free showing at the library

thanks to Dave Cooper for the following information....get down there if you can and perhaps someone can post a review/response.

The classic 1977 strip mining documentary film "In Memory of the Land
and People" will be screened tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 7:00 at the
downtown Lexington Public Library Theater. Admission is free,
sponsored by Lexington Environmental Action Project and Mountain
Justice Summer.

Following the film, filmmaker Bob Gates from Charleston, West Virginia
will lead a discussion and Q&A about his film.

I highly recommend seeing this unforgettable film.

More:

Jim Webb, Station Manager of Appalshop’s WMMT-FM radio station says "I
will never have words for what that film did to me. It changed my
life…It broke my heart. I have not seen this movie in over 20 years but
I remember it indelibly. No one has seen it in way too long."

"Gates has expressively woven the visual action with the deep feelings
and dark furies of the music of 20th Century composer Bela Bartok, as
well as with the simple, melodic folk songs of Mike Kline and Rich
Kirby," said Greg Carannante, of Mountain Call.

"Unlike many documentaries, Gates's presentation includes no script or
narration. Rather, it is composed of a series of striking visual
images, skillfully photographed and artistically integrated. The voices
heard in the film are those of people who reside in regions where strip
mining has taken place, and describe in their own words its devastating
effects on their land and lives," said Elizabeth Lawrence, an
anthropologist at Tufts University.

The film has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and at
hearings held by the late Congressman Leo J. Ryan on Capitol Hill.
Most recently, the film was featured at the Appalachian Studies
Association 2007 annual conference in Maryville, Tennessee.

Gates says “When I was filming the crossing of Interstate 80 by the
"Mountaineer" shovel at the climax of the film, someone said to me over
my shoulder ‘It is a good thing these cannot operate in West Virginia’.
I said ‘just wait’.”

Dave Cooper
The Mountaintop Removal Road Show
http://www.mountainroadshow.com/

a sort of death

since being here in melbourne sherry and i have enjoyed reading 'the monthly' magazine - a literature/news journal. this month clive hamilton has a small but interesting piece about consumerism and global warming. here's a clip from the website...

In the Monthly Comment, Clive Hamilton argues that the real obstacle to addressing global warming in Australia is not technological, nor even ideological, but psychological. The challenge demands, he argues, not so much a substantial cut in the nation’s wealth – something which climate-change sceptics have maintained – as a complete redress of the way in which we all consume, and hence in our very identity.

“In consumer societies such as ours, consumption activity is the primary means by which we create an identity and sustain a sense of self. If, in order to solve climate change, we are asked to change the way we consume, then we are being asked to change who we are – to experience a sort of death. So desperately do we cling to our manufactured selves that perhaps we fear relinquishing them more than we fear the consequences of climate change.”

...also, as a special father's day treat sherry took me to see the documentary, "a crude awakening: the oil crash" (don't we know how to have fun!)

it's kind of "the inconvenient Al" movie for peak oil. very informative and worth catching with that special person. but ride your bike to the theatre.

lessons about neighborhood

recently, geoff and i had the pleasure of meeting a professor at whitley college of divinity in melbourne named simon carey holt. he teaches spirituality and practical theology. on the side he's a chef, husband and father. he's just published a book, "god next door: spirituality & mission in the neigbourhood." it is an excellent book and we highly recommend it (although i'm not certain if it is available outside oz). from it we are learning alot as he is providing us with a well-researched, well-thought out missional and theological framework for the way we live in our neighborhoods, with our neighbors. in reading it, we can't help but think of the faithfulness of our friends in communality who are occupying places in lexington with a hope and life that seeks the shalom and well-being of the city.

here is an excerpt in which simon summaries the spirituality of neighborliness in scripture:

