Peace in a Time of COVID-19

Wish this were mine

I, for one, am enjoying this time of "Shelter-in-Place." This simplifies life to a rather nice time of reading, writing and resting. I have read several books, written in my journal (and just now my long neglected blog), and sleeping in. I have been out occasionally, but not for long and only for essentials.  I have always thought that I could be a hermit given sufficient food, drink and books. So this stretch of semi-solitude has been a god-send. 

Harris/Warren? Warren/Harris?

Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren have risen in the polls due to their strong debate performances. I am fine with either candidate. Warren has my support in some part because she was born and grew up in Oklahoma City though she is mainly associated with Massachusetts these days.

Kamala has the advantage of youth and charisma. Warren is more intellectual, and she has a plan, a good plan for nearly everything.  Would putting the two of them together on the same ticket be an advantage?  I don't know. Balancing the nominees for president and vice president has been the strategy in the past, but it would be great to have two progressive, female Democrats running together. 

I am going to dismay several progressives by stating that Sen. Bernie Sanders is a fading star.  In 2016 he was a different kind of candidate and a clear alternative to Hillary Clinton. It is not so now. His ideas have been absorbed by other progressives, including Warren and Harris. 

Joe Biden's main strength is his name recognition, but this is an advantage that has already started to fade as the others become more well known.

The Politics of Dinner: Mayflower Service June 30, 2019

The Prophet Elijah in the Wilderness

by Daniele de Volterra c. 1545

Hymns: Let Me Enter God's Own Dwelling, You are the Salt of the Earth, O People

Prayer of Confession: 

Gracious God, sometimes the journey feels too long. The road is unfamiliar and we are tired. We confess to letting the shadows crowd out the light. When our strength is gone and we are ready to give up, may we know your presence and be renewed. We pray in the tradition of all who have found themselves in the desert, including of teacher Jesus. Amen

Scripture: I Kings 19: 1-8 (Relevant Section) 4 But he himself [Elijah] went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. . . . 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

Sermon by Rev. Lori Walke

Elijah, the prophet, is fleeing from the wrath of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Jezebel in particular has vowed to have Elijah killed. Elijah flees for his life into the desert. 

His situation is similar to the migrants who are fleeing for their lives in the southwestern desert. Like them, Elijah's survival turns on receiving help. Elijah credits an angel for his help, but  dehydration and hunger can bring about hallucinations. The help of a cooked loaf of bread and ajar of water seems very human very similar to the help being provided by groups like "No More Death" to migrants in the desert.

Their help has been targeted for interdiction and prosecution by the Justice Department and ICE officials. The Trump administration would prefer that asylum seekers follow the suggestion of conservative commentator Laura Ingram who said the these asylum seekers should apply for asylum in the "safety" of their their own country. In other words, they would like to have them hidden away from us, not being crowded into concentration camps or drowning on our river banks.

We cannot do nothing. We know how to change the course of things. We know how to work to help those who will not survive without it.  

[Personal thought: We have had waves of immigrants before including those fleeing war and death, as was true with the Vietnamese who came and settled in Oklahoma City.] 

Is Ruth in the Caravan?

Sermon Title: Is Ruth in the Caravan?

by Robin Meyers

 Sermon for Sunday, November 4, 2018

Scripture Reading: Ruth 1:1-8

[My personal notes appear in brackets.]

The book of Ruth is a about immigration. It comes after the book of Judges during which anarchy reigned over the Israelites. It was a lawless time during which the powerful ruled over the weak and vulnerable. [This is the same situation faced by those in Central & South America.]

In addition to this there was famine in the land. In our own time famine is something that happens far away. But it happens now, and when it does then as now, those who face it become refugees. The book of Ruth begins with the family of Elimelek and Naomi, who flee Judea into the country of Moab. The Moabites were hated by the Israelites who believed that they were populated by Lot’s daughter through incest with her father. The Moabites also worshiped a different god than Yahweh. But when you are starving or in peril of your life, you go somewhere.

Naomi’s husband died, and widows in the ancient world are destitute. However, she still had two sons who took Moabite wives, Oprah and Ruth. Each of their husbands also die meaning that all 3 were facing a life of poverty and starvation. Naomi urges her daughters-in-law to go back to their mother’s home and to their gods feeling that Yahweh has abandoned her.

Oprah does leave Naomi, but Ruth decides to stay with her making her famous statement so often used in wedding songs and ceremonies. Naomi reacts by ceasing to speak to Ruth for a while. However, Naomi hears about a relative named Boas, and she teaches Ruth how to get him for a husband which involves getting pregnant by him. Her child, named Obed, becomes Ruth’s “anchor baby. Obed is the grandfather of King David.

