inequality

i read an interesting npr article the other day. i seem to be doing that more and more these days. 

this article got me to thinking. i also seem to be doing a lot of that recently. 

here is the article. 

to save those who do not feel like reading, it details the extreme inequality in the wealthiest county in the united states. 

in this county there is a deep divide between two different worlds: an exorbitantly wealthy greenwich and the a desperately impoverished bridgeport. the inequality described in this county is not an anomaly, it is pervasive in our country. 

it is this type of inequality that is perhaps the largest moral, spiritual, and economic issue of our time. 

the inequality in the united states is among the most extreme in the world: see our gini coefficient

the financial crisis and ensuing recession seem to only have made these matters worse. 

the article encapsulates the real problem of this inequality in a few short sentences. 

here’s the excerpt. 

“The idea that Greenwich residents should feel somehow responsible, or even concerned, about the plight of 145,000 people in Bridgeport strikes many as odd — if not absurd.

"I don't think of it at all," said Karen Schiff, a well-dressed young woman heading home from the Greenwich train station from her job in New York. "I don't think I've ever even met someone from there. Maybe I drove through, I don't know."

"Funny thing is that lady probably meets someone from Bridgeport every day," a resident from Bridgeport said. Turning toward Greenwich Avenue, with its Baccarat jewelry shop, Apple store and dozens of expensive boutiques, she said, "I used to ride in from Bridgeport with the people who work in those stores every day. As long as we go home at night, I guess, it's OK. It's like we're invisible."

what a great glimpse into a huge part of this problem.

we can have all the debates we want about the efficacy of welfare, non-profits, charity, and education reform. 

we can talk in circles about what works, what doesn’t, what makes people better off, and what continues cycles of poverty. 

but at the end of the day, this seems to sum it up. 

i am assuming that many of those reading this post are far closer to greenwich than bridgeport, and far too often we take the attitude of the karen schiff. we don't see. 

we have become blinded. 

we do all we can to make sure those who represent the unpleasantness of poverty do exactly what the article says, “go home at night.” 

this cannot be ok. there are countless ways to begin to combat inequality, but before we can start, we have to open our eyes. 

we have to see. we have to stop pretending that these realities do not exist. 

the realities are there. this is not just an issue for the hood, the backwoods, the ghetto, the slums, the swamps, the boonies, or the sticks. this reality is manifest in the wealthiest county in our country. it is all around us if we have eyes to see. 

in atlanta, helena, savannah, boston, new york, auburn, birmingham, mobile, philadelphia, chicago, nashville, knoxville, and huntsville... inequality is there. 

our gates, suburbs, and barriers might not keep us secluded from this reality forever. 

yesterday, the president echoed one of my favorite quotes by the reverend doctor king that applies directly to this issue, “our individual freedoms are inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.” also see, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." 

i firmly believe the future of our economy, morality, spirituality, and vitality rest on our response to the growing issue of income inequality. 

we may choose to combat this problem in a variety of ways, but once we have seen the reality of inequality we cannot unsee. the only question becomes how will we respond. 

“how do we respond?”

it is my hope that more and more of us can sit with that question, let it penetrate our being, and answer accordingly. 

peace. 

just can't leave.

over the break my mother grounded me from helena. 

that’s right, twenty-six years old, and i got grounded. the beneficial part of serving a grounding sentence by your parents when you are 26 is that you don’t actually have to serve it. 

mother grounded me from helena at christmas, but i went back anyway. 

i was grounded because my mother would like for me to finish school, a reasonable request. the problem is that when i go back to helena, i always want to stay. 

the children, they just pull at my heartstrings. 

oh the joy of returning to these ridiculous, restless, hilarious, awesome, attitudinal, beautiful children. 

the KIPP school i worked at last year is currently short staffed, so i have been filling in as the math teacher for the past three weeks or so. it has reminded me of all the joys and frustrations of being a teacher. 

joys: hanging out with one of my favorite students on her birthday, co-planning a punishment strategy for a poor report card with a parent, convincing another parent not to pull her child from KIPP, having mrs. sanders yell at me/dishing it back, dinners with friends/students, philosophical discussions about education reform, tutoring until 6:30 on a friday followed by frozen pizza/coors light/sleep, do-now music, the letter "r" in inexplicable places in words (ie - mursic, compruter, refurse), teaching two-step equations and slope-intercept form, reminding a classroom full of students that “they are some bothersome little suckers,” over the top speeches about the woes of talking during independent practice, and watching students succeed. 

