A Voice In Ramah

Battle Songs...

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:37:00 +0000

Harder yet may be the fight
Right may often yield to might
Wickedness awhile may reign
Satan's cause may seem to gain
There is a God that rules above
With hand of power and heart of love
If we are right, He'll fight our battles --
We shall have peace some day!
(Beams of Heaven, Charles Tindley)

Sometimes, it seems as if this mean old world is winning! Though many people try to do good, it seems as if "right yields to might" far, far too often.

How do you build the courage you will need to take on the hard fights -- the good fights where the overwhelming odds are against justice? How do you not become engulfed in cynicism? How do you stand taller than your fears that this may be the last fight in me...and I'm not winning.....? How do you not give in to the temptation to drink the bitterness. (You know, God can't do anything with bitterness.)

When we are talking about our children, the senseless loss of life and potential, and the ways in which those with power are given a free pass to "shoot and ask questions later" -- giving up is not an option.

Giving up is also not an option when we are called to face the never ending flow of illegal guns into our communities. We are being killed from within and without....

But...

I find strength and courage in the songs of the church. I am awed by the power of songs to give me the perspective I need to pick up the battle for one more day, and yet another day, and yet another day....

It may not seem like it, but "Beams of Heaven" is a battle song for me. It reminds me that I am on a journey; there is a destination, for sure. But the journey, if we are following Jesus, is characterized by wilderness, midnights, stars of hope and fights against injustice. "But this I know, if Jesus leads me, I shall get home someday."

When Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote a hymn "God of Grace and God of Glory" at the time when America was facing the Great Depression, an economic disaster that "drained the nation of life and hope." One of the lines of the hymn -- "Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore," reminds me that we cannot afford to think that any wrong doing or injustice has more power than The One who is All Powerful. We cannot give up so easily! God cannot be defeated -- therefore, God's children cannot retreat into safe spaces, waiting for the rough times to blow over -- because injustice unopposed does not blow over. We must face the hour -- but we do so with God.

Another battle song I sing was lifted first by the slaves in the American south. They were aiming for freedom and would sometimes become discouraged. So they sang to each other:

"Stay in the field, stay in the field,
Stay in the field - until the war is ended."

The verses of the song are directional and subversive -- providing clues for survival. I wish more of our contemporary songs provided clues for survival.

What keeps you going in the heat of the battle?

Sweet Little Jesus Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:35:00 +0000

Christmas at the House of Prayer Episcopal Church was my favorite time of the year when I was growing up in Newark, NJ and the Negro Spiritual, "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," had everything to do with that.

I didn't look forward to the gift giving. I still don't. Enough said.

It wasn't about snow or Xmas revelry. In fact, I always felt a little "odd" because there was nothing about the trappings of the commercial holiday that appealed to me. Surely, Christmas had to be about more....

The popular culture trappings obscured and hid and distracted...and I stood on many a soap box-turned-journey-pulpit trying to make plain, uncover, de-clutter, refocus on The Gift.

There was just something about "Sweet, Little Jesus Boy" that served as the antidote to all of the mindless Xmas songs I had to endure. And now, the season of endurance starts earlier and earlier as stores bypass Thanksgiving and move right into erecting their Christmas displays in September. It's October and I've only been in a few stores but I already feel assaulted by mindless Xmas clutter. Listening to Mahalia Jackson sing "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" tonight helped me to remember the work we have to do daily to battle the way popular culture obscures the truth about why God broke into human history, robed in flesh and "moved into our neighborhoods." It wasn't because we needed new jewelry, clothes or (why, Jesus?!) Chia Pets. If we really knew why, I'd like to think our response to the Gift would have been different....then and now. But maybe it wouldn't have been.

Popular culture turns hope and God's generosity into a product for profit. (And we should be mindful of the songs we pass down to our children. If we want them to be fit for the battles they will have to fight, we can't immerse them in mindless songs that accommodate the no-justice Empire. Just saying.) There is nothing about this song that makes you want to string lights. No hint of deer or jolly men. Its words are arresting, indicting, and convicting because in the manger is a baby (God's incredible gift to us), and looming on the horizon is our response to the Gift (the crucifixion).

Growing up, we sang it as a congregational song -- an incredible feat! I also remember a soloist or two who would sing it for us. I was captivated by the melody, but also by what the words brought about in me -- such clarity -- clarity about poverty, meanness, shortsightedness...and The One who gave us such a Gift of abundant hope, joy and eternal love.

We didn't know that Jesus was who he was. Unfortunately, that is why we treated him the way we did...and still do. We have no clue about the children in our midst...why God sent them to us and what God has for them to do. If we did, I like to think we would treat them better.

Sweet Little Jesus Boy

We made you be born in a manger

Sweet Little Holy Child

We didn't know who You was

Didn't know you come to save us, Lord

To take our sins away

Our eyes were blind, we could not see

We didn't know it was You.

You done told us how

when You were dying.

Master, You done showed us how

even when you were dying.

Don't seem like we can do right

look how we treated You!

But please, Sir, forgive us, Lord.

We didn't know it was You.

Eleven Years Old...and losing heart.

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 02:27:00 +0000

He was slight in body. His eyes darted around the room and then settled on mine. As we locked eyes, my heart seemed to stop for a moment -- as if to acknowledge that what I was seeing with my own eyes demanded an end to business as usual -- that I stop and take a breath - that I remember this moment.

He was eleven years old.

And he was incarcerated.

I don't know why he was incarcerated. I don't know what he did "wrong." But the fact that he was incarcerated means that he - at eleven years old - is being held accountable for whatever his wrong was determined to be. Truth be told, there will be no real accountability, however, for the adults and the systems that did him wrong long before he did wrong.

We -- families, schools, churches, community institutions, child-serving agencies, fraternities, sororities -- will just go on, business as usual until we are forced to come face to face with what we have thrown away with our policies of disinvestment, our denial of our "brother-keeping" responsibilities, our incredible toleration of community breakdown: another generation of children.

"Fathers

(and mothers, systems, community, churches, people)

do not provoke your children,

or they may lose heart."

Colossians 3:21

Prayer:

"God, what an indictment on us: children who have lost heart. We may be bold enough to ask You for forgiveness, because we've never seen You. We've not had to lock eyes with You -- so be in the eyes of our children. Grant that we would be courageous enough to not turn away. Send Your Spirit to arrest us and our practices of provocation. Give us yet another chance to get right with this generation, lest we all barrel down the road of no return. Losing heart is not inevitable. You have promised that there would be "no breaching of the walls, no going into exile and no wailing in the public square." Yet here we are -- with few safe spaces for our children, with a generation exiled into poverty in the midst of such excess, and wailing, wailing, wailing. Though we be, as the psalmist says, like a puff of wind and though our days be like a passing shadow, still You love us and have given us the power to sing a brand new song, to tell a story of hope. You have given us the power to repair the breach. Help us to use the power we already have for the sake of every eleven year old boy who is being held accountable for being an eleven year old boy." Amen.

Hosanna, Loud Hosanna!

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:09:00 +0000

Here's a hymn written by Jeanette Threlfall (1821-1880). She writes about the songs and praises of children lifted up to Jesus -- Palm Sunday praises....for the One who welcomed them into His presence.

1. Hosanna, loud hosanna,

the little children sang,

through pillared court and temple

the lovely anthem rang.

To Jesus, who had blessed them

close folded to his breast,

the children sang their praises,

the simplest and the best.

2. From Olivet they followed

mid an exultant crowd,

the victor palm branch waving,

and chanting clear and loud.

The Lord of earth and heaven

rode on in lowly state,

nor scorned that little children

should on his bidding wait.

3. "Hosanna in the highest!"

that ancient song we sing,

for Christ is our Redeemer,

the Lord of heaven our King.

O may we ever praise him

with heart and life and voice,

and in his blissful presence

eternally rejoice!

Children in the New York State 2011 - 2012 Budget: An Unfair Burden

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 03:23:00 +0000

Friends,

Here is the letter that went to all New York State legislators from the Children's Defense Fund - New York. I'm including it here in its entirety on my personal blog because I think that how we spend our money is a moral issue. Budgets are moral testimonies. They are practical demonstrations of what we value, what we hold dear. Unfortunately, New York's 2011 - 2012 budget targets children, poor people and vulnerable families to bear enormous burdens, while at the same time, exempting the wealthiest of New Yorkers from the burden to "share the pain."

So, I thought it important to share this letter and I hope that those who read it and the budget analysis that follows will call their elected officials. It's not too late.

******************************

February 22, 2011

The Governor of the State of New York

The New York State Senate

The New York State Assembly

The Children’s Defense Fund – New York (CDF-NY) is extremely concerned about the impact the Governor’s Executive Budget proposal will have on the children of New York and the future of our state. While encouraged by efforts to reform the juvenile justice system, we are troubled by the level of reductions to preventive services, youth programs and education that will hurt the most vulnerable children and families.

We know that difficult decisions must be made to put New York on the path to economic recovery. Bold actions are needed to ensure that the budget is balanced and that New Yorkers continue to have the opportunities that make our state strong.

CDF-NY is working to promote critical systems change in the areas of juvenile justice, early childhood, children’s health and education. To dismantle the cradle to prison pipeline that is funneling thousands of New York’s youth into the juvenile and criminal justice systems, we must ensure that every child has the appropriate and necessary support starting at birth. Our budget and legislative priorities reflect the principle of investing in programs that are effective and provide children and youth with the support they will need to be successful.

Investments in early childhood, youth services and education not only lead to financial savings in the future, but these investments also produce more positive outcomes for all of us. We cannot afford to make decisions that may reduce the budget in the short-term but create the need for more costly interventions in the future.

Unfortunately, the Governor’s proposed budget includes significant cuts to programs that we know support families, prepare children to learn and succeed in school, and keep young people out of trouble. The proposed cuts to the home visiting, child care, after-school and summer employment programs are short-sighted actions that will prove to be more costly in succeeding budgets than the immediate savings achieved by these cuts for this budget year. The budget proposal sends a dangerous message that New York will not invest in a child’s early development, keep them safe or prepare them for a successful future; New York would rather respond after a young person gets in trouble or falls behind in school. Even then, the response cannot be expected to meet the need.

CDF-NY urges you to ensure that the final budget proposal is fair and does not eliminate programs that are proven to create more positive outcomes for our children. A more detailed budget statement is attached. Specifically we hope you will work to:

restore funding for home visiting and keep the program out of any block granted structure;

support the closure of youth prisons, the elimination of the 12-month notification requirement and support the investment in community-based alternative-to-detention and alternative-to-placement programs;

restore funding for subsidized child care programs to the current level;

reject the proposed reduction in school aid, that coupled with the loss of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, would seriously hamper school districts’ ability to serve children equitably and adequately.restore state funding for after-school programs and the summer youth employment programs;

oppose the creation of the Primary Preventive Investment Fund and restore full funding for the critical youth preventive programs; and

identify revenue options that will not hurt hard-working low- and middle-income New Yorkers.

