The Sustainist

The Sustaining Tree

I finally got a chance to visit the National September 11 Memorial last weekend.  Going through the security reminded me of the feeling of alienation during the heightened airport security right after September 11, 2001. As a teenage immigrant in the 1970s, I used to walk freely in and out of the World Trade Center feeling the freedom, prosperity and promise that the United States, my new home, represented.  While I was feeling melancholy upon entering the park, I was surprised by smiling tourists snapping photos of themselves at the perimeters of the 2 giant pools marking the original locations of the 2 towers. Even though I was with my best friend and colleague, Lucky, I was not willing to let my emotion out fearful that if I do, I might not be able to contain it.  So, as we walked around reading the names engraved around the pools, we talked about the innocent people who died in this horrible event noticing the diversity of their countries of origin; we talked about the courageous firefighters and policemen who gave their lives in their rescue effort; we talked about our mixed feelings about how our nation’s leaders reacted to this horrible destructive event with more destruction. 

On our way out, we noticed people snapping photos of a tree – this is the famous Survivor Tree.   The pear tree, with its lifeless limbs, snapped roots and blackened trunk, was discovered and freed from the piles of smoldering rubble in the plaza off the World Trade Center one month after the attack.  It measured eight-feet tall when it arrived in November 2001 at the Arthur Ross Nursery in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx where it was nursed back to health.  It was replanted at the memorial site in December 2010 and has grown to a height of about 30 feet.

While this tree is called the Survivor Tree, I would like to call it the Sustaining Tree.  I imagined the care that the people at the nursery gave to this damaged tree, working in cooperation with organic elements in nature – the earth, the sun, the water flowing through the roots bringing nutrients to the trunk, enabling new shoots to sprout. We could have easily saved the stump and put artificial branches on it and called that the symbol of our survivor.  But the organic nature of how this tree returned with life and continued to grow says a lot more to me about how we, as a human community, can sustain each other in desolate times.

In the work of creating a sustainable community, we need to recognize the signs of life in the midst of a desolate economic landscape.  We need to work together to nurture these remnants of life by putting them in an environment in which existing resources can flow through and create new shoots of hope.

Invite members of your community to take a tour of their neighborhood.  Invite them to look for signs of sustainability in various forms – people working together, people sharing resources, places where people gather and connect, times when people come together and speak the truth to each other, etc. Gather your community for time of dialogue: Invite participants to share what they noticed as signs of sustainability in their community. Select 5 of these signs and divide participants into five small groups to explore the following: In what ways can we further nurture this signs of sustainability enabling them to flourish? Invite each group to report back. As a large group, invite participants to consider the following question: What am I challenged to do as a result of this dialogue?

Reflection Questions for 5th Sunday after Epiphany (Year B) Isaiah 40:21-31     What do you need to hear and notice in order to create a sustainable community? Psalm 147:1-12, 21   What does it mean for you to have this relationship with God as depicted in this Psalm? 1Corinthians 9:16-23   Under Christ’s law, how does it help you live in a diverse community? Mark 1:21-28   What did you learn from this passage about community transformation?

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

Come to Los Angeles in 2012 to study with The Sustainist, the first  two opportunities: February 27–March 2, 2012 Kaleidoscope Winter Institute Holy Currencies Conversations on Money and Sustainable Ministry March 14–18, 2012 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

Year of the Dragon

I grew up with many stories of Chinese dragons.  Unlike the negative depictions of dragons in European cultures, Chinese dragons are mythical creatures symbolizing many things positive such as good fortune, strength, and righteousness.  It’s Chinese New Year today and it is the year of the dragon.  I thought I would share with you one of the dragon tales I learned when I was child.

There once was a man who had a reputation for being a lover of dragons.  He embroidered dragons on his clothes.  He engraved dragons curling up the pillars of his house.  He brought stone sculptures of dragons to decorate his garden.  One day a real dragon from heaven heard about this dragon lover and decided to pay him a visit.  The dragon poked her head through his front door, wrapped her body with the golden scales around the house and stuck her tail through one of the windows.  When the dragon lover saw the real dragon, he was terrified.  He ran and hit himself trembling with fear.  The real dragon was disappointed that this so-called dragon lover only loved the images of dragons and not the real ones.

In the United States, we say we love justice, we love democracy, we love equality and we love freedom.   But when real justice, democracy, equality and freedom truly arrive, will we be frightened especially for those of us who realize that equality means we have to share our abundance with others, and democracy means we have to listen and understand another point of view even when we disagree?

