Guns, Fashion, Racism and Civil Rights Activism 2.0

It was early Saturday Morning, 
I was doing a quick read of my email before heading out for the day. A comment about my previous post sat for my review. (see below)

It seems that the reader didn't have the same read on what has been transpiring that I did. He didn't see that guns and gun ownership have been part of the problem which is crying out for change in our nation. 
I replied to him the following: 

Timothy, thank you for your thoughtful response.

In a quick Google search this morning with the keywords "cult of gun ownership" Google shot back to be "About 18,900,000 results". In the first page, this essay brings out important issues that more directly explain my shorthanded reference to cult of the gun. The search revealed that this term is so prevalent as to reach around the globe to Australia, with this article popping at #10 on the first page.

I think our shared places of agreement need to be the primary foci for bringing forth a transformation of hearts and minds. I find hope in Jesus Christ as a source of healing and inner peace which can counter the reliance upon guns for security. The Spirit of God is indeed capable of healing and bringing inner peace. But, as the Apostle Paul pointed out, without God, Law is the only way to point out sin.

While violence is a matter of the heart, plots of acting on violent thoughts are often the result. Social responsibility begs that sane people contemplate the insane, and plan appropriately. Gun Ownership is so deeply embedded into our culture that we strike the hot button by even questioning the needs to limit and control the products of manufacturers.

In the same way that the automobile has proper limits of use and ownership, we need to examine gun ownership. Legislation informed by wisdom, and prudence, meeting ethical standards; to do good, do no harm, do justice.

From my perspective, those of us who believe that the way of Jesus is the answer to bringing inner peace have a duty. We must not only always offer true testimony to the work that God has wrought within our own hearts. We have a duty to also not stand by and blithely buy into the message of a powerful minority lobby whose primary source of funding are the manufacturers of the instruments of death. 

I thought, after I wrote that response, "perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe guns and gun ownership aren't a part of the problem." 

But when I started reading through my twitter feed I found an article that confirmed my assertion. There is was, words coming from leadership at Community Coalition assessing the complexity of responses. The generational differences creeping into the staged political action. 

The aim of the Leimert Park protest was to push for federal prosecution of Zimmerman and changes in "stand your ground" laws.
But Harris-Dawson, who's worked with hundreds of youths in the coalition's education and community programs, said that's not the young people's agenda. Their civil rights battle is different from ours.
"We've been successful in beating back blatant racism," said Harris-Dawson, who is 42. "What they're dealing with is much more complicated and harder to get your arms around."
They don't see the Trayvon Martin case as a product of centuries of racial injustice or a cry for policy changes.
"They see it more as a popular culture issue … about fashion and guns and being profiled because you're young."
This case felt personal to them because it mirrors what they feel on the streets — judged because of the way they dress, worried that the guy next to them has a gun.
"They related it to the hoodie, where generations before them would have emphasized the racial aspects," Harris-Dawson said.
They're more concerned with getting guns off the streets than putting Zimmerman on trial again. And they don't need to gather in Leimert Park, when they've got hundreds of like-minded friends as near as the apps on their cellphones.

Whether we like it or not, somehow we have to break down the walls that continue to perpetuate distrust. From my perspective, white and passing for whites have a lot of work ahead in learning how to listen, to dissolve the incredible level of fear and distrust of people whose background is different from our own. 

In my previous post, I offered suggestions and some resources that could be accessed and applied in any community. Urban or rural. I challenged church leaders, which I mean to be both the lay and clergy leaders to begin to prayerfully look within and around themselves. 

Neighborhood Watch Two Tales

Personal Experience

In my life I've moved around quite a bit so my experience of being in different neighborhoods has been quite rich. We lived in Los Angeles, along the beachfront in Venice where my parents managed an apartment building, and in the projects of Mar Vista Gardens. The community was diverse, not the poorest of all neighborhoods; not like Watts. In San Diego, we also lived in several neighborhoods, sometimes in apartments. On occasion, we were lucky enough to have a "real house" to live in, with a yard and space between our neighbors.

