Csquared Thoughts

Mary Travers (1936-2009)

Thank you for everything you gave us. We will miss you greatly.

what we are here for

We struggle endlessly to learn what life means and what we are here for, and yet the answer etched out in the life of Christ and discovered by everyone who follows him is relatively simple: we are here to give and cleanse and nourish, and to the extent that we do, we will be fed and sustained in turn... the nourishment we offer another...flows directly and solely out of... the depths we have carved within ourselves. —Marc Andrus, Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of California (apparently quoting himself) on Facebook

Kent State

I missed it yesterday, but May 4th is the anniversary of the Kent State shootings in 1970.

The best tribute I can think of is Holly Near's song, "It Could Have Been Me," which I quoted in my 5 February 2008 blog entry.

Take a look if you don't know the song. 

Oscar Romero

We know that every effort to better society especially when sin and injustice are so ingrained, is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us —Oscar Romero

See FranIam's original post.

Actualizing the Kingdom

A great quote from Walter Wink in Engaging the Powers, again courtesy of Inward/Outward.

The early church did not seek to formulate a theory of illness; instead, it healed the sick. It did not attempt to explain how the demonic could exist in a good world made by a good God; instead, they cast out demons. They had no hypotheses about how prayer works. They simply prayed... Their attitude was not anti-rational or anti-theological, but merely concrete. They looked, not for adequate ways to conceptualize the Kingdom, but for ways to actualize it.

Keep Hope Alive!

Obama has enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination. Now it's all about defeating McCain in November.

"Keep Hope Alive!"

Feed the hungry

In his Lenten sermon on 2 March 2008, Dean Alan Jones of Grace Cathedral quotes the seven corporal works of mercy:

Feed the hungry Give drink to the thirsty Shelter the homeless Clothe the naked Care for the sick Visit the imprisoned Bury the dead

He then says:

What part of that Do you not understand?

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me

I think the cartoon speaks for itself:

It Could Have Been Me

I have a playlist on my iPod called "Peace and Justice." It includes the music of Peter, Paul, & Mary, Joan Baez, The Limeliters, Holly Near, Pete Seeger, The Weavers, and others who fight (or fought) the good fight. I listen to give me hope and remind me that we can make the world better.

One of the songs is from Holly Near, It Could Have Been Me, which she originaly wrote in honor of the students killed at Kent State, but later revised to honor later heroes such as Karen Silkwood. It brings a tear to my eye when I hear it.

It could have been me, But instead it was you, So I'll keep doin' the work you were doin' as if I were two, I'll be a student of life, A singer of songs, A farmer of food, And a righter of wrongs. It could have been me, But instead it was you. And it may be me dear sisters and brothers Before we are through, But if you can work for freedom, Freedom, freedom, freedom, If you can work for freedom, I can too.

Justice, or Lack Thereof

Sister Joan Chittister, From Where I Stand, 31 January 2008:

Here's the problem with life: Some things count; some things don't. It's figuring out which is which that's difficult. Imagine, for instance, that you are teaching religion in the local parish school or church Sunday religious education program or neighborhood synagogue or mosque or temple. What answers about what is right and what is wrong would you have for the children these days?

Read the entire article.