Saturday, January 26, 2013
WWHATSUP? Workshop on White Supremacy in the Workplace
This workshop at the 15th Annual Summit Against Racism in Pittsburgh was a powerful experience, and I want to make sure that it gets documented. I am hoping my church, and other churches, and other institutions are ready to go through this educational experience, and to prepare/plan for a blessed change.
For now, just the pictures:
(note there are ten pictures here, and usually every picture is worth a thousand words. that would make 10,000 words. but i don't think there are actually that many here. :D)
(note there are ten pictures here, and usually every picture is worth a thousand words. that would make 10,000 words. but i don't think there are actually that many here. :D)
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| In my thinking this is different nomenclature for what Unitarian Universalists call a "group covenant" |
This is a no-bones about it clear statement of shared axioms
Here's a link to the AORTA Collective.
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| Some definitions of White Supremacy, as discovered in small group conversations |
 |
| Great definition that covers a lot. I've also heard: "Racism = prejudice + power." |
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| Getting to the causes of institutional perpetuation is a key to unraveling inherent/instrumental racial oppressions, in my mind. |
In case you prefer no headache from looking at the blurry words in the picture below:
Some Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture
- Perfectionism
- Sense of urgency
- Defensiveness
- Quantity over quality
- Worship of the written word
- Only one right way
- Paternalism
- Either/or thinking
- Power hoarding
- Fear of open conflict
- Individualism
- "I'm the only one"
- Progress is better
- Objectivity
- Right to comfort
Labels: anti-oppression, anti-racism, personal growth, racism, religious community, sacred texts, white identity
Monday, January 16, 2012
New Thought Movement
Labels: 4th UU principle, angels, personal bookmarks, personal growth, personal religion, theological sources
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Free Project Management Software Links
Labels: personal bookmarks, personal growth, personal religion
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Joe Gerstandt on flying your freak flag
Do you know who you are?
Do you know what you are here for? purpose, calling
Do you know what your gift is?
Wrestle with these if you want to live a life of truth.
Is there any evidence? If this is who I claim to be, am I acting accordingly? Am I doing something different? Am I downplaying playing it safe?
Freaks love to find other freaks. Others won't know how to respond. You'll scare some people by confronting them with your own freedom.
Difference is the genesis of conflict, and conflict is the genesis of change.
Be willing to be different. There is no progress without deviance.
Your odd piece of the puzzle will provoke the future that we want together.
You are now free to fly your freak flag.
Been so busy lately. Will post something more meaningful later in life.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: freak flag, freedom versus freedom, personal bookmarks, personal growth, personal religion
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Some quotes for Self-Study on "Surrender and Self"
A [person] should surrender the personal selfishness which binds him to this world. Giving up the false self is the true renunciation.
-Ramana Maharshi
God has put you in the world. What can you do about it? Resign everything to Him. Surrender yourself at His feet. Then there will be no more confusion. Then you will realize that it is God who does everything.
-Ramakrishna Paramhansa
The essential surrender happens within you, it has nothing to do with anybody outside you. The basic surrender is a relaxation, a trust — so don’t be misguided by the word. Linguistically, surrender means to surrender to somebody, but religiously, surrender simply means trust, relaxing. It is an attitude rather than an act: you live through trust.
-Osho
Drop the mind and the divine. God is not an object, it is a merger. The mind resists a merger, the mind is against surrender; the mind is very cunning and calculating.
-Osho
Complete surrender does require that you have no desire of your own. You must be satisfied with whatever God gives you and that means having no desires of your own.
-Ramana Maharshi
Surrender appears easy because people imagine that, once they say with their lips `I surrender' and put their burdens on their Lord, they can be free and do what they like. But the fact is that you can have no likes or dislikes after your surrender; your will should become completely non-existent, the Lord's will taking its place. The death of the ego in this way brings about a state which is not different from jnana. So by whatever path you may go, you must come to jnana or oneness.
-Ramana Maharshi
The Christian teaches surrender to God; God is just an excuse to surrender. It is a help, because it will be difficult for you to surrender without any object. The object is just an excuse so that in the name of God you can surrender. Buddhism says simply surrender — there is no God. You relax. It is not a question of some object, it is a question of your own subjectivity. Relax, don’t fight. Accept.
-Osho
Leave it to God. Surrender unreservedly. One of two things must be done. Either surrender because you admit your inability and require a higher power to help you, or investigate the cause of misery by going to the source and merging into the Self. Either way you will be free from misery. God never forsakes one who has surrendered.
-Ramana Maharshi
The name "Islam" simply means "Self-surrender to the Will of God." It is the way of life that all Prophets through out history have taught, from those known in the Western world such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus to those sent to other parts of the earth like Salih, Shu'ayb and Luqman, the African.
