As human beings, we come into the world with needs. \u00a0New
\nbabies need milk, diaper changes, human touch, soothing, temperature
\ncontrol, shelter, communication, emotional mirroring, safe spaces,
\ntummy time, and lots and lots of sleep. \u00a0As far as I can tell, our
\nneeds as humans grow from there.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nOur needs remain complicated as well. \u00a0We have physical
\nneeds for food, drink, clothing, shelter, and equally important
\nsocial and emotional needs to be heard, to be understood, to play, to
\nfind peace, to connect. \u00a0Nonviolent Communication teachers share
\nlists of universal human needs, the one I use most often lists more
\nthan 90 of them.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nBecause there are so many, and because life is so
\ncomplicated, it is rare for us to have our needs met at the same
\ntime. \u00a0Nonviolent Communication theory suggests that everything we
\nsay and do is really about trying to get those needs met, and I
\nhaven’t seen any reason to disbelieve it. \u00a0It may help to know that
\nneeds for peace, contribution, learning, purpose, and celebration
\nexist \u2013 so some of the needs make space for us to want to do things
\nthat impact others.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nThe Isaiah passage opens up for me the dream of having
\nneeds being met, perhaps even to have all of them met all at once.
\nWithout Isaiah dreaming it, I’m not sure I could conceive of this.
\nFurthermore, the dream isn’t of some weak, minimalistic set of needs
\nbeing met. \u00a0It is all of them being met well. \u00a0Using the direct,
\nphysical needs of thirst and hunger, Isaiah speaks of being offered
\nwater, wine, milk, and rich food \u2013 without having to even pay for
\nthem!<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nThese were not foods that average people were eating \u2013
\nthese were the foods of the rich, and Isaiah proposes that God wants
\nall the people to access those good foods. \u00a0This is an opening to
\nthinking about life with God, life in relationship to God, life that
\nis shared under God’s vision of how things are supposed to be.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nHow things are supposed to be is incredibly disconnected
\nfrom how the world actually was, and how it actually is. \u00a0This
\npassage comes from the end of Second Isaiah, which dreams of a
\ndifferent life for the exiles who God is going to lead home. \u00a0The
\npeople have been in captivity in Babylon, and their captivity is
\nabout to be transformed. \u00a0The hope of the passage is that in coming
\nhome to Ancient Israel, the people will also come home to God’s ways.
\n Walter Brueggemann writes,\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe initial verse, perhaps in the summoning mode of a \n<\/p>\n \nThe vision of Yahweh for Ancient Israel, which I believe \n<\/p>\n \nIt is funny to think of our needs being met, not only \n<\/p>\n \nCan we even dream it? \u00a0Those are the BASICS, and Isaiah \n<\/p>\n \nI think it is a dream that Isaiah pushes us to \n<\/p>\n \nOf course, if we had a system where basic needs were \n<\/p>\n \nIn addition to dreaming a dream of human needs being \n<\/p>\n \nGod’s dream is NOT a system of competition, of forced \n<\/p>\n \nI suspect is is this system of thinking that is \n<\/p>\n \nBetween all of this, and the echoes from the Psalm, I’m \n<\/p>\n \nFor me, some of the process of freeing myself from the \n<\/p>\n \nThis is where spirituality intersects with both justice \n<\/p>\n \nBeloveds of God, are we finding the ways to listen to 1<\/a>Walter 2<\/a>Institute 3<\/a>Brueggemann, Rev. Sara E. Baron <\/p>\n March 24, 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nstreet vendor, offers to passersby free water, free wine, and free
\nmilk. \u00a0This of course is in contrast to the life resources offered by
\nthe empire that are always expensive, grudging, and unsatisfying.
\nIsrael is invited to choose the free, alternative nourishment offered
\nby Yahweh. \u00a0Thus, although we may ponder the metaphor of free food,
\nthe udnerying urging is the sharp contrast between the way of life
\ngiven in Babylon that leads to death and the way of Yahweh that leads
\nto joyous homecoming.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
\nis still the vision of God for all people, is for the people to have
\nenough to survive AND thrive. \u00a0The world itself produces plenty, but
\nour societies distribution patterns prevent the \u201cenough\u201d from
\ngetting to the people. \u00a0According to the Poor People’s campaign, in
\nthe US today, 43.5% of US population are in poverty or are
\nlow-income.2<\/sup><\/a>
\n Those old systems of the empires \u2013 the ones that bring the wealth
\ncreated by the many to the top \u2013 those are still happening.<\/p>\n
\nbecause there are so many of them, but because even the idea of
\nuniversally satisfying the basic physical human needs is so far from
\nreality. \u00a0What would it look like if all people had enough to eat \u2013
\nof nutritious and delicious food? \u00a0Can we quite imagine it? \u00a0What
\nwould it look like here and elsewhere if the housing stock was mold
\nfree, well insulated, repairs were up to date, water was safe to
\ndrink, AND homelessness was eliminated? \u00a0It is a thing to ponder.
\nCan we imagine universal health care in this country, and one that
\nworks? \u00a0Where people can afford both preventative care and
\nnecessarily life-giving measures? \u00a0What about this \u2013 can we imagine
\na world where there are enough mental health care providers for all
\nwho need them, and all are offering top notch, compassionate care
\n(and the mental health care providers aren’t over worked, are
\nadequately paid, and have time and energy to do necessary self care)?
