Palm Sunday Procession from Coast to Coast

Palm Sunday. This year when we could not physically participate in a procession at church, I was privileged to walk with Jesus on a journey that began with an online service in Northwood Iowa, where husband Burton shares an interim call, to hearing the church bells ring at a Canadian Lutheran Church in Nova Scotia, back to Iowa, to the on-line service at our congregation here in Mason City. Then on to Wisconsin, hearing more about Jesus’ life from the preaching of a pastor/friend, a Wartburg graduate.  My journey-procession concluded at the end of this day with a Zoom conversation, where I talked on the road in San Francisco with a Jewish woman.  I am thankful for these profound events as I, with Christ, enter Holy Week.

How do We Think About God in the Midst of This Global Pandemic?

This thoughtful piece was written by my friend and colleague.

The Rev. Dr. Karen Bloomquist, Oakland, CA, theologian-at-large and pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Americal

In the midst of this global pandemic, how might we think about God or the divine? Not as causing this or saving or rescuing us from this unknown “enemy,” but as empowering compassion, creativity, and innovative human action in the midst of this crisis. Not that we succumb to fear and hopelessness but that we act in the face of such. This is quite different from superficial optimism or turning away from what is occurring, but in ways that are informed by and directed by data, science and good practices. 

God is community, active in and through human communities, as they together stand with those who are suffering, fearful and anxious. This now is done virtually, coming together ironically by staying apart physically. As a theologian-at-large, I am aware that many do not image or think of God in this way, but the essence of the divine is in how this empowers or inspires compassionate reaching out to connect with others, with love and justice. God is creativity itself and inspires human creativity, even for those who are skeptical about “God.”

How might this be sustained after the crisis of this pandemic passes? “Wellness” is more than what individuals do for themselves; it is societal, even global. Embodiment and human touch are crucial. Priority must be on those who are most vulnerable. A new sense of the public good might emerge.

WW II Shaped Me for COVID-19

It was a different time. I won’t compare my childhood WW II years to COVID-19 today, but I do remember: shelter at home; shortages; united efforts; quarantine; racial discrimination; uncertainty.

I remember the darkness. My formative years from birth to six were in Des Moines. We lived less than a mile from the “War Plant.” (Solar Aircraft was a government-converted industry for wartime production.) During black-out drills we were isolated in our homes in total darkness at night for fear of being bombed.  Bombing in the middle of country?  That did not happen, but we did not know that then.  In the middle of a crisis, one does not know how things will turn out--when the war would end, or how. Mother put a tiny night light in our bedroom doll buggy so my sister and I wouldn’t be afraid of the dark.

Shortages.  Each family or individual was issued coupons for such limited supplies as butter, sugar and coffee. My Daddy ran a gas station. It was not a profitable time to run a gas station; petroleum was needed for the war effort.  People at home had to limit driving; they were issued gasoline coupons. Each night Daddy would bring them home; Marianne and I pasted them in booklets for him to turn in.

I remember the shortages and physical limitations, but I also remember being united under the leadership of FDR, a trusted president. President Roosevelt collaborated with allies and encouraged while he organized people at home. 

Entering kindergarten at age 5, I carried newspapers bundled together with string to school. School children collected scrap metal, and tin foil. (Recycling decades later would not seem strange.) We saved dimes in stamp books; $17.50 in dimes could be exchanged for a $25.00 War Savings Bond.

People planted  “Victory gardens.” This eased the burden of commercial farmers working to feed troops and civilians overseas. Fruits and vegetables were grown in backyards and on school grounds, and parks. By 1944 an estimated 20 million victory gardens produced 8 million tons of food.  (I think now of support for local organic farming and sustainable agriculture.)

Diseases did not stop for the war.  Before a vaccine for whooping cough became widely available, when I was 3 and my sister 5, Marianne, and I and our mother contracted whooping cough. We were quarantined inside our house for 10 weeks.  Mother almost died.  Daddy couldn’t come home. He did have two sisters in Des Moines. The health department put quarantine signs outside houses to prevent highly communicable diseases from spreading.  Though very young, I remember sleeping with a sheet over my crib with a humidifier providing steam for me to breathe. (Although widely considered to have been eradicated, outbreaks of whooping cough have returned in recent years due to not all people having their children vaccinated.)

