March 2017 connections

Connections news • ideas • events March 2017

Issue 2 Vol. 4

Practicing

peace 2

through listening

Violence is the theme of this edition of Connections. Rightly so, since violence seems to be on the rise all around us. Gun violence continues to be an intractable problem in American society. Drug and gang-related violence continues to inject fear into our inner cities. Civil war, persecution and deep insecurity is fueling massive migrations from Central America, Africa and the Middle East, which in turn fuels anti-immigration protest and antagonism in North America, Europe and South America. The terrorism of ISIS encourages nations to wall themselves off, and nations are increasingly uncertain about their alliances with one another. This is to say nothing about the dilemma police are facing across our country, as they struggle to deal with the reality of racial profiling, or the violence embedded in sexual abuse, and the sexual trafficking that is rampant in our land.

How can we as Episcopalians respond to all this violence? Our first response may be to pretend that it isn't happening, or to call on our politicians, police and armed services to defend us. That's not wrong.

From the fourth century on, Christian theologians have taught that Christians in positions of governmental or military authority are obliged to use force, if necessary, to protect the innocent. But this was never meant to excuse a retreat from the essential teaching of Jesus, which is non-violent from beginning to end. Pacifism, or meeting violence with a

God created us for life-giving relationship, and in our heart of hearts, however much we have been bruised and brutalized, our desire is for peace, not enmity.

refusal of violence, remains the heart of the Christian way. We may resort to force when there is no other way to protect those who depend on us, but we must regard force as a last resort. Every member of the military I have known would agree with this.

Force as a last resort reflects Christian conviction about our personal dealings with one another. Jesus calls us repeatedly to be patient and forgiving. Patience and forgiveness are essential Christian virtues. They are the opposite of force. How do these virtues work? When we are patient and forgiving, we listen attentively to what our neighbor has to say, however much we disagree with him or her, and find the place where we can connect and build from there. What we build is the possibility of relationship rather than being stalled in suspicion or enmity.

I was powerfully reminded of this through Margaret's and my recent participation in a Bexley-Seabury course called "Learning from London." The course, which involved observing a number of Church of England congregations in north London and meeting with their clergy and lay leaders, provided insight into a diocese that has experienced a remarkable turnaround in its vitality over the last twenty years.

You will be hearing more from me about this trip over the next few months, but right now I want to focus on how that turnaround has hinged on the spiritual practice of listening.

Congregations that had long isolated themselves from the neighborhoods that surrounded them – many of them dangerous and violent – began re-engaging. They did so simply by asking their neighbors who they were, what they hoped for, what they needed, and how the church could help. Now, listening effectively and patiently is not easy. But over time this deeply spiritual practice has yielded solid relationships, and this in turn has yielded a reduction in violence. It has also restored the local church to a position of servant leadership to all the people around it, be they Christian, Muslim, or completely estranged from religion in any form.

I was disturbed several years ago by a flurry of articles declaring that the human species was essentially violent.

There are surely good reasons for thinking this, but I don't think this view squares well with Christian faith or Christian experience. Certainly, we mustn't discount human sin. But the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament are adamant that God created us for life-giving relationship, and in our heart of hearts, however much we have been bruised and brutalized, our desire is for peace, not enmity.

Here's an example from modern-day Israel.

I subscribe to a weekly Roman Catholic-based news bulletin called Fair Witness, which tries to provide balanced updates on what is happening on the Israeli-Palestinian scene. The bulletin divides its reports into "good news" and "bad news." Just yesterday I read the following piece, entered as "good news." It touched me.

"It happens every night. After dark, the Syrian wounded come to known locations on the Israel-Syria front in the Golan Heights, driven by desperation to seek help from an enemy army. Israeli soldiers on lookout or patrol spot them waiting by the fence and whisk them away to a rear position where army medics soon arrive, according to army officials operating in the area that was seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war..... 'We're doing everything we can to save their lives, to stabilize them and evacuate them to hospital,' said [Israel Defense Forces] Captain Aviad Camisa, deputy chief medical officer of the Golan brigade.... 'Some of the stories stir your emotions. When children come, as a father, it touches me personally.' Millions have fled and hundreds of thousands have been killed in Syria's conflict, which shows only fitful signs of being resolved. The trail to Israel is full of risks. Those who spoke to Reuters at Ziv Medical Center in Safed, northern Israel, did so freely but asked not to be identified or have their faces photographed or filmed for fear of retribution back home.... One man, his legs pierced by shrapnel, survived a bomb attack in his village in which 23 people were killed. 'In the past we used to know Israel as our enemy. That's what the regime used to tell us,' he said. 'When we came to Israel we changed our minds, there is no enmity between us.'"

The seeds of enmity are sown within us, but the spirit of peace is stronger. Let us practice peace, first by listening to one another in our congregations, and by inviting conversation about things on which we might disagree. Then let us take that conversation into the neighborhoods that surround us, listening with every fiber of our being. That is Christian nonviolence on the ground.

The Rt. Rev. Thomas E. Breidenthal is the Bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio. Contact him at tbreidenthal@diosohio.org.

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Listening to the Whos . . .

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ometime shortly after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Theodor Geisel, better known by his penname, Dr. Seuss, made some extremely disparaging remarks about the Japanese people. The normally openminded and liberal Geisel made no differentiation between the Japanese people responsible for the attack and the entire Japanese race. His position was that if America wanted to win the war then they had to kill the Japanese (actually, he used a racial slur for Japanese people that I won’t use here).

Geisel, like many Americans, was relying on emotion rather than reason surrounding this tumultuous time in world history. His emotions drove him to develop a passionate rhetoric of hatred and violence toward the Japanese.

He deplored racism toward Jewish people and African Americans in the U.S., however his animosity toward the Japanese never waned throughout the war. He used his cartooning skills to contribute to the American propaganda machine. Along with cartoons lampooning Hitler and Mussolini, he also depicted ALL Japanese as fascists and traitors.

now legendary elephant, Horton – “A person’s a person, no matter how small”.

A person’'s a person, no matter how small.

Then, something happened after the war. Geisel traveled to Japan. During that trip, he went to schools all over Japan asking children to draw what they wanted to be when they grew up. The trip made a deep impression on him. His animosity toward Japanese people disappeared. His opinion of the Japanese people literally made a 180-degree turn. He suddenly saw all people as people. It was while falling in love with the Japanese people and examining his own prejudice that he wrote the words that would eventually be said by his

In fact, the entire book, Horton Hears A Who, is not simply a whimsical children’s book. It’s a moral compass.

Horton Hears a Who is an allegory for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and the American post-war occupation of Japan. Author Thomas Fensch describes the moral message of Horton as “universal, multi-national, multiethnic. In a word: Equality.”

Over the last 60 years, Horton has implored us to be accepting of all of God’s people. Horton possesses a Zen-like wisdom and a deep sense of empathy that sustains him as he alone fights for what is right. The fact that it was preceded by a call to hatred and violence from the exact same author is quite remarkable. Dr. Seuss is legendary for countless reasons but not the least of which is his willingness to dig deep into his own heart and turn something that was ugly and ungodly into something that is beautiful and sustaining.

