The Work is Yet to Come

I am as excited, have been as numb-struck with emotion, have celebrated and prayed with my fellow citizens of the world. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to be a part of the generation that has made it possible for us to now give the title President-Elect to Barack Obama.

I also know that while I never have been before and perhaps never will again be so supportive of a candidate, this candidate will also let me down from time to time. There are a lot of reasons I voted for Mr. Obama, a lot of reasons to support him. Yet there are also some policies I am sure he will implement that I do not like. I suppose the only way for that to cease to be true, is to run for office myself (and even then I am not sure).

One thing we MUST do is continue to be active. To call attention to things that are important to us, to continue letting him know what really matters to us. We did this by the millions during the election, and we need to continue this activism well into his term.

President-Elect Obama has spoken out against injustice. One of the greatest injustices of the world is to strip someone of their humanity. In the US, we are guilty of doing this. We implement the death penalty, we refuse to give persons a fair trial, we use torture tactics on our enemies. The list is endless.

One way to help assure President-Elect Obama will take proper steps in continuing our fight for justice is to support Amnesty International. Their website is full of rich resources and information if you are looking to learn more about a given topic or to find out the most recent proceedings in an area of interest. They are also a great organization that helps us to pool our resources and work together for a greater good. Right now, they are calling on Obama to make human rights central to his new administration's work. They are looking for your support in calling him to take action during his first 100 days in office.

To read more, visit Amnesty International USA's website. To read and sign the 100 Days Petition, you may follow this link.

Eric Volz :: on being re-tried in Nicaragua

You may remember this unjust 'trial' and imprisonment of Eric Volz not too long ago. I have a mutual friend with Eric, and he posted this on Facebook this afternoon. I hope you will watch, follow, act, and pray with him.

Ecumenical Conferencing

I have not done much Ecumenical work in the past. Mostly, I think this is because it is something I have taken for granted and not thought of as something that was in great need of being a "movement."

When I was invited to attend the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches and Church Word Service, I jumped. I have been here for two days now, and after spending that time with the (first ever) young adult conference "New Fire," I cannot believe how much I have learned. I have heard incredible testimonies and been moved by intentional holy conferencing. I have struggled to be patient and love brothers and sisters who seem to sometimes argue for the sake of arguing. I have learned about denominations I did not even know existed, and my eyes have been opened to the importance of seeking communion as one united body of Christ.

Our group of 12 young adult stewards spent today getting to know each other better, coming to understand our roles over the next few days better, and wrapping up logistics for the next few days. The conference begins in the morning, and I look forward to watching and being a part of this conference as it unfolds. It will be very different than the past few days, and if its anything like the past few, I know it will be demanding and difficult, engaging and empowering, challenging, and encouraging. I can't wait.

A Historic Victory

Tonight will go down as one of the most memorable nights of my life. One of the most memorable nights of my generation. It will go down as a historic day to be remembered and memorized for generations to come.

Barack Obama has been elected the President of The United States of America. Immediately following John McCain's concession, Obama gave a brilliant acceptance speech in Grant Park - in downtown Chicago. I was one of 70,000 granted a ticket to this event, and still cannot believe I was there and got to be there to see and hear (LIVE!) this historic event.

I have to say I was *really* impressed with the work of the Chicago Police and the CTA. Everything ran smoothly, and I don't think it could have been organized better. Well done. I wonder if this will help them with the bid for the Olympics, now that they've proven they can handle such a large-scale event?

Barack Obama will be sworn into office on January 20, 2009. I can't wait for the change that is yet to come. The long process of change ahead begins tomorrow, when two new people are granted full access to files in the White House so they may begin preparing for their terms and "hit the ground running."

A few other thoughts:
I am VERY pleased that this election went as I wish it always did: the winning ticket claims the majorit in BOTH the Electoral AND the Popular vote. Incredible.

John McCain gave a decent concession speech, but he was really hard on himself. He clearly took this loss very personally, and although I'm glad he didn't win, it was hard to listen to and my heart ached for him.

When I got home, I turned on the news, and they were just turning to show Obama's acceptance speech once again. I watched and listened, and must say it felt a LOT longer when we were watching it live/in person. Perhaps because I was so caught up in the moment, savoring the moment and trying to take it all in. I still can't believe it. Seriously - Barack Obama is going to be our President!!!

Obama's speech was INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE. please, Please, PLEASE go listen to it!

As excited as I am about the events, my heart goes out to McCain supporters. I hope my family handles it ok, and selfishly I hope they do so without attacking me/my sister for supporting Obama... I know they shed lots of tears tonight...

I am very tired. I got up at 4:30am to vote EARLY before work, and its getting really late (but I'm running on adrenaline and fortunately can sleep in tomorrow).

In other election news tonight, I havne't had a chance to look up much, but this is what I do know:
In California, Prop 8 passed. This was an ammendment to the state constitution, and it overturns the Supreme Court of California's decision to legalize gay marriage. :( I mourn this loss. (but remain hopeful for this change, too... as Obama even included equal rights for gay and lesbians in his acceptance speech!)

