My recent post Just the Facts was about the removal of my Litany of Gratitude from the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Worship Web. If you’d like to read the litany, you’ll find it in that previous post.

The Rev. Roger Fritts, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, shared my Just the Facts post on his Facebook page with the following comment:

For my Unitarian Universalist Friends– We live in a culture deeply imbued with sexism, racism, homophobia, and other incredibly wounding prejudices. We should be alert to pain. We should be careful with our words, for they can hurt. However, Mel’s “Litany of Gratitude” is not the problem.

I plan to use Mel’s “Litany of Gratitude” in an upcoming service. Such subversive activity has a history. Transylvania Unitarian clergy used Bible readings about liberation when they were under communist control. And of course, in the 19th century there was ”Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd.” Now we have “Litany of Gratitude” – a subtle way to say that Peter Morales, our former Hispanic UUA President, was not a bad guy.

I share it here in the spirit of continued transparency.

— Mel Pine (Urgyen Jigme)