My mother and stepfather did the best they could to earn enough to provide our needs, but we weren't among the middle class. We qualified for and used USDA commodities to help stretch every penny. With that said, I also know that being "poor" didn't equate to poverty. My parents never expressed a feeling of being oppressed. Oppression and poverty were not my experience growing up but for many in my classes while going to school, looking back I realize that was their reality. I have learned as an adult that poverty breeds discontent, and discontent is the fertile field for crime. 


As a child we moved on an annual basis. As a young adult, at first it seemed that same pattern would continue but both my husband and I wanted something more rooted. Ah, you know the American Dream.

One thing was true throughout. I have always lived the reality of White privilege. I need to say that before I venture any farther in this topic.

Neighborhoods for me, no matter where I lived, were places where people interacted and exchanged pleasantries. People recognized us as people who "belonged" to the neighborhood. After being in a place for about a month we could at least identify a people by sight, as individuals who had a place in the community or were visitors to the neighborhood. That was and is my white privilege Southern California experience. In most of those places where we lived crime seemed not to penetrate our day to day existence. When we lived in apartment buildings, we spoke to neighbors in passing. We knew if there was an elderly person living alone and also when more than two generations shared the living quarters.

In apartments we sometimes learned about neighbors because of the thin walls of the building. Condominiums were better constructed. In those we learned about the party neighbors and hot headed neighbors because even the best insulation can't conceal the raised voices in the middle of night. On most occasions when the noise was too disturbing, I would be awoken. I would sit up and listen to hear if this was someone calling for help. Was that gunfire, a car backfire, or firecrackers? Should I call police and report the disturbance? In short, I ran through my mind whether or not a crime was in progress. Most times I simply went right back to sleep. This reality leads into the reasons why Neighborhood Watch programs began in the first place. Sadly, on one night, in New York City, one woman fell victim, and no one came to her aid, and neither did anyone call the police.

Neighorhood Watch members take on a role of being Guardians for the community. Rightly done, the men and women who take on responsibilities increase community safety and security.


One question I always wonder is what motivates someone to become a volunteer in any community activity. It seems to me that one thing that needs to be addressed is the process of screening to insure the wellbeing of the community. This may very well be an issue that has to go right back to the law enforcement agencies which facilitate the formation of neighborhood watch groups. Better screening, training and improved methods of accountability may all need to be invoked for the future success of neighborhood watch programs.

I've seen Neighborhood watch programs at their best. In my church community I've seen how a neighborhood watch leader made every effort to protect an aging member of my community. After the woman died of old age, among the mourners were the neighborhood watch leaders and the deceased's neighbor.

But sadly, in the case of Trayvon Martin, Neighborhood Watch only worked to his bring injury to him. Life lost. Anger at the death and now anger at the injustice of the case that was brought to trial. Trayvon Martin was spotted by George Zimmerman as someone who didn't belong in his neighborhood. What a failed execution of neighborhood watch.   

This case is so much in the news at the present I don't think I need to recount it in detail.

What went wrong?
I'm not going to over analyze the whole case. Others are doing a fine job of that.  This is my take, and I'm just going to name it in short hand: Bad law, unclear intentions, and a gun.

Tensions are now high across the nation. Unfortunately the present age seems to lack a truly noble force for non-violent change, someone like Martin Luther King. Al Sharpton is calling for marches in 100 cities across the nation, but I haven't yet been impressed by his ability to inspire NON-VIOLENT Civil Action. 

So what does the Church do to respond, to provoke justice and the unfolding of the reign of God instead of perpetuating a social construct which perpetuates this troubling tension?

Christena Cleveland is a social psychologist. She is described by Ed Stetzer as a person "with a hopeful passion for overcoming cultural divisions in groups." As a guest writer on Ed Stetzer's Christianity Today Blog, Christena writes about racism and the response to the verdict in the Zimmerman Trial:

"This is a problem for everyone who participates in our society. But I believe that this is an even greater problem for those of us who identify as Christian, are called to live out the metaphor of the diverse and interdependent body of Christ, and hope to follow in our Savior's incarnational and subversive footsteps."

You can read her entire article for yourself, and draw your own conclusions. My conclusion is she is speaking an important truth which the Church, every congregation, big and small, needs to begin to take seriously.

