Beer: What CAN'T it do???

So apparently fisheries are being hit hard in this recession. Food costs are on the rise. So some folks got together and are testing using the spent grains and hops from breweries to feed the fish! How great is that???

Read the Story

Eddie Lee Ivery

One of my heroes growing up was Eddie Lee Ivery, running back for the Green Bay Packers in the early 80s. I remember my dad taking my brother and me up to Green Bay for training camp when I was 6 or 7. Eddie and James Lofton were my brother and my favorite players.

I had the opportunity to meet Eddie a few years back when I was working at Cafe 458 in Atlanta. As has been written of elsewhere, Eddie was in the Oakhurst Recovery program, an in-patient drug and alcohol recovery program that was connected with Cafe 458. Eddie was an All-American at Tech, setting what was at that time the single-game rushing mark of 356 yards against Air Force (in a blizzard, no less) and the single-season mark of 1526 yards in 1978. He was drafted in the first round by the Packers, but was injured on the third play of his rookie season. He went on to have multiple knee surgeries, and he was never the player he was in college, though he did lead the Packers in rushing twice.

From small-town, warm weather Georgia, Eddie told me he was pretty depressed when he injured himself. Isolated, he started using drugs and alcohol with teammates. This habit turned into an addiction which lasted through his eight seasons with the Packers, until he finally sought help at the Oakhurst Recovery Program in 1998. That's where I met Eddie. I even talked him into playing on a church-league flag-football team where I was quarterback. I just told my teammates this was Eddie and he'd played a little ball before. I think that first game he had 5 touchdown catches, at 43 years old, not having run in years.

Georgia Trend magazine has a great article about Eddie and his story of getting his life back together. Eddie finished Oakhurst and was put back on scholarship at Tech to finish his bachelors degree. He works as a strength and conditioning coach with the football team at Georgia Tech. Who knows how many lives he has touched already. He certainly touched mine.

Double-Consciousness

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. . . . One ever feels his twoness,an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warrings ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."

-- W.E.B. Du Bois(1868-1963), The Souls of Black Folk

Hope Network: Election Edition!

This campaign has gone on quite a while, huh?! Sure there is negative campaigning going on, yet I find great hope in the numbers of people turning out to vote! Ok, I admit we as a nation have a rather sad record in terms of voting rates--Australia and Malta are at like 95%-(I'm all for tax breaks for voters, like $50: who's with me?) But early voting has caused quite a stir across the country. According to the AP, early voting has tripled since 2004. And voters in one Georgia county stood in line until 10:30 p.m. last week to cast ballots.

In Florida, there were such long waits for early voting- over five hours in some places- that Gov. Charlie Crist had to step in and sign an executive order extending early voting hours to accommodate the masses. And the Florida A&M marching band entertained one group of early voters at a polling station (right).

So let's get out there on Tuesday if you haven't already done so! This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land...

Mary Oliver, Part II, The Journey

Here's another poem by my favorite poet Mary Oliver. I don't know about you, but I can live so much of my life in my head, with so many conflicting voices. None of the voices are not mine, and yet none of the voices is pure. That's what I like about Oliver. She's right there in the midst of the struggle. She's not writing after she's got it all figured out, kicking back on her sofa saying, "Whew! I'm glad life isn't so difficult anymore now that I've beat the system, solved the puzzle, found my one clear voice (the voice of God?)." She's not the saint who used to be the sinner, the one who, now that she's beyond doubt or struggle, can finally make art. She's right there right now making beautiful art, right in the muck and messiness. Saintliness and Beauty are not things that come after the struggle, after all the questions have been answered and doubts assuaged. Now is Beauty. The Beauty of God is at hand. That is good news.

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Senseless acts of singing

The Decatur Five

I had the pleasure of singing for no good reason at all today! Five of us from the Community of Hospitality brought songbooks and gumption to downtown Decatur, GA and sang on a street corner for about 30-40 minutes. We had one complete stranger jump in to join us, several encouraging comments, and lots of interest by kids smiling, pointing, and walking by with their parents. The point was simply to sing and to share music with those walking by. I personally see such actions as movements towards creating the type of world I want to live in. But even if nothing happened today other than 5 people singing, isn't that reason to rejoice?!

Our Worship circle sings every Sunday night, we have for the past 25+ years. Someone mentioned the other week that the only time each week that they sung was on Sunday nights at our service. This got folks thinking that we should just get together and sing in public.

