Stand - In the end, you'll still be you

 

By fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, of the poor, of the destitute–the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor in other words, we can to a certain extent change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world.
- Dorothy Day

So, who would you classify as unworthy?

• The working poor? Despite increases in the minimum wage, millions in this country cannot make ends meet.
• The single mother living on food stamps because her paycheck won't stretch beyond day care and diapers.
• The man begging on the street who lost his family, leading to an avalanche of depression that he could not afford to treat.
• The immigrant working the fields or the meatpacking plant? Immigrants were on the front line during the pandemic.
• Women?
• People of color? According to Oxfam, Millions of people today work in jobs that pay shockingly low wages, provide scant benefits, impose irregular schedules, offer unsafe conditions, and abuse their rights to stand up and speak out. In essence, these workers are denied the basic right to “decent work."

When we undervalue people, we undervalue ourselves.

Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
- James 5:4

Discrimination is holding us back

According to an article in Forbes, race-based discrimination is estimated to have set America back over $50 trillion since 1990 alone. Other estimates forecast that eliminating race-based discrimination would generate 6 million jobs and $5 trillion in American economic power in just five years. -Jan 15, 2024

CNBC reports the wage gap costs women in the U.S. about $1.6 trillion a year, a new report finds. Women earned 78 cents for every dollar that men made in 2022, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.

Immigrants increase the supply of labor, which increases the supply of goods and services that people need; their consumption, entrepreneurship, and investment also increases the demand for labor, creating better‐​paying jobs for Americans elsewhere in the economy. -CATO Institute

12.4% of Americans now live in poverty according to new 2022 data from the U.S. census, an increase from 7.4% in 2021.

Changing the Way We Think

Together, we should be looking for solutions. We should focus on the problems. Instead of demonizing the poor, immigrants, hunger, the homeless, women, and people of color, we should be working for ways to allow them to grow and prosper. We should be listening to them. We should make sure we treat people with respect and make sure they are allowed their dignity. The United Nations agrees that poverty is not only deprivation of economic or material resources but a violation of human dignity too. The concept of human dignity is based on a particular pattern of perception: of perceiving humans as beings rather than things. -church-poverty.org

 

Things That Work / Social Justice

(Sushil Nash)

Why We Should Give a Damn

Income inequality is creating an untenable situation that is dealing out a majority of the world's population. The disparity between rich and poor is leading to mass migration, extreme poverty, conflict, and human suffering.

The income divide is creating a world that is unfair and unjust. Hoarding wealth is creating:

• Reduced social mobility Income inequality can make it more difficult for individuals to move up the economic ladder.
• Increased poverty Income inequality can lead to higher rates of poverty particularly among children and other vulnerable groups.
• Political and social unrest ...
• Reduced economic growth ...
• Negative impact on health and well-being ...  (economicmatter.com)

What is the divide?

The Pew Research Center has crunched some of the numbers on this issue. The top 20% of income earners in this country brought in 52% of US income, more than the bottom four-fifths combined. Income inequality in the U.S. is the highest of all the G7 nations, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Pew's numbers are from 2018. It's gotten worse, a lot worse. The top 1% of earners make over 20 times as much as the bottom 90%. (Source: Social Security Online) The gap between the rich and everyone else seems to be worsening.

Toward a Just World

According to the Network Movement for Justice and Development, Social justice is still a distant dream for millions. In 2020, the world still has six hundred million people living in extreme poverty. They live on 1.5 dollars a day or even lesser. The definition of social justice has changed over the decades. If it once meant equal access to food, clothing, and shelter; now it is about living with integrity, good education, proper healthcare, and so forth. If you look at the happiest countries in the world, you’ll see they have free access to healthcare, education and is a corruption-free democracy. Social justice is a human right, it is essential for achieving a well-rounded society. Those of us who care are standing up for the end of discrimination, equal healthcare systems, better educational opportunities for all, and equal participation.

Several organizations and institutions provide their own definitions for social justice. Here are a few:

• “Social justice may be broadly understood as the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth.”
  United Nations
• “Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities. Social workers aim to open the doors of access and opportunity for everyone, particularly those in greatest need.”
  National Association of Social Workers
• “Social justice encompasses economic justice. Social justice is the virtue which guides us in creating those organized human interactions we call institutions. In turn, social institutions, when justly organized, provide us with access to what is good for the person, both individually and in our associations with others. Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development.”
  Center for Economic and Social Justice

What Can We Do?

