September 21, 2009 at 9:37 pm (Chicago, Christians, peace)

Today, we mark the International Day of Prayer for Peace, joining with other Churches of the Brethren and people of faith across the world. 

The timing of this hallowed day is poignant. Within the span of a month, running from late August through mid-September, our nation mourned three anniversaries of events over the past decade that have profoundly shifted our understandings of ourselves and the human species.

  • Eight years ago, we witnessed planes crash on September the 11th, from the horrific attack of fundamentalist terrorists, ushering in a new paradigm in the way we understand religion and warfare in America.
  • Five years ago, we witnessed hurricane flood waters pour through cities and homes around the Gulf Coast, devastating historic New Orleans, ushering in a new paradigm in the way we understand race and the environment in America.
  • One year ago, we witnessed the implosion of financial institutions, banks and insurance companies and housing markets, ushering in a new paradigm in the way we understand the economy in America.

 All these collapses happened in this end-of-summer season.   And all these have dramatically changed the human experience in our nation, changed the ways we experience conflict and violence and oppression and survival and healing – paradigm shifts we cannot turn back from. All these things reflect the new face of an ancient yearning: the world’s need for true, lasting peace: for shalom in our city, in every city, in the peaceful image of the city of God. 

 And so we collect our prayers for peace. We perceive the immensity of the world and its pain, and we do our small piece.  We know that if and when every soul prays fervently for peace, and prays that peace into existence in their own lives, that on that day, war shall be no more.   When each one lets go of striving to fix the entire world and instead simply says, “Let peace begin with me,” then peace on Earth will be made, one step and billions of prayers at a time.  Let it be.

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Prayer

from the worship service Sunday, September 20,

at Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren, Elgin, Illinois

 

God of life, eternal,

we join the many others, Christians and other people of faith,

across this country and around the Earth,

in lifting our prayers to you for peace –

peace in our hearts and spirits,

peace in our homes,

peace in our neighborhoods,

peace among nations.

 

We pray especially today

for the shalom of our city here in Elgin.

 -

We pray for strength and clarity of purpose,

for all those surviving and escaping violence and abuse

in their homes and families,

that they know they do not deserve abuse

no matter who they are.

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“We seek your shalom, O God.”

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We pray for our youth to withstand the glorification of violence

by the military in their schools,

and that all our youth be empowered

to choose peaceful vocations for their futures.

-

“We seek your shalom, O God.”

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We pray for the many among us hit hard by the financial recession,

struggling with sudden changes

and an uncertain world.

-

“We seek your shalom, O God.”

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We pray for those who are hungry and homeless in our community,

that they may be nourished in body and in spirit.

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“We seek your shalom, O God.”

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We pray for the healing of our ailing health care system,

that the needs of real human bodies

might take precedence over the wrangling of parties and policies.

-

“We seek your shalom, O God.”

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We pray for immigrants to this land,

that they might be welcomed just as warmly

as all our ancestors were when they arrived here,

and that together we might celebrate

the ever-changing face and the immutable character of our nation.

-

“We seek your shalom, O God.”

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We pray for people of faith and people of doubts

across the city of Elgin and the Chicago area,

that we might partner with them in the ministries our community needs

and that we might be empowered to share our peace witness with them, as well.

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“We seek your shalom, O God.”

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We pray for climate justice for our world,

radiating out from Washington, D.C.

and our brethren and sisters lobbying there this weekend,

and also from this place,

through the commitment of people in this town

to leaving a whole, healthier planet Earth for coming generations.

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“We seek your shalom, O God.”

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We pray for our fellow citizens

displaced by natural disaster and human neglect,

that their plight might not be forgotten as quickly

as the evening news cycle moves on.

-

 “We seek your shalom, O God.”

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We pray for victims of racial intolerance,

sexual harassment, and religious persecution,

that our nation’s history and our individual ambitions

might never be used to block us from seeing the humanity

within each of our neighbors.

-

“We seek your shalom, O God.”

