What began as an emergency response has become a daily vigil as we monitor all reports and post prominent related dispatches. Please visit our peace captive action page to find out how you can take action to support freedom for the captives in Iraq.

Advancing Peace
in your community

Based on 300 years of Quaker peace work in prisons, schools, and situations of violent tension, Help Increase the Peace Project is a creative process for transforming conflict and building community. HIPP workshops focus on reflective personal dialogue combined with energetic, fun activities, in order to foster experiential skill development based on real-life situations.

Ideal for: Parents, teachers, students & student leaders, mentors, trainers, counselors, and all creative individuals who care about their community; ages 13 - 113 welcome

Folks who come to our Basic training will be eligible to join our Advanced workshop in the Fall. We are trying to raise up more facilitators to share this training with others in our community, but Basic is for everyone, not just people who want to be trainers.

Each attender is asked to contribute $25 to defray the cost of food and supplies. Please contact me if cost is an issue, and we can work something out. All of the facilitators are volunteers.

If you live in Northern Virginia, feel free to Print & Post our flyer on some bulletin boards in your community! Download PDF

Join us for our Summer workshop:
Thursday, July 21 6pm-8:30pm
Friday, July 22 9:30am-5pm
Saturday, July 23 9:30am-5pm
Lunch & Snacks included

Location :
Woodlawn Friends Meeting
8990 Woodlawn Road
Fort Belvior, Virginia 22060

Registration Closed July 15.

Please contact John Stephens if you have any questions: hipp (at) beardedbaby (dot) net ]]> http://beardedbaby.net/archives/2005/07/community_peace.php http://beardedbaby.net/archives/2005/07/community_peace.php Community Projects Wed, 06 Jul 2005 02:47:57 -0500 Picking up the threads of my last journal entry, I wrote an article for Friends Journal called Do this in Remembrance of Me, mainly to satisfy the submission demands of one of my classes. Here's an excerpt:

I can't help thinking that the experience of communion practiced by Friends is deeply connected to the vision of God revealed in Eucharist. There has been a great deal written on this subject from the vantage point of other traditions, but I would like to focus on the fundamental attitude toward reality presented in the Eucharist narrative, an attitude shared by the early Quakers and deeply nourishing for Friends today. [...]

On the night that he was arrested, Yeshua joined his disciples in a Passover meal which he vividly connected to the suffering he anticipated. The New Revised Standard Version reads:

Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."

Narrative of the arrest, trial, and execution of Christ immediately follows, and throughout these anguishing events, the rabbi remains unwaveringly faithful to his vision of divine love and justice. Because of this juxtaposition, I would suggest that the meditation captured in the above text is much more than an injunction to carry out a ritual of remembrance. The words "do this in remembrance of me" are referring not only to the meal, but also to the radical faithfulness demanded by God in the trials of our times.

This idea of Living in the Cross, “radical faithfulness” to God's love and justice, is something I've been wrestling with a lot, and I still feel like I've failed to articulate the blood & guts of it. This week, I found a reading by Rich Foster that seems to express the idea almost elegantly:

The foremost symbol of this radical servanthood* is the cross. “He [Jesus] humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). But note this: Christ not only died a “cross-death,” he live a “cross-life.” The way of the cross, the way of the suffering servant was essential to his ministry.

[...]Jesus called his followers to live the cross-life. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). He flatly told his disciples, “If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). When Jesus immortalized the principle of the cross-life by washing his disciples' feet, he added, “I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). The cross-life is the life of voluntary submission. The cross-life is the life of freely accepted servanthood.

Foster makes it clear that the “freely accepted servanthood” of Living in the Cross should not lead Christians into sniveling complicity with evil and injustice, even when it is perpetrated by their own government. Indeed, revolutionary subordination demands the courage to transform our communities, even through civil disobedience: “[The apostles] illustrated revolutionary subordination by meekly refusing a destructive command and being willing to suffer the consequences. The German thinker Johannes Hamel says that subordination includes 'the possibility of a spirit-driven resistance, of an appropriate disavowal and a refusal ready to accept suffering at this or that particular point.'”

