Washington Ethical Society

Taraxacum: Tomorrow Tucked Into Seeds Lyn Cox, Interim Leader. Dandelions are underrated as pollinators, medicinal plants, and examples of beauty and color. In an era that calls us to be resilient and hopeful, we can learn from the dandelion’s ability to adapt to different circumstances and to inspire others as it ensures the future. Let us celebrate the hidden beginnings of abundance.

In Motion Lyn Cox, Interim Leader In a tradition that calls for deeds, not creeds, we know that our active choices to live out our values matter. We are people who move. Where do we move? How do we move? How do we find the energy and power to move? Physics metaphors might give us some ways to think about the traditions and movements of which we are a part.

Keep on Moving Forward: Learning from UU & Humanist engagement with the civil rights movement. Lyn Cox, Interim Leader. During the later half of the twentieth century, UU congregations and Humanist communities both engaged boldly in racial justice and missed opportunities to be the people they aspired to be. What can we learn from the way our movements responded in that time?

Pay Attention to Love Day Lyn Cox Feminist scholar and poet bell hooks wrote, “To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships, not just romantic bonds.” What might we learn about life and liberation from a broad practice of love?

"Reckoning With History: Sharing the Truth About Sundown Towns" Stephen Berrey We will learn about the history of sundown towns—towns and suburbs that have intentionally excluded some racial groups in the past and, for some, in the present. We will also learn how we can research potential sundown towns to contribute to an online public history and social justice project begun by James Loewen (https://justice.tougaloo.edu/sundown-towns/).

"The Wisdom of Broken Things" Kimberley Debus Rev. Kimberley Debus is a Unitarian Universalist community minister based in Takoma Park, inspiring an artful and art-filled faith. She consults with congregations and religious professionals around the world. She is affiliated with the Unitarian Church of Lincoln, Nebraska, and has previously served at the Church of the Larger Fellowship as well as congregations on Long Island and Key West.

In "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., responded to criticisms from the white moderate about the urgency, timing, and techniques of the campaign for racial justice. In our times, how are responding to the fierce urgency of now?

Resolved Lyn Cox, Interim Leader After a week or so of the new year, how are we doing on our resolutions? Any time of year, there are ways of framing our efforts to help us stay committed to our highest values and shared goals.

Fire Celebration Lyn Cox How shall we re-imagine the year ahead? Bring your intentions for letting go and your intentions for fresh beginnings as we kindle a flame for the new year.

Winter Fest People of all ages are invited to help bring winter-themed poetry to life in this hybrid adaptation of one of WES’s favorite celebrations. We’ll lift up peace, hope, love, joy, and giving in creative and collaborative ways.

"What is Hope" Lyn Cox, Interim Leader. What keeps us moving forward? Hope need not be wishful thinking or attachment to specific outcomes. Hope can be the relationships and the inspiration and the practices that help us to do the next right thing, moving toward the world of love and justice that we are helping to bring about.

Finding Peace Lyn Cox, Interim Leader. In a season with relentless messages of joy, yet in a time when much troubles our hearts, how do we find peace? In a season of bright colors and loud music, how do we cultivate inner quiet?

Writing and Re-Writing the American Story Mike Franch Most of us learned our American history as a parade of good things with a few bad things interspersed. Today we are learning that American history is also the story of a lot of very bad things and, even worse, that these bad things are a fundamental and continuing part of the story. Knowing the good and bad is a tool for making the next chapters of our story ones we can be proud of.

Stone Soup In the story of Stone Soup, we learn we are more powerful and resilient together than we are alone, and that however small we think our gifts are, they are a beautiful and necessary ingredient in the larger whole.

"Breathe and Push" Lyn Cox, Interim Leader. November 14, 2021. In this third Platform in a series on "See No Stranger" by Valarie Kaur, we'll discuss the personal and community disciplines of transitioning to a new way of being as a society. How do we care for ourselves and grow toward the future? Internal, interpersonal, and social actions come together in an ethic of love.

"Tend the Wound" Lyn Cox, Interim Leader In “See No Stranger,” Valarie Kaur invites us to engage creatively with the interplay of ideas and values in our culture. Certainly, there is a place for rage when human rights and boundaries are violated. Some of us may have the capacity for listening across differences. We can re-imagine a world of compassion and justice.

Remembrance Sunday Lyn Cox, Interim Leader We gather for an online Platform to remember our beloveds who have died, and to support our friends who mourn. We also turn our attention to some of the intangible aspects of our grief as we begin to emerge from the pandemic. Valarie Kaur invites us to bring our grief into community, to love each other as we wonder, grieve, and fight for a better world than our departed loved ones knew.

The Welcome Table: Where’s My Seat? Sunday, October 24, 10:30am Carol Carter Walker What does it take to live into our desire to be racially inclusive? This Platform is the culmination of Beyond Categorical Thinking Weekend. During the Workshop, on Friday and Saturday, WES members have had a chance to unpack and move forward on dismantling implicit bias in the search for a new Senior Leader. Carol Carter Walker is an active lay leader with the UUA and with the Paint Branch UU Church in Adelphi, and is a longtime Beyond Categorical Thinking facilitator.

"A Spark" Lyn Cox, Interim Leader. Education is central to the mission and practice of Ethical Humanism.

"Asters and Goldenrod" Lyn Cox, Interim Leader Indegenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and grassroots activism are converging on a paradigm shift in how we relate to the earth. On this Indigenous People's Day weekend, how are we shifting our attention to heed the wisdom, technology, and calls to action arising from Indigenous communities?