Alvin Greene For Senate - No Way!

Alvin Michael Greene is the Democratic Party's nominee in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in South Carolina. He is the first African American to be nominated for U.S. Senate by a major party in South Carolina. Greene faces Republican Senator Jim DeMint, Green Party candidate Tom Clements, and write-in candidate Mazie Ferguson, a longtime Democratic Party activist from Sumter in the general election. Greene overwhelmingly won largely white counties in the primary. You think those white voters were not paying attention to who they were voting for? I cannot vote for Alvin Greene. I also can't vote for Jim DeMint. DeMint has quite a string of "No" votes. He pledged to make health care reform President Obama's Waterloo. He voted against implementing the 911 Commission report. He also voted against expanding the Children's health insurance program. I'll do my research on Mazie Ferguson and Green Party Candidate Tom Clements. There is still a choice.

MICHAEL ROOT - DEAN, COLLEAGUE, AND FRIEND

When I joined the faculty of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary two years ago, among those who offered a warm welcome was Dr. Michael Root. As Academic Dean he introduced me to academic life at Southern Seminary. I wrote to Dr. Root recently expressing my best wishes and support. Now, I have to say that I have bitter/sweet feelings about Dr. Root's move from Lutheranism to the Roman Catholic Church. Bitter because as a lay theologian he provided (still does) an important and instructive Lutheran voice, especially in ecumenical matters. His recent period of deep discernment, I believe, is the continuation of a journey he has been on for some time. He said as much. I celebrate Dr. Root's move because I do not believe that one's everlasting salvation rests with a Lutheran identity, and I find reason to celebrate if people, who find difficulties with what some Lutherans teach and live out, find a church home elsewhere. A majority of those leaving the ELCA, it would seem, are not indicating a destination. Many may be leaving the church of Christ altogether (The ELCA has lost three quarters of a million people since its inception).

I have blogged before about one friend who moved from Lutheranism to the Roman Catholic Church. Professor Stanley Hauerwas, who recently became Anglican after nearly a lifetime in the Methodist Church, (Third Way Magazine) commented on another Lutheran who famously became a Roman Catholic. "When Richard Neuhaus was going to become a Roman Catholic, there was this lovely moment when [his fellow Lutheran] Robert Wilken was trying to talk him out of it and said, 'There are many rooms in our Father's house, Richard.' And Richard said, 'Yes, but some of them are better furnished than others.'" I grew up in the neighborhood of Holy Ghost Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana. Holy Ghost was the largest black RC parish in the nation in the 1960s and 70s with over 10,000 members. There were many rooms in that particular parish where folks very dear to me gathered. Many of my school classmates and teachers were Roman Catholics. My father was a member of Holy Ghost Parish. At a young age I came to respect a lot about Catholicism because I saw how so many around me ordered their lives based on the teachings of that Church. In the 1980s I became an Oblate of St. John's Monastery, Collegeville, Minnesota following the Rule of Saint Benedict. I might have joined my dad some years ago, but I did not because of my support for the ordination of women. Cheryl Pero, who recently completed a PhD in New Testament from The Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, journeyed toward ordination while I was enrolled in seminary. There were several other woman who entered the ministry in the late 70s and early 80s. Over the years I came to believe that excluding women from ordination followed a biblical hermeneutic rooted in sexism. Sexism, like racism, is a sin. And no matter how hard we may try to justify discrimination, in the end, it is what it is, wrong. Over the years, I have found powerful motivation to stay in the ELCA, as have others, and for different reasons.

It would be decidedly surprising if we would be spared a labor for the truth of the Word of God in a world of rapid change. To move through such times with discernment is the calling of church theologians and lay people alike.

SOUTH CAROLINA MOM KILLS TODDLERS

What went wrong? How could a mother take the lives of her children? Devean C. Duley was 2 years old. His brother, Ja'van T. Duley was 18 months old. "This was a young lady that was in trouble, in trouble in more ways than she realized," Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams told reporters. “She was a mother that was unemployed. She had no means of taking care of her children...” An immature woman, perhaps. She was in trouble and didn't know where to turn, or how to turn for help. Perhaps one day we will know more details. Perhaps the answer will stay buried in Shaquan Duley's psyche. I grew up in a home where a single black woman was head of the household. My mom had four children, and for whatever reasons, remained unmarried. As I look back on life at home, I know how hard it was for her. I knew that a great deal of the time she was in crisis. There were times, I suppose, when she must have thought that she could not make it through the next crisis. I know too, of the sacrifices she made. I thank God that she turned every conceivable way for help. She did many kinds of jobs to earn enough money to provide for us. She was a strong Christian who relied on the messages of hope coming from the pulpit and the membership of the Baptist congregation where we held membership. She found comfort in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about change in our lives. I have always taken to heart a simple message she wrote at the bottom of a letter to me when I was in college: No Hope. No Peace. Ja'van and Devean are at peace. I pray that Shaquan and her family may find hope and peace in the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

WATER: A SACRED RESOURCE

By CJ: raju sanadi

While in Zimbabwe, I visited the home of Pastor Kenneth Mtata. Pastor Mtata's mother prepared breakfast one morning. As she poured a glass of water which she had hauled a mile from a water source, I sat there looking for words to decline the water. Pastor Mtata explained to his mom that while it was safe for the people of their area to drink the water, the water contained elements that might make me sick.

