Upon reflection it is interesting that my grandparents on my mother’s side, my mom, Jude and I have all been influenced by the writings of Charles Dickens. Yesterday in the midst of being sick I finished listening to “A Tale of Two Cities” on our CD player. My Grandfather read this book to his children. I first read it in high school and it changed me forever. Dickens as an author seems to understand something about the human spirit and its struggles with the dark sides of life. He draws people into an examination of both the human soul and the soul of society in a manner that is healthy. In a manner that encourages Faith, Hope, and Charity.
I was recently told that three street in downtown LA use to be named Faith, Hope, and Charity. That Charity is now “Grand” and is near the center “Bunker Hill” of our financial district. Faith was changed to Figueroa or Flower (I do not remember which), and Hope still remains Hope, but is left alone without the symbolic support of Faith and Charity. Hope was divided to build our public library. (Our hope is in our current cultures are so rooted in what we think we know and what we think we can learn; I’ve never heard of a street named Humility) None of us make it through life without inner strength and external support. I wonder what Charles Dickens would write about such a change of landscape. I don’t think he would have missed their metaphorical nature.
Soren Kierkegaard warned against a time when people’s greatest hope would be to somehow get more money. That people would console themselves with the idea if they only had enough money they would have been able to live the life that they really wanted to live. In contrast to this one third of John Wesley’s sermons in the last 5 years of his life was on the Christian uses of wealth.
If you want to get some strange looks. Try doing a public reading of Isaiah 58. I hope to do this on Monday night -- if I am well enough – at Luna Tierra Sol (not a “Christian” context). I hope to connect with those in this context that would be drawn to the truth expressed here.
While these thoughts are not poetry… I hope that they stir the pot of your imagination as you look out into the world. What are the realities that feed your soul?
Peace and Grace,
John TW
This is my back up blog when I want to put something out there with out feedback. I plan to put more Informational stuff here so it is available for a longer period of time.
Saturday, October 11, 2003
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
The Christian Call to Restorative Justice
Copyright © 2002 Center for Action and Contemplation -All Rights Reserved.
"Whoever did this will be brought to justice!" Hardly a day goes by that we don't see that angry promise in the newspaper or hear it on the evening news-whether it is voiced by the president in response to a terrorist act, the local sheriff at the scene of a crime, or a distraught victim or family member. Before you read any further, pause a moment and ask yourself: what does it mean to be brought to justice? When you hear the demand for justice, what images come to your mind?
If your first responses include images of police, jail and courtrooms, and your concepts primarily have to do with punishment; you are among the vast majority of Americans. Crime and punishment seem to go together like horse and buggy. For most of us, justice means going through the legal processes of accusation, arrest, establishing guilt and imposing punishment, most often in the form imprisonment (even execution).
If, however, your responses to the meaning of justice have to do with accepting responsibility, repenting, making restitution and reestablishing well-being, you are on the path of restorative justice-the path that began when God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden with the promise their estrangement was temporary and that the journey would ultimately bring them back into God's healing embrace. This is the promise Christians believe was fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ-healing and restoration through God's radical and amazing grace.
The justice of God, upon which Christian faith and hope are dependent, is restorative justice. None of us has ever prayed, "Lord, give me what I deserve for my sins! Punish me to the full extent of the law!" But, when it comes to how we think about and do justice in regards to others, many of us who call upon God for mercy and compassion for ourselves experience no qualms at demanding "an eye for any eye" for "those who trespass against us." "Love one another as I have loved you," is the directive of the one who redeemed us from our sins-not because of our merit but because the justice of the cross is restorative.
Restorative justice flows naturally from fundamental Christian principles and values: repentance, forgiveness, restitution and rehabilitation. It is also the dynamic that animates Native American systems of justice, as well as that of other indigenous peoples. It has become the norm for the juvenile justice system in New Zealand and, in the United States; Minnesota is a leader in integrating restorative justice approaches into its justice systems. For the most part, though, both the American justice systems and the American mindset are based upon systems of justice that are retributive and punitive.
The faint voices of the restorers and healers around the world are drowned out by the cries for justice, revenge and retaliation. This is true not only in the obvious places such as Israel, Palestine, and Northern Ireland, but also in U.S. national policies toward the "axis of evil," and even in our individual hearts as we wrestle with the hurts experienced everyday within our families and friendships. So, let us look more closely at what is meant by "retributive justice" and "restorative justice," how each works in practice, and how we can promote restorative justice in our hearts, homes and homeland. The path from Eden to restorative justice is both a human challenge and a personal spiritual quest.
Retributive Justice is premised upon returning hurt for hurt. Retributive systems of justice equate the crime committed to a violation of law and an offense against the State. The legal processes of retributive justice create an "us" verses "them" contest in which "the People" (represented by police, prosecutors and judges) seek to prove guilt, then to punish it. For the most part, victims and offenders become observers, as lawyers manipulate the truth and consequences as part of an elaborate game. At the end, justice is declared done if the procedural rules have been followed, guilt has been assigned and punishment meted out. Most often, victims go home unhealed. Offenders are warehoused for a term of years, most often returning to society more dysfunctional than when they entered prison.
Restorative Justice focuses upon healing hurts and restoring peace in hearts and communities. It starts with the presumption that victims and offenders are part of one family from which no one can be permanently excluded, and that what we do, good or evil, affects us all. Restorative systems approach crime as a violation of persons by persons. The legal processes of restorative models actively involve victims, offenders, their families and friends (and, perhaps, pastors, employers or other community members) in the goal of healing the injuries and restoring well-being for all involved. In restorative justice, police, lawyers, judges and others work with the victims and offenders toward a resolution that all accept as just. Restorative justice requires the offender to accept responsibility for the harm done and to make restitution. Besides healing and restitution for the victims, the conclusion may also mandate what the offender needs to heal and rehabilitate, such as drug treatment, counseling or vocational training. Punishment, when it is part of the sentence, is not punitive but purposeful toward the ultimate restoration of the offender.
Not every victim nor every offender is capable of pursuing restorative justice. For those who are, however, doing so provides the best potential for a win-win-win result, in which victim, offender and the community find healing of the past and restored hope for the future. Hurts keep hurting-whether they are the victim's, the offender's or the community's-until they are made redemptive-exchanged for healing and, if possible, reconciliation. Retributive justice stays focused on what happened in the past. What good might be possible in the future is irrelevant. The restorative way begins with the harm done in the past, but measures justice done by the good that results in the future.
"I don't want your brother to die and I will do everything in my power to prevent it," were the compassionate words Bud Welch offered Timothy McVeigh's sister, Jennifer, while they cried together and he held her face in his hands. Welch's daughter, Julie, was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. He went through a long period of rage, craving revenge, before he allowed himself to feel the healing of forgiveness and was able to reach out "as family" to Jennifer, as innocent as Julie and injured to her depths, too. Even now, Bud Welch tours the country speaking against the death penalty.
International attention focused on Laramie, Wyoming, in 1998, after Aaron J. McKinney and an accomplice lured Matthew Shephard from a bar, drove out of town, tied him to a fence, savagely beat him and left him to die because he was a homosexual. In the courtroom, as the jury was preparing to decide whether to impose the death penalty, many wept as Matthew's father, Dennis, spoke lovingly of his son as a person who could only see the good in others, and who had been "my hero, now gone forever." Then, turning to Matthew's killer, he stunned the courtroom with: "Mr. McKinney, I give you life in memory of the one who no longer lives." The Shephards had requested the prosecutor not to seek the death penalty, and life in prison without possibility of parole was imposed instead.
Freeing ourselves from locked-in mindsets is not easy. Changing the ways we see, think and do things takes time. But the awe-inspiring witness of Bud Welch and Dennis and Judy Shephard prove that it is possible. There are not only spiritual and humane considerations, but also many practical, fiscal and political reasons to pursue restorative approaches to justice. With 2,000,000 Americans incarcerated, or on parole or probation, and with a 67% recidivism rate after incarceration, even those who run the misnamed "corrections" systems acknowledge building more prisons is not the answer. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" demeans victim, offender and society, and perpetuates the cycle of violence and harm it fruitlessly seeks to eradicate.
Japan utilizes parallel restorative and retributive systems. Depending upon the nature of the crime, the offender's willingness to acknowledge guilt, express remorse and make compensation, and the victim's willingness to receive compensation and to pardon, the determination is made whether to pursue a restorative or retributive process. When the victim and offender can agree to a just resolution, punishment is usually lenient. Incarceration is the exception, rather than the norm, and long-term imprisonment is used only for the most unusual cases. Japan has a very low crime rate.
