Best News of the Week:
Sounds of Blackness – Sick & Tired
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tToy06ER67c
News from Peace:
What Will We Do With Our Breath? By Christy Anderson Jacob
June 4, 2020
Dear Friends,
I know we are all processing a lot and trying to come to terms with the pain made visible on our streets–the pain that has been there all along, but we have learned to accommodate.
I have noticed that as the days have gone by since George Floyd’s murder, I have gotten increasingly more anxious. As I have sat with it, I realize it has many layers. The outermost layer is the real fear that after the police are charged, the protests stop, and the cameras go away, we, as a society, will find our way back to complacency. If I dig a little deeper, I see that the anxiety is inviting me to grapple with how I am connected to and partly responsible for what is unfolding. If I am honest, I am scared that I will lack the sustained will to do my part going forward. If I dig still deeper, I find a defeating belief that maybe I don’t have anything meaningful to offer such complex and insidious problems. And to top it all off, I fear the vulnerability required to step into this highly charged arena.
I remember when I decided to work weekly on the “VOTE NO” campaign, I was invited to put a sign in my yard. It was a humbling revelation to see what it took for me to walk the 40 paces out my front door, in a primarily white neighborhood that I perceived might not be allies on this issue, to put that sign in the ground. Then I thought of all the people who sat in at lunch counters, marched, and gave their lives so that people like Abe and I could marry, and I felt emboldened to take on whatever small discomfort would result from working on that campaign. When I put the sign in the ground, I made a commitment to look at it every day and say words of gratitude to all the people who came before me who made my life possible by their sacrifice. I followed my words of gratitude with a promise to them that I would work to see their vision of love expanded in the world. The sign that I first feared, became the invitation to a daily spiritual practice that helped me face, with more ease and resolve, the many uncomfortable points along that journey.
I need that visual, spiritual practice again. The words I need came to me yesterday doing a sink full of dishes. Thanks to my son Nicko’s design skills, he helped me turn the words I want to guide me into a sign. The sign, says, “What are WE going to do with our BREATH?” I want those words to invite me into a daily prayer of gratitude for the breath I have been given each day. I also want it to help me remember those whose breath has been taken from them, and for those who are so scared or oppressed, that it is hard for them to breathe. I want these words to center me on a mindfulness practice that starts with my own breath and will hopefully develop in me less reactivity, more compassion, and most of all, the humility of knowing that my outer action is only as useful as my inner transformation.
If this speaks to you and you would like one, I would be happy to order one for you as well. Please contact me at ande1637@umn.edu if you would like a sign. The cost of the sign is $20. I will let you know when they are ready for pick up and you could pay me via venmo @Christy-Jacob-2 or by cash/check.
In the words of a Ugandan friend who texted me yesterday, “I pray for an inside out healing of each of us, the U.S., and our world.”
Love to you,
Christy
Pictures of 4th of July: Send a digital picture of you and/or your family celebrating the 4th of July weekend to Dave Tidball at dave@peaceumc.com to share in a special Peace Notes sometime in the near future. By sending your digital you are giving Peace permission to include the picture in a digital format.
Equal Exchange coffee and chocolate available. If you’re missing your favorite Equal Exchange coffee, cocoa, tea, or chocolate bars, contact Cindy (cindy@peaceumc.com) to arrange for pick-up or delivery, and payment. The following are available:
Breakfast Blend (whole or ground)
French Roast (whole or ground)
Toffee Caramel (ground)
Tea (black or green)
Hot chocolate (just in case we have a cold night)
Baking cocoa
Chocolate bars (milk chocolate, dark chocolate caramel, dark chocolate almond, and dark chocolate mint)
The July-August Upper Room is here. If you would like a copy of this daily devotional booklet mailed to your house, please send an email to Cindy (admin@peaceumc.com) to request one.
United Methodist Happenings
Being a better anti-racist
https://www.minnesotaumc.org/blogdetail/being-a-better-anti-racist-14027342
Unsnarling US and church racial history
https://www.umnews.org/en/news/unsnarling-us-and-church-racial-history
Grace Connections of the Week:
Grace connections invites you to find the power of God’s love in the midst of the harm, confusion and news of the week. Below are a few stories from the news of the week.
Video of the Week:
Wildlife artist films the wildlife that took over his kids’ playground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=137&v=GM0_lOqOK0c&feature=emb_title
Photos of the Week:
https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/top-photos-of-the-day-idUSRTS3H0P4
Move to rename ‘Bloody Sunday’ bridge has critics in Selma
https://apnews.com/08b23b2f805c0d73e6dfc82b1e01e1f9
Black activism and Buddhist mindfulness share a fascinating history — and future.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/7/2/21310378/buddhist-mindfulness-meditation-black-activism-future-perfect