Congregational Administrator on Leave
Julia Terry, our congregational Administrator, will be on leave from the 14th of May through the 29th of May. From Late May through the end of August, she will be working remotely from Alaska. Office hours will be covered by Luz Carrazola. All communications to the church should go through the church email: firstchjp@aol.com. All material for the weekly newsletter and the order of service must be sent to the church email by Wednesday at 8 pm or they will not be included.

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CHURCH HAPPENINGS

***This Sunday, May 20th, at First Church***
Join us for a sermon by Rev. Burke titled Amigos.

Thank you to Tim Williamson and Robert Amelio hosting Coffee Hour.

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SAVE THE DATE – UPCOMING EVENTS

***Next Sunday, May 27th***
Join us for a sermon by Rev. Burke called Painless

Please visit our calendar online at:

http://www.firstchurchjp.org/events/

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WAYS TO CONNECT OR CONTRIBUTE

Spring Fair Book Table
The Good Book says, “I need some companionship”. Therefore, if you would please look through your libraries and bring to the church books that can be sold at the Book Table at the Spring Yard Sale.
Please leave the books in the rear left pew (if you are facing the altar). If you need someone to pick up your books, please contact Monroe Heyman 617 796-8613. No old textbooks.

Calling all preachers and musicians!
The summer services need you!
The dates are June 17 through September 2 and most of them are still open. If you have thoughts you’d like to share or would love to perform music, please join us. The services are friendly, informal and people enjoy hearing from members of the congregation. For more information, contact Alice Hawley at coffee hour or through the church office.

The Spring Fair is almost here – June 2nd is only 2 weeks away.
We are having a Bake Sale, a Book Sale (Videos and CD’s as well), Church Crafts Table, the BBQ and a Plant Sale as well as the Crafts-Person Vendors who rent their own tables. We need the usual suspects – cookies, cakes, savories, books, CD’s, videos, plants (annuals or perennials – go through your garden and take this opportunity to divide and conquer any excess – what you have too much of someone else would love to have), and if you are so inclined, handmade items for the Crafts Table.

David Dorney is going to run Segway Tours from the Church during the fair – this is most definitely an unusual and fun way to see JP. Tootle around the neighborhood and learn a little history as well.

The Service Auction has about 20 items on offer – dinners, music lessons, organizing help, baby sitting, a real estate analysis and more.  Please, keep coming up with such good ideas and place your offer of services on Surveymonkey or email.
The Surveymonkey link is: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8HDHZ9N
The Email link is: serviceauctionfcjp@yahoo.com

We have already started taking bids online. On May 27 and June 3rd we will be in the Parish Hall taking bids the old-fashioned way – by hand, and on June 10th the winning bids will be announced.

Stewardship Update
Half of the families/pledge units have given their pledges for next year, and they have increased their pledged giving by 6%. We need the rest of the congregation to let us know what they plan to give next year so we can make our budget. Please mail in your pledge card, or contact Stewardship Chair Jom Michel through the church office. This is urgent – the annual meeting is coming up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A NOTE FROM THE CHURCH HISTORIAN

1.) Please save copies of materials for the archives and pass them on to me. Committee reports, meeting agendas and minutes, correspondence, or project workbooks will all be gladly received. I am happy to be copied on emails of committee minutes and will print them myself.
2.) Please always include the year in any date on a notice or flyer.
3.) On “in house” documents / communications, please use “First Church in Jamaica Plain” in a header or title area. After that, further references may be shortened to “First Church.”
4.) On outside communications to those who might not know our affiliation, please always use “First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian Universalist” or “First Church in Jamaica Plain, Member of the Unitarian Universalist Association.”
5.) Unitarian Universalist is written as two separate words; do not tie with a hyphen because that changes the meaning.
6.) We do not have daily office hours, and for the security of the mail, we maintain a Post Office Box. For all mailing purposes and for return addresses on envelopes, please use:

FIRST CHURCH IN JAMAICA PLAIN
P O BOX 300186
JAMAICA PLAIN MA 02130

7.) When used in a sentence, the title, Reverend, is preceded by the article “the.” (e.g.: Our sixth minister was the Rev. Charles Fletcher Dole.)

