Creativity to the tune of Who Am I by Casting Crowns

Thanks Cynthia for sending me this awesome video...

Meeting Jesus at the Food Pantry

Listen to this beautiful essay by Sara Miles who met Jesus by opening herself to strangers.

Racial Inequality and Drug Arrests

Here's a link to an article in today's New York Times about "Racial Inequality and Drug Arrests". The article discusses large disparities in the rate at which blacks and whites are arrested and imprisoned for drug offenses, despite roughly equal rates of illegal drug use. Black men are nearly 12 times as likely to be imprisoned for drug convictions as adult white men.

O Divine Love

Mystify us, arouse and confuse us. Shatter our illusions and plans so that we lose our way, and see neither path nor light until we have found you, where you are to be found and in your true form---in the peace of solitude, in prayer, in submission, in suffering, in succour given to another, and in flight from idle talk and worldly affairs. And, having tried all the known ways and means of pleasing you and not finding you any longer in any of them, we remain at a loss until, finally, the futility of all our efforts leads us at last to leave all to find you henceforth, you, yourself, everywhere and in all things without discrimination or reflection.

For, how foolish it is, O Divine Love, not to see you in all that is good and in all creatures. Why, then, try to find you in what you are not.

            --Jean Pierre de Caussade
              The Sacrament of the Present Moment

Dear Anonymous

I have an anonymous commenter who has called me "tiresome, trifling and patronizing". Hey, sorry, I don't mean to be. I wish I was smarter and a deeper thinker. I am a very average person trying to make it in the world. Why do I blog a lot about black/white issues? Cuz, I am a rural white woman of German American descent living and working in a community that is 98% African American and I'm trying to understand the implications of race in this context. I know I simplify. I know I have lots to learn. I invite you to a more personal discussion instead of the constant putdowns that I delete cuz they make me feel small and don't really generate discussion. Feel free to email me personally instead of the curt anonymous criticisms. Perhaps you can help me understand why you are so angry. Sorry if that sounds patronizing.

What's your walk score?

Here's a cool link to a web site that calculates your walk score by how far you have to walk to get to grocery stores, parks and restaurants. My walk score is 51 out of 100 and if you click on the street level view you can actually see the front of my house. Amazing!!

The Cosby Crusade

Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses Bill Cosby's journey from genial TV dad to fierce social critic.

We can help stop the killing

I attended a gathering of Christian leaders at Moody Bible Institute yesterday to discuss how we can help stem the tide of the recent epidemic of killing of school children in Chicago. I learned that one very practical thing we can do is to urge our constituencies to volunteer to be "walking school buses" to ensure "safe passage" of children to school and to let our churches and buildings near schools be designated as "safe havens" for children. It is a police sponsored program that volunteers can participate in. The police department trains the volunteers and issues special police vests. To volunteer call 312-747-9987.

Prayer for Reconciliation

I appreciate Joel Hamernick's thoughtful response to the discussions engendered by the statements of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I, too, am saddened by the huge racial divide, especially among people who call themselves Christians. I recently received an email indicating that a Breakthrough donor is going to cut off donations to Breakthrough and other ministries that support African Americans because most African Americans are supporting Obama, who has been mentored by Rev. Wright! We have so much work to do in bridging the racial divide and at times, it seems especially now, it is very painful. I grieve. My people can be so cruel and "miseducated". Please forgive us!

I have always tried to lead Breakthrough in a way that unites rather than divides Christians, but I am learning that there are times when we have to simply release people and pray for their reconciliation.

Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3)

Jesus' prayer...

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)

Moody Radio Concert of Prayer

I enjoyed being in the studio at Moody radio last week for the live production of their concert of prayer for the National Day of Prayer. It is really amazing to watch Anita Lustrea and producer, Joe Carlson, at work. They are great at what they do! We all felt the presence of God and the two hours of prayer and music by Steve Green flew by. You can listen to the program archives here. I had to right click on "listen" and download the programs to get the link to work. It doesn't seem to be streaming. There were lots of beautiful heartfelt prayers for racial reconciliation.

What's a mother to do?

Thanks to Jimmy Lee for linking me to this article in the Sun Times entitled, Moms, mayor, clergy march against violence. It highlights again the complicated issues that are causing the surge in violence against our children. Daley calls parents to take more responsibility, yet anyone who has raised kids knows how difficult it is to keep a teenager in the house.

One of the kids in our program was struck on the head with a brick last weekend and is struggling for his life. Another youth was killed in the park at Fulton and Albany. It is certainly a call to action for those of us who are trying to provide activities and academic support for the youth in the community.

