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latestblog ~
Thursday, November 25th: Happy
Thanksgiving!
Yesterday
Peoples Church hosted a wonderful Thanksgiving meal – thanks to a South side
church group that comes every year, bringing turkey, dressing, and all the
trimmings. We welcomed several hundred people, a few just wanting to
share that special meal with others, but most of them homeless.
There
is a poem of Rumi’s, a 13th century mystic, that always reminds
me that we don’t really know the big picture. In “The Guest
House,” Rumi is talking about our inner selves, about welcoming one’s own
emotions – whatever they are – as if they were old friends or relatives,
as if it were Thanksgiving. It’s important work, in knowing ourselves
and learning equanimity.
It
ends like this,
The
dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be
grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
[1]
I think Rumi's words are relevant not just to our inner selves – they apply
equally to the people we encounter every day in our lives.
Peoples
Church
welcomed strangers in for a special meal yesterday. All the rest of the
year, four times a week, we serve a good, hot lunch to about 130 people a day.
If you have met Isaac, our lunch program coordinator, you know the heart and
soul he pours into the program, and he makes sure that our guests get not only
good food – like baked chicken, potatoes, green beans – but that they are
treated with dignity, as human beings. Isaac encourages volunteers to
just spend time with the guests, playing games or just talking with them.
We
welcome the stranger.
We are
grateful for your support, so that we can go on welcoming the stranger, and
seeing in that stranger’s face the face of an angel, the face of God, the
face of our neighbor.
peace,
Jean
Monday, June 22, 2009: "The rich will always be with us..."
Wait a minute... Wasn't that "The poor
will always be with us"?
My dad used to wax wroth over the large sums
that athletes earned, and once when he complained about how many dollars an
hour his plumber charged, I asked him, "How much an hour do you
yourself make?" He wouldn't go there.
So when a clergy friend recently said,
"Some people make too much money!" another responded that that
would always be true, and we jokingly rephrased Jesus' words.
But why can't we dream of a time when no one
is poor? It's within our capacity, as thinking and compassionate
beings. The Scandinavian countries have dealt with poverty by transfer
payments - by paying poor people, so they aren't as poor. Poverty is
one social problem that is fixed by throwing money at it.
For example, Sweden pays for young people to
go to college, and gives them credit for life experience, to encourage
people who dropped out to go back and finish their education. It
benefits society as a whole for as many people as possible to be productive
citizens, to achieve a measure of success and happiness in a job. We
are even healthier (all of us!) when the gap between rich and poor is
smaller.
Way back in the early days of the church,
people pooled their money, their possessions, and shared, so that those who
had a lot to give did, and those who needed more, received. It was all
about community.
These days, we don't know one another so
well... We have seen too many e-letters from Ethiopian princes urging us to
invest, so that they can release these billions of US dollars direct to our
bank account. We don't trust the next guy. How can we be sure
our gifts will not be squandered? How can we ask for help without
arousing suspicion and feeling put down?
I'd love to see the day when we don't have to
beg for help, when help is assumed, and people are not left anxiously
waiting to see whether they will have a place to sleep or food to eat.
Right now, though, I'm very worried about the
safety net we do have, and how rapidly it seems to be unraveling.
Please contact your Illinois legislators and urge them to pass an income
tax increase - to cover the budget shortfall and keep the proposed
drastic cuts to social services from taking place.
Our elderly friends who rely on housing
support, who need aides to visit during the week to help them with the most
basic of tasks; our friends with mental illness whose income may be
slashed, who may end up on the streets... For these people we pray
that we act to encourage our legislators to take that unpopular act, and
have the courage to raise taxes.
Here are sample letters (you'll have to fill
in the blanks): to your Illinois state representative; to your
Illinois senator. Better yet, telephone them, while they are in
Springfield working on the budget this week.
peace,
Rev. Jean
March
30, 2009: Jesus
walked the walk...
We
are a Christian Unitarian-Universalist church - we see the teachings of Jesus
as revolutionary, as life-changing, as counter-cultural - Jesus would not
have said after 9/11, "Go, therefore, and make war on your
enemies! And go ye also and spend money in the marketplace!"
He
might have said, "Mourn those who have died; pray for those whose
anger consumes them; stand up to those who make war; preach peace and reconciliation."
Some
call this a "post-Christian" era, when the church has become
obsolete, irrelevant; some say Christianity will teach all the world's
religions to live in love and action for the poor.
I
believe it's an era when all religions are learning from one another, when
people from all over the world are teaching each other lessons forgotten in
the mists of time. We are remembering to be human, to be humane;
we are remembering that life is more than striving to get ahead, or
struggling to put food on the table.
God
is still speaking, and speaks in tattooed and pierced outsiders, in children's
laughter, in crowds of people in a church demanding justice for immigrants, in
waves crashing high into the air against the concrete lake shore, in homeless
people lined up for a warm meal, in yellow crocuses poking their intrepid
heads above the snow.
Courage!
