22 October 2019

Fragments of Thoughts from Camp Friedenswald

Intersection of Paths

Where am I?

Above I hear the songs of birds.
At my left, the chattering of chipmunks.
The trees hang down, the sky's beaded curtain.
Leaf and cloud and clear blue sky;
My canopy, shading me from life's harsh heat.
The sun peeks down, illuminates my page.
It is my lamp, illuminating life's dark spaces.




My fallen chair is solid. It promises to hold my weight, made heavy by life's burdens.
The ground beneath my feet, a carpet made of leaf and acorn and soft earth, roots me firmly, even as it no longer roots my seat.


Behind me is a road, cleared for human travel.
Below is another, worn smoother still by the passing of many feet.
These roads do not divide my tent. They are not hard, they are not foreign.
They are a part of this place: as birds flit from tree to tree and squirrels scurry from hole to hole, so, too, do people pass on by. All of us animals, all along our own path together.



Meditation

My head is pounding.
My neck is tense.
My shoulders taut.
My legs moving.

I must find the place.
Where it is, I do not know.
What's it look like? I am blind.

I'll know it by its feel
I'll see the sounds
and hear the light


Here I am.
Eyes close, darkness comes.
Where is my lamp? What has become of my canopy? Are the curtains drawn?

It comes now, deep and slow; in and out.
My legs have stilled, shoulders relaxed, neck loose, head calm.

The black surrounds me, cool and gentle; a soothing balm.
The birds lead me, the squirrels guide my feet.
I embrace the dark, and it is loving and kind.

14 August 2019

Patriarchal Systems, or, A Call for Confession and Repentance


Where I find myself today

Today I am tackling patriarchal systems. I've recently wrestled with patriarchal systems in a way that has been especially difficult for me, and other people involved have had difficulty understanding how toxic masculinity, sexism, and patriarchy are operating in these contexts.

So, in this instance, patriarchy refers to the religious, social, cultural, and political power nexus that has developed in order to maintain the dominance of straight, cis, white adult men and subjugate women, children, and people of color. Patriarchal systems are so deeply ingrained in our culture that they organize almost every aspect of our lives. In some cases, manifestations of patriarchy in these systems are quite obvious (think of a CEO denying the intelligence or aptitude of women, for example), which makes naming and opposing them at the surface level a relatively straightforward endeavor (relatively).

The more insidious manifestations of patriarchy that we face, however, operate at subtler level. The most difficult personal experience I have had naming and attempting to dismantle patriarchy was in a relatively progressive context, where individuals often protested loudly against such overt expressions of sexism as my generic example above. Much like with racism, and patriarchy and racism are so closely intertwined, people find it much easier to publicly denounce examples of overt discrimination and vitriol while tokenizing members of oppressed groups than to engage in careful self-examination that would require vulnerability and humility.

In these contexts, patriarchy has been ingrained into cultures and systems at a very deep level. Recognizing the ways that white male domination has suffused society with the tools of suppression and control requires that we as people be willing to recognize our own participation in these systems, confess this sin, accept that existing systems need to be transformed or replaced, and follow the leadership of people already doing that liberating work.

How does patriarchy work?

Patriarchy is a manifestation of toxic masculinity, asserting dominance and control over people, things, ideas, nature, and ideas through political systems. Socialization and cultural conditioning are essential for the continued success of patriarchal structures; patriarchal structures are a form of "power over" (see VeneKlasen and Miller, A New Weave of Power), and as such are both rigidly strong and also vulnerable and brittle in their inflexibility. Their strength comes from cultural norms that discourage the questioning of authority, normalize secrecy, establish unquestioned protocols, and inspire shame in those who do not conform; people living in these systems are given false, misleading, or flawed reasons for why the system operates as it does and are not permitted to seriously question the system. Patriarchal structures are often organized through hierarchies that offer false promises of reward and upward mobility to those who can successfully navigate them. At the root of the desire to dominate and control is a deep sense of entitlement; that the individuals deserve to exert their power over others, either inherently or through a self-constructed idea of "merit" that allows them to say that they have "earned" their positions of power.

