I ran across this and thought it articulated well a starting place to work toward empowerment. I don't know who the author is. It seemed to me like a great tool for empowerment in that it suggests plans of action depending on where a community is in their response to an issue, be it social justice or environmental justice. I've added the numbers for easier referencing.
Stages of Issue Development
1) DON'T KNOW ------------------------------> EDUCATION (ISSUES)
2) KNOW, BUT DON'T CARE ---------------------> EDUCATION (ETHICS)
3) CARE, BUT DON'T KNOW
WHAT TO DO ------------------------------> ADVOCATE
*
4) KNOW WHAT TO DO, BUT
DON'T KNOW HOW --------------------------> TRAINING
*
5) KNOW HOW, BUT LACK
RESOURCES/SUPPORT ------------------------> BUILD ORGANIZATION
6) HAVE SUPPORT, BUT LACK
OF URGENCY -------------------------------> REFRAME
It seems to me that disempowerment is possible at each stage, but specifically in the two places that are indicated by stars. I would add two stages, the response to both being EMPOWER. The first stage is between #3 and #4.
This stage would be:
CARE, BUT DON'T THINK THEY
CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ---------------------> EMPOWER
The second stage would be between #4 and #5. This stage would be:
KNOW WHAT TO DO, BUT DON'T
FEEL THEY CAN DO IT ------------------------> EMPOWER
Just an interesting way to frame this whole conversation that I thought I'd share.
Peace and Blessings,
Mikaila
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Eucharist
In the last two weeks I have had the opportunity to more fully look at one empowering part of Christian faith traditions specifically. This focus has been on liturgy. Even more specifically I have been able to read about the Eucharist as a place and source of empowerment for Christians to live a more just and honoring life.
Part of what has been interesting about all this is the reading, but I would be lying if I said that is what has kept me going in the last little while. With three weeks of the quarter left and two other classes, it is safe to say that fervor for all academic subjects has waned a bit.
The thing that brings me back to focusing on this class and topic tonight is the fact that in the past few weeks, I have not only read about the Eucharist but I have participated in it.
In her essay Liturgy Reshaping Society Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda says "The sacraments, then, are God's way of getting through to us in at least two ways. They open our eyes to reality, even when reality may seem to painful to face. And they bring us faith, hope and love, the ingredients of agency for responding to reality in ways that reflect and serve God's mission to heal and liberate the world. The sacraments "open our eyes" and bring us the capacity to respond as God's "hands and heart." She goes on to say that "In the eucharist we are fed to live into th[e] true reality of challenge and change" (p.165, 168).
Attending a Jesuit school means that I am lucky enough to have a mass to go to on campus. Recently I have found myself at the Chapel of St. Ignatius preparing with the rest of the congregation for the Eucharistic. Now, unless I am mistaken, the statement "If you will not be receiving the Eucharist . . . " is directed at people like me, who not being within the Catholic tradition are asked by the larger church, if not explicitly by Seattle University, to abstain from taking the elements.
When I first heard this I was offended, feeling rejected. My underlying thought was that in some sense the kind Jesuit in front of me was saying "No Jesus for you today". What betrayal!
However, the sting of that perceived rejection has softened as I have continued to attend mass. The Eucharist (or communion as I am used to calling it) has always confused me, being one of those rituals of faith that is steeped in meaning, but is just beyond my ability to comprehend. Yet since I started reading about it my understanding of this ritual has begun to grow. My most recent thought is that perhaps the Eucharist is not so much something that I get, as one would get a parcel or package. Perhaps as Dr. Moe-Lobeda says, it is a place and process of transformation.
I used to sit nervously in my seat, whipping out the hymnal, praying increasingly quickly, all with the feeling that I had to get ready, because I was only moments away from "receiving Jesus". Yet in the last few weeks I have learned to look around at the progression of the Eucharist, from the choir signing, to the front rows rising, each individual walking slowly to the front and the sweet opportunity to kneel in prayer. In these last few moments of prayer I can raise my empty hands, and ask God for eyes to see, and for "hope and love" to transform me.
