No Needy Persons Among Them BY SCOTT BESSENECKER
http://www.urbana.org/blogs/blog.main.leastofthese.cfm/2010/12/10/No-Needy-Persons-Among-Them
Posted At : December 10, 2010 6:02 PM
Related Categories: Consumerism,Individualism,Community,Wealth
The story in Acts 3-4 describes the healing of a lame man by a couple of fisherman-turned-revolutionaries, and goes on to tell of their subsequent flogging, imprisonment and release. This story is bookended by a couple of fascinating descriptions of the early Christian community, and both descriptions include an interesting economic detail – the shift in among of the believers from private wealth to communal wealth.
Directly before the pivotal account we are told,
“All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” Acts 2:44-45
And directly after the event, the Christian community is described in this way,
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.” Acts 4:32-35
It is interesting that this story of healing, proclamation and persecution is flanked by a description of community. Not an ethereal, idealistic description of community, but a practical, financial one; for how we relate to our money lies at the heart of the practice of the Christian faith.
For instance, John the Baptist tied what we do with our money to proof of repentance and Jesus speaks more frequently about greed as sin than he does about sexual impropriety. Our relationship to money and possessions is among the clearest pictures of how the grace of God is evidenced in our lives.
In the early church, the grace of God manifested itself by pooling their resources. That grace was so powerfully at work that “there were no needy persons among them.”
In our latest foray into Christian community we got to observe this economic phenomenon first hand. We spent several days living in a conservative Mennonite community in northern Wisconsin.
We learned about a couple specific incidents that tested this principle of communal wealth. One Mennonite family in North Carolina racked up $750,000 of catastrophic health care costs. The nationwide community of this Mennonite group[i] pooled their resources and paid the entire bill.
Closer to home, a man in the Wisconsin community where we stayed passed away. He left his wife and children with some debts. The 18 families in this community banded together, paid off the family's debts and established them in a sustainable farming operation.
So far as we could see, there were no needy among any of the families. Then again neither was any living in lavish wealth. They lived very simply. Of course a certain amount of money is freed up when you’re not being enticed into materialism through the TV or internet. The savings on fashionable clothing and techno-gadgetry alone would add up to a surprising amount for many of us.
In addition, on principal these families do not buy health insurance, life insurance, and home insurance. Their commitment to the faith and to one another is insurance enough, and the Wisconsin authorities exempt them from auto insurance (these are car-driving Mennonites) because they have no doubts these guys will pay for any damage they cause. What’s more, they are exempt from Social Security. This stems more from their convictions regarding the separation of church and state, but it also reflects the confidence that when they grow too old to work, the community will take care of them.
We were also impressed to see the way they loved and cared for those members with special needs. There are about 4 or 5 in the community we stayed with who have developmental disabilities. These community members were as thoroughly part of the life of the body as anyone else. A deaf boy, for instance, lived among a neighboring Mennonite community. All the other boys in his school learned sign language so that they could take turns translating the lessons for him and include him in all their extra-curricular activities.
Even the “needy” are not needy in these communities!
I am not saying that this community is a perfect representation of the ideal church.
The people we lived with readily admitted that they were broken and sinful and likely had many things dead wrong. Nor did this community practice the kind of common purse it appears the Acts church did – each family had their own source of income, their own home or farm and their own savings.
What it did reveal is that it is possible to practice a form of communal wealth such that there are no needy among us. Their lives of radical dependence, radical simplicity, radical hospitality, and radical generosity ought to inspire more of us to resist the highly privatized and materialistic version of life the world feeds us and call a few of us to live out the powerful grace of God such that our resources and the needs of our brothers and sisters are in healthier balance.
[i]Nationwide Fellowship Churches
Books by Scott Bessenecker:
Living Mission: The Vision and Voices of New Friars
The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the World's Poor
How to Inherit the Earth
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
CHRISTIAN PACIFISM Interview with STANLEY HAUERWAS
I don't usually read the MORMON WORKER and I cannot remember exactly how I came across this, but this captures for me the essence of why I believe JESUS' challenge to be peacemakers has not been fully embraced by MANY Christians.
(PS: Read the interview THRICE, carefully, and note that Hauerwas is NOT a Mormon. He actually includes a very strong challenge to the Mormons to read the New Testament more. Maybe very fitting for all Christ-followers to do the same)
Christ's example of non-violence is a stark contrast to how we have intrinsically embraced violence and war as a shield against the harder work of peace-making. Our LORD, who had the power, authority and legitimate reasons to use violence against the Roman occupiers and oppressors of his time and place truly laid down his arms, by stretching them to heal rather than harm. And VICTORIOUSLY, stretching them again to die on a hill rather than kill.
This is a fitting rebuke not just for American Patriotism but for all nationalistic, imperialistic, tribalistic and ethnic idolatries.
I am glad that over the years God has destroyed my notions of patriotism, which is not to say that I don't love Kenya and being a Kenyan. My political dreams and passions became idols and I worshipped at the throne of what Christian Political Activism could do for Kenya and lead us to the promised land of PROGRESS and PROSPERITY. I DO NOT treasure "Kenyan-ness" as an abstraction or reality I am eager and willing to kill for when I have never completely been as bold in going out to die for my faith. Our internal tribal and political violence over the years has been horrible!
The gospels chronicling Jesus' life have truly opened my eyes to why so many of the Early Christians were martyred rather than go out to martyr other peoples, races, nations/countries/kingdoms, religions, tribes and political enemies.
JESUS TRULY MEANT "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES"
HE LIVED IT OUT TO ITS CONCLUSION: DEATH AT THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES.
CHRIST'S DEATH WAS FOR THE SAKE OF HIS ENEMIES AND FOR OUR SAKE. THAT WE MAY BE PEACEMAKERS.
The greatest lesson in peace-making as discipleship is my Saviour and Redeemer who conquered death by dying.
Hauerwas articulates a CHRISTIAN PACIFISM I have come to embrace. I can see why I don't support Christians in government and as political leaders going out with a passion to conquer for country and saying that they are doing it for God, or for Christianity, or for their faith.
We must name our idolatries and accept them as sins to repent from. When it is our country, our political parties, our pride, our wealth, our boundaries or our tribe we are killing for we must not pretend that it is a God-given duty. We are indeed protecting what we truly treasure above God and above the hard work of love and forgiveness shown by Christ.
To annihilate our enemies when we have not loved them is not one of the commandments of God. How cowardly of us not to fight for peace and reconciliation, to the point of being evangelists and missionaries of the messenger of SHALOM who will be persecuted, ridiculed and martyred by those we seek to love. FOR TO LIVE IS CHRIST AND TO DIE IS GAIN.
Interview with Stanley Hauerwas
Interviewed by Joshua Madson for The Mormon Worker
http://www.themormonworker.org/articles/issue4/interview_with_stanley_hauerwas.php
Stanley Hauerwas is a United Methodist theologian, ethicist, and professor of law. He received a PhD from Yale University and a D.D. from The University of Edinburgh, and has taught at the University of Notre Dame. He is currently the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law.
Q: How did you come to be a pacifist?
Hauerwas: Well, it was through the influence of John Howard Yoder. I was educated in the work of Reinhold Niebuhr and I assumed that was the last word to be said about pacifism. But I was also deeply shaped by the work of Karl Barth and once Yoder’s Christological pacifism became known to me and I really studied it I became increasingly convinced that Niebuhr had simply failed to appreciate the kind of nonviolence that Yoder had defended as constitutive of discipleship and so I declared myself a pacifist although I had no idea what that really meant, but I’ve grown into it.
Q: In your essay “Sacrificing the Sacrifice of War” you observe that nationalistic “patriotism” has become for many a substitute religion, and for Christians in particular. What has caused that to occur in your opinion?
Hauerwas: I’m not sure any of us know how that happened, other than the general subservience of the Christian church in America to America. The general view of most Christian Americans is they can let their children make up their minds about whether they are a Christian or not but they don’t let them make up their minds about being an American. Now that’s an indication that national identification has become more determinative for the way people live than their Christian identification. Now I’m sure they will deny that if you suggest it, but ask them if they don’t believe that they ought to raise children to grow up to make up their minds and they will always say, yes of course. But then they don’t, when it comes to the issues of national loyalty. They don’t let children make up their own minds; it kind of comes with the drinking water.
Q: What evidence do you believe supports that conclusion?
Hauerwas: Well I think generally that American Christians’ unproblematic support of war clearly supports that conclusion.
