Rev. Vicky's Message June 19, 2025

Last Saturday, many of us (from UMB, Monterey, California – AND our nation) participated in the NO KINGS/Solidarity with Los Angeles & Immigrants protests. It has been reported that 5+ million people demonstrated in more than 2100 cities across the county – one of the largest one-day, nation-wide protests in the history of our nation.

If you attended a local event, or just watched the images on TV, you can’t help but notice that the events were largely JOYOUS – even as the motivation and purpose for the events were very serious, and the situation in our nation can easily be viewed as dire.

Some might question how JOY can exist in such painful and troubling times. But as Valerie Kaur, author of See No Stranger, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project, says: “We believe that it is always possible to find joy, even in the midst of grief and outrage, when we come together in community.  Joy returns us to everything that is good and beautiful and worth fighting for. Joy gives us the energy to continue our labors to make a viable life and more just world. Joy comes when we draw our attention to the present moment — a child’s laughter, a neighbor’s cookies, a lit candle. In a time such as this, joy is an act of moral resistance.”

In short, it lifts our spirits, energizes us with positivity, reminds us that there is still good in the world, takes us out of our fear and despair for the moment, and opens our hearts and mind to that life-giving power of hope. But, it is even more than this.

As the late Dr. Barbara Holmes’ (1943–2024) noted in one of her final teachings for Father Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation’s Living School:

“Joy as embodied presence is an abiding awareness of the gift given to each and every one of us, no matter our circumstances in life. In John 15:11, Jesus says, ‘These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.’"

I hope you will join us this Sunday, as we dive into this idea of “Joy as Resistance” – as a practical, psychological, and most importantly, spiritual practice. 

Blessings, Rev. Vicky