ISSUE 55                                                                                                                                                                                     JANUARY 2021
If ever there was a year we want to imagine and hope is better than the last, it is surely 2021. Many of us have seen the meme that gives 2020 a rating of "No Stars. Would Not Recommend." And so it is timely for us to begin this new year looking at imagination. 

While much has been written about imagination, I am currently wrestling with two Glennon Doyle quotes. Numbers of us have engaged with Doyle through her blog "Momastery" or her latest books "Love Warrior" and "Untamed." She comes at writing not from a place of perfection, but with a rigorous examination of the stuff of her life. That stuff includes her own addiction, divorce and raising kids. Doyle is unflagging in her willingness to shine a light into the darkest corners and offer an unfailingly real reflection on all of it. That realness is deeply relatable whether or not you share any of her identities or circumstances.

First, Doyle wrote this: "Because once we feel, know, and dare to imagine more for ourselves, we cannot unfeel, unknow, or unimagine. There is no going back."

I love this because it reminds me that imagination takes courage, commitment and fortitude. It is about the openness and strength to imagine more. It is not just about our individual wants. Indeed, I think the racial reckoning that is happening in this country is about an imagination for something more. So many of us are feeling it and we are beginning to learn what it would take to be an anti-racist person, church and country. Now that we have the imagination, we are unable to "unfeel" the longing for something different. We cannot unknow or unimagine what is so apparent to us now. 

Second, Doyle offers this: "Blessed are those brave enough to make things awkward for they wake us up and move us forward."

In this, I am reminded of how that courage, commitment and fortitude creates change and change is often awkward and hard. The awkwardness and challenge doesn't kill us, but it does make us uncomfortable. And so, a part of embracing imagination is a willingness to companion discomfort.

Whoa. This could be big. Still, there isn't a single group I would rather be exploring this with. I love this church and I miss you terribly.

Keep showing up. We hold you so close.
Even as I sat there in the courtroom, listening to the testimony with my own ears, I could hardly imagine it was true. There was the lead witness in a case that had thrown a young man's life into disarray for months, who could not identify a picture of her own home across the courtroom. She was testifying that she was sure that this young black man who had done nothing more than walk home from the bus stop after a long day at work, was the one who had tried to steal her car. And had it not been for the fact that his mother was a longtime leader in our community justice partner, Together Colorado, probably no one would have been there to see this drama that threatened to permanently upend his life, much less send a signal to the district attorney presenting the case that she was being watched, and that justice called for him to be set free.
 
The process that ended up with me, and dozens of other JUCers and members of Together Colorado in that Denver courtroom had started with something I had never even heard of, show-up identification. After a crime has been committed, in this case an attempted car theft in the dark of night, the police search the neighborhood for anyone remotely matching the description given by the witness. It didn't matter that his clothes were different than what had been described, nor that he was found just a couple of blocks away more than a half hour after the police first arrived, by which time any reasonable person would have long since fled if they knew they were being looked for. All that mattered that night was that he was young, and black, and male. And walking home in his own neighborhood. The police picked him up, put him in the back of a squad car, drove him to the scene of the crime, and there, in the middle of the night, asked this woman to identify him as the suspect, as they pulled him out of the police car, and stood him before her, more than 50 feet away.
 
The process of show-up identification has long been shown to be virtually useless, unless the witness has a prior relationship with the suspect, but that night the Denver PD did what dozens of other police and sheriff's departments across Colorado and the nation do. They picked up any young, black man they could find, and they threw his life into disarray, even though his cell phone showed clearly where he had been, as his mother tracked his way home.

The work of racial justice calls on us to work to change the practices and policies that lead to the kinds of disproportionate outcomes that put young black and brown men behind bars, while young white men aren't even imagined to be suspects by the police who have sworn to serve and protect. But these policies can change, and in the wake of this case, eventually dismissed by the district attorney, Together Colorado brought together nearly 1,000 people at Shorter AME church to demand that the Denver PD change their practices. And they did. But the work continues. This year we've been asked by Together Colorado to be part of their work to pass legislation that would permanently bar this practice, except in cases where rigorous research has shown it to be useful, across the state. We don't yet know what the legislative session will look like this year, but we do know our values call on us to side with love and justice. If you'd like to be part of our team, you can send me a note and we'll get you signed up to be part of the JUC Community Action Network (JUC CAN) Alerts email list, where we'll let you know how you can have your voice heard on the laws that make and break people's lives, right here in Colorado.

A different future is possible, but only when we imagine that it can be so. 
In This Issue
Board of Trustees Report
The final tally for the Congregational Vote was 213 in favor and 1 against the Bylaws Amendments. 199 people voted online, and 14 returned paper ballots. The Board thanks you for your participation!
 
The Board is considering reviving the Spirit Map project, with potentially adding our anti-racism work to the exercise.
 
