The Sustainist

Healing Leaves

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing…through the middle of the street of the city.On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelations 22:1-2) 

When we look at a beautiful scene such as the one described above in a painting, a photo or in reality, we tend to pay attention to the bright and sparkly parts that stand out from the scene, such as the water that is bright as crystal, and the fruit or flower that the trees produce.  Sometimes, we overlook the most essential part of the picture – the leaves on the trees.  Yes, the flowing water of life sparkling in the sun is important.  So is the fruit that a tree produces that gives us food. But it is the leaf that does all the work – converting the energy of the sun, the water source and things we considered waste, such as carbon dioxide, into oxygen and starch and sugar.  This is why in this vision from Revelations, “the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” 

The earth and the nations are not well because we don’t have enough people and communities that can act like leaves – transforming wastes into resources that will regenerate and rejuvenate human communities and the earth.  How can the earth be healed when we throw away so much material things everyday with little thoughts of recycling them?  How can our nations be healed when we throw away so many people whom we considered useless as evidenced by the over-crowding of prisons in the U.S., children dying of hunger, innocent people dying in wars? Yes, the sun is always there and the water of life is there and we know that there is enough for everyone and every nation on this earth, but without the transforming power of the leaves, there is no healing.

Sustainists act like leaves.  We see and acknowledge the abundance that are all around us but we also consciously take part in the circulation of resources, transforming waste into resources, taking the throw-away and recirculate them back into cyclical flow of resources. 

Father Gregory Boyle, in Tattoos on the Heart, wrote, “We stand there with those whose dignity has been denied. We locate ourselves with the poor and powerless and the voiceless. At the edges, we join the easily despised and the readily left out. We stand with the demonized so that the demonizing will stop.  We situate ourselves right next to the disposable so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away.”

Reflection Questions for 6th Sunday of Easter (Year C): Acts 16:9-15    What did you learn from this text about sharing resources? Psalm 67  What are your reasons for praising God? Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5   How can we take part in the healing of the nations? John 14:23-29   What does it mean to accept the peace that Jesus gives us?

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

2013 Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist: July 15-19 Holy Currencies: Beyond Time, Talent and Treasure Los Angeles, CA August 19-23 Fundamental Skills for Building Inclusive Community and Holy Currencies Orientation Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

From Limit to Grace

I carry a backpack containing my computer and the things I need for my meetings, workshops, travels and conferences all the time. I switched to a backpack a couple of years ago after carrying a heavy shoulder bag on one shoulder making my posture unbalanced for years. So, when in the midst of the frantic media reactions to the bombing at the Boston Marathon, someone suggested that we should ban all backpacks from public events, I was a little upset.  I was upset because this reaction to this tragedy was to set more limits, which is one of the typical responses to fear.  Here is the logic: since the last tragedy involved two people who carried backpacks with explosives, we should limit the use of backpacks to increase safety.  Using the same logic, why don’t we also ban baseball caps and immigrants from public events?

The two suspects who allegedly did this horrific crime probably lived very limited lives.  They did not have diverse friends nor a community of support.  As a result, they probably had a very limited view of the world—especially of the United States, of which one is a citizen.   Responding to this tragedy with more limits actually reinforces one of the causes of the problem—isolation, which leads to unsustainability.   The limiting response to fear will narrow our connections with others, further isolating individuals, communities and nations, thus diminishing our capacity to foster sustainable communities. 

Instead, a sustainist response to this fear-triggering tragedy is to do the opposite: instead of setting more limits, we widen our circles of knowledge and network.  Sustainists deal with fear by inviting people of different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences to enter into a gracious environment to speak the truth to each other in love, making real connections in the midst of diverse beliefs and viewpoints.  Sustainists create diverse communities and empower people to share words and actions that sustain, widening the circle of grace, truth, peace and love.

I wrote a song called “Sustain the Weary” last December as a response to the Newtown, CT school shooting. Here is the audio version of the song. Please share it with others. I would like to share this song with the families and friends of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. 

Sustain the Weary 2

Download Sustain the Weary 2

Reflection Questions for 5th Sunday of Easter (Year C): Acts 11:18    What did you learn from this text about diversity? Psalm 148  How does this psalm inform you of the diversity of creation? Revelation 21:1-6   What is the new heaven and new earth? John 10:22-30   How is this new commandment to love new?

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

2013 Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist: July 15-19 Holy Currencies: Beyond Time, Talent and Treasure Los Angeles, CA August 19-23 Fundamental Skills for Building Inclusive Community and Holy Currencies Orientation Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Psalm 23

Psalm 23 is one the most famous piece of Hebrew scripture.  It has been used in many funeral and memorial services.  Many composers have set this text to music.  It begins: 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 

The image of God as a shepherd might have been a common idea when the psalm was composed.  Perhaps, many who sang this psalm were shepherds themselves or they knew a real shepherd in their daily life.  But for today, how many of us really know a real shepherd? So, the image of God as the shepherd can be quite foreign for us today. 

As I read the psalm trying to capture the relationship between God and her people, I realize that this relationship is quite simple.

He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters.

A shepherd knows where the green pastures and sources of water are (sustenance for the sheep) and lead the sheep to these sources.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I shall fear no evil; for you are with me . . .

A shepherd provides a safe environment so that the sheep do not live in fear of scarcity but in the assurance of abundance.

… my cup is running over.

In other words, the shepherd is a sustainist leader.

