keep our commitments

speaking of justice...check out this link associated with the ONE campaign:

http://www.one.org/keepourcommitments//index.html

...and please send an email to McCain and Obama about this critical issue.

a word about injustice

Just before Pete and I returned to the states from Southeast Asia, a friend asked if we had ever heard of International Justice Missions.  At the time, they had a position open in Thailand, and our friends were trying to tempt us to look into...hoping we would choose to stay in Southeast Asia.  We looked the job up, but didn't feel it was the right time to pursue it.  However, I admit that I have checked out their job board several times in the last month...hey, we miss being overseas!  But we've bought a house to safeguard ourselves from making any rushed decisions.  For now, we are back in Kentucky.  But my main reason for telling you all of this, is that I just discovered that IJM has a blogsite.  It posts updates on injustice issues around the world, even including internationals within the USA who are victims of injustice.  Since Communality is a community interested in justice, I thought I would let you all know of this blogsite:  www.ijminstitute.org  

  Their mission as stated on the blog: "International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.  IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local governments to ensure victim rescue, to prosecute perpetrators and to strengthen the community and civic factors that promote functioning public justice systems."

fully human

it is such a joy to be hosting mary fisher in lexington.  she has been more than generous with her time; talking with us about politics and jesus. last night, she shared her insights into the triune god and mission, this as part of a placed people occasional school.  tonight she will join us for our discipleship groups where we will talk about the fact that truth is essentially relation (embodied).

mary has many things to teach us as a biblical scholar, theologian, and grounded missionary.  one of the things that is most compelling to me is her insight into personhood and the social nature of being properly human.  this, she contends, flows from an understanding that creator god is triune and delights in meeting us where we are.  to be caught up in the life of such a god is to take on those outwardly oriented, self-sacrificial traits.  god knows that we long to be in communion with creation, each other, and with god's self.

jumping to another wonderful communicator....mark sayers is a remarkable student of our times.  his post today about hugh hefner entitiled, 'a very lonely playboy' adds weight to mary's insights.  well worth reading along with his post about 'the unadulterated pleasure of limits'.

(geoff)

a great night

more 'ordinary radicals' stuff...

in case you missed it, this article was in our local paper over the weekend.

http://www.kentucky.com/158/story/552241.html

10/16 Film Fundraiser: "The Ordinary Radicals"

BIG REMINDER - get the word out and bring everyone you can

WHAT:

The Ordinary Radicals: A Conspiracy of Faith on the Margins of Empire

a fundraiser for Kentucky Refugee Ministries

WHEN:

7 p.m. - 10 p.m. Thursday

October 16th

WHERE:

Kentucky Theater

214 East Main Street

Lexington

Tickets are $7.50 each.  Purchase tickets in advance by calling 859.231.7924 or 859.231.6997

DETAILS:

This full-length documentary film is a fundraiser for Kentucky Refugee Ministries to help with their work settling refugees in central Kentucky.  The film's director, Jamie Moffet, will be present for live interview and Q & A after the showing.

Click here to view the film's trailer.

In the margins of the United States, there lives a revolutionary Christianity.  One with a quiet disposition that seeks to do 'small things with great love,' and in so doing is breaking 21st Century stereotypes surrounding this 2000 year old faith. 'The Ordinary Radicals' is set against the modern American political and social backdrop of the next Great Awakening. Traveling across the United States on a tour to promote the book 'Jesus for President', Shane Claiborne and a rag-tag group of 'ordinary radicals' interpret Biblical history and its correlation with the current state of American politics. Sharing a relevant outlook for people with all faith perspectives, director Jamie Moffett examines this growing movement.

Featuring Interviews with:

Shane Claiborne - Author, "The Irresistible Revolution" and Co-Author of "Jesus For President"

Chris Haw - Co-Author, "Jesus For President"

Tony Campolo - Author, "Red Letter Christians"

Jim Wallis - Author, "God's Politics" and "The Great Awakening"

Brian McLaren - Author, "Everything Must Change" and "The Secret Message of Jesus"

John Perkins - Author, "Let Justice Roll Down" and "Beyond Charity"

Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove - "New Monasticism" and "Free To Be Bound"

Donald Kraybill - Author, "Amish Grace", "The Upside-Down Kingdom" and "The Riddle of Amish Culture"

Bruce Main - Author, "Spotting the Sacred"

Ron Sider - Author, "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" and "The Scandal of Evangelical Politics"

Brian Walsh - Author, "Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire"

Zack Exley - Writer, "Revolution in Jesusland" and the pioneering organizer for Moveon.org

Leroy Barber - President of MissionYear and featured in the book "unChristian"

Peter Illyn - Contributor, "The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Your World" and featured in: "The New Conspirators"

Becky Garrison - Author, "Red and Blue God" and "The New Atheist Crusaders"

Rick Perlstein - Author, "Nixonland"

Lisa Sharon Harper - Playwright, and Executive Director of NY Faith & Justice

 

SPONSORS:

Communality

One Horizon Foundation

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bill Kenney
(859) 233-9777

Politics and Radical Inclusion

I've been thinking more about politics this year than ever before, thanks in large part to being immersed in a community of such thoughtful people. This is the first election cycle here I've been more than a casual observer and participant. (Ok, I'm still a casual participant, but I'm observing much more intentionally.) And I'm trying to figure out how to hold opinions thoughtfully and strongly while holding more tightly to the people whom I love and respect, and to the character of Christ which we try to cultivate in our community.