Thanks,
George Wardle, Church Historian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ONGOING CHURCH HAPPENINGS

Building Use
Did you know that you can rent the Parish Hall or a smaller space for a celebration, group meeting or other event?? Contact Monroe Heyman at 617 796-8613 or MHeym02130@aol.com for more details.
Yoga at First Church
Join us throughout the year for Monday for Evening Yoga (6:45 – 8:15 pm) for 90 minutes of stretching, flexing and core strengthening (suggested donation: $15). For you early birds who want to wake up your body while the earth is waking up, try the slow-flow class Thursday mornings, 7:30 to 8:15 (suggested donation: $10). Please try to be on time, out of respect for other attendees. Some mats and props will be available to borrow. Bring a friend! For any questions about yoga, contact Margaret through the church office. All donations go to the work of First Church in our community.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When submitting items for the weekly newsletter, please limit them to 250 words or less. If you have a special event that may need more space, please check in with Julia (Firstchjp@aol.com) for special parameters. If you would like your announcement included in the weekly newsletter, please send them in by Wednesday evening at 8 pm. Announcements will run for no longer than 3 weeks, unless there are specific date parameters. You may resubmit your item after it has run for the allotted time.
Regular office hours are currently 9 am to 1 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays. You may contact the church administrator, Julia, by emailing Firstchjp@aol.com.

Julia Terry, Congregational Administrator
First Church in Jamaica Plain UU
6 Eliot Street
P.O. Box 300186
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
617-524-1634
Website: www.firstchurchjp.org

12:30 p.m. Congregational Meeting: All are invited to attend. Church members will vote to accept or reject the recently-circulated strategic plan.

Please note: Julia Terry, our congregational Administrator, will be on leave from the 14th of May through the 29th of May. From Late May through the end of August, she will be working remotely from Alaska. Office hours will be covered by Luz Carrazola. All communications to the church should go through the church email: firstchjp@aol.com. All material for the weekly newsletter and the order of service must be sent to the church email by Wednesday at 8 pm or they will not be included.

***Congregational Administrator on Leave***
Julia Terry, our congregational Administrator, will be on leave from the 14th of May through the 29th of May. From Late May through the end of August, she will be working remotely from Alaska. Office hours will be covered by Luz Carrazola. All communications to the church should go through the church email: firstchjp@aol.com. All material for the weekly newsletter and the order of service must be sent to the church email by Wednesday at 8 pm or they will not be included.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHURCH HAPPENINGS
***This Sunday, May 13th, at First Church***
Join us for a sermon by Rev. Rali Weaver. Rev. Weaver is a graduate of Bangor Theological Seminary and is in her fifth year of ministry at the First Church and Parish in Dedham.

Thank you to the Hemr family for hosting Coffee Hour.

This Week in RE:
It’s like deja vu! Last Sunday, the plan was to garden…but a cold, grey, misty morn kept us from having a bit o’ fun digging and planting. So, this Sunday — MOTHER’S DAY!! — we will give it another go. All of our kids are invited to help with our annual gardening Sunday. Please come dressed for mud and dirt, and if you have any spare gardening tools/gloves/etc., please bring those along to share.
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SAVE THE DATE – UPCOMING EVENTS

***Next Sunday, May 20th***
Join us for a sermon by Rev. Burke titled Amigos.

***Saturday, May 12, 2012 – The Food Project – Rain or Shine***
On Saturday, May 12th we’ll travel to Dudley Square to harvest crops (while learning about the food system) at the Food Project’s Boston Farm from 9:30 till 12:30 and then enjoy a picnic at the farm. Everyone 12 years old and older who can pull weeds, hoe, plant, etc. is welcome and should bring a bag lunch and bottled water – and gloves, if you have them!

The Food Project farms provide free or low-cost food to homeless shelters and low-income buyers and also provide training in urban agriculture and leadership skills to inner-city and suburban youth. Seewww.thefoodproject.org/volunteer-faq to learn more.

We will meet at the church at 8:45am on May 12 and carpool to the farm – rain or shine! All of us who have done this in the past have enjoyed the experience and learned a lot, so please join us! Please let Linda Olmstead know if you can attend. The Food Project also requires that each attendee register at: http://thefoodproject.org/participant-registration

***Saturday. May 12th – Occupy Your Faith: UU Revival***
Join together for an energetic service of song, story, and reflection as we share in a celebration of the transforming message of Unitarian Universalism. Worship begins at 4pm, with a shared dinner to follow at 6pm. RSVP HERE Childcare will be available @ the UU Urban Ministry 10 Putnam st. in Roxbury Music by: Matt Meyer, Mark David Buckles, and “The Music Committee” a contemporary UU band. Suggested donation of $15. A free-will offering will also be taken for the UU Urban Ministry of Boston.