Since 1989, New Zealand's juvenile justice system has totally built upon the restorative principles followed by the native Maoris. All juvenile facilities have been closed, except a few for youth who commit horrendous crimes, but, even in them, the emphasis is on education, therapy and skill development. For those who do not accept responsibility for the crimes, a parallel traditional system is in place.
Minnesota's Carver County Sheriff's Department and Woodbury City Police Department set up Family Group Conferencing before or after sentencing in juvenile court (or as an alternative to it). The process brings together victims, offenders, the families of both and other community resource persons to talk about how the crime has affected their lives, and to decide how the harm done might be repaired.
New York, Arizona, Missouri and California are among the states moving from incarceration for minor first and second offense drug crimes to treatment of the addiction that leads to robbery and theft. The goal is to rehabilitate and restore addicts, not to punish addiction.
"Volunteers in Parole" matches attorneys and judges as mentors for parolees who have been discerned as most determined to change their lives. The program is co-sponsored by the State Bar of California, county bar associations and the State Department of Corrections. Its goal is to break the cycle of recidivism and to restore parolees as contributing members of society.
The path and promise that began in the Garden, the story of God's relationship with humanity, is rightly called "salvation history." In the biblical stories of wandering and restoration, punishment for sin has as its purpose not revenge, but redemption. Restoration is the goal. And, when an individual or the nation repents and turns again to God, it is the father of the prodigal son who races out to embrace and heal. These stories are not just those of our faith ancestors, but they are yours and mine, as well. They are not stories of abandonment but stories of hope. To do restorative justice does not mean that those who break the law and harm the peace of the community should not be held accountable, nor does it mean there should not be punishment, including prison for the small numbers who truly threaten the safety of the community. It does mean, however, that we refuse to equate punishment with justice, and justice with prison.
Precisely because we are Christians who have been redeemed by the restorative justice of God in spite of our many sins and failings, we are obligated to practice restorative justice in our homes and personal relationships, and to speak the truth to legislators and neighbors that even those who harm us remain one of us. The redemptive journey that began at the closed gates of Eden does not end for any of us until the gates of the Kingdom-opened wide by radical and amazing grace.
A. Companion is a former Roman Catholic priest who has experienced firsthand the retributive system of justice as a defendant, convict and parolee, as well as the restorative power of God's amazing mercy and grace ministered through others. A. Companion is in the process of establishing Restoration House, a transitional community for parolees in the Sacramento area. During his time in prison, he wrote two books: Peace and Justice Shall Embrace: Toward Restorative Justice and Wounded Wounders: Stories of Men in Prison. The books may be ordered online at iUniverse.com, toll free 1-877-823-9235, or through your bookstore. Royalties from his books support Restoration House.
-A. Companion
October - December 2002: Restorative Justice
Copyright © 2002 Center for Action and Contemplation -All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2002 Center for Action and Contemplation -All Rights Reserved.
"Whoever did this will be brought to justice!" Hardly a day goes by that we don't see that angry promise in the newspaper or hear it on the evening news-whether it is voiced by the president in response to a terrorist act, the local sheriff at the scene of a crime, or a distraught victim or family member. Before you read any further, pause a moment and ask yourself: what does it mean to be brought to justice? When you hear the demand for justice, what images come to your mind?
If your first responses include images of police, jail and courtrooms, and your concepts primarily have to do with punishment; you are among the vast majority of Americans. Crime and punishment seem to go together like horse and buggy. For most of us, justice means going through the legal processes of accusation, arrest, establishing guilt and imposing punishment, most often in the form imprisonment (even execution).
If, however, your responses to the meaning of justice have to do with accepting responsibility, repenting, making restitution and reestablishing well-being, you are on the path of restorative justice-the path that began when God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden with the promise their estrangement was temporary and that the journey would ultimately bring them back into God's healing embrace. This is the promise Christians believe was fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ-healing and restoration through God's radical and amazing grace.
The justice of God, upon which Christian faith and hope are dependent, is restorative justice. None of us has ever prayed, "Lord, give me what I deserve for my sins! Punish me to the full extent of the law!" But, when it comes to how we think about and do justice in regards to others, many of us who call upon God for mercy and compassion for ourselves experience no qualms at demanding "an eye for any eye" for "those who trespass against us." "Love one another as I have loved you," is the directive of the one who redeemed us from our sins-not because of our merit but because the justice of the cross is restorative.
Restorative justice flows naturally from fundamental Christian principles and values: repentance, forgiveness, restitution and rehabilitation. It is also the dynamic that animates Native American systems of justice, as well as that of other indigenous peoples. It has become the norm for the juvenile justice system in New Zealand and, in the United States; Minnesota is a leader in integrating restorative justice approaches into its justice systems. For the most part, though, both the American justice systems and the American mindset are based upon systems of justice that are retributive and punitive.
The faint voices of the restorers and healers around the world are drowned out by the cries for justice, revenge and retaliation. This is true not only in the obvious places such as Israel, Palestine, and Northern Ireland, but also in U.S. national policies toward the "axis of evil," and even in our individual hearts as we wrestle with the hurts experienced everyday within our families and friendships. So, let us look more closely at what is meant by "retributive justice" and "restorative justice," how each works in practice, and how we can promote restorative justice in our hearts, homes and homeland. The path from Eden to restorative justice is both a human challenge and a personal spiritual quest.
Retributive Justice is premised upon returning hurt for hurt. Retributive systems of justice equate the crime committed to a violation of law and an offense against the State. The legal processes of retributive justice create an "us" verses "them" contest in which "the People" (represented by police, prosecutors and judges) seek to prove guilt, then to punish it. For the most part, victims and offenders become observers, as lawyers manipulate the truth and consequences as part of an elaborate game. At the end, justice is declared done if the procedural rules have been followed, guilt has been assigned and punishment meted out. Most often, victims go home unhealed. Offenders are warehoused for a term of years, most often returning to society more dysfunctional than when they entered prison.
Restorative Justice focuses upon healing hurts and restoring peace in hearts and communities. It starts with the presumption that victims and offenders are part of one family from which no one can be permanently excluded, and that what we do, good or evil, affects us all. Restorative systems approach crime as a violation of persons by persons. The legal processes of restorative models actively involve victims, offenders, their families and friends (and, perhaps, pastors, employers or other community members) in the goal of healing the injuries and restoring well-being for all involved. In restorative justice, police, lawyers, judges and others work with the victims and offenders toward a resolution that all accept as just. Restorative justice requires the offender to accept responsibility for the harm done and to make restitution. Besides healing and restitution for the victims, the conclusion may also mandate what the offender needs to heal and rehabilitate, such as drug treatment, counseling or vocational training. Punishment, when it is part of the sentence, is not punitive but purposeful toward the ultimate restoration of the offender.
Not every victim nor every offender is capable of pursuing restorative justice. For those who are, however, doing so provides the best potential for a win-win-win result, in which victim, offender and the community find healing of the past and restored hope for the future. Hurts keep hurting-whether they are the victim's, the offender's or the community's-until they are made redemptive-exchanged for healing and, if possible, reconciliation. Retributive justice stays focused on what happened in the past. What good might be possible in the future is irrelevant. The restorative way begins with the harm done in the past, but measures justice done by the good that results in the future.
"I don't want your brother to die and I will do everything in my power to prevent it," were the compassionate words Bud Welch offered Timothy McVeigh's sister, Jennifer, while they cried together and he held her face in his hands. Welch's daughter, Julie, was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. He went through a long period of rage, craving revenge, before he allowed himself to feel the healing of forgiveness and was able to reach out "as family" to Jennifer, as innocent as Julie and injured to her depths, too. Even now, Bud Welch tours the country speaking against the death penalty.
International attention focused on Laramie, Wyoming, in 1998, after Aaron J. McKinney and an accomplice lured Matthew Shephard from a bar, drove out of town, tied him to a fence, savagely beat him and left him to die because he was a homosexual. In the courtroom, as the jury was preparing to decide whether to impose the death penalty, many wept as Matthew's father, Dennis, spoke lovingly of his son as a person who could only see the good in others, and who had been "my hero, now gone forever." Then, turning to Matthew's killer, he stunned the courtroom with: "Mr. McKinney, I give you life in memory of the one who no longer lives." The Shephards had requested the prosecutor not to seek the death penalty, and life in prison without possibility of parole was imposed instead.