-Dr. Seuss

A violent reaction to injustices, whether real or perceived, seems to be part of the human condition. We can all be pushed toward an attitude of hatred and violence. The question is, what do we do then?

David Dreisbach serves as Director of Communications for the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

Contact him at ddreisbach@diosohio.org.

PEACE Becoming instruments of

God, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

T

he prayer attributed to St. Francis resonates deeply within me, especially now as I reflect back on this past year when Christ Church Cathedral focused our prayers, pastoral support and advocacy on the scourge of gun violence.

We have created a special link from our homepage called “We remember”, and on it resides the tragic list of 81 Cincinnatians (and counting) who lost their lives in the past year due to a firearm. Some were murdered, several died as a result of suicide or domestic violence. The youngest was five years old. Twenty-two were under the age of 20. Each was a brother, sister, father, mother, daughter, son, and friend. Each was a beloved child of God. They rest not-at-peace with the 300plus people who die from gun violence every day in this nation. Yes, do the math to consider the totality of violence that occurs every year. More children die annually from a firearm than die from all childhood cancers combined. Millions

of dollars fund research for cancer cures yet for 17 years the Congress of the United States, under immense lobbying pressure from the NRA, has frozen or blocked all scientific research into this epidemic.

Each week, as the names of Cincinnati gun victims are read during our Sunday services as part of our prayers of the people, my heart aches. I know I am surrounded by people of faith, perhaps people searching for faith, but all who are human beings gathered with other human beings to find answers to the troubling questions of violence. We pray for the families and friends whose lives are forever altered. We pray for the victims and the perpetrators of violence. We are frustrated by the inability or unwillingness of our leaders to work together and find solutions to the epidemic of gun violence in our nation, a rate of firearm violence that surpasses even the most violent places on the planet. I know that gun violence has long been a problem in the US and it won’t go away overnight.

I believe it needs to be named for what it is and dealt with as a matter of public health policy.

Most of us are pretty immune to the daily carnage, the individual losses of a stranger, an unknown sister here or a child over there. It is mass shootings that tend to get our attention and for a time, focus our grief, our anger, and our demand that something be done. It happened most recently in June 2016 with the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.

Yet, in 2015 there were 375 mass shootings in our country and the cumulative grief and anger did not translate into our resolve to make change. Instead we have focused on the shooters. We have focused on their ethnicity and their mental health. We’ve poured more energy into debating so many other issues. We have failed to consider the obvious solutions or the more complex causes of violence. We’ve offered our allegiance and reverence to other gods and idols of “liberty” while ignoring the dignity and worth of every human life.

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This image of a child erasing a weapon was created by Iranian artists Icy and Sot as a part of a public art display initiated by Christ Church Cathedral, intended to foster conversation about reducing gun violence in the city of Cincinnati.

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Many of us can remember where we were on December 14, 2012. It was the day when the news came out of Sandy Hook Elementary School that 20 six- and seven-year-old children had been shot along with six adults who tried to save them. Sandy Hook was not the first mass shooting, and as we know, it was most certainly not the last. But it was out of that tragedy that Bishops United Against Gun Violence was founded. This coalition of over 60 Episcopal Church bishops, one of whom is Bishop Breidenthal, is committed to exploring and advocating for all possible means of reducing the appalling levels of gun violence in our society. It is a big tent and includes bishops who own guns, who are NRA members, as well as those who do not own or use guns. They commit to honest dialogue and solidarity in their advocacy for the rights of our children to grow in safety. Theirs is a moral call for all people of faith to confront the tragedy of gun violence. Theirs is a call to engage in sacred conversations about guns and the common good. They have been clear in their message that the intersection of pov-

erty, racism, and gun violence are together part of an “Un-holy Trinity”. They are concrete and unified in their proposals for change. This is a list of their proposals: • Handgun purchaser licensing • Background checks on all gun purchasers • Restrictions on gun ownership by domestic abusers • Classification of gun trafficking as a federal crime • Encouragement for development of “smart gun” technology • Federal funding for research into gun violence prevention strategies • Safe storage of firearms To include more of us in an understanding of the “Unholy Trinity,” the Bishops United Against Gun Violence will offer a three-day conference in April (See page 7 for more information). Christ Church Cathedral will send a team and I encourage other congregations to send a delegation so we might return and together continue our advocacy in strength and solidarity.

Clearly, the powers and principalities

of our nation are indicating they are not onboard with the objectives outlined by our good bishops. The current Congress and President appear to desire less gun regulation. All the more reason for us to remember that in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God”. Jesus calls us to resist the idolatry of all things other than God. I want to be among those children of God. A spiral of peace can counteract the cycle of violence. The spiral of peace begins in our hearts and our homes, and moves outward from there. It can encompass family, neighbors, and our world community in education, compassion, and action.

The Very Rev. Gail Greenwell serves as Dean of Christ Church Cathedral. Contact her at ggreenwell@cccath.org.

UNHOLY TRINITY:

the Intersection of Racism, Poverty and Gun Violence

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egistration is now open for “Unholy Trinity: the Intersection of Racism, Poverty and Gun Violence” a conference sponsored by Bishops United Against Gun Violence on April 20-22, 2017 at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

The conference will feature a “three-note” panel of AfricanAmerican leaders offering perspectives on poverty, racism and gun violence and include Bible study focused on the conference themes and a public liturgy in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Workshops at the conference are devoted to helping participants work with police, young people, legislators, the media, anti-violence advocacy groups and other constituencies to reduce gun violence.

“Our goal is to continue creating a network of Episcopalians inspired and equipped to work against gun violence and the social forces that drive it,” said Bishop Mark Beckwith of Newark, one of three co-conveners of Bishops United.

The “three-note” panelists are: the Rev. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas, Susan D. Morgan Distinguished Professor of Religion at Goucher College and canon theologian at Washington National Cathedral; the Rev. Julian DeShazier, senior minister of University Church in Chicago and a hiphop artist who performs as J.Kwest; and Natalie Moore, a reporter for WBEZ, Chicago’s National Public Radio affiliate, and author of The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation. The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, will serve as moderator.

The public liturgy will include a prayerful procession to sites of gun violence on Chicago’s South Side and homilies by members of Bishops United Against Gun Violence and the Rev. Michael Pfleger of the Faith Community of St. Sabina.

Dr. Dora Mbuwayesango, dean of students and George E. and Iris Battle Professor of Old Testament and Languages at Hood Theological Seminary, will lead the Bible study.

Ecumenical partners, community organizing organizations, and advocacy groups have been invited to lead workshops and attend the conference as part of our efforts to create a Beloved Community working against gun violence.

Conference Schedule: Thursday, April 20, 2017: 3 to 8:30 p.m.

Friday, April 21, 2017: 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 22, 2017: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Registration fees for the conference are: $180.25 through February 14, 2017; $206 February 15 through April 19. The conference is open to everyone who is committed to exploring the intersection of racism, poverty and gun violence as people of faith. Registration for the conference will be capped at about 250. Learn more or register at http://bishopsagainstgunviolence.org/unholy-trinity/.

