A New Job and the Peace March in Washington

The first week of new work at St. John's quickly coming to a close. Started on Tuesday with a full day in the office, orientation in the morning, unboxing and shelving of books in the afternoon, council meeting in the evening. This kind of a day at work at a church is not overwhelming- there's a kind of flow to it that allows moments to discover books in boxes you didn't know you own, this a familiar experience for anyone who is a mildly compulsive book collector.

The second day met approximately 140 people in an eight hour time span, and I learned maybe 40 names, at best, which isn't bad, all things considering, but by the time we broke out into confirmation small groups and I had just four young people in the room with me, I couldn't get those four names straight because I had all the other ones rambling around in my head from prior conversations. There's only so much one can do- and then keep studying the names and faces.

I'm really quite thankful for this congregation and this job. In the words of a pastor who wrote recently in reference to my upcomign ordination, ""I extend to you my sincere best wishes as you look toward your Ordination and service to Christ and the church as a pastor. Unfortunately I will be unable to attend. However, I do hope that there will be many pastors and people to surround you as you speak your vows of faithfulness to the Scriptures as the pure Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions as the true exposition of the Word. May both you and the church be blessed accordingly!" The blessings bestowed upon the church come through the preaching of God's Word, not my own giftedness, so I pray I might be the voice and vehicle for God's word.

But I've also been meaning to write about the march in Washington. We gathered at the UW Memorial Union on Friday afternoon, and the signs acttually seemed to arrive before the people, stuck through slats of benches and propped against trees. Then a mix of colorfully and normally clothed people began to trickle in, congregations of local news crews, a guy holding a "thank you" sign who couldn't attend the rally personally but wanted to thank those of us who were going.

When the buses arrived the organizer still wasn't present, and, it being cold, we all boarded the buses. Only to then cause mass confusion when the organizer actually arrived and announced that there were assigned buses to accomodate those riding back on Saturday or Sunday respectively, etc. 1.5 hours later, we were on the road.

Amanda is writing a fairly substantial piece on this trip as well, including descriptions of the people who rode the bus with us, so I will post that later. For now, some more political observations. First, this was a grass roots movement, it represented a broad cross section of the Wisconsin population, and it should not have been ignored so blithely by our dictator, George the 2nd. These are not terrorists, these are not treasonous people, these are people expressing their disagreement with a preemptive unilateral war in Iraq. They are U.S. citizens and immigrants and resident aliens participating in -what the White House representative stated in a cold and distant fashion- a time honoured American tradition. They are also protesting the horrendous effects of the U.N. sanctions on the people of Iraq. The entire world has dealt with Iraq in a most shameful fashion.

Second, the effects of a bus rally to Washington are farther reaching than I had originally imagined. My original concept was something like- "I will add one more physical body to this mass of protestors in D.C., and this will make a statement." My understanding of the rally is now much more nuanced than that. First were the conversations on the bus, long and careful ones, where we learned how to articulate our sense of the wrongness of the so-called war with Iraq. Also the sense of community, the now-knowing-each-other, other protestors and organizers in the Madison area, which couldn't and wouldn't have happened in the same way through brief lunchtime meetings of the local Madpeace or International A.N.S.W.E.R. groups. Finally, the fact that now, when we tell friends and neighbors and families about the trip, their curiosity and questions allows for further public discourse, and the fact that we attended shows our commitment at a level above simple rantings and ravings round the dinner table. We didn't engage in civil disobedience (and so far, I believe we shouldn't), but disobedience wasn't necessary. Legal commitment of putting yourself on a bus and losing your weekend, that's enough to commit, at least at one level, to the cause.

One curious pre-trip apprehension. Amanda and I have slowly been trying to make our food consumption habits more just. I emphasize slowly, because Amanda is much better at doing this than me. I am still tempted, at times, by the Yellow Arches and the simplicity of warm food ready-to-hand. So I was nervous about the drive out to D.C. because I knew we would be stopping at places with fast food, I knew lots of the folks riding the bus would be vegetarians or at least anti-corporate buying, and I wondered if I gave in to the guilty pleasure of a BK Broiler if I would be judged. This was a funny thought. a) It should have helped me keep up my end of my own ethical commitments, and be a better buyer of just goods, b) I needn't have felt guilty or ashamed, because the people on the bus were non-judgmental and friendly to a fault, and c) I thank God for this helpful (read non-militant) push towards just purchasing, most of which is an internal dialogue in any event.