***This Weekend: Fiddler on the Roof***
For an uplifting evening of family fun, come see a community theater production of this classic Broadway show featuring First Church member Jom Michel. Performances are: Saturday 8:00 PM, Sunday 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM at the Rashi School, 8000 Great Meadow Road, Dedham, MA 02026. Tickets are $20 and seating is reserved. Ticket Information is available at: http://www.ticketstage.com/TBSN

Please visit our calendar online at:
http://www.firstchurchjp.org/events/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WAYS TO CONNECT OR CONTRIBUTE

***Concert***
Do you enjoy the singing voices of children? The JP Training Chorus and Kodaly Class (ages 4-12, a division of Boston City Singers) meet every Saturday morning in our Parish Hall, and their end-of-year concert will be in our sanctuary at 11 this Saturday, May 12. Suggested donation $10/person, $20/family. You will be impressed!

***Calling all preachers and musicians! ***
The summer services need you!
The dates are June 17 through September 2 and most of them are still open. If you have thoughts you’d like to share or would love to perform music, please join us. The services are friendly, informal and people enjoy hearing from members of the congregation. For more information, contact Alice Hawley at coffee hour.

***The Spring Fair is almost here – June 2nd is only 3 weeks away.***
We are having a Bake Sale, a Book Sale (Videos and CD’s as well), Church Crafts Table, the BBQ and a Plant Sale as well as the Crafts-Person Vendors who rent their own tables. We need the usual suspects – cookies, cakes, savories, books, CD’s, videos, plants (annuals or perennials – go through your garden and take this opportunity to divide and conquer any excess – what you have too much of someone else would love to have), and if you are so inclined, handmade items for the Crafts Table.

David Dorney is going to run Segway Tours from the Church during the fair – this is most definitely an unusual and fun way to see JP. Tootle around the neighborhood and learn a little history as well.
The Service Auction has about 20 items on offer – dinners, music lessons, organizing help, baby sitting, a real estate analysis and more.

Please, keep coming up with such good ideas and place your offer of services on Surveymonkey or email.
The Surveymonkey link is: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8HDHZ9N
The Email link is: serviceauctionfcjp@yahoo.com

In Mid-May we will start taking bids, on June 3rd we will be in the Parish Hall taking bids the old-fashioned way – by hand, and on June 10th the winning bids will be announced.

***Stewardship Update***
Half of the families/pledge units have given their pledges for next year, and they have increased their pledged giving by 6%. We need the rest of the congregation to let us know what they plan to give next year so we can make our budget. Please mail in your pledge card, or contact Stewardship Chair Jom Michel. This is urgent – the annual meeting is in two weeks.

***A Call for Greeters***
Whether an “old-timer” or new to our community, we all can appreciate the simple act of being greeted. If you’ve enjoyed this yourself, then pay it forward! It’s easy, there’s no long-term commitment, and it means a lot to the church. Please see Paul Miller to sign up, learn more, or have your questions answered. Thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***A NOTE FROM THE CHURCH HISTORIAN***
1.) Please save copies of materials for the archives and pass them on to me. Committee reports, meeting agendas and minutes, correspondence, or project workbooks will all be gladly received. I am happy to be copied on emails of committee minutes and will print them myself.
2.) Please always include the year in any date on a notice or flyer.
3.) On “in house” documents / communications, please use “First Church in Jamaica Plain” in a header or title area. After that, further references may be shortened to “First Church.”
4.) On outside communications to those who might not know our affiliation, please always use “First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian Universalist” or “First Church in Jamaica Plain, Member of the Unitarian Universalist Association.”
5.) Unitarian Universalist is written as two separate words; do not tie with a hyphen because that changes the meaning.
6.) We do not have daily office hours, and for the security of the mail, we maintain a Post Office Box. For all mailing purposes and for return addresses on envelopes, please use:
FIRST CHURCH IN JAMAICA PLAIN
P O BOX 300186
JAMAICA PLAIN MA 02130
7.) When used in a sentence, the title, Reverend, is preceded by the article “the.” (e.g.: Our sixth minister was the Rev. Charles Fletcher Dole.)
Thanks,
George Wardle, Church Historian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ONGOING CHURCH HAPPENINGS
Building Use
Did you know that you can rent the Parish Hall or a smaller space for a celebration, group meeting or other event?? Contact Monroe Heyman.