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t c e l g e n f o e c n e l o i v The

A

two at least one of the r ea h I , n to in kl n k in Fra argument or a neigh d ny given day I wal u lo a e av h t h ig someone m g is following things – run-down everythin ow h t ou ab k ar m re ld ages borhood visitor cou are two small langu e es h T s. on ti di n co the neighand sort of laugh at y in impoverished it n u m om C e th of g the culture unity of Creation m om C e of violence pervadin th te ca di worrisome and in habitants) is not in l al d an , borhoods. Both are ld or w l ints een God, the natura its own right and po in t (relationships betw en ol vi is h ac E ned reality. living in God’s plan olence of neglect. vi er rg la e th d ar w to

Neglect is an all too frequently forgotten form of violence.

Neglect, because of its apparent invisibility seems to create trauma capable of going unrecognized. Franklinton has been neglected for far too long. Franklinton’s surrounding Community of Creation views the neighborhood as unsalvageable and as a result is perpetually ignored.

Neighbors consistently carry the traumas associated with urban poverty on their shoulders, in their faces, and just as importantly in their souls. Trauma arises out of witnessing frequent arguments, assault, deaths, house fires, changing living spaces, etc. The neglected neighborhood is treated as though people do not dwell in it. The Community of Creation has failed neighborhoods like Franklinton. People see dilapidated buildings but fail to recognize the humanity of that exact structure’s inhabitants. If the Community cannot look the (in)humanity of poverty in the embodied eye, then the Community fails to see God. Scripture reminds the Community “to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Moreover, “to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”

(Heb 13:2-3) People have the opportunity every day to see God in someone and yet somehow abject poverty continues to exist.

Christians everywhere have a responsibility to resist avarice to more fully encounter God in the stranger. A collective lack of empathy neglects both God and neighbor, harming the entire Community.

When faced with such oppressive trauma where does the entry point to healing begin? As Christians in the Community of Creation were are called to break down barriers to full participation in society. We are called to see God in one another and bring God’s liberating justice into the world. Beyond that, Jesus shows us over and over again that part of the commitment we make is living in community and solidarity with the oppressed. Even society’s most cherished response to poverty is violently neglectful. Traditional charity fails to acknowledge the root of the oppression and further creates a dichotomy between power holders and the people receiving the charity.

The encounters of traditional charity bolster barriers rather than tear them down.

An empowerment model based in relationships will prove much better at encountering humanity in others. Oppression is actively resisted by looking for (and of course finding) the face of God in all who are despised and rejected by society.

The burden of recovering from inhumane neglect cannot and should not be placed entirely on the oppressed. The entire Community of Creation has a key role in rehabilitating from long-lasting neglect.

The first step is to establish good, proper relations with

everyone and everything in the Community. Making God’s presence in beauty, love and justice and God’s counterpresence to hate, oppression, and injustice abundantly clear.

Theologian Sallie McFague advocates for God’s presence throughout the Community saying: “Everything that happens, good or bad, happens to God also. There are no scraps, no leftovers, no tail ends of creation that do not rest in God; nothing is neglected or passed over. But on the other hand, what of the evil, perverse, murderous greedy events that we humans are responsible for? Even here God is present . . . as the negative critique of them. God is incarnate as the Yes beneath all that is life and love . . . and as the No in all that is cruel, perverse, false, greedy and hateful.”

As long as neighborhoods like Franklinton exist, humans have a greed problem. God’s counter-promise to rampant greed is that everyone have enough. Not too much or too little, but enough. God is against suffering. If people live lacking basic resources while others have abundance, then clearly a resource distribution issue exists. Enough, for this sake should at least consist of reliable access to shelter, food and water.

Franklinton has suffered from human greed. When one part of the Community of Creation aches from neglect, the entire Community, including God, languishes. If God created the world with no scraps or leftovers then that should be an indication to humanity that everything and everyone has inherent worth. As a result of that inherent worth, God calls Christians to ensure that everyone in the Community can participate and has enough.

When the Community is not living into God’s incarnate love exemplified by Christ, neglect seeps in. Neglect, in its silent violence, destroys the Community by preventing relationships.

Franklinton is ready to grow with the Community of Creation, but is the Community ready to accept the neighborhood, and all those like it, as deserving of the Kingdom?

Steven Simpkins is an Episcopal Service Corps member with Confluence Year. He worships with St. John's in Franklinton. The worksites for his year of service are Mount Carmel Healthy Living Center and Franklinton Cycleworks. You can contact Steven at simpki_s1@denison.edu.

1 Sallie McFague, A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008), 172.

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" Imagine having all of your freedoms

taken away, being forced to work against your will, and constantly living under the threat of violence - in short, being forced to live as a slave. Sadly, this situation is a reality for millions of children, women, and men each year as part of the global human trafficking industry. " Texas Congressman Bill Flores

JERUSALEM:

I DON’T LOVE YOU AND I ALWAYS WILL Editor’s note: In this excerpt from Fierce: Women of the Bible and their Stories of Violence, Mercy, Bravery, Wisdom, Sex, and Salvation, author Alice Connor reflects on two chapters of Ezekiel – Chapter 16, the allegory of an unfaithful wife, and Chapter 23, the allegory of the sisters, Oholah and Oholibah – both stories dealing with the judgment of “wicked” women.

I

am straight up furious about these two chapters.

Why the hell is this in the Bible? … Portraying God who created us and loves us and wants the best for us as an abusive lover is counterproductive and viscerally damaging. What does this say not only to people who have been abused but also to the rest of us? God is slow to anger, except when he’s not. God is so angry with you for whatever it is you’ve done that he will make your life miserable and then let someone murder you. Or everything bad that happens to you is punishment from God (“you” being an individual or an entire nation, take your pick). I can’t believe that. I just can’t.

Too many women in the history of humanity have been abused by husbands or lovers in exactly this way.

The woman may or may not have done something wrong, the husband gets angry and hurts her, and then his anger is sated and he apologizes, saying he’ll never do it again. “I’m so sorry, baby. Why you gotta make me so angry?” And then it starts all over; it’s a cycle. …

And we are supposed to be revolted: Ezekiel is performing for us, trying to make us see how hurtful our behavior is. We are almost blind to it. We bemoan how

numb we’ve become to violence, how we can’t be shocked anymore, and it’s true. Disasters happen, we are rightfully sad, we send off a check, and nothing changes.

After a while, we end up with outrage fatigue; things are [awful] out there, but we don’t have the energy for outrage any more. If the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School didn’t shake us up into doing something different, nothing will. But then we turn around and say the most hateful things to each other online, insulting each other for political views, insisting on all-or-nothing solutions, leaking personal images, even threatening each other with death. We don’t see our own violence. We don’t see how our normal, selfish actions, online or not, feed the violence of the world. To paraphrase the cartoon Pogo, we’ve seen the enemy, but we can’t see that he is us.

Continued on next page

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But that’s not new. Our great-greatgrandparents in Jerusalem in 586 BCE were numb to it, too. And also selfish and rude.

