http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ERnT1X9HPw
Blackbird – Lennon-McCartney, White Album
Now is the moment to arise and be free….
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8: 31-32 TNIV
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love. – Gal. 5:13 TNIV
When Paul McCartney wrote this song in 1968, he wrote it for Black women in the U.S. and their personal struggle with racism. Listening to the words of Blackbird I am keenly aware of the people who struggle throughout our world today. Those with “broken wings” are those with broken hopes, the broken hopes of the struggle towards true equality for all people. Those with “sunken eyes” are the tired and weary who have been waiting and fighting for LGBT-Q rights, waiting and fighting for an end to poverty, hunger, and homelessness, waiting and fighting for peace. People who have been waiting and fighting for so long that their souls have sunken to a place where they doubt…
When I read the words of John and Galatians above I am reminded of the truth that we are called to be set free, and that freedom is often felt when we “serve one another in love.” This freedom is when we serve the hopeless and heal their broken wings. This freedom is when we wearied from the fight see and realize our moment to be free and arise is now. There is a charge of electricity in the air, a charge of change, a charge that tells me that I can no longer watch injustices, but must arise, must fly freely, and act.
While we may feel we are in the dead of night, we can anticipate the light of day coming when hunger is no more, peace is a reality, and inequality is a thing of the past.
We’ve been waiting for this moment to arise, and the moment is now. Sing with me, sing like the blackbird, sing bravely, sing without doubt, sing with joy, hope, anticipation, sing with a new found freedom, and then FLY “into the light of the dark black night.”
Prayer: Creator of Hope, give us a spirit that is eager to fight for an end to all the injustices we see in the world. Give us a spirit of perseverance, compassion, courage and wisdom that never denies your love for all, but makes your never-ceasing love for all a tangible reality. AMEN.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.
Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Go Ahead, Get Your Dream! - General Conference Devotional
Yesterday morning I had a dream that I was playing Elphaba in the production of Wicked. It was towards the end of one of my big numbers, “Defying Gravity” when I woke up…on the bus in Harlem. Sleeping on the bus is not embarrassing in and of itself, lots of people do that, but being nudged awake because you’re singing in your sleep on the bus is another story…I’m sure you can guess what not-so-happy ending my day began with.
As I looked around at my traveling companions (equally embarrassed for me and I was to have exposed them to my performance) I said, “Did I miss the stop for the Apollo?” A guy on the bus grinned saying, “Yeah, Ma, you missed your stop but go ahead girl, get your dream!”
While performing at The Apollo is not one of my conscience dreams, I have a lot of dreams for my family, friends, community, world and self that help my life journey take shape. Most recently I’ve been concentrating on dreams I have for our church…dreams I hope I’m brave enough to help birth into existence. But my dream alone is not enough for this church many of us are fighting to weaving our spiritual journeys into. My dream is one thread in an intricate design whose beauty is revealed by the gift and challenge of knowing your dreams and seeking the other dreams I carry.
One way we can share our dreams is through music and one place we as United Methodists need to act out our dreams is General Conference…but more than our dreams we need to share our realities and the paths we see and are creating to reach our dreams. This year OnFire is compiling a devotional for General Conference called “More Than A Dream”. We’re inviting people to share music that speaks to them spiritually complemented by a written or drawn explanation of why you picked the song, and what dreams you are hoping to make a reality. The theme, more than a dream, is just that our jump off point…where we’re taken it is up to you.
We’re hoping to share devotionals/songs for each day of General Conference (14 total). If you’re interested in creating a devotional and sharing a song, or you have any questions related to the devotional please contact us at umonfire@gmail.com. We need to receive devotionals and song titles/artists by April 10th. Devotionals will be available in a paper form at General Conference and posted on this blog daily. Music will be made available through OnFire iTunes accounts and via YouTube videos.
