• When serving meals to groups, are cups and utensils recyclable?
• If water is served, why not offer water with lemon, and recyclable paper cups, reducing plastic?
• If the group gives out or sells branded items, why not add cloth shopping bags into the mix?
• Perhaps the congregation could become involved in a local conservation effort, joining forces to protect a certain species, or to keep a certain habitat pristine.
• There are certainly many other ways an organization might become more environmentally conscious. Contact us with your good idea and we may just add it here.

One Reason: The Albatross

Many birds enjoy the vast ocean, and among the most rare and beautiful  are the albatross. Birdwatchers love them, because their story is so romantic: they mate for life; both adults care for the young, and their first solo flight can last for years over the sea. They accomplish this by turning off part of their brain for sleep, still flying while never fully sleeping.

Walking on the beach, the ocean’s majesty sometimes takes your breath away. Enormous waves come crashing down, and it seems endless. Abounding.  It has always held abuntant food resources. Birds have skimmed the surface looking for jellyfish. There was a time when anything they saw on the ocean’s surface was  edible, but now that there’s so much plastic floating on the ocean’s surface, they can fill their stomachs and think they’ve eaten well, and still end up starving.

Because these majestic birds empty their stomachs before they take off, we know a bit about what they’ve eaten from the ocean, and it’s very sad. Many albatross are indeed showing evidence of having eaten many plastic bits and pieces.  Our shores are showing evidence of plastic washing up daily. A beach pictured below shows just one day’s worth of the detritus that has washed up on shore.   Many resorts clean up this plastic in the early morning, so tourists won’t see it,  butonce we have seen the truth, how can we not act? Plastic is there. It’s doing great harm. With knowledge comes responsibility. The good news is that as leaders in non harming ministry, we are in a position to really make a change, and be of influence to others.

The short clip below was shot at Na’Aina Kai  Botanical Gardens on Kauai in December of 2011, as part of a special bird watching tour. The gardens gave out stainless steel water bottles as a gift to encourage conservation, resource stewardship, and the thoughtful protection of wildlife. Our grateful thanks to our guide, Marty Fernandes, for her support and encouragement in creating and posting this webpage.

It was recently pointed out in an op-ed piece in The New York Times¹  that the media, perhaps in an effort to protect the reader, avoids certain words in rape cases. In doing so, it does a disservice not only to the victim of sexual assault but to all readers.   Talking about victims having sex with perpetrators underplays the violence associated with the crimes.  It also suggests consent, which is impossible in the case of children and in any case demeans and inaccurately portrays the situation.  

Rape is an act of violence.  It is very different from an act of love. Consensual sex is impossible in the case of children or adults who are too intoxicated to freely and willingly consent clearheadedly.  Consensual sex is impossible when the victim is in fear of mortal danger. 

The word rape should definitely offend our ears. We shouldn’t get used to it. But it should offend our ears to hear about a person having “sex” with a child. Because sex didn’t happen, rape did. And when we blur the lines between sex and violence, everyone pays a price. 

We live in a culture of violence, and the way actual acts of sexual violence are reported in the media is only part of the problem. Another large problem is the media itself, that reinforces our culture of violence. Ads and television scenes often show women as objects, to be taken at pleasure.

 Just as an exercise, you might challenge a team to take a notepad and jot down how many times women are portrayed as soulless sex objects over the course of a week, and how many rape scenes you see. Consider the portrayal of the victims, and whether the writers were at all sensitive to the fact of rape as an act of violence (or conversely, did they make rape actually seem  attractive, at all?).  Did the television show or movie portray any of the after-effects of rape, including the higher likelihood of depression, post-traumatic stress, alcohol and drug use, or suicidal thoughts, in the victim? 

Nine of ten rape victims are women. 15% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 12. ²  And one in four college women are raped or suffer attempted rape, and 84% know their assailants. The age group 16-24 has a rate of risk four times higher than other age groups.

Consider possible sermons on self respect, the value of all persons under God, and even the dangers of alcohol, which is often involved.  Also, consider sermons dealing with the aftermath, since you are likely preaching to some survivors, perpetrators, and parents.   

We can do better, and awareness is a powerful first step. 

