called to another way

If there is one thing that has been consistent in my life since starting seminary, being ordained and serving as a priest, it has been standing in opposition to the Iraq war. While a seminarian at Virginia Theological Seminary, I was part of organizing the local chapter of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. I attended many and helped organize a few vigils and marches on campus and off, in front of the White House and the Capitol. Between classes on systematic theology and pastoral care I could be found in the seminary computer lab sending out email newsletters entitled “Called to Another Way” with articles by Stephen Zunes, Howard Zinn, Alice Walker, Molly Ivins, Ray McGovern and many other people of faith and no faith all who voiced articulate, informed opposition to this unjust war. I was nearly arrested before the war with Medea Benjamin and a huge group of women from Code Pink before the war started. I actually feel guilty about not doing more before the war to try and keep it from happening. I have tremendous respect for all those who have risked much to try and save this planet from war. I’m really grateful that Medea will be a guest at the cathedral where I serve next month.

After seminary, I worked as a priest in a suburban Washington, DC, parish where I taught and preached regularly. I struggled with being part of a faith community whose members both stood in opposition to and in alignment with this Administration’s imperial ambitions. I met fascinating personalities who, despite appearing to be part of the war machine, held profound personal commitments to peace and the upholding of the dignity of every human being. I wrestled each day with how to serve in this place, often driving to work listening to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now on the radio and later finding myself sharing communion with people who would seem to have enormous power and wealth to really change things.

Over a year ago, I was arrested with the Episcopal Bishop of California and other clergy from the Episcopal Diocese of California in front of the Federal Building, we were participants in a “die-in” seeking to draw attention to the numerous casualties of the Iraq War. This arrest didn’t cost any of us very much and it didn’t end the war. But there was something holy going on as we lay there on the cold concrete waiting for the police officers with the plastic handcuffs, surrounded and held up by the chants of our faith community.

This week the interfaith community of the Bay Area will acknowledge the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War on the steps of Grace Cathedral surrounded by numerous shoes and boots, symbolizing the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and U.S. military soldiers who have died in this war. At the center of Holy Week, as our attention is on the nonviolent teacher named Jesus who was executed by a religious establishment and an empire unable to comprehend the things that make for peace, we will read names, sing songs, mourn the dead and pray for peace. Join us.


If you are planning to come to the vigil, I encourage you to bring a pair of shoes, or two or three. For the past few weeks one of my responsibilities in helping organize the event has been collecting shoes. We have collected a lot from churches as far away as Santa Cruz. But to be honest, we are far from having enough to truly do justice to the tens of thousands of Iraqi causalities. As I prepared the names for tomorrow’s event I was struck by how few names we actually have --- for example a 10 year old girl shot by U.S. forces last week --- nameless. Yet each one of these people we Christians believe are made in God’s image. As we lay these shoes at the feet of this mighty concrete cathedral, may God forgive us for the atrocity of this war.

Sojourners has put together a profound call for repentance and peace, signed by numerous faith leaders including Tony Campolo, Richard Rohr, and Brian McLaren please sign and share widely. For the past month the God's Politics blog has had moving commentary on the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War, you can check those posts out here.

UPDATE:

Jan in San Francisco attended this evening's vigil and took some moving photographs, check them out here. Also, of the news coverage so far KTVU Channel 2 News at 10 p.m. gave our vigil strong coverage, watch the video here. More coverage can be found here and here.

Thank you to all who came, who read names, chanted and prayed. May we continue to pray and work together for peace.

notes on becoming

Please read Jim Wallis' excellent post over at God's Politics on Barack Obama's faith and share it widely.

You can view Barack's speech on faith at the Call to Renewal/Sojourners here.

Last night at the gym I was watching some of the cable news shows (we don't have cable at home) and I became deeply troubled by the political coverage. Rather than talking about moral issues of real concern like how to: end the war, become better stewards of the earth, and make this country more just (healthcare, living wage, affordable housing) there seemed to be nothing but fear-mongering and the raising of silly questions about a candidate's patriotism based on their wardrobe. Is this really who we are America? I don't think so.