This devotional is also a way for us to care for and encourage each other during General Conference. Some of you may not be able be physically present, but your voice can be heard through your words or the images you submit. You may not be able to physically be in solidarity with those witnessing in and outside the convention center but you can encourage and challenge those present to act through the message in your song choice.
Whether you create a devotional or not (and I hope you do) I encourage you all to do as the wise (and sassy) man on the bus told me, “go ahead, get your dream!”
~Rachel
As I looked around at my traveling companions (equally embarrassed for me and I was to have exposed them to my performance) I said, “Did I miss the stop for the Apollo?” A guy on the bus grinned saying, “Yeah, Ma, you missed your stop but go ahead girl, get your dream!”
While performing at The Apollo is not one of my conscience dreams, I have a lot of dreams for my family, friends, community, world and self that help my life journey take shape. Most recently I’ve been concentrating on dreams I have for our church…dreams I hope I’m brave enough to help birth into existence. But my dream alone is not enough for this church many of us are fighting to weaving our spiritual journeys into. My dream is one thread in an intricate design whose beauty is revealed by the gift and challenge of knowing your dreams and seeking the other dreams I carry.
One way we can share our dreams is through music and one place we as United Methodists need to act out our dreams is General Conference…but more than our dreams we need to share our realities and the paths we see and are creating to reach our dreams. This year OnFire is compiling a devotional for General Conference called “More Than A Dream”. We’re inviting people to share music that speaks to them spiritually complemented by a written or drawn explanation of why you picked the song, and what dreams you are hoping to make a reality. The theme, more than a dream, is just that our jump off point…where we’re taken it is up to you.
We’re hoping to share devotionals/songs for each day of General Conference (14 total). If you’re interested in creating a devotional and sharing a song, or you have any questions related to the devotional please contact us at umonfire@gmail.com. We need to receive devotionals and song titles/artists by April 10th. Devotionals will be available in a paper form at General Conference and posted on this blog daily. Music will be made available through OnFire iTunes accounts and via YouTube videos.
This devotional is also a way for us to care for and encourage each other during General Conference. Some of you may not be able be physically present, but your voice can be heard through your words or the images you submit. You may not be able to physically be in solidarity with those witnessing in and outside the convention center but you can encourage and challenge those present to act through the message in your song choice.
Whether you create a devotional or not (and I hope you do) I encourage you all to do as the wise (and sassy) man on the bus told me, “go ahead, get your dream!”
~Rachel
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Thristy in Texas....
I remember the exact color of the glass, it was brownish, but clear, I filled it up from the tap and could see the dirt particles swirling, I waited for them to settle before taking a big gulp. With 100 days at or above 100 degrees, in deep South Texas (I mean the border, and Gulf, that deep), big glasses of water are a necessity. It didn’t seem strange at the time to see dirt in the water and drink it anyway. But by the time I was 10, 1992ish, drinking water from the tap was a dangerous thing. I recall watching the news about how unhealthy the water was that came out of the Rio Grande River. We heard about all the miscarriages, all the people who’d become ill, all the people living with disabilities because of that water. Water stations, called Windmills, were setup all over the Rio Grande Valley, you could get clean water for 50 cents a gallon. You’d recycle your gallon jugs and use them over and over again. Those who could afford it, had Ozarka delivered to their doors. Those who couldn’t pay the 50 cents a gallon, or buy Ozarka, were left drinking the tap, and praying their health wouldn’t suffer. The old ladies used to yell at the kids at church for drinking water from the fountain and not from the fancy Ozarka machine, that long since has become an everyday part of my life.
I left the Valley shortly after this, but when I returned 5 years later, I’d forgotten you couldn’t drink the water. I was at a restaurant with friends and I ordered water, they asked if I wanted it bottled or from the tap, when I said “from the tap,” my friends looked shocked, concerned, confused even. They kindly told the server, “she wants it bottled, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” The tap water is so bad in Edinburg, TX, where I graduated from high school, that my parents have been instructed by their veterinarian not to give it to their pets!
