Love Makes a Bridge: Holy Moments

In our Sunday Service this past week, Rev. Jan made this observation: “Holy moments often become the words and deeds of prophetic women and men.”

Unitarian Universalists will recognize the “words and deeds of prophetic women and men” as one of the six Sources of our faith tradition which reads in whole as the Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love.  When she said this, I immediately leaped inside myself at the idea, at the reality of this truth.  I am not ready to say that I am a prophetic human being, but this is what I know.  There have been and continue to be places in my life where I stand on the precipice of what I know to be prophetic moments. For example, I can tell you where I was and what I was doing the moment that I declared within myself that most of what I had been “taught” about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement was wrong.  That moment continues to propel me into places and relationships that are outside the boundaries of the status quo leaning and leading toward a better future that we do not yet enjoy.  Those moments allow me to be a part of that forward movement in social just for all peoples. They are holy moments.  They have moved me and changed me.  They continue to do so.

We can try two simple considerations.  First, think of someone that you know of in history or the present whom you consider to be a prophetic human being.  Let your imagination move backwards to a moment when you think (or maybe know from reading about them) when their own course in life changed.  Imagine, or read about, their holy moments.

This second one is even better, I think.  Consider your own life.  Which things–deeds, messages, relationships have taken you to places that you would not have imagined–places of inclusion, compassion, social justice, honor, truth, curiosity, responsibility, courage?  Now, work backwards.  What were the moments that changed your life and sent you off in these directions?

These are our holy moments.  They translate into our words and deeds that make life on this planet and in this community better.  Why is the earth, the community better because of you?  What holy moment did that betterment grow out of?  Trace that arc–from holy moment to betterment and you will see the bridge.

The bridge that Love made.

Bob Patrick