Resource Update
United Methodist Resource Hub. The General Board of Discipleship has a "Resource Hub" on their Young People's Ministries page. You can search by title, author, subject or age group. You can also submit a resource that you've found helpful.
Internships and Gigs. The (UM) Young Adult Network has an "Internships and Gigs" page. Current postings include the Ethnic Young Adult (EYA) summer internship in Washington, DC, a Honduras service opportunity for youth and young adults, and the Living Justice Seminar Program. Consider adding the site to your favorites to keep up with new opportunities!
The Bahamas Methodist Habitat. The Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church (BCMC), in partnership with interdenominational groups, has been providing disaster relief to the Islands of the Bahamas since 1992, when Hurricane Andrew devastated many communities throughout the islands. Today, Bahamas Methodist Habitat continues these efforts and avidly seeks new ways to assist individuals and communities in need. Together people can connect real needs to real resources by sharing God’s love. BMH's goal is to do this through Disaster Relief and Sub-standard Housing Repair by offering a life changing volunteer experience that introduces a new way of living out the Christian faith.
Cutlass is the youth and young adult summer program connected to the Bahamas Methodist Habitat. The young adult summer program for this year will occur from May 9-23rd. For more information and an application, visit the BMH website.
Abolitionist Investigation Certification Summer Academy. From the Not for Sale Campaign: Held in the heart of San Francisco, The Abolitionist Summer Academy is an in depth two week training session for those desiring to become Abolitionist Investigators of modern slavery. Attendees will be educated on how to properly record, document, and map all of the various types of human trafficking through hands on education, training, and meetings with experts in the field. They will learn how to identify probable cases of human trafficking, how to properly record cases of human trafficking, and how to effectively confront slavery in supply chains. By certification, attendees will be equipped with the knowledge and tools they need to become investigators of modern slavery in their own backyards.
Upon completing the Academy, attendees will:
* Understand the various forms of human trafficking inside the United States
* Have personal experience and knowledge of how to work with victims and those at risk for trafficking
* Know how to best document cases and map human trafficking in their area
* Have an understanding of how to effectively address forced labor in supply chains
* Be able to investigate forced labor in specific product and supply chains
* Be certified as an investigator who can document cases nationally and internationally for Not For Sale
For more information, and an application form for the Academy, email: theacademy@notforsalecampaign.org.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Some Resources
Two quick items:
1. Sojourners has compiled a list of Resources for Social Change. Add them to your reading/viewing list!
2. The United Methodist Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner is hosting their Living Justice Seminar program for young adult United Methodists (between ages 20-30) from June 13-17, 2009. This year's theme is "Eradicating the Diseases of Poverty: Women, Children, and the Struggle for Wholeness," which reflects one of the current priorities of The United Methodist Church. The event will be held in New York City, with the Office covering the costs for participants. Applications are due May 1. For the application form and more information, click here.
1. Sojourners has compiled a list of Resources for Social Change. Add them to your reading/viewing list!
2. The United Methodist Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner is hosting their Living Justice Seminar program for young adult United Methodists (between ages 20-30) from June 13-17, 2009. This year's theme is "Eradicating the Diseases of Poverty: Women, Children, and the Struggle for Wholeness," which reflects one of the current priorities of The United Methodist Church. The event will be held in New York City, with the Office covering the costs for participants. Applications are due May 1. For the application form and more information, click here.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
What to say when you don’t have anything nice to say Or Homophobia is like a mullet, it’s so last season
by Courtney Harvey
I’ve been trying to write this piece for some time now. I’ve blamed work and travel and a lack of creative energy for my tardiness but the truth of the matter is I don’t have anything nice to say. Just for the record I find the adage - if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all – to be very compelling. In fact I tried my best to channel my inner Obama and write a hopeful and persuasive article about being an ally. Perhaps it’s the hour of the evening or the fact that I am way past the original deadline but I’m disregarding that good advice and going with – sometimes the truth hurts. Consider yourself forewarned.
