The Stuff of Simplicity

Editor’s Note: I failed to post this essay by Wendy before Christmas. I humbly apologize, and I know readers will be both encouraged and prodded by this now-updated piece. –Jeff

In the last of what were my single years, I lived alone in a ground floor apartment across the street from Union College, where I had been a rather unenthusiastic student in the mid-90s. I had broken up with my boyfriend (who is now my husband), and my stepsister, who had shared this apartment, had moved far away and I found myself really alone for the first time in my life. And I didn’t like it very much.

I was lonely. I had cats that would sleep behind every curve of my body at night–ensuring a minimum of tossing and turning–and this helped. But cats couldn’t pay bills, or advise me on work. To quell the feelings of being alone, I began to control the only thing I could control–my stuff. Somehow, I had managed to collect not just every paper I had ever written in my failed college career and all the way back to kindergarten, but I had also collected the papers of others because I had a garage. Allow me to explain: Apparently, having a garage leads one’s friends to believe that they do not need to go through their things before they move- simply backing their vehicle up to my garage and unloading were all that was required. Surely Wendy could use this stuff, right? Yeah, well, no. I clearly remember the moment when I looked at my garage and found the meaning of life.

Simplify. Life is not “stuff”, it leans more towards freedom from stuff, and Wendy had work to do in that area. It is safe to say that I didn’t and don’t place pets in the category of “stuff”.

SDA Potpourri

Here is a bit of reading for your Sabbath:

• One in Christ – Petition
• Virginia Seventh-day Adventists Reach Across Globe to Help Kenya’s Children (Rebecca Jackson, Adv Review)
  
• College Remembers Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy (Giovanni Hashimoto, PUC, 13 Jan 2012)
• U.S. Supreme Court ruling is First Amendment defense, Adventist legal counselors say (ANN, 13 Jan, 2012)
• 10th Circuit Rules Oklahoma Amendment Barring Islamic Law was Unnecessary and Discriminatory (Michael Peabody, ReligiousLiberty.TV, 11 Jan 2012)
• Supreme Court Sides in Favor of Religious Organizations (NARLA, 11 Jan 2012)
• Human rights champion Amor was ‘great defender of religious freedom’ (ANN, 10 Jan 2012)
• Prospective Presidencies – II (Stephen Foster, Adv Today, 9 Jan 2012)
• Sabbath Sermon: From Protecting to Progressing—Jeff Gang and Julius Nam (Spectrum, 6 Jan 2012)
• Ordination Equality Gains Momentum (Jared Wright, Spectrum, 5 Jan 2012)
• ONE in Christ – Ordain Now Equally (Adv Women’s Blog, 3 Jan 2012)
• In Ecuador, ADRA assisting indigenous families living near volcano (ANN, 3 Jan 2012)
• Sabbath in the Burbs (Jeff Gang, The Suburban Pastor, 30 Dec 2011)
• Three Christmas Stories to Ponder (Jeff Gang, The Suburban Pastor, 23 Dec 2011)
• In Memoriam Of The Euro (Malgwyn, Things I Read, 23 Dec 2011)
• Creation Wonder (Nathan Brown, Adv Today, 24 Dec 2011)
• “…A Very Frightening Idea” (Stephen Foster, Adv Today, 21 Dec 2011)
• Constantinian, Colonial Adventism (Yi Shen Ma, Spectrum, 21 Dec 2011)
• In Philippines, ADRA distributing supplies to flood victims (ANN, 20 Dec 2011)
• In India, new orphanage on horizon for Adventist supporting ministry (ANN, 19 Dec 2011)
• Loma Linda Meets McDonald’s (Alexander Carpenter, Spectrum, 19 Dec 2011)
• ADRA Norway Meets with 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winners (Alexander Carpenter, Spectrum, 14 Dec 2011)
• Was Ellen White Green? (Cindy Tutsch, Adv Today, 14 Dec 2011)
• NAD President Addresses Recent Action on Ordained/Commissioned Policy (Alexander Carpenter, Spectrum, 8 Dec 2011)
• Moscow conference focuses on upswing in persecution of Christians worldwide (ANN, 8 Dec 2011)
• Half the Sky: Moving Forward (Felisa Meier, Adv Women’s Blog, 6 Dec 2012)
• Woman Pastor “Set Aside” in Australia (Jared Wright, Spectrum, 6 Dec 2011)
• Ordination—A Holy Spirit Mandate (Sednak Kojo Duffu Yankson, Spectrum, 5 Dec 2011)
• Half the Sky: Microfinance and Opportunities for Women (Jared Wright, Adv Women’s Blog, 30 Nov 2011)
• Speaking of Babylon and Love in the City by the Bay (Bonnie Dwyer, Spectrum, 30 Nov 2011)
• Cost of Leadership (Chris, Iunctum, 28 Nov 2011)
• The Futility of the Christmas War (Raintree’s Village, 26, Nov 2011)
• When Do I Experience Sacred? (Chris, Iunctum, 23 Nov 2011)
• Half the Sky – Religion, Oppression, and Education (Rochelle Webster, Adv Women’s Blog, 22 Nov 2011)
• When Have I Experienced Working for the Common Good? (Chris, Iunctum, 22 Nov 2011)
• What is My Unique Contribution to the Whole? (Chris, Iunctum, 22 Nov 2011)
• What is the Relationship I Want With the Earth? (Chris, Iunctum, 22 Nov 2011)
• Creations—Occupy (Leslie Foster, Spectrum, 21 Nov 2011)
• Liberty Lessons (for U.S.) from the Plains (Stephen Foster, Adv Today, 14 Nov 2011)
• GKI at Black Rock City (and some photos) (Notes from the Fault, 6 Nov 2011)