I was relating my singing afternoon to friends tonight and it reminded them of a trip they took to China recently. They said that every morning and afternoon, they would see dozens, even hundreds, of people in parks throughout Beijing who also gathered to sing as well as ballroom dance, do Tai Chi, and ribbon dancing gatherings (see below). That makes me smile! I am happy anytime people are gathering in public as citizens, are engaging with their friends and the larger community. We've gotten so disconnected from each other in this American society. I'm heartened to hear such that such gatherings are common in China.

So this was round one--let me know if you want to join us next time. Or do it yourself! Or dance in public. It's your and my community out there, let's engage it. Do something beautiful today that makes no sense--it's quite liberating!!!

Movies of Hope: Harold and Maude

Harold and Maude is one of my all-time favorite movies. For many reasons. The fantastic music was all written for the film by Cat Stevens. The theme song is If You Want To Sing Out (listen on YouTube), and the song exemplifies the theme of the movie: Live, Live your particular and wild life, even and especially when there are so many who want you to live someone else's life!

I won't give anything away because I know you're going to see the movie soon! Hal Ashby, of Being There fame, directed the film. The images in the movie are fantastic and the soundtrack, though most definitely dated, is perfect. Maude is an over-the-top free spirit who knows pain deeper than most, and yet is alive. She's about to turn 80 and has never been more alive. She steals trees that are choking on the pollution of the city and transplants them back in the forest. She "borrows" priests' cars and cops' motorcycles. Ironically, she likes funerals, which she attends with her yellow umbrella. Harold has no friends, but likes funerals as well. They bump into each other at funerals of people neither of them know. In one of several all-is-not-what-it-seems elements, Harold and Maude, who appear to be most morbid, are in fact the only people in the film who have any sense of life at all.

Harold is primed to come to life, and he meets his guide in Maude. Their friendship mentor-mentee relationship invigorates Harold and sustains Maude. They live wonderfully odd lives. I think more that the truly odd might have something vital to teach me about really living. Because they are not constrained by fear, by embarrassment and shame, but what is "normal" or "respectable." These categories are all fictions at best, prisons at worst. Corporations and other snake-oil salesmen can't sell you plastic surgeries or the "right car" or a soul-less job or celebrity gossip if you are alive, are yourself, and don't give a shit about what other people want you to be. Sorry to swear, but the truth's the truth.

Here's the point: It is the freaks who are free, the freaks who can live beyond fear. It is the freaks who are in touch with what Mary Oliver calls their "wild and precious life." Watch Harold and Maude, or watch it again. See if you are re-invigorated to live wildly, to love, to be yourself--which is no small feat!

22.6?

I meant to make this post 4 weeks ago. That was the day I ran 14 miles for the first time in my life. When debriefing with my wife I told her that "if running 14 miles is that hard then I have a newfound respect for anyone who has run a marathon." Which made me think of Brad (venerable moderator of the hope network, who has run a marathon) among others. And it made me think of the hope network. I was hopeful that if I stuck with my training program I would be able to run much further. Even if it was that hard. And let me tell you, those last 2 or 3 miles were really hard and painful.

I'm not training for a marathon. I'm training for a 22.6 mile race over the Colorado National Monument. Though it's 3.6 miles short of a marathon it has over 1500 ft. of elevation gain (a lot of uphill). I consider it a worthy challenge, though.

I'm not sure if it would have been more appropriate to make this post that day or today. Despite being intimidated and discouraged, I did feel hopeful. So the next week I ran 16 miles. They were just as painful, and in fact I spent the rest of my day nauseous. Then the next week I ran 18 miles. I actually felt a little better during much of the run but the last few miles were hanging on for dear life, and I had a hard time walking down the block for cool-down. Then this week I tried hard to procrastinate it, but finally convinced myself to run 20 miles (the peak of my training program). This time the pain kicked-in way earlier in the run for some reason. But I knew I had done 18 and, even if I had to go slower, would be able to do it.

Come race day I will be tapered and much more fresh. And I've run 20 miles so I'll know I can complete those extra 2.6 (downhill) miles. My hope now is a lot less audacious than it was 4 weeks ago. But to be sure, it was hope that kept me going on each of these runs.

I'm glad that 14 was so hard because it prepared me for what was to come.

Dancing with the Stars

Not bad, Cliffy.

Ok, what does this have to do with hope? Good Question.

I'm generally not a fan of reality TV. In most part because it seems to highlight the worst in humanity (who can betray whom, who can stab whom in the back, who can best step on as many people as possible in the name of WINNING AT ALL COSTS!). . Isn't too much of corporate America like that already? Isn't television supposed to be a break from all of that?