Other possible topics for future reflection: Civil disobedience? Do we have a democracy? Christian faith and partisan politics?

Vote No War on the People's Referendum to Stop the War on Iraq Submit a referendum... go to DC if you can!

And this, a brief quote from a recent Christmas letter:

"The Son of God comes, and like any child, is a much less romantic gift than we make him out to be. At first adorable, but then voracious and demanding and helpless as any child is, it's a strange thing to realize God puts Himself into the arms of Mary and feeds at her breast. This baby demands something of us, for like any child, it is our responsibility to keep it alive. It is the last example of the law ending in Christ, for we fail in even this demand, to keep this child alive. Mary, helpless before the authorities and the willfullness of her own son (who are my mother and father?), sees him die. The risen Christ is a different Christ, no longer present as this demand of a living one expecting our responsibility to "not kill". He is beyond death, resurrected. The distinction could not be more sharp. And yet he carries the marks of his death in his resurrection body. So too Mary can see, like all mothers can, that little baby now present in the adult body. Out of the corner of her eye, here he comes (this, the way the icons are done indeed).

Below I've posted a brief e-mail I wrote recently examining the fair trade movement. There's a number of links here on this blog to Fair Trade organizations. Our family has increased the number of products we try to purchase that are "fair trade", and we also work to buy locally and from companies that handle their products and employees justly. We don't accomplish this always, but we try as often as possible to do so. This could be taken as a 21st century kind of pietism, I guess. Or it could be construed as simple consciensciousness, being "mindful", if you will, if how things are made and who makes them...

"As for defense of the free market versus fair trade, here are my main thoughts. First, free markets preference the "corporation" as a "person" over individuals. Even if you leave aside such things as worker's rights, you're still dealing with an economic system that works because of the existence of (potentially) eternal selves, corporate bodies, and the free market exists to provide successful contexts for these bodies. Some people argue that what is good for the worker is also good for the corporation, but when push comes to shove, the survival of the company must come first. This seems to me a false and dangerously secularized "corporeality" that disregards the members of the one body.

Fair trade, on the other hand, posits knowledge of the other at the other end of an economic exchange. At it's best, I actually know and greet the person who has produced what I consume. Even in the case of coffee, where the markets are in vastly different geographic locales, often the growers send photos, have visitors from the buying country, etc. Thus, the economic system becomes a human and humane one as well.

Third, fair trade recognizes that there is something more at work in any economy than simply "the bottom line". We already know that the most cheaply and most quickly produced product is not necessarily the best. Read Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser, for example, for an examination of where that philosophy leads. The "free" market economy doesn't care about places, people, or history. It cares only about productivity, and an abstract one at that.

Fourth, free market systems first rely on, and then come to demand, consumption qua consumption. Thus, for example, our current crisis where the American economy is dependent on people buying large amounts of things they don't need simply to buoy the economy. A free market ends up being anything but free. It is a slave economy, pure and simple.

Finally, free markets remove values from the equation. Or maybe better, they are purely teleological, the ends justify the means. I can go to a supermarket and see the plastic wrapped and odorless beef, and not concern myself with how the end product came to be the way it is. At it's worst, in my daily purchases I am freed up to commit crimes at third or fourth hand.

I do agree that there are some pluses to a competitive, free market. Creativity, good hard and often quality work come out of it. Fair trade, though, is actually a marriage of a values based economic choice and a free market. It's socialism on a micro-scale, similar to the highly successful kibutzes in Israel.

Just outside of Madison is a small town called Cross Plains. Like a lot of other small towns surrounding Madison, there's a mix of communities. Some are small town old time Wisconsinites, therefore of German ancestory and rural demeanour. Others are "bedroom community" folks. Seems in almost every town outside of Madison, there's both the older small town homes and the newer suburban development complexes.

Anyway, on a winding road (Enchanted Valley) about 2 miles out of Cross Plains, as a holiday treat we stayed at an inexpensive B&B. Almost all roads of any type in Wisconsin are asphalt. I don't know why, but unlike Iowa country roads, which are primarily graveled, Wisconsin lays down asphalt. So this small, inconspicuous home in a cluster of trees in a valley of rolling hills outside of Cross Plains is the location of a B&B. A new age B&B. We didn't know it when we made the reservations, but our hostess is into wholeness, had a Feng Shui designer out to remodel the house, has learned Raiki massage techniques, and provides a host of accoutrements that are designed to promote health and a sense of well-being.

