Seeking Solidarity in the Body of Christ

Update: Guayabo under attack again by police in partnership with invading Palm Oil Company. Please support Guayabo by signing this petition.

I preached this sermon to the McCormick Theological Seminary community on September 24th, 2014:

Dear God of Grace, allow your Holy Spirit to speak through me today, that our hearts may be transformed in your love. Amen.

This summer, as many of you know, Abbi Heimach and I got engaged and then embarked on a journey together that we hoped would help shape our understanding of our global community.  We traveled to Colombia, South America with Christian Peacemaker Teams.  Chris Knestrick, a recent McCormick graduate, has been working with Christian Peacemaker teams for many years and helped lead our international delegation.

These delegations are unique in that we were sent there to seek solidarity with our Colombian brothers and sisters, and so we were welcomed into communion when we arrived. The first goal of our delegation was to learn about the Colombian context.  So we did this by listening to many different voices.  We learned from ecumenical leaders working for peace. We learned from human rights lawyers and social workers. Then our delegation traveled from the capital of Bogota in the mountains to Barrancabermeja in the hot tropical region along the Magdalena River. There we learned about the wealth of resources being extracted from the region by increasingly privatized corporations such as this oil company and palm oil companies which will profit from a major private port being built down the street and the naval base being built to protect these resources. This could all be good if it benefited the local population, but what we found was growing unemployment, high rates of violence and continued immigration of displaced farmers from the surrounding territories that were being converted to cash crop industrial plantations.

After all this listening, we were sent three hours down river to a small farming or campesino community called El Guayabo.  I have never felt so welcomed and empowered and excited as when our crowded little speed boat landed on the riverbank teaming with people holding signs of welcome and peace.  They invited us into their homes, into their church, and onto their farms. Their story was familiar to many oppressed campesino communities in this region.  They legally developed a piece of land for farming over the last thirty years, under the constant threat of violence from the ongoing civil war and drug cartels.  They built a school for their children and infrastructure to provide food security to the whole region, and as a result, the land became valuable for the whole region.  With this added value, corporate interests in the palm oil industry have sent in lawyers and influenced local politicians to find legal loop holes to push these campesinos off their land so that it can be planted with their palm oil cash crop. 

Two families were violently evicted from their farms over the summer by the city riot police while the community non-violently resisted.  More of this illegal land grabbing is sure to come.  As a result, the community organized and invited our delegation to join them in making their issue of injustice known to the public. We traveled back up river together to the regional capital to raise our voices in front of local government officials and the wider community.  Together we told their story.  We expressed our fears of persecution and continued marginalization, and we called for transparency from their government officials that we hoped would lead to justice and food security instead of displacement, violence and poverty.

In a very exciting response to this action, the mayor of their region heard our message with his own ears and invited the community and CPT to begin a process of collaboration that aims to diminish the power of corporate influence on their land rights.  The entire community took on the role of whistleblower in response to their experience of injustice.   I pray that this collaboration leads to life for their community and not more and continued death.  This is, however, a risk these leaders were willing to take to maintain their humanity.

So how does Jesus’ Parable from Matthew 25 make any sense in light of the experience of El Guayabo?  What does it mean that a MASTER gives huge sums of money to three of HIS slaves and expects them to double his money in profits by the time he returns from a trip? 

Many scholars claim that Jesus and the writer of Matthew tell this story as an allegory for the kingdom of God.  We must work hard and labor long like the first two slaves for our Master – God – who expects us to make holy and spiritual profits in abundance. I have a few issues with this understanding of the parable.  First, what is it exactly that we are supposed to be producing with our labor?  Is it love?  Is it kindness?  Is it faith?  Is it justice?

Jesus uses the word Talent, which had a very specific meaning in first century Palestine. A talent was equivalent to earnings from 20 years of labor. Using Illinois minimum wage, that could be $17000 a year times 20 years.  So that even the least trusted slave was given over $340,000 dollars to make profits.  Can you translate that into love?

Second, if God is the master in the parable, then what does that say about God?  Does God reap what God does not sow?  Is God “a harsh MAN?”  There are many masculine metaphors for God in the Bible, but I do not believe this man is God.

I do not believe God participates in the exploitative world of profits and personal gain.  Therefore I believe that Jesus is telling a very different story in this parable; a story of humanity’s status quo, a story of nonviolent resistance, and a story of preparation for the kingdom of God.  So what if we take off our American Calvinist worker glasses for a moment and try to read this parable from the margins of society.

An elite master leaves riches of great wealth with his most profitable slaves who were trained as financial managers.  He doled out his investment in them based on a hierarchy of trust.  To one, 5 talents, to another 2 talents and to the least trusted he gave one talent of half a million dollars. Immediately - without telling their families or considering the weight of this enormous investment, the first two slaves went out into the villages surrounding the master’s estate to provide loans to the day laborers working in their master’s fields who could not afford to feed their families from what they earned.

Now these families did not always live this way. Just one generation before, these villagers owned their own small farms in this region and lived securely together as subsistence farmers.

Since that time, the Palestinian elite in Jerusalem as well as their Roman conquerors began taxing these peasant villages to such an extent that they could not survive on their own.  Instead of farming crops they could eat, they grew cash crops that the elite could trade for riches and military equipment from far away lands. The peasants began to go into debt to these first two slaves and had no way of paying back what they owed with its extortionary interest.  So the slaves came to collect from the peasants whatever they had to give. They took their farms and their homes to expand their masters property.  Now in their desperate situation of loss, these slaves let the peasants stay on the land to harvest ever more cash crops for the master.

