When I Wake Up

When I wake up ,I find myself in an environment

That’s so different from the one I once knew.

I find that I’ve not merely traveled out of society,

But to a place no one warned me about.

I collect my thoughts for a moment

While gazing from the window of my cell.

The rain-slicked razor wire in front of the house unit

Is being cleaned again by nature.

I never fail to be surprised by the same landscape

Time and time again.

Just as I perceive this,

Suddenly the texture of reality has changed once more.

It’s as if the transition from society

Has been nonstop to this Satan’s cave.

Here is where I dwell.

In a momentary lapse of reason.

“Come with me, and you will be, in a land full of imagination…”

If You Want to See Paradise (Don’t Ask me for a Picture)

Poem by incarcerated member Vylet

Yeah, I know you want something a little more upbeat.

And all my poems are sad.

I’d write about being happy more often,

If I were happy more often. eee, Gad!

But for you, let me try this.

It’s no big deal.

For you, I will write

What I do not feel.

With imagination it’s easy.

Word play I create.

A mind set to set minds.

In a World. Realist. State.

Happy happy joy joy.

Ahhh, forget this.

What do you want from me?

My heart is dark as midnight

And only death holds the key.

I hate people. I hate life.

I wish death, I stir strife.

I talk proper and fool people.

Sophisticated learned evil.

I wasn’t always full of resentment.

Bitterness and sorrow

Pain and depression.

But that story will not be told,

This morning or after lunch.

Use your imagination

And make one the hell up.

Ah yes,  I imagine and daydream it’s true

That one day I won’t have to imagine

What it’s like to be happy

And happily write a poem for you

1-25-2020

Join our hosts Rev. Meg Riley, Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera, and Rev Michael Tino for a live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET.

On The VUU this Week (June 13th), we chatted with Colin Bossen, Danielle DiBona, Vanessa Southern and Kimberly Hampton on The Minns Lectures – The VUU #265

The Minns Lectures are an annual series of lectures on religious topics conducted under the auspices of the Minns Lectureship Committee, whose membership is composed of ministers and members of First Church Boston and King’s Chapel in Boston. With the first lecture, given in 1942 by Walton E. Cole, this series established itself as an innovative force in Unitarian Universalist thought, and the lectures continue today as a source of creative theological and religious advancement.

The lectureship was established by a bequest of Susan Minns of Boston to honor her brother, Thomas Minns. As she stated in her will, Miss Minns wished for six lectures to be given annually by a Unitarian Universalist minister in good standing on a topic of general religious interest. http://minnslectures.org/about.php

Production support provided by Margalie Belizaire.

The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship

Attached media: https://web.archive.org/web/20211110022901/https://www.questformeaning.org/podcasts/vuu/latest/vuu265.mp3

Join our hosts Rev. Meg Riley, Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera, and Rev Michael Tino for a live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET.

On The VUU this Week (June 16th), we chatted with Dr. Bethany McKinney Fox, Rev. Dr. Meg Richardson and Rev Theresa Soto on Welcoming Children, Youth and Adults with Special Needs – The VUU #263

Bethany McKinney Fox (PhD in Christian Ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary), currently works at Fuller as adjunct professor of Christian ethics and runs the Access Services Office, working to make the institution more accessible and welcoming to students with disabilities. She is the founding pastor of Beloved Everybody Church, a community of people with and without intellectual disabilities, participating and leading together. She has a new book: Disability and the Way of Jesus: Holistic Healing in the Gospels and the Church (IVP Academic).

Rev. Dr. Meg Richardson joined the faculty of Starr King School in 2014. Dr. Richardson, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and Durham University, with a certificate in Theology from Manchester College Oxford, has studied our living tradition in both the United States and Great Britain, and was mentored by scholars including Conrad Wright, James Luther Adams, and Sheridan Gilley. In addition to serving as the Director of the UU Certificate program, Dr. Richardson teaches UU History and Polity.

The Rev. Theresa I. Soto is a minister and liberation worker currently living in Ashland, Oregon, with their partner, the Rev. Sean Dennison. Soto’s lived experience informs their way of engaging with others, from asking insightful questions, to speaking difficult truths. Soto is a 2016 graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School.

Production support provided by Margalie Belizaire.

