We Are Jazz

(Cambridge, MA) A month ago, I wrote a post that gave some reflection on the issues of race and diversity within the Unitarian Universalist Association (HERE). Since that time, UU Religious Educators have called on our churches to spend this week and next engaged in a UU White Supremacy Teach In.  This is an opportunity for us to deeply explore the real problems of race in our congregations, our denomination and hopefully in our nation.  On a day when the Trump administration has signed an executive order that masquerades as “liberty” but will allow religious entities to flagrantly discriminate against LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, women in general and anyone else they choose to class as “other”, I am reminded that marriage between white and non-white people was only made legal in my lifetime and some of the biggest defenders of that restriction were religious entities.  I am also in that same breath extremely proud of Unitarian Universalists stepping forward to fully own the painful complexity of race and ethnicity in this nation.

Last Sunday, April 30, I preached a sermon that I didn’t know I could preach.  It is blunt in its language about race and racism in the United States. It is not religious language per-se, but it is the language of passion and deeply spiritual belief that we cannot “fix” racism, until we actually and honestly recognize its horror.  May we find the strength as more and more horror is heaped on us, to continue to look at what we are faced with, continue to find strength in one another and continue to fight with every bone in our bodies to eradicate any force that attempts to play true liberty and justice for fools.  We are beings that are created of love and innovation.  We are jazz.

RECORDING AVAILABLE HERE

PDF of We Are Jazz, Sermon delivered at First Parish of Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist, April 30, 2017

(Please note: this printed version is a direct preaching manuscript and not a fully edited and corrected version fo publishing.  There are most likely a couple of typos and highlights that are for delivery purposes more than reading purposes, but there has been a great demand from people interested in reading this.)

– ALD

Love Beyond God

I am thrilled to share with you all the publication of my first collection of poetry/meditations for the Unitarian Universalist Association and Skinner House Books.  There are many people to thank for making this happen, and I will try to capture a few of them here.  Thank you Mary Benard and the Skinner House board for actually taking the chance on this work and thank you Marshall Hawkins for pushing me through the editing process. Much gratitude to readers, colleagues and mentors Jim Mitulski, Marta Valentín, Janice Marie Johnson, Jo Green, Dalila Butler, Lee Whitaker, Shaun Travers, Clyde Grubbs, Roy Whittaker, Joellynn Monahan, Kenny Wiley, Charlie Sullivan, Chip Smith and Mark Morrison-Reed (and so many more!) for egging me on and really hearing me. Thank you to First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, Mount Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church, the Pacific School of Religion and PolicyLink for continuing to support me through this project. And finally to friends Scott Nicolay, Talvin Wilks, John Hennessy, Ben Bobkoff, Benjamin Dunks, Nicola Rosewarne and Jamin Shoulet who all light creative fires under me that will never be extinguished.

And of course the biggest thank you to my entire multi-cultural, international and wildly over educated family. I love you all!

 

Excerpt from Love Beyond God

First Breath

That first breath must be delicious.

It must be more tantalizing,
more intoxicating than any drug,
fragrant like no flower will ever be
enticing like no body scent.
It must be all of this, and more
yet without words or memories, how do we know?

That first glorious rush of air
wants us to keep breathing
wants our hearts to keep beating
wants our eyes to open and see
wants our souls to open and say “yes.”

The first breath wants us to live all our life saying,
please God,
let me live
let me breathe
for just one day more

until we breathe our very last.

Order your copy from Skinner House Books Here:
Love Beyond God Thumb

UUA Bookstore Love Beyond God

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now available on Amazon for Kindle: LOVE BEYOND GOD (electronic)

Read more in the latest issue of UU World here:

UU WORLD Summer 2016UU World Summer 2016

 

 

 

 

 

Please post a review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29823791-love-beyond-god?ac=1&from_search=true