CDF-NY recognizes that states across the country are faced with incredible financial challenges. Some have opted to allow this challenge to be borne on the backs of children, poor people and vulnerable families. While everyone has a contribution to make to our becoming “whole,” not all cuts can be equal. Some cuts leave no room for recovery and eat away at tomorrow’s promise. New York has an opportunity to show the way forward for our entire country. Strong, inspired, principled leadership makes the difference for all of us in tough times because the temptation for too many will be to prioritize easy cuts for today’s bottom line over what New York’s children and families need now to ensure a bright tomorrow for all of us.

Now is the time to end the legacy of investing in waste and inefficiency. Now is time to transform those savings into resources that will make the difference in neglected communities. As you make the difficult decisions that must be made, I urge you to lead by protecting New York’s future – prioritize the needs of New York’s children and families.

Sincerely,

Emma Jordan-Simpson

Executive Director

******************************

Children’s Defense Fund – New York Budget Priorities

2011-2012 Executive Budget

February 2011

The Executive Budget proposal for SFY 2011-2012 closes a $10 billion budget gap primarily through reductions in spending and shifts in state support to financially strapped counties and cities. The $132.9 billion budget proposes an across-the-board reduction of 10 percent on all agencies and reduces state aid to localities by more than $3 billion, primarily through reductions in School Aid and Medicaid. While encouraged by efforts to reform the juvenile justice system and some efforts to improve our education system, we are greatly concerned about the level of reductions to preventive services, youth programs and education, as well as the significant cost-shift to localities.

Juvenile Justice

· The budget proposes to eliminate the 12-month notification rule and close 376 beds.

The Governor has proposed a $13.5 million investment to improve services in OCFS (Office of Children and Family Services) facilities in the first year, and $24 million in the second.

· The budget includes a cap on detention funding to localities. Under this proposal, counties would only be reimbursed for youth deemed high risk by an OCFS validated Risk Assessment Instrument. Counties would still be able to detain low and mid-risk youth but would have to cover the full costs themselves.

· The Governor has proposed the creation of a Supervision and Treatment Services for Juveniles Program (STSJP) that will provide $31.4 million in 2011-12 growing to $48.3 million in 2012-13 for community-based alternatives to detention and placement. (The budget also proposes to eliminate the existing $8.2 million for alternative programs, which will be consolidated into the new program.) A 62 percent funding stream is created for the STSJP.

CDF-NY applauds Governor Cuomo’s commitment to closing under-utilized youth prisons and investing in community-based alternative-to-placement programs. Currently, the law requires the state to provide 12-months notification prior to closing a youth prison. This requirement prevents the state from achieving the savings that result from the significant decline in the number of youth placed with OCFS. While this law has never made sense, it has now led to the cost of each state placement to be more than $300,000 per bed as we continue to pay staff to work in empty facilities. Not only does this waste taxpayer dollars on an abusive and ineffective system, it prevents the state from making the necessary changes that would create better outcomes for youth and improve public safety by significantly reducing recidivism rates.

We have strongly advocated for alternative programs because they are consistently successful at reducing recidivism, supporting youth and improving communities with a much smaller price tag. Instead of spending more than $300,000 per bed in the state youth prisons and seeing more than 80 percent of the youth re-offend within three years, we should be investing in the more effective community-based programs, which cost between $5,000 and $17,000 per year and deliver significantly lower recidivism rates. As the Governor said in his State of the State address: “Don’t put other people in juvenile justice facilities to give some people jobs. That’s not what this state is all about and that has to end this session.” We are hopeful that the legislature will support the Governor’s proposal and finally end the days of keeping empty facilities open and failing to provide youth with the services they need.

The Governor has also proposed capping the funding for local detention in order to pay for these new alternative programs. While, in principle, CDF-NY supports stopping local over-reliance on pre-trial detention (and the concurrent over spending), we urge you to ensure that the final budget does not punish struggling counties and lead them to make reductions in critical preventive services in order to pay for detention costs because funding for local detention has been capped. A phased-in or staggered approach to the detention cap will allow counties the time to develop new programs that can safely keep youth out of detention.

Child Welfare and Youth Services

· The Governor has proposed a change to the state reimbursement rate for the Adoption Subsidy program, decreasing the state share from 73 percent to 62 percent.

· The Governor proposes a reduction and cost-shift in Title XX funding.

· The budget proposes the creation of a new Primary Preventive Investment Fund (PPIF) at $35 million this year growing to $42 million next year. This will be a competitive process for districts and is created by eliminating funding for home visiting, delinquency preventive programs, runaway and homeless youth programs, community optional preventive services, and settlement houses. The new fund will invest 50 percent of the current funding for these programs.

· The budget eliminates TANF funding for programs including:

§ Summer Youth Employment

§ Advantage After-School

§ Home Visiting

§ SUNY and CUNY child care

· The Budget eliminates $3 million for the creation of a long-term safe house for sexually-exploited youth under the Safe Harbor Act.

CDF-NY is very concerned about the extent of the cost-shift to localities and elimination of successful programs that help keep children safe and on the path to success. Counties and cities are already struggling with massive budget deficits. By significantly decreasing state support and reducing overall funding for preventive programs, the Governor is creating an environment that will lead to devastating cuts for programs that are designed to protect children and support youth on a path to success.

While we recognize the need for the state to reduce spending, the cuts proposed by the Governor will only increase the state’s need to invest in more punitive and expensive interventions. The adoption subsidy is a successful and vital support to families who would otherwise not be able to care for the child financially. It helps provide children with permanent caring families, and reduces state and local spending on foster care and administration. Passing the state share to the counties will leave counties with no choice but to cut other programs that are designed to protect and support children.

CDF-NY strongly opposes the creation of the new Primary Preventive Investment Fund (PPIF). This action, while labeled as a positive approach to prevent foster care and juvenile justice placements, will drastically reduce the availability of preventive programs and most likely increase the need for more costly and restrictive services. The creation of this fund lumps together critical programs and provides less than half of the existing funding. By creating a competitive environment with significantly less money, and requiring a local match, it is likely that counties will not even have the ability to support a fraction of the existing programs.

Most troubling of the cuts made through the PPIF and reduction in TANF funding is the loss of funds for the home visiting program, one of the most effective interventions to prevent child abuse and neglect and improve school readiness. These programs provide much-needed support and intervention for at-risk families prior to a child’s birth or soon thereafter. A recent study found that families enrolled in these programs are 50 percent less likely to be reported for abuse or neglect in the future and that this program decreases the chances of low birth weights for the children of African American and Hispanic women. Studies on The Parent-Child Home Program have found that participants had higher rates of passing the 1^st grade skills assessment and higher rates of high school graduation. Providing these services up front to vulnerable families saves the state money on future child protective investigations, possible foster care placement, remedial education services and health-related costs associated with low birth weight children, while also improving the child’s growth and development as a result of growing up in a healthier and more supported environment. We strongly urge you to ensure that home visiting remains fully funded and out of any block granted program.

Early Childhood

The budget holds funding for universal pre-kindergarten at the same level as the current year.
The budget reduces funding for subsidized child care by approximately $55 million, including a loss of federal ARRA funds and reduction in TANF funds.
The budget does not include any funding for Quality Stars NY, the new performance rating system that New York has begun to test and implement.
The Governor has proposed increasing the fee for reviews of the state central register from $5 to $60.

CDF-NY is extremely concerned about the loss of funding for vital early childhood programs at a time when they are even more critical to the stability of families and children. While we are glad to see the continued commitment to fund the universal pre-kindergarten program, the other reductions in early childhood programs are troubling. The subsidized child care system around New York State has continued to shrink despite the growing need for the services. Rising costs combined with decreasing federal, state and local support are leading to the dismantling of this critical support for working families. Subsidized child care is one of the most important supports for working families. Child care is unaffordable for most lower-income working families. Without subsidies, parents will either be unable to work or leave their children in environments that are not safe, reliable or preparing them for school. Every dollar invested in early childhood services saves taxpayers $4 to $7 in the long run, and stimulates the local economy immediately. Cutting this service at a time of economic crisis does not make sense. We urge you to ensure that at least $55 million is added back to the Child Care Block Grant in the final budget.

Education

The Governor has proposed reducing School Aid to $19.39 billion by implementing a $2.8 billion Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA).
The budget includes a delay of the full phase-in of Foundation Aid until 2016-2017.
The Governor has proposed conducting a comprehensive review of school district mandates to identify and eliminate mandates that hamper school districts’ ability to provide services.
The budget proposal will incorporate wealth as a factor when reimbursing districts’ summer school special education costs, for an anticipated cost-savings of $57 million in State Fiscal Year 2011-2012.
The budget creates two $250 million competitive incentive programs to reward school districts that:

o demonstrate significant improvements in student academic achievement and outcomes; and

o make structural changes intended to create efficiencies.

· The budget proposal also includes another cost-shift from the state regarding special school placements. The state is shifting its share of funding for residential schools to the local school districts – increasing the school district share from 20 percent to about 53 percent.

· The budget maintains universal pre-kindergarten funding at its current level.

The Governor has proposed many new cost-containing measures that would pass significant costs to local counties and cities. CDF-NY is very concerned about this across-the-board approach to reducing education funding. Cumulatively, the property tax reduction, proposed GEA formula and the idea of delaying the phase-in of foundation aid would place already at-risk children throughout New York State in further risk of not receiving the support and services they need to succeed in school and in life. While we understand the need to rein in costs and applaud some of the initiatives proposed to create greater efficiency in our school systems, we are greatly concerned about the impact the proposed budget will have on already struggling school districts' abilities to provide services and supports for their students in the near future.

Family Assistance

The Governor has proposed to implement full family sanctions upon the second violation of the public assistance requirements, saving $7 million in state funds.
The budget proposes to delay the 10 percent Public Assistance grant increase for one year, creating a $29 million state savings.

The changes proposed by the Governor to the public assistance program are not worth the $36 million in savings that they will generate. The new full family sanctions mean, in essence, that instead of just sanctioning the offender (the parent) they will now sanction the entire family (the children). This proposed rule will end up punishing children who have no decision-making authority regarding compliance with the requirements. It will also further destabilize struggling families. While CDF-NY encourages compliance, we recognize that the families receiving public assistance face many challenges and hardships. Further destabilizing their economic stability will place many more children at risk of going hungry, living in unsafe conditions and experiencing negative influences. In addition, the delay of the grant increase will continue to penalize the most vulnerable families in our state and leave families with 70 percent of the purchasing power the grant had in 1990. This means less money being spent by these families in their local communities – hurting both the individual families and the local economy.

Revenue

The Governor has proposed letting a tax surcharge expire at the end of the calendar year for the top earners in the state. The expiration of this surcharge on individuals earning over $200,000 and married couples earning over $300,000 will cost the state $1 billion in the 2011-2012 fiscal year and $4 - $5 billion the following year.

These surcharges were put in place to address the last fiscal challenge in New York three years ago. At a time when we continue to face incredible budget deficits, devastating cuts to core services like education, and high unemployment rates, New York should not let this surcharge expire. New York already has the most drastic income disparities in the country. Since 1980, the richest 1 percent of New Yorkers has grown from representing 10 percent of all wealth to 35 percent of all wealth in the state. Without this surcharge, New York will need to make even more crippling cuts in the next fiscal year.