I looked into it a little bit more and found out that 318 of the major facilities in Texas exceeded pollution discharge limits at least once in the year of 2005 totaling in over 1,300 violations, the most of any state in the U.S. Found in the water, and topping the list were arsenic and cyanide, according to Elizabeth White with the Associated Press. I also found out that well over half the waterways in Texas are unsafe for things such as swimming and fishing. When I looked at the list of the most dangerous waterways in Texas, I discovered there were places on there that I had both swam and fished at, such as Falcon Dam.
Okay, so I’m sure you’ve figured it out, the water situation is bad in Texas, especially in the poorer communities, the border towns, or small isolated cities, from yellow water coming out of the tap, or water that wears down the enamel on your teeth, and even water that will kill you over time, don’t we all deserve not to worry about what comes out of the faucet?
In about two months we’ll be joining together at General Conference and bringing light to this issue, “I was thirsty.” If you’d like to join us in fighting for water as a human right, or if you have questions feel free to contact us! If you’d like some information now on Texas water, and what’s going on to make things better head to http://www.cleanwateraction.org/tx/.
grace and peace
-nickie
ps: notice the pics below, that's where I get my water from!!!
I left the Valley shortly after this, but when I returned 5 years later, I’d forgotten you couldn’t drink the water. I was at a restaurant with friends and I ordered water, they asked if I wanted it bottled or from the tap, when I said “from the tap,” my friends looked shocked, concerned, confused even. They kindly told the server, “she wants it bottled, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” The tap water is so bad in Edinburg, TX, where I graduated from high school, that my parents have been instructed by their veterinarian not to give it to their pets!
I looked into it a little bit more and found out that 318 of the major facilities in Texas exceeded pollution discharge limits at least once in the year of 2005 totaling in over 1,300 violations, the most of any state in the U.S. Found in the water, and topping the list were arsenic and cyanide, according to Elizabeth White with the Associated Press. I also found out that well over half the waterways in Texas are unsafe for things such as swimming and fishing. When I looked at the list of the most dangerous waterways in Texas, I discovered there were places on there that I had both swam and fished at, such as Falcon Dam.
Okay, so I’m sure you’ve figured it out, the water situation is bad in Texas, especially in the poorer communities, the border towns, or small isolated cities, from yellow water coming out of the tap, or water that wears down the enamel on your teeth, and even water that will kill you over time, don’t we all deserve not to worry about what comes out of the faucet?
In about two months we’ll be joining together at General Conference and bringing light to this issue, “I was thirsty.” If you’d like to join us in fighting for water as a human right, or if you have questions feel free to contact us! If you’d like some information now on Texas water, and what’s going on to make things better head to http://www.cleanwateraction.org/tx/.
grace and peace
-nickie
ps: notice the pics below, that's where I get my water from!!!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Let Justice Roll
Have you ever been really thirsty? So thirsty that, even though you don't have access to any bottled or filtered water, you just have to go to the kitchen, plug your nose, and chug a big 'ol glass tap water? For some of us this is more common than for others, but in Phoenix, you know you're thirsty when you're willing to drink from the tap!
For those of you who are familiar with issues of water, both foreign and domestic, the paragraph above mat seem like a set up... and it is, except that, even with all I know, it truly is how I feel. Even though a lack of clean drinking water is the leading cause of illness world wide (www.globalwater.org), I still take for granted that the remarkably safe water that comes out of my tap will always be there. And even though UNICEF sites fecal contamination of drinking water as a leading cause of the 4,000 daily deaths from diarrhea amongst children under the age of five, I still turn my nose up at it.
While I've read that both Dasani and Aquafina are really just that same tap water, packaged and sold to me at exorbitant prices, compromising th environment, both through the manufacture of plastic for the bottles and through the transportation cross country of a commodity that flows freely into my house, I still pick up a bottle anytime someone offers me one. And even though I know that reverse osmosis wastes almost as much water as it produces at the end of the process, I still fill up bottles outside my local drug store.