This new experience has been incredibly life giving for me. I am still unaware of the vast depth of meaning within a ritual such as the Eucharist, however it is empowering just to begin learning about it. The powerful thing here is that this ritual requires me to use my body. It asks that I rise from my seat, walk to the front of the chapel, physically tear the bread from the loaf and physically drink from the cup or dip my bread into it. Then I must walk slowly behind other people and before other people to my seat where I kneel (specific to Catholic mass I think) and have the opportunity to pray until the whole congregation has partaken.
This physical movement, although it is no cardiovascular workout requires that I am physically engaged, and can physically take in the body and blood of Christ. For me, this works to slowly break down my idea of God being 'somewhere out there' rather than present in the elements, chapel, myself and the community. God is present in the Eucharist and I can feel it because I have to use my senses to partake of the ritual.
These are my thoughts. In what ways, if any, do rituals bring you empowerment? They need not be Christian or even specifically religious.
Blessings and peace,
mikaila
Part of what has been interesting about all this is the reading, but I would be lying if I said that is what has kept me going in the last little while. With three weeks of the quarter left and two other classes, it is safe to say that fervor for all academic subjects has waned a bit.
The thing that brings me back to focusing on this class and topic tonight is the fact that in the past few weeks, I have not only read about the Eucharist but I have participated in it.
In her essay Liturgy Reshaping Society Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda says "The sacraments, then, are God's way of getting through to us in at least two ways. They open our eyes to reality, even when reality may seem to painful to face. And they bring us faith, hope and love, the ingredients of agency for responding to reality in ways that reflect and serve God's mission to heal and liberate the world. The sacraments "open our eyes" and bring us the capacity to respond as God's "hands and heart." She goes on to say that "In the eucharist we are fed to live into th[e] true reality of challenge and change" (p.165, 168).
Attending a Jesuit school means that I am lucky enough to have a mass to go to on campus. Recently I have found myself at the Chapel of St. Ignatius preparing with the rest of the congregation for the Eucharistic. Now, unless I am mistaken, the statement "If you will not be receiving the Eucharist . . . " is directed at people like me, who not being within the Catholic tradition are asked by the larger church, if not explicitly by Seattle University, to abstain from taking the elements.
When I first heard this I was offended, feeling rejected. My underlying thought was that in some sense the kind Jesuit in front of me was saying "No Jesus for you today". What betrayal!
However, the sting of that perceived rejection has softened as I have continued to attend mass. The Eucharist (or communion as I am used to calling it) has always confused me, being one of those rituals of faith that is steeped in meaning, but is just beyond my ability to comprehend. Yet since I started reading about it my understanding of this ritual has begun to grow. My most recent thought is that perhaps the Eucharist is not so much something that I get, as one would get a parcel or package. Perhaps as Dr. Moe-Lobeda says, it is a place and process of transformation.
I used to sit nervously in my seat, whipping out the hymnal, praying increasingly quickly, all with the feeling that I had to get ready, because I was only moments away from "receiving Jesus". Yet in the last few weeks I have learned to look around at the progression of the Eucharist, from the choir signing, to the front rows rising, each individual walking slowly to the front and the sweet opportunity to kneel in prayer. In these last few moments of prayer I can raise my empty hands, and ask God for eyes to see, and for "hope and love" to transform me.
This new experience has been incredibly life giving for me. I am still unaware of the vast depth of meaning within a ritual such as the Eucharist, however it is empowering just to begin learning about it. The powerful thing here is that this ritual requires me to use my body. It asks that I rise from my seat, walk to the front of the chapel, physically tear the bread from the loaf and physically drink from the cup or dip my bread into it. Then I must walk slowly behind other people and before other people to my seat where I kneel (specific to Catholic mass I think) and have the opportunity to pray until the whole congregation has partaken.
This physical movement, although it is no cardiovascular workout requires that I am physically engaged, and can physically take in the body and blood of Christ. For me, this works to slowly break down my idea of God being 'somewhere out there' rather than present in the elements, chapel, myself and the community. God is present in the Eucharist and I can feel it because I have to use my senses to partake of the ritual.
