Monthly Archives: September 2020

eBrethren

Planting gardens in difficult days

Posted on by
Reply

By Jeffrey Boshart, manager of the Global Food Initiative

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.”
– Jeremiah 29:5, NIV

These are strange and difficult days. If you are like me, this year is not turning out like you had hoped. (This may be the biggest understatement ever!) My travel plans for the Global Food Initiative (GFI) in the spring and summer were cancelled. Our family’s spring break vacation was taken off the calendar. I was planning to host visitors from Haiti and Nigeria this summer, and that did not happen. COVID-19 brought many inconveniences for us; however, the reality for our international partners involves very real hardship, not just a change in schedule. 

A pastor in Honduras reported that there have been families in her community who cannot go to work and cannot purchase diapers or food for their children. A friend in Ecuador shared how fear swept the country after a rapid spread of the virus and many lives were lost in a major city. In Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Haiti, stay-at-home rules from the government were not accompanied by relief bills, unemployment checks, or any form of assistance, and therefore, staying at home meant going hungry.

Through the bad news and uncertainty about the future, I am encouraged by our partners around the world who have unwavering faith and hope that God will bring us through. They share the belief that it is important for Christ-followers to witness to their neighbors in word and deed, especially during these times. Like the Israelites exiled in Babylon, they continue to plant gardens and fields. This is also true here in the US where churches are using GFI grants for community gardens. During this pandemic, people are committed to doing more, reaching out more, and serving their neighbors sacrificially. Please prayerfully consider how you can help our sisters and brothers during this time of great need.

Your generosity to the Global Food Initiative prepares us to respond. Over the past year, we responded to requests for assistance from 27 partner organizations in 10 countries and in the US. The total amount provided in grants was more than $200,000! In 2020, the GFI continues to receive calls for support at a time of a global financial crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for being part of this important ministry and empowering many to plant gardens in these difficult days.

Learn more about the Global Food Initiative of the Church of the Brethren at www.brethren.org/gfi or support its ministry today at www.brethren.org/givegfi.

(Read this issue of eBrethren.)

eBrethren

The road that makes all the difference

Posted on by
Reply
Photo by Traci Rabenstein

By Traci Rabenstein, director of Mission Advancement

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
-Matthew 4:1

During my junior and senior years in high school, I joined speech club. We would select readings (whether original pieces or stories, published articles, or famous poetry) to present for a panel of judges who would critique our delivery. Competitions were placed in categories, and the one I fell in love with, and participated in the most, was poetry reading.

While in speech club, I found Robert Frost. He had a few poems published in the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but it wasn’t until his family moved to England that he wrote and published two books of poetry that were successful immediately. In 1915, he returned to New England and continued to write. He won four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry and became the Poet Laureate Consultant for Poetry for the Library of Congress from 1958-59. He recited his poem “The Gift Outright” at the 1961 inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. Out of all his work, my favorite was (and still is) “The Road Not Taken.”

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
 
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
 
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
 
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

In the September 2015 issue of the Paris Review online magazine, David Orr wrote a review of the poem in which he said, “Most readers consider ‘The Road Not Taken’ to be a paean to triumphant self-assertion… but the literal meaning of the poem’s speaker tells us … the road he will later call less traveled is actually the road equally traveled. The two roads are interchangeable.”

I see parallels of this in my own journey. There are times when I stand before two decisions, two roads, and have to determine which one to take. Sometimes, after making a decision and heading down one pathway, I wonder what might have been if I had made the opposite decision. Would it have been easier to travel on the other road?

Over the past several months, we have found ourselves on a road not traveled often. One where we have had to shelter-in-place, wear masks when we are in public places, and learn how to stay connected in new, virtual ways as families and congregations. For some, this has been a season of slowing down and reflecting, taking time to identify what is most important. Some of us have been taking measures to slow down after realizing that the pace we had been living pre-pandemic was not the road we necessarily wanted to be on.

I’ve also been thinking about the road Christ journeyed. In the 40 days after Jesus’ baptism, he traveled into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan. Matthew and Luke provide examples of how Satan tried to entice Jesus into revealing himself as God’s son before the appointed time. I marvel at the willpower he had as someone who had been fasting and wandering alone in such a solitary place. Satan tried to divert him to another path, but he stayed the course of preparing for what was to come and taking the road “less traveled.”

In our own lives, when the hardships of humanity seem to hold us back, pressuring us to take “the other (road), as just as fair / And having perhaps the better claim / Because it was grassy and wanted wear,” we can look to the temptation of Jesus. From him we find how to address the stresses of life, face daily temptations, and find solace.  By following the path of Christ, we remain near to God and find strength and hope to stay in tune with his will and recognize his movements in our lives. This is the road, the “one less traveled by,” that makes all the difference.

