30 Days of Love 2024
Imagining an Interdependent Future
Side With Love is thrilled to announce 30 Days of Love 2024! Our annual month of spiritual nourishment, political grounding, and shared practices of faith and justice, 30 Days of Love will go from Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 15) through Valentine’s Day (February 14). Each week’s resources will be published by 12pm ET every Monday.
This year’s 30 Days of Love is a gift to our whole community: a love letter, a warm hug, a spiritual balm for all of the individuals, families, religious professionals, partners and communities that embody our values and work for justice and liberation year round. Each week will feature a spiritual theme overlapping with one of Side With Love’s intersectional justice priorities, and we'll share an array of offerings to help nourish your spirit and give gratitude and affirmation.
Week One: Safety : Decriminalization
Welcome to the first week of 30 Days of Love! This year’s theme is “ Imagining an Interdependent Future.” With each new year, we move into an intentional holy time of spiritual nourishment, contemplation, and embodiment. A new year can carry with it the weight and grief of the former while inviting us into possibility and prophecy of the new. We enter 2024 witnessing unconscionable suffering and injustice at a scale that calls us all to deeply reimagine a future where we all thrive. The only way through this moment is together, bound by a commitment to our shared humanity and interdependence. 30 Days of Love offers a place to steady and stretch as we faithfully journey toward wholeness and collective liberation. Together, let us imagine our interdependent future and order our work along this path.
In the first week, we explore the theme of “safety” and how it shows up in our world and our decriminalization work.
In “Letters from a Birmingham Jail,” Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words and context offer us an important lesson. First, that we need each other to survive. Second, we learn that when you challenge a usurped power held by the state, criminalization is a routine tactic to repress a people rising up to be free.
Today, we are experiencing a contest for power: accountable collective governance for all or power organized and held by the few. This contest is not new.
To me, it is clear that a new world is emerging. As the Civil Rights movement helped usher in a new day, we are witnessing the mass mobilization and subsequent violent repression that are hallmarks of political and social transformation.
But as we are reminded in this letter, before criminalization becomes a political tactic of disconnection and domination, it is first a spiritual acquiescence to dehumanization and disposability. We deny a moral mandate of mutuality in search of the protection of power over others.
As our nation struggles to realize the promise of liberty and justice for all, it also reckons with the ways it has used oppression to construct an idea of safety that relies on the comforts of those in power. We have witnessed this in battles around integration, access to medical care for trans people, book bans, and more. This country has erased people from history, from legal recognition, and from the public square in order to secure power in a world demanding change.
The struggle for collective liberation must not be mistaken for a threat to safety. Today, we know the consequences are too great.
History teaches us what happens when we build a world around an exclusionary idea of safety. Our government carves borders, erects armies, surveils, polices, and imprisons the threat. And with each action towards this end, we make enemies of each other. We devote our resources, our labors, our art, and our children to mutual destruction. No one in this kind of world is safe.
Decriminalization is a political and spiritual project. Our work to Stop Cop City dismantles the false ideal of safety. This false ideal is destroying forests, intensifying violence against communities of color, and silencing the electorate. As people of faith, we cannot affirm the worth and dignity of all while privileging the well-being of a chosen few. We are not fully human when we separate ourselves from the humanity of others.
Decriminalization is a process of healing and (re)connection. A just and abundant concept of safety requires all of us. It proclaims a future where care and safety are abundant because our relationships are cultivated through mutuality, not domination. We act, showing up with and for communities to win campaigns and to grow a network of love, compassion and care. This is the work of community building. This is how we keep us safe.
Nicole Pressley
Blessing
A Blessing for Safety by Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen
Time for All Ages
“Safety” by Mylo Way
Body Practice
by Jess Hunt
Grounding
Grounding Practice for Safety by Lora Powell-Haney
Week Two: Re-Imagining : Climate Justice
The North Carolina Climate Justice Collective offered a framework for the 4 Rs of Social Transformation for people working on climate:
Resist: working against the current systems
Reform: working within the current systems
Reimagine: envisioning a just new system
Recreate: creating models for a just new system
We need people learning, acting, reflecting in each of the four areas. One approach is not better than the other; rather, they are complementary and each approach is as important as the other. Take a moment to think about yourself and the way you approach climate justice . . . Are you a Reformer committed to policy change? Do you take to the streets as a Resister? Do you orient to dismantling and creating new systems? Do you light up with the possibilities of Recreating? Once you find your natural inclination to this framework, ask yourself which approach feels the most difficult for you? Which one do you admire the most?
