“I may be crazy, but that don’t make me wrong.”
“Strength comes from within, not from what others think.”
This past week I spent two days at my bi-annual UU ministers’ study group. Our reading assignment was a book about Marsha P. Johnson (1945 – 1992.) Marsha was an important figure in the Stonewall uprising, an icon in the trans community and the movement for LGBTQ equal rights, and a Black drag queen back in the days when that was illegal.
The middle initial “P” in her name was said to stand for “Pay it no mind.” People were rude to you? Pay it no mind. People judged you? Pay it no mind. People didn’t approve of your clothes or flower crowns? Pay it no mind! Those of us in the study group were asked to come up with all the things that we wish society would “pay no mind” to; we generated quite a long list. (What would be on your list?)
We were also invited to bring personal items to add to an “altar of defiance” which it turns out is helpful in this historical moment. (Might you be inspired to make one?) We sang one of the songs that is in the Soul Circle Singers repertoire: “Courage, my friend, you do not walk alone. We will walk with you, and sing your spirit home.” Marsha made quite a splash, but she was also all about community and helping younger LGBTQ people- feeding them, housing them, mentoring them. She said, “Stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.” She said, “Love is the only revolution worth fighting for.”
Marsha P. Johnson once said, “History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.” As we prepare, this Sunday, to celebrate the congregation’s 381st birthday, I am thinking about all the people who decided on 381 years-worth of Sunday mornings to get up and get themselves to the Meeting House to participate and be present in the congregation. Let’s be glad for all the impulsive moments that have expanded human rights and all the impulsive moments that have become the cumulative reality that is North Parish.
See you at the Meeting House; birthday bling is welcome!
Rev. Lee