treaty concern the reduction of nuclear ca- pable launch facilities by half. is reduction in nuclear capabilities would seem to be a step in the direction of eliminating the threat of nuclear war but other actions taken by those in power would suggest that these weapons are here to stay. Just the day before, on the second stop of our Trifecta Resista we gathered outside the Banister Federal Complex, the home to the old Kansas City Plant. We were there to bear witness to the toxic mess being left by this factory that produced 85% of the non-nuclear materials for the United States nuclear bomb arsenal. e National Nuclear Security Admin- istration has relocated the Kansas City Plant to a new location leaving behind contami- nation of chlorinated solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons, PCBs, and beryllium. e cost of the new plant is estimated at $673 million. For a country with a president who claims to desire a “world without nuclear weapons” that is a lot of money spent on the improvement of our nuclear weapons infrastructure, a lot of money that could buy a whole lot of salt. e other stop of our Trifecta was a visit to Ft. Levenworth, KS. It is there that Chelsea Manning and Greg Boertje-Obed are impris- oned. Anyone who has ever been in jail or prison will tell you that even salt is a treat when it comes to the food served there. ese are two people who, as Jesus commanded, refused to lose their saltiness, even at great As we stood vigil outside of Whiteman Air Force Base on the final day of this years Tri- fecta Resista my mind kept returning to one thing, salt. “Nearly 70% of Afghan children face iodine deficiency. With iodine deficiency comes functional and developmental abnor- malities. e solution is simple, iodized salt. And the cost? Only 5 cents per child per year. at’s compared to the 2.1 million it costs to keep one US soldier in Afghanistan for one year.” is was the message of the talk given the night before by long time peace activist Kathy Kelly. She could have just as easily com- pared the cost of iodized salt to the 16.9 mil- lion dollars it costs to build a new MQ-9 Reaper drone or the 2,500-3,500 dollars it costs per hour to fly one. Just to be clear, the money spent on one flight hour could cover the cost of a year’s supply of iodized salt for fifty to seventy thousand Afghan children. Later that morning Kelly was arrested with one other as she entered Whiteman in protest of US drone warfare controlled from that base. Salt. I thought about it more and more. Jesus told us to perform the works of mercy, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick etc. As Catholic Workers, we try to make those works the center of our every day lives. I guess there are some we take for granted, like giving salt to the saltless. Iodine isn’t something that people in wealthier nations think about very often but according to a UNICEF report on the lack of Iodine in Afghanistan, “Iodine deficiency is common in women, resulting in low birth weight, deafness, and cretinism in new-borns - lack of iodine is believed to con- tribute to a reduced IQ level of up to 15 points in some parts of Afghanistan.” at morning at Whiteman my musings on salt lead me beyond the plight of Afghan chil- dren. It reminded me of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the subsequent resulting treaties. ey are most referred to by their acronyms, SALT 1 and SALT 2. ese 1970s era treaties were the first bilateral agreements between the United States and Soviet Union on the issue of nuclear arms control and the predecessors to the New START treaty in effect today. e terms of the New START cost. Both have been imprisoned for revealing the lies we have been told about the way our military works. I knew that Jesus talked of being the “salt of the earth” and that he commanded us to “have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” but didn’t realize until I looked it up that salt is mentioned 35 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and 6 more in the Chris- tian. Salt was a symbol of the covenant with YHWH. It is a fitting parallel that our reliance on military prowess rather than on God is manifest in money spent on weapons rather than human needs such as iodized salt. Paul, writing to the Colossians from prison, mentions salt. He says, “pray for us, too, that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak of the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, as I must speak… Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.” When acts of war are orchestrated in your hometown but perpetrated half a world away the phrase “think globally and act locally” carries a whole new meaning. As the use of drones proliferates more and more bases are being converted to drone piloting centers. ankfully, it seems that with every base that starts piloting drones there comes resistance. From Syracuse, NY and Las Vegas, NV to Des Moines, IA and Knob Noster, MO people are finding that they, like Paul, “must speak.” ere are many that have even been arrested delivering copies of international law to and blocking the entrances of military bases as they attempt to (though they may not use the exact