The third slave waited.  He thought.  He thought about his community.  He thought about his master.  He considered his profits and his master’s wealth.  He considered the value of human life. And he considered his God. After thinking these things, he took the talent entrusted to him and buried it in the soil as was the Jewish custom for protecting wealth.

When their master returned, he rewarded the first two slaves for making 100% return on his investment.  He put them in charge of making profits with even more wealth than they had returned to him.

Then the slave who had received one talent came forward saying, “master I knew you to be a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed.  So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.  Here you have what is yours. His master was furious and replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter?  Then you ought to have invested MY money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was mine with interest.  “Take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents.  I am the master, and I say more will be given to those who have much and appreciate my desire for limitless wealth.  I will take everything from those who know nothing of wealth, for they do not sustain me.  As for this worthless slave, throw him into the dark dark dungeon with the other activists and whistleblowers, there he will find weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Where is God in this encounter?  I find God in the moments the third slave takes to see the peasant farmer community as his own and makes a choice to remove himself from continuing the economic exploitation of this community.  By joining that community he takes on the risk of suffering their marginalization. 

Matthew continues this theme of community in the very next passage, Jesus says - almost directly speaking to this convicted slave – “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” I was being exploited and you stood up with me.

The Body of Christ is in all of us. Jesus expects us to respond to the good news of God’s grace by taking action in support of God’s family, all people, especially the ‘least of these.’  With this explanation from Jesus, it is easy to see that Jesus would welcome the third slave who refused to exploit his neighbors. 

The more I practice living in community, the more I recognize that the master in this parable is not God. The actions of the master and his three slaves in this parable characterize what happens in our human kingdom.  In this way, the exploitation demanded by the master and carried out by the first two slaves represents the sinful and destructive nature of human history. 

This parable warns us that preparing for God’s kingdom makes us vulnerable to suffering in our human kingdom as this slave suffers in the outer darkness, but this suffering for justice will bring great joy.  The third slave gives hope for humanity that disciples can choose to disrupt the exploitative societal systems in which they live.  Social science interpreters of this text point out that the third slave develops the freedom to “choose a future in which to live” instead of acting out of fear or obligation to the evil master.  By acting honorably according to the ethics of his community, this slave is subversively elevating himself to a position of freedom and therefore establishing his own humanity by disrupting the status quo.   

When have you felt connected to your humanity? When do you experience freedom? 

Here at McCormick, I have found freedom in learning about racial identity development that is embodied in all of us.  Our student anti-racism group is building hope in me that we can work together to recognize and disrupt ways that racism is embodied in our lives and in this institution. Each student leader has committed to participating in anti-racism training this year so that we can have time to recognize the complexity of our community and seek new ways of working together for justice.

I have learned that white culture values perfection, competition and hiding emotions and problems.  If we want to expose the embodiment of discrimination and exploitation in our institution and our community, we need to be willing to expose our emotions, share our imperfections and voice our fears so that we might learn and grow together with the grace of God.  God created us to be fully human, so we must seek out ways to more fully experience that humanity.  Our hungers, needs and torn seems are the exact places where we can discover the grace of God.

And what about our talents?  What about our global community?  We are financially tied to economic exploitation occurring in El Guayabo and communities like it all over the world.  Will we stand together, expose our complicity and stand up for justice?  Can we say no to profiting from corporations that do not respect human lives?  I have had a very hard time saying no to the scholarship I receive at McCormick or the 6 million dollars a year it takes to run this institution, but what if that money, Our Talents, were not available to make profits through exploitation?  What if we positively invested in our global community? 

I thank God for our imagination which can see beyond the fear of scarcity and loss.  I thank God for the slave willing to return the talent to his master.

Amen

These are resources I used to inform my sermon.  Feel free to check them out at the library!

Allen, O. Wesley Jr. “Passion, Death and Resurrection in and around Jerusalem (21:1-28:15)” in Matthew, 203-276. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2013.

Allen follows the allegorical interpretation that Jesus is represented by the master, the time on a journey represents the long time awaiting parousia, and the slaves represent the behavior expected of disciples (246).  He suggests asking your congregation, “Have you carried the load appropriate to your abilities?” (247) in response to his reading.  His thesis for this parable is “The ethical Christian life is not a test for which we are rewarded, the ethical Christian life is the reward. The more we live it, the more of it we get” (247).

Carter, Warren. Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading. New York: Orbis Books, 2000.

Warren remains consistent with the allegorical interpretation of this parable by considering the actions of the first two slaves to represent how we are to work “in faithful attention to the master’s business, not engaging in abusive practices” (489).  He acknowledges that the parable legitimates the perspective of the wealthy elites and “punishes the one who subverts the system” (488) if it is read from a social historical perspective.  In response, he uses many examples to show how Jesus challenged the oppressive economic status quo illustrated in this parable.  So, from his allegorical interpretation, the third slave’s “destiny is that of those who do not respond to Jesus with faith and obedient lives” (491) such as the elite who misuse their power, the devil, and many religious leaders.

Chenoweth, Ben. Identifying the Talents: Contextual Clues for the Interpretation of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). Tyndale Bulletin 56 no 1 2005, p 61-72.

