The Sustainist: April 2020

Don't Be Afraid

A friend sent me the words of Julian of Norwich - All shall be well, all manner of things shall be well - after I was diagnosed as having cancer. These comforting words stayed with me while I was recovering from surgery and at the same time, the stay-at-home requirement was enforced because of the pandemic. These words become the chorus of the new song I wrote: Don't Be Afraid.

You can find me singing this song with my guitar here at the end of this post and on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q58PyEkrzT4

Don’t be Afraid by Eric H. F. Law

Hug, touch, no allowed

Farewell to crowds

Shut down, doubts abound

Where is the ground?

All are touched by grace

Don’t be afraid

Unseen enemy

Can’t fight; can’t flee

Homebound, Jubilee

Captive or free

All are touched by grace

Don’t be afraid

‘Cause All shall be well

All shall be well

All manner of things shall be well

Midnight, still awake

When will this break?

Hindsight. Oversights.

Shadows and light.

All are touched by grace

Don’t be afraid

Live. Die. How much time?

What was my crime?

Nightmare. Fancy dream

Hopes in between

All are touched by grace

Don’t be afraid

‘Cause All shall be well

All shall be well

All manner of things shall be well

Waiting, wondering

Autumn or spring

How well do we live?

Give and forgive

All are touched by grace

Don’t be afraid

‘Cause All shall be well

All shall be well

All manner of things shall be well

Posted at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What churches can do to keep resources flowing in this time of crisis

Last Friday, I offered a webinar called GracEconomic Stewardship in Time of Crisis, part III of our “Gracious Community in a No-Touch World” webinar series. You can't view it here in this post, or you can go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91UL0U77Zc&feature=youtu.be

The goal of this webinar was to

- Explore creative ways to share resources to meet each other’s physical and economic needs achieving community resilience.

- Learn how to be good stewards of our currencies of relationship, truth, and gracious leadership in time of crisis to foster wellness within our church and in the neighborhood community.

Here are some of the ideas that were shared in this webinar:

To Church members less impacted financially in the pandemic crisis, invite them to:

Give to an emergency fund that church created (e.g. we can donate our government relief checks for start this fund) that can provide:
- Rent grant
- Mortgage payment
- Subsidize businesses so they can pay workers
- Pay it forward to small businesses (gift cards) etc.
Give more to community organizations that are keeping resources flowing
Pay it forward to small businesses and service providers that they use regularly (e.g. offer to buy gift certificates)
Ask landlords to give tenants grace period (e.g. exchange for jobs tenants can do)
Ask business owners to pay employees, especially health insurance (e.g. exchange for new or existing jobs employees can do at home), if they need help, they can apply for assistance from the church's emergency fund.

A church can also facilitate a job creation/distribution center for people to offer jobs and people looking for job (matching community needs with people’s skills).

A church can also create a community food bank with a safe delivery system.

For these and more ideas to keep resource flowing in this uncertain time, view the webinar here.

You can also find it all three webinars of the series at the homepage of our KI website: www.kscopeinstitute.org

If you find this webinar helpful, please consider making a GracEconomic donation between $10 and $100 on the same website.

Posted at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

GracEconomic Stewardship in Time of Crisis

Many of you attended Part II of our “Gracious Community in a No-Touch World” webinar series on Relational Online Worship last Friday. The recording is available at the homepage of our KI website: www.kscopeinstitute.org

It is also here:

If you find this webinar helpful, please consider making a GracEconomic donation between $10 and $100 on the same website.

We are offering a third webinar this Friday (April 3, 2020): GracEconomic Stewardship in Time of Crisis. See invitation below. The Zoom meeting number is the same as last Friday’s. Churches and communities are struggling since the flow of financial resources have been cut off for so many people deal to the stay-at-home requirement. In Chinese, the work for crisis consists of two words: danger and opportunity. Come and explore and also share your experiences of creative and faithful ways to turn this crisis into opportunities for faithful resilience and transformation.

Here is the invitation and connection information:

The Kaleidoscope Institute invites you to join us in a live webinar

On Friday, April at 1 -2 pm pacific (4 pm eastern time)

with the Rev. Dr. Eric H. F. Law

to explore ways to create

GracEconomic Stewardship in Time of Crisis

This is part 3 of our webinar series: Gracious Community in a No-Touch World

At the webinar, we will:

- Explore creative ways to share resources to meet each other’s physical and economic needs achieving community resilience.

- Learn how to be good stewards of our currencies of relationship, truth, and gracious leadership in time of crisis to foster wellness within our church and in the neighborhood community.

We will not just talk about money.

We will not blame, shame or politicize.

We will not be paralyzed by our fear.

Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;believe also in me. In God’s house are many rooms.”

GracEconomic Donation: Please consider giving a donation between $10 and $150 before, during or after the webinar, so that we can continue to offer relevant resources to you especially during the uncertain fast-changing time.

Here is how to sign on to join us live:

Time: April 3, 2020 01:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/198226431

Meeting ID: 198 226 431

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