The Sustainist

Sustaining Rituals

The news about hurricane Irene was urgent and uncompromising on Thursday last week.  The airports might be closed, public transit systems might shut down, and people living in coastal communities should evacuate.  I was facilitating the Intercultural Competency Training for the Virginia Theological Seminary all week. I had planned on returning to southern California on Saturday morning.  Heeding the warning of the impending destruction of the storm, I changed my flight to return Friday night.  I said goodbye and left the participants of the training in the hands of the capable local Kaleidoscope Institute facilitators.  Then I struggled through Friday afternoon traffic to arrive at Dulles Airport 3 hours early. I entered the airport with thousands of others who had the same idea to escape the path of the storm.  Even though the lines were long, there was a calm and orderly mood in the air as we moved through the security rituals - all liquids in zip-loc bags, shoes off, belt off, computer out, x-ray machine, etc.  At one point, everything stopped and someone told the long line of people that there was a security breach and we had to wait until it was “cleared” before we could continue.  The people around me began friendly conversations while we waited.  We knew the rituals that we had to follow were there to get us through to “safety.”  The ordeal of my escape from the storm continued with mechanical problems on the first plane we boarded, and we had to get off with all our belongings, and march over to another gate. While waiting to board a second time, I witnessed an arrest of someone across from the gate.  After getting on the plane, the flight crew worked hard to make room for security personnel who needed to be on board before taking off.  When the plane finally took off, we breathed a sigh of relief – we had escaped the danger and were heading home.  I arrived in LAX after midnight and got home at around 1 am in the morning.

When there is a forecast of potential destruction, we are more than willing to follow whatever prescribed rituals, knowing that they are there to help us get to safety.  In the Exodus story in the Bible, God gave Moses and Aaron the prescribed rituals in preparing the last meal (the Passover) before their escape from the oppression of slavery. (Exodus 12:1-14) They followed the rituals and they were safe, and thus started the long journey ahead (40 years) out of the land of Egypt toward the land flowing with milk and honey.  This ritual beginning was not just for the present generation; the hardship they would endure were sacrifices they made so that future generations could be free.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, climate change refers to any significant change in measures of climate (such as temperature, precipitation, or wind) lasting for an extended period (decades or longer).
Climate Change may result from:

• natural factors, such as changes in the sun's intensity or slow changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun

• natural processes within the climate system (e.g. changes in ocean circulation)

• human activities that change the atmosphere's composition (e.g. through burning fossil fuels) and the land surface (e.g. deforestation, reforestation, urbanization, desertification, etc.)

According to NOAA (National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration) and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) data, the Earth's average surface temperature has increased by about 1.2 to 1.4ºF since 1900. The warmest global average temperatures on record have all occurred within the past 15 years, with the warmest two years being 1998 and 2005. Most of the warming in recent decades is likely the result of human activities. Other aspects of the climate are also changing, such as rainfall patterns, snow and ice cover, and sea level.  From heat waves to melting glaciers, the signs of a changing planet are documented in an EPA report presenting 24 indicators of climate change.  Some of these are: Average sea level worldwide is projected to rise up to two feet by the end of this century. This rise would eliminate approximately 10,000 square miles of land in the United States. Glaciers around the world are shrinking, and the amount of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has decreased since the 1970s. Hurricanes in the Atlantic are likely to become more intense as ocean temperatures increase.

I have heard the warnings of climate change (formerly called global warming) for over a decade and yet, I have encountered people who did not heed these warnings, and some even claim that this warning is a hoax. While we are good at responding to imminent danger like hurricane Irene, why are we not more responsive to the long-term warning of climate change? Is it because the change was so small that we don’t think that it is real?  Of is it because we think the change is so slow that it is not going to impact our lifetime?! Hurricane Irene perhaps is the warning of the warning of climate change. We need to move out of the short-sighted thinking and concern ourselves more with the long-view impact of climate change. We need rituals that we can practice knowing that in doing them, we begin the journey that prepares the way for future generations’ sustainability. Sustainists think long term as we act in the present. We think forward in providing a sustainable future not just for the next generation but the next 10 or 100 generations.  Like the Israelites following the prescribed ritual on that fateful night of Exodus, we need to find the right rituals and practice them in order to prepare for the long journey ahead to reverse climate change so that there will be greater hope for a sustainable future for generations to come.