He takes the parable to be allegorical with the master representing Jesus and the servants representing the disciples (61).  The main thesis is that the talents represent “the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven” which should be made profitable by the disciples and all who come to know the Gospel (61).

Donahue, John R. The Gospel in Parable: Metaphor, Narrative, and the Theology in the Synoptic Gospels. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1988.

Donahue argues in favor of allegorical interpretation of this parable claiming that it affirms “both the delay of the parousia and its certainty and that it describes proper action in the interim period” (109).  The third slave is punished for “presumptuous inactivity,” showing the nature of those who are excluded from the kingdom of God.  He uses the Gospel of the Nazoreans in his argument, but he takes the judgments out of order so that the “one who hid the talents” is rebuked instead of the “one who multiplied the gains.”  Rohrbaugh writes about authors who do this, and I can see how it is easy to confuse people by doing so. 

Evans, Craig A. “Matthew 25:14-30 – The Parable of the Servants” in Matthew, 418-420. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Evans portrays the characters in a historical setting where being the rich master was an acceptable character to play.  He distinguishes between Jesus’ original meaning of the parable – “an illustration of the selfish and oppressive policies of the pagan rulers,” and how Matthew uses it to “serve as a warning to those who think their Lord’s work is not to be taken seriously” (421).  When describing the historical context, instead of interpreting that the master in the parable is a “thief” as described by the third slave, Evans describes him as a “very tough businessman or landlord… [who tends toward] seizure of crops because tenant farmers have fallen behind in payments.”  Even stating that “Jesus’ audience would not have a sympathetic view of this man” (420). He defends the master by stating that “Jewish law permitted Jews to collect interest from Gentiles but not from fellow Jews” (420).  He calls the third servant “timid” instead of seeing him as standing up to an exploitative master (420).

Folarin, George O. “The parable of the talents in the African context: An Inculturation hermeneutics approach.” Asia Journal of Theology 22, no. 1 (April 1, 2008): 94-106.

I was most impressed with the contextual and social historical critique Folarin develops to compare Jesus’ parable with his current Nigerian context.  He puts the parable in the larger context of Matthew’s Gospel as part of a series of parables preached to depict the coming Parousia both by what will happen in the “kingdom of God” and the “kingdom of human beings” at the time of Jesus’ return: the Ten Virgins parable describes the activities of the Kingdom of God and the Parable of the Talents characterizes the “kingdom of this world” (100) in contrast.  The key to understanding who is accepted on the day of judgment is expressed throughout Matthew, specifically in the very next parable (25:31-46) where those supporting the oppressed and the less privileged in society are welcomed by God (103). He concludes that “the parable of the talents is an invitation to resist exploitation in a nonviolent way and to be ready to suffer for such action” with joy (104).

Jeremias, Joachim. The Parables of Jesus. London: SCM Press LTD, 1972.

Jeremias was one to blaze a new path in interpreting a difference between Jesus’ meaning and the use of the parable by the Gospel writer of Matthew.  He claims both Luke and Matthew use this parable in a longer sermon about how to act in the delayed time before Parousia, stating that “’A reward is only earned by performance’ is the fundamental idea of the parable of the Talents” (19). Jeremias explains that Matthew and Luke’s interpretation of the parable as an allegory where Jesus is the nobleman is not possible because Jesus would not compare himself with someone who exploits others – reaping where he did not sow, “heedlessly intent on his own profit” (59-60). Jesus’ audience would have thought of the scribes who had been entrusted with the Word of God and they would soon have to account for how they used God’s gift.

Malina, Bruce J. and Richard L. Rohrbaugh. Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels.Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992.

In their critique of this parable, Malina and Rohrbaugh argue that from the elitist point of view which is most accepted by our current Western perspective, the master and first two slaves are acting properly by seeking the largest financial gains.  From the peasant point of view, the third slave acted honorably for refusing to participate in the schemes of the master.  The rich man is able to retain his honor by having his slaves do the dishonorable work of taking wealth from others through trade and interest, because slaves have no honor anyway.  By acting honorably, the third slave is subversively elevating himself to the level of free person – establishing his own humanity and subverting the status quo (149).

Rohrbaugh, Richard L. “A Peasant Reading of the Parable of the Talents/Pounds: A Text of Terror?” in The New Testament in Cross-Cultural Perspective, 109-123. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2007.

Rohrbaugh uses peasant economics coming out of social sciences in the New Testament to interpret meaning in the Parable of the Talents that relates to its original agrarian audience, claiming “Jesus’s peasant hearers would almost certainly have assumed that the story was a warning to the rich about their exploitation of the weak” (123).  He is quoted by many other scholars who contextualize the parable in situations of economic exploitation.  He focuses on the peasant ethic of limited good in which gaining more of something means taking away from someone else (112).  This condemned the “creation of wealth as an end in itself” as immoral (113).  He claims other scholars have rearranged the judgments given in the parallel parable from the Gospel of Nazoreans recorded by Eusebius, claiming that the original order of the judgments has the master rebuke the “servant who multiplied the grain” and “accept (with joy)… the one who hid the talent” (118). 

Schottroff, Luis. The Parables of Jesus. translated by Linda M. Maloney. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006.

Schottroff cannot believe the allegorical interpretation because of the strong social history and message of Jesus found in Matthew (223). His translation of 25:30 demystifies the parable by having the human master throw his slave into the “dark dungeon” (222) for refusing to “participate in the unjust expropriation of the lands of small farmers” (224), as practiced by his other two slaves.  This action is followed by the hope of the eschatological story of the sheep and the goats, where this third slave is sure to be found living in the kingdom for acting like the righteous in this story.  He argues that belief is not important, but responding to the message with action is.