At our fellowship time last Sunday, our friend Will led us in a discussion of politics. What do we think of politics? How does the process make us feel? How does our participation in the body of Christ affect (and effect) our political involvement? One text we discussed was Matthew 18, and how Jesus' instruction to treat those who sin against us "as Gentiles and tax collectors" is actually a call for radical inclusion (since Jesus tended to hang out with Gentiles and tax collectors). I wondered how such radical inclusion would shape the manner and content of our increasingly polarized political discourse. Can we have close friends and family who vote differently? How do we relate to someone who believes passionately about something with which we disagree? What hope is there for us to journey together towards those goals we share in common?

A friend, who's a lifelong and rabid (er, devoted) fan of the University of Georgia, said something which struck me as quite insightful. "So many people," he commented, "seem to be Democrats or Republicans the same way that I'm a Dawgs fan." It's a great analogy, startling in its clarity and evocation of an almost blind devotion to a certain allegiance. While this is entirely appropriate in the realm of sports (Go Cowboys [despite Terrell Owens]!!), it's hardly conducive to thoughtful political conversation. How do we, as participants in the kingdom of God, reduce the stridency of our discourse and genuinely seek that radical inclusion that we find in Scripture?

I have definite opinions, some of which I've posted about at Temperance Girl. And in all fairness, this post and this post I did on Palin weren't exactly moderate in nature. (Although this post about Obama and McCain had a much more conciliatory tone.) How do we dialogue meaningfully and graciously? I'm not sure. I don't have a tidy theological answer. What I do have are 2 close, close friends and several family members who will certainly make a different choice on Nov. 4th than I will make. And I'm committed to them, just as committed as to the folks with whom I largely agree. I don't hate them, they don't hate me. We love and respect each other. How do we find the courage to sit down with someone and say, "Tell me why I should care about this issue. Tell me why you are voting for this person. I may not agree, but I want to know. And I'm really listening." And how do we have the grace to answer this question, not with arrogance and hubris, but with a passion tempered by humility?

What do we do?

Sober update from China....

Today Greg and I got the opportunity to travel to the north of Chengdu to the rural outlying areas of Sichuan Province ravaged by the recent earthquake. It was a remarkable and sobering experience that I know we will never forget. About 90,000 people were killed in the earthquake. Tens of thousands more lost their homes and are still living in makeshift shelters or temporary housing provided by the government. We visited the village of Bai Hua where 700 people were killed including 7 children at the local school that we are helping to rebuild through an OHF sponsored fundraising intiative. The village of Bai Hua was actually fortunate to lose only seven children as many other village schools lost staggering numbers of young people (the earthquake hit in the middle of the school day). As the photographs below indicate, the village school at Bai Hua took a direct hit but managed to stand; I thank God for that one gift amidst the tragedy. Observing the badly damaged building Greg remarked that is was like the "building gave up its life to save those inside it"-yes it did, thank God. The force of this earthquake was astounding, causing whole sides of surrounding mountains to collapse into the valleys below, sometimes crashing down on homes. I have never seen anything like this is my life. It was incredibly humbling. I thought a lot about my young daughter Miranda as I looked at the crushed remains of the school wash room where the children died. How do you process something like this? One very bright ray of hope was that we actually happened to visit on the day when they were celebrating breaking ground for the new school that is going to be built. It was a really serendipitous confluence of events and a great way to wind up a challenging visit like this one. I'm really glad that we're making an investment in the recovery of this village and the people who live there. They are amazingly strong and resilent people who have really inspired me to keep going in this work...it is not always easy.


Children lined up to celebrate ground-breaking ceremony for new school


This is me examining a large crack in the wall of a classroom...unbelievable....


Astounding....whole sides of mountains collapsed..this is one of the smaller ones...


A local plant that was completely flattened by the earthquake.......


The school building that truly did give its life to save the occupants.....


Major cracks in the first story of the building...but it held.....


The remains of the school washroom where 7 children died


A local villager who gave Greg the "thumbs up"....a great moment of human connection

Update from China.....

