Wendell Berry & Co.

some great speakers at this Fall's Peace and Justice talk-fest. here are a few i hope to get to...

October 18, from 5:00-6:15 p.m.: Jerrod Felice, on Fair Trade
October 20, from 5:00-6:15 p.m.: Bob Sloan, on Mountaintop Removal
October 28, from 3:00-4:00 p.m.: Wendell Berry, on Kentucky

go here to keep up to date with related events around town...

That darn Jesus, always leaving me with the thorny questions.....

I had dinner with a friend last night and we got into a pretty good conversation about the struggles and challenges involved in being in relationship with each other in a community context. As we talked, our discussion began to turn toward considering how jarring and shocking it can be when we encounter sharp differences of opinion or even minor disagreements with those whom we live with or whose company we regularly keep. We both commented about how such encounters can easily cause us to pull back from involvement with others and incline us toward seeking the path of least resistance or defaulting to a kind of self-protective mode of relating. But the thing that really struck me as we continued to share, was how easy it is for me to treat as unnatural, threatening, or even objectionable and offensive, things that are a very natural and healthy part of building robust & genuine friendships with each other. I began to realize in a whole new way how my own tendency to internalize and take personally differences of opinion, or even conflict with others, prevents me from being able to learn that this is a very natural, and healthy, part of being in mature adult relationships with each other; it prevents me from seeing that working through and with difference(s) is the only path to true and lasting relationships. I'm beginning to understand that at many points when I feel like I'm in crisis or stalemated in a particular relationship, what I am really experiencing is the beginning of the pathway to a much deeper and richer experience of love and fellowship with another person. But this is only if I choose to continue moving forward in situations and with people who make me feel unmcomfortable (for whatever reasons).
Obviously, there are genuinely bad conflicts/relationships, and there are times when we move beyond disagreement or difference into violence, emotional abuse, blatant insensitivity, or outright manipulation of each other. When these circumstances arise, we need to decisively address them and arrange for the kind of help that will lead to their proper resolution. However, I have to admit that I think these kinds of circumstances are actually a lot less prevalent than my own fragile ego would like to admit. Most of the conflicts & difficulties that I have with people in my life are just a natural part of two (or more) human beings entering into a relationship with each other; and the natural corollary is that a substantial part, even the majority, of the conflict is actually bound up in my own personal insecurities, my demand to be right, my own desire to be safe, my own desire to find the answer that everyone else needs, etc. At any rate, these are some of the things that last night's encounter brought before the bar of my own conscience. It helped me realize a bit more about what Jesus might have meant when he said, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax-collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that (Matthew 5:46-47)?

courage

This woman embodied courage and grace. As all saints day approaches i'm mindful of heroic ones that inspire selfless living. these notes from today's obituary column in the NY Times.

Vivian Malone Jones, who on a blisteringly hot June day in 1963 became one of two black students to enroll at the University of Alabama after first being barred at the door by the defiant governor, George C. Wallace, died yesterday in Atlanta. She was 63.

The cause was a stroke, her sister Sharon Malone told The Associated Press. Her entrance to the university came as the civil rights struggle raged across the South. On June 12, the day after Ms. Jones and James Hood were escorted into the university by federalized National Guard troops, the civil rights leader Medgar Evers was shot to death in Jackson, Miss.

On May 30, 1965, Ms. Jones became the first black to graduate from the University of Alabama in its 134 years of existence, earning a degree in business management with a B-plus average.

rest of the article here (free with registration)

blue gold

In 1995, a vice president of the World Bank famously declared that, as the wars of the 20th century were fought over oil, so the wars of the 21st would be fought over water. (source)

water is the hot topic here in Lexington....see these sites for differing opinions/information.
Kentucky American Water
FLOW

it is a very serious debate that has more to do with ideology (free-market capitalism vs. public commons...commodities vs. human rights/essential services) than it does with H2O, rivers, lakes, and the hydrologic cycle. but there is a bigger picture....global water shortage.
see this BBC article for an overview and links.

bit depressing.

