Poverty Issues at G-20 Summit

The Rt. Rev. Benson K. Bagonza is an STM graduate of Wartburg Theological Seminary . Bishop Bagonza had had some training in law during his undergraduate studies in Tanzania.

WASHINGTON (ELCA) - The Rt. Rev. Benson K. Bagonza, bishop of the
Karagwe Diocese, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), shared
stories of impoverished people in Africa with more than 25 Christian,
Jewish and Muslim leaders in a meeting prior to the G-20 Summit in
Pittsburgh.
"Tanzanians were among the poorest even before the present economic
crisis," Bagonza said. "Therefore this economic crisis was yet another
blow that has sent millions into a critical and vulnerable situation."
Organized by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA),
Bread for the World, the Alliance to End Hunger and other organizations,
the religious leaders urged world leaders to fulfill their promises to
help people who have suffered from the global economic recession. The
Group of 20 (G-20) met Sept. 24-25 to discuss global economic issues.
"The recovery programs that they are undertaking need to mean
something to the people who live on the fringes, who live on the bottom
level of the economic ladder," Bagonza said. He explained that for
recovery programs to have meaning "the hungry people in Africa must get
food to eat and that the poor people get their basic needs met."
"The welfare of our people in our different [religious] traditions
is affected by what decisions are made (at the G-20)," he said. "At the
global level, I was very impressed to see our religious differences were
diminishing and we were forced to focus on the issues that threaten the
existence of humanity. (Those are) poverty, climate change, hopelessness
and powerlessness of human beings before a magnitude of forces that human
beings have created."
During his trip to the United States, Bagonza met with the staff of
U.S. Senators Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., as well
as U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J. Bagonza asked that the United
States "be more inclusive in its participatory process of reforming the
foreign aid policy of this country." U.S. foreign aid policies
should "reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people affected by the
bill," according to Bagonza.
The ELCA Washington Office and ELCA Global Mission brought Bagonza
to the United States to visit his diocese's companion synod, the ELCA
Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod, as well as speak to religious leaders
and members of Congress.
"We believe foreign policy issues can be advocated very effectively
through Bishop Bagonza's personal stories," said the Rev. Andrew
Genszler, director for advocacy in the ELCA Washington Office.
In the ELCT, Bagonza chairs a special office commissioned to do
advocacy. "The churches in Tanzania offer more than 40 percent of the
social services in the country. Therefore we feel that we should be
involved in advocacy," he said.
He cited three challenges facing the ELCT -- dependence on
international support, concern for the ministry among people in poverty
and the secularization of society. "We Africans, by our very nature, are
notoriously religious, but globalization is bringing things that we've
never seen that are shattering and frustrating our structure of families,
our harmony and our communities," he said.
Despite the challenges "my commitment to lead the church is
increasing every day, being ready to face whatever comes," Bagonza said.

Communal Blessing

Martha Lang, Episcopal deacon and M.Div. candidate, shared this with me after attending the churchwide assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)in Minneapolis last month. With her permission I share it with you:

I will admit that I did not wish to go to worship. I had listened to the debates all morning. Those of us hoping for change in the rostering policies of the ELCA were heartened by the outcome of the voting of the first two questions before the delegates. However, when the first request for the ending of debate on the third item, that most relevant in the life of our family was voted down, my heart descended toward my stomach. The assembly debated right up to the time of worship. As we wandered down the hallway of the assembly suddenly my soul was awash in the sadness, frustration, pain that had gathered there over the last six years. The voices of those who had participated in my partner’s research, “The Missing Project,” echoed in my heart and soul. “Thank you for asking to hear my story”; “Thank you for what you are doing – I had felt like I had disappeared to the ELCA”; “Thank you for finding me and caring” – on and on the voices floated in and through me. All of a sudden anger welled up in me as I thought – but this vote will do nothing for those already led to the door, or silently slipped off of the rosters – or dismissed through curt letter. “This won’t take away all of the years of severing, rejection, self-isolation, self-silencing and self-spiritual mutilation and make everything suddenly be ok” I thought. “I don’t want to go and worship – I just feel like I want to grieve in some corner somewhere – and hold those before God who have been so hurt.” But, I also realized that my partner/spouse Vicki really wanted to go to the worship, and, as I was here to accompany her in this journey, that I needed to be with her in the worship service.
Vicki proceeded toward some people who were already, somehow not noticing their good-sized white buttons announcing their affiliation with CORE (Coalition for Reform), those against ELCA changes in policy to include gay and lesbian people in committed relationships on the ministerial rosters. I groaned inwardly and followed her into the pew and went further into myself. She began a conversation with the gentleman seated next to her by saying that being present in the worship services had been a blessing because she served as a chaplain in a care center. There are time constraints due to needing to physically move much of the population into the chapel, and then back to their rooms (with needed assistance) before it is time to help them move to into the dining hall. So, Vicki shared that she was relishing the richness and depth of the worship experience.
Her neighbor asked her how her residents would receive any possible changes within the ELCA. Vicki shared with him that the care center was hoping for change, for it meant that the Board of Directors could offer her a call. She explained to him that they had voted unanimously early last fall to call her as chaplain, but due to the current policy could call her only as an interim, as her rostering status was “on-leave-from-call; not-available-for-call” due to our relationship. She told him that she had gone to her bishop three years ago when we made the decision to join our lives together through a covenant ceremony in the Episcopal Church which I served as deacon, and was placed in that status. She shared that she had been serving the same nursing home at the time, and had stepped down from the position so as not to cause any waves there, and to pursue a research interest for a year. So, when the same position had come available last winter, she applied for it and was hired on a temporary basis.
Vicki’s CORE neighbor received this quietly, nodding as she spoke. Worship started and no more was said until it came time for communion. As we were preparing to go forward to receive communion, her neighbor held his worship folder before her and pointed to something in it – it was the notice that healing stations were available throughout the worship space, and that pastors were there who would pray and anoint for healing if any had desire for such. He quietly asked Vicki if she would go with him for that. She quickly said, “Yes.” He leaned over and said “would your partner go too?” Vicki turned to me and repeated his question. I was stunned, and at many levels wanted to say “NO WAY” – but found myself saying “Yes, of course.”
We each went forward to receive communion and I led the way back toward one of the healing stations. Vicki and her neighbor followed. I started to go forward when he quietly said “Can we all three go together to receive?” Tears came to my mind. All of the years of hearing of myself and my reality spoken about in terms of “sin” and “sinner”, “abomination”, and my faith, understanding of self, and very salvation called into question repeatedly by those who were of the same understanding of those who were a part of CORE and every other group similar to them in my own denomination and others, arose from my heart to be presented for healing. Tears flooded my eyes as the three of us – Vicki and I on the outside and her/our neighbor in the middle, locked with arms around one-another went forward to receive the prayer and anointing.
The pastor looked at the three of us standing there as one – and yet three – all bending our heads for the prayer; Vicki with her prayer shawl which denoted one praying for change, our new-found brother-in-Christ with his CORE button on, and me – tears running down my face. The pastor sucked in his breath, centered himself and began to say the prayer printed on the sheet before him. He anointed each of us individually, but I know there was but one anointing that day – each of our hearts bound into one brought together through the love of God and collectively kneeling at the foot of the cross of Christ through the guiding of the Holy Spirit.
I was the last to be anointed – and as I looked up at the pastor I thought I saw tears in his eyes. Maybe it was just those of my own that I saw – but I believe his were there, too.. The three of us walked back toward our seats with our arms around one another. What had happened was mysterious, painful, healing, freeing… a myriad of things were experienced in that one holy moment. None of the three of us was left untouched, nor the same as we were before that service. Truly the Holy Spirit helped to strip each of us in different ways from hurt, and fear, and understandings that had previously been held within each.
Vicki and our new-found brother have talked twice since that service. We hold him in prayer – and he us. What happened that day was powerful and a testament to the power of the love of God who heals, reconciles, and binds us together in spite of our differences. We truly were at the foot of the cross, kneeling, and being knit together in a new way that only our God, through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit can do. Thanks be to God.

Welcoming Home for Service Gay and Lesbian People Living in Committeed Same-gender Relationships

Much has been written already on the decision by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, meeting in churchwide assembly in Minneapolis in August to open the rostered ministries of the church to gay and lesbian people living in committed same-gender relationships. I rejoice with the acceptance of and decisions relating to the new ELCA Social Statement on Human Sexuality.