What Child is This?

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 13:47:00 +0000

Sure, as much as we'd like to think we know -- we don't really know who these children are growing up around us. We may have thought one would never amount to anything, and look at him now. Another seemed to have an early golden touch, but somehow, lost his way. We certainly can't predict what will happen....well, some things we can predict. We know that, by and large, if a child has to make his or her own way because we are absent, neglectful, abusive and self-absorbed -- without the intervention of God Almighty...yeah...we have some idea of how that could turn out.

Whether we give this child everything or nothing, she is still in the hands of God.

So are we. The thing is -- no matter how things turn out -- God is watching us and we will be called into account for the "mean estate" so many children have to endure. How unimaginative of us! Poverty, the absence of loving adults, homelessness, hunger, low expectations, the refusal of power to invest in their potential....what mean, mean unimaginative estates.

We will be held accountable for the senseless spears that pierce their hopes and dreams...violent communities, unstructured homes, boundary-less and undisciplined lives, they way we sacrifice and crucify their childhoods on the altars of common gods.

Whatever child "this is" in your presence this season, haste to bring them a new and hopeful future. Haste to be a real shepherd -- go looking for "this child" to guard and keep watch over. Haste to be an Angel and sing a different tune on their behalf -- sing justice and sing investment in their futures.

What child is this, who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping,
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The baby, the son of Mary!

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.

Nails, spear shall pierce him through,
The Cross be borne for me, for you;
Hail, hail the Word Made Flesh,
The babe, the son of Mary!

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
Come, peasant, king, to own Him!
The King of Kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him!

Raise, raise the song on high!
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy! joy! for Christ is born,
The babe, the son of Mary!

Turning Darkness Into Day (Fisk University Jubilee Day, 2010)

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 02:28:00 +0000

Read The Full Transcript of Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan Simpson’s Jubilee Day Address, ” Turning Darkness Into Day”

October 11, 2010 by gbryant25

In October, The Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson(’85), Executive Director for Children’s Defense Fund-New York, was Fisk’s Jubilee Day Speaker. Due to the overwhelming response and inquiry, the University has obtained permission from Dr. Simpson to repost the transcript of her address, “Turning Darkness Into Day.”

While at Fisk as a student, Simpson was a member of the Jubilee Singers for three of her four undergraduate years. “I chose Fisk for lots of reasons, but mostly because I fell in love with the powerful theology of the Negro Spirituals,” Simpson said. “I am still taken by the faith of these songs..Especially now as my work at the Children’s Defense Fund focuses more and more on sounding the alarm about America’s cradle to prison pipeline crisis, these songs continue to provide clarity of mission for me.”

Below is Simpson’s address, “Turning Darkness Into Day,” from Jubilee Day 2010:

Turning Darkness Into Day

I often reminisce with the members of my class about what life was like while we were students here at Fisk. Earlier this year, Dr. Paul Kwami referred to those years – 1981 – 1985 as the “dark years.” Sure – we were young and stupid and they were, indeed, years of incredible challenge:

We were out on the streets singing and collecting money in cans;

We endured weeks at a time with no heat and no hot water in the dorms;
Some of my classmates, who will remain nameless, stood in line in front of the president’s house dressed in bathrobes and slippers waiting for permission to take a shower;
Resources were cut all over the place – they even threatened to end the Jubilee Singers program in mid-year;
And, they did eliminate the position for the Dean of this Chapel. That’s how students got stuck with me!

They were years of challenge and we acknowledge that. But, for better or worse, learning to “face down the challenge of the day” is a critical part of the Fisk Experience. (Admittedly, we’d like less of some challenges….) Yet what we endured and continue to endure could never compare to the experiences of those who started this vision – who deeply desired as John Work wrote in the second and third verse of our alma mater – that there would be an institution pulling Ethiopia’s children from North, East, South and West to inspire them – and then sending them back out into the world, carrying the charge to “Go, turn darkness into day.”

That’s a heavy charge and commission: to turn darkness into day. There is something about this experience that does shape and form within us vision, perspective and tools to go out into the world’s wildernesses – with that charge: go and turn darkness into day.

I did not come to preach a sermon, but let me tell you a little story found in the bible, Genesis (21: 14 – 20) of Abraham and Sarah. Most of us know their story, but we do not acknowledge that in the shadow of their great story of faith is an understory of injustice and struggle. And, we will never really understand the power of this story, or the power of the American Dream until we wrestle with and acknowledge the under stories – the places where darkness is still waiting for the light of day.

We call Abraham the Father of Faith. Sarah, his wife, wanted nothing more in life than to have her own child. Yet, she reached the age well beyond maturity and she had no children. When she heard that God would still give her one, she laughed – and sure enough, she bore Isaac!

However, under that story of joyous laughter and faith is the story of Hagar and Ishmael.

Hagar was Sarah’s slave. Because Sarah could not wait for God’s promises to her to be fulfilled, she gave Hagar to Abraham so that Abraham could produce a son. However, after Isaac was born – Hagar and Ishmael were thrown away. And one of the last, poignant visions we see of Hagar and Ishmael counters the story of laughter and joy and Abraham and Sarah going off to become the father and mother of great nations. It’s the vision of Hagar – now left a single mother, unemployed (now that she no longer even has the job of slave!), poor, and under-resourced and thrust into the dark wilderness with her teenage son, her boy child, with only enough food and water to last them a short while – certainly not long enough to make it through.

There are other sides to Power’s story of triumph! These songs of our legacy are about the other side of the story. They are about the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of people who have been left out, who were thrown away. These songs tell how some people prospered on the backs of others, but they also declare that God would have the last word. Our ancestors understood the futility of a half story –

Of bibles meant for slaves with all of the passages about freedom and liberation removed.

Of sermons preached to slaves about, obey – but never about “rise up.”
Of stories about God that did not take into account that of all that God is — God is the God of Justice.

I got shoes, you got shoes, all God’s children got shoes.
When we get to heaven, we’re gonna put on our shoes,
we’re going to walk all over God’s heaven.
But — but – everybody talking about heaven Ain’t going there!

Abraham and Sarah have a promise from God but decided not to wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled in God’s time. They saw Hagar as a means to an end. They decided that they were going to take matters into their own hands and – they use Hagar, abuse Hagar – and then when Sarah finally gives birth — they throw Hagar and her child away.

In the end, Abraham and Sarah receive their blessing. So does Hagar and her child. If told together, the stories could be a powerful reminder to generations to come not to use, abuse and throw people away. If told together, these stories could form an amazing testimony that demonstrates just how faithful God is to deliver on the promises that God has made to everybody.

However, these stories are rarely, if ever, told together.

Just like we often do not tell the story of America in a way that honors the stories of the slaves who built this country — because people do not want to be reminded of this side of the story. And, we – standing in their footsteps, sitting on their shoulders and benefitting from their sacrifices – we do not want to be reminded of “those slavery days, and especially not those slave songs.”

We want an upbeat story, a positive story. But the upbeat, positive story of Abraham and Sarah is shallow at best, without Hagar and Ishmael. And, America’s story means very little without our understanding how and why these songs came to be.

Hagar’s story is reminiscent of our sojourn in this country: some people came over, took the land from the people who were already here – and in the course of claiming and living out what they believed to be their “destiny,” their promise, God’s desire for them to live in a land that would be free –

They use African people, and enslave them to support a vision of life that was dependent upon slave labor;

They create a system that abuses those who are enslaved;
And then, when they get what they want, they throw these people away.

Look around – our different colors, shades and hues — beautiful as we are – our different colors, shades and hues remind us of Hagar’s understory.

And that today, our sons, like Ishmael, are often more familiar with a weapon than they are with a father’s love or with a community that won’t throw him away, is but one indication of just how deep and fractured this story has become and how complicit we have become in our own oppression.

Yet, we’ve got a charge to “Go and Turn Darkness Into Day.”

While we have a Black president and the top of this country’s ranks of the wealthy swells with a few more black media personalities, actors, and athletes, – the bottom rung of America grows poorer, and black and browner and angrier every year.

The dark underside of the American dream is a nightmare for the children of the children of the children of the children of slaves, and we have the nerve to say that because we now have a black president, we are living in a post-racial society – a society where race no longer matters and institutions like Fisk and historically black colleges are irrelevant. Race is not irrelevant when:

Every 4 seconds a black public school student is suspended.*
Every 39 seconds a black high school student drops out.*
Every minute a black child is arrested.
Every minute a black baby is born to an unmarried mother.
Every 2 minutes a black baby is born into poverty.
Every 3 minutes a black child is abused or neglected.
Every 4 minutes a black baby is born without health insurance.
Every 6 minutes a black baby is born at low birth weight.
Every 14 minutes a black child is arrested for drug and violent crimes.
Every hour a black baby dies before his or her first birthday.
Every 6 hours a black child or teen is killed by a firearm.
Every day a black child dies of abuse or neglect.
Every 2 days a black child or teen commits suicide.

* Based on calculations per school day (180 days of seven hours each) – Children’s Defense Fund

Race is not irrelevant when –

A Black boy born in 2001 has a 1 in 3 chance of going to prison in his lifetime; a black girl born the same year has a 1 in 17 chance;
Nationally, black juveniles are about 4 times as likely to be incarcerated as their white peers. In NYC, a black child is 32 times more likely to be incarcerated than a white child.

Only 50,000 black males earn a bachelor’s degree each year, but an estimated 1 in 3 black men ages 20 – 29 is under correctional supervision or control. About 846,000 black males were incarcerated in state, federal and local jails at mid-year 2008.
And in 2010 – there are more African American males ages 20 – 34 without a high school diploma or GED behind bars than there are black males employed in this whole country.

How do we turn darkness into day?

It should not be enough that we can point to a list of

black doctors
black educators, scientists, lawyers and judges
black mayors, congress people, senators, governors, a black President
black writers and actors, directors and producers
black wealthy people –

…because there is still an ever present, insidious understory of darkness, and injustice. There is still an incredible under story of poverty and lack in the midst of great prosperity.

God save us – you and I — the children of Hagar, and those who have been given the gift of this incredible legacy and must accept the charge to turn darkness into day – if we choose instead to be drunk with the wine of the world, content with a lists of black firsts, a few magazine cover stories – when what God intends is that we should all be free!

No more auction block for me
No more, no more
No more auction block for me
Many thousand gone.

Slavery has not ended in America. The auction block has not been put away. It just looks different. It takes on a new, more powerful form and institutes a more insidious form of oppression – because it is so easy for us – oppressors and oppressed – to look the other way.

This new slavery still carries some of the same marks as the old slavery:

In the old slavery, all slaves were poor, had nothing, and owned nothing. Pervasive poverty underscores the new slavery — more than 1 in 3 black children in this country lives under the poverty line.

