President’s Message

This year, 2023, has been plagued by epic human tragedies. Some have been acts of nature like the February earthquake that killed over 59,000 people in Turkey and Syria, the recent (October 7) earthquake that has so far resulted in the loss of 1,500 lives in Afghanistan and the hurricane-amplified wildfire that devastated the Hawaiian Island of Maui. Others like Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine and the presently unfolding crisis in Israel and Gaza are entirely human induced. So far, this latest conflict, brought on by Hamas’ barbaric attack on innocent Israeli civilians, has taken the lives of at least 1,400 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians have died in the resulting war. Many more deaths surely lie ahead on both sides. The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) recently issued a detailed statement on the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and Israel. The complete document can be downloaded at https://www.uua.org/pressroom/press-releases/catastrophe-gaza-and-israel. An excerpt from that UUA statement reads as follows:

“The UUA condemns the horrific terror attacks from Hamas on Israeli civilians, and the taking of innocent hostages. There can never be justification for such an attack. The UUA condemns the harm to innocent civilians caused by the Israeli government’s retaliation against Gaza and implores the Israeli government to do all it can to protect innocent civilian life and avoid further escalating military action. We call on Unitarian Universalists to continue to witness against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and to side with love in this moment by urging their elected officials to leverage the considerable power of the US government to push for an immediate and humane resolution to the crisis in Gaza, including total ceasefire, humanitarian aid access, and rescinding the evacuation order”.

As a reminder, the BoD meetings now take place on the second Tuesday of each month beginning at 4:00 PM. All are welcome to attend and offer input, but voting is limited to BoD members. It has been suggested by several members and friends that we should resume our “Kitchen Table” forums with the aim of promoting greater community awareness of several important social justice issues, perhaps starting with some theme related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, which of embraces racial, economic, and legal justice. We invite your suggestions for topics and discussion leaders. We hope to resume these meetings on a Saturday afternoon beginning in late November. Doug Alexander was proposed as someone who could help us with issues and being inclusive and Bonnie agreed to invite him to possibly lead the November forum. Stand by for more specifics yet to come.

As most of you are aware, Mary Louise DeWolf left a significant bequest to NCUU to support a new or ongoing ministry. At the last board meeting, a small group consisting of Bonnie, Holly, Pam, and Don agreed to begin discussion on what the theme of the ministry might be. The first meeting will be Saturday, 11 November at 4 pm at the Fellowship. All interested members are encouraged to attend and offer your suggestions.

Namaste,
Don Wright