Bold Alliance

My thanks to President Trump.  Truly.  If not for his decision to reverse the denial of the Keystone pipeline building permit, this week's display of solidarity across boundaries would not have taken place.  Given the violent conflicts happening in other parts of the world,  the news out of Nebraska was a needed counter example.

The advocacy group Bold Alliance did just as the name states, its leaders were the catalyst that formed an alliance between a wide-ranging collection of landowners, tribal members, and environmentalists.

The landowner group is made up of Nebraska ranchers and farmers whose property is being threatened with eminent domain seizure.  This group includes descendants of the original homesteaders who claimed land in the Nebraska Sandhills over one hundred years ago and converted it to agricultural use.

The tribal members are from the Ponca, Pawnee, Omaha, Santee, Sioux, and Winnebago nations, many of whom are descendants of the ancestors who were forcibly removed from the Great Plains by a foreign army to make way for the homesteaders.

The environmentalists are members of the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, 350.org, Oil Change International,  Credo Action, National Resource Defense Council, MoveOn.org, and Friends of the Earth.  Most of them are not Nebraskans, but their opposition to the Keystone pipeline brought them to the state this week to testify at a series of the Public Service Commission hearings.

The Public Service Commission will decide whether or not the pipeline serves the public interest. These commissioners have to define what is meant by "the public interest," and then determine if the pipeline meets that standard.  If the commissioners vote in favor of the pipeline, the State will act on its right of eminent domain and cede portions of private agricultural property to the TransCanada corporation.

At the hearings, each group gave voice to the issues that most concern them.  The Bold Alliance protested the transfer of private property to a foreign corporation.  The landowners described the fragility of their sandy soil and the danger of leaks contaminating the water necessary for their crops, animals, and families.  The tribes asserted their right to preserve burial grounds, ancestrals artifacts, and treaty lands.  The environmentalist warned of the threat to the endangered whooping crane posed by the power lines needed to support pipeline infrastructure.

In addition to testifying, alliance members also organized other events including a protest rally and march at the State capital building, a Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion signing ceremony and Prayer Walk, and the delivery of approximately 460,000 anti-pipeline public comments to the Commission.  Bold Alliance's ability to build relationships around creative, non-violent public protests is an example that Christian advocates can learn from.

The defiance and determination I heard coming out of Nebraska inspired a poem.  I am taking an online class offered by the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.  Part of the lesson this week was a lecture on documentary poetry.  These poems document a social justice event by using language found in court records, interviews, and reports and applying poetic techniques to bring out the emotions that are sometimes missing from archived facts.

The poem was inspired by a press conference given by Jane Kleeb, the president of the Bold Alliance, as well as the comments offered at the treaty signing by Casey Camp-Horinek, councilwoman of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma.

At the Ground Level

The map below comes from an article on City Lab.com about current economic conditions around the United States.  Green represents counties where kids living below the poverty line might make it into the middle class given the social safety net available where they live.  Red marks counties where those currently born into poverty don't have the community support they'll need to make it out.

I look at this map and am reminded that the playing field is not equal.  We don't all start out with the same prospects to live the American Dream.  If you live in a red county and are struggling financially, there may be systemic reasons why you are finding it difficult to get out of the hole.

Open Mic Night

Read some of my poetry at Uptown Bill's.  I step on stage around 34:45 into the clip.

Pine Ridge Update

Eerie Autumn

Light to Darkness to Light Again

“Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,

but the glory of the LORD rises and appears over you.”

--Isaiah 60:2

The reference to darkness in the Crucifixion scene intrigues me because it seems to be an allusion harkening back to the Genesis Creation.  The same phrasing appears in Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:44 just before Jesus dies* --

“darkness (σκότος) there was (ἐγένετο) on the whole earth (γῆν)”.

The same three Greek words noted in this Crucifixion verse are also found in Genesis 1: 2 and 3  --

“But the earth (γη) was unseen and unready and darkness (σκότος) upon the abyss and God’s spirit bore down upon the water” (1:2)

“There was (εγένετο) light” (1:3)

The Genesis verses bring to mind the image of the earth in a lightless and watery womb, waiting to be born when suddenly God’s contractions begin.  God speaks the word and light is born.  Once the waters are parted, the earth will fully emerge.

As Jesus hangs upon the Cross dying, this process begins to be reversed.  The earth moves back into the darkness.  It is as if the creation is undone when Jesus is crucified.  

The Crucifixion marks the end of the world made in Genesis.  I imagine a reset button being pushed.  God calls a do-over so that the earth may be born anew.  After a three-day gestation period, the Resurrection occurs and the New Creation is born of the Spirit.

Faith that the Spirit is still causing the New Creation to mature from infancy to adulthood is the source of my hope for the social order.  I want to align my efforts with the divine creative process that is moving the Earth from darkness to light.  

My difficulty identifying what the Spirit is up to is the obstacle that impedes my sincere efforts and stymies my good intentions.  I confess my ignorance, attempt to temper my advocacy with meekness and humility, and keep trying to be faithful.

___________________

*  The darkness appears in the Gospel of John as well, but it is not an exact parallel:  
John 20:1 -- “it still being dark (σκοτίας), Mary Magdalene went to the tomb”

Hoping for the best in Whiteclay

On March 29, State Senator Pansing Brooks introduced a bill to the Nebraska Legislature calling for an interim study of the situation in Whiteclay.  On April 1, the responsibility to carry out the study was assigned to the General Affairs committee of the Legislature.

The purpose of the resolution is "to examine and review the sale of alcohol in Whiteclay and the secondary effects of such sales. The study committee shall develop recommendations for what should be done to address the issues arising from such sales and shall seek the input of the State-Tribal Relations Committee."  A link to the full text of the resolution is here.

Thank you to everyone who held Whiteclay in your prayers during Lent.  I am so grateful that the Nebraska Legislature is taking this step.  I pray that God will cause more people to care, and will inspire us with insight into a wise way to address and solve the problems there.

The members of the 2016 General Affairs committee are:
Tyson Larson (Chair)  tlarson@leg.ne.gov
Colby Coash (Vice Chair) ccoash@leg.ne.gov
Matt Hansen, mhansen@leg.ne.gov
Dan Hughes, dhughes@leg.ne.gov
Mark Kolterman, mkolterman@leg.ne.gov
John McCollister,  jmccollister@leg.ne.gov
Merv Riepe,  mriepe@leg.ne.gov
Ken Schilz, kschilz@leg.ne.gov

If you would take a moment to pray for the committee, I would appreciate it.  And if you'd like to take an additional step and email the committee members and let them know that you prayed for them, I'm sure they would appreciate it, too.

Loving the Other Side -- the next challenge

COP21: Day 6

A link to the John Wesley sermon, "The New Creation"

COP21:Day 5

A link to the John Wesley sermon, "God's Approbation of His Works"

COP21: Day 4

A link to the John Wesley sermon "The General Deliverance"

COP21: Day 3

A link to the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change.

COP21: Day 2

A slideshow of the UM Bishops' creation care message--

Will COP21 be successful?

A podcast on COP21, the issues involved and the prospects for an agreement.

COP21 Worship Resources

A collection of worship resources related to the Paris climate talks posted by Citizens for Public Justice.

Loving the Other Side

For those who practice both acts of piety and mercy, who follow a religion that is both inward and outward, who seek both personal and social holiness -- an encouragement to lift our spirits when we fail yet again.

Redistributing wealth with Pope Francis and E. Stanley Jones

Advocacy-- The Wesleyan Method as personal model

Wesleyan advocacy-- a recent example

Advocacy-- one (and only one) doctrinal example