The Many Words for Peace

              

Recently, because we are part of the world, the world intruded into our school on a Friday afternoon.  Not with the same virulence as it did in Parkland or in any of the probably 20-plus other places that have had significant issues this calendar year so far, but the potential violence of the world came calling.  I am not going to go through all the details of the day, but it has led to conversations and changes at school.

The picture I have posted above was taken in the fall.  I don't have one that is a closeup of the sign on the right, which is our "No Weapons" posting.  Our sign says, "This is a Place of Peace."  When my 10th grade students and I talked on the Monday after our "incident," I asked them what the sign says.  I was pleased, first of all,that they have noticed the sign, and I really wanted them to talk about the difference between saying "No Weapons," a negative, and "This is a Place of Peace," a positive.  Instead, we jumped into a discussion of all the different languages that are on the sign--peace in a multitude of languages.  

Milwaukee has a multitude of urban issues--some days the struggle can seem almost overwhelming.  On the other hand, there are very committed people doing great things in Milwaukee, and Milwaukee is incredibly diverse.  For me, valuing this diversity is part of how I worship.  These people wear the masks of God.

So, when I am the only white person in my Walgreens, and when I pass the Clara Mohammad School across the street from us and remember that their students are 100% Somali and their building houses the oldest mosque in Milwaukee, I thank God for this place that I found.  Not perfect, and there are times in the last few weeks when I think each of us has felt like our skin has been flayed with sensitivity and sorrow, but I hope I am working toward this being a place of peace.  

Taking Up My Staff Again

Taking Up My Staff Again

Some of you will have noticed that I have primarily used my Facebook and other social media as a repository for recipes, articles, pictures, etc., since I came North from Arkansas but have not done much actual writing about the state of my soul and life.  It has taken some time to get my self sorted out (she says as if that is a completed process!)

One of the difficult things about this transition has been leaving my Methodist church community in Pocahontas and trying to find the right place to worship and build a community.  On the surface this would not see very difficult, since my family is connected to the Watertown Moravian Church, which has been our official church "home" since about 2004.  That is a long time, and most of the beautiful church pictures that show up on my social media feed come from there.  

It should have been very easy to reinsert myself into that life, but the heart is a lonely hunter.  So much changes in four years away--we have a new pastor, a much smaller congregation, and a very different feel.  This is neither good nor bad--it just has been one of the struggles of coming back.  I think it probably is connected to the idea that you really can't go home again.

Then, I have been mourning the church community I left, where I felt very connected and had relationships and a calling.  That community also has a new pastor, and I will admit that I was struggling somewhat with that as I left.  You will soon get the idea that transition is not easy for me.

So, with some trepidation, I headed out on a quest of sorts this fall.  My first toe in the water was to head over to the Pewaukee Methodist Church--basically a half mile from the house, and , after all, they are Methodists so it should work, huh?  It was one of the most unhappy experiences I have had in awhile!  About two hundred congregants, no greeter, no seats left, no bulletins left, and everyone playing with their phones and drinking coffee during church.  I was so unhappy and so embarrassed because all this, on that day at least, mirrored so much of what I see as wrong with American Christianity.

So, next steps.  I headed out to the Methodist church in Sussex, which is about five miles from home.  Sussex is a Waukesha county community that has managed to retain some vestiges of small town life while also becoming part of the Desirable Western Suburbs.  This was a very different experience--greeted with open arms, nice people, and, in many ways, a small good place to land.  I have been going there with some regularity since right before Christmas.

However, my heart is sore and ill at ease.  One aspect of this is that Doug and I are not going to church together, which he tells me not to worry about, but I notice because we are supposed to be building community together.  It is so hard to start to meet new people and build relationships in a new place, and i feel profoundly tired.  The other part of this may be a little harder to understand.  I do think that the communities where we develop ties and worship say a lot about our  souls, and the Martha who works on Martin Luther King Drive (Be Careful Down There!  Don't Go There at Night!  Is Working There OK With Your Family?!) can't easily come home to Pewaukee at the end of the day and disconnect from the huge social justice issues facing out communities, country and world.  I do think that how we walk our walk should be a big part of our spiritual life.  For me this has to be more active than what I have been getting in Sussex

So, this pilgrim took the next step this morning.  Doug is in Nicaragua, so I had the leisure of my somewhat secret journey.  I went to All Peoples' Lutheran Church, on 2nd Street, around the corner from school, where some of my students go and where they take a much more active social justice position.  I went to the 9 am service, which was small, and lots of people were coming in for the 11 am service as I was leaving, so I don't think that I have the true flavor yet, but I was welcomed and thanked for coming (funny thing is they think I am coming to support my students, while I think they may be supporting me!)  and asked to come back again.

Last week we went to Watertown for church, and someone who I love and care for reminded me that it is not so important where I worship as long as I AM worshipping.  At the same time that I am on this quest, I am reading and thinking productively about faith in ways that I have not done in a long time, so that means my soul is working.  

Today I worship with All People.