Rise Like Tsunamis after the Earth Quakes: A letter from Japan

RISE LIKE TSUNAMIS AFTER THE EARTH QUAKES: An open letter addressing grief, hope and some resources for engaging the healing process.

Greetings, My name is Crystal Uchino. I am writing from my home in the southern prefecture of Nagasaki, Japan. 

A somber dirge continues to play in the hearts of all of us here across Japan in the wake of this earth-shaking, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis.  This trifecta of disasters is truly beyond humbling, it is a living, grotesque and sobering nightmare that will likely haunt the world for much time to come.  As the after-effects of both the earthquake and the tsunami continue to be revealed, so grows the depths of the despair and sadness over the magnitude of the situation.  Watching events unfold over the news daily in real time delivers new quakes to test the resilience and endurance of our hearts, faith, the depths of our empathy, grief and determination to act. 

The death toll has continued to climb daily as does the number of those now homeless and seeking shelter from a nuclear fallout.  Additionally the conditions within the shelters is appearing more and more grim as a result of inadequate infrastructures to provide sufficient food, warmth and sanitation.  There continue to be new explosions at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, and large after-shock tremors continue to rock this already shaken nation.  All around me, the apocalyptic images we see coming off the news conjure memories of the damage reaped by the atomic bombs dropped here over sixty years ago, as the possibility for a new generation of Hibakusha ("nuclear explosion-affected peoples") emerges as a frightening reality.

Today, it seems that Japan is once again being poised as a great and humble teacher.  The festering wound of this crisis serves to underscore, once again, just how much the splitting of the atom remains one of the single most volatile global threats at a personal, community, state, and environmental level.  Japan, despite past injuries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and seemingly anti-nuclear principles: non-production, non-possession, and non-introduction of nuclear weapons; has become one of the leaders in nuclear development and production in the world. According to Green Action Japan  before the quake, there were 53 nuclear power plants in operation in Japan.  53 nuclear power plants in a small island country notoriously vulnerable to earthquakes and other natural disasters.
 
My heart and prayers are with the people of Fukushima and the Tohoku area, as it is they who are now shouldering this horrific burden of teaching so that the world may be reminded of just what a painful and costly responsibility we bear when we allow bad stuff to enter our communities.

Around the globe, everyday people are beginning to awaken to the reality of our fragility and vulnerability surrounding the dangers of all forms of nuclear development.  Barely a week has passed since the initial shaking, but as a world we have grown up in ways that we had never hoped to, and with our newly realized maturity we are challenged look ourselves in the face, to grapple with this saddest of lessons, and answer the question of how we will begin to take responsibility for our part in allowing bad stuff to enter our communities, on both the local and global scale.

The desire to help, to affect something in the situation here in Japan is echoing around the world.  And while I hear it sounding and resounding all around, the ways in which each of us can tangibly work to affect some immediate relief are just beginning to be known. Still, because I have gotten so many requests from folks for suggestions on how they can support things here I wanted to share some of the initial resources I know of with you.  These links offer the best grassroots alternatives to donating to the Red Cross that I know of at this time.

Second Harvest Japan: This group has been working at the community level feeding people in Japan for years. http://www.2hj.org/index.php/eng_home
 
https://japanvolunteers.wordpress.com/  Great resource page consolidating links to support relief efforts, relevant to folks living in Japan and oversees. It is being updated Daily with new resources as they develop.

Call for Home stay for Earthquake Evacuees (Only for folks currently living in Japan) http://earthdaymoney.org/topics_dt.php?id=391
 
Translators United for Peace. For those who are bilingual. 日本の原発奴隷――原子力発電所における秘密 http://www.tup-bulletin.org/modules/contents/index.php?content_id=931

A friend of mine once wrote some song lyrics calling for people to RISE LIKE TSUNAMIS AFTER EARTHQUAKES, It is a most hopeful metaphor for me in this time.  And today, I received these words in an email from another friend "When Mother Earth speaks, all we can do is listen. But when humans dangerous passion for energy consumption has wreaked such toil on her children、then we must act."   The current genpatsu nanmin (“nuclear power refugees”) have translated the reality of nuclear development into a language that the world can feel. Humanity is speaking clearly, and I feel as a result of this new communication, tho painful, that so many beautiful, hopeful and inspiring things have also unencomberedly been brought to the surface.  I have been so moved by the feelings of sincere and unconditional caring and support that I have received from friends, family, and even strangers this last week, and equally as moved by the demonstrations and vigils manifesting in a multitude of forms that have been erupting with contagious passion all over the world. 
 .  
You may think me young, naive, callous or insane to bring up politics in a time like this.  But I tell you that I have prayed at the graves of unborn aunts and uncles murdered by atomic bomb disease and I feel entitled to tap into ancestral lessons this week. It is from my vantage point of both proximity and distance from this crisis as a current resident of southern Japan; from my vantage point of both proximity and distance from the horrors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima as the granddaughter of a Nagasaki Hibakusha, that I say with great hope and longing that this darkest of nightmares may serve as a catalyst to once again pump life into the stagnant pools of the anti-nuclear movement, to overflow them so that the energies built and created there may also nourish other movements. To me the words "activist" and "healer" are interchangeable.

This gravest of tragedies has been an ugly and unsoughtafter vindication of so many under-supported social-justice struggles, most poignantly the anti-nuclear movement, as this eventuality was predicted time and time again and most people sat in silent denial as more and more nuclear power plants were constructed, not just in Japan, but around the world, and so many people sit even now in disbelief, quietly burying their fears as development plans for hundreds of more (albe them "safer") nuclear reactors remain on the discussion tables amongst the grotesque suffering of tens of thousands of displaced peoples.  But amongst this cold and dark time also resides new growth.  A new spring is just beginning and each day we rise anew, we each are gifted an opportunity to carve out a more sincere definition of accountability, to hold ourselves and each other responsible in new ways.  Although our recent wounds are still gaping, still throbbing, the time is now for us to rise like tsunamis after earthquakes and once again recommit ourselves to the healing of the future for the next generation.