-Islam101.com
-Ramana Maharshi
God has put you in the world. What can you do about it? Resign everything to Him. Surrender yourself at His feet. Then there will be no more confusion. Then you will realize that it is God who does everything.
-Ramakrishna Paramhansa
The essential surrender happens within you, it has nothing to do with anybody outside you. The basic surrender is a relaxation, a trust — so don’t be misguided by the word. Linguistically, surrender means to surrender to somebody, but religiously, surrender simply means trust, relaxing. It is an attitude rather than an act: you live through trust.
-Osho
Drop the mind and the divine. God is not an object, it is a merger. The mind resists a merger, the mind is against surrender; the mind is very cunning and calculating.
-Osho
Complete surrender does require that you have no desire of your own. You must be satisfied with whatever God gives you and that means having no desires of your own.
-Ramana Maharshi
Surrender appears easy because people imagine that, once they say with their lips `I surrender' and put their burdens on their Lord, they can be free and do what they like. But the fact is that you can have no likes or dislikes after your surrender; your will should become completely non-existent, the Lord's will taking its place. The death of the ego in this way brings about a state which is not different from jnana. So by whatever path you may go, you must come to jnana or oneness.
-Ramana Maharshi
The Christian teaches surrender to God; God is just an excuse to surrender. It is a help, because it will be difficult for you to surrender without any object. The object is just an excuse so that in the name of God you can surrender. Buddhism says simply surrender — there is no God. You relax. It is not a question of some object, it is a question of your own subjectivity. Relax, don’t fight. Accept.
-Osho
Leave it to God. Surrender unreservedly. One of two things must be done. Either surrender because you admit your inability and require a higher power to help you, or investigate the cause of misery by going to the source and merging into the Self. Either way you will be free from misery. God never forsakes one who has surrendered.
-Ramana Maharshi
The name "Islam" simply means "Self-surrender to the Will of God." It is the way of life that all Prophets through out history have taught, from those known in the Western world such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus to those sent to other parts of the earth like Salih, Shu'ayb and Luqman, the African.
-Islam101.com
“The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.”
-Julia Cameron
“Love is a lot like dancing-you just surrender to the music.”
-Unknown
“Change is the essence of life.Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”
-Unknown
“You're in the midst of a war: a battle between the limits of a crowd seeking the surrender of your dreams, and the power of your true vision to create and contribute. It is a fight between those who will tell you what you cannot do, and that part of you that knows / and has always known / that we are more than our environment; and that a dream, backed by an unrelenting will to attain it, is truly a reality with an imminent arrival.”
-Anthony Robbins
“Give up all bad qualities in you, banish the ego and develop the spirit of surrender. You will then experience Bliss.” -Sri Sathya Sai Baba
“Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.”
-A. W. Tozer
“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”
-Vince Lombardi
“At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.”
-Maya Angelou
“We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can / namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.”
-St. Theresa of Avila
“If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.”
-Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger
“If people as individuals surrender to the call of their elementary instincts, avoiding pain and seeking satisfaction only for their own selves, the result for them all taken together must be a state of insecurity, of fear, and of promiscuous misery.”
-Albert Einstein
In trying to make meaning of this, I note that not all of these are talking about surrender in the same way, or from the same perspective. Some see it as a positive, and a form of relief and letting go, and some see it as giving up. There is a time and place for everything. For myself, I'm praying for a successful surrendering, and soon.
lyrics:
and
Let's dance in style, Let's dance for a while
Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?
from Forever Young, by Alphaville
colors: moon and sand
mood: resistive
chant/prayer/mantra: om namah shivaya gurave, saccidananda murtaye, nishpraprancaya shantaya, nirah lambaya tejase
pax hominibus, agape to all, joel
-Julia Cameron
“Love is a lot like dancing-you just surrender to the music.”
-Unknown
“Change is the essence of life.Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”
-Unknown
“You're in the midst of a war: a battle between the limits of a crowd seeking the surrender of your dreams, and the power of your true vision to create and contribute. It is a fight between those who will tell you what you cannot do, and that part of you that knows / and has always known / that we are more than our environment; and that a dream, backed by an unrelenting will to attain it, is truly a reality with an imminent arrival.”
-Anthony Robbins
“Give up all bad qualities in you, banish the ego and develop the spirit of surrender. You will then experience Bliss.” -Sri Sathya Sai Baba
“Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.”
-A. W. Tozer
“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”
-Vince Lombardi
“At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.”
-Maya Angelou
“We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can / namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.”
-St. Theresa of Avila
“If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.”
-Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger
“If people as individuals surrender to the call of their elementary instincts, avoiding pain and seeking satisfaction only for their own selves, the result for them all taken together must be a state of insecurity, of fear, and of promiscuous misery.”