Greg and are wrapping up the first week of our trip to China. It has been an amazing experience thus far and I thought that I would share a few quick details. We flew to Shanghai from Atlanta and then on to Chengdu in Sichuan province. We spent a couple of days in Chengdu and then flew for the weekend up to the Tibetan Plateau to the north of the Himalayas. We literally landed on top of a mountain that had been converted to a runway.....no real descent, the mountains coming up to meet the plane.....incredible views. We then hurried off to Yellow Dragon Mountain, speeding dizzily through switchbacks to heights approaching 16 thousand feet...a pretty harrowing drive, Greg got motion sick....pretty rough night but recovered well. We spent the whole next day touring Jiuzhaigou nationa park...really beautiful, spectacular views, lakes, and forests....got to spend some time with some of the ethnic Tibetans, lots of great food like Yak meat, spicy eels, indigenous vegetables, mushrooms, and other things....we flew back to Chengdu today and will be here tomorrow and then going up to the village of Bai Hua Thursday to see the earthquake devastation and try to assess some of the work we're trying to do there-then it will be on to Beijing, Shanghai, and back home. I think we've had a good balance of business and team/relationship building for OHF...talking about our future as we're awed by nature, daunted by the complexity and scope of development, and struggling to put into perspective catastrophic natural disasters like 90,000 dead in the Sichuan earthquake...we're deeply thankful for this opporunity and for your support.....keep praying for us....look forward to seeing you all soon.....

mountain film fest

this looks like a great opportunity...

the green bible

this wonderful edition of that old favorite (the bible) is now being released.  just the right thing for 'the people of the book' in these times.

congratulations to matthew who has written the introduction...other essays in this bible by such luminaries as N. T. Wright, Barbara Brown Taylor, Brian McLaren, Matthew Sleeth, Pope John Paul II, and Wendell Berry.

"Ordinary Radicals" premiere in Lexington!

At 7pm on Thursday, October 16 Communality will be sponsoring a viewing of the movie "The Ordinary Radicals" at the Kentucky Theatre in downtown Lexington. The viewing will be from 7-9pm followed by a live Q&A with the director Jamie Moffet and a short presentation from our good friends at Kentucky Refugee Ministries. But here is the best part about it. This viewing is going to double as a fundraiser for KRM with 100% of the proceeds from the $7.50 tickets going to KRM! This is a fantastic opportunity for us to put our faith into action while we explore together what God is doing anew in America through "ordinary radicals." Please help us sell this theatre out and spread the word about what God is doing through ordinary people all across America. You can view the trailer for "The Ordinary Radicals" here:

http://www.theordinaryradicals.com

You can contact the Kentucky Theatre at 231-7924 or 231-6997 for tickets....please republish this post on your own blog if you want or spread the word at your own local church/group.....I have posters if you need them

sunday night

here are a couple of recent pics from our life together in communality.  these are from one of our sunday night gatherings.

Atta Boy, Obama; Atta Boy, McCain

There are already so many posts about this year's presidential race; there's so much to process in this inevitably historic year. But in the midst of all the politics as usual, there are moments of true graciousness and statesmanship -- on both sides -- that bear highlighting and commendation. Here are two.

**********************************************************
Example #1: When Obama's acceptance of the Democratic nomination fell on the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, McCain aired a TV ad congratulating Obama on this historic moment. Watch it here.

**********************************************************
Example #2: When Gov. Palin announced that her 17 yr old daughter is expecting, Obama adamantly denounced the media's involving families in the campaign tactics, and wasn't afraid to name the similarities between the Palins' situation and his own childhood.

"We don't go after people's families. We don't get them involved in the politics. It's not appropriate and it's not relevant. Our people were not involved in any way in this and they will not be. And if I ever thought there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they'd be fired," Obama said.

Obama also said: "This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories."

"You know, my mother had me when she was 18. And how families deal with issues and teenage children - that shouldn't be the topic of our politics," Obama said.

Good on ya', both of you.

in this world (words from thomas merton)

Christians are now asking themselves curious questions about something called the "world." Should they revile it as their fathers did? Should they renounce it as monks do? Should they love it as it loves itself? Should they enter into dialogue with it, as the Pope has dialogues with all kinds of people not excluding Russians? Or, in the long run, should they frankly admit that they are part of the world and start from there? What is this world? Does it exist at all?

We must begin by frankly admitting that the first place in which to go looking for the world is not outside us but in ourselves. We are the world. In the deepest ground of our being we remain in metaphysical contact with the whole of that creation in which we are only small parts. Through our senses and our mind, our loves, needs, and desires, we are implicated, without possibility of evasion, in this world of matter and of [human beings], of things and of persons, which not only affect us and change our lives but are also affected and changed by us. From the moment we sit down at the table and put a piece of bread in our mouths, we see that we are in the world and cannot be otherwise than in it, until the day we die. The question, then, is not to speculate about how we are to contact the world-as if we were somehow in outer space-but how to validate our relationship, give it a fully honest and human significance, and make it truly productive and worthwhile for our world.

Thomas Merton. Love and Living. Naomi Burton Stone and Brother Patrick Hart, editors. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1979: 106.