In the old slavery, there was no such thing as medical care. Inadequate access to health coverage drives this new slavery – 1 in 9 black children have no health coverage even after health reform.
In the old slavery, it was a crime to teach blacks to read. In this new slavery, black and Hispanic children routinely show up to kindergarten lagging behind their white peers because we do not invest in early education. When 85% of black fourth graders cannot read at grade level, and 88% of black fourth graders cannot do math at grade level, we have doomed them to be the slaves of a new economy which will have no “good” use for them.

So many have said it before – Martin Luther King, Jr.; Marian Wright Edelman — this country will never be America until it is America for everyone. America has to reconcile the under stories it has helped to write. And if we can learn anything from our mothers and fathers who sang these songs, it is this: God will not suffer half a story.

God is not imprisoned in some ivory tower. These songs that our ancestors have gifted to us remind us that, even now, God is not chained to some huge contemporary praise cathedral or center disconnected from the pain of our communities. God abides in our struggles and God works to turn darkness into day. And, God invites us with every breath to join God in that work.

There is a light shining in the heaven for me
There is a light shining for me.
O, way over yonder in the heaven, there is a light shining for me.
I may have to pray so hard and bow so low, but there is a light shining in heaven for me.

The songs remind us that there will be — there will be God’s Justice:

Come down, come down, my Lord, come down.
My Lord is writing all the time.
And take me up to wear a crown, my Lord is writing all the time!
Oh, He sees all you do – and He hears all you say.
My Lord is writing all the time.
When I was down in Egypt land
My lord is writing all the time.
I heard some talk of the Promised Land
My lord is writing all the time
Oh, He sees all you do – and He hears all you say,
My Lord is writing all the time.

And God will have the last word.

Oh, the rocks and the mountains shall all flee away,
And you shall have a new hiding place that day.
Brother, brother give up your heart to God,
And you shall have a new hiding place that day.

God has a plan for America’s dark places and the sons and daughters of Fisk have a charge in that plan, and our responsibility has always been – because of how we were born – to go and turn darkness into day. We can enter into partnership with God. We come to Fisk to be inspired and then, equipped to go out again, to turn darkness into day.

We can go out and start free after school and Saturday programs for children but we can also speak truth to power about this country’s broken and inequitable educational system and its policies.

We can go out and open a community based mental health clinic but we can also speak truth to power about the 15,000 children in this country who are incarcerated in juvenile detention facilities, some as young as 7 years old, solely because mental health services are not available in their communities.

Stay in the field
Stay in the field, O Warriors
Stay in the field –
Till the war is ended.

When our ancestors lifted these words, they were engaging in subversive and revolutionary conversation. Those in power heard these words and thought one thing. But those who sang them meant something altogether different. They were encouraging each other not to leave the road that would lead to freedom. Don’t waver. Don’t get sidetracked. Do not leave the road that leads to freedom.

Freedom does not come from storing up information and knowledge for your own benefit and gain. Freedom for you, freedom for this country – freedom for all of us comes from what you do with what you know.

Let’s turn darkness into day.

Let’s subvert the whole world order.

Here’s a blessing to help us do that… (Adapted from the Franciscan Blessing)

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths,
at half-stories and superficial relationships,

So that you may question and live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,

So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears shed for those who suffer from pain,

rejection, starvation and war –

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe

that you can really make a difference in this world.

May God bless you to believe that it is on you – it is on you — to turn the world “right side-up.”

May God bless you to write with your life a more powerful

and compassionate letter to the future than the one you received.

May God bless you to be bold, to honor your race,

to honor your legacy and to be unafraid to walk in the dark places with songs of light,

with songs of struggle, with songs of mourning that turn into victory – with songs of power –

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done,
and what millions of children are waiting on you to do.

Amen.

A Hymn for Today....

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 02:03:00 +0000

Let us hope when hope seems hopeless
when the dreams we dreamed have died.
When the morning breaks in brightness,
hunger shall be satisfied.
One who sows the fields with weeping
shall retrace the sorrowing way and rejoice in harvest bounty
at the breaking of the day.

Faith and hope in Love's compassion
will survive though knowledge cease,
though the tongues of joy fall silent,
dull the words of prophecies.
Faith shall see and trust its object;
Hope shall set its anchor sure, love shall blossom in love eternal
Faith and hope and love endure.

Like a child outgrowing childhood,
setting childhood things away
we will learn to live in freedom
in the life of God's new day.
Now we see as in a mirror
then we shall see face to face...understand how Love's compassion
blossoms through amazing Grace.

Emma Lou Diemer, 1994

If Joseph Dreams....

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:18:00 +0000

The Flight Into Egypt, Matthew 2:13

"Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod...." Matthew 2: 13,14, 15a

When there was a public, credible and sustained threat made against the life of the baby Jesus, an Angel of the Lord visited Joseph in a dream and gave him a plan to secure the child's safety. Obediently, and probably very grateful for the vision, Joseph arose and followed the inspired plan. By doing so, Joseph made a world of difference for all of us -- for history, for eternity, for generations to come.

Today, there is a public, credible and sustained threat made against the very lives of poor children of color.

Though no children should be targeted, arrested and incarcerated the way we seem to be doing, Black children in New York city are 32 times more likely to be incarcerated than White children.
Children of color, primarily African-American and Latino youth, make up 95% of the young people entering the city's detention facilities; children are routinely charged with nonviolent offenses, including misdemeanors and technical offenses.
Children who live in South Jamaica, East New York, Bedford Stuyvesant, Harlem, Tremont, University Heights, Brownsville, Eastchester, Morris Heights, Saint George, East Harlem, Soundview, Bedford Park, the South Bronx and Far Rockaway -- live most profoundly under the perverse rule of the spirit of Herod. These communities have the highest rates of detention, the highest levels of poverty, poor housing and under-performing schools -- and they desperately need Joseph to step forward with a dream and a plan.

Joseph went to great lengths to protect Jesus and Mary. When it became clear to him what Herod planned, Joseph did what he had to do to secure a refuge for his family against sure death. He was not put off by the questions surrounding Jesus' paternity, despite the community gossip. Jesus was the child he claimed, and so he dreamed and acted.

There is a great deal of "good reform" happening in New York's juvenile justice system. I'm glad about it. But, I'm not satisfied. System reform is necessary but certainly not enough because our children are endangered not just by broken child-serving systems (education, child welfare, access to health care, community and faith institutions) that routinely eat them alive and then dump them into the juvenile justice system. The world is broken and fallen -- and a broken and fallen world chews up vulnerable people because it has no investment in a future worth considering.

The fate of children in a broken world seems sealed by the loss of "The Joseph" who dreams, acts and protects.

Where is Joseph?

Some Josephs have fled the community without child and mother.
Some Josephs are physically present, but overwhelmed, lonely, disconnected, under-employed, unemployed...and gratefully sleep a dreamless sleep or battle with nightmares.
Some Josephs themselves are battered by oppression and caught up in the revolving doors of penal institutions, mental health centers, substance abuse clinics and homeless shelters.
Still other Josephs are absorbed in self and caught up in the power of immediate gratification fed by a media machine the likes of which we have never seen before.

Yet, in spite of this -- and because of the grace of God, there are still some incredible Josephs among us -- men who stand tall in the community for their own children, and who stand for other children, who like Joseph's Jesus, are not the children of their loins. It seems as if the winds of the world are always against them. They struggle to make their voices heard above the din of rhetoric, but even more so, they struggle to hold on to dreams in a world which still does not value a Black man's dream.

You won't find their stories or witnesses reported by the media, but they are there.
You won't find them receiving big awards from community groups, but children are surviving who otherwise would not because of them.
You won't find their names inscribed on buildings, but everyday they struggle against the Devil himself so that children can find safe passage from home to school and back again.

My prayer is that these Josephs will be supported, encouraged to dream, empowered to act on their dreams and that they will be strengthened to put their plans into action. My prayer is that God will raise a new generation of Community Josephs -- men who will fearlessly claim and protect the children, the Jesus, in their neighborhoods.

We need Josephs who will not be swayed by community or media gossip about the worthiness of our own children. We need Josephs who will refute the spirit of Maury Povich with the declaration -- "I may not be the father, but these are the children I claim and I will protect them."
This world is not a friend to children, to poor people, to vulnerable people. It does what it does -- chews them up and spits them out. But, the world has always done that and we should not be surprised.

Here's what we also know: Joseph makes a difference.

Joseph makes the difference.

He stands between Herod on the warpath and the child who will grow up to bless us.

Herod slaughtered a generation of little boys. That's what Herods do. We must work to seize the power of Herod. We must work to eliminate Herod's power to systematically snuff out a generation of vulnerable children via broken, failing systems.

there is nothing more dangerous to the powers of the world if Joseph dreams...

If Joseph dreams, there will be no stopping him!

"God, You are the giver of dreams. You are the inspiration for freedom.

We cannot be free if our Josephs, if our fathers, can't dream.

Where they are tired, give them sabbath rest.

Where they are discouraged, speak into their hearts.

Where they are lonely and disconnected,

help them to find a community of Jesus Friends.

Where they are battered by the storms of the world,

give them shelter and the assurance that storms don't last, You do.

God, send Your Holy Spirit and lift up a new generation

of Community Josephs.

Amen."

A Watershed Moment: Finding Life in the God-Story

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:56:00 +0000

A Watershed Moment: Finding Life in the God-Story

I remember the day as if it were yesterday. I was on my way to the Fisk Memorial Chapel one late Saturday afternoon to prepare for the next day's worship service. It was fall of my junior year -- and the university was broke, and unfortunately stuck with me as a makeshift student chaplain. If there was to be leadership for Sunday worship, if there was to be an effort to make ready a space for students to gather to give praises to God -- if there was to be someone to choose the morning's hymns and to figure out how to transpose the keys on the opening and closing hymns and play them on the broken carillon with its keyboard full of stuck and missing keys (and to do that without cussing!), then I needed to get my butt in gear.

As I headed to the Chapel, two brothers (as in dudes -- don't know if they were related!) approached me. I vaguely heard their attempts at getting my attention, but my mind was focused on the task at hand (i.e., what is the deal with tomorrow's worship -- and where are You, God -- do YOU really think this is funny?!?!?!? At least keep me from abusing the campus with wrongly transposed hymns on this broken carillon because everybody's got enough ISSUES and who needs to hear a weirded out version of "O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing"!!!!).

I did not hear the brothers call out to me. Bad mistake. Rude dudes do not like to be ignored.

They stopped a few other classmates and asked questions about me -- probably something on the order of, "who does she think she is, ignoring all of this double good Mack-daddy-ness?!" From what I understand, these brothers were assured -- "she's not ignoring you, she's not like that -- she just focused on the ultimate challenge for tomorrow."

And, that did not sit well with the dudes.

Later, they came knocking on the door.

Them: "We'd like to talk to you. We heard that you are studying to be a "minister".

Me: Okay.

Them: "Well, let's talk about that. We are seminary students here in Nashville -- and we know that God doesn't call women to preach. In fact, it's ridiculous for a woman to serve as a minister of the Gospel in any capacity."

Me: Okay. (But really thinking...ridiculous? Dang, that's deep!)

