1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,262

2
00:00:06,262 --> 00:00:07,970
Jim Key: Now, please,
give a warm welcome

3
00:00:07,970 --> 00:00:09,580
to an old friend of the UUA.

4
00:00:09,580 --> 00:00:11,870
Well, I shouldn't say
old in terms of age,

5
00:00:11,870 --> 00:00:13,900
but a long time
friend of the UUA--

6
00:00:13,900 --> 00:00:16,570
the Rev. Dr. Bill Schulz,
President of the UU Service

7
00:00:16,570 --> 00:00:17,970
Committee.

8
00:00:17,970 --> 00:00:21,240
The UUSC and the UUA are working
collaboratively together,

9
00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:23,650
as evidenced by the
jointly sponsored college

10
00:00:23,650 --> 00:00:25,880
of social justice, which
you'll hear from a little

11
00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:27,340
later this morning.

12
00:00:27,340 --> 00:00:29,680
One of the first notes I
got, soon after my election,

13
00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,220
was from Bill, inviting
the UUA Board of Trustees

14
00:00:33,220 --> 00:00:36,410
to join his staff and the
board members at the UUSC,

15
00:00:36,410 --> 00:00:40,430
to underscore this renewed
spirit of collaboration.

16
00:00:40,430 --> 00:00:49,307
Please welcome Bill Schulz.

17
00:00:49,307 --> 00:00:50,890
Bill Schulz: Thank
you, Mr. Moderator.

18
00:00:50,890 --> 00:00:53,600
Good morning to you.

19
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:58,860
Here is the most dazzling
philosophical retort

20
00:00:58,860 --> 00:01:00,820
I have ever heard.

21
00:01:00,820 --> 00:01:02,750
Now, we all know
that mathematically

22
00:01:02,750 --> 00:01:06,770
and linguistically, a double
negative amounts to a positive.

23
00:01:06,770 --> 00:01:11,660
If I say, I don't think
you are not an idiot,

24
00:01:11,660 --> 00:01:15,110
you ought not to be flattered.

25
00:01:15,110 --> 00:01:17,690
The great linguistic
philosopher J.L.

26
00:01:17,690 --> 00:01:22,850
Austin was once lecturing at
Columbia University and made

27
00:01:22,850 --> 00:01:28,280
the assertion that though two
negatives make a positive,

28
00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:34,190
it is never the case that two
positives make a negative--

29
00:01:34,190 --> 00:01:36,690
Bill Schulz: To which a
member of the audience, Sidney

30
00:01:36,690 --> 00:01:39,370
Morgenbesser-- himself, a
great philosopher-- shouted,

31
00:01:39,370 --> 00:01:45,430
yeah, yeah.

32
00:01:45,430 --> 00:01:47,810
When I read that
story, many years ago,

33
00:01:47,810 --> 00:01:50,810
I decided not to
become a philosopher.

34
00:01:50,810 --> 00:01:52,780
I was just not smart enough.

35
00:01:52,780 --> 00:01:56,300
I had never been good with
numbers or computational logic

36
00:01:56,300 --> 00:01:57,230
or math.

37
00:01:57,230 --> 00:01:59,980
In fact, I flunked
Algebra 1 in high school

38
00:01:59,980 --> 00:02:04,830
and had to attend summer school,
the only compensation for which

39
00:02:04,830 --> 00:02:08,900
was that Tippy Canfield, the
most beautiful 14-year-old girl

40
00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:11,370
in Pittsburgh, did too.

41
00:02:11,370 --> 00:02:15,360
My parents could not
understand, that summer,

42
00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:17,830
my newfound passion for algebra.

43
00:02:17,830 --> 00:02:21,610
Nonetheless--
nonetheless, this morning,

44
00:02:21,610 --> 00:02:24,640
in an attempt to
confront my numerophobia,

45
00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:26,630
I'm going to show
you some numbers

46
00:02:26,630 --> 00:02:30,050
because they tell more
quickly than words, alone,

47
00:02:30,050 --> 00:02:33,080
can what a remarkable
organization the Unitarian

48
00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:34,940
Universalist Service
Committee is.

49
00:02:34,940 --> 00:02:36,610
Here's the first one.

50
00:02:36,610 --> 00:02:44,780
75-- that's how old we'll
be, this coming year.

51
00:02:44,780 --> 00:02:46,302
Here's another one.

52
00:02:46,302 --> 00:02:54,380
30%-- that's how much our
budget has grown since 2011.

53
00:02:54,380 --> 00:02:57,650
81%-- that's how
much of that budget

54
00:02:57,650 --> 00:03:04,330
we spend on helping people,
and only 19% on overhead.