My comments here are on the challenge to the church to welcome home those many, many gay and lesbian people--pastors and those on other rosters--who have had to leave their service in the church because they were forced to chose between such service and living in faithful, loving relationships. Others left before ordination or consecration. Some never entered seminary. This "welcome home" may not be as simple as some might think. There was pain and attempts to heal, to find a place, in other church bodies that did welcome their service. There were/are many who served, fearing for years that their relationships might be discovered. There are those who serve in places in the ELCA that had courage to accept their service even though they were open about their same-gender relationships. And, surely I am not mentioning all of the situations. All of the stories. We must listen to the stories.

I cannot say, "I know how you feel," because I don't, for I am heterosexual. I don't know the pain of that rejection and I don't know the mixture of feelings now that the vote has been passed. I do know that I cannot presume to know or presume that all will return quickly or easily.

I can relate here some of my own history which at least makes the point that words of welcome in resolutions are not all that is needed.

Years ago with my own deaconess community, women who married and had children were told they were no longer a deaconess. "You have now gone on to motherhood..."

Then, through much work, through the opening of eyes, through women gaining some control over their own destiny, the board changed the rules. Now such women were once again a deaconess. A simple resolution. Simple words.

At that time I was attending a class with Dr. Letty Russell at Yale Divinity School. I chose to do research on the women who received these words. What would they say? What would they think? How would they feel. And WHERE were they?

Finding the women was a challenging and incomplete task. But those to whom I wrote responded. Many were thankful. Many had been serving anyway. But I also received some haunting responses: "I don't know what the words mean." Now, of course, they knew what the words meant. They were simply words, "You are a deaconess." But many, including myself, had gotten on with their lives. They had built new identities, new relationships, and were serving in a variety of places, some beyond the Lutheran church.

We were invited back. And we invited more back. And more, and more. Each year at annual conference, a woman or two would come who had not been there for a few...or many...years. That is over thirty-five years ago now. Still, to this day, there will be a woman at annual conference who says, "I haven't been here for a long time, but now I'm back." We have women who are still being rediscovered, sought out, and loved back into community. Others we have not seen, and no doubt never will.
"Welcome home!" Those are good words. Important words. Challenging words...for us all. Resolutions passed. The work of loving acceptance begins.

Ministry in the Encounter

So, just what is the "public world" in which/about which we are to have conversations? We enter the public world whenever we go out our front door...or back door. Well, actually, even when we are still inside we are in the public world. Our actions need deliberation, conversation, as they impact society, such as the ELCA's Social Statement on education, particularly advocacy for public schools. Or, careful study on and public voice on health insurance reform. Or, our just-passed ELCA statement on human sexuality. We are always using our public voices.

Sometimes ministry is intentional; sometimes unintentional. I entered the public world, the world where I might encounter people who are strange to me and I to them, when I went for an early morning walk two days ago. I'm visiting my son, Mark, and his family in Phoenix. Yes, I know it's August, but a new baby, Aimee, had arrived, so, of course, I had to come.

Mark lives beside a golf course. Almost everyone in Phoenix lives near a golf course. That doesn't mean they have the finances to play there, but early morning, before the golfers come out, people can walk the golf cart path. I walk when the daylight is breaking, before the sun comes out.

On my walk I simply said hello to a worker passing by, one of many who daily groom the greens. No matter that I saw only one set of golfers out the day before (It's 110 degrees here.) Their work of service calls them to serve everyday.

I walked the path the next morning, having forgotten the brief encounter of the day before. But the same service worker approached. He stopped his service vehicle, and smiled and initiated a "hello." We connected, there in the public world. He would not have needed to do that. In fact, usually in our society we have clear, if unstated, boundaries of non-conversation between service people and those they serve, whether that be in hotels, or convention centers, or, perhaps in one's place of employment. So this second-day intentional encounter, reciprocal, is rare, especially when initiated by the service person. Now, granted, I was not a fee-paying golfer. There are layers of class lines in this "classless" society. But, still, it was remarkable and appreciated. There was genuine mutual appreciation; although only one or two words were exchanged, I experienced conversation in the public world, mutual ministry in that early dawn hour.

I had walked this direction, because the other would have brought me to the gates, the "no trespassing" signs. A few years ago one could walk by those houses, but not now; that neighborhood is now a gated community. No trespassing allowed, no public encounters with those unknown, or with those one refuses to notice, no conversation. Of whom or what are they afraid? And why? Really, why? Our call to ministry is a call to encounter, to conversation, and for us to create and help sustain trustworthy places for us all to meet, across the invisible but all-to-real barriers of class.