Them: "Can we come in?"

Me: Okay.

(I would like to say that I was being open-minded about this and just wanted to debate with them. The truth is, nobody told me that God did not call women to preach. This bit of info was relatively new "news" to me. Even though I did not meet a woman minister (the Rev. Dr. Karen Y. Collier) until I landed at Fisk University, it did not occur to me that folks had real issues with this until long after I had accepted my call and preached that first sermon at the age of 17. My role model for ridiculousness was James Snodgrass. I grew up watching him walk the Jericho roads in my hometown of Newark, NJ. I watched him challenge the conditions that produced Jericho roads for so many vulnerable people. It was not glamorous work! Who would volunteer for that? Who would do that outside of being compelled by God? So, I'm thinking that is what ministers do --it just never occurred to me that there were "folks" who cared that the Jericho roads be "manned."

I also was thinking that I really wanted to hear why these students thought it was ridiculous for a woman to serve as a minister of the gospel in any capacity. I mean, we were standing on the campus of Fisk University, whose heartbeat was life for former slaves who proved that God often calls the least expected to do ridiculous things.

Ridiculous? Maybe, I was.

Yet even so, here I stood listening to fragments of this conversation. A “first generation” college student standing here because of the whispering dreams of slaves -- men and women -- who dared to hope that their dreams for me – me -- would not be too ridiculous for God to honor.

Anyway, I digress….I wanted to hear the arguments so I listened more intently to their conversation, and they were more than happy to share.

Them: (Actually, Dude No. 1 -- "it's really about Eve. She brought sin into the world through her weakness."

Me: Wow. You really think that? (But, I'm really thinking...dude, if you think that, my preaching is really the least of your problems, buddy. Just who is your momma?)

Them: (Actually, Dude No. 2 -- "no, it's really about the Apostles admonitions for women to be quiet in the church. We need discipline and order. Going against a direct command like that is a sin."

Me. Oh. (I'm really thinking...what about all the other commands and admonitions? Shellfish, pork, relieving yourself within the confines of the camp, differentials in time for "uncleanliness" after the birth of a son or a daughter, slaves obeying masters....gosh, if faith and obedience was really that simple, just who has been in charge of making it so hard???? Get them to stop it!")

Them: Literally, them -- they started arguing back and forth between each other about the real reasons God’s call to me was ridiculous. There was no agreement among them, no consensus on anything except "no women." But, who knows why? Naturally? Inherently and uniquely sinful? Or, because it was the command of the Apostle? Tough decisions...

My head swung back and forth as if I were at a tennis match. Pretty soon, They forgot all about Me and argued and debated with Each Other as if I were not in the room.

And then it hit me --I experienced a phenomenal moment of grace as this “discussion” was raging on – grace that ushered in a watershed moment for me with respect to understanding myself as God’s own and understanding.

Their discussion shifted from sharing their scriptural “proof-texts” to arguing among themselves about the real reasons God does not call women to lead. As I was registering the disagreements they were having among themselves – and the range of scriptural texts they were throwing around to prove God’s propensity to steer away from women -- something happened to me that changed my life forever. By now, these guys had forgotten all about me in the room and were totally focused on their own argument. I knew that I was where I was, not because of scriptural texts. I was standing in the fullness of who I was – poor, black, female, maybe ridiculous, but called -- because of the whole God-story.

At that moment, by the grace of God, I saw it: they were arguing about something that God had settled long ago.

I am made in the image of God. I could get lost in the “verses,” over which we will argue until the end-times, or I could find my life in the God-story.

I am still choosing the Big God-Story.

It is a big, big, simple story: God traveled down through generations and interrupted the flow of time and history to wrap God's self in flesh and to move into our neighborhood. God did this so that God could walk with us, turn us around, grace us with freedom and liberty, show us how much we are loved and teach us how to love one another. That love led Jesus to Calvary and that same love raised Him up on the third day for God's sake, but also so that we would know that our lives -- our hopes, our ridiculous dreams, and our spirits -- did not have to end in a borrowed tomb. For those who pursue that love, there is a charge and challenge for today and a resting place for tomorrow. Tomorrow's rest is not sleep. It is an exit from weariness, slavery, brokenness and travail. It is entry into the greatest choir of Singers of all time. These Singers never stop singing in harmony -- incredible voices of an untold number! (You need male and female voices to sing this kind of harmony -- the songs of the redeemed!)

It is an awesome responsibility to faithfully extend -- every day -- the invitation to all of God's people to find themselves in this big, big, simple story. It is a huge effort to witness to God's desire for all people, not just some, to be caught up in this story...especially when power prioritizes a few verses here and there.

Because those dudes really liked to hear themselves talking, their argument raged on without my input. Most arguments do not need my input, hence the conviction that my energy will be spent elsewhere, namely, picking up people (with my hand and with a Word) who have been beaten down on the Jericho Road, and witnessing against the power of that old enemy – slavery. I will be doing the ridiculous work of challenging the conditions that create Jericho Roads in the neighborhoods where vulnerable people live.

I thanked God for the grace of the moment.

Then I served them popcorn as I worked out in my head the order of Chapel Service for the next Sunday and prayed that I could settle on a simple call to worship in the key of C, the only truly working key on the carillon!

Here is a prayer for anyone who finds himself or herself on a bench at a world-class tennis match where the ultimate goal is to immerse you in an argument that is not yours:

"God, send us Your Grace that we might not get lost in anything

except the incredibly Big Story of your amazing love.

Amen."

I Was Fatherless and You Stood in the Gap for Me...

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:55:00 +0000

"Then the King will say to those at his right hand,
'Come, you that are blessed by my Father,
inherit the the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
for I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care for me,
I was in prison and you visited me."
Matthew 25: 34-36

Here's a question: what does it mean to be "blessed" by the "Father"? What does it mean to stand as an inheritor of the Kingdom of God?

If we believe the hype about contemporary theology -- preaching, teaching, music and writings --we would think that a blessing is all about the material and the paper, the property and the status. But here, Jesus is very clear. The "blessed" are those who have heeded God's call to meet the needs of the most vulnerable among us. The blessed are those who do not ignore the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the naked, those who are sick and those who are bound and in need of liberty.

What's interesting is that Jesus describes the blessed as those who have responded to need with exactly what was needed. Too often, we give the things we don't want anymore. We give the things we feel people should have, not the things people really need. Or, we give and our giving is more about us and what we want and not really about the need of the other.

But Jesus dignifies and respects the deepest needs within us and reflects the love of a Father who would not dare answer His children's need for bread with a stone or a rock.

Hunger was met with food -- not a warm smile.
Thirst was met with something to drink -- not a warm prayer.
Nakedness was met with clothing -- not warm wishes.

It should not surprise us that Jesus would try to be clear about who the inheritors of His Kingdom would be. There have always been so many pretenders to the throne. We use the gospel to enrich ourselves, to store up and justify wealth and power. Yet, that kind of power is fleeting. Even though "might may yield to right" for a while, that kind of might is not forever. God -- the Father -- will have the last word.

We interpret the scriptures to suit ourselves and to justify our grip on our privilege. But we certainly cannot do that here. The Kingdom that God has been preparing before the foundation of the world is to be shared with those who strive to make the gospel real, to live and witness to the gospel in ways that serve to transform the circumstances of people who suffer -- people who refuse to buy the lie that "being blessed" can be separated from "doing blessing." Does that make sense? Faith...works....

If we take this message further, given that Jesus never hesitated to ground his examples in the realities of people's lives, we could add:

I was lonely and you comforted me
I was fatherless and you stood up and stood in the gap for me
I was motherless and you rocked me in your arms

How will the blessed answer the needs of today's vulnerable?

Children who need loving and present fathers, children who need foster and adoptive families, children who need stable homes?

Here's a prayer for this Father's Day eve:

God, despite what the world says "good fathers" are not rare. They are all around us. We don't see them because we are so busy focusing on the fathers who have gone astray. Please, send a double portion of Your spirit to rest on the Fathers in our communities. Help them to stand for their own and to stand in the gap for others. Encourage their efforts to share their love, multiply their capacity to respond as fathers to the incredible season of father-hunger we face as a society. Grant them grace and the courage to stake their place. In a deeper and more meaningful way, whisper in their ears the bold and audacious truth: just as we need mothers, there is a place within all of us that can only be reached by a loving father, and You, God, desire that your children's needs be met. Amen.

God is Bigger...Than Any Soul's Grief?

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:05:00 +0000

I am not superhuman.

Though I may act like a superwoman sometimes, I am limited, small, broken and terribly flawed. In the face of struggle and conflict, the instinct to strike out, to flee or to fight back is so strong...overwhelming, sometimes. A world filled with wounded fighters -- even fighters who strike out against just causes -- can be a tough place to live.

We have to fight, of course.
We have to stand up, of course.
We have to do what we can, as those of old would say, "to hold up the blood-stained banner."

But thanks be to God, we don't have to do anything by ourselves.
Thanks be to God, we may be fighters, but the righteous fight does not belong to us and we do not determine its bottom line victory.

And, thanks be to God, that God is bigger than all this world has to throw at us -- bigger than that which wears us down and bigger than that which overwhelms us.

God is even bigger than our soul's deepest grief.

I've been chastising myself for holding on to grief. I'm frustrated with myself and I cannot seem to let it go. How long will I feel this aching void in the deepest place where I live? Why can't I seem to move on? Battering myself with "get over it" impatience...

Grief is debilitating and wears at the sensitive place...right in the middle of "determination to move forward" and "why?". The angrier I get at myself for holding on to this grief, the more raw that place in between "maybe, I can move on" and "no, I can't because...why, why, why?" becomes.
The crazy thing is...I don't even realize I'm doing that to myself until I see somebody else doing it to themselves....the urge to reach out to help is instinctual. The preacher has no miracle magic words -- only a song that, with God's grace, can become testimony for all who grieve.

So, today, I'm grateful for the testimony of Horatio Spafford. His words speak to how God really can be bigger than the deepest grief. God can take that which is so wrong in this world, hold us in His hands, and make us well. What would it be like to trust, like Horatio Spafford, that God really can make our grief-stricken, battered souls well? He wrote this hymn as he was processing horrible grief -- the loss of his four daughters who were drowned on a sinking ship. The words have been updated for contemporary use, but they still comprise a powerful testimony that God is big.

When peace, like a river, upholds me each day,
when sorrows like sea billows roll:
whatever my lot, You have taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul!"

Though evil should tempt me, though trials should come,
let this blessed assurance control:
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate
and has paid life and blood for my soul!

My sin -- oh, the bliss of this glorious thought -- my sin,
not in part, but the whole --
is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul!

O God, speed the day that is filled with Your light,
when clouds are rolled back as a scroll -
the trumpet shall sound
and the Lord shall appear, "Even so" -- it is well with my soul!

It is well
with my soul...
It is well, it is well
with my soul!

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 23:27:00 +0000

God Waits
by Shirley Erena Murray

God weeps at love withheld
at strength abused
at children's innocence abused
and till we change the way we love --
God weeps.