-

We pray for our sisters and brothers

across the world and across the street,

in every place where ‘hatred rages and wars defile the land,’

that we might listen to their stories

and weave them into our own,

to build a different future, together.

-

“We seek your shalom, O God.”

-

We pray for ourselves,

that we might find peace in our hearts and homes,

in our minds and bodies,

so that we might be prepared

to be instruments of your justice, mercy, and love.

-

“We seek your shalom, O God.”

-

God, we pray for deep, abiding love of peace.

We pray for wisdom to know the ways of peace.

We pray for strength and courage

to look into the depths of violence and pain

and take that reality into account in our lives.

We pray that you guide us in shaping

a true city of God,

that takes in the whole world,

and is founded in deep, deep shalom – salaam – paz – peace.

In the name of the Prince of Peace, our Christ,

Amen.

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The New Ten Commandments

August 5, 2009 at 8:24 pm (Christians)

[Based on a poll in the United Kingdom]

Treat others as you would have them treat you

Take responsibility for your actions

Do not kill

Be honest

Do not steal

Protect and nurture children

Protect the environment

Look after the vulnerable

Never be violent

Protect your family

- Peter K Stevenson & Stephen I Wright, Preaching the Atonement [Westminster John Knox]

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“Out in the Silence”

July 17, 2009 at 3:20 am (Christians, Family, homosexuality, religion)
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This looks like an interesting documentary exploring one small town’s various approaches to inclusion (and exclusion). Here’s the trailer:

“It’s about what small town values really mean.”

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Movies for Churches

July 14, 2009 at 2:14 am (Christians, Movies, art, church)
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Here is an (occasionally-annotated) list of some of the A Team’s top recommendations for movies to show with church groups – movies with meaning, that are also worthwhile for all ages to watch.  Add your own suggestions, please!
1. The Straight Story, by David Lynch

2. Freedom Writers

3. The Vernon Jones Story
James Earl Jones delivers a tour-de-force performance as courageous civil rights leader Vernon Johns. Spurred to action when two parishioners are brutally attacked in racially motivated incidents, Johns — a church deacon — uses his power and charisma to begin the battle for equality that will reverberate for decades. Mary Alice, Joe Seneca, Clifton James and Cissy Houston provide first-rate support in this inspiring true story.

4. The Visitor

5. A Lesson Before Dying

6. Praying with Lior?
Lior Liebling, a Jewish boy with Down syndrome, spends his days praying endlessly to God, much to the delight — and occasional befuddlement — of those around him. Follow Lior, nicknamed “the little rebbe,” as he approaches his bar mitzvah. Ilana Trachtman’s coming-of-age documentary paints a touching portrait of a family, while raising tough questions about notions of faith and disability.

7. Millions (faith)

8. Amazing Grace (good parallels re modern abolition movements)

9. A Man for All Seasons

10. Sarafina!
Whoopi Goldberg stars in this inspirational story about a girl battling the oppression of apartheid in South Africa. Schoolgirl Sarafina lives in Soweto. Her mother lives in Johannesburg, where she works for a white family. Missing her mother, Sarafina puts her energy into fighting for freedom. When police shoot and kill protesting students, Sarafina is arrested as a demonstrator and must face prison and torture.

11. Catch a Fire

12. Cry the Beloved Country

13. The Power of One

14. Life is Beautiful (with older children)

15. Iron-Jawed Angels – Some gruesome scenes but well worth it for the reminders about how hard our foremothers fought for the civil rights we now take for granted.

16. Rabbit-Proof Fence

17. Hairspray! – A musical that’s just as socially-progressive as it is fun to watch!

18. Beautiful Boxer – If your church can handle a gorgeous movie about a trans Thai kickboxing champion.

19. Fast Food Nation and Food Inc.  – Why aren’t churches that practice communion as one of their central rituals not more active in discussions about food safety and health????

20. Renewal – Great documentary with short segments about different faith communities (not all Christians) doing what they can for the Earth.  Easy to watch in parts, easy to discuss.