I've spent several days writing and revising this letter,  it started out as some brief resource suggestions to friends but morphed into this.  I was propelled to keep writing by my own desire to combat the helplessness I feel sitting here, relatively safe, overdosing on miso, kombu, and the news in the southern prefecture of Nagasaki, Japan as coordinated relief efforts have not yet begun accepting volunteers.  This time of mourning has given me a good opportunity to re-asses what I hold important and clear out some clutter to make room for the work that lies ahead.  So many exciting possibilities for new growth and new cooperation are resonating in the undertones of this funeral song.  Those of us living in the overdeveloped world have become so accustomed to the ubiquitous take take take lifestyle that we have forgotten how to stretch our arms, to reach them out, to reach them up!  in times when our spirits long to do so the most.  This is an open letter to anyone feeling helpless at this time, let us relearn the actions.

It is my hope that some of the things said and resources within these words will be useful to you, please feel free to share them with others. The links below are also great places to continue to sober up through educating ourselves and get inspired for the long term work that is to come.

http://www.nirs.org/ Updates on the situation at Fukushima and simple ways to engage in the movement to end nuclear dependency.

http://www.democracynow.org/ sober news reporting.

http://midnightapothecary.blogspot.com/ some recipes because protection, healing, and action begin inside the body.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r80RWNY_jXo&feature=player_embedded Anti Atom Demo in Germany. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEuFxgreFPs&feature=related Anti Atom Demo in France.

http://timshorrock.com/?p=1137 A look into the history of "Japans Nuclear Nightmare."

http://neodadakko.blogspot.com/ This is a great sticker.

http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/03/japans_nuclear_power_crisis_may_halt_yucca_mountain_waste.html
Excerpt:  A little over a week before an 8.9-magnitude earthquake ripped open a fissure in the Earth, triggered a deadly tsunami and set off a potential worldwide nuclear catastrophe, House Republicans introduced a bill to permit 200 more commercial nuclear reactors in the U.S., “enough to triple current megawatt capacity, by 2040.” Tucked into that bill is a clause that revives the long debate around nuclear waste storage in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, a move that Native American and environmental groups have been resisting for decades.

Japan quake radioactive material monitoring post MAP東日本大震災・非公式・放射性物質モニタリングポストMAP
http://bit.ly/gyZulQ

http://kimmiesunshine.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/welcoming-a-new-world/ a blog by a Tokyo resident connecting a bunch of dots and sharing a bunch of really great links.

A lot of the words flowing from this page have been pretty heavy, so I wanted to share just one small anecdote with you.... This past weekend I went to the post office.  And so I`m at the post office right, and there are people lined up out the door of the post office sending bags of rice and boxes of water or fresh vegetables to loved ones up north and I thought to myself..."what kind of apocalypse is this?...no one can get food or water, but they can get mail?!

On that note, I end this letter in solidarity and with hope, taking comfort in the knowing that the same moon shines light down on all of us. Each day I wake up to the budding and flowering of the ume, momo, and the sakura as well are beginning to bloom, as if to say 春が来るよ.

Crystal K. Uchino

Love to the Bitter End

To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

To love what is mortal;

to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

And, when the time comes to let it go,

to let it go.

                   Mary Oliver

Last week’s Biblical Ecology class is still fresh in my mind, and I have to get a few things off my chest. The discussion focused on some biblical quotes suggesting that environmental destruction is caused by sin, and is evidence that we are being punished by G-d.  If the religious insight the author is trying to articulate is that greed, lying, disregard for the welfare of the earth, refusal to love God above all else, refusal to love our neighbor as ourselves, and willingness to kill without just cause—all of which are violations of Torah—are at the root of environmental problems, then I see the point entirely. 

After all, Yhwh (usually translated as “the Lord”) is a form of the verb “to be” and it seems to me that the magnificent religious insight here is that the Source of Being has given us some guidelines about how to be in the flow of life (or the Tao, if you’re ok with mixing religious insights).  It may not be that Yhwh, or the Source of Being, is punishing us.  It may just be that destruction is a natural consequence of greed.  Clearly the author of Isaiah meant punish, but it’s not necessary to share his entire worldview in order to see his point. 

But I digress.  The conversation turned to the arrogance involved in thinking that mere humans are so important as to have such an impact on the natural world, and the irony that we are having that impact even so.  While that majority of people were on board with the idea that humans are the root cause of our current environmental issues, there were a few who dismissed those concerns, saying that global warming will lead to another ice age.  Since there have been ice ages before and our species survived why worry?

The sad thing is that those classmates are not alone in their perspective. It seems major decision-makers in our country are in denial about the magnitude of the environmental problem and willing to put short term monetary gain above long term species survival.  It pisses me off to have to share a planet with people who have that viewpoint.

I mean, if we did a risk-benefit analysis on it, making changes even if another ice age is inevitable wouldn’t cost us much.  However, if global environmental crisis is avoidable, we lose everything by not taking corrective action.  It’s possible we could destroy most living organisms on our planet, and maybe life on earth itself (i.e. if we are not here to tend to our nuclear reactors, they will spill toxic radiation and it’s difficult to judge where that chain reaction will stop).  Can’t the “global warming naysayers” just be sportsmanlike even if they’re not in complete agreement, give the potentially horrible outcome?

I felt like giving up, deciding not to care since “what difference can I make anyway? I’m only one person.”  Why not just go shopping?

But here’s what I’ve decided…

I will view myself as Earth’s hospice attendant.  Maybe the world is dying, and there’s nothing I can do about it. But I will love the world as it dies.  I will be gentle, I will be present, and I will let compassion guide my actions. I will love everything as it perishes, and I will love Life to the bitter end.  After all, isn’t everything I love doomed to end whether or not the whole world does?  We all die eventually, but that doesn’t mean we should stop loving each other and taking care of each other while we’re alive.  Who knows?  Maybe loving the Earth that way will make a difference in the world. 

