Local Group for Positive Change

A few months ago I learned about this amazing project here in Portland.

It's called the Winter Cache Project.

Here is their mission:

The mission of the Winter Cache Project (WCP) is to free ourselves from a dependence on industrial agriculture and to increase our community food security by developing sustainable local food systems. By growing and storing our own food to last throughout the winter and educating ourselves about agricultural issues, we aim to create a working example of how we can come together as a community to provide for our basic needs by employing the principles of mutual aid, equal access, and self-determination.

...and a little of how it works:

We are a community group striving for food security. We welcome all community members to contribute to the group, each in their own way. The food that we grow and store is re-distributed back to those who have contributed to the project. We are not a charity organization that gives food away for free. However, we do understand that not everyone is able to help out with the project and these people still deserve fresh and healthy food. We support and contribute organically grown vegetables to the efforts of other local community groups working to make positive social change.

How do you think our efforts as New Light might be similar or in line with the Winter Cache Project's activities?

In our gathering on Monday as we were praying through the newspapers, we discovered that Earth Hour is this Saturday from 8-9pm.

It’s pretty simple, really. You turn off the lights for 60 minutes in order to send a powerful message about the need for action to address global warming. Millions of people from around the world will unite and switch off their lights for Earth Hour.

Switch off your lights on Saturday, March 29th from 8-9 pm. We’ll be enjoying a candle lit evening here at our house. We'll be using this for ideas for what to do during Earth Hour.

There is a rally at Monument Square starting at 7:30 as well. Allen and I won’t be going but maybe a group of you would like to go.

This is a small way we can take a stand for God’s Green Earth.

Our Way of Approaching the Spiritual Life

New Light strives to be a community where we grow deeper in our faith through an inward journey as well as an outward journey. This cross image illustrates, on the horizontal axis, how our faith life calls us to both public and private practices. As shown on the vertical axis, a balanced faith also involves works of mercy (actions of world transformation) and works of piety (actions of personal transformation). For our community, this image provides a guide for a balanced faith - a faith that seeks to love God more deeply and love others more fully.

Some actions fit neatly into one of the four quadrants, but many overflow from one to another. Here are some examples of spiritual practices we encourage:

• Acts of Devotion: personal time spent with God reading Scripture, praying, dancing, listening to music, or writing in a journal. This may include personal disciplines like fasting or meditation.

• Acts of Worship: any time we gather together to give thanks and focus on God's love for us and our love for God.

• Acts of Compassion: volunteering time to care for the needs of others. This might include working at a soup kitchen, giving to someone else from your own possessions, or spending time listening to someone else.

• Acts of Justice: writing letters or calling legislators to advocate for justice for the poor and the oppressed, or to promote peace; making choices to not purchase goods that were made by persons in oppressive conditions.

What do you think about this model for a balanced faith?

Christ is Risen! Risen indeed!

Jesus Christ, we greet you!

Your hands still have holes in them,

your feet are wet from the dew;

and with the memory of our names

undimmed by three days of death

you meet us,

risen from the grave.

We fail to undersand how;

we puzzle at the reason why.

But you have come:

not to answer our questions,

but to show us your face.

You are alive

and the world can rejoice again.

Hallelujah!

Amen!

from Stages on the Way,
Iona Community

(Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc., 2000)

A Prayer for Good Friday

Shock Me with the Terrible Goodness of this Friday

Holy one,

shock and save me with the terrible goodness of this Friday,

and drive me deep into my longing for your kingdom,

until I seek it first —

yet not first for myself,

but for the hungry

and the sick

and the poor of your children,

for prisoners of conscience around the world

for those I have wasted

with my racism

and sexism

and ageism

and nationalism

and religionism,

for those around this mother earth and in this city

who, this Friday, know far more of terror than of goodness;

that, in my seeking first the kingdom,

for them as well as for myself,

all these things may be mine as well:

things like a coat and courage

and something like comfort,

a few lilies in the field,

the sight of birds soaring on the wind,

a song in the night,

and gladness of heart,

the sense of your presence

and the realization of your promise

that nothing in life or death

will be able to separate me or those I love,

from your love

in the crucified one who is our Lord,

and in whose name and Spirit I pray.

— Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle

Inspiration from England

So here we are in London, having already spent 10 days in Sheffield, the fourth largest city in England. Finally we have wireless internet!

Sheffield has lots going for it, but it's also a city with some very real urban issues: economic instability, homelessness, middle class flight, racial tension, neighborhoods in decline, and all the symptoms that accompany the transitions when majority populations become the minority. We spent our time not in the city center, where there are resources and where redevelopment efforts are focused, but in outlying areas - specifically the Burngreave neighborhood, now largely a Muslim neighborhood - with trips to various other areas on several occasions.

We're thankful especially for the opportunity to travel one day to Bradford, a once affluent but now struggling industrial city with lots of poverty, also home to the University of Bradford and Bradford College and the site of serious race riots as recently as 2001. We visited the Desmond Tutu House on the edge of the campus, run by a young Anglican priest, Rev. Chris Howson, who is doing some amazing things to help students and other young people connect with spirituality and efforts for peace and justice. Here's a guy who doesn't just talk the talk; he's in the trenches, on the front lines, speaking out passionately with a prophetic message about injustice and a word of hope for the oppressed and forgotten.

Some specifics:

• So concerned about global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels, he doesn't own a car and doesn't drive. He rides his bike and uses public transportation. Period.
  
• We met a young woman, a student, who doesn't consider herself a Christian, but she's been so inspired by Chris that she participates regularly in worship at JustChurch, which focuses on issues of peace, justice, and human rights, and she considers it a spiritual practice to get arrested on a regular basis for standing up for the rights of those on the margins.
  
• The house is also home to Treehouse Cafe, run by the Bradford Centre for Nonviolence, which promotes local, organic, fair trade food. We had a great lunch there!
  
• Sunday worship at the Desmond Tutu House, held at noon, is informal, participatory, and relaxed, intentionally seeking to include those sometimes excluded from the church, including those new to faith, while helping to bridge the gap between personal piety and social justice.

Bradford, England is not Portland, Maine, and every context calls for different kinds of ministries, but it's inspiring to find people who live their passions... whose passions spring from the Kingdom message of Jesus Christ... and who lead communities to proclaim the Gospel of peace and righteousness and justice for all God's children. Our prayer is that New Light will be just that kind of community.

What do you say?

New Light Daily Devotional Readings

Howdy all:

Sorry we're a little behind in posting. As you probably know, we're still in England, and we haven't found wireless internet to be as prevalent as we had expected!

Looking forward to being back with you soon! Happy reading and meaningful reflecting!

Blessings,
Allen & Sara


Guide to Daily Devotions
Week of March 2, 2008

S – Scripture: Read the assigned passage slowly and carefully.
O – Observation: Record observations on the passage… What is the lesson for you?
A – Application: How do these words apply to you in your own life?
P – Prayer: Write a prayer to God concerning this passage and your life.
Y – Yield: What do you need to surrender to God for this lesson to become alive in you?

Daily Exercise:

• Read the assigned Scripture passage.
• Using the SOAPY guide (above), record thoughts and reflections in your journal.
• Pray the Covenant Prayer .

Daily Readings:

Sunday, March 2: John 6: 27-40
Monday, March 3: Mark 7: 24-37
Tuesday, March 4: Mark 8: 1-10
Wednesday, March 5: Mark 8:11-26
Thursday, March 6: Mark 8:27 - 9:1
Friday, March 7: Mark 9: 2-13
Saturday, March 8: Mark 9: 14-29