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Justice Tuesdays

Everyone has a role to play in the effort to create justice. Awareness is an important first step. Each week justice coordinator Liz Deligio provides a brief discussion on a justice topic. Check back weekly to learn more on a wide range of topics. If you have a suggested topic you would like to have considered, please contact us.

May 6, 2008

"Dear Children of the future, my hopes for you are these..."

Dear All - I am including a link to an article from Truthout about a man in Iraq refusing compensation for the death of his ten-year-old son by Blackwater "soldiers." I think this story is important on several levels, primarily highlighting how the United States is approaching Iraqi civilians and the dire situation we have created by offering money for life lost - as if that is a solution or a moral response.

Secondly, the continued impunity that is being freely given to "contracted security" like Blackwater even though the list of human rights violations at their hands grows every day. Private contracted soldiers match our regular duty soldiers in a one to one ratio - this equals 180,000 privately contracted security personnel that are not required to follow the same laws that guide our military on the ground in the desperate chaos of Iraq.

Finally, I think this article leaves me with the question: What does it mean when children have become "enemy combatants" ? Where are we as an Earth community if a child can be seen as a threat or of so little value as to be killed with impunity?

I offer this reflection below as a grounding point for what we want for children, for each other and for Earth and with all of our continued efforts we can overcome impunity and move toward genuine peace with justice. Peace Liz


Dear Children of the future,

My hopes for you are these,

May you be powerfully loving and lovingly powerful. May love be your guide with family, friends and colleagues. Remember to listen carefully to your heart and to the heart of others.

May you have the strength to overcome fear and pride and instead follow what has heart and meaning for you. Take an action everyday to support your life dream, your love of nature, and your integrity.

May you care for mother nature and the wilderness and help all living things keep their dignity. May you be an active, committed positive force in your community. May you show respect to people of all ages and races and help make a better world for the poor, sick, elderly and young.

May you respect all the ways human beings access their own spirituality.

May your constantly bring your gifts and talents forward everyday without hesitation or reservation.

With deep gratitude and respect for all that you will do to make Earth a better place - we, your elders say...Blessing, Blessing, always Blessing . . .
- Angeles Arrien

April 29, 2008

"Let billions of human beings co-operate to create a good future for their children and grandchildren..."

Dear All - I hope this finds everyone very well. I am including two links this week that look at the recent food crisis that was reported in the U.S. media in the last few weeks. Below is a link to some Truthout articles to provide some good background and the ONE campaign which is calling on world leaders to address this issue promptly and as part of the G-8 Summit.

This food crisis is one of the many faces of global poverty that we have seen rising in the wake of the fierce globalization of capital, resources and labor that has been the earmark of the neo-conservative economic plan. This particular face of poverty, with its stark simplicity, the image of thousands not able to have the simplest of nutrition like rice, call us to a place of deep contemplation and action. We have seen hunger before, even in our own local communities, but the scales are tipping in a more severe and dangerous direction of a proportion that will be very hard to come back from as a world community. This crisis reminds me of the deep sense of neighbor and hospitality that comes to us from the Scripture stories, where we take in the widow, orphan and stranger so that all may be loved, known and cared for in dignity. I hope the links below can provide some good information and chance for action - Much Peace Liz

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041308A.shtml

http://www.one.org/hungercrisis/

April 22, 2008

"Happy Earth Day!"

Dear All - I offer this link below in honor of Earth Day - it is from Codepink and looks at the connections between war and the environment and includes an action piece to contact legislators and let them know we do not want anymore money to go to a war that is destroying both the lives of people and Earth.

Earth Day reminds me of St.Francis' ideal of poverty. I understand this very simply, but from what I understand, St. Francis draws a connection between ideas of possession and ownership and destruction. St.Francis reminds us that all that we are and live in communion with is pure gift - when we begin to apply a sense of ownership we destroy that radical sense of gift from Sacred Mystery and distort and even destroy the essence of that gift, and life itself.

St. Francis and St. Clare call us toward an ever deepening opening toward relationship instead of ownership - I think of that today as I reflect on how much Earth would thrive if we were able to see Earth and all its creatures as precious gift and not commodity. My hope is that I can live into that more so that possibly every day may feel like Earth Day. Many Blessings as this Bright Spring continues to unfold!

- Much Peace Liz

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/t/4589/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1173

April 15, 2008

"Display a heart of boundless love for all the world..." The Buddha

Dear All - The information below came to me through the network for LCWR Region 9, it is a request to contact certain Senators who will be able to introduce the Trafficking Victims bill with a suggested amendment that helps victims.

Currently many victims who are rescued face laws that do not take into consideration their fragility and trauma upon exiting a trafficking situation and make requests of them, before they can get a visa, that are very difficult for a survivor to fulfill. This often means the victims risk losing getting a T-Visa simply due to the fact that they are unable to fulfill the requirements of the current law due to being in a traumatized state. This amendment would provide help and time to victims so that do not face losing a T-Visa due to their trauma.

This is a great opportunity to help victims of trafficking, a large majority of which are women, and build awareness within our lawmakers of the importance of crafting legislation that empower and protects victims instead of punishing and criminalizing them. Hope this finds everyone very well - Much Peace Liz

Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthrorization Act

The United States Senate now is preparing its version of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008. We are very hopeful that the Senate bill will improve upon the bill that passed the US House of Representatives by providing for a temporary trafficking victims protection period. We have prepared a proposed amendment that is a modified version of the "reflection period" that other destination countries provide to victims of trafficking who have been brought into their countries for forced labor and sexual exploitation.

Under current law (TVPRA of 2005), to remain in the USA, trafficked persons must be "willing to assist" law enforcement in order to receive federal benefits and services, including a temporary stay in the USA and eligibility for T-Visa. Trafficked – and traumatized – women (and men) must make these difficult decisions well before they have had the opportunity to begin their recovery in safe and nurturing surroundings. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the Council of Europe (through its Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings) both agree that such a "reflection period" benefits both trafficked persons and law enforcement.

PLEASE support this amendment contacting Senators Biden, Brownback, and Lugar by fax, phone or email stating your support for the proposed amendment so that our Senate will focus on passing the bill with the amendment and better support trafficked victims.

April 8, 2008

"Deliver me from the silence that gives consent to abuse, war and evil..."

Dear All - I have included below an email from one of our partners, The Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America, that has two action points to it concerning Colombia.

You may have heard that President Bush is introducing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement into Congress and attempting to put it on a "fast track" which forces the Congress to vote on the bill in 90 days which of course limits both the Congress' and public's ability to fairly debate the bill.

What you may have not heard is that there has been an increase to threats of human rights defenders in Colombia as many groups within Colombia try to organize peaceably toward an end to the long-term civil conflict and in resistance to the Free Trade Agreement.

Congress has expressed concern over passing a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia in light of their human rights record. This action from the Chicago Religious Leadership Network is asking folks to contact their Representatives and ask them to support a Dear Colleague letter that is circulating Congress in support of human rights defenders and link that letter to concerns over passing the Free Trade Agreement - kind of two for one within the justice world.

Free Trade Agreements are one of the harshest forces being put into play by globalization. It is no coincidence that when one is getting ready to be passed that you see an increase in human rights abuses (we all remember the Zapatista uprising in 1994 concerning NAFTA) - Free Trade Agreements are so egregiously unfair they require repression to be passed. If you have time lend your voice to this struggle. Blessings on every one's Spring! Peace Liz

First, to ensure that our Colombian partners who speak out and work for human rights are neither threatened nor harmed, Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky (D) and Jim McGovern (D-MA) are circulating a "dear colleague" letter to President Uribe of Colombia over the recent wave of threats against, and targeted killings of, human rights defenders, trade unionists, and others in Colombia. Click here to read the letter, take immediate action and find out how to urge your Representative to sign on!

Second, the McGovern - Schakowsky "dear colleague" letter is especially timely and important as President Bush has officially sent the U.S. – Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress TODAY, to be voted on within 90 days under Fast Track laws! It is important that our Members or Congress be aware of the human rights conditions in Colombia, and for us as constituents to educate ourselves as much as possible in the next 90 days so that we can effectively urge our members of Congress to oppose the FTA when it comes up for a vote. As part of this continuing education we invite you to read the American Friends Service Committee's new document: "The Violent Intersections of Commerce and Conflict," which CRLN has left with all Illinois members of Congress. Click here to read this important document.

April 1, 2008

"Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq."

Dear All - I am including a link to a very good article from Truthout on the safety of women serving in the military. I think the article is good for highlighting a face of the war we do not often see, the experience of women soldiers, and it is written by a congress woman which is a refreshing piece of action to see from Congress!

I think this article raises a very important question, which we often hear from returning male soldiers, and that is: what happens to a person when they have to serve in a war? Why would soldiers be raping their fellow soldiers at such an alarming rate?

