global community, global kin. . . one voice united

“The lack of a caring community that incarnates the Word makes us more and more incapable of being heard.”
- Melba Maggay Filipino theologian

There is strength in numbers. The louder the protest about injustice, the more likely it will be heard. The louder the protest about issues of mercy . . .the more people who care others through actions, thoughts and words, the more likely others will take notice.

Save Darfur: Al-Bashir Genocide, War Crimes Charges Underscore Need for Security Council ActionFowler: ‘The world at-large, primarily the Security Council, has allowed al-Bashir to continue his reign of destruction, recalcitrance and violence with utter impunity. Moreno-Ocampo has…Read more

We need to keep up this momentum and push this issue to the forefront of politics and global communities.

What do you know abut Darfur? What are you doing about it?

The most powerful tool in your arsenal is your voice. Tell others. Encourage them to add their voice to the community of those who vehemently oppose the genocide in Darfur. Pray to God, let God hear your cries for those with no voices.

Love Christ. Be Christ’s hands, feet, and voice and love your neighbors on earth (regardless of location). Raise your voice high. Stop this insanity.

(Care + Community) + (Notice + Action)= Resolution & Justice

Here are some places to get involved NOW. Today. The next place you click.

Save Darfur: http://www.savedarfur.org/content
Genocide Intervention Network: www.genocideintervention.net
Waging Peace: www.wagingpeace.info
International Crisis Group – Darfur: www.genocideintervention.net
STAND: Student Anti-Genocide Coalition:www.standnow.org

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12

Why are you still here? What are you waiting for?

Time to get up to speed

the vocabulary of hate

”The first thing we have to do is change hearts,” Betancourt told McClatchy in an exclusive interview. “We have to change the vocabulary of hate. When I dreamed of being free, I told myself that I could not engage in hate or rancor.”

”It’s a neurotic world, and there are lots of conflicts,” she said. “There’s a food crisis and an energy crisis. People are very anxious about this. We need to reflect on how we behave.”

”The guerrillas are our enemy,” Betancourt said in the interview. “But we shouldn’t insult them. We should show them how to seek a dignified exit through peaceful negotiations. If we don’t defeat them correctly, we will sow the seeds of hate for the future.”

- Ingrid Betancourt Pulecio

_____________________________

The short-term exacting of righteous, perhaps even justifiable vengence does not seem to be in Betancourt’s vocaulary. Hostage of FARC for over 2K days, she does not resort to ‘justice,’ in the sense of our version of justice. The justice of tried in court and punished. True to her polictal leanings, Ingrid shows a Christ-like view of reconciliation for the better good of all in her country.

Do we in America do the same? We are under the impression that might makes right. Perhaps we can learn from Ingrid in some instances. I know at a personal level, I need to rely less on justice-based retribution. This is a hard lesson to learn, to apply.

I would be curious as to how she would address Darfur and Zimbabwe. When force and genocide of masses of people are at stake. Then, of course, the US still does little in these areas to help other than a few policies a the state level, official statements at the national level and the protests of non profit organizations. One can only hope it will not be too little too late.

What is our current vocabulary of hate? What can we personally do to change that? Things to think about anyway.

Íngrid Betancourt Pulecio (born December 25, 1961) is a Colombian-French politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist. Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on February 23, 2002, and rescued from captivity six and a half years later in Operation Jaque, along with 14 other hostages (three Americans and 11 Colombian policemen and soldiers), by Colombian security forces on July 2, 2008, who tricked the FARC into believing they were a leftist non-governmental organization. In all, she was held captive for 2,321 days after being taken while campaigning for the Colombian presidency as a Green.*

* Green Party of Colombia Option Center is a Colombian political party associated with the philosophies of the Green party, the “political middle”. The party advocates for having an ecological conscience, social justice, participative democracy, non violence resolutions, human sustainability and respect for diversity in order to improve the Colombian social, economic and political struggle and bring to and end the Colombian armed conflict.

deliverance

I liked writing random thoughts so well last week, I thought I’d do another. These are grouped under the lyrics and themes of “Deliver Me” by the David Crowder Band. The lyrics for the song are bolded. I’ve been listening to the version Kev and I did a couple of Sundays ago over and over this week.

