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VolumeVolume 22Volume No. 22 2 No.29, Summer No. 2 Summer 2 – 2013 FALL 2013 2020 TheThe Answer Answer is Blowin’is Blowin’ in inthe the Wind Wind

Corona byVirus Braytonby Brayton Shanley Shanley as Teacher by Brayton Shanley world when we observe these covid times Our slower, limited movements in this pan- ly trapped in urban poverty. leveling the daily routines around us. Con- demic can open a more contemplative door Is the fact that Covid 19 is twice as It yhas daughter’s beeny daughter’s six bumper long bumper monthssticker sticker since versely, can we see the pain and anguish of into our present state and mind and healof us. livingofdeadly increasedliving forincreased onlyAfrican 100% only Americans in100% 4000 in years. 4000as it years.is for Covid 19reads: arrived reads: “Well and at“Well leastbegan at the least to war shutthe war the this virus, not as a terrible punishment, but Covid 19 Teaches Us Racism is DeadlyThen cameThenWhites, thosecame just bornthose one in moreborn the injusticein20th the century, 20th that century, enrages countryM ondown, the onenvironment bringing the environment the ismighty going is to going their as a remarkable, yet anguished opportunity The lynchpin of a successful campaignbrought broughtthem on by at aon apopulation systemby a population where explosion whites explosion as arethe alwaysas the Mwell.”knees andThis the fact world’s compelled economic me andto travel social to see ourselves as we really are? to flatten the Corona virus curve is social superior? Black Catholic radio host Glo- well.” This fact compelled me to travel world burgeonedworld burgeoned from 2 from to 6 million 2 to 6 million people people to Washingtontolife Washington to a DChalt. in DC WithFebruary in someFebruary to states attend to opening attend The corona virus was spread through- distancing. Like other virus protocols inand just in100ria just Purvisyears. 100 years.challenges our faith to the core; prematurely, we are experiencing a second out the entire planet by hundreds of thou- methods to slow this spiking disease, are “Racism makes a liar of God. It states not a climatea climate change change protest protest that focused that focused on on This meteoricThis meteoric rise inrise population in population oppositionoppositionwave, to thewith Keystone to over the Keystone39 statesXL Pipeline. reporting XL Pipeline. Tar increas Tar- sands of airplanes in three months, so con- often the privilege of the white econom- everyone is made in God’s image. What a es in the virus. It appears that we are losing ditioned were we humans to race across the ically comfortable class of Americans.joined joinedwithhorrible the with humanlie thefrom human passion the pit passion forof hell.”material for material Sands oil is the latest scheme for “domestic Sands oilour is struggle the latest to scheme resist the for virus “domestic and our lack globe chasing more power, more money, Black and brown people and the poorconsumption are consumptionIt isand not the andsurprising advent the advent ofthat “high in of the “high first petroleum.”petroleum.”of commitment The pipeline The to pipeline protocol is to runis is to spreadingfrom run from it. more happiness. Likewise, we immerse limited to finding work in essential buttechnology.” low technology.”months The of frugalitythe The spread frugality of ofthe Covid ofdawn the 19,ofdawn Black of Alberta,Alberta,The Canada casual Canada to thejoys re to of theneries summer re inneries Texas. relaxed in Texas.It strict It ourselves in more action, noise, movement, paying jobs in food services, transportathe -century,thepeople century, 1900 took to 1900 to1920, the to streetsgave1920, way gaveimmediately to way cars to cars fol- is anotherisprotocols another energy energy proposaland theproposal disaster, virus disaster, begancreating creatingspiking, work, work, work, every empty space in tion, and construction where they are moredriven drivenbylowing “limitless” by the “limitless” news cheap of oil,cheapthe skyscraperspublic oil, skyscrapers torture and three timesthreespreading timesmore fear greenhousemore and greenhouse trembling gases gasesthanthroughout than life to be filled, always gazing at a screen, likely to be infected by the virus. and machineandmurder machine technology of George technology Floyd.that established that established conventionalconventionalthe country. petroleum petroleum to mine, to mine,refine, refine, always “doing” something. The pandemic These economically and racially aop massive- a massive andSafety toxic and from needtoxic the for needvirus energy forwas energy toinstantly to ship andship burn. andMinus burn. the human con- drive thisdrive modern this modern technology.eclipsed technology. by We their became We demand became to dition, the earth is flourish- the “white power structure: Some climateSome climate scientists scientists call it acall “game it a “game beholdenbeholden to the togreat the earthgreat bio-systemsearth bio-systems ing. Wild animals are re-in- “Stop killing Black people.” over” over”decision decision for the for environment. the environment. The The killers,  rst coal then oil and gas. habiting towns and cities killers,  rst coal then oilEarly and ingas. the Los Angeles earth simplyearth simply cannot cannot bear this bear much this muchmore more that have emptied. When All of Allus, of50,000 us, protest,50,000 strong, strong, anspent African fossilspent Amerfossil- carbon spewing. The threshold for carbon/ carbon Italyspewing. closed The thresholdwild boars for carbon/ fuel tofuel get to geta rally to a to icanrally protest womanto protest the ruinousheld the a ruinous banner greenhousegreenhouseroamed gases through isgases 350 isparts vacated350 per parts million. per million. effectseffects of fossil of fuel.fossil We reading:fuel. have We all have “Whitebeen all born been people, born The pipelineThetowns. pipeline threshold Birders threshold arewould report wouldput- us putover us over into a culture into a culture that has that fatallyhow has do fatallyover-consumed you over-consumedwant me to die? 400 ppm.400ing That ppm.more is: Thatvarieties “game is: “game over.” of birds, over.” since Worldsince WorldWar II. War Yes,In II. prison?we Yes, want we Covid to want defeat 19?to defeat Mur- 50,000more50,000 people robust people braved bird calls. braved cold temperatures Are cold temperatures the XLthe pipeline XL pipeline anddered its and in“game itsthe “gamestreets?” over” over” Is it to registertothese register the animal strongest the strongestemissaries opposition opposition of to date. to date. carboncarbon bomb. bomb.But we But anyneed we surprise to need protest to thatprotest in the“No in thejus- We understandWehope, understand a counter that tenssignthat oftens thethousands of thousands GandhianGandhian tradition tradition by “becomingtice, by No “becoming peace” the change is the the change move- befoulment of the human ment’s rallying cry? country-widecountry-wide are at arethe atready the readyfor civil for civil we wantwe to want see into thesee world.”in the world.” disobediencedisobediencetakeover should of Mothershould Obama Obama Earth?sign the sign planet’s the planet’s Black writer, Frank We moderns have This messageThis message wasWilderson, not was coming not coming fromcomments the from thein environmentalenvironmental future away.future away.Yes, the Yes, war the on war on podium. Offhand, I do not ever remember a podium.D. Roberts Kirk Offhand, I do not ever remember a been living in a frantic D. Roberts Kirk his book Afropessimism that the environmentthechronos, environment athrives. tyranny thrives. of time let’s “looklet’s at “look your at own your “Blacklife” own message life” people message coming are comingintegral I attendedand Iaccomplishment. attended my first my protestfirst But protest at the at the from thefrom speakers the speakers at theto humanat20 theodd 20 societyprotests odd protests butI also I WashingtonWashingtonnow aMonument more Monument propitious, Mall inMall 1969, in 1969, have attendedhave attended in Washington inexcluded Washington over from the over past it. the 45 The past 45ex- 100,000100,000opportune strong strong in time student isin uponstudent opposition us, opposition to to years. Theyears. political The political ofperience cials of that cials oftenof thatslavery speak often speakacross the Vietnamthekairos Vietnam War, time, which War, an whichwehistorical deemed we deemed cruel, cruel, at theseat occasions these occasions almostall almost neverof history remind never remind isthose the thoseslave unnecessaryunnecessarymoment and ripe unwinnable. and for criticalunwinnable. It ac is- always It is always gatheredgathered that “them that “themisis usually… exploited is usually… us.” and Other us.”robbed Other of tion. “The time has come; his/her personhood. But the powerfulpowerful to return to returnto this tohallowed this hallowed ground ground people’speople’s wrongs wrongs do not domake not memake right. me right. the reign of God is at hand” black person is always a of Americanof American political political dissent, dissent,  rst made  rst made Native Traditions Embody (Mark 1:15). Kairos often Faith and the Environment Native Traditionsslave Embody and a perpetual corpse knownknown by the by Civil the RightsCivil Rights and antiwar and antiwar Faith and the Environment comes as a surprise, but we the Answerburiedthe Answer beneath the world. protests of the 1950’s and 60’s. Given the protestscan of growthe 1950’s in the and knowledge 60’s. Given the Sat. Sat.Oct. Oct.5th, 10 5th am, 10 – am 5pm – 5pm Then CrystalThen Crystal LameBlackness Man Lame from Man the isfrom Beavercoterminous the Beaver 40 degree40of degree temperatures,ourselves temperatures, if thewe rallyhave the speeches rally speeches Lake TreeLake Nation Tree Nation tookwith the took slaveness.” microphone. the microphone. A A were mercifullywereeyes mercifullyto see short. and earsshort. Speakers to hear. Speakers included included Speakers include: native nativewoman woman from Alberta, fromAmerican Alberta, where where the tarsociety’s the tar Bill McKibben,Bill McKibben,If we Michael allow Michael Brune,the exBrune, Executive- Executive Speakers include: sands oilsands production oil production is anpre-existing already is an already established condition established is the DirectorDirectortremity of the Sierra of thethis Club,Sierra pandemic Native Club, toNative American American daily threatdaily threatto the tolocal pandemicthe community,local community,of white she racial she WomenWomenawaken who live who us, in the liveAlberta wrong in Alberta in paththe midstin the ofmidst of RogerRoger Gottlieb—Author, Gottlieb—Author, Professor Professor at Worcester at Worcester embodiedembodied a deep a and deepoppression abiding and abiding compassion of people compassion of col- the tar thesandson tarwhich oilsands production, weoil production,have plus been the plus regular the regular for all lifefor allthat life