Freeing ourselves from locked-in mindsets is not easy. Changing the ways we see, think and do things takes time. But the awe-inspiring witness of Bud Welch and Dennis and Judy Shephard prove that it is possible. There are not only spiritual and humane considerations, but also many practical, fiscal and political reasons to pursue restorative approaches to justice. With 2,000,000 Americans incarcerated, or on parole or probation, and with a 67% recidivism rate after incarceration, even those who run the misnamed "corrections" systems acknowledge building more prisons is not the answer. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" demeans victim, offender and society, and perpetuates the cycle of violence and harm it fruitlessly seeks to eradicate.
Japan utilizes parallel restorative and retributive systems. Depending upon the nature of the crime, the offender's willingness to acknowledge guilt, express remorse and make compensation, and the victim's willingness to receive compensation and to pardon, the determination is made whether to pursue a restorative or retributive process. When the victim and offender can agree to a just resolution, punishment is usually lenient. Incarceration is the exception, rather than the norm, and long-term imprisonment is used only for the most unusual cases. Japan has a very low crime rate.
Since 1989, New Zealand's juvenile justice system has totally built upon the restorative principles followed by the native Maoris. All juvenile facilities have been closed, except a few for youth who commit horrendous crimes, but, even in them, the emphasis is on education, therapy and skill development. For those who do not accept responsibility for the crimes, a parallel traditional system is in place.
Minnesota's Carver County Sheriff's Department and Woodbury City Police Department set up Family Group Conferencing before or after sentencing in juvenile court (or as an alternative to it). The process brings together victims, offenders, the families of both and other community resource persons to talk about how the crime has affected their lives, and to decide how the harm done might be repaired.
New York, Arizona, Missouri and California are among the states moving from incarceration for minor first and second offense drug crimes to treatment of the addiction that leads to robbery and theft. The goal is to rehabilitate and restore addicts, not to punish addiction.
"Volunteers in Parole" matches attorneys and judges as mentors for parolees who have been discerned as most determined to change their lives. The program is co-sponsored by the State Bar of California, county bar associations and the State Department of Corrections. Its goal is to break the cycle of recidivism and to restore parolees as contributing members of society.
The path and promise that began in the Garden, the story of God's relationship with humanity, is rightly called "salvation history." In the biblical stories of wandering and restoration, punishment for sin has as its purpose not revenge, but redemption. Restoration is the goal. And, when an individual or the nation repents and turns again to God, it is the father of the prodigal son who races out to embrace and heal. These stories are not just those of our faith ancestors, but they are yours and mine, as well. They are not stories of abandonment but stories of hope. To do restorative justice does not mean that those who break the law and harm the peace of the community should not be held accountable, nor does it mean there should not be punishment, including prison for the small numbers who truly threaten the safety of the community. It does mean, however, that we refuse to equate punishment with justice, and justice with prison.
Precisely because we are Christians who have been redeemed by the restorative justice of God in spite of our many sins and failings, we are obligated to practice restorative justice in our homes and personal relationships, and to speak the truth to legislators and neighbors that even those who harm us remain one of us. The redemptive journey that began at the closed gates of Eden does not end for any of us until the gates of the Kingdom-opened wide by radical and amazing grace.
A. Companion is a former Roman Catholic priest who has experienced firsthand the retributive system of justice as a defendant, convict and parolee, as well as the restorative power of God's amazing mercy and grace ministered through others. A. Companion is in the process of establishing Restoration House, a transitional community for parolees in the Sacramento area. During his time in prison, he wrote two books: Peace and Justice Shall Embrace: Toward Restorative Justice and Wounded Wounders: Stories of Men in Prison. The books may be ordered online at iUniverse.com, toll free 1-877-823-9235, or through your bookstore. Royalties from his books support Restoration House.
-A. Companion
October - December 2002: Restorative Justice
Copyright © 2002 Center for Action and Contemplation -All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
A friend emailed this to me...
Neil's Story
On July 20, 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11Lunar Module, Neil
Armstrong was the first person to set a foot on the moon. His first
words after stepping on the moon, "That's one small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind," were televised to earth and heard by millions.
But just before he reentered the Lander, he made, he made the enigmatic
remark, "Good Luck Mr. Gorsky."
Many people at NASA thought it was a causal remark concerning some rival
Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either
the Russian or American Space programs.
Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good
Luck, Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.
On July 5, 1995 in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions
following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year old question to
Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had died, so Neil
Armstrong felt he could answer the question.
In 1938 when he was a kid in a small midwest town, he was playing
baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit the ball, which
landed in his neighbor's yard by the bedroom windows. His neighbors
were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young
Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky. "Sex you want sex?!
You'll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"
Neil's Story
On July 20, 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11Lunar Module, Neil
Armstrong was the first person to set a foot on the moon. His first
words after stepping on the moon, "That's one small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind," were televised to earth and heard by millions.
But just before he reentered the Lander, he made, he made the enigmatic
remark, "Good Luck Mr. Gorsky."
Many people at NASA thought it was a causal remark concerning some rival
Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either
the Russian or American Space programs.
Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good
Luck, Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.
On July 5, 1995 in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions
following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year old question to
Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had died, so Neil
Armstrong felt he could answer the question.
In 1938 when he was a kid in a small midwest town, he was playing
baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit the ball, which
landed in his neighbor's yard by the bedroom windows. His neighbors
were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young
Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky. "Sex you want sex?!
You'll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
The Movie Scratch is a fascinating documentry about Hip Hop DJing which demonstrates how cultural learning happens...from discovery to new identity formation. Love to see it and discuss it with anyone...
Here is a partial Play list for the Hyperesthesai Show. Thank you Eric for Introducing me to a lot of this. Thank you Boy1 for the memories of the KRSOne Concert.
Too many fools going for the twisted
they have insisted to lead with out
knowing where they are going
the Blind lead the blind anyway
that is why I will stay with the righteous
Wisdom talking truth head rockers
And forget those fools out there just to be clocking dollars
Too many fools going for the twisted
they have insisted to lead with out
knowing where they are going
Love of the art starts with love in your heart
that is why I will stay with the righteous
Wisdom talking truth head rockers
And forget those fools out there just to be clocking dollars
Know love just don't speak it
experience peace throught the force of reconciliation,and restoration
Be it...be the blessing yall... this is the testimony inwhich i am a part.
jaw 2003
Too many fools going for the twisted
they have insisted to lead with out
knowing where they are going
the Blind lead the blind anyway
that is why I will stay with the righteous
Wisdom talking truth head rockers
And forget those fools out there just to be clocking dollars
Too many fools going for the twisted
they have insisted to lead with out
knowing where they are going
Love of the art starts with love in your heart
that is why I will stay with the righteous
Wisdom talking truth head rockers
And forget those fools out there just to be clocking dollars
Know love just don't speak it
experience peace throught the force of reconciliation,and restoration
Be it...be the blessing yall... this is the testimony inwhich i am a part.
jaw 2003
Monday, April 28, 2003
I went to visit a psyche professional today. To in part work at understanding better how my personality and the LA invironment together with stress has impacted my learning capacity and how to regain a sharper learning posture for the next phase of my life. "Everything we do in life is based on what we learn" jaw . It is interesting to reflect on how certain kinds of stress can impact learning. We as a culture need to wrestle with things like Garbarino's work on Children in danger, and raising children in a toxic environment...A link to some of his books on Amazon dot com.
Saturday, April 26, 2003
They say life is like a box of Chocolates
I wonder at the content and quality of this sort of life???
The victory of taste over faith and reason
Is as simple as a box of Chocolates
Without the insight and fortitude of Character
Indulgence wins every time
Now we have advertisements and marketing aimed at this
To entice you to buy more – even at the cost of Character.
The style of the enticement is so “cool” or funny
Commercials themselves have become
The object or our collective attention
Spirituality is about attention
If some form of Chocolates have the center of your attention
What will happen to the content and quality of your life,
and our life together
There is a sweeter center of life that is not bought nor sold
Rooted in giving and receiving God’s love
Rooted in the wisdom that will bless the generations
You can forget all of this for a Box of chocolates, a case of beer, a new play station game… a new car (and all the car payments) is what you need, can’t miss this movie, or that TV show, and
The monster of gluttony grows along with our greed
Life can be reduced to and so defined by one’s desires
One can forget who one is really; -- we call this addiction.
Consumption -- the chocolate factories, the cigarette companies, the Columbian cartel and our children’s favorite TV show
Are all dependent at their current levels of consumption…
Dependent on our greed.
They say life is like a box of Chocolates
I wonder at the content and quality of this sort of life???
I wonder at the content and quality of this sort of life???
The victory of taste over faith and reason
Is as simple as a box of Chocolates
Without the insight and fortitude of Character
Indulgence wins every time
Now we have advertisements and marketing aimed at this
To entice you to buy more – even at the cost of Character.
