Both Sides By Rev. Nina D. Grey June, 2001

There is a lot of traffic in front of my apartment, on both 56th and Hyde Park Boulevard. This is because of the construction near 47th along Lake Shore Drive. That 47th Street entrance and exit are closed. Everyone is getting on and off at 57th Street. So, I find myself sitting behind cars just waiting until it's my turn to drive through the intersection. I'm gazing at the back of cars.

The other day (a warm May day) I saw the old familiar words on the back of a Hyde Park car - "Make Justice, Make Peace." For years at demonstrations I have chanted those words. Are they a cliche? I think there is still so much truth in them and I am ever more aware of that as I prepare to go to Israel (I will be back home by the time you read this). It is so clear that without some kind of justice in that region, there will be no peace. But it is hard to know exactly what justice is. Tomorrow, Sunday, May 13 (Mother's Day), I will be getting on the plane and heading there. I go with prayers in my heart for more justice and peace there, but also knowing how small I am, just one more person with a desire to learn more, understand more, help in some tiny little way through the years.

Our headlines have marked the violence there, but also the violence here in our own country. The days of trouble in Cincinnati gripped our attention. The cross burnings in Indiana and the presence of the kkk remind us that racism is not dead. But most of us know that. Racism and other oppressions still create relationships of injustice. We should not be completely surprised if there is sometimes overt violence when the more covert violence of injustice still hurts so many lives, when economic futures are threatened and hopes are dashed.

I had mixed feelings as I waited with others to see if Boeing would come to Chicago. There might be economic benefits to the city (though I am not sure what they would be). But Boeing also symbolizes the ever present potential of military conflict. The Tribune points out that Boeing is highly invested in military contracts.

It is our task, as religious people, as people who care about human life and all life on our planet, it is our task to stay awake to the sorrows and troubles, even while we also need to appreciate the beauty, wonder and gifts of life. It is our task to keep on seeking and building the beloved community, offering our gifts for the betterment of life and the co-creating of justice and peace.

Sunday, June 3, we celebrate the gifts of our multigenerational community and our vision of a community which values each member, which treasures our diversity, which seeks our common bonds, and which works for greater justice and peace in our world. We do this with our Flower Communion, a service founded by Rev. Norbert and Maja Capek. Rev. Norbert Capek was a Czechoslovakian Unitarian minister who was a martyr for our faith's vision. Please be with us for that wonderful celebration and bring a flower for the flower communion.

In faith, with love,

Nina