Imagine

IMAGINE a country where health care aides can't afford health insurance. Where food industry workers may depend on food banks to help feed their children. Where childcare teachers don't make enough to save for their own children's education.

IMAGINE a country where the economy is increasingly not working for working people.

IMAGINE a country where the minimum wage has become a poverty wage instead of an antipoverty wage. The minimum wage has lagged so far behind necessities that keeping a roof over head is a constant struggle and family health coverage costs more than the entire annual income of a full-time worker at minimum wage.

IMAGINE a country where childcare workers, mostly women, typically make about as much parking lot attendants and much less than animal trainers. Out of 801 occupations surveyed by the labor department, only 18 have lower median wages than childcare workers.

IMAGINE a country whose school system is rigged in favor of the already privileged, with lower caste children tracked by race and income into the most deficient and demoralizing schools and classrooms. Public schools budgets are heavily determined by private property taxes, allowing higher income districts to spend more than poorer ones. In the state with the largest gap, state and local spending per pupil in districts with the lowest child poverty rates was $2,280 greater in 2003 than districts with the highest child poverty rates. The difference amounts to about $912,000 for a typical elementary school of 400 students-money that could be used for needed teachers, books, computers, and other resources.

IMAGINE a country where the typical white household has about six times the net worth-including home equity-as the typical household of color.

IMAGINE a country that doesn't count you as unemployed just because you're unemployed. To be counted in the official unemployment rate you must be actively searching for work. The government doesn't count people as "unemployed" if they are so discouraged from long and fruitless job searches they have given up looking. It doesn't count as "unemployed" those who couldn't look for work in the past month because they have no childcare, for example. If you need a full-time job, but you're working part-time-whether 1 hour or 34 hours weekly- because that's all you can find, you're counted as employed.

IMAGINE a country where prison is a growth industry. The government spends more than $25,000 per year to keep someone in prison, while cutting cost-effective programs of education, employment, community development, and mental illness and addiction treatment to keep them out. (Insane huh?)

IMAGINE a country that imprisons black people at a rate much higher than South Africa did under the apartheid. One out of eight black men ages 25-29 are incarcerated in prisons or jails compared to one out of 59 white men in the same age group. The nation's bureau of justice statistics reports that incarceration rates for black men of all ages were five to seven times greater than those for white men in the same age groups. Incarceration rates for black women are generally four times higher than for white men.

IMAGINE a country where health care is managed for healthy profit. In many countries, health care is a right. But this nation has health care for some instead of health care for all. Nearly one out of five people under the age of 65 has no health insurance, public or private. Health care is literally a matter of life or death.

What country is this?
It's the United States.

Martin Luther King Jr states: "A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside; but...one day the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be beaten and robbed as they make their journey through life...

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth...There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid or day laborer."


(adapted from "Imagine a Country-2006" by Holly Sklar)

God bless you ALL!

Martin Luther King Jr

Today I celebrated MLK day by volunteering at a aids/hiv recovery home. It was amazing to hear the residents talk about their story and life. One of the people who work at the home asked us a question...what does celebrating MLK mean to you?

What did MLK's life mean to me...a white woman from the south? Wow. Martin Luther King Jr's was a pioneer in the civil rights movement. Yet, his life, his ideas, weren't just for blacks. They were for everyone of us. His life taught me many things. He taught me that if you truly believe in something, you'll do anything, even to the point of giving your life to the cause. He taught me there is something in nonviolence. So many people experience violence, hatred, and shame because they are "different" than others. Yet, he talked about equality and love. MLK taught me that racial reconciliation is something that everyone, especially believers, should strive for everyday. He taught me the importance of believing in something, of having a dream, and standing up for what you believe in.

Martin Luther King Jr should be celebrated. Yet, we shouldn't ever forget that although we've come a long way, we should continue on this journey and not forget his dream...

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true."

I pray that all of us move towards seeking to understand those that are different than us. I pray that we all find something we can believe in and stand up for it no matter the opposition. Most imporantly, though, I pray that we strive to love, for love is the thing that binds us all together. It is the greatest commandment, and without love we are nothing.

God bless you all!