It's simpler than you think. Pinning our hopes on the grand gesture results in a paralysis. Mindfood.com came up with ten things we can do to promote social justice every day.

1. Spread the word...
2. Listen more...
3. Attend a rally...
4. Reclaim your community...
5. Volunteer...
6. Support local organizations...
7. Adopt a politician...
8. Embrace diversity...
9. Sign a pledge...
10. Practice what you preach.

If you refuse to listen to the cry of the poor, your own cry for help will not be heard 

(Proverbs 21:13).

            

Good Works

Much More Is Expected

I've often heard comments from the faithful declaring our place is not in this world, or I'm thankful that Jesus is my Lord and personal savior.

My question, is that all there is? Saying, "I believe, " and leaving it at that doesn't seem come close. Isn't there something more to be concerned about? Isn't there a lot more we're being asked to do? Our faith should be about love, not exclusion. 

 If we're worried about somebody's sexuality, somebody's ethnic heritage, somebody's social status, somebody's purity, I propose we're focused on the wrong things.

I did a quick check and found 100 passages in the Bible about sharing wealth. I think there's many more passages. Somebody once told me there are over 400.

James put it this way. (Found in Sojourners)
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
- James 2:26

Harper Lee offered this,
There are just some kind of men who — who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

Does Social Justice Matter?

 

Photo: David Cain

Crazy Commies

I've heard it before. All my life actually. Those of us who care about what happens to our fellow human beings and think we could be doing so much more are labelled radical, socialists, communists. There's more justification to our argument than you are willing to admit. 

Living in this world creates opportunities for all of us to do so much more. When you are called, will your heart remain cold as you keep it all for yourself? And to what end? What have you gained?

Verse of the day   If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. - 1 Corinthians 12:26

Voice of the day Personal involvement with innocent suffering, with the injustice others suffer, is the catalyst for solidarity which then gives rise to intellectual inquiry and moral reflection. - Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ ________________________________________________________________ “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”  -Ghandi ________________________________________________________________ “Serve others. The unfailing recipe for happiness and success is to want the good of others. Happiness and success is when I see others happy. Happiness is a shared thing.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu Sojourners recently shared an article about  "The American Recovery Plan, which lays out a bold and significant investment in the fight against COVID-19 and which has been passed by the House and is now in the Senate, is all three. It addresses the deep inequities of suffering from the pandemic including the racial and wealth disparities, meets immediate and urgent needs of the moment, and is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans." -Sojourners Let me state something obvious. The act wouldn't be needed if the wealth generated in this country was more fairly and evenly shared. But that isn't the case. Pew research found that just prior to the pandemic, the wealth gap in the United States growing as the economy grew.  "Not all economic indicators appear promising. Household incomes have grown only modestly in this century, and household wealth has not returned to its pre-recession level. Economic inequality, whether measured through the gaps in income or wealth between richer and poorer households, continues to widen." The pandemic has made the situation worse. Can the American Recovery Act swing the pendulum the other way? TIME FOR SOME GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR BY JIM WALLIS Wallis concludes, "Passing the APR would be “good news” to the poor and those facing poverty; it’s also the pragmatic, popular, and, most importantly, principled thing to do. And it could be the beginning of doing much better to help people overcome poverty in America. And that would be good news indeed"

Motivating Generosity (The Home Edition)

 

It Starts With You

You are responsible for the world that you live in. It is not government’s responsibility. It is not your school’s or your social club’s or your church’s or your neighbor’s or your fellow citizen’s. It is yours, utterly and singularly yours.
- August Wilson

May we be committed to personally carrying out the actions that create a more just world.         - Sojourners

This is not about blaming the victim for their plight. Indeed, there is a movement that explains poverty and despair as a form of karma or cosmic justice. Among Christians this would be predetermination.(Not all Christians believe this.) It would be expressed as, "You get what you deserve." This is about the individual taking responsibility for making the world a better place, a personal responsibility.