If you are like me, that is someone whose life has been lived in the context of White Privilege, it is time to start listening. It's time to pray for humility and patience to hear our neighbors in the city where you live, where I live.

If we want to see the neighborhoods in which we live become safer places even as we continue to become a more racially diverse  community, more churches might want to look around for ways to facilitate conversations to develop understanding. The resources to do this can be found online. My own experience with study circles on rural poverty using materials produced by Everyday Democracy proved to me how important it is for church leaders to actively engage in the process of community building and community development.  Their resources include discussions on Neighborhoods, Diversity, Poverty, Early Childhood Development and much more.

My last thought is a challenge to the culture of gun ownership and gun use. Having a gun on his possession while George Zimmerman chose to follow and approach Trayvon Martin surely influenced the entire encounter. I cannot help but think that having that gun on him made George Zimmerman feel more powerful, more confident in his task as a Neighborhood Watch commander. If Trayvon Martin had been someone who led a life of crime, that gun could just as easily have been used again George Zimmerman.

Gun laws and the cult of gun ownership in America are part of the problem.^

Of all the public statements I've heard in the last three days, the decision of one performer to refuse to enter the State of Florida until the Stand Your Ground law is revoked strikes me as the wisest individual direct action.

What will Church leaders around the nation do to improve dialogue with our neighbors of different races, and faith traditions? Because from where I observe public discourse, the incivility towards people who differ in many ways is sadly deteriorating.

So, in the end, I'm reduced to a prayer.

Lord God, creator of all things and judge of all creation. You have formed us in your image and invited us to be co-creators with you in this world. Increase in us wisdom that will lead us ever more closely to bring forth a community in which all live together without suspicion. Increase in us love for our unknown neighbor that we will grow to know and embrace them as kindred spirits and equally deserving of health, happiness and justice.  Send upon us your Spirit that will guide us in every day, that what we say and do will always bring glory to your name, most compassionate and merciful God that you are.  AMEN

^MY OPINION.

A prayer for do-overs

“Give us ears to hear your voice and eyes to see the path, hearts willing to step out in faith Lord, that others will be touched by our hands as if by your hands, the only true and compassionate God of all Creation.”

Prayer for All Natural Disasters

Holy and Gracious God, 
we call out to you in these hours of desperate need following the destructive forces of nature. 
Help us most powerful One, by moving within the hearts of all that you have already called and equipped to be first responders. 
Open our hearts to be generous before speaking out. 
Increase in us the power to sit in stillness, offering listening hearts to the broken-hearted of this and all tragedies.
Do not forget us in our hour great pain. 
Do not abandon those whose lives were cut short. 
In your great mercy bring them into your eternal presence that they may become one with you in your majestic realm which dwells impenetrably beyond our human capabilities. All this we ask in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ who lives together with you and the Holy Spirit, Eternally One and reigning in Heaven. Amen

Class Starting May 18

NEW Class: Scripture Models for the Friendship of Women

Most of the time we read scripture looking for ways to understand ourselves in relationship to God. Seldom do we take the time to read the scriptures looking for models of friendship between women in the scriptures. Searching scripture for role models can be a productive and engaging way to expand our ability to love our neighbor as ourselves and to enrich our lives through the development of lasting friendships with other women of the parish and our community.  

Our study will be centered around the book, The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible, written by Joan D Chittester. In her book, she offers an easy to read yet delightful look at several of the often overlooked female characters contained within the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. Each character study lifts up a specific attribute admirably illustrated by one female member in the immense cast of women contained in God’s stories of the faith. 

We will use the short studies for reflection and for personal growth. We will gain greater appreciation for diverse ways in which women can, and do demonstrate friendship across the ages. Timeless characteristics; wisdom, support, truth, presence, leadership, availability, acceptance, joy, nurturance, trust and love, self, growth, all characteristics which anyone can appreciate and many will want to develop personally into daily living are demonstrated by the female Biblical archetypes which Chittister lifts up to the reader.

We will meet twice a month, on Saturday Mornings from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm, gathering for coffee, and refreshments before we settle into the discussion and activities of each meeting.