feels that the feelsor. pain theCovid and pain violation and19’s violation propensity to to dangerously treading will to kill Black people burns a host ofhost people of people from the from Washington the Washington political political PolytechnicPolytechnic Institute Institute the earththe that earth tar that sands tar oil sands production oil production in icts. in  icts. be revealed. Can we, in the searing truth into white con- establishment.establishment. As sheAs spoke, she spoke,she referred she referred to our tosuffering our suffering face of so much Are We suffering Right? sciousness, a non-negotiable and death, Are We restore Right? our lost Sr. BernadetteSr. Bernadette Bostwick Bostwick and andSr. Amie—Green Sr. Amie—Green Mountain Mountain Mother, Mother, the earth, the earth,anddemand: the and toxic the this effectstoxic social effects of death, of Mostconnection Mostspeeches speechesto each were other werepredictable and predictableto the earth? has slowed us and anything that slows us pressed people are more likely to bringmining the mining thisand reperpetual and ning re the ning“slavery” dirty the and dirty ofexpensive andBlack expensive people, given giventheAnd crisis where the crisis agendamight agendawe of start? the of protest. the protest. can awaken us. SlowerMonastery, allowsMonastery, more aware Indonesia- Indonesiavirus home to a cramped apartment wheretar sands tarmust oilsands production.end oil as production.of George Floyd’s murder. SeekingSeeking to inform to informMind the activistOur the Minds activist faithful faithful ness. Awareness can lead us to a more con- it is harder to quarantine and distance. AnotherAnotherCovid Native Virus Native American and American Climate woman woman Changewho who on theon wrongheadedness theGandhi wrongheadedness is famous of the for ofpipeline, sayingthe pipeline, “goodTommy templativeTommy Cornell—Peter outlook, Cornell—Peter experiencing Maurin ourselves Maurin CatholicWorking Catholic from Worker home Worker is alsoFarm a privilege.Farmfollowed, It followed, continuedThe continuedpandemic to inspire tothat inspire us iswith spreading us these with these into the barnstormingthetravels barnstorming at a wordssnail’s wordspace.”of the of speakersThe the better, speakers wis- as we truly are. can mean you own a home. Cleaning foodnoble nobletruths230 countries truthsby saying: by issaying: “Ithreatening see “Iout see in the outthis lifein thisand informedinformeder, usand how more us tar how loving sands tar we sandsoil become, production oil production the slower Our Society’sSheaShea Reister—YouthImmune Reister—Youth System Failing? Organizer, Organizer,to make it350.org safe 350.orgto eat, is a privilege.gathering It gatheringwell-being my brother my of billionsbrother African, ofAfrican, myhumans. White my But White the will destroywilland destroyless us. anxious United us. United ouron thinkingthis on particular this becomes, particular the In the first two months of the virus in means you have money to buy, especiallysister, sister,mythreat, Brown my relatively Brown and Yellow andspeaking, Yellow brother is brother shortand term.and more measured our movements. Covid 19 the US, 90% of all Covid fatalities were healthy food. The poor do not ever have Wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, and floods decision,decision, they beseeched they beseeched us: return us: returnhome home sister. I also see as I look out, my brother air has enforced a slower more uncertain pace,Join people Joinus for with us music, pre-existingfor music, liturgy, conditions. liturgy, tours Covid tours of strawthese of luxuries.straw bale balehouse, house, solar solar sister. I causedalso see by as planetaryI look out, warming my brother will air be with to continueto continue to build to anbuild environmentally an environmentally less commuting to a faraway workplace, was immediately lethal to those with seri- But, the starkest and most unbearableand sky andus and forsky my hundredsand mother my mother soil of yearsand soil water.” andand water.”threaten Her Her the strong and convincing movement. One of strong andfewer convincing hours at the movement. office, moreOne time of in and ous health problems:energy,energy, elders grease with grease car,compro compostcar,- statistic compost toilet.of Covid toilet. 19 is: Black peoplepassion per passionexistence for life for reminded of life every reminded lifeus that form us we onthat “see” earth. we “see” the speakers,thearound speakers, Sheldon home. Sheldon Most Whitehouse, of Whitehouse, us could (D-RI), live (D-RI), a much mised immune systems, those suffering capita, die of this virus at twice the numour -earthour and earthHow its and creaturesdoes its thecreatures ascorona “things.” as virus“things.” We speak We to roared roaredoutless thefrantic out question… the dawn- question… “Areto- dusk we “Are right?”schedule, we right?” Bringbe- Bringfrom your hypertension, your own ownbrown diabetes, brown bag heart forbag prob both for- bersboth lunch as lunchwhites and andanddinner they dinner areafter contracting after consume consumethe her crisis resources her of climateresources for change?our for economic our Is economic the virus The crowdTheholden crowdaf tormed: moreaf rmed:“Yes.” quiet “Yes.” Hemindful continued: He movements, continued: lems, atrial fibrillation and obesity. Strong the virus at three times the white average.greed greedandnature’s pleasure. and way pleasure. Air,of telling earth, Air, usearth,water how waterand all of and us, “Are we“Arevoid going we of to going the win?” customaryto Thewin?” crowd The noise crowdbellowed and bellowed speed. immune systems resistthe interfaithdiseasethe interfaith very well, celebration celebrationBlacks often work at the lowest paidanimals yet animalsespecially are merely are themerely objects comfortable, objects for our for use, need our and use,to live?and a certainaThis certain cry: new,“Yes!” cry: vibrating “Yes!” sense of awareness even into older age. That is the body’s de- considered essential jobs. They are thevery last oftenveryIs this for often nature’sour for abuse. our way abuse. of saying “No” to the Whatsheds gotWhat light people got on peopleour to thisconditioned torally this in rally habits,mid- in mid-mak- sign. Do we need to be running away from hired, the first fired, having paltry little ifIn roadthe InNative our the extractive, Native Traditions, Traditions, high the tech, Earth the modern isEarth lifeis ing room for newth life-givingth habits. Mind- the virus as much as running toward a sane any savings to fall back on. has taken? winter,winter, February February 12 , was 12 ,an was impending an impending alwaysalways seen as seen sacred. as sacred. The land The we land trod we trod ful quiet is the indispensable environment and healthy life? In addition, black wealth has de- Nature is feeding back her conclusion presidentialpresidential decision, decision, either eitherup or updown, or down,The urgencyThe urgency is convincing. is convincing. wins. Butwins. the But deeper the deeper answer answer to this questionto this question is “home,” is “home,” to be lovedto be lovedand nurtured, and nurtured, not not onfor whether self-revelation. the XL pipeline would receive DecadeDecade afterCovid decade, after 19 is decade, whatmore is whata left symptom unsaid, is left unsaid, thanis a a moral iscreased a fact.moral Since since fact. the Sincethe dawn recession the of dawn the internal of the2008. internal Be- on our frenzied materialism, our industri- on whether Arethe XLwe pipelineconditioned would to listeningreceive to the cause. The larger questions besides how cause our black sisters and brothers can’texploited exploitedal depletedeconomy, depleted and and thrown theand fossilthrown away. fuels Whereaway. to Where run it. in thesein rallyingthese rallying cries, alwayscries, always strikes strikes me. me.combustion combustion engine, engine, we have we broughthave brought on on presidentialpresidentialdominant approval. political approval. The speakersvoices The speakers around were allus were insist all- do we beat this virus may be: What is our save money, they can’t buy homes, lifepre -is sacred,lifeShe is cries sacred, no place an noadamant, is place “away.” is unforgiving “away.” In our highIn our“NO” high to To the question “Are we right?” the answer the planet’s warming trend. Before coal well informed,welling informed,the committedcorona committed virus and is commissioned the and enemy commissioned and Tothat the questionparadigm “Are of a we healthy right?” pattern the answer of life? theCan planet’s venting warming them from trend. accumulating Before coal wealth. technology technologyall pre-covid society, society, divorced norms divorced fromof economic earth from and earth growth. and the faithful:thewe faithful:must “We wage are “We ain successfularethe inright the onwarright the to on defeat isthe “Yes” iswe “Yes”scientifically. take thisscientifically. pause Oil in burninga Oilfrantic burning and American andburning burningThese began beganoppressedin the 1700s,in the who 1700s, all ofare history’s all 12% of history’s of land,the ourland,To sense a oursimpler, ofsense home slower of ishome withering way is witheringof beingaway. human,away. right siderightthis of deadlyside history, of foe? history, we How must we much defeat must of defeatthose our thought thosedependency dependencycultural on routinefossil on fossilfuelto restore is fuel creating ouris creating bodies an technological andan technologicalcountry’s and population economic and economic do not progress have progress access to Theseshe TheseNativeis saying: Native American “Adapt American women,to the women,present with withmore that wantthatprocess this.”want is Athis.”lived singularly inA fearsingularly ofcompelling “the compelling deadly environmentaloth- environmentalrepair the holocaust. misery holocaust. Carbonof ill-health Carbon spewing that spewing makessince beforesincehealthy, beforeChrist affordable Christwas incremental. food,was incremental. or health John care. Johntheir In dress,theirstripped-down theirdress, Indian their style Indianintonation of intonationlife andor perish.” their and their er” out there? Daily reports of the growingthreatens threatensus allso vulnerablelife. all In life. the toInlong diseasesthe term long no andterm one sickness? no oneMaynard Maynardpoverty Keynes housing,Keynes calculated calculated they that face the thatthe standard Covidthe standard 19 vi- Arvol Looking Horse, Chief of the La- momentmoment in the inhistory the history of the ofplanet the planetearth. earth. continuedcontinued on page on 7 page 7 virus leave us no choice but to engage fully How do we make peace within ourselves rus with pre-existing health conditions that kota tribe warned us at the 2017 St. Francis in the battle. Anxiety seeps into our inner where there has been a constant inner war? result from being economically and racial- CORONA ❙ page 7 Irony and Perspective in Corona Times by Suzanne Belote Shanley

