"Your monthly eBulletin - Personal and World Transformation through Service" ProgressiveChristianity.org for Wednesday, 24 June 2015 - Through acts of service, we experience compassion, empathy, and Oneness. Boundaries disappear, as we practice putting other's needs before our own. This is the path which leads us to the experience of the "kin-dom" of god and clearly leads to personal and world transformation.
Personal and World Transformation through Service
To Serve or Be Served?
This world tends to breed a culture of power and greed, measuring greatness on prestige and position. Those that are considered successful are those whom are served. Everyone seems to want to lead, few want to be a servant. Is it human nature to fight over status? Or have we been misled through culture, media, and language?
Jesus taught a radically different path- one of service, humility, and loving kindness. And yet, we still have Christian leaders shunning those less than them, judging them as sinners, and turning away the needy. What has Christianity come to, if we are no longer servants of others? How can we allow the violence, the inequality to continue? The answer is simple. WE CAN'T. As followers of Jesus, we must stand up against injustice, we must feed the hungry, heal the sick, and fight for equality. And we must do it every moment the opportunity arrises. It can be as simple as opening a door for someone, volunteering, or helping your neighbor with their garden. It begins with facing the ego and acknowledging that egoic voice that tells us we are too busy, or too good, or too important to help others. Once we confront that voice, we can let it go. Find time, make time, sacrifice time and serve with grace and gratitude. You will be positively transformed and the more of us that are walking this path, the more the world will be transformed as well.
I hope you enjoy this eBulletin as much as I did,
Deshna
The Chicken and the Egg
Fred PlumerI have always suspected it is a chicken and egg phenomenon. What comes first? Personal transformation leads to the desire, or need even, to transform something in the world. Or do our efforts to change something that is unjust, something that causes suffering in the world lead to a personal and spiritual transformation? I know my own story and I know it is not unique. I have asked many people this question over the years and I have received a variety of responses. None of them surprise me anymore.
My wife and I recently had the opportunity to share a meal with some good friends and their invited guests. The guests, who we had never met, had a fascinating story about their lives. I will only touch on some of the facts I learned this evening. They are both very private people and I have not asked for their permission to share more.
Both professionals, they had reached a time in their lives when most people would be planning their retirement years. They were both drawn to a life of service as part of their faith journey but I suspect it may have been part of their DNA as well. In 2007 they went on a mission trip to Tanzania to help work on a new school building. It was on this trip that they learned of the terrible predicament many of the young, orphaned children have in a country where so many children are left without parents because of poor living conditions and disease. Both tuberculosis and AIDs are rampant in this poor country.
They also learned that many of the faith related non-profits will typically come to the country with good intentions, build a facility, but will not provide the means to operate the school. The results are often empty, deteriorating school buildings with no teachers or students, leaving no way for children, particularly orphaned children, to get an education. This is virtually a life sentence of miserable poverty and an early death for these precious children.
After some soul searching and some head scratching, this determined couple along with a few other motivated friends decided to do something. They started a new non-profit but with a business plan that would cater to orphans. In a little over seven years, a lot of hard work, they now have three schools in operation with over 700 students. When another school is completed their combined enrollment will be over 1000 students every year. Yes, you can say this is a story of transformation of a village, or even a country. But my new friends will tell you they are the ones who were transformed.
As I listened to their story I was reminded of the year and a half I spent working at a community center in Potrero Hill, CA. This was a mixed neighborhood with lovely homes, usually remodeled homes built in the early 1900s and one of the largest public housing projects in California. I was in seminary at the time and part of a program to immerse a few students in some of the more difficult social settings. I was happy when I got my placement on Potrero Hill even though it was considered one of the most challenging. The community center primarily served the underprivileged who lived in the housing projects but often sponsored community events for the entire community.
My primary responsibility was to work with a group of young black students in their early teens. I was to mentor them, teach them some working skills, and tutor when possible. But my main job was to try and keep them in school. I was the only white person on a staff of twenty four, with the exception of the office administrator. My boss was black and his boss was black and a well-known activist in the Bay area. She had marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma.
I have written about this amazing experience several times in the past so I won’t belabor the point. In short I thought I was going to take my leadership and management skills to these impoverished people and help them. Yes I am embarrassed to say in the beginning I saw myself as a “white knight” coming to save the children. Early on I thought I might transform the center into something more efficient and productive. However, very quickly I became the student, and my students, the other staff members, and my bosses became the teachers. I was not the one who was going to transform. I was transformed by the experience and have never been the same.
Over the years I have come to understand this whole idea of spiritual transformation as a spiral of awareness. I am purposely using the word spiral here rather than an event or even a ladder. Most of us will have times in our lives when we suddenly become aware of something we call injustice. We may not be certain what justice is, but we surely recognize injustice when we come across it. This does not always mean we attempt to do something about it, but at least we are now aware.
This awareness may start primarily as a head thing. We now see something is not right, not fair and people, animals or the environment suffer because of it. We can weigh the facts in these situations and eventually we may decide to take some action. As we begin to work toward righting this injustice, we are drawn closer to those who are suffering. Somewhere along the way our awareness of the injustice takes on another dimension. We are now more familiar with those who suffer. They become real people who suffer and we feel a connection. This is no longer a matter of principle. These become people, children or animals who we now care about. We move from head to heart. Our capacity for compassion grows and as it grows so do we. We are no longer trying to help them as objects but rather helping someone in our family. This is no longer a head thing.
This is why the young boys I tutored became “my boys.” I loved them beyond understanding. And this is why my new friends referred to the children in the schools they helped build as “my children.”
But it does not end there. As we grow closer to those who suffer and make attempts to relieve their suffering we are drawn closer to those who we are trying to help. Differences between us begin to dissolve and we now become more sensitive to others who suffer, who are trapped in some downward spiral. Our hearts grow, our capacity for compassion is expanded. We may even begin to experience a sense of Oneness with them that cannot be explained. And finally at some point our Oneness is expanded to others, even those who may have created or sustained the injustice.
I do believe this phenomenon was part of Jesus’ teachings. It is the reason he taught his followers to go outside their boundaries that were so clearly drawn in his days. Yes there was a vision of a new world guided by God’s love or radical egalitarianism. Jesus may have referred to this as the Kingdom of God. But the path to the Kingdom or Commonwealth was through service. One situation at a time.
So what comes first, the transformation of society or transformation of ourselves? It seems like a chicken and egg thing to me.
READ ON....
Conscience and Consciousness
John Bennison
“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”[Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie]
A pdf version to print and/or read is here.Premise
Spirituality is often an amorphous and bandied about term that too often connotes the merely religious type, as somehow distinct from those who are not. It’s a little like the artificial distinction sometimes made between what is sacred or secular in a world of human experience that is actually infused with the totality of all things, known and unknown.
Instead, I appreciate something as equally shared as it is often neglected, namely the human conscience and our consciousness of it. Simply put, human consciousness is the awareness of a personal conscience; where conscience is a core dimension with which we have the innate capacity to take account of ourselves.
One’s conscience, however, is not simply about adherence to an external set of beliefs about what is “right” or “wrong;” which can – and does – change, both cross-culturally and over time. Rather, it is something intrinsic within every human being, and is universal when it comes to our common humanity. Ultimately, it has to do with meaning and purpose.
It is also similar to the observation that at the heart of every great religious tradition the same fundamental truths about purpose and meaning are espoused; with ways of wisdom practiced as expressions of those truths. In this sense, the human conscience is not only that spiritual home from which we can wander; but from which we can often lose the way of return, as well. The Christian faith tradition is a good example of just such a journey.
Before Human Consciousness became “Spiritualized”
“The (Father’s) imperial rule is within you and it is outside you. … If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” – Gospel of Thomas, 113:4, 70
From what little we know, the historical Jesus was an itinerant 1st century Galilean sage, teacher from Jewish peasant stock. He was also sometimes referred to as a “spirit” person. But put another way, he was also a person of conscience, with a keen awareness of the human condition in all its inconsequence and magnificence.
While his teachings were life changing for his followers, they were also soon affiliated with what quickly became a legendary figure; and to which a messianic title was subsequently attributed by a religious sect that arose in the years following his human demise.
In the decades and centuries that followed, a whole set of belief’s about his divinity overshadowed his teachings. Furthermore, it’s worth noting those teachings now considered most historically authentic were noticeably void of any religious language, but richly and colloquially descriptive of his full humanity.
Central to those teachings was the fundamental notion that there was not only an inherent dimension within every person that was connected to the source of all being-ness; but that it also required an awakening, of sorts, for those who had “eyes” to see, and “ears” to hear. Any notions of such religiously laden ideas like salvation or redemption — that were subsequently overlaid and instituted — originated from a transformative process that first arose within the individual.