In April, OnFire will join the United Methodist Church in Fort Worth Texas for General Conference. We are planning coordinated witnesses around immigration (check back regularly to hear more about or "I was a stranger" campaign) and water as a basic human right, know as our "I was thirsty" campaign. We will be selling water bottles on the cheap, encouraging all of the delegates to reduce their consumption of disposable plastic by refilling regularly at our water filling station. We will also use this opportunity to highlight the concern for free and public access to clean drinking water around the world.
We hope that you will all be able to join us, but for those of you who cannot, we encourage you to get involved where you are. If you'd like more information on how you can run an "I was thirsty" campaign in your local area, email us at UMOnFire@gmail.com. If you have ideas about effective ways to witness around water issues, send 'em our way. If you have stories of how you are sharing the witness of God's love and call to compassion around water issues, please post them here for others to read. Together, we can create God's kin-dom, where justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream (Amos 5:24). Amen!
~brian
For those of you who are familiar with issues of water, both foreign and domestic, the paragraph above mat seem like a set up... and it is, except that, even with all I know, it truly is how I feel. Even though a lack of clean drinking water is the leading cause of illness world wide (www.globalwater.org), I still take for granted that the remarkably safe water that comes out of my tap will always be there. And even though UNICEF sites fecal contamination of drinking water as a leading cause of the 4,000 daily deaths from diarrhea amongst children under the age of five, I still turn my nose up at it.
While I've read that both Dasani and Aquafina are really just that same tap water, packaged and sold to me at exorbitant prices, compromising th environment, both through the manufacture of plastic for the bottles and through the transportation cross country of a commodity that flows freely into my house, I still pick up a bottle anytime someone offers me one. And even though I know that reverse osmosis wastes almost as much water as it produces at the end of the process, I still fill up bottles outside my local drug store.
In April, OnFire will join the United Methodist Church in Fort Worth Texas for General Conference. We are planning coordinated witnesses around immigration (check back regularly to hear more about or "I was a stranger" campaign) and water as a basic human right, know as our "I was thirsty" campaign. We will be selling water bottles on the cheap, encouraging all of the delegates to reduce their consumption of disposable plastic by refilling regularly at our water filling station. We will also use this opportunity to highlight the concern for free and public access to clean drinking water around the world.
We hope that you will all be able to join us, but for those of you who cannot, we encourage you to get involved where you are. If you'd like more information on how you can run an "I was thirsty" campaign in your local area, email us at UMOnFire@gmail.com. If you have ideas about effective ways to witness around water issues, send 'em our way. If you have stories of how you are sharing the witness of God's love and call to compassion around water issues, please post them here for others to read. Together, we can create God's kin-dom, where justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream (Amos 5:24). Amen!
~brian
Sunday, January 13, 2008
the power paradox...
I just finished a week long community organizing leadership training with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF). It blew my mind! It also gave me some incredible ideas for organizing with OnFire. I'm excited, but at the same time, I'm nervous. I'll explain.
We've been struggling a bit at OnFire with direction. I mean, we know where we want to go eventually. We'd like to be a national group who equips local groups of young, justice minded people of faith with the tools they need to transform their communities for Jesus Christ. Sounds simple, right? (yeah, sarcasm never plays as well when written. My bad).
But we're struggling with how to organize people and do action at the same time. We know people don't want to sign on to another email list for a group who doesn't DO anything, but we can't really DO anything effectively without a critical mass of people. Quite a conundrum.
IAF knew my problem before I did. We can't do both at once. First we need to organize the people and organize the money. THEN we can work on effective action. "But until we've done something," I asked the trainer, "what are we organizing people for?"
"Power." That was the response. He went on to explain that the key is organizing people and money so that, when the time is right, you have the power to stand up to the powers of injustice. Sounds exactly like what we're trying to do! there's only one problem...
