Think about it

(Eliacin here) As an outsider (someone from a non-white-prosperous-northern country who lives now as an exiled in a white-prosperous-northern country) I consider a lot of our popular theologies,theologies done from a position of previlege in which real life struggles are left untouched. Many of them are just ideas formulated among white-rich-men surrounded by books and papers. People with the means to sit down for hours to study and talk among themselves about the intellience of faith. That academic-exclusivist-alienated way of doing theology still looms over the new theologies emerging today.

Third World theologians remind us that theology can't be separated from the struggle for justice and equality. Nor can't it be done outside the community of faith.

Among the many functions of theology today two are most urgent: how theology collaborates in the liberation of the oppressed, who are today's "“crucified Christs"” and how theology helps to preserve the memory of God so that we do not lose the sentiment and sacredness of human life which is threatened by a culture of superficiality, consumption and entertainment. We should always unite faith with justice, where a perspective of liberation is born, keeping the flame of our sacred lamp burning so that it can feed the hope for a better future for the Earth and all humanity.

Leonardo Boff

Just think about it.

Question...

As creation care is on the list for discussion at the conference I am wondering:
What is the Christian responsibility (if any) to God's creation?

Christian Co-Housing Learning Party

The Bartimaeus Community invites friends after the conference (April 30) to catch the ferry to Silverdale and join them for a three hour learning party, "On the Journey towards Christian Community," and a meal. They will have 7 of their 22 units constructed and we will meet in their new common building.

Space is limited (100 slots). Go the registration page to sign up now for this free event!

Worship and Current Events

Many of the songs I write have come out of specific people I have known and communities I have been a part of. I was labeled a folk musician because my music was about and for people. However, it was always my heart that I would do more than document the people and communities I had intersected (though I believe to remember is to honor as well). I desired always to set my songs against a backdrop of immense hope. This was my offering and worship.

As I grow and mature in my understanding and expressions of worship, I see that many of the Psalms do the same thing. They document specific people and communities and events, celebrate God’s faithfulness and declare his promises in the midst of oppression. My latest album is my first official worship album. I am excited to bring to the front of it God’s promises for restoration and the prophecies of Isaiah as it applies to the broken and suffering in today’s world. I wanted to share an example.

I have not visited Brazil, though I plan to this coming August. I have been learning Portuguese for over a year and learning about Brazil, preparing to meet the people. In the process I have learned about many hard things the Brazilian people struggle with. I learned of several horrible massacres where police were “dealing with” the homeless youth population in Rio. The Candelaria massacre occured in Rio de Janeiro on the night of July 23, 1993. Eight street children were killed as police gunmen shot at a group of about seventy street children as they slept beside the Candelaria Church. And so I wrote a worship song, declaring God’s love for these children. It is a love, I confess, that scares me as it is so woven with mercy and justice. Maybe that is why I have not written worship songs like this before, because it so deeply connects me to a love that connects me to these children and I cannot turn away from them.

When You Call
Copyright 2006 Tracy Howe

When you call, call to me
I am waiting to hide you in my arms
When you cry, cry to me
Oh child, I have not turned away

When you run, run to me
Fear cannot find you when I hide you in my arms
When they come with their guns
Oh child, I’ll be with you ‘till the end

Though the world does not see you
And men have their way with you
Sweet mercy flows from me
Sweet mercy flows

And I will rise
I will rise for you
I will rise
I will rise

Think about it.

I (Eliacin, a plebian with no credential whatsoever) will be facilitating a conversation on the Future of the Americas. Recently I found this quote from Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez which I consider worthy thinking about it.

South America has changed," he said. "A worker is president of Brazil - there comes Lula; an Indian is president of Bolivia; a woman is president of Chile, and in Venezuela, a revolutionary soldier, which is what I am."

Hugo Chavez

Kingdom Song Contest Update

We are thrilled with the great response to the Kingdom Song Contest. Daily we receive very creative and compelling lyrics.

Several people have asked how the lyrics will be judged. We have asked Eric Hansen, a Professor of Music at Seattle Pacific University, to join our staff in reviewing the submissions and choosing which song to feature at our conference.

The songs will be judged according to their content (how compelling are the lyrics in giving expression to the biblical imagery of a great resurrected multi-cultural community coming home to a restored creation as described in Isaiah) and style (how well the lyrics work in a song-we will rely heavily on Eric Hansen's input for this part).

We have asked Tracey Howe and Aaron Strumpel of the Restoration Project to put music to the winning entry (unless music was included in the entry- you over-achievers you!) We plan to perform the winning song at the conference. We will announce the winning entry in the May Seed Sampler. Thanks again for all of you who have taken time to so generously share your lyrics with us. Keep them coming and just remember to get your lyrics in by March 31.

Early Registration Ends March 15

Be sure to register for the conference by midnight (Pacific Standard Time) Wednesday to get the early registration discount!

Click here to register

The values game

Over the last couple of weeks we have spent a lot of time discussing the values that we want to under gird this conference - not as easy as one would think especially as it leads to difficult decisions at times - like chosing values rather than what is the cheapest way to go and with the tight budget we have that is not always an easy decision.
First we want this conference to reflect our concerns about justice. We will have a number of workshops that highlight this but we also want it to be reflected in other aspects of the conference. We will only be serving fair traded coffee & coffee at our break times. Coping with lunches is a little more challenging. We don't want to do box lunches - that would create a mountain of waste for us to get rid of - not at all good for the environment. We are thinking of asking a group like Heroes (a program that helps people reclaim their lives by teaching them to be chefs) to do our lunches but of course that is more expensive then buying ready made from somewhere like Safeways - cheap but they definitely don't have the world's best employee policies and their values do not seem to be consistent with ours.
Second we want to raise concerns about environmental issues. We are trying to get recycled plastic bags like Wholefoods uses donated for people to carry their conference items in. We would also like to get recycled plastic mugs for each person rather than using a mountain of paper cups for coffee & lunches. We will set up recycle bins and are also hoping to have a compost bin - a little more challenging
Third we want to emphasize the call to simplicity. We have struggled with whether or not to serve lattes - obviously very popular in Seattle and it might even have been a fund raiser for us but we have decided that we should drink tea and coffee the way the rest of the world does - most people don't even have lattes and espresso as an option and certainly could not afford to pay for them if they were avilable.
We also want to highlight the values of God's kingdom - what I call God's shalom values - hence the Song Contest and the urban walk on Friday afternoon. I teach a class on cross cultural adaptation and one of the questions I like to ask is - what will the culture of the kingdom of God look like? Most of us have no idea. We beleive that at the centre will be the values of love and compassion, justice for the poor, concern for those at the margins and freedom from oppression. I think a lot of people will get a shock when they enter the kingdom of God because it will be a real cross cultural experience for them.
Examining our values and grappling with the implications for our lives is so important for all of us - particularly at the beginning of Lent. Would appreciate any comments you may have on what other values we should seek to represent and how we can represent these effectively during our conference.
Shalom - Christine