Revolutionary Love Fourth Installment

I am still writing about the second day of the virtual conference.  There were breaks built in for meditation and for dancing. I didn't think too much of the dancing ones, and used them as breaks from the program.  I loved the meditation, though, which was led by Anu Gupta.  He led meditation as a way to develop empathy and compassion for all beings.  One of the things he said as he started the first meditation was that breath has been with us from birth.  I had never thought of it that way.  The guided meditation asked participants to focus on someone for whom you have unconditional love--a beloved.  Imagine smiling at that person and having them smile back at you.  Then greet that person with what I will call a mantra;

• May you be happy and healthy
• May you be safe and protected
• May you be in peace
• May you live with ease

Anu then asked us to reflect on our five-year-old selves in the same way with the same mantra..
The next part was to reflect on those attending and then extending this to all beings.

It was very good for me, and Anu said he teaches it to help break bias.  He pointed out that bias is learned.  The picture above is how I like to imagine myself when meditating.  

Revolutionary Love conference - third installment

Although this is the third installment, I am still writing about the second day and I have decided that I can only deal with highlights.

Edgar Villanueva, who was paired with Barry Segal, talked about the power of money.  Segal is a philanthropist, but wasn't that interesting to me.  His talk was pretty traditional.   Villanueva is an indigenous person working in philanthropy and has written a book called Decolonizing Wealth.   He didn't say how he got involved with philanthropy, so I am not sure.  He did talk about his very modest childhood and how he grew up as the son of a single mother who worked three shifts.  She worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles and then 2 shifts working in people's homes as a nursing assistant.  Villanueva would tagged along and so got to go into fancy homes.  On Saturdays and Sundays, his mother worked on outreach for the church and made sure kids got to church on the bus.  She would say that helping kids was her "medicine.  He also talked about, when indigenous people want to get to know you, they ask "who are your people?"  In other words, who do you associate with...not just who you are.  Another idea he put forth was that money is not the root of all evil, it is the love of money that is the root of all evil.  As we have seen in these coronavirus times, some people do value money more than human life.  He explained why he talks about decolonization.  According to his thinking, when societies conquer civilizations, they take resources and leave.  However, when they colonize, they stay and exploit the society.  He put forth the premise that wealth in America today was built through colonialism.  To him, decolonization means that which has been stolen is returned.  There was a lot and some pretty radical ideas, in my view.  But he definitely gave me something to think about.

Another impressive speaker on day 2 was Rabbi Michael Lerner.  His book (it seems like they all have a book) is actually called Revolutionary Love.    He portrayed Revolutionary Love as love for everyone and acceptance that we are interdependent.  It is a little complicated, but he proposes that the capitalism we have come to accept and that we are told is "efficient, rational and productive" is not.  To him, a culture that is "efficient, radical and productive" would actually be based on love and caring.  For those who think this is a great idea, but unrealistic, he has encouraging words.  Major social changes have resulted from people who were told their ideas were unrealistic but persisted.  He had harsh words for the liberals and progressives who portray themselves as being on a higher level than others..  What we need, he says, is REAL caring for people who seek meaning and purpose in their lives.  He says selfishness is learned and is not human nature.  There was more, but these were the highlights for me.  I guess you can see why I found him an inspiring voice.

Revolutionary Love Conference Installment 2

On the second day of the conference, Rob Hardies, the Senior Minister of  All Souls Church, gave a talk that was about voting rights and some history of why All Souls is so committed to this issue.  A former Associate Minister, James Reeb (pictured above), was killed in Selma Alabama in 1965.  He was demonstrating for voting rights for African Americans.  After eating at an integrated restaurant, he was killed by four white men.  Reeb was one of many who have died or were injured fighting for voting rights and yet, today, many (especially minorities) are still denied the right to vote.  We have work to do so that everyone has a vote.

Another highlight of the day was hearing Linda Sansour whose talk was titled "No Time for Bystanders."  If you don't know who she is, she is credited as the co-founder of the 2017 Women's March the day after Trump's inauguration.  The title of her talk was apt--she presented reasons to act for love-driven justice.   She gave several concrete suggestions of what we can do now:

• Write notes to neighbors, saying I am here for you and what can I do to help?
• Volunteer at a food bank or help in deliveries
•  Insist on quality health care for all that is not connected to employment 
• Insist that essential workers get personal protective equipment and a living wage, including hazard pay
• Support the US postal service because small business depends on it, we need the option to vote by mail and many of us just need it.  One way is to buy stamps and send letters.
• Tell your representative that the next stimulus package needs accountability, must get money to marginalized populations

Some of these will work better for some people than for others, but I welcomed at least hearing them.  Even though I am in DC, I don't have much influence on the national scale.  Our Representative doesn't have a vote--she is called a "Delegate."  She has an office and is on committees, but that is it.

That's enough for this post.  I have more about the second day, but will post it separately.  I just can't possibly cover it all.

Revolutionary Love conference, overview and "Preamble"

I recently "went" to a conference called Revolutionary Love.  It was mostly done by "Zoom," though there were a couple of youtube sessions.  The original plan was to have it in Washington DC at All Souls Church (my church), but it was moved on-line because of social distancing in the time of coronavirus.  Middle Collegiate Church in New York City was the organizing congregation, and Jacqui Lewis, minister at Middle College Church was the conference leader.

I'm not sure how to describe it.  It was a call to action to "form a more perfect union;" one that is more inclusive than the framers of the Constitution envisioned.  After all, the "We, the people" at that time did not include indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, women, poor people, or those who had no land ownership.  We, the people, at that time were the white landowners.

This was a very intense experience and involved about 25 hours over four days.  It was broken into general sessions, breakout groups, workshops, and some meditation and exercise sessions.  I will share parts of it that were meaningful to me and it will be several blog posts.

The " Preamble" on Thursday night was a discussion including Charles Randolph White; Cornelius Smith, Jr.; and Kenneth B.Morris, Jr.  White is a director who will be presenting a play about Frederick Douglass at the Arena Stage here in Washington DC. when we can go to the theater again.  Smith is an actor (he was in Scandal) who will play Douglass in the play and Morris is a descendant of Douglass and Booker T. Washington.  They talked about Douglass, of course.  I was particularly impressed with a quote from what is called the Fourth of July speech by Douglass and was actually delivered on the Fifth of July, "It is not light that we need, but fire."  I've always been inspired by Frederick Douglass and this stoked that inspiration.  Smith also did that quote as a song.

There was also a powerful presentation by Kaitlin Curtice, a Potawatomi Native American and a Christian.   The evening closed with Tituss Burgess (of The Unsinkable Kimmy Schmidt) singing "Count Your Blessings" and discussing the topic of "Revolutionary Love" with Jacqui Lewis.   They also sang a few songs together, including "I Need You to Survive" which resonates with me right now.