The style of the enticement is so “cool” or funny
Commercials themselves have become
The object or our collective attention
Spirituality is about attention
If some form of Chocolates have the center of your attention
What will happen to the content and quality of your life,
and our life together
There is a sweeter center of life that is not bought nor sold
Rooted in giving and receiving God’s love
Rooted in the wisdom that will bless the generations
You can forget all of this for a Box of chocolates, a case of beer, a new play station game… a new car (and all the car payments) is what you need, can’t miss this movie, or that TV show, and
The monster of gluttony grows along with our greed
Life can be reduced to and so defined by one’s desires
One can forget who one is really; -- we call this addiction.
Consumption -- the chocolate factories, the cigarette companies, the Columbian cartel and our children’s favorite TV show
Are all dependent at their current levels of consumption…
Dependent on our greed.
They say life is like a box of Chocolates
I wonder at the content and quality of this sort of life???
Sunday, April 20, 2003
I recently received this email about Barbara J. Buckland:
Buckland - Barbara J., August 2, 1942 ˆ April 14, 2003, died peacefully at
Surrey Memorial Hospital. Predeceased by her parents, she is survived by
her brothers, Don (and Sarah) and Richard (and Mary) and her aunts and
uncle, Mollie Sarvela, Kirstine Griffith and Sandy and Miram Buckland.
Her many friends and relatives delighted in the joy and happiness she
brought to each day and will miss the courage and faith she showed in her
battle with cancer. A celebration and memorial of her life will be held at
the Church of the Epiphany at 10553 ˆ 148th Street, Surrey, BC, Canada at 12
noon on April 22, 2003. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the
charity of your choice.
A loss is felt personally when someone takes to heart your own journey in life and somehow becomes part of that journey. Barbara naturally did that by her courage to grow in love. (Gal 5:6b, II Peter 1:3-11)
I first met Barbara as a Fuller student in Jude Tiersma Watson’s class Introduction to urban Missions. I had brought two friends into Jude’s class to share a little of their life’s stories with the class. That evening she began to pray for Willie Hartsfield. The care in her heart for Willie continued for all the years she was at Fuller and long after she graduated and moved back to Canada. Willie soon after that class made choices that landed him in prison; Barbara continued to pray for him and corresponded with him regularly. Willie also began to entrust his own thoughts, cares, and concerns to her and began to pray for her when he discovered that she had cancer. She became one of the tangible evidences for Willie that Christians have learned something about the source of love rooted in God (Eph. 3:14-21).
Jude and I were also recipients of her letters. What we will miss is far beyond just the joy of getting mail; -- we will miss her voice and the kindness expressed in those letters. Willie will miss the mail even more than we will simply because she continued to remember him over these five years while he was in prison. And now he will not be able to thank her for her caring thoughts of him. Every sign of love makes a profound difference. She maintained correspondence across the miles with a good number of friends. I am wondering if there will be any effort to collect these letters and keep them for the sake of the church. So much of the wealth of souls living out of the heart that God gave them for the world in mission is meaningfully preserved for the rest of the church to reflect on by their collected letters and journals.
If anyone is inspired to write Willie at this time his address is (for the next year or so):
Willie Hartsfield D08585
450-2-60 Low
Avenal State Prison
PO Box #9
Avenal, CA. 93204
Buckland - Barbara J., August 2, 1942 ˆ April 14, 2003, died peacefully at
Surrey Memorial Hospital. Predeceased by her parents, she is survived by
her brothers, Don (and Sarah) and Richard (and Mary) and her aunts and
uncle, Mollie Sarvela, Kirstine Griffith and Sandy and Miram Buckland.
Her many friends and relatives delighted in the joy and happiness she
brought to each day and will miss the courage and faith she showed in her
battle with cancer. A celebration and memorial of her life will be held at
the Church of the Epiphany at 10553 ˆ 148th Street, Surrey, BC, Canada at 12
noon on April 22, 2003. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the
charity of your choice.
A loss is felt personally when someone takes to heart your own journey in life and somehow becomes part of that journey. Barbara naturally did that by her courage to grow in love. (Gal 5:6b, II Peter 1:3-11)
I first met Barbara as a Fuller student in Jude Tiersma Watson’s class Introduction to urban Missions. I had brought two friends into Jude’s class to share a little of their life’s stories with the class. That evening she began to pray for Willie Hartsfield. The care in her heart for Willie continued for all the years she was at Fuller and long after she graduated and moved back to Canada. Willie soon after that class made choices that landed him in prison; Barbara continued to pray for him and corresponded with him regularly. Willie also began to entrust his own thoughts, cares, and concerns to her and began to pray for her when he discovered that she had cancer. She became one of the tangible evidences for Willie that Christians have learned something about the source of love rooted in God (Eph. 3:14-21).
Jude and I were also recipients of her letters. What we will miss is far beyond just the joy of getting mail; -- we will miss her voice and the kindness expressed in those letters. Willie will miss the mail even more than we will simply because she continued to remember him over these five years while he was in prison. And now he will not be able to thank her for her caring thoughts of him. Every sign of love makes a profound difference. She maintained correspondence across the miles with a good number of friends. I am wondering if there will be any effort to collect these letters and keep them for the sake of the church. So much of the wealth of souls living out of the heart that God gave them for the world in mission is meaningfully preserved for the rest of the church to reflect on by their collected letters and journals.
If anyone is inspired to write Willie at this time his address is (for the next year or so):
Willie Hartsfield D08585
450-2-60 Low
Avenal State Prison
PO Box #9
Avenal, CA. 93204
Thursday, April 17, 2003
Just read the poem below and in response, I send a
little appreciation of a little gift. This is from a subway
ride last week, when my hands were chilled to the point of
pain:
Underground, my hand finds comfort
where the cold chrome has been warmed
by another hand.
Love,
Tink
This was e-mailed to me by one of my aunts -- Thanks!!!
little appreciation of a little gift. This is from a subway
ride last week, when my hands were chilled to the point of
pain:
Underground, my hand finds comfort
where the cold chrome has been warmed
by another hand.
Love,
Tink
This was e-mailed to me by one of my aunts -- Thanks!!!
A Musing about Life
Witness Life
Witness Death
Tell the truth with your song
Take time to bless
Be remembered as a blessing...
For It is better to offer our lives to the living
...and our souls to the living God
Ponder life
Stay amazed
Every moment of life we have is a gift
...share the gift
Witness life
Take time to bless
Ponder life
Worship God with gratitude...
Joy beyond what words can say
comes to those hearts that realize how to receive
every “good” of life as a gift
Humble gratitude
Child like in wonder... Yet submitted to God
Witness... Tell the truth with your song
...share the gift
Live
Live Righteous
Witness... Tell the truth with your life
...live the gift
Jaw1
Witness Life
Witness Death
Tell the truth with your song
Take time to bless
Be remembered as a blessing...
For It is better to offer our lives to the living
...and our souls to the living God
Ponder life
Stay amazed
Every moment of life we have is a gift
...share the gift
Witness life
Take time to bless
Ponder life
Worship God with gratitude...
Joy beyond what words can say
comes to those hearts that realize how to receive
every “good” of life as a gift
Humble gratitude
Child like in wonder... Yet submitted to God
Witness... Tell the truth with your song
...share the gift
Live
Live Righteous
Witness... Tell the truth with your life
...live the gift
Jaw1
As we get older and know more people we will find ourselves overseeing and witnessing the whole of the human life span more and more consciously if we care to pay attention. Birth and Death, Weddings and Funerals, Celebrations and real reasons for tears — what matters the most is that we do not lose our capacity to love (Matthew 24)... even in a world gone wrong. “God help me look at life as it really is and continue in your Love. In Jesus Name Amen.”
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Daily Meditation: April 16
by Henri Nouwen; from Bread for the Journey , Harper Collins, New York, 1997
To Let the Word Become Flesh
Spiritual reading is food for our souls. As we slowly let the words of the Bible or any spiritual book enter into our minds and descend into our hearts, we become different people. The Word gradually becomes flesh in us and thus transforms our whole beings. Thus spiritual reading is a continuing incarnation of the divine Word within us. In and through Jesus, the Christ, God became flesh long ago. In and through our reading of God's Word and our reflection on it, God becomes flesh in us now and thus makes us into living Christs for today.