Q: Do you believe that Christianity and patriotism are compatible?
Hauerwas: It depends. I might well be a Ugandan patriot. I’m sure you can’t be an American patriot. I wrote an essay on this in which I use Alasdair Macintyre’s account of why patriotism is incoherent in the modern world because patriotism asks your support of nations that represent freedom and equality and so those become abstract ideals that are not interestingly enough nationally specific. That’s the reason why patriotism in America is fundamentally an imperialist position. But Macintyre argues that in the past patriotism was loyalty to land with a history. Now that’s more interesting and I think Christians want you to be loyal and supportive of the near neighbors who have made you possible. So I think that might well be a kind of patriotism that Christians could support.
Q: In the scriptures we have statements such as Christ’s “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”, and we have Paul talking about the “powers that be.” How does the Christian faith draw the line between those statements and admonitions with Christian teachings that are often inconsistent with our own nation?
Hauerwas: Well I don’t think Romans 13; people read Romans 13 and don’t read Romans 12. Paul would have thought that the emperor should also forgive his enemies and so I think that chapter division is just a disaster. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, unto God the things that are of God.” I treat that in the new commentary that has just been published on the gospel of Matthew and I think it’s pretty clear that that wasn’t saying, “Oh, well Caesar gets to do what Caesar does.” I mean you know when Jesus says let me see the coin, the very fact that the people that had asked him the question handed him the coin already indicated that they were complicit with Rome in a way that was incompatible with being Jewish. So I think that the assumption that, oh well Caesar is Caesar and the church is church and we can get along, well you know Caesar wants it all and I think the idea that we got that straightened out by separation of church and state is just crazy.
Q: If that’s the case, can Christians be engaged politically?
Haeurwas: Of course. It depends on the politics that’s around but nothing about my position prevents Christians from being engaged in politics as long as they are Christians. What bothers me is when they want to say well as a Christian I couldn’t kill anyone but as a congressman or senator I have to do it. Well I don’t think that works.
Q: How then should Christians be engaged politically? What should we be doing as Christians?
Hauerwas: You shouldn’t let anyone tell you, you need to privatize your faith. You say: No, I’m going to vote this way because I’m a follower of Jesus and that’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus. So that’s what I would think is necessary.
Q: Does Christ demand any duties or loyalties of us to our government?
Hauerwas: No.
Q: John Howard Yoder often discusses the problem of associating with the system, becoming Herodians, that in the end we will end up supporting the government over our Christian beliefs. How do we avoid that as Christians?
Hauerwas: By making sure we got good friends who will tell us when we are doing it. You need people who have been through the fire so to speak and can tell you when you may think you are just doing your duty but in fact you’re really collaborating with the devil.
Q: One of the things in your appeal to abolish war you discuss that we should no longer study war but instead study peace. What would we be studying if we studied peace? How do we approach that?
Hauerwas: What would it mean to envision what international relations might look like if we don’t assume the necessity of war? What kind of nation would we need to be in which war was not seen to be a necessity? Once you start down the road of just saying, you know, war is just kind of a given then as a matter of fact you will make sure it is a given.
Q: A common complaint directed at pacifists and advocates of nonviolence is that they have criticisms but no solutions. What should we be doing as Christians to change the world or the approaches to war?
Hauerwas: By being who we are. People matter. For example, we live in a country now that is determined by fear. What would it mean for Christians to be a people that are not determined by fear? That makes possibilities open that otherwise would not exist.
Q: Could you elaborate on how we would live if we were not determined by fear?
Hauerwas: It would mean that death didn’t hold sway over us in a way that we might well be ready to take risks that might envision the possibility you’ll have to die.
Q: In your essay or the call to abolish war, you discuss the struggle to end slavery and there is this comparison with the struggle to abolish war. Do you see any trends towards either a national or global rejection of war in the same way we see a rejection of slavery?
Hauerwas: No. I don’t. I wish I could say I do, but I don’t.
Q: What will it take for Christianity or for the world to reject war as universally as it has rejected slavery?
Hauerwas: You just got to do the same kind of hard slogging, one person at a time convincing that I think is the heart of what our Christianity is about.
Q: In your essay “Why War is a Moral Necessity for America,” you state, “Christians confuse the sacrifice of war with the sacrifice of Christ.” In what ways does that confusion make itself manifest?
Hauerwas: By the flag in the American church chancel. It’s everywhere. I think that that flag usually stands for the sacrifices that were made in World War II and in many ways that’s a much more real sacrifice for most Americans than the sacrifice of Christ.
Q: Why do you think Christians confuse that with the sacrifice of Christ?
Hauerwas: Because we haven’t faced up to the particularity of Jesus as a Jewish Messiah and we instead turned Jesus into a generalized savior rather than the one who preached the Sermon on the Mount.
Q: What is the central message of the Sermon on the Mount?
Hauerwas: I think that to try to give it a central message like you ought to love your neighbor or that you can’t serve God and mammon; I think that to try to seize on something central like that is to try to avoid the particularity of the Sermon on the Mount. So, I’m against trying to give it a central message.
Q: What do you feel the particularity of the Sermon on the Mount is?
Hauerwas: This is what it means to be disciple of Jesus.
Q: Do you feel that Christians in today’s world believe in the Sermon on the Mount or follow the Sermon on the Mount?
Hauerwas: No. Clearly we think that the Sermon on the Mount is an ideal we ought to strive for but you really cant live it. You can’t forgive enemies. It’s just not going to work.
Q: Why is it that we don’t embrace the Sermon on the Mount then?
Hauerwas: Because we don’t want life to be that complicated or interesting. It puts us to much out of step.
Q: Is there anything Christians should be willing to kill for?
Hauerwas: No.
Q: Is there anything Christians should be willing to die for?
Hauerwas: Everything.
Q: There is a quote in your article that states “Americans have rarely bled, sacrificed or died for Christianity or any other sectarian faith.” What is the significance of that quote?
Hauerwas: It’s a very important quote. It means that exactly where Christians lose their faith is the overriding presumption that what you are willing to die for or have your children die for is true and that means the country and it doesn’t mean the church. Mormon persecution is of course, just as Christians say that our faith is built upon the blood of the martyrs, your faith is also built on the blood of your martyrs.
Q: In that Christians have a history of the blood of the martyrs and I would argue Mormons have a history of the blood of the martyrs. Why have we abandoned that tradition and now it is the blood of the patriots and blood of the Americans?
Hauerwas: Well because America has been very very good to us and we are wealthy.
Q: Do you see this allegiance as a monetary or material sort of allegiance?
Hauerwas: It certainly helps but no it’s deeper than that, it gives you identity.
Q: If you were given a forum to address Mormons or LDS what would you want to share with us?
Hauerwas: Well, I did it once. I addressed Sunstone and they didn’t like it at all. Because Sunstone of course is the Mormon liberals and my critique of liberalism wasn’t to their liking. I was not a success. I think Mormons have proved to be extra loyal to the United States because they know they are seen as religiously so weird. So a Mormon can run for president just like a catholic ran for president and said, don’t worry I’m not going to take my theological convictions serious when it comes to running the country. You know you’ve gone to hell in a hand basket when that happens.
Q: What would be your admonition or your call to Mormons? What should we be doing with our religion?
Hauerwas: Of course I think you ought to read the New Testament more and the Book of Mormon less. I understand the debate within Mormons about whether you are Christian or not. I understand it. I understand that there is a debate. I don’t necessarily understand all the nuances of the debate. I think the more Mormons move towards classical Christianity, the better off you will be.
Q: What makes someone a Christian in your mind?
Hauerwas: That they have been baptized into the life death and resurrection of Christ and that they are identified by a body of people that hold them accountable.
Q: Often times pacifists get marginalized when they identify themselves as a pacifist. Do you believe that self-identifying as a pacifist marginalizes one’s ability to be part of the war debate?
Hauerwas: I try not to let it do that. Obviously I’m pretty well. But if marginalization is marginalization its better than the alternatives. My way of putting it is that I don’t think that I’m committed to Christian non-violence because obviously I’m a violent son of a bitch. But by creating the expectations in you I hope that you will keep me honest of what I know is true. So that’s the way you got to begin to think about what it means to be committed to Christian non-violence.