As we hear more and more talk of ending the war I think it is important that we keep the conversation focused not just on the removal of troops but dealing with the full spectrum of consequences of the war. From the damage to the environment in Iraq, to the incredible loss of civilian life, to the needs of returned soldiers...ending the war is a complex picture and needs more thought from our Congress than what we get right now. Much Peace Liz

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040208N.shtml

March 25, 2008

"In this century and in any century, our deepest hope, our most tender prayer, is that we learn to listen." Jay McDaniel

Dear All - It is very good to be back and I look forward to sharing some of my experiences in Colombia with you; however, for this week I was sent a link to a very important event that recently took place near Washington D.C. and I would like to share that with you. A group of returned Iraqi soldiers organized an event of testimony they entitled Winter Soldier, after the the original Winter Soldier that returned Vietnam Vets organized in the 1970s. The purpose of both events was to give an opportunity for soldiers to name from their lived experience of the war why they believe the war to be wrong and to call on the government for change. The link I am sending is the testimony of Michael Pyrsner, it has two clips to it, about ten minutes all together so you will notice a screen labelled Part One and Part Two be sure to watch them in sequence - it is about ten minutes testimony all together.

I have encountered Iraq Veterans against the War at many different gatherings for peace and each time have been deeply moved by their testimony, their struggle to understand what they did, how to heal, and how to bring the war to just end not just for soldiers but for the people of Iraq as well. The clip from Michael, I think, is a chance for us to listen as Jay McDaniel writes, and in that listening create perhaps an opening, however small for our insights and compassion to begin to build a new way forward.

Hope this finds everyone well and having had a Very Blessed Easter - Much Peace Liz

http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=8795#video

In this century and any century,
Our deepest hope, our most tender prayer,
Is that we learn to listen.
May we listen to one another in openness and mercy
May we listen to plants and animals in wonder and respect
May we listen to our own hearts in love and forgiveness
May we listen to God in quietness and awe.
And in this listening,
Which is boundless in its beauty,
May we find the wisdom to cooperate
With a healing spirit, a divine spirit,
Who beckons us into peace and community and creativity.
We do not ask for a perfect world.
But we do ask for a better world.
We ask for deep listening.

Jay McDaniel

February 26, 2008

Dear All - This will be the last one I send for two weeks - I leave this Saturday to go to Colombia from the 1st through the 17th. I will be with the ethics commission, which is a group of international human rights organizations that are working with Colombian communities that are impacted by the devastating civil conflict that are trying to vision a new, nonviolent way forward for themselves. we will be in Bogota for a conference and then travel to the north to visit with some of the humanitarian self-declared peace zone communities. I am sure I will have lots of stories when I return. Thanks and peace Liz


"And so may a slow wind work these words of love around you..."

Dear All - I would like to share a brief story that was shared with the 8th Day Center.

A group in Arizona that works on border issues called No More Deaths circulated a brief reflection by one of its volunteers this past week. In the story he relates being out in the desert refilling water and food at their designated rest stations and from a distance seeing a young woman. He began to call out to her but once he got closer he found that she was dead. Her name was Joseline, she was 14 and travelling alone from El Salvador, trying to get to California to be reunited with family.

This volunteer reflected on how terribly difficult it was to find her, the first time he had encountered a migrant who had died in his work - the devastation and anguish over finding anyone, let alone a person so young overwhelmed him. In hearing the story I felt myself overwhelmed as well, what is our immigration policy and border security if a child has to travel through the desert alone to be with her family? Where are we going as an earth community if "home" becomes a place guarded by virtual walls, guns and laws that punish the most poor and vulnerable?

I do not have an answer, but I know that where we are right now is not a place to rest, the struggle continues and we lend our hearts and spirits to the resistance. I offer the blessing below for Joseline and all those who are trying to find a way toward a secure life as well as all those who work in solidarity with the migrants....Much Peace Liz

P.S. Oh! I will be travelling to Colombia for two weeks to do some human rights accompaniment work. There will be no more JPICC's until Holy Week. I know I will be travelling with strong Franciscan energy and blessing and will give a full report when I return to 8th Day, March 18th - thank you for all you teach, share and give.

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets into you
may a flock of colours
indigo, red, green
and azure blue
come to awaken in you.

A meadow of delight
when the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you.
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of earth be yours
May the clarity of light be yours
May the fluency of the ocean be yours
May the protection of the ancestors be yours

And may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you
an invisible cloak
to mend your life.

John O'Donohue

February 19, 2008

Dear All - I have never offered a book review before, but I would like to offer one now as I think this book is very good resource in understanding American economic, foreign and domestic policy and how they are inter-related. The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein tracks the history of what Ms. Klein comes to name as "disaster capitalism." It is a good examination of U.S. involvement throughout the world in situations as diverse as the coup in Chile to Tsunami relief in South Asia as well as situations at home like Hurricane Katrina. She provides a thorough historical and social analysis of where the policies came from, their impact on communities and people, and what this means for where we are headed as a nation. She links our economic policy to the systematic use of torture we first saw in Latin America in the 70s and have know seen used all over the world. She draws the connection that you can only enforce radical economic policies that immediately impoverish at least half the population if you have the brute, terrifying force to back it up.

I recommend this book as a break from our sound byte media that gives us 10% of the story and disconnects it from a larger context. This book is an excellent opportunity to be immersed in the recent history of the U.S. in a way that is both clarifying and a call to action. Now I am sure the thought of reading a book on torture and poverty might not seem like the best way to spend one's evening - but it is truly a good, thoughtful read that helped me to make some broader links than I had before. I promise. Hope this finds you all well and warm...Much Peace Liz

February 12, 2008

"The papers, the corporate media are not giving their readers a full understanding through this powerful visual medium of the real cost of the war." Andrew Roth

Dear All - I hope this finds everyone very well. For this week I would like to offer an interview video clip from Truthout with Andrew Roth. Andrew Roth conducted a study of the images of war we are shown through our mainstream media and discusses his findings and what he thinks those findings mean for our notion of freedom of the press as well as our ability to be well informed of the impact of this war or any war.

I think this clip is very interesting and good food for thought for a couple of reasons: first, I think since the war's inception we have been intentionally led astray by this administration which impacts our abilities to be informed and active participants of a democracy and secondly, I think it is important to stop and reflect how we tell "the story" of war. We will ever as a country, people, even earth community ever be able to stop war if we edit, black out, and erase the parts of the story that makes us uncomfortable, distressed, and outraged? How do we tell our history with integrity?... - Much Peace Liz

P.S. To be sensitive I would like to add the warning that this video clip does show some graphic images of dead civilians very briefly. While we need to be truthful I also think we need to be aware of each person's ability to view the images. Peace Again Liz

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011108A.shtml

February 5, 2008

Dear All - I wanted to pass along a link to a short video that has been crafted by the American Friends Society entitled "The Cost of War" - it is an excellent visual about just how much we are spending and what those funds could be used for instead. As we get ready to enter the Lenten season it seems fitting to take a moment to reflect on the bloated excess of our military budget and as we move into this time of reflection to also give our imaginations a boost with what could be possible if we as a nation decided to use our resources differently. A very happy Fat Tuesday and many Blessings on the beginning of this Sacred Season...Peace Liz

http://www.afsc.org/cost/

Lead us from death to life,
from falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope,
from fear to trust.
Let peace fill our hearts,
our world, our universe.
Let us dream together,
pray together,
work together,
to build one world
of peace and justice for all.
Anonymous

January 29, 2008

Dear All - I received quite a few thank you's for the candidate information. So I thought it might be good to send along another Truthout article that I received that delineates the candidates positions on health care. It is a good piece that gives a broad overview of what is meant when terms are used like "universal health care" and talks about how health care is ranked as the second most important voter concern after the Iraq War. I hope this piece is as helpful as the last as we all continue to follow the progression of the presidential race and make decisions that reflect our values and the vision we all hold for the future of our country and our country in the world....hope you are all well and warm. Much Peace Liz
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012308J.shtml

January 22, 2008

"Empower me to be a bold participant..."

Dear All - We are finding ourselves in the thick of presidential campaigning - with all of its rhetoric, useless information, and petty scandals. It seems easy in light of the media spotlights and overkill of information to lose track that we are doing something historical as a nation, that a fair, open and transparent democratic process is desperately important to our well-being as a country and as a global actor. To that end what we need then is not rhetoric or stories blown out of proportion - but good, solid information as we discern for each of us what we would like to see in the next leader of the United States. I offer the following Truthout article that compares the voting record of Obama and Clinton on the war - wiping away the layers of accusations they have fired at one another and getting down to the brass tacks of voting records and what they mean. I hope this can be one tool of many as we each move forward in this election year - to be "bold participants" ourselves in the continued making of our democratic republic. Much Peace Liz

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011608J.shtml

January 15, 2008

"Let our hearts be compassionate, our determination solid..." Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.