So all the prophets use extreme, insulting, offensive language to shock the people into feeling again. “Wake up to what you’re doing!” they say, while punching us in the collective gut. “Wake the F up!” … They were supposed to care for orphans and widows. They were supposed to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. But they didn’t. And we don’t. Therefore, every bad thing that could possibly happen to them as a nation and as individuals was because God was angry and heartbroken. When they (and we) choose not-God, they (and we) leave ourselves open to retribution.

I am still pissed off that these stories exist at all, whether in scripture or in our lives.

But I also understand them, even if it makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable to say so. If I’m honest, I want a God who gets angry— not irrationally angry, not abusive or vengeful, but still angry at suffering and injustice.

I don’t want a soft, fluffy God seeing the pain here and feeling nothing. I want widows and orphans and people being abused to be seen and heard and to find new life. I want a God who is angry at spiritual rhetoric that paints women as sluts and less than men. I want a God who is angry at the denial of the black experience of violence and who is angry at the deaths of police officers. I think that’s exactly what we have. God is angry and Ezekiel wants us to be as well.

And God is heartbroken. The thing is, God gave us free will. God wants to be chosen, not followed by automatons because we can’t do anything else, so in the garden called Eden, God gave us a choice. And because we can and do choose not-God, God is heartbroken. That I can believe – God watching us and thinking, “I love you, I made you. Why do you keep choosing someone else?” This is at the core of our human story: separation from God. We think God can’t possibly love us, can’t possibly exist even, so we’ll have to make love and connection and real justice happen ourselves. We see what the prophets saw: that there is no one to stand in the breach between love and nothingness, that bad things happen to good people and to bad people and to all of us who are both. We feel separate from the

experience of God, so we try to recreate it by ourselves. Separation from God can become functional atheism, which seems to me like a natural response to the world. Within the church, we’ve chosen to name our response to feeling separate “sin.” …

I chose to write about Jerusalem because it is so painful. God’s heart is broken by our actions, and our hearts are broken by how Ezekiel talks about it. It’s not simplistic; it’s a reminder that there’s no easy answer to our questions. These chapters look like the opposite of how we understand God. They’re also exactly what a lot of the world thinks our God is like, because we are like that. We shame women for their sexual desire; we abandon each other in time of need; we choose a presidential candidate or job security over God; we attack and destroy. Our history as Christians and Jews is not all good. We are kind of a mess, and the stories we tell reflect that. They’re hurtful and confounding, and we need them so we can be honest about who we are. Sometimes we are angry for justice, and sometimes we are angry for violent, bloody vengeance. It’s not pretty, but it’s true.

Disturbing passages of scripture aren’t less disturbing if we ignore them. The evil of this world isn’t wiped out by good; it lives alongside it. Death isn’t destroyed by life; they walk hand in hand. But the experience of good, love, light, and life can transform evil, hate, darkness, and life. Let us choose the complex, the beautiful, the kind, the transformative, and as Ezekiel also says, “turn, then, and live.”

Excerpt from Fierce by Alice Conner copyright (c) 2017 Fortress Press. Reproduced by permission.

The Rev. Alice Conner serves as a campus minister at the Edge House, a campus ministry gathering place on the edge of the University of Cincinnati.

Her book Fierce: Women of the Bible and their Stories of Violence, Mercy, Bravery, Wisdom, Sex, and Salvation was released in February. Fierce is available at your local bookstore and at Amazon. com. www.fierceasswomen.com

“T childhood Why is

illiteracy ? a life sentence

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here’s no fighting here,” a camper announces at Christ Church Cathedral, one of Summer Camp Reading’s eleven sites. “I wish school were like this.” An oasis from bullying.

National statistics show that 83% of low-income students are below proficient on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading test, and 49% are below basic level. These 6.6 million children are at risk of failing to graduate from high school on time because they will not be proficient readers. Illiteracy leads to joblessness and a greater chance of incarceration. Not all bullying is done by individuals.

“The way things are” can tyrannize children and leave damaging effects.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and Continued on next page

do not hinder them (Mt. 19:14). In light of the contemporary crisis of poverty and violence, perhaps a more modern translation would read, “Jesus is shouting for followers to love children larger than Sunday School.”

The Diocese of Southern Ohio has begun throwing lifelines to at-risk kids. Since 2010 Summer Camp Reading (SCR) combats summer learning loss and lack of tutoring assistance in Cincinnati by serving struggling readers going into 3rd and 4th grade. Five days a week for six weeks campers receive daily one-on-one tutoring, read books, make crafts associated with the books, play literacy games, write in journals and work on the problem of the day with expert, caring staff. Breakfast and lunch are free.

Camp results are dramatic. At the beginning and end of camp each child takes the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) test that measures oral reading fluency. Grade level vocabulary lists are part of the curriculum, as are values. Each site designs its own service project to give back to the community. Every child improves in confidence and reading skills as well as in demeanor and positive thinking.

“We see miracles, large and small,” Dianne Ebbs, SCR executive director and a member of the cathedral, reports. “Franciso was beaten down by his inability to read and simply refused to try.

After working with his tutor, he was a changed boy and even won the camp spelling bee.”

At St. Andrew’s, Evanston, the campers are surrounded by love. Whole Again supplies the free meals, while parishioners cook special meals, interact with the children and host a pizza party at graduation.

Parishioners and campers are proud of their work. Damon is one of many success stories. He was going into third grade but reading at the first grade level. After coming to camp every day he understood and read the entire second grade vocabulary list.

President Obama wrote a letter to the campers, praising them for working hard and focusing on their education.

SCR augments St. Andrew’s connection to neighboring Xavier University. Students in the Education department observe and volunteer at the camp, and a professor is a member of SCR’s Advisory Group.

St. Monica’s Center in Lincoln Heights offers children a safe place to learn and play in a beautiful setting. After a summer at SCR, campers passed the Ohio Third Grade Reading Guarantee test. Their school congratulated SCR, adding that the campers’ improvement boosted the school up one level in state ratings.

SCR partners with Hyde Park Community United

Not all bullying is done by individuals.

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Methodist Church at a site in Over-the-Rhine, and is consulting with another denomination about adding a site. The program is entrepreneurial. Every year SCR raises money, and each site pays around one-half of the cost or more. The Diocese of Southern Ohio is the fiscal agent, and Episcopal Community Services Foundation has awarded funds for one program. Sites are encouraged to take on leadership, and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County now runs its seven sites.

Free to any organization that would like to start its own reading camp, the SCR website offers a handbook, including list of books, activities and contact information.

But SCR is not enough. Throughout Southern Ohio there are so many children struggling, summer and winter, if not today then tomorrow. A camper catches up in reading, and then a gunfight erupts or an eviction notice is posted, and stress drags everyone down. Often there is no one in the home available to help with homework.

As a diocese we need to open our arms wider to children, to the breadth of Jesus. Where are our effective literacy programs? Who hears the children calling out for help? Illiteracy doesn’t have to be a life sentence. Let’s organize.