Let's keep reading God's Word with love and great reverence.
by Henri Nouwen; from Bread for the Journey
To Let the Word Become Flesh
Spiritual reading is food for our souls. As we slowly let the words of the Bible or any spiritual book enter into our minds and descend into our hearts, we become different people. The Word gradually becomes flesh in us and thus transforms our whole beings. Thus spiritual reading is a continuing incarnation of the divine Word within us. In and through Jesus, the Christ, God became flesh long ago. In and through our reading of God's Word and our reflection on it, God becomes flesh in us now and thus makes us into living Christs for today.
Let's keep reading God's Word with love and great reverence.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Saint Patrick has been someone we have been thinking about and learning from in LA InnerChange this season before easter. Christ is risen... what does it look like to live that way with confidence...
[4/14/2003 3:08:26 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
Jude and I watch a little TV together Saturday night. We do not do this very often. TV has a negative effect on me. I get lost in it too easily. Still Funny home videos are worth a good laugh. I am usually disappointed when we watch the news on TV. Public radio seems to work better for us and Jude can get the weather on the internet. Videos and DVD’s are better than TV with commercials. I would rather read a book or write in my journal, but that requires a certain amount of inner stillness and focus. The path of least resistance is often not a friend to our souls.
Jude and I watch a little TV together Saturday night. We do not do this very often. TV has a negative effect on me. I get lost in it too easily. Still Funny home videos are worth a good laugh. I am usually disappointed when we watch the news on TV. Public radio seems to work better for us and Jude can get the weather on the internet. Videos and DVD’s are better than TV with commercials. I would rather read a book or write in my journal, but that requires a certain amount of inner stillness and focus. The path of least resistance is often not a friend to our souls.
[4/14/2003 3:07:07 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
Nikkei had her birthday party in the neighborhood. It was a big community gathering with over 50 people in attendance. I like how family oriented these gatherings can be. I wish that for the young men that drinking beer wouldn’t be the main pursuit. In these gatherings it is always striking to me how difficult it is for young men to find a healthy path.
Nikkei had her birthday party in the neighborhood. It was a big community gathering with over 50 people in attendance. I like how family oriented these gatherings can be. I wish that for the young men that drinking beer wouldn’t be the main pursuit. In these gatherings it is always striking to me how difficult it is for young men to find a healthy path.
[4/14/2003 3:06:15 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
Saturday was about visitation. What a privilege to go to people’s homes and seek to offer encouragement and insight. Hope is fuel for the soul. Hope in God roots us in this reality with the expectation that good can flow through our lives – even in crucifixion. Evil in itself is not good; we don’t “Do evil that good may come out of it”. Rather nothing is beyond God’s power to redeem (except the refusal to embrace redemption when it comes). What a privilege to speak into people’s lives the courage to live.
Saturday was about visitation. What a privilege to go to people’s homes and seek to offer encouragement and insight. Hope is fuel for the soul. Hope in God roots us in this reality with the expectation that good can flow through our lives – even in crucifixion. Evil in itself is not good; we don’t “Do evil that good may come out of it”. Rather nothing is beyond God’s power to redeem (except the refusal to embrace redemption when it comes). What a privilege to speak into people’s lives the courage to live.
[4/13/2003 11:51:29 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
Today a friend from the neighborhood called in the AM and joined Jude and I at church... we enjoyed lunch together... He says he likes our church because the pastors speak clearly and plainly and that the people aren't judgemental. Late afternoon I played some cards with two young teens -- Jose and Jesus. Jude and I had a good walk... during the walk Boy paged me ... we decided to hang out at a local coffee shop in the ... I wrote some letters while he studied "The Rise of Western Civilization" for a history class.
Today a friend from the neighborhood called in the AM and joined Jude and I at church... we enjoyed lunch together... He says he likes our church because the pastors speak clearly and plainly and that the people aren't judgemental. Late afternoon I played some cards with two young teens -- Jose and Jesus. Jude and I had a good walk... during the walk Boy paged me ... we decided to hang out at a local coffee shop in the ... I wrote some letters while he studied "The Rise of Western Civilization" for a history class.
[4/12/2003 12:23:49 AM | John Tiersma Watson]
Today has been about spending some time with Jude... Writing a friend in Jail... Giving out a few copies of my web based radio show to a few neighbors... Figuring out my taxes (Thank you Paul S. so much for your help!!!)... and long conversation with Werner Pastran (a good friend and one of the members of LA Street Productions).
It also has been about reflecting on the joy of friendship and the realities of pain.
Joy of seeing Jude smile in that special way that says without words -- I love you.
The Pain of seeing the Rockwood Street Gang and the 18th Street gang cross out each other's tags and the knowledge that violence and death can follow such markings on our public walls.
Joy in seeing Melanie in her role of serving Communidad Cambria... Showing us a little fruit of her labours on behalf of the building and the community that lives there...
Pain in listening to my friends discuss where to buy the most beer at the cheapest prices as they plan a far from sober weekend...
Joy in sharing a cup of coffee on our fire escape with Jude...
Pain in knowing that my friend Werner is planning to move to San Francisco -- I will miss you bro... Keep you focuss and keep the faith...
Joy as Paul describes his plans to get together with his love interest Ardith...
Pain as I write out a $900.00 check to the Federal Government as what I still owe in taxes...
fun... playing a few Daniel Amos songs on our car's CD player...
Tasty food brought home by Jude after meeting with Chris A. from Savoys... one of our favorite local Thia restaurants...
There is no greater Joy than to know the source of Love in this Universe and to discover that God wants to pour out that love into our hearts and through our hearts.
Today has been about spending some time with Jude... Writing a friend in Jail... Giving out a few copies of my web based radio show to a few neighbors... Figuring out my taxes (Thank you Paul S. so much for your help!!!)... and long conversation with Werner Pastran (a good friend and one of the members of LA Street Productions).
It also has been about reflecting on the joy of friendship and the realities of pain.
Joy of seeing Jude smile in that special way that says without words -- I love you.
The Pain of seeing the Rockwood Street Gang and the 18th Street gang cross out each other's tags and the knowledge that violence and death can follow such markings on our public walls.
Joy in seeing Melanie in her role of serving Communidad Cambria... Showing us a little fruit of her labours on behalf of the building and the community that lives there...
Pain in listening to my friends discuss where to buy the most beer at the cheapest prices as they plan a far from sober weekend...
Joy in sharing a cup of coffee on our fire escape with Jude...
Pain in knowing that my friend Werner is planning to move to San Francisco -- I will miss you bro... Keep you focuss and keep the faith...
Joy as Paul describes his plans to get together with his love interest Ardith...
Pain as I write out a $900.00 check to the Federal Government as what I still owe in taxes...
fun... playing a few Daniel Amos songs on our car's CD player...
Tasty food brought home by Jude after meeting with Chris A. from Savoys... one of our favorite local Thia restaurants...
There is no greater Joy than to know the source of Love in this Universe and to discover that God wants to pour out that love into our hearts and through our hearts.
[4/10/2003 4:44:01 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
I am very Glad to have Jude back from her travels to Cambodia. She was away for about 2 weeks. The flight itself took 17 hours. Her contribution to the conference that she spoke at was well recieved -- A view of life passages and it's impact on mission. She is now resting and will hopefully be back in the swing of life by Monday -- "Lord Willing".
I have heard from some of you that the Cambodia section of the InnerChange website isn't up and opperational. I will check on that. We have started a ministry to those who are living with HIV and AIDS in Cambodia. Anyone out there feeling called to a challenging compassionate ministry???
[edit]
I am very Glad to have Jude back from her travels to Cambodia. She was away for about 2 weeks. The flight itself took 17 hours. Her contribution to the conference that she spoke at was well recieved -- A view of life passages and it's impact on mission. She is now resting and will hopefully be back in the swing of life by Monday -- "Lord Willing".
I have heard from some of you that the Cambodia section of the InnerChange website isn't up and opperational. I will check on that. We have started a ministry to those who are living with HIV and AIDS in Cambodia. Anyone out there feeling called to a challenging compassionate ministry???
[edit]
Larae Screen is a friend of mine who is one of the most high strung naturally intense artists I know. She and I at times differ in the way we see the world. Her words are persuasive and she has often led me to new thoughts and insights. I am thankful for our friendship and conversations over the years. chek out her website!
I am at my Web Cast... Spinning Ad-Seg, Rez, The Cranberries, Mystic, Dylan, Barry Taylor, and more. The Show is dedicated to Rosa, Rez, and Gabe & Racheal (my brother and sister). I am reflecting on how we loose friends and loved ones to these mean streets. It is time to tell the truth about what is going on.
[4/7/2003 1:01:10 AM | John Tiersma Watson]
Today started for me with a communion service at the Vinyard West Side in Culver city (11:00am-12:30pm).