When I first learned about this framework, the first prompt was: “Where are you in your work?” And the second was, “Where are you in your heart?” For me, most of my climate work has been squarely in the reform and recreate, with resistance sprinkled throughout. In my heart, I reimagine. For me, the magic happens when we are curious, exploring new ways of thinking and being in relationship with each other and the planet. Reimagining encourages us to shake off our can’ts and embrace our coulds. What could the future hold if love was at the center of our selves, of our relationships, of our actions, of our world? What does the idea of “reimagining” climate justice call to mind for you? How does it feel in your body when you think of reimagining the future? When we embrace reimagining, we move past myopic, my-way-or-the-highway thinking and into the space of possibility; shifting from scarcity into abundance.
If we are to realize a world with no fossil fuels, where clean energy is a human right, and all beings thrive, we need new systems, norms, approaches, and ways of being to bring that world into existence. For the Abolitionist Visions of Climate Justice (see video) event in May 2023, we asked now Pres. Sofía Betancourt, Dr. Rashid Shaikh, and Antoinette Scully to draw a picture of the world they want to see. If you imagine the world we want to create, what does it look like? How does it feel? What does not exist in that future world?
Above is the illustration of the discussion. You can download or print the full-color image here (pdf). We also offer a black/white outline (pdf) of the drawing for printing to color at home or school.
Without a clear vision of the world we want, we prioritize short term gains and false solutions; we advance goals disconnected from cultural shifts, we divide our focus, and our movements are out of alignment with justice. If we reimagine a world with justice, with love at the center, we cultivate communities of care where all beings thrive.
Reimagining is not spiritual bypassing. It is not daydreaming with no action. It does not dismiss the harmful systems of oppression or ignore the climate disruption that is breaking our communities and our world. As we work toward a future where all are free, we must dream beyond our current circumstances. Those dreams are the seed of that future, and as we believe, we begin to shift our relationships, our commitments, and our actions to creating that world.
2023 was the hottest year on record, and we broke the record for billion dollar disasters by September. As we experience the climate crisis, we become increasingly distressed at the perilous state of our world. Climate anxiety, eco-anxiety, and climate grief are breaking the hearts of so many. Reimagining the future we want can soothe this anxiety while also helping folks recommit to meaningful action.
How? What are the connections between anxiety and imagining? How can reimagining inform our resistance? Our efforts to reform? What systems do we need to create? As we reimagine together, what new (and ancient) ways of being can we bring to our relationships? To our organizing? To our inner work? How can reimagining nourish our individual and collective spirits for the long haul?
We invite you to explore these questions and more as we reimagine together this 30 Days of Love.
Rachel Myslivy
Blessing
Blessing for Re-Imagining by Rev. Nancy McDonald Ladd
Time for All Ages
Time for All Ages: "Re-Imagining to Action" by JeKaren Olaoya
Body Practice
Climate Justice Multigenerational Body Practice by Antoinette Scully
Grounding
Liberating Our Attention: Grounding Ourselves Using the Imagination by Kristina Church
Prayer
Prayer for Climate Justice by Rev. Kelly Dignan
Week Three: Possibility : Bodily Autonomy
Imagine a world where everybody - every body - was treated as truly sacred. Every body, whatever shape, size, expression, ability - was revered as one of the infinite expressions of the Divine. A reflection of God. An opportunity to celebrate the holy diversity that makes up our humanity.
When we witness our shared humanity we are called to care, to defend, protect, and affirm OUR very existence and our inherent worth. In this world, every body is cared for. Everybody has the ability to make the decisions they need to be safe and whole in their being. Every body has access to the resources they need to thrive. Everybody - every body - is held in a truly liberating love.