Action

I sometimes forget that no action is action. I feel as though God calls us to be people of action...my favorite verse says this very simple thing: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with ACTION and in truth."

What does it mean to love with action? To love in truth? (Comment this and tell me what you think it means)

Lately I've had to deal with the cold hard fact that you can make a completely right decision and someone is still going to be upset about it. Now, don't get me wrong, I've dealt with that one many many times in my life, but these last few days...these decisions (right as they may be) will effect people's lives, forever. Its hard because the consequences you may be able to see but the other person or persons' can't.

Which leads back to the question of action. Jesus, before he was taken up in the sky made the comment to his disciples: 'you shall do even greater things than these.' (these meaning miracles and the like)

I sit here and I wonder, how could Jesus say I shall do even greater things than miracles? I look at my beautiful, talented, and creative children. I look at some of their lives that are increasingly getting worse and I wonder...how do I take action? Act justly, Love mercy, and Walk humbly. How do I act justly? How do I love mercy? How do I walk humbly when I see this child changing because of the enviornment around her?

Action. Taking action. Loving with action and truth. Can I just sit here? How am I, a 24 year old girl, supposed to take action in this big great city and world?

I am just one....yet I am one.

I call on my Jesus for action. I call on him and admit that I am weak, I am small and I know nothing. But in that nothingness comes something that Jesus is waiting for...submission.

I submit to the God of the universe. To the creator of the world and to the abba of all of us. I submit and I ask that he would move me to action, that he would guard me with a plan, and that his strength would be my strength and his will be my will. I submit to acting justly, to loving mercy, and to walking humbly...regardless of how this person or that person may react. I ask that God would teach me how to love with ACTIONS and in TRUTH.


ACT justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly.



God bless you all and may God move all of us to act on the behalf of those who can't.

2 in a day...WHOA

Okay, so I know I already posted today...but I wanted everyone to read this article....it reminds us all that poor miniorities are suffering greatly academically...check it out!

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/parents-who-dont-parent/#more-1252

Failure

There are some days when I walk away from work thinking, man did I totally fail today. I am one of those people who take their work home with them. I usually come home and I don't think about the good things that happened but I think about the times throughout the day that I could have done this or that better or at least differently. I think about the moment when I snapped at this kid or was quick to judge this other kid's motives or I should have done this instead of that. And I come home feeling almost like I have failed not only my kids but God as well.

Minstry is hard that way. Sometimes I think to myself, am I really doing all I can? Did I reflect Jesus when I was talking to this kid or disciplining that kid? Did my tone really reflect Jesus or did my attiude show Christ's love? How about when I did this or that?

And so often...I walk away thinking, man did I fail today! I am a very passionate and genuine person, so most of the time, I wear my feelings on the outside. I get home and I second guess every time I disciplined or child or how I treated this kid or that kid when something arose. And I sit and I think to myself at times...I failed to show Christ's love.

I have learned so much and I'm learning right now that this situation that is arising is because of two things. One, to show me, for the millionth time, that I can do NOTHING without Jesus. Since I have to be at work much earlier than I did in the school year, I've been less inclined to spend some time with God before work. Somedays I do and somedays I don't. But I've realized that I am nothing and I can do nothing without him. It doesn't matter how much people think I'm good with kids or how "great" of a worker I am, I can't do it without him. I learn the hard way somedays. I have to die daily to myself and ask him to guide my words, my thoughts, and my actions throughout everyday.

The second thing is pretty profound to me. I've learned that when I fail, it's the best time to go back and show these kids who Christ is. I need to let them see Christ's mercy and forgiveness. This is something more powerful than anything else I can show them. These kids need to see that I am a sinner and yet, Christ still loves me. I am a failure, yet Christ loves me and he loves them too. Jesus forgives all of our sins, no matter how many times I mess up. I need to let my kids see me with a broken heart and hear me say that my sins are forgiven. My kids mainly absorb that christianity is a list of dos and don'ts but they need to see that Christianity is living for a God who forgives our sins, no matter what, and knowing that he will forgive theirs as well. They need to see that we Christians mess up but then we can come back and say, forgive me because I messed up...and praise God that he has forgiven me as well!

