Culture

A Bar Mitzvah on the Jewish Frontier

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I live in Espanola, New Mexico, a town of 9,000 people, mostly Hispanic and Native American, with a lot of churches but without a Jewish synagogue. I live in an agrarian mestizo community: most of my neighbors are of mixed Spanish and Native American descent dating from the arrival of Juan de Onate in the 16th century. Leaders in my community worry about passing their cultural heritage on to the next generation in the face of industrial encroachment. Rio Arriba County reminds me of Israel at the time of Akiva, immediately preceding the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. Although I invited my Hispanic Rio Arriba colleagues to my son’s Bar Mitzvah, none came.

Culture

A Step Towards Justice for Abir

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Sometimes the work of trying to bring justice to a world that seems so broken feels like a battle that can never be won. But every once in a while, something happens that reminds you that you must keep working for justice. This week, the family and friends of a little girl named Abir, and the many many many other people who have struggled to seek justice after she was killed, got a boost of hope. An Israeli judge issued an incredible ruling, and my friends at the Rebuilding Alliance wanted to share the news with the world. They’ve been working to not only get justice in this case, but to also build hope for Abir’s community, by building playgrounds in her memory.

art

The Power of Storytelling: Creating a New Future for American Muslims

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Originally published in Patheos.com

WAJAHAT ALI
In 7th-century Arabia, the storyteller was valued more than the swordsman. The audience sat on the floor surrounding the gifted orator as he captivated the eager listeners with beautiful poetry narrating their history. In the 21st century, the art form may have evolved to include motion pictures, TV shows, theater productions, novels, and standup comedy, but they all serve the same function: storytelling. Ideas and principles are most effectively communicated and transmitted when they are couched in a narrative. Stories, whether they concern the etiquette and biography of prophets or the trials and tribulations of America’s founding fathers, inform and influence a cultural citizenry of its values and identity.

Culture

Personal Growth and Social Change (Part 2)

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Part 1 of this mini-series was posted here. NVC in Support of Social Change
Most often I almost forget that NVC is an acronym that contains the word “communication.” Instead I tend to think of NVC [Nonviolent Communication] as a set of principles and practices to integrate the consciousness of nonviolence into all levels of living:

Personally, practicing NVC offers one way of accepting Gandhi’s invitation to bring nonviolence to one’s thought, word, and action. Interpersonally, NVC conflict resolution and dialogue tools can contribute to the conversations, negotiations, coalition building, and other organizing efforts which are indispensable for any attempt of working with other people towards structural or systemic goals. On the group level, using NVC for facilitation and decision making can contribute to effective functioning for groups and organizations working for social change.

Culture

Personal Growth and Social Change (Part 1)

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Many of us who practice nonviolence carry a vision of a world that works for all, where everyone’s needs matter and people and the planet are cared for. None of us know what will or could bring about our vision. Will it be a miracle of a single leader transforming the cultural assumptions and practices? Will it be a world collapse which will create a void and an opportunity to restructure society? Will it be a critical mass of people who inhabit different forms of human relationship?

Christianity

Scriptural Reasoning: A Student Movement for Interfaith Understanding

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Scriptural Reasoning, a technique developed at Cambridge University and the University of Virginia, is known as much for its peer-reviewed journal as for its august participants. But it is on the verge of going mainstream, shaking up the way we understand each other’s scriptures and taking root on college campuses around the country. Approximately twenty Scriptural Reasoning (SR) groups exist across North America and the United Kingdom. But that number is likely to balloon as college chaplains take SR to their campuses. Two leading scholars of SR, Peter Ochs, Edgar Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies at the University of Virginia, and Homayra Ziad, Assistant Professor of Religion at Trinity College, brought the technique to the annual meeting of the National Association of College and University Chaplains (NACUC) this past spring, where it was warmly received.

Culture

Still Married!

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20 years and four months after our marriage in the First Presbyterian Church, and 2 years after the County of San Mateo issued our marriage license and the minister who had married us 20 years earlier got to sign our marriage certificate, a federal judge declared today that our marriage remains legal (we weren’t the plaintiffs in the case, but were married in San Mateo County during the brief window when California allowed gay marriage). And… he declared the ban on gay marriage passed by voters in California to be in violation of the United States Constitution. Pass the chocolate cake – it is time to celebrate… and get back to work after the frosting is gone because there’s a whole lot of work to do.

Culture

Making Room for Being Different

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I can’t remember a time when I didn’t feel different, even when I was very young. Being different is as familiar to me as breathing and eating. Last week, as part of the Institute for Sacred Activism I attended, I experienced a major shift in relating to being different. Because the path I am walking is the path of vulnerability, and because I have some hope that what I experienced may be of use to others, I decided to write in some detail about the opening that happened and about what I learned as a result.
Let me start from the end. I have had a storyline for most of my conscious life that says there is no room for me in the world.

Christianity

Toasters, Homelessness and Mental Illness – Musings for the Day

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My mother-in-law thinks we are crazy, taking half a day off work to cook, serve, and clean up for around 50-100 homeless folks who come to our church on Wednesdays. We only do this once every five weeks, part of a rotation of folks who make sure that there’s a hot meal for homeless folks in Palo Alto every day. Yes, at the end of our six hour shift I am pretty exhausted, more so, it seems, now that a decade has passed since we started. But crazy? No.