Living in the Cross is a vocation of service to all people, and service calls us into the field of action. Yet it is so easy to get sniveling with complicity when dealing with the beurocracies, institutions, social conventions, and other powers that crush human dignity and turn us away from Friendship. I remember working in Human Resources a couple years ago, and being subject to a culture of somewhat dehumanizing policy. It took a constant exertion of will to align my priorities with the needs of my coworkers, to provide them with support in navigating the maze of paperwork and policy regarding their payroll and benefits. Subordinating the demands of the institution to the needs of the community created a friendlier environment all the way to the customer.

I can't talk about that with more wit because labor relations isn't my main interest. While studying toward teacher certification, I have found other concerns that I feel I must carry in serving my community:

• Kids need experience-based training in constructive alternatives to violence. We need to foster a culture in our schools that empowers young people with creative skills in conflict transformation.
• Families need stronger connections with their coworkers and neighbors. When crap hits the fan, it will be the people in my neighborhood and workplace who need my help, and who can help my family. Political, economic, and cultural divisions are all red herrings. The real issue is our commitment to divine love and justice.
• Religious strife is rapidly sending us back into the dark ages. Our different traditions provide us with unique visions of God and unique vocations in the world, but when our relationship with each other is defined by enmity instead of service, we have regretably departed from our calling. We need to support loving dialogue that builds a robust spirit of fellowship across denominational boundaries.

That's enough high-falutin' for now. Time to read some bed-time stories and rest in the questions and mysterious silence that follow.

On 08•07, I will be leaving for Quaker House, a GI counseling center near Fort Bragg where I will be interning for about two weeks.

The former Cardinal Ratzinger's staunch adherence to the orthodox traditions is well attested to; in his address to the cardinals prior to this week's conclave, he made it clear that the next pope must make war on moral relativism by enforcing the established doctrines.

This raises the question: is orthodoxy - uniformity of doctrine - a faithful interpretation of the prophetic message of Avraham, Moshe, Yeshua, & Paulos? We must be careful not to depreciate the prophets of the ancient world by diluting their voices with halting shudders of our own prejudices and paradigms.

The prophets were neither unified by doctrine nor practice - the unity of their message emerged in their unique struggle to apprehend the divine and bring forth the blessed kingdom, a struggle most vividly illustrated by the cross.

Moved by the significance of this struggle and the image of this event, the early Quakers called their discipline Living in the Cross.

Patricia McBee writes:

“Living in the Cross” is to put our own will aside, and to submit to the guidance discovered through retirement and prayer. It means not to turn away from the suffering world, but to face even the suffering that we are powerless to alleviate. It means to allow the Light to shine into our dark spots and show us the way—and to follow that way even when we are tempted to take an easier path.

Living in the Cross is living at the threshold where tenderness and suffering meet, where pain awakens the love and justice of God deep inside us. It is a visceral experience that results in an immediate and unwavering commitment to establishing the reign of peace and Truth in every home and community. Can friends today take on this commitment and calling?

Although it is unclear what the new Pope may do to advance the Peaceable Kingdom – how he might promote demilitarization and active peace dialogue within and beyond the Roman communion – it is clear that we must not be misled into the easy faith of tough-sounding doctrines. Beyond these ruinous battlements, there is an even deeper struggle that demands our faithfulness regardless of our creed.

I'm still grappling with the implications, and I don't know if I've articluated this well at all. I hope this dialogue will throw more abundant light on this subject.

• Wednesday, March 16 12P-2:30P
• Monday, March 21 12P-2:30P
• Friday, April 1 3P-5:30P

Location:
NVCC Woodbridge: Room 409
15200 Neabsco Mills Road
Woodbridge, Virginia 22191

Help Increase the Peace and the Alternatives to Violence Project comprise an interactive program for bringing new light to situations of tension. Through a combination of serious, focused reflection and energetic, fun activities, participants learn to identify and transform patterns of behavior that keep their communities in conflict.

This program is used in prisons and schools around the country to radically reduce violence by giving individuals a process for transforming conflict and inspiring them to lead.

Basic training provides all participants with practical skills for positive, nonviolent social change. Advanced training and Training for Facilitators prepare students to uplift their communities through creative dialogue & direct action.