On a better note, South Dakota attempted to pass amendments tonight that would give them the most strict abortion laws in the country. While I wish abortion never had to happen, I am pro-choice, and I am thankful this did not pass.

Lots and lots and lots of other elections... but I need to sleep and leave some creative space for you to look them up. Maybe I'll post some pictures later (for sure look for them on facebook!).

Happy Holidays!

It seems eerily appropriate that I am sitting in a weekend class on Calvin this weekend (meeting 8 hours today and 4 hours tomorrow).

While many are out celebrating "Halloween" today, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a HAPPY REFORMATION DAY!!!

Light Even in the Darkness

It is good to be surrounded by great people.

I have wonderful, supportive friends and live in a community that is more encouraging and supportive than I could ever ask them to be.

After a long day of sitting and working at the front desk (though not getting as much done as I would have liked), I had a meeting with my candidacy mentor, Mark. To be honest, I was a bit worried about this meeting b/c of the emotional energy that I knew would be needed for it, and though he has always been supportive as he knows how to be in the past, it has been quite some time since someone of such "status" (stupid politics in the church... specifially in the UMC) was uber-supportive.

That changed today, and I am grateful for having a mentor who has taken enough time to listen to me over the past couple of years to be able to express what I'm thinking and feeling and experiencing so much better than I can. It was what I didn't know I needed tonight. An affirmation that what I think I should be doing does in fact fit perfectly into the box everyone is trying to keep me out of. They just might have to look a little closer to see it. But tonight, I have hope that it is possible.

Facing Challenges Together

Meeting with my District Committee on Ministry (seeking approval to continue moving forward toward ordination), visiting some crazy churches, throwing a baby shower, missing long-distance friends terribly, working 40+ hours per week, and working non-stop on upcoming projects and papers: these are some of the things that have made my life chaotic and stressful over the past few weeks.

It is in the midst of this kind of "busyness" that I struggle sometimes to remember that the very things that stress me out are the same things for which I should be most thankful. They are the things I can only have because of how privileged I am. That only upper-middle class educated folks seem to be privileged enough to stress over. That doesn't make me any less stressed, but it does help me to re-focus. To focus on why these very things are blessings that are helping me to grow into a stronger leader for Christ.

Even still, though, I cannot help but to sometimes wonder why we "do this to ourselves." Is education really so valuable that students should be required to live such a draining life to obtain it? It certainly doesn't make it easy for our lives to be "fruitful," or even for it to seem possible to learn 1/3 of what we are expected to... we are instead finding ourselves doing what we must "to get by," making the grade and moving on, checking things off our lists rather than engaging and digging deeper. This bothers me more than anything, because I am as guilty (if not more so) than most of my peers at doing just that... and yet I long to know the many things offered to me.

I know that a year from now, I will think all of the struggles I am battling today will have been worth it, and I will be faced with all sorts of new challenges. But one day at a time is all I can handle for now. I am anxiously working on plans for the future and I am excited to discover which path I will find myself on (as more and more seem to be opening themselves up).

Yet in the interim, I am also seeking space to focus on something new: allowing time and space for lament and sadness and struggle when things really aren't great, no matter how much we want them to be. I can no longer pretend that strangers on death row don't affect me. I can't pretend that friends I love and care about who are out of sight are also "out of mind," so I don't have to worry about them. I can't pretend like the economy or the state of the church or the election or the war don't affect my day-to-day life. Most of all, I have to stop acting as if my faith alone, independent of the faithful community that surrounds me, can hold me up in the midst of trials. Its okay not to be okay. In fact, it is critical to growth to allow for days like that. I know that a lot of what I am most struggling with now will not be resolved for several months. Yet I also know that allowing for this much-needed time, space, and prayer to guide me offers the possibility of burdens being lifted and become light as they are shared in community.

I know I am not alone in these sentiments these days... I pray that all of us facing such challenges would be able to find inner peace to make it through. (and that for those of us whose struggles are directly linked to lack of time - that we would make time for ourselves!). As always, I ask you to join me in such prayers.

The Difficult Battle Continues

... A Brief update for any who are following Troy Davis' case with me (see my post from earlier today).

Since I wrote the previous update requesting prayers for Troy, the federal Appeals Court in Atlanta has issues him a "conditional stay of execution" - meaning Troy and his legal team "must meet “stringent requirements” to pursue another round of appeals."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes,
"When the 11th Circuit issued its stay, Davis’ supporters were holding a mock funeral at the state Capitol. Demonstrators carried a coffin and a petition with 140,000 signatures to the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. Davis’ supporters also delivered a letter signed by more than 100 members of Georgia’s clergy to the Governor’s offices."

You can read the full article here. Thanks for your prayers and support... they're being heard, and will continue to be needed in the coming weeks.