Minister, Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills
in honor of the selection of Waitstill and Martha Sharp as
Righteous Among the Nations, Wellesley, Mass.
December 12, 2005

Last month our congregation co-sponsored the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus at Wellesley College in support of our community's No Place for Hate Initiative. That first ever in Wellesley November concert was so good that I bought tickets to their Christmas Concert, full price, at Jordan Hall last Saturday night.

Once again, I heard their conductor, Rueben Reynolds tell the story of the chorus’s recent trip to central Europe: Prague, Berlin and Wroclaw, the fourth largest city in Poland.

The chorus received a warm and enthusiastic welcome in both Prague and Berlin but not in Wroclaw. A right-wing group made serious threats against the chorus performing – threats which appeared dangerous enough that, for its own safety, the 250 performers were under armed police guard round the clock.

The day of the concert, Rueben was inundated with interviews with reporters who had come from all over the country. Unable to understand the language, he spoke through an interpreter, who he said was a gracious older woman, a woman old enough to be his grandmother.

Even though he didn't know what she was saying, he could tell from the passion in her voice that she was committed to helping the press understand how important it was that the concert take place and at the end of the day Rueben asked her why their concert had such meaning for her.

She told him that she was a Jew and that she and her mother and sister had all been sent to concentration camps during the war and that her mother and sister had died in the camps.

"I care about your concert," she said, "because it's all the same, no matter whether the attacks are over religion or homosexuality – it is always wrong and I stand up for you because in standing up for you, I stand up for what is right and I stand for my own family."

That's why we're here tonight, to honor Martha and Waitstill Sharp for standing up for those who needed others to stand with them in those terrible and desperate times.

As minister of this congregation, it is my pleasure to welcome each of you here tonight for this extraordinary celebration and it is my great pleasure to welcome each of our speakers.

I can tell you that never ever before have we had so many esteemed and honored guests assembled here at one time. Thank you for being here.

The courageous rescue work undertaken by Martha and Waitstill is without question the proudest moment of this congregation's history and nothing could be more meaningful than for us than to have the honor of hosting you as you pay your tribute of respect to Martha and Waitstill Sharp who, through their example, are exemplars not just of our Unitarian Universalist faith but of humanity itself at its very best.