For more information about SCR or to donate, visit www. summercampreading.org. SCR is a finalist in the Difference Maker Awards by the Museum Center and Duke Energy Children's Museum, February 11, 2017.

The Rev. Noel Julnes-Dehner, co-founder of Summer Camp Reading, is associated with Christ Church Cathedral and St. Thomas, Terrace Park.

She is a documentary filmmaker. Co-founder Joe Dehner, an attorney with Frost Brown Todd, is Chancellor of the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

Bullying is killing our kids. Being different is killing our kids and the kids who are bullying are dying inside. We have to save our kids whether they are bullied or they are bullying. They are all in pain.

Cat Cora 15

Confluence member Nicole Hamme and Confluence director Jed Dearing attended a march for refugees/ immigrants at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport on January 29.

Escaping violence comes at a cost:

THE ANXIETY OF SEPARATION

“C 16

oming to America was a day of worship and praise,” former refugee Blaise told a group of listeners at the Diocese of Southern Ohio Convention in Dublin this past fall, just two months after his arrival.

“Refugees don’t have choices. And for this opportunity, I thank God every single day.”

Blaise spent 11 years in a refugee camp, sleeping outside on boxes amongst hundreds of others and going days without food, consistently wondering if he would see another day.

Blaise and his brother originally fled their home in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo to escape the threatening conditions of their community. Rebel military groups were, and continue to be, responsible for the murdering and kidnapping of hundreds of thousands in their region.

Now safe in the US, Blaise is an aspiring social worker with the hope of making an impact on the 65.3 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Once settled, it’s safe to say that refugees make incredible assets to our community. Their hardworking mentality comes from a place of past wounds and hardships, and many Continued on next page

use their history of physical and emotional violence to propel themselves forward in business, humanitarian and education ventures. Refugee families strive to create a successful life for themselves and others, doing their work with love and gratitude.

But unfortunately, the optimism can only go so far once harsh reality sets in, or the “honeymoon” phase of arriving in America has subsided. Families are grateful for the chance at a new life, but many cannot fully relax in a place of peace due to the darker side of the resettlement process: family separation.

I sat down with Angie Plummer, the director of Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS) to learn more about this emotionally taxing experience that many families are forced to navigate around.

“All of these cases are refugees separated from other family members back in their home country,” she explains as she points to the file cabinet to the left of her desk, containing drawer after drawer of hundreds of purple folders.

“Can you imagine? What could be worse than being separated from your children, your parents, or a brother or sister?”

Unwanted separation puts tremendous amounts of stress on refugees, for they feel a huge obligation to help the others that have been left behind. And you can’t blame them.

They’ve experienced firsthand the violent conditions overseas and want nothing more than for their relatives to be safe. How can a new life in America be enjoyable without loved ones at their side?

Around 75% of all cases processed through CRIS are for the purpose of reuniting family members, but this process can take an average of four years.

These specific cases, called Affidavit of Relationship (AOR) cases, are for newly settled refugees with a relationship to a family member overseas and are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Many cannot rest comfortably in their new homes with the uncertainty of their loved ones' futures lingering.

Families ask about the status of their case, but not much can be done to speed up the process. On top of already navigating and adapting around a new environment, the unpredictability of their family’s future is tough.

Amina Ali is another former refugee from Somalia who came to the United States in February 2013. Amina came to Columbus with her son, leaving her other four children and husband back at home. Due to horrific violence in her community, she was forced to leave her family, but did not expect to be separated from them for so long. Finally, in July 2016, she and her family were reunited.

“I can’t really describe the feeling when I was at the airport. I never thought I would see them alive, but when I saw them I could not believe it,” Amina says, describing the experience of reuniting with her family after over three years of separation.

“I was crying for about three hours and could not stop it.

My older children knew me from before, but my four-year-old did not know me. Now she knows that I am her mother.”

As people of faith, it is important to consider the facts surrounding the resettlement process. Blaise and Amina were both fortunate to receive the chance at a new life with their loved ones by their side, but it came with a price: years of skepticism and heartbreak. The future for refugees is scary and questionable as new policies are being enacted to suspend entry to various groups. It’s an unfortunate scenario to be in, especially since many of the holes in the system can be credited to phobias surrounding religious groups in our nation.

Moving forward, our actions will be detrimental for the future of our brothers and sisters. The Refugee Council reminds us that resettlement saves lives, encourages other countries to keep their doors open to people needing protection, and promotes regional stability and global security. We cannot turn our backs on the refugees we have pledged to welcome. Refugee resettlement is a cornerstone of U.S. global leadership and for that to continue, we must uphold our values of generosity, hospitality and compassion.

They’ve experienced firsthand the violent conditions overseas and want nothing more than for their relatives to be safe. How can a new life in America be enjoyable without loved ones at their side?

Nicole Hamme is an Episcopal Service Corps member with Confluence Year. Her worksite for her year of service is Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS).

Contact Nicole at hammenl@mail.uc.edu.

17

Finding the good in

GOOD FRIDAY

W

hy do we call something good that was on the surface such a horrific act of violence and that demonstrated the fullness of human depravity?

In the June 1915 edition of The Crisis, the magazine of the NAACP, there is this description of a lynching in Fayette County in Tennessee: “Hundreds of Kodaks clicked all morning at the scene of a lynching. People in automobiles and carriages came from miles around to view the corpse dangling from the end of a rope. Picture card photographers installed

18

GOD’S LOVE IN JESUS TRANSFORMED THE CROSS, AN INSTRUMENT OF TERROR AND DEATH, AND MADE IT A SYMBOL OF LIFE, HOPE AND FORGIVENESS.

a portable printing plant at the bridge and reaped a harvest in selling the postcards showing a photograph of the lynched Negro.

Women and children were there by the score. At a number of country schools the day’s routine was delayed until boys and girls could get back from viewing the lynched man.”

James Cone, a theologian, includes the description in his book, The Cross and the Lynching Tree. He makes the point that both the crucifixion of Jesus and lynching were public acts that were meant to create fear in those who witnessed them and send a clear message that if they got out of line, they could suffer a similar fate. I often reflect that what Jesus and the thousands of Blacks who were lynched in this country share is that they were innocent. They were killed not for what they had done but because of who they were. Jesus had not committed a crime. It was a fact that was noted by Pontius Pilate: “I find no fault in this man.”

When I think about this cross and what happened there some 2,000 years ago, I am often filled with deep and profound emotion.

What must it have been like for those who stood watching the brutality of those events, the hatred and the mocking taunts that were coming from the lips of those who were delighting in what they were witnessing? If any of those who were witnessing these crimes had any conscience, I cannot imagine that the images of a lifeless body hanging before them would not eventually begin to weigh on their hearts and so fill their heads with what they had done that they would wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats

troubled by what they knew in the heart of their hearts to be a miscarriage of justice.

But I go back to the question that began this reflection, namely how do we call something good that on the surface was such a horrific act?