Famine and tragedy come one way or another into everyone’s life. Here come our refugees traveling in a caravan because of the tragedy they face in their home country. Here comes our president turning their tragedy into a political ad. Ruth and Naomi were refugees needing a way to eat. Their story is one of leaving their country to try to get into another country. We celebrate Ruth at wedding and demonize her at the borders. We have no right to pass judgement on their lives of which we know very little. We worry more about the possibility of criminals in their caravan than we do the reality of criminals running our country. 

Ruth, or someone very like her, is in the caravan trying to get away from anarchy and starvation. [Our decision is whether we will heed the lesson of Scriptures or heed those whose words bring only suffering and death.]

Here We Go Again

Today the Winter holiday ended, as all holiday's do. We had a meeting at school to go over some new procedures for creating and submitting lesson plans. In reality, there is not much new about what we will be expected to submit.  We start with objectives. Come up with resources. Decide on the methods. Assess how well the students are mastering the objectives. Adjust our teaching to help those having trouble with mastering the objectives and repeat as needed. 

We will be reporting our lessons in a slightly different manner. We send them to our instructional leader. Who will pass them on to our department chair who will give us their observations about how well we constructed the lesson plan. 

I will be blogging on how things go this year because I want to have a record of what my teaching has been like at the end of my career.

Not My America

I am not one of those who say of Trump, "He's not my president."  Of course, he is by definition of having won the Electoral College vote (though not the vote of the people) and by definition of me being an American.  

However, what he symbolizes is an alien spirit in this country I love. Therefore, I can truly say that Trump's America is not my America.

My America starts with the idea that justice is for all people, not just those who look, pray, think, and believe the way I do. 

My America believes in the principle that by helping all we help ourselves.  I call this the "Lincoln Principle" taken from Abraham Lincoln's December 1, 1862 address to Congress (given 1 month before the Emancipation Proclamation) when he stated:

In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free. . . .

 For me this means that whenever we seek the good of others in America regardless of who they are, we do good for ourselves. Whenever we seek to exclude others from the benefits of our community, we do harm to ourselves.

My America is a land of tolerance, a land that celebrates diversity and draws strength from the contributions of many cultures.

My America believes our greatest weakness is not a lack of military might, but a lack of empathy for the plight of the marginalized and dispossessed in our world.

My America rejects fear and accepts openness towards others.

My America is not Trump's America.

History Rhymes

Some have called this the Best Book of 2016

Some weeks ago, I read the above novel, which uses a conceit by making the historical Underground Railroad an actual railroad line with various stations that transport runaway slaves to the North. Whitehead's alternative history novel is at times heartbreaking, at times inspiring, and even at time horrific. I highly recommend it.

I feel very strongly that this book has lessons for our own situation as we face the Trump presidency. 

In our present time, I feel there are parallels between the 19th Century Fugitive Slave Laws and the "seize and deport" actions by federal immigration officials.In both cases, American citizens have been asked to act as some sort of posse comitatus to inform on neighbors and co-workers whom they believe are wanted by the law. In both cases, we are told that these people are not, well, fully people; they are property, or they are illegal.

Now the knee-jerk reactions to that statement will run thusly:

They ARE illegal! What part of "illegal" do you not understand? 

Answer: The slaves were "illegal" once they tried escape their bondage. The law called them property. Their attempt to escape was theft for which the property owner could administer any punishment he saw fit including torture and death.  The law makes the undocumented "illegal." Perhaps the above response begs the question. The question should be, is the law just? Does it do good or harm? My answer is the law is harmfully unjust.

Illegal immigrants are NOT slaves! They came here on their own and can, and must, leave either on their own or by force if needed.

Answer: True, in so far as that goes; in fact, the two examples are nearly mirror opposite images. Slaves were forced here against their will and tried to escape their forced labor. Undocumented workers came here by their own free will and wish to remain so they can labor for a better life for themselves and their families. 

However, what unites these two groups is the question of justice and human dignity. Slaves tried to regain their dignity by fleeing the owners' attempt to degrade them to the level of animals. Undocumented workers try to regain their dignity by escaping poverty, oppression, violence, and the real possibility of forced slavery at the hands of dictators or gangs. 

This brings me to the historic Underground Railroad and the present day Sanctuary Movement about which I wrote in yesterday's post. 

In both cases, citizens have taken upon themselves the burden of protecting vulnerable people from unjust laws.

In both cases, law enforcement officials and some politicians wish to punish those operating the sanctuaries for aiding and abetting "law breakers," slaves and undocumented workers.

In both cases, the officials have no qualms about breaking up families, subjecting citizens to arbitrary search, seizures and arrests.

In both cases, these "hunters and catchers" do not care that those they arrest may be subject to abject poverty, assault (often including rape), danger and death.

Again, there are differences, but enough similarities that those of us calling for sanctuaries in cities, churches and now colleges should feel that we have precedents that show that we are fighting on the side of justice.