-Albert Einstein
In trying to make meaning of this, I note that not all of these are talking about surrender in the same way, or from the same perspective. Some see it as a positive, and a form of relief and letting go, and some see it as giving up. There is a time and place for everything. For myself, I'm praying for a successful surrendering, and soon.
and
Let's dance in style, Let's dance for a while
Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?
from Forever Young, by Alphaville
pax hominibus, agape to all, joel
Labels: 4th UU principle, art, Christianity, freedom versus freedom, globalism, personal growth, prayer, salvation, war and peace
Saturday, October 1, 2011
two indispensable pieces of wisdom this week from facebook
from the blue buddha quote collective:
"anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind."
and from a friend Branduin:
[absolutely integral to novel writing:] "Motive is the secret to well rounded characters."
(On reflection, I also think that motive is the secret to establishing a proper narrative IRL.)
,
Many blessings,
Joel
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes
the existing model obsolete."
-Buckminster Fuller (Architect and Geometrist)
,
Many blessings,
Joel
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes
the existing model obsolete."
-Buckminster Fuller (Architect and Geometrist)
Labels: angry at organized religions, fury, grace, pastoral care, personal bookmarks, personal growth, writing
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
For Sixteen Years, My Dove Seeking for Peace
 |
| After first of three sessions. |
This last year, during my chaplain residency / clinical pastoral experience, one thing I've been mulling over has been the meaning of the olive branch that the dove found in Noah's story. When I was younger, and I got the third portion of my head tattoo with the last of ten birds -- golden eagle, peregrine falcon, albatross; crow, raven, hummingbird; bald eagle, wren, loon, and dove. I asked the artist to put the dove right in front with the sunrise (and autonomically cried through the whole inking), but felt it was not appropriate at the time to have an olive branch in its beak, so left a little space to ink it in later, when the time was more appropriate. I had a lot of work left to do.
During my CPE, it came to my attention that the olive branch was a symbol for divine power. I've learned a lot about power this last year. I've learned the difference between power over (forcing somebody to work on the agenda of the more powerful person), power alongside (assessing complementary skills and working collaboratively), and power under (providing strength and opportunity for another to more completely follow their own volitional path). Given the US culture I was raised in, I had mainly only paid attention to the first kind of power, the power of battle, oppression, and suppression, in which the stronger is the victor and the weaker is the victim. I felt freed when I learned of the second as a good pastoral stance, and I made up the third myself, because balanced-ternary is the way I roll, and because there are some people in the world with way too much power who rarely put it to good use themselves, and might actually like to give much of it away, thereby freeing themselves.
Now, here I am, taking a break from assembling my MFC packet, and taking in this interview with Phil Anselmo of Pantera. I haven't been keeping up with his more recent projects, and while my musical tastes have changed, I still enjoy their older songs. And while his personality is arrestingly unique, I've met at least two others with similar qualities during my time here.
In any case, at the end of the interview in Part 4 at 12 minutes, 30 seconds, he says,
"I'm not afraid to make friends, and I'm not afraid to extend my hand, first. To walk up to people, extend an olive branch even…"
This, to me, is the meaning of my missing olive branch. I haven't been ready to trust until maybe now.
The question foremost in my mind at this point is, "What kind of person extends an olive branch when most everybody else stands (at least partially unknowingly) with their swords drawn?" I've been open and honest before, and have been through an emotional evisceration as people -- not understanding the context and framework I approached in -- applied their own, leaving me decontextualized.
In other words, am I actually returning from a hero's journey after finding dry land (peace and security) or have I found the ingredients for their formation? Or am I just saying "peace, peace" when there is no peace? And to help make this concrete (considering Joseph Campbell's diagram in the previous link) how have I atoned, and what was that atonement for anyway?
Moving beyond the narrative from within the narrative, like the hummingbird (which stands for Joy) in this story, I will just take control of myself, and do what I can.
Labels: angels, angry at organized religions, birds, inter-faith, interconnected web, peace, personal growth, personal religion, tattoos, theological sources
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Interesting video on sexual healing, with an extra Christian slant
Labels: personal growth, prayer, sexuality, theology
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Two things to read
America is a second world nation. We have no universal free health care (don't kid yourself about the plan underway), no guarantee of anything really, except competitive struggle with one another for work and money and career status, if you are one of those conditioned to think of your job and feudal debt enslavement as a "career." High infant mortality rates, abysmal educational scores, poor diet, no national public transportation system, crumbling infrastructure, a collapsed economy, even by our own definition we are a second world nation.
In serious, intelligent people, experiencing non-manufactured reality usually gives lifelong meaning and insight to the work.
