HAVE A VOICE — It’s February, the short month that includes celebrations as diverse as Imbolc / Candlemas, Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, and Black History Month. What do all of these things have in common? They involve someone or something standing on the side of love. As part of our own celebration we’d like to fill our blog with contributions from everyone in the congregation. The topic: What Does “Standing on the Side of Love” Mean to You? Please email a maximum of 500 words in .doc, .docx, or .txt (Word document or plain text) format, preferably as an attachment, to Melissa Bartell at Outreach@OakCliffUU.org. We’ll do the formatting, and minor editing (punctuation, spelling, obvious typos). DEADLINE: 11:59PM Thursday, February 11. (Update: extended deadline is Thursday, February 25th Let’s FILL THIS BLOG with LOVE!)
Conversation: Mother and Son with Ian C. Grey and Kathy Grey
Mother: What do think of when you hear the phrase Standing on the Side of Love?
Son: Well, there’s standing for what you believe in, but some people don’t believe in standing on the side of love.
Mother: Give me an example.
Son: People who are against GLBT rights. People who are racist, or prejudiced against people on the basis of their religion or nationality. I think what it means is having compassion for your fellow man.
Mother: That Golden Rule thing?
Son: Yes, which is found in every religion. Who would Jesus discriminate against?
Mother: So, it’s a nondenominational way of asking, “What would Jesus do?”
Son: Pretty much! I don’t know how so many people have gotten away from that core value of “love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mother: So, Standing on the Side of Love means taking the compassionate route?
Son: Yes!
Mother: So, can any decision be made with that criteria in mind?
Son: Yes, all the big decisions. (Not choosing Frosted Flakes over Cheerios.) We’ve seen what can happen when tragedy strikes. Whole towns, whole nations can band together to help people. Like the relief effort in Haiti. Why does it take a tragedy of that scale for people to come together to help?
Mother: I don’t know.
Son: It shouldn’t.
You responded…