So why don’t I have anything nice to say? Well for starters I’m over the whole queer thing. I know that sounds callous so let me clarify. I’m not over queer folk or queer issues. To the contrary I love them like I love ice cream, the more scoops the merrier. What I am over is the debate about whether or not homosexuality is a sin, the debate over whether or not to legalize gay marriage, the debate over whether or not it’s okay for Spongebob to be more than just friends with Patrick. I’m over it. In fact, the majority of my generation is over it too. We felt the same way about the “debate” over global warming. We didn’t wait for President Bush or Fox news or the guy from the 700 Club to utter the words global warming for it to become a reality. We didn’t wait for that and we aren’t going to wait for this. Case closed, it’s okay to be gay.
I’m so over it that I couldn’t even bring myself to write a nice story about being an ally because it felt a little too much like justifying once again why I am. Why do I need to justify being an ally? Shouldn’t they have to justify why they are homophobic? Shouldn’t they have to justify why they choose to translate some parts of the Bible literally but they still eat shellfish and wear polyester-cotton blends? Shouldn’t they have to justify their slurs or hushed whispers or disapproving glances or beatings? Shouldn’t they have to justify why it’s okay to support a gay bashing culture that terrifies the parents of gay children, that shames the little boy who loves to dance, that pushes the gay teen to suicide and that impedes the transgender woman from fulfilling her call to ministry? Why do I have to convince them, isn’t more love always better than less? In fact when Christ came I’m pretty sure his central message wasn’t to love less and identify people to ostracize.
So, I’m done and many in my generation are done too. We’re done with the gay debate because it’s not our debate. We’re done with the debate because engaging it gives credence to the debate itself. We may talk about the problems of racism today but we certainly don’t debate if it’s okay to be racist. Why then should we debate if it’s okay to be homophobic? The Bible argument doesn’t fly with us so don’t waste your time on it…especially if you’re a shrimp eater. Sinner! And the argument that it’s unnatural also doesn’t work for us because we know that it happens all the time in other animals. At this point I think the remaining argument is that it makes some people feel icky. Well, mullets make me feel icky but I still support the rights of people with mullets to get married.
I’m sure at some point throughout this rant you thought to yourself that in all my angry youth I have missed the value of those gentle conversations and nudging that has brought many people to the ally side. I have not. I believe there is great value in this but I do not think that it is my particular calling. In any social movement you have those great saints who work on the movable middle, the people that may be influenced by reason or compassion to shed their prejudices and join the struggle. To these people I pay my deep respects, but there is another group of people to which I belong. They are the ones who demand a new social climate simply by refusing to tolerate the current one, refusing to accept that this is the way it should be.
I can’t tell you when the tide will turn on queer issues in the U.S. or the world but I know I have history on my side when I say it is coming. And between now and then I don’t plan to spend much time in debate. My energy will be spent strengthening our queer/ally base, supporting those coming out and working with young people as they envision a new world. And I’m going to do this with the confidence that this too shall pass. Because just as a storm always passes so too will those currently in power in the government and in the church, and when they do, we’ll be ready.
So, in the meantime, in the space between today and tomorrow, I want to leave you with these words from Henri Nouwen, may they help to carry you as many of you have carried me. All I want to say to you is “You are the Beloved,” and all I hope is that you can hear these words as spoken to you with all the tenderness and force that love can hold. My only desire is to make these words reverberate in every corner of your being—“You are the Beloved."
I’ve been trying to write this piece for some time now. I’ve blamed work and travel and a lack of creative energy for my tardiness but the truth of the matter is I don’t have anything nice to say. Just for the record I find the adage - if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all – to be very compelling. In fact I tried my best to channel my inner Obama and write a hopeful and persuasive article about being an ally. Perhaps it’s the hour of the evening or the fact that I am way past the original deadline but I’m disregarding that good advice and going with – sometimes the truth hurts. Consider yourself forewarned.
So why don’t I have anything nice to say? Well for starters I’m over the whole queer thing. I know that sounds callous so let me clarify. I’m not over queer folk or queer issues. To the contrary I love them like I love ice cream, the more scoops the merrier. What I am over is the debate about whether or not homosexuality is a sin, the debate over whether or not to legalize gay marriage, the debate over whether or not it’s okay for Spongebob to be more than just friends with Patrick. I’m over it. In fact, the majority of my generation is over it too. We felt the same way about the “debate” over global warming. We didn’t wait for President Bush or Fox news or the guy from the 700 Club to utter the words global warming for it to become a reality. We didn’t wait for that and we aren’t going to wait for this. Case closed, it’s okay to be gay.