For Christians, we claim that we love God, we love Jesus and we pray every day: “Thy Kingdom come.”  If God’s kingdom comes today, how would we react?  Will we be frightened by the true incarnation of Jesus, who demands that we love our neighbors as ourselves, feed the hungry, cloth the naked, welcome the strangers, visit those in prison and take care of the sick? (Matthew 25:31-46)

In this year of the dragon and an election year as well, I pray that we will love not only the ideas of justice, freedom, democracy and equality, but to realize them, recognize them, welcome them and live them.  Happy New Year!

Invite members of your community to come together for a time of dialogue. Invite participants to brainstorm a list of cherished words we use to describe the essence of the United States such as liberty, equality, democracy, etc. Select 5 of these words and divide participants into five small groups to explore the following question: What would our community be like if this term that we cherish is truly realized?  Describe the things that you would see with some concrete details. Invite each group to report back. As a large group, invite participants to consider the following question: What am I challenged to do as a result of this dialogue?

Reflection Questions for 4th Sunday after Epiphany (Year B) Deuteronomy 18:15-20     What does it mean to be raised up as a prophet for God? Psalm 111   How is the fear of God the beginning of wisdom? 1Corinthians 8:1-13   What does it mean to exist through Christ? Mark 1:21-28   How do you recognize teaching with authority?

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

Come to Los Angeles in 2012 to study with The Sustainist, the first  two opportunities: February 27–March 2, 2012 Kaleidoscope Winter Institute Holy Currencies Conversations on Money and Sustainable Ministry March 14–18, 2012 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

 

Stewardship of our Stories

I was the speaker/facilitator of a conference for church leaders in the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real last Saturday.  The theme of the day was “Stewardship of Our Stories.” As I planned the day, I realized that in order for a story to be worth anything, it must flow like a currency of exchange.  In fact, stories can be part of the currencies of relationship, truth and wellness.  If I have a wonderful story but I don't know I have it and I don’t know how to tell it, it is of no use to anyone.  So the first step is to know your story, especially those that sustain life and relationship, and speak the truth, and learn how to tell it in authentic ways.  Second, if I can tell my story but there is no one listening, the story is useless.  So, in order to be good stewards of our stories, we need to find or develop an audience.  Third, I can’t just go up to someone and tell my story; it can be received and interpreted in all kinds of ways, some of which might be negative and unproductive.  So, in order to maximize the currency of our stories, we need to create an environment, defining a time and a place in which our stories can be received as a blessing. 

Today, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.  It is a time we set aside as citizens of the United States to tell the sustaining story of Dr. King.  His story transformed the nation, causing its people to reclaim its sustainist roots—that all people are equal and that our resources should flow not just within one group of people based on the color of their skin but sustain all in the same community.  So, find a time and place with an audience today and tell the story of Dr. King.

On March 14-17, the Kaleidoscope Institute and All Saints Company are co-sponsoring a conference called Face To Face in Los Angeles.  As part of the conference, we will discover our stories together; we will create gracious and sacred spaces that will gather people together to come face to face and share their stories of transformation.  So come and join us in learning to be good stewards of our stories. 

Invite members of your community to: Recall stories in their lives that sustain the self and other spiritually, socially and physically. Invite each person to tell his/her sustainist story in small groups. As a large group, invite participants to consider the following question: What does telling your story and listening to others’ story challenge you to do for yourself and your community?

Reflection Questions for 3rd Sunday after Epiphany (Year B) Jonah 3:1-5, 10     What did you learn from this story about God? Psalm 62:6-14   What is the story of the relationship between people and God? 1Corinthians 7:29-31   What is the understanding of time in this text? John 1:43-51   What does it mean to follow the story of Jesus?

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

Come to Los Angeles in 2012 to study with The Sustainist, the first  two opportunities: February 27–March 2, 2012 Kaleidoscope Winter Institute Holy Currencies Conversations on Money and Sustainable Ministry March 14–18, 2012 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

 

Who do you follow?

The Republican primary election is in full swing in the United States, and conspiring with main stream media, the Republican Party served up one debate after another with the same candidates saying more or less the same thing each time.  In this last debate in New Hampshire, we were prepped to expect more attacks among the candidate as if the ability to be aggressive and put down another, especially the front-runner, is an essential criterion for becoming the president of the United States.

If someone asked you to come with him, will you just blindly follow?  Do you follow the one who happens to be speaking the loudest or the most aggressive or most negative in attacking others?