Dear All - I offer this reflection below in anticipation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day next week. It is a selection from a speech he gave on the role of institutional religious bodies in creating social change. At a time in our own history when many different religious bodies of power are choosing paths that seem to lead away from justice I find Dr. King's words very powerful. I hope they give all of you some goodly food for thought as we prepare to honor one of the great social and spiritual thinkers and "acters" of our time...Much Peace Liz

"Nowhere is the tragic tendency to conform more evident than in the church, an institution which has often served to crystallize, conserve and even bless the patterns of majority opinion. The erstwhile sanction by the church of slavery, racial segregation, war and economic exploitation is testimony to the fact that the church has hearkened more to the authority of the world than to the authority of God. Called to be a moral guardian of the community, the church at times has preserved that which is immoral and unethical. Called to combat social evils, it has remained silent behind stained-glass windows. Called to lead (people) on the highway of (community) and to summon them to rise above the narrow confines of race, class, gender - it has enunciated and practiced exclusiveness.

Any Christian who blindly accepts the opinions of the majority in fear and timidity follows a path of expediency and social approval - becoming a mental and spiritual slave..."

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

January 8, 2008

"Paid an average of 45 cents per bucket..."

Dear All - Many of you made have heard of a group called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers - this is a group of migrant farm laborers who work with a lot of the large agri-businesses in Florida picking the produce that they grow. In attempt to get better wages the workers have organized and begun to attempt to apply standard labor protections to their work. In recent months they had campaigned big Corporations like McDonalds and Burger King who buy the produce to increase their wages. In response these corporations have started their own campaign trying to prove that the farm workers do not live in poverty.

Below is a piece written by the workers explaining what is happening and at the bottom is a link to a slide show that depicts their working conditions. They are asking as many people as possible to look at the link and read about their lives to help "debunk" the myth the big corporations are putting out that these workers, paid 45 cents for each bucket of produce picked, are not living in poverty. Check this out and pass it along to help get out the ground truth story of what it means to work for large agri-business in the United States.

Hope everyone had a great holiday - Much Peace Liz

Debunk This...

For several months now, Burger King and the Florida tomato growers' lobby have joined forces to "debunk the myth" of farmworker poverty, in their effort to fight back against workers demanding a raise in the picking piece rate.

The piece rate - defined as the price paid to pickers for every 32-lb bucket of tomatoes they pick - has remained effectively stagnant for nearly thirty years. In 1980, the going piece rate was 40 cents per bucket. Today, twenty eight years later, workers are paid an average of only 45 cents per bucket.

We are happy to be able to share with you an incredible new gallery of photos from Immokalee's fields by a young photographer out of Gainesville, Scott Robertson.

The pictures were taken in December of 2007. They capture work and life as a tomato picker in Immokalee as it is today: Looking for work before dawn, picking for 10 to 12 hours a day under Florida's relentless sun, and returning after a long day to the one-room cinder block apartments and broken-down trailers that are home during Immokalee's 8-9 monthlong season.

Burger King and Florida's tomato growers say farmworker poverty is a "myth." The U.S. Department of Labor says farmworkers are "a labor force in significant economic distress," suffering "low wages (and) sub-poverty annual earnings."

What's myth and what's reality? We hope these pictures can help you decide for yourself.

Thanks - Coalition of Immokalee Workers

http://www.ciw-online.org/news.html

December 18, 2007

"The Magi, as you know, were wise men - wonderfully wise men - who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents and being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones. And here in this story I have related to you the chronicle of two lovers who sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. Her hair for his watch chain, his watch for combs for her hair. But in the last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as these are wisest - everywhere they are the Magi..." O. Henry The Gift of the Magi

Dear All - This is brief excerpt is from one of my favorite Christmas stories, The Gift of the Magi. I love this story because it highlights to me a piece of Christmas that is often lost in the bustle of work, shopping and parties. That piece that calls us back to the power of love to transcend all circumstances when it is fully and authentically expressed.

The couple in the story at the end are not held down by the stark circumstances of their poverty but are vibrant in their love for each other. Just as Jesus' birth was not defined by his poverty but rather by the love of the first community that gathered around him.

These stories remind me that of all the circumstances in the world that I may gaze upon with despair or sadness there is a place there for transformation. Of all the places of loss, misery, and need there is a place there for hope, peace, and compassion if I can but choose to see with Love. A love that removes all the false standards of "success" that we are taught and instead orients us to the heart of the matter - the heart of the Mystery that is Love. A Mystery that extends before and beyond us and is our gift, our Magi if we can but open our hearts to it.

A Very Merry Christmas To All of You - Liz

December 13, 2007

"First I thank the Source of all life for this life's meaning then I can begin..."

Dear All - I hope this finds all well as we head into our second week of Advent...I am including a link to an article written by Kathy Kelly, a peace activist, entitled "Travelling Light" in which she reflects on the impact of war and all that we hold dear. I think this article really spoke to me during this time of advertisements and the constant encouragement towards consumerism as a way to express to our loved ones that which is deepest in our hearts, our intimate love for them and the world. Kathy's article provides a different view that I hope is a little soul nourishment for all of you as we continue on this journey to Christmas...Much Peace Liz Oh! P.S. It is a teensy bit longish...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/06/5638/

December 4, 2007

"We ask forgiveness of one another, woman to woman, sister to sister..." Medical Mission Sisters

Dear All - Many blessings on this beginning of Advent - our journey through the waiting to when the light is born, a new life emerging in each of us again and again. We tell the story each year of a brave and loving young woman who stepped into the unknown, carrying life and lived faithful to a vision of love and radical change even though the power of the day saw that vision as a threat, and ended the life of her son, her child. Yet we know from this death came life, and from this vision came an ethic of sacred inter-relation that we each live into still today.

This ethic came to me through the story of another mother, Katy Zatsick, whose son served in Iraq. In the summer of 2005 - he sent her a link to an article that was written about him and his platoon. The article details her son, a platoon commander, giving the order to "fire" on a civilian car that got in the way of the convoy, killing the man who was the driver. Torn between loving her son and wishing to support him and knowing his command had killed a human being, Katy wrote the following poem.

I offer this as reflection on the complexity of how our lives interconnect as we begin this Holy season - from one mother centuries ago to a mother today - how love transcends all boundaries....Much Peace Liz

A Poem of Sorrow
A mother waits
A messenger comes to her door
The sun stops in its course across the sky
And plunges her world into night
Sorrow so deep
Her wail so strong
It broke my heart
Here in Chicago this day

Joined together forever we are
One son gave an order
One son died
We are one in our tears
"I am sorry our cultures say, "War is the answer."
"I am sorry my son says, "Fire"

I hold your son in my arms
And pray for your healing
And may the world be reconciled
To understand we are one.

- Katy Zatsick

November 27, 2007

"I would like you to know that we were not all like that, some of us spent our lives working for Peace..." Mary de La Valette

Dear All - We have been hearing about the build up to Middle East Peace Talks to begin in Annapolis next week. This, of course, comes at a time when the strains on relationship between different countries is at a peak and after years of almost no diplomatic interaction from the United States. I think these talks signal a small hope, it is a break from the Bush administration pattern of the sword being mightier then the pen. But I hesitate as well when I think of everything they have engendered as a administration. I hesitate when I think of all that has happened to the Palestinians, our involvement in the Lebanese elections, our soft support of Musharraff in Pakistan...the right hand will know what the left is doing...

So I am including a link to a Washington Post article that gives a brief outline of the talks and this picture taken last week in part of the Palestinian territory. It shows protesters who gathered with no weapons being hit with water from Israeli soldiers and being forced to leave their vigil by one of the many gates that blocks their land. I offer these two as contrasts - as we see what comes from the top against what is lived by the people.

This is to say that peace is more than diplomats or a political "light show" by a beleaguered administration. Peace is all of us and each us stopping to take notice, to know the stories, and to live our own lives differently. And for each us to ask, where are we called? Hope this is some food for thought and all are well after the holiday break...Much Peace Liz

November 20, 2007

"The inner - what is it? if not intensified sky, hurled through with birds and deep with the winds of homecoming." Rainer Maria Rilke

Dear All - Hope this finds you all well and getting ready for Thanksgiving! The annual vigil at the School of the Americas went very well, 12 people crossed the line helping to continue the tradition of advocacy and civil disobedience that have marked the movement for 18 years. I am including a link that was sent to us from Santiago Chile of a "sister" protest held there against the school.

This phenomenon of a "sister" protest (and there are many!) is something I find very exciting. It highlights the deep roots of solidarity that extend around the globe as we try, as an earth community, to transform systems that dominate and oppress. And it is very humbling, to join with the people of Chile who lived through so much terror at the hands of graduates of the school in joint vigils to end the impunity, the training and the machinations of war.

It calls me to reflect with much gratitude in this week of Thanksgiving, for all those partners in the struggle and mentors in the journey who have reached deep into the "inner" and come to understand "home" as place for all people, for all creatures - not to be owned or defended but opened ever wider in welcome, in gratitude, and in love.

Happy Thanksgiving...Much Peace Liz

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=nVpXldf4Wrw

November 13, 2007

"Inside the Great Mystery that is, we don't really own anything. What is this competition we feel then, before we go, one at a time, through the same gate?" Rumi

Dear All - This week marks the anniversary of the death of the housekeeper, her daughter and the six Jesuits priests who were killed in El Salvador on November 16th, 1989. This tragic anniversary stands as one lens through which we can view our relationship currently and historically with our brothers and sisters in Latin America. Through this lens we can try to hold the countless lives lost and the complex reality of our foreign policy that so often values money and resources over life.