Scott, Bernard Brandon. “A Hard-Hearted Man: A Man Entrusts Property (Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27)” in Hear Then the Parable: A Commentary on the Parables of Jesus, 217-236. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1989.

Scott distinguishes Matthew’s use of the parable from Jesus’ telling of it which would have been to an audience who identifies with the third slave.  Matthew uses this parable in a wider narrative of Jesus’ sermon explaining to the disciples how the Kingdom of God will come.  In Matthew’s context, the parable encourages disciples to use the gifts of God well at all times.  The focus of Scott’s interpretation is on the third servant’s freedom to “choose a future in which to live” (235) instead of acting out of fear or obligation.

Turner, David. “Discourse 5: Judgment of Jerusalem and the Coming of Christ (24:1-26:2)” in Matthew, 565-612. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008.

Turner takes an allegorical approach to this parable seeing Jesus as the absent master and the church as the three servants (598). The main theme of this parable is whether Jesus’ followers “will be dependable in using His resources” (598) It is a “warning against irresponsibility among professed disciples rather than an encouragement to faithfulness” (599).

GETI Experience Interview

I posted several months ago about preparing to fly to Korea for the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute in partnership with the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches.  I have since returned and recovered from the jet lag!  Here is an interview I did with Chicago Christian Online Show "Different Drummers."  Post questions if you want to talk more about it.  There were many deeper questions that I didn't get to in the interview!

Spiritual Practice: Creative Play

When I am feeling anxiety from big decisions, busy schedules, and challenging relationships, the first thing I want to do is pick up my guitar and just make some noise.  Sometimes I will play every song that I know, and sometimes I will just play one chord over and over again in search of something inside me.  If I can connect with a real emotion, I end up producing something totally new - a musical expression that I know is a gift from God.

Music is not the only outlet for this holy creative expression.  People experience this type of creation through art, theatre, dance, speeches, poetry and even creative planning.  Despite all of these outlets, there is something distinct about experiencing this as a spiritual practice.  Creativity becomes a means of expressing your reflections on identity, community, society and God.

A contributor to Totally Radical Muslims wrote a poem reflecting on the personal, communal and religious costs of the war in Iraq.  She is able to portray the desolate and desperate situation juxstaposed with the beautiful fragrance of fresh flowers.  What can this mean?  Is there hope for us in this message?  Is God at work in this creative process?  How do you experience the creative spirit of God in your life?  Is this a spiritual practice for you alone or in community? 

Art is a form of expression that can provide healing by returning to the memories of pain in order to understand those feelings and free you from them.  This is the story of Carolyn who uses art to help women liberate themselves from the traumatic memories of domestic violence.

Spiritual Practice: Care of Creation

When I was a child, I would wake up on Saturday mornings to the boisterous songs of my father who got me excited about working in our garden together.  I knew it meant going out in the hot sun, getting dirty and working hard, but I associated all of that with the positive feeling I got from caring for creation.

Twenty years later, I still thrive off of caring for the miracle of creation that we can eat and enjoy!  The image above shows the kale harvest from the summer interfaith institute I participated in.  We woke up every morning to work in the gardens as a commitment to each other, our community and God.  The food we grew fed the many people who visited Stony Point Center.  This was  a commitment to use what God gave us to grow food without hurting the earth that is actually good for our bodies!

A partnership between Jews and Muslims at the University of Michigan came to Chicago to work with the Inner-City Muslim Action Network on a project that supported local community and the environment.  Students spent their spring break supporting the Green ReEntry program in providing a sustainable home for residents in a disconnected community.  Something in their faith practice pushed them to pursue this service to community and care for creation in their free time.  There is deeper meaning in this service.

In the first creation story of Genesis,God created the earth good and created humanity in God's image - which is also good.  What practice are you committed to that empowers you to support God's good creation?

Spiritual Practice: Prayer

One of the noticeable elements of Islam is the call to prayer 5 times a day. When I lived in Kenya, there was a Mosque in my neighborhood, so I knew if it was prayer time just by the sounds of prayer echoing out into the community.  That prayer connects you to creation through the ground or the prayer rug, opens you up to listen to Allah (God), and provides vocabulary to praise and engage with the divine in three distinct ways: remembrance, ritual and supplication.  

Having observed many Friday prayers with Muslim communities here in Chicago and in New York, I am amazed at the unity of the physical body in prayer with the community.  I know there are easily recognized differences between certain groups of Muslims in prayer, but the overall act of praying is rather synchronized.  It makes me become very aware of the physical nature of our bodies and the eternal nature of God.  

Some pray with memorized words.  Some pray with new inspiration.  Some pray silently.  Some pray with an app on their phone. Some pray with a megaphone.  Some pray alone.  Some pray online. And some pray with the entire community.  All of these prayers provide space for reflection and connection with God.  

In the Catholic tradition, Contemplative Prayer continues to bring communities together to find a connection to God in the peace and silence of meditation. This youtube clip shows the unique engagement that this practice has on self and community.  If God is involved in this practice, what do you think God is doing?