That's where Dancing comes in. The show is so positive. There's no Simon WhatshisBritishname nastily taking his personal insecurities out on barely pubescent singers. There's no crazy cook- guy raging around the kitchen making everyone miserable. I just can't hack that stuff. Dancing though is different. It's about people pushing themselves, confronting fears, letting loose and having fun, and dancing! Sure, there are B-listers trying to find that spotlight again. But the celebrities on the show are such great symbols for you and me and everyday average people. They're all famous for things other than dancing, and the show pushed them. There's a HUGE chance of making a complete fool of themselves on the highest rated TV show in the country. Maybe this is my childhood dread of dancing coming up (oh, I had some awkward moments at Bar Mitzvah parties), but there is some serious courage involved on that show!

So Dancing with the Stars is a sign for me that people can celebrate dancing (a wonderful thing in and of itself), can be positive, encourage others, take some major risks of making a fool of themselves, and just have fun. And that this is the top rated show on TV is a wonderful sign. Maybe it's a sign that we as a country are getting sick the lowest-common-denominator TV. I think so!

In the beginning...there was Peace

Caral might be the oldest city in the Americas, a "mother-city" that was at the foundation of civilization itself in this part of the world. Its ruins are in modern-day Peru and date back to over 2600 B.C. I was watching PBS last night, and the story of the city is fascinating enough. But what struck me as so hopeful was this:

The city had no walls, no weapons, no battlements, no mutilated bodies. No war!

For years, the prevailing theory of why cities, and thus civilization, began, was that they resulted from fear of warfare and violence: People gathered together to fight and defend. People today then make the mental leap to: humanity is inherently violent, always has been, always will be.

Bunk! The existence of Caral strongly suggests that this is not true! Further, there is evidence that Caral existed for 1000 years without war! This would simply not be possible if humans were inherently violent. Caral shows us what was once possible, and not only possible, but foundational to the beginnings of civilization. (Riane Eisler writes along very similar lines in her book The Chalice and the Blade).

In the beginning, there was peace! So let's get back to our roots, fellow humans!


Click here to watch the entire PBS/BBC show on YouTube

Cafe 458

I had the privileged of working at Cafe 458 in Atlanta, GA, for three years. Cafe 458 was founded in 1988 and was the first restaurant of its kind in the United states, and remains the only of its kind in Atlanta. The Cafe, a program of Samaritan House of Atlanta, is a restaurant for homeless men and women, serving lunch every weekday.

The idea behind The Cafe was and is simple: offer a good meal in an atmosphere of dignity, respect, and hope. Rather than a soup kitchen (a much needed institution), which might serve 300 meals to 300 people assembly-line style, the Cafe has always been intimate- 30-40 meals a day- with the emphasis on relationships. The Cafe has changed untold lives of homeless men and women, and those of countless volunteers, like myself. Just people sitting down over lunch, talking, building relationships, building trust--nothing too complex. I've heard homeless people say that we at the Cafe were the only people in their lives who would miss them if they weren't seen that day.

For the past several years, Cafe 458 has served a weekend brunch- and now weekend dinner- to paying customers, with all of the proceeds going back into the Samaritan House program. Their brunches have won numerous awards, and the Cafe recently underwent a makeover courtesy of
Turner Broadcasting's Movie and a Makeover. They've even got a Facebook page!

Go volunteer, it might change your life.

Donald Miller, Part I

In Donald Miller, I see one of the greatest lights of hope for this country. Hyperbole? Yes, but only slightly.

For those of you unfamiliar with Donald Miller, you should be. He is a writer and a progressive evangelical Christian (they do exist!). He is part of what is called the emerging church, or the emergent church. Those terms are lower case, b/c "it" is not so much a defined "thing" or "movement," but rather a call for the church to reexamine itself on many fronts. I first read about Miller in his book Blue Like Jazz (NY Times Bestseller), and he's amazing. More about Miller himself in Part II.

I find great hope in the emerging church as an evangelical movement as it is breaking the monopoly that the Political Right has, seemingly or not, had on the church over the past years and decades. When the Political Right has talked about being societal issues, it has often talked about being "pro-life", and yet has done little concerning poverty, environmental, and social justice issues--all issues very much about life. The emerging church sees life before birth, after death, and all points in between as inextricably related. How refreshing!

I think Miller's blog entry below on his biblical reasons for supporting Barack Obama is exactly why I find hope in Miller and the emerging church. Miller led a prayer at the Democratic National Convention and is active on the campaign trail in support of Obama.

