Posts Tagged ‘Meredith Lukow’

Day 8: Reflect on Legacy

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Day 8: Reflect on Legacy Share/Save/Bookmark Jan 26, 2013

Today is Day 8 of the Thirty Days of Love. Today’s action is to reflect on what aspects of the campaign have spoken to you the most so far, share that reflection with a family member or friend, and encourage them to join in. Click here for more resources, family actions, and more! Click here to sign up for the daily Thirty Days of Love emails.


Time flies–we have reached the end of our first week of the Thirty Days of Love and what a journey it has been already! Over the course of the last week, we have honored the legacies of inspiring justice-makers from Dr. King and Cesar Chavez, to those who have worked for LGBTQ equality and reproductive justice.

Today, we ask that you take some time to think about what we have discussed so far. What messages resonated the most? How might you continue to honor legacy throughout the rest of the Thirty Days? Can you carve out some time each day to journal, light a candle in the morning for a quiet moment of reflection, or write a note to someone who inspires you?

Tomorrow, we will embark on the second week of the Thirty Days and focus on how we can “Think Interfaith” in our work for love and justice. For the moment, let us ground ourselves spiritually and prepare to undertake the rest of this journey together.

In faith,

Meredith Lukow
Program Assistant
Standing on the Side of Love

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Day 2: Our Nation Needs Our Message

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Day 2: Our Nation Needs Our Message Share/Save/Bookmark Jan 20, 2013

Today is Day 2 of the Thirty Days of Love. Today’s action is to ask your members of Congress to commit to civil and respectful discourse in the new legislative session. Click here for resources, family actions, and more! Click here to sign up for the daily Thirty Days of Love emails.

Like you, I am frustrated by the current state of our national political discourse.

After a contentious election year culminating in the nail-biting fiscal cliff negotiations and in the face of upcoming debates on several big issues like preventing gun violence, comprehensive immigration reform, and the debt ceiling, we all find ourselves in search of a more compassionate national dialogue. None of us has all of the answers. What we do have is our hearts. When we stand on the side of love, we allow our hearts to be our guide, and we ask others to do the same.

In honor of Inauguration Day tomorrow, ask your members of Congress to stand on the side of love by denouncing vitriolic language in the public discourse and committing to a more respectful, bipartisan climate. Click here to send your message to your national lawmakers.

When I first moved to Washington, DC as a college freshman, I was enamored with politics and government. I loved The West Wing and dreamed that one day I would help bring a vision of social justice to our nation’s capital. But after I saw our political system up close (sans Martin Sheen), I lost hope that justice-making could ever survive amid the pervasive vitriol.

Now, working with the Standing on the Side of Love campaign, I’ve seen firsthand the way our message of love can change a conversation, bring people together, and carry us a step closer to the Beloved Community. Imagine what a difference it would make if that message were to permeate the halls of Congress?

Take this opportunity to ask our leaders to work with us for something better. Click here to take action.

In faith,

Meredith Lukow
Program Assistant
Standing on the Side of Love

PS: Do you have ideas for the future of the Standing on the Side of Love campaign? Join our Facebook chat with Campaign Manager Jennifer Toth on Friday! You can find details here.

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An Unprecedented Outpouring of Love for the Sikh Community

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The Standing on the Side of Love campaign is amazed by your overwhelming response to our request for messages of love and compassion for the Sikh community. More than 1,800 of you have submitted messages. This level of engagement is unprecedented for Standing on the Side of Love. In fact, more people have taken action to send love to Oak Creek than on nearly any other campaign in our history.

In the coming days, volunteers will handwrite all of your beautiful messages onto orange Standing on the Side of Love cards and string them together in a “love” chain. A coalition of local Unitarian Universalists will then hand-deliver the “love” chain to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. Rev. Chris Buice of the Tennessee Valley UU Church told us that the visual expressions of love that they received after the 2008 shooting are still displayed in their congregation. We hope that this will provide a similarly powerful visual message of love and solidarity to the Sikh community in Oak Creek.