  _____
¹Brisbane, Arthur. “Confusing Sex and Rape”, The New York Times  Public Editor Opinion pages. November 19, 2011.

²Statistics from Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, online at rainn.org /get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims/ and  accessed November 22, 2011.

The civil rights movement’s most well known and admired leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, was a Baptist minister. His most moving speeches were like sermons. He spoke of a dream, of going to the mountain. High hopes of a promised land. So far, we haven’t seen anyone like that emerging, in the Occupy movement.

We thought we’d go see for the heart of the movement, Occupy Wall Street, (and then a quick train ride to Occupy Boston since we weren’t that far away). We were looking for any theological undercurrents… and we found one in New York: a shrine.

This shrine, pictured above, spoke to the  underlying hope that perhaps prayer can be of some help. Perhaps we need something greater than ourselves to help guide us in more fruitful directions. The shrine was a hodgepodge, including votive candles, Buddhas and a Quan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion.

The participants in the Occupy movement I met included many passionate Americans from all age groups and demographics. There were also a few homeless who found the environment safer and warmer than their lot elsewhere. Some see them as hangers-on, but since this downturn created more homelessness, and since America  doesn’t have much political will to help the homeless, perhaps it’s fitting they’re there. 

I met folks with many agendas, ranging from joblessness, rising inequality, and a perception of unfairness and bias and even corruption of systems that they seemed to hold dear. There was also a frustration with leaders for failing to work together to solve the country’s problems, even though polls indicate that the majority of Americans want them to do so.  Even with their frustrations and complaints,  they’re still invested in change. They haven’t given up; they feel that this Occupy movement will result in… something. Yet so far I was unable to discern a strong, positive agenda describing what that “something” would be.  My traveling companion Cristina Parvu wrote an insightful blog on that very subject recently, noting that they also are missing the musicians that brought home the message so well in the 1960s.

Americans have always been a hopeful, optimistic people.  The hope for lasting, positive change was an undercurrent of the 1960s, and at least during the days I visited Boston and New York I felt the same sort of hope. The weekend of my Boston visit coincided with an historic Nor’easter, the biggest October storm in living memory, and yet those occupiers remained determined.  It remains to be seen whether the participants in  ”Occupy” will have an impact, or what that impact will be. We are heartened that prayer is a part of the process.

The handshake was a a medieval means of allowing two enemies to speak together without fear:  the right hand, usually dominant, was engaged by the strong grip of the enemy.  With the right hand occupied -and obviously disarmed - each warrior could negotiate with the other, without fear of being harmed.  So, a handshake occurred originally within the context of war.

But handshakes themselves can hurt. The image, above, shows the damage that came to the hand of a fragile, elderly Christian Brother, after repeatedly shaking hands at the end of a mass.  No harm was intended.  Many people — men and women alike — are taught that your handshake signifies your character.  Perhaps it does. This author, a violinist, once dared to shake hands with baseball giant Hank Aaron, whose hands are very powerful. I  was struck by how sensitively he shook my hand, without causing any harm. He wasn’t afraid of being perceived as gentle, which I believe shows more interior strength than those who indiscriminantly use a macho death grip on all comers. Many musicians simply shy away from handshakes completely, but at that moment I realized that the sensitive handshake can show both insight and a non-harming character, as it did when Hank Aaron took such care not to hurt my hand.

The extra-firm handshake is just convention. And we can change convention. In flu season, there is another reason to reinvision the greeting: handshakes are a great way to spread infectious disease, the majority of which is spread by contact. People touch their face thousands of times a day, and they don’t run for hand sanitizer between handshakes.  Every Sunday, during the passing of the peace, handshakes pass germs such as cold and flu viruses as well. That’s why the NBA banned the handshake for players, and implemented the fist bump in 2009.

There are many creative alternatives to the handshake:

• the fist bump
• the Hawaiian hang-loose sign
• hand over heart, as when we say the Pledge of Allegiance
• the peace sign, for a retro feel
• blowing air kisses, Italian style
• the Vulcan greeting (a practice that actually was adapted from ancient worshipful practice)
• bowing your head with hands in a symbol of prayer: the holy in me bows to the holy in you (as long as both parties bow equally.)

The possibilities are endless. Let your imagination run wild, and we wish you fun, creative, non-harming cold-and-flu season’s greetings!