Of course as we know, the early Christian movement quickly constructed a hierarchical structure with ecclesiastical authority, dispensing certain orthodoxies (right belief) and heresies (wrong beliefs). The role for the human conscience as the source of “spiritual” awareness and practice was replaced by conformity to those external doctrines called Church teachings; along with the proprietary claim that personal salvation was mediated solely through the divinity of Jesus, as the Christ.
In contrast, Jesus the wisdom teacher directed his earliest followers to look within themselves, and each other. As such, Jesus was not “the way,” but a companion in the way each person has the capacity to travel; given the conscious awareness of that path, and the choice to venture wherever it leads.
Consciousness and Conscience as a “Spiritual” Path
I have often looked around at the world in which we live with all our faults and foibles and thought to myself we seem to be hard-wired as human beings, but soft-wired whenever we try to describe or imagine ourselves to be so-called spiritual beings.
As physical, finite beings, it’s hard to remain unaware of outward human frailties, successes and excesses. But to become aware of anything more — or other — than what is empirical, verifiable and (consequently) believable is commonly considered to be a venture into the intangible, ethereal realm of “spirituality.” Our soft-wired side can’t seem to stand up to the harsh realities with which we are confronted and challenged in today’s world of disruption, chaos, and sheer seeming madness.
When our “spiritual” side is invoked or employed, it’s typically in some religious context or tradition; that is — as often as not — seen to be in a battle over whose “god” is greater, and whose religious convictions possess the “truth.” Whenever a crack of doubt is introduced into any set of staunchly held beliefs in such a common scenario, two options then present themselves.
One can shut one’s eyes, squeeze them tightly, and endlessly repeat, “I believe, I believe, I believe _____ (fill in the blank).” The world around us then becomes filled with competing rules, ideals and principles; all representing ways we should behave, as well as what we should think and believe. The devil perches on one shoulder, an angel on the other, both whispering in your ear. Such religious constructs become morality plays, depicting the battle between the forces of good and evil; typically tinged with the illusory promise of something better when our hard-wired selves ultimately wear out.
The other option? One can acknowledge a conscious awareness of something new and revelatory stirring within oneself, beckoning one to see with new eyes. However, this spiritual wellspring is not some external divine, but something just as worthy of being revered as sacred; namely, the human conscience. It is the awareness one might liken to an internal “divining rod” of what is right or wrong. And one which supersedes any external moral constructs of right and wrong, and instead instigates compassionate acts for a common good; yielding to a sense of personal purpose, and a kind of conversion or transformation worthy of any reputable “spiritual” quest for a meaningful life.
Transformative Acts of Conscience
If all this has your head swimming, here are three “secular” examples of transformative power of human conscience, or lack thereof.
Whistleblower Edward Snowden was a former security analyst contractor with the NSA, who made the conscious decision to breach the confidentiality agreement he had with the government, flee the country with sensitive documents, and then disclose the evidence government officials were flat out lying to the American public about the massive level of surveillance being indiscriminately conducted on the citizenry.
Snowden violated U.S. law by his conduct, jeopardized military information gathering practices and was charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917. When asked why he did so, he explained it as a matter of conscience; where his actions were essentially the result of competing external values and the importance he placed upon himself of one over the other. He has said he was willing to accept the consequences of his actions, and that no matter what happened to him, he feels good about what he’d done. For him, one might say, it was a self-redemptive act. It gave him a deeply held sense of meaning and purpose.
It’s also worth noting that two years later, a bill recently introduced in Congress to overhaul the Patriot Act, curtailing the metadata collection program exposed by Snowden, is expected to pass overwhelmingly.
A second example: The late Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL known as the American sniper, was a renowned killing machine; credited with saving his comrades time and again in Iraq. “After the first kill, the others come easy,” he wrote in his best-selling memoir. “I don’t have to psych myself up, or do something special mentally — I look through the scope, get my target in the cross hairs, and kill my enemy, before he kills one of my people.”
When explaining how he’d managed to kill one insurgent from an incredible distance, he was quoted saying, “God blew that bullet and hit him.” Kyle went on to say he performed his duty with the values he held to be most important to him, and with a “clear conscience.”
At the same time, Kyle subsequently suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his military service. The bitter irony is that he himself was shot and killed at point blank range at a shooting range by another troubled veteran suffering from PTSD.
Now, we may all have our own opinions and labels for who is the hero, the villain, the patriot, or the traitor. But once consciously aware of what they were doing or had done, it might be said it became for both of these individuals a wrestling match equal to Jacob with the angel of their better natures. They struggled to reconcile their hard-wired self with their soft-wired conscience; each in their own redemptive quest.
A third example is the story of Chuck Palazzo.
Fifty years ago this spring, U.S. Marines stormed ashore on the beaches of Da Nang, South Vietnam; as part of what would be one of our countries longest military conflicts. Chuck Palazzo was an 18 year-old draftee from New York, who did his duty and followed orders without question. During his tour of duty, the Da Nang airbase became a storage depot for Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant used extensively and indiscriminately throughout that country.
Fifty years later, Da Nang is now a favorite vacation destination for tourists, with the cabanas of modern high-rise hotels dotting the beaches. Most dismiss the American war in Southeast Asia as ancient history. One of only the few lingering effects of that conflict is the airbase and surrounding land which remains contaminated with dioxin levels 350 times international safety standards; most tangibly evidenced by the genetic birth defects that still continue to affect generations of newborn Vietnamese children to this day.
While the U.S. has spent $100 million to try to reduce the residual contamination it left behind in Da Nang with the construction of a state-of-the-art decontamination facility, it has never paid the $3 billion in reconstruction promised by the Nixon Administration during the Paris peace accords that ended U.S. involvement in 1973. One might call that unconscionable.
But a more personal lingering effect of that war from long ago was the post-traumatic stress Chuck Palazzo has endured; having been afflicted, in a sense, by his own awakened conscience. “I had a goal and a dream, to come back at some point and do something positive here in Vietnam and for the Vietnamese people,” he says. Five years ago he did just that.
American ex-pat, Chuck Palazzo
“One of my motivations back then … was to resolve my own issues, as well as to work with the victims. I continue to heal as a result of the work that we do with the Agent Orange victims here. I have no medical or scientific background, but just interacting with kids, I could see that it makes them happy. And it makes me happy, too. I enjoy it.”
Our own small lives may not be as dramatic as these examples. But for those of us who may have previously simply relegated the idea of spiritual transformation to the religious life, consider what you would identify as your own conscience, when and how you become consciously aware of it, and how you apply it to the manner in which you live your life.
In what ways would you consider it akin to a spiritual life? How does your soft-wired side within inform and direct your hard-wired world, in ways that give real meaning and purpose to your life?
© 2015 by John William Bennison, Rel.D. All rights reserved.
This article should only be used or reproduced with proper credit.
To read more commentaries by John Bennison from the perspective of a Christian progressive go to
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The Radical Abandonment of Self-interest
Sea Raven, D.Min.Psalm 23; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Philippians 2:5-11; John 10:11-18
Civilization defines justice as retribution – payback; an eye for an eye. But the deeper meaning of justice is distributive: the rain falls on the good, the bad, and the ugly without partiality. Civilization does not use that definition except in cases where there is clearly injustice if partiality enters the picture. The positive understanding of distributive justice is contained in the term distributive justice-compassion. The normal development of civilizations has historically led to systems for assuring safety and security of citizens. But as any reader of Charles Dickens must be aware, those systems often exclude the poor, the uneducated, those who are presumed to have no economic or social power (women, minorities). Members of societies who are denied access to those powers often become ensnared in activities deemed anti-social or criminal in order to survive. Distributive justice-compassion would not demand payback or retribution for such activities, but would provide solutions: reeducation, rehabilitation, redress of grievances. Distributive justice-compassion holds sway in the Covenant relationship with the non-violent, inclusive, kenotic realm or kingdom of God. Justice as retribution/pay-back holds sway in the normal march of humanity into civilization. The short-hand term for the seemingly inevitable systems of injustice that are the result of that march is “Empire.”
The Apostle Paul was convinced that Jesus’s resurrection was of a spiritual, mystical body, which was automatically part of the kingdom of God – and that we who are living today can also participate in that kingdom if we choose God’s Covenant of nonviolent distributive justice-compassion instead of the violent retributive justice of Empire. Under the Covenant no one is judged by circumstance, but everyone is presumed to be transformed – or at least capable of transformation; the assumption is rehabilitation and hope; that everyone has access to power and the assurance of food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and peace regardless of who they are or where they come from. Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians that “there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” Because the transformation is ongoing – for upwards of two thousand years now – we are called to participate in a new creation– a new paradigm – a world based on letting go and sharing rather than keeping and greed.
