2026 THEMES: JUNE
JUNE'S THEME: EQUITY
Katrina, a member of the Bahá’í faith and WIN Board, offered the following:
By applying in one's life principles of fairness and equity, each person can uphold a standard far above the low threshold by which the world measures itself. Humanity is weary for want of a pattern of life to which to aspire; we should aim for actions in our communities which will give hope to the world.
(Universal House of Justice, Message to the Baha'i World, Ridvan 2012)
Doug Goodwin, a retired pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) tradition shared these thoughts:
The church loves to sing hymns. Hymn singing has been part of worship, and life, dating way back into Jewish Hebrew history. Our ancestors, like us, found singing to be an essential expression of a faithful and meaningful life. One of the earliest hymns in the Newer Testament of the Christian Bible is found in St. Paul’s writing to the Philippian Church. Obviously, we no longer have access to the musical tune; nevertheless, we have been blessed with the lyrics. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, . . . .” (New Revised Version)
For modern purposes, it is unfortunate that the hymn does not go on to sing about our moral obligation to resist the temptation to exploit our equality with other human beings. Far too easy to exploit our advantages, or denigrate our gifts, than to celebrate our essential humanness, a gift from the Creator. Yet, there are moments of peace, where we find common ground in religion, politics, values and friendship. In those holy moments, we find ourselves blessed beyond blessed.
Liz, who is a Druid, sent the following:
The three ethics of permaculture, ethics by which societies stay healthy, functional, and in right relationship with the land they live on are: earth care, people care, and redistribute the surplus. It’s this third ethic that speaks to equity. These ethics are, as is the whole field of permaculture, derived from studying indigenous societies all around the world to understand how they have survived and thrived since time immemorial. These ethics are not about what would be nice to do or what people should do; they are about what is necessary in order to be a healthy and functional society in right relationship with the land, what has to happen to survive and thrive. There are many, many different ways to redistribute the surplus, and often they are encoded into cultural stories, often featuring trickster characters. In the English-speaking world, probably the best known is Robin Hood. Robin Hood, whole stole from the rich and gave to the poor, facilitating that flow of resources throughout society in an restoring and equitable way. Now, I do not advocate for theft. However, it’s hard to avoid the reality that if you don’t redistribute any surplus you may be holding on to, that which is not serving you, in some other way, Robin Hood may just do it for you.
Kim shared the following quote by Kofi Annan:
If tolerance, respect and equity permeate family life, they will translate into values that shape societies, nations and the world.