I’m so over it that I couldn’t even bring myself to write a nice story about being an ally because it felt a little too much like justifying once again why I am. Why do I need to justify being an ally? Shouldn’t they have to justify why they are homophobic? Shouldn’t they have to justify why they choose to translate some parts of the Bible literally but they still eat shellfish and wear polyester-cotton blends? Shouldn’t they have to justify their slurs or hushed whispers or disapproving glances or beatings? Shouldn’t they have to justify why it’s okay to support a gay bashing culture that terrifies the parents of gay children, that shames the little boy who loves to dance, that pushes the gay teen to suicide and that impedes the transgender woman from fulfilling her call to ministry? Why do I have to convince them, isn’t more love always better than less? In fact when Christ came I’m pretty sure his central message wasn’t to love less and identify people to ostracize.
So, I’m done and many in my generation are done too. We’re done with the gay debate because it’s not our debate. We’re done with the debate because engaging it gives credence to the debate itself. We may talk about the problems of racism today but we certainly don’t debate if it’s okay to be racist. Why then should we debate if it’s okay to be homophobic? The Bible argument doesn’t fly with us so don’t waste your time on it…especially if you’re a shrimp eater. Sinner! And the argument that it’s unnatural also doesn’t work for us because we know that it happens all the time in other animals. At this point I think the remaining argument is that it makes some people feel icky. Well, mullets make me feel icky but I still support the rights of people with mullets to get married.
I’m sure at some point throughout this rant you thought to yourself that in all my angry youth I have missed the value of those gentle conversations and nudging that has brought many people to the ally side. I have not. I believe there is great value in this but I do not think that it is my particular calling. In any social movement you have those great saints who work on the movable middle, the people that may be influenced by reason or compassion to shed their prejudices and join the struggle. To these people I pay my deep respects, but there is another group of people to which I belong. They are the ones who demand a new social climate simply by refusing to tolerate the current one, refusing to accept that this is the way it should be.
I can’t tell you when the tide will turn on queer issues in the U.S. or the world but I know I have history on my side when I say it is coming. And between now and then I don’t plan to spend much time in debate. My energy will be spent strengthening our queer/ally base, supporting those coming out and working with young people as they envision a new world. And I’m going to do this with the confidence that this too shall pass. Because just as a storm always passes so too will those currently in power in the government and in the church, and when they do, we’ll be ready.
So, in the meantime, in the space between today and tomorrow, I want to leave you with these words from Henri Nouwen, may they help to carry you as many of you have carried me. All I want to say to you is “You are the Beloved,” and all I hope is that you can hear these words as spoken to you with all the tenderness and force that love can hold. My only desire is to make these words reverberate in every corner of your being—“You are the Beloved."
Friday, May 2, 2008
Mary by Patty Griffin
Mary by Patty Griffin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOxpvKuEruk
When I was about fourteen, I was at some Methodist campground in Tennessee, I'd been running a vacation Bible school with my youth group. One night near the end of the week, in a big circle of kids around a campfire, I prayed aloud for God to be a mother to me.
You see, my mama was really sick at the time. She had a brain tumor and she was losing her memory. My dad was doing the very best that he could—trying to be a dad and take care of my mom at the same time. But I needed a mama, and, well, I didn't see why God couldn't do that.
Some minister came up to me later that night, and told me that it had taken him years to realize that God could be a mama. He encouraged me and praised me for knowing this so young. It just made sense to me.
I was enveloped in church life and god-language, and, well, if God was really all that we claimed then being a mother shouldn't be too hard.
Right?
I'm still amazed at how hard it is for us to allow God to be a woman. I am blessed that I got to see this at fourteen.
Because for me, God "is covered in treetops, [she's] covered in birds." She is the very holy ground we walk on—covered in roses and ruins. She stays behind and starts cleaning up the place, and always she stays.
Now, my mama kept getting sicker, and she died when I was seventeen, but I was surrounded by a community that loved me. In all my little girl sadness, I knew that I was loved. When I stopped being mad at God, and looked back at my sad little girl self, I saw that I had never been alone. Casseroles came to my house, and I was held on Sunday mornings by mamas who had watched my mama grow up.