Yoga at First Church
Join us throughout the year for Monday for Evening Yoga (6:45 – 8:15 pm) for 90 minutes of stretching, flexing and core strengthening (suggested donation: $15). For you early birds who want to wake up your body while the earth is waking up, try the slow-flow class Thursday mornings, 7:30 to 8:15 (suggested donation: $10). Please try to be on time, out of respect for other attendees. Some mats and props will be available to borrow. Bring a friend! For any questions about yoga, contact Margaret. All donations go to the work of First Church in our community.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When submitting items for the weekly newsletter, please limit them to 250 words or less. If you have a special event that may need more space, please check in with Julia (Firstchjp@aol.com) for special parameters. If you would like your announcement included in the weekly newsletter, please send them in by Wednesday evening at 8 pm. Announcements will run for no longer than 3 weeks, unless there are specific date parameters. You may resubmit your item after it has run for the allotted time.
Regular office hours are currently 9 am to 1 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays. You may contact the church administrator, Julia, by emailing Firstchjp@aol.com.
Julia Terry, Congregational Administrator
First Church in Jamaica Plain UU
6 Eliot Street
P.O. Box 300186
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
617-524-1634
Website: www.firstchurchjp.org

Metro Boston Climate Defense, led by Ken Ward, handed out revised MBTA service maps based on the 2040 projections for ocean levels rising due to climate change. Rev. Terry Burke prayed with the group (as shown at the end of this video). The action was part of the 350.org “Connect the Dots” international campaign on Climate Change.

11:00 a.m. Sunday Service: Please join us for a sermon by Chuck Collins titled “99 to 1: Wealth Inequality and the Power of Mutuality.”

Chuck Collins is member of First Church UUJP and author of the new book, “99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It.” He is coeditor of www.inequality.org.

Join us after the service for Coffee Hour in the Parish Hall.  Thank you to our Coffee Hour host, Dan De Angeli.

RE: This Sunday will be our annual GARDENING Sunday!  Kids of all ages will work on our little flower plot in the front yard of the church.  Please dress appropriately for dirt, grass and outdoor activities.

12:30 p.m. Congregational Meeting: A special congregational meeting will be held to discuss the Strategic Plan. If you need a copy of the plan, please let Andrea Clardy know.

First Reading:  From Chris Hedges, “Someone You Love:  Coming to a Gulag Near You” (truthdig.com).

Second Reading:  Two poems by Anna Akhmatova.

“Requiem”:

No, not under a foreign sky,
No, not cradled by foreign wings -
Then I was with my people, I,
With my people, there, sorrowing

“Instead of a Preface”:

In the dreadful years of the Yezhov terror I spent seventeen months in prison queues in Leningrad. One day someone ‘identified’ me. Then a woman standing behind me, blue with cold, who of course had never heard my name, woke from that trance characteristic of us all and asked in my ear (there, everyone spoke in whispers):

– Ah, can you describe this?

And I said:

I can.

Then something like a tormented smile passed over what had once been her face.

(1st April 1957)

Rev. Terry Burke:

The great 20th century Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, according to a biographer, “began as a Sappho, writing lyric poetry of love; during the terrors of Stalinism was a prophetic Cassandra; and ended her life as an Antigone, making sure that the dead were properly buried and remembered.” During the Soviet terror in the late 1930’s, 20% of the city of Leningrad disappeared into the Gulag of slave labor camps, supposedly to save the Revolution from its enemies. Since Akhmatova was a person of interest in the West, her husband and son were arrested instead.

Today’s excerpt from her poem “ Requiem” describes what it was like to wait in long prison lines, hoping for the chance of receiving information about a loved one, or being able to send them a package of food and clothing. A woman who had never heard of Akhmatova is comforted that there is a great poet in the queue, someone who can remember and describe their agony. At the Akhmatova museum in St. Petersburg, I saw handmade books of her poems, created by inmates of the camps from birch bark, with berry juice for ink. Akhmatova was a person of deep faith, whose life and poetry challenged the creators of the Gulag.