This morning, again at dawn--the sky was red--I walked. This time I climbed 1/4 the way up a mountain...a Phoenix mountain, not the Rockies. I had a wonderful view of the city. I watched Jack Rabbits and saw a family of Quail pass by, and caught a glimpse of some hummingbirds. Special! All special. But the most surprising was a third meeting. On my way back, once again the service man came by. Recognition. Encounter. He stopped; perhaps it was because there was trash nearby to pick up. Perhaps because we were, if not friends, then certainly welcome acquaintances. I said a full sentence this time; but further communication across language barriers would have been hard, and perhaps "uncalled for." But this encounter I won't forget. The sun came up. I could feel the intense heat of the day begin. No matter. The warmth of the ministry in encounter would set the course for my day.

A Life of Love and Advocacy: Eunice Kennedy Shriver

"Eunice Kennedy Shriver," said the family this morning as they released the news of her death a few hours ago,"was the light of our lives, a mother, wife, grandmother, sister and aunt who taught us by example and with passion what it means to live a faith-driven life of love and service to other. For each of us, she often seemed to stop time itself -- to run another Special Olympics games, to visit us in our homes, to attend to her own mother, her sisters and brothers, and to sail, tell stories, and laugh and serve her friends. Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and they in turn are her living legacy."

Shriver is best known for her work with the Special Olympics and for helping establish the games 40 years ago. Unspired by her sister Rosemary who lived with with intellectual disability, Eunice began the Special Olympics which have brought tens of thousands of people with special needs into the public world. She consistently saw the value of every human being and believed they had talents to develop and gifts to cherish. She was an advocate. She ministered faithfully and boldly in the public world.

In two congregations I served years ago our educational ministry included those with intellectual disability. In one case we had special outreach to children. In another a lay woman urged us to start evening adult educational ministry with intellectually disabled adults. We did1 Every congregation has a calling to serve through educational ministry opportunities people with the whole range of intellectual abilities. In many cases this will be in regular classroom settings. However, it is very important that congregations discuss how they will minister, including what methods, materials and settings will be used. Letting this ministry be known, even just by word of mouth, says, "You are welcome. You are God's created, gifted people. You belong."

Two Reminders of Responsible Service

At 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) Saturday, August 8, 2009 Judge Sonya Sotomayor became the 111th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. She pledged “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States…..to administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich….”

At 11: a.m. (Central Daylight Time) Saturday, August 8, 2009 the life of Rev. Dr. Raymond A. Martin was celebrated as Christians gathered at his funeral in Dubuque, Iowa. Ray had taught at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, Gurukul Theological Seminary in Madras, India, and for many years at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. He was my colleague and friend. He was a faithful teacher of Scripture to many. He loved the Bible. He loved to teach.

So what do these two events have in common, besides the hour and day? They hold up for me the joy of leading a responsible, faithful life of service. Both people, who, of course, never met, and one might say, had little in common in terms of background, family or profession, simply worked hard. They prepared thoroughly. They cared about people, all kinds of people. Their dedication reminds us all of the value of lifetimes of diligent, hard work. Ray’s work is complete although his memory, his body of work, his students continue. Justice Sotomayor’s work, some would say, is just beginning. But, in reality her new position is a continuation of the all that she has been every day of her life. In that reality they have much in common. For that reality I give thanks.

To Be a Trusted Leader

Walter Cronkite died at the age of 92. He left the air as host of the CBS evening news in 1981, but 28 years later he is still remembered for his sign off, "And that's the way it is..." He said that not in a way that assumed he was omniscient; far from it. He worked hard to seek the truth, to inform people and to present the truth without bias. He was hesitant to editorialize and did not see his podium as a center ring for entertainment or celebrity.

I noticed that the network and cable news accounts of his death had a singular theme. He saw this nation through complex times of the 1960's and 70's. He was the "most trusted person in America" because he was a man of integrity. People felt comforted,not because he offered solace--that is not a journalist's job. He offered people stability in unstable times, clarity in a time of uncertainty.

In an earlier post I discussed "credit" as having the root of "credo." "In debt we trust" has been exposed as a false belief system. This nation trusted Walter Cronkite. In terms of American civil religion, he has been noted as a combination of preacher and prophet. Actually I think he is also a role model for leadership. When a leader loses credibility, that leader has lost much. Soon the people think, "I can't trust anything they say anymore." It is not a matter of believing IN the leader (no omnipotence or omniscience), but believing what the leaders says and does. There is a congruence and consistency. With such a leader a people will have courage to face great difficulty.

