Read the full issue of this week’s newsletter here: The Weekly Liberal Feb. 9.

Rev. Justin writes:

I recently came across this reading from Wendell Berry, a poet and author: “Much protest is naive; it expects quick, visible improvement and despairs and gives up when such improvement does not come. Protesters who hold out longer have perhaps understood that success is not the proper goal….Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one’s own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence.”

This quote is sustaining me today; it filled up my inner “gas tank,” if you will. It’s a reminder that we’re in a long game and that by protesting, raising our voices, taking a moral stand, advocating, and working in solidarity with others, we preserve a piece of our own spirit, building a shield around our non-negotiable core convictions.

What “pit-stops” are you visiting? What is filling your tank up these days?

In addition to joining us for Sunday worship, here are additional opportunities to nourish your spirit and “top up your tank:”

• Join us this Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m. for our Family Friendly Pancake Breakfast. I’ll be helping to serve up pancakes. Food and fellowship is never a bad idea!
• Following the breakfast, you can join thousands of neighbors and members of First Universalist at A Walk of Love for Immigrants and Refugees . The walk begins at noon and starts at City Hall. If you’d like to meet up with others from First Universalist, you can text or call Jeanne Guignon Peppel at 952-270-1931.
• We are a congregation committed to racial justice and we invite you to deepen your understanding of race, racism, and whiteness. A Conversation for White People Newly Seeking to be Anti-Racist (led by my friend, Shari Seifert) is a great place to start, as is our own Racial Justice Workshop coming up in two weeks. (And if you identify as a Person of Color, you’re invited to join our Circle for People of Color; learn more about all of our racial justice efforts here .)

Each of these gatherings provides an opportunity to expand your circle of connection, to sustain your spirit, and to act on your values. This is the recipe for the long haul struggle we’re in.

I’ll see you in church,

Justin