frustrations: attitudinal children, the general stress of a school day, hearing the frustrations of teachers working hard while not feeling successful, witnessing a lack of sustainability lead to negative outcomes for kids, feeling pressured to teach in a uniform way, and watching students feel unsuccessful. 

its a crazy world in helena, arkansas, but its a world i love. 

over the semester, i often felt frustrated by constantly reading about the urgency of tackling injustice without actually “doing” much. the past few weeks have been a needed  anecdote to my restlessness. 

while i wasn’t teaching i read two books that helped shape my thoughts on future plans and future hopes... 

1.) how children succeed - paul tough - all about our societal obsession with intelligence as the key lever that will lead to positive outcomes in students’ lives. tough highlights seven character traits that may be better predictors of success than IQ (grit, curiosity, optimism, social intelligence, gratitude, zest, and self-control.) the KIPP network is attempting to inundate these character traits into its curriculum, but its a tough battle. 

haha - “tough” battle. get it?

2.) toxic charity - bob lupton - deals with the inadequacies and fallacies in charities, churches, non-profits, etc. we think we are helping - but are we actually? lupton started an organization in atlanta (focused community strategies) that i am going to try to work for this summer. 

overall, its been a good break. i’ve missed this place and these children much more than i realized. it’s going to be difficult to step away again, but i know ATL is where i need to be at the moment. also i sort of have a feeling i'll be back sometime soon (sorry cinge.) 

i’ve got some good classes lined up next semester, including an awesome sounding preaching class. one of my fellow seminarians convinced me to drop my (eventually) required historical theology for this elective. it should be good, although i’m sure my students would say the last thing i need is a class on how to do more preaching. 

“mr. rogers’ always be preaching.” 

yes i do children, and hopefully the best sermons are to come. 

The Irritating Cliff

Sometimes one might think the danged world is coming to an end with this fiscal cliff business. Every time I open a news sources, there is another article about what it is going to take to avert the fiscal plunge that automatically comes at the beginning of next year with deep spending cuts and expiration of the Bush tax cuts.

This whole story frustrates me for a number of reasons.

First it seems to be just a giant microcosm of the mess of a political system we have. Fresh off a Presidential campaign where we heard all about desires to work together and such, the White House is already deeply embroiled in this mess with Congress. Both sides don’t seem interested in budging unless they get everything they want. It sort of reminds me of two of my former students battling over who gets to go over the Do-Now before class.

“Compromise” comes the rhetoric, but “hold firm to your position” comes the action. The result is the entire country holding its breath and preparing for what the media claims will be the end of the world as we know it. (Although this seems to suggest we may survive the even if we take the plunge.)

I am not naive enough to think if everybody was just nice to each other the whole thing would work out. I understand that a lot of this is just political maneuvering, but I remain frustrated watching the giant power struggle that involves a bunch of punting back and forth.

Second, the fact that so much of this is predicated on tax increases for the wealthiest two percent of our country. I mean seriously though House GOP? In this respect, I certainly appreciate the President holding his ground on these tax hikes unlike 2010.

My degree from what might as well have been a Libertarian Economic think tank still does not allow me to affirm the ludicrous idea that increasing taxes on the top two percent of income earners is going to plunge our economy into deep recession. Warren Buffet says you can tax the mess out of his wealth, and he’ll be just fine. He’ll continue to pursue investment opportunities even with, gasp, a significant tax increase. That seems to make sense.

Third, this battle is so disconnected from the plight of those who are still experiencing the worst of the pain of the 2008 collapse. Despite the rhetoric from the Presidential debates, the middle class was not hit hardest with the collapse. Guess who was? The poor. American’s poorest neighborhoods lost 91 percent of their wealth during the great recession. 

Yep. Ninety. One. Percent.

My guess is folks in the two-percent who are worried about the Bush-era tax cuts expiring did not loose that much. And by gosh, even if they did, they are still in the two percent. They’ll be ok.