A Conversation About Race

Structural Violence

Here's a link to a great article from the Tribune by Jamie Kelvin, whose wife, Patricia Evans, was assaulted in 1988 while jogging along Lake Michigan. She is white and her assailant, who was never captured, was African American. Jamie says members of the media who interviewed him expected him to be vengeful and seek "restorative violence". Instead, Jamie moved in the opposite direction and began a quest to understand men who fit the profile of Patricia's attacker. He began planting gardens with residents of the Robert Taylor and Stateway Garden homes and was soon doing lots of justice and advocacy work. Here's a quote from the article.

"There are large violent acts, I have written elsewhere, but no large healing acts. The work of healing is a matter of small acts of attention and care sustained over time. Is this perhaps among the things Dr. King tried to teach us by his insistence on nonviolence in theory and practice? A commitment to nonviolence constantly forces you back to the bedrock realization that structures of inequality and exclusion are enforced by particular blows to particular bodies inflicted by particular hands. And it challenges you to seize the occasions for resisting violence that are all around you. In mysterious ways, more by grace than design, it too has the power to rearrange your molecules—to make you more whole, less afraid, more alive to human possibilities."

The Double Bind

Marcie Curry gave me this book last week with a post it note that said, "You have to read this!" I took a day off yesterday and went to Starved Rock to pray and reflect. I had a great day hiking and praying. At about 2:00 it started to rain so I decided to pick up the book to read for awhile. I read it straight through without putting it down until I finished it at 9:30! I can't really tell you about it without giving it away. I'll just repeat Marcie's words... You have to read this!

Save Our Teens

Our Kids Are Dying

More than at Virginia Tech, more than at Northern Illinois, one by one our boys and girls are dying on the streets, victims of gun violence. Twenty-four Chicago Public School children have been murdered so far this year. Rev. Renaldo Kyles, Interfaith Director for the Chicago Public Schools, spends much of his time going to funerals and consoling the families of the victims.

"My faith gets weak, it gets low. I should be spending more time partnering churches with schools to do more after-school programs, mentoring programs instead of spending my time going to funeral homes," said Kyles. He fears the city has become hardened to the losses.

Over the weekend my daughter, Monica, called me and said, "Mom, you should tune in WGCI. They're talking about the student killings and the kids are calling in to say what they need. They are saying they need safe places to go, to hang out and play basketball and dance."

I'm more motivated than ever to get our Breakthrough FamilyPlex built. That's exactly what the kids in our community need. Safety, activities, educational and job opportunities, sports, music, art and dance lessons. It is a matter of life and death for our kids.

Racism and Chicago Baseball

Here's a link to a Sun Times article about the hottest selling item in Wrigley Field that mocks the Japanese. Very sad!!

"The image feeds not only ugly, arrogant and ignorant Japanese stereotypes, but also the stereotype of the obnoxious, profane, drunken, booing, garbage-throwing Cubs fan."

Justice Revival

The Vineyard Church of Columbus is hosting a Justice Revival with Sojourners.

King's Final Crusade

Thanks to Tawnya for sending me the link to this CNN article about what Taylor Branch, the author of Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire and At Canaan's Edge, says King was planning when he died. He was planning a Poor People's March on Washington DC.

King called his crusade the Poor People's Campaign. He planned to march on Washington with a multiracial army of poor people who would build shantytowns at the Lincoln Memorial -- and paralyze the nation's capital if they had to.

I like the final statement of the article.

"You can't take a person's life who's already given it up."

A Call to the Church

I'm turning out my lights for Earth Hour

If you haven't heard, it's tonight from 8 to 9 PM. Those of us in Chicago are going to turn off our lights in recognition of Earth Hour.

The Fellowship of His Suffering

I wrote a few days ago on this blog about the pursuit of happiness and how living and working among the poor does not necessarily make us happy. Here's an example of that from Shasta Cole, one of Breakthrough's interns. She writes,

i sit here sometimes and i think, what have i gotten myself into? my heart breaks nearly everyday as i see the pain they go through. my heart broke today as i hear the words, i messed up coming from my bright and beautiful 13 year old girl. and my heart breaks as i walk down the street as i go to church on sundays as i see my teenagers struggle to read as i listen to my kids just talk to each other as i watch my 7th grader and her 9th sister walk down the street cuz they dropped out of school...these things, they break my heart. i dont share any of this most of the time because i want to share the good things that happen. because there are so many small improvements i see everyday. but more often than not, i see pain and i see self-destruction. ugh

Click here to read her full blog entry.

