At Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, Children's Chapel is something to which everybody can look forward. On Sunday mornings, children bring their parents into the sanctuary, we light our chalice, we sing some hymns, we have a Wisdom Moment, and then the kids and I hop on over to Fahs House. We don't have Children's Chapel every Sunday, so it is a special thing when it happens. We begin Children's Chapel with circle time that includes children of all ages in our big living room, and I ask each child the same question:
"How did you U.U. this week?"
By this I mean "How did you act on your Unitarian Universalist faith and principles this week?"
Often the kids will tell me that they respected the Earth by recycling, they helped a family pet, maybe they helped dad set the table.
Sometimes, a child will tell me they stood up for someone being bullied at school. This relates to the 2nd Principle, "Justice, equity and compassion in human relations."
This week, Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists is snowed out by the ice and snow, so we won't gather together in person. Yet, I'm still left thinking "How did I U.U. this week?"
There's so much to talk about with this topic, but the one at the front of my mind right now is the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
The water has "too much" lead in it, which means it isn't safe to drink for anybody, and yet the people of Flint weren't alerted to this in a timely manner.
I believe that just by virtue of being alive each person on this planet has the right to access clean safe water. End of story. The people of Flint were denied that right. More than the awful fact that this has happened, how can we make sure this doesn't happen again? How can we show the people of Flint compassion and justice by providing a major city with the infrastructure for safe drinking water?
People of Flint, your lives and your water quality matter.