Scripture I am chewing on and sorta shows where my mind and heart are at this week:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. – Isaiah 43:2-2

“Deliver me out of the sadness”

The numbers are staggering. The suffering, immense. . .

“The confirmed number of dead rose nearly 10,000 from the day before to 51,151, Cabinet spokesman Guo Weimin told a news conference. Another 29,328 people remained missing and nearly 300,000 were hurt in the May 12 quake centered in Sichuan province, he said.

The disaster left 5 million people homeless and leveled more than 80 percent of the buildings in some remote towns and villages near the epicenter. In bigger cities entire apartment blocks collapsed or are now too dangerous to live in because of damage and worries about aftershocks.” Yahoo
News

In the news Wednesday: “The secretary general of the United Nations is heading to Myanmar in an effort to step up relief efforts for survivors of Cyclone Nargis.” Please God, help us to help them.

“Deliver me from all the madness”
“We do not have a money problem in America. We have a values and priorities problem.” Marian Wright Edelman

Anyone want a really nice cat named Clarence?* He needs special food, but is very lovey. Of course, he has the ability to vomit randomly throughout a carpeted room in no time flat. Some may even call that a talent. We just call it an unholy mess. Gross. * Note: No, we are not giving Clarence away, although the thought crossed my mind Tuesday, the day of the totally disgusting ‘occurrence.’

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Martin Luther King, Jr

“Deliver me courage to guide me”
What should we be ‘spending’ our refund checks on? Erase debt? The poor? The ravaged in China or Burma? The movies? Another few pair of shoes? Grocery hoarding? Clean water projects in 3rd world countries? A vacation?

Finished Jesus for President. Yet another Claiborne book that really tests preconceptions about service and Christianity. Pick it up. Read about our modern empire. This will book change you forever.

The danger is that we can begin to read the Bible through the eyes of America rather than read America through the yes of the Bible. We just want Jesus to be a good American.p194

“The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian
religion.”-John Adams

From the litany of resistance: (Jesus for President Appendix)

One: From the arrogance of power
All: Deliver us
One: From the myth of redemptive violence
All: Deliver us
One: From the tyranny of greed
All: Deliver us
One: From the ugliness of racism
All: Deliver us
One: From the cancer of hatred
All: Deliver us
One: From the seduction of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From the addiction of control
All: Deliver us
One: From the idolatry of nationalism
All: Deliver us
One: From the paralysis of cynicism
All: Deliver us
One: From the violence of apathy
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of poverty
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From a lack of imagination
All: Deliver us
One: Deliver us, O God

“Deliver me Your strength inside me”

There’s nothing like driving with the windows down, driving to work and drinking coffee. Okay, I lied, take the driving to work part out of that statement and, it would be even better.

Rocket Dog, my new bowling ball, you let me down this week. Whereas the week before we were on fire, the pendulum swung back to the other extreme for Rocket Dog and me. It was truly embarrassing to bowl less than 100 with your own equipment. Seriously folks, totally embarrassing.

On the horizon is a 3 day weekend. I can’t wait. I need this.

Finished: The Gutter: Where Life is Meant to be lived by Craig Gross
Guess what? No matter where you live, there are gutters. Gutters are physical places. The are also addictions, selfishness, pride, loneliness, the ability not to forgive….we all have secret dark places. Jesus dwelled in the gutters throughout the gospel. . .and today. Craig Gross is a pastor in his 20’s who founded Fireproof Ministries as a way to train and disciple Christian youth, and XXXchurch.com, to help Christians break addiction to pornography. Guess what? God loves those who make porn. Get your mind around that.