As I walk to St. Francis House, I turn to the garden, just as the sun rises above the lush rows of broccoli, kale, lettuce, and all things green. The sun sheds her shining golden light over the sleeping clusters of green, stretching in anticipation of the day. The dense grape vines beside me need a careful eye to discern clusters of light green baby grapes, nudging their tiny, near- ly invisible heads from behind the leaves where they nuzzle. Preoccupied with my next task, in a constant state of distraction, I suppress the urge to hold the grapes in my hands and kiss them. Interiorly I tell myself: “Go ahead Suzanne. Just kiss the grapes. Just kiss them.” All this beauty, right at my doorstep and yet, I detect in me hesitancy to let such beauty own me. I live in the glorious woods of the Quabbin Reservoir watershed, and yet I haven’t prayed over or touched the vibrant life in the soil in a visceral and rev- erential way since Beatrice Menase Kwe Jackson, arrived to teach us Native Amer- ican prayer in preparation for the visit of Chief Arvol Looking Horse of Standing Rock. It’s easy to miss “the splendor in the grass, the glory in the flower” (Word- sworth), if I don’t stop as Beatrice did each morning, to touch the ground, whis- per greetings to the insects and scurrying creatures, hallow the water set before us in copper urns, calling by name, the animals in the forest. View of Brigid House Rock Garden Beauty as Sanctuary Earlier, I sat with my coffee at the earthy blues, greens and browns of the “hope for the future.” What is Required of Us? Brigid House kitchen window, staring at stained-glass windows say to me: “Color.” Jeremiah’s journey appeals to me as Something is required beyond the daily the rock garden forming an intersecting “See us. See our color.” The chapel silence he insists on God’s intervention. The senti- fits and starts of my linear thinking. Mes- circle around myriad delicate perennials before the first lifting of our collective com- ment of demanding, shouting in anger, lies merized by the dance of death, I missed the with cone and other patterned shapes. I ad- munity voices in chant, is familiar and reas- on my own heart: stop this madness, this appearance of the Comet Neowise in our mire the small boulders etched in gray and suring. Brayton softly strikes the Buddha death-dealing, this power-hungry dictator. night sky weeks ago, which will not occur white forming a ring around and seeming to bowl eliciting an eternal chime, and I begin: Yet, unlike Jeremiah, to whom God spoke, again for 7,000 years. I wonder if I am too protect the vulnerable, delicate blossoms. “O God, open my lips and my mouth shall I know God as The Ineffable One, The Un- rooted in the planet’s technological cloud In Mary Oliver fashion, I say to myself: declare your praise.” I open my lips to pray reachable, Total Silence. During the uni- and less in the “Cloud of Unknowing,” as “Thank you rocks,”. Again, what I really and dark thoughts enter: Praise? During a versal distancing, you too, Oh God, feel re- I struggle with the twin realities of needing want to do is to touch, even hug them. In- pandemic, of such interminable suffering? mote, detached. Where are You? Will you to function and trying to come to grips with stead, I stay indoors. Beatrice would have Police brutality, right wing racist groups, intervene? Will you save us? the violence that suffocates the planet. blessed them, called on Creator Spirit who violence in Portland. Praise? We are clamoring to be saved from At Agape, we ironically find comfort placed them there, maybe even offer tobac- I rarely lift my voice in prayer for Don- Corona, a soothing word, soft o’s form in in the ordinary, such as our harvesting with co or smudge them. ald Trump, the mad potentate. Members of the throat and onto the lips. A “corona” is two newly arrived interns who minister From an inaccessible room within my my extended family have died from the “a gaseous envelope of the sun and other to us, healers with halos, Ohioans with a soul, my inner voice calls to me: “You are corona virus, and the daily death toll for stars.” In addition, “the sun’s corona is mission. Chloe and Ellen come as messen- lost. Covid and Trump are disorienting people of color rises. How to pray? God, normally visible only during a total solar gers, lending balance, insight, as they move you. Get a grip. Put your life in perspec- please give us courage to resist this satanic eclipse when it is seen as an irregularly through the quotidian at Agape with tender tive.” This idea of perspective had recently force field. Resistance during pandemic… shaped pearly glow surrounding the dark- concern. caught my attention as I read the lines from distanced resistance…irony, reversal, re- ened disk of the moon.” Yet, there are days when I feel like a John O ‘Donoghue poem, “Equilibrium”: sponse. Certainly, given our present pandemic, Dorothy Day as she records in her diary, “May our sense of irony bring perspective.” Jeremiah: The Weeping Prophet there is symbolic resonance here. A taste The Duty of Delight, that I too am suffer- Irony. I have always loved the richness of Over these past months, given these re- of this celestial language, far beyond our ing form “nerves and fatigue” moving from this word, suggesting a reversal of the nor- alities, I whip myself up into a fever pitch present deadly concerns illustrates our need task to community task, like “an empty mal, the expected. In literature and in life, politically while reading the prophetic to name things to fit a transcendent mode, cistern.” Reversal, upheaval creep in once a little irony can bring perspective. words of Hosea, Micah and Amos. Jere- even a killer virus. Coronas are “white or again. I am reminded of the corona in my Searching for Irony miah is particularly relevant to our times: colored” circles sometimes from “blue in- life, the crown of light hovering above ev- I want to regain balance by living my His prophetic vision signals “the coming side to red outside. …caused by thin clouds, eryone and everything here. The whiteness covid life ironically, while catastrophe be- of terrors and horrors beyond imagining. mist or dust.” I am a reminded of the reds of cauliflower, the garlic cloves, basil, this sets the planet and all living beings. But, When vision became reality, he witnessed and blues in the perennial rock garden, cos- sacred Nipmuc land. how to do this? How do I access irony those terrors and horrors.” (“From Creation mic connections, dust, ashes, death, corona. During the pandemic, we learned of the and perspective amid chasms which have to the Cross”). I think of my sister-in-law, Tricia, cancer death of David Tall Pine White, the opened in my life, in our collective life as a Known as the “weeping prophet” Jere- dying of lung cancer during “the corona” keeper of the Nipmuc language, with whom species? The cultural malignancies suffo- miah’s Lamentations awaken in me the pain as our granddaughter, Olivia refers to the we dedicated a Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar cating us, are shattering, debilitating: End- of our present reality. For Jeremiah, cour- plague. I wonder how Tricia experienced tree, (cedar considered sacred by Indige- less zoom meetings, masking as a way of age and hope arise in the midst of death and her last moments. How will I experience nous people) at Agape four years ago, to life, reading analysis of the precipice, stay- destruction. Yahweh reassures Jeremiah: mine? Will there be a streaming of Divine honor the Nipmuc tribe, indigenous to this ing on top of Trump’s latest racist lies, yield “For I know the plans I have for you, plans Energy, indiscriminate, spectacular, inac- region. I gather in tree energy, a steadiness disequilibrium, and more—despair. to prosper you and not to harm you, plans cessible to us living on a material plane? that encompasses poetry, cosmic blessings, But then the discordant, the rever- to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah I long to remain in a consciousness Tall Pine’s gesture of love and healing. sal appears, strikes a chord: My downcast 29:11) Jeremiah responds with resistance of love for my home, this planet, the bitter Ilia Delio, the eco-feminist Franciscan sense of gloom at our worsening human to the oppressor and persistence in the face travesty of its possible demise. Oh earth, sister and theologian recently suffered a condition, switches suddenly and a burst of of extremity, jail, persecution. how small and fragile you are. Who will concussion during these corona days. In the goodness wells up inside of me. I am over- Tension is a way of life for the biblical protect you? concussion’s aftermath, she drew a correla- whelmed with love of grapes and stones, prophets, who receive from God warnings Jeremiah, called for Divine Retribution tion between her crown of pain and the cos- of flowers and trees, a sustaining song of of outrages, catastrophes, polarizations. As and judgment on those responsible for kill- mos: “And the Cosmic Christ is the Christ goodness. I imagine the rock garden boul- I move through our own prophetic times, ing and death. Are we too being punished of the corona, the cosmic crown of thorns, ders as Protectors of the Perennials. I feel distracted and angry, I receive a consola- by a virus with a conspicuously cosmologi- the perspective of the sublime.” This “con- unprotected. Protect me God. Protect us tion, the comforting rhythm of a new day. cal name, for our neglect, our blindness? Do cussion consciousness” as Delio defines it, God. Be my boulder, Jesus. Yellow and or- I encounter the red radiance of the day’s we reap what we sow? God speaks through means learning new ways of “minding the ange wildflowers, intoxicating dawn fresh- harvest of tomatoes in a woven basket, the the sun, the moon and stars, through the mind” as the Buddha realized. I am daily ness, urge me into wistfulness, maybe even cacophony of bird song, the heart-thrilling, celestial as well as the death-dealing coro- made aware of the work of healing, acquir- equilibrium, certainly gratitude. deep call of the full-throated bull frogs. So na. A Voice shatters time and space with ing “cosmic consciousness” or, in Delio’s At 7:30 am, I enter the chapel for much goodness is revealed in “not harm- a reprimand: “Now look at what you have words, “healing the traumatized corona.” Morning Prayer, sensing the perfection ing,” in ahimsa, endurance in the face of done!” of just sitting. The kaleidoscopic colors, colossal evil and God’s promise of release,