language) “make it clear” that the word of God (that is Love) does not permit the likes of drones. ey are dedicated to non-violence but their message is certainly seasoned with salt. If we lose our saltiness, if we allow our- selves to just blend in with the mass of people and be complacent in war making we will, as the gospel says, only be “thrown out and trampled underfoot.” I pray for the sake of the children of Afghanistan and for the entire world that we may all learn to be salty. by eo Kayser Ordinary Time 2014 Have Salt In Yourselves Cherith Brook P r a c t i c i n g G o d ’ s M e r c y & G o s p e l R e s i s t a n c e C A T H O L I C W O R K E R So Elijah did according to the word of the Lord; he went and lived by the Cherith Brook…and the ravens brought him bread… I Kings 17 Georgia Walker, Tamara Severns & Kathy Kelly at Whiteman AFB. Georgia & Kathy presented bread to the arresting officers
Transcript
treaty concern the reduction of nuclear ca-pable launch facilities by half. This reduction in nuclear capabilities would seem to be a step in the direction of eliminating the threat of nuclear war but other actions taken by those in power would suggest that these weapons are here to stay. Just the day before, on the second stop of our Trifecta Resista we gathered outside the Banister Federal Complex, the home to the old Kansas City Plant. We were there to bear witness to the toxic mess being left by this factory that produced 85% of the non-nuclear materials for the United States nuclear bomb
arsenal. The National Nuclear Security Admin-istration has relocated the Kansas City Plant to a new location leaving behind contami-nation of chlorinated solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons, PCBs, and beryllium. The cost of the new plant is estimated at $673 million. For a country with a president who claims to desire a “world without nuclear weapons” that is a lot of money spent on the improvement of our nuclear weapons infrastructure, a lot of money that could buy a whole lot of salt. The other stop of our Trifecta was a visit to Ft. Levenworth, KS. It is there that Chelsea Manning and Greg Boertje-Obed are impris-oned. Anyone who has ever been in jail or prison will tell you that even salt is a treat when it comes to the food served there. These are two people who, as Jesus commanded, refused to lose their saltiness, even at great
As we stood vigil outside of Whiteman Air Force Base on the final day of this years Tri-fecta Resista my mind kept returning to one thing, salt. “Nearly 70% of Afghan children face iodine deficiency. With iodine deficiency comes functional and developmental abnor-malities. The solution is simple, iodized salt. And the cost? Only 5 cents per child per year. That’s compared to the 2.1 million it costs to keep one US soldier in Afghanistan for one year.” This was the message of the talk given the night before by long time peace activist Kathy Kelly. She could have just as easily com-pared the cost of iodized salt to the 16.9 mil-lion dollars it costs to build a new MQ-9 Reaper drone or the 2,500-3,500 dollars it costs per hour to fly one. Just to be clear, the money spent on one flight hour could cover the cost of a year’s supply of iodized salt for fifty to seventy thousand Afghan children. Later that morning Kelly was arrested with one other as she entered Whiteman in protest of US drone warfare controlled from that base. Salt. I thought about it more and more. Jesus told us to perform the works of mercy, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick etc. As Catholic Workers, we try to make those works the center of our every day lives. I guess there are some we take for granted, like giving salt to the saltless. Iodine isn’t something that people in wealthier nations think about very often but according to a UNICEF report on the lack of Iodine in Afghanistan, “Iodine deficiency is common in women, resulting in low birth weight, deafness, and cretinism in new-borns - lack of iodine is believed to con-tribute to a reduced IQ level of up to 15 points in some parts of Afghanistan.” That morning at Whiteman my musings on salt lead me beyond the plight of Afghan chil-dren. It reminded me of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the subsequent resulting treaties. They are most referred to by their acronyms, SALT 1 and SALT 2. These 1970s era treaties were the first bilateral agreements between the United States and Soviet Union on the issue of nuclear arms control and the predecessors to the New START treaty in effect today. The terms of the New START
cost. Both have been imprisoned for revealing the lies we have been told about the way our military works. I knew that Jesus talked of being the “salt of the earth” and that he commanded us to “have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” but didn’t realize until I looked it up that salt is mentioned 35 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and 6 more in the Chris-tian. Salt was a symbol of the covenant with YHWH. It is a fitting parallel that our reliance on military prowess rather than on God is manifest in money spent on weapons rather than human needs such as iodized salt.