Miller's Blog

Brother Roger and the Community of Taize

Taize is a ecumenical Christian community in Burgundy, France. The community has hosted hundreds of thousands of visitors/pilgrims over the past half century, many of whom are young people from around Europe and the world. I was there a few years ago with 4000 Dutch high schoolers--Geveldig!!!

The community was founded by Brother Roger (below), a Swiss-born Protestant pastor, in the 1944s. In 1940, Brother Roger rode a bicycle from Switzerland to Taize, where he took part in smuggling Jews out of neighboring Germany. When he later founded the community, the idea was that it would be a place of simplicity and reconciliation. The tens of thousands of young people who visit Taize each year live together, eat together, and sing and worship together. There's really not much more to it than that. Meals are simple (e.g., breakfast=hot chocolate, bread and fruit) and the music is simple.This simplicity is what strikes me as so hopeful. Brother Roger didn't set out to change the world, start a "movement," or reform the church. He just started small to live in proper relationship with others, with a few monastic brothers, and out of his vision came a monastic community of over 100 brothers, a hospitality ministry to thousands upon thousands of pilgrims, yearly youth meetings across the globe (this year is Brussels and Nairobi), and a meditative style of worship that has spread far and wide.

Watch a video about Taize

Hear Some Taize music

Mary Oliver, Part I, Wild Geese

I don't read poetry often, but my favorite poet is Mary Oliver, based mostly on her poem Wild Geese. Read it out loud, to yourself, to loved ones, to your kids. I've cried after reading just the first line.

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Washington

The First Debate was last night. Just for a minute, forget about your political opinions, if you can. Regardless of the content of everyone's politics, I don't want to lose sight of how amazing it is that this November there will either be a Black man as President or a woman as Vice President. How amazing that a young black kid can watch TV and think about her/his future, and see Barack Obama on the TV and dream big!

Same for Sarah Palin. Kids don't have the faculties to get into the nitty gritty work of all this stuff thrown around (a blessing?). If and when I have a daughter, I'd want her to look at Sarah Palin and see a strong woman and have my daughter say, "Damn right I could do that! There are no limits to what I can do!"

So let's celebrate a little. There are some real and necessary political battles that need to be fought. And we'll continue to get plenty of that. But let's not forget that these are historical times worthy of celebration.

Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs)

I'm in west Tennessee for a few days and I'm staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Buffalo, TN. There is not a single incandescent light bulb in this room (all CFLs!). Buffalo seems nice, but it's not exactly bustling with environmentalists! The tide is changing.

0+0+0+0+0 always = 0
1+1+1+1+1+1 = Infinitely More (and moving in the right direction!)

Change one bulb in your house. They make warm, non-stark CLFs now. You'll save money and do good. In Atlanta, check out Georgia Interfaith Power and Light.

Kickball

I'm reading a book called Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, by sociologist Robert Putnam. The gist of his book is that the social fabric of community in the U.S. has waxed and waned over our history, and that we're at a time where it's time to build up once again the social capital that makes for abundant living. Below is a excerpt from a review:

Putnam draws on evidence including nearly 500,000 interviews over the last quarter century to show that we sign fewer petitions, belong to fewer organizations that meet, know our neighbors less, meet with friends less frequently, and even socialize with our families less often. We're even bowling alone. More Americans are bowling than ever before, but they are not bowling in leagues.

My friend Colin and I talk often about the presence and deterioration of the "Third Spaces" in the US. The First Space is the home, the Second is the workplace, and the Third is that place where people bond in a social space out in the community. Churches, Elks Clubs, VFW Halls, Bowling and Pool Leagues are all examples of these Third Spaces. For instance, Colin plays in a pool league and plays hostess to numerous gatherings at her house; I play in a softball league and attend a weekly interfaith worship service.

Putnam says that many of these Third Spaces are dying, if they're not already dead. When these spaces die, depression goes up, crime goes up, addictive behaviors go up, and also home values go down, participation in democracy goes down, trust goes down. Putnam suggests that the nature or purpose of the group doesn't matter nearly as much as the fact that people are together, getting to know each other, connecting, dispelling stereotypes, and merely communing together.

Well, I am buoyed by the knowledge that kickball leagues in the US have exploded over the past decade! Grown adults get together for no other reason than to be together, have fun, compete, (drink beer, probably), kick a neon rubber ball around, and try not to get hit in the head! So community might be on the ropes, but we're not down for the count! And kickball is one of them! Check out some kickball resources in Atlanta!

A Prayer of Hope

For the Candler School of Theology General Staff Meeting
Monday 22 September 2008

We pray to you,
God who is our Mother,
God who is our Father.
We are Yours.
We pray that we may know Your love
and will for our lives.