God bleeds at anger's fist
at trust betrayed
at women battered and afraid
and till we change the way we win --
God bleeds.

God cries at hungry mouths
at running sores
at creatures dying without cause
and till we change the way we care --
God cries.

God waits for stones to melt
for peace to seed
for hearts to hold each other's needs
and till we understand The Christ --
God waits.

*********************

I think that changing the way we love, the way we win, the way we care and how we understand The Christ is, indeed, the work of the Holy Spirit.

So, let the Holy Spirit breathe on us still....break us, mold us -- make us to love, win, care and understand like The Christ.

Amen.

Don't Try to Go it Alone Today....

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:59:00 +0000

I Cannot Do This Alone
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

O God, early in the morning I cry to You.
Help me to pray and to concentrate my thoughts on You.
I cannot do this alone.

In me there is darkness but with You there is light.
I am lonely, but You do not leave me.
I am feeble in heart but with You there is help.

I am restless but with You there is peace.

In me there is bitterness, but with You -- there is patience.

I do not understand Your ways but you know the way for me.

Restore me to liberty and enable me to live now that I may answer before You and before me.

Lord, whatever this day may bring, Your name be praised.

Listening and Questioning...and Answering

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:48:00 +0000

"...after three days they found him in the temple,

sitting among the teachers,

listening to them and asking them questions..."

Luke 2: 46

As the family was returning from the annual trip to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover, 12-year old Jesus decided to stay behind "losing his family." He wasn't lost. He knew where he was. His family, however, had no idea that he intended to stay in Jerusalem. They didn't see him but assumed that he was somewhere among the travelers...and went a whole day's journey before they figured out that something was amiss.

They quickly returned to Jerusalem and they searched three days before they found him, sitting in the temple among the teachers -- listening and asking questions.

As a parent, I know the panic that sets in when your child goes missing. My own son decided to "visit" a neighborhood friend without telling me -- rationalizing that because I once told him that I had eyes in the back of my head that I would always know where he was. Why would he need to tell me if I was already "all-seeing" with these eyes in the back of my head?!?! Believe me, I was very careful about using euphemisms around him after that...he was missing all of 4 minutes and I felt like I aged 4 years in those minutes.

My neighbor, who had the pleasure of getting this unscheduled visit from my then four-year old son, saw the panic in my eyes when I knocked on her door. What she did was pure genius: she said, "I can't give him to you now....come in and have a cup of coffee with me." We lived so close to one another and our children were very frequent visitors -- fixture's even -- in the other's home -- but one look at me and she knew that on this particular day, I had no idea that my son had gone visiting. So, instead of turning him over, she extended her hand and calmed me down. That cup of coffee is probably the reason I am not in jail right now...

Me: David, why did you leave the house?
David: I wanted to visit -- and you told me you had eyes in the back of your head. I thought you could see me.
Me: silence.....

I cannot imagine the scale of panic Joseph and Mary must have felt -- they searched for Jesus for three days in Jerusalem. They had already gone a whole days journey before they figured out he was gone -- so they hadn't seen him in four days! What a picture he must have presented to his frantic parents -- calmly sitting in the temple listening and asking questions.

But when I think of this episode in Jesus' life, I am reminded of a few things beyond the panic children have a way of inflicting on parents:

1. We have children among us who have questions. A child with a question is a treasure. (I'm saying this for my own benefit because...whew! Sometimes, those questions....!!!) Even though it is not apparent, they are listening to us -- and they have their own questions about what we proclaim to be true. Who is listening to them? Who is giving them a space for dialogue? Too much of our education, particularly Christian education, is bankrupt and useless. Those who are teaching -- "teach at" the children. There is no room for the unscripted question, the challenging question...

2. I have come to know so many children over the years who ended up in the church because they "ran away" from home. They found a place in the church because they went missing from the home front. In other words, mom and dad (or just mom or auntie or grandma) was at home, and they found their way into the church -- maybe drawn to a youth program or relationships with other friends. Parent's weren't supportive of them being there, gave them a hard time about being there -- and certainly were not going to "lose themselves" in anybody's church. It's one thing when we have to fight with our children to get them into the church....in fact, that's quite developmentally appropriate and normal. It's a whole other matter when our children have to go missing from home -- when they have to lose us adults -- just to find a space in the church -- to be among people who might listen and answer their questions. I was one of those kids -- and thank God there were people in my "temple" who always welcomed my questions.

3. The questions that children ask when they are children -- especially the questions that they ask of the faith, of church, of religion, of what they see in the world, of inequities and injustice -- have a lot to do with the issues they end up grappling with as adults. When I was 12, my "temple questions" were about poverty and who protects vulnerable people?

I don't have any proof, but I'm wondering about Jesus' question-answer period with the temple teachers. The story ends with a declaration about his "Father's House." It is true that Jesus lived under constant rumor-mongering about his parentage. Joseph embraced him as son, treated him as son, loved him as son, and taught him his trade. Joseph's acknowledgment of Jesus as his son gave Jesus access to the temple in the first place. He certainly would not have been allowed inside if Joseph had withheld that important recognition from him. But to the community, Jesus was a "mamzer." He was still the boy of questionable parentage...Mary's baby, Joseph's maybe. Those "rumors" never died down...who is Jesus' real father? When Mary and Joseph find Jesus and question him, his answer to them is -- "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" His parents had no clue what he was talking about. But for me, it is significant that he didn't answer them with something like -- "I was interested in the class they were teaching, or I had questions about the scriptures that I wanted to ask the teachers..." His answer was -- "I was in my Father's house." The community gossips about who Jesus' father is -- but Jesus here at 12 years old has settled the question with his question - "Did you not know that must be in my Father's house?"

The prophets and writers of the scriptures before Jesus of Nazareth provide wonderful depictions of God. But it is Jesus who paints a picture born of his own experience of God as Father -- the one who accepts all children.

I'm sure that if we listened to the children in our midst today -- and asked questions of their experiences of God -- we might get a few more beautiful pictures of how God still shows up strong in the lives of people in the way people's souls need God the most.

A few years ago, we immersed the children in our congregation in a summer program focusing on the Psalms. They reflected on their own experiences of God -- on their experiences of joy, pain, heartache, trouble...some even wrote their own psalms. Many children have experienced traumas and troubles that would break an adult's spirit. But given room in the temple to listen and question, these children had an answer for the inevitable "who do you say that I am?"

Father
Rescuer
Friend
Mother
Protector
Joy-Bringer
Healer
Peacemaker
Provider
Playmate
Way-maker
Deliverer
Song-maker
Light
Destroyer of Darkness

Houses of faith have to be a whole lot of things these days...but in all the things that they are, please, let them also be temples where children can still listen and question....and even answer.

A Child of Hope

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:31:00 +0000

To us a Child of Hope is born,
to us a Son is given;
Him shall the tribes of earth obey,
Him all the hosts of heaven ---
Him shall the tribes of earth obey, Him all the hosts of heaven.

His name shall be the Prince of Peace,
For evermore adored,
The Wonderful, the Counselor
the great and mighty Lord,
the Wonderful, the Counselor, the great and mighty Lord.

His power, increasing, still shall spread,
His reign no end shall know;
Justice shall guard His throne above,
and peace abound below ---
Justice shall guard His throne above and peace abound below.

Lowell Mason, 1837

based on Isaiah 9: 6-7

I awoke with the haunting words and melody of this hymn of Christmas in my head -- A Child of Hope.

For too many people and for lots and lots of reasons, the birth of children do not signal hope. Instead -- heartache, suffering, hard times and more hard times, anguish....pain. I know all that we say about Mary, Jesus' mother....but sometimes, I wish I could have been privy to what was going on in her mind when the Angel left, when family members weighed in....what did she see in Joseph's eyes at first...really...when she shared with him her news?

Why did she really need to go and spend three months with her cousin, Elizabeth, John's mother? Maybe three months was the cooling off period?

I don't know -- we will never know. But this is for sure: part of the reason that Jesus is a child of Hope is because regardless of how he was conceived, the questions that surrounded that conception and whatever their families were thinking -- Mary kneeled down and Joseph stepped up.

Mary kneeled down...and Joseph stepped up.

Mary praised and prayed.

Joseph embraced a life that he didn't create, but one that would be his to shape and nurture.

We still need children to be "of hope" -- not to suffer the soul-branding anguish that comes with facing the lingering questions, doubts, and uncertainties of their circumstances, anguish that often follows them throughout their lives. That Jesus still suffered the community's gossip, name-calling and constant questioning about his parentage as he grew up even though Joseph embraced him for all to see and bound him to his lineage tells us just vulnerable children are --even this Child -- to adult "name-calling."

Yet...this Child taught us some hopeful things...

--That even young children can be about "their Father's business" -- we should "open our Temples" and embrace their questions.

--That our family bloodlines are not anywhere near as all-encompassing as families united by His blood -- we should be even more willing to make a place within our circle for God's beloved.

--That regardless of the circumstances of our birth...even two thousand years later...He shares with us the One he called "Our Father" -- affirming the declaration of the psalmist who declared that if our earthly mothers and fathers forsake us, He will take us up.

We still need children of Hope -- children who are taught that they are precious, who have names of endearment whispered into their ears, who are embraced by strong men and prayed for by courageous women, whose names are inserted into the community history -- the lineage -- and who are assured without a shadow of doubt, over and over again, that there is One who is stronger than the pull of any of our circumstances.

Kneel down Mary...and step up Joseph....trust God to do the rest.

Promises....promises....promises

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:29:00 +0000

The season of Advent -- the four weeks leading up to Christmas Sunday -- is my favorite time of the year. I usually block out all "Xmas songs" and focus on the songs of Advent -- the songs of waiting, hope, expectation and promise. Now, of course, I can and do listen to Christmas hymns all year long (much to the 'I'll be darned!!' consternation of my children who must suffer through a car ride with me humming through O Come All Ye Faithful in the middle of June!)

But somehow, my desire to sing the songs of Christmas is soon overwhelmed by the beginning of November and I am anxious for Advent -- to lift a hymn of expectation and hope. How else will we build up to the real joy and fulfilment of...

"Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room
and heaven and nature sing...

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground!
He comes to make His blessings flow
far as the curse is found..."
(Joy to the World, Isaac Watts, 1719)

...except we walk through the expectant and hopeful strains of

"O Come, O Come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice, rejoice Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by thine advent here.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
and death's dark shadows put to flight....

(O Come, O Come Emmauel, ca 1851)

To go right to "Joy to the World" without the cry for God With Us to "Come!" is like glossing over Good Friday to get to Resurrection Sunday. Where is the meaning in the celebration without a reminder first of what got us there?

Before Halloween, the world turns on the cash register with an eye on a "good" Christmas. It is the season for business and bottom lines.

Through these songs, I am reminded that the birth of Jesus -- a poor baby who never escaped the earthly "scandal" associated with being a "mamzer" -- a child of questionable parentage-- is the fulfillment of God's promise to break through the heavy silence that engulfs hope after the voices of the Prophets begin to taper off -- to break through with a New Thing!

