It is with great joy and some trepidation that I write these opening words for our 2025-2026 season of the Words of Wisdom? reflections.
Great Joy! Those of us who collaborate to write daily reflections on our Unitarian Universalist themes love taking these themes into our hearts and minds. We love the creative process of looking for ways to express these themes in ways that will not only speak to our community, but even moreso, in ways that might encourage, inspire and ignite us all into the service and love that Unitarian Universalism calls us to. In other words, we love to find words that will speak for us as a community of people engaging the fullness of life and love in this world.
Some trepidation. A spiritual writer whose work I follow speaks often these days of “the collapse” that we are witnessing. I’ll be honest that a part of me does not want to speak or think that way. And, to be more honest than that, I also know what we are seeing and hearing and experiencing on a daily basis, and collapse is probably the right word.
Today just might help me hold those two things at the same time. Today is Labor Day, a day that hails in the history of this country our very own efforts to build belonging through work that is filled with dignity, respect and compassion. As we witness signs of collapse happening about us, the history of Labor Day which established all kinds of fairness, dignity and protection around those who work calls to us: collapse is the perfect setting in which to begin building belonging anew.
And so, we do, friends. We call ourselves together to begin building belonging together again, today in the face of whatever fell apart yesterday, and last week and last month.
We hope you will join us here each day, Monday through Friday, to take courage, maybe a little wisdom and a lot of inspiration to do this work together.
~Bob Patrick