21. Eyes on the Prize – series

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Reposting: Resource for Women of Faith

July 8, 2009 at 2:29 am (Christians, Feminisms)

Sounds like a good excuse for a trip to Minnesota….

Hi All -

I hope this email finds you all well.  There are many exciting things happening within the emerging church world these days, including more and more women’s voices being heard.  I am blessed to be a part of this community where we encourage and seek to learn from each other, and as women stand up and add our voice to this emerging conversation.  So for this summer’s newsletter, I wanted to highlight a few ways we can connect with each other and listen to women’s voices.

1. First, I am excited to invite everyone to the upcoming event Christianity 21.

Christianity 21: Faith in the 21st Century

21 Voices

21 Ideas

21 Minutes Each

We live in a time of epochal change.

Many find this change exciting; for others, it’s a challenge. Call it globalization, pluralization, or postmodernism, this change affects our economy, politics, government, and education—all of society. And, of course, our faith and our churches are not immune to change.

So we have gathered 21 of the most important voices for the future of Christianity—21 voices for the 21st century—to speak into our future as people of faith in this age. They represent a diverse array of backgrounds, interests, and passions, and they will provide a wide range of innovative and challenging presentations.

Christianity21 is less a conference and more a happening, an event—a gathering of voices and ideas that will shape the future of our faith. And to the 21 voices, we want you to add your voice, whether you’re a seeker or skeptic, leader or layperson, disciple or doubter.

We hope you consider joining your voice to ours at Christianity21.

Friday, October 9 – Sunday, October 11 2009
Colonial Church of Edina
6200 Colonial Way
Minneapolis, MN 55436

This is an event where women’s voices are prominently featured – including a number of women from the Emerging Women community.  Speakers include Phyllis Tickle, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Diana Butler Bass, Lauren Winner, Sally Morganthaler, Nanette Saywer and more.  This event will be a time to dig deep into exploring the future of Christianity and of casting a hope-filled vision to seek together.  I am excited to be a part of this event and to learn from these women.  I encourage everyone here to try and attend – adding your voice to the conversation.

For more information and to register visit www.christianity21.com

2. I also encourage you to help us connect to what emerging women are doing everywhere.  If you stumble upon a good article, blog post, book, poem, story or sermon that you think other emerging women should know about, please send us the link or information so we can share it on the website (emergingwomen.us).  And especially if you have published a book or article, have a new album out, or an upcoming art show – we want to know about it!  To learn from each other and to encourage each other, we need to know what is happening in each other’s lives.  So please, help us all to connect by sending in these suggestions to emergingwomen@gmail.com

3.  In addition, the Emerging Women blog is always eager to post your submissions.  We are a member driven blog, so that means the content is created by you.  So if you have an article, reflection piece, review, question, current event story, poem, story, or theological insight that addresses emerging topics or issues women face please submit it to our blog (to emergingwomen@gmail.com).  You don’t have to be a published author, or even have your own blog, we just want your voice to be heard!  We ask that submissions try to stay under 800 words and that you submit a short (1-2 sentence) bio we can include with your post.  This past spring we had a great series on perspectives on sex as we heard from a wide spectrum of emerging women.  There will be similar series in the future, but submissions on any topic are welcome to be submitted whenever.

I hope to connect with many of you in conversation on the blog and hopefully see some of you in person at Christianity 21.  Thank you for being a part of this community and for helping encourage women to use their voice.

Blessings

p.s.  If you haven’t updated your links with the new blog address yet, please change them to www.emergingwomen.com

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EARTH DAY BLESSING OF THE BIKES

May 7, 2009 at 6:39 pm (Chicago, Christians, Church of the Brethren, Schule und Kirche, bikes, cars, church, ecology, peace, religion)

Inaugural Festivity held at Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren

Elgin, Illinois – 22 April 2009

Liturgy by Audrey deCoursey

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 As we gather today, the words of the prophet Jeremiah ring in our ears:

“Thus says the Lord: I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination… Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water…Return, faithless Israel, says the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the Lord; I will not be angry forever… Return, O faithless children.” (Jer. 2: 7, 12-13; Jer. 3: 12b, 14a)

We confess that too long, humans have decimated the land and distanced ourselves from our Creator God. North American lifestyles have been particularly destructive.