“We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose.” Bishop Desmond Tutu

“CHORUS:
All of my life
I’ve been in hiding
Wishing there was someone just like You
Now that You’re here
Now that I’ve found You
I know that You’re the One to pull me through”

Prince Caspian was awesome. Aslan is back! Lessons for the kings, queens and princes (and us all) in the movie: 1) You can’t do it yourself 2) You don’t need any proof of Jesus or God to have faith 3) Motivation through hatred is never the way, although the temptation is immense and alluring. 4) Righteous honor pleases God. God hates honor for power. See it. You will not be disappointed.

“There is a war going on for your mind. We are the insurgents” – Flobots lyrics

“Deliver me loving and caring
Deliver me giving and sharing
Deliver me this cross that I’m bearing
Oh, deliver me”

I’ve been developing a youth curriculum for Institute. It’s called, “iStand for God’s Justice & Mercy (There’s war going on for your mind)” If it is accepted, it includes part IJM, part Flobots, part Invisible Children, Part Darfur Now and some killer quotes. Also wall drawing, collages and letters sent to students after the class they write about what they want to do next. LEARN about it, DO something to help. TELL others. Love your neighbors everywhere.

“Jesus, Jesus how I trust You How I’ve proved You o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus
Deliver me”

Planted years-old seeds we found in the garage hiding in stacks of old papers. Not sure how they got there, but thought we’d throw them into our clay-pot soil. How’s that for planting seeds of faith?

Practical Justice: Living Off-Center in a Self-Centered World by Kevin Blue
Right thinking. Right action. Just living. God calls us to step up and get involved. More on this later.

“Come and pull me through Come pull me through”

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.Do
not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen
against me,and they are breathing out violence. Psalm 27:11-14

“Civilians throughout Sudan face new peril as the peace agreement that ended the two decade war in southern Sudan seems increasingly fragile and new violence in Darfur appears imminent. The United States and the international community should take immediate steps to halt the fighting in the south and deter al-Bashir’s planned assault on Darfur.”

“When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do”
Surely We Can Change by the David Crowder Band

“Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all,
thou shalt not be a bystander.” The Holocaust Museum

What have you done to help alleviate suffering or draw attention to the Darfuri people? Are you a bystander?

so much pain
we don’t know how to be but angry
feel infected like we got gangrene please dont let anybody try to change me ..
me just me.
in a sea full of faces..
full of races’
some laugh
some salivate
whats in your alley recycling bins or bullet casings
its not equal its not fair
we’re different people but we’re not scared
we ain’t never scared to pave a new path
make a new street
build a new bridge
hey can you see by the dawns early light
free slaves runnin
songs words weren’t right now a new days comin
if you stay stuntin while the many are handsome your soul stays alive
but they want it for ransom
the bass drummin is the anthem we step to the heart beats of our granddaughters and grandsons
(chorus)
and rise together
we rise together
we rise
together
we rise
together
we rise
together ….

Rise by the Flobots

random

Random thoughts from my brain to yours this week . . . have at them.

“Jesus for President” is one of the coolest books. I am thankful for our study group. The discussion has been awesome. Quotes that got me thinking:

“It is hard to imagine a gospel that is more of an antitheses of Jesus’ gospel and the Beatitudes than what we hear today in the church: “Blessed are the rich”; “Blessed are the troops”; “We will have no mercy on the evildoers.”

So are we saying the United States of America is not a Christian nation? The United States is Christian inasmuch as it looks like Christ.p174

The more the early Christians reflected on the life and message of their rabbi-messiah, and the more they tried to live the way of the gospel, the harder they collided with the state and its hopes and dreams, militaries and markets. In fact, Christians in those first few hundred years were called atheists because they no longer believed in the Roman gospel; they no longer had any faith in the state as savior of the world. p141

[John] did not simply argue that various aspects of the market exploit this or that; rather he placed his concerns in light of a cosmological struggle between right and wrong…is is possible we can’t see the destructiveness of our economy not because we don’t know it’s terrible but because deep down, we feel that it’s necessary and that therefore it’s hopeless to criticize it?p153

Restaurant chips and salsa are the bane of my diet, or should I say lack thereof? Following a close second are those chocolate covered coffee beans Sylvia brought to study group last Sunday. Ack! Although, I was able to beat my whole team in three games straight later that night at bowling league. Secret weapon? Hmmm.

