Archive for January, 2007

20/20 Last Night

Saturday, January 27th, 2007

cross-posted from

http://mukilteomusings.blogspot.com/

The Children of Camden

Last night my husband and I watched ABC’s 20/20 with Diane Sawyer. The program was about America’s children in poverty. Camden, New Jersey was the star because it is the poorest and most violent community in our country. Sawyer profiled several kids living in Camden and compared them to a nearby neighborhood of kids living an upscale life. These two communities are ten minutes apart and yet the Camden kids live in complete squalor. Many of the children are homeless and if they are lucky enough to have a place to live, they survive without lights or heat surrounded by cockroaches and drug deals.

I think I lost it when little Ivan at the beginning of kindergarten was asked to count how many times a day we have meals and to name them. Easy for a five year old, right?? Answer: three meals a day 1-2-3, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Although this five year old was able to count, he had absolutely no idea how to respond to the simple question. Ivan doesn’t have enough to eat—in the United States of America.

It all took me back to my days as a teacher’s aide in a remedial program in a school in the poorest area of Kansas City, KS. No difference exists between the abilities of the kids in the oppressed parts of our cities and the abilities of the kids in fancy suburbs–NONE. The difference between the children is opportunity, chance, self-confidence and dignity. Having a warm home with books and three meals a day can change everything. It makes me furious that we have such a huge problem in this nation.

Drugs and alcohol ruin these kids forever when they hit their teen years. It is not hard to understand joining a gang and taking drugs if you sleep in a cold room on a chair with your siblings. Drugs and gangs are the symptom and not the cause. We need to help children at an early age in order to instill hope and to encourage their passions and dreams. They need to believe in themselves and the possibilities of a good life.

Imagine–imagine if we took a fraction of the 4 billion dollars a month we are pouring into the Iraq war and poured it into the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, the Quindaro district in Kansas City, or into Camden, New Jersey. Imagine the lives we could change. Imagine.

The link to information about 20/20 last night:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2819991&page=1

During the show, they mentioned the group Urban Promise which is making some inroads into the devastating poverty in Camden. They have set up a way to donate to help the kids Diane Sawyer profiled. I am so grateful this is available for us to help because during the entire program last night I kept asking what I could do.

http://up2020.servicenetwork.com/

After a little additional checking, it is not hard to find the saint who is behind all of this. His name is Bruce Main and in my opinion, he’s got the right idea about what Jesus was trying to teach us. I am happy to see that an Episcopal church in the area–St. Mary’s Episcopal–has invited Bruce Main to speak and that they support Urban Promise as a part of their outreach. Go St. Mary’s!!

http://www.urbanpromiseusa.org/
http://www.urbanpromiseusa.org/info/speakers.html
http://www.stmaryshh.org/outreach/index.html
 

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Bible Food

Sunday, January 21st, 2007

We should do something with this.  This article was in the Everett Herald yesterday.  An Episcopal priest has written a book about foods of the Bible.  He and his partner have developed recipes.  I realize we do this for our Seder dinner but it might be kind of fun to have a Bible dinner as another event.  The book is called “Cooking With the Bible: Biblical Food, Feasts and Lore” by Rev. Rayner W. Hesse Jr.

You can read the article about it here:

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/01/20/100fea_b3cookbook001.cfm

At the very least, we should purchase the book for our church library.

(request by Janet Eaton)

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Thoughts about Carol Rypkema’s project and Father Peter’s Call to us.

Sunday, January 21st, 2007
Blessed Christmas (cross-posted from mukilteomusings.blogspot.com 1-1-07) 

My head always struggles this time of year. I did not have this angst in my brain as a child. In Helena, Montana, everyone was pretty much the same economically. I didn’t see disparity between groups of people. My husband’s parents were well off by Helena’s standards. We grew up three blocks apart. Truly, minimal difference existed between our families. While they had a little money and a successful jewelry store, my father had education and the respect of the community as the principal of the local junior high.

Seattle is different. We have tons of folks with tons of money. Recently, an article in the paper told about a high school history teacher who donated $1 million to the history department at UW. He is retired and never had a salary of more than $35,000 per year. He merely dabbled in our hot real estate market on the side and earned millions. Nobody knew. His first priority was his students and he is grateful for his education–hence, the donation. The history teacher is one example of many.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=milliondollarman01m&date=20070101&query=history+teacher+million+UW

Yet everyday on the streets of Seattle, one can witness severe poverty. Furthermore, tucked within all of the neighborhoods and only blocks from million dollar houses are apartments or small homes with people barely making it. Through my church we help these needy families in Edmonds, Lynnwood, and Mukilteo with food, presents, and basics such as toothpaste. My kids would pick a matching child of the same sex and age and shop for them. Now the match yeilds older teens who need winter coats and socks. But my help seems paltry. The families are still destitute. We still spend too much on ourselves. In my opinion, my children were raised with privilege and a nice house beyond anything I ever imagined as a kid in Helena. It is all so dichotomous.

And I am haunted always by a Christmas Eve 25 years ago. As a young lawyer working in a downtown Seattle law firm, I waited in the dark for my bus. Working in the big city was exciting. More than once while standing at the bus stop, I would look up at the sky scrapers and feel amazed that this little girl from Montana was there. But this one dark night I was approached by a homeless man. He told me he had no where to go and it was Christmas. He asked me if he could come home with me. In all likelihood, alcohol gave him the courage to pose the question. He was not belligerent. He was not coming on to me. He was not panhandling. He was a desperate and sad soul.

How did I respond? I told him it was not possible. I said no. I apologized and wished him a “Merry Christmas”. He walked away. I stared at the streets of Seattle and the Christmas lights through the bus window and tears trickled down my cheeks. The encounter profoundly affected me that Christmas and every Christmas since. I did nothing to help this person except to feel terrible about his predicament.

My response over the years, I guess, has been to teach my children. They have received my message and for this my soul is grateful. My son plans to head for South America after he graduates to teach English to children and in some way to improve living conditions for the poorest of the poor. My daughter is hooked up with some great organizations trying to end global poverty. From her, I received my best Christmas present–donations in our name to Oxfam.
http://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com/

Each of us received a card describing a representation of the gift she made in our name. Along with the description was a personal note from her:

1. For her brother, she bought a sheep.

“Dear Lucas, You are fortunate to be able to swathe yourself in wool and leather and to consume lamb and steak whenever you please. But some people have to live off of rice and thin textiles. This Christmas you can feel happy in knowing that your gift is allowing a family to survive and make a living. So enjoy your roast beef! Love, Kaley”

2. For her Daddy, she protected traditional fishing grounds.

“Dear Daddy, Since we have the means to be able to pay for a personal fishing trip every year to Alaska I thought it would be applicable to ensure that some family with less than that can do the same thing! I love you and Merry Christmas—feel good about this gift. Kaley”

3. For me, an emergency toilet was purchased in my honor.

“Dear Mommy, when you have to go to the bathroom you have the luxury of looking out at a beautiful perched view of Puget Sound in a room that will eventually be etched in luxurious marble. Some people have to %^&* in their living room. You can feel good this Christmas that you are upping someone’s quality if life even a smidgen by providing them with a fraction of the luxury you have when you excrete. I love you and Merry Christmas. Kaley”

And the song in my head as I struggle with dichotomy. Thank you, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young for “Teach Your Children“:

You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can’t know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.
Can you hear and do you care and Cant you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.
Teach your parents well,
Their children’s hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
 by Janet Eaton
Carol, the sharing of your thoughts after the holidays is always moving.  We enjoyed your words and message today. Thank you for the wonderful work you do and thank you for teaching my children well.   

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