Church can be an incredible thing—the very body of the very living God, and she will always stay. I believe this—give my very heart to it. It comforts me and sustains me. Our bruised and broken God knows what it is to mourn, to grieve, and we are not alone.
peace, and all that jazz,
~Mary Rachel
Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ashes
You're covered in rain
You're covered in babies, you're covered in slashes
You're covered in wilderness, you're covered in stains
You cast aside the sheet, you cast aside the shroud
Of another man, who served the world proud
You greet another son, you lose another one
On some sunny day and always stay, Mary
Jesus says Mother I couldn't stay another day longer
Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face
While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory
Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place
Mary she moves behind me
She leaves her fingerprints everywhere
Every time the snow drifts, every time the sand shifts
Even when the night lifts, she's always there
Jesus said Mother I couldn't stay another day longer
Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face
While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory
Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place
Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ruin
You're covered in secrets
You're covered in treetops, you're covered in birds
Who can sing a million songs without any words
You cast aside the sheets, you cast aside the shroud
Of another man, who served the world proud
You greet another son, you lose another one
On some sunny day and always stay
Mary, Mary, Mary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOxpvKuEruk
When I was about fourteen, I was at some Methodist campground in Tennessee, I'd been running a vacation Bible school with my youth group. One night near the end of the week, in a big circle of kids around a campfire, I prayed aloud for God to be a mother to me.
You see, my mama was really sick at the time. She had a brain tumor and she was losing her memory. My dad was doing the very best that he could—trying to be a dad and take care of my mom at the same time. But I needed a mama, and, well, I didn't see why God couldn't do that.
Some minister came up to me later that night, and told me that it had taken him years to realize that God could be a mama. He encouraged me and praised me for knowing this so young. It just made sense to me.
I was enveloped in church life and god-language, and, well, if God was really all that we claimed then being a mother shouldn't be too hard.
Right?
I'm still amazed at how hard it is for us to allow God to be a woman. I am blessed that I got to see this at fourteen.
Because for me, God "is covered in treetops, [she's] covered in birds." She is the very holy ground we walk on—covered in roses and ruins. She stays behind and starts cleaning up the place, and always she stays.
Now, my mama kept getting sicker, and she died when I was seventeen, but I was surrounded by a community that loved me. In all my little girl sadness, I knew that I was loved. When I stopped being mad at God, and looked back at my sad little girl self, I saw that I had never been alone. Casseroles came to my house, and I was held on Sunday mornings by mamas who had watched my mama grow up.
Church can be an incredible thing—the very body of the very living God, and she will always stay. I believe this—give my very heart to it. It comforts me and sustains me. Our bruised and broken God knows what it is to mourn, to grieve, and we are not alone.
peace, and all that jazz,
~Mary Rachel
Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ashes
You're covered in rain
You're covered in babies, you're covered in slashes
You're covered in wilderness, you're covered in stains
You cast aside the sheet, you cast aside the shroud
Of another man, who served the world proud
You greet another son, you lose another one
On some sunny day and always stay, Mary
Jesus says Mother I couldn't stay another day longer
Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face
While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory
Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place
Mary she moves behind me
She leaves her fingerprints everywhere
Every time the snow drifts, every time the sand shifts
Even when the night lifts, she's always there
Jesus said Mother I couldn't stay another day longer
Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face
While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory
Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place
Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ruin
You're covered in secrets
You're covered in treetops, you're covered in birds
Who can sing a million songs without any words
You cast aside the sheets, you cast aside the shroud
Of another man, who served the world proud
You greet another son, you lose another one
On some sunny day and always stay
Mary, Mary, Mary
Thursday, May 1, 2008
I Get Out - Lauryn Hill MTV Unplugged
I Get Out by Lauryn Hill MTV Unplugged
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF_a1q2FdBs
Writing this devotional on this song was a struggle for me. Speaking honestly would upset some, which I’ve quickly learned is not the Mid-west way. However, holding back goes against the message in the song and who I feel God is calling me to be. So here goes…
As a young adult in the church I think that I have a little more freedom to be a radical because most see this as a phase that one “grows out of”. However, I don’t think we grow out of rebellion, but grow into complacency. As a seeker of justice I am constantly questioning why I stay in the United Methodist Church. Why waste my time fighting the system? Why not go to a church that welcomes all in word and deed? Can I as one person really make a change?
