Art*Music*Justice Tour

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to attend an event with my friend and neighbor (affectionately known as "neighbs"), Susie. We are both long-time fans of musician Sara Groves, so when we heard she was coming to town, we eagerly looked into getting tickets. Only to discover this was a large ticket of five artists, also including one of my favorite songwriters, Derek Webb.

When Susie and I arrived early to get the best possible seats for the price we paid (center seats of 4th row!), our biggest question was the order the artists would play in. However, as the show began with all artists on stage and they took turns playing one or two songs of their own at a time, we were moved from engaging with the individual artists into engaging with the Tour. We were shown videos and told stories in such a way that compelled us to engage with the cause, consider ways we can further the causes with our own action, and then consider ways we can financially help the cause. No buckets were passed, but they were readily available. The whole mood of the room shifted from beginning to end. We could sense the urgency in what they were saying without being burdened by it. They took time to pray in the middle of the show. They led the way by telling their own stories, by displaying in words and emotions on stage, by showing us - whether intentionally or not - how very much this campaign meant to them.

The Art *Music *Justice Tour is a music tour - a series of concerts -of five artists who are seeking to do something more with their stage. They are using the opportunity of these 22 shows (September 19- October 26) to raise money and awareness for worth causes: Food for the Hungry and International Justice Mission.

In a very small way, I felt a connect between Sara and this tour, and Sara and her role in the Ride:Well Tour. It reminded me of Tyler, Texas. It reminded me that even the smallest community can make unimaginable differences.

This tour is going to achieve great things and provide a great show to those present while at it. If at all possible, I highly recommend you go out for it.

Action at the Eleventh Hour

Praise God!!

I spent most of today in my own world. Exhausted physically from a very busy and demanding week (already), and exhausted emotionally as I have spent much time thinking about and praying for Troy Davis and all that have had any role - on either side - of his "case" (in quotes because it isn't just another court case... it is his LIFE).

After being away from internet all day (I was at work for nearly 9 hours), I was anxious to arrive home and check the news. I do not know any details of how the march and witness went in the past 24 hours, but I understand there was a decent turn out, which makes my heart deeply glad.

After searching for more information tonight, I discovered this article. Troy has been granted a Supreme Court Reprive! This is going to be a very, very long road to go down, and prayer and support is still greatly needed. However, there is great joy and there are countless reasons to celebrate tonight: for though each step give only a little more time (in this case a week), we must take what we can get. As Rev. Sharpton said tonight, one week may not seem like a long time, but when you only had two hours to live, a week is a lifetime.

Only God could have brought this case along in such a short amount of time. Only 2 1/2 days ago I was pleaing desperately for prayer and support. I hope you will continue to join in this effort in the week to come. God is indeed hearing our prayers, friends. Let us rejoice, let us move forward and continue taking action, and in all things, let us continue to pray.

A Last-Minute Plea for Help

There are few things worse than feeling helpless in situations that need - require- action.

I got a phone call tonight from a friend across the country who has been following and active with the case of a man by the name of Troy Davis, who is on death row. Back in 1991, he was convicted of murdering a police officer. After many appeals to have his case heard in a federal court, he has been denied one final time and his execution date is set for this Tuesday, September 23, 2008. That is only a few days away...

I will confess that no matter the case or the "evidence" of guilt, I do not believe the death penalty should EVER be the answer. That being said...

The facts about this case that I both heard from Karl tonight and read online (see this fact sheet for a quick timeline of the case) are so disturbing... To say the least, it seems he was convicted in such a way that would never stand in court today. No weapons, no physical evidence, etc. That, and there were 9 eyewitnesses then... and 7 of them have recanted, many of them now saying they testified because they were pressured or coerced - in some cases even paid - by police to offer the witness they did. Yet there has not been a chance for his case to even be re-heard with this new "evidence" pointing toward his innocence.

I am completely 100% against the death penalty, and in many ways it is because of cases like this one. It is such a terrible thing to hear about cases like this one, to see all that has been done before to try and change this, to try and do something to save a life, to bring justice to those to whom it is do.