Paul, writing to the Colossians from prison, mentions salt. He says, “pray for us, too, that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak of the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, as I must speak… Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.” When acts of war are orchestrated in your hometown but perpetrated half a world away the phrase “think globally and act locally” carries a whole new meaning. As the use of drones proliferates more and more bases are being converted to drone piloting centers. Thankfully, it seems that with every base that starts piloting drones there comes resistance. From Syracuse, NY and Las Vegas, NV to
Des Moines, IA and Knob Noster, MO people are finding that they, like Paul, “must speak.” There are many that have even been arrested delivering copies of international law to and blocking the entrances of military bases as they attempt to (though they may not use the exact language) “make it clear” that the word of God (that is Love) does not permit the likes of drones. They are dedicated to non-violence but their message is certainly seasoned with salt. If we lose our saltiness, if we allow our-selves to just blend in with the mass of people and be complacent in war making we will, as the gospel says, only be “thrown out and trampled underfoot.” I pray for the sake of the children of Afghanistan and for the entire world that we may all learn to be salty.
by Theo Kayser
Ordinary Time 2014
Have Salt In Yourselves
Cherith BrookP r a c t i c i n g G o d ’ s M e r c y & G o s p e l R e s i s t a n c e
C A T H O L I C W O R K E RS o E l i j a h d i d a c c o r d i n g t o t h e w o r d o f t h e L o r d ; h e w e n t a n d l i v e d b y t h e C h e r i t h B r o o k … a n d t h e r a v e n s b r o u g h t h i m b r e a d … I K i n g s 1 7
Georgia Walker, Tamara Severns & Kathy Kelly at Whiteman AFB. Georgia & Kathy presented bread to the arresting officers
2 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker Ordinary Time 2014
“By the Rivers of Babylon” By Robert P. HochBook Review by Josh Armfield
It seems quite common for the church nowadays to be, well, comfortable. We cater to “seeker sensitivity”. We have nice build-ings and big parking lots and fancy technology and we are so thankful that we live in a land “founded on Christian principles”, a land where we are free to be Christian. We pray for those in other lands that are suffering under religious persecution, poverty and war, and we often financially support humanitarian aid organi-zations or mission teams that work in places of suffering, but our own congregations are far from the stench of poverty. Many would consider this a blessing, a sign of God’s favor. Although, this may depend on how one would interpret scripture. If we consider how much the church in our comfortable western world has declined in recent years (many are saying we have entered an age of “post-Christen-dom”), while the church is growing rapidly in places where it is violently persecuted, we may wonder whether comfort and “seeker sensitiv-ity” are really qualities of the gospel. The second century church father Tertullian said that, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” This was very much true for the early church. Somehow, in the midst of perse-cution and suffering, the church seems to be the strongest. A community experiencing per-secution is forced to create a new reality for it-self, for the sake of its identity and its survival. It creates alternative politics and alternative economics. The presence of physical suffering fuels a longing for this new reality to come into existence, a reality free from suffering, the kingdom of God. Often it seems to be in the unlikely places of suffering and persecution, where in all likelihood the church should not exist, that God seems to work wonders. Isn’t this what Jesus is trying to explain to us with all of his “the kingdom of God is like” parables? Robert Hoch, associate professor of homilet-ics and worship at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, recently wrote a book called “By the Rivers of Babylon: Blueprint for a Church in Exile.” In this book Hoch explains the significance of exile in the vocation of the church. Hoch is especially interested with the physical aspect of exile in his research, high-lighting the fact that most of scripture as writ-ten from a context of exile, as slaves in Egypt, as captives in Babylon, as prisoners of Rome. Hoch is concerned that the church nowadays all too often spiritualizes the idea of exile and is no longer in the business of creating alterna-tive realities in the world. With a look into the texts of the prophet Jeremiah, Hoch reminds us that Israel was sent into exile by God. (Jer-emiah 29:1-7) With this understanding of the text Hoch says, “The church gains a profound
and subtle narrative for its interpretation and embodiment of its vocation in the world. If it is God’s exile and only penultimately Babylon’s, then the exile we experience now is not merely exile but promise, not merely displacement but the intimation of promised return, not merely loss of coherence but the drama of our own humanization.” If we miss the historically exilic narrative of scripture then we also lose sense of the church’s own exilic context today. Hoch says, “The uncritical spiritualization of exile contributes to the shape of the church, to the sense that the church is more of a chaplaincy than a mission, a club of likenesses rather than an unlikely community forged by God’s recon-
ciling love.” Hoch shares about communities and church-es, which he visited for the writing of this book, which have intentionally placed themselves in modern day situations of exile. He says that each of the communities share two distinguish-ing characteristics: “they are each innovative in worship and striking in the act of witness.” Hoch says that these expressions of church “test not only the boundaries of the principali-ties and powers but, crucially, the boundaries we have come to inhabit as normative for the life of the local church.” These communities, “…offer tantalizing glimpses into one part of what of is being called the missional church, a broad ment in scope and diversity. Because these communities arise out of specific contexts of exile, they represent particular expressions of the missional church. These communities live and thrive on the sidewalks, reservations, and underpasses of North American society by inscribing cultures of deportation with the wit-