Healing for a Broken World

Steve Monsma's book, Healing for a Broken World, is now available. He interviewed me in the accompanying DVD. Here's what Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship had to say about the book.

“Steve Monsma avoids the modern-day tendency to believe that the kingdom of God will arrive on Air Force One. Instead he offers a balanced perspective on how Christians should engage in the political process. His solid biblical grounding, as well as his concrete applications of Christian principles to public policy, provides wise guidance.”

Compassion: The Doorway to Justice

I loved the article by Breakthrough's Housing Coordinator, Paul Luikart, on the Just Life web site about the difference between compassion and justice. He says,

I think compassion is probably the door way to justice. I think performing works of mercy helps people to see the need for justice.

Click here to read the whole article.

Are you too happy?

I was journaling tonight and paged back to the summer of 2003 when I was living in a nice three bedroom house in Andersonville, on the north side of Chicago, with my two daughters. The house had a great deck and an above ground swimming pool in the back yard. It was a beautiful old home on a quiet street with nice shade trees. Andersonville had changed drastically since we moved there in 1988. Clark Street was booming and property values had escalated. There was a garden walk in our neighborhood every summer. The neighborhood was clean and beautiful with many great restaurants within easy walking distance. My girls, who are now 24 and 26, talk often about how much they miss living there.

In my journal I read about how much I was enjoying the summer, daily walks to the lake with my dog Charlie, hot afternoons in the pool with the kids, evenings grilling dinner on the deck. It's a sharp contrast to where I'm living now on the west side of Chicago. I love East Garfield Park and my little apartment, but there are empty lots and boarded up buildings everywhere and lots of trash, broken bottles and cracked sidewalks. It can be depressing. I realized as I read my journal tonight that I was happier living in Andersonville and was beginning to feel sorry for myself, like maybe I had made a bad choice. After all, shouldn't I be happy?

Then I watched the film, When Did I See You Hungry, from the San Damiano Foundation. I rented it from Netflix. It shows the poorest of the world's poor, living in squaller, juxtaposed with statistics and quote after quote from Scripture and from Christians about loving Jesus in the poor. I wept at the sight of a leper, a woman, who looked grotesque from the disease, a disease that isolates people because no one wants to look at them. When asked how she was doing, she said, "Very well, Praise the Lord."

And I'm not happy!!

The producer of the film said, after taking pictures all day in the Payatas garbage dump outside Manila, that he went back to his room and cried.

I don't think we are supposed to seek out suffering, but when we walk with the poor, we do suffer. Life is easier when we avoid them and the communities where they live. I don't think everyone is called to move into a slum, but I think it is important that we let our hearts be broken by the things that break the heart of God.

Walter Brueggemann in his book, The Prophetic Imagination, defines passion as “the capacity and readiness to care, to suffer, to die and to feel”. He says, the world’s economy is “designed to keep people satiated so that they do not notice." Its politics is intended to "block out the cries of the denied ones. Its religion is to be an opiate so that no one discerns misery alive in the heart of God.”

I am certainly not suffering by living in East Garfield Park. I may have felt happier in Andersonville, but here, I am growing in my capacity to care, to suffer, and to feel.

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings."
                 - Philippians 3:10
.

“The anger is real;
it is powerful;
and to simply wish it away,
to condemn it without understanding its roots,
only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding
that exists between the races.”

-Barack Obama

Because Jesus Lives

“I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidian mind of man, that in the world’s finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, of all the blood they’ve shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify all that has happened with men.”

                 -From The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Obama's Speech on Race

I couldn't listen to Obama's speech this morning, so I was happy to find it on YouTube. Beyond the campaign, this is a historic speech that eloquently represents what we experience in our community on a daily basis.

In the Studio with Michael Card

Michael Card and his host, Wayne Shepherd, had me on their radio show again last week. You can download the entire show at this link to the iTunes podcast. It's program #310. Here's the portion in which they interview me.

Sunday's Comin'

Standing on the Verge of a New World Order

My pastor, Daniel Hill, told me about this message by Dr. Cornel West at Saint Sabina Church on Chicago's south side. He challenges us to look at the world and this present time in our history through the lens of the cross. He says we have been living in an ice age of indifference where the cross has been pushed to the side, but the ice is melting and change is coming! It's a great message.

Maya Angelou will be speaking there on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 7:30 PM.

They're home!!