I do not know what to do. I know we can pray for Troy and his family and friends. We can pray for Karl and his supporters who are actively seeking to bring attention to this case, actively seeking to save his life. We can pray for those in and working through the system that it change not only for this one case, but in the many cases that are yet to come.

It seems helpless. It seems like there are only 2 1/2 days to go until his execution so it might be too late... but the reality is, last time a date was set, it was changed within 24 hours of what could have otherwise been his final 24 hours of life. I'm clinging to hope and prayer tonight as folks continue to work for Troy in ways that will hopefully save his life, and undoubtedly change their own. I know learning of this case in the way I did tonight has already changed mine. My prayer is that a few people in the right positions of "power" will allow it to change theirs, as well. I hope you'll pray with us, and if you're in the area (Georgia), you will ACT. I'm not sure what that action needs to be... but as we pray about it, maybe we'll figure it out...

An Update

I haven't updated in quite some time, so here's a quick recap of things I thought about writing about but never got to...

I had the opportunity to go to Arizona for the last week of August. I got to spend time with family I don't see often enough (even meet some I'd never met before- and meet their little boy that was born my last night there!!). I spent the weekend with some Ride:Well friends, including 4 teammates and many friends of Red Oak Fellowship Church (near Dallas, Texas). It was fantastic. We were able to hike a few miles in the canyon, got really wet in a cold, windy downpour, sat around a fire in an attempt to stay warm (and dry!), and laughed - a lot. Very refreshing, and a piece of closure I was in great need of after such an intense summer.

Classes started the day I returned, and I have been on the go ever since. They started slow, and I've since added a course and am now taking an overload. This does mean that I am now spending (nearly) all of my time reading... I guess that's what happens when good readings are actually assigned for courses. Awesome.

I also now have 2 jobs: one at school working at the front desk (being the "Face of Garrett" and answering the phones), and one at Starbucks. Believe it or not, a lot of thought went into selection of a job off campus this year, and I am more than pleased with my decision. It is a LOT to learn (not really what I expected), but I work with great staff, Starbucks treats its employees ("partners") VERY well, and it is the flexible schedule I need for my student life. Also, it is nice to have a job that doesn't add stress to my already-stressful semester: when I leave work, everything from work stays there. No baggage is a wonderful thing.

Starbucks has also had some other randomness to go with it. It turns out Evanston is full of "celebrities" - and they come into our store regularly. The first latte I ever made was on Saturday morning... for Jerry Springer. Funny stuff... and we've had other "Hollywood actors" in since then... and I've only been there a week.

Lots of crazy stuff going on at home. Everyone is okay, just crazy stuff that's been stressful. And my "sixth sense" kicked in in the midst of drama, giving me a near anxiety attack in the midst of the chaos, while I didn't know why. Long story short: I eventually made the connection and am grateful everything ended as it did.

On a lighter note: My friend Laura has the CUTEST little girl!!! I am privileged to be her first babysitter, and grateful that at 7 months old, she equally adores me, and doesn't hate that spending time with me means Mom is away. She's a bundle of joy, and always provides a welcome break from otherwise busy schedules.

Summer seems to have ended early (or at least abruptly), so I've given up on running outside, and it couldn't be better. Fortunately, a few more Garrett folks joined my gym, so though schedules have changed, etc, I have plenty of gym buddies. We've been going to classes, and while they kick my butt, I LOVE the spin classes. Good times. :)

Exciting, huh? Hopefully now that we're up-to-date and my semester is off to a busy (brutal!) start, I'll procrastinate more and keep this updated.

Big Changes

I just got that phone call that I have both been dreading and hoping for all day.

My best friend from college, Eliot, is a US Marine. He has become that one person in life who knows me as well as (if not better than) I do, and I trust and love him more than I probably ever have anyone else in life (he is as close as any family member ever could be). I love this guy, and his friendship has been an amazing blessing to me.