In February, speaking of the National Defense Authorization Act, libertarian Ron Paul decried “our descent into corporate-military fascism.” I am not a supporter of Ron Paul’s, but I think that took a lot of courage to say. We heard today from Chris Hedges’ article, “Someone You Love, Coming to a Gulag Near You.” Hedges, who has preached from our pulpit several times, is a Pulitzer Prize wining journalist and National Book Award nominee who now writes for Truthdig. Hedges is suing the Obama administration in federal court over the National Defense Authorization Act. The president signed the NDAA on December 31st, against the advice of the head of the FBI, the director of the CIA, his national security advisor, and the Attorney General.

The act allows the military the authority to indefinitely detain those suspected of “substantially supporting” al-Qaida, the Taliban and “associated groups.” “Substantially supporting” doesn’t necessarily mean having committed a crime or plotting one, but can focus on what people believe or think. If President “W” Bush had signed such a law, we’d be outraged, and up in arms. President Obama has assured Democratic leaders that he won’t allow indefinite detentions, but the NDAA will still be the law on the books for future presidents.

Hedges relates that we have 1,271 government agencies and 1,931 private companies dealing with counterintelligence, homeland security, and intelligence. The 854,000 people with Top Security clearances need to justify their existence. Investigative journalist James Bamford recently wrote in Wired magazine on the building of a super spying facility in Bluffdale, Utah able to process billions of emails. With al-Qaida a broken organization, it’s essential leader killed, there is a fear that all this security apparatus will be used against domestic dissent. Hedges writes of the experience of Alexa O’Brien, the founder of Day of Rage, a group dedicated to fighting the political power of Wall Street. Wikileaks revealed that the government was trying to link her economic justice group to Islamic terrorists. I have to say that this makes me a little uncomfortable putting this sermon on our website.

Another of Hedges’ articles is entitled “First They Came for the Muslims.” The title remembers anti-Nazi pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous quotation, “First they came for the Communists, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t Jewish. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out.” Niemöller varied the list in different talks: sometimes he ended with, “Then they came for the Church, and there was no one left to speak out.”

“First They came for the Muslims” documents how the Justice Department targets Muslims critical of our government policies with what one critic calls “preemptive prosecution.” Hundreds of Muslims have been prosecuted, the evidence against them off limits to the court and defense for security reasons. If convicted, the defendants’ sentences are quadrupled under “terror enhancement” laws. Albany lawyer Stephen Downs has tried to defend many of the targeted American Muslims. He draws his inspiration from the White Rose, the student Christian martyrs who resisted Nazism. Downs argues that the Justice Department is willing to have many innocent people convicted in these cases, in order to possibly prevent a few from later committing a crime.

One such Muslim is U.S. citizen Tarek Mehanna, recently convicted of providing material support to our enemies and sentenced to 17½ years in prison. Hedges writes:

His real crime, however, seems to be translating jihadist videos online, speaking out against U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and refusing to be a government informant.” Let’s listen to the foundations of his beliefs; this is from Tarek Mehanna’s closing remarks to the court:

“When I was 6… I began putting together a massive collection of comic books. Batman implanted a concept in my mind, introduced me to a paradigm as to how the world is set up: that there are oppressors, there are the oppressed, and there are those who step up to defend the oppressed. This resonated with me so much that throughout the rest of my childhood I gravitated towards any book that reflected that paradigm—‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X,’ …

“By the time I began high school and took a real history class, I was learning just how real that paradigm is in the world…I learned about the Native Americans and what befell them at the hands of European settlers. I learned about how the descendants of those European settlers were in turn oppressed under the tyranny of King George III. I read about Paul Revere, Tom Paine, and how Americans began an armed insurgency against British forces—an insurgency we now celebrate as the American Revolutionary War. As a kid I even went on school field trips just blocks away from where we sit now. I learned about Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, John Brown, and the fight against slavery in this country. I learned about Emma Goldman, Eugene Debs and the struggles of the labor unions, working class and poor. I learned about Anne Frank, the Nazis, and how they persecuted minorities and imprisoned dissidents. I learned about Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and the civil rights struggle. I learned about Ho Chi Minh, and how the Vietnamese fought for decades to liberate themselves from one invader after another. I learned about Nelson Mandela and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Everything I learned in those years confirmed what I was beginning to learn when I was 6: that throughout history, there has been a constant struggle between the oppressed and their oppressors. With each struggle I learned about, I found myself consistently siding with the oppressed, and consistently respecting those who stepped up to defend them—regardless of nationality, regardless of religion…

