Resonant Reading (Wednesday)- The Temptation of the Well-Meaning-Morrill

An exploration of ideas, feelings, and our life experiences, using a different short reading as our springboard each time. The sessions are on Saturdays, 4-5, and on Wednesdays, 12-1. All are wide open and you are welcome to come twice a week or once in a while.

The participants over the years have found that the approach we take, and the respectful, affectionate community of inquirers in which we read and converse, are as important as the reading itself. While many small groups begin with a check-in, with a session only an hour long, Resonant Reading jumps right in to the conversation. Those who are frequently in the group get to know each other very well this way, and those who are new will soon find they are among friends.

Facilitators use a light hand, posting the reading in the chat and calling on whoever’s Zoom hand is up. Suggestions for readings* come from group members, who also take turns facilitating, if they want to try that role.

The reading for this session: This Wednesday (11/12 at 12 noon)

In 1963, Robert Kennedy invited James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, and other Black visionaries to a Manhattan apartment for what he thought would be a productive chat about race. Kennedy came in confident, the well-intentioned ally ready to help. But the room did not meet him with applause—it met him with anguish. And when the anguish challenged his optimism, he took it personally. He wanted to help without being changed. That’s the temptation of the well-meaning: to seek transformation for others while staying intact ourselves. To love the idea of justice more than the practice of humility. But to love truly means being willing to be undone.

–Rev. Jake Morrill, Executive Director, UU Christian Fellowship

Questions? Drop an e-mail to resonant-reading+owner@uucpa.org.