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Dear Friends: Change is evident everywhere you look these days. The leaves are turning a multitude of shades, children have returned to school, darkness is arriving before dinner time, build up to the upcoming elections is in full throttle, and wood stoves are being lit as nighttime temperatures descend toward freezing. When people ask me what my favorite season is, I always say "Autumn." It is the season of obvious transformations, moving from life to death, wakefulness to slumber, warmth to cold. There have been periods in my life when I've found myself mumbling "change is good, change is good . . ." like a mantra as I moved (okay, sometimes crawled) toward the next stage the Spirit was calling me to. But this week, again in a flurry of both wanted and unwanted change, it dawned on me that the "change is good" self-talk isn't really accurate or meaningful to me these days. "Change is inevitable!" Now that's the truth, isn't it? If we understand the inevitability of change, if we can move into its wisdom and lessons, we glean some important insight - namely, that grasping, holding and attaching ourselves to things, ideas, conditions and people in an effort to keep things "the same" will always keep us stilted, stymied and stuck. And perhaps most of all, totally ticked that our illusion of control is kicked out from under us once again! Things need to die off and renew themselves, metamorphosize, and sometimes in a completely new fashion. It's not just "part of life," it is life!This is true for our spiritual understandings and most certainly for our "stuff." Our resources need to flow inward and outward, cycling in and through our lives and the lives of others, dying and being reborn in new configurations that benefit both our neighbors (far and near) and ourselves. It is an obvious time of transformation outside, but it can be a transformative period inwardly as well. Lighten your load by giving "stuff" away - not just the dated out-of-fashion items, but your most favorite things in hopes they bring joy to the next-in-line recipient. Crochet a scarf or afghan to keep someone warm on cool nights. Send a surprisingly larger check to your favorite organizations this season - sharing not just from your surplus, but from beyond your comfort zone so that you might actually have to give up having or doing something you like. Move some of your funds into alternative community investment plans that support local community initiatives while they earn slightly less interest. Invest in people by introducing your family to those who are impoverished in your community - have conversations, share a meal and some laughs, offer to assist in some meaningful way. Reflect on what "things" need to start moving outward from your grasp, what needs to move more freely in and out of your hands and heart. If we can think of our lives as pools of living water, with things, people and ideas moving in and through and back out again, where we experience the calm consistent depths at least as much as the fickle surface activity, then perhaps we start to get it. Change is inevitable. Don't just tolerate that fact, accept it as truth, give it a hug and live it by ungrasping that which you hold too tightly, generously passing along the gifts that flow in and out of your experience, being open to what others have need to share with you as well. Shed your leaves after they've exhibited their brilliant hue in a flash of generosity! Open up to the transformations God has in store for you this season. The topic of "Keep the Gift Moving" is one that will be explored over the course of a weekend at an upcoming MoM Retreat with theologian and activist Ched Myers on October 20-22 in Washington, DC. Check out our web site for more information. Have a glorious autumn! Blessings,
Kenya March 2-16, 2007 Revered by anthropologists as the cradle of humanity, Kenya is the heart of safari country boasting the most diverse collection of wild animals on the African continent. But Sub Saharan Africa is also home to one of the worst pandemics in history: HIV/AIDS. Life expectancy in Kenya has dropped from 66 years to 48, and it is reported that over 2.2 million Kenyans are currently living with AIDS. Millions of children are orphaned when their parents die from the disease and many have sadly inherited the disease themselves. In Swahili, one of the primary languages spoken in Kenya, the word 'Kenya' literally means 'journey.' Join us on this journey of hope to Kenya - an ancient region of beauty and wonder. The focal point of our Kenyan experience will center around the capital city of Nairobi, as well as the Kakuma Refugee Camp in the northwest corner of Kenya. A primary focus of a Ministry of Money immersion experience is to create opportunities for direct contact with poor and marginalized people, and exposure to programs that address the misery of their condition, both through direct service and from a systemic change perspective. This MoM trip will include visits to social development projects and community-based entities - such as Nyumbani - an orphanage, hospice and community outreach program for orphans who are HIV+; Jesuit Refugee Services - which provides food, shelter, clothing, income-generating programs and medical care to poor inner-city Nairobi residents who have been displaced from their homes by political unrest and war; and educational, counseling and outreach services at the Kakuma Refugee Camp; Lea Toto - a community-based outreach program in the slums of West Nairobi; Kwetu Home - a rehabilitation program for street children; St. Aloysius High School - a secondary school within Kibera slum serving AIDS orphans; Missionaries of Charity - programs for children and adults; and St. Joseph the Worker parish in Kangemi which provides numerous outreach services for people of all ages living in this impoverished region. Each day will include prayer and reflection in order to process the experience, both individually and as a group. Jan Sullivan Dockter will be the trip leader.