ness of God’s sending and gathering activity.” The communties Hoch visted included: No More Deaths, a group that offers hospitality and care for “undocumented” migrants who are trekking across the Arizona deserts; Frontera De Cristo, a mission of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Presbytery of Chihuahua, Mexico that focuses on a joint effort to nurture church development, health and family ministry, a community center, just trade, and migrant resources; Cherith Brook Catholic Worker, an intentional Christian community that offers hospitality to the homeless and poor of North-east Kansas City; And Nez Perce Presbyterian camp, a Christian retreat camp for Nez Perce Native people but also Native people from all over the U.S. Hoch claims that the heart of this book is not so much to criticize the church but to seek to imagine a church “in the borderlands”, a church that “forges [its] worship and witness amid actual exilic realities.” In each chapter, Hoch tells stories of the people that he meets that live their lives in exile each day, i.e. the undocumented immigrant, the migrant worker, the homeless and working poor, the felon, the refugee, the abused, etc. And along with these modern stories of exile, Hoch shares with us the Biblical stories of exile, one of those being the story of Ruth and Naomi. The book of Ruth is a story of economic migration, the story of Naomi’s family fleeing famine in Judah in search of a new life in the land of Moab. Unfortunately the story doesn’t go so well with Naomi and her family’s search for economic stability in Moab. Naomi is forced to return to Judah after the death of her husband and sons. However, Naomi does not return alone, but with Ruth who is a Moabite and who is also her daughter-in-law. These two women are bound together in their common struggle for survival. However, Ruth is an un-welcome guest in the land of Judah, and when Naomi returns to Judah, she is scorned by the Jewish community for “assimilating” into Moabite culture and bringing home any enemy of Judah. However, Ruth and Naomi overcome considerable odds to form a new family again in Judah. What is significant about this story is Naomi’s and Ruth’s dependence on one another for survival. With this story Hoch emphasizes the churches call to solidarity with marginal-ized people. When the church recognizes its call to bring heaven to earth, and to proclaim good news to the poor, we remember that we too are very much marginalized by the “prin-cipalities and powers of this dark world”. Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 that we find ourselves daily wrestling “not against flesh and blood,
3Ordinary Time 2014 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness.” And this is because we imagine a world free of suffering and injustice, free of war and oppression. We imagine a world without borders. This is why solidarity with the poor is so crucial for the church. Just as Naomi and Ruth are bound together in their struggle for survival, we are bound to the struggle of the poor. How can we make heaven a reality in this world if we do not listen to the cries of the poor? In Hoch’s own words, “What if the website were less important to the church than the way it interacted with its social and political soil?” In communities which Hoch visited, the struggle of the poor had become the struggle of the community. In the example of Cherith Brook, a homeless guest may be invited to live in a guest room or “Christ room” in the commu-nity. In this invitation the community agrees to-gether to commit to journeying with their guest from the brokenness of homelessness to dignity and wholeness again, whether that means fighting joblessness or fighting mental illness, etc. Sometimes, the journey is more successful than others. Sometimes the guest gets a job and an apartment and is able to live independently. Other times the guest may end up on the streets again. But the struggle becomes a common one as lives become tangled together in solidarity. For Cherith Brook, the goal is not to be success-ful, but to be faithful, to commit to the journey both spiritually and physically and to trust that God will make a way. For Hoch the journey from exile to homeland is a crucial symbol for the church. In places of exile, we often cannot see the way out. Ex-iles are wanderers in a land that is not their own. But for the exiled church, we are not only wanderers. We are pilgrims with a promise and we are journeying towards a new creation. It is because of the promise of resurrection that we know that we will return home. Hoch believes that the church must reconsider its terms of success. We should not consider so much the growth of membership in our churches, but instead the growing of our faith. Hoch says, “The church finds its home not by purifying its membership rolls or its dogmas, but by radicaliz-ing its faith. In and through practices of return, the church appears to be scattered by powers even as it is awakened through the activity of the Spirit to the new creation taking shape.” We know that as we journey faithfully toward this new creation, God will bring us to the promised land. God makes the way possible and brings us through deserts and seas and hostile places to the “new creation” that is promised to us by God in Christ and the resurrection.
continued...Babylon
Did you know that several happy hives of honeybees hide along Cherith Brook’s back fence? These little commu-nities have been working away for the past few years, increasing the productiv-ity of the garden, sharing honey, and (occasionally) gifting visitors with a sting. As I’ve shadowed Eric and gotten to know the hives a bit this year, I thought I’d share 10 things I’ve learned about bee-ing around the bees.