The traditional view of Philippians 2:9-11 is that this is the imperial Christ triumphant.
“Therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (NRSV).
But Westar Institute scholarship indicates that Paul’s interpretation of the Christ is not one of domination, but of transformation; not of violence and political victory, but of nonviolent justice-compassion.
The portion of the hymn to the Christ that Paul quotes may be seen to fulfill the prophet Isaiah’s expectation of deliverance from injustice. It is an ecstatic, mystical declaration that the Emperors of Rome, living and dead, who declared themselves and their ancestors to be “god” and “son of god” and even “very god of very gods” would have to acknowledge that Jesus’s name was above even theirs. Jesus was the one chosen by God to be the one to restore God’s distributive justice-compassion, in place of the Emperor’s retributive justice. In place of law, the Christ establishes radical fairness. The servant of God gives up the power associated with the usual systems of imperial civilization. The servant of God is not interested in pay-back or retribution, nor in reward and glorification. The servant of God works with God to establish God’s distributive justice-compassion. The servant does the work for the glory of God, and is vindicated, delivered from injustice and death (See Isaiah 61).
The first part of the hymn to the Christ is about personal kenosis – the act of disregarding petty human desires, and defeating the temptation to revel in being the equal of God. “[A]lthough he was born in the image of God, [Jesus] did not regard ‘being like God’ as something to use for his own advantage, but rid himself of such vain pretension andaccepted a servant’s lot” ([Tr. The Authentic Letters of Paul, Polebridge Press 2010, p. 186]). These words might be seen as a kind of midrash – a retelling or reframing of sacred story. As the hymn restates the nature of the ultimate servant of God, the suffering servant described by Isaiah becomes the suffering messiah, who “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” The servant is obedient to God’s law of justice-compassion to the point of death on a cross – the ultimate symbol of imperial law and order. “That is why God raised him higher than anyone and awarded him the title that is above all others. . . .”
When we let go of self-interest – ego survival – we “think in the same way that the Anointed, Jesus, did. . . .” We think and act kenotically in a constant, evolving struggle of spirit for justice-compassion against the normalcy of civilization. The “suffering servant” trusts God’s vindication, that God will prove the servant to be right in the end: “The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word . . . God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious .. . I did not hide my face from insult and spitting . . . . Who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment” (Isaiah 50:4-9a).
Because the Revised Common Lectionary often separates the verses from Philippians from the context in which Paul wrote them, the action that is called for in 2:1-5 is easily missed or ignored. Paul urges the community in Philippi to have this same kenotic mind that Jesus had: “regard others as better than yourselves . . . look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” With those words, Paul invites the first century Philippians (and anyone in the twenty-first century) to a radical abandonment of self-interest. Paul is talking about creating the realm of God on earth. In such a realm, greed has no place, and debt has no power. Creating such a realm requires the kind of obedience that comes from total commitment to distributive justice-compassion, which can (and often does) lead to death at the hands of imperial systems.
Later in the letter (3:8-9) Paul writes, “Indeed, I now regard everything as worthless in light of the incomparable value of realizing that the Anointed, Jesus, is my lord. Because of him I wrote off all of those assets and now regard them as worth no more than rubbish so that I can gain the incomparable asset of the Anointed and be found in solidarity with him, no longer having an integrity of my own making based on performing the requirements of religious law, but now having the integrity endorsed by God, the integrity of an absolute confidence in and reliance upon God like that of the Anointed, Jesus. This integrity is endorsed by God and is based on such unconditional trust in God.” Here is the meaning ofkenosis at all levels. What might this look like given the conditions of our world?
• kenotic foreign policy – in which crushing debt carried by nations such as Haiti
• kenotic business practice – in which profits are secondary to safety, reliability, is summarily dismissed; and sustainability; where debt is not leveraged in order to amass fortunes that seduce others into debt they cannot afford;corruption are valued;
• kenotic management – in which suggestions for improvement, or whistle-blowing
• kenotic relationships – in which the well-being of the other is foremost.
In the twenty-first century C.E., some are calling for punishment of the speculators and managers responsible for the global financial melt-down of 2008-10. Others are holding individual people responsible for making poor choices, or for not having the good sense to avoid the deal that seemed too good to be true. But this is pious revenge. If justice is distributive, there is no need for punishment beyond the consequences already befalling all of us who are caught in the system. Jesus wept over the inability of the people to recognize the coming of the kingdom, and the consequences that result from that inability. As soon as we abandon justice-compassion, or ignore the consequences of our actions that lead to unjust systems, we are caught in the powerful currents that propel civilizations into empires.
Empire can happen when people begin to organize themselves into societies, but the good news is that Empire is not inevitable. Jesus’s followers included marginalized women, disempowered men, and impoverished families; recovered demoniacs, and people suffering from diseases and physical disabilities that left them beyond hope; desperate revolutionaries, and collaborators with the very systems that oppressed them all. Jesus pointed always away from himself and toward the discovery within and among his followers of a realm where distributive justice-compassion holds sway. His life and death were unmistakable illustrations of a radical abandonment of self-interest. So sign onto the Covenant. Pick up your smartphone and start making sustainable deals that ensure that no part of the interdependent web of life on this planet is compromised. That is the promise and the hope of Palm Sunday and the mandate of a resurrection faith.
John’s Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father: So I give my life for my sheep. . . . This is the reason my Father loves me: I am giving up my life so I can take it back again. No one can take it away from me; I give it up freely. It’s my right to give it up, my right to take it back again. I have been charged with this responsibility by my Father” (John 10:11-16 [The Complete Gospels, Polebridge Press 2010]). The NRSV uses the word “power” instead of “right”; and claiming that right is indeed empowering. We have the right and the power to join the great work of justice-compassion or not. No one can compel us one way or the other. This power is both a birthright and a responsibility. Paradoxically, as Jesus’s life and death taught, to freely give up one’s life means to claim it irrevocably as one’s own.
Psalm 23 assures everyone that when the radical abandonment of self-interest in the service of distributive justice leads anyone into the valley of death, there is nothing to fear. The table is set, the cup is poured out, we are chosen, anointed, and ordained.
Sea Raven, D.Min.
(Author of the series Theology from Exile: Commentary on the Revised Common Lectionary for an Emerging Christianity)
Marriage Equality Hangs in the Balance with Supreme Court
Irene MonroeWith thirty-seven states now legal proponents of marriage equality along with our nation’s capitol LGBTQ Americans and our allies knew it would be just a matter of time before the issue would be brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. But at the end of the long awaited April 28th Supreme Court hearing of Obergefell v. Hodge I’m worried.
Mary Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and one of the attorneys arguing in support of the plaintiffs faced a barrage of questions.
When Chief Justice John Robert told Bonauto, that her position would “redefine” marriage, adding that “every definition I looked up until about a dozen years ago” defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, I wasn’t counting on his vote.
“You’re not seeking to join the institution, you’re seeking to change the institution,” Roberts stated.
For a moment during arguments, however, I thought Roberts might be on our side when he raised questions about gender discrimination with John Bursch, one of the attorneys arguing in opposition to marriage equality.
“I’m not sure it’s necessary to get into sexual orientation to resolve the case,” Roberts said. “I mean, if Sue loves Joe and Tom loves Joe, Sue can marry him and Tom can’t. And the difference is based upon their different sex. Why isn’t that a straightforward question of sexual discrimination?”
But when Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who is usually the swing vote on tough rulings, chimed in stating that the traditional definition of marriage has lasted for “millennia” and changing it would be difficult, my heart sunk.
Kennedy has written all recent decisions protecting gay rights, including the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down sodomy laws that targeted gay men, and the 2013 U.S. v. Windsor, which would recognize and provide federal benefits to same-sex married couple in states where their marriages were legal.
Jim Obergefell, not an activist of any sort, never expected to be a cause célèbre. But when he sued his home state of Ohio for refusing to recognize him as the widower of his deceased spouse the lawsuit made its way to the highest court in the land. Jim Obergefell, 48, the lead plaintiff in the four marriage equality cases collectively known as Obergefell v. Hodge is now one of the lives hanging in the balance.
In 2011 Obergefell’s partner, John Arthur, of 21 years was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) , a fatal neurological disease. In 2013, just three months before Arthur died, they married on a medical plane on a Baltimore airport tarmac following the Supreme Court ruling allowing for official recognition of same-sex marriage. A federal judge ruled allowing John and Jim’s marriage be recognized on Arthur’s death certificate, but Ohio ruled against it because the Buckeye State banned same-sex marriage in 2004.
Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., arguing for the same-sex couples on behalf of the Obama administration stated that withholding marriage from same-sex couples repeats the same discrimination the courts struck down in 1967 concerning interracial marriages.
Like Obergefell, Mildred Loving never expected to be a cause célèbre, too. But she and her husband, a white man, were indicted by a Virginia grand jury in October 1958 for violating the state’s ‘Racial Integrity Act of 1924.”
In commemorating the 40th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia Mrs. Mildred Loving on June 12, 2007, wrote, “When my late husband, Richard, and I got married in Washington, DC in 1958, it wasn’t to make a political statement or start a fight…I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. I am proud that Richard’s and my name are on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.”
On June 12, 1967, Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opinion of the high court in the Loving vs. Commonwealth of Virginia stating:
“Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State. These convictions must be reversed.”
The Supreme Court case of Obergefell v. Hodge presented oral arguments on two basic questions:
1. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?
2. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?
Marriage is an inalienable right. But at present, according the Williams Institute “60,000 married same-sex couples live in states with bans on marriage for same-sex couples.” And 61 percent of Americans today support same-sex marriage compared to 64 percent who opposed it in 2004 according to a recent ABC poll.
As Obergefell v. Hodge was being debated a U.S. Supreme Court Rally was taking place as a steady stream of LGBTQ speakers shared their compelling narratives of how marriage equality would give them rights, benefits, family security and full citizenship heterosexual couples and families have.
By closing arguments on April 28 the SCOTUS blog wrote “No clear answers on same-sex marriage.”
Democracy can only begin to work when those relegated to the fringes of society can begin to sample what those in society take for granted as their inalienable right. And sometimes for that to happen people , like Supreme Court Justices, have to step in to make the democratic process work for us all.
I hope before the court renders a decision all nine Supreme Court justices have attended at least one same-sex wedding, because the experience would help them see that real lives are at stake.
While we have until June before the Supreme Court renders their decisions, I also hope the Court understands that we LGBTQ Americans merely want what heterosexuals Americans have always been able to take for granted – marriage!
READ ON....
The Jesus Fatwah: Love Your (Muslim) Neighbor as YourselfDVD Curriculum
Living the QuestionsMuch of what passes as information about Islam is weed-like disinformation rooted in stereotype and watered by fear. In The Jesus Fatwah, Islamic and Christian scholars offer reliable information about what Muslims believe, how they live out their faith, and how we all can be about building relationships across the lines of faith.
Featuring seventeen Islamic and Christian scholars, including:
Hans Küng (Islam: Past, Present and Future)
Brian McLaren (Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?)
Eboo Patel (Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim)
Stephen Prothero (God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World–and Why Their Differences Matter)
Feisal Abdul Rauf (What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America)
Excerpts from "The Jesus Fatwah" by Living the Questions from Living the Questions onVimeo.
Program includes five sessions on one DVD disc with downloadable facilitator guide and reader.
Themes
Session 1: “Islam 101: In Which We Tell You Some of What You Need to Know About Islam.”
In this episode we look the basic tenants of Islam. We live in an era in which much of what passes as information about Islam is weed-like disinformation rooted in stereotype and watered by fear. We decided to weed out the tares of ignorance by doing what, for Christians, apparently is radical: we spoke to some actual Muslims and to Christian scholars whose intellectual garden-sheds are filled with the tools of fact-based knowledge. The product of these conversations is a harvest of reliable information about what your Muslim neighbors and coworkers believe and about how they live out their faith.
Session 2: “Misconceptions about Islam: In Which We Help You Adjust Your Malarky Filter.”
Again, we took the radical step of getting to know actual Muslims, and in our conversations we asked them to tell us about how American public discourse tends to misrepresent Islam. We are confident that you will like the people you meet as you join in this conversation.
Session 3: “Islam in America: In Which We Introduce You to People Who Love America and Pray Towards Mecca.”
Chief among the popular anti-Muslim stereotypes is the idea that Muslims are plotting to overthrow American society. In fact, most Muslims love the United States. This is true of Muslims living in countries where Islam is the predominate religion, and it is especially is true in the United States, where Muslims, as a demographic, are among the most patriotic American citizens.
Session 4: “Making Connections, Part 1: In Which Non-Muslims Make A Case.”
Session 5: “Making Connections, Part 2: In Which Muslims Have Their Say.”
We asked Non-Muslims and Muslims to talk to us about building relationships across the lines of faith, and while the answers were compatible—and even complimentary—it was interesting to observe the ways in which Muslims and Christians spoke differently about interfaith cooperation. Christians tended take an intellectual approach starting with the mind; Muslims were more likely to approach the issue relationally, starting with the heart.
**Attention International Customers: This product is only available in NTSC format. Please verify that your DVD player can read/play NTSC formatted DVDs prior to ordering. Thank you!
Participant Reader written by the Rev. Ben Daniel, author of The Search for Truth about Islam: A Christian Pastor Separates Fact from Fiction.
Walking Boldly Amidst the Storms – Based on Matthew 14:22-33
Stephen TicknerA troubling storm has engulfed the disciples. On a rickety fisherman’s boat in the early morning hours, a violent storm with terrible winds has surrounded them. The NRSV says their boat was battered, King James says it was tossed, the NIV says it was buffeted; whatever term you prefer, the boat is getting beaten up.
Actually, the original Greek goes further. The word used in the Matthean text is actuallybasinizo, meaning to torture. It conveys a sense of human suffering because it is used in some ancient Greek texts to express the application of torture to someone. So it is the middle of the night, the disciples are surrounded by a darkness we modern day light polluted people can’t understand, they are likely on a small boat, and a violent storm has surrounded and engulfed them. We can only imagine the fear pulsing through these disciple’s veins as the storm engulfs their lives.
We might not be able to fully grasp the fear of this storm in 1st Century Palestine, but there are plenty of storms that engulf our lives today. Personal storms engulf us – the ending of a marriage or relationship, depression or suicidal thoughts, the trouble of a child. Societal storms surround us – police taking the lives of unarmed people of color on a seemingly weekly basis, the prison-industrial complex, economic inequality and exploitation, unfair education discrepancies. There are many storms both personal and societal that can engulf and surround our lived realities.
And these storms can be chains. Chains that create an overwhelming fear in us and in our communities. Chains that have the power to incapacitate us and our communities. Chains that carry a debilitating distress to our personal and communal bodies.
It is in the midst of this violent and fear inducing middle-of-the-night storm that the image of Jesus, walking on top of the water, over the violent waves, appears to the disciples.
Think about that for a moment…this vision is so incomprehensible that the disciples think this image of Jesus is a ghost.
Peter sees this image of Jesus in the midst of the storm and reaches out to him. Since intonation is unable to be conveyed by the written word, we can’t know how Peter says what he says, I just know that according to Matthew (and only Matthew!!!) Peter says, “Lord if it is you, command me to come unto the water.”
I don’t know if this is a sarcastic Peter, an angry Peter, a doubtful Peter or a fearful Peter, but whatever it is, it is an undoubtedly bold Peter.
This is Peter asking to do something only reserved for the divine. In antiquity, walking on water was a sign of being divine and it was a practice solely reserved for God. So in the midst of this storm, in the midst of his fear, we find Peter asking or challenging Jesus to do something that no human should ever be able to do. It defies science, it defies reason, it defies even sanity – he asks the incomprehensible. It’s bold!
And this boldness is met with generosity. The hands of Jesus open and he welcomes Peter’s boldness, welcomes Peter’s initiative, welcomes Peter’s challenge and simply says, “Come.”
How is this not a lesson to us struggling with our storms? It appears that Jesus wants his followers, wants us, to be bold.
It makes sense because Jesus was a bold man. Jesus didn’t provide a wheelchair for the paralytic man brought to him, he said “Rise and Walk.” He didn’t tell the Rich Man to show his faith by attending church more often, he said sell all of your possessions. He didn’t cower to the people plotting his lynching, he called them out over and over and over again. Amidst all of the storms that surrounded and engulfed him, Jesus was bold and he wants his followers to be bold too.
But boldness takes on all kinds of forms!
Sometimes we are called to turn tables but many times we are called to show our boldness in other ways. On October 2, 2006 a man walked into an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania and shot ten young girls between the ages of 6 and 13 before turning the gun on himself. But, amidst all this tragedy, it was the incomprehensible boldness of the community’s response to this shooting that sent shockwaves throughout the world.