The guys moved into our new interim housing and employment training facility at 402 N. St. Louis last week after four long years of planning and waiting! There were so many times when we hit what seemed to me like insurmountable roadblocks, but God got us through. It's done (except for the parking lot and landscaping) and it's beautiful. Thank you Jesus!! Come by and see it!

Politically informed

Joyce Caine sent me this video. In the video an interviewer picks a young African American man and questions why he supports Obama. At first, the interviewer seems to assume he is ignorant and crams difficult questions at him. Unrattled, Derrick articulates Obama's positions so well that you have to be impressed. I wish I was half as articulate.

Free Voicemail for the Homeless

Google is providing free voicemail for life for every homeless person in the city of San Francisco! How cool is that!

Segregation, Incarceration and the Middle Class

Thanks to Matt Harris for linking me to this editorial from Clarence Page in the Tribune today. Page discusses the continuation of segregation in our society. He says one of the reasons we don't have riots like we did in the '60s is because we have incarcerated so many African American men. He says, "The most striking difference in today's urban scene is the number of middle-class blacks who have joined middle-class whites in zipping past poor black neighborhoods with their car doors firmly locked." Kevin Gwin posted thoughts on the article as well.

“The greatest battles of life are fought every day in the silent chambers of one’s own soul.” (David O. McKay)

A Gated Community of the Soul

That's an interesting phrase isn't it? I got it from Michael Lindsay in this interview with Tim Stafford of Christianity Today about The Evangelical Elite.

Elite evangelicals have very conflicted feelings. And yet it's not a debilitating emotion. For many of them it lights a fire in their belly to try to do something. That's why a lot of these folks are what we would call "cultural entrepreneurs," trying to do something for the common good. Their faith gives them a compelling sense of activism to make the world right. It also gives them a more positive outlook. They're more hopeful about their ability to make a difference.

Seeing Clearly Through Tears

Here's a link to a great article that was posted on the Christianity Today website today. Al Hsu began to see clearly while singing God of Justice.

Live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go
Stepping forward
Keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go

Grace Through Suffering

I just learned of Makoto Fujimura through Michael Card's podcast. Makoto says, "Art is about being honest before God about things that I'm struggling with. Painting is about prayer to me, focusing on the beauty of God's reality and my own brokenness." His paintings create an "arena of grace".

Brennan Manning on the Love of Jesus

The long version. This one is about an hour, but so worth the watch...



The short version...

Demographics

Here's a link to ZIPskinny a web site that provides demographic information by zip code. Here's how my zip code 60624 compares to the rest of the state and the country. Our median household income is $22,426!

In the Studio with Michael Card

Michael Card had me on his radio show today. Here's the link to the streaming audio and the iTunes URL. He is a musician, song writer, author and a genuinely nice guy who clearly loves Scripture and represents Jesus well.

The Link To Michelle Obama's Speech

Here's the link to the outstanding speech by Michelle Obama that I mentioned on Thursday. She describes her experience growing up on the south side of Chicago and the low expectations people had for her. It was very inspirational for those who love to see people rise up above the odds and become models for the younger generation.

Don't Burn A Hole!

Those of us blessed to live in areas that get real winters have heard it many times, some fool trying to get out of a parking spot who doesn't know how to do it and refuses to get help. They rev their engine and accellerate until they burn themselves into a huge rut that makes it even more difficult for them to rise out.

We got about a foot of snow overnight in Chicago. Since my early morning appointment was cancelled I laid in bed for awhile this morning and read about half of Dan Allender's Book, To Be Told: Know Your Story, Shape Your Future. One of Allender's points was that we need to join with God in writing our story and not let the curcumstances of our lives keep us in a rut.

Then I carried out a potato chip bag clip to use to shovel out my car because I couldn't find my brush and scraper. The street was busy with guys from the neighborhood shoveling out cars and sidewalks. One of them offered to shovel out my car. I showed him my chip clip and told him I would love it if he would clear off my car for me and offered to pay him. He and his friend adamantly refused to take any money saying we are all neighbors and this is what neighbors do.

I got in and started warming up the car as they cleared off my windows and shoveled a path for my tires. I rolled down my window to thank them as I rocked my car back and forth to get out of the parking space. They joked that I clearly knew how to drive and it dawned on me, "Life's alot like that", I quipped. Don't burn yourself into a hole!" We can burn ourselves into a life rut that's hard to get out of. We choose the security, refuse to face change, and end up stuck in boring routines devoid of real meaning. So, my word for today is, DON'T BURN A HOLE!

And by the way, I LOVE my neighbors!