After the struggle, joy!
peace,
Rev. Jean
March 2, 2009: A cure for resentment...
One of the very useful metaphors in the Bible is the notion of
the desert - and how sometimes one has to wander there, in this place of
emptiness, lacking creature comforts, lacking human society - a place where
you are face to face only with yourself and with God.
The forty years that Moses and his people wandered there, on
their way to the promised land... the forty days and nights Jesus fasted in
the desert, when he was tempted by the Devil... the forty days and
nights of rain that flooded the earth and rocked Noah's ark...
Forty represents a long time, long enough to die there - but
short enough to anticipate the end of.
The Christian season of Lent - also forty days - is
traditionally a time of sacrifice and reflection. With so many of us facing economic difficulties these days, it is easy to let "compassion
fatigue" get the best of us, and close our hearts to the growing need
around us.
Some of the resentment we may feel actually comes from our
sense of helplessness in the face of so much pain - why is anyone looking to us
to fix this, to help?
One sure-fire cure is to give anyway - to make some
contribution, to help just a little. It relieves us of that nagging
sense that we "should" be doing something, and more importantly, it
puts us in touch with our underlying feelings.
If we want to be the kind of person who acts from the heart,
then we need to practice. Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh tells us that
when we feel stingiest, that's when we need to be the most generous in giving
money away.
peace! Rev. Jean
Feb 9, 2009: Black History Month and nonviolence...
At Peoples Church we celebrate the Season for
Nonviolence, that runs from January 30 to April 4th, the dates of the
assassinations of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. We try to
keep in mind ways we can add to the peace of the world, in our personal lives
and in our culture and in the world, from caring for the Earth by recycling to
minding our tongues when we are upset about something. Sunday's
admonition was: "Today, I will oppose injustice, not
people." Our goal is not to place blame, but to
encourage change - we're pragmatists, in our idealism!
But being peaceful can also mean rocking the boat when
injustice reigns.
On Sunday we feted Dr. Joseph Lowery, who gave the benediction at
President Obama's Inauguration, as a leading figure in Black History, and one
who was and is a leader in the movement for nonviolent response to injustice.
His prayer, in part:
Help us then, now,
Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall
sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when
justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.
I love that image of tanks beaten into tractors! May
we be so blessed! And may we likewise find ways of turning our own
private bullying into nurturing.
peace, Rev. Jean
January 19, 2009: A Time for Celebrating...
We're preparing for the Inauguration celebration tomorrow, a
huge step forward on the path to Martin Luther King's dream, and to fulfilling
America's founding vision of justice and equality for all. Our office is
closed today in King's honor, and tomorrow we'll hook up the office computer
to the internet to watch the Inauguration.
Yesterday at Sunday service we sang freedom songs and
remembered the power of King's words and his courage in speaking out.
and for preparing...
We talked about what may be the next step on the path to
civil rights, to human rights: doing something to lower the
incarceration rate in this country, which rivals that of China and of the most
totalitarian states around the world.
We listened to speaker Ra Chaka, who runs the Justice
Center for Victims of Wrongful Convictions and Police Misconduct, a center
“dedicated to restoring balance to the system by representing those who have
been affected by abuse at the hands of law enforcement.” No one wants
to go to prison. But one out of four young African American men have
been affected by the criminal justice system - in prison, on probation, or
waiting trial - and over half of all prisoners are black, when they make up
only 12% of the population. And Latinos come next.
Chaka told us that the system no longer trains people to
re-enter civil society, as it once did - in fact, Illinois law now prohibits
ex-felons from obtaining licenses for beautician, barber, and other services
that prisoners used to get training in. In some states, felons lose the
rights of citizenship, even after they are released.
Prisons have become big business, and in some states they
are privatized and run by for-profit companies. Communities in downstate
Illinois beef up their depressed economies by building prisons that will
employ local people - which puts most prisoners far from their families, and
further divides upstate and downstate in Illinois.
It's time to begin educating ourselves about this issue and
the social ills that go with it. In this, a new era of unity and
pragmatism, it's time to look for more effective ways to deal with
crime. We need a better balance - not a tug of war between being
"tough" or "soft" on crime, but a way to better address
the needs both of victims and perpetrators. I invite you to take a look
into "restorative justice" - a perspective that takes into account
the concerns of both liberals and conservatives.
peace, Rev. Jean
November, 2008 Reprieve for REST emergency shelter
We are grateful that Ebenezer Lutheran Church voted on
Sunday to open their doors to the homeless men left stranded by the closing of
the emergency shelter at Epworth Church, which had hosted the shelter for over
20 years. This is a temporary situation, and not ideal, since Ebenezer
has no showers. The city funding of the shelter was cut, and Ebenezer
Church - and REST itself - need financial support to house and run the
program. We'll keep you informed as the situation develops. But
this step is a big relief!
