Along with the rest of the nation, I struggle today with the school shooting that occurred two days ago in Uvalde, Texas. I believe that there are good and bad parts within every human being: we all have the capacity to be loving, kind and generous; and we all have the capacity to be selfish and cruel.
 
Fair enough. But here is a person who tried to kill his own grandmother, then killed young children. To get to that place, you have to forget everything you’ve always known about goodness—that you are loved, that people are kind, that life contains joy and beauty. You have to forget all that and listen only to the darkest voices in the human soul--that life is dangerous, that lashing out at anyone and everyone is the way to survive.
 
We need to mourn and lament. We need to try and make sense of this moment. And we need to contemplate how to create a better society where this is less likely to happen again. Of course this means taking away guns from dangerous people and stopping them from getting them in the first place. Finally, to stop the next mass shooter from going all the way to that darkest place of the human soul, we need to empower teachers, parents, grandparents, doctors, social workers, police; we need to empower religious leaders, youth group leaders, and social media watchdogs with resources and support. We can create a society where this kind of tragedy is much less likely to happen. Not a perfect society, but we can improve our society in the direction of love and of safety. We have to will it to be so. Along with mourning and healing, this is the work that this moment calls us to do.
 
PRAYER
Loving Spirit within each human soul, I call on you now. Accessing the Loving Spirit within myself, I pray to the Loving Spirit in my fellow human beings.
 
Let us unite to bring forth hope and kindness. Let us remind one another that forgiveness is possible. That we can open our hearts to one another, finding compassion and connection. Let us seek to cool anger and to soothe sorrow in ourselves and in one another.
 
May we always return to the Loving Spirit within when the shadow voices rise up within us.
 
May it be so.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
May 26, 2022

Current events are certainly stressful right now: the ongoing war in Ukraine; the profound threat to abortion and other women’s health care; and last week the shooting in Buffalo. When I engage with these topics on the internet (videos on YouTube and posts on Facebook), it reinforces my perspective with the opinions of like-minded people, and it brings up feelings of anger and fear. Fear can be useful in showing where there is real danger (which there is) and anger can be useful in motivating me to act to protect myself and others. But of course, there are not many opportunities for action while watching videos on YouTube or reading posts on Facebook.
 
Occasionally, however, there is wisdom worth sharing that I find on the internet. This week it was in the form of a question: “Where are the proposals for outlawing the teaching of replacement theory in our schools?” This question simultaneously references the ridiculous movement to ban so-called critical race theory in our schools, and the white replacement theory espoused by right-wing politicians and talk show hosts that motivated an 18 year-old to travel to Buffalo and kill Black people in a grocery store. May this action and the hateful theories that inspired it be denounced by every politician, every media figure, every religious leader, and every member of our society. White replacement theory is a mainstream right wing talking point, and it is a form of white fragility based on resentment of non-white people.
 
The statement I just made is a form of action—me using my voice and my platform to respond to the disturbing current events. When engaging with current events leads to fear and anger without positive action, it is harmful to my well-being. For my own mental health, therefore, I need to monitor how much I engage with internet content on current events. I need to balance that with real-world interaction with people, and with self-care for my body and my spirit. May I have the wisdom to find this balance. May all of us.
 
PRAYER:
Great Spirit who inhabits the soul of every human being, I pray for your presence to be healing and loving. Spirit within each one of us, remind us that we are peaceful and loving people. Remind us that human connection and human community are possible.
 
Great Spirit, bring peace and tranquility to the hearts of those stirred up by hateful divisive ideas on social media. Bring calmness and perspective to those over-engaged with social media, that we may all be awake to and aware of the real world of nature and of human interaction. May our online interactions connect and inspire us, showing our common humanity.  May our real-world interactions bring us into the aliveness of this precious moment.
 
Blessed be.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
May 19, 2022

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan
Minister’s Column
 
In my journey as a minister I seek different forms of professional development, including deepening my own spiritually. This led me to a retreat called Path to Spirit Warrior last weekend at Camp Ronora in Watervliet. Seven of us participated as “pilgrims” in a weekend full of challenge and insight and connection led by twenty-one “guides” who prepared and staffed the program. All 28 of us are men who have experience in the ManKind Project, the men’s group that I’ve been part of for almost ten years.
 
On my retreat, I experienced the profound joy of being in a loving and supportive group of men. I took away deep insights into my relationships: in my family as well as everywhere else in my life, including my work as a minister serving a congregation. I was led through a profound process that invited me to review my whole life since childhood and to look for the patterns, the difficult times I’ve been through, and the gifts. Out of this review of my life emerged a single truth: that I am born to love; that my power rests in loving myself first and then sharing love with all people.
 
The weekend also included a mystical experience of encountering the voice of the divine and hearing there the invitation to live into my life’s deepest purpose. This encounter reiterated the same lesson for me: my life’s mission is to connect to the infinite source of love to empower myself, heal others, and work for peace and justice.
 
I return from this retreat renewed and refreshed, with deep gratitude for finding my calling as a UU minister, deep gratitude for the men who shared this weekend journey with me; and a fresh sense of purpose in my ministry and in my life.
 
PRAYER:
Great Spirit—called Source by some, called God by others, called Love by me—hear this prayer.
 
Great Spirit, bless Page and Steve, bless Chris and Christopher, bless Justin and Chuck. May these men bring their spiritual awakening home to bless their families and their communities. Bless Jay and David and Ken and Phil and all the men who work to bring this spiritual awakening to others.
 
May love bless our lives, every one of us. May every human being know the joy of loving and being loved.
 
May it be so.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
May 13, 2022

Along with the nation, I have been absorbed in the news from the supreme court this week. Although I was expecting it, the leaked draft of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has been deeply disturbing. As a 54 year-old, the legal right to abortion has been a fact of life ever since I can remember. To imagine a United States where that’s no longer true is shocking—then again, one only need to look at Texas today, where women are forced to travel out of state for abortion care. If Roe v. Wade is overturned and the Michigan law from the 1930’s kicks in—a likely scenario—then Michigan would become like Texas but worse, and women would be forced to travel to Illinois for abortion care. A petition drive is currently underway that would allow Michigan voters to affirm abortion rights through a constitutional amendment.
 
Unitarian Universalists have been very clear in their stance on this issue as a moral one for women’s autonomy. Our principles and values hold that the decision to carry a pregnancy to full term should be made by a woman with her own health and best interests in mind, and should not be dictated by others. This position has been affirmed overwhelmingly at our General Assembly.
 
Listening to the outpouring of public opinion about this topic in the past few days, I am dismayed by the anti-abortion viewpoint. If people don’t want women to get an abortion, they should be pouring more energy into supporting pregnancy care and childcare. I’m not outraged that some women choose to end a pregnancy in their own bodies. I’m outraged that Black women in Michigan are 4.5 times more likely to suffer pregnancy-related deaths than white women. (This was reported by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in 2018.) On Mother’s Day, that’s the kind of thing that we should be protesting about, and the kind of thing that policy makers should be addressing.
 
PRAYER:
Goddess of Mothers everywhere, Goddess of women and men and trans people and children, hear my prayer.
 
May pregnant women be affirmed in their full humanity. May those who carry these pregnancies be blessed, and may those who choose to end these pregnancies be blessed. May each woman make this sacred choice with her full mind and spirit, and may all those who love her support her in her choice.
 
Blessed be.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
May 5, 2022