(PS: Read the interview THRICE, carefully, and note that Hauerwas is NOT a Mormon. He actually includes a very strong challenge to the Mormons to read the New Testament more. Maybe very fitting for all Christ-followers to do the same)
Christ's example of non-violence is a stark contrast to how we have intrinsically embraced violence and war as a shield against the harder work of peace-making. Our LORD, who had the power, authority and legitimate reasons to use violence against the Roman occupiers and oppressors of his time and place truly laid down his arms, by stretching them to heal rather than harm. And VICTORIOUSLY, stretching them again to die on a hill rather than kill.
This is a fitting rebuke not just for American Patriotism but for all nationalistic, imperialistic, tribalistic and ethnic idolatries.
I am glad that over the years God has destroyed my notions of patriotism, which is not to say that I don't love Kenya and being a Kenyan. My political dreams and passions became idols and I worshipped at the throne of what Christian Political Activism could do for Kenya and lead us to the promised land of PROGRESS and PROSPERITY. I DO NOT treasure "Kenyan-ness" as an abstraction or reality I am eager and willing to kill for when I have never completely been as bold in going out to die for my faith. Our internal tribal and political violence over the years has been horrible!
The gospels chronicling Jesus' life have truly opened my eyes to why so many of the Early Christians were martyred rather than go out to martyr other peoples, races, nations/countries/kingdoms, religions, tribes and political enemies.
JESUS TRULY MEANT "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES"
HE LIVED IT OUT TO ITS CONCLUSION: DEATH AT THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES.
CHRIST'S DEATH WAS FOR THE SAKE OF HIS ENEMIES AND FOR OUR SAKE. THAT WE MAY BE PEACEMAKERS.
The greatest lesson in peace-making as discipleship is my Saviour and Redeemer who conquered death by dying.
Hauerwas articulates a CHRISTIAN PACIFISM I have come to embrace. I can see why I don't support Christians in government and as political leaders going out with a passion to conquer for country and saying that they are doing it for God, or for Christianity, or for their faith.
We must name our idolatries and accept them as sins to repent from. When it is our country, our political parties, our pride, our wealth, our boundaries or our tribe we are killing for we must not pretend that it is a God-given duty. We are indeed protecting what we truly treasure above God and above the hard work of love and forgiveness shown by Christ.
To annihilate our enemies when we have not loved them is not one of the commandments of God. How cowardly of us not to fight for peace and reconciliation, to the point of being evangelists and missionaries of the messenger of SHALOM who will be persecuted, ridiculed and martyred by those we seek to love. FOR TO LIVE IS CHRIST AND TO DIE IS GAIN.
Interview with Stanley Hauerwas
Interviewed by Joshua Madson for The Mormon Worker
http://www.themormonworker.org/articles/issue4/interview_with_stanley_hauerwas.php
Stanley Hauerwas is a United Methodist theologian, ethicist, and professor of law. He received a PhD from Yale University and a D.D. from The University of Edinburgh, and has taught at the University of Notre Dame. He is currently the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law.
Q: How did you come to be a pacifist?
Hauerwas: Well, it was through the influence of John Howard Yoder. I was educated in the work of Reinhold Niebuhr and I assumed that was the last word to be said about pacifism. But I was also deeply shaped by the work of Karl Barth and once Yoder’s Christological pacifism became known to me and I really studied it I became increasingly convinced that Niebuhr had simply failed to appreciate the kind of nonviolence that Yoder had defended as constitutive of discipleship and so I declared myself a pacifist although I had no idea what that really meant, but I’ve grown into it.
Q: In your essay “Sacrificing the Sacrifice of War” you observe that nationalistic “patriotism” has become for many a substitute religion, and for Christians in particular. What has caused that to occur in your opinion?
Hauerwas: I’m not sure any of us know how that happened, other than the general subservience of the Christian church in America to America. The general view of most Christian Americans is they can let their children make up their minds about whether they are a Christian or not but they don’t let them make up their minds about being an American. Now that’s an indication that national identification has become more determinative for the way people live than their Christian identification. Now I’m sure they will deny that if you suggest it, but ask them if they don’t believe that they ought to raise children to grow up to make up their minds and they will always say, yes of course. But then they don’t, when it comes to the issues of national loyalty. They don’t let children make up their own minds; it kind of comes with the drinking water.
Q: What evidence do you believe supports that conclusion?
Hauerwas: Well I think generally that American Christians’ unproblematic support of war clearly supports that conclusion.
Q: Do you believe that Christianity and patriotism are compatible?
Hauerwas: It depends. I might well be a Ugandan patriot. I’m sure you can’t be an American patriot. I wrote an essay on this in which I use Alasdair Macintyre’s account of why patriotism is incoherent in the modern world because patriotism asks your support of nations that represent freedom and equality and so those become abstract ideals that are not interestingly enough nationally specific. That’s the reason why patriotism in America is fundamentally an imperialist position. But Macintyre argues that in the past patriotism was loyalty to land with a history. Now that’s more interesting and I think Christians want you to be loyal and supportive of the near neighbors who have made you possible. So I think that might well be a kind of patriotism that Christians could support.
Q: In the scriptures we have statements such as Christ’s “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”, and we have Paul talking about the “powers that be.” How does the Christian faith draw the line between those statements and admonitions with Christian teachings that are often inconsistent with our own nation?
Hauerwas: Well I don’t think Romans 13; people read Romans 13 and don’t read Romans 12. Paul would have thought that the emperor should also forgive his enemies and so I think that chapter division is just a disaster. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, unto God the things that are of God.” I treat that in the new commentary that has just been published on the gospel of Matthew and I think it’s pretty clear that that wasn’t saying, “Oh, well Caesar gets to do what Caesar does.” I mean you know when Jesus says let me see the coin, the very fact that the people that had asked him the question handed him the coin already indicated that they were complicit with Rome in a way that was incompatible with being Jewish. So I think that the assumption that, oh well Caesar is Caesar and the church is church and we can get along, well you know Caesar wants it all and I think the idea that we got that straightened out by separation of church and state is just crazy.
Q: If that’s the case, can Christians be engaged politically?
Haeurwas: Of course. It depends on the politics that’s around but nothing about my position prevents Christians from being engaged in politics as long as they are Christians. What bothers me is when they want to say well as a Christian I couldn’t kill anyone but as a congressman or senator I have to do it. Well I don’t think that works.
Q: How then should Christians be engaged politically? What should we be doing as Christians?
Hauerwas: You shouldn’t let anyone tell you, you need to privatize your faith. You say: No, I’m going to vote this way because I’m a follower of Jesus and that’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus. So that’s what I would think is necessary.
Q: Does Christ demand any duties or loyalties of us to our government?
Hauerwas: No.
Q: John Howard Yoder often discusses the problem of associating with the system, becoming Herodians, that in the end we will end up supporting the government over our Christian beliefs. How do we avoid that as Christians?
Hauerwas: By making sure we got good friends who will tell us when we are doing it. You need people who have been through the fire so to speak and can tell you when you may think you are just doing your duty but in fact you’re really collaborating with the devil.
Q: One of the things in your appeal to abolish war you discuss that we should no longer study war but instead study peace. What would we be studying if we studied peace? How do we approach that?
Hauerwas: What would it mean to envision what international relations might look like if we don’t assume the necessity of war? What kind of nation would we need to be in which war was not seen to be a necessity? Once you start down the road of just saying, you know, war is just kind of a given then as a matter of fact you will make sure it is a given.
Q: A common complaint directed at pacifists and advocates of nonviolence is that they have criticisms but no solutions. What should we be doing as Christians to change the world or the approaches to war?
Hauerwas: By being who we are. People matter. For example, we live in a country now that is determined by fear. What would it mean for Christians to be a people that are not determined by fear? That makes possibilities open that otherwise would not exist.
Q: Could you elaborate on how we would live if we were not determined by fear?
Hauerwas: It would mean that death didn’t hold sway over us in a way that we might well be ready to take risks that might envision the possibility you’ll have to die.
Q: In your essay or the call to abolish war, you discuss the struggle to end slavery and there is this comparison with the struggle to abolish war. Do you see any trends towards either a national or global rejection of war in the same way we see a rejection of slavery?
Hauerwas: No. I don’t. I wish I could say I do, but I don’t.
Q: What will it take for Christianity or for the world to reject war as universally as it has rejected slavery?
Hauerwas: You just got to do the same kind of hard slogging, one person at a time convincing that I think is the heart of what our Christianity is about.
Q: In your essay “Why War is a Moral Necessity for America,” you state, “Christians confuse the sacrifice of war with the sacrifice of Christ.” In what ways does that confusion make itself manifest?
