DREAMs deferred... for now...

Article from the Huffington Post by: Josh Hoyt, Director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Posted: Saturday, December 18, 2010; 04:42pm

Democracy for Some

Today our Democracy was expanded when the U.S. Senate voted to allow gay men and women to serve proudly and openly in defense of our nation. But today Illinois Senator Mark Kirk joined a Republican filibuster and, with a minority of 41 votes, also blocked the DREAM Act from coming to a vote in the Senate. This effectively killed the hopes of thousands of undocumented immigrant children to earn their legal status by going to college or joining the U.S. military to defend our nation.

The action by this minority of Republican senators was a disgraceful action of partisan gamesmanship. Polls show that the overwhelming majority in the U.S. support the DREAM Act as a reasonable first step in solving our broken immigration system. In Illinois 79% of voters polled in the most recent election supported the DREAM Act, including 67% of those who voted for Sen. Kirk. Former Republican Governor Edgar penned a public call of support in the Tribune. Twelve Illinois college and university presidents signed a public letter calling for passage of DREAM. The DREAM Act had passed the House of Representatives, and the majority of the 100 Senators would have voted to pass it. But the DREAM Act will not be called for a vote this Congress.

Instead, the actions of Senator Kirk and this Republican minority to block a vote on the DREAM Act mean that the hopes of thousands of young people have been crushed today. These DREAMERS were brought here as minors by their parents. They know no other country, and have been educated here with taxpayer dollars. But now they cannot get work legally, cannot drive legally, cannot get loans or grants to go to college, have no path to become legal in the U.S., and cannot even join our military. They live their lives under the constant threat of deportation. Today's action means that when Cindy graduates from the University of Chicago this spring she will not be able to become a school teacher. It means that Edward cannot use the business degree he earned from the University of Illinois last year. It means that Ernesto cannot fulfill his dream to join the U.S. Marines.

In addition Sen. Kirk and his colleagues cheapened our American Democracy today. A Democracy is not real when it prevents some 12 million illegal workers who contribute with their toil in our fields, our restaurants, and our hotels from having any way at all of becoming legal. We cannot say we live in a great Democracy when we tell children that we will punish them with exclusion and condemn them to the margins because of the decisions of their parents. This is un-Democratic. It is also an attack on the deepest call of our faith to love and charity, which is why the leaders of Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim faiths were united in support of the DREAM Act.

During his recent successful Senatorial campaign Sen. Kirk promised to work for bi-partisan solutions. He went on Spanish language T.V. promising to support Latino families. Then today he voted against Latino and other immigrant children. This will not be forgotten.

Republicans have shown no willingness to support any measure to fix our broken immigration system, other than border security measures. Therefore President Obama should declare a moratorium on the deportation of DREAM students and immigrant workers who have committed no crime.

But our faith in our Democracy and our religious faith is why we understand that we will eventually win this battle, for both the DREAM students and for their parents. The history of our nation is one of a constant struggle for inclusion in this Democracy. We fought to include slaves, and then women, and now immigrant youth and their parents. Today, even while the DREAM Act was failing, a simultaneous filibuster was defeated and now gays will be able to openly defend our nation. Democracy marches forward.

Politically the next several years look grim for DREAM students and their parents. The same Republican leaders who fought to defeat the DREAM Act and immigration reform now step into positions of greater power. But these Republican leaders have seen the historic mobilizations by Latinos and immigrants for immigration reform this year. They have seen the determined and effective leadership of DREAM students. They saw how an angered Latino electorate preserved Democrats in power in the Senate. They have seen that public opinion overwhelmingly supports the DREAM Act and legalization for the parents of the DREAMERS.

Just as blacks and women and gays are now equal in the U.S., so too will undocumented immigrants be able to come out of the shadows. The situation for immigrants today looks bad and the opposition seems united and unmoving. But in recent history we have seen seemingly unmovable forces against freedom come crashing down. We have seen the end of the oppression of the Shah of Iran, of Apartheid in South Africa, of the Soviet Iron Curtain, and of the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines. The drive for freedom is strong, and the systematic exclusion of DREAM students and their parents from our American Democracy will come to a similar crashing end.

