The Sweet gum tree outside my kitchen window is wearing its spectacular fall finery, a profusion of red and orange and yellow. It is a sure sign of the changing season, of the turning of the year.
UU minister Robbie Walsh:
“I have just returned from the northern woods and I bring alarming news. Something there is turning the leaves to red and gold…and it’s coming this way.
Already here one can see signs. An unfamiliar coolness in the air. Sailboats brought in. Just this morning, a school bus went by.
Take warning, friends. Every leaf in our fair town is doomed, and every green unfinished summer dream will now be foreclosed. We have had our fleeting summertime.”
I could end this message here. The practice and the challenge of being in touch with the natural cycle of seasonal change is a good spiritual message at this time of year.
But we are also living into a possible turning in the political world as well, with so many issues on the ballot that matter to liberal religious folk, so much at stake.
I spoke about the Affordable Housing Campaign (Measure 102 and 26-199) in my sermon last Sunday.
Earlier this week I spoke at a prayer breakfast sponsored by the “No Cuts to Care” Coalition, organizing opposition to Measure 106, a “backdoor ban on abortion” for our poorer neighbors. You can hear my remarks about this measure on KBOO by clicking here.
Oregon Measure 105 would repeal our state’s sanctuary law, in place since 1987, and require state and local law enforcement to support ICE and our inhumane immigration policies.
Last Thursday we hosted a spirit filled gathering to promote the Portland Clean Energy Fund, Measure 26-201.
There is so much on the line this year, even if you keep your focus local rather than national.
And yet, for all of our activism and engagement, it feels like we are almost “holding our breath” until Nov. 6. There is a reluctance to commit, even to classes at our church. A congregant who works in the “for profit” world told me that they are having the very same experience. We just don’t know what we will have to deal with after the election.
If you are feeling the reluctance, that sense of “holding your breath,” let me encourage you to exhale. Perhaps knowing that others are having that feeling too can help. Perhaps the urgency of the issues that we care about can motivate you. Perhaps you (and we) will just need some oxygen.
Exhale. And engage. And vote.
Both the turning of the season and the election are headed our way. As Robbie Walsh wrote, “we have had our fleeting summertime.” It is time to exhale and engage.
Blessings,
Bill