anyway, we went to an event planned by the FLOW people tonight and it was good to hear someone like Maude Barlow present her ideas and talk about the connection between my kitchen tap and globalization. i'll leave the debate up to others.....but i will say this. four of us went together to the talk tonight and the conversation before and after was such a delight. i'm very glad to belong to a group of Jesus-imitators that think so differently from one another and come from such a broad set of experiences and backgrounds. the guys i went with show me different ways of looking at things and always push back at my inane ramblings with bright, reflective insight.
thanks lads.
it (almost) doesn't matter that you are wrong :)

home...but not alone

Isaac and I are home alone for a few days. here we are grilling out this evening...nice healthy flame on the grill in the background.
since returning from our trip to greenbelt the house has seemed very empty with Brad and Laura gallivanting around the land of Oz(tralia)...now the house seems even more bare with sherry gone to the emergent gathering in Glorieta (New Mexico) with Will and Jen.

it's starting to feel like one of those last-one-standing reality TV shows around here ("Survivor: East 4th St"). i have my money on Isaac getting the last spot...i'll be sent off saying something like, "he's just too tough...too aggressive. i can't compete with his stamina. where does he get the energy? the kid can go all day and still give 110% after lights out...and he's only 2!"

anyway, i hope the delegates from Communality are having a good time and we look forward to hearing about their travels. i hope to find someone blogging at the gathering...i know andrew will if he gets a chance.

from stress avoidance to world class christian

this article from Christianity Today covers more about Rick Warren's "plan to defeat poverty".
an interesting read to follow an earlier post on Pastor Rick repenting. this article also includes extensive comments from Kay Warren.

it's great to hear such honesty from well known Christian leaders.
here are a few choice quotes:

"The church is the body of Christ. The hands and feet have been amputated and we're just a big mouth, known more for what we're against." Warren found himself praying, "God, would you use me to reattach the hands and the feet to the body of Christ, so that the whole church cares about the whole gospel in a whole new way—through the local church?"

"Every revival and spiritual awakening in history starts with the peasants, not with the kings. It starts with average, ordinary people," Warren says. "There are not enough superstars to win the world. It has to be done by average people."

"There are millions and millions of local churches around the world and now we have the technology to network them." This mobilization strategy, Warren says, also incorporates two ideas from Luke 10. Individuals would be sent out in teams, and on entering a village, they would seek "a man of peace. Find the man of peace. Bless him. He blesses you back. Who is the man of peace? He's influential and he's open. He doesn't have to be a Christian. Find a non-Christian who's influential and open—a Muslim or an atheist."

As Warren was developing the PEACE plan, Kay was getting the brush-off from secular HIV/AIDS activists and judgmental church members. But she was undeterred. "I pretty much thought that anybody who had HIV was gay. If they were gay and had HIV, they probably deserved it, because they had lived a lifestyle of risk. Therefore, I didn't really have to care very much about them. Not a pretty attitude. I'm not proud of it, but it is where I was."

Once an individual church adopts the Purpose Driven model, there are many more moves to make. They describe those steps as moving around a baseball diamond. The goal is mission-minded disciples. Warren says, "You can't get the church to jump from total selfishness, where they want all the sermons about 'How do I avoid stress,' to caring about Angola." "How do you get them to become a world-class Christian?"

How indeed.

terrorism, religion, and diplomacy

Lexington Theological Seminary Invites You to...
The 2005 Paul S. Stauffer Lectures
"Religion and International Politics"
Thursday, October 13 - 11 a.m. & 7 p.m.
Fellowship Hall
Speaker: Dr. John D. Stempel
Senior Professor of International Studies
Patterson School of Diplomacy, University of Kentucky

About Dr. Stempel...He is Senior Professor at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and was director of the school from 1993-2003. He came to the University of Kentucky following a 24-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, which included an assignment in Iran from 1975-79 before/during/after Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic Fundamentalist revolution. There, he was deputy chief of the political section, later acting political counselor.

DR. JOHN D. STEMPEL will give two lectures on the theme "Religion and International Politics," discussing the rising and now critical importance of religious issues in the world since the end of World War II.
The first lecture at 11 AM will focus on "Religion And Diplomacy." Dr. Stempel will discuss how religion and diplomacy interact, both for good and bad. Religion is the basis for good values on one hand and is also the driving force behind terrorism. In terms of the ultimate goal of a peaceful world, diplomacy has something to offer religion as well.
The second lecture at 7 PM will discuss "Religion, Politics, and Terrorism." Here Stempel will analyze the religious basis for terrorism, as well as the ways religion can both warp and clarify issues. This will draw on his experience in the Middle East with Islamic fundamentalism, and in India with Hindu fundamentalism. What constructive ideas do religions offer for dealing with such problems?