Milky makes me stay. Milky was a camper at Waterstreet, an inner city youth camp I worked at while in college. Milky was one of the most thoughtful, gentle children I’ve ever met and as a result was picked on by his fellow campers hoping to beat masculinity into him. Whether or not Milky was questioning his sexual identity (or rather being forced to question by a society that forces us to fit a norm) he was mocked daily when I was not there to protect him.
Milky’s picture hangs in my office calling me to fight for a church that affirms his gifts. No matter how tired I get fighting the psychological locks our church attaches to “open doors”, Milky’s smile keeps me going.
I pray that one day Milky and I will both be able to stand together where he isn’t loved through abuse, victimized and expected to stay hurtin, kept a slave through material crumbs of inclusion thrown his way, or held hostage by others hurt feelings. One day we’ll get out of this social bondage and stand together as the kin-dom of God knowing that we’re loved because we are both of sacred worth, victorious and full of joy, validating our tears along the road to freedom.
~Rachel
I get out/ I get out of all your boxes/ Il get out, you can't hold me in these chains
I get out/ Father free me from this bondage/ Knowing my condition is the reason I must change
Your stinking resolution is no type of solution/ Preventing me from freedom / Maintaining your pollution/ I won't support your lie no more/ I won't even try no more
Oh If I have to die oh lord that's how I choose to live/ I won't be compromised no more
I can't be victimized no more/ I just don't sympathize no more/ Cause now I understand you just want to use me/ You say love, then abuse me/ You never thought you'd lose me
But how quickly we forget/ That nothing is for certain/ You thought I'd stay here hurtin
Your guilt trips just not working/ Repressing me to death/ Cause now I'm choosing life yo/ I'll take the sacrifice yo/ If everything must go then go/ That's how I chose to live
No more comprises/ I see past your disguises/ Blinding me through mind control/ Stealing my eternal soul/ Appealing through material / Oh just to keep me as your slave
But I get out, oh I get out of all of your boxes I get out/ Oh you can't hold me in these chains, I'll get out/ Of this social pergutory/ Knowing my condition is the reason I must change/ See what you see is what you get/ And oh, you ain't seen nothing yet/ Oh, I don't care if you're upset/ I could care less if you're upset / see it don't change the truth/ And your hurt feelings no excuse/ To keep me in this box/ Psychological locks/ Repressing true expression/ Cementing this repression/ Promoting mass deception/ So that no one can be healed/ I don't respect your system/ I won't protect your system/ When you talk I don't listen/ Oh let my Fathers will be done/ And just get out,/ Oh just get out of all this bondage/ Just get out, oh you can't hold me in these chains/ Just get out/ These traditions killing freedom/ Knowing my condition is the reason I must change/ I just accepted what you said/ Keeping me amongst the dead/ The only way to know/ Is to walk then learn then grow/ But faith is not your speed/ You'd have everyone believe/ That you're the sole authority/ Just follow the majority/ Afraid to face reality/ This system is a joke/ You'd be smart to save your soul/ And escape this mind control/ You spend your life in sacrifice/ To a system for the dead/ Where's the passion in this living/ Are you sure it's God you're serving/ Obligated to a system/ Getting less than you're deserving/ Who made up these rules I say/ Who made up these schools I say/ Animal conditioning just to keep you as a slave/ Oh just get out of this social purgatory/ Just get out/ These traditions are a lie- just get out/ Superstition killing freedom,/ knowing my condition is the reason I must die/ Just get out, just get out, just get out, lets get out, lets get out, / Knowing my condition is the reason I must die.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF_a1q2FdBs
Writing this devotional on this song was a struggle for me. Speaking honestly would upset some, which I’ve quickly learned is not the Mid-west way. However, holding back goes against the message in the song and who I feel God is calling me to be. So here goes…
As a young adult in the church I think that I have a little more freedom to be a radical because most see this as a phase that one “grows out of”. However, I don’t think we grow out of rebellion, but grow into complacency. As a seeker of justice I am constantly questioning why I stay in the United Methodist Church. Why waste my time fighting the system? Why not go to a church that welcomes all in word and deed? Can I as one person really make a change?