Last week, I was visiting my grand nephew, Ellio, who is just a little over a year old.  I noticed how he instinctively turned toward his mother’s voice every time she spoke.  He followed his mother’s voice because she knew him very well even before he was born.  He knows in the very profound way that she will not harm him and she always has his wellbeing and his future in mind in everything that she says and does.  Perhaps, this is the kind of voice we need to listen to and follow - the voice of a sustainist.

When someone says: follow me, ask yourself: does this person know me?   Does he recognize my needs and concerns in a deep and profound way?  Is she committed to my wellbeing? Is he interested in creating a sustainable future for me and my community?

(I want to remind everyone to register for the upcoming conferences in Los Angeles:  Holy Currencies, February 27-March 2 and Face To Face, March 14-18.)

Invite members of your community to come together for time of dialogue using the following process: Picture in your mind a person whom you trust and follow.  The person can be a relative, a friend, a mentor, etc. Make a list of this person’s qualities that caused you to trust and follow him/her. Share your reflection in small groups. Close the dialogue session by considering the following question: How does this dialogue inform me as to whom I should follow today?

Reflection Questions for 2nd Sunday after Epiphany (Year B) 1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20)     What did you learn from this story about discerning God’s voice? Psalm 139, 1-5, 12-17   How does this Psalm speak to you about your relationship with God? 1Corinthians 6:12-20   What does it mean for your body to be the temple of the Holy Spirit? John 1:43-51   How do you know whom you should follow?

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

Come to Los Angeles in 2012 to study with The Sustainist, the first  two opportunities: February 27–March 2, 2012 Kaleidoscope Winter Institute Holy Currencies Conversations on Money and Sustainable Ministry March 14–18, 2012 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

 

Face to Face

At the baptism of Jesus, the voice of God said, “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus taught us, in the Lord’s Prayer, to call God “Father.”  The actual word that Jesus used were “Abba” which was what a child would call her parent in the language that Jesus spoke.  The radical nature of Christianity as exemplified by Jesus emphasizes the parent-child relationship between human and divine.  If we are all children of God, we are then siblings to each other.   Like brothers and sisters in a family, some of us are really close; some of us might not get along; some might not like each other.  And yet we are family: we cannot do away with each other.

At the heart of being a sustainist is this foundational belief that we are all related and interconnected. With this, we might be able to better understand some of the radical things that Jesus said such as  “love your enemy and pray for those who persecuted you.” Realizing and living out of this fundamental connection changes every relationship.  It forces us to see each other at the same level: face to face.

Let’s do a little imaginative thinking—what would our community be like if we all treated each other as siblings? Imagine a homeless person and a millionaire are brothers.  How would they relate to each other when they see each other?  Imagine a CEO of a corporation and a line worker are sisters; how would the company be run?  Imagine the marketing director of a drug manufacturer and a patient are brothers; how would a new drug be advertised?  Imagine a bank loan officer and a potential home buyer are sisters, what would the loan process be like?  Imagine Democrats and Republicans are brothers and sisters.  How would they behave in Congress? 

For those of you are involved in providing worship in your local churches, I invite you to consider coming to the Face To Face Conference in Los Angeles on March 14–17, 2012.  At this conference, we will explore how we can create creative, authentic worship experiences that invite people to come face to face with each other as brothers and sisters – truly seeing and hearing each other in the midst of our diversity, and in experiencing this interconnectedness, we get to know the divine.  Resource persons include:  Donald Schell, Jacqui Lewis, Safiyah Fosua, Kwasi Kena, Horatio Hung-Yan Law, Lizzie Calogero and Jacob Slichter.

Invite members of your community to take a walking tour of their neighborhood. As they walk around, invite them to take notice of the people they see. Ask them to imagine that each person they encounter is a brother or a sister. Gather as a large group and invite participants to consider the following: Select one person whom you encounter in your neighborhood.  Write out a scenario or a dialogue that you would have with this person as if this person is your brother or sister. Share your dialogue or scenario in small groups. Consider the question: What am I called to do as a result of this reflection?

Reflection Questions for 1st Sunday after Epiphany (Year B) Genesis 1:1-5     What does it mean to believe in a God who created night and day? Psalm 29   Where do you hear God’s voice? Acts 19:1-7   What does being baptized in the name of Jesus mean?    Mark 1:4-11   What would our community be like if we believe that everyone is a beloved child of God?

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

Come to Los Angeles in 2012 to study with The Sustainist, the first  two opportunities: February 27–March 2, 2012 Kaleidoscope Winter Institute Holy Currencies Conversations on Money and Sustainable Ministry March 14–18, 2012 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