Families of the killed girls responded in love, rather than hate. One father was quoted as saying, “He (the shooter) had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he’s standing before a just God.” This led this Amish community to extend forgiveness to the family of the shooter, which included one man holding the shooters father in his arms while the man wept for almost an hour. It led members of the Amish community to attend the shooters funeral. Finally, it led this Amish community to setting up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter.
This Amish community was bold.
You see boldness isn’t arrogance, boldness isn’t bravado, boldness is what Dr. King called “creative maladjustment.” It’s having the courage to say and do the unbelievable, the counter-cultural, because we are strengthened in the fact that we are following in the path of, and trying to live like, Jesus.
It’s saying, I believe we can end Poverty.
It’s saying, I believe we can undo the school-to-prison pipeline.
It’s saying, I believe we can take all this hatred in the world and transform it with love.
We have to be honest with ourselves, though. Living this way, confronting our storms with boldness, is difficult and often doubt can creep in along the way. It happened to Peter after he stepped out of the boat. As Peter is miraculously and boldly walking on the water towards Jesus, he begins to notice the storm again. He notices the boisterous winds and he loses sight of Jesus. Fear overtakes him, doubt enters his soul, and he begins to sink, drowning in the midst of this storm.
Being a Jesus follower requires a faith that Jesus is there for us. And here, Jesus reaches out his hand to Peter and lifts him up, all Peter had to do was take it.
Sometimes storms will envelop us, sometimes storms will overwhelm us and start to drown us, but have the confidence to know that Jesus is there with an out-stretched arm – just take his hand.
By taking Jesus’ hand, we are joining up with someone who’s been in this situation before – this is one of the ugly beauties of the cross. A violent storm surrounded Jesus. The creative maladjustment of Jesus’ loving ministry was more than some people could take and the chains of the powerful elite chased him, bound him, and crucified him.
During this process, Jesus wasn’t stoic. He was scared, he was fearful, he was getting engulfed in the storm around him – a stoic acceptance of his fate wouldn’t lead him to sweating blood in the garden and asking God to take this cup away from him. But the fact that Jesus was staying in prayer shows us that Jesus kept the lines of communication open with God and, in fact, took God’s hands that were reaching out to him from the Psalms by declaring on the cross, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”
In my mind, I see God like a proud mother taking Jesus into her arms, saying you loved well my son, you embodied my teachings with beauty and care. And then mother God giving life to Jesus once more – overwhelming the storm of the cross, honoring the boldness of Jesus and breaking the chains of the powerful.
But this time Jesus was sent to walk hand in hand with us. We can stand in solidarity with Jesus because he has been in troubled times himself. We can give ourselves over to him because he’s been there.
Peter took Jesus’ hand and Jesus rescued Peter.
There are many storms that surround us right now. There are many chains binding our communities. Peter shows us if we take a bold step, Jesus will welcome us with open arms and lead us to still waters.
READ ON....
*We are excited to welcome Stephen as a new author!
Kindness is Contagious- Documentary
David Gaz
Kindness Is Contagious is a feel-good documentary by David Gaz, narrated by Catherine Ryan Hyde, the best selling author of the novel (and film) Pay It Forward. It’s a film all about being nice and the benefits of being nice. Kindness Is Contagious profiles cutting-edge scientists and best-selling authors from Berkeley to Harvard and everywhere in between as well as real life people from all walks of life whose lives illustrate their incredible discovery: NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST!
MORE INFO, PREVIEW, SCREENING
A Joyful Path, Year One, Lesson 14: Service
Children's Curriculum
Through service we find love and truth in action.
Young children are usually eager to be helpers; they are anxious to learn new skills and show us their independence. But the joy of serving others goes much deeper than just feeling capable. Our hearts respond to service because service helps us to expand our awareness beyond our little selves. Service to others is an opportunity to experience omnipresent spirit because we gradually learn that we are not merely helping another person — we are serving the highest good, and we become love in action. Learning the joy of service is one of the best ways to keep our hearts open to all. The reason that Jesus suggested that we ought to serve the poor and the downtrodden, the lame and the blind, is really a methodology for breaking down barriers between “them” and “us.” When we serve with love and compassion, those whom we serve become brothers and sisters, not the others.Download the PDF of A Joyful Path, Year One, Lesson #14- “Service” right into your digital device. Just click on the blue “Buy Now” Button. A receipt will be sent to you with the link to download your lesson.
Each Year One Lesson includes:
Teacher Introduction/Getting to the Heart of the Lesson, Teacher Reflection, Spiritual Affirmation with full color Art, Original Story, and Activities, Bible Verses, Wisdom Quotes
Lesson 14 from Year One is about: Service- Experiencing the Oneness of All Through Service
“The New Neighborhood”
Original Story: Busy Friends
Affirmation: Through service I can share my love and energy and feel connected to all.
Getting to the Heart of the Lesson
Through service we find love and truth in action.
Young children are usually eager to be helpers; they are anxious to learn new skills and show us their independence. But the joy of serving others goes much deeper than just feeling capable. Our hearts respond to service because service helps us to expand our awareness beyond our little selves. Service to others is an opportunity to experience omnipresent spirit because we gradually learn that we are not merely helping another person — we are serving the highest good, and we become love in action. Learning the joy of service is one of the best ways to keep our hearts open to all. The reason that Jesus suggested that we ought to serve the poor and the downtrodden, the lame and the blind, is really a methodology for breaking down barriers between “them” and “us.” When we serve with love and compassion, those whom we serve become brothers and sisters, not the others.
Buy now ⋅ $3.00
We have to be honest with ourselves, though. Living this way, confronting our storms with boldness, is difficult and often doubt can creep in along the way. It happened to Peter after he stepped out of the boat. As Peter is miraculously and boldly walking on the water towards Jesus, he begins to notice the storm again. He notices the boisterous winds and he loses sight of Jesus. Fear overtakes him, doubt enters his soul, and he begins to sink, drowning in the midst of this storm.
Being a Jesus follower requires a faith that Jesus is there for us. And here, Jesus reaches out his hand to Peter and lifts him up, all Peter had to do was take it.
Sometimes storms will envelop us, sometimes storms will overwhelm us and start to drown us, but have the confidence to know that Jesus is there with an out-stretched arm – just take his hand.
By taking Jesus’ hand, we are joining up with someone who’s been in this situation before – this is one of the ugly beauties of the cross. A violent storm surrounded Jesus. The creative maladjustment of Jesus’ loving ministry was more than some people could take and the chains of the powerful elite chased him, bound him, and crucified him.
During this process, Jesus wasn’t stoic. He was scared, he was fearful, he was getting engulfed in the storm around him – a stoic acceptance of his fate wouldn’t lead him to sweating blood in the garden and asking God to take this cup away from him. But the fact that Jesus was staying in prayer shows us that Jesus kept the lines of communication open with God and, in fact, took God’s hands that were reaching out to him from the Psalms by declaring on the cross, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”
In my mind, I see God like a proud mother taking Jesus into her arms, saying you loved well my son, you embodied my teachings with beauty and care. And then mother God giving life to Jesus once more – overwhelming the storm of the cross, honoring the boldness of Jesus and breaking the chains of the powerful.
But this time Jesus was sent to walk hand in hand with us. We can stand in solidarity with Jesus because he has been in troubled times himself. We can give ourselves over to him because he’s been there.
Peter took Jesus’ hand and Jesus rescued Peter.
There are many storms that surround us right now. There are many chains binding our communities. Peter shows us if we take a bold step, Jesus will welcome us with open arms and lead us to still waters.
READ ON....
*We are excited to welcome Stephen as a new author!
Kindness is Contagious- Documentary
David Gaz
Kindness Is Contagious is a feel-good documentary by David Gaz, narrated by Catherine Ryan Hyde, the best selling author of the novel (and film) Pay It Forward. It’s a film all about being nice and the benefits of being nice. Kindness Is Contagious profiles cutting-edge scientists and best-selling authors from Berkeley to Harvard and everywhere in between as well as real life people from all walks of life whose lives illustrate their incredible discovery: NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST!
MORE INFO, PREVIEW, SCREENING
A Joyful Path, Year One, Lesson 14: Service
Children's Curriculum
Through service we find love and truth in action.
Young children are usually eager to be helpers; they are anxious to learn new skills and show us their independence. But the joy of serving others goes much deeper than just feeling capable. Our hearts respond to service because service helps us to expand our awareness beyond our little selves. Service to others is an opportunity to experience omnipresent spirit because we gradually learn that we are not merely helping another person — we are serving the highest good, and we become love in action. Learning the joy of service is one of the best ways to keep our hearts open to all. The reason that Jesus suggested that we ought to serve the poor and the downtrodden, the lame and the blind, is really a methodology for breaking down barriers between “them” and “us.” When we serve with love and compassion, those whom we serve become brothers and sisters, not the others.Download the PDF of A Joyful Path, Year One, Lesson #14- “Service” right into your digital device. Just click on the blue “Buy Now” Button. A receipt will be sent to you with the link to download your lesson.