1) Breathe calmly. You’ve heard that bees can smell fear? If you’re breathing heavily, they can smell more of it. Try to take slow, even breaths if you see a bee near you. Send them love. 2) Move slowly. Pretend like you’re in almost-solid-ified Jell-o. This is another way to seem less threaten-ing. Remember, if a bee stings you, it’s guts come out and it dies. Bees don’t want to sting people, but they will if you seem like a threat to the hive. Along the same lines, try to avoid crossing or standing in front of hive entrances. 3) Dress lightly. If you’re going to be near the hives, don’t dress like a bear. Bees have learned over hundreds of years that bears like to destroy hives, and they respond accordingly. 4) Smoke gently. Beekeepers have found smoke to be the most effective tool for calming or confusing bees. It not only makes it harder for bees to smell you; it also sends them a signal to go drink honey (maybe they think their tree is on fire?). 5) Listen attentively. Particularly if it’s hot (and they are trying to cool the hive) or they’ve been smoked, bees
Honeybee Hivezzzby Chris Homiak
have quite an impressive, holy hum. Listen for it! Also, if you want to become a beekeeper, find someone with experience and shadow her, listening carefully.
6) Sweat profusely. Bee-keeping happens when it’s warm and flowers are blooming. Unless you’re super brave or non-allergic, you’ll want to cover up from head to toe. This means sweating – a lot. 7) Look closely. Quite a bit of beekeeping is like playing Where’s Waldo, scanning and squinting for small details amidst a complex, moving mass of bees. Bee-keepers open the hives to check out the health of the queen and the hive, which can be determined by what’s inside the honeycombs in various frames. 8) Experiment carefully. Pests, disease, and swarms often call for creative inter-vention if you’re trying to
do organic beekeeping and want a honey harvest. 9) Harvest proportionally. Bees need honey to make it through winter, when flowers aren’t blooming and shar-ing nectar. You can only take the extra honey from the “supers” on top of the hive body boxes. 10) Taste regularly. There’s nothing more delicious than warm local honey! Substitute for sugar as often as pos-sible, knowing that your allergies and local bee economy thanks you.
These ten tips are just the highlights of the hive when it comes to the amazing complexity of bees. Let us know if you’re interested in learning more about the bees, or helping with the hives; it’s always nice to have an extra hand.
They say time flies when you’re having fun. My month at Cherith Brook proved this to be true. Being welcomed with open arms and ice cream made a very easy transition when I got to Kansas City. I was not entirely sure what I was getting myself into, but loved it more than I could have imagined. In the short time that I was there I was privileged to meet so many amazing people who walked through the doors of Cherith Brook. From the morning Shower House conversa-tions over coffee to the musical Thursday nights outside, there never seemed to be a dull moment. I was touched by how many people seemed as happy to have me there as I was. Even in the four weeks that went by in a flash, I left feeling even surer of some of the future paths I would like to embark on in my life. I look forward to taking some of what I learned and applying it throughout my life. I am so grateful for the experi-ences and all the people I was able to meet while I was there,
and hope that someday the paths will cross again.
Melanie Kowalski
4 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker Ordinary Time 2014
My husband and I had the opportunity this past April to visit Cherith Brook for a few days and experience what they do on a day-to-day basis for their community. It just so happened our visit coinsided with Holy week and Cherith Brook had foot washing on their schedule for that Maundy Thursday. As my husband describes it, “While the world may describe this as odd, I didn’t find it that way at all. I had never participated in a footwashing, but that’s because the op-portunity never presented itself. Although I’m familiar with the biblical account and Jesus reason for serving the apostles and to show them by example how they should be treating each other, actually participating in one had a profound impact on me. My
Foot Washing
ego and pride were big obstacles, but I really delved deep into following Jesus on a sincere level, beyond the superficialness that characterized my belief-system in years past.” I know for myself when I actually walk out a teaching from Je-sus, serving as He did, it changes me. On this trip I did bring my camera and after getting permission from all the particpants, I documented the event. The foot washing began with one person washing the feet (or hands) of the person to their right. Then the person who was washed would pass it on until the whole group was finished. Jesus gave us this example in John 13:1-17. Jesus gives us the commandment to wash other’s feet. While I’ve always under-stood this to mean we are to humbly serve one another, actually participating in a foot washing brought this principle home to me in a way I’d never experienced before.
