A Problem of the Heart

For Jesus is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.  Ephesians 2:14

 It is easy to live discouraged. The news is rife with violence and division and our daily activity confronts us with brokenness in relationships and local systems. Complicating matters, the mechanisms and customs we have relied on to bring order and peace show their limitations. But we are not without hope. The cross of Christ is not a magic wand but it does have power to bring change. It exposes the lie that things are not that bad--at least nothing that a little education or money can’t solve. The cross reveals that humanity has a heart problem—and it reveals that the world has a God who has a heart. That Heart heals our heart with a steadfast love, freeing us to operate not out of fear, revenge, condemnation, needing to prove ourselves or protecting the way things always have been, but to live instead, as people who can risk taking another step partnering with Jesus to live into peace—to forgive, seek forgiveness, to consider one another as having great worth to God, to stand up for those who are othered, to love mercy and seek conditions where all life can thrive.

By baptism we are united in Christ. We are crucified with him which means the root of discouragement, selfishness, pride—all that contributes to division with others has been put to death.
Consider the cross…risk…hope…and love as Christ has loved you.

“Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. Romans 15:7

— James B

Edition 13: Acting in Solidarity with our AAPI Siblings

Dear Union Community,

As we grieve and lament the deeply rooted sin of racism in the US and the trauma of ongoing acts of hateful violence exposed so horrifically toward our Asian siblings this week, may we humbly listen deeply to one another’s stories and seek another way of being -- a new humanity at the foot of the cross.

The tragedy in Georgia this week that claimed 8 lives, including 6 women of Asian descent, has brought into clear focus, once again, the depths of racism and white supremacy that saturates our country. The Seattle Presbytery's Race & Equity Task Force has released this statement and ways to respond, and we hope that you will find a meaningful way to take action in this moment.

A Message from the Race & Equity Task Force:

Our hearts break with the news of the fatal shootings in Atlanta, which we recognize as part of a larger pattern of increased violence and racism against Asian Americans. While the pain and grief of this latest tragedy are fresh, racism and violence towards Asian Americans are as old as the foundation of white supremacy that our country was built upon. Words and statements are not enough to counteract systems that continue to perpetuate violence. Today we ask all members of the Seattle Presbytery community to take action, to stand in solidarity with our Asian American siblings in our churches, schools, neighborhoods, and communities. Please take time to look through the list of resources and ways to advocate, act, and learn and choose some way to act in this time of tragedy. Invite others in your circle to join you. Be bold and sacrificial, in accordance with Christ's bold and sacrificial love for all humanity.

Attached to the bottom of this letter is a list of ways to respond. There are ways to learn, act, and advocate. Take some time to engage in this moment, to listen to the stories of pain and trauma. In Romans, Paul calls us to "weep with those who weep," to get close and in proximity with one another that we might better understand the pain and suffering that our friends, and neighbors, and community members feel.

This Sunday, we invite you to join us in worship as Caroline Lu will share in her gifted way a story about her experience as an Asian American woman. We invite you to receive her story, to sit quietly and reflect, and to share space with our sister's embodied experience of race in our country. The following Sunday, March 28th @ 10AM, you are invited to join us for Unpacking Privilege Through Our Stories as Caroline continues to teach us about sharing our own stories around race and racism.

Thank you for acting in solidarity with our AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) siblings. May our actions take us a step closer to a world where every person is valued and honored for who God created them to be.

* * *

Unpacking Privilege Through Our Stories

4th Sunday, March 28th @ 10AM | More info & zoom link here

Whether you were with us last month or not, you are invited to join. We will continue to share ideas in small groups this next 4th Sunday, though sharing is voluntary! Please come as you are, and share in whatever way feels authentic to you.

For those who have begun to work on your stories, how is it going? Do you have any questions? The template and guidelines are attached to this email for reference. Feel free to reply to Truth & Justice with any questions you might have.

* * *

RESOURCES TO RESPOND TO ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE

Resources found from Brittany Packnett Cunningham @mspackyetti on Instagram and Stop AAPI Hate.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

• Mental Health Resources

  • Crisis Line 1-800-273-TALK, for Asian Languages 1-877-990-8585

  • Unity Collective Counseling is a Seattle-area non-profit providing inter-sectional care and counseling for AAPI people and other marginalized groups

  • Racial Trauma Toolkit by Boston College

  • A Directory of Asian, Pacific Islander, and South Asian American (APISAA) Mental Health Therapists in Washington state

  • @SubtleAsianMentalHealth on Facebook is offering free 1-1 Supportive Listening Sessions

ADVOCATE

• Be a vocal supporter of Ethnic Studies in your local school district and educational institutions to better understand the centuries of violence the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities have experienced in the US.