Leaders for the class will be Barbara Bunsold, M.Div. and Gabrielle McKeever, members of the healing team. One aspect of the class will be learning and using one on one listening, as it was taught to the members of the healing ministry team. Women of all ages and stages of life and relationship are encouraged to join the conversational study with a light emphasis on spiritual growth in prayer, and presence toward one another.

First class will be May 18 in the fellowship hall at 10:30 AM. Dates for June and July are June 1, and 22, July 13. Subsequent dates will be scheduled after our first meeting with the book study finishing in November. 

^^Originally published in the St. Timothy Newsletter, May 2013.

  FOR Location http://www.sttimshd.org/

Field Work

The healing ministry of the church is a wide field.

You know, if you attended our class^  at St. Timothy's two years ago on the healing ministry of Jesus and the Church that our approach, within the Episcopal Tradition, differs significantly from the approach of other evangelical and protestant churches in quite a few ways. What we emphasize is the holistic nature of the healing ministry. We are sacramental in our approach, carrying on the ancient traditions established by the early church. We provide an “outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace”. Within the context of worship we anoint and offer prayers which speak of wellness for body, mind, and spirit. All that transpires after that is God’s work.

No one on our team claims a special spiritual gift of the performance of miracles. Each person does have the gift of intercession. Also, each of the members could tell you an experience of experiencing God’s healing. Yet, I believe each of team members also recognizes limitations, most frequently physical limitations. In our conditions of weakness, we are learning to accept, as the Apostle Paul wrote of his own struggle, that we are made complete by the power of God. “In our weakness, we are made strong.” We aren't the "healers", God is. We offer ourselves to the community to serve as hands of the church to offer presence on Christ's behalf.  

I delight every time I hear a member of the team offer up words of thanksgiving to God as that member rightly recognizes that God is the active force in their improved state of being. It is heartwarming when members of the parish later give an update after having come to the Lady Altar. It brings out my inner evangelical each time I hear a positive report....

"Thanks be to God"

^Three Lecture papers are accessible here

Changing Course

Changing Course and Practicing Forgiveness


In two days I will be in San Diego to participate in the Susan Komen Race for the Cure 5K.

That makes this weekend an historic event in my life, not because it is the longest walk I will
have ever undertaken

It is historic because it represents an intentional act of political forgiveness on my part.

You may remember the commotion that hit the internet. It all started when the Susan G Komen National Foundation dropped planned parenthood from the list of organizations it would fund. The funding that they provided enabled local Planned Parenthood clinics to perform mammograms for women who had limited or no access to health care.

Personally, I joined the wave of outrage. For several years I have had a plan, though no specific date set, in which I would participate in one of the three day Walk for the Cure events. The one in Santa Barbara probably.

In preparation, I have been on the email list to keep up to date. I had "liked" the page in Facebook.

But when the story hit of the decision to drop Planned Parenthood, another organization which I strongly believe needs to supported in all the work it does to provide young women education and access to health care, my reaction was swift.

I dis-Liked the Page of Susan G Komen. I unsubscribed to the email newsletter. I would NOT allow their decision to drop Planned Parenthood to go unnoticed. I was not the only one to exercise my cyber power And to be fair the reaction  was not all negative toward Susan G Komen Foundation.

Eventually not only was funding restored, but significant leadership changes at the top were made.

With all that said, three weeks ago I signed up to participate in the San Diego because I could do the walk with my grandchildren and children. It was a step of forgiveness to sign up and set any fundraising goal.

I'm curious to learn what impact the national decisions have on the work of the local Susan G Komen affiliate. I don't know if everyone realizes that 75% of every dollar raised by the local event will stay in the community to serve the women of San Diego. At any rate, I've decided that withholding support from Susan G Komen Foundation will not be the best way to promote the much needed life saving efforts of early cancer detection for women in San Diego County. 

I hope that others will also reconsider their positions and once again show support for the work of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  You could even start, today, by making a donation to help me make my goal of $125. Even a small donation, a small $5 will be a sign of moving forward for the health and wellness of sisters who depend on a patchwork health care system.

 My Donation Page