But the war was the constant focus. An uncle and my older cousins served in the military overseas.  We listened daily to the news on our radio.

Yes, the United States came together. But not everyone.  I remember mother saying how upset she was that during time of struggle and sacrifice, there were people who made profits off the war. I learned early that during a time of crisis some will always look out for their own gain and gratification.

And there was racial discrimination. We were at War with two enemies, I heard as the “Nazis” and the “Japs.” One the U.S. described as Hitler’s German National Socialist Party, with the  swastika symbol. The other the U.S. described and symbolized as a “slant-eyed” people.  Japanese Americans were incarcerated in concentration camps. German Americans, such as myself, were not.

I was in first grade when the war ended.  I vividly remember VE Day and VJ day, WW II ending in Europe and Japan. We celebrated downtown in Des Moines.  (We knew little of the devastation of our atomic bombs.) And I remember, too, listening to the radio, and for the first time hearing news other than about the War. I recall being surprised. All my formative years I had not experienced anything but war news.  As a child I was not shielded; this was my reality, even though Mother kept the small light hidden in our doll baby buggy. What had I learned?  What shapes our lives?

But, of course, times were different then.  It may have been a different time; however . . .  

Women's Voices will Persist

Two women, so intelligent, competent and passionate, Elizabeth Warren and Rachel Maddow, sat in Elizabeth’s home last night talking about her taking her name out of the running for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. 

Elizabeth was thinking about all the little girls who would have to wait to see a woman as president. So many millions of us have had to wait since Hillary was defeated, not in the popular vote, but in the Electoral College. So many women and men saw such promise in their being six women candidates, and people of color, and a gay man among the 2020 candidates.

As I watched Elizabeth, my mind went back thirty years, to 1990, when there were no women Lutheran bishops in the world. A number of us women had been willing to be candidates in various ELCA synods, so at least people could envision the possibility. I was nominated in a synod in Minnesota; so many people from across the country sent encouraging support. As the balloting drew close, and there was a very real chance I would be elected, with much prayer and discernment, I took my name out of the running, telling the assembly, “I feel clear that I am to continue my calling to be a teaching theologian of the church as a professor at Wartburg Seminary. . . I don’t like to disappoint people. . . There are many extraordinarily gifted women in this church ready and capable of being bishop today.”

I do not mean to equate my situation with that of Elizabeth Warren, except with that piercing empathy I felt for her.  Women and girls would have to wait. 

However, soon after my vocational decision, a Lutheran woman was elected bishop in Germany, and in 1992, April was elected in the ELCA, followed by Andrea, and more, and women of color and then Elizabeth as Presiding Bishop of the ELCA.  And I count it a great joy that some women whom I had been privileged to teach at Wartburg are now synodical bishops.

As Elizabeth Warren and Rachel Maddow talked last night, almost sister to sister, it was clear to me that their gifts will continue to be used.  Their persistent voices will continue to be heard.

After Iowa Caucuses: What Really Happened

     Timing! What the news is missing this morning: During Caucus night in Iowa there was no violence, no police needed, no people shooting each another, no name-calling.  Our room was filled with respectful, patient people who followed the intricate rules through the long process.

     While news reporters this morning talk about chaos and confusion and some people even speculating conspiracy, they are missing the picture.  It’s all in the timing. Iowans need to be very sure the count of sign-ins, first preference group, realignment groups, and final delegate count are all accurate. Otherwise people might doubt the truth.  Verify, verify, verify!  

     Sure, the aps didn’t work as planned. Not good; but the paper trail is in place.  And, in our ward, because two precincts met at one school building,  we had to make sure people signed in on the right sheets and went to their correct caucus room. Timing.  But people were amazingly kind and helpful to each other.  Instead of rude bullying, there was careful collaboration.

     National news analysts were frustrated they had 3 ½ hours with no results to report. Primaries are good, but those of us in precincts in a Caucus state know we needed to come together, talk, listen, be honest, and take the time to choose well. (There were no “undecideds” in our  precinct.) Watch for the full results and keep working. This nation needs truth, clarity, verification and trustworthy collaboration.