In Illinois we thank President Obama for his forceful support for the DREAM Act. We thank Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, and Congressman Jan Schakowsky for their tireless leadership for the DREAM Act and for legalization for the DREAMERS parents. We thank Congressmen Quigley, Bean, Foster, Jackson, Rush, Davis, Hare, and Halvorson for their consistent support. But to Senator Mark Kirk; to the united Republican Congressional delegation, led by Congressman Peter Roskam; as well as to Democrat Congressman Dan Lipinski -- every one of whom worked to block bi-partisan solutions for immigration reform and to filibuster the DREAM Act -- we say: "Shame!"

Documented, Undocumented ... who cares?

The November elections really pushed immigration to the forefront as many candidates ran on anti-immigrant platforms, asking the American public to choose sides in this messy debate. As a result of growing anti-immigrant sentiments around the country leading to an increase in heavy handed immigration enforcement tactics, more and more people have come to our office seeking help. As such ive grown equally more and more frustrated with, not only congress' inability and unwillingness to offer constructive solutions that can benefit both immigrant communities and America at large, but also with the American public's growing opposition to helping "illegals".
The most common argument by far, and the root of people's stiff-necked refusal to offer any type of relief for immigrants is the claim that they are here "illegally", and therefore should not receive a single thing for being law breakers.

This claim is very frustrating for those who have opened a history book. The fact is that the dichotomy of "documented and undocumented" is based on a false premise - the premise that our immigration system, which separates the documented from the undocumented, is just and functions properly. This dichotomy from which so many American's base their voting choices, and from which members of congress often create policies, rests on shaky ground. This immigration system, that either puts people on a path or disqualifies them from citizenship, is antiquated and incomplete with it's most recent overhaul being under Reagan in 1986 (The Immigration Reform and Control Act - IRCA), and even then, the reforms of IRCA did not take into consideration long term effects on American society, particularly in the labor market. From 1986 to 2010, the immigration system has been shaped by placing a patchwork of laws wherever leaks occur in the system. This patchwork of laws is short sighted and lacks a longer term vision for integrating immigrant communities into society (and we must have a program for integration because it is simply logistically and economically unfeasible to deport every single undocumented immigrant from this country. Anyone who argues against this must have been sleeping for the last 3 years while the recession has taken place.) Instead, this patchwork of laws offers temporary fixes with empty futures and dead ends for hard working immigrants who "play by the rules". This is terribly unjust.

Back when California first became a state in the 1850s, governing bodies were forming, and the state constitution and laws were ratified, there were clauses within certain laws that stated that if you are eligible for citizenship you were granted the rights to x,y,z. For example, if you are eligible for citizenship, you could testify in court against a white person. If you are eligible for citizenship, you could own land. If you are eligible for citizenship you could mine in the local mines without paying a hefty land tax. If you are eligible for citizenship...
But this begs the question, who then is eligible for citizenship, what system is used to determine who is eligible and who is not? The answer: Only free whites are eligible for citizenship... everyone else, ineligible. This hardly seems just.

The system that distinguished people as "eligible for citizenship" or "ineligible for citizenship", just as the system categorizing people as "legal" vs "illegal", is inherently flawed. Therefore, any laws that rest their basis on these stipulations are unjust. And as Martin Luther King Jr. says, "one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws".

What kind of society are we, what kind of human beings are we, when we close our doors to people who refuse to lie down, but rather fight to choose Life?

What kind of society faults the mother who loses her child to a preventable disease, who climbs a mountain, and crosses a river to save her second child from that very same disease?

What kind of society condemns the farmer who leaves his native land for America, because foreign trade agreements have undercut his profits, and now unable to feed his family, he would rather break the law than watch his family starve to death?

What kind of society criminalizes the youth who came when he was months old, knows no other home but America, studies hard, and wants to become a contributing member of society?

What kind of society are we when we turn away those who are so adamantly fighting for Life, all because they don't have a piece of paper, the basis of which is an arbitrary path to obtaining documents?

This is not an open endorsement for anarchy or a complete disregard for the law, but it is an endorsement for change, for a feasible solution that will help America recover from this economic depression, and allow immigrants to thrive in this nation, moving us forward together. It is an endorsement for a rational and humane approach to reforming our immigration system.



As people of faith we must ask:

Looking through the Gospels, when has Jesus ever put laws above humanity? I would propose, never.

