In a 2018 publication of the UU World, then-UUA President Susan Frederick-Gray wrote an editorial called, Love the Hell Out of This World. In it she said, “Our Universalist ancestors didn’t believe in hell, except for the ones we create here in this life. What would it mean to show up in the places where hell, where suffering and violence, persecution and inhumanity, prevail and to bring an active, powerful form of love that affirms dignity, liberation, and peace? 

And here we are in 2026 and I want to ask you that same question. This is most certainly a time to love fiercely as we fight for justice. This is a time to remember that true freedom is only real when it belongs to everyone. This is the moment we are called to meet, a time of love and resistance.