Unfortunately, we know that the world as it is today does not treat every body as sacred. Dominant ideas of safety have created inflated police budgets that rob our children of books and our communities of healthcare. Living outside prescriptive gender binaries can mean losing a job or your life. Our society isolates disabled people from community and care by denying access to housing, healthcare, and public space. But ideas alone aren't what is killing us. It is the allegiance to a values system that moves people to violent and deadly action – against their neighbors, their country, and sometimes their own children. Our society’s dependence on these immoral forces has moved us so far away from our shared humanity - brutalizing sacred bodies in a vicious cycle of exploitation, violence, and death - so that we no longer regard one another as threads woven together in a Divine tapestry.
These attacks on our bodies are attacks on our existence. They are neither isolated nor unrelated. We know this because there is a unified strategy and single solution. Devalue and criminalize our identities and institutionalize our people. We know the tactics and the institutions - prisons, jails, conversion therapy, conservatorship, detention, surveillance. These are the many tentacles of the carceral state that are strangling so many of our Beloveds.
The nature of the attacks on our sacred bodies means that those of us who live at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities face this violence on all aspects of our being. Within the carceral state - which already disproportionately targets black and brown communities - 40% of the state prison population are people with disabilities. The number is even higher for incarcerated youth. In just this first month of 2024, at least 322 bills targeted the transgender people, many in states where we have already witnessed the criminalization of reproductive health care. And among individuals specifically seeking abortions, 1 in 5 must travel out of state for care. That barrier creates unsurmountable burdens for individuals without the financial, social, or physical means to travel. As we dream of a world where everybody thrives, we find ourselves fighting to create a world where every body can at least survive.
And yet, it is within this fight where we can remind ourselves that another world is possible, but only if we commit to creating it together. In the midst of what is, there are glimmers of what could be. There are holy moments of possibility that we must lean into during these desperate times. From the quiet moments of self-determination and action, to the power of thousands showing up for collective liberation, there is hope in all of those moments that connect us.
Our connection isn’t just sacred, it is powerful. Some of these moments look like gathering together to protest anti-trans laws at the capitol; holding vigils to honor the community members whom we have lost; teaching our youth what rights they have over their own bodies; and growing mutual aid networks that strengthen each others’ access to essential resources and care. In those moments, where we show up together, our momentum is realized and the loneliness is lessened.
Changing the world has always happened when the few become the many. When we each find our common humanity in the strength of our values, we all find new ways to love the hell out of this world!
Knowing that God lives in the margins, on the edge of all possibility, we are called to engage in the world as it is, grounded in our values and in an all-encompassing LOVE, to turn it into what it could be. This week we hope you will take time to think about how to build the world of infinite possibility that we dream of, where our bodies, however they are, are expressions of all that is good and sacred in this world.
Rev. Amanda Schuber, Disability Justice Associate
Rev. Jami Yandle, Trans Support Specialist
Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Congregational Organizer
Blessing
Blessing for Possibility by Kaden Colton
Time for All Ages
Time for All Ages for Possibility by Rev. Hannah Villnave
Body Practice
Body Practice for Possibility by Rev. Catharine Buck Clarenbach
Grounding
"Echo Check-In" by Canedy (without facilitator)
Prayer
Prayer for Possibility by Rev. Mykal Slack
Week Four: Resilience: Strong Relationships Will Get Us Through
In our final week of 30 Days of Love, we explore the theme of “democracy and electoral justice” and how it is situated within our broader organizing.
As we begin our electoral work of 2024 together, I return to recent remarks by Working Families Party National Director Maurice Mitchell: the organizing principle that we build trust by telling the truth about the world we share. The core truth that I’m reckoning with this year is that democracy—the promise of our elected officials feeling a direct and accountable tie to us, their electorate—has always been aspirational.
I acknowledge the fear that many of us hold–that the threads of democracy we’ve had will fully unravel, and we will lose the pieces of representation we rely on. And I ground in the possibility that with the millions of people who have come into social movements in the past four years, we might push closer to a more just world. We will continue to fight and build the power of the working class multi-racial majority to exact wins from the people in power that will make all of our lives better.
