Beloved,

Have you ever wondered, why am I doing this?

I (Rev. Robin) was among those, with our denominational president Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Grey, who engaged in nonviolent moral direct action on Monday for Build Back Better and voting rights. By Tuesday night I was tired and waiting outside a DC jail to pay the citation. My neck hurt from sleeping funny, and I just heard that my daughter was now quarantined because of a Covid exposure. I hadn’t eaten in a bit. I felt cranky.

The new editor of the UU World, Roger Santodomingo, asked me why I was there. The camera was on. I began….

The voting rights bills needs to pass now. There are voter suppression laws being passed by state legislatures all over the country. If voting rights aren’t passed until 2022, these laws will multiply. Each law will have to be challenged individually. This could take years.

Build Back Better is the start of a path for 140 million poor and low wealth folx in the U.S. to be able to meet basic needs, get good paying jobs, and create infrastructure in this country that change our energy reliance on fossil fuels.

Today, the last child tax credit check will be issued, unless Build Back Better passes. Talk about the Grinch.

But then I remembered our spiritual ancestors who fought for voting rights and the faces of every poor person I’ve met across this country traveling with the Poor People’s Campaign. I remember being a teenager who left home and slept in her car.

I looked at Roger. This is about real people. And if you have the ability and support, and privilege, like I do, you have to show up.

I remembered at last why I am doing this. Why it matters when all seems lost. This is the solstice story that we celebrate this Sunday at 5pm. We remember the generations of ancestors who showed up for the return of the sun, burning a log late into the night and gathering together to keep warm. We fight, we celebrate, we mourn. We show up. We are Unitarian Universalists.

Showing up with you,

Dr. Tuli and Revs. Emilie and Robin