J U B I L E E
H O U S E
C O M M U N I T Y
BONES
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W I N T E R
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"God said Prophesy to the wind, to the wind only for only The wind will listen. And the bones sang chirping With the burden of the grasshopper" -T.S. Elliot, (Ash Wednesday)
CAN THESE BONES LIVE? Ryan Cagle And he said unto me, son of man, can these
heavy a burden to bear. The last several years
bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou
have been a roller coaster in both my vocational
knowest.
and personal life, and honestly I just do not think
-Ezekiel 37:3
I am at a place where I want to give any time meditating on mortality and death. Three years
Today is Ash Wednesday and I am honestly not
into a global pandemic, and a week into yet
quite sure how to feel about it. I have not been
another war being waged by infantile men who
able to observe the season of Lent (the 40 days
serve
leading up to Easter Sunday) in several years. I get
abundance of reminders of our fragile existence
the imprortance of this time in the church year, I
paltry
gods,
there
seems
to
be
an
all around us.
really do, but somehow it still feels like to I think about being back in the South a lot, and how I never imaged I would be. How I saw this place as something with little calue and yet here I am again. The words of our brother Ezekiel feel close to me "...the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones."
I do not have the mental, emotional, or spiritual bandwidth to be reminded of my mortality this week because the reminders are ever before my eyes. Yet still, surrounded by decaying homes, broken relationships, struggling families, lives robbed from the earth by opioids, and the ruins of our long neglected and underdeveloped town I hear the Spirit gentle voice whisper over and over again "Can these bones live?" Only She knows... Nevertheless we struggle for a different world knowing that in the end out labor will not be in vain. I am at present finishing up a proposal that will be delivered to our Town Council asking them for a five year free-lease on a building (found in pictures all throughout this zine) and a 2.25 acre plot of land that used to be a football field. This request is in hopes of being able to breathe life into the building by renovating it into a
community resource center and the home
base for all the work we are doing here in our
community. The land will hopefully become soil the fertile soil of a community garden that will work to combat the severe gap in food access in our community on a much larger scale than our Community Fridge Program can handle on its own. If you have been following along you know the building and land have been in our sights for several months but this month we will find out if we can even begin to take the
necessary
steps
see
these
dream
materialize. The building is in rough shape, and the land is not much better but we know that with a lot of work, love, and prayer that both of these dreams can live and become fruitful for our community. Please prophesy with us so that these bones may live. _________ WINTER UDPATE The People's Community Fridge is going
strong as ever even if it seems as if we
GIVING
cannot keep it full around the clock. Word is
We have finally gotten some of the admin stuff in
getting out and for that we are thankful. We hope that its use will only increase. Parrish Christmas Giveaway was truly just
order and now folks are able to donate in multiple ways that have made receiving support from folks so much easier.
wonderful! We were able to help be a part
One Time Donation
of serving our community (75 students) with
https://jubileehouse.co/#aid
the amazing group of folks behind it.
Monthly Support Other Initiatives have mostly been on hold
as we get this proposal finished but we have
https://www.patreon.com/jubileehouse
been able to help multiple people with
MAILING ADDRESS
rent, and other needs along with helping a
We finally have a mailing address! PO Box 548
dear family escape domestic violence. None of which would have been possible without our community (locally and extended!)
Parrish, Alabama 35580
THE REVERSE ST.FRANCIS PRAYER Lord, make me a channel of disturbance. Where there is apathy, let me provoke; Where there is compliance, let me bring questioning; Where there is silence, may I be a voice. Where there is too much comfort and too little action, grant disruption; Where there are doors closed and hearts locked, Grant the willingness to listen. When laws dictate and pain is overlooked… When tradition speaks louder than need… Grant that I may seek rather to do justice than to talk about it; Disturb us, O Lord. To be with, as well as for, the alienated; To love the unlovable as well as the lovely; Lord, make me a channel of disturbance. -Author Unknown
ABOUT JUBILEE Jubilee House is a dream about what it means to collectively struggle for a different world. A world free of the evils of racism, oppression, and alienation. Jubilee House is a dream of a radically different future for Walker County, a future shaped by jubilee (Leviticus 25, Isaiah 61:1-12, Luke 4:18-19) in which the material and spiritual needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized are met through acts of mutual solidarity. Gustavo Gutierrez once said, “Every attempt to evade the struggle against alienation and the violence of the powerful and for a more just and more human world is the greatest infidelity to God. To know God is to work for justice. There is no other path to reach God.” For us, Jubilee House is our attempt to be faithful to the struggle for a more just world by facing the evils of racism, oppression, and alienation head on, starting with Walker County, Alabama. We do not see ourselves as saviors or heroes, but rather as those willing to bear witness to the reality that the Spirit of Liberation is already present, working in and among those who are the most marginalized (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and the poor) in our towns and communities. We have a long road ahead of us, but we know that a different world is possible and we are left with no other choice but to love, dream, and fight for it. For our future.