We can also take a step to action that says, "inside the Great Mystery that is, we don't really own anything..." The U.S. Labor and Education in the Americas Project has a pre-written letter that you can sign onto through the link below that opposes the current Free Trade Agreements that are floating around congress in different forms. These agreements have proven to only be sources of poverty and exploitation, opposing them will help to shape a future that does not rely on economic theft and violence. Click on the link, scroll down to "tell Your Members of Congress..." and you will be on the page with the letter to be sent to your Representative. A very good week to you all! Much Peace Liz

November 6, 2007

"Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

Dear All - For this week, a little early, I am sending out a video clip from the Canadian Student Christian Movement on the School of the Americas Watch's Vigil. It is a brief little clip that looks at the idea of pilgrimage and social justice in light of this annual event. It shows some good footage of the vigil for anyone who has never been down, but it also reminds me of how important small, simple actions can be.

"There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." The action every year of remembering all the suffering caused by the school, is one small step toward crafting justice for the victims of the school, one time of kneeling and kissing the ground. This can be difficult to remember when we are in the shadow of the power that stands over us. And yet if there was no vigil what a void it would leave, to lose even one of those ways of kneeling and kissing what is sacred, simple, and profound.

So I offer this clip as a little intro into the vigil and also as a way to stop and think where is my pilgrimage? Where is it I want kneel and know the presence of all that is. . . . Much Peace Liz http://www.soaw.org/

October 30, 2007

"A God whose name in history is Love..."

Dear All - I came across this excerpt from Carter Heyward recently and it struck me as a good way to reflect as we head into this week where we honor and remember all those who have gone before us, as we struggle with our place in things, and look to the season ahead - the slow and steady bending of earth to winter. To stop and be with our ideas of love and relationship and the connections and the knowing that brings...hope this is goodly read. Much Peace Liz

"We touch this strength, our power, who we are in the world, when we are most fully in touch with one another and with the world. There is no doubt in my mind that, in so doing, we are participants in ongoing incarnation, bringing God to life in the world. For God is nothing other than the eternally creative source of our relational power, our common strength, a God whose movement is to empower, bringing us into our own together, a God who name in history is Love." Carter Heyward

October 23, 2007

"The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward freedom to which we may grow at any given moment." Gandhi

Dear All - Last Tuesday seven staff members of 8th Day and one long time friend did an action at Senator Durbin's office - we refused to leave until the senator agreed to stop funding the war. Because we refused to leave, we were arrested. We did this as part of a larger project called the Occupation Project - that asks individuals and groups to "occupy" their government reps' offices until the war is over. Over 600 people have been arrested for this action since the project started in the spring and the people at the offices in Washington, D.C. say it has had an impact on the Hill.

I am not sure of the Hill but I know each time I participate in civil disobedience I am reminded that the authority I follow comes from a place deep within - not fully recognized or known by our civil law - indeed a source that may be in direct defiance of those laws. Whenever I have had contact with this source my own sense of the inter-relatedness of all things has grown as well as my hope - for coming in contact with that fundamental sense of love has only served to broaden my vision - a vision that includes those senators and reps struggling to make choices and votes count, the people of Iraq suffering and dying through this war, the Earth torn apart, and each of us here wondering what to do? From that place of connection is not so much an answer as a knowing that if we continue on in love, follow our thread as Denise Levertov writes - we will be moving forward surely. Peace Liz

the thread

denise levertov

Something is very gently,
invisibly, silently
pulling at me - a thread
or net of threads
finer than cobweb and as
elastic. I haven't tried
the strength of it. No barbed hook
pierced and tore me. Was it
not long ago this thread
began to draw me? Or
way back? Was I
born with its knot about my
neck, a bridle? Not fear
but a stirring
of wonder makes me
catch my breath when I feel
the tug of it when I thought
it had loosened itself and gone.

October 16, 2007

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?" - Gandhi

Dear All - I hope this finds everyone very well! The 8th Day Center has had the unique opportunity to participate in a nationwide effort organized by Voices for Creative Nonviolence called the Occupation Project. The idea of the project is to have local constituents "occupy" their Representatives or Senator's office until that person promises to stop funding for the war. Since the project was initiated last winter, over 300 people have been arrested across the country for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience calling for an end to the war. 8th Day participated this past spring and will be participating again, today October 16th, as we go to our Senator's office to demand an end to the funding for the war.

Currently an extra $150 billion dollars is being considered for war funding that would have no requirements of a timetable for troop withdrawal and is in addition to the already bloated military budget - this request for more money comes at a time when it is estimated that close to one million Iraqis have been killed, over 4 million are living as refugees, over 3,500 U.S. troops have been killed and we have spent $460 billion dollars to date.

In light of our values on nonviolence and mutuality we are seeking to use civil disobedience to draw attention to the madness that has gripped our Congress as we funnel more and more into this war and point us as a Nation instead toward a path of reparation, peace, and healing. We ask for your prayers as we move forward with this action! Much Peace Liz

Love all Creation
The whole of it and every grain of sand
Love every leaf
Every ray of God's light
Love the animals
Love the plants
Love everything
If you love everything
You will perceive
The divine mystery in things
And once you have perceived it
You will begin to comprehend ceaselessly
More and more everyday
And you will at last come to love the whole world
With and abiding universal love! Dostoyevsky

October 9, 2007

"I refuse to be claimed, your plate is waiting, we will snip fresh mint into your tea."

Dear All - I offer a link to an article by Joan Chittister that shares her reflections on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the United States. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/03/4293/ I think she raises several good points, but one main point that I think is very important is how we end up "crafting" an enemy. All of the stories and accusations that swirl around Iran right now are geared towards turning the people and the land into a threat that opens the doors within us to sanction violence. Joan's piece offers some thoughtful consideration on what it really means when we begin to unravel another's humanity to justify our own fear. I hope this finds everyone well as the first leaves begin to fall. Much Peace Liz

The Arabs used to say,
When a stranger appears at your door,
feed her for three days
before asking who she is,
where she's come from,
where's she is headed.
That way, she'll have enough strength
to answer.
Or, by then you'll be such good friends
you don't care.

Let's go back to that.
Rice? Pine nuts?
Here, take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water
to your horse.

No, I was not busy when you came!
I was not preparing to be busy.
That's the armor everyone put on
at the end of the century
to pretend they had a purpose
in the world.

I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint into you tea.. Naomi Shihab Nye

October 2, 2007

"Faith is not enough. We must act on our faith. Inner healing is not enough. We must heal our world. Spiritual practice is not enough. We must have the courage to stand up against injustice." Raine Eisler

Dear All - I send two important links this week. One is an article from Truthout on the use of depleted uranium in Iraq. The other is a link to a website that has an international petition calling for the ban of the use of depleted uranium.

Depleted uranium is essentially the "toxic waste" left over from nuclear power plants and the making of atomic weapons. The U.S. military has used depleted uranium to "tip" its weapons - when the substance is applied to the tip of a missile the missile is capable of breaking through very hard heavy materials like the armor of a tank - whereas without the "tip" it would not be able to be as destructive.

The difficulty of course is that this substance does not just destroy a tank, upon impact it becomes airborne and makes everything around it toxic as well. Because of the use of depleted uranium in Iraq, birth defects have risen 2-6 times and cancer and leukemia rates in children have risen 3-12 times. The earth, air and water have been polluted - and not just in Iraq - depleted uranium was found in rain clouds over England.

This information is important - as we listen to the talk of withdrawal time lines and different politicians posturing over the "solution" to Iraq - do we ever hear what it is that we have done to the people, to the land? This article provides a small glimpse into the destruction of this war - and while challenging I think it helps to grounds as we all work together to envision a way forward...Much Peace Liz

http://web.bandepleteduranium.org/campaign/?id_topic=1&id=1

http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/37/11023

We all drink from one water
We all breathe from one air
We rise from one ocean
And we live under one sky

Remember
We are one

The newborn baby cries the same
The laughter of children is universal
Every one's blood is red
And our hearts beat the same song

Remember
We are one

We are all sisters and brothers
Only one family, only one earth
Together we live
Together we die

Remember
We are one

Peace be on you
Brothers and Sisters
Peace be on you

Anwar Fazal

September 25, 2007

"To pay an immoral and unjust debt is an affront to God and the life of our peoples."

