No to SB 1070

SB1070, the recent law passed in Arizona mandates descrimination and racial profiling and weakens trust between the community and local law enforcement by encouraging the latter to stop individuals simply because they "look" like they might be undocumented. Portland folks joined groups from across the country yesterday by gathering to make a public statement in opposition to this decision and calling for the repeal of SB1070.

The action opened with song and with some words by activists from local immigrant rights organizations and continued with a musical drama depicting the doomed marriage between local law enforcement and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

ICE courts local law enforcement: The wedding:The ceremony is broken up by The Community, who breaks into an alternative version of Ice Ice Baby until ICE takes him down.

Inmates then sing to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance until Local Law Enforcement revives The Community and they dance. Very entertaining. The march through downtown Portland.

El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido.

The people united will never be defeated.

For more on SB1070 and The United Methodist Church's stance, go to the General Board of Church and Society's website.

Planting seeds for a new season

The labyrinth garden at CUMC is alive and well. The first tomato starts are planted and green bean seeds are in the ground and there is much hope for what this second year of gardening will bring.

Some of the crew:

Tilling the soil:

Spreading the compost:

Our #1 volunteer:

Comic relief:

Master waterer:

It's so exciting to think of all the beautiful veggies that will be harvested and shared and enjoyed because of the hands willing to get dirty now.

A hangout for God

After a few smaller gatherings to eat and dream, The Supper made its CUMC debut. Twenty-two people (including two babies) showed and slurped scrumptious homemade soups: pumpkin black bean and chicken fajita. We had some intentional conversation over dinner about where we were each born, something we do that we'd like to do more of and something we've never done that we'd like to try. I learned lots--even about people I've known for a while! There were people at each table who are primarily Spanish-speakers, so all conversation was in two languages--so great!

After dinner, we used paper, crayons and markers to create a visual piece that expresses how we experience God's presence, then shared our creations with one another. The conversation was rich and there was love in the listening. Here are some photos of folks at work.



What a gift to sit together and attempt to point, individually and collectively, to where God is and what God is about. And how amazing to have folks from different parts of our community, some members of the church, some connected through the Community Table Food Pantry, some friends, some friends of friends, some neighbors. And two people that just showed up randomly, unaware that we were having a meal. We all sat down and ate together.

It's like the words from Paul that we shared during our supper--when we get together, especially with all different kinds of people, we make a pretty good place for God to hang out. It's from Ephesians 2, The Message:

The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father. That's plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in
brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

The Supper / La Cena

In her book, Take This Bread, Sara Miles talks a lot about Jesus and food. In Jesus, "God rose from the dead to have breakfast with his friends." He made himself known when they broke bread together. In one story, he turned up cooking on the beach. In another, he asked for something to eat. Miles says,

All of it pointed to a force stronger than the anxious formulas of religion: a radically inclusive love that accompanied people in the most ordinary of actions--eating, drinking, walking--and stayed with them, through fear, even past death. That love meant giving yourself away, embracing outsiders as family,emptying yourself to feed and live for others. The stories illuminated the holiness located in mortal human bodies, and the promise that people could see God by cherishing all those different bodies the way God did. They spoke of a communion so much vaster than any church could contain: one I had sensed all my life could be expressed in the sharing of food,particularly with strangers.

This Sunday evening, some folks in Cornelius plan to gather to eat together and to intentionally reflect on where we see God showing up in our lives and in the world. We want to cherish all those different bodies. We want to make strangers into friends and see God more clearly and figure out together where we're called to go. And because Jesus spent so much of his time on earth sharing food with his friends, it seems to be a good place to start. If you're here, come join us.

The Supper / La Cena
Cornelius United Methodist Church, 1095 S. Beech
Sunday, May 16th (and every third Sunday), 5:00-7:00 p.m.

P.S. You should read the book!!