Spirit of Truth Newsletter June 2, 2011

Spirit of Truth Newsletter June 2, 2011

Hello! This is the Spirit of Truth newsletter, to keep us all up to date on what’s going on with our community.  If you know someone who might like Spirit of Truth, forward this on to them.  If you’d like to be taken off the list, or if you’d like to know more about anything you read here, reply and let us know.
Our Conviction: God is Love, Love is the center of all creation, and Justice is the public expression of that Love.
Our Vision: The vision of Spirit of Truth is a Minnesota and world where love and justice are at the center of our community and society, and where people, through spiritual nourishment, real relationships, dignified work, and public voice, live valued, meaningful lives.
Our Mission: The mission of Spirit of Truth is to be central to realizing that vision.  To be a community of people that through spiritual practices, community relationships, action for justice and faith live into the belief that love and justice are actually at the center, and to create a society that lives up to that belief as well. 

What’s been going on: Campaign Update

Thanks to all of you who helped us collect receipts is support of the retail cleaners at Cub Foods.  In the end we collected $105,499.68 worth of receipts! We met and exceeded our goal! We also had over two hundred signatures pledging to Cub Foods that our money will follow our values.  On Thursday, May 26^th, a group of thirty of us met outside Cub Foods headquarters in Stillwater, MN to deliver theses receipts, and ask that Cub Foods sit down and talk with the workers.  Click here to see a video of that event.

Our action in support of the people who clean Cub Foods comes during a time when workers have had to take drastic action to get Cub Foods to meet with them.   A group of twelve workers and community allies (including Pastor Grant Stevensen) staged a hunger strike, that last ten days, before it was called off for safety reasons.  It was a powerful action and a strong statement by workers and allies, but Cub Foods has still not moved.  The workers are in the midst of planning the next steps of this campaign.  Spirit of Truth will continue to support the campaign as well, and we will let you know as we have next steps.  In the meantime, join us for our regular Sunday gatherings to explore our faith, and to celebrate our belief in a God of love and justice. For more information about the Campaign for Justice in Retail cleaning, visit CTUL’s website, or the Action page of the Spirit of Truth website.

 What’s up next:

It is time for us at Spirit of Truth to take a minute to step back, celebrate what we’ve accomplished, and envision our next steps as a community.  How do we ant to grow? What actions do we want to take? Are Sunday mornings still energizing? What do we want to change? We are going to talk about these questions on Sunday, June 12^th.  We’ll gather at 11am (location to be announced) and have a retreat, with prayer and song, brainstorming, listening, and planning.  We will also have food and beverages.  The retreat will wrap up by 1:30.  If you’d like to get more connected to Spirit of Truth, and to be part of the conversation about what’s possible for our congregation, and for our world, please join us! If you have any questions, reply to this email, or call Peter Marincel at 651-336-6726. 

It is wonderful being in community and action with you all!

www.spiritoftruthtwincities.org

See How They Love One Another

Spirit of Truth is about supporting one another as we endeavor to live justly and to stand with those who have been treated unjustly. Recently I have heard about others, far from Minnesota, who support each other in this too. Since these stories inspired me, I offer them to you now, knowing that the Spirit will find a way to have them touch you too.

Recently, people fleeing the violence in Ivory Coast have found shelter in villages in Liberia. A woman named Marie, along with sixteen members of her extended family stumbled onto a village of about thirty mud brick huts. There a farmer named Saturday Wayee took them in.

They slept on the dirt floor of his hut and shared the food and water he gave them.

More arrived, about sixteen different groups in all. By the end of the month in which Marie first arrived, Saturday was sheltering 35 people in his small home.

He says it is hard to find food for everyone, but he continues his hospitality. During his country’s civil war, many people in his area fled to Ivory Coast. He says there is a feeling that when violence comes, you help those in need and they’ll do the same for you.

Saturday explained, “We are suffering with them because we are all human beings.”


