This past weekend, I was able to participate in the Everything Must Change (EMC) Tour, held at the Latino Pastoral Action Center in South Bronx. We had a few folks from the Princeton cohort who went up for the weekend, and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. It was a great 2-day event, and there were people there from Jersey, Manhattan, some folks from the UK, a guy from Puerto Rico, folks from other areas of the East, and quite a few of the local, indigenous leadership from the South Bronx. The Latino Leadership Circle was the main host for the event, so we had a lot of interaction with the local Latino/a leadership – which was great. The local leaders blessed us with a unique perspective, challenged many of us who were not from the area, and shared their gifts with us. One of the women connected with the Latino Pastoral Action Center is really gifted in a form of spoken word they call “flo-etry” and she shared with us twice. I was able to capture a portion of the first time, and you can listen to it here.
[audio:http://pomomusings.com/wp-content/mp3/Floetry.mp3]I had some good conversations with folks who I met at the conference, including with Doug Wysockey-Johnson, who heads up the Faith@Work, and Samir Selmanovic, who is the Program Coordinator for a new faith community called Faith House Manhattan (I will share more of what they’re doing in a few days).
Even though the word “conviction” reminds me of my early Evangelical days, I think I left the weekend feeling convicted. Perhaps it was the combination of the fact that we spent the weekend in South Bronx, and Charlie and I stayed at a hostel in West Harlem. Perhaps it was the reminders from the Latino Leadership Circle and others that there is really so much injustice in the world, and especially in the areas in which they are doing ministry. Perhaps it was hearing Brian’s challenge to begin trying to fight the societal structures that have led to the creation of the “suicidal machine” that is our world today. Perhaps it was the realization that Sarah and I have a real choice to decide where we’re going to live when we move out to the Berkeley area – we can choose whether we live with people who are different than us, or if we live in a gated, suburban apartment complex. Perhaps it was the fact that I felt convicted because I so often take my “privilege” for granted. Whatever the reasons, I left feeling convicted and challenged that there has to be a better way to live with Others, to live in our world.
This weekend, Sarah and I are flying to Berkeley so I can interview for a job, and we hope to get a chance to check out some apartments (maybe even get one). I know we need to think about security and safety when choosing a place to live. We want to be able to live in a place that we feel safe walking Sadie at midnight. But, after this weekend, I am more and more convinced that I’d like to live somewhere more urban, somewhere we can experience life with Others, with people who have had very different life experiences than we have. Somewhere we can engage in community and help bring about the kingdom of God with others.
As we ended the weekend, Brian and Linnea Nilsen Capshaw led us in a closing ritual. We were to draw a picture or write a word on our hands (idea must have come from the cover of Brian’s new book – a cover that I’m not a huge fan of….) and then they took photos of our hands. On the right you can what I wrote on my hand. RISK. This word just came to me after all I had been thinking about during the weekend. As soon as I started to write it, it reminded me of the Emerging Women’s Leadership Initiative Breakfast back in 2004. As we left the breakfast, we were given a rock with a word on it; Jen Lemen gave me a rock with the word RISK written on it. Perhaps this is a theme for this season of my life. Perhaps this is a reminder of the way in which we are called to live our lives. At any rate – I’m going to keep this in mind this year. RISK.