Eliot leaves in the morning for Iraq. He will be stationed there for 7-9 months. He is infantry. Fortunately not army infantry, and he assures me that the group he is going to replace has not even had to fire rounds. Which is great on many levels - both because I worry for his safety and because I am such a pacifist! (we make a great pair, huh?)

Please pray for Eliot and his team. Also, extra prayers for his family - and for me - will be greatly appreciated and incredibly necessary. Its going to be rough on a lot of us. I'm not usually a worrier, but I have never been so afraid of anything as I am for his life.

The disastrous Chicago Blood:Water

Yesterday was one of the craziest days I have had in a very, very long time - and instead of stressing out about it, I am pleased to say we were able to laugh about our misfortunes and the fact that nearly everything went wrong all day.

I cannot even begin to describe the great number of little things that made this day go so terribly. I do know that by 1:30pm, when I saw and was greeted by some familiar friendly faces (Kellie and Jars guys), all I could respond with was, "I hate this day!!!" (or something like that) - and then laugh because I was in such disbelief that it had actually gone as it did. They offered supportive hugs and laughed with me, haha.

What went down, you ask? Here are some of the big things that made it rough:
I borrowed a car to run the many errands necessary for the event to function smoothly. As I pulled into the airport to pick up Kellie (first 'errand') - it died. Not to start again. Not being a mechanic, I would put all I know on it being the alternator (awesome!!!). The tow truck company said it would take an hour to get there; I'll let you imagine how excited airport personnel were about that. Then imagine how well it went over when I was there nearly 3 hours!!!

Poor Kellie had rented a car and got lost a couple times. I tried to get to the Blood:Water event from the train with an obscure address and no other directions, and ended up needing to walk through the projects to get there... so I had to take a cab. I was late. And "flustered." So I got drinks, etc ready for the guests and skipped the presentation. Did I mention that the first bag of popcorn I popped ended up on the floor? because it did. (I have to say here that I though I didn't see the presentation and there are certainly jokes to tell about it, I think it mostly went ok, and most of the guests probably did not know anything was wrong, which is good.)

Then Jeremy (Kellie's husband, also the drummer for Jars of Clay) left with the rest of the band before the movie started... and accidentally took the rental car keys with him. The runner took a couple of hours to bring us the keys, so we were late to the show (which we wanted to be on time to, as Jeremy designed the lights and Jars was playing first).

Our bad luck carried over to the guys... Jeremy cut open his knee on the "steel horse" metal risers when moving from one drum set to another during the set... and could hardly walk/finish the set. He even bled through his white pants (another story entirely). Then we tried to clean it up... and discovered the Jars tour bus does not have a first aid kit on it. AWESOME. (we did eventually find some band-aids elsewhere, for the record) In the interim, Jeremy is walking (limping) like a gangster and is in great need of an awesome cane.

Did I mention that throughout the day of mishaps and things going wrong (I'm not filling in all of the details and mishaps, but lets just say it seemed like NOTHING went right!!!!), we didn't have any opportunities to eat? So I had breakfast around 7am, and we FINALLY got dinner around 9:30pm. SWEET.

ahhhh - what a long day!!! Fortunately for me, it stopped there. I did have an interesting train ride home and a lovely chat with a man named Maurice... but that's a story for another day. It was a positive, lovely conversation. Not like Kellie and Jeremy's night... they returned to the venue only to discover the rental car could be parked no where on the premises overnight (not even next to the tour bus with the VIP pass in it) or it would be towed. So they got to return it in the middle of the night and take a cab back to the venue at 1am. LOVELY.

I'm glad its over, but laughing at it - it is seriously hilarious already. I guess above all, I'm glad I got to spend the day with Kellie (well, the 2nd half, anyway!), and I guess I had some new experiences that weren't all bad, too. Like discovering Rober Randolph is amazing (he played after Jars) and hearing a few of Switchfoot's songs live for the first time... and I'd never been on a tour bus (it isn't that special and it makes my bathroom seem like a master suite!).

