Interdependence, Pluralism, Justice, Transformation, Generosity, and Equity. Rev. Sasha and our DRE, Nick shared encouragement and peace with the crowd. Despite the rain, it was truly an inspirational day. Thank you to the organizers, the Mayor and municipal staff of Morristown, and the thousands in attendance. Let us continue to fight for a better world.
Here are Rev. Sasha’s and Nick’s remarks:
SASHA: Hello neighbors. Take a good look around you. We’re gathered not just as individuals but as a living, breathing testament to the power of community. Look in one another’s faces. What do you see? I see determination. I see hope. I see love — love for our community and our country, the kind of love that calls us out into the streets to say “Hands off!” to those who mean to undermine our democracy. Do you feel the energy buzzing here? I feel it! There is a strength among us, brought into being through our passion. It flows from us and binds us together in one strong body. And it links us to those around the country joining with us right now in so many different places, but one movement.
NICK: It is so good to be here today with you. I am so encouraged by the young people here today. My friends, take a look around and see their hope, their desperation, their wonder, their confusion, their energy.
Little ones, I want to speak to you. It is up to us older generations to guide you, to encourage you, to learn from you, and to love you. For the Buddha reminds us to “care about our children. Every child is the little Buddha who helps their parents to grow up.” As this administration targets your education, your families, and who you are as people, because they want to instill fear and indoctrinate you with hate. It is up to you children to lead us. To say no to fear and yes to hope, no to selfishness and yes to community, no to hate and yes to love.
SASHA: Let’s take a moment now to breathe in — breathe in the courage, the passion, and the resolve we all carry with us today. As we breathe in, we say “no” to all that undermines our democracy. As we breathe out, we say “yes” to our highest values. As a Unitarian Universalist minister, I frequently talk to my people about our highest values. For UUs, as we’re called, those values are justice, equity, transformation, pluralism, interdependence, and generosity. But I know these aren’t just Unitarian Universalist values. These are community values, ones I know so many of you here today cherish and are ready to fight for. These values call us, together, to defend the vision of a democracy with peace, liberty, and justice for ALL.
NICK: We must stand together — young and old — to fight for our nation’s highest ideals. As a UU Religious Educator, I often work with people from different walks of life, but unified in the goal of making the world a better place. Unifying for shared goals requires us to celebrate our differences, even if they sometimes make us uneasy or confused. The people who sit in power in DC and on Wallstreet and in Silicon Valley want to use our differences to separate us — to divide and conquer us. But our differences can instead weave us together, stronger than before. As Maya Angelou said, “Diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and all threads are equal in value.” So we must embrace and fight for this beautiful tapestry!
SASHA: Now, I invite you to take a moment and listen — just listen. Hear the breaths of those around you, this community that has shown up together to say “yes” to the power of the people. Hear the powerful “yes” in this crowd. “Yes,” we, together, are the force that pushes back against fear and oppression and ushers in the loving and just world that is our right. Breathe together, sharing in that “yes.”
NICK: Let us now continue to breathe. Take a moment to close your eyes or gently lower your gaze. As you breathe in the picture those diverse threads that come together to make this beautiful tapestry. The larger it is, the more powerful we will become, and the harder it will be for them to destroy it.
[SILENCE]SASHA: And let the people say, “Amen.” Amen!