Dear All - The Jubilee Act, a bill recently introduced into congress, calls on our government to uphold the promises of the G8, consider the unjust burden of debt, and to craft/enforce transparent and fair lending practices. Jubilee USA http://www.jubileeusa.org/ is asking for individuals and organizations to participate in a fast to help build awareness and support of this bill and to express solidarity with impacted communities. The FSPA community has chosen the date of October 3rd as a common day that members of our community could participate in a fast together to support this important effort. If you link to the website - you will find a lot of information about the fast, contacting your congress people, and other actions concerning this issue. Below I have pasted a letter from Alfredo Perez Esquivel that I think sums up very well the reality of the absolute inequity this debt represents. Much Peace Liz

Buenos Aires, August 26, 2007

Dear Rev. Duncombe,

I will join you on September 6th in a day of fasting and prayer in support of our common call for immediate and unconditional debt cancellation and in preparation for the October Week of Global Action against Debt and the International Financial Institutions.

In so doing I wish to affirm that we, the peoples of the South, are not debtors but rather creditors. That it is not just to pay an immoral and unjust debt that is an affront to God and to the life of our peoples, and that instead of spending billions of dollars for destruction and death through wars and the promotion of conflicts in diverse parts of the world, the powerful countries should pay what they owe to the exploited and impoverished peoples of the world.

I wish you much strength and hope in your public witness of fasting, to carry forth the just call for a more just and fraternal world for all.

Peace and Wellbeing,
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentina
Premio Nobel de la Paz 1980

September 18, 2007

"I think it was from the animals that St. Francis learned it is possible."

Dear All - I have poem in honor of the Feast of the Stigmata this week, it is from Jane Hirshfield and is one of my favorite reflections on St. Francis. I think especially this week as we head toward International Peace Day to stop and reflect on the open loving heart of St. Francis and how that kind of love is always a risk, a beautiful risk is important. I also have a link for a website - http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/ - that gives a lot of information about the International Day for Peace this Friday - seems like a goodly day St. Francis would have enjoyed as well. Hope this finds all of you well in this last blush of summer. Much Peace Liz

I think it was from the animals
that St. Francis learned
it is possible to cast yourself
on the earth's good mercy and live.
From the wolf who cast off
the deep fierceness of her first heart
and crept into the circle of sunlight
in full wariness and wolf-hunger,
and was fed, and lived;
from the birds
who came fearless to him until he
had no choice but to return that courage.
Even the last amoeba touched on all sides
by the opulent Other, even the baleened
plankton fully immersed in their fate -
for what else might happiness be
than to be porous, opened, rinsed through
by beings and things?
Nor could he forget those other companions,
the shifting, ethereal, shapeless:
Hopelessness, Desperateness, Loneliness,
even the fire-tongued Anger -
for they too waited with the patient Lion,
the glossy Rooster, the drowsy Mule, to step
out of the tree's protection and come in.

September 11, 2007

"Out of the transparency of my poverty, I offer you this, my single gift..."

Dear All – In honor of the anniversary of September 11th – I would like to offer a moment of silence for all those who were killed six years ago and their families. The tragedy of that day will always be with us as a people and left us with a question as a nation – how is it we will relate to the world?

In many ways September 11th has become even more tragic since we answered that question of relationship with the answer of war. It is impossible to not think of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan as we reflect on the loss we faced six years ago – for what we saw in one day, they have lived now for years.

I wonder what it would look like if we had chosen another answer, an answer that would have been based in the knowledge that we are all interconnected to one another and to all of creation. I offer below a prayer from, Freya Matthews she talks about love and vulnerability – a hard place to go sometimes – but a place I think we need to rest in to begin the healing. Much Peace Liz

Is this love that rushes towards the rim to meet you
a main thread in the inwardness of things?
Without it would the great externality loosen and unravel?

I do not know.

I stand with hands dangling empty at my sides.
I have no wisdom bequeathed to me by ancestors.
The stars are equivocal, and around me
nature is in sorest travail, weeping.

I love you.

This is the only sacred word in my keeping.
This is the last trace,
the last print in our hearts,
of the migration of a thousand traditions.
A thousand embodiments of wisdom.
I stand with useless hands,
and out of the transparency of my poverty,
I offer you this, my love, my single gift.

– Freya Mathews

Here is another poem for the day.

9-11 Ashes

On this day
all was ashes.

In a gasp of blinding light,
dreams crumbled
and breath
turned to dust.

Like so many flashes of fire before…
desperation dissolved as death;
righteousness burned to ruin;
certainty collapsed into casualties.

Today
Remembering the world’s witness:
zeal disintegrating into
Ground Zero.

– mm

September 4, 2007

"Keep your passion alive - it will warm you when the world grows cold..."

Dear All - The Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee had its annual retreat this last weekend in La Crosse. We met to discuss what our focus will be for the next year and came to the group decision that we will look into the phenomenon of displacement. Displacement as it occurs through migration, civil conflict, natural disaster etc. - when an individual, family or community is forced to leave their home and not able to have the basic human right of choosing to leave all that they may have ever known.

To begin I offer the selection below from United for Peace and Justice - that came out on the anniversary of Katrina - it is a brief film that looks at the struggles of residents in New Orleans who were originally displaced by the hurricane and are now displaced by an economic elite that does wish to see them come home. We are excited to share what we learn this next year with you!

United for Peace and Justice

Today, August 29th, is the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Today there are still tens of thousands of families without homes. 30,000 families are scattered across the country in FEMA apartments, 13,000 are in trailers, and hardly any of the 77,000 rental units destroyed in New Orleans have been rebuilt. And this is just one of the many issues the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are still dealing with.

We want to call your attention to a new short film produced Brave New Foundation, "When the Saints Go Marching In." http://whenthesaints.org/

Here's what the filmmakers have to say: "During the making of this video, we heard the heartbreaking stories of good people unable to return home. We have heard the story of the Aguilar family who lost their home to the storm and only received $4,000 in payments from their insurance company. We have met Mr. Washington, an 87-year-old man and former carpenter, who owned three homes prior to the storm. He is still living in a FEMA trailer today. And we've met Julie, who could have returned to her job and normal life, if the government had opened up the public housing units that she had lived in prior to the storm."

Click here to watch their stories: http://whenthesaints.org/

After watching the film and hearing these voices, there is something very specific you can do to help. Sign the petition urging the Senate to pass the Gulf Coast Recovery Bill of 2007 (S1668). The bill is expected to come to a vote after Labor Day. Its passage will be an important step toward rebuilding the infrastructure in the Gulf Coast region. Sign the petition today: http://whenthesaints.org/

Please pass the video on and encourage people to sign the petition. It's important we all support the Gulf Coast region's right to return home and put the needed resources toward rebuilding these families' lives.

- Much Peace Liz

August 21, 2007

"When you truly love, it's with all your heart and every fiber of your being. You dive into the depths of your soul, knowing that there are no certain assurances. You risk it all. You reach deep within yourself and begin to discover the core of your being. You take chances and you live a more meaningful life treasuring every single breath..." Ms. Maryam Salah

Dear All - I hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the last delightful push of summer. I wanted to write a little bit about what I did in Colombia.

I was a representative for the National School of the Americas Watch Movement to the Ethics Commission founded by Justicia y Paz and The Movement of Victims of the Crimes of the State. These two grassroots human rights movements created the Ethics Commission as a way to give victims of the crimes of the armed conflict a safe place to tell their story, name their terms of reparations, and build relationships with the international community to help stop impunity in Colombia.

I met with two communities: the Kankaumos, an indigenous group who has had their land illegally seized, and the people of Curvarado who have been killed, tortured and disappeared from throughout the Choco region as their land was seized and they were displaced.

In meeting with these communities and hearing their stories of loss and resistance I was reminded of Ms. Maryam Salah, an Iranian woman I have worked with in Chicago whose husband was tortured and imprisoned in Israel for five years. The quote above is from a reflection Ms. Salah gave on her experience, and I think it fits very well both what I saw in Colombia and what I experienced myself; namely the power of love for individual and collective transformation and healing.

Which includes the love of the FSPA community whose support and resources have made so much of my work possible!

Many thanks and Much Love Liz

Thursday, August 16, 2007

"I pray for deep listening - listening alone - listening together - listening to others - listening to earth."

Dear All - I hope this finds everyone very well! It is good to be back after traveling to Colombia and working with Sr. Corrina and Sr. Marla for the Inter-Religious Dialog retreat in Frankfort, IL. I hope to share with all of you more from each of those experiences...but for this first week I wanted to offer the reflection below from Pauline Oliveros.

In Colombia and at the retreat I reflected on the power of listening - when we are able to listen not just with our minds but with our beings - engaging our hearts, spirits and body - I think pathways for healing and creative change can open - opening us to experience listening as a privilege and not a burden.

As we head into the end of summer and get ready to transition into often busy falls - I hope everyone gets a chance to stop and listen to themselves, the world, and earth...till next week.

- Much Peace Liz

"I pray for deep listening - listening alone - listening together - listening to others - listening to oneself - listening to earth - listening to the universe - listening to the abundance that is - awakening to and feeling sound and silence as all there is - helping to create an atmosphere of opening for all to be heard, with the understanding that listening is healing. Deep listening in all its variations is infinite. Deep listening is love..."

July 24, 2007

"We pray to make it whole...."