A sustainist leader knows the needs of the people in the community. A sustainist leader knows from where the resources for wellness flow.  A sustainist leader enables the people to connect, utilize and benefit from these sources.  A sustainist protects the people in the community from harm, assuring them that there is an abundance of resources that can feed everyone spiritually, physically, socially and economically.

Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life . . .

Reflection Questions for 4th Sunday of Easter (Year C): Acts 9:36-43    What did you learn from this text about healing and wellness? Psalm 23  How do goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life? Revelation 7:9-17   How does the vision in the passage inform your community? John 10:22-30   What does this passage teach you about leadership?

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

2013 Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist: July 15-19 Holy Currencies: Beyond Time, Talent and Treasure Los Angeles, CA August 19-23 Fundamental Skills for Building Inclusive Community and Holy Currencies Orientation Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

The Right Side of the Boat

A pastor, who had participated in a Holy Currencies training event three months earlier, came up to me at a clergy gathering.  “I have to tell you something exciting that happened since the workshop,” she proclaimed.

“I was talking to the owner of a restaurant, which I frequently patronized, and remembered what you said about using our currency of relationship.  I have known this owner for a while and have developed a trusting friendship with him.  He knows I am a pastor.  I realized that I had never asked him to come to church!  So on that day, I decided to ask him.  He said, ‘I can’t because my restaurant is open on Sunday and I have to be here.’  I thought that was the end of that conversation.  But then he said, ‘What about doing church here in the restaurant?’”

Since that day, the pastor and the restaurant owner worked to create a worship time on Sunday in the late afternoon. People started coming, and most of them stayed afterwards and had dinner.  I congratulated her for creating such an innovative ministry that is both missional and sustainable.  She said, “My congregation had been trying to do missional work for years. I never thought it would be so easy – just a shifting of the mind in how we think about our relationship and church.”

They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.  Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.    (John 21:3b–6)

There are still spaces available for next week’s workshop in Los Angeles – Missional Ministry in the Grace Margin and Holy Currencies Orientation (April 15–19).  If you find a last-minute inexpensive airfare or you are local in the greater L.A. area, come and learn how to cast your net to the right side of the boat. Register at our website: www.kscopeinstitute.org.

2013 Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist: April 15-19 Missional Ministry in the Grace Margin and Holy Currencies Orientation Los Angeles, CA July 15-19 Holy Currencies: Beyond Time, Talent and Treasure Los Angeles, CA August 19-23 Fundamental Skills for Building Inclusive Community and Holy Currencies Orientation Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Reflection Questions for Third Sunday of Easter (Year C ): Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)    What did you learn from this story about personal transformation? Psalm 30  How has God turned your wailing into dancing? Revelation 5:11-14   Why is the lamb that was slaughtered worthy of such praise and worship? John 21:1-19   What does it mean to cast your net to the “right” side of the boat?

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

Giving to Release Blessings

And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:40–42)

Jesus’ followers, even his closest friends, did not understand what he was talking about. Is it not foolish to give until you have less, and in Jesus’ proposal, give until you have nothing? When Jesus suffered and died on the cross on Good Friday, it confirmed their greatest fear—when one gives everything away, one dies. This fear was the greatest stumbling block for them to understand Jesus’ message.

Then came Easter, when Jesus was resurrected, and death was not the end but the beginning. The cross—to give until one has nothing—which was foolishness and unsustainable to the world, became the cornerstone of a new kind of sustainable community. Jesus’s followers finally understood what Jesus was showing them. All the miracles that Jesus performed—feeding the multitudes, healing the sick, releasing the captives—were simply part of this spirituality of abundance. The dynamics created by giving until one has less became an endless recirculating resource, like water working through the earth, rejuvenating lives and regenerating nurturing communities. Suddenly, “do more with less” made sense and it was doable. Easter unblocked and released a flood of blessings through Jesus’ followers, and with great joy and passion, they formed the first Christian communities—missional and sustainable.

All the believers joined together and shared everything in common; they sold their possessions and goods and divided the proceeds among the fellowship according to individual need. (Acts 2:44–45)

In order to practice this spirituality, people in our communities must believe in the abundance that comes from giving. If everyone in our community gives until he/she has less, it will generate a dynamic that will keep everyone giving and receiving. Eventually what we give away will actually return to us in new forms with new gifts. Once we realize that giving is not a one-time “losing” game, but part of a dynamic process that keeps resources flowing in our community, we will have the courage to give generously.

(This is an excerpt from Eric H. F. Law’s latest book, Holy Currencies: Six Blessings for Sustainable Missional Ministries. You can obtain a copy by going to our website:  www.kscopeinstitute.org and offer a donation between $12–$20 in the general donation box, indicating it is for the book Holy Currencies.)

2013 Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist: April 15-19 Missional Ministry in the Grace Margin and Holy Currencies Orientation Los Angeles, CA July 15-19 Holy Currencies: Beyond Time, Talent and Treasure Los Angeles, CA August 19-23 Fundamental Skills for Building Inclusive Community and Holy Currencies Orientation Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Reflection Questions for Second Sunday of Easter (Year C ): Acts 5:27-32    How are you being a witness to Christ today? Psalm 118:14-29  What is the chief cornerstone of your spiritual life? Revelation 1:4-8   What does it mean to believe in Christ who is, who was and who is to come? John 20:19-31   How are you like Thomas in your belief?

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