Power
We're all uncomfortable with the word. We've all seen the old saying about power corrupting played out over and over again. Power. It's what we need in order to counter the self-serving powers that create injustice but, assuming we achieve power, how do we keep from becoming the unjust ourselves?
The key is in you. All of you. Us, in fact. As long as the power of OnFire, or any community based group for that mater, is centered in the people, rather than in the organization, in the community rather than in it's leaders, there may be a chance. I don't know for sure, but I think we need to try. I'll hope you'll try with us.
~brian
We've been struggling a bit at OnFire with direction. I mean, we know where we want to go eventually. We'd like to be a national group who equips local groups of young, justice minded people of faith with the tools they need to transform their communities for Jesus Christ. Sounds simple, right? (yeah, sarcasm never plays as well when written. My bad).
But we're struggling with how to organize people and do action at the same time. We know people don't want to sign on to another email list for a group who doesn't DO anything, but we can't really DO anything effectively without a critical mass of people. Quite a conundrum.
IAF knew my problem before I did. We can't do both at once. First we need to organize the people and organize the money. THEN we can work on effective action. "But until we've done something," I asked the trainer, "what are we organizing people for?"
"Power." That was the response. He went on to explain that the key is organizing people and money so that, when the time is right, you have the power to stand up to the powers of injustice. Sounds exactly like what we're trying to do! there's only one problem...
Power
We're all uncomfortable with the word. We've all seen the old saying about power corrupting played out over and over again. Power. It's what we need in order to counter the self-serving powers that create injustice but, assuming we achieve power, how do we keep from becoming the unjust ourselves?
The key is in you. All of you. Us, in fact. As long as the power of OnFire, or any community based group for that mater, is centered in the people, rather than in the organization, in the community rather than in it's leaders, there may be a chance. I don't know for sure, but I think we need to try. I'll hope you'll try with us.
~brian
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Upcoming
It's been too long since we've blogged... and for my failure to blog on my week, I am sorry.
But recently all my free time has been swallowed up in planning our very exciting retreat / Conference. We're going to be gathering with 30 young folks who are interested in On Fore and MOSAIC and we're going to do "leadership and organizing training" (plus worship, eat, hang out etc... all those conference / retreat kind of things).
And so I've been pondering what can and cannot be taught. Passion cannot be taught, right? we assume it's a gift from God or part of a personality. But John Wesley Talks about the Holy Spirit transforming our passions and affections (feelings/desires) So somehow, can we not shape our passions to conform to God's goodness?
I hope so, and I pray that our organized and well led (ha!) work in all the millions of places that people are working is gradually, incrementally even, reshaping our world into the kind of place that loves and accepts rather than condemns a committed couple. A world that feeds rather than bombs a hungry Child, and a world where women are respected for their strength, rather than being called a divisive presence.
So, this month, we're all coming to be formed into images of the Divine - passionate, leader-like, joyful givers who care more about love.
But recently all my free time has been swallowed up in planning our very exciting retreat / Conference. We're going to be gathering with 30 young folks who are interested in On Fore and MOSAIC and we're going to do "leadership and organizing training" (plus worship, eat, hang out etc... all those conference / retreat kind of things).
And so I've been pondering what can and cannot be taught. Passion cannot be taught, right? we assume it's a gift from God or part of a personality. But John Wesley Talks about the Holy Spirit transforming our passions and affections (feelings/desires) So somehow, can we not shape our passions to conform to God's goodness?
I hope so, and I pray that our organized and well led (ha!) work in all the millions of places that people are working is gradually, incrementally even, reshaping our world into the kind of place that loves and accepts rather than condemns a committed couple. A world that feeds rather than bombs a hungry Child, and a world where women are respected for their strength, rather than being called a divisive presence.
So, this month, we're all coming to be formed into images of the Divine - passionate, leader-like, joyful givers who care more about love.
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