Politics of hope for Myanmar

Few days ago my friends in Myanmar woke up to terrible and shocking, though sadly not surprising, news. The military, called the Tatmadaw, and its commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing have staged a coup. They have arrested the country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party and put them under house arrest. It looks like the generals and former military regime cronies have become so afraid of not losing control, so anxious about the future and so humiliated by a landslide election defeat that the only option is to trample the will and the dreams of the people of Myanmar. AGAIN.

One metaphor keeps coming to my mind as I try to formulate a cognitive response to this horrible turn of events. I look at very first Peaceroads post, titled “Burma road…” and the banner photo of my website. The photo was taken in Yangon in 2015 on the famous Yangon Circular Railway which is the local commuter rail network, serving the Yangon metropolitan area. It is 46 km long loop with 39 stations, connecting satellite towns and suburban areas to the city. It took about three hours to complete the journey – passing by green fields with hard working farmers, people selling the produce at every station, small factories and makeshift settlements, low-income commuters filling our car and many of them falling asleep…

I think of Burma road which now feels like a “circle”. As if the past 5 years of the experiment with small steps toward a more democratic and dignified way of life for the vast majority of people is turning out to be a circular track. When most people inside and outside of Maynmar thought that this train slowly and painfully left the military regime days ”behind”, the tracks were suddenly diverted by a railroad switch. Where is its destination now? Is it about to make a full loop, forcefully bringing everyone “back”?

My friends from Myanmar are posting daily on social media. The internet gets blocked from time to time and the military is certainly trying to stop the people from communicating freely and from using any platforms to organize acts of civil protests. I look at the photos from the growing peaceful demonstrations, I read about the nightly beating of pots and pans in protest and I pray. Asking God for the politics of hope and freedom to triumph in Myanmar over the politics of despair and totalitarianism.

Tonight I saw a post with the news everyone is dreading. Will the military turn its brutal force and weapons on the people its supposed to protect? One young life of a 19 year old girl shot is already one too many. One police officer, who has joined the protests, cries while addressing the crowd of protestors… Well, we all know that “men don’t cry” in general, but the Myanmar police officers are certainly not supposed to cry in public. It feels like a volcano of long suppressed emotions bursting out of this man’s eyes.

There is something else obviously and powerfully bursting in Myanmar. Something that witnesses to the “moral arch of universe” in the the famous words of M.L. King. It is the rising of hope. People protest in the streets with hope, raise awareness around the world with hope, ask for prayers with hope. Hope is the existential dimension for flourishing life.

Hope is not just optimism or positive thinking. There is nothing optimistic in the very real intentions of the military junta to have their way. There is nothing optimistic in China using its veto in the Security Council to block any resolution which would condemn this coup. There is nothing optimistic in ASEAN countries turning their eyes away and calling it an ” internal matter”.

As theologian Wlater Brueggemann defines, “Hope is the refusal to accept the reading of reality [..] and one does that only at great political and existential risk. On the other hand, hope is subversive, for it limits the grandiose pretension of the present.” Even as I write these lines, I remind myself how important is the solidarity in subversive hope. My dear friends in Myanmar, brothers and sisters in Christ, you have taught me so much about the power of hope through these years. The journey continues and you are certainly not alone.

2020 of blurred vision

Unbelievable but 2020 is “behind” us and the world sighs. We would like to sigh from relief but there is a present sense that the feeling of relief is still ways off. Yes, 2020 is finished sequentially as ‘chronos‘ but not qualitatively as ‘kairos‘. If we think and speak of the critical or opportune moment for doing the right, consequential thing, then we are still in the very thick of it. This “moment” or whatever it is, it is not just a blip. The processes and trends, which got highlighted, brought to the surface or made mainstream during this year of global crisis, are not going anywhere. Just because we turned the page in our calendar.

It is not even a shadow which 2020 already casts over 2021. It is a realization that we have many companions who are not going to disappear. For many (individuals, communities, nations) it is the ghosts of the unredeemed or unremembered past who are refusing to go back to their shallow graves. For others those are the Christmas spirits who are bringing the revelation or apocalyptic shaking but these voices are here to stay. (Last night I watched again the timeless tale of Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge)

What are we to do? What kind of people do we want to be? What kind of world do we want to live in? And most importantly, how to live together?