In her article last year, in The Telegraph, Bee Wilson explained to London readers that “Unlike harvest festivals, which are a form of gloating over a successful haul of food, Lammas was more of a desperate prayer: please God, let us harvest enough to keep us in bread for another year.”

We live in a time of global economic and political turmoil and distress. To all who are facing personal trials and family struggles, those who endure conflicts fought in the lonely trenches of the heart, those trying to break through the dense fog of despair that sometimes gloomily hovers over the soul with no promise of radiant relief there is hope. It is to each one of us with our unique and difficult trials that the Bread of Life–the Lord of all—promised, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 King James Version).

Just as the Lord’s Prayer states “give us this day our daily bread,” and not “give us this day far more than we need,” may we each plead for our daily nourishment: for the strength to endure one more day with His help; and may we also look outward at ways we can be His hands to give to others who may not have their daily bread this Lammas Day.

In the book of Esther we see an example of fasting, prayer, and the petitioning of political powers to change unjust actions by the government. We want to follow that model. The concept is simple: We’re asking folks to abstain from lunch on Mondays during April and use that time to pray and take action. Or, choose another kind of fast that is meaningful to you. Sign up to join us, and every Monday in April we will send you an email asking you to fast, pray, and take action.Fasting is our way of disciplining ourselves in prayer on this issue, while the action is to seek the kind of fast Isaiah describes: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6). People of faith, united in prayer and committed to action, need to speak out for vulnerable people. By joining this month-long campaign to pray, fast, and take action, you are committing to this fight at a crucial time in our political history. We believe that the God who can change the hearts of kings can change the hearts of Congress…

[note: To receive inexpensive "What Would Jesus Cut" bracelets or support their cause (for $100, 100,000 people can see their message on Facebook through online ads), visit them online.]

Here are a few of the other 2011-specific campaigns (and we’ll add more, as we find them). Won’t you tell us about yours?

• United Church of Christ “Mission One” [see Facebook event] ONE UNITED CHURCH on a shared mission for 11 powerful days to feed the hungry and confront food-related injustice. That they may all be 1. In the 11 days, the United Church of Christ will collect more than 1 million items of healthy food and other household items for local food banks and outreach services. <online: Facebook >
  
• Lasallian Volunteers of America’s 2011 LVSRide, highlighting poverty and relief efforts in cities across America. They invite you to “Take a risk: join the cause and help break the cycle of poverty!” <online: website>
• Various groups rallied in 2011 as “Occupy” took hold in American cities.
• Contact us to tell us what you are doing, and you may get a bullet point here, too!  Perhaps a “Second Saturday“  event is a place to start.

All of us, every single one of us, need to lift up our voices in prayer and lift up our hands in action, so that country will still be that beautiful nation that Tocqueville described, “America is great, because America is good.”

So many of us watching the aftermath of the Tsunami wonder, how can we help our brothers and sisters in Japan? Consider intercessory prayer, along with whatever other gifts you may offer through whatever human means (nonprofits or faith-based groups) can get them to those who suffer.  It doesn’t replace our need to be God’s “hands and feet” in this world, or release us from our duty to help in other visible ways (perhaps through the International Medical Corps or Doctors Without Borders). Prayer is only one part of the puzzle.

Intercessory prayer is like a “spiritual bouquet” brought on behalf of someone else for whom you care or have compassion. Anyone with a heart for intercessory prayer can stand before God with an open heart and ask.

Many of us in the modern day age have difficulty putting trust in something so ineffable as prayer, but our prayers are not nothing, and a few scientific studies have even been done to attempt to prove their worth to the skeptical. Those who have felt their benefit know prayer is very powerful, even life-saving. Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke became aware of the power of intercessory prayer when, consumed by fever and convinced he might dying in Africa, he heard the voice of a woman in his church in Germany, praying on his behalf. After he recovered, he wrote his father to ask what had happened, and she confirmed she’d been awoken with the inspiration that he was dying and that she should pray for him. She prayed for hours until she felt a breakthrough — the very moment his fever broke.

Bonnke has noticed that, in the Psalms, such prayers always rise up to God on the wings of praise. Even The Lord’s Prayer begins and ends with praise.  Form your intercessory prayer with praise, gratitude, and trust in God, and then ask for God’s help, specifically, on the behalf of those for whom you are praying. Trust that God will always hear you, do what you can, and then leave it to God to do what God will do.

