freecycle network

As I was reading Justice in the Burbs by Will & Lisa Swanson, they list resources and organizations near the end of the book. It's a great read by the way. One of the resources listed in the freecycle network. It is a

network made up of 4,233 groups with 4,415,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people).

Check it out!

a quote

Sometimes we have a tendency to view justice as something we want to do, but it's something we will get to when we have time. The church, the gospel, and the future of our nation depend on how we choose to live. -Will & Lisa Samson, Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live

a justice creed

We believe that God is just and that God loves justice.
God delights in just laws and rejoiced in just people.
God liberates those who are oppressed by injustice
And is grieved by unjust people and the unjust systems
they create and sustain.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
And God's kingdom belongs to those willing to be
persecuted for the sake of justice.
To God, justice is a weighty thing that can never be ignored.
We believe that Jesus came to display the justice of God,
In word and deed, in life, death, and resurrection.
The justice God desires, which he taught, must
surpass that of the hypocrites,
For the justice of God is a compassionate justice,
Rich in mercy and abounding in love for the last, the least,
the lost, and the excluded.
On his cross, Jesus drew the injustice of humanity into the light,
And there the heartless injustice of human empire met
The reconciling justice of the kingdom of God.
The resurrection of Jesus proclaims that the true justice of God,
Naked, vulnerable, and scarred by abuse, is stronger
Than the violent injustice of humanity, armed with weapons,
conceit, deceit, and lies.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is here now,
Convicting the world of sin and injustice,
Warning that God's judgment will come on all that is unjust.
We believe that the kingdom of God is not a matter of
superficial things
But is justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Empowered by the Spirit, then, we seek God's kingdom and
we seek God's justice,
For the world as it is has not yet become the world as
God desires it to be.
And so we live and work and pray,
Until justice rolls down like water,
Until justice flows like a never-ending stream.
For we believe that God is just, and the true and living
God loves justice.
Amen.

MLK, Jr.

Here's to you Martin Luther King, Jr. Thank you for making a difference. Thank you for giving a dream to all minorities... "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

outrage!!

Does this headline outrage you or are you indifferent?

What if this headline was about you? Or someone you knew?


Rape accusations on Campus X

Police are investigating a possible rape on Campus X.

Police tell us the incident happened around 1:00 a.m.

The college-age victim, who is not a student, told police she attended a house party there, and was drunk when four men raped her. She then allegedly asked an acquaintance to take her to another nearby location, where she was attacked again by two of the four men.

The home is just across the street from and owned by Campus X, which is a dry campus.

“Campus X is an alcohol-free campus. The homes that we own are alcohol-free. If there was alcohol involved that violates our policy and we will be able to address that ourselves if that is indeed the case,” Campus X Director of Communications says.

Campus X will not address the accusations of rape themselves. The police department’s special victim’s unit has taken over the investigation.

Campus X has sent out an e-mail to all students, faculty and staff letting them know about the incident.

outside

It was a beautiful night last night, and please don't believe those who would say otherwise. I was given the opportunity to sleep under the stars, although I don't know if there were any. You see, I was sleeping in a shadow to avoid getting caught by campus safety.

Simple Living is beginning this new semester with a bang and some action. A group of seven students is embarking on a trip toward empathy with the homeless. This includes sleeping outside, having to ask for meals, going without personal items that won't fit into a single backpack, all while still being an active college student. It will be an interesting week which will conclude by visiting and potentially volunteering at the local Center for the Homeless.

More thoughts will come later. May the peace of the creator be with you this week.

Girl Blues

poetry by mush


To every girl who hides
Behind a sealed mouth and
Big headphones.

Who locks herself in her room and
Turns her music loud to
Drown the demons banging
At the door.

To the girl who thinks she's half-crazy.
Who closes up like a fist whenever the world leans in.
To every girl uncomfortable in a pair of shorts.
And sits alone every night in the dark drinking her tears to take up less space.
To every daughter afraid to admit she is just like her mom.

Purple bruises and rain
Blue of every flame
If you are hard to touch
This ones for you.

To the girl who bleeds underwater and finds
God’s face on her wrist-
It’s time you come up for air

Fucked up and fabulous,
Broken but mending,
Come here.
And I will stand on water with you, in fishnets
Waiting for the tide to rise.

human-ness

"I love you" means something very special and very concrete. It means that I surround you with the feeling that allows you-perhaps requires you-to be everything you really are as a human being at that moment. When my love is fullest, you are most fully you. You may be good, or bad, or both; tender or angry, or both; but you are you, which is the very most I could ever ask or expect. And so I experience you in all your beauty and all your ugliness. But you, not what I expect, or want, or what you feel you should be, or were fashioned to be, but really you.

Thomas Malone & Patrick Malone, Art of Intimacy

resolutions

It's the time of year when my mother usually asks us children to re-evaluate and look at last year's resolutions while making new ones. I've decided that this year's resolutions will be more commitments, not just well wishing or things I want to accomplish. So, here goes it (and I'd appreciate some accountability on these this coming year):

- I commit to buying no “new” clothes this year…exceptions: Goodwill shopping, thrift stores, and gifts of clothing

- I commit to becoming more environmentally-friendly: become more aware and educated, reuse glass and plastic bottles, recycle paper products

- I commit to pursuing the dream, whatever form it takes for one solid year: offering the opportunity to others daily, reading and listening to CDs, attending seminars and rallies, etc

- I commit to physical fitness and the health of my body: exercising three or more times per week, running at least 30 minutes per day, eating healthy and drinking three or more bottles of water per day