“We act free to get free.” Ways to show up this week.

“Act free to be free. Act free to get free.” I heard these words as an invitation on Monday as I sat in a room of friends, old and new, who are putting their hearts and bodies in the way of harm—words spoken to each other and our neighbors this week. This is not a slogan. It is a spiritual truth we will practice as clergy from across the country join the formation of solidarity you have each helped make happen already in the Twin Cities.

Freedom is something we must demand and practice—together, they reminded us on Monday. This is how we make real what we know as Unitarian Universalists: that every person has inherent worthiness and dignity that is now being violated in our own state. ICE is actively operating in Minnesota, terrorizing families, surveilling neighbors, and destabilizing communities through detention, intimidation, and fear. This is happening here, to us. To our friends and neighbors. To people we love. 

In response, on Friday, January 23, First Universalist Church of Minneapolis is joining a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Truth and Freedom, in solidarity with our multifaith and immigrant organizing partners. We invite you to participate as you are able. This day is a collective act of conscience—a refusal to normalize cruelty, and a commitment to live as though freedom already belongs to all of us.

On this day, participants are invited to withhold labor, spending, and consent as a public declaration: we will not cooperate with systems that cage our neighbors. We draw strength from the long lineage of faithful resistance—from the civil rights movement to liberation struggles across the globe—that teaches us that freedom is embodied before it is secured.

There are many ways to act free in this moment. March with neighbors in downtown Minneapolis at 2 pm. Join us in vigil on Friday night at 7 pm at our own church. Offer care and accompaniment to those most impacted by ICE enforcement. No action is too small, and there are so many ways you can find to act here. Each is a step toward the world we are trying to build. 

So let us practice now what we long for.
We act free to be free.
We act free to get free.

Will you join me?