Update - September 10

Hello all! Below are the last two bridge Wednesday night programs - in case you missed them. See you soon! - Rachel

Creating Justice - Week One with Ellen (August 29)
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Micah 6:8

What does it mean to "do justice"? When you think of justice, what do you think of? And what in the world does it have to do with peace?

"My father was a pastor. He was very gentle, very human. From him I got the caring to treat patients. When we would go and visit sick people together, he would pray. I would ask, 'Why can't you give them tablets or prescriptions?' He said, 'I am not a doctor.' I decided then that prayer is not enough. People must take things into their own hands, Asking God does not change anything. He gives us the ability to say yes or no. You must use your hands, you mind. When I receive women here who are hungry, I can't say, 'God bless you.' I have to give them something to eat. When someone is suffering, I can't tell her about God, I have to treat her pain. You can't hide yourself in religion. Not a solution."
-Dr. Denis Mukwege (Glamour, 9/2007; pg. 411)

Is the above an example of doing justice?

What do you believe about prayer and action? Does God intend for one to exist without the other?

Read: James 2:14-26 (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Faith is...

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
-Hebrews 1:11

"The practical piece for me is to do everything that we know to do in the natural (organize, mobilize, raise awareness, Do Justly, Love Mercy, etc..." while believing God for everything that needs to take place in the supernatural. Doing both these pieces at once has become my definition of faith."
-Keith (UMW Justice Workshop Leader)

What else is faith, and how do you see faith and justice as being related, if at all?

Ideas...

Community Food Security
Economic Justice
Environmental Justice
Health Care
Immigration
Public Education
Militarism, Peace and National Security

**Challenges for the week: Starting with ourselves**
Pay Attention! Where has God already opened door for you?
Where have you already been given opportunities to be God's hands in the world?
Where do you think God might be leading you that you have not yet acted upon?

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen

-St. Francis of Assisi - 13th century

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Peace Talk with Kellie (August 22)

Peace unto you! (Response) And also to you!

1) 2 Minutes to stretch
2) Last week...

Peace can be interpreted in many ways...
1) Freedom from disturbance, outward or inward
2) As is Be Well, or Peace instead of bad health or bad things from enemies
3) Peace as a greeting
4) Holding one's Peace
5) Peace as a disposition

3) Bible Quote: (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8)
To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven... A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of ward, and a time of peace...

What does this passage mean to you?

4) Bible Quote: (John 14:27)
I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid.

What does this passage mean to you?

Inspirational People - excerpts from Nobel Peace Prize Winner speaches - www.nobelprize.org

14th Dalai lama - 1989

As a Buddhist monk, my concern extends to all members of the human family and, indeed, to all sentient beings who suffer. I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion and elimination of ignorance, selfishness and greed.

The problems we face today, violent conflicts, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger, and so on, are human-created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding and the development of a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share. Although I have found my own Buddhist religion helpful in generating love and compassion, even for those we consider our enemies, I am convinced that everyone can develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or without religion.

Martin Luther King, Jr - 1964

After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time - - the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid today's motor bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. "And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid." I still believe that We Shall overcome!

Mother Teresa - 1979

You too try to bring that presence of God in your family, for the family that prays together stays together. And I think that we in our family don't need bombs and guns, to destroy to bring peace — just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world.

The other day I received 15 dollars from a man who has been on his back for twenty years, and the only part that he can move is his right hand. And the only companion that he enjoys is smoking. And he said to me: I do not smoke for one week, and I send you this money. It must have been a terrible sacrifice for him, but see how beautiful, how he shared, and with that money I bought bread and I gave to those who are hungry with a joy on both sides, he was giving and the poor were receiving. This is something that you and I — it is a gift of God to us to be able to share our love with others. And let it be as it was for Jesus. Let us love one another as he loved us. Let us love Him with undivided love. And the joy of loving Him and each other — let us give now — that Christmas is coming so close. Let us keep that joy of loving Jesus in our hearts. And share that joy with all that we come in touch with. And that radiating joy is real, for we have no reason not to be happy because we have no Christ with us. Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor that we meet, Christ in the smile that we give and the smile that we receive. Let us make that one point: That no child will be unwanted, and also that we meet each other always with a smile, especially when it is difficult to smile.

What do you think of these quotes?