Sunday, June 19, 2011
9:00 to 10:00 AM
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Leader: Rachel Port (ramara)
Readers: Judy Schultheis (loggersbrat) and Assorted volunteers
Donations will go to Netroots for the Troops 2012
Beyond the fold is the service as read, and the full text of contributions.
Order of Service:
Introduction
Spoken words are different from written words, and many of us who live in oral pagan traditions are reluctant to write down the words that we would speak at a blessing. The power of the word changes when it is written and it loses its sense of the here and now.
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Centering
“Walk gladly across the earth answering that of God in each man you meet.”
Walking joyfully across the earth is how we must begin. To be joyful is not to be blind to suffering, to pain, to the evil that we may encounter. Rather, it is to embrace the entire world, believing that in answering that of God we empower others to use that of God in themselves to heal themselves and heal the world.
Perhaps that is why we so value silence, even those who like me are musicians by background or training. We start with silence, we settle down, so that we can find that of God in ourselves.
(period of silence)
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Praise and Thanksgiving
(from Psalm 150)
Hallelujah!
Give praise with trumpet calls
With harp and lyre give praise
Give praise with drum and dance
With flute and strings give praise
Give praise with crashing cymbals
With resounding cymbals, give praise.
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A prayer from Cate in Bham, WA: Thank you God for all I have and all I know and for all I understand. And thank you too, for all that I don't yet know and don't yet understand but with your patience and teaching, I may eventually come to know and appreciate. May what is good for all living things come to pass.
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This attitude of thankfulness prior to the execution of ideas is what I would like everyone present here to remember and take home to their communities. It is not enough just to bring back arcane technical knowledge to improve election metrics. We must bring home the spirit of love found in this diverse community. We must bend these ideas to better the lives of the “least of us.” We must ground our activism in serving the people and nourishing the poor. And the best way to stay on track is to frame our efforts with gratitude.
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Remembrance
Next would come an offering to the manitos (spirits) of west and a reminder of the importance of death. If I have lived well, then it is a good day to die. The focus among traditional Native Americans was on maintaining harmony in life: there was not a lot of concern for what happens next. The offering to the west is also about endings, about changing things in our lives.
Next would come an offering to the manitos (spirits) of east and a reminder of the importance of birth. This is a reminder of the need for birth, rebirth, and new ideas. New ideas, new concepts, like newborns, must be nurtured and nourished.
(music in background)
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Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5, by Heitor Villa Lobos, for 8 cellos and solo soprano voice [Anna Moffo]
(have people name those they remember)
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Pagans perform their rituals within circles, because circles are symbols of unity, inclusion and eternity. Everything inside a circle is together . . . is a set. Ultimately, the Universe is a circle. And everything in it – you, me, that rock, the hungry stray cat lingering around your yard – is a set. We are all made of the same stuff – the budding flower and the oldest star. We are swirling matter and energy in a single, great pool. And that gives us a duty to each other, and the others already gone, and the others yet to be.
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Community
The Creator of the universe seeks human assistance in completing the work of Creation. The world is not good enough as it is, the Torah insists, and you and I can make it better. All of us are needed for this task: Jews and non-Jews, men and women, old and young. Everything that each and every one of us brings to the task is required: the sum total of our diverse experiences and learning, our skills and our relationships, our intelligence and our passion, all the arts and all the sciences: all our hearts, all our souls, all our might.
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The activist, writer and witch known as Starhawk said: “We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.”
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...And so the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
This was Dr. King, speaking on the day before he lost his life.
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The Dharma is not a set of teachings in a dusty book, those are just old words striving to point people long dead towards the Dharma. The Dharma is the understanding right here, right now, of how the world really is, how the world really transforms.
One cannot study the Dharma merely by hiding in a corner reading, we must engage the world around us. The connections we share with each other are arguably the most potent force of the Dharma, and politics are an important manifestation of these connections.
