We Are Still Here
Dear ones –
In a time of trauma and shock – and Asheville has been through almost unimaginable trauma and shock over the last month and a half – it’s important to focus on first principles: food. Water. Shelter. Securing the safety and wellbeing of those you love. Breathing in. Breathing out. Deep practices of self-care and mutual aid.
In times of turbulent and uncertain, unwanted change, the first principles are the same, with one more element – finding and keeping our eyes on our own North Star, that inner compass which points true to our deepest values and most enduring commitments to Love.
We have always lived in dangerous days; sometimes we are very aware of it, and sometimes, less so. The calls to liberation always are sounding, and our most vulnerable have always needed us to be brave. That hasn’t changed. There may come times in the days ahead when living into your most deeply held values and answering the call of Love will be harder than ever before. We need to be prepared for that. That is why we need each other: to create sanctuary, and practice Love that transforms, even when to do so is to risk everything.
We are still here. We still love what we love, and we will persist, and Love more. And please remember that rest is resistance, joy is essential, and being able to laugh and love even in difficult times is how we make a life. Don’t be afraid of the beauty that still is everywhere in this world.
For now, let the day be enough unto itself, and please – join us here at UU Asheville. To see the faces of those who understand, who are working to build that same better world you dream of, is salvific. We need each other more than ever.
Here for you –
Revs. Audette & Claudia
Matt Farris & TKay Browning, interns
David McKaig, Jen Johnson, Trevor Johson, & Kim Collins – UU Avl Staff