Global Water Issues

We (Communality) are co-sponsoring the following event.


WHAT:
Maude Barlow, author of Blue Gold: The Battle to Stop Corporate Theft of the World's Water

TOPIC:
The Global Water Crisis:
Local / Municipal Control of Water vs. Control by Global Mega-Corporations

WHEN:
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 12

WHERE:
Agricultural Extension Center
1104 Red Mile Place Lexington(see directions below)
Free & open to the public.
HELP SPREAD THE WORDDOWNLOAD, PRINT & POST THE EVENT FLYER: http://www.peaceandjusticeky.org/flrMaudBarlow051012.pdf

DETAILS:
Maude Barlow is Chair of the Council of Canadians, Canada's largest citizen advocacy organization. She was the primary speaker at a Water Conference, held in Lexington last April by the University of Kentucky's Appalachian Center. Her 10/12 lecture will relate the Central Kentucky water situation to the Global Water Crisis. Ernie Yanarella. Professor of Political Science, and Co-Chairman of The Center for Sustainable Cities, University of Kentucky will moderate. Speaking at a Seattle Teach-In on water, 11/26/99, Maude was introduced as follows: "Maude Barlow is one of the most inspiring battlers against globalization and corporate control of water on the whole planet. Campaigning against privatization and globalization of the planet's remaining fresh water, she has been on every TV station in Canada and has given speeches in every Canadian city, and many American and European ones. She's tough, she's brilliant, she's fun ---and she wins." "Maude is a major public figure in Canada. She is national chair of the 100,000 member Council of Canadians. Many Canadians say she could run successfully for Prime Minister of Canada--if she only would." Following Maude's lecture, there will be a Question and Answer period for questions and comments.

DIRECTIONS:
Red Mile Place is on the southwest side of Red Mile Road, 3/10 (0.3) of a mile from the Versailles Road, and next to the entrance to The Fayette Seed Company. Colored balloons will be placed there to mark the entrance. The Extension Center is a low red brick building at the end of Red Mile Place. There is some parking in front, more in the rear.

SPONSORS:
Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice (CKCPJ) http://www.peaceandjusticeky.org/
Co-sponsors:
Communality: Faith Seeking Action
The Environmental Program, U.K. College of Arts and Sciences
GreenThumb, a U.K. Environmental Group
Kentuckians For The Commonwealth - Central Kentucky Chapter
The Sierra Club
United Nations Association of the Bluegrass
Vote 'Yes'

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ray Wilkie - Water Program Chair 255-6319. rwilkie317@aol.com

some scripture to accompany the NY Times article

Jeremiah 22:13-14 (the message)
Doom to him who builds palaces but bullies people, who makes a fine house but destroys lives, Who cheats his workers and won't pay them for their work, Who says, "I'll build me an elaborate mansion with spacious rooms and fancy windows. I'll bring in rare and expensive woods and the latest in interior decor.'

strangers in our midst

very important article for us Jesus followers in today's Times.
most of us still want our gardens landscaped and our plates washed...we just don't want to see who is doing these things (especially if they are moving into our neighborhoods and living rough on our streets). you can read the full article here but i have selected some quotes that i thought were interesting.

from the New York Times (free with registration)
As Illegal Workers Hit Suburbs, Politicians Scramble to Respond
By PAUL VITELLO Published: October 6, 2005

- "Immigration has become a local issue because, at least from their perspective, local governments feel there is no federal policy in place," said Audrey Singer, immigration fellow at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution. "Local officials don't want to be responsible, but they have to respond to local concerns."
The scramble for solutions reflects a major shift in immigration patterns during the last decade, she said. Since 2000, the number of immigrants living in suburbs, legally or illegally, has surpassed the number in cities, 52 percent to 48 percent.