The afternoon the mission team got together to pray over at Jenny's house -- a house blessing. It was clear how some visiting friends were touched deeply in their hearts... that the Holy Spirit was moving in unique way. When youg people who aren't use to lengthy times of prayer stay attentive for over 2 hours... God is doing something special (1-6pm).
Got together with Wil & Boy to prepare for our art show at Fuller Seminary starting tommorrow. (7-10pm)
Went to an intenet cafe' until midnight. (10:15-12:00pm)
Finishing my blog... (1:00am)
Today started for me with a communion service at the Vinyard West Side in Culver city (11:00am-12:30pm).
The afternoon the mission team got together to pray over at Jenny's house -- a house blessing. It was clear how some visiting friends were touched deeply in their hearts... that the Holy Spirit was moving in unique way. When youg people who aren't use to lengthy times of prayer stay attentive for over 2 hours... God is doing something special (1-6pm).
Got together with Wil & Boy to prepare for our art show at Fuller Seminary starting tommorrow. (7-10pm)
Went to an intenet cafe' until midnight. (10:15-12:00pm)
Finishing my blog... (1:00am)
Thank you for all of your prayers for this service and for the Family and Friends.
In Loving Memory of
Jorge Eufemia
August 27,1973 – March 25, 2003
INTRODUCTIONS & WELCOME, GENESIS 2:7
THE LORD’S PRAYER
GOSPEL READING
LUKE 23:32-34a, 39-43
REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL
A SHORT HISTORY OF JORGE’S LIFE -- See Prior entry
A TIME SHARING & REFECTION TOGETHER
PSALM 23 & REFLECTION
CLOSING PRAYERS EPHESSIANS 3:14-21
BENNEDICTION
In Loving Memory of
Jorge Eufemia
August 27,1973 – March 25, 2003
INTRODUCTIONS & WELCOME, GENESIS 2:7
THE LORD’S PRAYER
GOSPEL READING
LUKE 23:32-34a, 39-43
REFLECTION ON THE GOSPEL
A SHORT HISTORY OF JORGE’S LIFE -- See Prior entry
A TIME SHARING & REFECTION TOGETHER
PSALM 23 & REFLECTION
CLOSING PRAYERS EPHESSIANS 3:14-21
BENNEDICTION
[4/5/2003 7:06:07 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
Jorge Eufemia
Born in Los Angles August 27th 1973
He went on to the Next life on March 25th 2003
He was born in LA
Moved to Houston Texas for a year when he was 3 years old.
Grew up into a strong young man in Manhattan New York (from 1979-1989).
He and his family returned to Los Angeles
In the summer of 1989.
He met Rosa, the love of his life on Maripossa Street in 1990.
He started High School in the Bronx New York
Went to High School at Hollywood High School
And latter about the age of 20 he finished and received his High School diploma through a program of self-study.
He was always a man of action
He loved sports: Hockey and Basketball, Riding BMX bikes and Skate Boarding.
He loved art and Music: He collected comic books, Japanese animation, and Science Fiction movies; He liked a wide range of Rock music from the Cranberries to Metalica to Mana
He was very skilled at drawing and painting. These gifts were respected and cherished by his family!!!
On some occasions he was employed to paint murals.
You would never question the strength of his mind if you had the chance to play chess with him.
He was clever, funny, and not afraid of expressing his love for his wife, his mother and family openly and often.
His precious life was cut short…
For this we cry out to God
And we commit ourselves to support his immediate family…
He is survived by:
Rosa his wife, their son Amadeo
Vivian his mother
Oscar his brother
Barbara his sister
And the rest of his family
And Friends
Jorge Eufemia
Born in Los Angles August 27th 1973
He went on to the Next life on March 25th 2003
He was born in LA
Moved to Houston Texas for a year when he was 3 years old.
Grew up into a strong young man in Manhattan New York (from 1979-1989).
He and his family returned to Los Angeles
In the summer of 1989.
He met Rosa, the love of his life on Maripossa Street in 1990.
He started High School in the Bronx New York
Went to High School at Hollywood High School
And latter about the age of 20 he finished and received his High School diploma through a program of self-study.
He was always a man of action
He loved sports: Hockey and Basketball, Riding BMX bikes and Skate Boarding.
He loved art and Music: He collected comic books, Japanese animation, and Science Fiction movies; He liked a wide range of Rock music from the Cranberries to Metalica to Mana
He was very skilled at drawing and painting. These gifts were respected and cherished by his family!!!
On some occasions he was employed to paint murals.
You would never question the strength of his mind if you had the chance to play chess with him.
He was clever, funny, and not afraid of expressing his love for his wife, his mother and family openly and often.
His precious life was cut short…
For this we cry out to God
And we commit ourselves to support his immediate family…
He is survived by:
Rosa his wife, their son Amadeo
Vivian his mother
Oscar his brother
Barbara his sister
And the rest of his family
And Friends
[4/5/2003 6:50:42 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968
"Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also
internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you
refuse to hate him."
"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we
arrive at that goal."
"Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder.
Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth.
Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. Darkness
cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that..."
"A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of
inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their
government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit
move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought
within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world.... "Some of us who have
already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling
to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with
all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must
speak. For we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems
so close around us.... "We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence
or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. If we do
not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful
corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion,
might without morality, and strength without sight.
"Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves in the long and bitter,
but beautiful struggle for a new world...."
"We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not
enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and
sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion
of war but the postive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace
represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the
dischords of war. Somehow, we must transform the dynamics of the world power
struggle from the negative nuclear arms race, which no one can win, to a
positive contest to harness humanity's creative genius for the purpose of
making peace and prosperity a reality for all the nations of the world. In
short, we must shift the arms race into a peace race. If we have a will- and
determination- to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto
tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a
psalm of creative fulfillment."
"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the
starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and
brotherhood can never become reality. I believe that unarmed truth and
unconditional love will have the final word."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968
"Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also
internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you
refuse to hate him."
"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we
arrive at that goal."
"Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder.
Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth.
Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. Darkness
cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that..."
"A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of
inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their
government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit
move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought
within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world.... "Some of us who have
already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling
to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with
all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must
speak. For we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems
so close around us.... "We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence
or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. If we do
not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful
corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion,
might without morality, and strength without sight.
"Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves in the long and bitter,
but beautiful struggle for a new world...."
"We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not
enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and
sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion
of war but the postive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace
represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the
dischords of war. Somehow, we must transform the dynamics of the world power
struggle from the negative nuclear arms race, which no one can win, to a
positive contest to harness humanity's creative genius for the purpose of
making peace and prosperity a reality for all the nations of the world. In
short, we must shift the arms race into a peace race. If we have a will- and
determination- to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto
tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a
psalm of creative fulfillment."
"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the
starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and
brotherhood can never become reality. I believe that unarmed truth and
unconditional love will have the final word."
[4/5/2003 6:48:38 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
Things you are missing out on by not living in our hood
1. Morning tamales, only $1.00 each, delivered right to the sidewalk.
“Tamales, de puerco, de pollo, champurrado…” imagine a deep, throaty voice, 6:30 AM…
2. 8 one dollar stores within walking distance. Hey, good stuff, you just gotta search for it
full moon rising above the skyscrapers downtown.
3. a neighbor kid buying us an ice cream from the nightly ice cream truck. – sometimes there are three!!
4. Antibiotics sold right on the street! IDs too.
5. No Telemarketing!!!
6. Seeing Chris bring/take Edison to church
7. Fresh Homemade Donuts and coffee available 4:00 am to 11:00 pm
8. Fresh Tortilla’s Available at the local Panaderia… you can even watch them being made from the corn… the 9. Flan they sell is very good too.
9. Thai food…right in the corner mini mall, cashew nut chicken, huge portion for 4.49. The cook is Thai, her husband Mexican.
Things you are missing out on by not living in our hood
1. Morning tamales, only $1.00 each, delivered right to the sidewalk.
“Tamales, de puerco, de pollo, champurrado…” imagine a deep, throaty voice, 6:30 AM…
2. 8 one dollar stores within walking distance. Hey, good stuff, you just gotta search for it
full moon rising above the skyscrapers downtown.
3. a neighbor kid buying us an ice cream from the nightly ice cream truck. – sometimes there are three!!
4. Antibiotics sold right on the street! IDs too.
5. No Telemarketing!!!
6. Seeing Chris bring/take Edison to church
7. Fresh Homemade Donuts and coffee available 4:00 am to 11:00 pm
8. Fresh Tortilla’s Available at the local Panaderia… you can even watch them being made from the corn… the 9. Flan they sell is very good too.