First answer seems simple – we need to face this reality. But the fact is that we struggling to find, restore and accept Truth about our past, present and possible future. Second suggestion, expressed by many people much wiser and insightful than me, is equally hard – to find the tools and resources for ‘bridging the divide’ in polarized families, fellowships and societies, ‘holding the fort’ where necessary and being brave and patient because it will be a difficult long haul.

Recently I heard a great conversation with Karen Murphy, an American educator and civic activist who works with educational programs in divided societies with identity-based conflicts. She was describing some of her workshops and how participants find meaningful, symbolic tools for the long haul journey of restoring trust in individual and communal relationships. As we know, there cannot be relationships without trust.

In the next few months I will post my reflections on some of the ‘tools’ picked by the people who have done their home work and wrestled with these hard questions. Such as ‘a mirror’ which means that I have to look at myself, ‘a flashlight’ to show me the way in the fog and the dark, ‘a book’ to teach me deeper insight and knowledge, ‘a candle’ to sustain the hope…

What better signpost to start this new year and the new season of ‘peaceroads’ than the words of Martin Luther King: “We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”

There and back : #FreedomWay for Belarus

Last Sunday, August 23, I went on a very special pilgrimage to Lithuania. Quite different from what some may expect when hearing this word, but the kind I find the most meaningful spiritually – for a special cause and on behalf of others. This time to show support for the ordinary people of Belarus who have been protesting against the authoritarian rule of Alexander Lukashenko, the rigged election results from August 9 and the state brutality and injustice that has followed.

Belarus borders Latvia but in so many ways it seems like a far far away place. Actually I have never been to Belarus. Not that I do not want to, but we, Latvians, tend to live with our backs turned to the East (namely Russia) and faces turned to the West (European Union). Metaphorically! Especially since joining the European Union in 2004. The eastern borders in ways remind us of the not-so-distant past and the oppression by the totalitarian system of the USSR. The antagonistic feeling has grown stronger because of the authoritarian regimes in Russia and Belarus and the ways that Soviet past is still glorified in those countries. Alexander Lukashenko has been in power in Belarus since 1994 and has been steadily building up the “strong man” myth – that it is better to be ruled by iron and fist as long as you have food and security. When this ” iron and fist” brutally and violently came down on thousands of peaceful protesters this August, any kind of pretense was gone. A president, who walks around in army fatigues, brandishing an AK 47 assault rifle and threatening a swift punishment of all opposition, has lost any legitimacy as a leader.

I have watched the horrifying eye-witness videos, read the victim’s stories of beatings, arrests and torture, seen the photos of massive protests, read the statements from the church leaders in Belarus calling for the end of violence and police brutality… and have felt helpless. How can we show practical solidarity and compassion to our suffering neighbors in the time of such struggle for freedom and justice? People in Latvia have been demonstrating in front of the Embassy of Belarus, have been donating and sending money to different groups and NGOs and the social media profiles are flooded with the flag of Belarus.

I knew I had to put my feet where my Facebook is. So, I signed up to join a group of grassroots volunteers and activists to drive to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and to show solidarity by joining the human chain from Vilnius to the border of Belarus. It is a distance of only 32 km. “The Lithuanian human chain marked the anniversary of a mass protest on August 23, 1989, when 2 million people joined arms across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Known as the Baltic Way, it was a peaceful protest against authoritarian Soviet rule.” I have very vivid childhood memories from 1989 when we stood there, joining hands physically but also sensing the support from people all around the world who understood our longing and hopes. Now in 2020 we, Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians, find ourselves on the “other side” of this post-Soviet reality and domain, while the society in Belarus is in the middle of an existential struggle and nobody knows if it can reach the tipping point.

So, we went by bus. It was a long day and very long drive. The organizers estimate that up to 50,000 people participated, many of them dressed in white and wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the corona-virus. One thing we did not expect was that we (and thousands of vehicles) would get stuck in a major traffic jam since so many people were trying to make their way to this Vilnius – Minsk highway. Our bus crawled and crawled until we realized – we cannot reach the highway by the designated hour at 7pm. And we did what everyone else did – jumped out of cars and simply started joining hands wherever we happened to stop. Our group had the Latvian flags and soon other Latvians joined us. Then more people came and joined. Afterwards we found out that our small chain had participants from Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