Photos by Marianne Sisovsky
“Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer”. If we find this to be the case, then Cherith Brook is attempting to blend this attention into a daily living schematic that in turn lets us recognize the good stuff and bad stuff around us. Many of us know the story of the rich young ruler who approaches Jesus and asks about inheriting the kingdom of God, and when Jesus responds by telling him to sell all he has and give to the poor the young man becomes upset. I often wonder, though, what exactly might have become of this young man had he followed the advice of Jesus. This story is often a challenge to us when we think of the things we have and just how hard it would be to give them up. Based on my experience I can say that this young man might have found a happiness reserved for those who find contentment and gratitude in all things rather than a thing. Do we really notice and sit in wonder of that which is simple and cannot be taken from us? Our breath, our words, our thoughts, our actions: these can’t be sold and don’t have any money behind them, but perhaps if we attribute values to them we can hope to find an infinite blessing of unmeasured grace. The kind of grace that reaches us without circumstantial prosper-ity, the kind of grace that we are promised by
the sacrifice of Jesus, the kind of grace that is so powerful that God looks to fulfill it by action. In this, I am finding an endless need to extend grace to our guests here, as well as re-ceive the grace that comes from their lives in their worship during their darkest hours and in their most fruitful joy. Simply by paying attention, we grant ourselves so much time to offer and receive grace within ourselves and outside ourselves to others. At Cherith Brook, I am granted an absolutely beautiful opportunity to practice this attention as well as see it demonstrated in the people who live here so that we might, as a community, build ourselves upon a grace that extends in all directions around and above us.
My name is Caleb and I am headed into me senior year at UMKC. For the duration of Summer, I decided to reside at Cherith Brook and learn about communal living and outreach. Throughout my internship here, my thoughts have been turning to a particular sort of living; one where we don’t find religion and experience to be two separate entities but rather a place where we realize that these entities deserve to coexist. Finding praise and glory in a chicken clucking, a scraped knee, a grateful smile, an angry day, a clean shower: we take a step away from our expectations of God’s radiance and rather see that we are granted prosperity both in our darkest and finest. This is the profound movement towards a way to live that I have experienced while at Cherith Brook. I can tell you personally that this is a place of joy not like an ice cream cone but rather like the smile of a warm-hearted elder. I sincerely believe that this is because of the integration of Jesus’ teachings into a way of living. Simone Weil, a french activist and philosopher, has a great quote which says
Attentive Graceby Caleb Madison
by Marianne & Jeremiah Sisovsky
5Ordinary Time 2014 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker
6 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker Ordinary Time 2014
House NotesRefreshment One of the gifts of God’s Spirit is refresh-ment. Interns are a recent expression of this. Their labor and love have been coupled with good companionship. Theo Kayser and Nicole Linsmeier re-turned after their visit a year ago. Expe-rienced Catholic Workers relocating from LA to the Midwest, they are perceptive of the aims and means to which we aspire. They stepped into our routine quickly and gracefully. They’ve toiled at husbandry and gardening, cleaning and organizing. We are grateful for their loving and attentive presence in showers. Pray for their time of discerning the future with us. Melanie Kowalski and Caleb Madison are college students who felt called to explore a life of hospitality and prayer in community. They’ve been open to new experiences and our irregular summer schedule. “Take noth-ing with you” on your journey and receive the hospitality of your hosts, Jesus told his disciples. Foregoing summer employment, Caleb and Melanie re-sponded to this simple command. While ex-ploring the abundance of God’s reign, they’ve left their mark on us. We went on a “Holy Play” at Mt. St. Scho-lastica in Atchison, KS. It was a time to play and a time to claim its impor-tance. Distinguishing play from rest and entertainment brought fruitful reflection.
How Nonviolence Works For the first seven years we boasted that, in spite of occasional conflicts, there were no fist-fights at the shower house. Because of our commitment to nonviolence, this gave us great pride. We can no longer claim this. It began one morning when two of our guests ran out the front door and ended up tangled in the street. It took several of us to unravel the mess. On another occasion Jodi and Al-lison were cuffed by a female guest as they kept her from hitting someone else. During another row an vengeful guest pulled a ma-chete out of his pant leg. The anger was de-escalated and no one was hurt. (though I’m
by Eric Garbison
not sure how he avoided castrating himself? It’s statistically true that those carrying weapons are, more often than not, the ones injured or killed.) This all disappoints us as we try to embody gospel alternatives. Yet, we are still proud! We do not prac-tice nonviolence because it works. We never talk about it being “effective”. We remember the words of Jesus, “If you only love those who love you…what more are you doing than others” (Matthew 5:46). We are called to be about the “more.” When we aren’t the world says, “you’re no different than us.” Jesus’ called disciples to practice enemy love because it is the way, it is the Gospel’s alternative in a violent world, witnessing to who God is.