9. Thai food…right in the corner mini mall, cashew nut chicken, huge portion for 4.49. The cook is Thai, her husband Mexican.
[4/5/2003 6:37:18 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
I found in James H. Cone’ s book “The Spirituals and the Blues” an echo of part of my own heritage expressed in words that helped me identify the African--American part of me as what I’ve always called my existential view of life. “Truth is experience, and experience is the truth. If it is lived and encountered, then it is real…without any attempt to make philosophical distinctions between divine and human truth.” (pg. 106) Black music is a natural echo of life’s experience. Authenticity is simply a natural extention of this perspective. This I believe continues through all forms of music that can be identified as having black roots. KRS ONE accuses Nelly of being a “wack” rapper and a “house nigger” (ie. Not really black). And that he is voicing popular themes in a style that is detatched or disconected from the lived experience of black life and turning to the industries formula of Sex, Drugs, and Self- Promotion. NAS talks about many of the same themes but in a way that remembers his roots. What was said of Mahalia Jackson’s music is that, “Honesty of Emotion is Mahalia’s first concern; communication of emotion is second,” … this could be said in general about African—American music. This is a practical existentialism or “authenticity”. Cone argues that this authenticity is true for both Spirituals and the Blues. I say this is obvious from the inside because it comes from the same kind of “Black” soul.
I would add that Gospel is caught up with the experience of God revealing God’s self. The Blues caught up in the experience of the soul, (in the post slavery experience of having some measure of space for self-reflection). I think that the split between these two is a result of the influence of European culture. African culture is as I know it much more holistic.
I think that Cone underestimates the power experienced in spirituals as an actual in-breaking of the kingdom of God not yet realized. Gospel has its roots in the spirituals in this sense. On the back of a Mahalia Jackson Record album I have she is quoted as saying, “I knew the Blues, but there is despair in the blues; I sang God’s music because it gave me hope. I still need the hope and happiness God’s Music Brings. I find it a personal triumph over every handicap, a solution to every problem, a path to peace”. In terms of authenticity I would contend that the blues are at best an authentic assertion of being. Spirituals are at best an assertion of God’s kingdom being shared in as one living soul in the truth of that. For black people this did not necessarily make the songs other worldly. Rather it emboldened some to act against the odds and to escape to freedom. To not surrender the Ideal to the present real is for me the power of worship songs and “Spirituals”. They anticipate the “Future of God” where what is true to God stands. I believe that Gospel Music in this sense stands alongside the psalms and the prophets in their nature and intent. Not as Scripture, but as the human side of expressing theology (communicating about God) as experienced here and now. The music of the soul in this case is part of the communication. What is said through music is more than what can be said with just words -- this is true for all music.
I found in James H. Cone’ s book “The Spirituals and the Blues” an echo of part of my own heritage expressed in words that helped me identify the African--American part of me as what I’ve always called my existential view of life. “Truth is experience, and experience is the truth. If it is lived and encountered, then it is real…without any attempt to make philosophical distinctions between divine and human truth.” (pg. 106) Black music is a natural echo of life’s experience. Authenticity is simply a natural extention of this perspective. This I believe continues through all forms of music that can be identified as having black roots. KRS ONE accuses Nelly of being a “wack” rapper and a “house nigger” (ie. Not really black). And that he is voicing popular themes in a style that is detatched or disconected from the lived experience of black life and turning to the industries formula of Sex, Drugs, and Self- Promotion. NAS talks about many of the same themes but in a way that remembers his roots. What was said of Mahalia Jackson’s music is that, “Honesty of Emotion is Mahalia’s first concern; communication of emotion is second,” … this could be said in general about African—American music. This is a practical existentialism or “authenticity”. Cone argues that this authenticity is true for both Spirituals and the Blues. I say this is obvious from the inside because it comes from the same kind of “Black” soul.
I would add that Gospel is caught up with the experience of God revealing God’s self. The Blues caught up in the experience of the soul, (in the post slavery experience of having some measure of space for self-reflection). I think that the split between these two is a result of the influence of European culture. African culture is as I know it much more holistic.
I think that Cone underestimates the power experienced in spirituals as an actual in-breaking of the kingdom of God not yet realized. Gospel has its roots in the spirituals in this sense. On the back of a Mahalia Jackson Record album I have she is quoted as saying, “I knew the Blues, but there is despair in the blues; I sang God’s music because it gave me hope. I still need the hope and happiness God’s Music Brings. I find it a personal triumph over every handicap, a solution to every problem, a path to peace”. In terms of authenticity I would contend that the blues are at best an authentic assertion of being. Spirituals are at best an assertion of God’s kingdom being shared in as one living soul in the truth of that. For black people this did not necessarily make the songs other worldly. Rather it emboldened some to act against the odds and to escape to freedom. To not surrender the Ideal to the present real is for me the power of worship songs and “Spirituals”. They anticipate the “Future of God” where what is true to God stands. I believe that Gospel Music in this sense stands alongside the psalms and the prophets in their nature and intent. Not as Scripture, but as the human side of expressing theology (communicating about God) as experienced here and now. The music of the soul in this case is part of the communication. What is said through music is more than what can be said with just words -- this is true for all music.
[4/4/2003 12:09:00 AM | John Tiersma Watson]
Daily Meditation: April 3
by Henri Nouwen; from Bread for the Journey Harper Collins, New York, 1997
The Importance of Receiving
Receiving often is harder than giving. Giving is very important: giving insight, giving hope, giving courage, giving advice, giving support, giving money, and, most of all, giving ourselves. Without giving there is no brotherhood and sisterhood.
But receiving is just as important, because by receiving we reveal to the givers that they have gifts to offer. When we say, "Thank you, you gave me hope; thank you, you gave me a reason to live; thank you, you allowed me to realise my dream," we make givers aware of their unique and precious gifts. Sometimes it is only in the eyes of the receivers that givers discover their gifts.
Daily Meditation: April 3
by Henri Nouwen; from Bread for the Journey Harper Collins, New York, 1997
The Importance of Receiving
Receiving often is harder than giving. Giving is very important: giving insight, giving hope, giving courage, giving advice, giving support, giving money, and, most of all, giving ourselves. Without giving there is no brotherhood and sisterhood.
But receiving is just as important, because by receiving we reveal to the givers that they have gifts to offer. When we say, "Thank you, you gave me hope; thank you, you gave me a reason to live; thank you, you allowed me to realise my dream," we make givers aware of their unique and precious gifts. Sometimes it is only in the eyes of the receivers that givers discover their gifts.
[4/4/2003 12:06:26 AM | John Tiersma Watson]
My friend Fred Eichleman shared with me the following story in a email...
That was not the apologetic approach that I would have taken (nor I...JTW). Our
pluralistic Orthodox friend was confronting our atheist friend in
our living room because he was trying to teach Annie, our daughter,
that evolution was correct. He was saying that humans are monkeys.
She, our orthodox friend was exasperated in debating him and finally
resorted to calling him a monkey. He was hurt and called her
arrogant. It happened before we could stop it.
Afterwards, I warmly confronted my atheist friend on why he was
hurt. He had just said that humans were monkeys! That meant he was a
monkey! I told him he should be a proud monkey and not embarrassed
to be a monkey, IF that was what he really thought.
My friend Fred Eichleman shared with me the following story in a email...
That was not the apologetic approach that I would have taken (nor I...JTW). Our
pluralistic Orthodox friend was confronting our atheist friend in
our living room because he was trying to teach Annie, our daughter,
that evolution was correct. He was saying that humans are monkeys.
She, our orthodox friend was exasperated in debating him and finally
resorted to calling him a monkey. He was hurt and called her
arrogant. It happened before we could stop it.
Afterwards, I warmly confronted my atheist friend on why he was
hurt. He had just said that humans were monkeys! That meant he was a
monkey! I told him he should be a proud monkey and not embarrassed
to be a monkey, IF that was what he really thought.
LA ST Prod. has 10 pieces of art spread throughout the Fuller Seminary campus for an art show called LOOK Closer. I could arrange time for some personal tours... though many of the offices are open Mon.-Fri. 9 to 5 ish. Props to Werner and Wil who hung the art work.
[4/1/2003 10:00:37 PM | John Tiersma Watson]
Heather (One of LA IC's Interns) and Greg have announced their intention to get married. Kim (Another intern) instigated an outing / Celebration for them today at the Oak Tree Inn chinese food restaurant. It was a great spot for food and dinner conversation. Thanks Kim!... even though you high jacked our Tues. Community reflection time to do it.