This debate is sure to continue to dominate the news cycle during the holiday season. My request/prayer/hope for the President and Congress…

Please work this thing out, and then get to the business of doing something that has a larger affect on the 98%, preferably those that lost almost everything they own.

While they do that, I plan on looking for ways to ease the plight of those for whom the "struggles" of two percent are quite distant from reality: Kiva Cards and Grameen Bank

Join me?

Savannah

When I meet folks and answer the obligatory, “Where are you from?” question, I am unusually interrupted in the following way…

“I grew up in Savannah….”

“Oh, Georgia?” the other person says.

“No, Tennessee”

“Where is that?” comes the inevitable response.

I have rehearsed this line so many times its like clockwork. “Its where Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi all come together.”

Folks do not usually know about Savannah, TN.

It’s an interesting place.

It is a place I have taken for granted.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go back home and preach at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Savannah. Upon reflecting on my short time being home, I have come to realize just how incredibly blessed I am to have been brought up in Savannah by two of the most ridiculous, incredible parents one could imagine.

I do not always see just how blessed I am…

As with most small-towns, Savannah certainly has a penchant towards conservatism that often manifests itself in folks holding some closed-minded ideas. I often found this frustrating.

However, I have come to realize that in reaction to what I saw as closed-minded thought, I can become equally as guilty if I choose to swing to the opposite end of the ideological spectrum. 

As I prepared to speak this past Sunday, I found myself presupposing folks’ response to my sermon. I tried to season my words to the nth degree. I assumed people might not enjoy my call to take up the cause of fighting for justice.

… the assumption of the haughty.

The outpouring of love and support I received yesterday was truly phenomenal. As I stood in the
back after the service, folks came by shake my hand. Person after person told me how much they appreciated what I had to say.

I thought back to my preparation…

“Well, people are not going to like this.” I thought.

… the assumption of the haughty.

Many of the members of Savannah FUMC came to show their support. First Cumberland Presbyterian welcomed me with open arms. Both were incredibly receptive and supportive.

I think about the beauty of this experience combined with my brief time at home with my family this

weekend.

Cindy Rogers shrieks every time she sees me, listens to me as I go on and on about the same thing for hours on end, and showed me a workout at Elite this weekend that still has my legs sore.

(Erin once you have put a little more effort into  an improved spirit of sibling congeniality I will fill in all your merits here :) Jk- Erin is cool)

Then there is Dad with his newest building project, his incredible stories about boats going through windshields, unknown chair craftsman, and his new and astounding penchant towards constant communication.

What an incredibly loving, supportive, absurd, awesome support network I have.

Savannah, TN was good to me this weekend.

Good work Savannah.

Thanks to all of those who were present yesterday. I hope I did not let you down :)

Evolving Ideas about the Old Testament

I have struggled over the past couple of months to figure out what to do with some of the knowledge I have been given in seminary. Seminary busts up a lot of the conventional wisdom when it comes to reading the bible. If you do not like having conventional wisdom busted or think that that bible must be read literally at all times in order to have authority, you may want to quit reading now.

So in Old Testament we are given lots of theories that inevitably lead to the conclusion that… wait for it, “these stories likely did not happen the way they are presented here. This writers of the bible may not have intended for it to be read for literal, historical accuracy.”

I have found these theories profoundly reassuring. I have always had trouble with the massive amount of violence that is carried out in the Old Testament, much of it being attributed to God. It seems God is either smiting somebody over here to telling somebody else to kill another person over there. I was not always cool with that. So, I have learned that maybe, just maybe it did not quite go down exactly like that. However, I have been left thinking, “So what do you do with all this?”

I have come nowhere close to that answer, but I had a small epiphany as I was riding my bike this morning, listening to 2 Samuel. Preface, the theory we have been presented claims this book was likely written or compiled in a time period much later than the events it is describing.

2 Samuel 6:6-7 “Uzzah reached out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. The anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God.; so that place is called Perezuzzah, to this day”

Prior to coming to seminary I might have had this thought on this passage: “Jeez, God, the dude just touched the ark. Also, why is it that God went around striking people down back in the day, but he does not seem to do that today? This story makes no sense and sort of makes me want to believe that this Old Testament stuff is a bunch of made up nonsense.”

