Dear friends,
With spring in full bloom, this past
month has felt alive with possibility - and with work! Exhilaration
and exhaustion alternate as I seek to be faithful in my ministry with
Capitol Hill Friends
and to get equipped for my work within a grassroots movement for
economic justice. While there are many challenges, the overall
direction of the last month has been positive. I continue to find way opening for Spirit-led service within the Religious Society of
Friends and in the wider community.
These last few months, I have developed
many new relationships and have begun work with others to build
organization and make practical gains for justice. My most energetic
involvement continues to be with Occupy
Our Homes DC, as we work to promote a society in which
individuals and families are able to secure decent, affordable
housing - a society in which the big banks are not permitted to throw
honest, hard-working people out of their homes.
We won our first
victory in late February, when we worked with Bertina
Jones - an accountant and grandmother - to obtain a loan
modification, despite the fact that Freddie Mac and Bank of America
were dead set on kicking her out of her house. After raising
public awareness of the issues - and the fact that Bank of
America's dealings with Bertina were probably illegal - the two giant
banks backed down, and the foreclosure on Bertina's home has been
reversed.
Last week, we
won another victory when we worked with DC tenant Dawn Butler to
help her stay in her home, despite an imminent threat of eviction.
Dawn's landlord had been foreclosed on some time ago, but in DC
tenants have the right of first refusal - if they want to buy the
house they live in, they are first in line. Unfortunately, JP
Morgan Chase calculated that they
could make more money by throwing Dawn out on the street.
Apparently breaking the law and manipulating the courts, JP Morgan
Chase had successfully obtained an eviction order. The US Marshalls
were on their way, literally to throw Dawn's belongings out on the
street.
Fortunately, we at Occupy Our Homes
were able to mobilize very quickly, blockading Dawn's house while she
went down to the courthouse to seek a stay of eviction. The courts had ignored her request before, but now they knew that the community was
ready to stand in the way of eviction. We would not go quietly.
With the pressure on, the judge granted Dawn a stay of eviction until her next
court date, later this month. We feel confident that Dawn has a
strong legal case, and will eventually be able to purchase her home.
But we intend to keep the spotlight on until we know for sure.
Behind these exciting actions lies an
increasing depth of organization. Much of my time has been taken up
this past month with committee meetings, telephone calls, and
outreach to the wider community. One of the most exciting ways that I
have been able to reach out more broadly has been to get involved in
a weekly pastors' breakfast, attended mostly (though not exclusively)
by African-American ministers. It is a time for these pastors to come
together, support one another in prayer, sermon and song, and to
share their thoughts with one another about the latest happenings in
the city. It is a real blessing for me to be able to take part in
this gathering, and I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with
so many seasoned leaders from the African-American Church here in DC.
My work in the wider community is
complimented by an ever-deepening involvement in the ministry of
Capitol Hill Friends. I have felt blessed this past month by regular
mid-week meetings of the members. We gather to check in, do business,
and support one another spiritually. It is a vital time for me to
touch base and hear how the Lord is
speaking to us in our individual lives, as well as in our shared
ministry.
This past weekend, we held our Spring Retreat in Barnesville, Ohio,
together with Friends from Detroit and Philadelphia. This is our
third retreat since Capitol Hill Friends and New
City Friends formed a network of mutual care and accountability.
The gathering included not only members of our two groups, but also
a like-minded friend from Philadelphia. We hope that as this network
continues to evolve it will be a source of strength and encouragement
for many local Meetings, as well as individuals who would benefit
from the support and care that our network can provide.
It felt good to have our retreat in
Barnesville. Roughly equidistant from DC and Detroit, Barnesville is
also the hometown of Ohio
Yearly Meeting, and functions as a sort of "Mecca" for
Christ-centered, unprogrammed Quakers. Both New City
Friends and Capitol Hill Friends have had significant involvement
with Ohio Yearly Meeting, and our faith and practice is deeply
influenced by their witness. It felt somehow right to me that we root
our new Christian community in the same physical space as the ancient
Ohio Yearly Meeting. It is my prayer that our emerging network will
absorb many of the valuable traits of our Conservative kin, even as
we seek to be faithful to the distinct call that God has for us as
fellowship.
Life is vibrant for me right now, alive
with an immediacy and urgency that feels both pregnant with
possibility and grounded in responsibility. I find myself being
called into new, risky action - both within the Quaker community, and
in my work for economic justice. At the same time, I am pulled into a
deep grounding in place and community. I feel increasingly
accountable to Capitol Hill Friends, and to our wider network, and I
am settling into a long-term commitment to a new neighborhood and
community here in DC.
I never expected radical faithfulness
to look so... Ordinary. I used to think that "freedom"
meant not being constrained by anything but immediate, fiery
revelation from God. I am beginning to see that what faithfulness
looks like in my life right now is quite different from that romantic
vision. Rather than becoming less entangled in the world, God is
calling me to engage deeply in this human existence. I
am to build a house and dwell in it; to plant vineyards and eat their
fruit.
God calls me to show my commitment not
by freeing myself from the conditions of everyday life, but instead
by entering more deeply into them. Rather than taking me out of the
world, Christ is guiding me into a life of deeper, inextricable
involvement. Jesus challenges me to be part of not only a
city on a hill, but also a city in the trenches. I feel God
calling me to a witness that is anything but aloof - one that is
revealed in its profound identification with the daily struggles of
the human community.
The daily grind of ordinary
faithfulness is harder to talk about than the exhilaration of big
actions or gatherings. It is easy for me envision the Kingdom of God
as existing in a daring, decisive moment - heroic, charged,
picturesque bursts of clarity, beauty and power. Such moments do
exist, and it is a blessing when they occur. Nevertheless, the
foundation of all God's work is steady, hidden faithfulness in
ordinary time. I pray for the Holy Spirit to teach me humility and
singleness of vision to dwell in the divine ordinary, to embrace the
simple pains, pleasures, duties and delights of life - all to the
glory of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
May his life and presence be with each
of you, today and always.
Micah Bales
2 comments:
I hold you in the light that God might give you more energy and strength to do what you have been called to do. It is inpiring to read not only about your journey of faith but also involvement in community issues. I see faith and practice in action ( I mean practically).
Obedience and staying "low"...pretty practical and ordinary stuff. Talk tomorrow!
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