Our February theme: “Widening the Circle”
Check-in question: How has your definition of racism widened or shifted since you were younger?
It’s the community’s job to figure out how we can stretch into the so-called margins to broaden our understanding and the ability to be inclusive. Inclusivity is not ‘how do we make you a part of what we are?’ but ‘how do we become more of what you are?’
Dear Friends,
I love how angel Kyodo williams writes about inclusivity: “it’s not ‘how do we make you a part of what we are?’ but ‘how do we become more of what you are?’” She acknowledges not just that a community changes as new people become part of it, but that a community can take proactive steps to make changes that can help new people feel both welcome and safe.
This is an integral part of widening the circle – and it’s why we’re making shifts in the language we use to describe ourselves and our community, like sharing our pronouns or talking about the Native history of the land we occupy. It’s also part of thinking communally – I may be perfectly happy to have people assume my pronouns, but I know that there are people “out there” and “in here” who feel affirmed or even safer when pronouns are intentionally shared, and so I do that, for the sake of the larger whole.
What can you think of that you’ve done as an individual, or we’ve done as a congregation, in the name of becoming more of what those folx who haven’t found us yet are?
In faith and love,
Karen