Yes, I fail. Yes, I am definitely not perfect. Yet, God tells us over and over again that he is with us and nothing can make him stop loving us and he will always forgive. He even goes so far as to tell us that when we are weak, then he is strong. When I am weak because I just can't do it...that's when he is with us the most. When we recognize that we are nothing and that we can do nothing without him, this is when our kids will take notice. My kids don't want to know another thing they have to do or know another thing they can't do...they need to know that they are loved, despite it all and that they were made for something greater than theirselves.

So, next time I fail...next time I know i've just screwed up big time with them...I will go to them with a broken heart and tell them about how even though I've messed up, Jesus loves me just as much as before. And how he has forgiven me and that if I can be a Christ-follower as often as I screw up, then anyone...even them...can be too.

I know i'm probably not the best to give advice, but I will anyways lol. I've learned something about being someone that youth look up to for guidance and so I tell you as a person who loves God more than anything else in the world and who desires to show that to my kids... If you mess up, don't be afraid to go to your kids or to your family/friends or whoever it is and tell them about the greatest gift in the world...God's mercy and forgiveness...I will...for I am a clear example of how God can love the worst of sinners.

God Bless you all!

Dehumanization

Today I was sitting here, browsing around on msn.com and I saw the "Week in Pictures" link and decided to click on it. If you have never seen this before, what happens is at the end of every week about 15-20 photos are selected from around the world to be put on the week in pictures section. At the end of the section is a place where you can vote for your favorite picture.

After looking at the pictures...I realized that we as a culture are becoming dehumanized. We go so far as to look past the humanity in the pictures and think, oh wow...this is a good shot. Does anyone see the devastation in picture 12? Do you see the humanity of that young man, bleeding to death? Or do you only see a casualty of war, the color of his skin, and the country he lives in? What about picture 15? Do you only see the way the shot is a perfect capture of shading and sunlight? Or do you see the world letting these young children suffer from starvation and malnutrition? Do you see the pain in the mother's eyes as she can't even take care of her own children? Or do you just see the photographer's eyes? And what about picture 13? Do you see the clarity and color of the picture? Or do you see the filth and trash these people live in? Do you feel a sense of injustice and anger when you look at this picture and see the unsanitary conditions that these children are forced to be surrounded by?

See...I could easily vote for the best picture. Yet, I don't understand how we as a culture can sit in our comfy chairs at home, drinking our bottled water, using our laptops and be okay with voting on the best picture. Shame on us for becoming a culture desensitized and dehumanized so much that we don't even care that these pictures are taken at the expense of seeing someone's pain and grief. Shame on us that we are a culture that when we see these kinds of things, we don't even bat an eye but we continue to live our lives, our comfy and selfish lives, and think...wow, now thats a great shot. God forgive us for not following your commands...to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. Forgive us Lord...forgive our nation....forgive our world.


God bless you all. (and Lord have mercy on our souls)

Violence

Something that is very disturbing to me is the growing number of CPS students killed this school year. It breaks my heart to see kids killing kids. I was telling my mom a few days ago that I truly believe there is NEVER a reason for violence. Never! If we try to stop violence with more violence, how will it ever end? Jesus clearly said, Love your enemies, return good for evil. He never said, it's ok only if they hit you first...or it's okay for war if you are protecting your people.

We are taught so often that redeptive violence is okay (look at the war!)...that there is a logic to it...yet, what exactly is this logic? In a book i'm reading, the author says, "the Jesus way shows us that we need not battle violence with power and force, but with humility and revolutionary subordination. Violence eventually kills itself. Sometimes all the peacemakers need to do is battle violence with revolutionary patience and steadfast hope, for the universe bends toward justice and the entire Christian story demonstrates the triumph of love."

The older I get and the more I see the tragedies around me, the more I am convinced that there is NEVER a reason for violence...do you agree or disagree?