The EPA website listed the following 5 areas we can to do something to help prevent further climate change: Buy energy efficient products Conserve energy at home and at work Plant trees Reduce, reuse and recycle Make wise transportation choices Invite members of your community to come together to explore how they can create new “rituals” that individuals and groups can practice according to the 5 areas listed by the EPA. Form 5 small groups and give each group one of the areas listed above.  Invite them to make a list of daily, weekly, monthly and annual activities that individuals and groups can do. Invite each group to report. As a large group, select the most practical/easy-to-do items out the report and create a community covenant that would be published and signed by community members who would commit to do them in the coming year.

Reflection Questions for Proper 18 (Year A) Exodus 13:1-14    What are the rituals that we need to practice in order for us to be part of the journey toward a sustainable future for all? Psalm 149  How are you being faithful and what do you rejoice about? Ezekiel 33:7-11   What does it mean for you to turn back from evil ways? Psalm 119:33-40   How do you incline your heart to God’s decrees? Romans 13:8-14   How is love the fulfilling of the law? Matthew 18:15-20   What do you learn from this text about building sustainable community?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Save the date: March 14-18, 2012 Come to Los Angeles to study with The Sustainist: Face to Face Seeing and Hearing Each Other.....Knowing God Creative Liturgy & Music for a diverse and changing world An ecumenical gathering of church leaders to create worship experiences that are authentic, relational and missional. March 14-18, 2012

 

 

I Am Who I Am

“Jazz isn't just the music, it’s the feeling the music gives you.” 

Bill Strickland wrote in his inspiring book Make the Impossible Possible:

That feeling is the result of an ability to recognize potential in simple things and ordinary situations, then, through improvisation, conviction, and skill, turn that potential into something remarkable.  . . . Jazz is a state of mind in which I’m reconnected, with conviction and clarity, to the things that matter most to me.  It is a bottomless source of energy and inspiration that reminds me, in simple human terms, why I need to do what I do, and gives me the will and the stamina to keep doing it, despite setbacks and obstacles. (Pp. 106-107.)

As we follow the story of Moses, we find him encountering God in the form of a burning bush. “The bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.”  (Exodus 3:1-15.)  This is the scene where God asked Moses to go back to face Pharaoh and to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.  But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?" God said, “I will be with you.” Then Moses asked for God’s name in case he was asked who sent him.  God’s answer was “I am who I am.”

A little more context might help. Moses grew up under the protection of Pharaoh’s daughter. One day, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. Afraid for his life, he fled. He had settled in the land of Midian, living a comfortable life, married with children when he encountered the burning bush. 

His passion for what was just and right had gotten him into trouble before. His passion and perhaps rage was something that burned and consumed. It consumed his livelihood in Egypt and perhaps it consumed him – losing sight of his call, hiding in Midian as a shepherd. Encountering the burning bush had re-ignited his passion for justice. But this time, the bush was not consumed – God promised that his passion would bring about life for many. His passion, instead of consuming, would take a people to a place where resources would flow – a land flowing with milk and honey. The burning bush was the sustainist symbol that Moses needed to reconnect with his original calling.

But Moses was not sure. He wanted more certainty. He wanted to know the name of God.  But God answered him like a Jazz master. “I will be with you,” God said and I improvise God’s answer further, “Oh, by the way, I am who I am. You don’t need to know anymore. As long as you got your passion for justice back and I am with you, we can improvise as we go. We will encounter many obstacles but we will have plenty of energy and innovations to get us through.”

Sustainists are like Jazz musicians.  We share the passion for a sustainable future – that is the song structure on which we improvise together making new songs, finding new possibilities. Sustainists use our skills to create innovations that might seem impossible to others. We find new ways to do more with less. We burn with passion and conviction that does not consume but rather sustains ourselves and each other.

Invite members of your community to spend a week paying attention to their reactions to contemporary events:  local news, the U.S. economy, debates in Congress, international events such as what is happening in Syria, the wars in Iran and Afghanistan, etc. Gather your community for a time a dialogue.  List on chart paper some of the major contemporary events that they had noticed this week. Form small groups to explore the following question for each event: What impact does this event have on the poor and powerless? Invite each group to report. Invite participants to further reflect on this dialogue by sharing sentences beginning with: I noticed . . . I wonder . . . Close with inviting participants to consider completing the sentence: How does this dialogue inform your passion for justice?