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But there's one anecdote from the Talmud (Shabbat 31a) that trumps any and every possible quote you could get -- it's the story about the man who approaches Shammai and Hillel, respectively, and mockingly demands that they teach him the entire Torah while he stands on one foot. Shammai, enraged, banishes him from his academy. Hillel tells the man, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. The rest is commentary; go and study.”
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Resolution
My wife is an Episcopalian and I'm a nonbeliever. We both find inspiration from Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay Bishop in the church and a passionate advocate for justice. Bishop Gene says, "it's important, but not sufficient to pull drowning victims out of the river. You have to go upstream and stop the person who is throwing them in."
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Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
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The Four Great Bodhisattva Vows
However innumerable sentient beings are, I vow to save them.
However inexhaustible the deluding passions are, I vow to exterminate them.
However immeasurable the doctrines of Dharma are, I vow to study them.
However inaccessible the Buddha Way is, I vow to attain it.
And we come full circle, because the Buddha Way is for us to become enlightened, shake the cobwebs off our eyes, go forth and liberate all beings from the cycle of suffering.
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Numenists immerse ourselves in the world because it is a gift to us and therefore we must take care of it and all that composes it, and through our personal charities, we will discover our spiritual roots and connections.
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Oh, I'm a Catholic reporting in. Locally at least, my parish is pretty strong on feed the hungry, tend the sick, comfort the sorrowing. And throwing kickass choir parties.
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What some of us feel we must do is to fully live what we believe. If we start with the idea of answering that of God in another, we should not demean by words or actions. To discriminate is to ignore or reject that of God in the other person.
I am uncomfortable judging the humanity of another person. Perhaps all I can do is to hold that person “in the Light” and hope that as I seek to answer that of God in her she will be able to accept it in herself.
We attempt to live what we believe. We are not always successful. We know that we need to be reflective, to examine ourselves - were the words I just spoke loving, mindful of that of God in the person about whom or to whom they were spoken?
Do I see the whole person? Do I acknowledge the whole person? Do I accept all of myself, using the good to help me address the parts of myself that still need work?
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I am a panentheistic pagan. I do not walk with God, in Christian imagery. Instead, I am a jellyfish in an ocean of God. Without God, I have no structure. God runs through me, pervades my entire existence and the world I live in.
And to me, God does the same to you.
If God also pervades you, then I cannot countenance prejudice or injustice. We are siblings of the same Mother. The other creatures on this earth are our younger sibs, forever in our care, and we have a responsibility to them. And the earth is our Mother. As we care for her, she will care for us.
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I often think of Abraham Joshua Heschel, himself a holocaust survivor, who once marched with Martin Luther King on the Sabbath. When he was criticized by other rabbis, he replied, “Sometimes it is necessary to pray with your feet.”
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I recently finished reading “Love Wins”, that new book by Rob Bell. On page 116, the end of a sentence jumped out at me: “...God has an imagination and is not afraid to use it.” When I stopped laughing, the next thought in my head was, “Go and do likewise.” At that, I really howled.
Yes, I just got my marching orders, but I am entitled to think it’s funny.
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We want to thank everybody who sent something to us, even though we could not possibly fit everything into our timeframe, which is something that we very much regret because we received some truly great material.
Thank you all!
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Here follow the entire texts we received in more or less the order we received them, with the proper attributions.
My wife is an Episcopalian and I'm a nonbeliever. We both find inspiration from Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay Bishop in the church and a passionate advocate for justice. Bishop Gene says, "it's important, but not sufficient to pull drowning victims out of the river. You have to go upstream and stop the person who is throwing them in."
I T
The Creator of the universe seeks human assistance in completing the work of Creation. The world is not good enough as it is, the Torah insists, and you and I can make it better. All of us are needed for this task: Jews and non-Jews, men and women, old and young. Everything that each and every one of us brings to the task is required: the sum total of our diverse experiences and learning, our skills and our relationships, our intelligence and our passion, all the arts and all the sciences: all our hearts, all our souls, all our might.
ramara
But there's one anecdote from the Talmud (Shabbat 31a) that trumps any and every possible quote you could get -- it's the story about the man who approaches Shammai and Hillel, respectively, and mockingly demands that they teach him the entire Torah while he stands on one foot. Shammai, enraged, banishes him from his academy. Hillel tells the man, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. The rest is commentary; go and study." He goes on to add that "to me, that is Judaism."
wiscmass for Elders of Zion
A prayer from my dear friend Cate in Bham WA: Thank you God for all I have and all I know and for all I understand. And thank you too, for all that I don't yet know and don't yet understand but with your patience and teaching, I may eventually come to know and appreciate. May what is good for all living things come to pass.
