This week and Peace Expo review

This week at UCMHE:

Monday noon in the library: report writing for SPO
Tuesday, 10AM - 8PM. The Labyrinth is up in the Fireside Lounge.
8PM – Inclusive Spiritual Seekers, MBSC, Council Room
Wednesday “Day of Silence” at UNO in support of GLBTA I’ve been
honored with a request to help with the opening.
Thursday 11:30 AM. Retreat with Peace with Justice Intern Lori Young
and PwJ Minister Carol Windrum.
Saturday 9-4 PM BIG Garden project (see last week’s article at http://www.unocampusministry.blogspot.com/ for details. Lori, DeClan, Laura and Colleen are already planning to help out.
Sunday 10 AM Worship at Castelar Presbyterian Church, 2410 s. 16th Street (16th & St. Mary’s St.) Castelar is the Presbyterian Church’s Hispanic outreach center.


A note about yesterday’s Peace Expo

Have you ever had a sense that what you were doing was just a little out of ordinary reality? Sometimes a sports figure reports being “in the zone”. Sometimes in a paper you’ll get that exact phrase that really makes the point. I knew a woman who was in the presence of a stellar figure and reported “I just felt different around her.”

Well, that’s a little like yesterday at the Peace Expo. I didn’t know what it would really look like. More than 700 persons and 75 sponsoring booths, thirteen workshops, a dramatic presentation and a provoking presentation by Cindy Sheehan converged on MBSC food court, turning it into a celebration of Peace and Justice connections. It was everything from the Sierra Club to the churches, chiropracty to FMLA, Social Work to UCMHE, Nebraskans for Peace to groups advocating for the separation of church and state. UCMHE was one of lead student organizations. We signed up at the beginning of the project as a sponsor, which allowed the event to happen at UNO at the right price for room use.

The idea was simple: connect with people and organizations who have a view of peace and justice. The possibility grew into reality through foresight of a group of individuals dedicated to peace in our time, and several students who were in charge of the event from UNO. Lori Young of UCMHE took on a leadership role here, along with Miranda Lozier from the school of Social Work, and Katie Ladd of Feminist Majority Leaders, and Jay Filipi and Anthony Mainor. This group has been meeting, and I mean meeting, since November to develop a plan for the “day of the event”. All these people deserve your thanks, and maybe a free dinner and a plaque. Their dedication led to a seamless event.

The connections were happening all around. I heard more than once, “I didn’t know there were so many people like us in Nebraska.” Yeah, like, 700+ of them! The ballroom was full. I thank God for all that.

Oh yeah, there were eight Young Republicans who wanted to support the troops, and they had their say and Cindy reminded them that if they wanted to support our troops, they’d bring them home. She was saying, “Get the big picture.” (Interesting note: one of the Omaha TV networks reported on the event and the more than 700 peace activists there. That took 7 seconds. The rest of the 30 second blurb was about the eight protesters. Not much of a balance in reporting there. But hey, a colleague of mine has always said this about media reporting: If you get your name out there, it’s always a plus.”)

So the whole thing was less than controversial because, as Cindy Sheehan pointed out, “Two thirds of Americans think this war is wrong and it’s time to get out.” The statistics she cited noted the percentages in the military who are serving in Iraq are about the same as they are here in the US. She also noted there is a reason there is no military draft for this war, “The people would not support it and that would be the end of war.” The logic is clear: If all Americans pay and have to sacrifice, there is a sense a strong and vocal majority would clamor for the end of this (undeclared) war in Iraq. What the government is trying to do is have a war with no visible, tangible, sacrifices (money, resources, etc.)

Cindy is right: Ending the war will take more sacrifice from more of us and I think it can start with more connections and conversations between us.

I’ll continue to think and pray about this. I invite you to join in that and grow deeper in prayer.

--Fred





For those who wondered, “why the palm tree?” here are a few references:
Psalm 92:12 “The righteous flourish like the palm tree,”
John 12: 13 “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
"Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord —
the King of Israel!"

Or you might also believe it was just laying around in Carol’s classroom and she let me borrow it.