Get Ready for the 4 Years to Come
(1/20, 12 Noon, USR)
I’m not looking forward to the coming inauguration (which happens to coincide with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday). But I know these truths:
- Doom-scrolling and scoff-watching are dangerous to my well-being and sanity.
- Tuning out is never an option for us if we believe in freedom and justice.
- I can’t cope alone with what I fear is looming ahead.
SO, I ask YOU to join (and support) me at NOON on Monday, January 20, at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood to watch the President’s inaugural address. Perhaps we can pack a sandwich, attend the annual MLK, Jr. event that usually takes place at 10 AM, and walk over? Let me know you’re coming, so I can plan a space and set up technology for us.
Here’s what I invite you to do with me:
- Prepare ahead of time with the “Prophetic Listening Guide” (adapted) from Repairers of the Breach, a national organization that trains moral leaders and builds social justice movements rooted in a framework that uplifts our deepest moral and constitutional values.
- Listen deeply without just judging and reacting—the Guide makes the point that this is a critical moment in our history and we can’t stand aloof as skeptics.
- Watch with a view to preserving compassion, wellbeing, and joy in our consciousness.
- Follow the Guide’s suggestions for viewing and discussion.
- Commit to follow-up, so that Prophetic Listening leads to Prophetic Action!
A possible follow-up is to join Justice Rising: A Moral Call to Action in America’s Defining Moment. (Monday, 7 PM-click here for preliminary details) We’ll have information at the watch session.
Other faith communities are creating similar Prophetic Listening Sessions, beginning with First Unitarian Church – Church by the River, in Memphis, TN. In doing this, we are joining a movement led by Bishop William J. Barber, II, Rev. Dr. Alvin O’Neal Jackson, and Rev. Dr. Hanna R. Broome. They are “Rekindling a Prophetic Moral Vision for Justice, Social Change and Movement Building.” And they declare, “To help create a world that honors every person’s dignity, regardless of ethnicity, gender identity, economic status, or geographical placement- that is the work before us!”