BONUS SERMON: Chris Blake

SDA Gender Equality

From Adventist Equality:

Imagine Adventist Equality from Robert Jacobson on Vimeo.

Close the SOA/WHINSEC

Reflections on the Vigil to Close the SOA

November 18-20, 2011

“It’s a beautiful day. Sky falls, you feel like it’s a beautiful day. Don’t let it get away.” Our wake-up call was the sound of U2’s “Beautiful Day” pumping through the bus’s speakers. Despite being groggy from the over-night bus ride from Ann Arbor to Fort Benning, GA, our group of 30 peacemakers embraced the message—seize the day. In that spirit we stopped the bus for a quick breakfast and then headed directly to the morning’s plenary session to get oriented for the weekend’s international protest to close the School of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHINSEC). As an intern at the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ), I had been helping to plan this trip over the course of the semester, so I was excited to finally be at the main event.

Those of you who have attended the annual rally hosted by SOA Watch know that the agenda is over-flowing with concerts, speakers, workshops, and personal reunions, in addition to the final funeral procession that ends at the gates of Fort Benning, which houses the SOA. Before offering a description of this year’s event and the people I encountered, I’ll first provide a brief introduction to the school.

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Economic Justice

Bryan Bissell shares these thoughts and resources:

Most people know intuitively that large income gaps are very harmful to everyone. This is explicitly what the Bible’s Jubilee economic principles were designed to prevent.

Now we have conclusive evidence that proves it. If you haven’t watched any of my other links, watch this one.
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html
http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/
http://www.slideshare.net/equalitytrust

Then take this 30 day course on Biblical Jubilee economics here.

Adventist Potpourri

This is not a complete list of recent articles and resources, but these have come to my attention:

• German Adventist youth win ‘Gold Hope Prize’ for community outreach (ANN, 29 Nov 2011)
• ADRA joins commemoration of World AIDS Day (ANN, 29 Nov 2011)
• 25 years of medical outreach for Sydney Adventist Hospital volunteer team (ANN, 29 Nov 2011)
• Lessons to be Learned from Penn State Scandal (Downing, Adv Today, 27 Nov 2011)
• Hope in Adventist Societies (Scriven, Spectrum, 27 Nov 2011)
• Occupy Till I Come (Yeagley, Spectrum, 24 Nov 2011)
• Slavery, Circumcision, and the Ordination of Women (Kubo, Spectrum, 21 Nov 2011)
• Live on the Border (Watson, Adv Today, 21 Nov 2011)
• Pacific Union College students seek to form Democrats club (Dills, Napa Valley Register, 28 Nov 2011)
• The Case Against Secularism – And For Prophecy (Foster, Adv Today, 20 Nov 2011)
• Sermon by Cosmin Ritivoiu — information and compassion.

VOTE: Status of Facebook Group

Go to the Facebook group to vote on the future status of the group–Open, Closed, Secret. This decision will not affect the functioning of this blog.

God’s Kingdom and Righteousness

“Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness/justice* (Matt. 6:33).” What does this mean to you? What does it look like? How does one do this?

*NOTE: for more on translating justice/righteousness, see:

• http://concordances.org/greek/1343.htm
• http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/tsedeq.html
• http://www.basden.demon.co.uk/xn/tsedeq.html
• http://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/TBv2i5_Fosterjustice.pdf (PDF)

Now back to the main question: How do we seek God’s kingdom and righteousness/justice?

PICO and Economic Reform

Shared by Ryan Bell, who is participating in the meetings:

Clergy gather in New Orleans to craft a populist message to aim at politicians (Bruce Nolan, Times-Picayune, 17 Nov 2011)

More than 500 clergy from dozens of denominations are in New Orleans this week, laying plans they hope will force next year’s presidential candidates to talk about populist economic reforms. Their issues are raising the minimum wage, preserving and perfecting health care reform, and “holding Wall Street and the nation’s largest banks accountable for nearly crashing the national economy” in 2008, said Gordon Whitman, the group’s policy director.

PICO pursues its agenda by teaching more than 1,000 congregations how to organize, train their own leaders and make demands of local, state and federal officials.

[COMPLETE ARTICLE]