Reflection Questions for Proper 17 (Year A) Exodus 3:1-15    What is the process for you to reconnect with your passion for ministry? Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26   How do you seek God’s face? Jeremiah 15:15-21   How do you utter what is precious and not what is worthless? Psalm 26:1-8   What does it mean to live in integrity? Romans 12:9-21   How do you overcome evil with good? Matthew 16:21-28   What does it mean to set your mind on divine things?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Save the date: March 14-18, 2012 Come to Los Angeles to study with The Sustainist: Face to Face Seeing and Hearing Each Other.....Knowing God Creative Liturgy & Music for a diverse and changing world An ecumenical gathering of church leaders to create worship experiences that are authentic, relational and missional. March 14-18, 2012

 

I AM . . .

Starting this coming Sunday, for Christian churches that follow the Revised Common Lectionary, we will begin a series of readings from Exodus, the Hebrew Scripture that chronicled the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. The central character of the story was Moses. For many of us, the 1956 classic movie The Ten Commandments came to mind.  If you have seen the movie, you would remember the scene where Pharaoh’s daughter, while bathing in the river, discovered the baby Moses in a basket. She adopted him and he eventually became the liberator of Israelites out of Egypt. But though Pharaoh’s daughter rescued the baby, there was a lesser known, but more heroic story of two women in the Bible. The story went like this:

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, "When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, . . . if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live." But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?" The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them." So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. (Exodus 1:15-20)

Shiphrah and Puah helped prevent the genocide of Hebrew children because they knew who they were and they feared God. They were midwives; their role was to bring lives into the world, not destroy them. On that identity alone, they would have the courage to disobey the powerful Pharaoh. Because of their conviction, the people continued to grow strong in spite of ongoing oppression.

Bill Strickland grew up in the 1960s in Manchester, PA – a poor, low-lying inner-city neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  At the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, Manchester was under siege with racial strife. At the age of 19, Bill wanted to provide “a safe, sane, quiet environment where [young people] could escape the madness that reigned in the streets, work on some clay, find a way to shape something personal and beautiful, and spend some time in a bright, clean, nurturing place where it did not seem pointless to dream.”  (P. 7, Making the Impossible Possible by Bill Strickland)

With the help of the Episcopal Church, he founded the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, a tiny neighborhood art center, to teach young people to make potteries. Thirty+ years later he is the president and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation, the premier jobs training and community arts-education center in Pittsburgh comprised of 3 separate buildings, with 150 people on staff, 1200 students and 2500 young people served by programs in pubic school. 

But all his successes began with the foundational identity that he discovered during the creation of the Craftsmen’s Guild.  He wrote in his book Make the Impossible Possible: 

. . . I knew that identity isn’t something you inherit, it’s something you must discover.  The Craftsmen’s Guild was helping me discover mine. Who was I?  I was the guy who believed that art and creative experience are stronger than fear and ignorance. I was the guy who created this place out of passion and vision and sweat. I built the Guild out of ideas and things that I treasured, or needed, or believed in, and in doing so, I created the kind of personal foundation . . . crafted from genuine values and passions that would serve as a base for a rich and meaningful life.  (pp. 69-70)

(You can watch a video about Bill Strickland called “The Hope Business” here. )

Just as the identity of being a midwife was the rock of courage that enabled Shiphrah and Puah to stand up to the destructive life-depleting power, Bill Strickland built his dream on his foundational identity and over the years turning many lives around, providing spiritual, social and financial sustainability for so many individuals and families.

To enable local church communities to articulate their identities, I often used a simple sentence-completion exercise that went like this: Complete the following sentences without using church jargons:

            Being a Christian is  . . .

            Being a Christian is not . . .

Most church members were quick to respond to what being a Christian is NOT but were slow and even struggled to find words to describe what being a Christian IS. This inability to articulate clearly and readily of their identity might be the root of why so many church organizations are unable to reach and serve more people outside of their own comfortable circle. Without this foundational identity, many churches became unsustainable both socially and financially. Discovering our identity in the context of the diverse and fast changing world is the foundation, the rock, on which a sustainable community can be built. Only when we know who we are, the rock on which we stand, we can have the courage to confront the system that seeks to stop the flow of resources to the already powerless and oppressed. Only on this rock of our identity, sustainists can work with others to do more with less, recirculate resources, and build a sustainable future together.