I am reminded about the many, many ways people are still suffering. Needlessly. For no reason. And, I am reminded how much the world still needs this Real New Thing...not yuletide, debt and "white Christmas" fantasies. We are in denial....we think we are okay and that we will be even more okay if we just have a good Christmas. But, I don't think you can have a "good" Christmas if you don't know what a good Christmas is in the first place.

He comes the prisoners to release
in Satan's bondage held;
the gates of brass before Him burst,
the iron fetters yield.

He comes the brokenhearted to bind
the bleeding soul to cure,
and with the treasures of His grace,
to enrich the humble poor.
(Folk Hymn, ca 1755, Hark, The Glad Sound)

Christmas -- the incarnation of the One who has power to ransom our captive hearts, to lead us from exile, to make safe the way that leads to God -- is the fulfillment of a promise.

A good Christmas, therefore, is about the celebration of fulfilled promises. It is the celebration of the God who still promises. It is the honoring of the way in which God can use even us to fulfill promises.

What if we gave a "good Christmas" to God's beloved through our commitment to be used...still...of God to fulfill real promises...

-- That the righteous would not be hungry and God's seed would not be left to beg for bread! Where are the food pantries? Where are your hungry neighbors and family members? Where are hungry children? What of the systems that create hungry people?

-- That people who are bound would be free! Where are people struggling against powerful chains? Iron bars and chains, mental chains, emotional chains, spiritual chains, societal chains.......

-- That people whose hearts have been broken will find wholeness! Where are the people whose hearts are in need of binding? People who are one step away from the precipice?

They...we...need more than watches, perfume, video games and shiny "whatevers."

Christmas becomes real when the promises of Advent are fulfilled....when God uses small, average, broken, ordinary people as instruments in God's continuing quest to blot out the space between what is and what ought to be:

The space between hunger and the promise of a place at the Welcome Table.

The space between sickness and the promise of healing.

The space between loneliness and the promise of deep fellowship.

The space between despair born from encountering the end of the road and the promise of New Life.

God, use me to keep a promise. Use me to consume someone's sadness and grief with real joy. Come and transform our pain and suffering and death -- not just through some change in our circumstance -- but through the incarnation of Eternal Hope. Jesus, we are depending on You more than ever to become real flesh....still...to move deep into the troubled neighborhoods of our lives with Your peace. Amen.

I'm Exhausted....But His Supply is Not!

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:06:00 +0000

"My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

When it gets really tough -- what do you really need -- deep down in your soul -- to keep going? To keep moving? To keep working, witnessing and being light, salt and love?

A friend, a fellow co-laborer in the Gospel, called me today and shared with me that he felt like he was running on empty. He wondered if he needed a vacation or some other kind of change of pace. When I reflected on how many times I had heard so many of my colleagues express the same kind of exhaustion (and me too!) just within the space of a week, I thought "what do we really need to keep it going?"

I know some of what we may want: we want for things to be a bit easier, for the schedule to slow down just a bit, for time to play. We want for folks to "ack right!"

We want a nap!

We want to feel as if we are making headway....sometimes, we just want to stop for a moment and take a breath, and while we are taking that breath, please, please, don't let something "crazy" happen to the movement!

But what do we need?

Every day brings more focus to the incredible odds stacked against us -- the incredible challenges facing the people, the communities for which we fight. They are always outnumbered, outsmarted, outwitted, outplayed, out-"somethinged"! And we are always working to re-group, lift a new strategy, organize and mobilize more people, lead the people to celebrate the little victories that we too often forget about, and work to bring meaning and definition to the losses. We carry the weight of "defining" reality -- drawing bold lines around what's really at stake -- and then, pointing people's hearts forward toward hope -- praying that their minds and their bodies follow.

I'm exhausted!

For people who are committed to Kingdom -- what we have is a lifestyle. Because the world we live in is broken and will be until Jesus comes, the most important thing we can can do is witness against broken-ness. We can be light in the places where shadows reign. We can speak truth to power and challenge systems -- and sometimes we can even change systems. We can give our lives to the battle, and even though the battle is not ours to win or lose -- it is still lonely, painful and exhausting!

If I am to be exhausted, I want to be spent for Jesus. In fact, though I complain at times about being tired in the work, I have yet to tire of the work. I could get tired if I was alone, but I echo Paul -- "I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." In other words --this is not just me working it out. Not just me. No lone voice here....nothing special or genius about this life, except it be yielded to Him.

Or -- consider how Charles Spurgeon reflects on exhaustion:

"If by excessive labor, we die before reaching the average age of [man], worn out in the Master's service, then glory be to God, we shall have so much less of earth and so much more of heaven...it is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of [men] in fine preservation, but living sacrifices whose lot is to be consumed."

"We can only produce life in others by the wear and tear of our own being. This is a natural and spiritual law -- that fruit can only come to the seed by its spending and being spent even to self-exhaustion."

Now -- of course, I don't mean that we are to be workaholics. I don't mean that we are to eschew balanced lives. I certainly don't mean that we are to neglect the care of our selves, our bodies. That is ridiculous.

But if we are to be exhausted -- then by God's power and grace, we should strive to be exhausted for Him.

If my eyes are to be bleary and tired -- let them be because of a laser focus on God's beloved, God's smallest ones....and not because I have been looking so intently at my own navel.

If my shoulders are to ache, let it be because I found a sister or brother in need of them....and not because I am carrying my own ego, excess or wealth.

If my feet hurt at the end of the day, let it be because I have walked with someone who was lonely and in need of companionship, or because I went in search of someone lost -- and not because I have been stepping on others.

This is what I know: when I am empty God does supply. I may get anxious sometimes, wondering...when, Lord?...but God does indeed supply.

Water
Respite
Dew
Rest
Peace
Mercy
Grace
Laughter
Inspiration
Friends
Perspective
Unconditional Love

I called my friend back to share with him Philippians 4:19 -- and he just laughed.

He said, "I just read the whole letter again....with each verse, I felt like I was caught up in a song that was modulating upward. With each modulation, I felt lighter, weaker...and if you can believe it, more powerful, stronger at the same time."

I guess that's what he needed. Of course, my response?

"So, get back to work you slacker!"

Amen.

Calling all Children's Champions to the Floor!

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:53:00 +0000

A Children's Defense Fund
Children's Health

Stroller Brigade Update!

Millions of child lives depend on what you do today!

These photos were taken at the Children's Defense Fund Champions for Children's Health Stroller Brigade when it came through New York City on November 5, 2009. Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund was joined by some of New York's leaders in the faith -- Dr. Serene Jones (President of Union Theological Seminary), Dr. Dale Irvin (President of New York Theological Seminary), Rev. Calvin Butts, Senior Pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, Dr. James Forbes, Pastor Emeritus of Riverside Church and Founder of Healing for the Nations -- to raise their collective moral voices to demand that children's needs be addressed through this nation's current health reform efforts.

Dr. Manel Silva of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center outlined how 66% of the patients who come through her center do not have health insurance, and how many of these children have been traumatized by community violence, family violence, sexual violence and the like.

Actress Lynn Whitfield, Richard Buery (CEO, Children's Aid Society) and Dr. Drew Giddings (Act for Children) also joined their voices to those refusing to abide with children being left worse off after health reform.

They all came to stand outside of the offices of New York Senators Charles Schumer (D) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D) to say -- thanks for the work you have done, but your work is far from done! Children need Champions for the health on the Senate floor!

We need to keep putting the pressure on Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and demand that they include affordable, comprehensive and simple children’s health coverage in any health care reform.

The House of Representatives has just passed a bill that would leave millions of children worse rather than better off after health reform. The same dangerous outcome looms in the Senate – unless you raise a mighty voice – demanding that all children must be better off after health reform; that the successful Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), New York's Child Health Plus Program, is kept and strengthened in the Senate bill and in the final health reform bill and not killed as the House bill would do to CHIP in 2013.

The voices of so many powerful special interests have been heard in Congress: powerful insurance and drug companies; other business interests; doctors; unions; and many more able to spend many, many millions of dollars on lobbying. Vote-less, powerless children need youto raise your voice for them if their far too invisible health reform needs are to be heard.

Children need your voice today!

We must stop Congress from eliminating the effective and cost effective Children's Health Insurance Program program and sending millions of children who benefit from this program into a new, untested, and far more expensive Health Insurance Exchange where parents will have to pay more for their children to receive fewer benefits. Why should we sacrifice the health of millions of children to enrich private insurance companies in the Exchange?

What can you do to ensure that millions of children are better rather than worse off in health reform legislation?

Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) will offer an amendment on the Senate floor to:

Keep and strengthen the Children’s Health Insurance Program;
Make the Children’s Health Insurance program simple for parents to access;
Guarantee children in the Children’s Health Insurance Program the same comprehensive benefits as children get in Medicaid; and,
Provide a health safety net for children in families of four earning $66,150 (300 percent of the federal poverty level) wherever they live in America. We must end the unjust lottery of geography.

Please call your senators and ask them to support and vote for this amendment!

Speak up today and everyday until the Casey CHIP Children’s amendment is passed by the Senate.

Call:

Senator Schumer at (212) 486-4430

Senator Gillibrand at (212) 688-6262

Tell Senators Schumer and Gillibrand the following: “Hi, my name is [your name] and I’m calling from [your city and state] to tell Senator [your Senator’s name] to co-sponsor and support the children’s amendment Senator Bob Casey will introduce in the health reform debate. The amendment will improve CHIP, protect millions of children from being worse off after health reform and is cost-effective for children, families and taxpayers.”

If you are not from New York -- Visit www.congressmerge.com to find out the phone numbers for your Senators in their state offices.

Keep contacting your Senators until there is a Senate vote, and until a final bill is enacted that protects rather than hurts children. Call, visit, and email your Senators and get your family, neighbors, and congregation members to do so to!

Millions of child lives depend on what you do today!

Thank you for being a voice for children.

The Champions for Children's Health Stroller Brigades are Coming!

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:37:00 +0000

Unless You Act Today,

Millions of Children Could Be Worse – Rather than Better – Off After Health Reform

Children Need Real Health Reform Now!

WHAT:
On Wednesday, November 4th, the Children’s Defense Fund is organizing a Champions for Children’s Health Stroller Brigade to the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Children, parents, grandparents and champions for children will “stroll” to the Capitol to ensure that millions of uninsured and underinsured children are not left behind in health care reform.

CDF is also announcing that “The Strollers Are Coming” to Congressional districts across the country on November 6th through 8th to demand that Members of Congress stand up for critical changes needed in health care reform to protect our children. So far, stroller brigades are being planned for Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas. Other states may be added.

WHY:
Join us in demanding that Congress and the President support real child health reform that leaves all children better off. We need to tell Congress that it is indefensible for children to be squeezed out of health care reform by powerful lobbyists and insurance companies. If our leaders can bail out irresponsible bankers to the tune of nearly $1 trillion almost overnight, they can afford $10 billion a year for ten years to provide our 8.1 million uninsured and millions more underinsured children a simple, seamless, affordable and accessible health care system. Children need an effective national health safety net now.

