Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta

Nov. 24, 2014

I am writing this just minutes after news broke about the grand jury verdict in the shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. The grand jury chose not to indict Officer Wilson. The jury of twelve people included nine white people (six men and three women) and three black people (two women and one man). The law in Missouri states that only nine of twelve people have to agree on a charge, and it looks like the jury was not able to muster at least nine votes to indict. 

I can't imagine how difficult this process has been on the jurors. Whatever our personal feelings are about this verdict, we can know that the jury did its humanly possible best to be fair. Though the basic facts of the case are well known--that Brown was unarmed when Wilson shot him--the particular circumstances of the shooting are hotly debated. One side has emphasized how Wilson shot Brown while his hands were up in surrender. Another side has been more focused on the allegation that Brown tried to take Wilson's gun while they were both in the police car, and Wilson fired in self-defense. No doubt this is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how complex all the considerations are. 

Even so, the outrage of people of color is completely understandable. To not indict Wilson can easily be read as a knock against the value of African American lives--the lives of young black men in particular. Black people experience just this sort of knock against them all the time, in ways big and small, from outright acts of obvious racism to "microaggressions" that can come from even the most liberal white person. 

Ferguson has a larger meaning. As our Unitarian Universalist President the Rev. Peter Morales has said: “Events like those transpiring in Ferguson have happened too often. The disturbing fact is that they could have happened in most cities in America. There is so much bottled up frustration, so much injustice, so much repression, so much fear, hatred, and racism in our nation…” 

My prayer is that UUCA can be a part of the healing, in our little corner of the world. Part of the hard work here includes our resolve to stay with the process of becoming a more inclusive, multicultural community. Let us be an example of how people can love each other even as differences are affirmed and accommodated. Let us be the change we wish to see in the world. 

And let us continue to speak truth to power. That is the other part of the work, the political part. Let justice be done. America needs to do better. We are not where we need to be. We are falling short of the Dream. 

Like you, I'll be paying attention as the repercussions of the verdict unfold in Ferguson. The town has been jittery for some time now. Gun sales have been up. Businesses have been closed. Emergency conditions have been declared. It's a frightening time. 

May the police practice nonviolent restraint towards the understandably angry protesters. 

Brown's family have asked for four and a half minutes of silence before any protests begin--which is a reference to the approximately four and a half hours Brown's body remained in the street after he was shot. The deeper implication is this: that, through reflection and self-control, people can prevent a similar kind of tragedy.

The justice that must be done cannot be served through violent means. 

Dear ones, even in times like this, let us walk together as a community united by our Unitarian Universalist faith in the possibility of justice and peace. As Unitarian minister Theodore Parker once said, and Martin Luther King Jr. repeated, "the arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice." 

Love and courage, 

The homilies below were created and delivered by youth members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta on Sunday, March 16, 2014.

Midnight Road in Chattanooga - Aaron Kearns

I was in the car with my parents, driving home from Chattanooga. Now, usually with these late night drivings I would just pass out while listening to music, but that day, I decided to pull out my video camera and shoot some clips of the highway. I didn’t really know what I would use it for at the time. Back at home, I loaded the clips into my computer, and then just left them there to sit. This past Saturday, I was looking through some of my older shoots and rediscovered the driving clips. Watching them again, I saw some potential for a video poem of sorts.

Though the film is now only a minute long, I originally had over an hour and a half of footage of the night highway. Oh the many wonders of movie editing (and spare time) indeed.

The main idea behind the film, was to recreate the experience of a long monotonous drive. With memories of it fading, the dream like state of the (almost) empty road, how things began to blend together as time slows down to a state of almost stopping and suspended animation. This film, has a story behind it, much like many other works of art out there.

Many well known and acclaimed works of art tell stories of casual scenes. The Starry Night, Bedroom in Arles, even the Mona Lisa. Even photography can have the same effect of making something interesting out of something so normal. That doesn’t include all photography obviously. “Selfies” (yeah, that’s what them kids call it nowadays) don’t exactly make the best subjects for an art museum. What goes through the mind of the artist? What inspires them, what motivates them? I obviously can’t speak for all artists out there, but communication is the leading motive for me. Telling a story, through any kind of medium, without the limits that reality forces on us. Political cartoons, being a good example, take real situations and/or scenarios going on at the time and express the thoughts of the said artist. Ralph Steadman (one of my favorite artists) is a perfect example.