In order to sustain themselves, Patriarchal systems also require representatives of oppressed groups to invest in their structures, often providing small rewards to tokenized individuals who successfully navigate them. As these individuals from marginalized groups gather up the crumbs dropped from the table of patriarchy, they act as a buffer between those who truly hold power and the marginalized people who challenge these systems.

Patriarchy that feels its own vulnerability relies heavily on theatrical demonstrations intended to discredit its critics. These theatrics make a show of highlighting the voices of people who might object to whatever matter is currently at hand. The system can then nod its head and say "I hear you" before paternalistically guiding the group over which it has power back to the system's original plans and goals. Leaders within patriarchal systems use a variety of tools to discredit dissenting voices in a way that makes their broader audience feel comfortable with the patriarchy, including Othering the dissenter, disparaging the dissenters concerns, rendering the dissenter absurd through accusations of exaggeration, offering to address the dissenter's concerns if they just "go along with it" for now, etc. (there is a music history lesson about the neutralization of politically subversive opera characters in here, but that may be a little too far down the rabbit hole)

When the astute observer objects to policies or practices that continue to exert dominance and control for the continued benefit of those who have always held power, they are pointed back to the exercise where a dissenting voice was showcased, and then reminded that the group decided to approve or implement or affirm the policy or practice in question. Fox News has used this tactic frequently, highlighting the voices of Democratic leaders and pundits, only to steer their audience back to a far-right understanding of the world, and wasn't that Democrat just so crazy for thinking differently and don't we know better than that?

When confronted or challenged, Patriarchal systems react violently in attempts to undermine, discredit, and expel perceived threats to the power structure. Dissenters may be gaslighted in an attempt to undermine their sense of self and degrade their confidence in their own lived experience. The challenger's credibility or competency may be called into question, often ignoring their years of training and experience. A perceived threat may be ostracized by the community, perhaps in the form of being removed from decision-making processes or being excluded from social events in the community. The goal of the system is to neutralize any possible check on its authority through physical, emotional, social, or spiritual force.

What now?

You, whoever you are, have without a doubt been a participant in these patriarchal systems; there is no way to avoid it. Hopefully, that fact makes you uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable. It threatens to paralyze me, it works within me to undermine my confidence in myself and causes me to feel as though I am not worthy of participating in the liberating justice work of identifying and opposing patriarchal systems. That is a lie.

I need to reframe the discomfort caused by confronting my complicity in oppression as a divine pull (or push?) to get up and do something. The Christian tradition of confession and repentance reframes this feeling for me; I feel called to confess my complicity in sinful oppression and to repent (as in, turn and change my behavior). I need to use my experience of being a part of oppressive systems to inform and motivate my opposition to them. I also need to join in with others who have already been doing this liberating work and follow their leading. I invite you to do the same.

Thank you

I would like to acknowledge and express gratitude for the people who have helped me better understand these systems and my role in them, as well as my power to oppose them and to follow the leadership of others. Some I have been in close relationships with, others are acquaintances, and others I have only encountered through their written works. At the front of my mind today are my partner, Allison, Renee Kanagy, and Melissa Florer-Bixler, but there are so many more. I have done a very poor job of keeping comprehensive documentation of where I picked up and developed all of the ideas and the understandings I outlined in this post, and for that I apologize. If you as a reader want to share more helpful resources or feel compelled to fill in the gaps with specifics, please do so.

One resource I want to highlight is Peaceful at Heart: Anabaptist Reflections on Healthy Masculinity, edited by Don Neufeld and Steve Thomas. Peaceful at Heart contains thoughts and reflections from a variety of Anabaptist Men that seek to contribute to the conversation around what men can do to confront toxic masculinity and how men can follow the lead of others in this work.