Page 2 ◆ The Servant Song FALL 2020 Are You Willing to Become an Anti-Racist? by Edgar Hayes regation. In the original Freedom Schools, instructors taught the young people read- While walking down the streets of ing, writing, and arithmetic because of the NYC, I witnessed with ease how other peo- Separate but Equal Supreme Court ruling, ples’ conscious or subconscious thoughts as well as Jim Crow laws, which denied played out before me. I cannot recall Black children an opportunity for a decent when I became of age or when I became education. aware of my “place” in society. I thought When I arrived at Freedom Schools, I I was obscure, invisible, undetected, yet taught students critical thinking and their time and time again, street after street, city cultural heritage: that our black or Afri- after different city, people acted as if they can heritage did not begin in bondage with knew me. slavery. We come from a rich, beautiful, The scene would play out over and creative, distinct, African cultural heritage over like a broken record. In the minds of that helped to build the world, from a land the observers, I was the menacing antago- rich in natural resources and from a lineage nist, the savage rapist, the brute, the thug, of kings, queens, and early civilizations. the thief, the drug dealer, the vile not-hu- Have you learned of this African American man who would pounce upon my prey History while you were in school? (them) with unreasoned and precise inci- At the Alex Haley farm, I told my sion. As my path drew closer to those who wife, Ann, (my girlfriend at the time), that were observing me, slight gestures would I think we should break up. I called her occur unbeknownst to an inexperienced, from Tennessee to say “I don’t think we uncaring eye—a tuck of a chain into a shirt, can be together, because how am I sup- a clutch of a purse, the hasty crossing to the Daniel Crowell posed to look young African American other side of the street, or a sped up walk. girls in the eye and say you are beautiful, eyes, ears, and hearts have been awakened I knew White American history, but if you Imagine, if you will, this scenario hap- uniquely created and special while dating to the vicious, brutal, evil system of rac- ask me if I knew myself, there would be a pening 365 days a year for 30 or 40 years. a woman who is White?” This pained me ism. Some have taken to the streets; others pause. I did not know myself because I did Don’t even get me started about walking deeply and I thought God wasn’t with me. would rather go back to sleep. I ask you not know my history, my cultural history. into a department store! I would constantly Yet by the time I left, I felt God without a reader, are your eyes opened or closed? I had low self-esteem and self-worth ask myself: Do these observers know me? doubt say to me: “It’s ok. I am with you Are you willing to see and hear the pain because I did not have an identity. It had Do they know Edgar the preacher, fireman, and I want this union to happen.” and suffering of millions which began been stripped over centuries since slav- teacher, farmer, father, husband, human God is the deciding factor, not me or when human beings were brought to this ery. I internalized every negative image being, and child of God? Or do they only world opinion. God is the end all and be country in chains like animals? of Black America without question, every want to see and know the racist, stereotyp- all. Without the love of God in all of us and aspect of this society that says you are less ical image of my and other’s darker hued the love of God in our hearts, we cannot Growing Up Poor in than. Can you see these negative black im- skin? see, hear, or love someone else. The evil Harlem and Brooklyn ages in magazines, television, and the mov- Jesus spoke to His disciples about of racism can only be conquered in the way As a child, I grew up poor and on wel- ies, in healthcare, jobs, and housing? Can the deafness and the blindness of heart of of Jesus’ love or nonviolence. I ask you fare in Harlem and Brooklyn, the eighth of you see what we have been trying to show the early Israelites and Jews in His pres- reader, what is your personal relationship eight. Contrary to the stereotypical image you year after year, century after century? ent time. When speaking of prophesy ful- with God like? of African American mothers on welfare Can you hear our black voices cry out? If filled, He quoted the prophet Isaiah saying: There is so much I can say, but are you as “welfare queens,” my mother worked not, look closer and listen more carefully. “You will indeed listen, but never under- hard all day, every day, to feed, shelter, and willing to listen? There is so much to re- stand, and you will indeed look, but never veal but are you willing to see? Are you clothe us. We were homeless and father- Freedom Schools perceive. For this people’s heart has grown willing to become an anti- racist? less for a time, but she always pushed us Program in East Tennessee dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, Edgar Hayes was an intern at Agape in to know and love God, each other, and to My naïveté was stripped when I went and they have shut their eyes; so that they the 1990’s and serves with his wife Ann as a go after our education. After graduating to the Alex Haley farm in Tennessee from might not look with their eyes, and listen member of Agape’s Mission Council Advi- from college, I thought I knew everything 1997-98, to learn how to teach youth in with their ears, and understand with their sory Board. Modeled after Agape, Freedom and that I could take on the world. I was the Freedom Schools which began in the heart and turn— and I would heal them”. Farm, focuses on nonviolent education, taught some Asian and lots of European 60s during Freedom Summer, a time when (Matthew 13:14-15 – NRSV) gardening, healthy eating, and is open for history. I knew white poets and authors. people in the north went down to the south With the death of George Floyd, for the visits, internships, and volunteering. I knew King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. to help with voter registration, and deseg- first time in a long while, white Americans’

We Demand Change Now In this interview with Brayton Shanley, different as a mixed-race child. To save myself I did not touch that. It was started to delve into what happened to our Julie Bradley shares her unique experience You have said that your first experi- just too emotionally upsetting to deal with. people, our economic status. I have been as a bi-racial daughter of a white mother ence of racism might not be understood But when the George Floyd killing hap- deeply affected by cultural prejudices and and a black father, who grew up with her as actual racism. What do you mean by pened, because of all the publicity that it black stereotypes. I even thought that most four siblings in various housing develop- that? received, I had no choice but to dive into black men were criminals. So, I had to ments and projects in the Boston area. Ju- You don’t understand a gesture of it. Watching for the first time a video of face the realization that I was programmed lie and her family have been a part of the racism until you understand what’s going a cop killing a black man, the first thing for many years to think the way white peo- Agape Community for forty years. on. I’m mixed race. I’m white and black that crossed my mind was my own son. ple portrayed black people. and that’s what I stand on now, but I didn’t He resembles Floyd, in the color of his You have mentioned recently being Julie, can you share a bit about your understand when these racial occurrences skin and like Floyd, he had no hair on his inspired by a black activist. background? were happening, like the blatant racism at head. I started thinking: George Floyd or Grand master J is the founder of mi- I was born to a white mother and a recess in the schoolyard. It was a game Frank Bradley? I got into my motherly role litia group NFAC or No F ‘in Around Coa- black father so my growing up years were changer. I had to keep it in the forefront and had to make sure that Frank Bradley lition. What stood out the most for me as quite complicated in the sense of trying to how I was treated, oppressed, demeaned. doesn’t become George Floyd. a mother is that when it comes to my black find a way to fit in. We were raised in a What was the impact of knowing How does that happen? Did you sons, I cannot have them die at the hands of predominately black neighborhood so hav- that you were surrounded by a racist discuss it with Frank? Get more active? a cop or any racial encounter. He reminds ing a white mother in a black neighbor was society and what gave you that knowl- Seems like you’re more ready to enter me of Malcom X and Malcom’s “by any challenging. At one point, I thought being edge? this fray. means necessary.” I will put my life on the of mixed race was not seen so often or not Just to hear racism mentioned was I became more at peace with my own line because I want my black sons to see the norm. But as I got older, I realized that too painful so I just dismissed the whole history and was beginning to put the pain another day, to live well into the future. being of mixed race was quite prevalent. thing. While I was growing up, there was behind me. After watching the emotionally What do you think “by any means In my younger years I wanted to identify one instance when I was literally called the provocative video, I knew I needed to be necessary” means today for black peo- with both races, half white half black. But “n” word. I applied it to me. I am black, more involved. Facebook universe is when ple? as I got older, as I started going through ex- and I lived in a predominantly all black you put something on it, you are making It means we need to demand change periences with race, I decided I needed to neighborhood. Most in my neighborhood, that commitment. First thing I put was a now. Fifty years of protests has not been fit into one, and that was black. My world including my family, struggled in severe post to my son, Frank: “Son, I am going to effective. There is still no racial equali- was telling me I was black. It was time to poverty without enough to eat, living in do everything in my power to ensure your ty. Take for example, the brutal injustice deal with that. projects. This was so painful, that I put safety in the future, and I intend to put that of black families living in poverty versus What was your first experience of history itself in the rear-view mirror, the safety into everything I do. Once I said white privileged families, living in wealth. racism? past. It was a coping mechanism, to throw that, I had to start making the necessary Grand Master J is demanding account- It was when I was in 3rd or 4th grade out my past as well as all black history as steps to see that through. I had to figure ability. He went to the site where Ahmaud when my mom, for the betterment of my I dealt with my current struggle and what I out how to get active in this struggle. I re- Arbery was killed and to the houses of the brother and sister, sent us to a Catholic was trying to accomplish in my life. alized that I had to feel involved in history three involved; nobody was hurt, no shots school in Brighton Mass. During recess, I How Were You Affected by the and find out what had happened to Black were fired. He wanted to hold these people would have to ask the white kids every day George Floyd Killing? people for many, many years. accountable for what they did to Arbery. In if it was okay to play with them. It was I had heard of cops killing black men Where did you begin? Atlanta he went to the birthplace of KKK. a 90 ten flip…90 percent no…10 percent and I kind of disregarded this. This was just There is no way to move forward if yes. At that point I started to see how I was a no-no for me. I did not want to go there. you don’t know where you came from. I Please see INTERVIEW, page 4