These are my thoughts. In what ways, if any, do rituals bring you empowerment? They need not be Christian or even specifically religious.
Blessings and peace,
mikaila
Monday, April 30, 2007
Tools for Empowerment
Thank you to everyone who has participated thus far! As I had hoped your insights and comments have sparked new thoughts for me and others already! Thank you!
As I started to set up the Independent Study course that inspired this blog I had a few ideas of my own about what effective Tools for Empowerment might look like. I have tried to incorporate some of these tools into the formation of the class itself. This is the list that I have come up with so far. As always they have to do with empowering faith based environmental action. I have included the ways I have been doing this in parenthesis:
- spending time in nature on a regular basis (journaling once a week outdoors in
nature, and watching the Discovery Chanel's Planet Earth, yes I realize that
watching TV is not being in nature, but seeing these parts of the world has been
incredibly inspiring, check it out!)
- having access to an up-to-date summary of what is going on globally on the faith
and environment front. (Reading Roger S. Gottlieb's A Greener Faith)
- being a part of a dialog about empowerment and how to combat disempowerment (BLOG!)
- being a part of a community that is taking action on environmental issues with a
faith foundation. (Volunteering with Earth Ministry, a Seattle based environmental
non-profit that addresses environmental issues with a faith perspective)
- Learning about up-to-date suggestions for how to address the global environmental
crisis that are economically realistic (Reading Joseph Stiglitz's book Making Capitalism Work)
Now here is some of what I have heard from the blog and other conversations about Tools for Empowerment. These ideas are exciting! Please forgive me if some of them are misstated as I am trying to roughly paraphrase what I have read. Corrections are welcome!
- Faith allows us to believe in miracles (an incredibly powerful tool given the level
of despair possible when we take a hard look at environmental degradation world
wide.)
- Faith traditions remind us of the meaning and value in working for justice even
when it is individual acts.
- "Ritual [helps us] as we face the truth & try to change: to hone our awareness,
reaffirm our intentions and goad us to action" (Roger S. Gottlieb, A Greener Faith
p. 191).
- Liturgy as a ritual within the Christian traditions (is that term used in other
traditions?) can be a tool for empowerment.
So what else? Where do you feel empowered? What gives you hope in the face of great despair?
Thank you again for all of your participation!
Peace and Blessings!
Mikaila
As I started to set up the Independent Study course that inspired this blog I had a few ideas of my own about what effective Tools for Empowerment might look like. I have tried to incorporate some of these tools into the formation of the class itself. This is the list that I have come up with so far. As always they have to do with empowering faith based environmental action. I have included the ways I have been doing this in parenthesis:
- spending time in nature on a regular basis (journaling once a week outdoors in
nature, and watching the Discovery Chanel's Planet Earth, yes I realize that
watching TV is not being in nature, but seeing these parts of the world has been
incredibly inspiring, check it out!)
- having access to an up-to-date summary of what is going on globally on the faith
and environment front. (Reading Roger S. Gottlieb's A Greener Faith)
- being a part of a dialog about empowerment and how to combat disempowerment (BLOG!)
- being a part of a community that is taking action on environmental issues with a
faith foundation. (Volunteering with Earth Ministry, a Seattle based environmental
non-profit that addresses environmental issues with a faith perspective)
- Learning about up-to-date suggestions for how to address the global environmental
crisis that are economically realistic (Reading Joseph Stiglitz's book Making Capitalism Work)
Now here is some of what I have heard from the blog and other conversations about Tools for Empowerment. These ideas are exciting! Please forgive me if some of them are misstated as I am trying to roughly paraphrase what I have read. Corrections are welcome!
- Faith allows us to believe in miracles (an incredibly powerful tool given the level
of despair possible when we take a hard look at environmental degradation world
wide.)
- Faith traditions remind us of the meaning and value in working for justice even
when it is individual acts.
- "Ritual [helps us] as we face the truth & try to change: to hone our awareness,
reaffirm our intentions and goad us to action" (Roger S. Gottlieb, A Greener Faith
p. 191).
