Reverend Barber calls us to conscience

I loved reading this article in Sojourners about the Poor People's Campaign because it is reflective of my experience of Reverend Barber. The beginning of the article tells a story of Rev. Barber sternly asking people at a Poor People's Campaign gathering to take a knee instead of gleefully celebrating at the event. Similarly, on a Skype call for the movement a few weeks ago, Rev. Barber reminded people that as joyful as we may be about coming together to do justice, we must also hold in our hearts are pain of the bombs we had dropped on Syria the night before. It was a moment that will stick with me because I do relish in opportunities to do justice. Rev. Barber reminds us that we must decenter ourselves in the work and center those on the margins, those whose experience is decidedly less joyful. Last night I had the honor of hearing him preach at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, the church that President Lincoln attended and that was at the heart of the original Poor People's Campaign. Rev. Barber preached from the same pulpit that Dr. King had preached from fifty years ago. What a powerful reminder that we are picking up the baton; the work we do matters. We must take it, though not necessarily ourselves, very seriously.

Life is poetry and prose

Last night I went to see Tracy K. Smith, Poet Laureate for the United States at the Library of Congress. She reminded me of why poetry is so important. Some of my take-aways were:

• Poems ask us to submit to another experience of reality
• Poems are a means of self-preservation, a way of affirming commitment to the belief that our lives can and should matter to one another
• All Americans have something quietly urgent and human to offer one another
• Poems lead us more deeply into ourselves - then into commonalities - and give us new vocabulary
• Poetry makes us humble and vulnerable (it is "vulnerable-making" for both poet and audience)
• Good poems invite oneness. If there is an us vs them dynamic, it's bad poetry, even if it's has social justice themes.

I loved that she would talked about how a poem "behaves." And I love a poem that invites me into my spirituality!

Students Aren't Waiting on the World to Change

I used to really like John Mayer's song "Waiting on the World to Change." I thought he was speaking for me when he said, 
"Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it." 

The students I teach have reframed that for me. They believe that they do have the means to change the world. Today alone I supported students who led an assembly on disarmament, planned a town hall on gun violence, planned a brown bag lunch on the n-word, and led an inter-school discussion on what we can learn from other countries about gun legislation. When I was their age, I cared deeply about the world, but I thought of my sphere of influence as relatively minimal. Although I teach my students that they can make a difference no matter their sphere of influence, I don't think they place limits on the influence they can have. They are plugged in, motivated, and changing the world a day at a time. They have courage and confidence and they act inclusively and always mindful of being in solidarity with those on the margins. They are who I want to be when I grow up.

"soft or hard, love [i]s an act of heroism"

These words come from Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me. I saw them performed stunningly this weekend at "Between the World and Me: A Witnessing" at the Kennedy Center. Coates words were brilliantly brought to life by amazing Black performers of all sorts - Broadway stars, tv actors, a singer, a rapper, a tapper - and they were each transcendent.

The Temple

I'm obsessed with the song "The Temple" from Jesus Christ Superstar. It reminds me of how widely we are called to address evil in the world today, and how it can be overwhelming. We may not be Jesus, but each of us can be miracle workers in our own way, and we feel the cries of the needs of the world and know that we cannot bring our gifts to all of them, no matter how hard we try.

Encounters with the divine

I think a fair bit about how I see God in other people. In all the ways that people act unselfishly that serve as reminders that we're all this together!

• Someone had been struck by a Metro train and so I was unloaded at the stop next to that one and was told that there would be a shuttle to the next open station. After patiently waiting for the bus for a while, I announce that I was going to walk the mile to the next station. One guy who had been actively investigating the shuttles on all of our behalf said he'd walk with me. An older gentleman then asked if he could come too. The three of us talked about our day and our lives for the twenty minute walk and then shook hands and left each other. It was a special moment of appreciating the humanity of the people around me without any specific purpose.
• I had two young women who were Mormon missionaries ask me about my religion and I shared with them. They were open to my religious experience and I was open to theirs. Neither of us tried to convince the other, we just shared a moment of connection as people of faith.
• I slipped in the dining room at work and spilled much of my plate of food. As I worked to find a broom, a student grabbed a plate and started picking up the beans and corn that had landed on the floor. She demurred when I thanked her and made it clear that it's what she would appreciate if she had been in that situation. What a beautiful reminder of how we should all act. 
• At a podcast being taped at National Geographic, a friend asked an employee how we could get a copy of the Race issue. The employee went to her desk and gave us her personal copies.

Light Metaphors in Meeting

Yesterday in Meeting for Worship someone spoke about how although we talk often in Meeting about love and light, so many of us close our eyes during worship. She said she thinks of it like an x-ray - our eyes closed, the light shows us the fractures, so that we might heal them. Another F/friend then shared a reminder that the shadows remind us that there is light. This idea reminds me of the Martin Luther King quote that “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” What beautiful sentiments to reflect on this week!