Gratitude is a decision to focus on the best of a situation. When you make that choice, you see the best first. It doesn’t mean ignoring that bad things do happen; it is about putting them in perspective and not letting worry steal the moment.
Tag Archives | doing good
Having Hope in Hope
Destruction and chaos are simpler, faster, than coordination and creation. It takes moments to tear something apart compared to what it takes to build it. One person can do a tremendous amount of damage. But, for every person intent on doing that kind of harm, there are hundreds preparing to mitigate it; to control the […]
Heaven, If We Can Build It
“Religious liberalism affirms the moral obligation to direct one’s effort toward the establishment of a just and loving community.” ~ James Luther Adams While many UUs believe that there might be, even must be, life after death, the heaven we all commit to is here on Earth. The name we’ve been calling that heaven for […]
Anger and Action in the Face of Injustice
We are angry. With good reason, we are upset and hurt and angry. Anger can be an appropriate response to violence, to injustice, and to those peddling fear and bad information. Some people will tell you that anger is a negative emotion, but I don’t believe that. Anger is not bad. It is how we […]
Tolerance and the Quest for Justice
We must not forget that, even while we aspire to accept and encourage every person who enters a UU space, whether online or in person, we are a covenantal religion; covenant means that responsibility and respect must go both ways. While we affirm the worth and dignity of every person, we do not need to […]
A Letter to Unitarian Universalism RE: “After L, G, and B”
The following submission is printed without edits. Rev. KC Slack has shared the view of a nonbinary individual reacting to an article in the latest edition of UU World. We will not link directly to it, so that it does not gain standing on search engines or social media. It is on Page 30 of […]
The Choice to be Grateful
In spite of what you might read in up-lifting memes and blogs, Happiness is not always just a thought away. Happiness and sadness are reactions. Some of us have a lot of trouble accessing Happiness moment to moment. Gratitude, though, is a choice. It is an option in how we choose to react to the […]
If We Want Justice, We Must Build It, Together
“Charity is commendable; everyone should be charitable. But justice aims to create a social order in which, if individuals choose not to be charitable, people still don’t go hungry, unschooled or sick without care. Charity depends on the vicissitudes of whim and personal wealth; justice depends on commitment instead of circumstance.” ~ Bill Moyers Unitarian […]
Failure is Essential
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” It is an old saying. Put more simply, if we aren’t risking anything, we aren’t likely to see much in the way of results. You can’t be great at everything the first time you try; you have to be willing to risk failure. You learn from failure. You get better. A […]
Peace Cannot Come in Pieces
Today, you will hear a lot about the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was the setting for the most celebrated words of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., what has become know as the “I Have a Dream” speech. He was not the only speaker, nor were the speeches intended as […]