Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Our Fifth Principle: In House

I just finished prepping the lesson for our Older Elementary Sunday School class for this week. We're using Toolbox of Faith by Kate Covey (do we have a Facebook fan page for her yet? we should) this week is about the Democratic Process.

It makes me so deeply grateful to be Unitarian Universalist, and to have been raised with these core values as a UU. Democracy is not about keeping *you* away from *my* stuff, it's about us, all of us here in this world today taking care of each other. And now as I plan this lesson with the RE volunteer and my brand new fabulous Associate DRE I am stunned at just what we do here in our little humble denomination, and our humble little congregation.

I was reading what Kate writes about direct democracy and about consensus, and of course I realize that our own Michael Kusz, who serves as the Sr. Manager of FUNTIMES Youth Caucus at GA, should go talk to the Older Elementary class this week! I mean, the Olympia Brown story is a big deal and important, but we have our own story, too.

We have the story of how the youth of Westside UU Congregation got the vote, how we changed our bylaws so people under 18 could be full members of our congregation and go to GA as delegates. And how one of those youth was voted into leadership at GA and then brought more justice and voice to all UU youth by serving on the Youth Ministry Working Group.

It's a good story on this good election day.

(I have decided that working by myself in my house all day was a really, really bad idea on this very highly heroically stressful day! And I'm taking the rest of the day to sit by the tv and to try to write my nano and to cook, and bake and sautee and keep my hands busy. Ah!)

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