“In your eyes, I’m a terrorist, and it’s perfectly reasonable that I be standing here in an orange jumpsuit…But one day, America will change and people will recognize this day for what it is. They will look at how hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed and maimed by the U.S. military in foreign countries, yet somehow I’m the one going to prison for ‘conspiring to kill and maim’ in those countries—because I support the mujahedeen defending those people. They will look back on how the government spent millions of dollars to imprison me as a ‘terrorist,’ yet if we were to somehow bring Abeer al-Janabi back to life in the moment she was being gang-raped by your soldiers, to put her on that witness stand and ask her who the ‘terrorists’ are, she sure wouldn’t be pointing at me.

While I certainly don’t agree with Mehanna’s support for the mujahedeen, are we really more secure denying him the freedom to express his ideas?

(If we had more time, we could talk about the federal “secure communities” program deporting immigrants, which our governor opposes.)

Who are the most dangerous terrorists threatening our country and our world? President Bill Clinton spoke this week at Harvard and said, “Miami is gone! ” The city will not survive the rising waters from climate change. I heard one of my heroes, climate change activist Bill McKibben, speak this week at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel. His sermon was entitled, “Spitting in God’s Face.” McKibben pointed out that the earth’s temperature has already risen by one degree as a result of our burning fossil fuels, and already we have terrible storms like the 2011 hurricane in El Salvador which destroyed the last 15 years of development. Scientists expect that at the current rate of carbon emissions, the temperature will rise 4-5 degrees by the century’s end. Each additional degree will mean a 10% decrease in grain production; 4-5 degrees, 40-50% McKibben pointed out that this year, the Exxon corporation made more money than anyone in the history of money. The oil billionaire Koch brothers spent $40 million dollars this year in ads supporting the Tar Sands pipeline: NASA climate scientist James Hansen says that the pipeline will mean “Game Over” for any stabilization of the earth’s climate.

So who is the most dangerous terrorist – Alexa O’Brien with her Wall Street related Day of Rage? Tarek Mehanna supporting the mujahedeen? Exxon? The 370 congresspersons who recently voted to loosen any regulation of the Wall Street financial instrument derivatives (24 did oppose the measure)?

What are some of our real sources of security? Groups that create community, like our church and religious communities, like our Common Security Clubs, now Resiliency Circles, and organizations like the JP New Economy that are trying to plan locally for the post peak oil world. People and groups using our free speech and direct action like Bill McKibben’s 350.org (with “Connect the Dots” actions on May 5th), the Occupy Movement and 99% Spring, and the labor and immigrant groups, marching and demonstrating this May 1st.. Artists and poets and musicians and creative people are our “canaries in the coal mine.” At the Akhmatova museum in Petersburg, an orange haired middle aged woman working as a guard told me, “She had great faith, I wish I had her faith.”

As Unitarian Universalists, as people of faith, we “Stand on the Side of Love,” for immigrants, LGBTQ folks, and with those whose rights are being denied. As spiritual communities, we share our faith in God, humanity, and one another, so as to speak and act for the core American values of freedom, justice, and the rule of law. Our UU community needs to speak and act.

My teacher James Luther Adams was a great Unitarian ethicist who was involved in the church resistance to the Nazis. He knew Pastor Martin Niemoller. We heard Niemoller’s famous quotation earlier. How might it be rewritten in our time?

First they came for….the Muslims, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Muslim. Then they came for….the immigrants, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t an immigrant. Then they came for …the activists… economic justice, climate change, leaders of people of color, LGBTQ activists, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t an activist. Then they came for… the labor leaders, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a labor leader. Then they came for… the religious people, and there was no one left to speak out for me.

We need to speak out, to call, to email, to march, lest some future American poet write a Requiem for our democracy.

Benediction: In the words of Rabbi Hillel, “If not now, when?”