But today is a day to celebrate solutions. We join with millions of people around the world, all celebrating ways that can return to right relationship with our Creator, in their own local communities. Here, we have chosen to lift up the modes of transportation we have come to rely upon, and use this Earth Day as an opportunity to recommit ourselves to safety and sustainability in this one important facet of our lives.

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(SOME) BEATITUDES OF URBAN TRANSIT

Blessed are the bicyclists, who travel as commuters or for pleasure, who harness human energy and ingenuity to power their travel along roads and trails.

Blessed are the pedestrians, who feel the contours of the land under their feet with every step.

Blessed are the bus and train passengers, who ride shoulder to shoulder with strangers who become brothers and sisters on their daily journeys.

Blessed are the motorists who drive with care and caution, showing mercy to their fellow travelers on the road.

Blessed are the truck drivers, the train conductors, the bus drivers, whose daily labor connects us with new resources, new places, and new communities.

Blessed are you when you breathe fresh air, drink clean water, observe blossoming flowers, and yearn to create a world where every person can share in such delights, for you shall be called children of God.

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BLESSING OF THE BICYCLES

(Unison) Creator God, please watch over each of us, your people. Empower us to honor the legacy of Earth’s abundance that we have inherited from our ancestors. Help us to build communities that are safe and healthy for every one of the beings you have created. Inspire us to envision societies that will sustain life for generations to come. We place our faith in you, God, not in our own power to control or exploit.

Tonight, O God, please bless the bicycles brought to this place. May their riders be kept safe; may they be strengthened in body and spirit; may their lives further reflect commitment to stewardship of your Creation; and may the wind that blows in their hair and faces ever remind them of you. Please shower your blessing on cyclists across Elgin, throughout Chicagoland, and all around the world.

In the name of the One who is our Way, Amen.

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Maundy Thursday/Good Friday Reflection

April 9, 2009 at 9:55 pm (Christians, Church of the Brethren, death, peace, religion, war)
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This will be the first time in three years that I do not spend Good Friday protesting at the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Laboratory, about an hour inland from San Francisco.  This is an annual vigil-slash-protest, held there for at least 30 years (imagine good old-fashioned Bay Area peace activists with a Jesus streak in them).  It’s continuing this very week.  Livermore is one of two labs in the United States where the national nuclear arsenal is developed.  The protests are motivated by local and global concerns, ranging from the environmental contaminants the lab leaks into the neighborhood’s groundwater to the use of nuclear armaments as foreign policy.  Each Good Friday, around a hundred protestors gather at daybreak for sermons and songs and prayers, and then process to the gates of the laboratory, where dozens of them cross onto the restricted property in an act of civil disobedience. 

Now, the connections between a nuclear lab and Jesus’ death on the cross may not be immediately clear – at least not to those outside the peace churches.  But I appreciate the linkage all the more because this protest takes a wide view of crucifixion.  It takes crucifixion to represent any and all means an imperial state uses to control populations and persons who are in its way.  The wooden cross was the horrific death of choice in Roman times.  Nuclear war, as modeled by our own American Empire, is certainly a horror, too.

One of the greatest atrocities our nation has committed was the atomic bombs our soldiers dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward the end of World War II (August 1945).  The high school textbook account of history justifies this killing of innocent civilians as the way to ‘send a message’ about ending the war to their political leaders, who were, admittedly, despicably violent themselves.   Unfortunately, this logic of killing civilians to send a message to their leaders is exactly what we could label ‘terrorism’/terroristic, now that we know how wrong it feels when such methods of ‘persuasion’ are used against US.  But long before September 11th, 2001, we could-have-should-have known how wretched it feels to have cities broken in such a way, if only we bothered to look into the scarred faces of survivors of the atomic blasts or to look for the many thousands who didn’t survive.  The Good Friday vigil at Livermore urges us to look, and to keep looking.  Good Friday itself urges us to keep looking.

