Homecoming, or What I did on my summer vacation: A summary of the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly convention in Minneapolis June 23 to 27

BY KARI ANDRADE

I had been looking forward to June of 2010 for about three or four years, ever since I found out that my 25th college reunion and GA were within a week and 50 miles of each other. This was a once in a lifetime occurrence.

What is GA/ General Assembly? It is a meeting of congregations where the work of the denomination gets done by the delegates because they are the only ones with the power. We come to GA to take part in the governance of the association, to build together a vision for the future, to learn from each other, to worship and to grow together. There is so much available it is a bit like drinking from a fire hose. I will share a few sips with you from my personal experience.

For me GA is a reunion and a homecoming. My spiritual journey is deep, personal and internal—GA makes it external and connects me. I am not alone. We are not alone.

The statement of conscience of peace that we considered and voted on allowed me to think through my personal beliefs as the wife of a Vietnam vet. War is always wrong. Always.

Even Al Franken's words were prayerful: Be Just and Good.

Food, always one of my favorite topics, became spiritual in the sermon on being mindful of how our relationship with our food and choices influences our relationship with creation—what we call the interdependent web of life.

Keith Ellison, the Minneapolis congressman and first Muslim representative, addressed GA, welcoming us to the state of the late great Paul Wellstone (my college professor and mentor). Using the parable of the loaves and fishes, he reminded us that there is enough for everyone—all colors, all orientations, all religions, everybody, Every Body, if we stop spending money on wars and wasting resources. Love is a verb and we must act. War is not the way to peace, love is.
I was amazed at the energy of "Standing on the Side of Love" with 3,000 UUs in Loring Park, a couple of miles from where I grew up in South Minneapolis. We were faith in action at a gay pride rally, affirming that love is love and all people deserve civil rights. I was connected to people that shared my values and my beliefs in a way greater than I knew possible.

The Ware lecturer was Winona La Duke. She challenged us to deconstruct our paradigms, to break away from the language of colonization and empire, to "de-colonize" ourselves. Use the real words for sacred places. Respect and honor our mother. Reverse the problem of naming large mountains after small men. If we do not treat the holy earth as sacred, it will be destroyed. Modern industrial society is linear and cares about quarterly profits. A cyclical worldview cares about seven generations from now. She encouraged us to have the courage and political will to do the right thing.