Maybe this passage from Genesis helps explain. The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 

- Genesis 2:15 (NIV)

Waiting for others to be generous in your place, may mean we're all going to wait. Besides, we cannot control the actions of others, only our own actions. 

Perhaps, the example we set will motivate other toward generosity. How can we become more generous? I found "Ten little ways we can become more generous". by Joshua Becker. Here's what he suggests:

Consider the benefits of generosity. Generous people report being happier, healthier, and more satisfied with life than those who don’t give. Generosity produces within us a sense that we are capable of making a difference in the world.

Embrace gratitude. Make a short list of the things in your life for which you are grateful. The most important step you can take to become more generous is to spend more time thinking about what you already possess and less time thinking about what you don’t.

 Start really small. If you’ve never given away money, start by giving away $1. No matter what dollar amount you choose, jump right in with something small. You can afford it… and that little push can help build momentum in your life towards generosity.

Divert one specific expense. For a set period of time (try 29 days), divert one specific expense to a charity of your choosing. You may choose to bring a lunch to work, ride your bike to work once/week, or give up Starbucks on Mondays (wait, make that Thursday). Calculate the money you’ll save and then redirect it to a specific charity/cause. 

Fund a cause based on your passions. There are countless charities/causes that need your support. And some of them are directly in-line with your most compelling passions.

 Find a person you believe in. If you find that you are more easily motivated and shaped by the people in your life rather than organizations/causes, use that tendency as motivation instead.

Spend time with people in need. One of the most effective antidotes for non-generosity is to make space in your life for those who actually need your help. After all, it is a very small step to go from knowing somebody in need to helping somebody in need. Rubbing shoulders with the poor just may change your impression of them forever.

Spend time with a generous person. 

Live a more minimalist life. Intentionally decide to own less. Oh sure, living a minimalist life won’t automatically make you a more generous person, but it will provide the space necessary to make it possible.

#Ending #Racism: What's Next?

Protests as Catalyst

We've been here before

What can we do after the protests subside? The need will be the same. How can somebody like me help?

Link up with this article by NPR's Alison Aubrey, "Beyond Protests: 5 More Ways To Channel Anger Into Action To Fight Racism."  If you really want to help, understand that you're not going to reinvent the wheel, and don't go into this with the attitude that your going to lead this effort. There are a lot of orgranizations already deeply involved in this effort. You'll be there to lend a hand. Besides, thinking you'll be in control, is insulting to the people who are already involved in this effort daily. They have a wealth of experience. Listen to what they have to say.

Here are the five things we can do:

1. Listen To People Closest To You, And To People Of Other Races

2. Use Your Voice In Your Community And Work Place

3. Give Your Time

4. Speak Up By Using Your Creative Talents

5. Self-Care Is Important

Photo by Max Bender

That Battle Within

Appealing To Your Better Self

For most of us there's a struggle between generosity of spirit, and selfishness and greed. Many of us succumb to the idea that somehow we're more deserving than others which lead to a crisis of justice. Unjust can be defined as not behaving according to what is morally right and fair. The opposite can be found in the second half of the Golden Rule, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself. It means all your neighbors. Which leads to an awareness that there is something bigger than me.

I looked up Social Justice. Those who seem to scoff at the concept of the greater good implied in the Golden Rule tend to use Social Justice as a pejorative. I looked up Social Justice and found this, "Social justice is a concept of fair and just relations between the individual and society. This is measured by the explicit and tacit terms for the distribution of wealth, opportunities for personal activity and social privileges."

It's okay to struggle with this concept. Hopefully, your better self wins. I found this quote which seems to put the struggle into perspective.

“A fight is going on inside me,” said an old man to his son. “It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The same fight is going on inside you.”

The son thought about it for a minute and then asked, “Which wolf will win?”

The old man replied simply, “The one you feed.” — Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

Which one are you feeding?

There Is Something We Can All Do.

If you are unhappy with the results. If you are distressed by the lack of civility that has led to our deep divide...Doing nothing is not an option.

If change is going to happen...it is in our hands.