Hauerwas: By the flag in the American church chancel. It’s everywhere. I think that that flag usually stands for the sacrifices that were made in World War II and in many ways that’s a much more real sacrifice for most Americans than the sacrifice of Christ.
Q: Why do you think Christians confuse that with the sacrifice of Christ?
Hauerwas: Because we haven’t faced up to the particularity of Jesus as a Jewish Messiah and we instead turned Jesus into a generalized savior rather than the one who preached the Sermon on the Mount.
Q: What is the central message of the Sermon on the Mount?
Hauerwas: I think that to try to give it a central message like you ought to love your neighbor or that you can’t serve God and mammon; I think that to try to seize on something central like that is to try to avoid the particularity of the Sermon on the Mount. So, I’m against trying to give it a central message.
Q: What do you feel the particularity of the Sermon on the Mount is?
Hauerwas: This is what it means to be disciple of Jesus.
Q: Do you feel that Christians in today’s world believe in the Sermon on the Mount or follow the Sermon on the Mount?
Hauerwas: No. Clearly we think that the Sermon on the Mount is an ideal we ought to strive for but you really cant live it. You can’t forgive enemies. It’s just not going to work.
Q: Why is it that we don’t embrace the Sermon on the Mount then?
Hauerwas: Because we don’t want life to be that complicated or interesting. It puts us to much out of step.
Q: Is there anything Christians should be willing to kill for?
Hauerwas: No.
Q: Is there anything Christians should be willing to die for?
Hauerwas: Everything.
Q: There is a quote in your article that states “Americans have rarely bled, sacrificed or died for Christianity or any other sectarian faith.” What is the significance of that quote?
Hauerwas: It’s a very important quote. It means that exactly where Christians lose their faith is the overriding presumption that what you are willing to die for or have your children die for is true and that means the country and it doesn’t mean the church. Mormon persecution is of course, just as Christians say that our faith is built upon the blood of the martyrs, your faith is also built on the blood of your martyrs.
Q: In that Christians have a history of the blood of the martyrs and I would argue Mormons have a history of the blood of the martyrs. Why have we abandoned that tradition and now it is the blood of the patriots and blood of the Americans?
Hauerwas: Well because America has been very very good to us and we are wealthy.
Q: Do you see this allegiance as a monetary or material sort of allegiance?
Hauerwas: It certainly helps but no it’s deeper than that, it gives you identity.
Q: If you were given a forum to address Mormons or LDS what would you want to share with us?
Hauerwas: Well, I did it once. I addressed Sunstone and they didn’t like it at all. Because Sunstone of course is the Mormon liberals and my critique of liberalism wasn’t to their liking. I was not a success. I think Mormons have proved to be extra loyal to the United States because they know they are seen as religiously so weird. So a Mormon can run for president just like a catholic ran for president and said, don’t worry I’m not going to take my theological convictions serious when it comes to running the country. You know you’ve gone to hell in a hand basket when that happens.
Q: What would be your admonition or your call to Mormons? What should we be doing with our religion?
Hauerwas: Of course I think you ought to read the New Testament more and the Book of Mormon less. I understand the debate within Mormons about whether you are Christian or not. I understand it. I understand that there is a debate. I don’t necessarily understand all the nuances of the debate. I think the more Mormons move towards classical Christianity, the better off you will be.
Q: What makes someone a Christian in your mind?
Hauerwas: That they have been baptized into the life death and resurrection of Christ and that they are identified by a body of people that hold them accountable.
Q: Often times pacifists get marginalized when they identify themselves as a pacifist. Do you believe that self-identifying as a pacifist marginalizes one’s ability to be part of the war debate?
Hauerwas: I try not to let it do that. Obviously I’m pretty well. But if marginalization is marginalization its better than the alternatives. My way of putting it is that I don’t think that I’m committed to Christian non-violence because obviously I’m a violent son of a bitch. But by creating the expectations in you I hope that you will keep me honest of what I know is true. So that’s the way you got to begin to think about what it means to be committed to Christian non-violence.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
http://www.urbana.org/blogs/blog.main.leastofthese.cfm/2010/11/4/In-Praise-of-Obscurity
http://www.urbana.org/blogs/blog.main.leastofthese.cfm/2010/11/4/In-Praise-of-Obscurity
In Praise of Obscurity
Posted At : November 4, 2010 3:51 PM
Related Categories: Consumerism
Traveling around the UK I am more aware of just how affected I am by the marketing mentality so prevalent in the US. Maybe it has something to do with the centrality of commercial television in the US for the past 70 years. Right from the start all BBC channels have been commercial free. It is hard for me to fathom flipping through channels on the tele for hours without encountering a single appeal to buy something, but that can happen in the UK. Even the magazines I’ve seen here are very thin on ads.
Maybe it’s the understated English way, or maybe it’s just the type of people we’re hanging out with but it’s simply quieter here. One can go through a day without the oppressive onslaught of someone’s promotional campaign or the latest viral marketing idea being dangled in front of you through a friend who says “This is so cool, you have to see this.”
I’ve quite gotten used to the greatly diminished hype over the past couple of months and dread arriving back into the States during the run up to the high holy days of Blitzmas.
I fear that the shouting car salesman has become normalized for me. I worry that the advertising steroids pumped into the meat of our culture has been consumed by the church and has made its way into her bloodstream. I’ve been in full-time Christian ministry nearly 25 years now and can tell you from experience that we have bought into the marketing mentality to the point of syncretism.
Many of us have become obsessed with attempting to engineer a social movement using the same viral marketing techniques which fuel consumerism. In so doing we’ve forsaken the power of a Savior who chose obscurity in his birth (peasantry over royalty), obscurity in his work (carpentry over celebrity),obscurity in his ministry (rejection over election) and obscurity in his death (execution over revolution).
Is Jesus really just waiting for us to dream up the perfect viral marketing gimmick for him? Most of the Christian book, conference, church or ministry hype I encounter is all about the book, conference, church or ministry being hyped. Very few Christian marketing campaigns are interested in the ministry vehicle becoming obscure and unremembered in the act of kingdom transformation.
We want to see kingdom transformation to be sure, we just want to be sure our logo is somewhere nearby when it happens so that we can expand upon it by building brand loyalty.
In kingdom parables like the mustard seed, the leaven and the grain of wheat, the agent of change is forgotten.
The little seed doesn’t grow into a big seed and the yeast doesn’t multiply into a massive yeast ball. The mustard seed is buried, the grain of wheat dies, and the yeast dissolves. These parables are not about a little church becoming a big church; they’re about the sacrificial death of a small, obscure thing which dynamically transforms the environment out of all proportion to their own size.
We met Richard the other day. He, his wife, and another couple are hoping to see the kingdom grow in a poor area of London amongst working class people who aren’t very interested in church, but who may in fact be interested in Jesus and his upside-down kingdom. When they moved into the area Richard asked where the sketchiest pub was.
Everyone he asked seemed to point to the same place. So faithfully, week by week, Richard endured the untoward stares and cold silence he encountered as he stepped into an environment rife with illegal activity. In time the people in the pub have come to accept Richard and see him as their vicar. It is a kind of church which I doubt exists in too many other places (most churches do not need to put concrete over smooth surfaces like toilet seats so people will stop using them to lay out their cocaine lines). Slowly and without fanfare the kingdom is growing.
Richard, his wife and friends are not trying to birth a giant ministry or create a mega church. They quietly, almost invisibly, love people who would never darken the doorstep of a church or turn up for a ministry program. In fact the nature of the people they work with require that their efforts remain obscure and that the work remain small. To recruit teams to come with him to the pub would commodify the people he loves – not to mention that they’d see through any attempt to turn them into a ministry.
They trust Richard and confide in him. For him to use his relationships and experiences to launch “Seedy Pub Ministries International” would cheapen the beauty of what he is doing.
If we must promote something, let’s promote the idea of working quietly among friends without having to turn our work into a mega-something. Let’s promote the sacrificial death of small things which create massive scale kingdom transformation – and when people ask, “Who got all this amazing stuff started?” all anyone can respond is, “Hmm. I knew once, but I’ve forgotten.”
In Praise of Obscurity
Posted At : November 4, 2010 3:51 PM
Related Categories: Consumerism
Traveling around the UK I am more aware of just how affected I am by the marketing mentality so prevalent in the US. Maybe it has something to do with the centrality of commercial television in the US for the past 70 years. Right from the start all BBC channels have been commercial free. It is hard for me to fathom flipping through channels on the tele for hours without encountering a single appeal to buy something, but that can happen in the UK. Even the magazines I’ve seen here are very thin on ads.