1. love of god and love of neighbour are a package

2. to love the neighbour is to act justly, compassionately and selflessly

3. real neighborliness is inclusive and offered without prejudice

4. the neighbourhood is a place of god's presence

5. the neighbourhood is an important place of ministry

6. neighbourliness and neighbourhood continue to have an important connection (the primacy of our most imediate environments)

better people

we had posted this on our personal blog but thought it deserved the higher calling of an ashram post. a great song by xavier rudd (a folk instrumentalist/singer from melbourne).
it inspired us to be 'better people'

night with the psalters

what a fun wednesday night at the browns! i love that picture of ezekiel. he was sitting patiently in that chair in the front row for a while before the psalters even started playing. that's dedication. thanks again, brown family. thanks to the psalters. we had a great crowd.

transport for refugees

check out this wonderful article about refugees and bicycles
make sure you follow the link to see and hear the slideshow and commentary...(CG and Lis have their place featured also).

brad flowers has done outstanding work in applying his faith to seek the welfare of his (our) city of Lexington. we feel encouraged and inspired by the communality tribe and the many and varied ways they all engage faithfully in service and compassion, no matter what their day jobs.

see the following links for more articles that feature BF in relation to bike advocacy..
bike trail advocacy
yellow bike program
yellow bike program 2
"the ride on vine"

good words from merton

"Give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace. Give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens. And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love. Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for the sake of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone.

For there is only one thing that can satisfy love and reward it, and that is You alone."

Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation. New York: New Directions Press, 1961: 45.

Burning My Prayers

One night, I needed a tangible way to get rid of some of the things with which I was struggling. This was my offering of prayer to the Lord.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Take these burdens from my back.

Burn them in fire,

and let them retire.

Somewhere in eternity.

In nomine Patris,

et Filii,

et Spiritus Sancti,

Amen.

the credo community's lord's prayer

recently we visited an inner city ministry called urban seed in melbourne. they gather on tuesdays before lunch to worship and then they have a meal together. it is open to everyone and they welcome homeless folk and friends with mental illness. it is more than a safe space. it is a place where people find relationship, healing and dignity. here is their own version of the lord's prayer -

"God, our creator, provider and carer
You are the best and the fairest

We are committed to searching out and
living the way that you want us to

Help us not to worry about the future
and to share what we have with others

Forgive us when we destroy life
and teach us to create life instead

Give us courage to choose to forgive
those who hurt us

Be with us in our time of need
and help us not to give up

Our safety and life is in you"

Blessed are the peacemakers

we appreciate keeping up with sean and rebecca gladding from mercy street. sean wrote this reflection for a weekly newsletter.

It seems that all things British made the front page of the Chronicle last week. What with the Queen’s first visit to the US in quite some time and Prime Minister Tony Blair announcing his resignation, I felt a twinge of homesickness most days. I remember sitting in a friend’s living room in Lubbock ten years ago watching the electoral votes come in that swept Blair’s “New Labour” into power – a new day was dawning in the U.K. But a decade later, much of the shine of that new day has worn off, and no doubt his legacy will be questioned by historians for years to come.
However, another story from the U.K. grabbed my attention more than either the Queen’s or the Prime Minister’s. This story could be found at the back of the Chronicle, in the International section. It was accompanied by a photograph I thought I would never see. A simple photograph, two men shaking hands. But two men who represent the opposing sides in a decades long, community dividing conflict. Ian Paisley of the Ulster Unionists, and Martin McGuinness of the Provisional I.R.A. – sworn enemies, now sharing power in co-governing Northern Ireland. Maybe that photograph will prove to be Tony Blair’s legacy.
Space does not allow me to go into the history of ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, that period beginning in the ‘70s. The religious divide – disenfranchised Catholic Republicans fighting pro-British Protestant ‘loyalists’ – literally pitted neighbour against neighbour. The violence and terrorism committed by both sides took so many lives, and not just “over there.” I remember bomb scares in my hometown as a young lad. My dad’s brother – my uncle Clive – was in an armored car destroyed by an IRA-planted landmine that killed everyone else inside, but which he survived, blown out of the turret. And this tragic scenario is being played out all over the globe: Sunni’s and Shi’a’s in Iraq; Israeli’s and Palestinians in the Middle East; Christians and Muslims in the Balkans; Darfur, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Timor…the list goes on and on.
That’s why that photo grabbed me. Because if Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness can find a way to sit down at the table and work together (largely due to Tony Blair’s tireless work), then maybe, just maybe, it’s possible that peace might be made in these other places. It is the tragedy of humanity that so much of the conflict in the world is fueled by religion – in the words of one of my favourite punk bands from the 80s, “worshiping the devil in the name of God.” Those who claim to be ‘children of God’ waging war, bombing, torturing, murdering others – all in the name of God, claiming God’s blessing. Jesus’ words cut to the heart of that lie: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Peacemakers. Not just violence avoiders. But those who work for peace. Whether quietly in their own family, or neighbourhood, or at the international level. God’s desire is for all of us to know shalom, God’s peace – God’s wholeness. And that peace is most often made one decision at a time – one choice at a time. In a world torn apart by tribal, ethnic, national and family violence, may you and I be those who make peace – may we become children of God.
See you on the Street this Saturday,
Until then – keep it weird!
Peace,
Sean