A Letter from Haiti

I received this letter from my colleague in Sustainable Communities, Katie Curran, just the other day, and was really moved to share this with on my blog to help raise awareness of the situation in Haiti:

Hi everyone –

I wanted to say hi and also let you know more about the situation here in Haiti, at least from my perspective. It’s pretty bad. Actually, it’s horrific, in many ways. I am very grateful to be able to focus on working with the kids here (I call them kids but most are in their 20s)  five days a week – they’re fun, smart, very talented, and I hope they can really push for independent media here, which I think is of utmost importance, for Haitians and the world.

The conditions are probably worse than you can imagine, for the majority of Haitians. It was ranked as the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere before the earthquake, and conditions have only worsened. 1,300,000 people were left “homeless” after the earthquake (I put that in quotes, because the shacks so many were living in qualified as homes) and there are still 1,050,000 homeless. They are in camps all over Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas (many neighborhoods have more tents than other buildings). There are a few that are bearable (like the one that is across the street from me), but a recent human rights survey I read described the conditions as close to unlivable (and from what I’ve seen, I agree). The sanitation is one of the worst problems – though many organizations (over 10,000 NGOs in Haiti) have tried to implement compost toilets, the efforts only scratch the surface. Toilets are overflowing to the point where  people are shitting in plastic bags and with no trash services, the bags are just thrown in ravines. The water situation is obviously so bad that it led to cholera. Sanitation conditions of the entire city are absolutely deplorable. Streets are covered with trash and just flow with the water when it rains. Every single ravine is clogged with trash.

The cost of living here is higher than the U.S. People averaging a dollar a day face tuna fish packages that are $4 (maybe $2 in the U.S.), $8 orange juice ($4 in the U.S.), $5 for a box of $2 American cereal. A room for rent in a clean house is about $500 a month. I have NO idea how people are surviving.

The political situation is tenuous, to say the least. Protests are a regular occurence, but they haven’t been very big lately. As you probably know, the president responsible for mass murders and torture has returned, and I didn’t find out until today that I was actually at the same event as him last night (more on that later). The state hasn’t filed any charges against him, though a few individuals have. Though Devalier/Baby Doc was a relentless dictator, poverty is actually worse now then when he was in office, and many people are supporting him because anything seems better than what they have now – especially the younger ones that didn’t live through his reign. Aristide is supposed to come back, but I’ve heard various rumors as to whether he will, all surrounding stupid bureaucracy about his passport. Lavalas (his party) has been holding press conferences (I live in the same house as the other Haiti Reporter teachers and with other  independent journalists who have been reporting on the press conferences). I’ve received very different opinions on Aristide (from rational people that have lived here a long time). The kids, except for a few, are not super interested in politics and I don’t blame them – people say that the country was just broken when Aristide came back (the second time) and spoke nothing of the economic justice he promised, as he had before the US supported coup that ousted him (as the first democratically elected president of Haiti). The kids, in general, like reporting on Haitian culture, the people who have stayed strong against the odds, and the good parts of Haiti, which I totally understand and support. (By the way, I’m writing mostly about the negative stuff because it is so overpowering, but I don’t mean to leave out the amazing things – like the incredible artistic talent, the inner strength and courage and the kindness of so many Haitians –  this is, after all, the first slave rebellion that overthrew slavery and colonization). But the kids typically don’t lean towards overtly political stories (their stories, by the way, have been great so far – I’ve been blown away by what they’ve accomplished in 2 months). I think many of them see “politics” not as something that can be of regular people coming together to take control of their own lives, but as the rich, consistently corrupt men that stay at fancy hotels and take power through illegitimate elections (of which they recently had and is still being disputed) and are supported by various members of the military, state police, UN and “paramilitaries” (sometimes referred to as street gangs). Everyone, for the most part, hates the UN and police – the UN is constantly rolling around in their tanks and trucks with machine guns, often pointed directly at people, and the state police are also everywhere. The country is pretty  much occupied by the UN soldiers who seem free from any state or international oversight (constantly using live ammunition at protests, etc.).

I have had some interesting insights as a foreigner, ones that I didn’t have last time I came (late spring of 2009). One of the journalists staying here has a lot of connections in the NGO and journalist world, most of which I’ve found to be pretty disgusting. A few of us went to a party at a big house of an NGO in the richest neighborhood of Port au Prince. The (terrifying) moto ride we took to get there drove us by thousands of tents, and once inside the gate EVERYONE was white (except for security) and all dressed up like they were in New York and EVERYONE worked for an NGO or media conglomerate. Then, last night, a few of us went to a “jazz festival”. I was told today that Devolier was among the guests that included, again, all the NGO people (they all know each other), journalists and ambassadors of all the first-world countries – US, Canada, Spain, etc. It was a group of people that under any other circumstance I would be protesting their  political and economic castrations, rather than mingling with them. It was disgusting. When I say NGO, I include not only people from all the different aide organizations (many of whom are paid outrageous salaries to be here) but the World Bank and Organization of American States. I met a guy last night that worked for the OAS in finance, and I said something like, “you all have got to change your economic approach -- capitalism has obviously not worked and its starving people and making everything worse”. And he said, “I totally agree. If you want to see capitalism at it’s best, come to Haiti”. I was quite amazed that he admitted that. I have never been in a place of such economic disparity. (There are mansions here bigger than the ones on Long Island.)

One of the problems with Haiti is that organizations have either purposefully sidestepped the Haitian state with the good intentions (as obviously the state has not been trustworthy with its funds) or bypassed it out of their own interest. The results are completely disorganized and incohesive attempts to improve Haitian living conditions by organizations of every type working independently of each other (resembling hundreds of people trying to stop a gigantic surge of water with small and misshapen plugs) and with no coordination, and economic interests run wild (often under the auspice of an NGO title). Some of the organizations have done a lot of good, and maybe the situation would be much worse without them, but the lack of coordination and community is a lot of wasted resources at best and contributing to the problems at worst. The bottom line is that the underlying, root causes are not being addressed and a lack of political structure holds nothing  together – I would label the biggest problems as neo-liberal capitalism/globalization, international political destabilization (to support capitalism run riot) and a lack of democracy. I’m pretty convinced that the best use of money/donations is investing in community, grassroots organizations working for political empowerment, education and economic justice, even though it’s tempting to just give money to anybody, anywhere, as that might buy them a meal. Until the political system changes, not much of anything else will change.