Maybe it’s the understated English way, or maybe it’s just the type of people we’re hanging out with but it’s simply quieter here. One can go through a day without the oppressive onslaught of someone’s promotional campaign or the latest viral marketing idea being dangled in front of you through a friend who says “This is so cool, you have to see this.”
I’ve quite gotten used to the greatly diminished hype over the past couple of months and dread arriving back into the States during the run up to the high holy days of Blitzmas.
I fear that the shouting car salesman has become normalized for me. I worry that the advertising steroids pumped into the meat of our culture has been consumed by the church and has made its way into her bloodstream. I’ve been in full-time Christian ministry nearly 25 years now and can tell you from experience that we have bought into the marketing mentality to the point of syncretism.
Many of us have become obsessed with attempting to engineer a social movement using the same viral marketing techniques which fuel consumerism. In so doing we’ve forsaken the power of a Savior who chose obscurity in his birth (peasantry over royalty), obscurity in his work (carpentry over celebrity),obscurity in his ministry (rejection over election) and obscurity in his death (execution over revolution).
Is Jesus really just waiting for us to dream up the perfect viral marketing gimmick for him? Most of the Christian book, conference, church or ministry hype I encounter is all about the book, conference, church or ministry being hyped. Very few Christian marketing campaigns are interested in the ministry vehicle becoming obscure and unremembered in the act of kingdom transformation.
We want to see kingdom transformation to be sure, we just want to be sure our logo is somewhere nearby when it happens so that we can expand upon it by building brand loyalty.
In kingdom parables like the mustard seed, the leaven and the grain of wheat, the agent of change is forgotten.
The little seed doesn’t grow into a big seed and the yeast doesn’t multiply into a massive yeast ball. The mustard seed is buried, the grain of wheat dies, and the yeast dissolves. These parables are not about a little church becoming a big church; they’re about the sacrificial death of a small, obscure thing which dynamically transforms the environment out of all proportion to their own size.
We met Richard the other day. He, his wife, and another couple are hoping to see the kingdom grow in a poor area of London amongst working class people who aren’t very interested in church, but who may in fact be interested in Jesus and his upside-down kingdom. When they moved into the area Richard asked where the sketchiest pub was.
Everyone he asked seemed to point to the same place. So faithfully, week by week, Richard endured the untoward stares and cold silence he encountered as he stepped into an environment rife with illegal activity. In time the people in the pub have come to accept Richard and see him as their vicar. It is a kind of church which I doubt exists in too many other places (most churches do not need to put concrete over smooth surfaces like toilet seats so people will stop using them to lay out their cocaine lines). Slowly and without fanfare the kingdom is growing.
Richard, his wife and friends are not trying to birth a giant ministry or create a mega church. They quietly, almost invisibly, love people who would never darken the doorstep of a church or turn up for a ministry program. In fact the nature of the people they work with require that their efforts remain obscure and that the work remain small. To recruit teams to come with him to the pub would commodify the people he loves – not to mention that they’d see through any attempt to turn them into a ministry.
They trust Richard and confide in him. For him to use his relationships and experiences to launch “Seedy Pub Ministries International” would cheapen the beauty of what he is doing.
If we must promote something, let’s promote the idea of working quietly among friends without having to turn our work into a mega-something. Let’s promote the sacrificial death of small things which create massive scale kingdom transformation – and when people ask, “Who got all this amazing stuff started?” all anyone can respond is, “Hmm. I knew once, but I’ve forgotten.”
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
TRANSFORM ME LORD
2 Corinthians 3:18
AND WE ALL, WITH UNVEILED FACE, BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF THE LORD, ARE BEING TRANSFORMED INTO THE SAME IMAGE FROM ONE DEGREE OF GLORY TO ANOTHER. FOR THIS COMES FROM THE LORD WHO IS THE SPIRIT.
"Trans-port me into a new form trans-port me into a new way of being."
"Take me to a new port of living and being, take me to a new place of being who you want me to be."
We cannot evolve into what we want to become.
We cannot evolve into what we NEED to become.
We will always revolve from who we are to what we hope to be, and back to our selves.
Our selfish, sinful selves.
We must look to one who solves our cyclical personality disorder and transforms and RE-FORMS us.
Transform me Lord,
Make me a new person.
AND WE ALL, WITH UNVEILED FACE, BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF THE LORD, ARE BEING TRANSFORMED INTO THE SAME IMAGE FROM ONE DEGREE OF GLORY TO ANOTHER. FOR THIS COMES FROM THE LORD WHO IS THE SPIRIT.
"Trans-port me into a new form trans-port me into a new way of being."
"Take me to a new port of living and being, take me to a new place of being who you want me to be."
We cannot evolve into what we want to become.
We cannot evolve into what we NEED to become.
We will always revolve from who we are to what we hope to be, and back to our selves.
Our selfish, sinful selves.
We must look to one who solves our cyclical personality disorder and transforms and RE-FORMS us.
Transform me Lord,
Make me a new person.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
THE BEAUTIFUL BRAWNY GAME
THE BEAUTIFUL BRAWNY GAME
I thank God that soccer is the world’s most popular sport. The last month had been “soccer-less” and I had given up on ever getting a chance to play. For two weeks I had been unfit and inactive so on the way home from work I was decided to go for a run or a jog before dinner.
My prayers were answered as I saw a game of soccer being played two blocks from the house. I will take a soccer game over a jog or run any day. I changed quickly into my soccer shoes and walked briskly back to the field. O.K. calling it a field is an overstatement. The ground was three-quarters of the size of a normal soccer field. It was covered with sand, stones and a few hundred blades of grass scattered around the semi-desert patch of ground. On one side the field was adjacent to a road and on the other side it bordered a stone and cement wall separating it from three mansions.
I was told to join one team as Eric (the other man who was also waiting on the sidelines) joined the other team. A handful of passes later I discovered, or rather re-discovered how physical football is in Africa. An opposing defender stopped my run along the right sideline with a spectacularly illegal tackle. The move was a combination of a slide tackle and a hip-push that made me fly from the sideline into the wall. My teammates screamed for a foul as the referee blew his whistle. The opposing team’s captain asked if I was alright or if I was hurt. I said everything was fine. I lied to avoid getting out of the game. My hip was grazed. My left arm was bruised and bumped and my left wrist was sprained. My knees were scraped by sand and gravel and my thigh had a ‘sand-burn’ (compare to turf or grass burn)
The game continued at a fast and physical pace. The referee did not blow for a stoppage unless the victim rolled, somersaulted or stayed writhing on the ground for more than twenty seconds. The tackles were hard and violent but there were no fights. Apparently, some of the most malicious defending I had ever seen or experienced in my life was all part of the game. I whine. I know.
The two hours went by fast and everyone was playing with zest. I did not execute any tackle, but cringed every time I saw the rough contact being made by some of the players. One or both players always ended on the ground with in pain, crying to the referee to do something about the fouls. When no whistle was heard, the players involved stood up patted each other and ran to wherever the ball had landed.
The game ended with only two hard-fought goals. They were both scored against us and one was my fault. Our goalkeeper had run towards the middle and I was the last line of defense. Two people invited me to the Saturday morning game that starts at half past six in the morning. A vibrant way to start the weekend.
For seven years, I had played on turf and well watered grass in Portland and Philadelphia. The fields of Madina are now going to give me two months of very exhausting preparation for the summer outdoor soccer season. God-willing I will be playing with all my limbs intact.
Next time I’m not coming with shin guards, I’ll bring a chain of mail and a knight’s armor. Here the beautiful game emphasizes more brawn than I am accustomed to using. Strength trumps any skill or speed a player will ever have.
I thank God that soccer is the world’s most popular sport. The last month had been “soccer-less” and I had given up on ever getting a chance to play. For two weeks I had been unfit and inactive so on the way home from work I was decided to go for a run or a jog before dinner.
My prayers were answered as I saw a game of soccer being played two blocks from the house. I will take a soccer game over a jog or run any day. I changed quickly into my soccer shoes and walked briskly back to the field. O.K. calling it a field is an overstatement. The ground was three-quarters of the size of a normal soccer field. It was covered with sand, stones and a few hundred blades of grass scattered around the semi-desert patch of ground. On one side the field was adjacent to a road and on the other side it bordered a stone and cement wall separating it from three mansions.