Well, I'm more than a bit skeptical of New Age and homeopathic treatments. In fact, as our hostess said, "We might find these things a bit hokey." Nevertheless, as forms of hospitality they are outstanding. We had originally made the reservations because this was one of the few B&Bs in the Madison area that provide a sauna. That was the selling point for us. But it was very nice and kind of her to also provide natural soaps, homeopathic lotions, and the like. Not because of what they will accomplish but because of the attentiveness and thoughtfulness of it all.

Which is not to say that I'm any more approving of New Age gimmicks than I ever have been. At their best they are aesthetically pleasing. At their worst they are idolatrous. Normally, they are just part of the American product consumption machine. They fool people into false forms of comfort and happiness. But when given or spent on another, they are also a form of care, which makes them interesting.

If you head out the door of this B&B with running shoes on, as I did, you get to know Wisconsin in winter. First of all, it isn't as cold as Minnesota. In fact, it seems downright balmy. Second, it's much more hilly and rolling. You really get a hills workout in this part of Wisconsin. It's so hilly that when you get to the top of one mound, the top of the next mound is indeed miles away. I ran from our B&B to Martinsville, where, if one gazes across the enchanted valley, one can spot St. Martin's Parish on the way. In between, there are a ton of farms that are owned by the "Foremost Farms Corporation". Someone more savvy than me in current agricultural economic practice will have to explain the difference between cooperatives and farms that are all owned by a parent corporation, but what you see while running on the street are many well-kept farms with the names of families of German descent in the undersigned position. There are many cows; so much cheese is produced in Wisconsin. It is a "cottage" industry :)

Martinsville is a bunch of houses, the church, and a pub. We've seen similar small towns in Madison. The pub and church are usually kitty corner. Which doesn't top Germany, where pubs and churches are sometimes attached. nevertheless, picturesque.

A sauna. I would go back for another sauna.

It's official. I received the official letter of call on December 31, 2002, which means that 2003 marks the year in which I finally begin, for the first time (sort of) a full-time job. Amanda and I spent three years working as "full-time" teachers in Slovakia, so I guess that should count, but in my mind that time doubles also as time away from, a break from, seminary. The rest of the past 30 years have been spent in school, or engaged in part-time jobs. 2002 included work at the Global Mission Institute, interim pastoral ministry in rural Minnesota, a fellowship trip to Germany, and currently part-time work with the educational ministries at Good Shepherd Lutheran. So, effectively four jobs in one year. Not bad.

But this blog is going to be in praise of part-time work. I'm quite happy to be starting a full-time call at St. John's, happy to do good and necessary work, happy to be in the church, happy to have a salary and benefits. No doubt there are many goods that come from working full-time. Nevertheless...

The benefits of part-time:
1. Responsibility without stress- there's nothing like having a job where what you do is needed, but it doesn't swallow your life and thoughts when you leave work
2. Varied schedule- sometimes I go into work at 1:30. Sometimes I leave at 2. It makes me wonder how people who work a day job fit in all the other living they need to do
3. Freedom to move on- like a diversified portfolio, you end up working in, and therefore knowing, often quite disparate communities, businesses, worlds
4. Never fully "in" the system- you're always something of an outsider, therefore free to think creatively within the system
5. Never duped into thinking things will fall apart without you- 'nuff said
6. Enough time to make your own life a full-time job- Amen. If anyone would ever hire me to simply be myself and do what I do, I'd be elated! :)
7. You can choose your own health and pension plan- I currently spend $80/month for health insurance. I think my new plan will cost about 8x that much.
8. It causes other people confusion- it interrupts an otherwise pat conversation when people ask, "What do you do?", and you respond, "Well, not much of anything right now," or "I'm helping out part-time with the confirmation ministries at..." When I hear people give this similar answer, I always think to myself, "How is he getting away with that?" Like the guy who just died this year at Harvard who took it up as his one day a week job to check all the clocks on the campus. That's all he did. Where'd he get the money to live? Why didn't he do more? These are the enigmas of our lives.

Somewhere deep inside, I'm still afraid that to "not" work is somehow a bit immoral. If you're healthy and an adult with a sound body and mind, you relaly should be doing something. Even better if you do something "worthwhile" or "beneficial", but in any event, you should be working. Even when I was going to school, I never really considered "not" working. Work benefits the neighbor, provides a service in the community, earns your keep, teaches good habits, etc etc Nevertheless, I'm glad for this freedom of having made it to 30 without really working "full-time". A new page in 2003, and soon, I'll be able to compare.