It was good to be back in the pulpit last Sunday, although my message needed to respond to violence in the world. I might have wished to re-enter with a more personal and pastoral tone. These days, it seems there is always violence that needs to be acknowledged and resisted.
This weekend will, very likely, be no exception. I have included the statement from Portland United Against Hate at the end of this post as the city prepares to respond to the planned White Nationalist/Fascist presence on our streets. PUAH is one of the community coalitions that we support.
We know that, as people of faith, we are being called again and again to reject hate and answer the call of love.
The constant divisiveness that is part of our reality in these days can take a toll. Tempers seem to flair more easily. Disagreements seem to get disagreeable. It takes more of an effort to remember compassion. I sense some of this in myself … and the urge to block as much of that divisiveness out as I can. Perhaps you are feeling some of this as well.
Many of us look to the summer as a time of rest and respite. A time to regroup and recenter ourselves.
At the church, it has been a good summer: strong worship, the “pick up” choir a success again, the first year of the Chalice Camp well received, the water damage in the Buchan Building repaired. I am looking forward to welcoming Matt Meyer, a wonderful and spirited UU music and worship leader to our pulpit this Sunday.
I will be reporting on plans for the coming year in the next weeks. There will be time for that. There will be time to name our “to do” lists at the church and in our lives.
As the end of summer draws near, I hope that you can be present to this season, this time between summer and fall. You can feel the cool of the coming fall in the evening air, despite the bright sun and warmth of these days.
Here is a short poem by Jane Kenyon that holds and names the “in-between-ness” of this season:
Coming Home at Twilight in Late Summer
By Jane Kenyon
We turned into the drive,
And gravel flew up from the tires
Like sparks from a fire. So much
To be done—the unpacking, the mail
And papers…the grass needed mowing…
We climbed stiffly out of the car.
The shut-off engine ticked as it cooled.
And then we noticed the pear tree,
The limbs so heavy with fruit
They nearly touched the ground.
We went out to the meadow; our steps
Made black holes in the grass;
And we each took a pear,
And ate, and were grateful.
Blessings,
Bill
Portland United Against Hate Statement
“This is our collective statement on the planned August 17 radical right/fascist rally and what we shared at Mayor Wheeler’s August 14th press conference:
We are living in a time when violent fascists are emboldened by our federal administration to spew hate and use weapons to kill, maim and threaten immigrants, Black, Brown, Asian, Native, Jewish, Muslim, LGBTQI+ people and people with disabilities.
Fascist rallies like the one scheduled for August 17 are interconnected with recent domestic terrorist attacks committed by white men on communities of color and religious minorities.
These fascists/White Nationalists have sponsored hate rallies in Portland during the summer since 2017. Under the guise of exercising their free speech and assembly rights, they gather while openly carrying weapons, announcing on social media their intention to physically harm all who disagree with them.
People may have the right to free speech, but the incitement of violence, especially with a history of making good on violent threats, is not protected.
Creating false equivalencies between violent White Nationalists and those willing to defend our city against their violence is unacceptable. Pandering to a national climate that accuses Portland of being soft on Antifa is unacceptable. There is no equivalence between racist, anti-semitic, Islamaphobic, homophobic violence and those who say no to it. Antifa must not be scapegoated. We are a city that is in truth anti-fascist. When Mayor Ted Wheeler says that this crisis is not about ideology, this does not move us closer to safety or justice. In fact, violent, hateful fascist ideology IS the problem. A military level response from the police that puts all our residents at risk is not the answer.
We must find strategies to address violent hate at its source. Countless strategies could be deployed to do this instead of state sponsored police repression.
PUAH calls on the City, the region and the state to find community driven solutions that acknowledge the root cause of the problem as fascism and white nationalism. We don’t need any more speeches with fluffy words or resolutions that are short lived, we need concrete actions and resources that uproot the causes of hate.
We want to see policies with long term investments in dismantling hate and white supremacy. In order to end systemic hate we need systemic interventions.
At PUAH we say: “Hate is not welcome in Portland. White Nationalism is not welcome in Portland. Period.”