Many of you are also attending local candlelight vigils to honor the victims of the shooting and show solidarity for the Sikh community. At one vigil in San Diego, Julie Schauble was interviewed by the local news while wearing her Standing on the Side of Love t-shirt and offered this beautiful statement:

‎“He didn’t even see the people he was shooting. He just saw an object for his hatred and fear and anger. And I wanted to say to the Sikh community that… we see you. We see who you are and we recognize you as our brothers and sisters.”

Watch the full coverage of the event here:

sikh_vigil_vid

Click here to find out if a vigil is planned in your area.

In this midst of this gorgeous outpouring of compassion and love for the Sikh community, we must not forget our Muslim neighbors in Joplin, Missouri, whose mosque burned down last weekend in a suspected arson attack. It’s essential that we continue to remain vigilant in speaking out against religious bigotry and intolerance in our communities.

This week, our partner Shoulder to Shoulder is also encouraging people to join their local Sikh community for worship and the traditional langar community meal as many temples will be dedicating their Sunday services to responding to this tragedy.

Click here to find out if there is a Sikh Gurdwara (temple) near you.

Thank you for helping us to create an outpouring of love for the Sikh community. Your heartfelt words inspire us to continue striving for a just, love-filled, beloved community.

In faith,

meredith ga

Meredith Lukow
Program Assistant
Standing on the Side of Love

The message above went out on Friday, August 10, 2012 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

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Changes at Standing on the Side of Love

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Changes at Standing on the Side of Love Share/Save/Bookmark Aug 07, 2012

As the Unitarian Universalist Association bids farewell to Dan Furmansky, we are moving quickly to find our next outstanding Standing on the Side of Love Campaign Manager. On August 1st the position was posted on the UUA website under “Careers” and “Callings/Job Openings.”

Click here to access the position description and share it.

The purpose and principal responsibilities of the position remain the same, and it will continue to be based in Washington, DC.

We will be interviewing candidates in August. If you know someone you think would be an outstanding candidate for this position, please encourage them to apply.

Last month, we significantly expanded the capacity of the campaign by hiring a full-time program assistant. Meredith Lukow has served as both a summer intern with the campaign, as well as a part-time employee over the past year. A recent graduate of American University, Meredith brings a great deal of skill, initiative, and enthusiasm to the newly created position of Standing on the Side of Love Program Assistant.

Rev. Craig C. Roshaven
UUA Witness Ministries Director

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Send Love to the Sikh Community

58 Comments | Share On Facebook| Send Love to the Sikh Community Share/Save/Bookmark Aug 06, 2012

The message below went out on Monday, August 6, 2012 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

“As we move forward in the weeks and months ahead, we must do more than express compassion. We must reflect on what conditions make repeated acts of deranged violence possible and take action. The killings we keep witnessing in America are symptoms of a culture that is too tolerant of hatred and too reluctant to restrict access to deadly weapons.”

–UUA President Rev. Peter Morales, in a statement about the tragic murders this weekend at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin

When I was fourteen, my Unitarian Universalist youth group and I traveled to the neighboring town of Oak Creek, Wisconsin to visit a Sikh temple. Yesterday, I was horrified to learn that six of these community members who welcomed a group of rowdy UU teenagers with open arms were murdered. Never could I have ever imagined that something so violent and hateful could happen a mere fifteen miles from my childhood home. The gunman has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center and others as a “frustrated neo-Nazi” and white supremacist.

Will you join us in creating an outpouring of love for the Sikh community? Click here to send words of prayer, compassion, and love to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.

As a born-and-raised Unitarian Universalist, the news of this tragedy evokes memories of July 2008, when the Tennessee Valley UU Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, was attacked by a lone gunman with hate in his heart, killing two. The impact was felt by UUs the world over. The astonishing outpouring of support that the Knoxville UU community received from their broader community paved the way for the creation of our campaign for love and justice.

In the wake of this tragedy that strikes so close to home, let us reach out to our Sikh neighbors in compassion and love, welcome them into our hearts and our prayers, and show solidarity with a community that has been so brutally attacked.

Please join us in sending love and compassion to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. Click here to send your message today.

In faith & love,

meredith ga

Meredith Lukow
Program Assistant
Standing on the Side of Love

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