Several times this week, I found myself discussing how our beliefs about God affect how we view the world. When there are so many different denominations and churches - especially protestant churches in the U.S. - it is easy to say that the differences between them are minimal. In the grand scheme of things, the difference between two protestant denominations is not worth losing sleep over.
We do, however, come from different theological traditions, some of which result in us believing different things about God and about the world.
Those in the Reformed tradition (Presbyterians fall in this category) believe in the sovereignty of God. Almost all major doctrines and beliefs we hold come back to this: God is God. God is in charge. We are not God. Believing that God is sovereign affects the way we talk about salvation, the Christian life and even what a pastor does.
What we believe doesn't just affect church-y things. Believing that God is sovereign also means that I do not believe rich people deserve to be rich or poor people deserve to be poor. I believe that the life we were born into is out of our own control, which affects the way I view individual and systemic economic struggles.
Beliefs about God and the world are not just for those in church. We all have them, whether we acknowledge it or not. With other Christians, I have the opportunity to engage what I believe with what is going on around me and seek to follow God's will in everything I do. That's one reason I go to church.
_"God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them." Genesis 1:27 (CEB)
All of these people are made in the image of God. All means all!
Pray over these faces, over the places they are from and the lives they lead. Pray for the people around you as you read this.
Pray for yourself and the eyes to see the image of God in everyone you meet.
While the Occupy Movement may not be in the national spotlight these days, the movement continues. A new initiative underway may not be what you think of as radical social upheaval.
A group within Occupy Albany is mobilizing significant momentum for urban farming.
You may be wondering what the Occupy Movement has to do with the labor-intensive, patience-demanding work of farming. Aren't these people about yelling in the streets and trespassing in parks? When did they become so pedestrian?
Local farming is a catalyst for diverse social change. If you don't believe me, ask Michael Pollan. He comes at the issue from a different framework than the Occupy Movement, but they end up in the same place.
He cites that during the 1940s Victory Garden movement, 40% of produce consumed in the US was grown in home gardens. People in their backyards or neighborhood parks shared the work to produce enough food to share. If that's not good news for the 99% I don't know what is.
If you would like to get involved in Occupy Albany's gardening initiative, please let me know. An organizing meeting will take place in the next few weeks.
Last night, we marked the beginning of Lent with an Ash Wednesday service. The service was fairly typical: scripture, prayers, sermon and imposition of ashes.
My colleague, Jim Reisner, and I each had a set of ashes that we used to mark worshipers' foreheads. As we did, we said the traditional words, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."
As I spoke these words over and over, I couldn't help but consider them. If we are told to "remember" that we are dust we must already know, we must have been told before.
When were we told? Every Ash Wednesday for starters. But we were also told earlier: at our baptism.
Baptism is another ritual in the church that we are told to remember. As the saying goes, "Remember your baptism and be glad."
In general, we think of baptism as a joyous celebration of a new Christian in our midst. When we celebrate infant baptism, we also give thanks for the new life God is welcoming into the world. We don't think of it as a celebration of dying.
But that's what baptism is: dying to ourselves so that we can be alive in Christ.
A blessing said over the water at baptism contains these words: "We thank you, O God, for the water of baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. From it we are raised to share his resurrection..."
While we have been told before, we still need some reminding. That is why once a year we are told in word and in deed that it is not about us. We are told that our small self-centered world is not all there is, that we are called to die to our very selves in order to live in Christ.This Lent, may it be so among us.
Also, see this Ash Wednesday photo slideshow from NPR.
On Saturday, Albany Presbytery approved a statement from our Peacemaking Task Force in support of the Occupy Movement. Read the statement below. As someone who has been involved in Occupy Albany, I am very happy to see this coming from our church.
The Occupy Movement is a legitimate public airing of grievances. It highlights the ways in which the economy is not working for most Americans and calls to account those who have plunged our nation and the world into a desperate economic crisis.
Trillions of taxpayer dollars have bailed out the wealthy while close to nothing has gone to cushion economic collapse for the poor and middle class. Millions of Americans are unemployed or under-employed. The US is faced with a massive permanent underclass that may never work again.
As people of faith we acknowledge that we all bear a certain responsibility for the current economic condition, but all are not equally guilty. The grievances of the protesters include: lasting foreclosure relief, restoration of appropriate financial regulation, greater legal protection for workers’ rights, and more progressive taxation. The country needs a shift in emphasis from protecting financial institutions, corporations and the wealthy to fostering equitable wages and lasting economic development.
The Occupy Movement illuminates the socio-economic inequality that fuels so much injustice. In a nation which proudly claims, “Liberty and Justice for all…” it’s time to live up to our principles. We ask our elected leaders to give ear to the underlying messages of these protests and to find the courage to represent the interests of all Americans and not just those who, along with their business malfeasance, contribute generously to re-election campaigns.
We endorse the work of the teaching elders, ruling elders, church members and Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations that are working actively in the local and national Occupy Movement. We encourage our congregations to support the Occupy Movement actively with prayer, finances and participation.
This blog post was supposed to be about the church.
At a recent church potluck, I noticed how quickly folks jumped to clean up after the meal, stack chairs, put tables away and wash dished.
In a society where the customer is always right we have come to expect a staff to clean up after us, or at the very least to do most of the work. Church is one of the few public spaces where we have to take responsibility not just for the food and program but for cleaning up afterwards.
At least that's what this post was going to be about.
Then on Monday, Occupy Albany met in our church. They held a facilitated debriefing session after the camp's eviction on December 22. Over 75 people came to the 3 hour session. We broke into small groups to talk about our experiences and then came back to the larger group to share themes and think about what comes next.
