{"id":16659,"date":"2018-04-13T11:02:28","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T15:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16659"},"modified":"2018-04-13T11:02:49","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T15:02:49","slug":"16659","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16659","title":{"rendered":"Bodies on the Line"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"grey-box\">\n<div class=\"quoted_scripture\">\n<p><strong>Bodies on the Line<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Richard Rohr<br \/>\n<strong>Friday, April 13, 2018<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ttSNOoCknIM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nYour body is not an isolated, separate entity. We are our truest selves only in community\u2014with our ancestors (carrying their stories and DNA), our natural environment, and our neighbors. We hold the mystery of transformation, \u201cmaking up in our own body what still has to be undergone by Christ for the sake of the larger body\u201d (Colossians 1:24). We are not in this alone, and our unique gift is essential to make the Body of Christ whole.<br \/>\nToday Barbara Holmes continues reflecting on the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLMM) and their evolving, embodied way of fighting for justice:<br \/>\nAs the millennials will tell you, \u201cThis is not your grandmother\u2019s Civil Rights Movement.\u201d They are right. Although both the CRM and BLMM seek the betterment of life for black people and their communities and both resist oppression with contemplative practices and activism, they use different strategies and leadership models and seek different goals. . . .<br \/>\nThe BLMM is a decentralized network of local organizations. . . . Patrisse Cullors, a founder of the BLMM, says, \u201cWe are not leaderless, we are leader-full.\u201d [1] . . . It is difficult to infiltrate, undermine, or disrupt an organic movement that draws its power from regenerating communal cells. . . .<br \/>\nDuring the CRM, the blindness of dominant culture to the plight of the African American community meant that the message had to be delivered by one voice in language that white Americans could understand and support. Lives were at stake, and [Martin Luther] King\u2019s biblical and patriotic references combined with his soaring oratory ignited the nation and inspired the movement.<br \/>\nNow, fifty plus years after the CRM, another approach is needed, and the BLMM like the LGBTQIA justice movements are updating the art of contemplative confrontation and noncompliance with the status quo . . . oppression and violence against black bodies. Today, the most respectable image that young protesters can offer is their authenticity, resolute voices, and pride in community and culture. . . . The BLMM uses disruption for transformation rather than the predictable politeness and political compromises that were part of the ordinary negotiations of social activists. . . .<br \/>\nThey block traffic and refuse to allow \u201cbusiness as usual.\u201d The response is not riot or violence, it is the twenty-first-century version of the sit-in. CRM activists got parade permits and stayed along the side of the road so as not to interfere with traffic. BLM activists \u201cshut it down\u201d with song, putting their bodies on the line. . . .<br \/>\nBLM activists are not singing \u201cwe shall overcome,\u201d they are not saying \u201cI am yet holding on\u201d or \u201cmaking a way out of no way\u201d like the church mothers and fathers of old. They are saying \u201cwe ain\u2019t gonna stop \u2018til our people are free\u201d and \u201cI can\u2019t breathe,\u201d as they shut down malls and highways to stop the killing of young black men and women. [Far too often, by the very officers who are supposed to \u201cprotect and serve,\u201d I might add.]<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p><strong>April 13, 2018 <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>The Spirit\u2019s Voice<\/strong><br \/>\nAnne Kayser (Oregon)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jesus said, \u201cI will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. \u2028This is the Spirit of truth.\u201d <span class=\"reference\"> &#8211; John 14:16-17 (NRSV)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"body\">\n<p>The divisions at our church\u2019s denominational conference mirrored the divisions in my own household. I saw good people on both sides of contentious issues.<br \/>\nA few days after the conference, I took my son to hear the Oregon Symphony perform one of his favorite works, Mahler\u2019s 3rd Symphony. On the heels of the tension we had both experienced, the music became a visceral reminder of the Holy Spirit\u2019s still, small voice. In one of the later movements of Mahler\u2019s work, the principle trumpet was offstage, barely audible at times, but supplying the main theme for the piece \u2014 a sweet, longing melody calling to all who would listen. At times some of the other instruments picked up on the trumpet\u2019s gentle theme and harmonized with it; at other times they almost drowned it out in a frenzy of dissonant notes.<br \/>\nI wondered, Which kind of instrument am I? At times I am so eager to voice my own opinions and positions that I nearly drown out God\u2019s Spirit of truth, not to mention other people. But when I calm down enough to listen, that Spirit is still there, singing softly and tenderly. In fact, the Spirit is sometimes echoed by those I may be trying to verbally out-maneuver. Becoming an instrument of peace starts with listening for the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"prayer-box\">\n<div class=\"subtle-label\">Today&#8217;s Prayer<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"todays-prayer\"> Gracious God, thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to us. Give us ea<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bodies on the Line Richard Rohr Friday, April 13, 2018 Your body is not an isolated, separate entity. We are our truest selves only in community\u2014with our ancestors (carrying their stories and DNA), our natural environment, and our neighbors. We hold the mystery of transformation, \u201cmaking up in our own body what still has to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16659"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16659"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16661,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16659\/revisions\/16661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}