Spiritual Practice: Hospitality

Tonight my girlfriend Abbi and I hosted a friend for dinner in her apartment.  This was an intentional act of invitation to relationship. The preparations for this event included cleaning the apartment, buying ingredients, preparing a meal, setting the table and welcoming our guest.  I can’t say that this process was particularly holy for me, but as I reflect on it, all these practices were an intentional part of Shabbat that I learned from my Jewish friends in the Interfaith Summer Institute.

During the summer institute, we hosted dinners on Saturday evenings to celebrate the end of the Jewish Shabbat (or Sabbath).  The entire community came together to clean our house and our own bodies to create a holy space of celebration.  The meal we prepared was open to everyone, no matter their beliefs or identity, and we opened and closed the meal with sacred words and songs giving praise to God.

The meal that Abbi and I had with our neighbor created a holy space for our relationship.  We opened the meal with prayer followed by a conversation about the vegan chili and cornbread.  The safety of the dinner table allowed us to dig into our own personal narratives.  Why am I here in seminary?  What do I feel God calling me towards in ministry?  These stories led us to ask more challenging questions about how our stories could come together during our time here.  I could feel the Holy Spirit at work in our words, bringing us closer together and more emboldened in the work of Christian Community.  The Spiritual Leadership Institute puts meal time at the heart of developing community.

During the Interfaith Social Justice Dialogue meeting this week at UIC, we all contributed to develop a concept of what home means.  We started by thinking about the people who were a part of the experience of home for us.  Then someone added that home was a place where we can invite people in - to share our true selves.  This is a place where the collections and decorations all say something about you.  In the deepest understanding of this place we call home, we know we can be all of who we are, even if it doesn't make sense.

Having a home is a basic human need that provides space for rest, security and renewal.  Opening this sacred space to outsiders is a spiritual practice that takes risk and humility but often leads to new understanding of self and the other.

Life giving relationships are formed in the kitchen.  Is this a spiritual practice for you?  How does your religious community engage in hospitality?

Inter-Religious Spiritual Practice

Today I am hoping to spark discussion about how youth and young adults can engage in spiritual practices in their tradition that provide meaning, direction, space for community, and a connection to God or a higher power.  As a child, I participated in the religious tradition of my family because my parents provided a connection for me, but at some point I began to choose what practices I would continue in my life and explore religion and meaning making on my own.  This seems to be a common thread across many religions.  So what makes a practice a spiritual practice?  Are there certain practices required to be considered a member of your religion?  How do practice and belief interact?

I come from a Presbyterian (PCUSA) community in Indianapolis, but through experiences of interreligious community at StonyPoint Center in New York and at the University of Illinois at Chicago, I have found that religious or spiritual practices are an important part of staying connected to God, community and identity for many religious people.  Rabia Harris, a Muslim Chaplain involved in the Stony Point interfaith summer institute I participated in, explained that spiritual practices are the business of waking up: becoming awake to the divine spirit inside us and awake to the world around us.

Unlimiting Practice

Kasey Hitt argues in her article Juggling and other Spiritual Practices for a Workaholic that in our high stress work oriented society, religious practices should provide a time to lay down the doing mentality and focus on caring for our spiritual needs including rest and play.  Writing poetry, juggling and centering prayer became her outlets for rest and play that connected Hitt to the divine.  These practices don't have to be something that you consider work. Although you may continue to work at engaging God in the practice, the main focus of a religious practice for me is to provide a sacred space for reflection.  Our busy lives come in direct conflict with spiritual practices because it gives value to rest and provides time for renewal.

I find rest and renewal when I pay attention to my avocado tree that lives in my living room.  By taking time away from my task oriented life, I am amazed again and again at the brilliant details of creation found in the veins of each leaf and the character of each branch as it twists and turns in search of its source of life, the sun.  This is where I reflect on my day and redirect the messages of "not enough" that I receive from society and instead focus on God's message that I am created in God's image and therefore am enough to live and serve on this earth.  Seeing the daily progress of this plant growing gives me hope that I too can grow and turn toward the image of God in my actions and identity.

What do you consider a spiritual practice for yourself?  Is there something that deeply connects you to God, allows you to reflect, or expands your view of creation?  How do you care for your spirit?

Flying to Korea: hoping for transformation

I am sitting in my airplane seat as we wait to taxi while the flight crew tries to coral passengers that ran off when a false four hour delay was announced! I am on the same flight with Joanna Hipp from Louisville Seminary and hope to get to know her better during the conference:)

I have been reflecting on my preparation for this global conference for the World Council of Churches and realize how little I have done to be ready to be with this group of global Christian leaders this week. I did not read all of the "Ecumenical Visions" book that I was assigned to present on this week. I did not practice Korean greetings and social language skills. I did not bring small North American gifts to share with people I meet. I did not read all the intro papers of the other students in my small group. I did not spend a lot of time dreaming about what this conference will be for me. I think this is partly a reflection of my busy seminary student life and partly due to my normative USA dominant culture mentality - that people should know about me and I shouldn't have to work hard to really know others. 

I wrote about listening to other voices in my application essay for the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute that I am  attending with the conference. I charish real friendships with people from other contexts that I can learn and grow with through honest dialogue. I believe the WCC is designed to provide space for this type of relationship. My lack of preparation makes me wonder if I can really commit to this type of relationship that requires so much background knowledge and language skill just to communicate with others. 

The language used at the conference will be primarily English, but everyone there will have another more personal way of communicating that can only be expressed to those who have a deeper personal connection. I hope to form deeper connections with some of the people I meet in the next three weeks. I hope to commit to life long friendships that can make me a better follower of Christ in this world. 