Conversely, looking through those same gospels, when has Jesus put a human life above a law? I couldn't contain the count on 2 hands...

The law was created for people, not people for the law.

When followers of Christ confuse these priorities, we become slaves to that which Christ came to free us.

I refuse to be bound by injustice, or to let those around me be bound by injustice.
I refuse to allow fear to dictate my life.
I refuse to bow to a system that does not respect the sacredness of our God-given humanity.
I refuse to ignore the face of Jesus in my neighbor, documented or not.

I will choose Life.

DREAM

Post by Gabe Gonzalez on Huffington Post
Posted: November 17, 2010 02:51 PM
Campaign Director, Campaign for Community Change

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

-Langston Hughes

I keep thinking about this poem. I keep thinking about this poem and our country.

When Langston Hughes wrote this poem, he was speaking clearly about the African American experience. How the American Dream seemed not for them. How their personal dreams so often were deferred by a system so entrenched that we have yet, in 2010, to dig our way out.

How unfortunate that now these lines can be applied to so many more of us.

The dreams of homeowners, dutifully attempting to hang on, only to have robo-signers and big banks take it away. The dreams of workers, trading their youth and vigor for a chance at getting ahead, only to be told, their energy spent, they aren't needed anymore. The dreams of our seniors, who worked hard their whole lives, now being told to work a little longer for a little less, as they see their Social Security on the chopping block.

I think about the dreams of undocumented youth in this country. I see them in their ROTC uniforms, begging for a chance to serve. I see them holding their report cards, A's straight down the length of it, begging for a chance to study harder, learn more. I see them, and I worry about another dream deferred.

Our country was built on big dreams. How else could 13 colonies stand up to the greatest empire in the world? How else could these colonies form a more perfect union, dedicated to justice and liberty? How else could we dig out of the Great Depression? How else could we rebuild Europe after the insanity Hitler unleashed on it? How else could we send a man to the moon? How else could we spearhead a technological revolution that put computers in your hand and the immensity of human learning at our fingertips? All dreams made real. All American Dreams.

And yet so many remain deferred.

In the next six weeks, Congress will debate and vote on the DREAM act. What it does is simple -- if you were brought to this country as a child, are in school or have graduated from an American school, if you wish to serve this country or continue your studies and if you have no felony police record, then the DREAM Act would allow you to stay here. It would allow you to legalize your status conditionally and put you on the path to joining this country as a fully functioning citizen.

Yes, it would give them rights. Among others, the right to pay income taxes, the right to pay into the Social Security program, the right to serve in the military, the right to join a union and fight for the rights of others.

Right now it's a dream deferred. A dream for people like Michael Nazario, a young man who grew up in Arizona and wants nothing more than to serve in the Marines. Or Carlos Roa, a 23-year-old man who is now studying architecture after being denied an opportunity to enlist in the armed forces.

Now the realization of this DREAM rests in the hands of 535 men and women in the U.S. Congress. Let's call on them to do the right thing. Let's help them to make this DREAM a reality. Let's make sure that this is a dream that is not, once again, deferred.

Call your Senator at (866) 996-5161 and demand a vote to pass the DREAM Act.

Franciscan Prayer

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, at half-truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice oppression and exploitation of people so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God, who creates, redeems, and sanctifies, be upon you and all you love an pray for this day, and forevermore.

Amen.

excuse me, are we in 1882?

Talk about modern day yellow peril on a global scale! I can't believe no one can stop ads like this from going on air! Unfortunately, during this midterm election season, it seems that blatantly racist, xenophobic ads that play on stereotypes and unfounded fears are now the norm.

and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air...

anyone who knows me knows i've never been much for the red, white, and blue, but i must say that one of my favorite things about baseball games is the singing of the national anthem... today i was standing in a tacqueria in the mission watching the start of game 2 of the World Series on the restaurant's tv. i stood in front of the salsa bar on the verge of tears as Lady A sang the National Anthem.

There's just something about tens of thousands of people, standing in silence, in reverence of something much bigger than ourselves, that is deeply moving. and Even though i don't think this is the best place on earth, or that we're faultless by any means, or that our policies don't directly cause poverty, death, and destruction in foreign countries, but in that moment, standing amongst the masses, i'm grateful to be here, and hopeful for what we can become together.