Milky makes me stay. Milky was a camper at Waterstreet, an inner city youth camp I worked at while in college. Milky was one of the most thoughtful, gentle children I’ve ever met and as a result was picked on by his fellow campers hoping to beat masculinity into him. Whether or not Milky was questioning his sexual identity (or rather being forced to question by a society that forces us to fit a norm) he was mocked daily when I was not there to protect him.
Milky’s picture hangs in my office calling me to fight for a church that affirms his gifts. No matter how tired I get fighting the psychological locks our church attaches to “open doors”, Milky’s smile keeps me going.
I pray that one day Milky and I will both be able to stand together where he isn’t loved through abuse, victimized and expected to stay hurtin, kept a slave through material crumbs of inclusion thrown his way, or held hostage by others hurt feelings. One day we’ll get out of this social bondage and stand together as the kin-dom of God knowing that we’re loved because we are both of sacred worth, victorious and full of joy, validating our tears along the road to freedom.
~Rachel
I get out/ I get out of all your boxes/ Il get out, you can't hold me in these chains
I get out/ Father free me from this bondage/ Knowing my condition is the reason I must change
Your stinking resolution is no type of solution/ Preventing me from freedom / Maintaining your pollution/ I won't support your lie no more/ I won't even try no more
Oh If I have to die oh lord that's how I choose to live/ I won't be compromised no more
I can't be victimized no more/ I just don't sympathize no more/ Cause now I understand you just want to use me/ You say love, then abuse me/ You never thought you'd lose me
But how quickly we forget/ That nothing is for certain/ You thought I'd stay here hurtin
Your guilt trips just not working/ Repressing me to death/ Cause now I'm choosing life yo/ I'll take the sacrifice yo/ If everything must go then go/ That's how I chose to live
No more comprises/ I see past your disguises/ Blinding me through mind control/ Stealing my eternal soul/ Appealing through material / Oh just to keep me as your slave
But I get out, oh I get out of all of your boxes I get out/ Oh you can't hold me in these chains, I'll get out/ Of this social pergutory/ Knowing my condition is the reason I must change/ See what you see is what you get/ And oh, you ain't seen nothing yet/ Oh, I don't care if you're upset/ I could care less if you're upset / see it don't change the truth/ And your hurt feelings no excuse/ To keep me in this box/ Psychological locks/ Repressing true expression/ Cementing this repression/ Promoting mass deception/ So that no one can be healed/ I don't respect your system/ I won't protect your system/ When you talk I don't listen/ Oh let my Fathers will be done/ And just get out,/ Oh just get out of all this bondage/ Just get out, oh you can't hold me in these chains/ Just get out/ These traditions killing freedom/ Knowing my condition is the reason I must change/ I just accepted what you said/ Keeping me amongst the dead/ The only way to know/ Is to walk then learn then grow/ But faith is not your speed/ You'd have everyone believe/ That you're the sole authority/ Just follow the majority/ Afraid to face reality/ This system is a joke/ You'd be smart to save your soul/ And escape this mind control/ You spend your life in sacrifice/ To a system for the dead/ Where's the passion in this living/ Are you sure it's God you're serving/ Obligated to a system/ Getting less than you're deserving/ Who made up these rules I say/ Who made up these schools I say/ Animal conditioning just to keep you as a slave/ Oh just get out of this social purgatory/ Just get out/ These traditions are a lie- just get out/ Superstition killing freedom,/ knowing my condition is the reason I must die/ Just get out, just get out, just get out, lets get out, lets get out, / Knowing my condition is the reason I must die.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Bad Reputation by Joan Jett, covered on the Shrek soundtrack by Halfcocked
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RAQXg0IdfI
I currently live in the parsonage of a suburban church in an area full of high-powered, well-paid New York City commuters. On the rare occasion that I am on one of the commuter trains to New York during the morning peak rush-hour time, this song becomes my soundtrack. There appears to be a certain code among the commuters: they dress a certain way, carry their paper coffee cups and Dasani bottles in a particular manner, and use their expensive leather bags and briefcases as weapons to advance their position in line to get on the train. When they see friends or acquaintances, they nod quickly and silently to one another. The approved activities for this ride are checking your Blackberry or reading the Wall Street Journal. I feel awkward wearing my cute rummage-sale outfit, carrying my old stained backpack with the Nalgene bottle dangling from it and my commuter cup that I filled with Fair-Trade coffee at home. I can sense the rolling of the eyes of my seat-mate when I insist that he move his briefcase and jacket so that I may sit next to him, and again when I pull out my smelly Hot Pocket that I didn't have time to eat before I left the house.