ArkansasJoseph
Numenists immerse ourselves in the world because it is a gift to us and therefore we must take care of it and all that composes it, and through our personal charities, we will discover our spiritual roots and connections.
Noddy
(Catholics) Feed the hungry, tend the sick, comfort the sorrowing, fight global warming, and throw kickass choir parties.
RunawayRose
Pagans perform their rituals within circles, because circles are symbols of unity, inclusion and eternity. Everything inside a circle is together . . . is a set. Ultimately, the Universe is a circle. And everything in it – you, me, that rock, the hungry stray cat lingering around your yard – is a set. We are all made of the same stuff – the budding flower and the oldest star. We are swirling matter and energy in a single, great pool.
And that gives us a duty to each other, and the others already gone, and the others yet to be. We are inescapably interconnected – with each other, with the world, with the Divine. Trying to live in isolation - trying to live without being a part of something – is like trying to swim in the ocean without getting wet.
Our only choice is what we choose to be a part of, and how. Whether we act out of love, or fear. Whether we embrace all these other things that are part of us - and that we are part of – or we try fruitlessly to push it away and sever it from ourselves. Either way, we are still connected and affected by everything else that is.
Beyond these thoughts, I would only add a few apropos quotes from a better writer than myself – the activist, writer and witch known as Starhawk. One because it speaks directly to political activism:
“No sane person with a life really wants to be a political activist. When activism is exciting, it tends to involve the risk of bodily harm or incarceration, and when it’s safe, it is often tedious, dry, and boring. Activism tends to put one into contact with extremely unpleasant people, whether they are media interviewers, riot cops, or at times, your fellow activists. Not only that, it generates enormous feelings of frustration and rage, makes your throat sore from shouting, and hurts your feet.
Nonetheless, at this moment in history, we are called to act as if we truly believe that the Earth is a living, conscious being that we’re part of, that human beings are interconnected and precious, and that liberty and justice for all is a desirable thing.”
And one because I think it goes right to the heart of the Netroots itself:
“We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.”
jaxpagan
I recently finished reading “Love Wins”, that new book by Rob Bell. On page 116, the end of a sentence jumped out at me: “...God has an imagination and is not afraid to use it.” When I stopped laughing, the next thought in my head was, “Go and do likewise.” At that, I really howled.
Yes, I just got my marching orders, but I’m entitled to think it’s funny.
loggersbrat
I think I can best express how my faith ties into my politics right now through the Four Great Bodhisattva Vows. There are many different wordings and versions of the vows, but they are all the same four vows.
However innumerable sentient beings are, I vow to save them.
Buddhism seeks to save people from the seemingly endless cycle of suffering. So much of how our nation is structured keeps people mired in endless cycles of suffering. Poverty, fear, privilege, violence, all create self-perpetuating cycles, encouraged and reinforced by our infrastructure, our culture and our politics. They all leave us suffering, over and over again, generation after generation.
My faith calls on me to help break these cycles.
However inexhaustible the deluding passions are, I vow to exterminate them.
We cannot break these cycles of suffering unless we see them as they really are. We look at poverty but instead see laziness, lack of ambition. We look at fear but instead see security. We look at entitlement but instead see just rewards. We look at violence and instead see justice.
We are active participants in our own delusion, while we strive to sate our cravings, for money, for love, for power, for sex, for acknowledgment, for oblivion. The real world watching us indulge our cravings is too much for us, so we hide reality from us, hide ourselves from reality, create self-justifying delusions. Delusions that shelter us from the harm we cause, to ourselves, to each other, to the environment, to the future generations.