FALL 2020 The Servant Song ◆ Page 3 COVID-19, Environmental Racism, and the Legacy of Dr. James Cone

by Jim Robinson

Throughout the spring and summer of 2020, the radical evil of systemic racism and the death-dealing impact of COVID-19 have occupied the center of our collective consciousness. After the brutal and callous murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police on May 25, 2020, masked protest- ers have come out of lockdown to fill city streets, chanting “Black Lives Matter!” in the face of white supremacy. As we awaken to the fact that the pandemic and systemic racism are intertwined realities, we are also awakening to the fact that they are inextri- cable from our ecological crisis. On April 3, 2020, Congresswoman Al- exandria Ocasio-Cortez made a post on so- cial media that linked the disproportionate increase in COVID-19 deaths among black and brown communities to environmental racism. The term “environmental racism” was coined by Dr. Benjamin Chavis in the early 1980’s in order to illuminate the racist nature of environmental policy, the disproportionate presence of environmen- tal pollutants and toxic waste facilities in communities of color, and the marginaliza- tion of people of color as voices of author- ity within the environmentalist movement. D Roberts Kirk In her post, Ocasio-Cortez identifies environmental racism, as well as the relat- 2017. In “Whose Earth Is It Anyway?” he Ruether has it in “Deep Ecology, Ecofem- highlights the embodied efforts of black ed injustices of economic inequality and emphasizes the need to connect resistance inism, and the Bible,” “all humans do not churchwomen in Warren County, North housing discrimination through the prac- to environmental degradation with resis- dominate nature equally, view themselves Carolina, who lay down on a road to block tice of redlining, as “underlying health tance to racism. as over nature or benefit from such dom- trucks loaded with PCB-contaminated soil conditions,” which leave black and brown Cone opens his essay with the asser- ination.” Like Ruether, Cone challenges from dumping that soil in a landfill in their people more vulnerable to COVID-19. tion that “the logic that led to slavery and his readers to recognize that the ecologi- community. Cone notes that in the span of With this in mind, Ocasio-Cortez asserts segregation in the Americas, colonization cal crisis is simultaneously a social crisis. two weeks in 1982, hundreds of protestors that “COVID relief should be drafted with and Apartheid in Africa, and the rule of The ecological crisis is entangled in white were arrested, and that this incident has a lens of reparations.” white supremacy throughout the world is supremacy, and it is driven by a mechanis- inspired the environmental justice move- Over the summer, the Center for Dis- the same one that leads to the exploitation tic and instrumental logic that elevates the ment. ease Control (CDC) released age-adjust- of animals and the ravaging of nature.” In interests of particular human beings (those In “Whose Earth Is It Anyway?” ed statistics showing that as of June 12, this respect, if we are interested in resisting with access to power in the system of white James Cone calls his readers to recognize 2020, black Americans face a COVID-19 and transforming either racism or environ- supremacy) over the interests of othered that ecocide and systemic racism are entan- hospitalization rate that is 5 times higher mental degradation, we must attend to the beings, human and more-than-human. gled atrocities. He calls us to convert away than it is for white Americans. The CDC shared logic that underlies both of these In resisting this death-dealing logic from the instrumental and mechanistic has identified a number of root causes of intertwining evils. Cone identifies this as and the system of white supremacy that it logic which has led to the desecration of this hospitalization rate, including “insti- “a mechanistic and instrumental logic that buttresses, Cone intends to “promote gen- black and brown bodies and more-than-hu- tutional racism in the form of racial hous- defines everything and everybody in terms uine solidarity” between environmentalists man beings, and to resist and transform the ing segregation.” Through the influence of of their contribution to the development and those working for racial justice. In fact, death-dealing system of white supremacy the racist practice of housing segregation, and defense of white world supremacy.” he strongly asserts that those who attempt from which the Eco crisis is inextricable. people of color disproportionately live in This logic attempts to deny the inherent to resist racism without linking it to eco- May Cone guide us as we read the signs of densely populated contexts in which they value of black and brown bodies, by reduc- logical abuse are “anti-ecological,” wheth- the times and respond to the exigencies of are exposed to a wide array of environ- ing them to instruments in the service of er they are aware of it or not, and that those the present. As we address the COVID-19 mental hazards. This exposure is linked the system of white supremacy. This logic who attempt to resist ecological abuse pandemic, may we do so with an attentive- to the development of the very underlying similarly impacts the “more-than-human without linking it to racism are “racists,” ness to its entanglement in the intertwin- medical conditions which put people at an world” (to use a phrase coined by David whether they are aware of it or not. Cone ing evils of white supremacy and environ- increased risk for a severe and potentially Abram, which uniquely evokes the abun- challenges his readers to do our anti-racist mental degradation. May we recognize, as fatal response to COVID-19. These are the dance, diversity, and wonder of the natural work with the environment in mind, and to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reminds us, that fruits of environmental racism. world, including the vast array of beings do our environmental work with racial jus- environmental racism is an “underlying As we navigate the interweaving im- with whom the human species shares this tice in mind. health condition,” and that “COVID relief pacts of COVID-19, systemic racism, and planet). This logic must be subverted. In order to display how we might should be drafted with a lens of repara- environmental degradation, we can find It is important to note that Cone does weave together our commitments to envi- tions.” wise guidance in the work of Dr. James not critique an “anthropocentric” world- ronmental flourishing and racial justice, Jim Robinson is a member of the Cone, and particularly his essay “Whose view or ethical framework in this essay. Cone points to the work and witness of a Agape Community Mission Council. Jim Earth Is It Anyway?” which was published Such critiques, which dominate environ- number of women of color. He highlights defended his dissertation, which included two decades ago in the Spring/Summer mental discourse, operate on the assump- womanist theologians, namely Delores an analysis of Agape Community, and re- 2000 edition of CrossCurrents. Cone, a tion that the ecological crisis is caused by Williams, Emilie Townes, and Karen ceived his PhD in Theology from Fordham pioneer in the field of Black Theology, the elevation of the human species and Baker-Fletcher, who have connected re- University in May, 2020. served as a professor at Union Theologi- its interests above the more-than-human sistance to racism with resistance to eco- cal Seminary from 1970 until his death in world. However, as Rosemary Radford logical abuse in their scholarship. He also

INTERVIEW ❙ from page 3 Then he went to the site where Rashard faith religions and I have joined some of was exciting seeing women, mothers risk- my people loot? Why should people feel Brook was killed and met Ahmaud’s sister. them. ing their lives to take a stand. It inspired me so impoverished that they have to loot? So, to me, by “any means necessary” is less The recent Black Lives Matter to imagine what I am ready to do! One thing we know from the Equal Justice about violence and more about: “We’re marches have been essentially peaceful, What do you think about repara- Initiative (9/14/17) from a fact sheet on is here and we want answers and we want to with some burning of police cars and tions for black people? that racial disparity in youth incarceration see results.” looting, but a very small minority were I think that reparations are in order af- has increased since 2001 as Black youth So, does it, it really come down to involved. What are the value of these ter many years of economic and physical are four times as likely as whites to be in- how you are going to struggle, what tac- protests for you? destruction of the black family. Once we carcerated. tics you use and your attitude toward the Yes, the protestors are making strides can be economically sound, we can move Are you hopeful Julie? oppressor? in their nonviolent approach. And, there forward because as long as we are strug- Yes, I am. There are many more peo- I have taken nonviolent approaches as are so many of them in the streets… how gling economically it is going to be very ple caring about the injustice of racism. well, joining movements fighting poverty. I can their voices not be heard? And there is tough. Economics is huge with all of us There is power in these numbers. The more have supported nonviolent organizations fi- so much diversity and so much potential and we all want what we see dangled out people that are involved the more effective nancially. There is a large group of inter- positive change in this racial diversity. It there. It’s about basic justice. So why do and sooner the change will happen.

Page 4 ◆ The Servant Song FALL 2020 Harmony with the Cycles of Nature by Merwyn DeMello ed by people across the faith spectrum with the sharing of food, song, and dance. My wife, Kirstin and I, returned to The Bengali poet-philosopher Gu- the US in March, after a six-year span of rudev Rabindranath Tagore describes the service with Mennonite Central Commit- mystical connection when life or physical tee in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. We existence is in harmony with the cycles of then embarked upon a pilgrimage, seekers nature. of intentional community in which to live Necessity seems to be the only thing and love with over the next years. in nature for which everything moves and Agape Community was the first stop works; the bud becomes the flower, the on this journey, one that is traveled in flower becomes the fruit, the fruit becomes tumultuous times, when the air and the the seed, the seed becomes a new plant mind are dominated and suffocated by the and so it goes; the chain of activity goes Covid-19 virus, and when misguided po- on without interruption. When, through the litical leadership drives a wedge of divi- mental and physical barriers that we erect, siveness. Agape became our oasis allow- we bluntly separate ourselves from the in- ing for healing and nourishment of body, exhaustible life of nature, when we become soul, and spirit. just a person, and no longer ‘person in the Brayton Shanley’s book, The Many universe’, then we create fearful problems Sides of Peace and the recent co-authored – and when the fount of their solution has memoir, Loving Life on the Margins, by run dry, we essay all sorts of artificial pro- Brayton and Suzanne, as well as issues of cesses, each of which brings with it a rich the Agape Community journal, Servant harvest of interminable difficulties. Song, became our compass point for in- So, for that magical span of two weeks sight into the history and life of the com- at Agape Community, I could live in har- munity. mony with the rhythms of nature. As the After several years of humanitarian Merwyn and Kirstin DeMello in the garden sun set on each day, I felt a deep sense of service in countries impacted by US policy peace, that the Holy, God, resides every- and action stemming from the immorality et labora, the daily rigors of outdoor work il, I could feel a peaceful energy from our where and in all things. of its military-industrial complex, I was -- weeding, scything, building woodpiles, group, derived from contemplative practice How important it is then, to constant- eager to learn from and experience how picking raspberries - and the indoor work – at Agape. Also, in this spirit, the vigil’s ly remind myself that no matter where I a community in the USA offers a radical shared tasks of processing greens, cooking, non-violent protest became for me, an au- am, I endeavor to live in harmony with the model of action and resistance charted by and cleaning. This did not preclude healthy thentic manifestation of Ahimsa, or non-in- cycles of nature. It is by recognizing the a deliberate choice for lived non-violence, debate, exchange of opinions on a variety jury in Sanskrit. abundance and wellness to be found in the subsistence off the land, and contemplative of topics, sharing life-experiences and ex- A night spent in the Hermitage, led relationship with nature that one can break prayer. otic recipes. me down the path of reflection and rem- out of the violence of the destructive cycles I quickly immersed myself into the On the few occasions Kirstin and I iniscence. I recalled years spent in Ban- of accumulation and production. rhythm at Agape. I realized that the em- ventured out of our oasis, it was to bask in gladesh where I was wondrously struck by A rich blessing for all of us at Agape to phasis of living in harmony with nature the sunshine by the waters of the Quabbin how peoples’ lives are intrinsically linked share Merwyn and Kirstin’s lives from Af- meant that all acts of labor whether out- Reservoir, connect with friends of Agape, to each other and to nature. The ushering in ghanistan to Bangladesh and India as we doors or indoors are an extension of the and to participate in the Black Lives Mat- of each season, the multiple auspicious re- built community together. Thank you both. sacred. Early morning prayer with Taizé ter vigil in the nearby town of Ware. In ligious festivals, and even auspicious days chant sets the tone. We performed as ora interpersonal interactions during the vig- in the socio-political calendar are celebrat-