Each Year One Lesson includes:
Teacher Introduction/Getting to the Heart of the Lesson, Teacher Reflection, Spiritual Affirmation with full color Art, Original Story, and Activities, Bible Verses, Wisdom Quotes
Lesson 14 from Year One is about: Service- Experiencing the Oneness of All Through Service
“The New Neighborhood”
Original Story: Busy Friends
Affirmation: Through service I can share my love and energy and feel connected to all.
Getting to the Heart of the Lesson
Through service we find love and truth in action.
Young children are usually eager to be helpers; they are anxious to learn new skills and show us their independence. But the joy of serving others goes much deeper than just feeling capable. Our hearts respond to service because service helps us to expand our awareness beyond our little selves. Service to others is an opportunity to experience omnipresent spirit because we gradually learn that we are not merely helping another person — we are serving the highest good, and we become love in action. Learning the joy of service is one of the best ways to keep our hearts open to all. The reason that Jesus suggested that we ought to serve the poor and the downtrodden, the lame and the blind, is really a methodology for breaking down barriers between “them” and “us.” When we serve with love and compassion, those whom we serve become brothers and sisters, not the others.
Buy now ⋅ $3.00
Donate Today
HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA: The Way of Soulful Service
James BurkloHow can spiritual practice (whether or not it is formally religious) help me to help others better?
How can I “hang in there” in service, when the going gets tough?
How can I grow in faith through service?
How can I go deeper in helping relationships?
In this guide to soulful service, Jim Burklo draws from his deep well of experience working with homeless people, leading service-learning programs for university students, and pastoring churches. With touching stories, poetry, and parables, HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA illustrates universal principles about the spirituality of helping relationships. It shatters facile assumptions about what it means to serve. It inspires people of all religions, or of no faith affiliation, to aim higher in their works of service. HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA is recommended reading for anyone in any kind of helping relationship. It is particularly useful for service-learning professionals and students in secondary and higher education, and for leaders and volunteers in religious congregations and faith-based service organizations.
“Jim Burklo’s HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA: The Way of Soulful Service is a must-read for those interested in exploring the intersection between service, learning and meaning-making. Through stories and thoughtful prose, Burklo offers a loving critique of our common preconceived notions about service and artfully presents a framework for engaging in ethical and meaningful action. I know of no other person who could better blend deep intellectual explorations with rich spiritual questions through such powerful story telling. Pick-up the book and begin hitchhiking to a more profound way of seeing service.” Kent Koth, Director, Center for Service and Community Engagement, Seattle University, and Director, Seattle University Youth Initiative
” Written with raw heart energy fueled by years of disciplined reflection and practice. Whether you are Christian or not, read this book when you are close to burn-out and ready to quit your job in the good works department.” Dr. Ulrike Wiethaus, Professor of Religion and American Ethnic Studies, Wake Forest University
“In this powerful and provocative book, Jim Burklo brings to life the faces of those whom we so easily marginalize, and in the process redefines the spiritual life.” Retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, author of Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World
What Is Service?
(the chapter headings of HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA)
Service is honoring the dignity of the other.
Service is seeing those who are unseen.
Service is listening.
Service is asking questions, helping each other refine our stories until they ring true.
Service is taking, as well as giving, gracefully.
Service is letting go of attachments.
Service is social change, not just personal charity.
Service is persistence and faithfulness and patience.
Service is grace that redefines and regenerates justice.
Service is healing, not just curing.
Service is empowering people and nurturing community, building social capital.
Service is living in paradox: entering impossible situations and staying awake to unintended consequences.
Service is being with, not just doing for, others.
Excerpts:
“Having a higher goal than our immediate intentions serves us in building a better world. Knowing we are hitchhiking to Alaska gets us to Seattle quicker, and with a better attitude. It delivers us to the holy compassion at the heart of service.”
“Dignity or bread:
don’t make me choose!
Too often the bread of charity
is baked in the shape of chains.
But the aroma of justice
makes the heart hungry
and unlocks the fetters of the soul.”
“I have discovered that the skills required for me to be aware of the states of my own mind and body are also essential in listening and responding sensitively to other people. I may not be a success in fixing all the problems of the people I aim to serve, any more than I can solve all my own. But in the process of trying, I can have loving, caring, soul-satisfying relationships. To attend to others lovingly, to accept them as they are, to be present with them fully – this enables me to be more useful to them. It leads me out of selfishness and into the heart of the divine.”
“No matter how good our government policies might be, no matter how strong a “social safety net” we weave – and in America we’ve got a lot of weaving yet to do – there will be times when love must trump the rules. Being of service leads us to take graceful action above and beyond the written and unwritten rules by which our society functions. And we trust that our acts of grace will lead by example, pressing for change in the system.”
Jim Burklo is the Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California
HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA: The Way of Soulful Service
James BurkloHow can spiritual practice (whether or not it is formally religious) help me to help others better?
How can I “hang in there” in service, when the going gets tough?
How can I grow in faith through service?
How can I go deeper in helping relationships?
In this guide to soulful service, Jim Burklo draws from his deep well of experience working with homeless people, leading service-learning programs for university students, and pastoring churches. With touching stories, poetry, and parables, HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA illustrates universal principles about the spirituality of helping relationships. It shatters facile assumptions about what it means to serve. It inspires people of all religions, or of no faith affiliation, to aim higher in their works of service. HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA is recommended reading for anyone in any kind of helping relationship. It is particularly useful for service-learning professionals and students in secondary and higher education, and for leaders and volunteers in religious congregations and faith-based service organizations.
“Jim Burklo’s HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA: The Way of Soulful Service is a must-read for those interested in exploring the intersection between service, learning and meaning-making. Through stories and thoughtful prose, Burklo offers a loving critique of our common preconceived notions about service and artfully presents a framework for engaging in ethical and meaningful action. I know of no other person who could better blend deep intellectual explorations with rich spiritual questions through such powerful story telling. Pick-up the book and begin hitchhiking to a more profound way of seeing service.” Kent Koth, Director, Center for Service and Community Engagement, Seattle University, and Director, Seattle University Youth Initiative
” Written with raw heart energy fueled by years of disciplined reflection and practice. Whether you are Christian or not, read this book when you are close to burn-out and ready to quit your job in the good works department.” Dr. Ulrike Wiethaus, Professor of Religion and American Ethnic Studies, Wake Forest University
“In this powerful and provocative book, Jim Burklo brings to life the faces of those whom we so easily marginalize, and in the process redefines the spiritual life.” Retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, author of Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World
What Is Service?
(the chapter headings of HITCHHIKING TO ALASKA)
Service is honoring the dignity of the other.
Service is seeing those who are unseen.
Service is listening.
Service is asking questions, helping each other refine our stories until they ring true.
Service is taking, as well as giving, gracefully.
Service is letting go of attachments.
Service is social change, not just personal charity.
Service is persistence and faithfulness and patience.
Service is grace that redefines and regenerates justice.
Service is healing, not just curing.
Service is empowering people and nurturing community, building social capital.
Service is living in paradox: entering impossible situations and staying awake to unintended consequences.
Service is being with, not just doing for, others.
Excerpts:
“Having a higher goal than our immediate intentions serves us in building a better world. Knowing we are hitchhiking to Alaska gets us to Seattle quicker, and with a better attitude. It delivers us to the holy compassion at the heart of service.”
“Dignity or bread:
don’t make me choose!
Too often the bread of charity
is baked in the shape of chains.
But the aroma of justice
makes the heart hungry
and unlocks the fetters of the soul.”
“I have discovered that the skills required for me to be aware of the states of my own mind and body are also essential in listening and responding sensitively to other people. I may not be a success in fixing all the problems of the people I aim to serve, any more than I can solve all my own. But in the process of trying, I can have loving, caring, soul-satisfying relationships. To attend to others lovingly, to accept them as they are, to be present with them fully – this enables me to be more useful to them. It leads me out of selfishness and into the heart of the divine.”
“No matter how good our government policies might be, no matter how strong a “social safety net” we weave – and in America we’ve got a lot of weaving yet to do – there will be times when love must trump the rules. Being of service leads us to take graceful action above and beyond the written and unwritten rules by which our society functions. And we trust that our acts of grace will lead by example, pressing for change in the system.”
Jim Burklo is the Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California
READ ON OR PURCHASE HERE....
