These are the things that remind me daily that I am living in West Texas:
1) My boss is shocked that I recycle
2) No one understands the utility or function of my down vest. Responses range from scorn to genuine puzzlement… “how does it keep your arms warm?”
3) I’m the only one who dresses in five layers. Hence, the importance of wearing a sweater and a down vest - along with a scarf, tights, a long sleeve shirt, a t-shirt, and boots.
4) Dust storm, sheet cake, brisket, y’all, and sweet tea have become part of my vocabulary (speaking of which, I just made some sweet tea for the first time this week, though mine was Rooibos, of course)
5) Alan Keyes wants to speak at my university. I had never heard of him until yesterday. Apparently, he is a presidential contender.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
pray for peace
A very sad day for Kenya. A protester for peace has been murdered. The two sides seem intent on escalating this conflict, and in the meantime, I worry that they are throwing themselves into a fire that is burning beyond their control.
Monday, January 28, 2008
toni morrison endorses obama
"In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don’t see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which, coupled with brilliance, equals wisdom.”
"In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don’t see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which, coupled with brilliance, equals wisdom.”
Saturday, January 26, 2008
This week we had some kitchen fun.
Than made me a special cookie treat.
Than made me a special cookie treat.
Isn't he sweet?
After I ran out of flour on my first batch of cookies, Than was nice enough to drive to the store and get me flour to save my remaining batches. Then, always the innovator, Than came up with a brilliant idea. What if we used our ice cream maker that we got as a wedding gift?! So, the less-than-perfect flour starved cookies were folded into some homemade vanilla ice cream for a delicious twist. I highly recommend it. It came out similar to cookie dough ice cream, but the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies gave it a great texture with a hint of cinnamon. Yah for Than! I'm proud of you honey.
Friday, January 25, 2008
what happened to hope?
I’ve held out for a while against my husband’s pessimism, but gradually pessimism is taking hold of me to as I watch this presidential race continue to unfold. If there is one thing I need and feel our country needs, it is change. We need to fundamentally change the way we think about ourselves, our politics, and the world. There needs to be an ethic of the common good, instead of an ethic of self-aggrandizing. As I watch Democrats and Republicans split into their respective sides, the gulf between them widens. The pursuit of power daily minimizes the chance that our country will actually move forward from its partisan paralysis. And this means that rest of the world will continue to watch the bitter drama of the American stage with skepticism and disrespect. If there is anything that the world needs, it is leaders who act in the interests of the common good, who pursue justice, healing, reconciliation, equality. To borrow from Jim Wallace: leaders with a moral center.
The last few weeks have been ugly on the campaign trail. I have been sickened and outraged by the racial bind Americans are still trapped in. I have been repentant as I have seen the way “race” has been used to feed white power and privilege. Consider this: the fact that Barack Obama is increasingly leading among African American voters actually hurts him because it will alienate him from white voters. Barack Obama cannot talk freely about his identity as a biracial candidate with African roots or explicitly about his connection to the realities of racial injustice in this country because to do so will make him less palatable to white voters – even though it is clear that he has a keen understanding of these based on his own life experience. Meanwhile, the opposition candidates work to bring up Obama’s “blackness” as often as possible knowing the more he is associated with blackness, the weaker he becomes. The smear campaigns about his “Muslim” heritage or against his church, which is admirably dedicated to black empowerment and community revitalization continue. As a Christian, I am deeply troubled by conservative rhetoric against Obama’s church as “racist” simply because of its commitment to lifting up the marginalized black community.
This campaign is only bringing to light deep structural problems that exist in America – and I am saddened that there have not been more white people speaking out about this. I wish we were challenging this reality. Invoking Dr. King, Obama spoke last week of unity being the great need – the urgency – of the hour. He is right. Polarization by race and polarization by party will destroy us and the causalities will be the vulnerable and marginalized both in our own country and around the world.
Hope is believing in what is not yet seen. I still have hope because I believe the stance Obama has taken, the challenge that he has presented to the American people, is a prophetic one. It’s one that is less about him as a political figure (I am cynical about politics producing real change) and more about each of us staring deep into our hearts and asking if we are really ready to rise above self interest and work for the common good. Obama is calling us to heal what divides us in our neighborhoods, in our institutions, and in the world. The call is one that requires us to have deep empathy as we engage our differences and seek understanding. It is to give up our right to power and meet our neighbors in the middle. It is to work from the ground up.
The burden is on us. No one ever said that it would be easy. As we are seeing now, the structures of power are very powerful indeed. They inherently oppose change. It is not just black people who are hurt by the politics of power and privilege. It is white people too. We are all hurt by sacrificing the common good, by letting ourselves by silenced by the politics of fear. This feels really personal to me because I see what is playing out nationally on a day to day level. And yet most days all I hear is silence – especially from the white community. The burden is on us to challenge the prejudices, the cynicism, and the fear. The burden is on us to choose and work for change. The burden is on us to speak out against injustice – especially racial injustice. The burden is on us to sacrifice our own personal gain for the common good.
