Be the Change #21 – Be Like Joyce

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When I wrote the first in this series of “Be Like…” posts, I mentioned all the good friends we have made by dancing with the Pittsburgh Ceili Club. This fourth in my series of posts about people I know who are dedicated volunteers, is the third to feature a Ceili Club member.

Our friend Joyce Rothermel is a board member of the Thomas Merton center. The Merton Center began in a store front office on the Southside in 1972 to protest the continuation of the war in Vietnam, and expanded their mission over the years to provide information and resources to combat poverty, racism and war, and advocate simplicity as a lifestyle.

Through the years, the Center has educated and organized against world and local hunger, exploitation of workers, militarism, and racial discrimination in Pittsburgh. Members have been arrested protesting the B-1 bomber, nuclear weapons, and apartheid in South Africa. They have organized fasts and vigils. The first Pittsburgh chapter of Amnesty International and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank were organized by Thomas Merton Center staff members.

Their many projects include advocating for public transit, promoting sustainable environmental practices, the Book ‘Em Books for Prisoners project, and the Greater Pittsburgh Interfaith Coalition. Their Protect Our Parks campaign fights to keep our state parks fracking-free. They even run a volunteer-staffed thrift store as both a fund-raiser and a clothing charity. And that’s just a partial list. Where peace and justice are the goals, the Merton Center stands ready with partnership and support.

Like Theresa (see my bog post a few weeks ago), Joyce’s activism started with teaching. She was teaching at a Catholic School in the 1970s, and began to feel compelled to put Catholic Social Justice teachings into action. She was on the staff of the Center from 1977-87, and went on to become director of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (1987-2011), but has remained an active Merton Center volunteer.

Joyce and her husband Michael are kind and nurturing spirits at the Harp & Fiddle, quick to welcome strangers and to show a compassionate interest in others. Joyce says of her longtime commitment to peace and justice, “It is a privilege to put my faith into action within a communal environment. Working with kindred spirits of all ages, races, religious backgrounds in efforts to make the world more peaceful and just gives meaning and fulfillment to my life.”

Learn more about the Merton Center HERE.

Be the Change #20 – Be Like Dave

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Dave Hartnett is another of our Pittsburgh Ceili Club friends. One of the first things we learned about him was his passion for human development projects in Guatemala.

The World Bank counts Guatemala as having one of the most unequal income distributions in the Western Hemisphere. More than half of the population lives on less than $2 a day. Poverty is particularly widespread among the Maya. Many Qeqchi Maya families live in one-room huts with dirt floors and thatched roofs that lack basic sanitation, running water and electricity. In the mountainous districts, almost 92% of the population lives in extreme poverty.

On a church mission trip 25 years ago to visit a sister parish in Guatemala, Dave became acquainted with the deep human need in that country, and with the pastor of the sister parish, Father Daniel Vogt. Dave and Fr. Vogt worked on several projects together, and ultimately determined that they would be more effective if they set up their own non-profit.

Qeqchi Partners works to preserve the heritage, language and rights of the Qeqchi Maya, and help them with development projects that will increase their self-reliance and raise their standard of living. The organization supports efforts to address high infant and maternal death rates, malnutrition, and health and education inequalities. They are also working to bring running water, electricity and sanitation to the Qeqchi Maya villages. Their newest project is bringing biosand water filters to families in the area. Diarrheal diseases are the main cause of death among infants and children in South America, and only 16.8% of rural Guatemalans have access to purified drinking water. Qeqchi Partners plans to change that by making the biosand filtering technology available to families. Developed in Canada, this technology removes 95-99% of bacterial and other contaminants that are responsible for illnesses like diarrhea, amoebic dysentery, typhoid fever and worms. Amazingly, it costs only $100 per unit, including the cost of training the families to use it, and is low-maintenance.

Dave is currently on his 24th trip to Guatemala. Learn more about Qeqchi Partners HERE.

Be the Change #19 – Be Like Debbie

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Debbie Whitfield is my oldest friend. We’ve known each other since we were little girls attending Sunday School at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheraden.