To me, saying that this text must only be read literally and historically produces an arbitrary demonstration of God’s strength that is completely disconnected from modern reality.

However, seminary has allowed me to discover a slightly different approach to stories such as this. In Old Testament, we have been trained to hear phrases like “so that place is called Perezuzzah, to this day” as etiologies, stories explaining how things came to be.

 So maybe what we have in 2 Samuel is a group of people using their resources, cultural understandings, and stories of the past to describe their relationship to God.

To me, understanding the cultural context of the story allows me to relate to the authors. They were a people trying to understand and grapple with the Unfathomable. In their attempts to understand how this town “Perezuzzah” received its name, they tell this story.

Their story seems insane to modern ears, but an attempt to describe the Divine will always end in craziness.

Their output may seem crazy to us, but I imagine that when people thousands of years from now look back at the ways in which modern communities attempt to understand and wrestle with the Divine, it will likely seem ridiculous.

God was present and moving then. He is present and moving now. I do believe that God was moving in a unique way in the coalition and authorship of Scripture, and thus I see the Scripture as holding an uncommon authority. However, I am learning to be careful about conflating "authority" with "inerrancy."

This specific story these writers told was meant to give voice to God’s power, a claim I can certainly affirm. The way in which we choose to give voice to God’s power today may sound crazy in a thousand years, but that does not diminish the power and presence of God. God moved then, and He moves now. It may sound absurd, but that does not diminish the power and presence of Yahweh. 

Idealism and Presence

I have been called an idealist. It’s a badge I wear with pride.

After three years of teaching in some pretty difficult environments, I claimed that teaching “grounded my idealism” and it did. But it seems that the past six months has shown me that my idealism is still very much alive. Anyone who has been following any of my social media outputs can plainly see that my idealism manifests itself in an outpouring of my opinions online.

I have gone on so many tears that I can’t even keep up with them all. I’ve railed against churches, politicians, the media, schools systems, and on and on. I’ve found myself creating a system of elevation in which my “enlightened” opinion is superior and those that disagree “just don’t get it.” Grounding was needed.

A bit of the grounding came after a sermon I preached while I was in Helena on fall break. A good friend, who is well versed in bringing me back down to earth, told me she was distracted by the strong content of my sermon by my punchy delivery.

“But I’ve learned all these great things, and its my time to set people straight,” I thought to myself.

“Do you not understand yet?” Jesus said to his disciples over and over.

I hear him saying the same to me.

"Yes, of course I do! I’ve got this figured out, and its time to go change some folks’ minds!" I think to myself.

I see Jesus smiling and laughing my way… “Haha, just keep going. One day you will see just how much you have yet to understand.”

As I think back on all my rallying points, my self-righteous indignation towards those who refuse to see the world the way I see it, I hear Jesus words “Do you not understand yet?”

The answer to that question is no. I do not. But I will keep moving forward, hopefully with a bit more humility.

I firmly believe there are issues about which I should scream loudly to anyone that will listen. But I am simultaneously reminded of a story about a boy who cried out so many times that people stopped listening.

My idealism tells me to cry out all day everyday, in whatever manner I feel compelled. If folks are offended, they need to get over it.

But the problem with idealism is that it doesn’t always work so well in reality.

Regardless, the point where the beauty of idealism meets the harshness of reality is the point where I feel called to exist.

It is to that point I will bring all my frenzied, hyper, shouts for justice.

It is to that point I bring who I am and marvel at what can happen when I allow myself to become truly present in the fullness of a situation.

“Vocation is where our greatest passion meets the world's greatest need.” As I search for that vocation, I am reminded of the necessity of my presence here.

In a season of learning, rest, and discernment, I pray that I can simultaneously ignite my passions while cultivating the seasoning of my words.

Amen. 

What is Success?

Topic: Based on what you are reading, discussing and experiences provide a minimum of 500 words about the meaning of success as it relates to homelessness.  Provide your current theological perspectives about this topic as well as experiential examples.

Response: Life experiences often form us in ways that keep us moving forward but holding on at the same time. Over the past three years, I have seen the notion of “success” with children and families in poverty framed in a very different way than it has been framed during my time at Candler.