“The prophet engages in futuring fantasy. The prophet does not ask if the vision can be implemented, for questions of implementation are of no consequence until the vision can be imagined. The imagination must come before the implementation. Our culture is competent to implement almost anything and to imagine almost nothing. The same royal consciousness that make it possible to implement anything and everything is the one that shrinks imagination because imagination is a danger. Thus every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing futures alternative to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one.” ― Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination “The scandal is that the gospel means liberation, that this liberation comes to the poor, and that it gives them the strength and the courage to break the conditions of servitude.” ― James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed “Communities of resistance are creative places, full of invention, performance, freedom of identity, consensual relationships, and gift-giving. But they can be a destructive force, too; as each member confronts their domination by modern society on their own terms, little pieces of that world crumble away. A community of resistance is a demonstration of the lives we want— individually, we may be stuck in the real world, but collectively, we inhabit another real world.” ― Unknown
VALUES Anti-Capitalist | We believe that poverty and economic class today are not ordained by God or by some kind of natural order, but are established by the exploitation that comes from the machinations of capitalism which can be overturned through the material and spiritual liberation taught by Jesus Christ. (Luke 4:16-19; James 5:2-6) Anti-Racist | We believe that racism is anti-Christ and that Christ calls us more than simply being “not-racist.” Rather we believe that we must be committed to the active dismantling of hatred, bias, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific minority groups in Walker County. (Ephesians 2:14; Revelation 7:9-10) Solidarity Not Charity | We believe that solidarity, rather than charity, most accurately reflects the Kingdom of God. Charity is top-down aid that only addresses the symptoms of the issues present in our community while solidarity seeks to change the systemic problems from which the symptoms arise through horizontal acts of love and mutual aid. (Acts 2:44-45; 1 Corinthians 12:12) Open & Affirming | We wholeheartedly celebrate people of every gender, sexuality, religion, race, and socio-economic circumstance as being made fully in the image of God - just as they are. (Galatians 3:28)
Transformational Way of Jesus | We are rooted in a very spacious Christian theology and seek to accompany folks on their spiritual journey wherever they are we are not trying to convert anyone. (1 John 4:16) Peacemaking & Social Justice | We seek ways to actively be good news by not being apathetic to the injustice in our community, and posturing ourselves to labor for reconciliation and healing in Walker County. (Luke 10:27) Curiosity | We believe in dialogue, the interplay of faith and doubt, the importance of asking questions, openness to the mystery of God and movement of the Spirit. Because we know that we do not have it all figured out. (Matthew 7:7-8; 1 John 4:18) Well-Being | We care about the’ entire well-being: social, emotional, spiritual, physical, and intellectual of those in our community by embodying a holistic approach that is exclusively focused on religion or spirituality. (John 10:10b) Collaboration | We will seek to partner with a variety of people and organizations that share our values in an effort to create something meaningful and positive for the people of Walker County. (Romans 12:4-5)
MANIFESTO: THE MAD FARMER LIBERATION FRONT
PUT YOUR EAR CLOSE, AND HEAR THE FAINT CHATTERING OF THE SONGS THAT ARE TO COME. EXPECT THE END
I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, CREATOR, INTRUDER, AND AGITATOR ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, CREATING AND IMAGINING STILL, OF ALL LOVE THE QUICK PROFIT, THE ANNUAL RAISE, VACATION WITH PAY. WANT MORE OF EVERYTHING READY-
OF THE WORLD. LAUGH. LAUGHTER IS IMMEASURABLE. BE JOYFUL THOUGH YOU HAVE CONSIDERED ALL THE FACTS. SO LONG AS WOMEN DO NOT GO CHEAP FOR POWER, PLEASE WOMEN MORE THAN MEN. ASK YOURSELF: WILL THIS SATISFY A
MADE. BE AFRAID TO KNOW YOUR
WOMAN SATISFIED TO BEAR A CHILD?
NEIGHBORS AND TO DIE. AND YOU
WILL THIS DISTURB THE SLEEP OF A
WILL HAVE A WINDOW IN YOUR HEAD.
WOMAN NEAR TO GIVING BIRTH? GO
NOT EVEN YOUR FUTURE WILL BE A
WITH YOUR LOVE TO THE FIELDS. LIE
MYSTERY ANY MORE. YOUR MIND WILL BE PUNCHED IN A CARD AND SHUT AWAY IN A LITTLE DRAWER. WHEN THEY WANT YOU TO BUY SOMETHING THEY WILL CALL YOU. WHEN THEY WANT YOU TO DIE FOR PROFIT THEY WILL LET YOU KNOW. SO, FRIENDS,
EASY IN THE SHADE. REST YOUR HEAD IN HER LAP. SWEAR ALLEGIANCE TO WHAT IS NIGHEST YOUR THOUGHTS. AS SOON AS THE GENERALS AND THE POLITICOS CAN PREDICT THE MOTIONS OF YOUR MIND, LOSE IT. LEAVE IT AS A SIGN TO MARK THE FALSE TRAIL,
EVERY DAY DO SOMETHING THAT
THE WAY YOU DIDN’T GO. BE LIKE THE
WON’T COMPUTE. LOVE THE LORD.
FOX WHO MAKES MORE TRACKS THAN
LOVE THE WORLD. WORK FOR NOTHING. TAKE ALL THAT YOU HAVE
NECESSARY, SOME IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. PRACTICE RESURRECTION
AND BE POOR. LOVE SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT DESERVE IT. GIVE YOUR APPROVAL TO ALL YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND. PRAISE IGNORANCE, FOR WHAT MAN HAS NOT ENCOUNTERED HE HAS NOT DESTROYED. ASK THE QUESTIONS THAT HAVE NO ANSWERS. INVEST IN THE MILLENNIUM. PLANT SEQUOIAS. SAY THAT YOUR MAIN CROP IS THE FOREST THAT YOU DID NOT PLANT, THAT YOU WILL NOT LIVE TO HARVEST. SAY THAT THE LEAVES ARE HARVESTED WHEN THEY HAVE ROTTED INTO THE MOLD. CALL THAT PROFIT. PROPHESY SUCH RETURNS. PUT YOUR FAITH IN THE TWO INCHES OF HUMUS THAT WILL BUILD UNDER THE TREES EVERY THOUSAND YEARS. LISTEN TO CARRION —
-WENDELL BERRY (NEW COLLECTED POEMS, 2012)
J U B I L E E H O U S E . C O J U B I L E E H O U S E C O @ G M A I L . C O M P O B O X 5 4 8 P A R R I S H , A L 3 5 5 8 0