"Until Iowa" Post 6 MLK Jr. Day: Leadership for the Iowa Caucuses

“Until Iowa” Post 6: Today, Jan. 20, is MLK Jr. Day. We marked it with three hours of training for the Iowa Caucuses 14 days from now. It was a strenuous morning, learning leadership to help the evening of Feb. 3 go well. First, people in our precinct will register as a caucus voter, a new voter, a youth observer, other observers, or the media.  New this year for the Democrats will be presidential preference cards. Yes, those will be signed and counted after the first alignment in preference groups, so the nation will know the total number of people who voted for each presidential candidate.

Then comes the math. Based on the number of delegates one’s precinct will have to the county convention, a percentage determines if a presidential preference group is viable. There are careful procedures. I picture it taking time, but being thoughtful. Perhaps there are 247 or maybe 432 caucus voters and 8 delegates assigned this precinct. By counting, multiplication, and rounding up to the fourth decimal point, how many actual delegates each presidential candidate receives is determined. The nation will be waiting that night for this number from the 1678 caucuses in the 99 counties of Iowa.

There’s still more work to do: choosing the actual delegates and alternates to the county convention. The gathered caucus goers will have opportunity to discuss and adopt resolutions to recommend to the Country Platform Committee.  Yes, challenging work. We will do it together in this participatory democracy. Martin Luther King Jr worked his entire life so that all might have voice and vote.

"Until Iowa" Post 5 Cory Booker Really Listened

“Until Iowa” Post 5: I began to write this morning: “As I enter my Iowa caucus in 21 days, I’m in Cory Booker’s corner.” I’ve been meeting candidates for months now and had been most impressed with Cory. But at noon I received word from Booker, “It’s with a full heart that I share this news -- I’ve made the decision to suspend my campaign for president.”

He listened, really listened, and learned from us. He is deeply committed to bringing this country together. He is a man of faith, extraordinarily intelligent, street-smart, globally informed, and locally astute. I respect his collaborative leadership style. He lives his convictions, going home to his residence in Newark rather than “moving on up.”  He’s “in touch” with all economic groups, across color lines.

Cory gathered many of endorsements early in Iowa. He continues to be in the “second tier” of candidates in the polls, and actually went up in a poll 1 point today from yesterday. Yet he was rarely mentioned in the press, even his dropping out today. I would love to have seen him stay in through Iowa because this year the first round of votes will be reported out (whose corner you go to when you enter the room) as well as the second, realignment.  But lack of money, not qualifying for this debate and his responsibility in Trump’s impeachment trial made him make the decision today.

We will miss Cory. He has a deep understanding of farm issues and foreign affairs—and of their connection.   We need his aggressive plan on gun safety, his work on criminal justice reform, protection of reproductive rights, his advocacy for people with disabilities, and his standing up for people and communities that have been left out and left behind.

Race! It is still about race. It has been for decades and centuries. Cory would tell the story of how his parents tried to buy a home in a segregated neighborhood and how people of courage had to work together to challenge the system to make that happen during the Civil Rights Era. The Obama administration argued that to fulfill the Fair Housing Act of 1968 agencies still had to address disparities in housing, integrate neighborhoods and transform racially concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity. This January The Trump administration plans to propose pulling back Obama-era efforts to desegregate housing, saying they were burdensome.

This January Corry Booker and other candidates of color have had to drop out of the primaries. We need them.  I’m still in Cory’s corner.

"Until Iowa" 24 days. What's Next? War? Revenge, Anxiety, Decisions on a Whim?

“Until Iowa” Post 4: “What’s Next?” War? Not knowing what form revenge might take? Having a president who makes decisions on a personal whim? It’s 24 days until the Until Iowa caucuses Last night we heard John Kerry speak on behalf of Joe Biden. “We’re in a different place,” Kerry began. He went on to speak passionately, with his—and Biden’s--decades of experience about environmental protection, the climate crisis, truth being essential for democracy, and more. 