- The illegal newcomers have attracted notice in the high-cost suburbs primarily by overcrowding single-family houses, which neighbors then complain become eyesores, and by assembling for day laborers' jobs in parking lots and on street corners.
The local response has been somewhat like the suburbs themselves: decentralized; somewhat haphazard; self-contained; aimed at enforcing a set of "quality of life" standards that are defined differently from place to place. In Silver Spring, Md., local officials support a hiring hall for immigrant workers. In neighboring Langley Park, also home to many immigrants, they do not


- The reasons for the perceived paralysis of national immigration policy are many, experts say: post-9/11 antiterror politics; deep conflicts within the ranks of both the Republican and Democratic Parties; and, not least, ambivalence among the general public, which opposes illegal immigration in principle but generally benefits from the low-cost services of those illegal workers - who mow lawns, clear tables, pack meat and dig holes for swimming pools.

- Local and state politics seems to be filling the gap. During a nasty Republican primary last month in the Suffolk County town of Brookhaven, which includes Farmingville, the two candidates for town supervisor vied to be known as the more hard-line anti-illegal-immigrant candidate.
One accepted the endorsement of a local organization that has labeled illegal immigrants terrorists. The other mailed a campaign flier that claimed "illegal immigrants are taking over our community" and "eroding our quality of life."
The slightly less strident candidate, Edward Hennessey, won that race, but the campaign raised the fear that immigrants will become scapegoats. "It's scary how readily some will attack immigrants, demonizing them, just to get votes," said Nadia Marin-Molina, director of the Workplace Project, a Long Island-based immigrant-advocate group.

coal companies and the common law

it is a rare day when a coal company is made to pay...

Virgie couple awarded nearly $1 million
BY RACHEL C. STANLEY (NEWS EDITOR)

A Pike County couple who accused a coal company of wrongfully mining their land were awarded nearly $1 million Monday in Pike Circuit Court.

According to court documents, a jury found that Premier Elkhorn Coal and TECO Coal, both based in Corbin, must pay $880,000 in punitive damages, as well as $88,000 in compensatory damages, to Bobby and Nell Ruth Spears of Virgie.

"I think this jury just wanted to say that everyone -individuals and coal companies - have to follow the law or pay the consequences," said the Spears' attorney, Herman Lester.

read the rest here.

every picture tells a story.

here is the retreat in (some) pictures.
click on the 'full post' link directly below...
.

talking circle

our community retreat was this past weekend.
we gathered at the beautiful Eloheh village.
this is our time saturday evening.
randy walked us through a time of communion and reflection.
(more pics to come)

effective mission

we have been at it for almost 7 years now.
we have been trying to put mission at the heart of our being the church. we have been intrigued with the idea that mission is the mother of theology (and, we might add, ecclesiology).
but i know i have often tried too hard and seen mission as the 'target' instead of the off-spring. too much self-awareness about being missional. it seems to me that we need a gentle urgency (as David Bosch put it) funded by an outward orientation. we have been at our best when we have acted on a courageous, intentional optimism about the ever expansive Kingdom of God.
in more recent years we have lived our way into a matrix of ideas and practices that include (but are no means restricted to): caring for the homeless people in our city through housing and lay social work, delivering meals to people suffering from AIDS, connecting our eating habits with local food production, welcoming and settling refugees, visiting with like-minded communities throughout north america and the world to stimulate reflection and foster solidarity, and partnering with local environmental and human rights activists. we just spent the weekend with friends committed to birthing a training and development complex to equip native american leaders (see more here).
this gaggle of experiences has formed us into a missional community.
we're still trying.
still failing.
tons more to learn...

This week i have been reading a book called Journeying Out by Ann Morisy and this quote (p.17) gets at what i have been learning:

"Effective mission is not achieved by giving it focal awareness. effective mission is a fruit - a gracious outcome of other factors working effectively and appropriately. This upends all our habits and assumptions. It means that effective mission is something that emerges as a result of looking and journeying outward rather than by means of a self-conscious and self-regarding process."

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

This coming Saturday there will be a walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and they need some volunteers. We are still in need of volunteers in the accounting room at Republic Bank. We ask that volunteers arrive at Republic Bank (3098 Helmsdown Place) at 8:30 a.m. and plan to stay until around noon. Responsibilities will include counting money and verifying information listed on walker collection envelopes (no official accounting skills necessary - don't worry). If you are interested in helping, please email me tpetriep@hotmail.com.

TP