Monday night the church building was available for Occupy Albany to use. But Tuesday morning, the FOCUS breakfast program was to begin preparations at 5:45.
When the Occupy Albany session ended around 8:30, I asked people to stay and help set the room for breakfast.
It turns out I was wrong: church is not the only place where people jump up to clean up after themselves and go out of their way to make a facility look its best.
Over 30 people set up chairs, moved tables, washed dishes, swept the floors, set place settings and wiped off counters. Even more thanked Westminster for the use of the space with genuine sincerity.
Thank you to all the volunteers who worked together that night. May we all work together with such ease and grace.
I recently read a blog post by Brian McLaren, one of many that reflect upon his experiences in OWS. He discourages protest language such as "take it back" and instead advocates for a non-violent approach to all we say and do. He puts it very well in his own words.
McLaren got me thinking - what is the opposite of taking? In some cases, it is giving. In others, perhaps, it is receiving. In yet other circumstances, as McLaren argues, non-violent resistance is the opposite of taking.
Mahatma Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King gleaned wisdom from the Beatitudes, as McLaren points out. Most non-violent protest movements trace some of their motivation back to Jesus' teachings.
While many people have learned from these ancient words, I am even more compelled to practice non-violence because I am a professing follower of Jesus. As someone who knows Jesus and reads his teaching, I know that "taking" just doesn't factor into the equation.
I am reminded of a conversation I had with a good friend of mine who does not believe in God. He and I tease each other in a lighthearted banter about our belief or lack thereof.
One day in particular, he was teasing me about Christianity and asked why he should believe. I suggested that maybe he shouldn't. Then he came back with, "What would I get out of believing in God?"
That's just it - it's not about what you get out of God but what you can give - what God makes you capable of giving.
Serving the God of the Beatitudes, I see non-violence in a special way because I feel a calling to do the opposite of take.
Occupy Albany has been served with cease and desist papers for their camp site in Academy Park. The long term outcome is unclear. But the immediate response is mobilization to take down tents, clean up camp and prepare for the winter phase of the occupation.
I am thankful that Albany authorities did not go the way of the midnight raid on Occupy Wall Street. From the beginning, Albany has been a model for protestors and city officials to work together in peace.
For a while now, Occupy Albany has been preparing for the winter transition. With fierce upstate winters coming soon, health and safety of occupiers is of utmost importance. The question remains, what will this next phase look like?
I'm reminded of an emergent pastor from Ireland whose "church" holds worship in a pub on Sunday night. They have no building and are in many ways non-traditional. This alternative approach worked well until some members started having kids, and there was no place for them during worship at the pub.
Playing off of the familiar sermon catchphrase "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming", this pastor named their church's transition "It's Sunday, but Monday's coming." The church had done Sundays really well for years. Now it was time to deal with some of the everyday practical details they had avoided.
It looks like Monday is coming for Occupy Albany, too. Yet Monday is only the beginning.
The momentum of this movement has caught the imagination of people across the city and country. Occupy Wall Street's creative next phase serves as an example of the many possibilities that lie ahead.
My hope is that Occupy Albany truly sees Monday as a beginning so that they can continue to fight against greed and corruption.
These are words I spoke today at the People's Assembly at the Capitol. Hundreds of people came from all over the state to work together for economic justice.
For two months the Spirit has been stirring in our midst
A strong wind is kicking up dust that has been settled for way too long
Rattling the buildings of power and privilege
Waking those who have been asleep
Stirring up energy for change
This wind is stirring in us
For two months, ordinary people have talked and marched, wiggled their fingers in agreement, met together and prayed together
All to end economic tyranny and injustice in the market place
You cannot evict the wind; you cannot kick the Spirit out
No one can silence this movement because this is a movement of the people, there are too many of us. The winds have already turned
The powers may have descended on Zuccotti Park showing their force and heavy weight, trying to stamp out the wind
The wind is elusive and light, it can be soft, unruly or fierce
Nothing can harness the wind
Nothing can stop it
Once the wind starts blow – hold on to your hats
The Albany Occupation has been going for over 2 weeks now. I have gone by a few times since it started and am part of a working group on spiritual wholeness.
Questions from outside the movement remain. What are their demands? Aren't they just angry unemployed hippies? How will they know when they have accomplished what they set out to do?
The purpose and direction of these demonstrations has been clear to me from the beginning. This movement is a reaction, yes. But instead of asking when it will end, let us ask what this movement is beginning.
No matter how clear the goals are, the most concrete change that the Occupy movement introduces is its process. Instead of having leaders decide on policy goals or "demands" behind closed doors before the demonstration begins, decisions are made as part of the demonstration. Anyone can participate. The Occupy movement embodies direct democracy.
I hesitated to "vote" at the first General Assembly I attended. Don't they know I just walked in off the street? Do I have to join first? What I realized is that everyone else just walked in off the street too, and all our voices count equally. Wow.
Presbyterians do not run meetings on a consensus model for a variety of reasons. For example, if someone doesn't like an idea, they may be reluctant to share their view if they know that one nay vote will block the entire proposition. On the flip side, the consensus model can also allow a discussion to be hijacked by a small minority who hold a meeting hostage in order to get their way.
While consensus isn't always my favorite, there's no denying that the Occupy movement has made it look good. They are committed to conducting themselves in a way that reflects their goals no matter how complicated it makes the movement. They are committed to being leaderless and insist that no one person can speak for the movement. Some would call that practicing what you preach.
The occupy movement continues to encourage me about the future of our country. Our democracy has slowly drifted away from direct participation and toward raising money. Now these small groups of people committed to listening and deciding together show us how it's done.
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