I'll be home March 25th, but I'll try to write more before then and will definitely post links to the students work when it goes on-line.

Well, I should probably get going. I’m sitting on the porch at the house. There are voices bellowing gospel music down the street (they also sing at 5:30 am!) There are “Pure Water” trucks that blast Christmas music and the Titanic theme song, but things are quieting down for the night. Love - Katie

Below is a link to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee website info on their Haiti relief efforts, where you can learn more about how you can help:

http://www.uusc.org/actforhaiti

My Monastic Retreat

It’s been two weeks since I came home from the monastery and I have yet to write about my experience.  It was such a multilayered experience it’s hard to know where to begin.

First let me begin with a little bit about the monastery and the monks…Benedictine monks live by The Rule of St. Benedict, written in the sixth century.  The rule book is small enough to slip into your back pocket, and following it demands your life.  The monks are, in short, lovely men.  They are gentle, kind, and surprising.  For example, one monk made every effort to use gender inclusive language during prayers.  Who knew a Roman Catholic monk would care about gender inclusive language? 

Another monk had us laughing uproariously when he told us about his first day at the monastery. He’d been assigned to landscaping duty and the older monk on that task had tricked him into sitting in a pile of manure.  Someone in our group said “it was compost,” to which he mouthed in reply, “no, it was shit.”  His ability to laugh about it seemed to fit his vocation.  Rooting oneself in prayer, solitude and silence for hours lengthening to days stretching into years, certainly negative thoughts and recollections arise.  Living with the same small group of people every minute of one’s life, doubtless irritations develop.  Being willing to sit in whatever shit you find yourself in and accept it for what it is would seem to be a job requirement for a monk.

Every day at the monastery has a rhythm which actually seemed busier than I’d expected.  They perform five services per day: Vigils, Lauds, Eucharist, Vespers, and Compline.  They maintain silence from after Compline until after Lauds, which is approximately twelve hours per day.  And they speak very little in between.  In between the prayers, study sessions and manual labor (such as bringing us our meals) keep them on their toes.  I actually felt one of my primary reasons for not being able to commit to monastic life would have to be the demanding schedule; nothing is your own, not even your time.  It would be a struggle to surrender personal property, but given that time is all I really count as my own anyway, it would be impossible to give that up.  I admire their dedication, and I can see the dividends they have reaped in return.  They are genuinely lovely, and loving, people.

Now as for my personal experience, it was intense.  A few of my key issues had been stirred up immediately prior to starting the retreat, and then I was left to sit with them in silence for the next five days.  We read Bernard of Clairvaux’s sermons on Song of Songs, which brought up other issues.  In one of the first sermons we read Bernard said to be like a reservoir for God’s love rather than a canal.  In other words, he advised letting God’s love fill you and nourish you, rather than just sending it on through and remaining untouched by in yourself.  I’ve done a lot of inner work on my “stuff,” and when I read that passage I had the sense that although I have done the major portions of work, it was time to let God’s love fill the spaces in between, the spaces human hands can’t touch.

And that will be the topic of my next blog…

Consuming Christmas

          Snug in the living room of their very old near West Chicago two flat, we celebrated Christmas as the Smiths had celebrated their entire lives.  Each family member had drawn names to avoid draining each other’s wallets.  Each person only received one gift.  Each giver had a limit of $20 on their gift, and it had to be either handmade or second hand.  To add a bit of fun and mystery, the giver left a clue on the outside of the gift, a riddle of some sort. The recipient of the gift read the clue aloud and had three chances to guess what was in it before opening the wrapping paper to find out, and the process had everyone’s rapt attention.  Raised a family of seven, sometimes eight when their parents took in a child who needed a home, and their father was a school principal.   Christmas, for them, was never about shopping.  It was about connecting.  They got more for Christmas than any family I’ve seen before or since. 

          Over the semester I’ve been doing a Faith Into Action project for my Justice Matters class.  This project has entailed purchasing the Better World Shopping Guide and using it as a reference to make every purchase.  The author of this guidebook has evaluated most major companies on the basis of their ethics toward the people, planet, animals, and communities.  [To access an online version of the book, please click this link: http://www.betterworldshopper.org/]  Throughout the semester I’ve become more aware of the cost of consumerism to the planet and the people on it.  It’s not a matter of how much you spend it’s a matter of how you spend it.  It’s possible to find goods manufactured by companies with environmentally and socially sound practices.

           Because it’s the season of giving, and so many of us are broke and feel like responsible consumerism is too expensive, I thought I’d address this in today’s blog. If you’re concerned about the planet and your holiday shopping, here are some ideas I thought of:

If you have the funds to spend, shop like crazy!  But buy less—focus on the quality of the gift and the ethics of the companies involved and don’t worry about how many gifts you get for your money.  Remember each dollar you spend is an investment.  And if you run short of money, glance down the page at some of the ideas for people who are struggling financially.

§  Shop at local retailers.

§  Buy from local artisans and craftspeople

§  Buy second hand items in good condition

§  Wrap your gifts in recycled papers printed with water based ink.  Or the Sunday comics J

If you shop online, consider these resources for socially and environmentally responsible chocolate, coffee, clothing and other gifts:

§  Clothing:  http://www.sweetgrassfibers.com/

§  Equal Exchange Online Store:

§  http://shop.equalexchange.com/

§  Many Fair Trade Items: http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/fairtrade/products/wheretobuy.cfm

§  Coffee and Chocolate:

§  http://www.globalexchange.org/index.html

§  Chocolate:

§  http://www.divinechocolateusa.com/default.aspx

§  Coffee (local to Boston):

§  http://www.redbarncoffee.com/index.htm

If you don’t have the money because you are one of the nearly 10% of people who is jobless:

§  Give the gift of your time—offer to help friends and family with household projects in any way you can, offer babysitting services to families with young children.