55
00:03:04,330 --> 00:03:07,080
And it's one reason
that we received,

56
00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,450
this year, a number of which
we are particularly proud,

57
00:03:10,450 --> 00:03:12,850
four-- that's the
number of stars

58
00:03:12,850 --> 00:03:15,020
we've been awarded
by Charity Navigator,

59
00:03:15,020 --> 00:03:19,870
for transparency and
efficient use of funds.

60
00:03:19,870 --> 00:03:21,690
It's the highest
rating you can get.

61
00:03:21,690 --> 00:03:24,080
It means that every
penny you give UUSC

62
00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,420
is spent wisely
and productively.

63
00:03:27,420 --> 00:03:29,560
But how many people
do you really help,

64
00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:30,810
when you help UUSC?

65
00:03:30,810 --> 00:03:34,140
Most of us know that we
work in four program areas--

66
00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:37,120
the human right to
water, economic justice,

67
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,680
political liberties,
rights at risk

68
00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,710
from human or natural
disasters, such as our new work

69
00:03:42,710 --> 00:03:46,490
with Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

70
00:03:46,490 --> 00:03:48,420
What you may not
know is that we do

71
00:03:48,420 --> 00:03:52,190
that work in 15 countries
and the United States,

72
00:03:52,190 --> 00:03:56,390
that we do it with 55 program
partners around the world,

73
00:03:56,390 --> 00:03:59,860
and that 2/3 of our
work is international,

74
00:03:59,860 --> 00:04:01,970
and 1/3 is domestic.

75
00:04:01,970 --> 00:04:03,830
Here are some
numbers that give you

76
00:04:03,830 --> 00:04:06,730
a little sense of our success.

77
00:04:06,730 --> 00:04:10,700
200-- that's the number
of former child slaves

78
00:04:10,700 --> 00:04:17,120
in Haiti to whom we've
taught a sustainable trade.

79
00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,995
2000-- 2,000-- that's the
number of people whose farms we

80
00:04:21,995 --> 00:04:23,540
are rebuilding in
the Philippines,

81
00:04:23,540 --> 00:04:26,950
following the typhoon there.

82
00:04:26,950 --> 00:04:30,290
10,000-- that's the
number of Haitians

83
00:04:30,290 --> 00:04:32,410
we've treated for
trauma over the years,

84
00:04:32,410 --> 00:04:36,650
since the devastating
earthquake hit Port-au-Prince.

85
00:04:36,650 --> 00:04:40,670
$600,000-- that's the
amount of back wages

86
00:04:40,670 --> 00:04:44,190
we've retrieved, so far, for
poultry workers in Arkansas

87
00:04:44,190 --> 00:04:46,400
whose wages the big
poultry companies

88
00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,210
have stolen from them.

89
00:04:50,210 --> 00:04:53,560
1 million-- that's the
number of trees and seedlings

90
00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:59,390
we've planted in Kenya to
reforest the land there.

91
00:04:59,390 --> 00:05:04,100
$27 million-- that's the amount
we forced a corporation called

92
00:05:04,100 --> 00:05:07,740
Goldcorp to pay to clean
up the water supplies

93
00:05:07,740 --> 00:05:10,510
of 18 communities
of Mayan Indians

94
00:05:10,510 --> 00:05:13,320
whose water had turned
toxic by the runoff

95
00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:18,150
from Goldcorp's mines.

96
00:05:18,150 --> 00:05:21,780
Now, we remember that
Joseph Stalin famously said,

97
00:05:21,780 --> 00:05:25,430
one death is a tragedy, a
million deaths are a statistic.

98
00:05:25,430 --> 00:05:27,030
So enough with statistics.

99
00:05:27,030 --> 00:05:27,970
Enough with numbers.

100
00:05:27,970 --> 00:05:31,490
But I hope they give you some
sense of how effective and far

101
00:05:31,490 --> 00:05:33,590
reaching your
Service Committee is.

102
00:05:33,590 --> 00:05:35,550
I want you to be
proud of all that

103
00:05:35,550 --> 00:05:37,780
is being accomplished
in your name.

104
00:05:37,780 --> 00:05:39,520
And in a moment,
Kathleen McTigue,

105
00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,180
the director of the UU
College of Social Justice--

106
00:05:42,180 --> 00:05:44,930
a joint program
of UUSC and UUA--

107
00:05:44,930 --> 00:05:48,160
will tell you how you
can do justice directly,

108
00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:49,780
if you want to.

109
00:05:49,780 --> 00:05:52,380
But finally, I want
to tell you why

110
00:05:52,380 --> 00:05:55,400
UUSC exists in the
first place, why

111
00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,100
I have done this work
for justice for 50 years,

112
00:05:59,100 --> 00:06:01,980
and maybe why you have too.

113
00:06:01,980 --> 00:06:05,450
It came to me in an
instant, about 10 years ago,

114
00:06:05,450 --> 00:06:10,690
in the middle of a horrendous
refugee camp in Darfur, Sudan.

