The weekend has been given over to celebrating the birth of our country, and we are four months from an important election — probably the most consequential in our lifetimes. How do we balancehope and fear, faith and cynicism?

Rev. Anne Felton Hines has served UU congregations in Southern California since 1984. Emerson UU Church granted her Minister Emerita status upon her official retirement in 2014. Since then, she has occasionally served congregations in various roles, including guest preaching at UU of SCV. She is also president of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the ACLU, works (sometimes) on her memoir, watches way too much TV, and recently began volunteering as a pianist at Kaiser Woodland Hills Medical Center.