We read in Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect" (NRSV). The church of my fundamentalist upbringing interpreted this verse for me in terms of peer pressure. It meant that you shouldn't go to school dances or hang out at the mall or listen to secular music. As a rebellious-spirited teen, I questioned this in Sunday School and got in trouble for doing so. I knew that "Christian" meant "little Christ." If we are to be like Jesus, shouldn't we be with the people, showing Christ-like qualities of love and acceptance? This church building keeps us inside its walls nearly every day of the week! What goes on out in the world, anyway? My Sunday School teacher looked sternly at me and said, "Good Christians don't know what goes on in the world, because we are here in church staying out of trouble!"
Somewhere between the commuter train and the fundamentalist Sunday School class, there has to be a place where I fit in. Or maybe I am wrong to desire to fit in. If we are to follow Jesus' example, maybe it is my responsibility to stand out like a sore thumb, hence this non-conformist charge in Romans. I do not want to blend in with the commuters on the train, but it is wrong of me to judge them. In fact, even as I munch on my over-processed Hot Pocket and sip my home-made coffee, I am one of them. We have the same need: to fulfill our responsibilities in the city. If I conform to the buying of the non-Fair-Trade coffee that I cannot really afford or the contribution to the eco-unfriendly bottled water industry, I would be acting inconsistently with my own values. Those are not the factors that give me a bad reputation, but rather the evidence that I take pride in my non-conformist actions. The defiant singing of "I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation" might be more accurately (yet less poetically) stated, "I'm really damn proud of my bad reputation!"
In many venues I do, indeed, have a bad reputation. As a Caucasian individual in a racist society, I try and err at being anti-racist. As a woman in a male-dominated society, I try and err at promoting equality of women. As a Queer in a hetero-normative society, I try and err at demanding justice for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities. As an able-bodied person in a society that devalues persons with disabilities, I try and err at demanding justice for persons of all levels of ability. As an environmentalist in a wasteful society, I try and err at being a responsible steward of God's Earth. As a Christian minister in a society that claims Christianity but allows outspoken and embarrassing Christians to name all of us, I try and err at being the vessel of Christ's grace that I am called to be.
We, as younger people in this United Methodist Church, are marginalized and empowered in many complex ways. If I am to be in the world, I am subject to all kinds of failure and success in keeping my life consistent with my values. The important part, for me, is to be deeply in the world, in community with the commuters on the train, the Sunday School teachers in the Church, those with whom I agree, and those with whom I do not. My goal is not to achieve a bad reputation, but rather, to persevere in the faithfulness of the work with which I do or do not earn it.
I don't give a damn about my reputation/ You're living in the past, it's a new generation/ Hey, a girl can do what she wants to do/ And that's what I'm gonna do
And I don't give a damn about my bad reputation/ Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me
And I don't give a damn about my reputation/ I never said I wanted to improve my station
And I'm only feeling good when I'm having fun/ And I don't have to please no one
And I don't give a damn about my bad reputation/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me
And I don't give a damn about my reputation/ I've never been afraid of any deviation/ And I don't really care if I'm strange/ I ain't gonna change
And I'm never gonna care about my bad reputation/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Break it down
And I don't give a damn about my reputation/ The world's in trouble, there's no communication/ And everyone can say what they want to say/ It never gets better anyway
So why should I care about a bad reputation, anyway/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me
Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RAQXg0IdfI
I currently live in the parsonage of a suburban church in an area full of high-powered, well-paid New York City commuters. On the rare occasion that I am on one of the commuter trains to New York during the morning peak rush-hour time, this song becomes my soundtrack. There appears to be a certain code among the commuters: they dress a certain way, carry their paper coffee cups and Dasani bottles in a particular manner, and use their expensive leather bags and briefcases as weapons to advance their position in line to get on the train. When they see friends or acquaintances, they nod quickly and silently to one another. The approved activities for this ride are checking your Blackberry or reading the Wall Street Journal. I feel awkward wearing my cute rummage-sale outfit, carrying my old stained backpack with the Nalgene bottle dangling from it and my commuter cup that I filled with Fair-Trade coffee at home. I can sense the rolling of the eyes of my seat-mate when I insist that he move his briefcase and jacket so that I may sit next to him, and again when I pull out my smelly Hot Pocket that I didn't have time to eat before I left the house.