Racial Justice for the Indigenous People: Change the State Flag of Massachusetts by David Detmold retire the Indian mascot at Turner’s High, in public schools – if Mississippi can take the natural world that supports all life, the former Gill-Montague superintendent down its flag of white supremacy – why enslavement of Native people, the taking of Sometime in the middle of 2016 , as Michael Sullivan remarked, “Our review cannot Massachusetts do the same? their children for enforced assimilation in Native activists and their allies struggled process has… revealed that Native Amer- On Tuesday, July 28th, after 35 con- white boarding schools, the continued use through an emotionally charged series of ican mascots have helped legitimize and tinuous years of stalling the bill to change of racist images of Native people on our public hearings to get across to our belea- perpetuate harmful racial stereotypes and the state flag and seal in legislative com- state flag and high school sports jerseys, guered school committee the gross iniquity that these symbols exist within a context mittees, the State Senate voted unanimous- rendering the living cultures of Native Na- of our high school – named after Captain of historical oppression against Indigenous ly to invite Native leaders of the area now tions in this land invisible to their cultural William Turner, the leader of an infamous people, including an act of tragic violence known as Massachusetts to sit with state appropriators - are manifold and cannot dawn massacre of Native refugees camped that occurred right in this community, only legislators and come up with a new state be undone with the stroke of a state gov- on the Great Falls on the Connecticut River to be followed by centuries of ongoing as- flag and seal. That is a long-delayed step ernor’s pen. in May of 1676 – calling their sports teams sault, subjugation, and dispossession…. forward toward racial justice for the Indig- But now, on the 400th anniversary of the Indians, an indignant white alumnus That we did not understand these things enous people of this land. But the House the Pilgrim landing, passing these long- stood up and demanded: “If we have to in the past need not be anyone’s fault, but must also act, and the governor must sign stalled measures number (S.2848) has been change our mascot, why doesn’t the state if we do not act upon what we understand the bill, for the measure to become law. transferred to the House Ways and Means of Massachusetts have to change theirs?” now it will be a lost opportunity to be our Meanwhile the bill to ban the use of Native Committee, where passage is “the final He was pointing toward the state flag, best selves.” sports mascots has yet to move forward to step” before it gets to the floor for a full which stands, furled in shame, on the cor- Now, as the statues of conquistadors a final vote in either chamber. vote of the House and into law in Massa- ner of the Turner’s high school stage, as come down in New Mexico, as the hide- As one of the leading legislative spon- chusetts is a necessary start. Native lead- it stands on the side of every school au- bound Washington NFL football team sors of the bills to change the Massachu- ers have long called for their enactment. ditorium stage, every town hall meeting agrees to change its name, as statues to setts flag and seal and to ban the use of Following their leadership on racial justice room, every courtroom dais in the Com- Confederate generals who fought to keep Native sports mascots in Massachusetts – legislation is a prelude to accepting their monwealth. A moderator unfurled the flag African American in chains are removed Sen. Jo Comerford of Northampton – said leadership on so many other pressing is- so we could all get a good look at it: the from the public square, as the state of Mis- at a recent rally on the State House steps, sues that affect all communities in these white hand holding a Colonial Broadsword sissippi votes at long last to remove the “There is a tidal wave of justice rolling perilous days of renewed plague, species poised to strike the head off a compos- Confederate Stars and Bars from its flag, across this land – and it is about to crash loss, racial oppression and climate change. ite figure of a Native man, with the Latin Massachusetts is left alone among the 50 into Massachusetts.” Never before have we been so far from phrase scrolled beneath: “Peace Under the states still upholding a flag of overt white In order to make that happen, each of the vital truths of Nature and the original Sword…” supremacy. you who read these words must go to the instructions of a commonly perceived Cre- I thought, the man has a good point. Although our school district, with the MaIndigenousAgenda.org website, and ator, which the Indigenous People of the Ever since, I have been doing what I can help of Native activists, succeeded in re- take a few minutes to access the automated world have kept – and may still be willing to change this hideous state symbol of moving the offensive “Indian” logo from letter you will find there, to let key legis- to share – with any society willing to listen. white supremacy, so that it may no lon- its high school banners, nearly 40 other lators and the governor know you support Even ours. ger be taught to our grade school children, public schools in Massachusetts continue these bills. This is a necessary first step David Detmold is a tireless advocate passing along old prejudice in the noxious, to cling to racist, often cartoonish, Na- toward establishing a new relationship of for Native People and website coordinator centuries long tide of racism in which our tive sports mascots. Last year, the state of respect and understanding with Indigenous for ChangetheMassFlag. Please sign pe- ancestors first sailed to greet their Native Maine, once a colony of Massachusetts, people in Massachusetts. We all must work titions and alert state reps in your area to hosts on the shores of this beautiful con- voted to approve a statewide ban on the use to make that happen. the urgency of this measure. tinent. of Native sports mascots in all its public The past harms – the land theft, the On the eve of the decisive 6-3 vote to schools. If Maine can ban racist mascots spread of viral plagues, the despoliation of

FALL 2020 The Servant Song ◆ Page 5 AGAPE’S MISSION COUNCIL CHANGES: TRANSITIONS Farewell to Skip Schiel and El Maclellan RSCJ Agape’s Mission Coun- for their many years of life organic garden, solar heated mitage, my place of refuge. cil is our lifeblood and advi- and so many of them spent home, grease car and compost Welcome to Jeanelle sory community which meets with Agape. It is important toilet, Agape practices what I Wheeler, new member, since the 1990’s at least four to note that Skip brought the preach. Agape Mission Council times a year to plan Francis community to the Quabbin Skip: I met Brayton and Jeanelle Wheeler is the Day and to consult on various Reservoir watershed, recom- Suzanne in 1980 at Friends daughter of Teresa Wheeler, aspects of Agape community mending Hardwick and the Meeting in Cambridge as one of the original and found- life. area as a site for the still un- they brought a noisy cluster ing members of Agape’s Mis- The commitments of formed community. 33 years of young black children to the sion Council. We call Jeanelle members are usually life- later, we are flourishing in the “silent” meeting. Many years an “in-utero” Agape member long, and so we were sad to Hardwick woods. Thank you later, I befriended one of those as she has been coming to see the retirement and depar- Skip and El: children as he navigated his Agape since before her birth, ture from Mission Council El: I was first intro- way through the tortuous chan- and now, after achieving both by two of our treasured and duced to Agape as a chaplain nels of Maximum Security at a bachelor and master’s degree dearly loved members, Skip at Boston College. As a Reli- Walpole prison. from Brown University, as well Schiel and Sr. Eleanor Maclellan RSCJ, both gious of the Sacred heart. I see the spreading Agape has blessed me with hands-on as a Fulbright Scholarship which took her to of who have been companions and more for of the love of community expressed tangi- benedictions when I embark on yet another Europe, we are blessed to welcome her gifts over thirty years. The best way to honor bly at Agape. I have travelled to Agape for journey of photographic discovery, mostly of music, writing, wisdom and an abiding them is in their own words, as they describe Mission Council Meetings for over 30 years, through yearly trips to Gaza and the West devotion to nonviolence, as she joins her their years at Agape. We celebrated El’s 90th and I am especially inspired by Agape’s Bank. I love the members of Mission Coun- Mom on Agape’s Mission Council. birthday and Skip’s 80th with deep gratitude commitment to the environment. With their cil as brothers and sisters, as well as the Her-

