A Litany of Unity
by the Rev. Meg A. Riley
Director, Advocacy and Witness,UUA
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I will
meet you there.
We are young and old, married and single. We are grandparents, parents,
and
child-free by choice and with broken hearts, we are gay and asexual,
bisexual and straight.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We are Buddhists and humanists, theists and agnostics. We are Christians
and Sikhs, Jews and Muslims, pagans and fifth-generation Universalists.
We find all of these labels confining.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We are Republicans and Democrats, non-voters and third party activists
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We are pacifists and just-war proponents, conscientious objectors
and enlisted personnel
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We are angry and grievous, fearful and grateful to be alive
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We have confidence in our government; we have lived in democracy's
shadow,
Our ancestors landed at Plymouth Rock, our ancestors' bones testify
to our suffering
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We pray to God for comfort, we are discomforted by the idea of God.
We turn to God for solace, we turn away from God in anger.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We are street activists and meditators, headline-scanners and media
junkies
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We are sure of what must be done, nothing makes sense to us as a
clear path of action, we are vigilantly watching what comes next and
we have lowered our eyes from the horizon
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We are risk-takers and conflict avoiders, group processors and lone
rangers
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
The American flag gives us strength; the American flag makes us afraid;
the American flag excludes us; the American flag makes us feel united
as a people; we only fly earth flags
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I
will meet you there.
We are Unitarian Universalist communities. Our love for each other
is our strength; living our own truth and yet honoring each others'
makes that love real.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I will
meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk
about.
-- Refrain/ Poem by Rumi
Litany by Meg Riley
September, 2001
