Author: gracesmuggler

Trans, Queer, Bisexual, Lesbian, and Gay siblings,

You have worth beyond words,

and

If you’d like to read the text of the Nashville Statement and the direct response of the Denver Statement, visit this page.

Bees bumble from flower to flower, using the navigation of bright colors to bring them to life-giving nectar. They collect it and covert it to honey to care for their young, and by extension, the whole hive.

But they have no idea about something else. . .

They have no idea they are pollinating the world’s food supply.

I think there’s something remarkably beautiful about that. The lives of bees are already so intricate and complex even in what they do intend, but beyond that, their work yields more life and complexity than they know.

Maybe this can serve as a parable:

Individually, and especially collectively, our best intentions, our best connections, our best work, our best loves, and our best visions may yield more life and complexity than we know too.

– Renee Roederer

Last week, we said this. . .

“Our aliveness — our dreams, our connections, and the callings which fuel us — can be some of the best gifts we offer our neighbors. They are ripe for collective change.

So whatever it is. . .
that dream,
that hope,
that longing,
that resource,
that gift,
that ability which comes so easily that you forget it’s special,

Keep doing it.”

This is something I very much believe. Alongside the painful news stories, large looming questions, and occasional waves of despair happening in our world, I sometimes say to myself, “The God of Dreams.”

“The God of Dreams. . . The God of Dreams. . .” I repeat it to myself to remember, especially if I’m feeling overwhelmed in it all. Because deep down, alongside all the challenges, I still believe there is inspiration beyond us, and it is always meeting with us. It is always finding us because that’s how God is. Beyond my full understanding, I believe this within myself. Other things are possible because we are being called into new ideas and visions.

They will find us. Especially if we begin to seek them out.

Part of the reason I say this phrase to myself — “The God of Dreams” — is because over the last three years, I’ve seen what has happened in the story below. Do you need a little inspiration today? Listen to Ben Johnston-Krase and Allen Brimer talk about Farm Church.

Farm Church is a church that meets on a farm and leverages all of the resources of that farm to address food insecurity. And it all started with a dream in the middle of the night.

The God of Dreams.

In this video, unfortunately, Ben and Allen’s names are both misspelled, and at a couple of points, they are switched. Allen is on the left; Ben is on the right.

Today’s blog is a repost but one I very much want to share again.

In honor of the eclipse, I’ve been writing this week about the sun, its light, its energy, and its life. Yesterday, I was cleaning my house while the Mumford & Sons’ song “Lover of the Light” came on shuffle. I was reminded of how much I love a particular musical crescendo in this song. It makes me think of this:

Friends, there are simply things you can do uniquely that no one else can do in the same way. That might sound kind of hokey, I realize, but it is actually true. Within those skills, discover where the calling lies and then double down on it. Keep putting it in the world. Sometimes, we are shocked to discover what it can catalyze.

Here’s the repost. . .

That Glorious Crescendo

 

[Image found at http://www.unbelievable-facts.com]

Here’s a mind-blowing fact: There are more living organisms found in a single teaspoon of soil than there are people on the earth. (Yes! Mind blown!)

More than 7 billion living organisms. In just one spoon-full.

That’s incredible. 

And like us, every organism in the soil is supported by the sun, a burning sphere of hot gas, fusing its energy 93 million miles away from us. This means our lives are sustained by an

enormous, far-away source of heat and light

and

tiny, nearby creatures, so numerous that we could barely begin to count them.

There are always more forces sustaining us than we can easily see. 

So how much more? 

In the earth? In the Spirit? In the dreams? In the relationships?

– Renee Roederer

It is truly a miracle that anything grows.

Many plants, especially perennials, are empowered to grow in the spring because they’ve been storing energy from previous seasons. The sunlight from months ago enabled them to store that energy. When we see plants grow and bloom, they reveal the presence of the past as well. 

This is hard to anticipate, but it’s true: How you live this chapter – this very day, in fact – may give life in future ways that you can barely begin to imagine.

– Renee Roederer

Well, now that I’ve experienced it, I can tell you there are hardly words to describe how amazing a total solar eclipse can be. Yesterday, we traveled to Russellville, Kentucky to watch it happen. Truly, that was one of the most beautiful and spectacular things I’ve ever seen in my life. The moment of totality, when it all locks into place, is exhilarating. I love that everyone cheered and then made sounds of wonder. We were collectively mesmerized.

But also, long before we got to that moment, the day was really meaningful and fun. Lots of folks gathered at the Logan County Public Library for the viewing in Russellville. We arrived at 7 AM. People were already there, and throughout the next few hours many more came. It was a good number of people, but there was enough space outside for people to spread out. We spent a lot of hours together, waiting.

And I noticed that the stranger barrier just kind of came down. People were in a super good mood, glad to welcome people from a lot of different places. There was a lot of kindness. There were a lot of conversations. There were a lot of connections made. It was really refreshing.

Perhaps recognizing that it was a special day, people made a more intentional effort to connect well with each other. It was beautiful to watch. We didn’t solve any of the complex problems before our nation or world, but for a while, I think people felt safer with each other. 

And that made me think of this:

Connections matter. The way we relate matters.

I don’t believe that mere kindness solves all our problems. Far from it. We need more than that. We can’t dismantle and heal the impacts of white supremacy, for instance, by just being nicer. Repspectability politics and tone policing can also be very harmful, so let’s not go there.