The second story of people supporting one another comes from a different area of Africa. A young Kenyan medical student was studying in the United States. Returning home, he told his village community a story that had “burned a hole in his heart.” He described the September 11^th attacks. When he finished speaking, there was silence as they pondered the suffering that happened in ways almost unimaginable to the villagers. Then a plan emerged.
They invited the American ambassador to come. At his arrival, he was greeted by hundreds of people, dressed in scarlet tunics and beaded collars. They had a gift, they said, for the people of the United States, to help them heal from the tragedy. The gift was fourteen cows.
All of these people are doing the work of God.
In a book by Amy Hollingsworth, I learned my hero Mister Rogers believed the work of God is “seeing the eternal in your neighbor, that divine presence that allows us to show mercy to our neighbor—and to receive it.”

Food for Thought--and Action

Though we did not speak specifically about it, food was a theme of our Palm Sunday gathering and action.

First we brought a plethora of food to share. It is not surprising that eating together is mentioned so often in Scriptures, for the experience creates a bond amongst people, like singing and praying together. We did all three.

From the table we moved to the street. Food was again a bond between us, but this time it was to call for fair working conditions for those who clean our grocery stores. No matter who we are, what our work is, and where we live, we are all grocery shoppers. We stood on a corner of Snelling Avenue, in sight of a Cub grocery store, to let others know that we want those who work in the stores to be treated with the same dignity as customers.

The wind buffeted us while the sun blessed us. Some of the faces in our circle were familiar, some new to me. We ranged in ages from four months to ninety years. I feel I can say that we all believe that no matter who we are, what our work is, and where we live, all people are children of God and deserve dignity. As we prayed and sang, an eagle soared above us, circling a few times.

We took turns holding up palms and colorful signs for passers-by to read. These explained that CTUL workers are asking to meet with Cub managers, that we are customers who care about the cleaners, that the best value comes when people are valued. Many people in cars passed us. Some drivers stopped to receive information. Others stared straight ahead as if they had not noticed the group of people standing ten feet away from them. A fair number honked their horns in encouragement. In any case, our presence resulted in a lot more people becoming aware of this issue.

With the sun still shining, and the wind still pushing and tugging at the signs clutched in our hands, we headed back to our cars, knowing we had done what was right.

Newsletter March 31st

Spirit of Truth Newsletter March 31, 2011 (see below for what's coming up!)

Hello! This is the Spirit of Truth newsletter, to keep us all up to date on what’s going on with our community.  If you know someone who might like Spirit of Truth, forward this on to them.  If you’d like to be taken off the list, or if you’d like to know more about anything you read here, reply and let us know.

Our Conviction: God is Love, Love is the center of all creation, and Justice is the public expression of that Love.
Our Vision: The vision of Spirit of Truth is a Minnesota and world where love and justice are at the center of our community and society, and where people, through spiritual nourishment, real relationships, dignified work, and public voice, live valued, meaningful lives.
Our Mission: The mission of Spirit of Truth is to be central to realizing that vision.  To be a community of people that through spiritual practices, community relationships, action for justice and faith live into the belief that love and justice are actually at the center, and to create a society that lives up to that belief as well.

 What’s up next:

1.      April 17th – Palm Sunday pot luck and vigil in support of workers that clean Cub Foods – each of you is invited! As many of you know, Spirit of Truth has been organizing with the members of the Justice in Retail Cleaning campaign (click here to learn more about the campaign).  On Sunday, April 17th, we are going to take action to move the campaign forward.  First, we’ll gather together at St Matt’s for a pot luck meal.  We’ll eat together, meet each other, and talk about the campaign.  Then we’ll all go together to hold a vigil near a local Cub Foods.  The vigil will highlight our faith values and what Palm Sunday has to do with this campaign for justice.   This will be a powerful event if all of you join us to make a real, values-based statement to Cub foods, and to the people who clean the stores and have put their jobs on the line to speak up.   Please come join us!  You can RSVP by clicking reply to this email and letting us know.   You also might get a call or individual email from another leader at Spirit of Truth.  See you on April 17th!