Peoples Church is home to REST, the largest homeless
services provider on the North side, which has been operating the emergency
shelter at Epworth, as well as a women's shelter at another church nearby, and
a men's shelter in our own Anderson Hall, downstairs. As the weather
gets nastier, please consider supporting those organizations that are
providing homeless people with the essentials of life, and helping them get
back on their feet.
October 5th, 2008: another Uptown
shelter closing...
We just found out that one of REST's two men's shelters is
being closed by the church that has housed it for over a decade. The
Sun-Times calls it a dispute over heating costs. We don't really know
the reason, but it is another blow to the homeless people who live on the
North side. We've heard that the city wants homeless people in our
neighborhood to move to shelters on the West side or downtown. But
people - even if they have no address - feel a connection to their
neighborhood. You wouldn't normally ask a Southsider to move to the
West side - can you expect people who are currently homeless to feel any
different?
I wonder if this decision comes in part out of the tension
between old and new residents in Uptown? We are planning to hold a
gathering to consider how to build more community feeling and maintain the
diverse character of the neighborhood.
What makes you feel connected to your community?
Send me your thoughts - I'll post some of them here. minister@PeoplesChurchChicago.org
peace, Jean
September 30, 2008
Last Sunday we watched part of a June speech by Van Jones,
the dynamite and oh, so "articulate" young man from Oakland who is
bridging the divide between environmental and racial justice. A Yale law
school graduate, he mentioned testifying before Congress to help get the Green
Jobs Act passed in 2007, and having members of Congress come up to him and
tell him how "articulate" he was - and yet, wasn't this an awfully
expensive program? Each person from the 'hood would cost $15,000 to
train, where if they trained "job ready" people it would only cost
$3000. How could he justify this "waste" of money? Van
had to bite his tongue.
Van Jones is working for a society with no
"waste," like the factory that has zero pollutants: a society
that doesn't leave anyone out, where all people are considered valuable
potential participants. "If you don't invest in these
youngsters," he said, "If you don't spend this $15,000 and give them
some hope and some skills, then you're going to be spending $50, $60, $70
thousand locking them up, forever!"
After the service, we had lunch - a great potluck - and
talked about what Van had said, and our responses to it. People
mentioned hope, and the power of not leaving anyone out, and how moving it was
to hear him talk about the indigenous peoples of the world, and how much we
need their wisdom about caring for the Earth.
It was moving for me to be part of this sacred
conversation. We are just learning how to be with one another around
difficult subjects, and to be honest and respectful and true to
ourselves. It is sacred because it touches our hearts so deeply, because
to talk about things that have been hidden away is to shine a healing light on
them.
In the gospel of Thomas Jesus says, "If you bring forth
what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that
within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you." G.Th. 70
(Patterson and Meyer trans.)
I like to think this saying means that we shouldn't keep
things bottled up inside - it's poison!
If you want to watch the whole speech by Van Jones, it's on
the UUA website: http://www.uua.org/events/generalassembly/2008/112314.shtml
Don't miss the next Sacred Conversation, October 26th, when
Keith Scott, organizer and former zoo educator, talks about the intersection
between the criminal justice system and race.
peace, Jean
September 19, 2008
I read an amazing little essay by Deepak Chopra, talking
about our national psyche and how it is being played out in the Presidential
election... dovetails with what I was talking about last week, about the
wicked witch and how she expresses our darkest desires for revenge, even
while we can disclaim her.
This Sunday, we'll celebrate the Fall Equinox - the moment
of equal light and dark, the change from summer to fall, the anticipation of
winter. And how light and dark play out in our lives.
peace, Jean
September
11, 2008
Seven
years after the horrific events of September 11, 2001, we seem to be caught in
a time-warp, as the Bush administration wages a "war against
terrorism" that they are now calling "generational" - that is,
they expect it to drag on for at least a generation. I wish the
mainstream media were more willing to question the assumptions Washington is
operating under - if alternatives to war were presented seriously, people
would have something to think about, be able to make an informed choice.
I
heard a powerful interview on NPR (Terry Gross) with Andrew Bacevich, military
man turned history professor, author of a number of books, most recently, The
Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, in which he stresses the destructiveness of belligerence
as foreign policy and the value of openness - not secrecy - in how our
government ought to operate. I hope everyone gets a chance to hear
Bacevich when he comes to Chicago on his book tour, October 12-14.
We
are still digesting the events of 9/11 - we can find some meaning in that
senseless destruction, through hearing the stories of survivors - how we as
human beings dealt with the unthinkable. Would we also have been the
ones in the cafeteria saying, "But what about my eggs?" as the
manager tried to get her employees to shut down the cooking line and evacuate
the building? No knowing, of course - but how human!
Many
of us yearn for the feeling of safety we used to feel before that day in
September seven years ago. I hope we can realize collectively that
security is a false wish - living in a bunker is not what I would call
living. We are safer - more resilient as a people - if we can come
together to live life fully in a community that offers the most in freedom and
shared responsibility, to make sense of whatever happens - to share the
stories.
peace,
Jean
The
Peoples Church of Chicago