I was told to join one team as Eric (the other man who was also waiting on the sidelines) joined the other team. A handful of passes later I discovered, or rather re-discovered how physical football is in Africa. An opposing defender stopped my run along the right sideline with a spectacularly illegal tackle. The move was a combination of a slide tackle and a hip-push that made me fly from the sideline into the wall. My teammates screamed for a foul as the referee blew his whistle. The opposing team’s captain asked if I was alright or if I was hurt. I said everything was fine. I lied to avoid getting out of the game. My hip was grazed. My left arm was bruised and bumped and my left wrist was sprained. My knees were scraped by sand and gravel and my thigh had a ‘sand-burn’ (compare to turf or grass burn)
The game continued at a fast and physical pace. The referee did not blow for a stoppage unless the victim rolled, somersaulted or stayed writhing on the ground for more than twenty seconds. The tackles were hard and violent but there were no fights. Apparently, some of the most malicious defending I had ever seen or experienced in my life was all part of the game. I whine. I know.
The two hours went by fast and everyone was playing with zest. I did not execute any tackle, but cringed every time I saw the rough contact being made by some of the players. One or both players always ended on the ground with in pain, crying to the referee to do something about the fouls. When no whistle was heard, the players involved stood up patted each other and ran to wherever the ball had landed.
The game ended with only two hard-fought goals. They were both scored against us and one was my fault. Our goalkeeper had run towards the middle and I was the last line of defense. Two people invited me to the Saturday morning game that starts at half past six in the morning. A vibrant way to start the weekend.
For seven years, I had played on turf and well watered grass in Portland and Philadelphia. The fields of Madina are now going to give me two months of very exhausting preparation for the summer outdoor soccer season. God-willing I will be playing with all my limbs intact.
Next time I’m not coming with shin guards, I’ll bring a chain of mail and a knight’s armor. Here the beautiful game emphasizes more brawn than I am accustomed to using. Strength trumps any skill or speed a player will ever have.
A TYPICAL OFFICE- DAY…. WORKING WEEKDAYS
Wake-up
Every morning so far has been a sunny morning. The rays of light wake me up or sometimes the rooster outside our neighbor’s house. The family I live with here in Agbogba, a suburb outside Accra, begins the day early. The three children are all enrolled in elementary school and wake up between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. every week day. The parents of the household both work for different banks in Accra and help the children bath, eat breakfast and every once in awhile, finish pending assignments.
Breakfast
Breakfast is usually a heavy meal of porridge or plantains or bread and fried or scrambled eggs. We usually drink tea, instant coffee, fruit juice or hot chocolate to go along with the solid food. Some mornings we eat cereal like the kids or snack on a banana when we are late. I like the heavy breakfasts. The carbohydrate-rich meals have the ability to wake me up and give me ample fuel for the long warm morning .
The trek to Accra
There are three separate transit options for members of this household to get where they are going. For the children, some days their parents drop them off on their way to work. Most days they are picked up and taken to school half an hour after their parents have left. The parents of the house leave the house at around 6:30 a.m. and bravely face the traffic jams on the University of Ghana-Legon-Accra Highway. It is a six lane mixture of tarmac and potholes that somehow snakes from the Eastern suburbs towards the centre of the city.
My transit option is usually in two parts. Firstly, I wait on a junction outside the house and take a taxi to the Ritz Junction. (Most people pronounce it and spell it as the ‘RISS’ junction) The taxis are second-hand cars that have a driver leaning out of his door calling out the name of his destination. (I haven’t seen a female taxi driver yet) After bargaining for a good price, I squeeze in and join whoever is in the backseat for the 10 minute sojourn. The taxi usually costs about 20 to 40 peswas. ($ U.S. 0.10 CENTS) Peswas are the building blocks of the Ghanaian cedi. Therefore 100 peswas is equal to 1 cedi.
The second part of my commute is usually a long wait for a taxi, minivan or bus from the Ritz Junction heading to Accra, Legon or Circle. The minivans are called “TRO-TROS” and are comparable to Kenyan “MATATUS”. Tro-tros usually have a driver and a mate, who is usually a young man shouting out the name of their destination. The tro-tros carry anywhere between 16 to 20 passengers depending on the aggressiveness with which they fill it. The tro-tro usually costs about 20 – 40 peswas ($ U.S. 0.10-0.20 CENTS)
I take the available bus, minivan or taxi and alight at the University of Ghana Stadium junction or the Okponglo junction then walk to work. The commute from home to either junction takes an hour or an hour and a half depending on traffic. It’s a short five minute walk from the highway into the neighborhood where our office is located. The businesses along the road are already setting up their foodstuffs, fruits, clothing, electronics and furniture for sale. Several are playing loud reggae music, gospel music and christian contemporary music and one is blaring the news headlines from mounted speakers.
Lunch
After the morning’s work, I usually take a lunch break at noon or half past noon. Sometimes, I have left for lunch at 2 p.m. if the morning and noon-time were too busy. During lunch time,there are numerous choices. There are dozens of food vendors along the neighborhood street outside the office. There is a lady selling fried rice and chicken or beef. There is one lady selling kenkey with various stews and meats and another lady selling banku, also with a variety of meats and vegetables. My favorite is the jollof rice with spicy beef or chicken, and my least favorite is fufu. Something about a heavy cassava or yam meal and hot soup in 90 degree weather isn’t too appealing. The meals cost about 1.5 cedis to 4 cedis depending on what meats and vegetables you add to your order. That cost is about $1 U.S. Dollar to $2.50 U.S. dollars for meals that are bigger and more filling than anything on a U.S. fast food menu.
Journey back home
The journey back home is usually in heavy evening traffic. There is literally a fight to get into the doors of the minivan, bus or tro-tro depending on how many people are at the “taxi rank” or bus stop. I am usually tired enough to nap but also enjoy people-watching. It is hard reflecting on the day’s work amidst the smell of sweat, food and other non-identifiable odors but its always great seeing hoards of children and teenagers walking from school in their multi-coloured school uniforms.
Dinner
I have run after work on some days but mostly take walks after changing out of my ‘work-clothes’ Dinner with the family is usually a meal of banku, kenkey, yams, cassava, fufu or rice with beef, chicken, pork, fish or snail. Sometimes I take a bath before dinner but most days wait to take a cold shower right before bedtime when the cool evening breeze wins its battle against the warm weather.
Bedtime
The family goes to bed early, and some days I have stayed up till midnight watching soccer games or reading. The kids are usually in bed before 9 p.m. and the parents go to bed around 10 or 11 p.m. Homework is usually attempted before dinner and hopefully finished after dinner. It has been inspirational to watch young children learning. Africa has a bright future if these brains are put to good use.
My bedtime reading has alternated between three books that I wouldn’t recommend as bedtime reading. They are very prophetic wake-up-calls that cause sould to RISE not SLEEP…
1. ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL’s “MORAL GRANDEUR AND SPIRITUAL AUDACITY”
(Christmas Present from Elise)
2. MARTIN LUTHER KING JNR.’S “STRENGTH TO LOVE”
(Thanks to a recommendation from my Father and Brother)
and
3. DONALD B. KRAYBILL’s THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM
(Thanks to numerous recommendations from Eastern University School of Leadership development professors)
Wake-up
Every morning so far has been a sunny morning. The rays of light wake me up or sometimes the rooster outside our neighbor’s house. The family I live with here in Agbogba, a suburb outside Accra, begins the day early. The three children are all enrolled in elementary school and wake up between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. every week day. The parents of the household both work for different banks in Accra and help the children bath, eat breakfast and every once in awhile, finish pending assignments.
Breakfast
Breakfast is usually a heavy meal of porridge or plantains or bread and fried or scrambled eggs. We usually drink tea, instant coffee, fruit juice or hot chocolate to go along with the solid food. Some mornings we eat cereal like the kids or snack on a banana when we are late. I like the heavy breakfasts. The carbohydrate-rich meals have the ability to wake me up and give me ample fuel for the long warm morning .
The trek to Accra
There are three separate transit options for members of this household to get where they are going. For the children, some days their parents drop them off on their way to work. Most days they are picked up and taken to school half an hour after their parents have left. The parents of the house leave the house at around 6:30 a.m. and bravely face the traffic jams on the University of Ghana-Legon-Accra Highway. It is a six lane mixture of tarmac and potholes that somehow snakes from the Eastern suburbs towards the centre of the city.