2.      Receipt Collection – As part of this same action, we will be launching a period of collecting grocery receipts, and asking people to sign a card that pledges to use our money to follow our values, including the value of dignity for workers.   Why are we doing this?  We want to show Cub Foods that we are people who have strong values for justice, and that collectively, we spend a lot of money on groceries.  It will help Cub understand how important it is to sit down and talk with the workers leading the campaign.  We’ll be collecting receipts all through the month of April, and into May, so start saving them now! Not a Cub shopper? That’s ok.  We are collecting all kinds of grocery receipts, not just Cub receipts.  The point is to show how much economic power we have as a group, regardless of where we get our groceries. Interested in joining us? Reply to this email, and we’ll make sure to get you the pledge card and figure out how to get the receipts.

 We continue to meet every Sunday morning at 11:15.  Please join us to learn more about the people involved, and what Spirit of Truth is all about!

 Thanks,

 Peter Marincel

651-336-6726

www.spiritoftruthtwincities.org

Palm Sunday: What Jesus and a Donkey Have to Teach Us

Our Palm Sunday gathering is approaching so I read the scripture of Christ's entry into Jerusalem in Mark 11:1-11 and Matthew 21:1-11. I also read a few commentaries and one gave me a new perspective on this old story.

The word "triumphal" is often used to describe this event in Jesus' life. This sounds amazing, even dazzling, doesn't it? But when you look at the elements that made up this scene, the word "humble" is the only way to describe it.

Jesus enters, riding a donkey. Not a magnificent horse, which can prance, fling its mane and offer its rider a lofty perch from which to look down upon people. No, this was a donkey. Actually, it was a donkey's colt--not even a grown-up donkey! And a borrowed one at that.

Donkeys have admirable traits but flamboyant isn't one of them. They are smaller than horses and not as fast. They are ridiculed, and aspects of donkeys are used to ridicule people in many ways.

They are the animals that, to this day, carry the burdens of the poor. Even Scripture describes this animal as "a beast of burden."

And as to the young donkey in Jerusalem, there was no leather saddle for Jesus to ride on, no ribbons or bells for decoration. Jesus' disciples took off their cloaks and placed them on the animal's back, a makeshift kind of seat that may have been threadbare, dusty or even smelling like fish.

The people who came to accompany him laid their cloaks on the road for his passage. Others cut branches from trees to strew on his path. They wanted to honor him, but the shirts off their backs and the nearby nature were all they had to offer.

Yes, it was a triumphal moment because it was a a proclamation that the crowds of people believed him to be a prophet who had come to them from the Lord. But it was not majestic, not a procession of a king of wealth. There were no musicians, banners, no sedan chair held high.

Even at one of his greatest moments of glory, Jesus made it clear that he was a king for the lowly and humble in a society. His example teaches that for those with resources, the riches are not the treasure.

Some questions to ponder this week: What is your burden to carry? What is your treasure?

This Sunday's conversation - what would it look like to organize our money behind our values?

Hi Spirit of Truth,

I want to take a moment to get you caught up about our conversation last Sunday, and the one coming up this Sunday, especially for those of you who weren't there last week.

Our one to one conversations, and our group discussion was about money.  We talked about how in our world, money is a huge source of power.  It is the way we get things done, and the way people who make important decisions for our communities, get into decision making positions.  Our question was: WHAT IF YOUR MONEY FOLLOWED YOUR VALUES?  And not just the money you spend for leisure, or even just the money you give away to charity or causes.  What if as a community, we started to learn how ALL of our money could be used for our values, instead of values we don't agree with?  What could that look like?  

So that's what this week's conversation will be about - the next step.  During our prayer time, we'll talk more about that question, explore what we've been thinking about this week in relation to money, and what it has to do with our faith.  Then after prayer, we'll gather for a co-creation meeting around the tables, and talk about next steps.  I'll bring some proposed ideas for further exploring and maybe acting on this concept of using our money for our values, and we'll discuss and make decisions.  

This topic had a lot of energy last week.  In the world as it is, money is power.  And if we want to change the world for the better, we can't shy away from the money conversation.  I'd like to invite each of you to come be part of this on Sunday!

We'll also be giving quick updates on the CTUL campaign, and our pot luck and action coming up on Palm Sunday, April 17th.  

Take care all, and see you on Sunday at 11:15!

Pete