May 15, 2017

Warning

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:16 pm by Rev. Thomas Perchlik

Years ago the Motivators posters were all the rage.  You can still see them on office walls today. They have beautiful, high-resolution photos of something like a group of people rowing a boat into a sunrise. At the top, a single word, like “TEAMWORK.”  Below the image a few sentences like, “Teamwork is the ability to direct individual accomplishment toward shared goals.  It is the pull that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

Of course, these posters inspired many parodies.  In one is a similar image of a rowing team in the early morning, all pulling together, the word “teamwork” in a similar font.  But below are the words, “When we fail as individuals, the fault is ours alone.  But when we fail as a team, it is always some other idiot’s fault.” My particular favorite was the image of a sunken ship, only the prow above the blue water as the sky turns to orange and yellow.  Above is the word “MISTAKES.”  Below, the text reads, “It could be that the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others.”

I thought of that poster yet again when I came across the latest installment of Sightings.   Out of University of Chicago’s Divinity school and the Martin Marty Center, this column has come out twice a week for decades sharing insights to the appearance of religion in public media.  On May 5, 2017, Martin Marty himself wrote on “Taking the Unitarian Universalist Diversity Crisis Seriously,” with a picture of our past UUA President at the top.  You should follow the link below to read the article but to my first reading, Dr. Marty’s point is this: Sometimes the purpose of your deep troubles is to serve as a warning to others.

Sightings, on UU Diversity Crisis

Mistakes