"fear is a friend who's misunderstood"...

A word on fear from "The Life of Pi":

"I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unerring ease. It begins in your mind, always. One moment you are feeling calm, self-possessed, happy. Then fear, disguised in the garb of mild-mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy. Doubt meets disbelief and disbelief tries to push it out. But disbelief is a poorly armed foot soldier. Doubt does away with it with little trouble. You become anxious. Reason comes to do battle for you. You are reassured. Reason is fully equipped with the latest weapons technology. But to your amazement, despite superior tactics and a number of undeniable victories, reason is laid low. You feel yourself weakening, wavering. Your anxiety becomes dread. Quickly you make rash decisions. You dismiss your last allies: hope and trust. There you've defeated yourself. Fear, which is but an impression, has triumphed over you."

Welcome to late 20s...

So this is what 27 feels like... not bad...

whatever you want to call it...

"Our most important task as disciples is to open the table of welcome to others, not because the table of gifts is ours to give, but because we are already always beneficiaries of and witnesses to grace upon grace."

-- Norma Wirzba

Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it. -- George Santayana

You remember being in middle school, flipping through the yearbook, and coming across someone you're not particularly fond of? As a kid, you'd take a pen and scratch their face out, right? These days, i find myself doing the same, only this time, I'm scratching Arizona off all my US maps... i dont usually write political/social commentary on this blog, but i have to say, what's happening in Arizona is so maddening!

The recent laws signed and passed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer are so blatantly ignorant, racist, and ethnocentric, it shocks me that this is happening here and now. Stripping immigrants, and people who look like immigrants, of their constitutional rights to due process and protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, and consciously choosing educational curriculum that teaches only one story, white European American history, what's next? Herding all people of color into concentration camps? or is that on the agenda for 2015?

Let's be clear about what this really is: This is fearful white America's fucked up attempt to remain in control of a country that is ever so quickly becoming a minority majority.

Governor Jan Brewer and other Arizona state electeds are leading the state down an ugly road, and setting dangerous precedent for the rest of the country. The world is not unfamiliar with people of power and privilege flexing their muscles by squelching the basic human rights of people who are different, and shamelessly omitting historic atrocities from their educational system. Or have we forgotten Germany's denial of the Holocaust? Or the fact that Japan terrorized and pillaged most of Asia for centuries, yet, even today, refuses to acknowledge the pain that they've inflicted on generations of people?

Arizona's laws, meant to "secure the land" and prevent "resentment towards the US government or towards an ethnic group", will only breed that which they aim to end. When the US citizen children of immigrants (racially profiled, whether documented or not) come of age to participate in civic life as elected officials and/or voters, do the people of Arizona think that these citizens will easily forget the racist laws aimed at criminalizing their parents? When the young adults of Arizona step outside their borders and realize that they were fed (white) American history and robbed of a well-rounded education, does the school board of Arizona really believe that these students will not feel "resentment towards their government" and the ethnic group that enacted such a backwards law?

Supporters of the new law banning ethnic studies argue that public tax dollars should not be spent on classes "designed for pupils of a particular ethnic group". What these supporters are advocating instead are classes in "US History", but what they fail to recognize is that ethnic studies classes are not classes on the history of Mexico, or the history of China, those are world history classes. Ethnic studies classes teach students about the experiences and contributions of ethnic groups within the United States. Ethnic studies classes are US History classes.
To deny ethnic studies is to deny any non-white contribution to society. It is to invalidate any non-white American historical experience. It is to study history only from the perspective of the victor, where other figures are reduced to objects of the victor's story, and not recognized as equally relevant, participating subjects. By banning ethnic studies from the state of Arizona, educators are relegating students to a partial understanding of United States history, thereby ensuring that future generations will continue to perpetuate the myth that white European American history is the only valid and legitimate story of this country, and implying that white Americans are the only people of value in this society.

European American history is NOT US history.

It is a part of a larger picture of Asian-American, African-American, Latino-American, and Native American history. These classes are not just aimed towards a particular ethnic group, they're open to all students. In fact, Arizona would be a much less ignorant state if more whites chose to take ethnic studies classes. Perhaps then as a society, we can move forward rather than perpetuating the mistakes of Jim Crow South, Nazi Germany, or South African apartheid.

