http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s7n7dNl5Hg
Defying Gravity from the Musical Wicked
Have you ever seen a whale breach? It’s amazing, while I’ve never seen one in person, pictures and videos which capture this chance occurrence are stunning. A breach occurs when a whale flips itself entirely out of the water, twists in midair and lands loudly on its side. Whales often breach in groups, performing multiple breaches at a time – each breach takes about 1% of a whale’s daily intake. The immense cloud of bubbles and underwater disturbance caused by a breach can’t be faked thus if neighbors detect these bubbles they know a breach has taken place. Why do whales breach? When do they breach? And how do these mammoth animals catapult their massive bodies out of the water?
While scientists have not determined the reasons why a whale might breach here are some of their theories:
*Communication – the sound from a breach carries farther than their underwater sonar noises, what they are attempting to say can only be guessed. Perhaps they are altering friends to plentiful food, enticing mates, merely announcing their presence or warning of danger.
*Exfoliation – the impact of the landing is enough to break off a great deal of dead skin and barnacles.
*Feeding – the forceful impact has been known to knock prey unconscious long enough for the whale to swallow it.
In the Dance of the Dissident Daughter, Sue Monk Kidd describes her journey from traditional Christianity to the Sacred Feminine as a breach. She shares her story as a way of calling out to other seekers both warning them of the dangers she faced as well as her joys. I see this devotional as a collective breach by our faith community. Each writer has taken the time to share a part of who they are, certainly using more than 1% of their daily intake. Sharing our thoughts and music with you is a risk, when we jumped we had no idea how you’d respond, would you like it, hate it, be changed, or concerned?
One of the beautiful parts of breaching is that it’s intent is determined by the breacher (warning or joy)…what others make of the super-sized water ballet is up to them. As a community we need to breach when we can and feel called to. Some of us will be breaching this week in Texas and others of us will continue to boldly breach in our home communities. No matter where or what forms your breaching takes, I appreciate our communities risk taking in defying gravity together.
Rachel
GLINDA: (spoken) Elphaba - why couldn't you have stayed calm for once, instead of flying off the handle! (sung) I hope you're happy!/ I hope you're happy now/ I hope you're happy how you/ Hurt your cause forever/ I hope you think you're clever!
ELPHABA: I hope you're happy/ I hope you're happy, too/ I hope you're proud how you / Would grovel in submission/ To feed your own ambition
BOTH: So though I can't imagine how/ I hope you're happy right now
GLINDA: (spoken) Elphie, listen to me. Just say you're sorry: (sung) You can still be with the Wizard/ What you've worked and waited for/ You can have all you ever wanted:
ELPHABA: (spoken) I know: (sung) But I don't want it - / No - I can't want it/ Anymore:
Something has changed within me / Something is not the same/ I'm through with playing by the rules/ Of someone else's game/ Too late for second-guessing/ Too late to go back to sleep/ It's time to trust my instincts/ Close my eyes: and leap!
It's time to try/ Defying gravity/ I think I'll try/ Defying gravity/ And you can't pull me down!
GLINDA: Can't I make you understand?/ You're having delusions of grandeur:
ELPHABA: I'm through accepting limits/ 'Cuz someone says they're so/ Some things I cannot change/ But till I try, I'll never know!/ Too long I've been afraid of/ Losing love I guess I've lost/ Well, if that's love/ It comes at much too high a cost!/ I'd sooner buy/ Defying gravity/ Kiss me goodbye/ I'm defying gravity/ And you can't pull me down:/ (spoken) Glinda - come with me. Think of what we could do: together.
(sung) Unlimited/ Together we're unlimited/ Together we'll be the greatest team / There's ever been/ Glinda - Dreams, the way we planned 'em
GLINDA: If we work in tandem:
BOTH: There's no fight we cannot win/ Just you and I/ Defying gravity/ With you and I/ Defying gravity
ELPHABA: They'll never bring us down!/ (spoken) Well? Are you coming?
GLINDA: I hope you're happy/ Now that you're choosing this
ELPHABA: (spoken) You too (sung) I hope it brings you bliss
BOTH: I really hope you get it/ And you don't live to regret it/ I hope you're happy in the end/ I hope you're happy, my friend:
ELPHABA: So if you care to find me/ Look to the western sky!/ As someone told me lately:/ "Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly!"/ And if I'm flying solo/ At least I'm flying free/ To those who'd ground me/ Take a message back from me/ Tell them how I am/ Defying gravity/ I'm flying high/ Defying gravity/ And soon I'll match them in renown/ And nobody in all of Oz/ No Wizard that there is or was/ Is ever gonna bring me down!
GLINDA: I hope you're happy!
CITIZENS OF OZ: Look at her, she's wicked!/ Get her!
ELPHABA: Bring me down!
CITIZENS OF OZ: No one mourns the wicked/ So we've got to bring her
ELPHABA: Ahhh!
CITIZENS OF OZ: Down!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Let the Rivers Run by Carly Simon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rCPwhC6R8A
I can remember the first time I heard this song. It’s the theme song for Working Girl. I was too young to watch the movie in theatres but when I finally did see it, it really spoke to me. Here’s a hard-working woman, who through perseverance and sharp intelligence, moves up in corporate America never losing her sweet personality. For a quick minute, I had dreams of moving to New York and having a financial career. Yes, a very quick minute. Then I returned to my ordinary life.