The Board is in the process of finalizing changes to the Ministerial Evaluations.
Stillness and Planned Giving
In stillness we can find beauty, our true selves and our connectedness to all living things. This has been an extraordinary year to say the least and stillness was not easy to find. As it draws to a close, let us find the stillness deep within that leads to peace and true harmony.

Your legacy gift to JUC can flow like a deep river from generation to generation helping to assure that this special community will be here to show us and future generations how to enjoy stillness. You will feel good having done so. 

Contact JUC's planned giving coordinators: Bud & B.J. Meadows, Mike Kramer or Carol Wilsey
A Goat, A Kitty, and a Tiny Little Baby ~ Lessons on Imagination
The Goat, Kitty, and a Tiny Little Baby appeared at our house in the middle of November 2001. My youngest son was almost three years old. I first noticed these little ones when I walked into cereal all over the kitchen floor, and the Goat was to blame. The Goat was also blamed for crayon drawings on the wall, a lost shoe here and a toy there, and spilled milk. The Kitty had the worst sense of direction, and we spent hours looking for her, mostly when we were in a hurry or needed to get something done. She was like a security blanket that couldn't be left at home, but no one but my son could see her. And that Tiny Little Baby had to be fed, burped, changed, and would be left in very dangerous places for a Tiny Little Baby. Many safety lessons were given around care for infants during this time.

As you may have guessed, these were our family's imaginary friends, created by my youngest son. I don't remember how long they were with us, but I remember when I noticed they were gone. I felt a strange quietness in our home; I walked around looking for something and then realized I was alone, we were alone. My son didn't need them anymore; our family didn't need them anymore. We were healing. You see, November 2001 was only two months after 9/11. When 9/11 happened, my dear childhood friend from New York was staying with us. My youngest sat on "Uncle D's" lap, with his hand on his tearstained cheek, as "Uncle D" learned of the people he had lost. My husband was a police officer in San Francisco, coping with hate crimes against Muslim citizens. Muslims were the majority of his "brothers" that he attended high school with in San Francisco. The safety of his half-brother and stepfather, who were Argentinian of Muslim descent, was also being threatened. My children felt all of this, and while my older son, ten at the time, focused his attention on how he could help -- bake sales and volunteering -- my youngest created his own way to cope. He imagined a world that made sense to him. He could explain the feelings inside himself and allowed these feelings to be seen in ways that were clear to all that loved him and strangers alike. A Goat, a Kitty, and a Tiny Little Baby. After discovering ways to do these things himself, his three wonderful friends disappeared.

Imagining ways to create equity and justice and avenues of deepening love, compassion, and connections to one another are essential in living Unitarian Universalism in the world. And maybe, just like with my son, imagining gives us openings and ways to develop our creativity to "see" where we want to go and "ways" to express ourselves. Imagining helps us cope, allows us to dream about where we'd like to be, and helps us unfold our creativity. It is a starting point. 

How we are able to embody what we imagine is key in manifesting our Unitarian Universalist faith. Similar to my son's journey, it isn't something that happens overnight. To turn what we imagine into our reality, we have some work to do. There are tools we have to learn to use, essential skills to develop in how our imaginings can become our reality. Unitarian Universalism Faith Formation is a key way to develop these imaginings into who we might become, how we can touch our own healing points, and where we can focus our healing hands. 

May your imaginings bring you what you need at this moment, and may they manifest into a better tomorrow for all. Please stay tuned for many JUC faith formation opportunities in 2021.
Imagination and Music Making
At the JUC Choir's last gathering for 2020, we took time to review the year that has been, especially as it relates to our choir's life and creating music.

In mid-March, after having rehearsed that last time in person, I remembered saying good bye and thinking, "Well, there it is. Things are shutting down, and I don't know how long it will be until our choir meets again. There's no way to sing together if we're not in person, so this might be a few weeks, a month, some months, a year? But that's it for now."

Little did I know that 10 days later, the Choir would meet for the first time on Zoom, that we would begin to make music and videos together, that for the first time in my memory we would continue to gather over the summer, and that there would be new aspects of meeting online that would enrich the experience.

On December 16, the Choir reflected on two questions: what obstacles did we (the Choir) have to overcome in order to continue meeting? Were there any unexpected gifts of gathering online during this time?

The major obstacles that were named were the barriers and learnings around technology. First, meeting on Zoom (which numerous folks had never done before). Then, learning the cumbersome and complicated setups needed to create a video of oneself singing while listening to a background track, sometimes managing multiple devices, inputs, and headphones! Not to mention sending massive video files across the internet. The other obstacle that was named was more personal. Since on Zoom, a singer is not hearing the entire choir but instead just a leader, a singer can hear their own voice so much more clearly. For some choir members, this itself was a challenge. I too can relate. Never in my life have I listened to my own voice and seen my own image so often. 