The Office of Mission Advancement works to cultivate passion for the missions and ministries of the Church of the Brethren.  If you have any questions or if there is any way they can support you in this season, please reach out to MA@brethren.org.

(Read this issue of eBrethren.)

Office of Peacebuilding and Policy

Simple Living and Consumer Culture

Posted on by
Reply

As the pandemic brings to light the injustices that were for so long swept under the rugs, one can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness. Perhaps these injustices were always there in broad daylight- but the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day lives gave us an excuse to avoid thinking about things much further. In a blog earlier this summer, Susu Lassa wrote, “COVID-19 ripped back the curtain on the various systemic problems in the U.S and worldwide, and police brutality and racial injustice were once again cast into the limelight…” This pandemic has also pulled back the curtains on the economic injustices as while over 40 million Americans filled for unemployment over the past couple of months, billionaires added a staggering $637 billion to their wealth. Looking at figures like these it seems more necessary than ever to reflect and reassess the choices we make with regards to how we live and how we consume. Over the next few blog posts, we will explore and reaffirm simple living, stewardship, just dealings, and mutuality as they relate to economic justice and economic peacemaking; especially as we go forward during this pandemic. This first post in a series of four, explores simple living in a time of consumerism and consumer culture.

Simple Living

Over the years there have been numerous Annual Conference Statements on Christian living, stewardship, and creation care -all of which, I believe, point to the importance of simple living. A 1980 annual conference statement emphasizes simplicity as a Christian way of life. But what is simple living?

Not to be confused with minimalism, which often refers to simplicity as it pertains to physical possessions; Simple living refers to a mindset focused on reduced consumption, with value placed on essentials and things that bring us joy. (Babauta) Simple living is more than just a cleared-out closet and rejection of luxury goods. It is a mindset in which value is placed on finding joy in our human connections, our community, and nature. In his book Freedom of Simplicity, Richard J. Foster argues that simplicity is “an inward reality that results in an outward lifestyle.”

By choosing to live simply, we make mental and financial space to develop our spiritual life. We shift our focus from finding ways to preserve our affluent lifestyles, to working to grow our understanding of God and all creation.

Consumer Culture and Consumerism

“Consumer culture denotes a social arrangement in which the relations between lived culture and social resources, and between meaningful ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend, are mediated through markets.” (Arnould and Thompson, 869) Rather than being a means of reflecting cultural values, consumption has become a culture value, contributing to the ever-expanding list of our needs and desires. (Goodman and Cohen)

Be aware of Consumer Culture and intentional in how you navigate through it.

Most things we do are a matter of habit, conditioning, training, and unconscious imitation. We are programmed by culture, family, and media, seldom questioning why we act as we do, or whether we are doing the things we value most. Many of the Influences which shape our behavior – hedonism, triumphalism, cynicism, legalism – run counter to the lifestyle of the kingdom of God which Jesus lived and proclaimed. (AC 1980, Christian Lifestyle)

Author Kit Yarrow in her book Decoding The New Consumer Mind writes that studies show that hidden, unconscious cues such as scents, colors, product placement, and how words sound, are now more influential to our purchase decision process than ever before. We are told what we need and increasingly our ability to discern our needs from our wants is fading -or at least it seems to be. As such, there is great power in awareness because only when people become aware of a habit are they able to make intentional decisions to combat it.

As I finish up writing this piece, I realize just how all over the place it is. But isn’t that more telling of the interwoven nature of our lives? How our choice to live simply will not only benefit us spiritually and financially, but can also benefit the community, the environment, and the next generation. For a BVS’er like me, on a tight budget, practicing simple living is the only choice. But I hope I develop a way of living that extends beyond my year here. I want to make sure that I do not take up more space and resources in this world than what was allotted for me; so that others who share this Earth with me and those coming after me can enjoy it as I have.

Suggested Reading: Consumer Culture by Goodman and Cohen

Sources

The masterpiece of a simple life | Maura Malloy | TEDxIndianapolis

Babauta, Leo. “The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life.” Amazon, Publisher Not Identified, 2009, www.amazon.com/Simple-Guide-Minimalist-Life/dp/1455831972.

Eric J. Arnould, Craig J. Thompson, Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 31, Issue 4, March 2005, Pages 868–882, https://doi.org/10.1086/426626

Goodman, Douglas J., and Mirelle Cohen. Consumer Culture: a Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO, 2004.

Yarrow, Kit. Decoding the New Consumer Mind: How and Why We Shop and Buy. Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Brand, 2014.