Here are the names of the CPS students killed this 07-08 school year...may God be with their families and may we continue to pray that God will bring those who harmed them to justice:

Jerel Smith, 17, Frederick Douglass Academy High School-
Shot and killed on Sep. 9, 2007

Dalvin Miller, 14, Sexton School-
Shot and killed on Sep. 14, 2007 while with friends on the 6200 block of South Langley Avenue

Israel Mendoza, 13, Ames Middle School
Shot and killed on Sep. 10, 2007 after being abducted from his home.

Cordero Washington, 18, Banner South Alternative High School-
Shot and killed on Oct. 6, 2007

Arthur Jones, 10, Holmes Elementary School-
Shot and killed on Oct. 17, 2007 in the middle of gang crossfire

Samuel Benavente, 14, Eberhart Elementary School-
Shot and killed on Oct. 21, 2007 after trying to help a friend whose bike was stolen.

Joseph Perez, 17, Steinmetz Academic Centre-
Shot and killed on Nov. 2, 2007 later found in an alley on the Northwest side

Miguel Gomez, 16, School of Social Justice-
Shot and killed on Nov. 8, 2007 by a suspected gang member

Leonardo Otero, 15, Kelvyn Park High School-
Shot and killed on Jan. 7, 2008 in a drive-by shooting

Roky Uriostegui, 16, Kelly High School-
Shot three times and killed January 16, 2008 by suspected gang members

Karlton Wells, 16, Nancy Jefferson High School-
Shot and killed Feb. 20, 2008 in a fight over a cell phone

Rogelio Calderone, 17, Lozano Youth Connect Charter-
Shot and killed Feb. 29, 2008 after confronting a group of gang members

Jose Garcia, 18, York Alternative High School-
Shot and killed March 1, 2008 while sitting in a parked car

Kadeidrah Marsh, 15, AAST – Orr Campus High School-
Shot and killed March 2, 2008 after a dispute involving another girl

Paris Bassett, 16, School of Leadership South Shore-
Shot and killed March 2, 2008; found on a South Side sidewalk

Ruben Ivy, 18, Crane Technical Preparatory Common School-
Shot and killed March 7, 2008 by a suspected gang member

Channon Taylor, 18, Community Christian Academy-
Shot and killed March 8, 2008 while sitting in the back seat of a car

Marcellus Daniel, 15, Bronzeville Military Academy-
Body found in a garbage can on 3/14/2008, the victim of a gunshot wound to the head

Salvador Contreras, 18, Gage Park High School-
Shot and killed March 16, 2008 in a possible gang-related shooting

Miguel Pedro,15, Alfred Nobel Elementary-
Shot and killed March 28, 2008

Chavez Clarke, 18, Hyde Park Career Academy-
Shot and killed March 29, 2008 after leaving his Saturday class at Simeon Career Academy

Shannon Brown, 17, Fenger High School-
Died from a gunshot wound to the stomach early Tuesday April 1, 2008

Brashai Griffin, 15, Bloom Trail High School
Found strangled to death in a creek near her Sauk Village home

Albert Vaughn, 18, Juilian High School
Beaten to death by a baseball bat, Saturday April 5, 2008


God bless you all...

:)

Last night I decided to go with Andrea, Seth, Bill, and the high schoolers (mayors) to a profession-al soccer game. I don't really like soccer that much, I just really wanted to spend some time with our mayors since I almost never do during the week. And it was FREEZING and rained the entire time...yet we had a ton of fun. The kids, they had such great attitudes about it and decided to enjoy themselves regardless of the weather. We also got a "concert" on the way down to the game and an even longer one on the way home! lol They sang everything from "No One," and "Awesome God," to even some KAA cheers. It was quite funny (btw, none of them can sing lol) I didn't end up getting home till a little after 11. It was a very long day but it was definitely worth it.

I am amazed sometimes how Jesus chooses to reveal how I am working for his kingdom not just as a "technology program assistant". Moments like sitting in a bus filled with silly teenagers and seeing out the window 3 boys and a girl walking on the streets at 9 something at night makes me realize how Breakthrough is much more than an afterschool program. Moments like sitting in the van and listening to Sarah (Mission year participant working with our women's services) talk about one of our guests and how she is working hard now and not living in the center now...makes me realize Breakthrough is much more than a shelter. Moments like sitting in my office for 30 minutes talking "sports" to 2 players off my basketball team (whom otherwise would barely set a foot in my office) makes me realize this isn't really about basketball...this is about building relationships and showing them Jesus.