Walter Cronkite's vocation was like that. There was a congruence between his work and his life. He did not have an "on-air" voice and a real voice (no pulpit tone). Leaders through their various vocations in the public world seek truth, seek to inform (and therefore empower) people, and provide a consistency that enables them to walk into the future, one day at a time.

P.S. I hope you heard, or will down-load, President Obama's speech before the NAACP last week. It was superb!

Robins in the Lilac Bush

The lilac bush in the front yard is overgrown, too tall, and too broad to blossom well. It needs pruning. But not today, not yet, because a family of robins has made their nest there.

We worried when the storm of two weeks ago shook everything with gusts of 60 mph. But, the nest was still intact. Inside, were three—could it be four?—young robins. Mom and Dad would scold if we came to close, but soon became accustomed to our simply being in the yard. Daily feedings! Hourly! We soon could see the feathering young heads just barely above the nest.

Now, so soon, they are leaving the nest. Baby robins are ready so much more quickly than their slow-growing human counterparts. Over the last two days, one by one, a youth, now ready to fly, with parents no longer feverously feeding, left the nest.

This morning only one remains, perched on the edge of the nest. But this one is hesitant. He stretches out his wings. He looks all directions. He stretches tall; but there he remains. His siblings fly close, role models for this big adventure of flight. Mom and Dad come back around, encouraging. But still, he hesitates. They all leave for awhile. Maybe he needs some time? Maybe he needs to do it by himself? But still he waits. The family returns, encouraging, urging. I find myself urging, too. And yet, I’m reluctant to see him go. The world is big beyond the lilac bush.

I’m reminded of Wartburg seminary graduates this time of year. They all leave…they need to leave. Many times I have sat by their sides as some had to wait long--too long--for call.

I’m reminded of our granddaughter Jennaya who this fall will head off for kindergarten in Mason City, Iowa. I’m reminded of her father Joel, a generation ago, as he set out on foot for the one-block walk to kindergarten at Welsh school in inner city New Haven, Ct. He boldly sang to himself (I don’t think he saw us watching), “Got my coat and got my hat, leave my worries on the doorstep…” He motioned with his hands, as if to toss all those little childhood cares on the doorstep, and off he went.

I’m reminded of his younger brother, Kirk, when he years later needed to make a decision about which of two colleges to choose. It was the final day to make a choice and return his papers. He was hesitant. I said, “Take all the time you want… just make your decision within the next hour.” He went downstairs and came back within the hour…he had chosen. And he would be off. He now teaches at Austin College in Texas, encouraging others to “Come! You can do it…” and be in his dramatic arts department.

I’m reminded of our oldest son, Mark, when he had finished graduate school in Phoenix. He was home for Christmas wondering whether to go out to Washington D.C. where a friend had told him of prospects for a job, or whether to head back to Arizona. When I awoke the next morning, and he had the car packed. He would head east. After quite a few years there, he did head back to Phoenix and has worked there with American Express ever since.

Three sons in our nest, long flown. And yet at each stage of life, there are “leaving the nest challenges.” Ourselves included.

Other Lilac Bushes:
I trimmed a different large lilac bush last week. It took me about an hour to prune it, crawling underneath and through the branches, carefully making room for light and air to get through. I took out a lot of limbs. I admired its new beauty. Then the storm came through Thursday and took the large center limb right out. The center could not hold...was it the trimming that made it vulnerable? Or just the storm.

I had just transplanted yet another lilac bush. It had been close to the house, sheltered, but with not enough sunlight to blossom. The storm came through and pulled the whole thing right out of the ground. We had been thoroughly watering the new place for it to put down its roots easily, but with the wet earth there was no grounding for that strong wind.

Just storm stories I guess….

I did go out into the rain and put the latter lilac right back in the ground, weighting it down quickly with whatever I could find, a bag of potting soil...not enough...then a large rock on top of that. Will it hold? Will it wilt and die, or flower?