My transit option is usually in two parts. Firstly, I wait on a junction outside the house and take a taxi to the Ritz Junction. (Most people pronounce it and spell it as the ‘RISS’ junction) The taxis are second-hand cars that have a driver leaning out of his door calling out the name of his destination. (I haven’t seen a female taxi driver yet) After bargaining for a good price, I squeeze in and join whoever is in the backseat for the 10 minute sojourn. The taxi usually costs about 20 to 40 peswas. ($ U.S. 0.10 CENTS) Peswas are the building blocks of the Ghanaian cedi. Therefore 100 peswas is equal to 1 cedi.
The second part of my commute is usually a long wait for a taxi, minivan or bus from the Ritz Junction heading to Accra, Legon or Circle. The minivans are called “TRO-TROS” and are comparable to Kenyan “MATATUS”. Tro-tros usually have a driver and a mate, who is usually a young man shouting out the name of their destination. The tro-tros carry anywhere between 16 to 20 passengers depending on the aggressiveness with which they fill it. The tro-tro usually costs about 20 – 40 peswas ($ U.S. 0.10-0.20 CENTS)
I take the available bus, minivan or taxi and alight at the University of Ghana Stadium junction or the Okponglo junction then walk to work. The commute from home to either junction takes an hour or an hour and a half depending on traffic. It’s a short five minute walk from the highway into the neighborhood where our office is located. The businesses along the road are already setting up their foodstuffs, fruits, clothing, electronics and furniture for sale. Several are playing loud reggae music, gospel music and christian contemporary music and one is blaring the news headlines from mounted speakers.
Lunch
After the morning’s work, I usually take a lunch break at noon or half past noon. Sometimes, I have left for lunch at 2 p.m. if the morning and noon-time were too busy. During lunch time,there are numerous choices. There are dozens of food vendors along the neighborhood street outside the office. There is a lady selling fried rice and chicken or beef. There is one lady selling kenkey with various stews and meats and another lady selling banku, also with a variety of meats and vegetables. My favorite is the jollof rice with spicy beef or chicken, and my least favorite is fufu. Something about a heavy cassava or yam meal and hot soup in 90 degree weather isn’t too appealing. The meals cost about 1.5 cedis to 4 cedis depending on what meats and vegetables you add to your order. That cost is about $1 U.S. Dollar to $2.50 U.S. dollars for meals that are bigger and more filling than anything on a U.S. fast food menu.
Journey back home
The journey back home is usually in heavy evening traffic. There is literally a fight to get into the doors of the minivan, bus or tro-tro depending on how many people are at the “taxi rank” or bus stop. I am usually tired enough to nap but also enjoy people-watching. It is hard reflecting on the day’s work amidst the smell of sweat, food and other non-identifiable odors but its always great seeing hoards of children and teenagers walking from school in their multi-coloured school uniforms.
Dinner
I have run after work on some days but mostly take walks after changing out of my ‘work-clothes’ Dinner with the family is usually a meal of banku, kenkey, yams, cassava, fufu or rice with beef, chicken, pork, fish or snail. Sometimes I take a bath before dinner but most days wait to take a cold shower right before bedtime when the cool evening breeze wins its battle against the warm weather.
Bedtime
The family goes to bed early, and some days I have stayed up till midnight watching soccer games or reading. The kids are usually in bed before 9 p.m. and the parents go to bed around 10 or 11 p.m. Homework is usually attempted before dinner and hopefully finished after dinner. It has been inspirational to watch young children learning. Africa has a bright future if these brains are put to good use.
My bedtime reading has alternated between three books that I wouldn’t recommend as bedtime reading. They are very prophetic wake-up-calls that cause sould to RISE not SLEEP…
1. ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL’s “MORAL GRANDEUR AND SPIRITUAL AUDACITY”
(Christmas Present from Elise)
2. MARTIN LUTHER KING JNR.’S “STRENGTH TO LOVE”
(Thanks to a recommendation from my Father and Brother)
and
3. DONALD B. KRAYBILL’s THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM
(Thanks to numerous recommendations from Eastern University School of Leadership development professors)
A DAY IN AGBOGBA AND TRAVELING AROUND ACCRA
THESE DAYS…THIS DAZE
TYPICAL PRESENTATION AND TRAVEL DAYS IN FEBRUARY
A cock crows loudly and I realize that daybreak has arrived. The sound rings in my ears as the proud bird repeats its call a half dozen times. My eyes strain to get used to the rays of sunshine piercing through the windows. The weather is already warming up but compared to later in the day, this feels cool. Almost comfortable. The warmth of the room has not hit me yet. The fan is still blowing a cool current directly towards me, just as it was all night.
I could sleep more. Oh yes, I could sleep a few more hours. But there is no way to fall asleep again. The incessant cock crows put an end to that. I’m grateful God has given me another day here. This planet. This continent. This country. This home. This family. I can hear K.B calling Zazu and Rosemond is telling Nana to get the table ready for breakfast.
Afiriye runs into my room wearing his dark blue pants, a light blue shirt with a tie and tugs on my feet. “Uncle Barnabas, are you sleeping?...Uncle Barnabas, are you sleeping?” I pretend to be sleeping and he walks over and opens my eyelids. I’m caught. I step off the bed and tell him I am going to take a bath. He walks out of my room and goes to eat his weetabix cereal. I take my towel and walk to the bathroom.
The water is cold and I shiver as I pour some over my face and neck. Ten minutes later after splashing about like a cub in a pond I am fully awake and I rush to my room as the clock strikes half past six. Breakfast energizes me as I eat the four slices of bread and drink the hot chocolate in a hurry. K.B. starts the minivan and at seven we are all piled in and buckled in. I am seated in the front and Rosemond is seated behind me with Zazu beside her. Nana and Afiriye are in the back seat but Afiriye can barely sit still. I wave at Helen (who lives with the family) as we drive past the red gate she is holding open and head out towards Accra.
There isn’t much traffic on the road from the house to the first main junction. We overtake some tro-tros and taxis marshalling in their morning customers. The young tout shouts, “Legon, Legon, Legon”, another is calling out, “Accra, Accra, Accra” (but it sounds more like KRA-KRA-KRA) and handfuls of people run and congregate around the doors of the vehicles they are hoping to enter.
We drive through rough and dusty neighborhood roads and streets and a half hour later, K.B. drops of the three children at school. K.B., Rosemond and I travel on towards Accra and approach the city center. The highway towards Accra that goes past the University of Ghana at Legon has a long convoy of cars. It’s a steady motion but it still seems like a slow traffic jam because no one is going at a ‘normal’ highway speed. When we get close to the Accra mall, K.B. stops the car and I alight at a bus stop. I wave goodbye and K.B. and Rosemond drive on towards the central part of the city as I cross the road with about ten people and walk to the Accra Mall.
The shopping edifice is quiet and sparsely populated. Only a few maintenance workers and cleaning staff are hard at work as most shops are still unopened. I try to use a restroom but I am told that since the stores don’t open until nine or nine-thirty, I will have to wait until then to use the toilets. (Thank God I am a potty-trained adult. A half hour of incontinence might be disastrous.) To distract myself, I walk around and stare into the store windows and their ostentatious displays of clothes, electronics and jewelry.
Perplexed by the presence of a Nike store, a Puma store and a Mac store in the mall, I walk to the entrance to continue my vigil. Five minutes later, Lee, David, Bee-Jai, Peter, Beth, and Armeley are driven towards me by Immanuel. I get into the Ford Van and we drive off towards “La Wireless” cluster of schools. We are received by the headmistress and she directs us to the room where we will make the presentation.
We set up the video camera and the program booklets explaining the presentations just as dozens of teachers stream into the classroom and sit in the chairs facing the front of the room. Bee-Jai, David, Peter and Lee sit at the front of the room and I sit to the side with the video camera. The headmistress welcomes us and introduces Peter who then invites us to introduce ourselves to the teachers.
For the next hour, Bee Jai and Peter explain the details of the program to the thirty five teachers gathered in the room. Four fans are blowing overhead but the room is still very hot and several people are fanning their faces with the program booklets. After the presentations, numerous questions are posed and Bee Jai and Peter strive to answer them as clearly as possible before we all walk to the van to go to the next school.
We arrive fifteen minutes late and some teachers are already seated in the room. We set up the video camera and distribute the booklets, then individually introduce ourselves and describe our roles in the PSU and NAPE collaboration. An hour and a half later, Bee Jai and Peter have presented the program details and then David has also spoken while Lee has described the scholarship fund and the application deadlines.