[edit]
Heather (One of LA IC's Interns) and Greg have announced their intention to get married. Kim (Another intern) instigated an outing / Celebration for them today at the Oak Tree Inn chinese food restaurant. It was a great spot for food and dinner conversation. Thanks Kim!... even though you high jacked our Tues. Community reflection time to do it.
[edit]
[4/1/2003 11:55:38 AM | John Tiersma Watson]
LA St Prod. will be on Fuller Semiary's Campus For thier Art Week. Check out our art Starting April 7th!!!
By Justin Bell
The inner city neighborhoods of Los Angeles. We see them on the news. We drive through them on our way to the airport. We may even do some casual ministry there. But do these neighborhoods mean anything tangible to us? Is the inner city a place that we can taste, touch, see, or breathe?
For most of us here at Fuller (myself included), lesser-resourced neighborhoods like Westlake (near Pico Union) are not a part of our daily experience. Though we do, indeed, sometimes experience moments of hope, sadness, and/or guilt regarding these areas of our city, these feelings are far too often vague and sporadic. I think this is due to the fact that we haven’t yet been saturated by the stories of the people out of the inner city. Indeed, we have looked at these stories before, but we haven’t taken the time or looked closely enough at them to allow them to speak over against us—to change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors at the individual level.
On Monday, April 7, during the Community Arts Festival here at Fuller, we’re going to have an amazing opportunity to look closer at life in the heart of Los Angeles—an opportunity to have the inner city speak over against us. A guild of artists called LA Street Productions, from around Westlake, will be presenting a gallery of work from 12pm-1pm in the Travis Breezeway. Having already spent some time with these men, I can say that they are not only amazing artist, but they are also amazing individuals who have overcome countless obstacles to develop themselves both personally and professionally. They are painters, they are poets, they are sculptors, and they are architects. More than just an art group, they are friends—friends who are willing to sharpen each other and even die for each other if necessary.
Though they are closely linked by their passion for art, each of these artists’ works is unique in mode, theme, and expression. Wilburd Estrada, primarily a painter, has been influenced by David Alfaro Siqueiros and Van Gogh. His painting, For Caesar Chavez (pictured above), reinterprets Siqueiros’ commentary on industrialism in terms of the injustice Latino’s have received with American immigration laws. “Freedom in America is a limited freedom,” Estrada says, “many Latinos aren’t allowed to have it, and when they finally do get it, they become slaves to credit banks.”
Alberto Castenada focuses on written word. His poem Rush Hour describes the streets as “a catwalk for women dressed in luxurious lust.” Those who drive through his neighborhood in fear and disgust are “veiled by pride and satisfaction”. While their “tinted windows go up, a man’s value goes down.”
His works spanning the mediums of architecture, printmaking, and painting, Werner Pastran is a “jack-of-all-trades”. One particular painting of his, Defaced, draws upon techniques found in street tagging. Himself never a street tagger, Werner says that he had hoped, through using these techniques, to criticize the spirit of hate, anger, and disillusionment that he believes is so widespread in the graphitti community. As an alternative to much the negative art that he sees around him, Werner tries, with every piece, to communicate the values of love and humility.
LA Street Productions was founded in 1997 by John Tiersma Watson, an InnerChange LA staffperson and husband of Professor Judith Tiersma Watson in the School of World Mission. Primarily made up of “11/2ers”—Latinos raised in 1st generation American homes—the group submits their work to public, private, and church galleries throughout the year. To help buy art supplies, the guild originally created and sold affordable trading cards throughout their neighborhood. Today, LA Street Productions still supports itself on trading cards, but also accepts donations.
Please come to the gallery in the Travis Breezeway April 7 and meet the incredible artists that make up LA Street Productions and view their work. There is a lot we can learn from these guys! Also, comic book artist Jim Krueger and visual artists Macha Suzuki and Moto Okawa will be there as well. And don’t forget that there’s pizza!
To find out more about LA Street Productions, visit their webpage at www.sonserver.com/lasp.
LA St Prod. will be on Fuller Semiary's Campus For thier Art Week. Check out our art Starting April 7th!!!
By Justin Bell
The inner city neighborhoods of Los Angeles. We see them on the news. We drive through them on our way to the airport. We may even do some casual ministry there. But do these neighborhoods mean anything tangible to us? Is the inner city a place that we can taste, touch, see, or breathe?
For most of us here at Fuller (myself included), lesser-resourced neighborhoods like Westlake (near Pico Union) are not a part of our daily experience. Though we do, indeed, sometimes experience moments of hope, sadness, and/or guilt regarding these areas of our city, these feelings are far too often vague and sporadic. I think this is due to the fact that we haven’t yet been saturated by the stories of the people out of the inner city. Indeed, we have looked at these stories before, but we haven’t taken the time or looked closely enough at them to allow them to speak over against us—to change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors at the individual level.
On Monday, April 7, during the Community Arts Festival here at Fuller, we’re going to have an amazing opportunity to look closer at life in the heart of Los Angeles—an opportunity to have the inner city speak over against us. A guild of artists called LA Street Productions, from around Westlake, will be presenting a gallery of work from 12pm-1pm in the Travis Breezeway. Having already spent some time with these men, I can say that they are not only amazing artist, but they are also amazing individuals who have overcome countless obstacles to develop themselves both personally and professionally. They are painters, they are poets, they are sculptors, and they are architects. More than just an art group, they are friends—friends who are willing to sharpen each other and even die for each other if necessary.
Though they are closely linked by their passion for art, each of these artists’ works is unique in mode, theme, and expression. Wilburd Estrada, primarily a painter, has been influenced by David Alfaro Siqueiros and Van Gogh. His painting, For Caesar Chavez (pictured above), reinterprets Siqueiros’ commentary on industrialism in terms of the injustice Latino’s have received with American immigration laws. “Freedom in America is a limited freedom,” Estrada says, “many Latinos aren’t allowed to have it, and when they finally do get it, they become slaves to credit banks.”
Alberto Castenada focuses on written word. His poem Rush Hour describes the streets as “a catwalk for women dressed in luxurious lust.” Those who drive through his neighborhood in fear and disgust are “veiled by pride and satisfaction”. While their “tinted windows go up, a man’s value goes down.”
His works spanning the mediums of architecture, printmaking, and painting, Werner Pastran is a “jack-of-all-trades”. One particular painting of his, Defaced, draws upon techniques found in street tagging. Himself never a street tagger, Werner says that he had hoped, through using these techniques, to criticize the spirit of hate, anger, and disillusionment that he believes is so widespread in the graphitti community. As an alternative to much the negative art that he sees around him, Werner tries, with every piece, to communicate the values of love and humility.
LA Street Productions was founded in 1997 by John Tiersma Watson, an InnerChange LA staffperson and husband of Professor Judith Tiersma Watson in the School of World Mission. Primarily made up of “11/2ers”—Latinos raised in 1st generation American homes—the group submits their work to public, private, and church galleries throughout the year. To help buy art supplies, the guild originally created and sold affordable trading cards throughout their neighborhood. Today, LA Street Productions still supports itself on trading cards, but also accepts donations.
Please come to the gallery in the Travis Breezeway April 7 and meet the incredible artists that make up LA Street Productions and view their work. There is a lot we can learn from these guys! Also, comic book artist Jim Krueger and visual artists Macha Suzuki and Moto Okawa will be there as well. And don’t forget that there’s pizza!
To find out more about LA Street Productions, visit their webpage at www.sonserver.com/lasp.
[4/1/2003 11:51:08 AM | John Tiersma Watson]
Hi I am in the studio with Kim & Miriam. We have the joy and privelege to think about, share, and dialogue about media... we even get to make our own... why not have your own Blog??? Check out Boy1... a big shout out to my friends... My mom has a web page... see the links... Wayne lytle has his own company... Check out Animusic... this is a social world where we get to wrestle with the content and quality of our lives... which is built on the content and quality of our relationships with God, Ourselves, One Another, and The Environment. Love...Love deeply... learn to connect with God the source of Love and discover where love will take us.
Hi I am in the studio with Kim & Miriam. We have the joy and privelege to think about, share, and dialogue about media... we even get to make our own... why not have your own Blog??? Check out Boy1... a big shout out to my friends... My mom has a web page... see the links... Wayne lytle has his own company... Check out Animusic... this is a social world where we get to wrestle with the content and quality of our lives... which is built on the content and quality of our relationships with God, Ourselves, One Another, and The Environment. Love...Love deeply... learn to connect with God the source of Love and discover where love will take us.