{"id":16922,"date":"2018-06-22T09:24:31","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T13:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16922"},"modified":"2018-06-22T09:38:25","modified_gmt":"2018-06-22T13:38:25","slug":"justice-close-to-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16922","title":{"rendered":"Justice Close to Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Rohr<\/p>\n<p>Justice Close to Home<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HY3mpbE9SJ4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nFriday, June 22, 2018<br \/>\nOver the last two weeks I\u2019ve explored justice in a broad way. Today I\u2019d like to bring it closer to home, in a little longer meditation, so you get a fuller picture and some of the nuances in my own life.<br \/>\nMy first assignment as an ordained deacon in 1969 was working with the Acoma Indians, a Pueblo people living west of Albuquerque. I quickly fell in love with this multi-cultural and beautiful \u201cLand of Enchantment.\u201d<br \/>\nIn 1986 when I felt called to start the Center for Action and Contemplation, I returned to New Mexico. Its physical proximity to the U.S.\/Mexico border, Franciscan legacy (both good and bad), extreme poverty (only Mississippi and U.S. territories have higher poverty rates in the U.S.), and history of nuclear testing made this seem like a good place to live in solidarity with suffering and practice contemplative approaches to justice and peacemaking.<br \/>\nI am still learning to hold the tension of our stunning landscape and rich art with so much injustice and pain. I\u2019ll share just a few examples of New Mexico\u2019s complex past and present.<br \/>\nThe Catholic \u201cDoctrine of Discovery\u201d sent Spanish Conquistadors in search of gold, beginning in the sixteenth century. [1] As the area was colonized, many indigenous peoples were massacred, enslaved, or forced to assimilate. Colonial governor Juan de O\u00f1ate (1550-1626) had one foot cut off of each man in Acoma Pueblo after they rebelled against Spanish domination. By the late eighteenth century, approximately one-third of New Mexico\u2019s native population was enslaved. [2]<br \/>\nThe exploitation of Native Americans continued under Mexican and then United States rule. In the late 1800s, two federal \u201cIndian\u201d boarding schools in the state tried to \u201cremove the cultural and individual identity\u201d of Native American children by prohibiting them from \u201cpracticing their native language and beliefs.\u201d [3] Anglo settlers stole land from both Native Americans and Hispanic residents. The U.S. Army forced the Navajo or Din\u00e9 people onto a small reservation on the eastern side of the state in 1864; the \u201cLong Walk to Bosque Redondo\u201d from the Navajos\u2019 home in western New Mexico\u2014which covered 300 miles of desert and mountains\u2014was an attempt at ethnic cleansing. [4]<br \/>\nThe U.S. government has formed numerous treaties with tribes and pueblos, only to blatantly disregard them and give preference to corporations and private interests. Today Native Americans continue to struggle to protect their land, water, and diverse cultures. Even while many in the U.S. try to keep immigrants from crossing our country\u2019s borders, they have broken promises to respect the boundaries of those who were here before us.<br \/>\nMigration\u2014whether chosen or forced\u2014is a reality we must continue to face. U.S. interference in Central America has led to destabilization and violence. In 1986, the year before the Center for Action and Contemplation officially opened, our governor declared New Mexico the country\u2019s first \u201cState of Sanctuary,\u201d a welcoming place for those fleeing civil wars in Central America. Albuquerque\u2019s mayor, Tim Keller, recently affirmed that we are an \u201cImmigrant Friendly\u201d city, limiting city resources in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. [5] I support this decision and applaud the faith communities who are sheltering undocumented immigrants!<br \/>\nThe policies of separating families at the U.S.\/Mexico border and of criminalizing those who seek asylum are disgraceful. Throughout Scripture we see God\u2019s mercy toward the outsider and the vulnerable. Jesus makes our treatment of \u201cthe least of these brothers and sisters\u201d the only real criteria for the final judgment (see Matthew 25:31-46). Jesus himself was a refugee, and his life and teaching show us what it means to welcome the stranger in our midst. Without love, \u201claw and order\u201d mentalities too often lead to dehumanization, concentration camps, and genocide. In today\u2019s political arena there is a lot of finger-pointing; we need to move beyond blame and rhetoric to take action on behalf of those who are suffering.<br \/>\nWith its high desert environment, New Mexico is particularly vulnerable to climate change. The Rio Grande, which begins in Colorado and finally borders Texas and Mexico, often dries up in the summer before it reaches the Gulf of Mexico, and droughts will only worsen. The over-consumption of fossil fuels in the U.S. has significantly contributed to global warming. Those in power must take responsibility for caring for the people and places most impacted. We\u2019ll all have to come together as a community to find creative ways of sharing and preserving our resources.<br \/>\nOur history is complex and layered. There is no single side of the story, though history is often written from the perspective of the \u201cvictor.\u201d [6] We continue to peel back the layers and learn more about the many people who call New Mexico home, often displacing or marginalizing the previous residents. I can only touch on a few of the issues I\u2019ve learned about. In doing so I hope to spark curiosity about your own place in the world. Who lived on \u201cyour\u201d land before you? If you don\u2019t know, find out. [7] How might this awareness change the way you live and your attitudes and actions toward indigenous peoples and immigrants?<\/p>\n<p>____________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Young, Sarah. Jesus Calling<\/p>\n<p>June 22, 2018<\/p>\n<p>THANK ME for the very things that are troubling you. You are on the brink of rebellion, precariously close to shaking your fist in My Face. You are tempted to indulge in just a little complaining about My treatment of you. But once you step over that line, torrents of rage and self-pity can sweep you away. The best protection against this indulgence is thanksgiving. It is impossible to thank Me and curse Me at the same time. Thanking Me for trials will feel awkward and contrived at first. But if you persist, your thankful words, prayed in faith, will eventually make a difference in your heart. Thankfulness awakens you to My Presence, which overshadows all your problems.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PSALM 116:17 NKJV;<\/strong>I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, And will call upon the name of the Lord.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PHILIPPIANS 4:4\u20136<\/strong>; Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PSALM 100:2 NKJV<\/strong>;\u00a0Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Rohr Justice Close to Home Friday, June 22, 2018 Over the last two weeks I\u2019ve explored justice in a broad way. Today I\u2019d like to bring it closer to home, in a little longer meditation, so you get a fuller picture and some of the nuances in my own life. My first assignment as [&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\/16922"}],"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=16922"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16929,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16922\/revisions\/16929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}