As I peddled away at the gym, I turned off the TV and looked out the window, at the Bay Bridge lit up against the night sky and recalled "the bridge to the 21st century" that President Clinton kept talking about in his last years in office. What progress and hope and possibility one could feel about our country's future then. The reality is that like San Francisco, this country's future is a "work in progress" not a done deal and we all need to become part of the building of that future rather than passive receivers of someone else's dream or nightmare. So far my little exposure to the good work of community organizers has taught me that awesome things can happen when people and organizations come together across race, economic, and political divides.

Speaking of San Francisco - the more I get to know this city the more I realize just how much we need to do to help this city live into the values and vision of its patron saint, Francis of Assisi. While we are green, we aren't anywhere near green enough to reverse the effects of global warming or to ensure that children are not being contaminated by toxic waste. While we are inclusive and welcoming, we are not to everyone especially the poor (take a look at the proposed city budget cuts that effect services to the most down and out). While the vast majority of this city's residents are against the war, we have not done enough collectively to end it. Francis of Assisi viewed all the earth as his brothers and sisters and lived an extraordinarily simple life. Francis more than just tolerating the poor made his home among them. Francis not only stood against the violent crusades, he met with an enemy leader the Sultan Melek-el-Kamel, the leading Muslim of the time according to John Dear.

So I've begun thinking a lot lately about the word "becoming" --- I'm not San Franciscan, I'm "becoming" San Franciscan and the city where I dwell is "becoming San Francisco" we are way far from being worthy of the name. This country too is way far from being all that we might be, perhaps this election we might discover an invitation to get a little closer to becoming a people, a nation resembling the United States of America.

Finding Faith with Ecclesia Ministries

The Washington Post has posted two important videos about Ecclesia Ministries, a ministry of presence to and prayer with the homeless founded in 1993 by the Reverend Debbie W. Little. Check these poignant videos out.

Exciting! A People's History on TV

A People's History of the United States is a very important book and one that I was encouraged to read when taking classes at the Servant Leadership School in Washington, DC.

I later heard the author Howard Zinn, Marian Wright Edelman, and Julian Bond read "Voices of A People's History" at my favorite D.C. restaurant/bar/coffeeshop/performance space Busboys and Poets. A television series based on "A People's History" is an excellent idea.


Published on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 by Variety
Howard Zinn’s ‘History’ Comes to TV
Documentary Miniseries to feature Damon, Vedder
by Michael Schneider
from CommonDreams

Production is finally set to begin on a long-delayed TV version of Howard Zinn’s landmark 1980 tome “A People’s History of the United States.”1211 05The four-hour documentary miniseries — titled “The People Speak” — will include performances by Matt Damon, Marisa Tomei, Viggo Mortensen, Danny Glover, Josh Brolin, David Strathairn, Kerry Washington, Eddie Vedder and John Legend.

Zinn will host the longform project, which begins shooting next month in Boston. Project, to be exec produced by Zinn, Anthony Arnove and First Tuesday Media’s Chris Moore, has not yet been sold to a network.

Damon and Moore have been looking to adapt “A People’s History of the United States” on television for nearly a decade.

Damon, who lived next door to Zinn as a child, and Ben Affleck included a reference to Zinn and “A People’s History” in their Academy Award-winning “Good Will Hunting.” Soon thereafter, the scribes and Moore (also a “Good Will Hunting” producer) sold a 10- to 12-hour miniseries to Fox based on the book.

“A People’s History” was slated to run on Fox in 1999, but that didn’t happen; later, HBO developed a three-part version but eventually passed as well.

The new adaptation will draw from both “A People’s History,” and sequel tome “Voices of A People’s History of the United States,” which Zinn wrote with Arnove. Miniseries will center on the actors and musicians as they read from the books or perform music related to their themes: the struggles of women, war, class and race.

The longform will mix the performances with photos, interviews and archival footage.

“This project is about Howard Zinn, his books and using that body of work to remind and inspire us all that this is a country built on dissidence,” Moore said. “Howard’s work deserves to be on film, and it is time that we paid tribute and captured the struggles of the people.”

Zinn, whose books chronicle the struggles of Native Americans, women, workers and other Americans, said he’d like to continue to inspire activists.

“Our hope is that these words from the past will speak passionately and clearly to the needs of the present,” he said.

Cinetic Media is handling domestic sales for “The People Speak,” which is also being readied for a DVD release after its initial TV run. Artfire Films’ Art Spigel, Ara Katz and Dan Fireman are on board as producers; David Baerwald will provide the music score.

© 2007 Variety.com