Hot and tired, we pile into the van and express appreciation for the air conditioned interior as we drive off to get some lunch.
In the afternoon, we begin some errands that cannot be avoided. We drive to a Forex Bureau and change some of our U.S. dollars into Ghanaian cedis. We then drive to a Shell gas station and fill up the van, which seems to guzzle a full tank every seventy two hours. The day is now unbearably hot and everyone is wiping off sweat from their brows almost as often as they blink. We drive through Accra and the hustle and bustle of the city is amazing in light of the energy-sapping heat and humidity. Market stalls selling food and clothing line the streets, vendors walk on the road weaving in between the cars. Some vendors call out the names of what they are carrying and selling, some simply walk up to the windows and doors of the cars and stare at us inviting us, asking us, daring us to buy. What a convenient way to shop. The drive-thru comes to the car.
Peter buys a multi-plug for his laptop and two handkerchiefs, Bee Jai buys some jewelry and Beth buys a snack. Immanuel buys a small plastic bag of water that looks very tempting in the heat, but I am barely able to listen to the prices as my eyelids collapse and I start dozing off in the back seat…
Our errands take up a greater portion of the afternoon but our day is not done at five o’clock. We take a break and then re-converge to travel to Ashesi University. It is refreshing to be in an air-conditioned classroom with the Scholarship Recipients. The inspirational stories of what the Lee Nusich scholarship award has meant to them are tear-jerking. Some were literally on the verge of dropping out of school and others had dropped out then came back when they got the financial aid from NAPE foundation.
At around 7 p.m. we ride to the Chez Afrique restaurant on the outskirts of Accra’s central business district. The meals are good and affordable. $3 to $4 dollars will get you a main course ranging from rice, fries, banku, kenkey or fufu with a choice of meat or vegetables. Under some of the dimly lit canopies, Accra’s young professionals gather around the tables ‘unwinding’ with drinks and lots of storytelling and laughter.
I look up at the skies and the stars are shining brightly with a half moon watching over them. It has been a long day and its been a very hot day, but it has ended well and for that I am thankful.
TYPICAL PRESENTATION AND TRAVEL DAYS IN FEBRUARY
A cock crows loudly and I realize that daybreak has arrived. The sound rings in my ears as the proud bird repeats its call a half dozen times. My eyes strain to get used to the rays of sunshine piercing through the windows. The weather is already warming up but compared to later in the day, this feels cool. Almost comfortable. The warmth of the room has not hit me yet. The fan is still blowing a cool current directly towards me, just as it was all night.
I could sleep more. Oh yes, I could sleep a few more hours. But there is no way to fall asleep again. The incessant cock crows put an end to that. I’m grateful God has given me another day here. This planet. This continent. This country. This home. This family. I can hear K.B calling Zazu and Rosemond is telling Nana to get the table ready for breakfast.
Afiriye runs into my room wearing his dark blue pants, a light blue shirt with a tie and tugs on my feet. “Uncle Barnabas, are you sleeping?...Uncle Barnabas, are you sleeping?” I pretend to be sleeping and he walks over and opens my eyelids. I’m caught. I step off the bed and tell him I am going to take a bath. He walks out of my room and goes to eat his weetabix cereal. I take my towel and walk to the bathroom.
The water is cold and I shiver as I pour some over my face and neck. Ten minutes later after splashing about like a cub in a pond I am fully awake and I rush to my room as the clock strikes half past six. Breakfast energizes me as I eat the four slices of bread and drink the hot chocolate in a hurry. K.B. starts the minivan and at seven we are all piled in and buckled in. I am seated in the front and Rosemond is seated behind me with Zazu beside her. Nana and Afiriye are in the back seat but Afiriye can barely sit still. I wave at Helen (who lives with the family) as we drive past the red gate she is holding open and head out towards Accra.
There isn’t much traffic on the road from the house to the first main junction. We overtake some tro-tros and taxis marshalling in their morning customers. The young tout shouts, “Legon, Legon, Legon”, another is calling out, “Accra, Accra, Accra” (but it sounds more like KRA-KRA-KRA) and handfuls of people run and congregate around the doors of the vehicles they are hoping to enter.
We drive through rough and dusty neighborhood roads and streets and a half hour later, K.B. drops of the three children at school. K.B., Rosemond and I travel on towards Accra and approach the city center. The highway towards Accra that goes past the University of Ghana at Legon has a long convoy of cars. It’s a steady motion but it still seems like a slow traffic jam because no one is going at a ‘normal’ highway speed. When we get close to the Accra mall, K.B. stops the car and I alight at a bus stop. I wave goodbye and K.B. and Rosemond drive on towards the central part of the city as I cross the road with about ten people and walk to the Accra Mall.
The shopping edifice is quiet and sparsely populated. Only a few maintenance workers and cleaning staff are hard at work as most shops are still unopened. I try to use a restroom but I am told that since the stores don’t open until nine or nine-thirty, I will have to wait until then to use the toilets. (Thank God I am a potty-trained adult. A half hour of incontinence might be disastrous.) To distract myself, I walk around and stare into the store windows and their ostentatious displays of clothes, electronics and jewelry.
Perplexed by the presence of a Nike store, a Puma store and a Mac store in the mall, I walk to the entrance to continue my vigil. Five minutes later, Lee, David, Bee-Jai, Peter, Beth, and Armeley are driven towards me by Immanuel. I get into the Ford Van and we drive off towards “La Wireless” cluster of schools. We are received by the headmistress and she directs us to the room where we will make the presentation.
We set up the video camera and the program booklets explaining the presentations just as dozens of teachers stream into the classroom and sit in the chairs facing the front of the room. Bee-Jai, David, Peter and Lee sit at the front of the room and I sit to the side with the video camera. The headmistress welcomes us and introduces Peter who then invites us to introduce ourselves to the teachers.
For the next hour, Bee Jai and Peter explain the details of the program to the thirty five teachers gathered in the room. Four fans are blowing overhead but the room is still very hot and several people are fanning their faces with the program booklets. After the presentations, numerous questions are posed and Bee Jai and Peter strive to answer them as clearly as possible before we all walk to the van to go to the next school.
We arrive fifteen minutes late and some teachers are already seated in the room. We set up the video camera and distribute the booklets, then individually introduce ourselves and describe our roles in the PSU and NAPE collaboration. An hour and a half later, Bee Jai and Peter have presented the program details and then David has also spoken while Lee has described the scholarship fund and the application deadlines.
Hot and tired, we pile into the van and express appreciation for the air conditioned interior as we drive off to get some lunch.
In the afternoon, we begin some errands that cannot be avoided. We drive to a Forex Bureau and change some of our U.S. dollars into Ghanaian cedis. We then drive to a Shell gas station and fill up the van, which seems to guzzle a full tank every seventy two hours. The day is now unbearably hot and everyone is wiping off sweat from their brows almost as often as they blink. We drive through Accra and the hustle and bustle of the city is amazing in light of the energy-sapping heat and humidity. Market stalls selling food and clothing line the streets, vendors walk on the road weaving in between the cars. Some vendors call out the names of what they are carrying and selling, some simply walk up to the windows and doors of the cars and stare at us inviting us, asking us, daring us to buy. What a convenient way to shop. The drive-thru comes to the car.
Peter buys a multi-plug for his laptop and two handkerchiefs, Bee Jai buys some jewelry and Beth buys a snack. Immanuel buys a small plastic bag of water that looks very tempting in the heat, but I am barely able to listen to the prices as my eyelids collapse and I start dozing off in the back seat…
Our errands take up a greater portion of the afternoon but our day is not done at five o’clock. We take a break and then re-converge to travel to Ashesi University. It is refreshing to be in an air-conditioned classroom with the Scholarship Recipients. The inspirational stories of what the Lee Nusich scholarship award has meant to them are tear-jerking. Some were literally on the verge of dropping out of school and others had dropped out then came back when they got the financial aid from NAPE foundation.
At around 7 p.m. we ride to the Chez Afrique restaurant on the outskirts of Accra’s central business district. The meals are good and affordable. $3 to $4 dollars will get you a main course ranging from rice, fries, banku, kenkey or fufu with a choice of meat or vegetables. Under some of the dimly lit canopies, Accra’s young professionals gather around the tables ‘unwinding’ with drinks and lots of storytelling and laughter.
I look up at the skies and the stars are shining brightly with a half moon watching over them. It has been a long day and its been a very hot day, but it has ended well and for that I am thankful.
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