Genesis

Twenty years ago (already!), I belonged to an activist church with a woman minister, gay leaders, and a social justice agenda. I chose it and similar organizations because my life of getting and spending, work and amusement, politics and personal life, felt empty and insufficient. So I took up a two-stranded way, spiritual and political, protests and potlucks, rallies and fund raisers, services and singing, meetings and celebrations. The church became an important community to me, but I needed further growth. Let me illustrate:

Our church owned and rented a tiny house to a woman and her teenaged son who were not parishioners. I lived close by, so they were my neighbors though I didn’t know their names and never introduced myself. At some point, I heard, the woman became ill with cancer, and then she died. Her son held a garage sale to raise funds; I browsed, but saw nothing I wanted and, with a vaguely uneasy feeling, walked away. Some weeks later, he came around selling Ginsu knives. I didn’t need knives, so I didn’t buy any. I don’t remember how many other attempts he made, but eventually he couldn’t make the rent and had to move out. That was the end.

At some point, I came to view this incident with horror, remembering my lack of response, the feeling I had that the situation was too bad but not my concern. I was focused on grand causes, so many ways to change the world that I could not help a neighbor even when he knocked at my door. Did it matter that I didn’t need an old kettle or Ginsu knives? Why couldn’t I have given money? Why couldn’t our whole church have put our heads and resources together to help? I’m sad and disappointed that our bottom line, the rent, prevailed over loving our neighbor and caring for the orphan, a literal neighbor, a literal orphan. It was almost a test case for living by principle, and I failed it. I remained passive (though sympathetic) in the face of need and pain; I often wonder if that struggling son thought, Churches and their ” love”: what a joke.

Big changes came about in both my personal and organizational life. I began to pay more attention. Those were the Reagan years when one effort after another came to heartbreaking failure. I began to ask the question: with all my hours of effort, all my meetings, whom exactly have I helped? Could I name one individual? I couldn’t – outside of family members. I became convinced that I needed to integrate long-term efforts with short-term acts and daily responses to unexpected opportunities, the kind that arise when heart and eyes are open. I wanted my destination and my journey to match. It’s a goal I still pursue.

This and my future posts on Tikkun Daily, then, represent an effort to remind myself and others of what small groups or individuals are doing right now and can do to heal and mend our local worlds, to celebrate the wonderful efforts we imperfect humans are capable of . May it strengthen us to– as the great French socialist, Jean Jaurès, put it –”live every day in a socialist state of grace,” to live now the battle that is “never won and never lost.”

Blessings on the journey!

Spotlight on Immigrant Service Day, August 29, 2009

Recently, a neighbor of mine, Elizabeth, and her boyfriend (who incidentally have put in a most impressive organic garden at his house) thought up a service project and organized it through SIREN, (Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network) a San Jose group that assists and advocates for immigrants. What I especially liked about this service project was that it didn’t merely give people information (though that in itself is valuable); it physically helped them solve a problem and help our environment at the same time.

What was the problem? Recycling old televisions. Elizabeth and her friends actually drove to houses and apartments and picked up the units. I interviewed her about how this day of service came about and what it meant to her:

LK: What prompted you and SIREN to undertake TV collection as part of an Immigrant Service Day?

ES: We had already been working with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights to help educate our local communities about the transition from analog to digital TV. We began to receive news clips and to find through our outreach that converter boxes were still a struggle or not reliable, so people started buying new TVs and we would get questions, “Where do you recycle TVs?” and “Do you have to pay?” I had already listed the number for recycling information at San Jose State University [her alma mater] on our brochure, but we began to feel the need for a specific project to deal with e-waste because people were putting TVs (which contain lead and mercury) on the curb or in dumpsters.

Unbelievably, SIREN put together the whole project in about two weeks with some additional funding from the Leadership Conference, the successful publicity efforts of Richard Hobbs, interim director or SIREN, and a literal handful of volunteers.

ES: We wanted to do something unique that nobody has done, and wanted the project to coincide with Obama’s United We Stand Day of Service. We saw a need and wanted to build a bridge to immigrants. Even though immigrants have already made endless contributions, this is what we need in a difficult time. It was also an opportunity to learn more about e-waste and what’s happening.

LK: How did you find volunteers?

ES: We got the word out through newspapers, radio, 48 Telemundo, and Channel 2, everywhere from Vacaville to Gilroy. Many people wanted the service but few wanted to help. When I was interviewed, I mentioned that we really need more volunteers, and two guys from Fremont called me and offered to help.

Elizabeth and one friend with a small car, another with a bike, were lent a truck from a third friend in Santa Cruz. Their only outside help came from two immigrant volunteers with a trucking business in Fremont. The total volunteer force for the day (which stretched into a second day) was five people. They received more than 100 calls and went to 32 homes. In two homes, they provided technical assistance by setting up converter boxes, so people didn’t have to discard their old TVs after all.

LK: What surprised you about this effort?

ES: I was surprised by the interest. I was surprised by the number of TVs being replaced. Some were huge and in such good condition. Many people who called were older and couldn’t lift a TV or didn’t have a car.

LK: Were there any obstacles along the way? How did you overcome them?

We went to one apartment up several flights of stairs and there was a huge TV. We thought, “Can we get this down?” Once we had the TVs, we had to figure out where to store them and how to get them to the recycling place. The volunteer from Fremont had a container and he took the TVs to a place where they disassemble them.

LK: Why did this guy from Fremont volunteer?

(Elizabeth calls Jorge Lopez and translates his words from Spanish):

JL: Because in the past I have had people help me (like Catholic Charities) so any time I can, I like to help others. And I had the means, a truck I wasn’t using that day, and I liked what you said about helping people that couldn’t lift the TVs.

LK: Did you feel there was a spiritual element to this project?

ES: I don’t subscribe to any religion. Ever since I was little, I questioned. But I have the sense that there is something beyond me, that I am not a science experiment. Call it God. I have faith. I have a sense of belief. There is spirituality in everything that has to do with service to others, any time you help someone even with a smile or by listening. My spirituality comes from my love for the earth. If I am able to prevent contaminants in the soil from leaching into the water, there is a spiritual connection to it. You depend on all these resources and you take care of them.

Very soon afterward, Elizabeth and SIREN began working on another service project, this time, a creek cleanup project with the Santa Clara County Creeks Coalition near Andrew Hill School in San Jose. On September 26, they put in a day and by working together, removed an amazing amount of debris from the creek. Before the day, Elizabeth figured they needed about fifty volunteers. They ended up with 72.