• Contact your local government officials and ask what they are doing to address anti-AAPI sentiment and violence.

• Show up in solidarity at a rally organized by Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Coalition Against Hate and Bias:

  Monday, March 22 @ 3:30PM
  Tukwila: Southcenter Pkwy & Strander Blvd

ACT

• Support local AAPI-owned businesses.

• Watch Minari on your preferred streaming platform. “A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to an Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream.”

• Reach out and check in with AAPI friends and family.

• Visit stopaapihate.org 

  • to report an act of hate towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Reporting these incidents will help in developing policies to advocate for

  • Safety tips for those experiencing or witnessing hate

  • Donate to enable Stop AAPI Hate to track and respond to the surge in racism and xenophobia

• FREE Bystander Intervention Trainings & Guide at www.ihollaback.org.

• Support Red Canary Song, a grassroots organization that aims to advocate for migrant sex workers, support migrant leadership, and fight against unjust policies.

• Donate and support Asian-American Non-Profits:

  • Asian American Advancing Justice

  • National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum

LEARN

• Learn how anti-AAPI sentiment is showing up in our community (KIRO news March 16, 2021)

• Article: To be an Asian woman in America (CNN March 17, 2021)

• Books to Read

  • Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

  • Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller

  • Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

Eco-act 21-05: 51 billion tons

Our 2020 Eco-Faith posts focused primarily on actions that we as individuals can take to care for our physical world. In 2021 we will continue to occasionally offer a new idea for individual earth-friendly acts. But we’re also launching two new projects. We’ve been sowing the seeds for one of these in recent posts: Union Gardens, our socially-distanced community garden project that aims to grow a bit of food for ourselves—and a bit more that we as a community can share with Compass House, Lake Union Village and others. Now we’re waiting hopefully and continuing our preparations for the first sprouts in the coming weeks.

With Union Gardens underway, we introduce a second project area to think about: climate change, and specifically, what positive actions the Union community might take in support of our environment.

Climate change/global warming is seen by many as an existential threat to the quality of life—perhaps life itself—on planet earth, while a few may still deny or ignore the problem. Among those who acknowledge it, some feel climate change will be controlled through solar and wind initiatives, electric vehicles, the Paris Accord, and other efforts. Others, however, believe current efforts represent only a tiny fraction of what will be needed to avert catastrophic climate change.

avoiding climate disaster

a book review on Bill Gates’ new book

So how might Union as a community work on this confusing but critical issue? It seems that the necessary first step will be coming to a common definition and understanding of climate change. And to attempt to do this, we turn to a recently-published book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster*, written by Bill Gates. This informative, reader-friendly, realistic-yet-hopeful book presents a structure for understanding climate change and its causes, what tools are available now to address the problem, what additional steps must be taken—quickly—and what roles governments, private enterprise and individuals must play. We will draw on this book in several upcoming posts, and heartily recommend it.

The problem

Greenhouse gases are added to the world’s atmosphere every year at the rate of 51 billion tons,** give or take, and cause the earth to warm, which in turn causes or will cause a variety of problems for humans—and everything else: rising sea levels, extreme weather, drought, crop failure, wildfires, poor air quality, famine, mass migration, economic distress, political unrest, …. And because greenhouse gases (aka, carbon dioxide or GHG) remain in the atmosphere for centuries, simply reducing the rate of yearly addition will not stop global warming. The analogy that Bill uses is that merely reducing the flow of water into a filling bathtub will not avoid an eventual overflow. Turning off the flow is essential.