Dear All - For the next two weeks I will be out of the 8th Day office. First I will be in Colombia on a human rights delegation and then I will be assisting Sr. Marla Lang and Sr. Corrina Thomas with a retreat at the Portiuncula Center for Prayer in Frankfort, Ill. During that time I will have to take a brief hiatus from the weekly emails. I ask for your prayers on the way and know that I will carry all of the wonderful support, love and passion of the FSPA community with me. The prayer below will be my last email until August 14th. - Much Peace Liz

We pray to make it whole,
tip the world on edge and
follow the world home, singing.
Our voices carry
into the future,
our brief language
a migration of words,
slow voice of mountain,
wandering voices of caribou, wind
blown seed, all the
lost languages wandering
through seasons, moon and sun,
wandering through centuries,
drifting, every year
the grasses return, the birds begin to sing,
the sky clears and
we can see forever. Gary Lawless

July 17, 2007

Build bridges across all that divides us..."

Dear All - I have another Catholic specific issue to raise as I am sure many of you have heard of the Vatican document released, "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church." To see full text: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html

Similar to the statement about the Latin Mass I hold concerns that this statement relies on a world view that is exclusionary and that is a very narrow interpretation of the vision of community established through the ministry of Jesus' life. In this time of war, conflict, and rigid paradigms should any spiritual authority emphasize a model that is based upon a notion of "first and only?" I offer the prayer below as a piece of reflection - Much Peace Liz

You, the one
From whom on different paths
All of us have come,

To whom on different paths
All of us are going,
Make strong in our hearts what unites us;

Build bridges across all that divides us;
United make us rejoice in our diversity,

At one in our witness to your peace,
A rainbow of your glory. - Br. David Stiendl-Rast, OSB

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

"Let us vow to manifest peace and joy with wisdom and compassion..."

Dear All – This week I would like to offer a reflection from a slightly different vantage point of justice, justice within the Catholic Church and how the Catholic Church creates or diminishes justice in the larger world. Many of you have probably heard of the pope's return to a Latin Rite in a limited form. In many ways this can be seen simply as a touch point of our tradition and further diversity in the liturgies that are offered to the people of faith today. But I think it also raises concerns of inclusivity both within the church and without and in a time of such deep social divides should we tread this line as a faith body? I offer the following reflection from Sr. Joan Chittster as way to reflect on this decision from the hierarchy. Much Peace Liz

http://ncrcafe.org/node/1221

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

"May your stars rise high in the sky of this land."

Dear All - I hope this finds everyone well and ready to have a day of rest for July 4th. I would like to offer a slightly different reflection for the Fourth of July holiday. While I think is important to acknowledge the vision that some early settlers had in "founding the country" - the country was not empty, history did not begin with our declaration and revolution. The history of the indigenous who lived here long before the first waves of immigrants came has been lost to us - we have declared a false blank slate and made empty what was full. The letter below written by Marianne Williamson I think touches on a different approach to the Fourth. Much Peace Liz

To the Nations of the Indigenous, as a citizen of the United States I say,
please forgive me and please forgive us.
On behalf of my ancestors and the group conscience
of all America, I deeply apologize for
the wrongs, so cruel, that have been inflicted
upon your people.

So many lives lost, yet still they haunt the
psyche of the land, the people - a call for justice.
We ask that the spirit of God give us the strength
to begin to listen to the cries in the wind, echoing from the earth,
gathered in the tears of the indigenous today.

We as a nation have wronged.
Now we as a nation must make amends.
For we embrace and honor the Spirits of all the different
Indigenous tribes that were once here and are here today.

We bless and commit to the good of your children.
May we begin anew.
May your stars rise high in the sky of this land and all others.
May the wrongs of the past finally be spoken, be named and
not buried in a false history so that healing may begin.
May your nations be blessed - So be it.
Please God, make these things right in love, in healing, in mercy, in grace.
An edited version of a prayer by Marianne Williamson

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

"I do not have to go to Sacred Places..."

Dear All - In light of summer solstice last week and the full moon this Saturday I wanted to send out a little poem/prayer on creation and our deep, inter-connected ties that can stir us to amazement, calm us in the storm, and build in us the ever deepening sense of relationship to Holy Mystery - a very happy beginning of summer to all - Much Peace Liz

I do not have to go
To Sacred Places
In far-off lands.
The ground I stand on
Is holy.

Here, in my little garden
I tend
My pilgrimage ends.
The wild honeybees
The hummingbird moths
The flickering fireflies at dusk
Are a microcosm
Of the Universe.
Each seed that grows
Each spade of soil
Is full of miracles.

And I toil and sweat
And I watch and wonder
And am full of love.
Living in place.
In this place.
For truth and beauty.
Dwell here.

-Mary de La Valette

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Dear All - Hope everyone is well and many thanks to all those who planned for the Chapter of Chats - I was only there for a bit but it was wonderful to see so much of the community together - chatting and dreaming! Many of you may be aware of the legislative campaign by the School of the Americas Watch to close the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. A bill that Rep. McGovern has sponsored for years is coming to a vote this week - if you have time feel free to read the information below and participate in the call-in campaign to urge Representatives to vote to close the School of the Americas. The National Office feels that we are very close on winning a vote so if you have time your support would be well appreciated. Much Peace Liz

Please take the time to call the DC office of your Representative through the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask to speak with the foreign affairs legislative assistant. Here is a suggested message for you to convey:

"I am calling Representative ________ to urge her/him to vote YES on the McGovern amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. This amendment is a cut in funding for the School of the Americas/ WHINSEC. New information indicates that WHINSEC has allowed known human rights abusers to instruct and receive training at the school. The governments of Costa Rica, Argentina and Uruguay have made public announcements they will no longer send students to the school, citing the negative image and history of this institution. Voting YES on this amendment sends a positive human rights message to Latin America and will help to improve the U.S. image abroad. As an elected official in Washington D.C., I hope you will represent me and vote YES on any amendment in the House that would cut funding for the school."

We expect a close vote in the House this week, and we need as many people as possible flooding the offices of Members of Congress with calls in support of a YES vote on the amendment! We need you to call, email and fax Congress every day until the vote happens. Tell your family and friends to do the same!

It's been a year since our last vote in Congress, and the work of thousands of people like you across the Americas who care about justice has gotten us to where we are today. Let's seize this opportunity to make history in the defense for human rights!

Visit the Legislative Action Index for more information: http://www.soaw.org/legislative.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION - The School of the Americas is a military training facility for Latin American security personnel located at Fort Benning, Georgia that made headlines in 1996 when the Pentagon released training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Despite this shocking admission and hundreds of documented human rights abuses connected to soldiers trained at the school, no independent investigation into the training facility has ever taken place. Read more at http://www.SOAW.org.

Social Justice Extra - June 8, 2007

"When there are ruptures in creation, we are aroused to peace."

Dear All - I have another piece this week that deals with returning soldiers. It is actually a small and short video - so when you click on the link below you will see a small "YouTube" screen - if you press play and have a sound on your computer you will see a brief video that was made by returned Iraqi veterans. They did street theatre in New York City on Memorial Day to try to show the American people what it is like in Iraq. It is difficult to watch, they enact arresting civilians and the injuring of one of the members of their squad. But it gives a good insight into the complexity soldiers face at home and abroad. It is an important piece I think of how resistance, born of understanding and compassion, is not just a force for social change but also for healing. Hope everyone is beginning to enjoy the first days of early summer - Much Peace Liz

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070618/hannah_taylor

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Dear All - I would like to offer this piece as an alternative reflection for Memorial Day. This was written by a Marine who served in the Iraq war. I found this piece particularly compelling after George Bush warned the country that indeed it could get more "bloody" in the months to come, as if the last few years have not shown the unnecessary and brutal loss of the lives of Iraqis and soldiers. This piece reminds us that the cost of war is not bound by dollar signs or even more graphically by "body counts" but is a cost that will be felt for generations to come. Much Peace Liz

WHY I FIGHT FOR PEACE by Cloy Richards USMC

Because I can't forget no matter how hard I try.
They told us we were taking out advancing Iraqi forces,
But when we went to check out the bodies
they were nothing but women and children
desperately fleeing their homes because
they wanted to get out of the city
before we attacked in the morning.

Because my little brother, who it is my job to protect,
decided to join the California National Guard
to get some money for college and
they promised he wouldn't go to Iraq.
instead three months after enlisting
he was sent to Iraq for one year.

Since he has been home for the last six months,
he refuses to talk to anyone, he lives by himself.
the only person he associates with is a friend of his,
the one other man out of his squad of thirteen men
who made it home alive.

He called me a few weeks ago for the first time
And told me he's having nightmares.
I asked what they were about and
He said they're about picking up the pieces
Of his fellow soldiers after a car bomb hit them.

Because every single one of the Marines I served with,
the really brave warriors, even when some friends and people
they looked up to got killed or lost an arm or leg,
they wouldn't cry, they just kept fighting.
They completed their mission.

Every one of them I have spoken to since we got home
has broken down crying in front of me,
saying all they can do since they got back
is bounce from job to job, drink and do drugs,
And contemplate suicide to end the pain.

