Leslie’s Logos – February 2026
Sometimes it feels as if the world is crying. Or if it is not, that it should be.
Images of violence in our nation and around the world, much of it done using the resources of this nation, while many among us face increased struggles to be safe, warm, and fed.
Within that frame, the rhythms of our own lives continue. Which means that some of us are celebrating great accomplishments, some of us are mourning great losses and some of us are just more in need of comfort in these times. And it matters, and we as a community still wish to embrace all.
I remember when, a few years into being part of a Unitarian Universalist community, I knew I was all in. It was the day I realized the part of the service which was most important to me wasn’t the minister’s message (and the minister in my home church was a brilliant preacher.) Rather, it was the time when we heard the joys and sorrows of the community. I wanted to know how my friends—and my chosen extended family members—were doing. In the days before Livestreaming, THAT was why I came to church. I could buy the sermons on cassette tapes (yep, for real—old school) in the Fellowship Hall later. Yet I wanted to hear how my beloveds were doing.
Since the election of November 2025, the world has seemed off-kilter. One of the ways I know this is that attendance is down in the many groups we have to support people who are grieving, going through a transition, caretaking, fighting addiction, dealing with difficult diagnoses, etc. And one of the ways that has been true for me is that people are not letting us know of major life events. New life! (Yay!) New jobs! (YES!) Moving! (Boo.) Illness. (Oh no! How can we help?) Even deaths and pending end of life issues have gone unreported. When I follow up, people say that it seemed unimportant because of all that is going on.
Yet many people have lived under oppression and chaos as well as threats of violence for lives and generations. And what they know is the important rituals of caring and connection are lifelines. My friends, sharing your celebrations and your losses is a form of service and I invite you all to bring your offerings!
In faith, persistence, and everyday resistance,
Rev. Leslie Takahashi
Feel free to email at leslie@mduuc.org and to follow up with a call due to a perennial issue with the email. You can follow her on BlueSky (leslietakahashi.bsky.social) and on Substack . To make an appointment with Rev. Leslie, visit https://calendly.com/revlesliemeet.