The structural violence in the world can be hard to see from the privileged - white middle class Presbyterian Church USA - position I come from. I am blinded by the security of empire. I need other ways of seeing the world. I hope to find other ways of seeing during this conference. I hope the life changing opportunity that I step into when exiting this plane will allow me to further commit to God's will of love and justice through nonviolent action. 

God, please allow the way I am to be enough to continue on this journey. Help my body adjust to the jet lag that stands between me and my new friends. And provide me the strength and wisdom to be transformed by your Holy Spirit in this holy space of worship and devotion to You. 

Building Heaven from Hell

This morning was a welcome extension of our five day vacation from the scheduled visit to Turbo, the coastal port city that was the first settled town in this area when the Spanish arrived over 400 years ago. We cancelled that visit when I got an infection in my lungs and needed time to recuperate. 

My growing cabin fever waned as we prepared to travel to Currulao, a town of around 11,000 people on the outskirts of Turbo. The pastor was scheduled to meet us at our apartment in Apartadó at 10:00am, and I was expecting 10:00am because the people taking care of us have kept a very disciplined schedule despite certain stereotypes that would suggest otherwise.  In any case, we rested while waiting for him until 11:30 when he arrived to accompany us on the bus back to his church in Currulao. 

I have really appreciated Pastor Dagoberto's attitude toward us. He treated us like regular people that he would travel with. We didn't really talk much on the bus or on the walk to his church, so I had time to soak in the surroundings. 

We jumped off the bus after passing through the center of Currulao. There were a few small shops and a dry creek bed there. We walked down a sandy dirt road that was part of an organized street grid. Two of the four major public schools were along this street. Several blocks later we arrived at a large concrete church building. Right behind this "templo" was the pastor's house. 

We sat down our bags and greeted his wife and grandson, then Degoberto gave us a tour of the new church. It dwarfed the house and the old templo that still sat on the opposite side of the house. The new building was built on five regular lots combined. It was made of concrete and brick with a strong roof supported by thick timbers. It had a large stage in front and enough room for many more than the 150 members (which is already a large congregation for the region). It even has a separate building for bathrooms and a kitchen!

Pastor Degoberto explained how he has been teaching his congregation that they do not have to live like displaced people even though they are displaced. He has been the pastor in this congregation for six years and in that time the community has developed fundraisers to build this new building and embrace new members. 

After the building tour, the pastor took us around the corner and down the next street to a small house. At the door we were greeted by an elderly woman named Manuela. Her eyes greeted me as if we were long lost friends. I immediately felt welcome in a way I have not yet experienced in Colombia where I lack the language skills to communicate on a deeper level. 

Lora and I sat down with Manuela at her kitchen table and after one miscommunication I asked when she had moved to Currulao. Lora translated a long life story that involved meeting her husband, moving to Choco (a more remote region) to make a living by building up a successful farm and then eventually fleeing that land when the guerrilla army threatened to take their lives. They had lived their for twenty years and raised their children on that land. Then, after experiencing the escalating violence, they left quickly with nothing but their youngest daughter. 

They left in 1997 and spent several years migrating before settling here in Currulao. They had to live in a plastic shelter with six other families for several years while Manuela washed clothes for work - bringing the meals they provided her at work home to feed the whole family. Her husband worked on the banana plantations. They effectively went from successful land owners to poor industry laborers (one of the goals of the US war on drugs stated by embassy staff in Colombia is to push farmers off their land to become cheep labor for corporate enterprise). 

They had been part of the Presbyterian church in Choco and joined the small church here in Currulao when they got here. Manuela is the essence of Pastor Degoberto's message that one does not need to live according to the identity of a displaced person. After telling this difficult story, she still looks at me with her piercing dark eyes that seem to smile back at me. 

This is where I really see the power of Jesus Christ at work. Her life did not become ruled by the trauma she experienced by being violently displaced. Instead, the trauma became a new reason to join together in community to support and love one another. She rejected the hell that was displacement and started again to build heaven on earth in her church community. This heavenly community is fertile ground for liberation from oppression and suffering. 

It is hard to connect with other people without words, but Manuela seems to really understand the human connection and has celebrated our lives here in Currulao. Even without knowing her story, I would still be forever connected with her if just through her eyes.

Drafted

As students began to leave the school across the street from our apartment to get lunch on Wednesday, a young man was murdered near the gateway above. Lora and I were just sitting down to lunch in the upstairs dining room when we heard three loud blasts that I assumed came from a vehicle below. When a large crowd began to gather, one of the teachers who was hosting us there went out to the street to hear what happened. First parents started running to the gate to grab their children and take them home. Then the police slowly began to arrive on motorcycle and in a police van. Finally an ambulance came and the teacher reported that the mother of the deceased student was clutching her son's body as they moved to the ambulance. 

The teacher shared that the boy was said to be the leader in a gang from the area. The murder could have been retaliation for more deaths over the previous Colombian Independence Day weekend. Lora wrote a blog reflecting on how this mirrors the gang violence in Chicago. 

The community seemed to be shocked during the chaos of the moment - and I too would have been running to the scene in hopes that the rumored death was not my child - but this situation has become normal for people here. Two hours later everything was back to normal. The most upsetting thing for me was the reason why the teacher talking with us didn't want to see the body. It was not because the death was itself a traumatizing event, but because seeing dead bodies like that returned her to the trauma of the deaths of her father and uncle. 