When reflecting on the gifts of this time and way of working together, choir members reflected:
  • we found a way to share ourselves as singers, making music together, despite the pandemic
  • we are able to create and be gifted by the beauty of virtual choir videos
  • our Zoom meetings gave us the opportunity to get to know one another in small breakout rooms
  • we learned each other's names thanks to Zoom windows!
Regarding the challenge of recording, and trying to get the music absolutely right, one choir member said:
"I finally came to the philosophy that if we were in church on Sunday, we would sing it once and be done, mistakes and all, so I stopped trying for perfection."

I can absolutely relate. The seduction of using technology to create ever-more-perfect results has had me up late many nights. On an early Quarantet recording, I had sung a wrong note, so I learned how to correct that one note via sound editing software. It took about 30 minutes of editing for the single missed pitch. Each sound, each moment is alterable through editing software, leading to the literal possibility of perfection -- but at a very high cost of time and life energy. For myself, I try to strike the right balance that allows for the music I have in my head to be realized, without overlooking other priorities in my life, especially exercise and sleep. 

So many unanticipated and unexpected gifts of this time. One, as Laura Lizut observed early in this pandemic time, when it was clear that the process for this time would be about recording music separately to be woven together, was the gift of archive, record and legacy. That is, as she said, in creating music videos and recordings, we are creating a record of how we responded to this time.

None of our musicians or choir members -- or probably you -- asked for it. And given the human costs, I wouldn't have chosen it. And here we are, in it.

Please enjoy these unexpected gifts -- a record of what the JUC Choir has created so far during this time of separation, acts of resistance and resilience, overcoming technical and personal obstacles. You are welcome to watch and share as much as you wish!
Paula Reed, Trustee

As January approaches, and with it the worship theme of imagination, I find myself imagining JUC as a truly anti-racist community. Reading "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" by Robin DiAngelo with the board of trustees and participating in Reflections on Race with other JUCers have been eye-opening experiences. I feel I have already grown more than I ever knew I needed to in my understanding of racism in the U.S. and how it relates to me. I also know there is more to learn.

I won't lie. It hasn't been an easy journey. I am less comfortable in my own white skin than I was when I started. I suppose it is not entirely unlike when my appendix ruptured. I went through life for over 50 years untroubled by the thing. Then suddenly, it was excruciating. This seeming innocuous organ was a dire threat to my whole body, as white supremacist culture is to the body of America. The analogy is imperfect, I know. A surgeon removed my ruptured appendix, whereas I have to do my own work eliminating my racist tendencies, but both processes create a lot of discomfort. They are also both critical to the health of the whole.

In the end, I knew that I would heal from my appendectomy, though it took time, and caused twinges for weeks as I moved in ways that made me aware of the wound. But I am White, and that simple fact may well have meant that my appendicitis was diagnosed faster than it would have been if I were Black. Chances are pretty good it meant my pain was taken more seriously than it would have been and treated more aggressively than it would if I were Black. I didn't ask for these advantages, but now that I know about them, I can't just ignore them. I want to help heal such inequities.

If you haven't yet, I encourage you to take advantage of anti-racism opportunities as they arise at JUC. It may very well be uncomfortable, even painful, but it can help us all heal our ruptured nation and build true beloved community here at JUC.
Florence Reece, a White union organizer, wrote "Which Side Are You On?" in 1931 about the violent struggle for miners' rights in Harlan County, Kentucky. 

People have sung versions of it protesting in the streets ever since.

They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there
Which side are you on my people? Which side are you on?

Unfortunately, the current state of racial, climate and immigrant injustice we are seeing in our country and the world asks us to take sides. If we don't choose to side with love, then by default, we are supporting and propagating the status quo. 

As Unitarian Universalists, we are called to speak up for equality and dignity for all persons, and lucky for us, there are activists who have been hard at work organizing ways for us to most effectively make our voices heard. 

In 2004 a group of Unitarian Universalist activists for marriage equality created "Standing on the Side of Love", an organization which soon spread coast to coast as various states considered legislation to include the rights of people of all sexual orientations to legally marry. Standing on the Side of Love was called into action again after the shooting in a UU church in Tennessee in 2008 which was targeted because they are welcoming to LGBTQ people. 

In 2009 the UUA adopted Standing on the Side of Love with the goal of "harnessing love's power to challenge exclusion, oppression, and violence based on sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, race, religion, or any other identity." It is an interfaith organization, though it does maintain a strong UU identity. 

At General Assembly in 2017, the name was formally changed to Side with Love as a response to concerns about the exclusionary and ableist language of the old name. This past year Side with Love continued their work towards immigrant rights, LGBTQ equality and racial justice. Their goals for 2020 were:
  • providing culturally relevant and spiritually nourishing resources
  • responding in high violence and high resistance moments
  • facilitating relationships between UU networks and local secular organizing
  • affirming and resourcing leading edges within and beyond Unitarian Universalism
  • embodying our own values
  • sustaining an infrastructure that serves us
The more we work together to make ourselves known and call others to Side with Love, the more powerful we are as change agents. This month marks the beginning of the Side with Love Campaign which will go from January 15 - February 14. If you're interested in learning more about the important work of this organization, please check out their website.