"This collection of reflections and aspirations invites us to listen to voices that have been silenced in the past. This kind of listening is vitally important to our religious movement. In order to create a beloved community-one that shares a powerful love and shapes a common purpose-we must know one another. In order to know one another, we must hear each other's stories, see the world through each other's eyes."
— Rev. Peter Morales, from the Foreword
In Voices from the Margins, Jacqui James and Mark Morrison-Reed have compiled a remarkable collection of reflections and meditations from voices often left unheard in Unitarian Universalism. These writings remind us of both what we miss when we don't listen to marginalized voices and the amazing insights we stand to gain when we do.
Foreword by Peter Morales
Introduction
An Invitation
Waiting by Marta I. Valentín
Come, Come adapted from Rumi by Leslie Takahashi Morris
Each Day by Kristen Harper
River Call by Manish K. Mishra-Marzetti
Our Voices Must Be Heard by Jonipher Kwong
Our Questions
We Are Called by Natalie Fenimore
It is That Time and That Place by Qiyamah A. Rahman
Borderlands by Susan Manker-Seale
Who Is Welcome? by Kristen Harper
Labyrinth by Leslie Takahashi Morris
Our Journey
On the Brink by Leslie Takahashi Morris
As We Move by Orlanda Brugnola
Lessons from a Car Radio by Jackie Clement
Marginal Wisdom by Leslie Takahashi Morris
Our Identities
Song of the Universe by Manish K. Mishra-Marzetti
Redskin by Susan Manker-Seale
Why There Must Be an American Flag Upon My Tasbee by Mitra Jafarzadeh
I Too Am Beautiful by Kristen Harper
Exquisite Sight by Yvonne Seon
Thali by Abhi Janamanchi
One Love by Hope Johnson
Our Resolve
Having Been the Other by Natalie Fenimore
Social Justice by Donald E. Robinson
Prayer for Living in Tension by Joseph M. Cherry
Are We Living in a Post-Racial World, Yet? by Xolani Kacela
Saving Unitarian Universalism by John T. Crestwell Jr.
Nada te Turbe (Don't Despair) by Susan Manker-Seale
Bless a Stranger with a Smile by Monica Cummings
Our Sources of Strength
The Three Jewels by Jonipher Kwong
Love Abundant by Alicia R. Forde
God's Tears by Shuma Chakravarty
History’s Road by Clyde Grubbs and Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley
Faith and Belief by Jackie Clement
Our Seasons
Ground of Being by Natalie Fenimore
Suddenly One Summer by Addae Ama Kraba
Harvest Time by Manish K. Mishra-Marzetti
In gatherings by Marta I. Valentín
This Holiday Season by Addae Ama Kraba
When Snow Falls Gently Reminding Me of You by Om Prakash
Our Place In The Web of Life
Reformation: The Spirit of the Wind by Kristen Harper
M?lama '?ina by Jonipher Kwong
A Riff on Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Mark D. Morrison-Reed
The Stars Are Dancing by Om Prakash
A Beautiful Assortment by John T. Crestwell Jr.
All We Are One by Yvonne Seon
Our Prayers
What is Prayer? by Shuma Chakravarty
A Prayer for Those Who Pray and Those Who Don't by Susan Manker-Seale
Let It Be So by Monica Cummings
We Dream of Peace by Marta I. Valentín
A traditional Hindu prayer translated and adapted by Abhi Janamanchi
Only Begun by William Sinkford
Our Work Is Not Yet Done by Peter Morales
About the Contributors
River Call
Between rocking the boatand sitting down;
between stirring things up,
and peaceably going along,
We find ourselves
here,
in community.
Each called
from many different
journeys,
many different
life paths,
onto this river road.
Some are here
because the rocking of
the boat
has been too much:
too much tumult,
too much uncertainty,
too much pain.
Some are here with questions
about where the boat is going;
how best to steer it;
where this journey ends.
Others are here
as lovers of the journey,
lovers of life itself.
Here in front
beside
behind
each a passenger;
each a Captain;
doing the best we can.
"Rest here, in your boat,
with me," the river calls;
"Listen to how I flow,
the sound of life coursing all around you."
Let the current
hold you,
let the current
guide you;
the river that gently flows
through your soul,
whispers:
"Come, let us worship."
—Manish K. Mishra-Marzetti
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