Dear Friends,

Have you been told a story of what you could not do or could not be? A story that belittled you, that diminished you, that tried to stifle your dreams? There are stories that would kill us in our cocoons—stories told by unkind or oblivious caretakers, stories written by the cultures that we inhabit and that inhabit us.

One of my very favorite movies is Babe (1995), a tale of a pig who saw themselves as a sheep. I watched this film with my children many times. I taught it in classes investigating how fiction helps us explore the intersections of culture and our bodies. I still watch it occasionally, becoming vaguely vegetarian in the several weeks following. I recommend it to you if you don’t know it. Babe (film) – Wikipedia

Through powerful forces of deprivation, neglect, aspiration, companionship, and encouragement, Babe becomes fully themselves. They resist being told that they are destined only to become pork. They overcome physical limitation, drawing upon inner abilities to address challenges in ways different from sheepdogs/wolves. Babe is a unique being, clearly drawing from multiple sources of ability, inclination, and possibility to change “the way things are” to a better way of being in relationship across differences.

Babe’s is a story that confounds and changes the dominant narrative. May we remember that there is another story, the world is desperate for a better story than the one we inherit, as you remember, today and every day, that you are loved, you are worthy, we are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so, and may it be so.

Blessings, Rev. Rita