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A UMNS Commentary
By The Rev. Sandy Gess*
4:00 P.M. ET Dec. 6, 2011
| NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)
The Rev. Sandy Gess (at right) stands in solidarity with others as part
of the Interfaith Coalition in Oakland, Calif. A UMNS web-only photo
courtesy of Sandy Gess.
A handmade sign caught my eye at the general strike march called by
Occupy Oakland on Nov. 2. Held by a middle-aged “soccer mom,” the sign
said: “Sorry for the Inconvenience: We Are Trying to Change the
World.”
More than 10,000 demonstrators gathered that day to express their
dissatisfaction with corporate power and stark income inequality in the
United States. The handmade signs are powerful personal expressions of
ordinary people doing extraordinary things to change the world.
We are witnessing no less than a “Revolution of Values:” Income
equality, paying your fair share, reclaiming public space, open
exercise of democracy, regulating corporate greed, restricting
corporate takeover of the political system, advocacy for the homeless
and the unemployed, forgiveness of debts, open media, health care for
all, an opportunity for all to participate in change where they are.
Before the Occupy Movement, there was little discussion of the outsized
power of financial institutions and the diminishing fortunes of the
middle class.
It is a “movement” — not a list of demands — with a call for deep
change, which combines the local and the global and names the source of
the crisis, caused in large part by Wall Street greed, perverse
financial incentives and a corporate takeover of the political system
and media.
We have created a big tent: The 99 percent are people of all ages,
races, occupations, political affiliations and religious beliefs. We are
learning to work together with respect to address the critical
challenges of our time.
In 2010, more Americans lived below the poverty line than at any time since 1959, when the U.S. Census Bureau began collecting this data. One-third of all children in California live in poverty.
A handmade sign is one of many forms of self-expression seen at the
general strike march called by Occupy Oakland on Nov. 2. A UMNS web-only
photo by Sandy Gess.
These are issues in our churches
I know as a United Methodist minister that these are issues we have
been dealing with for a long, long time in our churches. The situation
has become even more dire, as our members have lost homes to
foreclosure, lost jobs with little prospect for finding new work and no
longer can financially support the church as they used to.
At the same time, I have found the spirit of revival in our churches
as people have come together to discuss and find ways to support one
another. People who have been estranged from the church for most of
their adult lives are returning. Young people, in particular, are
responding to the activism of clergy, clergy they never knew existed
because they saw only judgmental evangelists on TV. Clergy and lay
people engaged now in this movement are engaged in our own kind of
evangelism: compassionate and listening.
I find much in common from our faith tradition with the Occupy Movement. And, as an active participant and organizer with the Interfaith Tent @ Oakland, I draw inspiration from the Methodist tradition and our founder, John Wesley: “The world is my parish.”
Wesley faced similar challenges as he responded to the crying needs
of those affected by the Industrial Revolution and by what William
Blake condemned as “satanic mills.” Wesley worked tirelessly to create a
world that worked for everyone, not just the wealthiest. It’s been
said that John Wesley gave England the equivalent of the French
Revolution without a shot fired. His efforts were in the tradition of
the first Christians who held everything in common (Acts 2:42-47).
Wesley did not shirk from reaching out
John Wesley did not shirk from reaching out to those in need and
neither should we. He organized Methodist societies to respond,
preached out in the open where the people were, created new forms of
communication through publishing efforts and organized others to change
a broken and corrupt society.
There is a vision of the world that is wanted, but like all human
endeavors, the Occupy Movement and its thousands of variations and
spinoffs will be imperfect. I am involved because I am passionate about
continuing what was begun by the Civil Rights Movement and the Rev.
Martin Luther King’s vision of a Beloved Community. I am involved
because I am a strong advocate for nonviolence, not only by
demonstrators but also by law enforcement. Our’s is a violent society.
We’ve been raised in it, we’ve funded it through endless wars, and our
communities continue to be wounded by seemingly unlimited access to
guns and the arms trade.
I am particularly drawn to the Occupy Movement because it offers an
ethic and practice of deep democracy and community. As our world faces
extraordinary challenges from climate change to soaring inequality, I
feel that our best hope is when ordinary people, gathered in imperfect
communities, find ways to fix a broken world. It seems very
Christian to me.
When I go to Occupy encampments, I hear Wesley saying, “I’ve got
your back.” When I march, I hear Martin Luther King Jr., saying, “I’ve
got your back.” When I go to the General Assembly meetings at Occupy
Oakland, I hear Paul saying, “I’ve got your back.” When I challenge
excessive police force and use of chemical weapons, I hear Gandhi
saying, “I’ve got your back.” When I demonstrate in front of financial
institutions to confront present-day moneychangers, I hear Jesus say,
“I’ve got your back.”
There are a cloud of witnesses who have come together now for the
great social movement of our time. God speaks to us in mysterious ways:
Sometimes in the whirlwind, sometimes with a still small voice,
sometimes through a prophet, sometimes through his only begotten son,
sometimes through the Bible, sometimes through the spirit working
amongst us, sometimes through United Methodists. God is still
speaking.
*Gess is pastor of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Vacaville,
Calif., a resident of Oakland, and an elder in the California-Nevada
Annual (regional) Conference.
News media contact, Maggie Hillery, Nashville, Tenn. (615)-742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org
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