Sign up by eMail to reserve your seat:

hipp (at) beardedbaby (dot) net

On January 17, 2005 (that's 17th day of 1st month in plain speech), I was invited to speak at NVCC on the topic of Dr. King to commemorate the holiday. I had a lot of material, but it was difficult to decide what would be most meaningful for the audience. In the end, we settled on a collective listening format in order to reflect as a group on various readings from Dr. King's speeches and letters. There were about twenty-five students and faculty in attendance, and the messages that came out of the silence were quite moving.

Downloads: PDF Guidlines for Collective Listening | PDF MLK Day Readings

Overview: First we went over the concept of collective listening, and then eight participants volunteered to read from the selections. After each portion was read, we settled into meditatiive silence and participants responded from their own experience. One caution with collective listening is that some people get anxious if the silence is extended, especially if they are accustomed to taking charge of discussions and "getting things started." It is wise to address this in the beginning when you go over the guidelines.

Readings:

It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham.

Nonviolent resistance does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding. The nonviolent resister must often express his protest through noncooperation or boycotts, but he realizes that noncooperation and boycotts are not ends themselves; they are merely means to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent. The end is redemption and reconciliation. The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness. [...]

It is evil we are seeking to defeat, not the persons victimized by evil. Those of us who struggle against racial injustice must come to see that the basic tension is not between races. [...]

Nonviolent resistance avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love. In struggling for human dignity the oppressed people of the world must not allow themselves to become bitter or indulge in hate campaigns. To retaliate with hate and bitterness would do nothing but intensify the hate in the world. Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can be done only by projecting the ethics of love to the center of our lives.

Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movement, and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance. For we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us. Over the past two years, as I have moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart, as I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. At the heart of their concerns, this query has often loomed large and loud: "Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King? Why are you joining the voices of dissent?" "Peace and civil rights don't mix," they say. "Aren't you hurting the cause of your people?" they ask. And when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment, or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live. [...]

As if the weight of such a commitment to the life and health of America were not enough, another burden of responsibility was placed upon me in 1954. And I cannot forget that the Nobel Peace Prize was also a commission, a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for the brotherhood of man. This is a calling that takes me beyond national allegiances.

But even if it were not present, I would yet have to live with the meaning of my commitment to the ministry of Jesus Christ. To me, the relationship of this ministry to the making of peace is so obvious that I sometimes marvel at those who ask me why I am speaking against the war. Could it be that they do not know that the Good News was meant for all men-for communist and capitalist, for their children and ours, for black and for white, for revolutionary and conservative? [...]

Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest. Now there is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in Vietnam. I say we must enter that struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing.

The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing "clergy and laymen concerned" committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. So such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God. [...]

A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

2004•11•04: Happy Hallowe'en! My holiday comic was interrupted by a cantankerous Skeleton - I went over the handlebars of my bike last week & fractured my right scapula (my "shoulder"). The doc said I shouldn't try any acrobatics for four weeks.

I AM NOT MOVING to CANADA.

A lot of people are worked up about the presidential election, huh? I am driven by a much deeper concern; now that the winner has been projected, victory has been conceded & claimed, I propose that we turn off our televisions and take on the revolutionary work before us.

Deep divisions continue to strain the world in which we live. We are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.

100 YEAR LAMB'S WAR will continue to explore a vision for a century of peacemaking.

Again from Dr. King: Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

Now there is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in Vietnam. I say we must enter that struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing.

The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing "clergy and laymen concerned" committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. So such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God.

I hope that it is abundantly clear that this significant and profound change would not be initiated by the White House in any scenario of this election. The work of this revolution must begin in our communities, in every synagogue, church, and mosque, in every prison and school.

Every one of us will be called to commit our time and endowments toward different fields in the century of peacemaking before us, but we must meet the those deluded by the myth of redemptive violence with equal devotion to the sovereignty of Love.

I have posted a new resource page to supplement this comic and provide links to related information around the web. That's all for now; I better get to work. It isn't comfortable to recognise a common interest with UBL, but we need to secure our country through peaceful prevention of deadly conflict.

TAKE ACTION: Sign the I AM NOT MOVING to CANADA pledge, and get involved with peacework in your community.