It’s “Good” Friday because the events that led to Jesus dying on that cross were primarily about God – God acting in such love for the world that he allowed his beloved son to die. God’s love in Jesus transformed the cross, an instrument of terror and death, and made it a symbol of life, hope and forgiveness. Jesus, by becoming a willing victim, stands in solidarity with all of those who are persecuted because of who they are. And they in turn are empowered to live a life that will result in their struggle to bring every life into the fullness of justice and freedom, as God intends, so that victim and victimizer can behold each other’s humanity. There is the glory of God in that meaning – in that cross – and it is good.

And when our hands, hearts and voices are involved in this work of healing, justice and reconciliation, it is a good and godly work.

Ken Wheeler is a retired Lutheran pastor. He most recently served at Cross Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Milwaukee, where he is now the director of the Bread of Healing Empowerment Ministry.

He served 18 years as an assistant to the bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA. Reprint information was granted by Living Lutheran for this article as it first appeared on its website (www. livinglutheran.org) on April 2, 2015.

Continued on next page

19 19

Videos WHEN IS VIOLENCE OK? Journalist Tim Pool cites examples of public praise of recent violent actions to ask the question “When is violence OK?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMcK6AAZ6po

DO RELIGIONS REALLY CAUSE VIOLENCE? Throughout history religion has been tied to massive tragedy and loss of life but is religion truly at fault for events like the Crusades, the Holocaust, and extremism in the Middle East? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG9M6Fnf33U Find links to these videos at dsoConnections.org/videos

continue

the conversation

"

OTHER RESOURCES Learn more about the Franklinton neighborhood in Columbus at the website for the Franklinton Development Association: http://www.franklinton.org Learn about the work of Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS) at http://www.crisohio.org.

"

LEARN MORE See how the Episcopal Church has spoken on the issue of violence at the website for the Episcopal Church Archives http://www.episcopalarchives. org. Click on the Learn tab and search “violence” under Acts of Convention Resources on gun violence and the list of those killed by gun violence in Cincinnati since January 2016 can be found on Christ Church Cathedral’s website: http://cincinnaticathedral.com.

Click on We Remember on the home page.

21

CONNECTING –

We’re better together STAFF WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CANONS Sherri Martin has joined the diocesan staff as the Executive Assistant to the Canons. Sheri has 20+ years in the administrative and human resources fields in various industries including advertising and marketing, healthcare and consumer goods.

Sherri and her husband, Dave, have been married 25 years. They have one son, Daniel, who attends Western Kentucky University. When she’s not working, she enjoys traveling, reading and watching (most) sporting events with her family.

Sherri will provide administrative support to both Canon Jack Koepke and Canon Lynn Carter-Edmands. She can be reached at smartin@diosohio.org or 800.582.1712/513.421.0311 ext. 105.

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CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Grace Church, College Hill, welcomed members and pastors from churches around College Hill for a festive ecumenical worship service in commemoration of the ministry and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Jan. 15. The church was about as full as it could hold. Bishop Todd O’Neil from the House of The Rev. Damon Lynch Jr. with the Grace Church Praise Dancers Joy Church led his choir in several moving hymns and the Grace Church Praise Dancers offered their hopes and commitment for the future envisioned by Dr. King. To conclude the service, the Rev. Damon Lynch, Jr. from New Jerusalem Baptist Church preached social justice with his accustomed energy and insight and the congregation responded with enthusiasm. ~ submitted by the Rev. Anne Warrington Wilson, Grace Church

KIDS4PEACE INTERFAITH DAY CAMP Registration is now open for the second annual Kids4peace Interfaith Day Camp scheduled from July 31 through August 3, 2017. This exciting, unique camp is open to kids in sixth through eighth grades. Dedicated to building a peaceful community, the camp enables students to explore differing religions and cultures.

While making new friends and having fun, the kids are empowered to become a voice for equality and respect within our community.

Join the fun, and become part of this exciting youth movement to come together and build a peaceful community.

Details and registration information can be found at www.K4P.org/summer2017. ~ submitted by Judy Chamberlain, Christ Church Cathedral

LOCATION AND DATES

Monday, July 31: The Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati, 8092 Plantation Rd. in West Chester Tuesday, August 1: St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, 10345 Montgomery Rd. in Montgomery Wednesday, August 2: Adath Israel Congregation, 3201 E.Galbraith Rd. in Cincinnati Thursday, August 3: Service project to be determined

LOCALLY WRITTEN PRAYER FOR OUR NATION’S LEADERS GAINS NATIONAL ATTENTION “It’s so interesting to think that sitting here; down in the basement classroom of the Education Building, that we wrote a prayer that may actually make a real change and reach people outside these walls.”

This answer was given by 17-year-old Dennis Sweeney when the YAC (Young Adults in Church) class at St. Anne’s, West Chester, was asked how it felt to have had the prayer they wrote read this week to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Upon receiving questions from congregants such as “Should we pray for our President” and “Why would the children of the National Cathedral sing at the inauguration?” Presiding Bishop Curry spoke up as our leader and called the people to remembrance.

“Prayer is not a simplistic cheer or declaration of support. Prayers of lament cry out in pain and cry for justice. Prayer can celebrate. Prayer can also ask God to intervene and change the course of history, to change someone’s mind, or his or her heart….Should we pray for the president? Yes!” (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/statement-episcopal-church-presiding-bishop-curry-regardingprayers-president) After reading our Presiding Bishop’s full message, the youth at St. Fr. Patrick Conroy, chaplain of the US House of Representatives, Anne’s read through the Book of Common Prayer for prayers for reads the prayer written by the St. Anne's YAC class to open the our nation and civic leaders and were challenged to write their own House's session on Jan. 23. The prayer was aired on C-SPAN. prayer for this time of transition. Their responses were then combined to form a final prayer. The youth and advisors felt convicted to share their prayer outside of their classroom and sent the prayer to the office of the Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives, Father Conroy. Conroy was so impressed that he read the prayer to open the House’s session on Monday, January 23.

Please join us in prayer and help this prayer written inside a small classroom in a basement make an impact on all those needing words of hope, peace, courage and unity.

The YAC Class, St. Anne's, West Chester Dear God, we ask you to bless our country during this time of leadership transition. We ask that you guide the people of this land, and all nations, to honor one another, serve the common good, and promote the dignity and freedom of every person. We pray that everyone who rules this country might pursue peace and justice.

We pray for wisdom, humility, and mercy to be in the hearts of our leaders as they make decisions for the welfare of all people. We ask that you allow our world’s leaders, and those who have the burden of any power or authority, to execute their actions for the justice of the world, and in harmony with your word.

Please help to guide the President as he takes on his role. Ease his mind so that he is able to do his job. Help him to keep in mind the thoughts of others, to have a listening heart and an open mind, and to remember that he is a representative of all people of this country.

Help him to do the will of what is best for the nation.

We pray to you for the world’s security, safety, and tranquility. Please let there be a guiding light to peace for all people, and an end to all war and violence. In your name we pray. Amen.

24 (Written by the high school Sunday School class of St. Anne Episcopal Church, West Chester, Ohio.)

T

PUBLIC ART IN SACRED SPACES

he first funeral held in the chapel of St. Matthew's Pray.