The Teach for America and “No Excuses” charter school model under which I worked ususally gave a very straightforward definition of success. In these environments, achievements were often seen as a number. Perhaps it was a test score or a graduation rate, but success was often defined in a very straightforward way. Despite that fact that I experienced some quantitative “success” by these definitions, I usually chose to measure accomplishments with my students in a more holistic way. I took into account the relationships I developed with students and their families as well. This holistic measuring was encouraged by these organizations, but in the end, they looked at numbers. Likewise, I often let the numbers by which the schools and organizations defined me play into my notion of success.

In bringing those experiences to my work at Genesis and my future ministry work, I see some positive attributes that can be claimed. I do believe that there is value in measuring our ministry work in a quantitative manner. To me, being able to ground our work with a tangible output helps keep our heads on straight. We are flawed human beings, and we often need numbers, goals, and action steps to keep our work on track.

However, I believe that defining success should transcend our numbers in a myriad of ways. As George stated, the Christ we serve did not experience much quantitative success in his time on this earth.

Some of what Myers wrote spoke to me as it pertains to this transcendence. Myers wrote that, “Restoring identity and recovering vocation must be the focus of a biblical understanding of human transformation.” This seems to be a great starting point as we consider how to measure our success as ministers with those in poverty and homelessness.

If churches and faith-based non-profits took this two-pronged approach to ministry with the homeless, they may have a good starting point to measure success. Obviously, the measurability of these two would be difficult, but that does not preclude me from agreeing with Myers that both a restored identity and restored sense of vocation are necessary in order to work with folks to move them forward from difficult situations. 

In relation to a reclaimed sense of identity, I will use an example from my previous work. I saw many students experience this “restored sense of identity” as it pertains to confidence in their abilities. Many students came into my classroom fully convinced that they were incapable of experiencing any success when it comes to school (especially math.) Unfortunately, many students left my classroom with the same feelings of inadequacy. However, it is those in whom I was able to see progression that showed me that a reclaiming of identity is possible. Seeing a student who told me “I have always flunked the End-of-Course test and I always will” score proficient on their EOC shows me that we can reclaim identities. Receiving a Facebook message from a student with whom I constantly battled about anger issues that said “I am trying to grow and better myself as a student and as a man” shows me that reclaiming identities is essential.

As it pertains to a restoration of vocation, our reading for Dr. Charles’ class comes to mind. Christopher Jencks states quite simply, “In principle, almost everyone can do something useful, and most people of working age are better off when they have a job.” I would argue that a sense of vocation goes far beyond simply having a job, but having work can certainly be a key component. In speaking to mothers at Genesis who are either on the brink of work or who have recently received work, I see a light of hope that comes through the validation they feel in vocation. By the same token, I have spoken to mothers who seem destitute because of their inability to find work. People need to know they were created with a purpose in mind. We must all reclaim the idea that our lives can be spent in a creative vocational outpouring of thankfulness.

I have already far eclipsed the 500 word minimum, so I will wrap up. In sum, tangible measurements can help measure our success, but they should not be ends in and of themselves. Reclaiming identity and restoring vocation are a great start, and with those large categories comes much effort and discernment on the part of the ministers. 

excerpt from one of my class readings...

"If you study people who have climbed to the pinacles of power and influence in American society, you usually find they they have had "all the advantages." Most started life with competent parents, had more than their share of brains, energy, or charm, and then had unusually good luck. Without any one of these advantages they might have done well, but not as well as they did.
The same rule applies to those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Those who end up on the street have typically had all the disadvantages. More started life in families with a multitude of problems; indeed, many came from families so troubled that they were placed in foster care. Many had serious health and learning problems. A large number grew up in dreadful neighborhoods and attended mediocre schools. After that, most had more than their share of bad luck in the labor market, marriage, or both. It is the cumulative effect of all these disadvantages not bad luck alone, that has left them on the streets."  The Homeless - Christopher Jencks

Things seminary has taught/is reminding me…

 …. sometimes I need to calm the mess down and be where I am.

…. the meaning of the words “anthropomorphic, anachronism, and catechesis.”