Kerry was careful to stick with central campaign issues, until I asked him about “the place” we’re in these very days with Iran. Then Kerry said with great seriousness, “This moment is so dangerous.” He detailed what it took to build the Iranian nuclear agreement, the success it was having in de-escalating the nuclear threat, the support of NATO and the U.N., and Trump taking us out. With even more intensity, and convincingly, he stated this country needs U.S.  leadership that again builds relationships that the world so much needs.

"Until Iowa" 28 Days: Civil and Civic Conversations

“Until Iowa” Post 3. We gathered at the Mason City Public Library Saturday morning with our State Senator Amanda Ragan and State Representative Sharon Steckman for a “legislative preview.” Never mind that next door at the Art Museum Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer also would be speaking Saturday and across the street in the other direction candidate Bernie Sanders would be speaking at Music Man Square Saturday evening. Those events also would be full.

However, decisions made by states matter too—greatly! At our meeting people of all age groups talked calmly, intelligently, and knowledgeably about a full range of topics facing us this legislative term. We began with the need for emergency services. Sometimes people have to wait 45 minutes for an ambulance. Volunteers work hard; the need grows.

Next the group delved into mental health issues, for youth and adults. We need more counselors in schools. This led to the important issue of public education. Iowa for decades has been known for excellent public schools for all children, but budget cuts are hurting. There is a need for child care and nursing home workers, and for raising the minimum wage.

Another big issue is water quality. For nearly two hours the conversation continued, people sharing knowledge and asking each other questions.  We ended with talking about the upcoming Iowa Caucus sites.  What I participated in Saturday WAS the kind of civil and civic conversation around issues that happens at an Iowa Caucus.

Tweet 3 of “Until Iowa” Besides Tom Steyer and Bernie Sanders being here Sat., we gathered with our State Senator and Representative about issues of mental health, public education, water quality and more. Calm, intelligent conversation. This IS like an Iowa Caucus

Epiphany 2020 and Our Striking Realizations

Epiphany: A manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles 

“Epiphany,” more broadly, is “an experience of a sudden and striking realization.”

This year, we are experiencing the striking images of fires raging in sudden outbursts across Australia. Will we finally realize the global climate crisis?

We have experienced the killing of an Iranian military general by the sudden order of a U.S. president. What will the striking realization be: retaliation, escalation of hostilities, war?

Epiphany, January 6: What is our calling as Christ is manifest again in the world?

"Until Iowa" 31 days: Homelessness

How many days “Until Iowa”?  “Iowa is” already but writing this snowy February 3 it’s 31 days until the Iowa Caucuses. So, here’s my second post on the subject.

A national news commentator whom I trust and admire recently was in mid-America doing a story. I was surprised the commentator was surprised to discover homelessness in the Midwest, saying, “I thought homelessness was in the big cities of the East and West coasts, not in rural America.” First, we in Iowa, know that here many people—many of us-- are without houses, without shelter, without homes, in our cities, towns and rural areas. Second, these United States should not be divided into rural and urban, nor into red states and blue states. On Iowa license plates are silhouette images of city buildings and farm structures.

Third, most important for contemplation of “until Iowa,” is that the poverty which leads to homelessness is a major problem everywhere.  AND, people who are poor, who are without an address, deserve to vote. Such votes of real people are needed! Homelessness, joblessness and poverty need to be alleviated. That’s the challenge for “until Iowa” and beyond.

"Until Iowa" Thirty Four Days

How Many Days “Until Iowa”?  Writing this New Year’s Eve, it’s 34 days until the Iowa Caucuses, but “Iowa” has been a state since 1846, and indigenous tribes lived on this land centuries before. Democratic candidates have spent months here. We have had the privilege and responsibility of meeting and having conversations with many. Iowa is! However, during the “until” I have decided to post some of my observations. So, here goes for today! 

The perception remains among some that Iowa is “fly over country” where people don’t live in the 21^st century. For instance, I noticed that whoever prepared the current TV ad for Andrew Yang pictured a farm woman and child standing in front of an old fashioned windmill from 70 years ago. Missing in the picture are the wind turbines one sees driving (or flying over) this state. Iowa leads the nation in per capita wind power capacity. Iowa was the first state to generate more than 30% of its electricity with wind power. The climate crisis is real and we need to act now.  More on “Until Iowa” in posts to come.