India This Indian immersion experience provides exposure to both the history and culture of northeastern India. It also offers an immediate setting in which to experience the political, social, economic and spiritual dimensions of daily life in this impoverished region of the globe. A primary focus of a pilgrimage of reverse mission is to create opportunities for direct contact with the poor and marginalized and with programs that address the misery of their condition, as well to visit sacred sites and have opportunities to meet and share with Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs as we attempt to build bridges. This MoM trip includes visits to and occasional service at community-based social development projects - such as Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity homes for orphans and dying destitutes and The Cheshire Home. The group will also visit Bodhgaya, the birthplace of Buddhism and site of the Bodhi Tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment, and Varanasi - one of India's oldest and most sacred cities. Varanasi sits on the Ganges River and is home to numerous Hindu and Buddhist temples. Each day also includes prayer and reflection in order to process the experience, both individually and as a group. Jan Sullivan Dockter will be the trip leader. Other trips scheduled for later 2007 and early 2008
include: And watch for more information on . . . How Shall We Treat the Stranger: A Ministry of Money Retreat on US Immigration Policy from a Faith Perspective A Special Money & Faith Retreat Facilitated by Rick Ufford-Chase, Founder of Borderlinks April 27-29, 2007
- from Too Much Newsletter, published by Council on International and Public Affairs; October 9, 2006 Wal-Mart, news reports last week revealed, seems to be implementing what amounts to a “maximum wage” — for its workers. The giant retailer is essentially capping weekly wages, mostly by shifting full-time job slots to part-time and making work so uncomfortable for “expensive” veteran employees that they quit. How uncomfortable? At some Florida stores, “managers are barring older employees with back and leg problems from using stools they had sat on for years.” Wal-Mart’s new maximum wage offensive, predictably enough, does not apply to CEO H. Lee Scott (2005 takehome: $15.7 million) or anyone else at the top of the company’s global empire. Quite the contrary. The new wage cap push will, if successful, increase wealth at the top, by hiking company profits enough to jumpstart the company’s anemic share price, now down 10 percent over the past three years. The heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton still own Wal-Mart's biggest individual chunks of stock. Taken together, widow Helen Walton, sons Jim and Robson, daughter Alice, and daughter-in-law Christy own a reported 38 percent of the company. Four of the five heirs rank in the top 10 of America’s richest 400. One ranks 11th.
- by Parker Palmer, Yes Magazine, Winter 2005 Issue "There is in all things . . . a hidden wholeness.” Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and mystic who wrote these words, was speaking of the human world as well as the world of nature. But in our everyday lives, Merton’s words can sound like wishful thinking. Afraid that our inner light will be extinguished, or our inner darkness exposed, we hide our true identities and become separated from our own souls. We end up leading divided lives, far removed from our birthright wholeness. The divided life comes in many and varied forms. To cite just a few examples, it is the life we lead when: • We refuse to invest ourselves in our work, diminishing
its quality and distancing ourselves from those it is meant
to serve My knowledge of the divided life comes first from personal experience. A “still, small voice” speaks the truth about me, my work, or the world. I hear it and yet act as if I did not. I withhold a personal gift that might serve a good end or commit myself to a project that I do not really believe in. I keep silent on an issue I should address or actively break faith with one of my own convictions. I deny my inner darkness, giving it more power over me, or I project it onto other people, creating “enemies” where none exist.
