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Action of the Week!
The Action this Week is -- Rejuvenate. There is plenty to do. There always is. Justice is needed every day of the week, 24 hours a day. If suffering and inequity were a smell -- you could sniff it in the air any time of the day or night! Our bodies don't run on machine time. No, as organic, creatures we need downtime. We need quiet. We need love and community. We need sleep! Christmas and New Years stand like two poles of a hammock with one week of delicious time between them. One week that even our busy 'doing' culture enshrines as down time. The kids are out of school. Even the Earth gets into the act, and in the Northern Hemisphere, it is dark, and cold. In Portland this week, it's been hard to leave the house. Icy roads invite you to spend a quiet evening at home. If you can take this time to rejuvenate, do so. Enjoy yourself. The New Year will turn and the world will get back to business. You can count on it! See you next week. In Love and Faith, Rev. Katie Larsell PS There are only a few more days to make a matching gift to Oregon Unitarian Universalist Voices for Justice. I know you want to! The UU Funding Program will not match after January 1. So -- give now. The button is on the right. Or go to our web page and give there!
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Our legislature worked out a deal with big health care companies. They asked the companies to pay a small fee, and keep vulnerable Oregonians in the medicare system. The big health care companies agreed, they wanted to keep these patients in Medicare.
However, now this deal is on the January special election ballot as Measure 101. Its been put on the ballot by anti-tax advocates. Boy, don't you wish anti-tax people would go after something other than poor people and children's health care! They argue it is a tax not a fee. I would rather argue that the money raised is not a burden to these companies. Providence Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente and Legacy Health, among others, agreed to this fee, and support it. Open your heart and support "justice, equity, and compassion in human relations". All of us should receive decent health care. A vote for Measure 101 supports our seven principles. The Action of the Week is an opportunity to volunteer for the Yes on Measure 101 campaign. Click to volunteer in your area. The Measure will come to a vote on January 23 and many people do not know anything about it. The campaign needs your help. They have actions all over Oregon. Find one that will work for your schedule. If you want to know more about Measure 101, here is a fact sheet. This Action of the Week is part of two Oregon UU Voice's campaigns: Human Rights and Economic Inequality. A NO vote targets the poor and vulnerable. Be sure and vote Yes. In Love and Faith, Rev. Katie Larsell Every day of the week, the Gorge ICE Resistance (ICE is Imigration and Customs Enforcement) holds a vigil at noon in front of the NORCOR county jail. NORCOR holds immigrants for ICE on their way to being deported or further incarceration.
Immigrant detainees report the conditions at NORCOR are terrible. They are civil detainees but are treated the same as prisoners. They have held 2 hunger strikes to get basic privileges such as milk, hot meals, blankets for the cold temperatures inside the facility, shoes (they are only issued sandals!), family visits (immigrant detainees are not allowed family visits), and prompt health care. These problems are ongoing. Our faith makes no distinction between citizen and immigrant; between those with legal or without legal standing. All have inherent worth and dignity. All deserve justice, equity and compassion. For the Action of the Week, Join Portland Immigration Rights members and friends on Saturday, December 9th in The Dalles. Sign up here via Facebook. It's an opportunity to stand together in vigil with the Gorge ICE Resistance and to say to NORCOR prison "ICE OUT OF NORCOR". If coming from the Willamette Valley here is a meet-up for carpooling: 9:45 AM: Meet up in SE Portland at Ascension Catholic Church parking lot (743 SE 76th Ave) to leave at 10 AM. Carpools will go from there to NORCOR Prison in The Dalles: 201 Webber St, The Dalles, OR 97058 12 Noon to 1:00 PM: Rally in front of NORCOR. The Mid Columbia UU Fellowship in Hood River inspired this action of the week. Members are often found at the daily rally in front of NORCOR. Their minister, Rev. Judy Zimmerman visits detainees weekly to keep their spirits up. In Love and Faith, Rev. Katie Larsell |
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