GHG sources

Greenhouse gases are created by virtually everything humans do. In his book, Bill organizes GHG sources into five groups and provides estimates for the portion of annual emissions each represents:*

• Manufacturing 31%

• Electricity 27%

• Agriculture 19%

• Transportation 16%

• HVAC 7%

Tackling the problem

Because pretty much everything we do creates greenhouse gases, and because driving GHG emissions to zero is critical, tackling global warming is a uniquely difficult problem: basically, we have to change EVERYTHING, more or less AT THE SAME TIME. And if that isn’t daunting enough, GHG emissions must be eliminated in economically and morally just ways that allow the world’s poor and emerging countries to benefit along with us. As Bill notes, “We need to accomplish something gigantic we have never done before, much faster than we have ever done anything similar…. But don’t despair. We can do this.”*** Let’s see if we can find a way for the Union community to help.

*How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, the Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, Bill Gates

** Ibid., page 3

*** Ibid., page 5

Friday Reflection: Stories Matter

Jesus was a storyteller.  

When he walked this earth, he told stories and he delighted in and lifted up the stories of his people.

• When he wanted people to know about God’s activity in the world, he told a story (Luke 8).

• When he sensed that people were showing favoritism that did not reflect how God created them to be, he told a story. (Luke 14)

• When he wanted to share about God’s extravagant love, he told a story (Luke 15).

• When he wanted to help people learn about prayer, he told a story. (Luke 18)

• When he wanted to encourage people to share of their God-given gifts, he told a story.  (Luke 19).

Jesus told stories within the Jewish culture that revolved around storytelling. These storytelling traditions are captured throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  It is important to reflect on ways our modern culture, influenced by enlightenment thinking of reason and deduction, has lost the art of storytelling that is actually foundational to our faith in God:

Parker Palmer, educator and activist, writes:

“Instead of telling our valuable stories, we seek safety in abstractions, speaking to each other about our opinions, ideas, and beliefs rather than about our lives. Academic culture blesses this practice by insisting that the more abstract our speech, the more likely we are to touch the universal truths that unite us. But what happens is exactly the reverse: as our discourse becomes more abstract, the less connected we feel. There is less sense of community among intellectuals than in the most 'primitive' society of storytellers."

The late Sir Jonathan Sacks, Emeritus Chief Rabbi, has quoted the late Ellie Wiesel who said,

"God created Man because God loves stories." Sacks goes on to say "We are the stories we tell about ourselves.... We come to know who we are by discovering of which story or stories we are a part."

Learning To Tell Our Stories

On 4th Sundays, some of us have been learning how the tool of storytelling can help us as we learn more about ourselves and each other.  We invite you to learn with us on Fourth Sundays between now and July. Here is information.  

During this season of Lent, we take time to receive the life altering story of the cross – a story of love poured out to heal us individually and communally.  The love story of the cross is our story of hope:

Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.  Ephesians 2: 16-18

During this time of Lent – as we walk together toward the Cross, we invite you to take time to explore your own story and pause to hear others.

• What is the story you cannot help but tell?

• As you listen to others, what are the stories (sometimes underneath what is being said), that they are longing to tell?

May we grow as a community that listens and tells our stories.  We are all walking stories. Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2) is with us as we learn to tell our stories and learn to hold another’s story.

Invitation

Spend time with your story; spend time with Jesus’ stories, listen to the stories around you. During this season of Lent, receive your part in God’s big story of gracious love.

A prayer by Caroline Lu

Guide me Jesus, the Christ
Who knows so much
Remembers from where I’ve come
The stories that I hold

Guard my thoughts, actions, and ways
That easily run astray
Give me your peace
That knows none other

 Be my wise voice
Attune my ears to you
As I sit in quiet
Amidst the whispering breath 
--
Caroline

Eco-act 21-04: Garden Calendar!

We’re starting a community garden…but dispersed! As you may recall, we are aiming to get our community gardening at home (in any form!). Our hope is that tending to the earth would reconnect you to God and all of Creation, and that any surplus you grow could contribute to Union’s robust food ministries. (For more info on our vision for Eco-Faith in this next year, read more here).

Union Gardens

Read on for a nifty planting calendar

To start you off on your way, we’ve developed a Planting Calendar detailing the kinds of produce you can grow, when, and how to get them going. Additionally, in the “Union Weekly Use” column, we’ve listed the quantity needed for our weekly burrito roll, with current recipes in mind. Obviously, there are some blanks in that column! We would welcome any and all produce that you contribute and can either add them to burritos or distribute fresh produce to Compass House or LUV.

If you would like access to the spreadsheet itself, click here. Otherwise, feel free to download this picture to print out for your reference.