Diffusing resentment towards whites and towards the United States government cannot involve using the legal system to victimize an entire group of people, nor can it involve a systematic and deliberate denial of historical facts. It must involve a recognition and acceptance of the past, no matter how ugly. It must involve a resolution to move away from criminalizing people and creating a category of second class citizens within the United States. It must involve unitedly working towards a just and humane society, that treats all human beings as fellow sharers in the presence of God.

This is perhaps the most oft forgotten, yet important, fact when it comes to violence against body and soul: That we are all sharers in the presence of God, and in God's presence there is no room for fear, isolation, or despair.

well said Henri...

"For the last few days, the course has dealt primarily with the new agricultural law. A lawyer from Lima came to explain the law, and triggered a lively debate about the way the poor campesinos would be affected by it. Most pastoral workers felt that this law was simply one more way in which the poor would be made poorer. The law opened the way for rich people who had lost their land during the agrarian reform to reclaim it. One of the French pastoral workers presented an alternative law that would serve the poor farmers. This law had been formulated by the campesinos themselves, with the help of leftist lawyers and economists.

When I reflect on these legal debates and discussions, I become strongly aware of the new style of this liberation-oriented Church. It would have taken an outsider a long time to find out that this was a group of priests, nuns, and Catholic laymen and laywomen dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel. The style of the dialogue, the fervor of the discussions, and the ideological language suggested a meeting of a political party rather than a church group. I feel that this was true not only for the formal sessions, but also for the informal relationships between the participants - during meals, and coffee breaks. Yet these men and women from France, Spain, Italy, and the United States have left their countries to serve the poor of Peru in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their religious dedication has led them into the lives of the poor. Therefore the sophisticated and highly critical analysis of the new agrarian law was for them not purely political but a necessary step in the struggle for freedom for the people of God.

Yet the two churches are gradually developing in Peru, and they are at the point where they are no longer able to talk to each other. On the one side is the Church that speaks primarily about God, with little reference to the daily reality in which the people live; on the other side is the Church that speaks primarily about the struggle of the people for freedom, with little reference to the divine mysteries to which this struggle points. The distance between these Churches is growing. This morning I went to the Cathedral of Cuzco, and when I walked from altar to altar and statue to statue and listened to the monotone voice of a priest saying Mass, I suddenly felt a deep pain. I would never feel at home any more in this traditional church, but will I ever in the Church of la lucha?"

-- Henri Nouwen

What is "the gospel"?

Recently, a friend asked me, "so... what is "the gospel"?"

i stumbled my way through a generic answer interspersed with nervous laughter, because even as i uttered the words, i myself couldn't imagine anyone wanting a part of "the gospel" i described. (i said that "the gospel", when used in church settings, like the one we were discussing, most commonly means the Jesus story... that Jesus came to earth, lived as fully man, and fully God, died on a cross for our sins, and rose from the dead for our redemption.").

And while that answer maybe factually correct, something didn't sit right with me... i heard myself saying it, and it sounded like a distant fairy tale, something that happened thousands of years ago that has no impact on us today, except to accept this story intellectually.

But i dont believe that the gospel is limited to that... the gospel is alive, it's powerful, it changes people, it gives us hope to live for something much larger than ourselves.

The gospel is "the good news" of Jesus Christ, but not just the salvation story (coming, dying, and raising to life), but the good news of Jesus' life, and the things Jesus brought to earth (symbolically and physically).

Just before Jesus was born, Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and said:

"My soul exalts the Lord,
⁴⁷And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸"For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
⁴⁹"For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰"and His mercy is upon generation after generation
toward those who fear him.
⁵¹"He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
⁵²"He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
⁵³"He has filled the hungry with good things;
And sent away the rich empty-handed.
⁵⁴"He has given help to Israel His servant,
In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his descendants forever." (Luke 1:46-55)

Mary spoke of the God who comes to establish the Kingdom of Heaven through the child in her womb.

As Jesus began his ministry, he proclaimed these words about himself in the temple that corroborates Mary's song:

¹⁶He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

²⁰Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."(Luke 4:16-20).