Comments on Our Various Vocations in the Public World

Three seemingly unrelated comments:
President Obama is trying to take what may seem like a cautious public stance concerning the contested elections in Iran. Actually it's a strong, positive stance about America's role in the world. We are interdependent partners, not dictators of "democracy." (Of course, it's pragmatic, too, lest we be seen to be instigating the protests which would harm, not help the protestors)

Newt Gringrich at a recent Republican Party fundraiser (quoting Obama)warned against what he thought abhorant, that we might think of ourselves as citizens of the world. We are! We need to be. And, as Christians, because we have a Creating, Liberating and Empowering God, we need to see each of God's created ones in that light. Ours is not a "gospel" of "freeing the world" for our kind of democracy.

The President of France and our president had an interesting exchange with Obama when he was in France a couple of weeks ago. (There are so many other things to comment on in regard to his Obama's speech to the Muslim world, the 60th anniversary of D-Day, etc, but for now I comment on this small one.) France is a secular democracy; therefore government workers cannot wear apparel that marks their religion. (The controversy is what Muslim girls can wear in school) The U.S. is not a secular democracy. People of all faith traditions are encouraged to be influenced by their faith and to carry those ideas into the public world. We are called to help create a safe environment for us to be different together.

Well, perhaps the connection among those three comments above is quite apparent.
So let me add a couple more:
The shooting of a man in Wichita while he ushered at his Lutheran Church was tragic. He was carrying out his ministry in daily life...trusting women to know their--sometimes life-threatening--needs. How do we support people in our congregations as they carry out their ministries in daily life, carry their faith into the public world? In this one country, within a given congregation,in the world, we may have quite different viewpoints and vocations that carry us in very different directions. But we have a calling in the public world.

And we all have the responsibility to protect one another, and in the case of the killing in Wichita, to address the terrorist threat within our country in regard to anti-abortion advocates who turn violent.

I just returned from my ELCA Southeastern Iowa synod assembly. We dealt with many issues, including the issues of sexuality which will come before the churchwide assembly in August. People in my synod think, and think carefully. They had studied the issues and they voted--favorably toward the Social Statement. It was not a unanimous vote, but there was such a sense of wise calm. It was a trustworthy environment for us to be different together. (We also needed to talk about our churchwide vote and the recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriages.)

All of us are called to have conversation together about our vocation in the public world, whether within the church, locally and globally, and as citizens locally and nationally and globally.

A Sister of Sotomayor Speaks

Much is being written about Sonia Sotomayor's nomination for Supreme Court justice. I won't repeat all of that here. But some key phrases in the opposition's objections are all too familiar with what many of us women, particularly pioneers, and all of those who have suffered professionally because of racism and sexism have heard:
* "She doesn't understand" or "She would have to understand." I can't tell you how many times I heard that, the implication being that we could not understand the real (white male) world or the real issues. We would be too naive, uninformed, unintelligent, etc.
* There's the question of "temperament," which could refer to women's time of the month, their being too emotional, or too collaborative or not collabrotive enough. There was no right temperament for a woman to have. Too fat, too thin, too happy, too sad. A woman was never right for the position.
* "Angry woman" She an "angry racist." Do I need to comment on that one? All of us pioneer professional women were "angry" women or, "not showing our anger,"or...
* Closely connected is the issue of "empathy." Women are expected to be empathetic but it was and is often held against them if they are. They would no doubt make unfair decisions and show lack of objectivity.
* "Experience." Although Sotomayor's record is substantial, even amazing, "experience" for a woman was and is often suspect and not the "right kind."
* When you make a choice for diversity you are making a choice against competence. One again, that false dichotomy was said about me and about women whom I have over the years counseled. It is used way too often in matters of race. There was and still is an assumption that to choose a woman or a person of color is to downgrade the institution.
* She's brilliant. It's hard to debate that description of Sotomayor. But one commentator managed to find a problem with how smart she is. No doubt she lacks the vision of leadership because of her brilliant intellect.
* One former Republican candidate for president referred to her as "Maria." And blacks all "look alike." In this person's eyes so must Puerto Rican women. Never before, but after I was ordained and a "Rev." put before my name, I received way too much of my mail where the "Norma' has been changed to "Norman." It was not funny, nor accidental. It was thoughtless assumption that I must be male if there was a "Rev." by my name. Some people even made a point of "correcting" the address to make it right.

Now are these small things? Are they not the important issues? They are signals of the basic systemic racism and sexism that still exist. I'm deeply, deeply sad.

And I'm deeply pleased to call Sonia Sotomayor my sister.

