PDX Wordstock 2016 and Words

The sun rose pink over Portland last Saturday. It was delightful to be footloose and fancy-free on Portland's streets with a hot coffee in hand, sans the children, and a day of words looming large.

I volunteered at Wordstock; it was my first time attending Wordstock and working it. And I am ever more convinced that our words matter in the world. What we do with our words shapes who we are, our families, our communities, and our nation.

Today, Portland's streets are fraught with frantic fear and anger.

I wrote these words last Saturday, taking in the human bodies amidst the crush of books:

One comes to the conference to buy  books. She pretends to write, but is an author junkie. The other silently takes notes, listens. A mass of humans will be distilled down to one myopic viewing - through her lens alone. 

The Portland couple in their matching REI jackets, is, underneath it all, searching for their identities, and deciding if they will craft and create them together. 

Above all, they voraciously read, run around in the rain, choose comfort clothing over "class", wear a wet coffee laden look, and they listen. They are hungry. 

Tonight, they will go and taste Portland and see if they can discern what it means to them: these words hanging in the air, hoping to latch onto someone, something, some place, and some time. These words tingling on their palates, will they swallow?

Will they act? Will the whitest city in America act? They vote, but will they live, and will they use their words to shape the world? And will they follow their words into the world and offer true sustenance?

This morning, I found myself reading Jeremiah 23 about the lies we believe, and the lies we buy into about the lies we live, and the lies we are told.

Who then is righteous? We desperately need Him in the days ahead.

I don't know how the days will turn for my children or the children we sometimes take into our home. I am doing my best not to make judgements or speak outcomes. But, neither have I swallowed the pill that believes there is an elected savior, save Christ. And we don't seem to put Him on our ballot.

We may soon be finding ourselves in one mighty mess - but then many have lived that for a long while now in this nation. So it does not surprise that we are broken, and what flows from our hearts and mouths is brokenness.

Our words, our votes, they matter, and so too their fruit in the world. What is it that we believe and then speak? Are our beliefs and words founded upon Truth?  Or, have we bought and sold a lie? Lies? Are our myopic viewpoints simply our own navel gazing, or do we truly know how others live elsewhere and how they are impacted by our actions?

Maybe it's time we go back to living simply, so that others may simply live. Maybe it's time we go back to listening so others may be heard. Maybe it's time we hear and look, so others may be seen. Maybe it's time we be silent, so we may once again hear the voice of God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. ~ Mathew 5:9

Let us hold fast to Him,

Kim

The Twelve Days of Christmas, Two Turtle Doves

 Day Two of The Twelve Days of Christmas

 On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

The dove is my favorite bird. Still and calm, she's a constant reminder of our potential for peace. Doves show up throughout Christian history, but I think it's safe to say, doves are important in many cultures, whether as food or religious symbols. Indeed, doves live in most every climate on earth, except the Sahara and Antarctica climes.

In Christianity, Noah sent the dove out to determine if the flood waters had receded enough to disembark the ark.  John saw the Spirit of God alight on Jesus like a dove, signifying Jesus' anointing by God. Jesus encouraged his disciples to be as wary as serpents, but as innocent as doves as they headed out into the world without him.

Elves for Twelves Ideas

 Give a peace offering.
Blessed are those who make peace. They will be called children of God. 
Mathew 5:9

Peacemaking is hard. Enough said. Right? Each of us, could work on peacemaking every day of our lives and never finish the work we have to do, but God.

 Make a financial peace offering.

Donate to an organization that promotes peace, not violence. I'm not well informed on what organizations I'd recommend that would spend your money well, but I will say that changing lives is where it's at. Let's make sure we give to organizations that equip others to lead the pack in peace. Organizations that don't choose predetermined sides. It's so easy to be entangled and not see which way is up in a conflict. We all need to be peacemakers daily, as well as expect to need peacemakers often in our lives.  The Center for Justice and Peacebuilding is powerful. 

From Wikipedia: Worldwide, EMU is probably best known for its Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP), especially its graduate program in conflict transformation.^[8][9] CJP has educated and trained more than 3,000 people from 119 countries.^[10] CJP's founding director, John Paul Lederach, and its expert in restorative justice, Howard Zehr, are considered to be international leaders in the fields of peace and justice.^[11] CJP alumna Leymah Gbowee was a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

We know people who live their training because it's their lives. Peace is who they are. We thank God for them, and we miss them like crazy!

Analyze your giving.

In 2015, where will you build, foster, and promote peace? Consider KIVA. The loan program that offers a chance out of poverty.

Consider the gift of education. Children who are educated are less likely to fight in wars or be recruited into a radical militia. Consider sponsoring a preschool education, or part of one, in your area. A love of learning must happen before 3rd grade. If a student is behind in 3rd grade, they'll likely be behind forever. Make a difference locally. All our children, all God's children, are important. Yours, mine, and ours are increasingly at risk in our increasingly violent world. Let's give them an education to ponder. They can and will make a difference in their world, but they need an education to do so.

 

 Stretch your own personal beliefs.

Educate yourself on what the rest of the world is struggling through. Make a point to get to know people of other heritages, cultures, and religions. What are their daily struggles?  How might we respond? Be willing to change preconceived notions, and get uncomfortable.  I could list 25 books, but here's two. If you like them, check out what other books Amazon recommends in this category.

BOOK LINK

BOOK LINK

Stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. 

Get involved when you see someone being bullied whether in the work place, school, or yes, at church. It will always be uncomfortable to get involved. Yes, always. Yet, now more than ever, we need citizens who will get involved.

 Get out of town.

If you live in the city and see only “pigeons” make your way to the country seeking doves. Leave a gift in a rural community. Sit and chat in a local shop. Support a small town business. Buy coffee for another? Start this tradition? 

If you live in the country, head to the city. Bring something to share with those less fortunate. Offer a smile to a harried city dweller, for aren't we all harried these days? Loop a scarf around someone's neck. Offer a pair of mittens on a cold day. Drop a book into someone's lap. Buy someone the newspaper, better yet, a comic book. Pay for their bill at the lunch counter?

Care for doves in your neighborhood. 

Let's continue to be elves for the twelves of Christmas, as we continue to seek the manger and the Messiah and walk towards Epiphany.