Jesus confirms Mary's song, and says with his own lips, that Jesus has come to fulfill this scripture. That Jesus will
"preach good news to the poor"
"proclaim freedom for the prisoners"
"recovery of sight for the blind"
"release the oppressed", and
"proclaim the year of the Lord's favor".

This is why Jesus came. He came to embody freedom, reconciliation, healing, wholeness, and to teach us how to be good to one another. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ, the ushering in of the Kingdom of God. This is the gospel.

God and Freedom...

"The search for God is the search for freedom, and that the search for freedom is the search for God. Many people who are deeply involved in the struggle for water, for light, for schools, and for health care do not perceive this as a search for God. And many who attend churches, walk in processions, and bless their houses with holy water do not experience this as a struggle for freedom. This is not uncommon. Even the Hebrews who left Egypt did not fully understand the meaning of the events in which they were participating. It is precisely in the reflection on the events of the people that the search for God and the struggle for liberty are connected and can deepen each other."

-- Henri Nouwen on Gustavo Gutierrez

i woke up and my pillow was gone...

So i never really appreciated the beauty of toasted breakfast food... in fact i intentionally avoided all bread goods that were purposely browned for that hard, dry, mouth scratching effect. YUCK... (plus it often made the roof of my mouth bleed...) until lately... i've recently switched over from English muffins to bagels and mmm... boy...
so i spread the cream cheese on the bagel before toasting, and let me tell you, it's like eating a roasted marshmallow for breakfast! (and I dont even like roasted marshmallows... which is why this makes absolutely no sense!). That crispy outer layer of the bagel; followed by a soft, chewy layer; and topped off with slightly melted cream cheese sandwiched in between... MmMMmm!

Change...

i been reading the biography of Henri Nouwen lately and its been real good... From the way this author portrays him, i don't actually think i would want to spend too much time with Nouwen, but it's been real interesting to read his journey. At one point Nouwen spent time living in Bolivia and Peru during a tumultuous time in the history of many Central and South American countries with political and economic instability. It caused him to wrestle with his faith, his vocation, and his understanding of God...

It changed him.

"Nouwen's experience in Latin America created a social dimension in his own spiritual journey. He became aware that the pilgrimage with God in the world is a pilgrimage with God's people in their struggle for liberation from all the social, political, and economic forces that deny their dignity, create their hunger, and allow their oppression. By living with the poor, he knew first hand the meaning of poverty, where there is no food, no water, and no shelter; he experienced insecurity in being unsafe on the streets because of military control and political domination. He came to realize that religious expression is more about a group of people searching for God's love in the ordinary events of life and death in their neighborhoods than in the rituals of institutions or churches. [...] The struggle to which the God of the bible called people was much longer than the struggle for political or economic rights. It is a struggle against all the forces of death, wherever they become manifest, a struggle for life in the fullest sense."

Theology, Hospitality, ... and Christmas

"The final words of Mary at the Annunciation - "You see before you the Lord's servant; let it happen to me as you have said" - show clearly the aim of all theology. They create the inner space in which God's word can happen to us. The purpose of theological understanding is not to grasp, control, or even use God's word, but to become increasingly willing to let the word of God speak to us, guide us, move us, and lead us to places far beyond our own comprehension."

-- Henri Nouwen

Dios es Amor...

After rigorously grilling the respondent, the prosecutor asked the young man on the stand, "Sir, I noticed you've been writing on your hand, are you taking notes of the case?"
"No." replied the young man.
"May I ask, what are you writing on your hand?"

"Dios es amor.
Dios es amor.
Dios es amor."

--

hospitality...

i been reading the biography of Henri Nouwen, and its been pretty interesting... There's this little bit on Nouwen's views of Loneliness and Hospitality, and it says:

"Hospitality is the ability to pay attention to guests (concentration) and create an empty space where guests can find their own souls (community). For Nouwen, this is a healing ministry because it takes away the illusion that wholeness can simply be given by one to another. It does not remove the loneliness and pain of the other person but invites them to recognize their loneliness on a level where it can be shared."

i like that... listening to one another, paying attention to one another, "creating an empty space where guests can find their own souls"...

God,
May our lives manifest this liberating hospitality, that through this, those who rest in it's midst may continually catch glimpses of your face and find comfort.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.