A wide view of crucifixion sees the shadow of the cross in the shadows cast by fallout stretching across the land.  A wide view of crucifixion links our witness as Christians to protesting and, indeed, stopping crucifixion wherever it may be, in whatever malicious form it may take, whenever warring madness attempts to wrench the last word from our lips.

At the same time, the Christian pacifist’s wide view is coupled with a narrow, particular view of crucifixion: that the most essential meaning we ought to read in Jesus’ murder is that his be different than all others because it could-be-should-be the last. such. death.  Our heartbreak in witnessing Jesus’ crucifixion calls us to create a world where that need never happen again. 

We remember the gory details of it not out of some morbid curiosity but so that we can adopt new vision that opens our eyes to see the wounds of our sisters and brothers around the world.  We remember the heart-wrenching agony of the loss of our Christ so that we are empowered to stop those wooden crosses from going up before the forests are even logged.  We remember because once is more than enough.

Our Christ Jesus faced murder so that you and I don’t have to; so that the children of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the children of Nanking and Rangoon and of Dresden and London and Moscow and Warsaw did not have to. 

But. They did die.  We, humanity, did betray them and all victims of war and the God who gave them life.  And so we gather their souls at the base of the cross to join with Jesus’ urging us to REMEMBER – RE-MEMBER THEM. This act of memory is not magic but is still the key to ending all this horror, IF WE LET IT BE.  IF we let the remembrance of Christ and all who are crucified guide our every step, fill our every breath, resonate in our every song, be tasted in every sip and every bite.

The cup and the bread that Jesus shared with his disciples and with us are an answer to Good Friday, as a symbol that helps us recognize a symbolic meaning in his death – that his body was broken so that no more need ever be broken, so that no one ever need feel as forsaken as he did that Friday because Christians around the world resist letting anyone else feel the pain they have experienced – because Christians around the world are proclaiming their Lord’s death as one more murder than they’re willing to tolerate. 

Jesus offered us the bread and the cup as Christian milk and honey drawing us to a promised land beyond the violence, injustice, and terror of Empire.  He hands us this meal to be nourished in our outrage and our sorrow and our hope so that we may hunger and thirst for righteousness, manna for the coming of Kindom that drives out the despair of war and oppression.  He hands us the elements of our Love Feast as a foretaste of a new creation where all people are recognized as sisters and brothers around one holy table.

…..

(and Sibiu and Amsterdam and Kobnhavn and Manzanar…)

Even we who were not yet born then live lives originated in that sin.  A wide view of crucifixion hold a wide view of betrayal, as well.

Where every war is recognized as a war among brothers and among sisters because we are all members of one family.

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The not-forgotten at Lone Fir Cemetery

December 4, 2008 at 9:58 pm (Chicago, Christians, May Day, Oak Park, Portland, activism, atheism, death, massacre)
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I’ve always liked cemeteries.  Admittedly, they may not be ecologically-sustainable enough for the coming centuries of growing population and shrinking landmasses, but the cemeteries we do have provide a snapshot of history that we do well to bear in mind.  As largely-green open spaces, they can provide the spiritual nourishment of a city park, except with the watchful eyes of the past looking over our shoulders. 

Cemeteries reveal the cultures that made them.  They reveal what those cultures value, what histories they want to write, what they want to remember.  The Forest Home Cemetery near where I grew up was the resting spot for the remains of Chicago’s undesireds in the late 19th century, including Druids, Roma, the Haymarket massacre victims, and even Emma Goldman – people who today are more esteemed than the relative nobodies who made it into the “good” cemeteries downtown.

And so it comes as little surprise that similar historical reconsiderations are happening in Portland, surrounding the Lone Fir Cemetery that sits half a block away from a house I lived in and is where our cat got lost for one fretful night. 

