At this year’s General Assembly, I was honored that the Side With Love folx invited me to speak at their Resist Respond Reimagine Rally. They had heard about the impressive work our congregation has been doing around reproductive justice, and they wanted me to share that story with UUs from around the country.

Hearing stories about how other congregations are engaging in meaningful work can be inspiring. When we know that others are able to connect with their communities to do the restorative work of nurturing wholeness and well-being, it may give us encouragement about what’s possible.

If you haven’t heard, our primary work toward reproductive justice this spring has been a ballot initiative. Our building has been a staging location for petition signing to get reproductive justice on the November ballot in Ohio. A lot of people in the congregation engaged in this work, alongside people in many other organizations.

And the result is that we exceeded our collective goal by 100,000 signatures!

One of the greatest lessons we learned in our reproductive justice work this year is that we are not alone. We were able to collaborate with an interconnected network of allies from a variety of organizations to take meaningful action.

We also know that being prepared for the future really pays off. When we’re just reacting to the latest crisis, we can start to feel exhausted pretty quickly. But our future efforts will be more fruitful and sustainable if we prepare now for the work of nurturing the world around us toward greater wholeness and well-being.

I also shared that we’ve had to say No to some things. It’s tempting to say Yes to everything. There are so many places in this world we share that need healing and wholeness. But, we have to say No to some things so that we can say a more powerful Yes to other things.

And everything cannot be urgent all the time. We need times of rest and recovery after big efforts. Maybe all of us don’t rest at the same time. Maybe we take turns leading like a flock of migrating geese.

So, drawing on these lessons from the powerful work we’ve done this year: Where in your life do you need to reach out to others for strength and encouragement? How do you need to prepare today for a greater vision of wholeness and well-being for the world? And how can rest and shared leadership take shape in your life so that you have the nourishment you need for a sustainable journey?