Are there no men who escape this life of violence?*

To answer this question I will introduce you to one young man who has stood his ground in order to stay out of the many violent activities in his community. For this article I will call him Alberto. 

I met Alberto as he guided us to the right "jeep" to travel to his rural town of around 10,000 people on the border between the department (state) of Antiochia and Choco. The town is literally split in two with to governments, two schools, two hospitals, to of everything. We were with him during Independence Day weekend where all the students from both public schools marched through the streets at night and the next morning to celebrate.

Alberto explained that there was no military marching in the parade in his town, but in other places they would be present. It wasn't until several days later that I realized that the military presence was lacking here because the area is controlled by the FARC and a local guerrilla group that sometimes work together and sometimes go to war with each other. I didn't notice any official boundary or any real presence of armed conflict. In any case, this territory was not occupied by the military.

Despite being outside of military territory, the local police stopped Alberto on his bike when he was 18 years old. They demanded to have his ID card and he demanded to know why. Eventually he discovered that the police were recruiting for the military and he had just been drafted. He got a letter demanding his presence at a military base that he didn't know. As he was telling this story, you could tell there was no way he was going to show up at that base. I think he received a fine for his absence, but he has avoided being redrafted for seven years now. 

My initial question that led to this discussion was, "what do you hope to do with your theological studies?" It seems unconnected, as he is now 25 years old and studying in a distance learning program in Apartadó that many other pastors in the region are participating in, but Alberto is the only man of this age that I have seen active in the church. All other young men between 18 and 25 seem to be missing altogether. The only one I did meet has already done his two years in the military and turned down a permanent contract in hopes of pursuing theology as well. 

Why theology? For Alberto, theology was his only other option. He had completed public school and like many youth found himself unemployed and unable to find funding to pursue further education. He spent months and years sitting completely idle on his family's small farm with no future. His mother strongly opposed his participation in the military just as she opposed his participation in the guerrilla group or the FARC.  They all promote violence that they knew too well. 

So Alberto applied to be a local police officer. At the same time he applied for a scholarship to study theology offered through the Presbyterian Church. He said he  would have gone with either option, but he went with the scholarship because they accepted him first! This scholarship was his only opportunity to avoid working directly with violence. This opportunity is very rare in his community. He is interested in teaching theology in the future, but he really knows as much about what he will do with his degree as I know about mine (no plans here!).

This is Alberto's story, but there are many more factors just with in his small town. Another man who drives an ambulance for the local hospitals said he was approached by a man in the guerrilla to ask if he would transport drugs across the boarder. The town is close to the Pan-American highway and has access to a waterway that leads to the Caribbean Coast. Government employees like emergency response and police are less likely to get inspected at checkpoints, so they are often targeted by drug traffickers in one of the many organizations producing drugs to pay for their weapons (many of whom are partners with the US government or multinational corporations). It is dangerous to say no to these people, but this man turned them down anyway. I calculated the payoff from participating in a drug run to be around $2,000 which is almost an entire year's salary for many people. Doing it once is still not enough to get anyone out of poverty. It seems the  drug dealers have found an ideal payment that gets their runners hooked into the system as well. 

Other of Alberto's friends wanted to be part of the fight. They have been surround by the violent macho  culture of Silvester Stallone and their local context long enough that all they wanted to do was carry a big gun. Some joined the military only after being turned away by the guerrilla. They were able to carry the big guns in the military, but they are not alive today to benefit.  

A woman hosted us for lunch in Chigorodó who's son was shot and killed as he was walking through the neighborhood 18 months ago. He was a career soldier in the military fighting the guerrilla in the region. There is no safe place to be a soldier. His identity had been discovered, and during a vacation at home with his mother and family, the guerrilla followed him until he was alone at night and killed him.  His body was too deformed to show at the funeral. The woman who shared this story is an elder in the church and very active in supporting others in the community as well as her children and grandchildren. 

So when the United States claims it is fighting the war on drugs by supplying the Colombian military with aid to buy US war equipment and train Colombian solders at the renamed School of the Americas, I question the very basis of this action. How will violence solve any of the issues in Colombia?

There are many layers of this that I definitely still do not understand, but i can see that this is a beautiful country that has been in constant civil war for decades, a country where many sectors in the government and opposing the government are involved in some way in the drug trade to make money, and a place where violence has ruled as the way to deal with conflict just like it does in the United States. 

The Presbyterian Church of Colombia says it is time for a new strategy. It is time for new opportunities for the youth of Colombia. Not everyone has the passion to seek a different option like Alberto. The church here is committed to nonviolence, social justice and community development. I pray we can work for the same goals in my context. 

*(Specifically men because men are drafted into these violent organizations almost exclusively. Women, however, do not escape violence by any means.)

Then the rain comes

It has rained every day that I have been here in Urabá.  That is normal for Colombia in "winter" or the rainy season. Today it rained especially hard. Almost like tears.

Later in the afternoon we visited a woman who I will call Grace. Her home was about ten blocks from the church. It had started raining when we left so we were prepared with umbrellas. Many of the homes in this area are made with concrete block walls and corrugated metal roofs. Grace's home is still incomplete with some wood walls and metal roof covering parts of the inhabited space. The entire neighborhood is made up of immigrants who either legally or illegally took up residency here after fleeing their homes in other towns occupied by one of many violent groups supporting themselves through land grabbing. Grace's home is on the very edge of this neighborhood looking out into what is currently a swamp.