In this School of Theology,
comfort us as we seek Your presence
in our everyday lives,
in Your Scriptures,
in Your Church.
Help us form Your leaders
as they leave this place to carry Your Good News
of love and justice.

In this State of Georgia,
make us uncomfortable,
as we are set to execute one of Your Children,
Troy Davis.
We pray for Your Gospel of Life
to stir the hearts of Your Children
Governor Sonny Purdue
and the members of the Board of Pardons.

In this space here,
be present with us. In the name of Your Child
and our Brother Jesus, Your Chosen One
who came to us not as a king,
not as a politician,
but as a helpless and unplanned Baby
and an Executed Criminal.

Amen.


Note: For those not aware, Troy Davis is a black man convicted of killing a white police officer based solely on eyewitness testimony (no murder weapon, no physical evidence of any kind). Since his conviction, 7 of 9 of the original witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony, several citing police coercion. These recantations have never been heard by a jury. To me, this is the epitome of "a reasonable doubt." Mr. Davis is scheduled to be executed tomorrow, Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Please write to Governor Sonny Purdue to request that a man can have all of the evidence in his case heard before he is put to death.

Alan Gell. 6 Years on Death Row in North Carolina. Later Found Innocent.
Raleigh, NC, September 2004

Ultimate (frisbee)

I love Ultimate. It is such a beautiful game to watch and be a part of. The wind, the arcing throws, the geometry, the flow of the game. It's gorgeous.

I especially like that Ultimate, as a whole sport, promotes hard play and competition that brings out the best in people. Ultimate has no referees, ever. From pick-up games in Piedmont Park to the World Championships, players call their own games. And the culture of Ultimate is that people play with respect, even as they play hard. So people who are jerks don't fit in. Competition, yes, and yet the competition is all within the bounds of what's called The Spirit of the Game (SOTG). The Official Ultimate Players Association guides define the SOTG thusly:

• Ultimate has traditionally relied upon a spirit of sportsmanship which places the responsibility for fair play on the player. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of the bond of mutual respect between players, adherence to the agreed upon rules of the game, or the basic joy of play. Protection of these vital elements serves to eliminate adverse conduct from the Ultimate field. Such actions as taunting of opposing players, dangerous aggression, intentional fouling, or other 'win-at-all-costs' behavior are contrary to the spirit of the game and must be avoided by all players.

I find Ultimate hopeful because it is a place where people of all political, religious, chronological, gender, cultural, and racial backgrounds and persuasions can come together, have fun, play hard, and get some good exercise. And yet Ultimate takes place under the agreed upon tenets of the SOTG. In this divisive election season, I offer these observations about how Ultimate can bring us all together, Left and Right:

Republicans should celebrate Ultimate because it proves that a group can exist and progress towards their goals successfully with NO OUTSIDE REGULATION of any sort. No Big Government. Hell, no government at all. Take away the top-down rules and people and groups will excel and push each other to be the best they can be.

Democrats should celebrate because Ultimate proves that the good nature and intentions of individuals and groups really is what ties people together and orders the society. The SOTG is evidence that the essence of people really is good, and that this innate good nature really can be the backbone and structure of a successful society. Love, respect, and tolerance, when nurtured by the group and allowed to thrive in the proper environment, are all that are needed for a robust democracy.


See, we can all get along. Let's go play some Ultimate!

The Onion

New Remote Control Can Be Operated By Remote

The Onion: America's Finest News Source is a brilliant satirical "news" source. You can pick up print copies in Chicago, New York, and I'm sure other cities, but these days I catch them mostly online. There are only 12 writers for the entire website/newspaper, which comes out weekly. The writers are very well-read, sharp folks, their material is always irreverent, and often times delving (funnily) into the inappropriate. "Funny, but wrong" is often my reaction to their stuff. They have full stories, fake interviews, "man on the street" segments, and just plain old headlines.

Speaking as a hope blogger, I find that the Onion rarely goes down a cynical path; rather they touch some very funny nerves regarding very serious and important issues.

Just a very few examples, appropriate for this blog, are:

Bush Told To Sign Birthday Treaty For Someone Named 'Kyoto'

Bags Filled With Sand Still Most Advanced U.S. Anti-Flood Technology

Alumni Furious Over High School's Constant Improvements

Hank Williams Jr. Honored By Institute For Football Preparedness

Boyfriend Ready To Take Relationship To Previous Level









Jonathan Papelbon's 95 mph Water Balloon Ruins Family Barbecue