I felt very emotional and still feel emotional writing these words and remembering these faces of the young people from different countries. Actually I did not see everyone’s face since most of us wore the face masks. But I remember the eyes and the eyes were communicating more than words. We looked at each other, joined our hands, will, mind, heart and experienced something truly spiritual and unforgettable. I knew that in that moment on some small road in a suburb of Vilnius we had a very clear understanding of “who is my neighbor”. The people of Belarus are our neighbors and right now they are in an urgent need of support, compassion, justice, solidarity, prayers and help.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6:12)

Courage to be available

Courage is something I think about often and have fantasized about it a lot. Whether simply speaking my mind, taking a risky decision, confronting a challenging situation or dealing with a peer pressure. I have noticed that I am always drawn to the real life people or fictitious characters who display the unexpected and practical courage against all odds. Could it be that I am so attracted to selfless acts of courage because deep inside I always doubt my own “hypothetical” choices?!

When I was a little girl watching many WWII movies, I dreamed about being a courageous nurse who is pulling wounded soldiers of the battle field. When I became very religious, I wanted to be always ready to become a witness for my faith to the point of martyrdom if I found myself in a place hostile to my religious convictions. When I joined a faith-based organization as a volunteer, I always admired, even envied, others who would start a pioneering work in the most extreme and dangerous circumstances like conflict zones or in countries with severe restrictions of political, religious and economic freedoms.

But with time I realized that the real test of courage is in the small things and the motivation to be courageous cannot be framed with these romantic, grandiose notions of my childhood fantasies. In the fantasies we always have certain freedom to choose our actions and can expect certain rewards like the admiration of people and future generations. But the experience and intuition tells me that the real courage can feel like no choice at all and the future rewards are certainly overrated.

July 4 is probably best known worldwide as the Independence Day in the USA. In Latvia this date is also remembered on a national level but for a very different reason. It is Commemoration Day of Genocide against the Jews. On July 4, 1941, shortly after the occupation by the USSR ended and the occupation by Nazi Germany began, Riga’s main Jewish synagogue was destroyed and burned. It effectively marked the beginning of the Holocaust in Latvia in which 65,000 – 70,000 Latvian citizens of Jewish ethnicity were killed. In fact, five of six synagogues in the capital city were completely destroyed that day (and until the present there is only one synagogue left in Riga). Also, there are accounts that there were people burned alive inside the Riga Great Choral synagogue, but the historical data has been inconclusive as to how many.

Last week I attended a lecture/presentation about some of the brave rescuers who saved Jews in Latvia during those horrifying years of the Nazi German occupation. In a sense these people seemed very ordinary on the outside and to their neighbors, but absolutely extraordinary to the people they sheltered, saved and tried to help. Sometimes unsuccessfully. These stories were truly inspiring but it also constantly reminded of the sad reality that there were not so many of them. These brave man and women had chosen the most difficult and often judged, misunderstood path. Still, they chose to be available…

During the Q&A session after the presentation, the difficult conundrum of courage was expressed with a straightforward question – what motivated people, who lived under such evil totalitarian and genocidal regime like the Nazi occupation, to show this extraordinary courage? To not conform to the “silent” and/or complying majority and to save their fellow citizens from a certain death. (Note: As a follower of Jesus Christ, I wish there would have been a more obvious answer that the person’s religious convictions and commitments made all the difference. The truth was much more ambiguous even though there were some clear examples when the rescuers were people of faith.)

This public event was organized by Zanis Lipke Memorial Museum in Riga which I highly recommend to visit. One of their future projects is House of Courage with this manifest: ” Dock worker Žanis Lipke under impossible circumstances saved people who were not considered people by the authorities and neighbours under German occupation. That required courage and friends. Being brave isn’t easy, being the minority isn’t easy. Hating and suspecting any otherness is easier, it takes no effort. But we want to live in a country where your fellow men and women are considered people.”

The German/American theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich is famous for his thesis of “courage to be”. I believe that being brave expands it to “courage to be available”.

Patience is another name for peace

It has been a very long pause… long pause in blogging, writing diary and social networking. I started February with a great determination to get back to regular schedule of weekly posts and then it happened. Someone very close to me was facing a difficult situation when unexpectedly becoming a primary caregiver to his newborn baby while the baby’s mother was in the hospital for an extended period.

Suddenly everyone in the family was on a steep learning curve of managing a crisis mode while learning all about baby care – milk formulas, nappies, burping, tummy issues, baths, etc. I remember how “relieved” we felt after the pediatrician had the first monthly check-up and gave a good report. It did not help that all this happened during the Covid-19 pandemic when our “lives as we know it” got severely interrupted and most of normal routines had to stop. It added so many complications that I cannot even begin to describe.