“Violence seems to be the plight of Christians in Iraq, Palestine, and Egypt these days…” — Len Rodgers, Director, EMEU

Sources have informed EMEU that on 30th December at least two Christians were killed and nine wounded in a string of six attacks on specifically targeted Christian homes in a predominantly Christian area of Baghdad.  EMEU indicates that one effect of these attacks will be to increase the flow of Christians leaving Baghdad, with many moving to the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq. EMEU informs us that churches continue to feel the strain, as they lack the resources to support and sustain the growing number of displaced persons.  In addition, 21 were killed in a New Year’s eve bombing of a Christian church, the al-Qidiseen church (“Church of the Two Saints”), in Alexandria, Egypt. According to the official figures at least 21 were killed and 79 were injured. The injured include eight Muslims. The church and a nearby mosque suffered extensive damage from the blast.  EMEU writes:

“Initially the authorities believed a car bomb was used, but now they believe a suicide bomber was responsible. The attack prompted angry clashes between Christians and local Muslims during which the mosque opposite the church was further damaged. The police used tear gas to disperse the crowds.”

In this first day of the new year, The Center for Non Harming Ministries invites all our visitors to pray for peace and understanding between all groups.  Our interfaith understanding website UQ-Media.com is back online after a vicious attack from malware had brought it to its knees for a few months. We invite all our visitors to visit that site and learn more about the basis for peace underlying all true faiths. 

UQ-Media.com’s Mission: So All May Live in Harmony ! Every day, our fragile world seems smaller and more interconnected, and groups which might once have imagined they could live peacefully in ignorance of each other are thrust together more closely. UQ-media is a peace quest, dedicated the proposition that truth and reconciliation are preferable to violence as the as the principle (and only sustainable) means of resolving our differences. And so, we’re providing—free to one and all—the best tools, tips, and techniques available, to raise everyone’s Understanding Quotient.  Visit site now.

God has intervened in human history as the child of impoverished, marginalized refugees (Mt 2:13-23). God has deliberately sided with the poor and oppressed of the world by embracing their vulnerability in the midst of a deadly empire. The birth of Jesus is marked not only by poverty, but by imperial violence. Herod the Great, the client of the imperial Rome, responds to the incarnation by trying to kill the child, the child of non-violence, the son of the God of non-violence…Jesus incarnates divine love and radiates God’s grace and truth; in other words, God’s nonviolent response to human sinfulness.[1]

Dear interprets Jesus’ active nonviolent teachings, including turning the other cheek (so you aren’t slapped back-hand but hit like an equal), acts of civil disobedience such as overturning the carts of the money changers, and examples of servant leadership such as washing the feet of his disciples. Perhaps this sums up best my opinion of the book: if there is any one book in the realm of theology that I could ask a family member to read, after the actual Gospels, this would be it.

Too many other apologias from lesser minds skip over steps and, in my own case, I just can’t go with them across the distances. Others build their cases so shakily I won’t trust their logic enough to make the unsteady climb with them. Still others scream out that we’re all living in hellfire and damnation and talk about atonement and don’t make me want to climb a ladder at all, but rather sit and meditate my way to nirvana beneath it. But Fr. John reaches my heart and says “Let’s climb.”

-webmaster

[1] John Dear, The God of Peace: Toward a Theology of Nonviolence (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), 19.  Quoted with permission from Fr. John Dear, SJ

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other also. If someone takes your cloak, give him your coat, too. Give to everyone who asks, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.  For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

What does it mean, to love our enemies, practicing peace while following the Prince of Peace? It might mean turning down the heat of the debate, and remembering the reason that our country was founded on the freedom of religion: many of our forefathers came here fleeing religious persecution.  Can we somehow recognize, who might be in the minority position in our own land? Who might need us to stand up for them and lend our voice of protection, if they are being threatened or their holy books burned?

Godspell is worth taking out on Neflix…  Jesus does the bread and wine blessing in Hebrew, and we remember Jesus was a rabbi… how many rabbis were killed, under the banner of Jesus? Jesus wept. Let’s practice peace, as we follow the Prince of Peace.  Everybody sing… prepare ye the way of the Lord…