\n Oh what a world this would be!! \u00a0Ready for one more? \u00a0Can we imagine
\na society with expansive parental leave policies for people at every
\nincome level, with excellent nursery and day care for babies AND
\nnursing and adult care for adults in need, provided by people who are
\nadequately compensated for their imperative work, and trained to
\noffer it at the highest levels?<\/p>\n
\ninvites us to dream them. \u00a0Those aren’t quite milk, wine, and rich
\nfoods. \u00a0Those are merely clean water and enough bread for everyone.
\nEven with these pieces met, a lot of problems would remain. \u00a0But if
\nthe BASICS were met, it would matter a lot. \u00a0And it is POSSIBLE.
\nThis is not an unattainable dream \u2013 the capacity to make it happen
\nalready exists.<\/p>\n
\ncontemplate. \u00a0If we don’t dream a little bit, we can’t know what we
\nare working towards, and we have no chance of getting there. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nmet, it would radically upend the economy, and society. \u00a0It is a very
\nBIG dream. \u00a0To have people’s needs met would mean that some of the
\nvalue of their labor would have to return to them, and that more the
\nvalue of all of our labor would be needed to care for those who
\ncannot labor. \u00a0We can’t have a system that cares adequately for all
\npeople AND one that allows the work of most to enrich the few. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nmet, Isaiah’s passage also condemns the system as it was for how it
\nworked. \u00a0It indicts the labor system for enriching the empire at the
\nexpense of the labors. \u00a0It also called out the thinking that allowed
\nit, called people out of the idea that working harder within the
\nsystem would find them a way to get to satisfaction. \u00a0This is one of
\nthe hardest lessons for us today. \u00a0Working harder in rigged systems
\nonly exhausts us, it does not get us what we need. \u00a0 We still have a
\nsystem where people \u201cspend your money for that which is not bread
\nand your labor for that which does not satisfy,\u201d because the labor
\nis not permitted to bring satisfaction!<\/p>\n
\nlabor, or even of economic gain over another. \u00a0God’s dream is NOT one
\nwhere people have to work harder than their neighbors into to fight
\nfor the scraps they need to survive. \u00a0This is true BOTH with regards
\nto food and health care AND with regard to love and beauty. \u00a0God
\nwants us to have what we need, and the earth is capable of providing
\nit, but not when people are exploited for other’s excess. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nreflected in the later words of the \u201crighteous\u201d and the \u201cwicked\u201d
\n– the ones who are willing to let go of the systems of exploitation
\nof the empire to move into God’s vision are the righteous, and those
\nwho continue to participate in it and be co-opted by it are the
\n\u201cwicked.\u201d \u00a0This isn’t just me. \u00a0Brueggemann came to the same
\nconclusions \ud83d\ude09 (and that makes me feel SUPER smart.) \u00a0\u201c’The
\nwicked’, I suggest, are not disobedient people in general. \u00a0In
\ncontext, they are those who are so settled in Babylon and so
\naccommodated to imperial ways that they have no intention of making a
\npositive response to Yahweh’s invitation of homecoming.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
\nwondering us and about how well we are doing \u201cmaking a positive
\nresponse to Yahweh’s invitation of homecoming.\u201d \u00a0How well are we
\nable to leave behind the systems and thought patterns of oppression
\nand competition to move into a brave new world? \u00a0How interested are
\nwe in the possibilities of the present and the future?<\/p>\n
\nsystems of oppression come in the practices of Sabbath-keeping and
\nmeditative prayer. \u00a0It is EASY to get pulled in to never-ending
\nproductivity, but when I STOP trying to be productive, I’m more able
\nto figure out what the goal of the production is anyway! \u00a0It is easy
\nto get pulled into a roller-coaster of emotions with the 24 hour news
\ncycle, but when I stop and get quiet, I can hear which parts of what
\nis happening I’m most able to respond to in a useful way. \u00a0The times
\nof quiet in my life are when I can hear my own soul, and the Divine
\nprodding, when I can let go of how I’m supposed to present myself,
\nand simply be. \u00a0And unless I’m doing those things, I’m VERY easily
\nswayed by the systems of oppression.<\/p>\n
\nwork and my own well-being. \u00a0It isn’t healthy for us to live in the
\nlevels of anxiety that modern life produces, but it isn’t easy to let
\ngo of i either! \u00a0(In a different sort of church, that might merit an
\n\u201camen.\u201d) \u00a0It is hard to focus on what needs to be done to build a
\nbetter society and world, particularly when dumpster fires are
\nhappening all around us \u2013 but the capacity to build focus is part
\nof the gift of spiritual practice, as is the process of being able to
\nprioritize.<\/p>\n
\nthe Holy One? \u00a0God’s guidance is worthwhile \u2013 the Psalmist even
\nfinds it worth clinging to. \u00a0Are we taking the time for rest, for
\nSabbath, for prayer, so that we can have those needs met and be able
\nto envision a world where many needs are met for all people? \u00a0The
\ninvitation is given to us \u2013 to be fed, to rest, to be filled, to be
\nsatiated. \u00a0May we receive it, and pass it on. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n
\n\tBruggemann, Isaiah
\n\t40-66<\/i>
\n\t(Louisville, KT: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998),159.<\/p>\n
\n\tfor Policy Studies, \u201cThe Souls of Poor Folk: A Preliminary Report\u201d
\n\t(December 2017)
\n\thttps:\/\/www.poorpeoplescampaign.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/PPC-Report-Draft-1.pdf<\/a>,
\n\tpage 8.<\/p>\n
\n\t160.<\/p>\n
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
\u2028https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/p>\n