But I do believe that greater kindness cultivates greater relational safety, and this allows people to bring their more energized, grounded, and convicted selves to solving problems.

So those connections you make today might do much more than you know. You might lay the groundwork for something greater.

– Renee Roederer

We’re headed to Russellville, Kentucky this morning to view the eclipse of the sun in the path of totality. I’m really looking forward to seeing this monumental yet somewhat rare occurrence.

Over the last week, I’ve been pondering ancient understandings of solar eclipses. Throughout the world, in cultures unknown to each other, some themes developed. Many told stories of gods, animals, and forces eating the sun. Most believed it was a harbinger of calamity. Many believed it was a sign that power was shifting – namely, that the emperor  was losing power.

What will people ponder today when the sun is blotted in the sky? Will we tap into our ancestral fears? Will we add our hope to this moment?

I think it’s interesting that three times this morning, I have accidentally said “social eclipse” instead of solar eclipse. Clearly, some things are on my mind. 

When it happens around 1:26pm in Russellville, I want to channel my best intentions, that as society shifts – it doesn’t need an eclipse for it; we are already living monumental shifts now – it shifts toward the empowerment of voices long silenced and human dreams yet to be imagined.

The Social Eclipse of 2017. In the sky but from the ground.

– Renee Roederer

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a wonderful surprise. It took months of planning to pull it off, and it went smoothly without a hitch. One of our closest friends was very surprised, indeed! His closest friends traveled from five states to a Nationals baseball game to surprise him for his 40th birthday.

It was pretty amazing.

In fact, this group of people is our closest group of friends too. We all lived in Austin, Texas during the same time. The group formed in connection to a campus ministry at a Presbyterian congregation in Austin. Then, after folks graduated from undergrad, for a couple of years, we got together every Thursday night for a weekly ritual to eat food, watch tv, laugh, and connect about things going on in our lives.

We are undoubtedly chosen family. We’re not a small group either — actually, about as large as an extended family. Now that we’ve married and partnered, we are fourteen adults and four kids. Since then, we’ve all moved from Austin. Now, we live in Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; New Braunfels, TX; Albuquerque, NM; Glen Dale, MD; Prince George, VA; Louisville, KY; and Ann Arbor, MI. Once every year — usually in October — we get together for an annual Friendsgiving to share a big meal together. Very special.

But this year, we changed our annual gathering for this birthday surprise. We bought tickets to a Nats game and all traveled to D.C. We entered the stadium together (and tried not to run into our friend!) Then we sat in our seats and waited for him to show up, knowing he would soon look for his family’s own seats.

When he did, we all stood up and just looked at him with blank stares. Then one of us said, “Happy Birthday!” He was completely stunned then completely overjoyed. After the initial shock wore off, we also told him, “Oh yeah, one more thing. We’re all staying at your house for the rest of the weekend.”

It was lovely.

All the particulars of the surprise and all the particulars of the connections were wonderful. Also that night, I kept thinking this: For months, we’ve been planning this very good thing for a very good friend without him knowing any of it. I wondered, how often are people planning goodness, not necessarily for a birthday surprise, but for our benefit. . . or for the benefit of the larger community. . . or the benefit of the world. . . without us ever knowing about it?

I am no pie-in-the-sky thinker when I view the deep levels of pain happening in our nation and in the larger world right now. Our birthday surprise, as amazing as it was, did not stop what happened in Charlottesville the same weekend. And many do not have the financial luxury to afford traveling across the country to visit a friend. Violence and inequity abound.

And without dismissing or ignoring any piece of it – we shouldn’t; we can’t – I still believe goodness abounds too.

It is there, right alongside everything else. And most of all, I believe in us working for its cultivation, even if others will never know about it, especially as it alters the violence and inequity around and among us. Sometimes, this involves hard work. Sometimes, this involves real risks. Most of all, this involves commitment – a recognition that people should be valued with goodness and everything it entails.

And sometimes, goodness can surprise us.

Look for it.
Cultivate it.

– Renee Roederer

 

In response to the violence at Charlottesville, other cities have held vigils and rallies to speak against white supremacy and show support and solidarity for people who have been targeted. Ann Arbor, my city, held a vigil the day after the violence.

Today, I invite you to watch this speech by Dr. Austin McCoy. Dr. McCoy is a scholar, historian, and activist in Ann Arbor, and he shared words of real challenge on Sunday night. When it comes to racism and white supremacy, we often speak out against hatred. Without question, racism and white supremacy are frequently hate-filled. But when we name the problem solely as a particular emotion — certainly, a dangerous one — we might shield ourselves from having to question and oppose the realities which reveal white supremacy to exist at the foundation of many of our institutions. We might protect ourselves from recognizing the ways that white supremacy is internalized and socialized inside ourselves.

Dr. McCoy’s speech is the first ten minutes of this video. Have a watch, and if possible, please watch the speeches that follow too, also by black residents in Southeast Michigan. In the first speech, Dr. McCoy reminds us that when it comes to white supremacy, any of us can do the bare minimum, showing up at a vigil to call out actual Nazis. But what will we do beyond this? How will we recognize the lies of white supremacy that we carry inside ourselves? How will we act to change the structures and institutions that give white supremacy its primary platform?

Have a watch.