And can we not also boast that it has worked? In the past seven years I have been amazed at how practical it is. I often say, what do you expect to get when you crowd a small room with fifty folks who sleep out-side, are cold, wet, hungry, thirsty, unem-ployed, mentally ill, depressed, struggling with addiction, abused, or confused, recently divorced, alienated from family, fed up, sick and tired, lonely, stressed, harassed, angry or some combination of these? You’d expect short fuses and explosive situations; you’d expect violence. It is nothing short of a miracle coupled with disciplined lives topped with more Divine power that in seven years the Spirit of nonviolence has worked far bet-ter than an armed security guard. And in al-most every case, we have been able through a process of reconciliation. It is truly impressive how guests and vol-
unteers exhibit calm and patience in these situations. When the two were rolling about no one took sides. No one tried to strong-arm them. Some even risked personal injury to help, grabbing their arms with gentle firmness until each man could be at a safe distance from each other. Sharing this shouldn’t excuse you from volunteering here. Not only are these are rare occurrences Christians are called to be on the front lines imitating Jesus’ nonviolence. No matter the outcome, enemy love must be practiced. Prayers for tenacity, patience and cour-age are vital; Doxology to the Christ of peace fundamental. But the way of non-violence also requires disciplined training; a praxis that empowers these convictions
with concrete means. And we have done just this. In January we were awarded a Peace Grant from the Synod of Mid-America of the Presbyterian Church (USA). With this generous resource regular volunteers where trained for two days on Interpersonal Conflict Resolution. Lead by Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR), it was designed to give us peacemaking tools as we offer hospitality to our street friends and guests. Twenty-Three volun-teers attended and successfully complete two full days of training at no financial cost to them. We work very hard to incorporate shower guests into volunteer positions, giving them a sense of equality and cooperation in the
work. Any given day 25-50% of our volunteers are from the streets. So insuring this diversity in the training experience was essential. The breakdown of this group is significant: 5 were residential community members (including an intern); 5 were from the streets, and contributed their familiari-ty of homelessness; 13 came from economic and social privilege. Our goal was to nurture a process of listening and active communication for de-escalating and redirecting shower-house conflicts. We contributed scenarios for roll-playing that came directly from daily experiences. On a busy morning we rarely have the luxury of seeing the process through. CCR helped us identify tools to choose in an escalating situation, a conflict, even to create an environment where the anxiety can be transformed before conflict arises.
One of the graces of this training was a deeper unity, a real sense of being with and for one another.
Alternative Economics We often fumble around for words that accurately express our economic practices. This past year we’ve explored better ways to talk about it. When she founded the Catholic Worker, Dorothy Day borrowed the traditional monastic language of “voluntary poverty.” This feels exaggerated to some, especially when we watch our friends struggle with homelessness. Others highlight the real precarity of our calling as we volunteer our labor at the house, share income from other jobs, live below poverty to resist war taxes and have no retirement package. Many of us battle with the Protestant spirit among us that makes this sound, well, like bragging again. This has led us to reassess our com-mitments themselves. We’ve made little headway in these conversations. One thing is clear; our struggle emerges out of the silent sickness of the church. Denominations debate acrimoniously about abortion, sexism, militarism, heterosexism and the like. But how often do they call into question their own economic practices and the structures that underwrite them? Consider the mainline church in our area that has just raised $90 million dollars for a new sanctuary. Their first was too small and the second one too big. Perhaps this one will be just right? They had $30 million before the campaign even got started and raised the remainder in 2 months. No outrage was heard over the accolades. Few of us own up to Jesus’ concrete teach-ing on wealth in practice. We critique the poor, Jesus critiqued the comfortable. While his was not a mandate of poverty for all, the church is a far cry from his radical economics. Wherever these conversations take us, nothing less than a renewed call to “take nothing with you” and receive the hospital-ity of others (Luke 10:10-12) will be needed to transform us all. Pray for the grace to receive it. And all our boasts? They’re real but not really about us. For ultimately we must not, “put our confidence in rituals peformed by the body.” But through our bodies and practices we strive to “serve by God’s spirit and boast in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:3-4). We thank you all for your prayers and friendship. No gift is too small or insignificant in the at the table of God’s hospitality. Thank you!
HouseNotesContinued...