Let us know what tips or tricks you might have in the way of starts and prepping your soil for a fruitful harvest. And, we will be starting a What’s App group to share ideas and/or a monthly zoom chat on a Thursday night — stay tuned!

We’ll be prepping our gardens right alongside you. Happy planting!!

* Useful references: Food Grown Right, In Your Backyard, McCrate and Halm; The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide, Seattle Tilth

** Assuming approximate last frost date of April 15th, per Sky Nursery

Friday Reflection: Journey toward the Cross

First Friday of Lent Refection from  Renée                                   2.19.21

Let’s journey through Lent together. For Jesus is our peace.

We journey together toward the cross. For the cross is for you, for me, for your neighbors, for our city, for our nation, for our world. The cross is for those you know by name; and for those who are strangers to you. The cross is for those in whom you delight and for those with whom you struggle.

Ephesians 2 says boldly:

The cross of Christ Jesus breaks down our barriers of hostility and enmity; the cross of Christ Jesus builds bridges for healing and new relationships where was none or only divide. The cross of Christ Jesus.

We are people that are quite aware of the reality of divide in ourselves, in our families, in our society. We know our tendency toward “othering” another human being. This season of Lent let us journey together toward that which brings us together. The cross of Christ Jesus. At the foot of the cross where we humbly bow to our Prince of Peace, there is no “othering.” There is only a new humanity in need of grace.

We are people who are overwhelmed by the sorrow and suffering of our world. We journey toward the One who “bears in his heart all wounds” (Edith Sitwell). The writer of Hebrews affirms in 2:18: “Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.”

The Old English word for Lent (lencten) literally means “lengthen” and is translated to mean “spring” because spring is the lengthening of days as the sun’s light lingers in the sky.

During this season of Lent, we invite you to lengthen your vision toward the cross of Christ Jesus and to take time to meditate upon and give thanks for the centrality of the cross.  We are centering our Sunday messages upon Ephesians 2 while also reading other passages that bring our attention to the saving grace of Jesus.

You may want to read Ephesians 1-3 and spend time in various translations.

Walking Partners

As we journey together we also encourage you to reach out to a “walking” partner. Jesus never sent people out alone.  Who is someone you can connect with for a few minutes each week to share thoughts from your walk? You may want to physically meet up for a walk  or simply talk on the phone. Can’t think of a partner? Email jamesb@unionchurchseattle.org and he will make a connection.

Connections

We also will provide multiple times to connect throughout the week that you will find on our webpage:

Monday Midday Prayer | 12:15 pm
Wednesday Morning Prayer | 8 am
Wednesday Guided Reflections | 7 pm | March 3,10, 17, 24
Friday Movie Nights
Neighborhood Meals in Parks

If you have an idea for how to connect, let James B know.

Let us journey together in Lent, for Jesus is our peace.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride. 

--Isaac Watts

Ephesians 2:14-18
For Christ Jesus is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body[c] through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Eco-Act 21:03: Preparing and Waiting—Ash Wednesday & Union Gardens

Lent is widely recognized as “a period of penitential preparation for Easter,” often marked by fasting and somber contemplation intended to focus our thoughts on Jesus’ impending death—and our own mortality. Gardening offers supporting images for this: the garden of Gethsemane, for example, or the reminder that our lives originated from the earth and will return to it.

But Lent also invites us to wait and prepare for resurrection and rebirth, and gardening offers rich imagery here: seeds placed into the earth emerging as new life … John 12:24 reminding us that “if the [kernel of wheat] falls to the ground and dies … it produces many seeds”—the plants which returned to dust in the fall return to life in the spring … and, as Hannah Brown notes in an article for Living Lent, Jesus was even mistaken for a gardener, in the garden by the tomb.

Brown links our climate crisis to the “lament-and-Gethsemane” aspect of Lent, but she also links it to rebirth and new life. And she observes that “Since the middle ages, it has been tradition for church communities to create an ‘Easter garden’ during Holy Week.” Hmmm… sounds a bit like Union Gardens!

Three final items to mention:

• Don’t forget the Bill Gates-Anderson Cooper conversation on climate change, Thursday night, February 18th

• You might enjoy this reflection on The Vegetable Garden and Lent (thosecatholicmen.com)

• · Stay tuned for more news on Union Gardens in the coming weeks!