Before the Isms

Before the "isms" there was an act. And the act violated the esteem of another. And that person was humiliated. 

So the humiliated person feeling low and without esteem, acted from a place of pain and projected that pain onto the world.

 And so there was it was. 

Pain. 

Pain that existed in the the people of the world. Each person lacking in esteem in their own particular way, acting. 

Each person 

                    in some particular and peculiar way 

                                                                     that was  associated with their

 pain.

Some people in pain sought money and would do anything base and/or profane to get it.

           People in pain were affected by those peculiar ways to seek money.

           

                                       People in pain worked from sun up to sun down with barely any rest.

                                       People in pain lashed out on to the backs of others, sisters, brothers, neighbors

People in pain told themselves all kinds of stories to try to ease their pain.

                                       Legends, Myths, Lies, Gossip

                                   

                                   They talked about acts that happened;

                                   They talked about acts they wanted to happen;

                                   They talked about acts that never happened;

                                   They exaggerated the acts of the people in pain;

                                   They judged, misjudged, prejudged, and 
                                                                                            underestimated the acts of the people in pain;

                                   They talked about heroes, heroines, victims, and tyrants.

                                   They talked about each other to each other

                                                                                     in BIG BOLD WORDS 

                                                                                               and in hushed small whispers

                                    They talked to everyone;
                                    They talked about themselves to themselves;
                                    They talked to no one.
                                   

                                 

 They told so many stories that there were people who told stories about the stories.

       But the pain never completely went away.                  

And for generations

                          upon generations,

                                                     upon generations,

                                                                                 up through the

                                                                                                        present...

People in pain projected that pain on to people in the world.  

The act that had started it all was forgotten. 

So a few of the people in pain, in attempts to ease the pain, became seekers.

                         

                                    Not knowing for what it was that was sought.

Dignity, Wholeness, Esteem

for their own distinct selves????

So Great was the pain of the people in the world.

It was 

Chaos.

But how could such chaos exist?

I am still seeking an answer to this question as I read and and study new books about Americans. More specifically, I am currently reading and thinking about racism.  Is it truly the original sin of America?

Our liberal faith, according to James Luther says:

"All relations between persons ought ideally to rest on mutual, free consent and not on coercion."

My ancestors- the way back ancestors- did they choose freely to be Americans?

I've never questioned that the categorization of people is where this country missed the mark. I know we are human with phenotypes based on the climate of our places of origin.

I was at the home of a lapsed UU with her children, nieces and nephews. They looked curiously at me as they were just old enough to recognize. . . something was different.

Why is your skin like this, the child said as he put his hand on my arm. And before he could fully tell a story about how God had made me, the other child interrupted.
I know! I know! said the other child. Melanin, she said smugly.There was a moment of nervous laughter from the adults.
And I thought, yes. Tell the babies the right thing. Teach them science. Tell them about melanin. Don't you tell those babies that God had me in the oven too long. Don't you tell the babies that God made a mistake with me.

However, there is a grievous mistake that has been made. We made it.
The act of treating people as if they are expendable or treating them less fairly and partially is the sin.

It's life killing. It's a violation of the of the Spirit and Energy of Life that sustains us.

The hope. . and I have had a challenging time with hope... that Unitarian Universalism offers . . . is that revelation is not sealed. We are always learning new information.


According James Luther,"[L]iberalism holds that the resources (divine and human) that are available for the achievement of meaningful change justify an attitude of ultimate optimism."

Hope.

So to live hopefully, I decided I needed to dig in deep. In my first blog post, I said that I needed a more mature faith.  And the only to get it, I suppose is to work on creating it.

Therefore, I thought that perhaps, being a seeker, we could look at all these stories that we have told ourselves and each other and see what about these stories up holds the principles of our faith and what does not.

It is challenging to explain in one sentence what  UnCommon Reads with Melissa  is really about.  I sense that it is more about  HOPE AND CREATING BELOVED COMMUNITY BEYOND THE WALLS of  the church building. . .