Think.Love. House in Uptown Westerville was for Jacob Marley. Complete with moans, rattling chains and small audiences of 15 people who collectively became “Scrooge,” the funeral was part of “Uptown Scrooge,” an original play by Kristie Vuocolo.

Traveling through multiple businesses (coffee shop, flower shop, antique store, collectible shop, ice cream store, restaurant and metaphysical parlor) the 90-minute production conceived, adapted, produced, directed and performed by Vuocolo, along with a host of other characters, taught Scrooge to groan and say “Bah Humbug” on cue, and deny all requests for charity. Led by the traditional ghosts of Christmas Present and Past, the audience hears much of the traditional dialogue of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," as well as presentation of contemporary ideas. The play ends at the Parlor, a metaphysical and holistic center next door to the Episcopal House, with an exploration of redemption and an invitation to commit to being better people.

Over four weekends (four performances each on Saturday and Sunday) over 500 people came through the PTL House. While there was no attempt to determine church affiliation or inclination of the participants, we at St. Matthew’s considered it an opportunity to “lower the threshold” of the traditional church experience. This type of soft evangelism can have a significant positive impact on those who have been wounded by previous church experiences, have never been to church, or who are seeking a faith community where they feel comfortable.

In the tradition of great cathedrals and parish churches, public art presentations have been part of sacred spaces for thousands of years. St. Matthew’s is committed to participating in as many collaborative efforts with the arts community as possible. The Rev. Joseph Kovitch, Priest-in-charge, serves on the Westerville Arts Council. An art teacher in the local school system also offers Art Camp and classes at the PTL house, drawing children from many of the area elementary schools.

During Lent 2016, Fr. Joseph collaborated with the Rev. Karl Stevens to develop an interactive art exhibit, "A Refugee's Lenten Journey." Stevens’ paintings were staged at Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS) in Columbus, and using the

The cast of Uptown Scrooge at St. Matthew's Pray.Think.Love House in Westerville. moving pictures as a focus, participants followed an adapted Stations of the Cross liturgy to consider refugees’ journeys through life and Lent. St. Matthew’s is also thankful to have a collection of Stevens’ paintings from his Florilegium (little flowers) collection, which hangs in the chapel at the PTL House.

Considering that we are co-creators with God across time and unique contexts, the people of St. Matt’s believe that exploring the arts in all of their many forms can open minds and hearts in the exploration of relationships with God. Cultural Arts in all expressions, from spoken word, art, music, dance, etc., offer such an accessible expression of transcendence and spiritual connections, that a church can build relationships through new and innovative pathways.

Cathy Bagot served as Episcopal House Facilitator for St. Matthew’s, Westerville, until her retirement in December 2016.

25

Connecting with the

immigrant community

26

TRANSFORMATIONS CDC is a non-profit organization created by Church of Our Saviour/ Iglesia de Nuestro Salvador, Cincinnati. Its mission is to build bridges to recovery, restoration and self-reliance for persons who have struggled to survive; overcome the legacy of slavery, prejudice and racism; find ways out of oppressive poverty; strengthen families and households; nurture and support children; restore community; and connect people with spiritual power.

We are often asked, “What does Transformations CDC do?”

Our mission is clear, and what we do can change as we listen and respond to evolving needs in the community.

Immigrants are terrified by the prospect of increased deportations under the new administration. Many have lived in the US for years and have citizen children. If a parent is deported, how can their minor children get passports and reunite with them? Children of single mothers who have been detained or deported often go into the foster care system; some are adopted out because the courts say the parent has “abandoned” them!

It is almost impossible for a single mother to get a minor’s passport when the father has been deported. How can she keep her child out of foster care? (Hint: Power of Attorney) TCDC researched these questions, with detailed info on Tristate passport offices, and created a handout in Spanish available around the region. An agency working with African immigrants has asked permission to translate it into French for their clients.

The after-school Learning Club for English Language Learners, (mostly children born in the US, in Spanishspeaking households), is one of our oldest programs. In addition to assisting with homework and encouraging reading, etc., tutors like Charles Graves IV and the Rev. Bill Scrivener address health and hygiene issues and safety concerns.

For example, if your parents had an outhouse before coming to the US, you may never have been taught about toilet seats! Learning Club tutors have gamely explained to boys about aiming for the bowl and when to put the seat up or down. Girls similarly hear about hygiene-related issues in the bathroom.

Talking about basics like dialing 911 may have dramatic results. Recently a nine-year-old boy injured his arm with

Candidate for ordination Charles Graves IV tutors a young boy at the Price Hill Learning Club broken glass, resulting in a 12” long laceration and two nearly severed tendons. When neighbors refused the mother's plea for a ride to the hospital, his 10-year-old sister (who had practiced with a tutor) knew to dial 911. The Cincinnati Police honored her with a certificate in "Recognition of her bravery in an emergency".

Education leads to improved employment opportunities and more economic stability for an individual and the whole family. Locally, the Ohio Carpenters Union has an apprenticeship program open to Spanish-speaking as well as English speaking workers. To complete the program, participants must have their GED, which also enables them to enroll in Cincinnati State for an Associate's degree in construction.

The new GED test is very difficult. Most who plan to take it first enroll in a GED prep program; around Cincinnati you can get individualized help navigating through the practice books.

However, although you can take the GED test in Spanish, there appear to be only two GED preparation programs in Spanish, in the entire nation. TCDC has networked with education insti-

Three teenaged boys from Guatemala, all unaccompanied minors, participated in the Cincinnati Women's March in January.

tutions around the region and researched best practices for such a program. Armed with research as well as the potential market for local GED prep in Spanish, TCDC will team up with a respected community education organization, hoping for a joint launch by mid-summer.

Advocating for immigrant inclusion is an ongoing, worthy challenge. The Cincinnati Women's March scheduled in January had a Facebook invitation, in English only, although Cincinnati is home to many women who don't read English! When TCDC pointed this out, the organizers invited us to create a FB invitation in Spanish.

The Women's City Club is bringing nationally known TV reporter Maria Hinojosa to speak about immigration issues, but hadn’t considered that local immigrants would be interested. TCDC

called WCC to recommend simultaneous translation and publicity in Spanish. They agreed and are following up with the Interfaith Worker Center to get the resources. We also suggested that scholarships for the event go preferentially to immigrants.

What is next on the horizon? Finding ways for the immigrant community more effectively to address issues like domestic violence, trauma and alcoholism, which are constant themes in many lives. Of course, it all revolves around legal and economic insecurity.

Wherever we step into the circle, the needs will intersect.

Nancy Sullivan is a community activist, organizer of Transformations CDC and a member of the Church of Our Saviour/ Iglesia de Nuestro Salvador.

Ten-year-old Norma, who recently received asylum in the US, receives a commendation from Cincinnati Police Department for her bravery when she called 911 after her brother was badly injured. Norma is shown with Officer Richard Longworth, immigrant affairs liaison.

The mother of a Learning Club student working on her own literacy while her son receives tutoring.

27

JUST WHAT IS AN

ADDICTION, 28

ANYWAY?

I

’m not an addict!

Of course you’re not….