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Reconciliation as Vocation
Cassandra FarrinIn Christian circles the work of peace and reconciliation is put forward as a something to which all Christians should aspire. That is, to be Christian is to be called to make peace with one another and the world. This call has a long history revolving around the early church’s interpretation of Jesus’ death as an act of reconciliation between God and humanity. As God did for us, so must we do for the world. Does this admonition extend to Christians who reject the idea that Jesus was physically resurrected? Is a resurrection story essential to the practice of reconciliation?
In my exploration over the past ten years of humanistic rather than supernatural ways of being Christian— Christian in the sense of deeply owning my Christian heritage— the call to reconciliation has grown rather than diminished in its importance to me. One of the few truly universal teachings across religions is the admonition to offer hospitality to strangers. The call to reconciliation makes this a little bit harder but no less universal: offer hospitality to the estranged.
This month the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) broke their silence on the three-year investigation of their activities by the Vatican. When asked whether this counts as a “win” for the nuns, LCWR president Sharon Holland said, “I don’t believe in saying anybody ‘won.’ I think the church won.” What I love about this response is the way any past enmity falls apart in the sentence. “Us” and “them” become one in “the church,” one body, one family, whole. In the same month eight churches in Fountains Hills, Arizona,launched an attack against The Fountains United Methodist Church. In response, The Fountains has committed to “err on the side of grace as we move ahead” and members of other religious groups have committed to coming to The Fountains in a show of support. The outcome remains to be seen.
As a foster and now adoptive parent, I have focused on practicing peace by healing local hurts, by helping families make peace with one another. I also had the privilege of working briefly with a nonprofit that supports family reconciliation in Idaho. Ironically, as often as Idaho is criticized for its “failings” in response to women’s rights and abortion, its excellence in the deeply related work of adoption and foster care goes unmentioned. Idaho leads the nation in child welfare. When I worked with the system here, I had recently adopted and recently moved. I had the skill but not yet the emotional reserves to work as a facilitator for families long-term. To say I admire the people who do is an understatement. In the short time I was there, I witnessed something remarkable: I saw birth parents make peace with themselves and with partners, families, medical professionals, social workers, foster parents, even adoptive parents and vitally, their own children. I saw families discover the humanity behind the system and professionals acknowledge the humanity behind some of their “tough cases.” To the skeptics among us, yes of course, sometimes the parents failed; sometimes the family or the system failed. I’m not naïve. But I’m moved by the moments community won.
We humans feel deeply. We nurse our wounds. We get scared. We must come to terms with this in ourselves, too— little acts of personal reconciliation that lead up to the big ones with others. In 2008 I went to the United Kingdom to carry out a Fulbright project on the many fascinating interfaith activities going on there. I thought I’d bring back what I learned to the United States and make good on it. Early on, I sat down with the leader of a highly conservative religious group in Lancashire who dismissed such work at the outset: “People who do interfaith are already interfaith.” He felt there was no place for people like himself who feel, with all due respect, that they already belong to the community that holds the full truth. That threatened to derail my project right from the start: if such people weren’t open even to the UK’s excellent interfaith programs and networks, then what? How can you come to terms with someone who won’t walk through the door?
It turns out that was a bit of an arrogant streak on my part. It was quite easy for me to walk through this community’s door. They welcomed me gladly. I spent several months attending their services and programs and talking with them about how they came to belong to this community and why it mattered to them. Dare I admit that I even experienced a number of meaningful spiritual moments with them? As a community of converts, they were nearly all first-generation members, so wouldn’t you know it, every single one of them was negotiating and reconciling with people of other faiths in their individual lives. A pain point they all shared was the negative reaction of family and friends to their decision to convert.
They all blamed the Church of England or the Catholic Church for this. They told me they blamed these other churches because they felt the church had unduly influenced their families to reject them. But the stories they told reveal a more complicated situation: since the pain emerged not from the church but from the things their families said and did, the church had become a buffer for reconciliation with their families. And every single one of them had reconciled with their families by the time I interviewed them. They were all, in some way, actively navigating their obligations both to their new religion and to their families, where religious differences remained ever-present.
So the “interfaith” problem was mostly a problem because the church was the scapegoat and a queerly noble one at that, for it prevented the estrangement of families. It was quite easy to engage in interfaith dialogue with all members of this community when I approached it the way I approach the reconciliation of families. We kept the focus on human beings understanding one another better, sharing what moved us (including past hurts), and not ruling out the possibility that we could be moved by something greater in one another’s presence. Rather it is on the level of the official, the leader, the public, that the interfaith problem remained unresolved. Perhaps even that could have been breached in time with strong enough personal relationships to buffer the conversation.
I began this essay by asking whether a resurrection story is necessary for the practice of reconciliation to remain vital to Christian identity. I suggested reconciliation is a natural outgrowth of the universal obligation to welcome the stranger, especially when we extend that to welcoming he or she who has been estranged— such as by supporting families who enter the child welfare system or by walking through the door of a religion that doesn’t understand why it should do the same for us. Much more could be said, but here is one final thought: reconciliation is not the same as reciprocity. Etymologically, reconciliation suggests we “regain” or “win over again” or “reunite.” It leads back most concretely to the notion of being near or with someone. We should not enter into the work of reconciliation believing that the other already wants to be near us. Reciprocity by contrast is a mix of “ebbing” and “prayer” or “request.” It ebbs and flows between two people already in close proximity. It comes after we have already been reconciled. Let us think, then, of reconciliation as the opening prayer,the petition that must begin at the beginning, with winning someone over— not to one’s own view but to nearness even in the most physical sense— and so it is an act of service, an act not of expectation but of hope.
Cassandra Farrin is the Marketing & Outreach Director of the Westar Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing religious literacy. A US-UK Fulbright Scholar, she has an M.A. in Religious Studies from Lancaster University (England) and a B.A. in Religious Studies from Willamette University. She is passionate about books and projects that in some way address the intersection of ethics and early Christian history.
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What Matters Most – Stand Up
Jim HighWhen I was a teenager at First Methodist Church in Tupelo, we hadn’t yet merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church becoming United Methodists in the process, I experienced my first realization of how standing up and taking a stand can make a huge difference, not just in your own life, but in the lives of all you come into contact with.
George Maynard, Sr. was Mayor of Tupelo and a member of our church. In those days we held church conferences on occasion after the Sunday evening services. And I will never forget the many times during the discussion about issues and changes when Mr. Maynard would stand up from where he always sat over on the east side down near the front and address the congregation. He always spoke from his heart and he was always right. At least what he said always ended the discussion. It usually took the form of reminding everyone of the principles taught by Jesus and how whatever we were discussing did not follow those principles. All these years later I still remember what happened when George Maynard, Sr. stood up.
The next big example of standing up that I can remember was when Rosa Parks actually refused to stand up and move to the back of the bus. I cannot imagine the courage it took to take that stand by remaining seated where she felt she had a right to sit as a human being on public transportation. That was on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, AL. I was only 15 years old, but we had TV and I remember the coverage and the controversy this action caused. She truly deserves her place in history.
Most everyone who lives in Tupelo knows about George McLean, who owned the Daily Journal until his death in 1983. Mr. McLean was famous for standing up for what was right. I remember one Rotary Club meeting in the old Hotel Tupelo when the speaker was praising states rights and lambasting the federal government, like a lot of folks seem to be doing today. George McLean would have none of it and he stood up and interrupted the man mid-sentence and told him in no uncertain terms that the people of Tupelo did not want to hear what he had to say and that he was wrong about what he was saying. The speaker sat down and the meeting quickly adjourned. If you were there that day you remember it to this day, and you know that Mr. McLean was right, and that he had more courage than all the rest of us combined.
In 1978 and 1979 I was president of the CDF, the Community Development Foundation and it was during this time that Tupelo had its only real racial strife over the treatment of black prisoners in the Tupelo Jail. Skip Robinson from Holly Springs came to town and conducted marches on Main Street demanding that the officers be fired. It was also during this time that I had to preside at the annual CDF meeting held in the old Natchez Trace Hall of Fame. I decided to make a statement about what I felt the situation called for, and to ask the audience to stand up in support if they agreed with my statement. But I told no one in advance, and had no idea if they would agree with me or not. When I got to the end of my statement the whole hall stood in agreement. With the community solidly behind doing what was right the conflict quickly died out. Tupelo stood up, and we’ve done it many other times.
What Matters Most ….. Stand up for what you believe, but also measure what you believe, not by public opinion or profit, but by what is right in everyone’s eyes. By what benefits the whole of society and what tries to involve everyone in the process of change that is sometimes necessary to do the right thing.