115
00:06:10,690 --> 00:06:14,720
90,000 teeming people
who had been burned out

116
00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,720
of their villages, their menfolk
murdered, many of their women

117
00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:20,610
raped and battered.

118
00:06:20,610 --> 00:06:23,980
It was in that camp that
I met a young woman who,

119
00:06:23,980 --> 00:06:28,550
amid the squalor and
degradation, her clothes,

120
00:06:28,550 --> 00:06:32,410
such as they were, tattered
and falling off of her,

121
00:06:32,410 --> 00:06:36,130
but who wore around her neck
a lovely piece of jewelry--

122
00:06:36,130 --> 00:06:40,290
just glass, no doubt, but
a turquoise colored glass

123
00:06:40,290 --> 00:06:44,400
that sparkled constantly
in the relentless sun.

124
00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,840
At first, I thought it
was a religious symbol,

125
00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:50,360
and I asked our Arabic
speaking translator

126
00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,870
to ask her what it was.

127
00:06:52,870 --> 00:06:58,280
She says, it is me, he told me.

128
00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:00,280
At first, I didn't
understand and thought

129
00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:05,600
she had simply said, it is mine,
and that he had mistranslated.

130
00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,406
What did she say, I asked,
did she say it is hers?

131
00:07:09,406 --> 00:07:15,010
No, he said definitively,
she said, it is me.

132
00:07:15,010 --> 00:07:16,900
And suddenly, I understood.

133
00:07:16,900 --> 00:07:20,820
I've led such a blessed
life-- two loving parents,

134
00:07:20,820 --> 00:07:22,990
no experience of want.

135
00:07:22,990 --> 00:07:26,360
The gift of the sun has
never been a threat to me.

136
00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,880
My life has rarely
been in danger.

137
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,670
I kiss the Earth
with my gratitude,

138
00:07:31,670 --> 00:07:35,460
the gifts of creation
mine for the asking.

139
00:07:35,460 --> 00:07:41,610
But when you are in a refugee
camp with nowhere to shelter,

140
00:07:41,610 --> 00:07:46,410
the gift of the sun becomes
not a blessing but a curse.

141
00:07:46,410 --> 00:07:49,700
When you are in constant
fear for your life, the gifts

142
00:07:49,700 --> 00:07:55,340
of grace-- a starry night, a
baby's coo, the color purple,

143
00:07:55,340 --> 00:07:58,130
your lover's smile--
the gifts of grace

144
00:07:58,130 --> 00:08:00,060
are almost impossible to see.

145
00:08:00,060 --> 00:08:06,340
They are there, but they are
hiding behind toxic water

146
00:08:06,340 --> 00:08:11,250
and men with machine guns
and only bread, if that,

147
00:08:11,250 --> 00:08:13,120
to feed your family.

148
00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:17,450
This piece of jewelry,
this small sparkling piece

149
00:08:17,450 --> 00:08:20,730
of glass around my
neck, this is me.

150
00:08:20,730 --> 00:08:27,150
This is how I know that though
I am near brute flesh, bone,

151
00:08:27,150 --> 00:08:32,929
water, swollen tongue, excrement
stained thighs, my most

152
00:08:32,929 --> 00:08:35,880
private parts exposed
for all to see,

153
00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,200
that though I am
brute flesh right

154
00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,760
now, in this horrific camp,
I am not just those things,

155
00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:44,810
and there is more
to life than this.

156
00:08:44,810 --> 00:08:49,600
There is also flash and color,
dazzlement and decoration.

157
00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:54,080
I can wear a piece of
turquoise glass around my neck

158
00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:55,710
and call it beautiful.

159
00:08:55,710 --> 00:08:59,490
I can wear a piece of
turquoise glass around my neck,

160
00:08:59,490 --> 00:09:02,840
to remind me of
the gifts of grace.

161
00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:12,120
This glass is me because even
here, I am a human being still.

162
00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:13,990
That's why UUSC exists.

163
00:09:13,990 --> 00:09:17,730
In that instant, I understood
why I did this work and maybe

164
00:09:17,730 --> 00:09:21,280
why you do too-- to
give back, of course,

165
00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,770
for my good fortune,
but even more than that,

166
00:09:24,770 --> 00:09:31,380
to do what I can to strip the
varnish from life's blessings,

167
00:09:31,380 --> 00:09:35,900
to take down the walls
that block its favors,

168
00:09:35,900 --> 00:09:41,270
and to defeat all of that which
would blind us to creation's

169
00:09:41,270 --> 00:09:44,610
grace, so that at
the end of the day,

170
00:09:44,610 --> 00:09:49,190
at least a few more people
might know its comfort,

171
00:09:49,190 --> 00:09:53,600
and at least a few more
people be able to say,

172
00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,040
I am a human being still.

173
00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:08,779