Ordinary Radicals.

On Monday I got to hear Shane Claiborne speak . He truly takes what Gandhi said and does it "Live simply, so others may simply live."
If you have never heard of Shane , you should check out what his life is all about at The Simple Way

He writes in his book "The Irresistible Revolution: Living as Ordinary Radicals", that when we talk of materialism and simplicity we must always begin with love for God and our neighbor, otherwise we are operating out of legalistic, guilt-ridden self-righteousness. Our simplicity is not an ascetic denunciation of material things to attain personal piety, for if we sell all we have and give it to the poor, but have not love, it is meaningless ( 1 Corinthians 13:3)
Simplicity is meaningful only inasmuch as it is grounded in love, authentic relationships, and interdependence. Redistribution then springs naturally out of family that is larger than biology or nationalism. So ,it is important to understand that redistribution comes from community, not before community. Redistribution is not a prescription for community. Redistribution is a description of what happens when people fall in love with each other across class lines.

As Shane spoke, I thought of many of the "ordinary radicals" that I know seeking justice and love around the world. I have friends currently living in Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Mexico,India & Europe. Yet, I couldn't help but think of one of my closest friends, Sarah. I have known Sarah since our freshmen year at Bethel. Over the 6 + years of our friendship I have been continually struck by the ways she loves people. I have had the privilege of living in community with Sarah this year and I am truly inspired by the ways in which she lives her life. She has the ability to form relationships with so many different types of people. She is a woman filled with confidence and vision. Currently she has been applying/interviewing for different international organizations. It will be a transition not being able to live with her next year, but I know that whatever it is that she does she will do it with her entire being.

Last night we went to a Native American coffee cafe with our neighbors. Sherry & Sarah had their "debut" singing Karoke together.



Sarah, thanks for sharing your life with SO many people.

Snowflakes and sunsets....

It snowed this morning in Minneapolis. People were driving extremely slow.I took my friends and their week old son to the WIC office. A drive that should have normally lasted 5 minutes, took ten. WIC provides low-income families with nutritional counseling, and food. 45% of children in the U.S. benefit from WIC.

Last year I lived in the same building as this family and really learned a lot from them. Besides having a week old baby, they have a 7 yr old son. He has received the student of the month award this year, and I cannot even begin to describe the look of pride his father had on his face when telling me this news. This family has such a sense of raw, authentic love for each other.

My parents had dreams for my life, as well as for my two older brothers.. As a child they wanted me to grow up in a healthy environment, eat nutritious foods, make good friends, show respect to those around me, and do well in school.

Dan & I



Hangin out with my big brothers...


This couple has similar desires and hopes for their 7 year old son, and 7 day old son. As I sat down with them in their living room today, the father had such a sense of pride in his voice as he talked about his children. Their 7 year old son was so excited to be a "big brother." His Mom was had such a high smile on her face as she talked about the new baby.


I think one of the most beautiful lessons I have learned living in the city is that we do share humanity. Yet, we also create a mosaic of different cultural backgrounds, and traditions to be celebrated.


As Robert Lupton writes so powerfully in his book "Theirs is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban America."

'I think God must detest sameness. At least he has gone to great lengths to avoid it. Every snowflake, every cloud, every flower is unique. He has created and continues to create an endless variety of tress, bugs, sunsets and beasts. He has created billions of human beings, every one an original. All of nature is an infinite array of individually designed organisms interacting in harmonious praise to its Maker. And humans, created in the very image of God are given the privilege of being co creators with God.
I suspect that one of the results of the fall for humanity was the loss of some of our creativity. Not all of it, of course. We still are quite capable of creating symphonies and paintings and children and other beautiful things. But I think that sin brought with it sameness. Boredom. Monotony. Instead of remaining co creators with God, we opted for making molds. We began making people on our own image, forcing them into conformity. We traded creativity for cloning. We found that we could accomplish certain ends more efficiently by re eliminating faces and personalities and replacing them with numbers and uniforms. Regimentation became our method. We separated human beings into tasks, color, intellect, health, age, sex, and a host of other useful classifications.
Soon bondage and drudgery choked out much of the fun of living. We became isolated from the rich, dynamic interaction in which all creation was to participate. We became so accomplished that we didn't have time to stop and see the loveliness of snowflakes.
The city. A melting pot. Variety packaged together in one place. A collage of humanity. A nightmare to economists. A fright to social engineers. A curse to many.
But the church- how does it view the city? Church growth experts see the city as a problem because its diversity makes homogeneous grouping difficult to achieve on a large scale. Denominations aren't able to replicate their traditional church models here very well. And keeping alive the old city structures is quite a drain on our resources. The city is making us realize that sameness is a failure.
Maybe, just maybe , God will use the city to remind us that all his unique individual masterpieces clustered together in high rises and housing projects and neighborhoods bear a reflection of his original design. Perhaps it will be in the city that the church will rediscover the richness of diversity interacting in hard-earned unity.
I wonder why God has selected for our place of final destiny the City of God!