Gather your community for a time of dialogue on “Identity.” Invite participants to recall an event in their lives that gave them a sense of identity and purpose particularly in doing “good” for others, the community and the world. This could be a moment of recognition facilitated by a mentor, friend, teacher or family member. Form small groups of 6 to listen to each person’s story.  After each story, invite the speaker to complete the sentence beginning with “I am  . . .” Invite each group to report their “I am” sentences. Invite participants to further reflect on this dialogue by sharing sentences beginning with: I noticed . . .  I wonder . . . 5. Close with inviting participants to consider completing the sentence: We are  . . .

Reflection Questions for Proper 16 (Year A) Exodus 1:8-2:10    What do you learn from these stories about dealing with fear? Psalm 124   How has God been “on your side” in times of trouble? Isaiah 51:1-6   What does it mean for you to look to the “rock from which you are hewn”? Psalm 138   What can you learn from the psalmist’s relationship with God? Romans 12:1-8   How do you discern your call by grace? Matthew 16:13-20   What would you say if someone ask you who do you think Jesus is today?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Save the date: March 14-18, 2012 Come to Los Angeles to study with The Sustainist: Face to Face Seeing and Hearing Each Other.....Knowing God Creative Liturgy & Music for a diverse and changing world An ecumenical gathering of church leaders to create worship experiences that are authentic, relational and missional. March 14-18, 2012

 

Crumbs

I took last week off after an intensive week of teaching at the Kaleidoscope Summer Institute.  My goal was to take my time to finish reading Muhammad Yunus’s book, Building Social Business – The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing needs.  In the negative atmosphere of scarcity (raising the debt ceiling, 1.5 trillion dollars budget cut by November, U.S. credit rating drop) that the United States created last week, I needed this book.  I needed to soak up all the positive sustainist ideas and models from the book.  Here is one story I found very hopeful from a later chapter of the book. 

Yunus was invited to meet with the CEO of Adidas, who wanted to understand the concept of social business. The question arose as to what could Adidas do to address a pressing social problem. He said, “Maybe Adidas can start with a statement of commitment, something like this: Nobody in the world should go without shoes. As a shoe company, it is our responsibility to make shoes affordable even to the poorest person.”  (p. 186)  The CEO of Adidas agreed that this statement made sense and wanted to meet with his senior colleagues to discuss this idea. Later that day, they met again and he asked Yunus how cheap the shoes would have to be in order for them to be affordable to the poorest. The response, “Maybe under one dollar or so, I guess.”  Yunus thought this was the end of their conversation but to his surprise, the CEO of Adidas, at the end of the meeting, declared that the Adidas Group would join Yunus’s organization to launch a social business to produce shoes for the poor in Bangladesh for a price as close as possible to one euro.

The thing I admired most about this story is Yunus’s single-mindedness in serving the poor. Because of his faith in people’s innate need to do good, he is able to convince others to act outside the box of profit-making/resource-depleting business and venture into the world of abundance-sharing using the same business skills and knowledge.

The story of the Canaanite woman who approached Jesus seeking healing for her daughter illustrated this kind of “faith” in the Bible. (Matthew 15:21-28)  Here is how the dialogue went:

 

Jesus:  I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Woman:  Lord, help me.

Jesus:  It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.

Woman: Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.

Jesus: Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.

The faith of this woman was her ability to get even Jesus to think outside of the box of cultural and societal limits. She challenged Jesus to move beyond thinking that he was a Jewish teacher/healer and therefore, he will only heal Jews. She convinced Jesus that even what he considered “crumbs” could be the beginning of extending his healing ministry to all nations.

In a world of “not enough,” we need faithful people, like this Canannite woman and Muhammad Yunus, to challenge more people to act outside the cultural, social and financial limits set by our system.  This challenge may begin with a confronting conversation about crumbs – one-dollar shoes.