The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

Attached media: https://web.archive.org/web/20211110021253/https://www.questformeaning.org/podcasts/vuu/latest/vuu263.mp3

Join our hosts Rev. Meg Riley, Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera, and Rev Michael Tino for a live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET.

On The VUU this Week (May 9th), DeReau Farrar chatted with us on UU Music, Part II – The VUU #260DeReau K. Farrar is director of music at First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, and a member of the board and conference planning committee of the Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network. Before moving to Portland in 2016, he served UU congregations in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, California, led an interfaith community gospel choir, and worked as a freelance music director, vocal contractor, consultant, and arranger. He worked on HBO’s All the Way (2016) and Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017).

Production support provided by Margalie Belizaire.

The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

Attached media: https://web.archive.org/web/20211110012319/https://www.questformeaning.org/podcasts/vuu/latest/vuu260.mp3

Join our hosts Rev. Meg Riley, Aisha Hauser, Christina Rivera, and Rev Michael Tino for a live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET.

On The VUU this Week (May 2nd): Matthew Johnson, Rev Kim D Wilson, Paul Langston-Daley, Jonalu Johnstone Christana Wille McKnight and Wendy Williams chatted with us on What’s New with UUMA Accountability – The VUU #259

Wilson is the chair of the Ethics Guidelines Committee. Langston-Daley is the chair of the Accountability team. McKnight is the UUMA Board Liaison. Johnstone and Johnson are of the members of the Accountability team. Wendy Williams is the UUMA President Designate

Production support provided by Margalie Belizaire.

The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

Attached media: https://media.blubrry.com/clfvuu_latest/www.questformeaning.org/podcasts/vuu/latest/vuu259.mp3

Join our hosts Rev. Meg Riley, Rev. Michael Tino, Aisha Hauser and Christina Rivera for a live Unitarian Universalist talk show discussing today’s topics from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive and multicultural perspective. The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET.

THIS WEEK (March 21st) ON THE VUU – TRUUsT-What’s New What’s Next – The VUU #253

We chatted with TRUUsT members, Rev Andrée Mol and Rev Dawn Fortune about what’s new and what’s next.

Rev Andrée Mol (pronouns: they/them/theirs) serves as the Developmental Minister for Pastoral Care and Membership at the First UU Society of Burlington, Vermont. They also serve on the Steering Committee of TRUUsT.

Rev. Dawn Fortune is a genderqueer transmasculine UU minister serving the UU Congregation of the South Jersey Shore in Galloway, NJ. They graduated from Andover Newton Theological School with an MDiv. and are firmly committed to never pursuing a DMin. They have a fierce geriatric dog named Quinn and two adolescent cats who break things. They are also a guest host on The VUU.

The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET. We talk social justice, Unitarian Universalism, religion, spirituality, and whatever else is topical and interesting!

Production support provided by Jessica Star Rockers.

The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

Attached media: https://web.archive.org/web/20211109231400/https://www.questformeaning.org/podcasts/vuu/latest/vuu253.mp3

We chatted with Side With Love Senior Strategist, Rev Elizabeth Nguyen, and Campaign Manager, Everette Thompson about what’s new and what’s next. More information about Side With Love can be found at https://sidewithlove.org.

The VUU streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 11 am ET. We talk social justice, Unitarian Universalism, religion, spirituality, and whatever else is topical and interesting!

Hosts: Meg Riley, Michael Tino, Aisha Hauser, and Christina Rivera; production support provided by Margalie Belizaire.

The VUU is brought to you by the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

Attached media: https://web.archive.org/web/20211109180003/https://www.questformeaning.org/podcasts/vuu/latest/vuu248.mp3

This week on The VUU

This week on The VUU, we chatted with Rev. Nancy McDonald Ladd about her new book, After the Good News: Progressive Faith Beyond Optimism. More information about the book can be found here: https://www.uuabookstore.org/cw_contributorinfo.aspx?ContribID=138878&Name=Nancy+McDonald+Ladd

The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Michael Tino, Aisha Hauser and Christina Rivera, with production support provided by Rev Jessica Star Rockers and Margalie Belizaire. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.

Note: This audio has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on Facebook.

Attached media: https://www.questformeaning.org/podcasts/vuu/latest/vuu247.mp3