And I'm thankful for those moments...because it reminds me that I am here on earth for one purpose...to glorify God. I really have no idea where I'll be in 6 months. I'd love to stay with Breakthrough, I truly believe building relationships takes more than a year but it's not up to me, so I'll just wait and pray that God keeps me here or sends me to where he wants...not where I want. But, no matter if I stay here or not, Breakthrough and these kids...these moments will forever be engraved in my heart. The things I've learned, the joy i've felt, and the tears that have fallen is not in vain...wherever I go or stay, I know that I'll be a better person because I've been here!

(BTW, picture captions: the first one is of Lauren,Jonesha (Mayor), Jonetta (Mayor), and Jameisha; the second one is of JJ (mayor) and his "city", and finally the last one is of Boozie (mayor) and his little bro outside their house).

Oh, and I read these verses a few nights ago, please enjoy:

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" Isaiah 58:5-7

God bless you all!

Take My Yoke Upon You...

I decided a few days ago to re-read my favorite book, the Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Although I have read it twice before, re-reading it after living here in the inner-city has definitely shone new light to his words and pushed and challenged me further and further to really seek to be the disciple of Jesus he has called us to be.

And, as I was reading the book, I got to a part of the book that reminded me of an earlier (a few days ago) post I had written called a heavy heart. So, I've decided to share with you Mr. Claiborne's words (because they speak so strongly to my heart):

"No one ever promised us that community or Christian discipleship would be easy. There's a commonly mistranslated verse where Jesus tells the disciples, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me...for my yoke is good and my burden is light." People take that to mean that if we come to Jesus, everything will be easy. Ha, my life was pretty easy before I met Jesus. In one sense, the load is lighter because we carry the burdens of the world together. But he is still telling us to pick up the yoke. Yoke had a lot of different meanings. It was a tool used for harnessing animals for farming, it was the word used for taking on a rabbi's teaching (as Jesus seems to use it here). Yoke was also the word used for the brutal weight of slavery and oppression that the prophets call us to break. One of the things I think Jesus is doing is setting us free from the heavy yoke of an oppressive way of life. I know plenty of people, both rich and poor, who are suffocating from the weight of the American dream, who find themselves heavily burdened by the lifeless toil and consumption we put upon ourselves. This is the yoke we are being set free from. The new yoke is still not easy (it's a cross for heaven's sake), but we carry it together, and it is good and leads us to rest, especially for the weariest traveler. In fact, if our lives are easy, we must be doing something wrong. Mother Teresa used to say, following Jesus is simple, but not easy. Love until it hurts, and then love some more. This love is not sentimental, but heart wrenching, the most difficult and the most beautiful thing in the world."

And I love the last three sentences because it seems to sum up my life here in Chicago. This love I feel is not sentimental but heart wrenching. It is the most difficult and the most beautiful thing in the world. See, working with these kids has been the most difficult and heart wrenching thing i've ever done...yet it has shown me who Jesus really is and how beautiful God's love is. Living in this impoverished community has shown me what Jesus meant when he said, "whatever you do for the least of these...you do for me." Taking words from Arloa Sutter, founder and executive director of Breakthrough, "I may have felt happier in (Arkansas), but here, I am growing in my capacity to care, to suffer, and to feel."

I have changed and learned so much since moving to Chicago, and for that I can only be thankful. Although I felt much pain, I have also felt much joy. I praise Jesus for calling/sending me here and I praise Him that this journey has only just begun.


I pray that all people will begin "moving beyond charity and towards justice and solidarity with the poor and oppressed, as Jesus did." (more words from Claiborne)

God bless you all.

Compliments

passionate. this is a word that some people have described me as.

i think i like that. of all words, i hope people find me passionate. for jesus. for justice. for whatever it may be. i desire to be called passionate over anything else.

oh the flip side. i think the worst "adjective" i could be described as is normal. i don't really know what normalcy really is in the first place, i just know i don't want to be it.



"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

god bless u all.