My faith calls on me to help people move beyond their cravings, see through the veils of delusion, help people uncover what is actually before them, so they can respond appropriately.
However immeasurable the doctrines of Dharma are, I vow to study them.
The Dharma is not a set of teachings in a dusty book, those are just old words striving to point people long dead towards the Dharma. The Dharma is the understanding right here, right now, of how the world really is, how the world really transforms.
One cannot study the Dharma merely by hiding in a corner reading, we must engage the world around us. The connections we share with each other are arguably the most potent force of the Dharma, and politics are an important manifestation of these connections.
However inaccessible the Buddha Way is, I vow to attain it.
And we come full circle, because the Buddha Way is for us to become enlightened, shake the cobwebs off our eyes, go forth and liberate all beings from the cycle of suffering.
figleef
The parable of the Good Samaritan where, after pointing out that it was a member of a persecuted minority group, the Samaritans who were scorned by the Jews as much perhaps as the Jews were scorned by the Romans, who behaved in a manner that showed love and concern for another, Jesus tells his disciples to "Go forth and do likewise".
The social gospel is perhaps best spelled out in Matthew 22:39 "Love thy neighbor as thy-self".
What does God expect of you? To act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with the Lord thy God. (Micah 6:8). That is all.
Matthew 5: 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (h/t to CherryTheTart)
Danish Brethren
Quakers and activism
“Walk gladly across the earth answering that of God in each man you meet”
That was the message that George Fox delivered in the 17th Century. It is a starting point to understand why so many in the Religious Society of Friends are actively involved in attempting to make the world a better place.
First, a couple of points to bear in mind.
We Quakers are a diverse group. There are some who have ordained ministers. There are some - particularly among Friends in Africa - who are very much evangelical in their Christianity. There are others who might be the Quaker equivalent of the ethical Jew - in the Meeting where I am enrolled (officially listed as a member) we had a marriage between the children of two women one of whom considered herself Wiccan and the other Pagan but not Wiccan.
There are issues on which Friends can disagree forcefully - it is why we had a long period of fissure between the Orthodox Friends and the Hicksite Friends - and given Haverford was the former and Swarthmore was the latter it made for some pretty violent football contests in the early part of the 20th Century!
At times Quakers have withdrawn from public life, and were, incorrectly in my opinion, accused of being quietists.
Yet there is a strong tradition of moral concern. One can see this in the 18th Century American Quaker John Woolman who almost single-handedly persuaded the Religious Society of Friends that it was wrong for one human being to own another. One can see Quaker influence in the lives of others as diverse as Thomas Paine and Lucretia Mott.
While we may be “active” in political and social affairs, most of us would not define what we do as activism. Rather, it is a simple living of our concern for humanity and all of creation.
I am what is known as a Convinced Friend - I was not born into a Quaker family. While I had some minimal knowledge of Quakers growing up in Westchester County NY, my first meaningful exposure was when I attended Haverford as a 17 year old freshman beginning in 1963. By then I was already active in civil rights - in my case from a combination of being shocked at encountering Jim Crow in Florida in 1956, then watching Little Rock and subsequent events on television throughout the rest of my school years, and coming from a Jewish family where ethics played as important or even more important part than did worship and prayer.
Perhaps I can explain this in a different way. Were you to come to our Meeting House on 1st Day (Sunday) and look around the parking lot, you would notice that perhaps half of the vehicles are hybrids of different sorts. Were you to join us after some Meetings for Worship, you might find we were having a simple meal - bread, cheese, fruit, etc. - as a fundraiser to support our Social Concerns Committee on which I serve - our purpose is to assist worthy causes in the community.
Or perhaps after 9-11 you might have seen some of our Members providing silent Witness and protection to one of our local mosques. Or were you to visit the Capitol Grounds on a Saturday a small group standing in silent vigil, perhaps with a War is Not the Answer sign.
We are in Langley Virginia. Sometimes we go down the road to stand quietly outside the CIA. Or we write letters, or visit Members of Congress and Senators to quietly lobby on matters of war and peace, of social and economic justice, on environmental sanity, against the death penalty.