Blessed are.......

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.





5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.


6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.


7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.


9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.



10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3-10

Yesterday at church our Pastor gave a sermon from the Beatitudes...
He explained that one way of viewing the kingdom of God is "kinship", or living in communion and relationship with those around you.


He also talked about righteousness being translated as justice. Justice is treating others in a fair or reasonable manner, especially in the ways decisions are made.

This sermon struck a pretty deep chord, especially during the Lenten season.

Injera Mercado!

This weekend I helped Kelsey out with her siblings as her parents were away for the weekend. Her two youngest brothers are from Ethiopia... So, on Saturday night we went to Faskia, a local Ethiopian restaurant and had injera & dora wat! Injera is a soft pancake like bread. It is used as a plate & utensils. You tear off a piece of the injera and fill it with whatever type of meat or vegetables you order. It was delicious. Tekle who is 6, began the day by saying it was going to be "the best day ever." I think both Tekle (6) and Aaron (3) thoroughly enjoyed their dining experience.


Below is a video of Tekle & Aaron Counting to ten in Amharic.





Aaron demonstrating Ethiopian and American culture by wrapping a french fry inside of injera & dipping it in dora wat...

JOY...

A few of the kids who brought joy to my life this past week.....



The Bethel girls team played hockey with the DinoMights girls this past week.




My neighbor Savannah.. Could she be any cuter?



Emily & Salma...



My neighbor Delone! He is growing up SO FAST...

Does that sound like Justice?

Check this out.
I read this posting from a link Kelsey has on her blog
Does that sound like justice?

Life itself is grace...

Grace is defined as...

1.gift of God to humankind: in Christianity, the infinite love, mercy, favor, and goodwill shown to humankind by God 2.generosity of spirit: a capacity to tolerate, accommodate, or forgive people 3. elegance: elegance, beauty, and smoothness of form or movement

"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments and life itself is grace."
-Fredrich Buechner.

It has been an eventful week... I began a masters program for my K-8 licensure in Education last Wednesday.
On Friday our neighbor who lives below us "L" ( 16 years old, with a 8 month old baby girl) had a severe asthma attack. She is still in the hospital, on a ventilator in a sedative coma. On Saturday my roommates and I went on an overnight retreat which was fabulous.





Then on Sunday I took Kelsey, who I mentor to practice driving for her road test that she will HOPEFULLY be taking this month!


Sunday evening I went back to the hospital to visit my neighbor "L" who is still in a sedative coma as I write this. I don't even know where to begin explaining her family situation. I wrote a post earlier about taking her to juvenile court due to truancy violations.
I am going to try my best to paint an accurate portrayal of this family.
L's Mom, "Sharon" is one of the most selfless people I have ever met in my entire life.
"Sharron" is Mom to so many people beyond her 4 biological children. Currently her cousin's two kids are living with her, as well as 3 other relatives. Her cousins two kids are definitely an intergral part of our house. They are the community's kids." They are even the ringbearer and flower girl in one of my housemates weddings this summer.










"Sharron" is undergoing dialysis, and is often tired. She lives in poverty, yet is continually offering what she has to others.
On Sunday night when I went to visit "L" in the hospital much of the time was spent in the "family room" the hospital provides for people who have someone in the Intensive care unit. I ended up talking for quite awhile to "Sharron's" cousin who is the actual Mom of two of the kids "Sharron" currently has living with her. "Sharron's" cousin, "Melissa" is only 27 and has 5 kids. Her boyfriend and her are living in one of the homeless shelters downtown. After visiting "L" in the hospital I dropped "Melissa" and 3 of her children off at the shelter. As I pulled away I wept.... I wept tears for the lives of people I know, and the people I will never meet. I wept for the injustices of the world. I wept because of the questions I have...
My friends, Kenny & Julia are currently living in Uganda working for an organization called Food for the Hungry. On their most recent blog they wrote about the earthquakes and riots occurring in Rwanda and Kenya. Kenny & Julia's blog.
I recently began reading "The Hungering Dark" by Fredrich Buechner. This book has given me an insight into what it means to seek after the heart of God in our brokenness, or lack of understanding in certain situations.