Art also is based heavily on the experiences of the artist. The experiences can vary, from everyday occurrences to major life changing events. Acclaimed author Kurt Vonnegut based his masterpiece SlaughterHouse-Five off of his traumatic memories of the war. Just about any moment can be made into art if looked at in the right way, as a way to communicate about a personal truth, to tell about how the artist sees it. Vonnegut showed the dark side of war, and Debussy recreated a quiet moonlit night through a piano piece.

Kintsukuroi - Emma Antenen

Most often, life flows from one moment to the next, but I also have faced devastations and outright traumas that left me wrecked. In those moments, I have wondered what would become of the pieces. I am the broken pieces of my experience.

Kintsukuroi means “to repair with gold”; the art of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver lacquer. The art is often associated with an understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken and repaired. In the learning about Japanese art of kintsukuroi, I fell in love with the beauty of being broken apart and what can follow. It is a poetic metaphor for life.

My mothers were together for 16 years, separating when I was eight years old. When they told me, my first question was “Will we still be a family?” My moms reassured me even though they wouldn’t be living in the same home, we would remain as one. They went further to talk about different types of families and in separating; we would become yet another type of family, but family all the same. 

Following the separation, my moms maintained a good relationship and we would often have “family dinners” with all of us attending. In time I healed from my parent’s divorce.

I often speak with deep gratitude for the “bad” events of my life. Although each seemed difficult if not impossible to surpass, I grew stronger in the course of simply staying the course. I met people of significance I would not have otherwise, I gained necessary power, or I turned in another direction taking me down a path I needed to discover. In this, I have become truly thankful for the trials I have come through and definitely my life has become more gratifying.

In having been broken open, I realize I am not ruined, rather a willow, twisting, weeping….budding into green. Spring green, lime and forest, richly nourishing myself with the

earth. I survived to see my scars turn silver, their pattern telling stories across my face, hands, arms, and legs. Their pattern a road map by which to remember my past. I am Kintsukuroi.

When something breaks us, we often lose the will to stay engaged in our lives. We lose the will to breathe. Sometimes, we even lose the will to live, but the idea of finding the blessings in being broken and healing can help see us through the most difficult of times.

Time and the will to survive are great equalizers. Eventually, remembering to breathe will come more naturally, disbelief will evolve into acceptance, and the deep ache of loss or trauma will transform into happier times. Although the fractures may never disappear, a certain beauty from this of will emerge. The new fractures in the shattered bowl of our life will be filled with the love that remains. I know this to be true. I am Kintsukuroi. I. Am. Reborn.

How It's Made - Connor Jones

Today, we have spoken to you of finding beauty and healing in times of pain, and discussed art as a concept. A sort of connection between the artist and the audience through shared experiences. However, the theme of the service today is embracing the artist in all of us, and I think the question is no longer what is it, but how is it done? How do I become an artist?

In a few, simple words, you have to know your emotions and your medium, and then make the two worlds meet. But obviously this doesn’t just happen. You have to work like you would for anything ultimately rewarding, because what you get on the other end is called an aesthetic experience. An aesthetic experience affects us emotionally, and usually reminds us of of something from our pasts. My favorites are getting chills when you hear a song, feeling something old and familiar when you go home, or when a baby reaches out and grabs your finger. The emotions we feel are what keep us going, because all the other stuff we do is essentially just book-keeping. So, in an attempt to help you find an aesthetic experience, I’ve got a few few tips to make it more enjoyable.

Be a part of the community. You aren’t as unique as you think you are; there are other people who express themselves in the same way that you find best, The only difference is skill level and focus.

Learn to observe these others, rather than comparing yourself to them. Find things you want to emulate.

The means determine the ends; the process should represent the product.

Failure is inevitable. Your reaction in not so inflexible.

You get out what you put in, and it’s about working smart, not hard.