There simply needs to be more time in a day so I can catch up on books. Of course, if I’d stop acquiring them, then I might actually do it in 24. Yeah, right.

Change is good. Change can hurt. Change is really the only constant in life. How’s that for an oxymoron? Nothing like living in THAT tension.

Looking forward to the CSM mission trip to Philly. I’ve got a feeling this is will be life-changing service in less than a month for all of us. They always are, anyways.

How can people refuse aid to help all the suffering in Myanmar? How horrible to be thirsty and have children suffering like that. What makes people refuse aid? I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Church politics. Another oxymoron, but true in every place I’ve ever been. Even this one. Guess it’s time to read a few pep-talk letters to churches from Paul. I swear humans will never get that part right. Great googlymoogly.

I got a bowling ball for Mother’s Day. The color is called “Black Raspberry”

which is a combination of black, silver, deep red and sparkles. I’ve named it “Rocket Dog”. I have no idea why I named it that. Yes, I know it is a shoe brand, but the name is cool and I’m keeping it.

I am reading a book now call, “The Gutter: Where Life is Meant to be Lived,” by Craig Gross What are my gutters? Where am I afraid to go that Jesus is calling me to go? Am I listening and following? I really do live in the Suburb desert. Gross. Quotes from that book:

“When I accepted Christ as my saviour, I was lifted out of the gutter, but I was not made better than those who remained.”
—————
“Don’t blame the dark for being dark. Blame the light for not shining on the dark.”
—————

“While the Church at large is great at telling people to avoid their gutters, I’ve found that this approach just doesn’t work anymore. … Things have changed, and people don’t do things just because they’re told to do them or because those things are expected of them. So we as a Church have to change our approach and get dirty. Modern Christians must take risks and get out of their comfortable pews and classrooms and do something for God. If we don’t, who will?”


From the Save Darfur website today: “Reports indicate that the government is detaining, torturing and killing Darfuris in and around Khartoum, and that janjaweed militias have commenced attacks in North Darfur. The international community must demand an immediate end to atrocities, speed up deployment of peacekeepers, and make clear to all sides that there is no violent solution to this conflict.”

I can’t stop thinking about the people of Darfur. I wonder if I am doing enough to help them. I know I am not. I am not sure what else to do. I would go to Sudan if I could swing it in a minute. (Now that’s something I would have never said a year ago.)

Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander. Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC

The green of spring trees and plans, the chartreuse of nature is my favorite color followed closely by the orange-red of fall. Nobody does it better than God in nature. Nobody.

Goal: Debt-free in 5 years. Goal: Look for something else to do with my life in 5 years besides feed the corporate machine.

Storms of spring this year bring a rollercoaster of emotion. Betrayal. Bitterness. Joy. Love. Heartbreak. Depression. Happiness. Purpose. Shame. Wait a minute, it will change again. Funny thing about riding a rollercoaster is that if I stick my arms up in the air and scream, no one will really know if it is fear, pain or joy. I am not looking forward to Wednesday night.

I want to design a shirt from a saying I saw in Chicago. It said, “Social Justice isn’t Just for Rock Stars.”

UMCOR, UNICEF, Darfur….a dollar. All for world aid stand up and holler!

I bought a hand bag today that is so big that I could cut two holes in it and stick it on my head all the way and wear it like a mask, but it’s GREEN. The only thing that frightens me a little is that I can truly stick ¾ of my arm in it digging around. I wonder if clerks think I’m going to pull a rabbit out of it?