And what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
And what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin'
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
And the executioner's face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'
But I'll know my song well before I start singin'
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall

Remember the post 9/11 line, "If you see something, say something?" How about, "If you see something, do something?" The Blue Eyed Son in Dylan's song went places and saw things, and heard things. He saw and heard so many things that seemed unjust. From a biblical perspective injustice is what happens when someone uses their power to take from someone else the good things God intended them to have: Their life, their liberty, their dignity, or the fruit of their love or their labor. (Jim Martin/The Just Church) Instead of walking away, he decided he was going to do something about the injustices. To the Blue Eyed Son this was all a call to action.

I Met a Man

There are great stories to tell everywhere. There are people doing incredible things in service to each other. Telling stories about communities coming together to support each other, can help us overcome the cynicism and negativity that seems to have taken over our politics and is on display every minute of every day on social media. The three stories below highlight people who are doing what they can to overcome crushing poverty in the richest state in the US.

Profiles From Grace Church, Hartford

I met a man who lost everything after his service to our country. He became homeless. When he was finally able to move into his family's home it had been vandalized. All the wiring and all the pipes had been stripped out of the walls. There's no heat, no water and no power. He lives there in the warmer months. He lives in a shelter in the winter. He considers himself lucky because he has VA benefits and his neighbors take care of his dog and two cats in the winter.

I met a man who spent four months in jail because he tried to help a woman who was the victim of a car jacking. He stood by this woman as the police arrived and lent his support. Because the man nominally fit the description of the carjacker (black, male, slender) he was arrested and thrown in jail. He could not afford bail, so he waited four months for the legal system to finally ask the victim if he was the one who assaulted her. She said no and he was finally released. He is clinically depressed, but has hope because of his part time employment made possible by Grace Church.

I met a woman at Grace Church who volunteers her time cutting the hair of the homeless and others who attend their weekly meal. Three weeks ago her house burned down. She missed one week, but was back after settling into a hotel room. She hopes to be back in her home six months from now.

Grace Church is stepping in where so many have failed.

According to NBC Connecticut in a report released in 2012, at 31.2 percent, Hartford's poverty rate is four times the 7.8 percent poverty rate of the suburbs, which include all 57 towns in Hartford County plus Tolland County and Middlesex County. City Data.com puts the percentage of families in Hartford below the poverty line at 43.4%.

Meeting Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger Opened My Eyes

I got the chance to meet Pete Seeger. I didn't know it at the time but, the meeting was life changing. The changes were so gradual I didn't really think about them until Pete's passing last week.

It was the mid 60's. I was in high school. The people I hung with were musician wanna be's. We all played. I had taught myself some chords and a couple of lead riffs on guitar. I sang some tunes too. At the time there was a blending of folk and and rock mixed withe the British invasion. I think we all had dreams of making it big. Never mind the talent level, we had a lot of fun.

Appealing to Youthful Rebellion

I got a call from Ron Cope one afternoon. He said, "Pete Seeger is going to be at the Oriental tomorrow night." "Do you want to go?" Without hesitation I said, "Yes." Ron then said, "You know, he's a communist?"
The politics in our high school was Republican and Conservative. The thought of going to see a communist perform seemed slightly rebellious. We went over slight objections from our parents. I found out later that Seeger had quit the communist party about 1950 over objections of the abuses of Stalin's regime.

Pete played and told stories. He talked about social justice and causes. The songs he sang were mostly from the civil rights movement. There were also songs from the labor movement and some adaptations of music from around the world.  His two hour performance was intense and drew me in. It was just Pete singing and accompanying himself on guitar or banjo.

The Experience was Personal

After the concert we walked backstage and took the stairs to his dressing room...uninvited. (try that today) He looked tired but, he was gracious and smiled at us when we asked about his twelve string and his banjo playing style. He spent about ten minutes talking with us. Nobody else came up. The moment was magic.

After the concert I bought one of his albums, "We Shall Overcome."  I played that album until the grooves wore out.

New Perspectives

His music opened my mind to new ways of thinking about issues. It didn't make me a radical...more of a progressive. Progressive in the sense of creating a level playing field as opposed to creating barriers. The level playing field, or equal opportunities should be in place in order for all of us to be allowed to reach our full potential. The politics aren't as important as the desire to look at issues and ideas in different ways...To explore and understand the perspectives of others. Social justice became a strong theme in my life. The music...the event...changed my life.

That sense of caring about community brought me to Public Radio and to the FOCUS Center for Autism. Thanks, Pete!