Finding Meaning in a Troubled World

Finding Meaning in a Troubled World

The world today feels increasingly fraught with challenges: the rise of fascism, the marginalization of vulnerable groups, the erosion of democratic rights, and the escalating climate crisis. These realities can leave us feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and even hopeless. But amidst the fear and uncertainty, there are ways to find meaning and cultivate resilience.

One such path is through the power of spiritual direction.

Spiritual direction is a journey of deep listening and accompaniment that helps individuals explore their inner lives, deepen their connection to something sacred (whether that be God, nature, community, or a deeper sense of self), and find meaning and purpose in their lives.

In times of societal upheaval, spiritual direction can offer:

• A space for reflection and processing: It provides a safe and supportive environment to grapple with the complexities of the world, to acknowledge our fears and anxieties, and to find ways to integrate these experiences into our lives.
• A renewed sense of purpose: By connecting with our deepest values and exploring our callings, we can find ways to contribute to a more just and equitable world.
• A deeper sense of connection: Spiritual direction can help us cultivate meaningful relationships with ourselves, others, and the world around us, fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility.

Spiritual direction work helps you find your compass and your courage. Now is a great time to refine your ethical convictions and to uncover what is most important to you. What are you willing and able to commit to? How can you love into your most authentic and best self?

How to Get Started:

If you're interested in exploring spiritual direction, I encourage you to check out the resources listed below. I've also included a link to free weekly meditations that I offer.

Artist Misha Tyutyunik, also known as MDot, created the design. Two River, NJ community members painters. Matthew Brys, Photography

Beyond Spiritual Direction:

Spiritual direction is just one way to find meaning and make a difference. Other ways include:

• Activism: Engaging in various forms of activism to make a meaningful impact on society. You don’t need to do all the things, just do the work that is yours. This can include:
• Civic Involvement: Participating in activities like voting, running for office, volunteering for campaigns, or joining local committees to influence policy and governance.
• Protests and Making a Statement: Joining peaceful protests, marches, and demonstrations to advocate for causes related to justice, equality, or environmental protection, raising your voice in solidarity.
• Organizing and Supporting Groups: Working with or supporting grassroots organizations, unions, and movements that focus on systemic change, especially those led by marginalized groups with experience in activism and social change. These groups often have a strong track record of creating positive impact.
• Don’t Comply: take a page from the CIA handbook on fighting authoritarian governments by practicing “I don’t think so”, “I can’t help” , and the slow walk. Being incompetent at doing immoral or unlawful things is a virtue.

• Community Building: Fostering connections with others in your community, finding your spiritual community, and collaborating through mutual aid to create networks of care and uplift. We need everyone to survive. The ann ient teaching is to “love thy neighbor,” so, ask yourself who is my neighbor?
• Service and Caring for Others: Contributing your time and resources to support others, whether through direct service (e.g., caring for the homeless, mentoring, providing food or shelter) or through advocacy for vulnerable communities. Offer help to those you can help, and ask for help from those who can help you.
• Create Art and Joy: Express yourself creatively through art, music, dance, or any form of self-expression that brings you joy and contributes to collective well-being.  By creating beauty and celebrating life’s moments, you nurture yourself and others, reinforcing the power of creativity in both personal and collective transformation. As Emma Goldman said, “If I can’t dance I don’t want to be part of your revolution.”
• Self-Care: Prioritizing your own well-being through practices such as mindfulness, meditation, and spending time in nature to recharge and sustain your efforts for long-term change. Ask for help. This is a relay race, not a marathon, and certainly not a sprint.

Remember, you are not alone in this. Many people are deeply concerned about the challenges facing our world and are actively seeking ways to create positive change. By connecting with others, cultivating inner resilience, and taking action, we can work together to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable future.

You are whole, holy, and worthy... We need each one of us to survive,

Rev Amy Beltaine

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To find a Spiritual Companion, visit http://AmyBeltaine.info or https://shorturl.at/pr0ue or http://UUSDN.org 

Sign up to receive weekly reflections or meditations here.

Stories to Sustain Us: Building the World We Dream Of

The Power of Story

There is an old saying: “The universe is made of stories, not atoms.” Stories are the threads that weave together our collective understanding of who we are and who we can become. They shape our moral imagination, inspire our actions, and sustain us in the long, hard work of change.

Stories from history remind us of what is possible, Songs inspire and inform, moral tales teach, biographies remind us we are not alone, and fiction helps us imagine. Stories have power. 

What Are Our Stories?

For many of us, the challenges of our time—the erosion of democracy, climate chaos, rising inequality—may feel unprecedented. Yet history is full of examples of individuals and communities rising to meet immense challenges. Our ancestors, and the people who lived on the land we now call home, confronted injustice, overcame adversity, and fought for a more just and equitable world.

Whose Stories?

Stories can be transformative and life-saving. Take, for example, our congregation’s building is a sanctuary. Immigration officers may have the legal right now to enter a hospital, a school, or a church, but our Unitarian Universalist faith is grounded in justice and equity. We can raise our voices, and tell the story of what is moral and right. If they know that we will share the story of violating a sacred space, it might change their actions.

Whether today's fear, outrage, and anxiety is new to you or you’ve been doing this work since your momma explained what the words racism, sexism, colonizing, and homophobia meant…

We learn from stories.

These days, I find myself leaning into my Slovak roots and embracing the history of my adopted home, Portugal, by learning about how both nations overthrew oppressive regimes.