The writer of Genesis 1 places water right at the beginning of Creation. The writer opens with the image of the divine spirit hovering over the water at the creation of the universe.Throughout Scripture and in liturgical practice, water has had deeply understood sacramental roles culminating with the water of baptism. Science and everyday experience confirm the description in the Scriptures of water as life-giving for all Creation. Adequate supplies of life-giving water is needed for the sustenance of all life.

When the poor and needy seek water, I will open rivers on the bare heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. Isaiah 41:17-18

Within Creation water undergoes a cycle. Water flows from sources, is contained, distributed, sometimes purified, used and then collected and distributed for further purification before rejoining the flow. In our reality the water of Creation is the result of complicated combinations of the natural processes set in place by the evolution of Creation and by many human interventions.

As the World's population grows, global and regional climates change, and the world society's increase in technological complexities and dependencies accelerates, water availability is changing and more sources of pollution are making water unfit for sustaining Creation, for liturgical purposes or for human consumption.

The Caring for Creation social statement of the ELCA recognizes that "living creatures, and the air, soil and water that support them, face unprecedented threats." The social statement affirms the ELCA's support for proposals and actions to protect and restore "water, especially drinking water, groundwater, polluted runoff, and industrial and municipal waste."

Additionally, The Religious Working Group on Water of which the ELCA is a member organization, calls for U.S. Government action in four vital areas:

• Substantially increase Development Assistance Account funding for clean drinking water and adequate sanitation – as part of an overall increase in U.S. development assistance for sustainable human development and poverty alleviation world-wide.
  

• Ensure that water projects of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank prioritize access to the most impoverished people and communities, and that IFI policies respect and ensure sustainable and affordable access for all people.
  

• Oppose irresponsible and unjust practices of extractive industries that drain scarce water resources for profit and pollute clean water sources.
  

• Fully support the human right to water, which for people of faith is rooted in God’s gift of water to all people, and which entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.
  

PASSPORT PRIVILEDGES

Last summer, 2009, I traveled to Barrancabermeja, Colombia. When I arrived at the international airport in Bogota, I presented my passport and visa. It was inspected, stamped, and I was on my way. In Barrancabermeja, I visited a settlement of displaced Colombian citizens. The group of about 80 persons consisted of women and children. All of those persons had been forced off land they farmed and resettled in the city by actions of the Colombian government. They were now living in houses which offered little shelter from the wind and the rain. The United Nations calls displacement in Colombia the worst humanitarian crisis in the Western hemisphere. There are 4 million internally displaced persons in Colombia. As a visitor, I realized what a privileged position I was in. The people seem genuinely glad that we had stopped by, and that we would add our voices to a growing chorus of voices which has joined their cause. My passport is a privilege. I am finding out that it is also a responsibility.

BROADVIEW DETENSION CENTER - WHAT A SHAME.

I joined a prayer vigil Friday morning August 6, 2010 from 7:15 am to 8:00 am
at Broadview Detention Facility, 1930 Beach Street, Broadview, IL 60155-2861. The center is located North of Chicago. The Center provides temporary housing for men and women who have been scooped off the streets of Chicago and some areas of Wisconsin, and out of their homes, for deportation. They are undocumented aliens.

The purpose of the prayer vigil was to be present in solidarity with those detained in a very concrete way. Since Broadview is where detainees are brought to be processed before being shipped out to McHenry County Jail or Kenosha Jail; and where they return from those sites to be driven by buses to O'Hare where they are deported to Ciudad Juarez (the extremely dangerous city which is in the midst of the drug war), and other places, relatives often come to say goodbye to their family members. The relatives, friends, and supporters join in prayer and song in behalf of the travelers. One thing evident on the faces of family members is just how devastating the experience of families being torn asunder is.

There's A Hole in the World/Gulf of Mexico

This morning we sang the Eagles song "There's a Hole in the World" (LYRICS at www.AZLyrics.com). The song seems an adequate description of the hole in the Gulf floor resulting from BP's drilling off the coast of Louisiana.

There's a hole in the world tonight.
There's a cloud of fear and sorrow.
There's a hole in the world tonight.
Don't let there be a hole in the world tomorrow.

Naomi Klein (The Guardian, Saturday 19 June 2010) has called the deep water horizon disaster a violent wound inflicted on the Earth itself. "It is a violent wound in a living organism; that it is part of us. And thanks to BP's live camera feed, we can all watch the Earth's guts gush forth, in real time, 24 hours a day."

The disaster demonstrates how little control humans have over the intricately interconnected natural forces of life. BP is having difficulty plugging the hole in the Earth. The ecology of the gulf will not recover soon after the eruption is plugged. No amount of money can replace what is lost in the Gulf. And while politicians and corporate leaders have yet to come to terms with these humbling truths, the people whose air, water and livelihoods have been contaminated know that something profound has, and is happening.