I began working within a department stores corporate headquarters outside DC about five years ago. I had dreams of making my way up the fashion ladder to becoming a buyer. I had a five-year plan. I had bought a car. Right around the corner was the husband, house and 2.5 kids and let’s not forget the cute little dog and white picket fence. But then came the disastrous news. My company was about to be gobbled up by an even bigger one. Like good little workers, we figured if we worked hard enough, they would keep our branch office open. We worked our fingers to the bone. Long hours, back breaking store visits, tons of coffee but the inevitable happened. They announced that we would be closing. There was talk of severance packages, new temporary roles and perhaps new jobs with the new company. I submitted my resume and had the job interview. I was given an offer to come to New York. But this is not what I wanted. I wanted to live in the suburbs with my husband and our 2.5 kids. I wanted relaxed paces and warm smiles from strangers. New York did not fit into my plan.
This meant that I needed a new plan. Either stay in DC and continue with plan A or switch to a new scary exhilarating plan B. I would sell my car, pack up all my belongings and make the transition. I can remember my first drive into the city. I was scared out of my mind. This big city with its big city traffic and horns and yelling. I had my ipod hooked up to the stereo system and randomly the song Let the Rivers Run came up “It’s asking for the taking. Trembling, shaking. Oh, my heart is aching”. Those lyrics washed over me. I could be strong. For there is a psalm that says “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you” from Psalm 9:10.There are moments in our lives when fear can grip us. Largely the fear of the unknown. But never mind our plans, God has a plan. And God’s plan will focus on our actual needs and not what we think we need or want. It is very difficult at times to remember this. Not when moment after moment seems to be going wrong. But you have to remember to go with the flow of the power river that is God’s way. He will bring you where you need to go. You may not get there when you want to, but you will get there. I may be trembling, I may be shaking but I am standing with my God and my God will see me through.
~Latoya
We're coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation. Come, the New Jerusalem.
Silver cities rise, the morning lights the streets that meet them, and sirens call them on with a song.
It's asking for the taking. Trembling, shaking.
Oh, my heart is aching.
We're coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
We the great and small stand on a star and blaze a trail of desire through the dark'ning dawn.
It's asking for the taking. Come run with me now, the sky is the color of blue you've never even seen in the eyes of your lover.
Oh, my heart is aching. We're coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
[guitar]
It's asking for the taking. Trembling, shaking. Oh, my heart is aching.
We're coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation. Come, the New Jerusalem
I can remember the first time I heard this song. It’s the theme song for Working Girl. I was too young to watch the movie in theatres but when I finally did see it, it really spoke to me. Here’s a hard-working woman, who through perseverance and sharp intelligence, moves up in corporate America never losing her sweet personality. For a quick minute, I had dreams of moving to New York and having a financial career. Yes, a very quick minute. Then I returned to my ordinary life.
I began working within a department stores corporate headquarters outside DC about five years ago. I had dreams of making my way up the fashion ladder to becoming a buyer. I had a five-year plan. I had bought a car. Right around the corner was the husband, house and 2.5 kids and let’s not forget the cute little dog and white picket fence. But then came the disastrous news. My company was about to be gobbled up by an even bigger one. Like good little workers, we figured if we worked hard enough, they would keep our branch office open. We worked our fingers to the bone. Long hours, back breaking store visits, tons of coffee but the inevitable happened. They announced that we would be closing. There was talk of severance packages, new temporary roles and perhaps new jobs with the new company. I submitted my resume and had the job interview. I was given an offer to come to New York. But this is not what I wanted. I wanted to live in the suburbs with my husband and our 2.5 kids. I wanted relaxed paces and warm smiles from strangers. New York did not fit into my plan.
This meant that I needed a new plan. Either stay in DC and continue with plan A or switch to a new scary exhilarating plan B. I would sell my car, pack up all my belongings and make the transition. I can remember my first drive into the city. I was scared out of my mind. This big city with its big city traffic and horns and yelling. I had my ipod hooked up to the stereo system and randomly the song Let the Rivers Run came up “It’s asking for the taking. Trembling, shaking. Oh, my heart is aching”. Those lyrics washed over me. I could be strong. For there is a psalm that says “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you” from Psalm 9:10.There are moments in our lives when fear can grip us. Largely the fear of the unknown. But never mind our plans, God has a plan. And God’s plan will focus on our actual needs and not what we think we need or want. It is very difficult at times to remember this. Not when moment after moment seems to be going wrong. But you have to remember to go with the flow of the power river that is God’s way. He will bring you where you need to go. You may not get there when you want to, but you will get there. I may be trembling, I may be shaking but I am standing with my God and my God will see me through.
~Latoya
We're coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation. Come, the New Jerusalem.
Silver cities rise, the morning lights the streets that meet them, and sirens call them on with a song.
It's asking for the taking. Trembling, shaking.
Oh, my heart is aching.
We're coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
We the great and small stand on a star and blaze a trail of desire through the dark'ning dawn.
It's asking for the taking. Come run with me now, the sky is the color of blue you've never even seen in the eyes of your lover.
Oh, my heart is aching. We're coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
[guitar]
It's asking for the taking. Trembling, shaking. Oh, my heart is aching.
We're coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters.
Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation. Come, the New Jerusalem
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Our First General Conference Devotional - Black Bird
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.
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.
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
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