Because I'm tired of drinking, bouncing from job to job
and contemplating suicide to end the pain.
Because every time I see a child,
I think of the thousands I've slaughtered.
Because every time I see a young soldier,
I think of the thousands Bush has slaughtered.

Because every time I look in the mirror
I see a casualty of the war.
Because I have a lot of lives I have to make up for,
the lives I have taken and
Because it's right.
That's why I fight.

Because of all the wounds you cannot see.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

"May we recognize the Spirit in each of us, and the Spirit in all of us." Ram Dass

Dear All - Our last two members of the JPICC panel on women and violence come to us as a team. Steve and Carmen work with the Franciscan Peacemakers from Milwaukee. They work with women who are in prostitution and in recovery from prostitution. They will talk with us about this form of violence that women face and the many factors that lead individuals into such difficult circumstances. Please come and join us at 10:30 for our panel on Wednesday, June 13th!

I have photos that were taken in New Orleans by me and my co-worker Katie. The majority of the pictures are from the Lower Ninth Ward where the impact of the hurricane is still the most vivid. The Lower Ninth has no schools re-opened, no local grocery or drugstore; almost 75% of residents still missing and little no clean up of the area. The Lower Ninth was one of the largest communities of African American homeowners in New Orleans and has been utterly abandoned by city, state and federal officials.

The reasons for the lack of clean-up and rebuilding of New Orleans are many but seem to be focused around an agenda of privatization. For many years we may have heard in our own communities debate about charter schools, closing public housing, removing public health care - the mantra from the Right is the same - privatization means better services for all because healthy market competition will force private agencies to compete with one another. How privatization plays out in praxis is often exactly what we are seeing in New Orleans - poor communities, in particular communities of color, get left behind because they do not fit into a market agenda of making a profit. There is no profit to be made in the Lower Ninth Ward so the private firms and services stay out.

And because it is largely private firms rebuilding New Orleans like Halliburton, citizens have no where to turn - local and state and even federal government is not held accountable - because they did their job and outsourced the work. Now this is a very simple read of the economics - but it gives a start to what we saw - however I am getting very long - so I will sign off and promise to send a little more next week. Much Peace Liz

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

"As a woman I have no country, as a woman I want no country, as a woman my country is the whole world." Virginia Woolf

Dear All - I would like to talk a little about our third speaker for our panel and a little about what I saw in New Orleans while I was there a little over a week ago.

Ingrid Peterson, Violence Prevention Specialist and instructor at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, has worked for many years to unpack both the impact of violence on its victims and the potential for solutions. She will talk about possibilities and ways to help while also giving a little more of a local snapshot of what impacts women in the United States and in Wisconsin specifically. She brings a lot of passion and knowledge to the panel. Join us in welcoming her!

Secondly, I was in New Orleans for a week to meet with local activists and individuals still struggling to rebuild their lives since the disaster. I was deeply troubled and shocked to see how much of the city still lies in ruins, in particular poor communities. This is not just that buildings have not been repaired but that whole parts of the city still have piles of debris from the time of the storm.

This is the back drop to the stories of individuals who find no public schools for their children, no public health care, no affordable rent, no public housing - no grocery stores or corner stores. Churches gone or shut down, day care centers never re-opened, libraries still boarded shut. Every part of what you could imagine providing life to a community is either still closed or so damaged as to be barely functioning. Many people spoke to us of the longing of being able to "come home." Home not just being their rental unit or house but home being everyone they knew, the man who they bought their newspaper from, their pastor, their favorite park - all the visible and invisible threads that bind us to land, family and one another. This has not been rebuilt or repaired for many and the wound to the heart, mind and body is deep.

The reasons for this lack of repair are exhaustive and in next week's email I will speak more to that and include some photos. I did not want to make this too long but I did want to give a small sense of what I saw. Much Peace Liz

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

"I tell you though the darkness has been ours
words will give us,
give our eyes,
opened in promise a growing light." - George Ella Lyon

Dear All – I would like to introduce our second speaker on the panel for the Chapter of Chats, Ifrah Jimale. Ifrah arrived in the United States in 1998 after a long journey from Somalia at age 19. Arriving in the U.S. with only the travel documents she had been given by her family and speaking no English, Ifrah was arrested at the airport and jailed for 8 months before she learned enough English to explain her story and gain asylum. She then entered high school, having no prior education at all, which fulfilled a dream Ifrah had since she was a child. Ifrah tells of the change from being a goat herder to becoming a college student. She is 26 now and studying at St. Thomas in Minneapolis. Ifrah states that it still feels like a dream and sometimes she thinks she will wake up in the mountains of Somalia devastated by civil war longing for an education but knowing it will never be possible for her. Ifrah will tell her story at the JPICC panel Wednesday, June 13th, at 10:30. - Much Peace Liz

Growing Light

I write this poem
out of darkness
to you
who are also in darkness
because our lives demand it.

This poem is a hand on your shoulder
a bone touch to go with you
through the hard birth of vision.
In other words, love
shapes this poem

is the fist that holds the chisel,
muscle that drags marble
and burns with the weight
of believing a face
lives in stone
a breathing word in the body.

I tell you
though the darkness
has been ours
words will give us give our eyes, opened in promise
a growing light.
- George Ella Lyon

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

"And I hear the Power of Everywoman, Everywhere...then, I rejoice, I hope I take heart." Elayne Clift

Dear All - The Justice and Peace Committee will be holding a panel at the Chapter of Chats that will look at the issue of woman and violence. And we thought we would share with the community who will be on our panel!

So I would like to introduce our first speaker on the panel - Matilde de la Sierra a survivor of torture who was forced to leave Guatemala during the height of the armed conflict. Matilde's father had disappeared and she spent months with her mother looking for him before she herself was taken into custody. Matilde was held, tortured and then forced to emigrate to the United States. She was never able to find out what happened to her father. She has lived in the United States for over 20 years and shares her story in the hope that people will begin to realize the extreme cost of war and violence and also its specific impact on women. Matilde will be speaking with three other women on Wednesday June 13 at 10:30 a.m.

I also offer this prayer in light of all the violence and struggle women face in the world - Much Peace Liz

I listen to the women of Rio
when they try to speak
of street children murdered,
and my heart is breaking.

I listen to the women of Chernobyl
tell of childish blank faces
grown old and lifeless
and my heart is breaking.

I listen to the women of Bhopal
whisper the grotesqueness
of deformity and disease
and my heart is breaking...

I listen to the women of Addis Ababa
describing empty stomachs
and drought,
and my heart is breaking.

I listen to the women of Cyprus
and Ireland and Sri Lanka
and South Africa
I hear conflict's pain,
and my heart is breaking.

But I also,
I listen to the Madres, and Women in Black.
and the African mamas. I listen to the young women of Asia and the Pacific Rim.
I listen to female voices of North Africa,
and the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
And I hear
the power of Everywoman
Everywhere.
Then, I rejoice,
I hope,
I take heart.

- Elayne Clift

Tuesday, April 25, 2007

"We are being who are always telling stories, and every time we do, we preserve traces of the past and the light of the present." Ivone Gebara

Dear All - I ask for your prayers this week as myself and another 8th Day staff, Katie Varatta, travel down to New Orleans to meet with grass roots groups and activists who have been working with those most impacted from the hurricane and its aftermath. We hope to meet with survivors and activists to get their stories and struggles at this difficult time in their history. We decided to do this project as a Center because it feels that this group has been left behind and forgotten by the main stream media and that their lives, hopes and struggles should be heard and honored. We will put this information from the interviews together with pictures we get and then share this information to give people outside of New Orleans a chance to hear the story from the ground. I have already been very touched by many of the stories I have read through articles and research - there are many strong and committed people who are facing great odds as they seek to have a safe and affordable home and to feel at home again after such a tragedy. Thank you for all your support - Much Peace Liz

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

"The ground upon which I walk, the dirt upon which I plant, the Earth into which I shall return, is my home..."

Dear All - I want to wish everyone this week a very Happy Earth Day! In light of all the global climate change conversations and the continued denial of many policy makers it seems even more important this year to have this day of awareness. To be able to stop and think deeply of the deep interconnection between all of creation and the necessity of learning to live not as "humans first" but as members in mutuality with a diverse and complex ecology is a call for each of us. I have a link to a site that has a lot of information on Earth Day - http://www.earthday.net/ and a small prayer - Much Peace Liz

I pledge allegiance to Earth
and to the flora, fauna and human life that it supports,
one planet, indivisible
with safe air, water, and soil,
economic justice, equal rights
and peace for all.

Women's Environment and Development Organization

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God..."

Dear All - I have posted a letter below that Fr. Kelly and Fr. Vitale delivered to Fort Huachuca base in Arizona this past November. The priests will go on trial June 4th for trespassing and refusing to follow police order charges, they face a maximum of 10 months in prison. I thought in light of all the talk of war that has been flying around our newspapers and congress it would be good to stop and take a minute to honor some of the peacemakers who are out there working very hard to bring to an end the inhumanity of war, torture, and militarization. Here is a link to Jonah House who has the full story - www.jonahhouse.org - May we all walk in the light of peace - Liz

To: Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast -

We are here today as concerned U.S. people, veterans and clergy, to speak with enlisted personnel about the illegality and immorality of torture according to international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions.