Congress must:

End the bureaucratic barriers that keep 2 out of 3 of the 8 million uninsured children who are already eligible for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or Medicaid from actually getting the care they need. A simple, seamless enrollment process like older Americans have forMedicare would ensure our children are cared for and covered.

Guarantee every child access to the full range of child health benefits they need which are now provided to children in Medicaid but not to children in the CHIP or the proposed Exchange. All children’s lives are of equal value.

Eliminate the unjust lottery of geography and provide an affordable national health safety net for all children whose family income is below 300% of the federal poverty line ($66,000 for a family of four). A Mississippi, Montana and North Dakota child is no less valuable than a Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York child.

For more information,

please visit www.childrensdefense.org/strollerbrigade

or call Scott Jacobsen at (202) 662-3641.

Let’s Care for All Children by Providing a Comprehensive,

Accessible Child Health System that Works!

Millions of Children’s Lives Hang in the Balance!
You Can Save a Child’s Life by Taking Action Today!

I Have Not Forgotten You....I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love...

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:04:00 +0000

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness."

Jeremiah 31:3

It has taken me almost and a year and a half to write about this fragile little porcelain bell. The picture is not clear, but it is a beautiful bell. It has my name on it, the date I graduated from college (May 1985) on one side with hand-painted rendering of my Alma Mater, Fisk University. On the other side is an equally beautiful rendering of my dormitory, Fisk Jubilee Hall. It has taken me a year and a half to write about it because whenever I hold this bell in my hands -- I am simply overcome. I can barely contain myself to finish a sentence because this little bell is but one physical reminder of the way God drew even me with loving-kindness into God’s circle of care and has loved even me with an everlasting love.

I came home one day in early 2008 feeling like most people feel sometimes -- tired and frustrated. I remember driving around the block a few times, trying to get my head together because I did not want to bring my "stuff" into the house I share with family. (Most days, I fail at that and I am grateful that they just wrap me in their love anyway.) When I walked into the foyer, I saw the package. Quite frankly, I did not think much of it. I am notorious for not reading mail right away. I was not expecting a package and so I did not check to see if my name was on it, and made no move to open it. (There is a sermon in there somewhere!) After a few hours, no one else in my house had opened the package either. (They DID check the name on the package...because expected or not, these little Simpson's love packages...anybody's packages!)

I peeked over at it, almost afraid that it would be for me. When I discovered that this neat little package was for me, I immediately searched for the name of the sender. Who could be sending me something that I was not expecting?

And there it was her name…Linda Pegues Brinkley.

From the recesses of my memory, I saw her face as clear as if she was before me: a member of St. Anselm's Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN -- the congregation that nurtured me while I was in college. St. Anselm’s was a place where dreams were held sacred – even crazy dreams. I always felt like I was entering “another world” whenever I crossed the threshold to go into worship. In this world, my dreams were significant. Linda and the people of St. Anselm’s Episcopal Church made my dreams significant.

I was far away from home and lonely. (We won't even talk about the culture shock of moving from "Brick City" Newark, NJ to "Ya'll take care now, ya hear?" Nashville, TN)

Few of my peers understood or had sympathy with the call that God was burning into my soul at that time. After all, the college years were supposed to be party years, not discerning years, right?

Anybody who has had a call knows that coming to grips with it -- God’s call on your life -- is a lonely, frightening experience.

I was young, but open.

I had never even seen a female minister before and had no absolutely no idea that somehow, agreeing to wrestle with God's call on my life might also be about stepping into arguments about the "worthiness of women" to carry the Word -- an argument God obviously settled long before I was born. Otherwise, why call?

I was clueless about everything except for this one thing: while the verses of scripture would argue against each other about whether I was even worthy of God’s love, I was convicted and convinced that the overarching story of why the Word became flesh in the first place had everything to do with me and people like me. Somehow, I was in the story even if “verses” fought against it. And somehow, I wanted to tell that story over and over again.

Holding this fragile bell in my hand reminds me of my wrestling with God, of seeking refuge and solace among people who were not afraid to create an “otherworldly” space for crazy, young people….it reminds me of what I needed from the adults around me just so that I could make peace with the burning in my soul, so that I could respond to the One who was calling me with an everlasting love.

I called Linda soon after receiving the bell and the sound of her voice washing over me through the telephone was like Baptism…it was "commissioning" all over again, encouragement to go out on behalf of the story.

It was encouragement to dream anew! Crazy dreams, so what!? Dream...

It was a powerful example of how Love travels through years with a ringing reminder -- "I have not forgotten you…I have loved you with an everlasting love."

What can we do with that?

Small Dreams....Big God.

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:17:00 +0000

In Donnie McClurkin's song, "That's What I Believe," he sings of going to God for deliverance, salvation, and for God's word -- and trusting that God would give just what God promised -- deliverance, salvation and even the word (of course, not necessarily in that order.)

I love this song and the words and the tune are often floating in the back of my head. But our theology has to be bigger than the lyrics of this song.

I believe that we do indeed go to God for many things -- but God often touches us with more than we could ever imagine. "Eyes haven't seen...ears haven't heard....neither has it even entered into our hearts what God has in store for us...." (I Corinthians 2.9)

We go to God for deliverance and the Big Mercy of God blesses us with purpose, call and vocation pulled from the depths of the very stuff that used to imprison us.

We go to God for the Word and the Big Grace of God blesses us with insight, wisdom and the ability to see ourselves and each other in the big story, not just the verses.

We go to God seeking our own salvation and the Big Power of God pushes into our faces opportunities to be instruments of saving grace for others.

Dreams -- small ones and big ones -- all have to go through God if they are to be fulfilled in the will of God.

Here's what I am dreaming about....

Children who can run and jump and play...

Children who can go to good schools, learn and grow up ready to face their own "such a time as this"....

Children who are loved.....

Children who can see good doctors when they are in need regardless of where they live....and a world which sees every child as deserving of these little dreams.

My small dreams and eyes haven't seen...but God dreams big and sees.

My small dreams and ears haven't heard...but God dreams big and hears.

My small dreams and mind cannot conceive...but who can understand the mind of God?

It hasn't entered into my small heart...but in God's heart resides the least of these.

So, on behalf of children whose dreams may never come true with my courage, I'm going to God with my small dreams...trusting God who is....big.

Calling All Super Heros and Heroines!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Sun, 03 May 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Do you happen to have a costume laying around?

In March of this year, an autistic boy living in Thailand facing the "first day of school fears," climbed on to a balcony putting himself in danger.

His teacher could not coax him off the balcony.

His mother could not coax him back to safety.

Firefighters arrived with their ladders and one firefighter overheard the mother sharing with the boy's teachers how her son loved superheros, particularly Spiderman. Thinking quickly, ran back to the firehouse where he kept costumes that he used to "liven up" local parades....and he just happened to have a Spiderman costume. He pulled off his firefighters gear and put the costume on, running back to try something new to coax the boy off the balcony.

And of course, he did just that with "Spiderman is here to save you!"

Are there any children perched on the balconies in your view?

What would you be willing to do to save them?

Got any superhero costumes laying around?

How about just some time to talk with them, look them in the eyes, affirm their fears and hopes?

How about time to listen?

Today -- May 2, 2009 -- would have been my late Aunt Doris' 80th birthday. She passed a few years ago. She was not a "touchy, feely" person, rarely showed her true emotions. But she was a superheroine to me as a child because she was always there. I made it out onto a few ledges, a few balconies while she was alive. She had a special knack for calling just when the wind was blowing the hardest. And, of course, the balconies were no match to her presence.

As an adult, the danger of the balcony is still real....and yet still no match to the power of her memory.

I hope that you have a few costumes ready. They come in handy. I hope that you will be willing to dress yourself in love, in laughter, in acceptance, in strength -- and linger near the balconies that endanger our children.

Thank you, Spiderman. Bless you, Wonder Woman!

Small Dreams, Big God

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:53:00 +0000

Giving Her a Chance to Grow Up

noreply@blogger.com (Emma Jordan-Simpson) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:41:00 +0000

People often say that we "raise our daughters, and love our sons," -- meaning that we heap responsibility on the shoulders of our daughters at an early age so that they will "learn"..... and we allow our sons to escape the same.

How's that working for us?

I know that sometimes, Black women do this because we want our daughters to be independent." Well, what do we want for our sons?

I remember hearing an older, professional woman say with pride, "I raised my daughter not to depend on a man." What a tragedy! We should raise our children "toward" something, not "against" something. Raise our daughters toward pursuing their passions, their interests, their abilities to make a difference in the world. Raise them to understand that they are "whole" people, don't just raise them to be wary of men.

Well, that's not really what I wanted to write about. I do believe that parents spend far too little time really understanding how children develop. Parenting is not instinctual. Some of it, to be sure, is. But how is it that if you buy a puppy, you will go out and purchase a book detailing what that breed needs but you won't even take the time to learn the simple things, like -- the signs that indicate a child is ready for potty training; or why teenagers experience incredible mood swings? How is it that we will spend time learning how to drive a car...even spend time in a "defensive driving" course -- but we will not sign up to learn more about how our own children develop and what they need from us as parents to grow into healthy adults?

All children -- regardless of their family of origin, their economic background, etc. -- deserve a chance to grow up in their own time. They deserve a chance to be children, to create real childhood memories...to be too young for some responsibilities and frustrated as "all get out" that they are too old for some pleasures. They should spend some time being bored. We must provide them with boundaries and discipline -- but also permission to be young and silly and foolish and moody, often annoying and all of that stuff that is just so "inconvenient" for us adults to deal with!

When we rush them through the normal stages of development, what we end up with are people who have reached adulthood who are not prepared to be adults. We are rushing our children to grow up because we just don't know any better -- and because we have gotten ourselves into situations, the burdens of which are so heavy, that our children will never get a chance to just be children. They are too busy worrying about the family bills, the argument with the landlord, keeping younger siblings quiet so that Daddy can sleep, being Mommy's assistant.....and on and on.

Many parents are struggling to raise their children alone -- and those of us who love children can be of most help to these parents if we just support them as parents. I remember when I was growing up, I loved to spend weekends with my Aunt Henrietta because when I was with her, I was not expected to be anything except 11 years old. I washed dishes and did chores, for sure. But I was excused from the room when "adult talk" was going on. I was encouraged to play, to be silly and when I was moody, I got a hug or better yet, Aunt Henrietta would just diffuse my drama with a funny face. I was never made to feel as if my "mood" was the deal breaker for her happiness.

Understandably, she only had me a few weekends a year!

If you want to know more about Black girls in New York City, and to get some perspective on how you can be of help to the girls in your circle of influence, I encourage you to visit the website -- Black Women for Black Girls and download the wonderful report entitled "Black Girls In New York City: Untold Strength and Resilience." Commissioned by the Black Women for Black Girls Giving Circle, it was researched and written by Dr. Avis A. Jones-DeWeever of the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

It offers some helpful insight for those who want to know more about girls, who want to make a difference -- who believe children deserve a chance to grow up in their own time. I hope that describes you.