Last week, my 3-year-old son Jack and I were in the driveway “playing chalk.” We had put down a blanket in the sun and drew the ABCs and food items. (My artistic ability is limited). I lay down behind him and pretended to fall asleep while he drew. As I lay there, a delivery truck drove up and slowed down. At once, I knew she was slowing because she saw my son and knew that kids sometimes do silly things like run in front of trucks. I waved to her to let her know that I was in fact awake and had control over the situation. She waved back because she knew that’s what I meant. There were no words exchanged, only silent recognition that honored each of our roles in that moment. That little wave contained caring and love for the humanity of all of us.
UUCF’s annual Bridging Service is this coming Sunday and thinking back on this little driveway moment, it occurred to me that the ultimate, if idealistic, goal of raising UU children and youth is that others will “just know” that they are UU in how they live in the world. People will see the example of social justice, love and equity in our bridged youth and understand in an instant the silent recognition of each other’s humanity.
I am reminded of the lines of the hymn from my Presbyterian days: “… they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” This hymn launched me as a young adult into the world, full of hope and love for humanity and with the idea that everyone wants the same thing for each other. When I discovered that this wasn’t entirely true, I searched for my own truth and meaning and found Unitarian Universalism.
Since these bridging youth have been a part of UUCF for at least a few years, they have probably had at least the beginnings of their own searches for truth and meaning. They are already further on their paths than I was when I became a young adult, and have developed passion for equity, environmental justice, LGBTQIA+ rights and much more. They are ready to go into the world and use that passion to better the lives of others. But the thing our faith struggles with is keeping those young adults engaged as UUs and giving them opportunities to share their sense of justice with humanity. What can we do as a congregation to help these young adults to find their truths while knowing they are always a part of our congregation and family? What will you do to invite young adults, who find us on their paths, to help them feel loved and engaged in such a transformational part of adolescence? In short, how do we get them to stay UU?
My wish for these bridging youth is that they will know the world they and we want is possible. The fight for equity won’t be silent, because silence can only be received by those who are listening for it. It also won’t be easy or painless. While young adults have energy, passion and compassion, they have to share it with a society that is not all ready to understand. I hope that they know they will always have a home here, a place to come back to when the work gets hard and the world doesn’t understand. As they move forward, I want them to know, with a silent wave of recognition of our shared humanity, that they are loved and valued as human beings with something to bring to the world.
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