Perhaps you know the name Tom Fox. He was a long-time member (and one-time Clerk) of our Meeting, who felt led to go to Iraq to offer assistance, to witness against the violence. He was the only one of the Christian Peacemakers’ team that were kidnapped who did not survive. My wife knew him before I did, because she would as an Orthodox Christian travel to Jarrett Virginia to stand outside the Greenville Penitentiary in silent protest at the time of an execution, and Tom would also be there.
What some of us feel we must do is to fully live what we believe. If we start with the idea of answering that of God in another, we should not demean by words or actions. To discriminate is to ignore or reject that of God in the other person.
I am uncomfortable judging the humanity of another person. Perhaps all I can do is to hold that person “in the Light” and hope that as I seek to answer that of God in her she will be able to accept it in herself.
We attempt to live what we believe. We are not always successful. We know that we need to be reflective, to examine ourselves - were the words I just spoke loving, mindful of that of God in the person about whom or to whom they were spoken?
Do I see the whole person? Do I acknowledge the whole person? Do I accept all of myself, using the good to help me address the parts of myself that still need work?
Remember, answering that of God is the 2nd part of the statement. Walking joyfully across the earth is how we must begin. To be joyful is not to be blind to suffering, to pain, to the evil that we may encounter. Rather, it is to embrace the entire world, believing that in answering that of God we empower others to use that of God in themselves to heal themselves and heal the world.
Perhaps that is why we so value silence, even those who like me are musicians by background or training. We start with silence, we settle down, so that we can find that of God in ourselves. Without that first, our actions run the risk of doing more harm than good.
Our words and actions may well be incomplete. Perhaps some think of better phrases, more effective actions. We can only answer that we start where we are with what we can do now, and take the first steps in the direction of something better.
I don’t know if that qualifies as activism. To me it is something far more basic - it is living honestly. It is also living more fully.
We start with that. We Quakers are few in number. That matters little. What matters is that we are faithful to what we believe, which can be understood in those words from George Fox:
“Walk gladly across the earth answering that of God in each man you meet”
Peace.
teacherken
Here are the thoughts that most influence me to activism:
...And so the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
This was Dr. King, speaking on the day before he lost his life.
And, "If you love me, feed my sheep."
texasmom
I am a panentheistic pagan. I do not walk with God, in Christian imagery. Instead, I am a jellyfish in an ocean of God. Without God, I have no structure. God runs through me, pervades my entire existence and the world I live in.
And to me, God does the same to you.
If God also pervades you, then I cannot countenance prejudice or injustice. We are siblings of the same Mother. The other creatures on this earth are our younger sibs, forever in our care, and we have a responsibility to them. And the earth is our Mother. As we care for her, she will care for us. Environmental issues are very important to most pagans.
We do not hate other religions; it's just not our path, but we recognize that it might be right for someone else. But we strongly support social justice and freedom of worship issues; your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. We believe that what you decide to create, whether this is harmony and laughter or discord and anger, comes back to you from the universe. Let us all in our own ways create harmony, that we may create a better world.
Alexandra Lynch
Traditionally, Native American events began with a blessing. We understand that there are a great many different religious and spiritual traditions, and beginning discussions with a spiritual blessing does not imply that all must “believe” the same—rather it simply indicates that this is an important event. Traditional Indians have little concern for making converts, for carrying “the message,” or for proselytizing. An elder is simply asked to bless the event. This blessing might involve smudging with sage, sweet grass, cedar, or some other herb. It might involve a song. It might involve a pipe ceremony. It might involve some symbolic gestures.
Spoken words are different from written words, and many of us who live in oral pagan traditions are reluctant to write down the words that we would speak at a blessing. The power of the word changes when it is written and it loses its sense of the here and now. If I were to do a blessing at this event, it would probably involve smudge and the use of the pipe. What follows is not the words which I would speak, but a description of their intent.