§  Instead of feeling badly that you don’t have money for a gift, take a few minutes to write a note, card or email to people you wish you could buy a gift for.  Share your favorite memory of a time with them.  Tell them how much you love them—because isn’t that what you’re most hoping to convey with a gift anyway?  Why not tell them directly?  I bet they’d love to hear it J

§  Buy second hand items in good condition

§  Ask for paper bags when you grocery shop and wrap gifts in those.  It will save you money, and you will definitely be using recyclable wrap.  Decorate the bags if you like—the creativity and beauty are good for the soul.

§  Consider making a holiday ritual around connection rather than consumption.  It’s possible that the gift people most need this year is YOU!

Stay tuned for a word on holiday potlucks later this week!

What's New?

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog posting, a fact which has not gone unnoticed by many of you.  From what I hear, it’s pretty typical of graduate students everywhere to disappear between midterms and finals.  Somehow the work (and pressure) seems to reach a fevered pitch and it gets hard to squeeze in much else.  My life has been no exception.

Most of my blog entries have been musings on theological concepts arising in the course of my studies, and I have appreciated the openness so many of you have shown me in reading, questioning, and critiquing many of my thoughts.  I certainly have more to say, but lack the time to write thoughtful and well-written essays about all that is on my mind.  Today’s entry will be a more personal update on new developments in my academic life.

Out of the topsy-turvy, world-shaking questioning that emerges during the first year of seminary, I think I am finally gaining a little bit of clarity.  My academic plans seem to be firming up, and I’m pretty excited to share details.  Prior to coming here I’d been in the Masters in Sustainable Communities program at Northern Arizona University studying the intersection of theology, gender studies, and sustainability.  In large part my entry to seminary can be attributed to the educational experience provided in that program.  I have recently made arrangements to complete that program at a distance, which will add some to my current workload but I find that I have not completely nurtured the thoughts germinated in that program and feel a need to do so.  It will be a lot of work, but well worth it!

Likewise, I have become more committed than ever to pursuing my doctoral studies of the same issues that continue to draw me forward: the link between theology, gender studies, and sustainability.  Given that I anticipate at least 4 years of study beyond my M.Div. I’m super excited to share that I have received numerous transfer credits and with some extra classes during summer and winter I’ll be able to graduate in 2012 after only 2 years of additional study, instead of 3 years as the program calls for.  While on the one had I will miss out on some of the divinity school experience, I will also avoid incurring another $20,000 of student loan debt so it’s financially imperative that I move forward at this pace.   

One question that may be on your minds is “whatever happened to that social justice ministry?”  And I would love to answer that.  The details are still in flux, but I’m working with Audra Teague, a classmate in the M.Div. program, on a very exciting interfaith fellowship idea around the issue of social justice ministry, details TBA.  We will explore both the outer/active role of clergy in social justice and community organizing, and the inner/reflective role of spiritual practices in sustaining one through doing that work.  I’m honored to have such a lovely soul with whom to collaborate, and I sure hope she doesn’t mind me sharing all this in my blog J

My primary goal in all of this planning is to support my social justice ministry in a way that brings my unique gifts to the table while making the biggest impact I can potentially make in that arena, which as I see it may be through teaching theology/religious studies at the university or seminary level.  In the meantime, I will do what I can from where I stand.  Wish me luck, and fortitude!

God's Nature

  This posting is a slight revision of a recent assignment:

     Both St. Augustine and St. Julian would agree that God cannot do what is not fitting for God; God cannot act contrary to God’s nature.   The differences in their understanding of salvation reflect differences in their understanding of God’s nature, sometimes with significant consequences. 

Augustine saw “that divine grace…working through the church, the sacraments, and the Christian faith, was a gift of God that “makes his worshippers into gods” which implies that not only was belief in salvation required, but repentance and behavior change must follow.  However, since Augustine viewed God as perfect in the Platonic sense, any change on God’s part would be unfitting.  Ultimately, this led to a belief in predestination.   A select few humans were predestined for salvation through God’s grace, and the remainder “would fail to respond and would therefore receive the just punishment that all deserved” (Chidester 2000, 139-140). 

          Julian specifically requests to see sin and damnation “whereby I could truly recognize how I [in my turn] ought to look at sin and the manner of our guilt” (Julian 225). However, this is not to be for Julian:  “But I saw not sin; for I believe it has no manner of essence nor any portion of being, nor can it be known except by the pain that is caused by it” (Julian 149).  Not only is she not shown any substance to sin, she is never shown any blame on the part of God.  To the contrary, she says “God, as far as He is concerned, cannot forgive—because He cannot be angry—it would be impossible” (Julian 221). It would be unfitting for God, who is the loving ground of our existence, to be angry, because anger is against His nature.   

         Julian says that “Sin is the harshest scourge that any chosen soul can be struck with.  This scourge chastises a man and a woman terribly and damages him to his own eyes to such an extent that sometimes he thinks of himself as not worthy except to sink into hell” (Julian 183).  Augustine exemplifies this when he says of his rising and falling due to the weight of his “carnal habits” that he “thought that I did not exist in such a state as to cleave to” God (Augustine 151).    This is a poignant example of the self recrimination that leads one to believe that one is separated from God, when in fact “our soul is so completely one-ed to God by His own goodness, that there can be absolutely nothing at all separating God and soul”  (Julian 213). 

          Although both St. Augustine and St. Julian appear to believe in predestination, the differences in their theology have extremely different outcomes for the world at large.  Initially, Augustine seems to believe that God wants us to love not only Him but the world as well, as indicated in this quote, “there is no healing for those who are displeased at some part of your creation” (Augustine 150).  But for Augustine, perfection is God’s most significant trait and over time, perfection and power eclipse love in importance.  This leads him to link “faith…with the coercive use of power,” which seems to contradict his earlier statement that loving God’s creation was required for healing (Chidester 2000, 133).  Augustine’s violent enforcement of Christianity set a trend which continued for centuries.

