Shelter in This Place: Meditations on 2020

2020 was a year unlike any other. A year of masks and marches. A tale of two pandemics, COVID-19 and the deep-rooted pandemic of white supremacy and structural racism. Shelter in This Place, the 2021 volume of the inSpirit Series, is an anthology of poems, prayers, and reflections from Unitarian Universalists about their experiences of 2020―offered as a testament to our collective grit and grief, rage and resistance, love and loneliness. With readings that come from a variety of perspectives, identities, and geographies, and were written throughout the long year, Shelter in This Place captures the complex reality of 2020. Editor Meg Riley writes in her introduction, “My deep hope is that this collection of writings allows each one of us to know that, even in the separateness of our masked and socially distanced grief, we are not mourning alone.” And yet despite the grief and loss collected in these pages, the writers describe resilience and joy too. They take solace in the birth of ducklings and the unfurling of new leaves. They persevere. May this book contain words that heal, comfort, and inspire you in the days ahead.

Rev. Meg Riley, a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, was raised in congregations in Charleston, West Virginia, and Akron, Ohio. After serving for 38 years as a religious professional in a variety of capacities, Rev. Riley retired in the summer of 2020. She now serves, with Charles DuMond, as co-moderator of the Unitarian Universalist Association. She lives in Minneapolis, nestled in with her family, animals, gardens, deep friendships, and a vibrant activist community. She is also the editor of Testimony: The Transformative Power of Unitarian Universalism.