Shame on us if we ignore the call of the hour.
The last few weeks have been ugly on the campaign trail. I have been sickened and outraged by the racial bind Americans are still trapped in. I have been repentant as I have seen the way “race” has been used to feed white power and privilege. Consider this: the fact that Barack Obama is increasingly leading among African American voters actually hurts him because it will alienate him from white voters. Barack Obama cannot talk freely about his identity as a biracial candidate with African roots or explicitly about his connection to the realities of racial injustice in this country because to do so will make him less palatable to white voters – even though it is clear that he has a keen understanding of these based on his own life experience. Meanwhile, the opposition candidates work to bring up Obama’s “blackness” as often as possible knowing the more he is associated with blackness, the weaker he becomes. The smear campaigns about his “Muslim” heritage or against his church, which is admirably dedicated to black empowerment and community revitalization continue. As a Christian, I am deeply troubled by conservative rhetoric against Obama’s church as “racist” simply because of its commitment to lifting up the marginalized black community.
This campaign is only bringing to light deep structural problems that exist in America – and I am saddened that there have not been more white people speaking out about this. I wish we were challenging this reality. Invoking Dr. King, Obama spoke last week of unity being the great need – the urgency – of the hour. He is right. Polarization by race and polarization by party will destroy us and the causalities will be the vulnerable and marginalized both in our own country and around the world.
Hope is believing in what is not yet seen. I still have hope because I believe the stance Obama has taken, the challenge that he has presented to the American people, is a prophetic one. It’s one that is less about him as a political figure (I am cynical about politics producing real change) and more about each of us staring deep into our hearts and asking if we are really ready to rise above self interest and work for the common good. Obama is calling us to heal what divides us in our neighborhoods, in our institutions, and in the world. The call is one that requires us to have deep empathy as we engage our differences and seek understanding. It is to give up our right to power and meet our neighbors in the middle. It is to work from the ground up.
The burden is on us. No one ever said that it would be easy. As we are seeing now, the structures of power are very powerful indeed. They inherently oppose change. It is not just black people who are hurt by the politics of power and privilege. It is white people too. We are all hurt by sacrificing the common good, by letting ourselves by silenced by the politics of fear. This feels really personal to me because I see what is playing out nationally on a day to day level. And yet most days all I hear is silence – especially from the white community. The burden is on us to challenge the prejudices, the cynicism, and the fear. The burden is on us to choose and work for change. The burden is on us to speak out against injustice – especially racial injustice. The burden is on us to sacrifice our own personal gain for the common good.
Shame on us if we ignore the call of the hour.
Monday, January 21, 2008
walk this road together
I promise to post on something other than politics soon, but yesterday's speech by Barack Obama's at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta is too good not to share. Read the full text here. I was sad to miss it.
Some of my favorite parts:
"Unfortunately, all too often when we talk about unity in this country, we've come to believe that it can be purchased on the cheap. We've come to believe that racial reconciliation can come easily – that it's just a matter of a few ignorant people trapped in the prejudices of the past, and that if the demagogues and those who exploit our racial divisions will simply go away, then all our problems would be solved. All too often, we seek to ignore the profound institutional barriers that stand in the way of ensuring opportunity for all children, or decent jobs for all people, or health care for those who are sick. We long for unity, but are unwilling to pay the price. But of course, true unity cannot be so easily won"
"Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for opportunity and equality, we cannot walk alone
In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk alone"
What a profoundly different message than what we have heard the last 8 years. It's a message that doesn't let any of us sit idly by. The call is for all of us, because change must go deeper than politics. It is heart transformation. It is community transformation. And it is costly.
Some of my favorite parts:
"Unfortunately, all too often when we talk about unity in this country, we've come to believe that it can be purchased on the cheap. We've come to believe that racial reconciliation can come easily – that it's just a matter of a few ignorant people trapped in the prejudices of the past, and that if the demagogues and those who exploit our racial divisions will simply go away, then all our problems would be solved. All too often, we seek to ignore the profound institutional barriers that stand in the way of ensuring opportunity for all children, or decent jobs for all people, or health care for those who are sick. We long for unity, but are unwilling to pay the price. But of course, true unity cannot be so easily won"
"Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone.
In the struggle for opportunity and equality, we cannot walk alone
In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk alone"
What a profoundly different message than what we have heard the last 8 years. It's a message that doesn't let any of us sit idly by. The call is for all of us, because change must go deeper than politics. It is heart transformation. It is community transformation. And it is costly.
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