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Like Tweet Forward to Friend +1Reconciliation as Vocation
Cassandra FarrinIn Christian circles the work of peace and reconciliation is put forward as a something to which all Christians should aspire. That is, to be Christian is to be called to make peace with one another and the world. This call has a long history revolving around the early church’s interpretation of Jesus’ death as an act of reconciliation between God and humanity. As God did for us, so must we do for the world. Does this admonition extend to Christians who reject the idea that Jesus was physically resurrected? Is a resurrection story essential to the practice of reconciliation?
In my exploration over the past ten years of humanistic rather than supernatural ways of being Christian— Christian in the sense of deeply owning my Christian heritage— the call to reconciliation has grown rather than diminished in its importance to me. One of the few truly universal teachings across religions is the admonition to offer hospitality to strangers. The call to reconciliation makes this a little bit harder but no less universal: offer hospitality to the estranged.
This month the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) broke their silence on the three-year investigation of their activities by the Vatican. When asked whether this counts as a “win” for the nuns, LCWR president Sharon Holland said, “I don’t believe in saying anybody ‘won.’ I think the church won.” What I love about this response is the way any past enmity falls apart in the sentence. “Us” and “them” become one in “the church,” one body, one family, whole. In the same month eight churches in Fountains Hills, Arizona,launched an attack against The Fountains United Methodist Church. In response, The Fountains has committed to “err on the side of grace as we move ahead” and members of other religious groups have committed to coming to The Fountains in a show of support. The outcome remains to be seen.
As a foster and now adoptive parent, I have focused on practicing peace by healing local hurts, by helping families make peace with one another. I also had the privilege of working briefly with a nonprofit that supports family reconciliation in Idaho. Ironically, as often as Idaho is criticized for its “failings” in response to women’s rights and abortion, its excellence in the deeply related work of adoption and foster care goes unmentioned. Idaho leads the nation in child welfare. When I worked with the system here, I had recently adopted and recently moved. I had the skill but not yet the emotional reserves to work as a facilitator for families long-term. To say I admire the people who do is an understatement. In the short time I was there, I witnessed something remarkable: I saw birth parents make peace with themselves and with partners, families, medical professionals, social workers, foster parents, even adoptive parents and vitally, their own children. I saw families discover the humanity behind the system and professionals acknowledge the humanity behind some of their “tough cases.” To the skeptics among us, yes of course, sometimes the parents failed; sometimes the family or the system failed. I’m not naïve. But I’m moved by the moments community won.
We humans feel deeply. We nurse our wounds. We get scared. We must come to terms with this in ourselves, too— little acts of personal reconciliation that lead up to the big ones with others. In 2008 I went to the United Kingdom to carry out a Fulbright project on the many fascinating interfaith activities going on there. I thought I’d bring back what I learned to the United States and make good on it. Early on, I sat down with the leader of a highly conservative religious group in Lancashire who dismissed such work at the outset: “People who do interfaith are already interfaith.” He felt there was no place for people like himself who feel, with all due respect, that they already belong to the community that holds the full truth. That threatened to derail my project right from the start: if such people weren’t open even to the UK’s excellent interfaith programs and networks, then what? How can you come to terms with someone who won’t walk through the door?
It turns out that was a bit of an arrogant streak on my part. It was quite easy for me to walk through this community’s door. They welcomed me gladly. I spent several months attending their services and programs and talking with them about how they came to belong to this community and why it mattered to them. Dare I admit that I even experienced a number of meaningful spiritual moments with them? As a community of converts, they were nearly all first-generation members, so wouldn’t you know it, every single one of them was negotiating and reconciling with people of other faiths in their individual lives. A pain point they all shared was the negative reaction of family and friends to their decision to convert.
They all blamed the Church of England or the Catholic Church for this. They told me they blamed these other churches because they felt the church had unduly influenced their families to reject them. But the stories they told reveal a more complicated situation: since the pain emerged not from the church but from the things their families said and did, the church had become a buffer for reconciliation with their families. And every single one of them had reconciled with their families by the time I interviewed them. They were all, in some way, actively navigating their obligations both to their new religion and to their families, where religious differences remained ever-present.
So the “interfaith” problem was mostly a problem because the church was the scapegoat and a queerly noble one at that, for it prevented the estrangement of families. It was quite easy to engage in interfaith dialogue with all members of this community when I approached it the way I approach the reconciliation of families. We kept the focus on human beings understanding one another better, sharing what moved us (including past hurts), and not ruling out the possibility that we could be moved by something greater in one another’s presence. Rather it is on the level of the official, the leader, the public, that the interfaith problem remained unresolved. Perhaps even that could have been breached in time with strong enough personal relationships to buffer the conversation.
I began this essay by asking whether a resurrection story is necessary for the practice of reconciliation to remain vital to Christian identity. I suggested reconciliation is a natural outgrowth of the universal obligation to welcome the stranger, especially when we extend that to welcoming he or she who has been estranged— such as by supporting families who enter the child welfare system or by walking through the door of a religion that doesn’t understand why it should do the same for us. Much more could be said, but here is one final thought: reconciliation is not the same as reciprocity. Etymologically, reconciliation suggests we “regain” or “win over again” or “reunite.” It leads back most concretely to the notion of being near or with someone. We should not enter into the work of reconciliation believing that the other already wants to be near us. Reciprocity by contrast is a mix of “ebbing” and “prayer” or “request.” It ebbs and flows between two people already in close proximity. It comes after we have already been reconciled. Let us think, then, of reconciliation as the opening prayer,the petition that must begin at the beginning, with winning someone over— not to one’s own view but to nearness even in the most physical sense— and so it is an act of service, an act not of expectation but of hope.
Cassandra Farrin is the Marketing & Outreach Director of the Westar Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing religious literacy. A US-UK Fulbright Scholar, she has an M.A. in Religious Studies from Lancaster University (England) and a B.A. in Religious Studies from Willamette University. She is passionate about books and projects that in some way address the intersection of ethics and early Christian history.
READ ON....
Donate Today
What Matters Most – Stand Up
Jim HighWhen I was a teenager at First Methodist Church in Tupelo, we hadn’t yet merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church becoming United Methodists in the process, I experienced my first realization of how standing up and taking a stand can make a huge difference, not just in your own life, but in the lives of all you come into contact with.
George Maynard, Sr. was Mayor of Tupelo and a member of our church. In those days we held church conferences on occasion after the Sunday evening services. And I will never forget the many times during the discussion about issues and changes when Mr. Maynard would stand up from where he always sat over on the east side down near the front and address the congregation. He always spoke from his heart and he was always right. At least what he said always ended the discussion. It usually took the form of reminding everyone of the principles taught by Jesus and how whatever we were discussing did not follow those principles. All these years later I still remember what happened when George Maynard, Sr. stood up.
The next big example of standing up that I can remember was when Rosa Parks actually refused to stand up and move to the back of the bus. I cannot imagine the courage it took to take that stand by remaining seated where she felt she had a right to sit as a human being on public transportation. That was on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, AL. I was only 15 years old, but we had TV and I remember the coverage and the controversy this action caused. She truly deserves her place in history.
Most everyone who lives in Tupelo knows about George McLean, who owned the Daily Journal until his death in 1983. Mr. McLean was famous for standing up for what was right. I remember one Rotary Club meeting in the old Hotel Tupelo when the speaker was praising states rights and lambasting the federal government, like a lot of folks seem to be doing today. George McLean would have none of it and he stood up and interrupted the man mid-sentence and told him in no uncertain terms that the people of Tupelo did not want to hear what he had to say and that he was wrong about what he was saying. The speaker sat down and the meeting quickly adjourned. If you were there that day you remember it to this day, and you know that Mr. McLean was right, and that he had more courage than all the rest of us combined.
In 1978 and 1979 I was president of the CDF, the Community Development Foundation and it was during this time that Tupelo had its only real racial strife over the treatment of black prisoners in the Tupelo Jail. Skip Robinson from Holly Springs came to town and conducted marches on Main Street demanding that the officers be fired. It was also during this time that I had to preside at the annual CDF meeting held in the old Natchez Trace Hall of Fame. I decided to make a statement about what I felt the situation called for, and to ask the audience to stand up in support if they agreed with my statement. But I told no one in advance, and had no idea if they would agree with me or not. When I got to the end of my statement the whole hall stood in agreement. With the community solidly behind doing what was right the conflict quickly died out. Tupelo stood up, and we’ve done it many other times.
What Matters Most ….. Stand up for what you believe, but also measure what you believe, not by public opinion or profit, but by what is right in everyone’s eyes. By what benefits the whole of society and what tries to involve everyone in the process of change that is sometimes necessary to do the right thing.
READ ON....
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