Turning Toward One Another as an Act of Resistance

Last night I had the honor of offering presence and care outside the VA as nurses from across the Twin Cities gathered to mourn and remember Alex Pretti. They arrived slowly outside the gates, bundled and huddled with candles. Some came out on shift breaks to join for just 10 minutes, long enough to see their grief mirrored in each other’s faces. To find solace. To rage through tears and laughter. 

I was reminded again last night as I handed out handwarmers to nurses who hadn’t had time to change into boots as they ran down from their floors that in times like these—when our neighbors are being killed or deported and the work of justice feels both urgent and unrelenting— turning toward one another is the only way to survive. We literally need closeness to stay warm, to find enough light to see and light our own candles in the fumbling dark, to remember we are not alone, but holding this horror together, too.

That’s why at First Universalist, we are offering so many forms of connection this winter/spring program season. This coming Sunday is Sign-Up Sunday, a chance to linger after worship in the social hall and explore ways to get plugged into the shared life of the congregation more deeply. Programs begin February 8 and run through May 17, offering many ways to warm ourselves in community so we can keep showing up for each other.

Here are some glimmers of what’s to come: 

We will gather monthly around tables at Community Dinners, where a shared meal opens into conversation, learning, and mutual care. We will open our homes for Circle Suppers (sign up to host one here), strengthening trust through food, laughter, and honest talk. We will mark Earth Day together with a plant-based potluck and a film that lifts up youth voices and climate hope. 

We are also creating more intentional spaces of care and belonging—especially for those who are too often asked to be resilient without support. A pancake breakfast for trans and gender-expansive folks, ongoing support circles for caregivers, BIPOC beloveds, single parents, people in grief, and those engaged in resistance work, and monthly gatherings for trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive adults all say the same thing: you are not alone here. We are holding it together.

For those who are new or newly returning, there are welcoming on-ramps—A Place to Start, Newcomer Circles, and Membership Classes—spaces to explore Unitarian Universalism, ask real questions, and discern what mutual commitment might look like in a justice-centered faith community.

Our faithful action continues from Sanctuary and Resistance solidarity to Habitat for Humanity builds, environmental justice work toward a zero-waste future, and intergenerational Common Ground Sundays where children, youth, and adults practice liberation together. Across generations, we are learning how to care for one another while caring for the world.

And alongside justice actions, we will tend the inner life that sustains us. Labyrinth walks on the full moon, music-making, crafting in community, and embodied spiritual practices like qigong for liberation invite us back into our bodies and breath. These practices help us metabolize grief, reclaim joy, and stay rooted in the warmth of love.

This winter and spring, may we remember that community is not a luxury—it is a strategy. By choosing connection, we sustain our capacity to resist harm, to love our neighbors, and to keep building the belonging our tradition teaches us is possible. 

In peace and gratitude,

Rev. Ashley