       Julian’s theology, centered as it is on the God’s love as the most critical of God’s traits, results in a more loving and compassionate outcome.  The concluding books of Revelations strongly suggest that St. Julian is motivated to share her visions of an ever-loving God so that her readers may share in her vision and experience a greater love themselves.  Because her work remained in obscurity for centuries one gets the sense the full impact of St. Julian’s work is yet to come.

      This brief reflection demonstrates that while it is possible to agree with the statement “God cannot do what is unfitting for God” the trouble begins when we start to tease out just what would be unfitting for God.  Some people seem focused on the power of God's perfection (and judgment), and others are focused on the power of God's love (and mercy).   It seems the loudest  beleivers are unswerving in their commitment to a wrathful God, and those who perceive a loving God are more often quietly uncertain.  What would the world look like if that were reversed?

Blessings, love and peace,

Shelley

Ministering to Children: Kicking It Up a Notch!

On Saturday November 6th I attended a district-wide Religious Education training with the other members of my team.  It was stimulating and invigorating, but the news was mixed.  The news applies to liberal churches of other faiths, as most are facing the same challenges and the implications are the same.

The bad news first:  Most churches are having a hard time keeping people in their pews and children in their Sunday School classes. Compounding that the traditional model of RE is outdated, and unappealing for both children and adult volunteers.  Most UU’s are adult converts, and most people raised as UU’s don’t come back once they’ve reached adulthood.  If we can’t find a way to keep our children into adulthood, the future looks grim.

There are many reasons for this.  Children and families are overcommitted and depleted and seek activities that are meaningful uses of their time, a fact we have noticed with much wailing and gnashing of teeth in RE these days. Today’s children crave a deeper exploration of how they fit into the universe and how they can make meaningful contributions rather than discussion about the ideas or activities that only scratch the surface. 

So what is the good news?  As I see it, Unitarian Universalism is uniquely poised to re-imagine the purpose of church as well as RE in an age of religious pluralism. Since we have no absolutes to fight against, we need to work on exploring why our faith is relevant.  One way suggested in the RE training is incorporating multigenerational and whole family faith formation alongside our children into our worship practices. 

 Partly this requires a renewed commitment to putting the Seven Principles into practice with our children because they want to apply the Seven Principles in ways that are meaningful to them and explore where they fit into the bigger picture, not just learn about these ideas. There is no roadmap for where we must travel for and with our children in order to assist them in creating meaning for themselves.  Frankly, it’s never happened before and we’re on the cutting edge.

Religious education for UUs is moving towards a vision of “faith formation,” and this affects every member of our congregation.  In order to preserve and grow both our church and Unitarian Universalism we will need to consider how we can cultivate this faith while meeting the needs of our congregants in the modern world.  The needed changes will affect the flavor of our church's activities and will invigorate the life of the congregation and the individuals within it.

Joyce and I, and the other members of the RE Committee would love for you to contribute your thoughts in creating an approach to Religious Education—Faith Formation—that is livelier and more engaging for everyone—including you!

In peace,
Shelley Dennis and Joyce Fetteroll

Just Wondering...

The Shema, or Deuteronomy 6:4-9, is one of the most important passages in Judaism.  It’s about how you have to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and all your might.”  Jesus thought it was the “greatest commandment”  as evidenced by his words in Mt. 22:37-38.  While reading this I had a wild thought…

I was wondering about religious intolerance, thinking about those people who are so sure they’re absolutely right about God and everyone else is wrong.  Those people who condemn everyone to Hell for disagreeing  with their beliefs.  Thinking that, since they’re going to Hell anyway, it’s ok to taunt, bully, exclude, batter, or kill people who disagree.

It occurred to me that a God who can give rise to the Universe could certainly kill off non-believers if it wanted to.  Unless, of course, killing people over religious ideology is against the rules even for God. Then I thought that if it’s against the rules for the source of life itself, it’s probably against the rules for us too.

And that’s it for tonight…I just had to share that thought. 

The Best Kind of One of Those Days

Have you ever had one of those days when things seem to be falling into place and you get a glimpse of purpose and meaning in your life?  I’m having one of those days right now.  Let me tell you how it all started…

Eight years and two days ago, I moved out of the home I’d shared with my husband of fourteen years and into a furnished rental for a trial separation.  I picked up a book from the bookshelf and began reading the introduction, which told a story of a woman who’d moved out of her marital home and into a furnished rental and picked up a book that got her through her separation and subsequent divorce.  I had to read it!  The book was At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst, and it was my first introduction to St. Julian of Norwich, who I quoted heavily in yesterday’s blog.

I felt a comfort and kinship in St. Julian I had never felt before, and reading the book was the beginning of a deep spiritual exploration and growth process that continues to this day.  In many ways, that book is responsible for the fact that I am in seminary now.  Because in St. Julian I found a woman with a theology I could relate to, I felt the courage to claim and proclaim my reading of scripture.

I’m still finishing up my Masters of Sustainable Communities program at Northern Arizona University, which will have a chapter on St. Julian from the perspective of process theology.  I’m also planning to complete a doctoral program that will allow me to more deeply and intensely examine the intersection between ecology and theology.  To that end, I made an appointment with my history professor because he assigned St. Julian’s Showings and has written on the theology/ecology intersection so I figured he’d have some useful advice.

As it turns out, he’s a St. Julian scholar, and is supervising a doctoral student at BU who is writing on St. Julian through the lens of queer theory (and my thesis will include some work on queer theory and process theology).  He gave me great advice on moving forward from here academically, and agreed to check out some of my writing and mentor me on how and where to get an article published.

It feels like things are coming full circle, like a long and arduous journey is coming to…well, the base of another mountain I’ll have to climb at some point.  But in the meantime, I’m in a lush abundant meadow, the traveling easy, and the company splendid.  Thank you for coming along on my journey, whether or not we have met.  Knowing you’re out there reading and cheering for me gives me the strength I need. 