What self-respecting person would have that “issue?” Or are you?

(Didn’t that priest write about addictions in the LAST issue of Connections? Why yes, as a matter of fact, I did – thank you for noticing!)

Why am I writing about it again? Because I would hedge a bet (and I am not addicted to gambling) that everyone is

addicted to something. In the 2011 article “Is Everyone Addicted to Something?” from the Huffington Post, and realizing that the numbers are much higher now than then, the article reveals staggering statistics.

Look up current statistics and it will blow your mind!

(Read the entire article here: http://www. huffingtonpost.com/bj-gallagher/is-everyoneaddicted-to-e_b_490824.html) Just what is addiction, anyway? Well, according to Funk and Wagnalls, addiction is: noun: addiction; plural noun: addictions the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity. "he committed the theft to finance his drug addiction" synonyms: dependency, dependence, habit, problem "his heroin addiction" devotion to, dedication to, obsession with, infatuation with, passion for, love of, mania for, enslavement to "a slavish addiction to fashion" For those of us who are more academically minded when it comes to the workings of the addicted brain, according to the American Society of Addition Medicine (ASAM): “Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry.

Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors.

Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response. Like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death.”

So now do you think you don’t have an addiction?

Perhaps it is time for all of us to do some introspection as to what we do on a consistent basis, which drives us to reward or relief, which leads to dysfunction in the living of life? (Addictions come in many packages – sex, overeating, undereating, tobacco, gambling, workaholics, shopaholics, alcohol and drugs, cleaning, hoarding, x,y,z – you fill in the blank.)

Know anyone with a peanut/nut allergy?

How about shellfish, strawberries, bee stings? I find it interesting that we become hyper-vigilant when we are in the presence of individuals who have adverse reactions to these substances. We don’t diss them, denigrate them, or lump them in a pejorative category. Why then, do we have the compulsion to do so with those who are addicts?

There is a stigma attached to addiction, no denying it. However, the more we know about the workings of addiction – that it is a brain disease, not some sort of moral failure from which you can pull yourself up by your boot straps and get over it, the more compassion we can have for those who outwardly manifest addictive behavior, as well as compassion for ourselves and others who keep addictions under lock and key in a closet of their own design. It also invites us to seek treatment for ourselves and those we love. We would do it if we had a diagnosis of cancer, diabetes, congestive heart failure, hypertension – why not addiction? It may do us, and others, a world of good to remember what Matthew (7.3) had to say "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (New International Version) Here’s looking at ya – but looking at myself first!

RevRN: Reflections on clergy health

The Rev. Ruth Paulus is a priest and registered nurse. She serves as rector of St. Christopher’s, Fairborn. Contact Ruth at revrn05@gmail.com.

29

PROCTER

Summer Camp 2017

S Camp Staff Training

June 11-15

Family Camp I

June 16 - 18

4th & 5th Grade Camp

June 20 - 24

9th - 12th Grade Camp

June 25 - 30

Family Camp II

July 5 - 8

6th - 8th Grade Camp

July 9 - 14

Creative Arts (6-12th grade) July 17 - 22 Family Camp III

August 2 – 5

Contact: Andrea Foote, Interim Camp Director afoote@proctercenter.org

ummer camp is approaching!

Imagine afternoons of fishing with a group of fellow campers, working on an art project with your family, and singing at campfire as the sky puts on a beautiful sunset display. Procter Summer Camp creates a place for campers to grow in faith, sing, learn, play and pray in the peaceful farmland of London, Ohio. A week at Procter allows campers to unplug from technology, live in the present, have fun and develop independence.

With camps for children, youth and families, there is a place for everyone at Procter this summer. At grade level camps, campers live in cabins with similarly aged campers and two college counselors. The morning program centers around Christian formation activities led by the camp staff and chaplains, grounded in the week’s theme.

Afternoons at camp offer free choice periods of swimming and canoeing, games and sports, arts and crafts and teambuilding. The camp staff is trained to facilitate a space that is safe, where campers are included and every day is fun!

Family camps are open to all: grandparents and grandkids, godparents, friend groups, families of choice and nuclear families alike.

The camp staff offers programming but the schedule is loose, allowing families to relax, recharge and reconnect.

We all know camp is fun, but what else does a camp experience offer? “Camp promotes community. It creates [a] space that shows kids how to live together and care for one another. There are norms and negotiation of boundaries; there are rules.

Camp is a place where kids can 'practice' growing up stretching their social, emotional, physical, and cognitive muscles outside the context of their immediate family,” (The Case for Camp, Peg Smith, American Camp Association).

Camp teaches resilience, problem solving and creative thinking. Camp teaches us that failure is ok, and when we try again, we are buoyed by community support.

Camp creates leaders. A report from Lilly Endowment showed that the single greatest commonality between clergy and lay leaders in the church was a positive religious camp experience. (American Camp Association, February 2005).

Camp creates powerful lasting friendships.

At Procter, we are intentional about sharing God’s love with one another and our campers; children and adults. We seek and serve Christ in all people with whom we interact at camp, modeling joy, respect and inclusiveness.

Be a part of the fun this summer. More information and registration is online at www.dsoyouth.org

ABOUTthe

COVER

The cover of this month’s issue, "Violence," is original art by the Rev. Karl Stevens of Columbus. About the imagery, Karl writes, “While making this image, I found myself reflecting on the past year and the way in which invisible violence, hidden and not talked about, became visible. For Christians, violence is always visible, in that we follow a savior who experienced great violence on the cross. But as we contemplate the cross, can we also contemplate, and mourn for, the violence of our current culture? I don't think Christians should turn away from violence, or pretend that it isn't there. Instead, we have to acknowledge it and suffer with those who are suffering.”

You can see more of Karl's work at http://prayerbookart.com.

COMING UP NEXT: CREATION CARE Climate change. Flint, Michigan. Animal rights. The Dakota Access Pipeline.

What do we mean when we acclaim God for “giving the whole world into our care, so that, in obedience to you, our Creator, we might rule and serve all your creatures”? (BCP, p. 373) We welcome your reflections and stories of actions you take to care for this “fragile earth, our island home.”

Submission deadline April 1.

31

CONNECTIONS

The official publication of the Diocese of Southern Ohio www.diosohio.org

The Rt. Rev. Thomas E. Breidenthal, Publisher David Dreisbach, Art director Julie Murray, Editor Amy Svihlik, Designer Dave Caudill, Copy editor

Submissions: Connections encourages the submission of articles and pictures. We reserve the right to edit material offered for publication. All submissions must include name, phone and email address for verification.

Send submissions to communication@diosohio.org.

Next deadline: April 1

Connections (USPS 020933) is published bi-monthly by the Diocese of Southern Ohio, 412 Sycamore St., Cincinnati, OH 45202-4179. Periodical postage paid at Cincinnati, OH. This publication is sent to all members of Episcopal congregations in the Diocese of Southern Ohio and is funded by mission share payments to the diocesan operating budget.

Other subscriptions are $10 annually.

POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to Connections, 412 Sycamore St., Cincinnati, OH 45202-4179.