This year, we will tell the truth to each other and ourselves about the political landscape we inhabit, the conditions and threats we are facing and the power of the left. We will share, heavy hearted, the truth that we are facing massive devastation and suffering by war and genocide, climate catastrophe, legacies of colonization and imperialism, and rising fascist politicians and policies. We will share the bitter reality that our social movements fighting for justice have grown while also facing massive backlash and criminalization. We will also share in the conviction that our work in the year ahead is to continue to fight for the political conditions where winning is more possible.
Organizing is where we draw hope and build long term power. It is where we invest in each other and our communities through relationships and partnerships with grassroots organizations. Organizing is where we move towards the aspiration of representative democracy; a place where local but consequential change happens. Collective decisions like distribution of parking spaces at our congregation, the neighborhood association being trained on de-escalation techniques and the passage of a new lead abatement law at city council.
When we look back on 2024 - what are the relationships we have built? How is our local organizing landscape stronger? How have we changed?
Our work should ground and fortify us for whatever outcomes lie ahead. This means building and strengthening our local organizing landscapes. Growing and sharing our skills and resources generously. Engaging humbly. And always telling the truth.
Unitarian Universalism calls us towards building democratic processes - in our congregations & communities. I hope we can do that together this year.
Nora Rasman is the new Democracy Strategist for the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Organizing Strategy Team, which drives Side With Love and UU the Vote.
Blessing
Blessing for Resilience by Nico Van Ostrand
Time for All Ages
“Who’s At Your Table?” by Rev. Stevie Carmody
Body Practice
“Yes and Let's” (Circle Edition) by Canedy
Grounding
Prayer for Resilience by Mitra Rahnema
Prayer
Body Practice for Resilience by Rev. Lane-Mairéad Campbell and Rev. Shari Halliday Quan
Week Five: Interdependence : Liberatory Intersections
Safety. Re-Imagining. Possibility. Resilience. These themes have been the backbone of this year’s 30 Days of Love, with each offering extending to us the opportunity to hone our ability to pause, listen, and receive even as the world around us continues its frenetic hum. We hope that these weekly gifts from our siblings in faith have invited you to breathe deeply, feeling – even if just for a moment – a sense of connection with kindred spirits who share a soul-deep yearning for justice and wholeness.
At the most basic level, spiritual practice is spending regular, intentional time turning away from despair and fear, toward connection and commitment. At Side With Love, we believe this kind of spiritual practice is what makes sustained organizing for justice possible. Without making space in our lives to purposefully strengthen the musculature of imagination and hope, the soul of our movements atrophies and the dream of liberation becomes an empty fantasy.
As Black feminist, abolitionist, and scholar Angela Y. Davis famously says, “You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.” But none of us can sustain that on our own. At Side With Love, our work is to build a skilled, rigorous, interdependent network of individuals, congregations, and partners who are in it together, day after day, season after season – audaciously fostering transformation and tending to each other’s spirits in the struggle.
As we close out this year’s 30 Days of Love, we know there is daunting work ahead of us in 2024. Never has it been clearer how deeply interconnected all our issues are, or how very high the stakes are for all of our communities. As we gear up yet again to defend and deepen our democracy, to fight for a society that honors the sacredness of all bodies, to push back against the dehumanizing impact of criminalization, to re-imagine a thriving future for our precious planet – we are grateful to be fighting and dreaming alongside you. Even after these 30 days of practice and pause, let us commit to making space – as individuals, as communities, as movements – for re-grounding in our purpose and nurturing our spirits along the way.
May we all be well, whole, and free.
In faith and solidarity,
Ashley
The Rev. Ashley Horan
UUA Vice President for Programs & Ministry
Blessing
by Rev. Erin Walter
Time for All Ages
“Cluck Cluck Headbutt” by CB Beal
Body Practice
Body Practice for Liberatory Intersections by Rev. Maria Cristina Vlassidis Burgoa
Prayer
Prayer for Liberatory Intersections by Rev. Kim Wildszewski
Blessing
Blessing for Liberatory Intersections by Rev. Verdis LeVar Robinson