By Saturday, I felt free. I was done with my commitments as Music Coordinator for the Young Adult worship services and all that remained was the business of GA and lending my voice to a Climate Change worship service. I guess that's how I became open to something beyond music these last two days.
I really enjoyed being a vocalist for the Climate Change worship. Much of the music you'll be hearing back at ORUUC. Music that makes you feel grounded, connected. But also music that challenges you to act. By the time I left the climate change worship, I understood the power of music and worship to restore the weary and inspire the passive into action.
The worship was followed by the final rehearsal with the GA Choir. One of the pieces, "We Will Walk Together," was written by Clif Hardin and commissioned by Heidi Brenner Bjerke - a member of my congregation - in memory of her Dad, who came out as a gay man at 78 years old. I was proud as I shared the story with members of the GA Choir. Music is so much more powerful when the musicians understand the context behind it.
Then, honestly, it was time for a break. I hit the meditation room with Amanda and crashed. Lesson learned: adrenaline only burns so long. I awoke refreshed and ready for dinner with my fellow ORUUCians. After a nice dinner catching up on our GA experiences, it was back to the convention center to see Dr. Cornel West deliver the Ware Lecture. Dr. West structured his lecture after four questions W.E.B. DuBois said every generation must consider, namely:
- How shall integrity face oppression?
- What does honesty do in the face of deception?
- What does decency do in the face of insult?
- How does virtue meet brute force?
http://www.uuworld.org/articles/cornel-west-ware-lecture
 |
| My view of Dr. Cornel West |
He called on the audience to live with integrity. What I heard, as I listened to him speak, was a call to live my faith. To act rather than just discuss. To show rather than just tell. And it totally changed my Sunday.
Sunday morning started off like any other General Assembly. Sunday morning worship is always amazing. Nothing restores your soul like singing with almost 200 people in front of an audience of nearly 5,000. It's uplifting. The GA Choir Director, Burt Gulhaugen, is so fun to work with. My favorite piece (other than "We Will Walk Together, of course) was a gospel number called "Overflowing" by Brian Tate. Our soloist, Cecelia Hayes, was simultaneously powerful and humble. What a great combination! I could tell when she was singing about gratitude, she meant every word. During the sermon, Rev. Alison Miller made me laugh with the story of a teenager who said of our UU religion, "You've never heard of it." And she inspired me with her ideas that we live into the stories we tell.
Then it was on to final pieces of the UU business meeting. We quickly passed Actions of Immediate Witness supporting creating a global climate agreement and ending immigrant child and family detention. Then we spent quite a long time debating a third AIW supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. I would go into the process by which we finally approved it, but honestly I was disappointed with the wordsmithing and nitpicking that went into the process. I was so proud, so moved, so riled up when it passed. I felt personally vested in the youth that drafted the AIW and the young adult community who supported their efforts. I felt like celebrating this step forward for our congregations. And so I did!
It just so happened that a Black Lives Matter rally was spontaneously organized after the business meeting, but before the closing ceremony. As a GA choir member, I was supposed to be on stage for the closing ceremony. So I was faced with a pretty mind boggling decision - sing with the GA choir (which I LOVE and look forward to every year) - or participate in the demonstration. I'll let you figure out where I ended up:
 |
| Photo by Jo Walter |
Every year, I come away with something new from GA. This year, it was living into my desire to be a music director (I often introduced myself as an "aspiring music director"), proving to myself that I could select, organize, and lead music with musicians from around the country, and awakening into a deep sense of wanting to live my UU faith out loud.
See you next year in Columbus!
No comments:
Post a Comment