As shared during our Annual Meeting on January 31, our community is stepping into a new theme for the year ahead:
“A Season for Every Matter.”
In our progressive faith tradition, the pulse of social justice is our constant heartbeat. However, as the ancient wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Embracing these natural rhythms isn’t a retreat from our values; it is a commitment to making our activism sustainable and our impact enduring.
Justice work is rarely a linear sprint. We recognize that our movement requires different energies at different times:
- The Season of Prophetic Fire: There are moments to march, to organize, and to raise our voices collectively against systemic inequity. This is the urgent time for immediate action and demanding change.
- The Season of Deep Listening: There is also a vital time for quiet study and prayerful discernment. In this season, we plant seeds of understanding, sitting with those whose lived experiences differ from our own to better understand the root causes of injustice.
- The Season of Building: Beyond the protest, we must dedicate time to creating the mutual aid networks and policy frameworks that sustain our community for the long haul.
We are called to be activists in one moment and contemplative partners in the next. By trusting the “timing of the spirit,” we protect ourselves from burnout and ensure our work remains rooted in love and wisdom. Our journey toward a more just world requires both urgent passion and steadfast endurance.
Let us commit to serving justice in every season it calls upon us. It’s time to “bee” the church!
Shalom, Paul