My day started with reading this piece, which I appreciated so much. Thank you for reminding me to go back to Merton during this new time of protest, and thank you for the idea of "street liturgy". I liked the one you wrote and shared here! The most meaningful times of protest for me, as well, have been small ones where I got to know the other participants and we became close through our shared commitment. The most meaningful liturgies, too, have often been small ones, at retreats or sparsely-attended services at odd times of the day, when a more meditative atmosphere prevails and it seems easier to inhabit the words and take them into oneself, as we do the bread and wine in my Anglican tradition. The most important point I take away from your article is that while our small acts of protest may be ineffective in the grand scheme of things, they are not at all ineffective if we see them as opportunities to grow, to learn, to share with others no matter how few they may be, and to more fully understand our faith and what it calls us to be and to do. Thanks for expressing this so well.
Beth, you put my most important point better than I could. Beautifully said. I wonder if the odd times of the day speak of the surprise and spontaneity latent in liturgy (and in all good poetry and literature). I know tears from readings at odd times or places occasionally come to me seemingly out of nowhere.
Your remarks about the most meaningful times of protest and most meaningful liturgies for you made me curious about creativity in protest--something I've seen and read about in passing but have never focused on. Yoder seems to have talked a lot about it at the 1964 retreat. The church we attended when we lived in Arlington last year is quite creative with their services' liturgy (and with many other things). I wonder if a greater amount of that "spiritual" creativity could revisit our protests and maybe other areas of our public life.
Thank you for your generous remarks. It makes me so glad to hear that the post helped start your day well.
Thanks, Paul, and wow! I hope you enjoy them as much as Victoria and I have. The latest of the three (as you know by now) is written by a variety of writers, which is fun. Beyond the inspiration and consolation (and sometimes laughter) the books bring us, I use them as style texts for the liturgies I'm trying my hand at.
Great article! This was my surprise “bread crumb” today as I think about political reform. It might be more correct to say, manna, in keeping with your theme.
You just inspired me to get my own trademark! Thank you!
I’m a big fan of Elle’s work and have had many discussions with her. I look forward to joining the subscriber chat on the new project.
Regarding your street liturgy and contextual framing, I was impressed by the depth of consideration about the true purpose and power of protest. I will be nibbling on these thoughts for a while as my nonprofit is working to build something new in the political advocacy space. Well done! Keep writing!!!
Joe, thank you so much! The book by Oyer was a godsend. I didn't know a week ago that eighteen peace activists had gone on a substantial retreat over sixty years ago and hammered out, at least for their own time and to their own satisfaction, what it means to protest.
I think most of us who do some protest work these days don't have many discussions about what it means to protest or how we might go about it in different ways. Our lack of talk may be in part because we're kind of trained to wait for some big organizations to coordinate and tell us where and when to show up and what to do.
My day started with reading this piece, which I appreciated so much. Thank you for reminding me to go back to Merton during this new time of protest, and thank you for the idea of "street liturgy". I liked the one you wrote and shared here! The most meaningful times of protest for me, as well, have been small ones where I got to know the other participants and we became close through our shared commitment. The most meaningful liturgies, too, have often been small ones, at retreats or sparsely-attended services at odd times of the day, when a more meditative atmosphere prevails and it seems easier to inhabit the words and take them into oneself, as we do the bread and wine in my Anglican tradition. The most important point I take away from your article is that while our small acts of protest may be ineffective in the grand scheme of things, they are not at all ineffective if we see them as opportunities to grow, to learn, to share with others no matter how few they may be, and to more fully understand our faith and what it calls us to be and to do. Thanks for expressing this so well.
Beth, you put my most important point better than I could. Beautifully said. I wonder if the odd times of the day speak of the surprise and spontaneity latent in liturgy (and in all good poetry and literature). I know tears from readings at odd times or places occasionally come to me seemingly out of nowhere.
Your remarks about the most meaningful times of protest and most meaningful liturgies for you made me curious about creativity in protest--something I've seen and read about in passing but have never focused on. Yoder seems to have talked a lot about it at the 1964 retreat. The church we attended when we lived in Arlington last year is quite creative with their services' liturgy (and with many other things). I wonder if a greater amount of that "spiritual" creativity could revisit our protests and maybe other areas of our public life.
Thank you for your generous remarks. It makes me so glad to hear that the post helped start your day well.
This is delightful. Just ordered all three volumes of the McKelvey!
Thanks, Paul, and wow! I hope you enjoy them as much as Victoria and I have. The latest of the three (as you know by now) is written by a variety of writers, which is fun. Beyond the inspiration and consolation (and sometimes laughter) the books bring us, I use them as style texts for the liturgies I'm trying my hand at.
Great article! This was my surprise “bread crumb” today as I think about political reform. It might be more correct to say, manna, in keeping with your theme.
You just inspired me to get my own trademark! Thank you!
I’m a big fan of Elle’s work and have had many discussions with her. I look forward to joining the subscriber chat on the new project.
Regarding your street liturgy and contextual framing, I was impressed by the depth of consideration about the true purpose and power of protest. I will be nibbling on these thoughts for a while as my nonprofit is working to build something new in the political advocacy space. Well done! Keep writing!!!
Joe, thank you so much! The book by Oyer was a godsend. I didn't know a week ago that eighteen peace activists had gone on a substantial retreat over sixty years ago and hammered out, at least for their own time and to their own satisfaction, what it means to protest.
I think most of us who do some protest work these days don't have many discussions about what it means to protest or how we might go about it in different ways. Our lack of talk may be in part because we're kind of trained to wait for some big organizations to coordinate and tell us where and when to show up and what to do.