But something else happened. An unexpected twist which I will try to put into words. It seemed that during the quarantine the word on the street or, in this case, the word online was “time”. We have time. We have more time. Finally we have got the time. We have been forced to stop from our rat race and now we have time for what really matters. With all the million suggestions in articles, podcasts, interviews and talks to describe, analyze and define what is it that really matters.

But to me it felt like I had lost the time. More precisely, like I was living outside the time. Like the time stood still. Until I realized that this is probably what living in the moment feels like. I was pushing the baby carriage for long walks in the park, smelling the spring in the air, watching how people keep the distance from each other but still prefer to walk where they can see each other. Besides time to listen to some uplifting and inspiring podcasts, I kept reflecting on how this little helpless baby is teaching me something very important. The baby could not speak but every time she looked at me I heard loudly – slow down! I could not fix the difficult situation that my loved ones were in, but through this sense of slowing down I was also sensing a lot of hope in the midst of confusion and pain.

Today I found the exact words I was looking for. In a beautiful little book titled “Living Gently in a Violent World”, theologian Stanley Hauerwas writes: “Peace takes time. Put even more strongly, peace creates time by its steadfast refusal to force the other to submit in the name of order. Peace is not a static state but an activity which requires constant attention and care. [..] So, peace is the process through which we make time our own rather than be determined by “events”over which, it is alleged, we have no control.”

That is exactly how I felt it and saw it – I was learning in a new way how to make personal and social peace through an activity which required constant attention and care. I mean literal attention and literal care. And I am not talking about mindfulness, meditation or any other spiritual practice to “slow us down”. I am talking about listening intently to the “weakest” and “slowest” members of our community.

I would like to think of myself as a very patient person, but the little daily things routinely remind me that I am not. I walk back and forth, while I wait for the public transportation, to “kill the time”. I listen to a podcast, while on the public transport, to “fill the time”. But God through a little baby was revealing to me how to “still the time”.

Because at the heart of “living more gently in a violent world” is the realization that I have all the time I need.

P.S. I borrowed the phrase of Stanly Hauerwas for the title of this post. It was simply too good 🙂

Faith and politics at the dinner table? Needed more than ever

When I visit the United States, many friends want to hear my European “outsider” point of view since they know my interest in religion, politics, history and current issues. Not in a sense that I am some kind of expert or have the best analysis. The main reason is that they like me and I like them and they trust me to respect their views. Even if we see things differently.

We all know the old maxim – polite dinner table conversation among friends, family and, especially, strangers should avoid discussing politics, religion and other “private”, sensitive topics. We don’t want to stir up strong personal opinions and disagreements, experience unpleasant or embarrassing reactions, etc. I think of the countless movie scenes where finally the father or, usually, the mother tells everyone to shut up, change the subject and simply enjoy being together as “family”.

It is nothing original but I want to strongly challenge this maxim. In the current age of incivility, polarization and disrespect I believe that we need to bring hard topics to our places of fellowship between friends and gatherings among family. My argument is very simple. Where else can we learn to practice robust, open and honest conversations with civility, respect and even love?

There are articles, books, research and whatnot written about all the negative “side effects” of our digital age of internet, social media and technology. One of them being the danger of “echo chambers” where we only chat with the people who think like us. Other big communication problems are the lack of civility, bullying, trolling, demonizing and so on. These days we are not just missing critical thinking, logical arguments and fact checking. We are missing a basic civility and simple kindness to another human being. Our social communication and interaction is becoming nastier and more toxic. No wonder we need such initiatives as, for example, Kindness Institute at University of California-Los Angeles.

Let me say that I have a fear and dislike of sharp, public arguments. I don’t even like to join discussion threads on social media like Facebook commentaries. Many times I have written my piece of mind only to delete it seconds later. I am extremely careful not to add “more fuel to the fire”. Plus, I don’t feel like I can influence anyone’s opinion or have a deep, robust conversation in the digital world. You may question then why I write a blog, but somehow it seems different. I write down my reflections and trust that somewhere and somehow it will resonate.

Our modern/postmodern society has another big problem – the lack of trust. Specially not trusting any institutions and “sources” whether it is mainstream media, education, government, even the church. Often in discussions about polarizing political or faith issues I get the question of what are my “sources”. Who is your authority? If we are from different camps, we are usually not even interested in the honest answer. We have made up our minds that to see things differently is narrow-minded, ignorant or even dangerous. Then we don’t feel bad to treat other people unkindly or disrespectfully.

