When the "enemy" becomes your friend.

I find it most interesting that I was so ignorant about so much of Islam. I say that laughingly because I was always the person saying "no, that's not in the Qu'ran, no that's not something that is taught to Muslims" etc etc etc.

I decided to take a class this semester called "Islam: History, Philosophy, and Religion". The class is taught by a religious studies professor and a practicing Muslim. She was born in Turkey, but is a US citizen. She also, until recently, was on the board for the ACLU. This is all important to her identity.

I was completely ignorant about this beautiful religion. I had no idea what was included in the Qu'ran (plenty of stories about Adam, Abraham and Jesus). I had no idea the rich history and tradition that is essential to Islam. I had no idea the racial make up of Muslim in the United States (1/3 African American, 1/3 Indian, Indonesian, and 1/3 Middle Eastern). I had no idea of the cultural effect of certain countries and the direct correlation to their ideas about Islam. I was completely ignorant. That was just weeks 1 and 2!

The story that broke my heart and really opened my eyes was a story she told about her daughter. Her daughter was 5 when 9/11 happened. Several weeks after the attacks, her daughter came and said, "Mama, Why are all Muslims so bad?" (they are of course practicing Muslims, so her daughter is referring to herself and her parents too). A 5 year old had learned through media and school that all Muslims are bad. Why do we not see the crime in this?

It's not simple enough to just say "well they have religious freedom". We need to take a stand against those who are trying (and succeeding) in dehumanizing our Islamic brothers and sisters. Learn more about Islam, learn more about people you may know who are Muslim, stop hate language by protesting or writing letters to those who use it in mainstream media or politicians who use it. Yes we have freedom of speech, we also have the freedom of speech to protest the words used to oppress people.

Am I asking you to worship with Muslims? Certainly not, unless you'd like to and you are welcomed. Am I asking you to convert to Islam? I would never ask anyone to convert or change their beliefs simply to be more open to someone else. All I'm asking is for some basic understanding and a little more love in this world.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

VBS is not the faint of heart

When I signed on last year to do VBS before I started at Affton Christian Church, I had only experienced VBS in my hometown that had a joint effort with the other churches and only had a theme for the week. Certainly no book, and certainly no extravagance.... Boy was I missing out!

This year I worked with Trisha (and helped a little, she bares most of the kudos for working hard at making this go off without a hitch, I only helped where I could...) and VBS happened! This years theme was "Sky" which sounds so simple that it almost seems like it's not a theme, but the creators of this product did a great job using "Sky" as an all inclusive week of fun, games, and learning about God. We learned to "Trust God" and that "Anything is possible with God". We watched movies about Chadder the Chipmunk and did science experiments in "Imagination Station". Overall it was a great week.

Some of the wonderful things that I learned about ministry last week are:

1. Feeding children is a lot like feeding picky sharks. They will swarm when it's something they dearly want. Apparently those things are: popcorn, Popsicles, and ice cream.

2. Apparently the presence of a pastor makes me uncomfortable or feeling like they are being judged. Please please please don't feel this way! If I wanted to be in charge I would ask to be, I'm so grateful you're doing the hard work so I can enjoy working with kids that I am certainly not judging you!

3. Kids get more wound up the later it gets. By the time we reached 8pm I was ready for a nap...and my group was ready for a marathon!

4. Lay leaders are the most hardworking, caring and important individuals in the church. There were countless hours put in by non paid people to make VBS happen and I'm humbled by the amount of enthusiasm and great work that went into making VBS happen.

5. No matter how inclusive the material of all issues related to a bible story a child will always ask a question guaranteed to make most adults uncomfortable! Thankfully (?) I was there to field a couple of those question. However, adults shouldn't worry so much about the questions! Answer them if you can, or simply say "I don't know, let's think about that. or Let's ask Pastor so and so. or Let's try to find some bible stories that might help us."

I'm so thankful VBS taught me some wonderful things and taught my children some wonderful things.

Thanks to Affton Christian Church for the wonderful week!

Joplin: one year later

going to Joplin a second time was both easier and harder. It was easier because I had already seen first hand the destruction. I had already seen the devastation and met some of the survivors. However, it was also harder. Hard to see how much hadn't changed in a year, hard to see how much was still left to do. Hard to see how few volunteers were there compared to the last time.

I met some wonderful people in Joplin this time around too though. We planted trees for three families who had lost their home in the tornado. They told us their stories and were so gracious and kind to us. It was amazing to see the hope of a community come together. It's also not easy to see the overwhelming number of those still in need.


There were boards filled of people who still needed help of some sort. We were overwhelmed to find that out, only to find out that there were stacks of papers that were still sitting in a file that couldn't be even put on the board until other needs on the boards had been fulfilled. Joplin still needs us. They are a community who will rise from the ashes and has already started, but so many people still need the support of churches, people, and organizations. Let us not forget those so close to us.

When people and corporations meet...

In class this week I was giving a presentation about slow violence, specifically environmental racism and environmental violence. I was using a violence theory to explain the violence that is perpetuated by different companies and corporations and I had to step back.

Who am I to judge why or how decisions are being made within companies? How do I "know" that companies are simply doing cost/risk assessment and decided that product profit was more important than healthy families? I can surely assume that, but it isn't fair. Furthermore, if those companies (and the people who run them) did that, don't they deserve a second chance?

I was happy that I was part of a community that helped me step back from what I was thinking and say, "hey, this is something I'm fundamentally against others doing, I shouldn't be doing this either."

So here's to my second chance at approaching grace the right. I'm happy to overthrow judgement and liberate love.

What if?

What if?
--What if we lived out a simple principle? One that took some time, patience and money, but could make dramatic difference?
--What if we worked to live more simply so that others may simply live.
--So, what does that even look like? Over 1 billion people live on less that $2/day worldwide. What if we gave $2 each day to an organization working on hunger issues? That's less than the cost of most (if not all) drinks at Starbucks.
--Over 1/3 of the food on the planet never makes it to consumers. What if we made a pledge to donate one non perishable food item to a local food bank a day (or if that's too much two items per week, etc)?
--21,000 children die a day of preventable diseases. What if you donated sanitary supplies once a month (whenever you go shopping for your own supplies) to organizations who provide them for people overseas (or at home).
--What if instead of worrying about how to pay for that stellar pair of shoes or new outfit for the baby you looked at local resale shops, yard sales and goodwill. So less trash would be produced.

How the creation stories could save the world... (part I)

and other musings of a liberal white mother in seminary.

Go read Genesis 1-2:4.

....

Okay. So you read the first creation story found in the bible now. We're on the same page. At least theoretically. I know we all come from different traditions reading the bible different ways and exegeting it for our particular context. This particular story tells us something amazingly beautiful about humanity. We are all GOOD. We were created and were inherently good. This certainly doesn't mean we are perfect, but it does mean that in our core we are good.

This has profound implications and radical inclusiveness. What does it mean for the world if everything (not just humans, read that text closely, EVERYTHING was called "good" by God) is inherently good? What does that mean for relationships? What does that mean for poverty? What does that mean for ecological issues?

It starts with including people. With loving people. With recognizing and naming the goodness in the world. It starts with love and grace.

It starts with YOU.

(part II, what does this mean for creation)