This is a blessing calling upon the seven directions. It starts with offerings to that which lies above and that which lies below. It is a way of reminding ourselves of our need for fresh air, for rain that falls clean and free of chemicals, for the sun, the moon, and the star people. It reminds us of our dependence of the earth and our responsibility to nourish and care for it, just as it nourishes and cares for us.
Next would come an offering to the manitos (spirits) of north and a reminder of the importance of dreams. It is a reminder that it is our responsibility to bring our dreams to life.
Next would come an offering to the manitos (spirits) of south and a reminder of the importance of words. We should remember that words are living things and they continue to impact our lives long after they have been spoken. At meetings such as this we should speak words which bring us together, which create harmony. Words which separate us—those which reflect racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, classism, and other divisions—should have no place here.
Next would come an offering to the manitos (spirits) of west and a reminder of the importance of death. If I have lived well, then it is a good day to die. The focus among traditional Native Americans was on maintaining harmony in life: there was not a lot of concern for what happens next. The offering to the west is also about endings, about changing things in our lives.
Next would come an offering to the manitos (spirits) of east and a reminder of the importance of birth. This is a reminder of the need for birth, rebirth, and new ideas. New ideas, new concepts, like newborns, must be nurtured and nourished.
And the final direction, the seventh direction, is inward. It is placing myself within the circle that has gathered and opening myself up for the words which will be spoken and the concepts which will be presented.
We come from many traditions. We come here to find harmony in our common cause.
Ojibwa
I would like everyone present at this service to consider what you have learned at the 2011 Netroots Nation community gathering and to give simple thanks for the experience. We should be thankful and feel gratitude for each new person we met, each panel or presentation we went to, and each new idea or concept we learned. And above all be thankful for the Netroots Nation community.
I would like those here today to reflect for a moment on one of the new ideas or resources that you will bring home to your local communities. (Pause) And, when you identify this highlight in your mind I want you to give silent thanks for receiving it. (Pause)
Now some might say, “I learned some new ideas here at NN11. I have given thanks at this service. And now it is time to say good bye.” Those of you what want to leave please do so now. (Pause for laughs)
I would ask you to consider reversing this. (Raise Voice)
Remember the thanks you gave a moment ago. Say it again in your mind. (Pause) Now remember the idea that prompted the thanks. (Pause)
Put the thankfulness and gratitude first, before Politics. (Raise Voice)
This attitude of thankfulness prior to the execution of ideas is what I would like everyone present here to remember and take home to their communities. It is not enough just to bring back arcane technical knowledge to improve election metrics. We must bring home the spirit of love found in this diverse community. We must bend these ideas to better the lives of the “least of us.” We must ground our activism in serving the people and nourishing the poor. And the best way to stay on track is to frame our efforts with gratitude.
Giving thanks is at the core of what makes us human. Connecting with others through gratitude activates the empathy within all of us. In my Political outreach, while staffing our Democratic Club table at the farmers market, I start every conversation with a statement of thankfulness. It could be for the good weather. It could be for the opportunity to convey a progressive value to a Republican that stops to talk. Or, just an inward silent thanks that I’m alive and able to be there to make a difference.
As I continue the conversation I ask the guest what they are grateful for as an American. The key here is finding a common ground through thankfulness and sincere gratitude, and talking about it. This simple act leads naturally to talking about the value of electing a progressive candidate or voting for a progressive initiative on the ballot.
Pastor Daniel Schultz, the founder of Street Prophets, says it this way in the closing pages of his book Changing The Script:
“I want to conclude then with an embarrassingly simple suggestion. Why not begin (or continue) the journey of the Religious Left not with polls or positions but with a prayer? A common table grace may not mobilize “people of faith” to vote a certain way, nor does it have immediate policy implications. It does not even provide an obvious alternative to conservative religious perspectives. But to pray in this way engages in the most transformational politics of all.”
In closing I leave it to each of you to realize that the essence of what make us human is our ability to express thankfulness and gratitude in a community setting. And with care and creative effort we can convey this value publicly without engaging in trappings of “Civic Religion.”
This is living our Faith. (Raise Voice)
linkage
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Thank You