The Zuma Era

Rev. Dt. Peter kjeseth, former professor at Wartburg Seminary, who has lived in Cape Town, South Africa for a number of years writes: [peterlarskj@yahoo.com]

Unless the world comes to an end first, or he is struck down by something like swine flu, Jacob Zuma will in early June become the 4th president of post-apartheid South
Africa. Who would have thought?

This prospect raises hopes for the almost 66% of voting South Africans who elected him and fears for the strong minority of South Africans who did NOT vote for him.
Experts and non experts alike are, of course, analyzing what happened in the election and warning us about what to expect ahead. I have tried to listen carefully. It is no exaggeration that what happens in South Africa is crucial for all of Africa. Let me give you my take on the matter.

There are a number of unassailable positives. The election was free and fair. TheIndependent Electoral Commission exercised its authority and had the whole thing under control from start to finish. This is not to be taken for granted.

The ANC did not lose its substantial majority. In the election, at least, the poor and the left, the Congress of South African Trade Unions(COSATU) and The South African Communist Party feel they have been heard.

The many smaller parties took a hit in this election, particularly the Inkata Freedom Party, once sovereign in KwaZulu-Natal. But here, too, a win seems possible. There is talk that for the 2011 elections we might see a more united, powerful configuration of opposition parties. This election provides a solid foundation that could reinvigorate Parliament. That is good news.

Even though many in South Africa won something in this election, the prospect of the Zuma era raises frightening questions and possibilities relating both to Zuma’s persona as a leader and to what it will take for him to carry through on his promises. And the cloud of corruption still hangs over his head. In the eight years that he has struggled with the possibility of trial and imprisonment, there is a complex trail of legal maneuvering, talk of political plots and intrigue and, just in time for the elections, the controversial decision of the National Prosecuting Authority to drop all corruption charges against him – on procedural grounds.

We face the frightening potential of populist rage and violence if Zuma does not meet the high hopes and long delayed expectations of the myriad poor who have danced at his election victory parties. Though the ANC which has ruled now for fifteen years cites statistics to prove that crime is being dealt with, the people of all classes who live here know better. In Masiphumelele, the township which is our non-identical twin, crime is endemic. Here in our middle class neighborhood crime has increased even in the last couple months. People are hungry and desperate. Crime bubbles up out of the rage of the population that has been denied and betrayed.

To succeed Zuma must reverse the ANC’s governing record of awarding loyalty before competence. Cronyism and a kind of cultural nepotism are deeply engrained – and denied –at every level of the ANC as a governing entity. If that is
not changed, nothing will change. Throw in the fact that the effects of the world economic meltdown are just beginning to hit South Africa with realforce and you know that the Zuma era will be a tough one.

The election (and its possible aftermath) sends strongly mixed signals. The Zuma era COULD be a new day if the real needs of the poor majority are given real priority in termsof economic justice and service delivery. I even have the sense that most people believe this and wish Zuma – and all of us – well, in spite of all the worries.So we keep vigil with hope and prayer as the Zuma era and the Obama era play out on opposite sides of the equator but in ways that touch each other profoundly.

Bread for the World

Rev. David Beckmann, Lutheran pastor and president of Bread for the world, appeared on C-Span Saturday morning. Americans are a generous people. It's central to the belief systems of many faiths and an American civil relegion creed. This morning, however, many, many calls, Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike, challenged Beckmann with words such as, "In this economic recession we have so many suffering people, how can you dare to ask us to give to people in other countried?" One said, "We are supposed to help our neighbor, not people around the world."
In the midst of loss of jobs and homes and a general atmosphere of fear, even those of good faith, want to draw in, take care of "our own."
Beckmann, of course, pointed out that the U.S. gives only about1% in foreign aid, and a much small percentage of that to poor people around the world and that the U.S. gives a much smaller percentage than the U.K. or Germany or France. And, Beckmann reminded callers that helping poor people around the world and their nations be more stable and productive, actually will help the U.S. get out of this recession. And, of course, it has long been a scandel in the U.S. that we have so many hungry, homeless people. He stressed that we are called to do both, help here and abroad.
Worth noting is the phenomenon of fear redefining in the minds of people of faith who is our neighbor. What is our basic belief about the Creating, Providing God?
For more information about Bread for the World go to www.bread.org. Also check into the legislation calling for reform in foreign aid so that our aid agencies, national and private, are more coordinated so that aid is more effective. The call to help one's neighbor is a call to care for those down the street and around the globe.