This is where the dinner table in the company of family or friends comes in. Family or friends discussions about sensitive and difficult issues are important. We all need places where we can practice civil disagreements with respect and love for each other. Of course, we still need to use judgement what topics and when but not talking about the “elephant in the room” is not the solution. Always avoiding difficult topics is like saying “peace, peace” where there is no peace. I don’t mean that we need to force debates simply for arguments sake, but we do need to cultivate the civility and atmosphere of openness and inclusion.

When the person whom I disagree with is a person I feel affection for, things are different. Communication is more personal. Desire to listen is greater. I know that I want this relationship to flourish, even if our views are polar opposites. Also, with family and friends I am usually much more open and interested to understand their views. I don’t dismiss their “sources” and I am more ready to hear another perspective. If we don’t learn how to do it “inside” the home and with our close friends, how are we going to learn to do it “outside”? If we don’t want to do it with family and friends, what makes us think that we will want to do it with strangers? Or in the anonymous digital reality?

Therefore it is more important now than ever to break the taboo and keep the divisive and excluding topics at our dinner table…

That’s it! No resolutions but one!

I went to the farmer’s market for the weekly shopping. Potatoes, carrots, apples, oranges… what else do I need for the last three days of 2019? Do I want to cook something? Not really! This is what happens when my husband is away during the holidays and I don’t care if the fridge is empty. Call it the end-of-the-busy-year laziness!

Tomorrow is Sunday, the day to see my church friends. I particularly enjoy that the church service starts in the afternoon because weekends are also perfect for late starts. Usually there is a long list of things I wish to do on the weekend but I get too ambitious. The list is simply too long and the hours too short. Friends, family, books, morning devotionals, walks, movies… the familiar choice of favorite activities.

I also tend to spend a lot of time of thinking, and there is always a certain pressure to reflect at the end of the calendar year. I don’t know why?! Maybe I do but I am sure smarter people have many answers why we need to mark each year – the milestones, the highlights, the achievements, the failures and the surprises – and why we make resolutions for the next one.

I peeked at my last post from December 2018 (please, don’t!) and saw a reminder why my New Year’s resolutions is usually such a vapor. One year ago I wrote: “I would ‘plan’ more fun.” Like dancing (occasionally in front of the mirror?), swimming (once this summer?), reading classic novels (when was the last time?), live concerts (yes, a few!), hikes in the woods (none!), museums (did I?) and traveling around (some in 2019 but starting 2020 with a trip to Thailand).

There is certainly something wonderful, uplifting, human, healthy and necessary about trying to choose and to decide what this earthly life is about and what are my most important priorities in the year to come. In some ways it is not so different from those childhood dreams of “who I want to become when I grow up”. Surely I am still growing up. I get excited when I think about what unknown challenges, opportunities and adventures may be around the bend and I still prefer the road-less-traveled.

There is one resolution, though, which I make… and absolutely need to make every year, month, week and day. It may sound like a spiritual platitude but there is one companion whom I cannot do without and choose to hold on to – God as in Father, Son and Holy Spirit! As in personal God, as in friend, as in helper and much more. There is hope when I get too arrogant, self-righteous, distracted, confused, discouraged, lost and delusional. There is hope when there is madness in me and all around. There is hope when I don’t know what I want or need or can. There is hope when I want to love my family, friends and even my “enemies” like Jesus has showed us and taught us, but I cannot. There is hope when I realize again and again that I have a “stiff” heart but God can turn it.

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” My resolution for 2020? To ask for more of the spirit of Jesus!

Nations becoming something more: European perspective

Sitting in Lähetyskirkko in Helsinki, an old church with a very contemporary and welcoming feel, I was drawn to the stained-glass window with the map of the world. Enframed within the ornate design, it looked beautiful but small and somehow fragile. Just like those amazing images from the outer space which make me think about “the whole world in His hands”.

The world and the continents may seem monolithic but not so once we zoom in and the borders of the nations come into our focus. As I was looking at Europe, my mind was playing one of those interactive maps which show how the borders of the European nations have shifted through the millennia, centuries, decades and years. With so much… too much blood spilled fighting over these lands and the borders. And Latvia, this small corner on the Baltic Sea, has suffered under many powerful and shifting winds of history.