Labels: anti-oppression, Capitalism, indifferent corporations, media, oppression, personal bookmarks, personal growth, politics, salvation, theological sources, USA
Thursday, April 7, 2011
sfood h "a revjd pastoral process"
one song sample to accompany: "shake yr body hallelujah" loop and variants from dj minorminor's "plaster blaster"
here's my incipient process right now:
next up, sfood h "a revjd prophetic practice"
xoox,
joel
here's my incipient process right now:
- greet pt. elicit pt to candidly tell experience/story
- show them you've heard their story by recounting yr core understandings of their sharings
- facilitate exploration of their feelings in the moment of recounting the story
- aid them in articulating their primary emotions and triggers
- guide them to reflect on their sources of spiritual strength/drain: key relationships with divinity within, between, among, and beyond
- (have fun brainstorming on ideas)
- send whiteheadian process theology angels from god for potentially limitless list of potential actions
- consider ramifications, risks, theological and moral reflection
- narrow down and engage with a choice
- encourage pt toward spiritual growth through practicing that choice and allowing it to bloom into the world.
next up, sfood h "a revjd prophetic practice"
xoox,
joel
Labels: pastoral care, personal growth, personal religion
Thursday, March 17, 2011
My Book List from Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Units 1-3
(Sending via email....)
,
Many blessings,
Joel
http://revjd.blogspot.com/
"Holy is what you do when there is nothing between your actions and the truth."
-Stayceyann Chin
Personal Development and ECO*
- Recalling Our Own Stories: Spiritual Renewal for Religious Caregivers, by Edward Wimberly
- How to Be an Adult: A Handbook on Psychological and Spiritual Integration, by David Richo
- Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman
- The Power Equity Group: A Guide for Understanding Equity and Acknowledging Diversity, by Carol Pierce
- A Male/Female Continuum: Paths to Colleagueship, by Pierce, Wagner, and Page
Pastoral Skill-Building; Addressing Joy, Love, Hope, Tranquility, Anger, Pain, Fear, Sorrow and Evil
- The Skilled Helper: Problem-Management and Opportunity-Development Approach to Helping, by Gerard Egan
- The Art of Helping (in the 21st Century), by Robert Carkhuff
- Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue, by Edwin Friedman
- Naming the Silences: God, Medicine, and the Problem of Suffering, by Stanley Hauerwas
- On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Lt.Col. Dave Grossman
- Caring Enough to Confront: How to Understand and Express Your Deepest Feelings Toward Others, by David Augsburger
,
Many blessings,
Joel
http://revjd.blogspot.com/
"Holy is what you do when there is nothing between your actions and the truth."
-Stayceyann Chin
Labels: anti-oppression, book list, pastoral care, personal growth
Friday, February 18, 2011
I Am Responsible For....
I am responsible for my actions, and my actions only. When I began to realize how true that is midway through CPE, it was a great relief. I'd been carrying a lot of anxiety and anger because I was feeling responsible for the whole world. Far too enmeshed.
I am responsible for adding my energies to apply to the vectors which point toward the goals in which I would like to see the world to change.
Simply put, personal, and close to home: For my (lack of) skills at organization, I am responsible. There is nobody else to ultimately assign credit/blame for whether my physical environment and virtual environment are tidy and organized in such a way as to match and reflect my personality. Likewise, for the true improvements/changes I'd like to see in the wider world, I am responsible for doing my part, and for knowing what that part is or can be.
Simply put, personal, and close to home: For my (lack of) skills at organization, I am responsible. There is nobody else to ultimately assign credit/blame for whether my physical environment and virtual environment are tidy and organized in such a way as to match and reflect my personality. Likewise, for the true improvements/changes I'd like to see in the wider world, I am responsible for doing my part, and for knowing what that part is or can be.
I've decided I want to figure out how to change the munged autosig below into the old properly-formatted style. IIRC, it was in an odd place. I've gone searching for it for a few minutes, but to no avail thus far.
lyrics:colors:mood:chant/prayer/mantra:pax hominibus,agape to all,joel
PS: This is the end of the old blog format, I'm going to be switching to something else over the next few months. See the old header wording below, plus some midway editing of the new.
This place is a public journal of self-self discovery, on any level.
With hope and joy, this will to self-determine rises to the occasion, moving past any and all barriers and impediments. This will uses any and all ethical means and tools worthy of applying to reason/emotion/mixed-complicated-relationships/gut-feeling known as humanity.
Also about a 70s PSA ad with a cartoon rocker dude making a sandwich called a Wagon Wheel out of two crackers & peanut butter.
More info here.
This used to be a place for me to post thoughts for my friends back home and anyone anywhere else who cares to read what spills out of my scrambled eggs upstairs. :)
Labels: page header notes, personal growth