I'm chalking this one up to more ridiculous memories that I can laugh at for some time to come.

Democratic Ticket Decided

The choice we've all been waiting for has finally been made: Barak Obama Chose Senator Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential running mate.

A few thoughts: 1- I am not surprised. 2- I think they'll make a good pair. 3- That solidifies (as if it wasn't before?) which ticket I'll be voting for.

Surely there will be more to come on politics in the future (for better or worse!).

A Prayerful Journey Ahead

After flipping through Matthew's copy of The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne (founder of the SimpleWay) this summer, I finally picked up my own copy yesterday. I'm only about 140 pages in, but I can tell you there were words in the first 100 that could have been my own, and I was so taken aback by it I that had to read them several times. It's interesting to read where his thoughts from then have taken him today. I imagine he finds himself in a very different place now than he ever envisioned, and that can be a result of only one thing: God is amazing. As I have been anxiously trying to make decisions about my own life this week, this story offers me a refreshing excitement to see how my own story will unravel.

That brings me to Discernment. I have a special place in my heart for this word. Since college and the days of small groups formed from the Lilly endowment's vocational formation program at my school, this word has brought with it a plethora of emotions. Anxiety, joy… excitement, even! But also humility, confusion, sometimes sorrow or fear. A healthy sort of fear. The kind of awareness (if not an actual form of the emotion) of apprehension that keeps me aware of the fact that I am not actually in control. A recognition that reminds me of my need to keep relying on God in all that I do. I guess “fear” may not be the right word to describe this emotion, but I am at a loss for how to describe the determination and hope and focus and intensity that come with the desire to always seek refuge in uncomfortable situations... to always seek a way to work for change when I become comfortable in a place that our broken society is also comfortable with. For what good and positive changes ever come from comfort and safety? I "fear" living in that place... and I refuse to let FEAR keep me from seeking change in these ways...

Some days, I am so uncertain of what my future holds I find myself in a place of real fear, in which I cannot so much as try to process where I will be 9 months from now (upon graduation)… so I find myself in the place I should have been all along: in prayer.

From that, I have concluded that there is only one thing I can know about how I am being called to live: I know I am being called to love people, and to love people well. We talked a lot this summer about the challenge of "loving people we have never met." We spent 2 months raising money and awareness to help our brothers and sisters in Africa reach access to clean water. The more we talked about it, the more I realized that for me, that isn't always that hard. They're far away. I am "safe" from their harsh reality. I'm not doing the walking every day to get dirty water - I'm helping them stop doing so by driving a van and giving people water I bought at a store that morning. I am Safe. I realize that I don't want to be - and do not feel called to be - so "safe". What we did this summer was an amazing, miraculous feat and I have absolutely no regrets about what we did, how we did it, or why we did it. God was a part of that team and of our mission. And it wasn't safe in many, many ways. But its not the end for me, either.

I want to use this experience as one more that will help me to love people, and love them well. I want to face the challenge of loving people not just from a safe distance, but up close and personal. To love them not just on the days we can celebrate together and share in fellowship, but to love them on the days when it is most difficult to do so, whether because of hardship or exhaustion or 'simple' things like a personality conflict (as was sometimes hard with the very people on our own team... here in the 'safe' land of our own 'real' lives). I want to love people and be fully engaged in a ministry of presence, seeking to do "what is good" as I learn to "do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8).

Wherever I end up and whatever I end up doing, I want to learn to listen well so that my ministry is one that engages fully not with what an institution tells me needs to be done, but with what the people with whom I live in community with most need. Maybe those things will even be the same... but I pray for the opportunity to take time to be present and build relationships before taking action.

So in the end, it comes down to what sounds like a cheesy cliché, but is really where all of my heart and soul are invested. I want to love well. Nothing more, nothing less. A big task, I am sure, and one I will have to grow in to. But I trust that whatever path I am on a year from now, it will be doing just that.
(and I hope Mom is okay with that path, too!)