“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12:49)
This statement often speaks urgently to my heart. It can be interpret-ed to mean that Jesus’ mission included nonviolent resistance to unjust powers, unjust laws and structures. His breaking of his society’s Sabbath Laws, table fellowship rules, and his casting out the merchants in the temple are actions in his nonviolent revolution which are meant to set fire to the earth. Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Adolpho Perez Esquivel applied the teaching of Jesus’ nonviolent resistance to injustices in their times and places. Esquivel and activists in Latin America used the term “relentless persistence” to describe the steadfastness needed in the struggle. Another relevant thought is Martin King’s teaching that voluntary or unearned suffering is redemptive. The hardships that we may face can have a positive effect for changing hearts and minds. Gandhi often said that suffering is needed to touch another person’s heart. It has been encouraging to hear of the many people praying for us and for disarmament. One person wrote that he believed “nothing escapes God’s notice.” Some people have written that they believe pressure is growing for disarmament. One example is that of the Marshall Islands filing suit against the U.S. and the other 8 nuclear powers for violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Recently, Eric Schlosser wrote a book, “Command and Control”, which gives many details about nuclear weapons accidents. His book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and he is now writing an article for The New Yorker magazine about nuclear weapons for which he is interview-ing peace activists. Another reflection that comes is that humility is very key in our work and our lives. Jesus taught that after we have carried out a task, we are to say, “We are ordinary servants. We have only done our duty.” We our-selves are the vessels, and we are not seeking a pardon, even though we are taking an appeal of our convictions. We hope that people who hear of our action will continue the task of advocating for disarmament and transformation of the weapons. Several pro bono lawyers are doing research for an appeal which may be filed in August. The prosecutors then will have time to respond. One possibility is that the judges will render a decision in October or Novem-ber. My cellmate, though, believes the process will take longer , and a ruling could come next year. One possible outcome is that we would be taken back to Knoxville, Tennessee for resentencing. An update on the Y-12 new nuclear weapon factory planned for Oak Ridge is that the Big Box design is said to have become too expensive. One estimate suggested the cost had risen to more than $19 billion. The weapons profiteers are now saying that they want to renovate existing buildings and build smaller module buildings. The Oak Ridge Environ-mental Peace Alliance (OREPA) is continuing to oppose the new plans and press for abiding by the NPT and dismantling the weapons that bring a curse upon the world, as Phil Berrigan has said. Orepa gives updates on suggested actions at orepa.org.
Greg is one of the Transform Now Plowshares resisters. Along with Megan Rice and Michael Walli, Greg broken into the Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex at Oak Ridge, TN, proving its insecurity. Their nonviolent symbolic act was to bring attention to America’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, which they view as both immoral and illegal. Greg is currently seving 5 years at Ft. Leavenworth. Learn more at http://transformnowplowshares.wordpress.com/
Reflection from Greg Boertje-Obed
Upcoming Events
Our ScheduleWho Are We?Showers M, T, Th, 8:30--11am volunteers 8 am–noon
Prayers M & F 6 am
W 7:15 am
Community Meal Th 5–7 pm
Group Workday Monthly, 2nd Sat 9 am–1 pm
Roundtables Monthly, 3rd Fri 7- 8:30 pm
Men’s Circle Monthly, 4th Wed 3:30 - 4:30
Community—Cherith Brook is a residential Christian community committed to sharing table fellowship with strangers, and all our resources with one another. We have found our inspiration from the early church, the Church of the Savior, and the Catholic Worker. Mercy—Our daily lives are structured around practicing the works of mercy as found in Jesus’ teachings. We are committed to regularly feed-ing the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, visiting the prisoner and the sick in the name of Jesus.
Peacemaking—As followers of Jesus, we understand our lives to be centered in God’s Shalom. Cherith Brook strives to be a “school” for peacemaking in all its dimensions: political, communal, and personal, working constantly to undo poverty, racism and militarism.
These three orbs can be summed up as the struggle to connect with the God of life. We pray that Cherith Brook is a space where all of us—the broken—can come to learn and relearn the ways of Jesus; a place to struggle together for God’s call of love, mercy, peace and justice.
August 15 Roundtable: Isreal, Palestine & Divestment
August 22 “DEADication” of Nuke Plant 9-11am, at 150 hwy & Botts Rd.
September 12-14 Sugar Creek Retreat; NO WORK DAY
October Mortgage Pay-off Party, TBA
October 10 Festival of Shelters, send off, time TBA
October 11 Festival of Shelters, dinner & reflection, time TBA
October 17 Roundtable: The Jesus Prayer
November 8 Work Day, 9am - 1pm
November 21 Roundtable: Men & Anger
November 27 CLOSED for Thanksgiving
Cherith Brook Catholic Worker
3308 East 12th StreetKansas City, MO 64127(816) 241-8047