…Scripture is super confusing but one thing is clear throughout the Old and New Testament….. God is intimately concerned with the plight of the poor, the marginalized, and the underserved in society.

  

…. the more I learn the more I want to know.

…..I cannot underestimate my privilege.

….I miss teaching sometimes and more than that I miss my kids.

….starting with the disciples, we as followers of Jesus just can’t seem to get it right. We’ve done a lot failing to “get it” over the years. We cannot hide that fact, but it does not mean that there is no hope for the church.

….God is seriously concerned with the plight of the poor, the marginalized, and the underserved in society.

….we can create all sorts of excuses to sit around and do nothing while injustice is happening all around us.

….sometimes, it is important to season your words, even if I don’t want to.

….I don’t get to build myself up as being “above” those who I see as “not getting it.”

…. refusing to use one’s privilege in a way that benefits society is not ok.

….God  is seriously, seriously, concerned with the plight of the poor, the marginalized, and the underserved in society.

….sometimes I need to be still and sometimes I don’t get to fix everything.

....I miss Helena, AR... the people, the kids, the delta. I did not think I would miss it all so much.

…..if you are going to take following this Jesus guy seriously, you must engage the political sphere.

…… Facebook is not the best way to engage the political sphere.

…. regardless of where you are, it is the people with whom you choose to surround yourself that makes your situation more beautiful. 

….speaking out is great, but sometimes you need to make sure people are listening before you start talking.

….listening and patience are the skills that I have the most difficult time cultivating in my life, and it is those skills that I need to develop. Now! :)

…. I am here for a reason. I will continue to ask the Lord to quiet my impatient and restless soul while I figure out exactly what that reason is.

…. there are some good people in Atlanta, GA. 

Hope or Hopeless?

For those of you who are in any way watching my Facebook, Twitter, or blog, you can probably sense a bit of a theme… I’m overly excitable and I’m fired up.

I just can’t help it.

Over the past few weeks I’ve read books about transformational development, asset-based community development, fair-trade movements, shifting mindsets away from limitless economic growth, sustainable food initiatives, community gardening, and economic development.

I’ve read old and difficult biblical passages about wives submitting to husbands, slaves submitting to masters, God hardening the heart of Pharaoh, Israelites escaping Egyptians, the creation of the world, Jesus calling a woman a dog, and the anti-Christ. In all of these difficult texts, I have felt new life being breathed into the passages, and I have again and again found a God who is concerned with the plight of the poor, the marginalized, and the underserved in our communities. Through these passages, I hear that we are called to speak out against injustice and participate in the life giving work Jesus began.

I read these things, and I get excited. I get hopeful for our world. I reflect on my time in Helena and my experiences with kids whose societal dictates would suggest they aren’t capable of amounting to much. I remember the ways I watched them blow societal stereotypes to pieces. I remember experiences I had, and I challenge you to find me a student as innovative as some of the ones I met in Helena, Arkansas.

All of this makes me hopeful. All of this makes me glad.

Just when I am brimming with excitement for the future of our nation and world to the point that my soul cannot bear it, I turn on the presidential debate. This does not make me very hopeful. This does not make me very glad.

I watch the presidential debates, and I see that my notion of hope is very disconnected to either party’s platform. I read about a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives who called “slavery a blessing” for African Americans, and I brim with anger to the point that I want to give up.

I then must decide. We then must decide. How do we respond?  Do we respond with hope or with hopelessness?

I choose to respond with hope. There are so many people in this world, in this nation who are fighting for justice, and that makes me hopeful. Many are doing it the name of Christ, and many are not. Either way, I feel called to join that pursuit of justice as I seek to live this kingdom lifestyle Jesus inaugurated.

The road of hope is not an idealistic world where everything is great, the middle class is thriving, and rainbows pervade the universe. The road of hope is the narrow way that involves our internalizing the idea that our world is reaching a capacity. It involves us all realizing that sacrifice will be necessary, but it is possible through crossing political, religious, and societal lines. The road of hope involves us breaking down barriers of “us” versus “them.” The road of hope is not on a party platform. The road of hope is not in stuffy religious dogma. The road of hope is the road less traveled; the narrow and winding road that leads to wisdom, peace, and life.

Just for MJL (And Jesus) – Amen