Mother's Day Proclamation

Retrieved from "wikipedia"

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts, Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says:
"Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice." Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means Whereby the great human family can live in peace, Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask That a general congress of women without limit of nationality May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient And at the earliest period consistent with its objects, To promote the alliance of the different nationalities, The amicable settlement of international questions, The great and general interests of peace.

a theology of land

sherry and i have been working on better understanding what it means to be stewards of the land. mary fisher has helped us with a reading list and we are inspired to know about the greenhouse project in lexington that some of you are working in. we feel like these issues are critical right now as climate change begins to effect how food is grown across the planet.

this article from today's melbourne newspaper (the age) touches on these questions.
from the end of the article:

"We can't allow this to be thought of strictly as an economic or technological problem. We really have to think hard ... of what kind of role we want our agriculture to play in the future," said Paul Thompson, WK Kellogg chair in agriculture, food and community ethics at Michigan State University. Regional climate change effects on land and water also mean conflicts will be complex and have to be negotiated, resolved and debated within a regional and global context.
"It's really rethinking what land is beyond simply a productive factor in producing crops. Land has become a much more precious commodity - so the question is, how do you maximise the use of the land?" Spellman said.

click here to read the full piece...

Contemplation on Development

I am, within myself, a shade of infidelity,
a pall blowing in the winds of development,
refusing to be laid over the coffins of childhood and adolescence.
I stand with spades of decision round about.
I am plunging my hands knuckle deep into rich soil,
yet refusing to dig the six needed feet.
I am found at the place where children's night ends
and the morning sun of adulthood drops its rays onto my grave;
I stand in the dusk of between, not knowing how to mourn my own death.

good news for gardeners

we came across this bbc article and thought it might be of interest to those in communality digging deeper into the soil this spring.

see this link

more of dave andrews

slowly but surely i am reading through dave andrew's book, "not religion but love - practising a radical spirituality of compassion" with a women's group here in oz. the book contains pointed insights based on years of his experience of community life. the chapter on "breaking barriers of spitefulness" was a difficult one for me to read. i'm still convinced that spite is not only justifed at times, but it actually feels good. here's what dave thinks:

"Christ says we must give, forgive, and suffer, till we have exhausted our reserves; then ask God for the strength to give, forgive, and suffer some more. We are to give - as long as it meets someone's need. We are to forgive - as long as it sets someone free. We are to suffer - as long as our suffering creates the chance for a human being to be born again. We have reached the limits of the usefulness of our giving, forgiving, and suffering, only when our giving and forgiving makes us irritable, our suffering makes us resentful, or our generosity makes others incorrigible. If we become irritable or resentful, Christ said we must pray for grace to extend our capacity to give and forgive, in spite of how much we may have to suffer (Luke 6:32-36)."

(sherry)