 

I have been sharing ideas for creating sustainable communities in a networked world through this blog since February and I believe Yunus’s concept of Social Business is the most comprehensive way to enable local communities to achieve sustainability. I am inviting my readers to read this book in the coming week and if you are inspired and excited about these concepts and models as I am, contact me. (Comment on this blog page or email me at: [email protected]) Lets talk, explore, create and act on this now. Remember, “crumbs” can be the beginning of many sustainable ventures.

Reflection Questions for Proper 15(Year A) Genesis 45:1-15    What does the story of Joseph teach you about God’s plan? Psalm 133   How does God ordain the blessing in you and your community? Isaiah 56:1, 6-8   What does it mean to be part of the house of prayer for all peoples? Psalm 67   How do we bring saving health among all nations? Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32   What does the irrevocability of God’s gifts and calling mean to you? Matthew 15:21-28   What do you learn from this passage about faith and rules?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

It’s not too late to register for the upcoming Kaleidoscope Training Institute in August at the Rainbow Lodge, North Bend (outside of Seattle), Washingto August 15-19 Models and Processes for Community Transformation and Missional Ministry in the Grace Margin

Still Small Voice

Does anybody really understand the storm that has been hitting the Congress of the United States of America called “the fight over the raising of the debt ceiling?” As far as I can figure out, it has something to do with the federal government budget deficit, which is the cash difference between government receipts and spending. That is, my government spent more than it took in. And since 2003, the debt has increased over $500 billion each year! By June 2011, our total debt was $14.46 trillion. We were told that if the congressional leaders don’t come up with a compromise and raise the nation’s debt ceiling by August 2, 2011, we will have the first-ever default on the nation’s debt!

I am still not quite sure what that means but it sounds terrible, like a disaster – a fire, an earthquake, a tornado—that we would never want to face. Should we cut government programs or should we raise the tax on those who made large profits through their businesses? We are being blown to and fro between these 2 questions as if they are mutually exclusive. In the midst of this overwhelming unsustainability, I feel powerless and frustrated, like I am paddling a boat in the middle of a windstorm trying to reach the safety of the shore. 

A few weeks ago, I started reading Muhammad Yunus’s book, Building Social Business:  The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs. The seven principles of social business are: (P. 3)

1. The business objective is to overcome poverty, or one or more problems (such as education, health, technology access, and environment) that threaten people and society – not to maximize profit.
2. The company will attain financial and economic sustainability.
3. Investors get back only their investment amount.  No dividend is given beyond the return of the original investment.
4. When the investment amount is paid back, profit stays with the company for expansion and improvement.
5. The company will be environmentally conscious.
6. The workforce gets market wage with better-than-standard working conditions.
7. Do it with joy!!!

Once we detached ourselves from profit making as the sole goal of our economy, it opens up a whole world of sustainable possibilities. Money becomes something that we reinvest/recirculate again and again to start new social businesses. 

As I read this description of social business, I became calm. I regained my sustainist focus. I felt empowered to do something about creating a sustainable future. I heard the still small voice of sustainism in the midst of our stormy economy. Once I realize that I don’t need to play by the same rules of the stormy seas of profit-making, I can imagine walking on water – gliding above the rough water of the fluctuating stock market, real estates, and our national debt by simply holding onto the objective of recirculating our resources to solving the problems of poverty, education, health, technology access, and environment that threaten people and society.

Invite members of your community for a time of dialogue on money: Invite participants to form small groups of 6 and share: a. How does the “debt ceiling” debate in Congress impact you personally? b. What are the assumptions about money behind this crisis? Invite each group to report. Invite participants to reflect on the following question:  If making profit is not the most important value in life, how might that impact the way you think about money?  How will you invest your resources?

Reflection Questions for Proper 14 (Year A) Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28    What did you learn from this story about the sinister side of humanity? Psalm 105, 1-6, 16-22   How does God transform adversity into blessings? 1 Kings 19:9-18   Where or how do you listen to God? Psalm 85:8-13   What does it mean to speak peace? Romans 10:5-15   What is the process of being sent to bring good news? Matthew 14:22-33   What does this story teach you about struggles and doubts?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

It’s not too late to register for the upcoming Kaleidoscope Training Institute in August at the Rainbow Lodge, North Bend (outside of Seattle), Washingto August 15-19 Models and Processes for Community Transformation and Missional Ministry in the Grace Margin