Blessings, love and light

Shelley

Process and Prayer and a 14th Century Mystic

For the past two blogs I’ve been writing about the alterations and meditations I’ve added to the Lord’s Prayer, and a little bit about my experience with saying this prayer twice a week.  At the conclusion of part 2 I invited you to pray some sort of prayer, too.  And maybe you’re thinking, “yeah, that sounds nice an all, but…I’m busy, I don’t believe in God and prayer doesn’t work; I do believe in God but God likes the standard Lord’s Prayer better …”   I can think of at least one hundred reasons why you shouldn’t pray this (or any other) prayer. 

But the seminary student in me is in the midst of reading St. Julian of Norwich and now thinks that none of those reasons is as compelling as the possibility that prayer might work.  The doctor in me does a risk-benefit analysis and determines that the risk is low and the potential benefit is high, so why not try it?  At the very least you’ll have 5-15 minutes of quiet time; you may have lower blood pressure as a result.

St. Julian was a 14^th century mystic whose reports of her visions of God and Jesus would have gotten her burned at the stake had anyone bothered to read them.  .  For example, she asked God specifically to show her sin and damnation in order to validate the church teachings and she saw neither.  She says of sin, “I saw not sin; for I believe it has no manner of essence nor any portion of being, nor can it be known except by the pain that is caused by it”  and of punishment  “I saw no wrath except on man’s part, and that He forgives in us.”

But what she said about prayer totally blew my mind, especially since I read it after I started my prayer practice.  God told Julian “I am the ground of thy praying—first it is my will that though have something, and next I make thee to want it, and afterward I cause thee to pray for it.”  And that implies that if I’m praying for the hungry to be fed, and all those other things, it’s because God is leading me to want it because God wants it.  Pause to reflect on that for a moment.  That means God wants us to be free, but we’re keeping ourselves down.  Ok, so if you don’t believe in God maybe this means nothing other than “Shelley needs to be medicated.”  So for the potential atheists in the crowd, consider replacing the word “God” with one of the following: The Consciousness of the Universe, The Spirit of Life, Gaia, The Earth, The Matrix, whatever works 

If God wants us to have it, why can’t God just make it happen for us?  Well, God doesn’t work like that.  Y’know how people are always saying you create your own reality?  And it’s all in your vibrations?  Well maybe there’s something to that, because God also told Julian that “What He intends is this: that we understand that He does everything, and that we pray for it. For the one is not enough, for if we pray and do not understand that He does it, it makes us sad and doubtful.”  Because of the vibrational nature of the universe if you’re sad and doubtful you can’t get yourself in vibrational alignment with the solutions to all of these problems, so they can’t show up!

And it gets even better, because when you do pray, then you are likely to see changes occur because, as Julian wrote, “by prayer comes to agree with God.”  So what that suggests to me is the possibility that God wants social justice, and God wants us to live more gently on the earth, and the other things I pray for in my daily prayer.  But my soul, and the souls of billions of other people are in disagreement with that prayer, so we can’t receive that gift.  I’m not saying that if we all pray for fifteen minutes right now everything will magically get better. But maybe if enough of us pray for fifteen minutes a day for more loving solutions to the world’s issues they will emerge over time.

And speaking of time, what if what we’re praying for doesn’t show up right away?  St. Julian says that in that case, “either we are to await a better time, or more grace, or a better gift.” So if it doesn't work right away be patient.

Maybe St. Julian’s visions were the result of a horrible delirium.  But I like to think that the Universe is conscious, and that consciousness is God.  And God wants us to live peacefully on the Earth, and we can participate in bringing it about by spending fifteen minutes a day agreeing with God’s good ideas.

Strange Days, part 2

This is part 2 of a series on The Lord's Prayer.  It will make more sense if you read Part 1...

Give us this day our daily bread

I pause to think about those who will go hungry today because we as a species still have not figured out how to distribute food equitably and humanely.  I hope my prayer helps at least one person find a good meal, or sets some better process into motion in that “butterfly effect” kind of way.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

This reminds me that as we forgive, so are we forgiven.  I take a moment to loosen the grudges that have a stranglehold on my heart.  I make a silent request for forgiveness from those I have wronged.

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors

Oh, do we have debts to pay.  We are accumulating an energy debt as we rob the Earth of natural resources and create environmental disasters that require years of recovery.  The United States loans money to developing nations, and does so under policies structures to prevent these nations from ever rising out of poverty.  And I personally am accruing some debt for school.  I take a brief moment to remember the times I have loaned money never to have been repaid, and I forgive that debt.  I hold a thought that “forgiveness of debts” can be set into motion somehow and the looming global problems that scare me (and I bet you too) can begin to unravel with this forgiveness.  You may say I’m a dreamer…

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

It is easy to get distracted from the beauty of life on Earth, and to forget how fragile it is and also that we are charged with loving care of this Garden of Eden.  It is easy to get distracted from the inherent worth and dignity of each and every person, including ourselves.  It's easy to forget to love one another.  The "evil" of consumerism, with its attendant problems, results from this forgetting.  We shop and spend to fill the void caused by forgetting who we really are.  We forget the real cost of these things we're buying, costs such as greenhouse gas emissions, sweatshop labor, animal testing.  I pray to be led from the temptation of distraction, and to grow in my ability to bring my full presence to each moment.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory

Another reminder that I am a very tiny party of the Universe, life is much bigger than I am, and I shouldn’t take myself so seriously.  And also, an invitation to trust that “all shall be well” as St. Julian says (much more on her later this week—I love her).

Forever and ever

Amen

May it be so.  Let it be so that we end racial, religious, gender, ethnic, economic, and sexual oppression because injustice isn’t sustainable.  And besides, love is much more fun.

It has been a strange thing to do, saying the Lord’s prayer.  I say it slowly, pausing with each phrase to breathe and meditate more deeply on how to make this a prayer of compassion similar to the Buddhist prayer “may we be free from suffering and the root of all suffering, may we know happiness and the root of all happiness.”   I’m certain the world at large hasn’t noticed a visible difference yet, but I feel better—happier, more grounded, freer, and more authentic.  That has to help me engage more positively with the world.  And maybe if you join me in praying fifteen minutes a day—any prayer of compassion at all—maybe people will notice.

