5/5/2009
Our God is the God of all of us!
We wish to challenge and dissolve the barriers that divide people and
Church and nations. We stand for oneness in the body of Christ. We
commit ourselves to the service of Our God to work among all people,
seeking to break down all forms of injustice and oppression, and all
inequalities of sex, status, color, creed or nationality. Spirit and
Lifestyle
I love that capital letter "Our" God. I remember that in the early
50s we had to get permission from the bishop just to use a Baptist
church to hold a regional girl guide meeting. "Our" God was not the
same as "Their" God.
Today, 40 people meet under the auspices of the Catholic Archdiocese
Social Justice office to hear an archbishop emeritus talk of the
founding of unions and cooperatives with fishermen, farmers and coal
miners in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in the 30s and of a First Nations
inner city parish in the 70s and a young man with two young sons
talks about the Greater Edmonton Alliance: organizing for the common
good. In four years they have created 438 units of affordable
housing; partnered in building greater employment justice and
opportunity for newcomers; worked to revitalize and preserve
Edmonton's local food economy and mentored hundreds of new civic
leaders to mobilize their power in shaping the future of Edmonton.
And now, Sustainable Works to reduce Alberta's Carbon Footprint;
make housing more affordable by reducing utility costs and create
recession proof jobs for trades people by retrofitting existing
homes! Their members: 9 labour unions; 9 Catholic parishes and
religious orders; 7 churches of various denominations; one Muslim
organization; 8 non-profit or small business organizations!
Our God is the God of all of us!
Cecily
5/12/2009
Of its very nature this mission cannot be a temporary thing. It is a
total commitment to the Gospel, and can be nothing less than a way of
life. Spirit and Lifestyle
From Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon, I participated in the
Social Justice Institute 2009: Hungry for Justice: the World Food
Crisis and You: Connecting our Christian Faith with Action for Food
Justice. A truly ecumenical event. We have come a long way! I
arrived a little late on Saturday morning because I went to the
Farmers' Market first and my plan to go directly from there to the
conference fell apart when I realized I couldn't carry my purchases
six long blocks from the bus stop to King's College where the
conference was held. But not too late to catch most of Cathy C.
Campbell's keynote address: Baking Bread of Life Together: From
Conversation to Community and Commitment.
Cathy reminded us of five actions: Connect, Learn, Enjoy, Be
attentive to the Spirit, Do the work.
We need a skeptical mind and a hopeful heart!
Read everything! Food is connected to every issue.
Nothing can replace person to person contacts
Enjoy - it's easy to get stressed out
Share food, love food
Have a soul-felt sense of justice
Attend to the spirit and nurture it.
Subscribe to a theology of ENOUGH
Lament: name and feel the pain
Do acts of compassion, hospitality, inclusion, generosity Develop a spiritual discipline of humility, patience, repentance,
blended with generous doses of forgiveness
Enjoy a plentiful and regular diet of prayer and a real honouring of
the Sabbath
A strong discipline of prayer - all things can be done for the one
who believes
Do the work! Jesus washing the feet, the Good Samaritan - go and do
likewise
Martha and Mary - make room for both
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice
There were many of my friends there. One of them is Clarence Visser.
I first knew him with Farmers for Peace working for Nicaraguan
farmers in the 1980s. Recently, the Visser families have worked on
preserving farming lands around Edmonton, especially the unique rich
soil and the micro-climate that makes the NE area so special. This
area has been annexed to the city for urban and industrial sprawl. It
was his brother Jim who brought soil as a sacred offering to the Good
Friday Outdoor Way of the Cross. Clarence always so generous with his
time, so open to the world around us, with the weight of his years
and of his wife's ill health pressing on him, reminded us of what is
expected of us and what we need to expect of ourselves:
"We have to do what we can. If we do, it is enough." Words of Wisdom
for this week!
Cecily
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