Sasha Torres

I was raised (in northern New Jersey, not far from Summit) by a fervent atheist, but I’ve  always believed in god. I’ve been searching for a faith community all my life. In high  school and college, I attended Quaker meetings. Later I learned about meditation and  Buddhism. Heaven knows I love sitting in silence, but I was longing for some voices  outside my own head. As a woman of color I was also very drawn to the Black church,  but I never felt like a Christian, exactly. I was resigned to being a spiritual misfit and had  pretty much given up on finding what the Buddhists call a sangha.  

Nevertheless, I kept looking.  

One night last year, that quest took me to a YouTube video of an event sponsored by  the Poor People’s Campaign, featuring Rev. Dr. William J. Barber and other faith  leaders. One of those was Rev. Robin. She was young, and a woman, and her  preaching was poetry. I googled her and discovered that she served a Unitarian  Universalist congregation in Summit. A bit more googling told me that her sermons  were available as a podcast. I began to listen.  

Rev. Robin’s sermons referred often to Unitarian Universalist history and traditions. I  confess that I was surprised to learn that UUs have a history and traditions. I started doing some research. I downloaded the The Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide and learned what “unitarian” and “universalist” actually meant. And I learned that I was already both a unitarian and a universalist.  

It was at this point, in the endless weeks of lockdown, that I learned that the small local  UU congregation where I live is currently between ministers. Fortunately I had a Plan  B(eacon). I began attending Beacon’s beautiful, intricately-crafted virtual services  regularly, and, slowly and bashfully, participating virtually in other aspects of Beacon’s  collective life, supported and encouraged by Rev. Emilie every step of the way.  

I am so grateful for Beacon’s presence in my life. It’s been a wonderful support during these awful times to have the virtual services to look forward to ever Sunday, to have  Emilie and Robin’s pastoral support, and to get to know other members of this vibrant  community.