Intrepid: Our Call by Sr. Rita Raboin SND which we find ourselves today calls us Trouble” that John Lewis recommend- unrelentingly to respond with contin- ed. In July, I was blessed with a sev- ual, collective planning, not giving up We are called to continue, even en-day retreat at Agape. I am a Sis- even with the unexpected that occurs with setbacks, if we want to save the ter of Notre Dame de Namur, having every day. soul of this country, while struggling served 36 years in Northern Brazil with Accompanying this call is a per- for jobs, housing, racial equality, gen- a return to the United States two years sonal certitude that “Silence is Some- der issues, voter rights, nonviolence ago. one,” apt for retreat, but not limited to against militarism. We cannot accom- I chose to stay in Agape’s small this time. In any silence, our thoughts plish any of these things alone. I proj- Hermitage on a hill about 400 feet from and prayers nourish the call: how to ect myself more as a social activist than the main community dwelling. The respond to these challenges and strug- a contemplative retreatant in a hermit- Hermitage is rustic, with a two-burner gles that confront us: Covid 19, the age. Then again, I think at times that camping stove and two battery charged political divide in the country, racial there is not too much of a distance be- lanterns, a comfortable chair and bed inequality, the immigrant crisis, police tween the two. It is difficult to leave the and eight windows, framing the strong brutality, unemployment, family con- world of pain out there. Agape mem- trees surrounding this small but invit- flicts. How are we to become intrepid, bers take the gospel seriously and man- ing space. The woods were all embrac- face- to-face with these challenges? aged to share the treasure of its call and ing, and I loved it. We are encouraged by Christ integrated contemplation and action in In the center of the room, firmly who tells us that if we cannot follow your book, Loving Life on the Margins. rooted on rocks on the wooden floor is His call, then we cannot continue the My time in the Hermitage was fer- a small, cast iron stove. What called my journey with Him. (Mt. 16:24) During tile ground to reflect on John Lewis’ attention to the stove after a short time these retreat days, John Lewis left us message to redeem the best of what this was one word, engraved on its side: In- with the challenge that reiterates this country can offer to the most forgotten trepid, the call of our foundress, Saint call to be intrepid in our quest for jus- of its population. Through my retreat Julie Billiart. Saint Julie said that we tice. He tells us that together we can at Agape, I am strengthened in the cer- must be intrepid women in living out save the soul of this country. Together. titude that collectivity and intrepidness our charism to proclaim the goodness In our morning prayers at Agape, are indispensable on this journey to- of God to the poor in the most aban- we reflected on collectivity, what it gether. doned places. Our foundress herself means to be intrepid; dauntless, fear- Sr. Rita has been a friend for over was intrepid, unstoppable, even as a less. In Francis House, I saw collectiv- 30 years and represents the bond that paralytic. How could this word find me ity in dozens of photos of people who we at Agape has shared for our 40- here? The Holy Spirit never rests! are dedicated to the quest for justice, year history with women religious. The demand of this call is not lim- many of whom helped construct the Thank you, Sr. Rita, for your years as ited to our worldwide congregation, very house where we pray and share a missionary sister, serving the poor in though we pray that we are faithful meals. Many had practiced civil dis- Brazil. to this challenge. The global crisis in obedience, in the middle of “Good D Roberts Kirk Peace cranes on hermitage window. 400 Years after 1620: Prayers for Seven Generations by Peter Blood sacred tribal life came under full assault, and all the sacred web of life. ects that support the needs and aspirations making them outcasts in a European-dom- of Native People in our area. In this 400th anniversary of the begin- inated power structure. The loss and perva- Pathways Forward: Preparing a study guide and online ning of European settlement in the North- sive grief, as well as determined resistance Towards Truth: Listening to Indige- films to help congregations explore ways eastern U.S., two interfaith associations in of Native people continued. Even with this nous voices they can act in solidarity with our Native Western Massachusetts are taking this op- generational loss and tragedy, Native Peo- Towards Kinship: Owning and repudi- neighbors. portunity to reflect and act towards justice ple are still living and still holding on to the ating racist beliefs and doctrines The Massachusetts Senate voted unan- for our Native sisters and brothers in our spiritual threads stretching over 400 years. Towards Justice: Working together for imously to start the process of changing region. This concern was brought to us by 2020 gives a needed opportunity to respect, rights, and land for Native Peoples the genocidal imagery on our state flag and Sr. Clare Carter of the New England Peace learn the truth of this history which Native of the Northeast seal. Pagoda and the following statement: People say it is still held in the earth, the You are invited to participate in a com- We will plan ways to get both houses 2020 is the 400th anniversary of the waters, the air of the region and in the deep memorative event at: of the legislature to act on this next year. Plymouth Landing by the Pilgrims.... For spirit of the people. The monks at the Peace Unity Park in Turners Falls on Sun- Please join us in this! If you are not Native Peoples, this marker in time signals Pagoda have come to understand that this day, October 18th at 2pm (rain date of in Western Massachusetts, plan activities a great cataclysm visited upon the Native time of reflection is a Divine gift for all of Oct. 25th). in your own communities. Watch for more peoples of the Northeast us. By learning the profound harm and de- If the pandemic prevents us from gath- details in local papers and our websites: The drive to fully ‘take over’ these struction inherent in the way of coloniza- ering safely, we will hold a virtual event. Interfaith Opportunities Network beautiful lands grew as more settlers came tion and conquest we can see more clearly The program includes talks by Native lead- https://interfaithamherst.org/ to these shores, and in 50 brief years, Native how deeply we are called to change. What ers, prayers, music, and a decolonization Interfaith Council of Franklin County People were dispossessed of their ancestral seeds do we need to plant to make a differ- ritual. https://www.facebook.com/allarewelco- lands. Their spiritually based culture and ent, life-giving future for all human beings Fund raising for two reparational proj- meatthistable/

Page 6 ◆ The Servant Song FALL 2020 Voices

Eradicating Racism: There are so many people who call themselves Christians and yet Transforming Human Hearts are not faithful to this core teaching by Fr. Warren Savage spiritual work of transforming human to death by injustices of every sort. of Jesus. John Lewis was an authen- hearts to be what they were created to be, I believe we need a day for the nation tic disciple of Jesus’ unconditional The racial tension and unrest in Min- energy fields of love and compassion. We and the whole world to step back from love, as were Martin Luther King, neapolis and other major cities across the need to promote an inner spiritual revolu- everything and breathe for everyone who Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day. country and the COVID-19 pandemic have tion of the heart. cannot breathe because of forces choking That is why John Lewis was called only exposed the real pandemic that has I believe the Holy Spirit is calling the them to death, cutting them off from the the “Conscience of Congress” by infected this nation for four centuries, the whole world to be still, to be contempla- source of life. both the Republicans and the Dem- pandemic of racism and hatred. tive, to be more mindful of the intercon- Fr. Warren Savage served as the con- ocrats, his famous quote guiding us At the moment, my energies are de- nectedness of all people with creation. venor of Agape’s 2018 Francis Day: Voices to a life of resistance: “Never, ever voted to comforting families that have lost In this time of such human upheaval for Racial Justice. He is a member of the be afraid to make some noise and get loved ones from the virus, presiding over on so many levels, we need to step back National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, in good trouble, necessary trouble.” funeral services and burials, and offering and breathe for the whole world, breathe in founder of the Albert and Amelia Ferst Father John Sullivan M. S. La- spiritual direction to people who are over- memory of George Floyd who was killed Interfaith Center at Westfield State Uni- salette Shrine, Enfield, NH who cel- whelmed with fear, anxiety, depression, by a cop’s kneeling on his neck preventing versity, international speaker, lecturer and ebrated 50 years of priesthood this and uncertainty. him from breathing as he called out for his preacher, and close friend of Agape for 30 July. The real work of eradicating racism Mama! We need to breathe in memory of years. is not more riots and protests, but the deep all the people whose lives are being choked

Death Sentence Of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Reversed On July 31, 2020 NOTE: Agape’s witness Against the It found that Judge O’Toole should have ment. The Verdict: “Dzhokhar’s death sen- Death Penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev engaged in a more thorough and robust It’s not a question of whether Tsar- tence was devastating—guilty on all thirty can be found in the chapter, “Judy and questioning process of prospective jurors naev will be found guilty or innocent — counts. Given Dzhokhar’s age at the time Dzhokhar” of the Agape co-founders’, and allowed defense lawyers to dig more that question has been resolved — it’s just of the bombing (19) and other mitigating Suzanne Belote Shanley and Brayton deeply into what jurors specifically might a question of whether he will get life or family circumstances presented at the trial, Shanley’s, memoir: Loving Life on the have heard, read or watched with respect death. … He’s going to spend the rest of we had held out some hope for a sentence Margins: The Story of the Agape Com- to media coverage of the case. … where his life in a horrible supermax facility in of life in prison. But the combined suffer- munity. there’s a lot of pretrial publicity, trial judg- Florence, Colorado. The only real question ing of hundreds of victims obviously took Dzhokhar Anzorovich Tsarnaev was es have to do much more than is the typical is whether he’ll face a new death penalty its toll on the jury, death-qualified by vir- convicted of terrorism in planting pres- case to make sure that the jury isn’t biased. trial on six counts. tue of being eligible for selection only if sure cooker bombs at the Boston Marathon Here he (Judge George A. O’Toole) simply President Trump and Attorney General they identified themselves as able to vote on April 15, 2013, along with his brother didn’t do quite enough. Barr, in collaboration with our local U.S. in favor of the death penalty given the cir- Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The bombings killed The second issue that the First Circuit attorney’s office, may seek a new death cumstances of the conviction. If a poten- three people and injured approximately cited was that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was de- penalty trial. The Justice Department, led tial juror, acting in conscience, expressed 280. prived of the chance to fully develop the by US Attorney General William Barr, moral grounds of opposition to execution, The First Circuit Court of Appeals argument that his late brother, Tamerlan, must choose among three options: Appeal he or she would be disqualified from the in Boston reversed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s was the driving force in the bombing and the ruling in the hopes that a higher court beginning from serving on the jury.” death sentence rendered on June 24, 2015 that Dzhokhar was more of a sidekick. … will restore the sentence; return to court by Suzanne Shanley in the Boston Marathon Bombing case. called mitigation evidence, an attempt by in an effort to convince a jury to sentence Excerpts below are from an interview with the defense to convince the jury to spare Tsarnaev to death again; or abandon the Daniel Medwed, Northeastern University his life. The judge didn’t allow Dzhokhar pursuit of capital punishment — secure in law professor: to introduce evidence that Tamerlan had the knowledge that Tsarnaev will remain in Daniel Medwed: Appellate courts perpetrated a triple homicide in Waltham, prison for the rest of his life regardless of scrutinize death penalty trials carefully. an unrelated crime to develop that argu- the latest ruling.