Last year, I was leaving the little village of Silves, crossing the bridge with the old Moorish castle in my rearview mirror. The bridge was decorated with little red flowers: crocheted carnations. I realized the flowers celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution—a peaceful uprising that overthrew decades of dictatorship in Portugal.

Scene from Carnation Revolution AP

The Carnation Revolution: Wake Now My Vision

The Carnation Revolution of 1974 is a powerful example of collective action’s ability to bring about transformation. After years of repression under the Estado Novo regime, the Portuguese people rose up. Life under Estado Novo, established by António Salazar in 1933, was austere and harsh. People who spoke out against the regime often “disappeared,” and mandatory military service sent countless young men to fight unwinnable colonial wars.

The revolution was sparked by military officers opposed to the regime’s brutal colonial wars, but it became a civilian movement. First, the brave ones chose, then people poured into the streets, placing carnations in the barrels of soldiers’ guns as a symbol of peace. Remarkably, the regime fell without bloodshed, replaced by a provisional government that ushered in democracy.

The lyrics of songs are transformative stories as well! The revolution’s spirit was captured in the song “Grândola, Vila Morena” by José Afonso. Played as a signal to start the uprising, its lyrics—“Grândola, Vila Morena, Terra da Fraternidade” (Grândola, Dark Village, Land of Brotherhood)—embodied the ideals of freedom, unity, and fraternity.

There’s a warning in the Salazar regime. He was an economist and beaurocrat who was elected. But prime-minister Salazar’s reforms turned into 40 years of repressive totalitarianism. There is also hope. In the end truth, courage, compassion, and vision won. The Portuguese people remember, and say ‘never again’.

The Carnation Revolution reminds us that peaceful resistance, joy, and solidarity can bloom even in the face of oppression.

The Velvet Revolution: A Testament to Peaceful Change

The Velvet Revolution is another example of the power of peaceful resistance. In 1989, when my son was three,  Czechoslovakia saw its dreams of freedom and democracy realized. Playwright and activist Václav Havel encouraged individuals to “live in truth” by rejecting the lies of the totalitarian state and reclaiming authenticity. His plays made fun of the regime, he defended a rock band that was imprisoned because they had long hair, and he himself was jailed more than once. But he persevered. In every soul and nation comes a time to decide if you will seek truth or falsehood. The people of Czechoslovakia chose to live in truth.

The name “Velvet Revolution” reflects the smooth and nonviolent transition of power. Millions joined together to peacefully end decades of Soviet rule, armed only with their voices, their keys, and their shared vision for a community transformed by care.

The Velvet Revolution teaches us that change does not always require violence; it can arise from trust, poetry, and collective action. As Vclav Havel wrote: "we never decided to become dissidents. We have been transformed into them, without quite knowing how, sometimes we have ended up in prison without precisely knowing how. We simply went ahead and did certain things that we felt we ought to do, and that seemed to us decent to do, nothing more nor less."

Vaclav Havel is acclaimed as President, 1989

And that’s not all

The famous strike in Poland was called the Gdańsk Shipyard Strike or the Solidarity Strike (1980). It led to the formation of the Solidarity (Solidarność) movement, which played a key role in ending communist rule in Poland. Is a general strike the right option for ending oligarchy? It worked there!

What Stories Sustain Us?

Stories sustain us in times of upheaval. They remind us that ordinary people, daring to dream of a better world, have faced impossible odds and prevailed. Stories of hard times and hard work share a common thread: they inspire courage, resilience, and action. Let us remain faithful to the work that must be done.

When the challenges we face—climate chaos, inequality, systemic racism—feel overwhelming, stories whisper to us: “You are not alone. Others have traveled this path before you, and you can too.”

Building the World We Dream Of

As citizens of the world, we are called to build the world we dream of—a world of love and justice. This work requires vision, action, and the spiritual sustenance that stories provide.

The story of the Velvet Revolution teaches us that truth and peaceful resistance can overcome fear. The story of the Carnation Revolution reminds us that courage can bloom like flowers in the face of oppression.

When we tell the stories of the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, and the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ equality, we honor the resilience of those who refused to let injustice have the final word. These stories teach us that change may be slow, but it is possible—and it is worth fighting for.

Fiction

Stories of real-life people being brave, or just doing the things they felt they ought to do, or what seemed decent to do, can sustain us. So can fiction. One of my favorites is the Lord of the Rings: The story of a small hobbit carrying a Ring through dangers, Finding friends and in the end, saving the world by being small and faithful to the task given to him. At one point he is speaking with the wise and powerful wizard Gandalf: I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. 

Sustaining Ourselves Through Story

What sustains people through times of great upheaval? Stories of ordinary people daring to persist, dream, and act. Stories that remind us we are part of something greater than ourselves.

When we feel overwhelmed, we can turn to these stories for strength. They tell us, “You are not alone. Others have faced similar struggles and found their way forward.”

Stories are the lifeblood of our shared humanity. They help us remember who we are and imagine who we can become.

Call to Action

This week, I invite you to reflect on a story that inspires you. It could be from history, a loved one, or your own life. Share it with someone, and listen to their story in return.

Together, let us weave a tapestry of solidarity, perseverance, and action. Let us stay faithful to the work before us, and stay grounded in the power of our shared stories.

Blessed be.

You are whole, holy, and worthy,

Rev. Amy Beltaine