"That's when I want you - you knower of my emptiness, you unspeaking partner to my sorrow. That's when I need you, God, like food." - Rainer Maria Rilke "How you see God - authoritarian, benevolent, critical, or distant - has a lot to do with your attitudes toward issues such as gay marriage or the death penalty. Further, the higher your income, the less likely you are to think God is angry. The lower your income, the more likely you are to think God is angry." - recent survey findings from the Baylor University Institute for the Study of Religion "Awareness requires a rupture with the world we take for granted, then old categories of experience are called into question and revised." - Shoshana Zuboff "Whatever joy there is in the world, all comes from wanting others to be happy; and whatever suffering there is in this world, all comes from wanting oneself to be happy." - Shantideva "Sure, people need Jesus, but most of the time, what they really need is for someone to be Jesus to them." - Reuben Welch "The market for private police and private jails is booming, while all of us - some more, some less - are turning into guards and prisoners: guards keeping an eye on whoever's nearby and prisoners of fear." - Eduardo Galeano
- by Andrea Coombes, DowJones, publishers of the Wall Street Journal What's worrying you right now? A majority of Americans, asked to choose from 14 possible recently experienced problems, pointed to "rising prices," according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed said rising prices are an issue in their lives, followed by 56% who said "too much to do" and 53% who said they have "trouble sleeping," according to the online survey of 2,747 adults in September. Fourth on the list is "concerns about money for emergencies," a recent problem for 53% of respondents, followed by 43% who said "concerns about health in general." Thirty-six percent said they're worried about the illness of a family member and 36% said they don't have enough money for basic necessities. When asked how stressed they feel, most of those surveyed -- 47% -- said they have "some" stress in their lives. But 23% said they have a lot of stress. Meanwhile 27% said not too much stress and 3% said none at all.
- from Oxfam America
- by Corey Tazzara; Worldwatch Institute; August 14, 2006 Recent trends suggest that both corporations and investors are taking socially responsible investing (SRI) more seriously. A study released by the Social Investment Research Analysts Network on July 11 reveals that 34 companies listed on the S&P 100, a weighted index of 100 major blue chip companies, now base their corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports on a recognized third-party standard—the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. The use of uniform reporting criteria is critical to helping SRI firms select appropriate companies in which to invest. Other indicators similarly point to corporations’ greater embrace of social responsibility: according to the same study, 79 of the S&P 100 firms now have CSR websites, up 34 percent from last year. The growth of CSR among major corporations has been spurred by a parallel development in social consciousness among investment firms. In April, the United Nations launched its new Principles for Responsible Investment, a series of guidelines on how to integrate environmental, social, and corporate governance issues into the financial industry. As of August 1, the diverse signatories to the Principles together controlled more than $5 trillion in assets. This enormous quantity of money, expected to grow as the initiative wins new adherents, will make SRI central to the practices of the financial investment industry.
Dana Cunningham, longtime friend and musician for Ministry of Money events, has a new CD available entitled The Color of Light. I recently heard her play a few pieces from the new recording at a retreat in Indiana and they were incredibly beautiful. If you've enjoyed hearing her play at MoM events or already have her two earlier recordings, or if you're new to Dana's compositions but love contemplative music, I recommend this new album wholeheartedly! I've already ordered numerous copies for myself and holiday gift giving! - Jan Sullivan Dockter The Color of Light, produced by Will Ackerman, features Dana's new, original compositions and a select group of musicians on cello, English horn, violin, percussion and voice. Highlighted are several Grammy-winners, including cellist Eugene Friesen, percussionist Glen Velez, and Will Ackerman on guitar. Among her distinctively lyrical solo works are a number of pieces enhanced with instrumental textures, contemporary structures, and contrasts in sounds. The result, still within the contemplative nature of Dana's previous works, is a surprisingly powerful and evocative album. While the music of The Color of Light is more dynamic and passionate, the delicacy and nuance of Dana's playing are never lost. Like Dancing at the Gate and Silent Night, Dana's earlier recordings, it is an album that can be listened to over and over again.
The Emerging Christian Way: Thought, Stories, And Wisdom for a Faith of Transformation by Marcus Borg, Matthew Fox & Michael Schwartzentruber (Editor) The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne
My Path TV - the Mind, Body & Spirit Channel Grist - Environmental News and Commentary
Watch for the upcoming MoM printed newsletter. It will arrive in your mailbox by mid-November. The next MoM ezine will be sent to your email address in early 2007.
Retreats October 20-22, 2006Keep the Gift Moving: Money, the Market and Mutual Aid with Ched Myers Festival Center, Washington, DC Cost: $295 January 25-28, 2007 How Shall We Treat the Stranger: A Retreat on US Immigration Policies from a Faith Perspective with Rick Ufford-Chase (founder of Borderlinks) Wellspring Conference Center, Germantown, MD Cost: $TBD You may register for these retreats online by clicking here Pilgrimages Kenya Pilgrimage June 8-22, 2007 Closed Trip for Staff & Faculty of Georgetown University India Pilgrimage For information about any of these events, please contact Ministry of Money at (301) 428-9560 or by email at office@ministryofmoney.org
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