31 March 2018

Easter 2018

"Christ is risen!"
"Christ is risen, indeed!"

On Easter Sunday in Christian communities all over the world, people will be uttering this phrase to one another. Some may do so with a polite smile on their faces, going along with the rest of the room. Others will shout it at their neighbors, nearly deafening them with loud enthusiasm. Yet still others will offer the greeting in whispers as they are overcome the weight of their words, allowing, instead, the sparkle in their eyes to communicate the intensity of the moment. And still there are many more ways to engage in this annual greeting (or more frequent greeting, perhaps, in some circles).

In all of the years I have participated in Easter services that include this greeting, I don't think I have ever experienced a half-hearted or disappointed response to "Christ is risen!" It's happy news; it's a declaration of life; it's victory over evil; it's good news. 

06 January 2016

A Benevolent Epiphany

Below is the sermon I gave at Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship on January 3 when we celebrated the Epiphany.

Today we celebrate the feast of Epiphany, which is fixed in the church calendar on January 6, twelve days after Christmas. Those of us who grew up near Amish communities may also know of January 6 as Old Christmas, when all the shops closed because their Amish employees took the day off as a holiday. Epiphany closes out the Advent/Christmas season and inaugurates a new season of variable length in its name. The exact length of the Epiphany season is determined by the placement of Easter, which varies from year to year. In days gone by, the season lasted only until Septuagesima, nine weeks before Easter, three before Lent, but in many traditions now stretches on through Transfiguration Sunday or Ash Wednesday. By its inconsistent length, it would appear that Epiphany has served somewhat of a functional role in church history, filling in the gap between the feast of Epiphany and countdown to Easter.

15 November 2015

Je suis Paris; je suis le monde

Below is my opening meditation and prayer from Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship on November 15, 2015.

Today we come together to celebrate life and to mourn death. As many of us probably know, Paris was attacked last Friday evening. I have to tell you I have mixed feelings about talking about this. I have mixed feelings because Beirut, Lebanon was attacked by suicide bombers Thursday, and I didn't even notice. Another suicide bomber attacked a funeral in Baghdad on Friday, and I didn't know. Garissa University in Kenya suffered an attack with a similar death toll months ago and I had no idea until last night. The U.S. is still conducting drone strikes and other military operations that take human lives. Human lives that shouldn't have to be qualified with the terms "innoncent" or "guilty," but human lives that should be valued because they are lives.

14 July 2015

Meditation on Mennonite Church USA Convention 2015

After attending the MC USA 2015 convention, I was scheduled to be the worship leader at church. The service this past Sunday was a lament, of sorts, over the painful decisions that were made at the convention this year. Our congregation found the resolution on membership guidelines particularly upsetting, but we should also not forget the pain that our Palestinian and Israeli brothers and sisters feel over the Palestine and Israel resolution (click here to read the reactions of some Palestinians and Israelis to the decision to table the resolution), as well as that of others who have been hurt by the church, while at the same time not discounting the positive resolutions that were passed.

I am posting my opening meditation from this past Sunday's service below, along with the hymn I used to craft a call to worship.


26 June 2015

Religion and Obergefell et al. v. Hodges

Today's historic Supreme Court decision has thus far received an understandably mixed reception. I have been troubled by those, including dissenting justices, suggesting that religious institutions are now under threat by the decision. All of this in spite of the fact that the decision itself and Justice Roberts' majority opinion carefully protects religion under the first amendment. So let's talk about the rights of religious institutions and what this decision could mean for us as a society.

So, regarding marriage, what rights do religious institutions have? After the civil rights struggle of the mid-twentieth century, churches have to marry people of other races and interracial couples, do they not? And if they can't discriminate based on race, they surely can't discriminate based on religion! So, up to this point, all religious officials have had to marry all opposite-sex couples that have come seeking to be married, correct? WRONG!