Blessings, love and light,

Shelley

Strange Days, part 1

I’ve been saying the Lord’s Prayer this week.  Twice a day.  On my knees. For those of you unfamiliar with Unitarian Universalism in general or me in particular, this is a very strange thing for a UU to do, even for one who believes in the existence of God.  I, along with other Unitarian Universalists, do not embrace the Trinity.  Let me tell you how it all started, and how it’s all going, because I’ve gotten a lot out of it and maybe it will speak to you, too.

On Tuesday we had our Hebrew Bible midterm, followed by the most amazing celebration!  Dr. Fontaine laid out a map of the Levant on the floor, divided us into the various ancient peoples who lived there and “delivered us from Egypt.”  The point of deliverance, according to Dr. Fontaine, is to celebrate: “they tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat.”  After delivering us from Egypt, and before eating the bounteous buffet she assembled, we said the Lord’s Prayer and it moved me like never before. 

Chaos theory suggests that if a butterfly flaps its wings in China possibly it will trigger a storm in Texas.  Based on that theory, maybe we all have the potential to participate in the healing of ourselves, each other, and the Earth by changing our thoughts, which in turn change our behaviors.

I’ve had to modify the Lord’s Prayer somewhat; sometimes I modify the actual words and more often I modify the meaning.  Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

Our Mother and Father who art in Heaven

It’s dangerous and misleading to imagine that God has a gender.  The ancient Israelites included traits of the Near Eastern goddesses in their conception of Yahweh.  Throughout history various theologians (i.e. St. Augustine, St. Julian) have glimpsed God’s feminine nature.  God is not restricted to categories of race or gender or any other category we try to fit God into because we are too small to imagine an infinite God. Maybe if we can be more intentional in seeing this we can begin to see the divinity in all people and stop using religion to justify oppression based on sex, gender, race, physical ability, sexual orientation….

Hallowed be thy many names

I pause for a moment to think of the many names people use for God, and the many people who have faced and still face religious persecution.  I pray that we can come to see the Holy in all of them so that we will stop hurting each other over these differences in perspective.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done

I believe the Source of Life is good, and has a much bigger perspective on what wonderful things are possible.  How can I think I know better?  This is a nice reminder to remember that God is bigger than I am, and opens me to loving the world as it is.

On Earth, because this is Heaven

This reminds me that the Kingdom of Heaven is already among us, as Jesus says in Luke.  All time is holy time, all ground is sacred ground.

Thank you for reading with an open heart.  Please tune in tomorrow for part 2 J

Who Speaks for Islam?

Today’s blog is a revision of a paper I wrote which analyzed the issues raised in Who Speaks for Islam using the tools articulated for such analysis in Moral Understandings.  Who Speaks for Islam is a report of a Gallup poll of approximately 90% of the world’s Muslim population.  It is a must read for all Americans.  I would love to say more on this…if you’re interested I can do a multi-part series analyzing the issues in deeper detail, just say the word.

Stereotyping of Muslim men and women which conceals their true personhood is accomplished by covert government operations to “protect” Westerners and Muslim women from allegedly Muslim “traits” of religious fundamentalism and sexism.  The United States government has participated in coups in the Middle East which have ousted democratically elected leaders whose political and religious views were not in alignment with American interests. Privatization is facilitated by the assumption that issues of “national security” require secrecy, which allows our government to intimidate and terrorize other nations without our awareness. As pointed out repeatedly in Who Speaks for Islam, such control by the U.S. results in increased extremism in Muslim countries.

This extremism has taken the form of terrorist tactics such as suicide bombings.  The “normal” response to these actions is military retaliation. “When practices that would otherwise look bad are rendered normal in these ways for certain contexts or people in them, those who rebel against what “everyone” accepts appear as irrational freaks, malcontents, unstable deviants” or terrorists (Walker 2007 p. 182).  We mistakenly view suicide bombings as acts of unprovoked aggression. 

Western refusal give credence to the stories of Muslims seals off “recognizable injuries and credible complaints” (Walker 2007182).  Maintained by restriction of information to U.S. citizens, the stereotypes garner our support for war against Islamic nations.  Americans are kept uninformed about the realities and complexities of the Muslim world or the consequences to Muslims and support these actions out of ignorance.

Stereotypes lead to “The rise of religious fundamentalisms in conjunction with conservative nationalisms, which are also in part reactions to global capital and its cultural demands,” which “has led to the policing of women’s bodies in the streets and in the workplaces” (Mohanty, 2003).   Esposito and Mogahed clarify that fundamentalist oppression of women is worsened by American attempts to control Muslim nations.  Oppression of women under Muslim rule is used as justification for American military aggression.  The US government is fueling the very behaviors it is using as an excuse to engage in military action; this may be intentional. 

Muslim women prioritize economic development and political stability over gender issues (Esposito and Mogahed 2007, 133).  They would like us to stop killing their brothers, husbands, fathers and most of all their children.  Creating space for truth telling would be a welcome step toward the healing the discord between Muslims and Westerners. It would allow Westerner’s to learn how to support Muslim women by using the tools inherent within the framework of their religious views, which are of utmost importance to them.

Religion has been usurped by the state, but nonetheless provides compelling mandates against greed and corruption.  Perhaps that is the primary reason that power holders are so eager to appropriate religion for themselves. This tendency is seen not only in the Muslim faith, but in the Christian faith as well.  Analyzing the process of this appropriation of meaning in the context of oppression using Walker’s tools has helped me to articulate what I have previously only been able to grasp intuitively.  As I said above, I can say a loooot more on this…just say the word!

REFERENCES

Esposito, J. and Mogahed, D. 2007. Who Speaks for Islam?  What a Billion Muslims Really Think. New York: Gallup Press.

Mahmood, Saba. “Feminism, Democracy, and Empire: Islam and the War of Terror” in Women’s Studies on the Edge, editied by Joan Wallach Scott, 81-114. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2008.

Mohanty, C. 2003. “Under Western Eyes” Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anticapitalist Struggles. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 28, no. 2 (Winter, 2003): 499-535.

Walker, Margaret Urban. (2007).  Moral Understandings: A Feminist Study in Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press.