I owe both my sponsor children Stella in Tanzania and Betty in Uganda letters and pictures. I have to get that done by Saturday. Jeez, I used to be much better at writing letters before the internet and email.

Wayne finally went with Kevin to a pawn shop and picked up the most beautiful abalone shell inlaid blue guitar. I am jealous. I want to learn to play it too!

We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose. Bishop Desmond Tutu

drawing conclusions

“No one shall be subjected to torture, or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”- Universal Declaration of Human Rights

I revisited an old drawing of mine in a family Bible today. It was a story I wrote when I was 9 years old. It was a story about my favorite person and a drawing. The story said:

Language
September 27, 1973

Deana

My favorite person is grandpa arends. He doesn’t have much hair but a little hair in the back and brown eyes and glasses and I liked him taking me to the zoo. He is still alive.

On the back was a simple, quickly drawn picture of my grandpa and I walking. Many of my memories of my grandpa Roger were of walking. Sometimes it was the zoo, other times in the neighborhoods of Grimes, Iowa where we’d occasionally make it to Main Street, talking to friends on porches or in yards as we made our way through town.

Spending summer weeks at my mother’s parents conjures up other fond memories. There was no pool in town, so my grandma got out her old wash tub, filled it with water and I splashed in that. They grew raspberries (my favorite fruit to this day) and we enjoyed them with half and half or in a fresh pie. There were zoo trips and dinners out with other great aunts and uncles. Sometimes cousins visited and fun was had by all. I learned how to fry chicken and crochet. I showed my prowess around scrubbing out sinks after doing dishes. I helped bake bread and count the number of canned vegetables and jams in the basement. I learned how long it takes to polish a rock in a polisher. And yes, I did catch fireflies in on of grandma’s old mason jars for a nightlight, only to release them each morning to start again that night.

These memories are in stark contrast to the collection of drawings I looked at this week from children in IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps of refugees from the Darfur area of Sudan. Instead of pictures of family life and events of joy, children in these camps, witnesses to the ongoing genocide in that country, drew frightening and consistent pictures of homes being burned and people being attacked. For them, there is no peace. The drawings can be viewed in full here. Here is one of them.

The five hundred drawings collected by Waging Peace amount to a form of criminal evidence from silent witnesses. The killings, bombing and looting shown in the drawings directly contradict the Government of Sudan’s version of events over the last four years of bloodshed. The pattern that emerges from these drawings corroborates what we know has been taking place in Darfur and shows a worryingly similar pattern of attacks developing in Eastern Chad.

There have been 5 years of conflict in this region. Now there are school age children who are living in camps that no nothing of peace. Over 1 million of Darfuri children know only a life of destruction, not of home.

This young boy was 8 when his village in Darfur was attacked in 2003 by Janjaweed and Sudanese armed forces. He is now 12 and living in a refugee camp in Eastern Chad.

In this drawing the attackers, on camel and hose backs and in armed vehicles, are setting the houses on fire and shooting at civilians from all corners (note how the bullets are crossing each others paths). The villagers are also fighting back with spears and arrows, while the Janjaweed and Sudanese forces are attacking them with machine guns.

The skin colour of the attackers is lighter than that of the victims, clearly denoting the ethnic character of the attacks.

The tribes of the Darfur region in Sudan are African, not Arab. As the Janjaweed rebels (backed by the Sudanese government) put it as they slaughter villages, “They are too black.” At the crux of this conflict we find race, not religion. More than 400,000 Black African people have been killed, and more than 2 million Black African people have been forced to leave their homes.

Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Deuteronomy 24:17

“Never again” was the rally cry after the Holocaust. “Never again” was shouted after the Rwandan genocide in the early 1990’s. Yet, it is happening again. A child is a child of God, no matter where they live, how they worship, or what color their skin happens to be. It’s time to LEARN about this conflict and genocide. DO something to help. TELL others.

Start here.