- Liturgy as a ritual within the Christian traditions (is that term used in other
traditions?) can be a tool for empowerment.
So what else? Where do you feel empowered? What gives you hope in the face of great despair?
Thank you again for all of your participation!
Peace and Blessings!
Mikaila
Monday, April 23, 2007
A Proverb
The Devil and His Friend
The devil once went for a walk
with a friend. They saw a man
ahead of them stoop down and
pick up something from the ground.
“What did that man find?” asked
the friend.
“A piece of truth,” said the devil.
“Doesn’t that disturb you?” asked the
friend.
“No,” said the devil,
“I shall let him make
a belief out of it.”
I ran across the above story in a book of proverbs and it struck a chord. It seems to me that when I begin to read about "dead zones” in the seas, for example, my feeling of helplessness and disempowerment stem somewhat from a mistaken understanding of the divine. As the devil character in this proverb so intelligently points out, we as humans can perceive very real truths about the world and then take those truths to form beliefs that are untrue.
For example: Being a student of contemporary environmental issues I read about the destruction of natural systems often. I hear the facts of global climate change and fish populations on the brink of collapse and somehow turn these facts into beliefs about God and about my identity. What are these beliefs? They are not fully articulated yet, but I know that they affect the way I live. Here are two ideas to start with:
Truth: There is a large scale break down of the earth's ability to co-exist sustainably with human resource use as we know it.
Belief: Perhaps the divine is not as powerful as the forces causing the destruction of the earth.
Belief: Perhaps the experience of the divine is diminished in a world with diminishing natural beauty. (This thought is set forth briefly and then discussed in Roger S. Gottlieb's book A Greener Faith)
Belief: I as an individual I must figure out how to handle the current ecological crisis.
That is all for now,
Peace and Blessings,
Mikaila
The devil once went for a walk
with a friend. They saw a man
ahead of them stoop down and
pick up something from the ground.
“What did that man find?” asked
the friend.
“A piece of truth,” said the devil.
“Doesn’t that disturb you?” asked the
friend.
“No,” said the devil,
“I shall let him make
a belief out of it.”
I ran across the above story in a book of proverbs and it struck a chord. It seems to me that when I begin to read about "dead zones” in the seas, for example, my feeling of helplessness and disempowerment stem somewhat from a mistaken understanding of the divine. As the devil character in this proverb so intelligently points out, we as humans can perceive very real truths about the world and then take those truths to form beliefs that are untrue.
For example: Being a student of contemporary environmental issues I read about the destruction of natural systems often. I hear the facts of global climate change and fish populations on the brink of collapse and somehow turn these facts into beliefs about God and about my identity. What are these beliefs? They are not fully articulated yet, but I know that they affect the way I live. Here are two ideas to start with:
Truth: There is a large scale break down of the earth's ability to co-exist sustainably with human resource use as we know it.
Belief: Perhaps the divine is not as powerful as the forces causing the destruction of the earth.
Belief: Perhaps the experience of the divine is diminished in a world with diminishing natural beauty. (This thought is set forth briefly and then discussed in Roger S. Gottlieb's book A Greener Faith)
Belief: I as an individual I must figure out how to handle the current ecological crisis.
That is all for now,
Peace and Blessings,
Mikaila
Sunday, April 15, 2007
What is this all about?
I think it is appropriate to give a quick overview of what I want this blog to be.
Growing faith is one component of an independent study course I am currently taking. The idea for this independent study was inspired by a previous course I took one year ago, on Religion and Ecology. This course, taught by Professor Cynthia Moe-Lobeda at Seattle University exposed me to the movement to connect faith and environmental work throughout the world. Since taking this class I have had the incredible opportunity to serve as a volunteer and intern at Earth Ministry, a Seattle based Christian Environmental Non-profit.
Through my work with Earth Ministry, and continuing theology courses at Seattle University I have found great excitement in learning about and participating in the budding Environmental Faith Activism movement.