CORONA from page 1 life only to arrive at a job we have no love “Our bodies are still those of endurance rate in the country. Their reservation, lo- for, willing to be someone else’s tool in athletes, evolved to walk many miles a cated in one of the poorest counties in the Day at Agape, “humans are the only species a culture of takers? Al Kaline, legendary day, and often run, as well as dig, climb nation was federally deemed a food desert, that are destroying the foundations of life Baseball Hall of Famer said after he retired and carry.” Just walking on our two feet, requiring the natives to travel 40 minutes to on earth.” In China it wasn’t telecommut- from the game: “Did spending my life hit- along God’s green earth, is what we were the nearest food store. ing or grounded airplanes that caused the ting baseballs do any good? Did it real- made for, not sitting, and pushing buttons Navajo farmer, Tyrone Thompson re- immediate 25% drop in carbon emissions; ly improve anyone? Could I have instead and pressing down on gas and brake ped- sponded by starting a food-growing revolu- it was the cessation of the industrial econ- gone into medicine and helped people?” als, cursing our lives. tion within the reservation. “We are going omy, machines and manufacturing. The In this moment do we have the courage What are people of faith to do back to using the tools that were given to us pandemic is showing the human addiction to ask the same question? Do I just con- If we underestimate the virus, it will by our elders and ancestors,” he said. “Our

D Roberts Kirk to macro-industrial, oil and gas glutted get- tinue the lethal stress of working for more find us. If we survive the virus, rebuild, planting stick, our steering stick. These are ting and spending. The prophecy of Covid money? Do I add my labor to a growth-ob- and reinvent our ways of being, we will the tools against hunger, poverty and sick- 19 is: learn to thrive closer to home- walk, sessed economic system that cooks the live more as God intended us to. Kairos is ness.” Many Navajos are spending these bike, live on less, enjoy more. earth and cooks our children’s futures? revealing a true experience of “oneness” in uncertain pandemic days at home, reclaim- In China just two months of reduced The science tells us that a 32-hour work these crisis times. All humanity, the entire ing their traditional native farming. Re- pollution saved the lives of 4,000 chil- week would significantly lower carbon world population, is united in one effort; to cently, the virus has seen a steady decline dren under the age of 5 and 73,000 adults emissions and vastly de-stress our frantic survive this virus. across the reservation. Sometimes “new” is over the ages of 70. (Science Alert, Jacinta pace. Let’s hope that this forced “shel- The New Testament gospel of Mat- so old it looks new! (Peter Maurin). Bowler, March 17, 2020). tering in place” awakens us to the kind of thew offers us an image: “New wine into Pope Francis insists that we must ful- How many more lives would we save livelihood that is truly a right livelihood. new wine skins” which narrates the clash of ly acknowledge our broken humanity and in the US if we lived the life that this pan- What about our most sacred industrial old forms with new faith (Mt 9:17). “New” wounded earth and treat this spiritual and demic is demanding?We must evolve eco- society machine, the beloved automobile? speaks to the prophetic urgency of now. physical reality as a field hospital, that is, nomic cultures that support all human life America’s cities waste enormous square When you put new wine in old wineskins, tend to each other’s healing first. Grate- living on 50 million barrels of oil a day miles on cars, for driving and parking. The gases from the new wine will burst open ful that we can rely on the life sustaining instead of customary 100 million barrels. sparse Covid-limited cities sound quiet- old skins. Similarly, a new more evolved abundance of our mother the earth, she will The extreme weather of climate change er, look more at peace, feel more humane and living faith is incompatible with tired “serve our need not our greed” (Gandhi). will not give us a choice. Masking and to humans while making equal room for out-of-date religious beliefs and practices. “The meek shall inherit the earth,” social distancing will not save the planet; the more than human plants and animals. The crisis of Covid 19 and Climate preaches Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount. it will only save humans. But once saved, Thanks to the efforts of Mayor Anne Hidal- Change is crying out to us— “spending The meek, meaning the “God-molded” do will we be ready to do simpler things with go, more of Paris is built for pedestrians, a yourselves relying on speed, and the fe- not need to conquer, subdue, or control the smaller amounts of money in our pockets? major city miracle with 40% less traffic. rocity of competitive win/lose ways of liv- earth. The earth is given to the meek as This kairos time calls out an urgent de- We cannot afford to go back to pre- ing and working is too old. You need to be gift. All Christians, indeed, all people of mand--reinvent yourselves. Covid automobile use. We must reinvent done with them.” faith, are called to pray for this new faith What Work Is Good Work transportation. But how? We are kinder to The Navajo nation in Colorado, gave and the courage to live convincingly a more What are the inconveniences of Covid the earth when we humans are doing what up farming five years ago when 3 million contemplative life. Reliance on the God of showing us about what work is essential? we are designed to do-- walk, the most nat- gallons of metal contaminated waste was all life will surely change us in time and Can we take a page from the spiritual mas- ural, rhythmic way to a strong and healthy dumped in the south west river system in pull us back from the self-inflicted brink of ter, Buddha, and his teaching on “right body. Harvard human evolutionary biol- Colorado. Adding to their woes, the Nava- destruction. livelihood?” Does our burning oil sitting ogist, Dr. Daniel Lieberman, reminds us: jos were suffering the highest Corona Virus for hours in traffic jams foster a peaceful

FALL 2020 The Servant Song ◆ Page 7 News Notes IN MEMORIAM Patricia Shanley, Brayton’s sister, of the annual St. Patrick’s Day, alterna- News Note died8 on April 22, 2020 of cancer. Since tive Peace March, by Veterans for Peace, the inception of Agape in 1982, Trish was of which they were both members. VFP Julie Bradley, part of the Agape family for forty years, has assumed the role a generous supporter of the community members were not allowed to march in the of office manager at Agape, complete with guiding our office into the cloud, and and a friend to many Agape folks. A stal- official parade because of their commit- assuming many of the myriad other functions of the pulse of the Agape community, wart advocate for Christian Nonviolence ment to peace. Katie last visited Agape communicating with our beloved community. Betsy Azarowski faithfully served as and the social justice values of Agape and when we planted a tree atNews Agape in To- Notesoffice manager for two years and laid a foundation for Julie and this transition. the reform movement within the Catholic ny’s honor and in honor of VFP after his Church, Call to Action, she was also active death several years ago. Katie and Tony in the cause to abolish the Death Penal- are guiding us still in our march for peace ty. She joined with Agape in the success- and nonviolence. ful five-year campaign to help Billy Neal Jane Petrella: The mother of Mis- Moore gain commutation from Georgia’s sion Council member, Teresa Wheeler, Death Row in 1990, as well being a regular and grandmother of new Mission Council participant in the Little Compton, RI peace member, Jeanelle Wheeler, Jane was the vigil. A loyal and loving sister, faithful Petrella matriarch who paved the way for friend and family member, Trish will be the Christ-centered commitment to neigh- deeply missed. Rest in Peace, Trish. borhood restoration in Worcester, initiating Katie Flaherty: Katie was an avid solar energy projects and countless oth- supporter of her brother, Tony Flaherty, the er devotions to the cause of peace. Jane former Marine, whose energy and tireless graced Agape with a visit shortly before devotion to peace, thrust him into the role, her death, and her radiant face shone in all with Katie’s assistance, of the convenor of its usual splendor.

Witness—Cambridge City Hall, Hiroshima Day Agape Interns Katie and Colleen, Canadian guests Alex and Andre, Julian from France, Ali from Iraq and Beth from Hampshire College July Agape Workday crew, Julie Bradley fourth from left with her family. AGAPE CALENDAR Artwork by Beth Cane, summer volunteer

Volunteer Barry Winkelman, Brayton’s childhood friend, gathers firewood

Allah Mathematics Allah third from left in Everythingis Real Barbershop Beth Cane

Ellen Guerra, left, Chloe Haydel Brown Woofer, right volunteers from Ohio spent August tending the garden. Sept. 24-25th—Brandeis University Student Rural Immersion

Sept. 26th—7 pm Book presentation and talk/Haydenville Congregational Church, Haydenville, MA

Sat. Oct. 5th—St. Francis Day....See Announcement on Front Page…MUSICCalendar AFTER INTERFAITH SERVICE—BRING BROWN BAG LUNCH AND DINNER… Agape legacy book tour in March, with Pax Christi National and Johnny Zokovitch, director, AGAPE’S ANNUAL FRANCIS DAY PENDING: fourth from let. Oct. 9th—St. Joseph’s College—PachogueOCTOBER 3, 2020 Long Island, Book ST Isaac, Donny and Brendan—Summer buddies at Agape TourDue Presentations to Covid, what would have been Agape’s 31 consecutive year of Fran- cis Days is on hold as an in-person gathering. pending a decision to hold a virtual SUPPORT SERVANT SONG Oct.event. 14-17—Holy Please consult Crossthe website, College—Rural facebook or call Immersion Agape for updates. for students 413-967- at9369 Agape—work/prayer/discussion Yes, I want to receive Servant Song twice yearly. Enclosed is $10 Other donation $______Oct. 22-30—Book Tour: Toronto, Buffalo; Rochester, NY ______VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS ON AGAPE’S NEW BOOK: th I can’t subscribe, but please keep me on your mailing list. Nov. 6-7 —IonaLOVING College, LIFE NY—Presentation ON THE MARGINS: on Nonviolence and the Environment at Thomas Berry Center and in classrooms ______THE STORY OF THE AGAPE COMMUNITY Enclosed is a donation of for the work of Agape. Nov.SPECIAL 15-18th –Bethlehem,NOTICE: Contact Philadelphia—Book Agape for a virtual presentationTour Presentations on Agape memoir of 40 years, Loving Life on the Margins: The Story of the Agape Com- $100 $50 $25 Other $______Dec.munity 7th by—5:30 Brayton pm Shanley Advent and MassSuzanne with Belote Fr. Shanley John Sullivan, followed ______by Pot-LuckThe book can be discussed thematically with chapters related to 40 years of Please take me off your mailing list. (We urge you to please remove nonviolent practice through sustainability, contemplation, action, gardening and your name if you do not read Servant Song or other Agape mailings.) witness against systemic violence and racism. Several book chapters focus on how Agape has dealt with issues of race and our community efforts to address Name ______Pleaseanti-racist check movements. Agape’s A chapterwebsite on for Dzhokhar other Tsarnaev,Book Tour called dates “Judy and and Dz- Address ______presentationshokhar” offers an in in-depth your area.view of Please the recent call sentencing or email reversal. Agape to order a “Loving Life on the Margins” may be ordered on line through the publisher City ______State ______Zip ______book or to schedule a talk/presentation. at the Agape website, or through Agape 2062 Greenwich Rd. Ware, MA 01082 Telephone ______Email ______by sending a check for $28 which includes postage.

Page 8 ◆ The Servant Song FALL 2020