[uua_l@uua.org: [UUA-L] Choosing Love This Holiday Season - A Pastoral Letter from Rev. William G. Sinkford]
Wolfe Woodbury
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:01:35 -0500
From: Unitarian Universalist Association <uu...@uua.org>
To: uu...@lists.uua.org
Subject: [UUA-L] Choosing Love This Holiday Season - A Pastoral Letter from
Rev. William G. Sinkford
X-BeenThere: uu...@lists.uua.org
UUA President William G. Sinkford has issued a holiday pastoral letter.
In it, he recalls his recently-completed pilgrimage to Africa, and
writes, "We were witnesses to humankind's capacity for cruelty - and for
compassion. One of the most important and difficult parts of the
journey was visiting Goree Island, off the coast of Senegal. There we
saw the small, dark cells where enslaved people were held. Dozens of
human beings were crammed into these dank and crowded spaces and were
only allowed outside once a day. There were separate cells for slaves
who resisted, for virgin girls who were to be raped by slave traders,
and for slaves who were force-fed so that they could be transported
across the ocean. Slaves who became sick were thrown into the
shark-infested sea."
But, Sinkford says, "We also witnessed the human capacity for love and
for hope. One of the most wonderful moments of the trip was our visit
with the Manya Krobo Queen Mothers Association of Eastern Ghana, a
program partner of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office."
The Queen Mothers' campaign against HIV/AIDS, he notes, "successfully
cut in half the rate of new [HIV] infections in their communities." The
Queen Mothers' story is "impressive and hopeful," Sinkford writes. "In
the face of a virulent epidemic, they were able to save lives through
their compassion and dedication."
Sinkford adds, "For many here in the United States and around the world,
this year's holiday season will be a challenging one, in which the
continuing problems of war and poverty will be exacerbated by worldwide
economic strains. Now, as much as ever, it is critical that we affirm
the primacy of love and hope." To read Rev. Sinkford's complete
pastoral letter, or to view the message in a variety of video formats,
go to http://www.uua.org/news/newssubmissions/124657.shtml .
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