As the year has gone on I have recognized within my self the need for intentional thought on the subject of empowerment. I find a startling ability to despair when I learn about the pain in God's creation. It seems to me that if anything can provide hope in light of the immense environmental degradation in our world, faith traditions can. What is it then that faith traditions can provide? What is the role that they play in empowering their people to take action on social and environmental justice issues? And finally, what misunderstandings about or untruths are we as people of faith believing that create disempowerment within us?
These are the questions that I hope to begin discussing in my independent study course. My hope is that this blog can be a space for discussion on these questions and more.
Peace and Blessings,
Mikaila
Growing faith is one component of an independent study course I am currently taking. The idea for this independent study was inspired by a previous course I took one year ago, on Religion and Ecology. This course, taught by Professor Cynthia Moe-Lobeda at Seattle University exposed me to the movement to connect faith and environmental work throughout the world. Since taking this class I have had the incredible opportunity to serve as a volunteer and intern at Earth Ministry, a Seattle based Christian Environmental Non-profit.
Through my work with Earth Ministry, and continuing theology courses at Seattle University I have found great excitement in learning about and participating in the budding Environmental Faith Activism movement.
As the year has gone on I have recognized within my self the need for intentional thought on the subject of empowerment. I find a startling ability to despair when I learn about the pain in God's creation. It seems to me that if anything can provide hope in light of the immense environmental degradation in our world, faith traditions can. What is it then that faith traditions can provide? What is the role that they play in empowering their people to take action on social and environmental justice issues? And finally, what misunderstandings about or untruths are we as people of faith believing that create disempowerment within us?
These are the questions that I hope to begin discussing in my independent study course. My hope is that this blog can be a space for discussion on these questions and more.
Peace and Blessings,
Mikaila
Friday, April 6, 2007
Growing Faith
Aldo Leopold once said "To have an ecological education is to walk alone in a world of wounds".
As an Environmental Studies student this statement rings true. For the past two years I have been walking often in excitement, and increasingly with a sense of heaviness, learning about the world that we live in.
What I have learned and come to believe is this:
We as humans are spiritual creatures and we live in a world created by God.
There is increasing destruction, pain and brokenness in God's creation, at the hands of one creature: us.
We as humans have failed to understand the natural world as God's rather than our own and we have often failed to understand this destruction as the product of spiritual misunderstandings as well as physical actions. (This idea is not my own, it is a common theme in the expanding Religion and Ecology Movement).
Thankfully, through an awesome program at Seattle University I have also learned that faith communities around the world are taking this tragedy seriously. They are discussing it, acting on it and learning about how it impacts and is impacted by their faith traditions.
This blog is a part of that discussion. It will look specifically at what motivates people of faith to become active in living lives of stewardship toward creation, and what prevents them from doing so. Thus, this blog is a space for discussion and reflection on empowerment and disempowerment in regard to environmental-faith activism.
Please read on if this interests you and respond when you feel led to. I welcome all comments, suggestions and conversation.
Peace and Blessings
Mikaila
As an Environmental Studies student this statement rings true. For the past two years I have been walking often in excitement, and increasingly with a sense of heaviness, learning about the world that we live in.
What I have learned and come to believe is this:
We as humans are spiritual creatures and we live in a world created by God.
There is increasing destruction, pain and brokenness in God's creation, at the hands of one creature: us.
We as humans have failed to understand the natural world as God's rather than our own and we have often failed to understand this destruction as the product of spiritual misunderstandings as well as physical actions. (This idea is not my own, it is a common theme in the expanding Religion and Ecology Movement).
Thankfully, through an awesome program at Seattle University I have also learned that faith communities around the world are taking this tragedy seriously. They are discussing it, acting on it and learning about how it impacts and is impacted by their faith traditions.
This blog is a part of that discussion. It will look specifically at what motivates people of faith to become active in living lives of stewardship toward creation, and what prevents them from doing so. Thus, this blog is a space for discussion and reflection on empowerment and disempowerment in regard to environmental-faith activism.
Please read on if this interests you and respond when you feel led to. I welcome all comments, suggestions and conversation.
Peace and Blessings
Mikaila
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