Grace has known the pastor for many years, long before she was married or had children. Since her husband was killed some time in the 1990's, she spent many years being homeless until finally her husband's aunt gave her this property that had no permanent structure. She graduated from adult education classes equivalent to fifth grade in 2008 and has since been working for the administration of a banana plantation but because of swelling in her legs, she can no longer work there full time. Her sons sell bananas locally to get by.

She has tried to become registered as displaced with the government many times, but she has never gotten any response. The new land restitution law provides rights to displaced people to regain their property. Some are able to receive new property in an unwanted area in exchange for their displacement. For Grace, there has been nothing. No recognition of her loss, no government support for her new financial burdens and no justice for the loss of her loving husband. No justice for twenty years, but she has not given up.

This is her story - translated by Lora Burge.

"When I tell this story it is like living it again. This is why I try to forget. When people ask me about it, I tell them it is really hard. It is hard to see them take your husband and murder him.

I remember the night that they took him. They came to the house.  They surrounded the house and all of the doors. They tried to cover their faces with handkerchiefs but I could see who they were. They were men I had grown up with. 

They said they would burn the house if we did not come out. They could see that I was holding my baby so they just forced my husband to come out. When he did they tied him up and blindfolded him and took him away.  Three days later some men told his father and brother where his body was.

The men I saw behind the handkerchiefs were then drinking coffee with me at the funeral and were joking about how they did not want him to be buried in the cemetery."

This is when Grace became homeless. Her oldest son was eighteen months old at the time and she was pregnant with the second. 

This is when it started raining again. We prayed with Grace as tears came and the rain flooded the prayer with the noise of thousands of drops hitting the metal roof. It rained so hard that the street became a river. It rained so hard that we could not continue our journey. 

Empowered Women

A woman came into the moderator's house during our lunch yesterday. I smiled and greeted her, but I am embarrassed to say that I was very surprised when I heard Lora translate that she was the pastor at the moderator's church. Up until this point, all the main leaders in the IPC that I have met have been men. What has caused my confusion? From my perspective it is a mixture of my own limited understanding of the culture, misinterpretations of the church, and the patriarchal mindset that I bring with me from my own context.

Martha's Call to Ministry

Martha fled with her family from her home in Córdoba when her children were very young to escape personal threats of violence there. They settled here in Chigorodó at some point and she continued as an elder here as she had been at home. She continued to take on leadership in the church as she reestablished her life.

Martha became the pastor of the original Chigorodó church with the continued encouragement of other elders in the community over several years. She graduated from seminary and was ordained into ministry as the solo pastor in her church with over one hundred members. She moved to the Manantial de Vida church in 2008 where she continues to lead. 

From 1990-98 there was a lot of violence in Chigorodó - dead bodies were often found in the streets. It was not safe to be out at night so members of the Chigorodó church were not comfortable walking from one neighborhood to the other for evening worship throughout the week. As a result, they started having evening worship at an elders house on the other side of the highway and eventually that led to building the church here called Manantial de Vida.  People from three other communities that were displaced including Ciesa moved here and solidified the need for a church in this neighborhood. Now people from many places are here - it is very diverse and very inclusive. Martha is the pastor in this community of replanted refugees. 

The positive encouragement from the community that empowered Martha to continue her studies and take on a traditionally male role in the church is amazing to me. What is even more amazing though is Martha's courage and tenacity to take on a difficult public and spiritual leadership role in a church that is known for speaking out against oppressors.

The Next Generation

Martha had to leave to meet with other church members so she left us with her daughter Jenny. Jenny is starting university  this year to study psychology. She is interested in working with communities. She has an interest in theology, but does not plan to be a pastor. Seeing the struggles of her mother seems to have had a big influence on her own decisions.

Not being a pastor does not mean she has any lack of initiative in the church! She is on the regional and national association of youth for IPC. She organizes national and   presbytery wide youth conferences every two years. She organizes events for ecological and social topics at these conferences. For example, they have talked about mining in Bahirá - both the environmental issues and how it affects the workers. Locally she organizes health brigades and soup kitchens, nature walks, and days to pick up trash in the streets. 

So why wouldn't someone so involved with the church at all levels be interested in becoming an ordained spiritual leader? Jenny has seen other female pastors in Barranquilla where the national offices are, but in the Urabá Presbytery her mother is the first and only female pastor. It must also be said that the Presbytery is only twenty years old.  One story she mentioned was where a man came to the door of the church asking for el Pastor, when Jenny explained that her church had a Pastora (female) he dismissed her and asked again for el PASTOR. Being dismissed over and over again is not encouraging even when your church members support you.

I asked Pastor Bernardino about this at breakfast today. He says that he has actively been encouraging five of the young women in his church to pursue a seminary degree. So far only one young woman has shown interest in seminary although there are many women acting as spiritual leaders in the church. 

Gender issues here are as real as they are in the United States. This is one of those situations where having an outside perspective makes the gender issue look much clearer. I should really have a corresponding article written from Jenny's perspective when she visits the United States some day. Talking to my sister, Reverend Katie Snipes Lancaster, Jenny could quickly see that there are hidden roadblocks for female pastors in my context as well. I praise God that Martha is willing to struggle through additional difficult challenges in order to make way for more women and more equality in the future. Her ministry is so important in this traumatic time in Colombian history.

(Me, Jenny, and Pastora Martha)