It isn’t always obvious how to choose the “right” path forward, but we make our choices to the best of our ability, aligning our actions with our values. We also learn from others along the way. For this service, Rev. Joan joins in conversation with Mohsen Mahdawi in exploring how integrity emerges as we travel through life’s uncertainties and precarities and make the road before us. Music will feature the UCM Choir singing “A Promise I Will Keep” by Nick Page, and pianist Sara Huff.

Mohsen Mahdawi is a current Master’s student of the School for International Public Affairs at Columbia University. He became a permanent resident of the Upper Connecticut River Valley area of Vermont after arriving as a refugee from the West Bank of Palestine over ten years ago. Mohsen has been an activist for Palestinian rights and was detained by Immigration Customs Enforcement on April 14. He was held in prison for sixteen days before his court-ordered release. Mohsen was raised Muslim and is now a practicing Buddhist with close ties to the First Universalist Society of Hartland, VT. The U.S. government has appealed the Vermont District Court’s ruling seeking his re-imprisonment, and Mohsen has continued to be a bridge-builder who speaks out for freedom of speech, human rights, and peace in the Middle East.

Topics: integrity