Street Roots exposes the conversation in swing about the ways burial plots have been treated – namely, the way the burial sites of persons suffering mental illness were paved over and the way today’s mental health advocates are campaigning for a memorial for those buried there.  Lone Fir was the final resting place for the bodies of both Chinese workers and inhabitants of the local “Insane Hospital,” both of which were buried separately from the higher status individuals of pioneer families. 

What is the concept behind distinct burial areas, dependent on social status?  Is the concern that people’s souls will mingle if their corpses are too close together – and that’s a bad thing?  Or are the bereaved worried that they will have to mourn their beloved next to persons unlike themselves, people “like them?”   

Or does the city simply not want to remember everyone equally?  We write our histories not only in books, but in the very spaces we create as cities and neighborhoods and congregations.  May we strengthen ourselves for the tough work of community-building, in body, in spirit, and in memory.

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Killed Wal-mart worker’s family sues

December 3, 2008 at 10:52 pm (Christians, Worldliness)
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The family of Jdimytai Damour, the worker killed last Friday at the Long Island Wal-mart he was providing security for, are suing Wal-mart as well as the mall the store was housed in.  As well they should.  The company is utterly complicit in this death, through the ways they stoke mass hysterics and do nothing to contain crowds.  (If Oak Park can handle a midnight release of the fifth, sixth, and seventh Harry Potter books without a stampede, then an international chain should be able to, too!)  People can do strange, mean things when in crowds, and a store that intentionally creates crowds but refuses to take responsibility for them is a menace to society.  Maybe if they have to pay for their evil ways, they’ll take a little more care next time.

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A Better Christmas

December 1, 2008 at 8:05 pm (Christians)
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Today is World AIDS Day, the day to remember and mourn all the victims of the violence of HIV and AIDS.  This is an important day to honor.  So perhaps I should be feeling more particularly sensitive to AIDS today, but I’m finding it hard to feel more sad about AIDS today than other days, because the magnitude of the loss we have suffered from this evil  disease – we as a people, as a human species – doesn’t seem to strike me on an orderly calendar, but sneaks up and surprises me on any given day, cropping up here and there, bowling me over with the sadness I must feel (if I am human) to realize all that AIDS has taken away.

Which leaves me, today, feeling more immediately, sharply saddened by the death last Friday at the Long Island Wal-mart.  Not death, but killing.  Murder.  A ‘temp worker’ serving as a guard at the doors of one of these nasty establishments was knocked down and killed by the stampede, which also broke down the door to the store, at 5am when the crowds waiting outside surged inside.  They were eager to get the free giveaways Wal-mart tempts customers with.  It’s these special incentives the company offers that escalate this incident from death to murder, from accident to violence.  Three years ago, video footage captured crowds mauling persons in a Wal-mart entryway, in a similar scene.  But knowing what could occur was not enough for the company to resist continuing practices that stir up crowds into surging masses.  Hmm.

Others were injured in the stampede, yes, but one person was actually killed.  One person who went to work at a ‘crummy’ job early that morning, earning a little extra for the holidays, saw his last day then.  One person’s entire life ends that day. 

For the love of G*d, that is not what Jesus was born into this world for.

No doubt the people at the front of the crowd had little control of their own bodies, as the people behind pushed into them, crushing them forward.  This wasn’t a moment in which hundreds of people each made a bad choice.  There was little choice, in fact, and by the time the situation got to the point of death, there was probably little that any one or two people could have done to stop it.  So preventing such death requires that we step back and reform the entire process that led up to that moment. 

So what do we do?  What good is our sadness over loss if it cannot reshape us into beings who prevent such harm in the future?  It is far from enough, but one thing we can do is reform the way we approach gift-giving in our Christmas cultures. 

This, then, is the odd segue into my link to the National Council of Churches’ Eco-Justice website list of 12 ways to have a more ecologically-sustainable holiday.  The connection, in my mind, is the idea that if all those shoppers had resisted the cheap stuff and instead followed this advice, that store guard might be alive today.  It seems like a little thing, but little choices, for better or worse, do add up. 

Peace.

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