We condemn torture as a dehumanization of both prisoners and interrogators, resulting in humiliation, disability and even death. In addition to the hundreds of detainees who have died, we are also concerned about U.S. military personnel. Alyssa Peterson committed suicide after participating in the torture of Iraqi prisoners. Lynndie England and others have been imprisoned for their illegal activities.

We are here today at Ft. Huachuca in solidarity with tens of thousands of people at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation at Ft. Benning, Georgia (formerly known as the School of the Americas) to say that the training of torturers must immediately stop. Nothing justifies the inhumane treatment of our fellow brothers and sisters. Torture by U.S. military personnel has reached alarming proportions and has horrified people around the world.

We are convinced that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is unconstitutional. We totally reject its conclusions. Torture is a useless and unreliable tool that leads to an accepted practice of terrorization and the rationalization of wrongdoing.

We are here today to repent and clearly state that because of our sense of moral and human decency we condemn torture. NOT IN OUR NAME. 19th day of November, 2006 - Louis Vitale, OFM / Steve Kelly, SJ

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

"I love the dark hours of my being..."

Dear All - Here it is April and Holy Week - how fast this time has gone! I hope this finds everyone well and that each of you get some time this week to rest and reflect on this sacred time - as we each consider where are the Passions of today and the Little Resurrections. To that end I would like to offer a poem from Rilke. It holds for me the essence of quieting down and opening the heart to listen.

Much Peace Liz

I love the dark hours of my being.
My mind deepens into them.
There I can find, as in old letters,
the days of my life, already lived,
and held like legend, and understood.

Then the knowing comes; I can open
to another life that's wide and timeless.

So I am sometimes like a tree
rustling over a grave site
and making real the dream
of the one its living roots
embrace:
a dream once lost
among the sorrows and songs.....Rainer Maria Rilke

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

"Do you know what I was, how I lived? You know what despair is; then winter should have meaning for you." Louise Gluck

Dear All - We have just passed the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war and stand poised to give more funding and to lengthen this struggle despite the absolute disaster that is occurring in Iraq. Last week I sent an email that called for a day of prayer on March 30th and had a reflection from Pope John Paul II. This week I would like to offer another view, an article from the Guardian that looks at the impact of the war on Iraqi women and some of the specific struggles they now face as women in an occupied war zone. I am also including a short poem that I think reflects what so many who suffer violence around the world must experience as they grieve and try to find life. I hope that these different pieces together will help all of us as we mark this anniversary and continue to struggle for an end to the war. - Much Peace Liz http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1890260,00.html

Do you know what I was, how I lived? You know
what despair is; then
winter should have meaning for you.

I did not expect to survive,
earth suppressing me. I didn't expect
to waken again, to feel
in damp earth my body
able to respond again, remembering
after so long how to open again
in the cold light
of earliest spring
afraid, yes, but among you again
crying yes risk joy
in the raw wind of a new world.

- Louise Gluck

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Dear All - Unione Superiori Generali in Rome of which FSPA is a member has asked for all member congregations to participate in a Day of Prayer and Fasting for March 30th, 2007, to end violence in Darfur, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Northern Uganda, Nepal, Colombia, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and all the places in the world that live with discord and division. I am sending this out a little early so that people can prepare for this day if they would like and perhaps have a communal prayer as well. Below is a reflection from John Paul II to aid in your preparation. - Much Peace Liz

"Prayer for peace is not an element that comes after the commitment to peace. On the contrary it is at the heart of the effort to create peace, peace with justice and liberty.

To pray for peace mean to open the human heart to the outburst of Holy Mystery's loving power. Once open paths to peace can flow where prior there were impediments and blocks that seemed insurmountable.

To pray for peace means to pray for justice, for right relationships among nations. It also means to pray for freedom which is a fundamental human and civil right for every human being.

To pray for peace means to pray that we may receive forgiveness - from one another and from the Holy One and to teach us to grow in courage so that we may forgive others." - Pope John Paul II

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Dear All - I hope this finds everyone well - below I am posting the collective statement that came from the gathering I attended in Baltimore this past week. The event was different than what was suggested in the letter. It was not so much an open forum to gather Franciscans for a new way forward as a way to gather Franciscans to discuss the possibility of an advocacy office in D.C. that would be staffed and supported by Franciscan communities. I had some concerns with the overall process - namely that there seemed to be an agenda that was not shared with all who were invited. But I do think the gathering touched on a longing amongst communities to collaborate as well as shared concerns about our world today. As more information comes from the group I will try to keep you all updated and to support the effort in ways that reflect the values of the FSPA community. Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts - Much Peace Liz

We Franciscan brothers and sisters, Religious and Secular, from throughout the United States, gathered together in Baltimore, MD, to discern the possibility of a unified Franciscan Voice for justice. With great concern for dehumanizing issues in our society, we recognized trends contrary to our calling as followers of Christ. We see that we have the power to effectively advocate for the redistribution of resources, the responsible care for creation, and the healing of relationships within the Franciscan Family, the Church and society. To these ends, we commit ourselves and call all members of the Family to speak with one Franciscan Voice to effect the transformation of national social policy. By walking with our brothers and sisters who are poor and marginalized, we intend to advocate for peace and to reaffirm the dignity of all creation.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Dear All - This week I travel with Sr. Paulynn Instenes and Sr. Sue Ernster to Baltimore, Maryland, for a gathering of Franciscans and their partners from across the United States to discern a way forward as a common Franciscan family during these difficult times. The organizers asked that all of our family be there with us in prayer - please read the following and keep us close in your thoughts and prayers. May creativity and passion flow as we gather, discern and create together!

Much Peace Liz

The Franciscan Family

Beginning the morning of March 7th and running through lunch on Friday, March 9, 2007, one hundred and thirty-seven members of the Franciscan family of the U.S. will meet in Baltimore, Maryland, to discern how we might answer the call from our charism, and especially our sister and brother Franciscans from outside of the U.S., to bring a more visible and effective Franciscan presence to the effort of repairing relationships to establish justice in our world. Our time in human history is perhaps one of the most pivotal moments to date for our human family. Within our grasp, we have the opportunities to significantly lessen poverty, if not end it outright, to heal conflicts of religious and political natures, and to change the course of environmental destruction towards sustainability. The main ingredient lacking is the moral direction and spiritual foundation upon which society can build this new reality. Our shared Franciscan heritage can be part of this answer, but it will take effective coordination to bring it into reality.

To discern the best way to achieve this coordination, names of participants from your congregation/region/province will be joining the representatives of the first, second and third orders of Franciscans as well as members of ecumenical Franciscan movements. They join the largest known gathering of U.S.-based Franciscans meeting for the sole purpose of determining how we might better advocate for a world that answers God's desire for all persons to live with justice and peace in the fullness of their human dignity.

You, too, can be a part of this process. The challenge before us is great and there is risk associated with our adventure. However, the urgency and boldness of our call is equally grand. The audacity of our collective discernment can only be achieved with a full listening to the Spirit's call. To be this bold, like our founders St. Francis and St. Clare, we need your prayer action in support.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Dear All – Once again we are hearing strong words from our administration in regards to Iran. This at a time when the people and now the Congress and Senate are sending a strong message about opposing the war in Iraq – let alone a whole new conflict in another country. Please look at the message and link below to help send a strong message to our leaders that we opposed war in Iraq and we will oppose war with Iran. Hope this finds everyone well
– Much Peace Liz

URGE CONGRESS TO OPPOSE WAR WITH IRAN: FCNL's Executive Secretary, Joe Volk, is currently in Iran as part of a 13-person religious delegation reaching out to encourage a dialog between our two nations in the hope of averting a way. Joe reports that the view from Iran is that the international process led by the UN is producing results: the Iranians are willing to begin negotiations to return their nuclear program to full international safeguards. Congress needs to insist that the U.S. not rush into another war. Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican from North Carolina, has introduced legislation (H.J. Res. 14) that would require a public debate and congressional approval before the U.S. would launch military action against Iran. The website of FCNL (Friends Committee on National Legislation) provides further information as well as which members of Congress have signed on to the Resolution and a link to send a message to Representatives: www.fcnl.org, click Urge your Take Action, Representative to support H.J. Resolution 14

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

"May we not be afraid to see or speak our truth..."

Dear All - Today Tuesday, February 20th, is National Call In today for a lobby event to close the School of the Americas (SOA) hosted by the School of the Americas Watch. The SOA is the military training base that has trained soldiers from Latin America for decades - it is known that the SOA, which is funded with U.S. tax dollars and the approval of the U.S. government, has trained these soldiers in methods of torture, kidnapping, and disappearance of civilians. I am posting a link below that gives information on how to call in or to schedule an appointment with your Rep. Check it out if you have the time!

Much peace, Liz

http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=1495

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