Here I was in Helsinki, participating in a State of Europe Forum (SOEF) which focused on the current European challenges and also opportunities for creative solutions. Christian leaders from many different backgrounds – arts, church, government, politics, science, academia, business, education, environmental work, etc. – came together with an agenda to explore difficult and important issues. The SOEF framed these topics within the premise of “the largely Christian origins of the European movement, and of ongoing Christian responsibility towards the shaping of Europe’s future”. The underlying question – “why do such roots matter for the future?”

One of the sessions focused on the current trends of rising nationalism and populism in democratic nations. What concerns me the most, though, is when religion, specifically, Christianity gets weaponized to legitimize obviously authoritarian, undemocratic and simply unjust ideas and actions. For example, the infamous Crimean speech in 2014 which the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, gave on the occasion of annexation and “unification” of Crimea with Russia. “Everything in Crimea speaks of our shared history and pride. This is the location of ancient Khersones, where Prince Vladimir was baptised. His spiritual feat of adopting Orthodoxy predetermined the overall basis of the culture, civilisation and human values that unite the peoples of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.”

Russia is an obvious and easy target to highlight these trends but unfortunately it is not the only example. It comes much closer. I could name various similar ideas in the West – in Brexit debates, elections in the U.S.A., memory and identity politics, migration policies and foreign policies in other Western countries. Therefore in any public discussion that focuses on Christianity’s influence in the history of European nations, we, Christians, have to take a very hard and long look into the mirror and examine our own reflection. Why do we allow for our faith to be weaponized in such ugly ways?

Recently I heard some statements which I really liked. These were stated during Riga Conference 2019 panel discussion on ” New powers – shaping regions or shaping history?” by Simon Serfaty, a professor of political science at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. He was discussing the weaknesses in authoritarian systems and how the “new” and “renewed” influential nations, for example, China, Russia and Turkey “live their future in the past tense” with revisionist approach. S. Serfaty described the project of European Union as “a matter of necessity, not a matter of choice” and asked the audience “how, when and whether this necessity is gone?”

S. Serfaty concluded: “The liberal hegemonic order did not force its participants to become somebody or something else; it forced its participants to become somebody or something more.” This statement immediately reminded of my personal experience growing up in the Soviet Union and now living in the European Union. I thought to myself: “Exactly! Soviet Union tried to shape us into something else against our own will but European Union gives so many nations a chance to try to become something more.”

More than simply nations focused on their own nationalistic interests with attitude ” God bless us (and no place else)!” In the current global situation it would be extremely difficult to defend the so-called fundamental EU values – respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, rule of law, equality and peace – outside such an unprecedented platform of “Unity in Diversity”.

Postcard from Little Rock with famous stairs from segregation to inclusion

A visit to Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, a National Historic Site? Done! Ever since watching the documentary “Eyes On The Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement” and learning more about the Little Rock Nine and the events in 1957, I wanted to see this site of former social and political struggle. (I call these my “pilgrimages” to meet God and fellow human beings in a deeply challenging way.) Using religious and biblical language, this place has an aura of holiness where I want to take off my shoes like Moses in front of the burning bush.

Absolutely gorgeous and majestic building! If I did not know that it is a high school, I would think it is a big, old university or government building. Like the beautiful state capitol buildings all around the USA. To me, it looks even more majestic because of its troubled history.

To quote a History Channel website, “The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957. Their attendance at the school was a test of Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. On September 4, 1957, the first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the black students’ entry into the high school. Later that month, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine into the school.”

As we know, history is not just about facts. (Those you can learn by simply searching for ‘Little Rock Nine‘). It is about the truth that it stands for and the mirror it holds out to us. We can judge the past generations, but they always push back with a rhetorical question – what would you have done? I looked at those beautiful stairways and the large platform at the LR Central High School and though to myself, “What a stage! What a platform for the whole world to see!” Much of the Western world did watch the ugly face of blatant racism on full display.

And then I think about all the other schools and institutions around the world, past and present, which are not under such a spotlight but ,nonetheless, struggle with the same issues. ‘Us’ and ‘them’. ‘Insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. Those who ‘belong and deserve’ and those who ‘don’t belong and don’t deserve’. Separating people by race, gender, language, religion, ethnicity, etc. Little Rock Central High School could be anywhere and, in some ways, it is everywhere.

Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia, North America… all parts of the world. Ask the Rohingya in Burma, ask tribal people or anyone with dark skin in Thailand, ask Aboriginal Australians, ask the Gypsies in Latvia and other European countries, ask the Sudanese in Egypt… I think of all the conversations I have had with friends who have experienced different forms of racial prejudice.

Racism comes in many shades of attitudes and forms. I never knew I could think as racist and speak as racist until I found out that I could. And I am very grateful for dear friends who called it out! I have been blindsided many times. Just like many of us who don’t think about “racism” because we think we can choose not to think about it.

The neighborhood around Little Rock Central High School is another powerful visual reminder that the struggle for our common human dignity is continuing. The neighborhood is an obvious “hood”. For me as a visitor, it looks like a Hollywood movie about gang-ruled, run-down, trashy, poor neighborhood, but unfortunately this is not a movie set. I drove around thinking how I would not want to live here, how I do not even want to park my friend’s car anywhere and how out of the place the beautiful historic high school building looks. It is very easy to imagine that, back in 1957, this was a mostly white (or maybe all white) neighborhood. Now the residents are mostly black. Obviously at some point the demographics were completely switched. Even as the high school was becoming integrated.

I saw many white high school students coming out of the buildings, but they did not walk very far. Getting into their cars, parked right in front of the school and school buses and driving away. To some, surely, nicer, newer and much safer neighborhoods. The contrast between the two realities – the school and the neighborhood – could not be any starker.

This short pilgrimage to Little Rock Central High School grounds reminded me that of us, not just Americans, are on a continuous journey. To quote Martin Luther King, Jr., “The arc of moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” There are many more beautiful, but difficult stairways to climb.

The lessons of humble courage from my long-time hero

How to respond when people make statements about the Church being full of hypocrites? My favorite answer was given by Shane Claiborne, a hero of mine, who said: “No, the Church is not full of hypocrites. Not yet! There is room for more!”

It makes me laugh out loud but also touches something deeper and more profound than a good sense of irony. It speaks to our imperfect humanity and shared vanity. All of us are hypocrites in one sense or another. In or outside of religious communities. With or without any religious beliefs. We often don’t practice what we preach. Still, as a long-time practicing hypocrite I would rather be in the company of others who recognize it in ourselves and desire to follow a better way. The way of humility which for me is the way of Jesus Christ!

I finally got to meet and hear Shane Claiborne in person. He is a best-selling author, speaker and founder of The Simple Way community in Philadelphia. Mainly known for activism inspired by his Christian faith, advocating for the homeless, nonviolence, to end the death penalty and being involved in other social causes. His latest book “Beating guns” (2019) focuses on ways to stop gun violence. I have read Shane Claiborne’s books, ” The Irresistible Revolution”, ” Jesus For President”, agreed with many of the stances and followed his public activities for some years now. Needless to say, I got very excited to see him listed as one of the speakers at Justice, Mercy and Humility conference @ AudioFeed Festival in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

Audiofeed Festival is an Arts and Music community whose goal is “To create an environment where unconditional love is nurtured, encouraged, and shared without regard for appearance, religious belief, race, societal status, or any other thing that separates us from each other in the world at large. We believe that the perfect example of that Love was expressed through Jesus Christ and we do our best in fitful and imperfect ways to follow His example. Exploration, questioning, doubts, fears, hopes, joys… all are welcomed and encouraged. Ultimately we’re people who want to support each other and experience great music and art with others who feel the same way.”

I can truly say that it is a space and an event where the atmosphere of community, authenticity and inclusion is palpable. From organizers, volunteers, artists to the audience. Lots of it can be explained as inheriting of values and philosophy of Cornerstone Festival (1984-2012). (If you never had the chance to attend Cornerstone Festival in Illinois, USA, I will not even attempt to describe it. I can only recommend watching the documentary, dedicated to its 20th anniversary.)

Creative authenticity and humble courage are qualities the world needs. ” Entitlement is the opposite of humility”, one of the statements from Shane Claiborne that has really stuck with me. Often we talk about pride as the opposite of humility but entitlement is something that points to the deeper root of pride in our hearts. The way of Jesus turns the notion of entitlement on its head! “Though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:6-7)

I apologize if this too much Christian and Bible talk for some, but these simple truths get twisted and misrepresented so easily. This is the reason why I enjoy being in company of people who acknowledge that we are all imperfect hypocrites, together on the journey of faith.

P.S. AudioFeed Festival is not Cornerstone, but it is close as it gets. Highly recommend it!!!