HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Tomorrow many of us will be having a quite different Thanksgiving than we have had in the past. With the rise of COVID-19 cases in the state and in the country, we are being advised to not travel or open our homes to family and friends that we have not been in close proximity to on a daily basis. I like what Dr. Shah from the Maine CDC said on a recent broadcast, something like “I am not using the word cancel. I am thinking more as postponing until a later date.” For me, that works. I will still cook a Thanksgiving dinner for LeRoy and me. I will also be incredibly grateful for the many blessings we do have in our life.
I will be hosting A Thanksgiving Gratitude Gathering at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning on Zoom.
On Sunday I concluded the series based on See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur. I shared a keynote that she gave at the Bioneers Conference in 2019. It really summed up the entire book and why she needed to write it.
Revolutionary Love is paramount to her work, and what is revolutionary love. It is a choice we make to enter into labor for others, for our opponents, and for ourselves.
It is the first practice of See No Stranger: the idea we are interconnected and interdependent… that we can look upon the face of anyone or anything and say as a spiritual declaration and a biological fact, “You are a part of me I do not yet know.”
When you watch the service, you will hear about neuroimaging and how it informs us that the mind sees in terms of us and them.
The last chapter in the book is on transition.
Valarie writes: “You see, the stage called transition, it feels like dying, but it is the stage that precedes the birth of new life. And so, birthing as a metaphor has begun to fill my imagination… I began to wonder if the metaphor of birthing may have something to offer all of us.
What if the darkness in our country right now, in the world right now, is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb? What if our America is not dead, but a country still waiting to be born?”
Our vision statement is “Centered in Divine Love we celebrate a spiritually transformed world.”
What if this is our time of great transition? Statistics tell us within the next 25 years people of color will exceed the number of whites in this country since colonization.
Could we birth a nation where power is shared and where we strive to protect the dignity of every person? I believe that the only way we will survive is if we show up to the labor the way our ancestors showed up.
We are community… we are the peace builders.
We are the midwives in this time of great transition, tasked with birthing a new future for all.
Let us ask ourselves: Who do I need with me so that I can stay in the labor of transition? Who can I support so that they can transition too?
I enjoyed sharing this book with you and I hope your mind was expanded, as mine was.
This coming Sunday begins the Advent Season. How can that be possible… well it is!
You are a blessing in my life,
Rev. Patricia Bessey
P.S. Giving Back Week… is the opportunity for you to express through your giving how much you value the offerings that our community offers during the month.
For your safety, continue to social distance and wear face masks. The church building remains closed for gatherings of all services and group meetings. All business with the church office needs to be via telephone or email.
LET’S STAY CONNECTED
Labyrinths are ancient geometric figures. One leaves one’s worries and stress at the entrance and walks meditatively to the middle. As one walks to the center she/he becomes centered within her/himself, calmer, and more grounded. 