We read in Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect" (NRSV). The church of my fundamentalist upbringing interpreted this verse for me in terms of peer pressure. It meant that you shouldn't go to school dances or hang out at the mall or listen to secular music. As a rebellious-spirited teen, I questioned this in Sunday School and got in trouble for doing so. I knew that "Christian" meant "little Christ." If we are to be like Jesus, shouldn't we be with the people, showing Christ-like qualities of love and acceptance? This church building keeps us inside its walls nearly every day of the week! What goes on out in the world, anyway? My Sunday School teacher looked sternly at me and said, "Good Christians don't know what goes on in the world, because we are here in church staying out of trouble!"
Somewhere between the commuter train and the fundamentalist Sunday School class, there has to be a place where I fit in. Or maybe I am wrong to desire to fit in. If we are to follow Jesus' example, maybe it is my responsibility to stand out like a sore thumb, hence this non-conformist charge in Romans. I do not want to blend in with the commuters on the train, but it is wrong of me to judge them. In fact, even as I munch on my over-processed Hot Pocket and sip my home-made coffee, I am one of them. We have the same need: to fulfill our responsibilities in the city. If I conform to the buying of the non-Fair-Trade coffee that I cannot really afford or the contribution to the eco-unfriendly bottled water industry, I would be acting inconsistently with my own values. Those are not the factors that give me a bad reputation, but rather the evidence that I take pride in my non-conformist actions. The defiant singing of "I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation" might be more accurately (yet less poetically) stated, "I'm really damn proud of my bad reputation!"
In many venues I do, indeed, have a bad reputation. As a Caucasian individual in a racist society, I try and err at being anti-racist. As a woman in a male-dominated society, I try and err at promoting equality of women. As a Queer in a hetero-normative society, I try and err at demanding justice for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities. As an able-bodied person in a society that devalues persons with disabilities, I try and err at demanding justice for persons of all levels of ability. As an environmentalist in a wasteful society, I try and err at being a responsible steward of God's Earth. As a Christian minister in a society that claims Christianity but allows outspoken and embarrassing Christians to name all of us, I try and err at being the vessel of Christ's grace that I am called to be.
We, as younger people in this United Methodist Church, are marginalized and empowered in many complex ways. If I am to be in the world, I am subject to all kinds of failure and success in keeping my life consistent with my values. The important part, for me, is to be deeply in the world, in community with the commuters on the train, the Sunday School teachers in the Church, those with whom I agree, and those with whom I do not. My goal is not to achieve a bad reputation, but rather, to persevere in the faithfulness of the work with which I do or do not earn it.
I don't give a damn about my reputation/ You're living in the past, it's a new generation/ Hey, a girl can do what she wants to do/ And that's what I'm gonna do
And I don't give a damn about my bad reputation/ Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me
And I don't give a damn about my reputation/ I never said I wanted to improve my station
And I'm only feeling good when I'm having fun/ And I don't have to please no one
And I don't give a damn about my bad reputation/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me
And I don't give a damn about my reputation/ I've never been afraid of any deviation/ And I don't really care if I'm strange/ I ain't gonna change
And I'm never gonna care about my bad reputation/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Break it down
And I don't give a damn about my reputation/ The world's in trouble, there's no communication/ And everyone can say what they want to say/ It never gets better anyway
So why should I care about a bad reputation, anyway/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me
Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me/ Oh no/ No, no, no, no, no, no, no/ Not me/ Me, me, me, me, me, me
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