Today, Debbie is a wife, mother, grandmother, working woman – and dedicated volunteer with Kiwanis. This week’s blog post is easy, because when I asked Debbie about her volunteer experience, she sent me such a powerful story that I share it here in her own words, edited only for brevity….

I was raised by parents who served. They served at church, at our school, and with youth programs. They instilled in us the importance of giving back, and my brothers and I followed their example. I have been blessed in many ways and I want my footprint on this earth to be a positive one.

When my kids were young I volunteered at their schools and youth programs. As my kids grew up, I moved on to community groups . Kiwanis was holding a recruiting dinner and my husband and I attended. I knew most of the people there and they shared their Kiwanis story. The official mantra is that Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers, dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time. I was on board in no time.

As time went on, I found out that those lofty goals were actually achievable. The Kiwanis family offers groups for every age level. We have K-kids for elementary school, Builders Clubs for middle-schoolers, Key Club for high-schoolers, Circle K for college age and action clubs for adults with special needs.

My Sheraden club sponsors many of the Kiwanis family clubs, introducing young people to a life of serving others. My club is located in Sheraden, an inner city neighborhood that has been hit hard with poverty and the issues that come with it. Sometimes partnering with other service organizations, we sponsor or co-sponsor events for kids and families throughout the year: a biggest bedtime story, an Easter egg hunt, an annual community picnic, and Halloween and Memorial Day events. The health, safety and fun fair is my favorite event. We partner with other agencies to provide health, education and public safety resources for families. We do this in a fun hands-on environment. We provide lunch and every child receives a free bike helmet.

We also distribute books by the thousands. Owning books encourages kids to read and kids who read are kids who succeed.

The signature project at the PA state level is early childhood learning and we have distributed over 145,000 early learning guides. These guides help parents and other adults to fill the Pre-K learning niche. Kids who enter school with a solid foundation are far more likely to be academically successful.

On a global level, Kiwanis International adopts a cause and Kiwanians all over the world work on the problem. Over $100 million was raised for iodine deficiency disorder, virtually eradicating the problem on a global scale. Kiwanis International also partners with UNICEF on other significant health initiatives. Our most recent endeavor was Project ELIMINATE, geared at eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus. Simple vaccinations save lives.

Recently Kiwanis adopted a new marketing campaign that I love because it embodies the Kiwanis spirit: “Kids need Kiwanis.” The work we do with children is important and we do it with a passion to impact their lives. I would go one step further and say Kiwanians need kids, because the work we do is so rewarding. By joining my fellow Kiwanians we are changing the world, one child and one community at a time.

Be the Change #18 – The Best Hour of My Work Week

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I’m not as committed a volunteer as my friend Theresa, whom I blogged about last week. My family, my job at the bank and my writing take up most of my time. But I obviously have a passion for the written word, and I try to focus my donations of time and money on the cause of promoting literacy.

I’m proud to work for PNC, partly because of the bank’s Grow Up Great program, which has donated millions of dollars and thousands of employee volunteer hours to early-childhood education over the years. My team has volunteered many times to help clean and prepare classrooms for a new school year, or package literacy kits for schools. I have donated many, many children’s books to our book drives.

I am also an annual donor to Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

But, the commitment that warms my heart the most is my weekly visit to Martin Luther King School. For the past 4 years, I have been a volunteer with the RIF Everybody Wins program. Every Tuesday, I have the privilege of spending my lunch hour reading one-on-one with a first, second or third-grader. It’s the most rewarding hour of my week. The first year, they gave me the easiest kid in the world. Corey, a 3rd-grader, already loved to read, and we read many chapter books together, including his favorites, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Corey was polite and charming – and knew it. When I complimented him on his excellent manners, he replied, “Yes, the ladies at church say I’m a sweetheart.” The following year, I was paired with Adriana, a sweet little second-grader who was obsessed with Disney’s Frozen. Adriana had a little less attention span than Corey, and would rather draw pictures than read. I lured her into reading with as many Frozen books as we could find, and the promise that, as we finished each book, she could draw me a picture about it. For the past two years, I have been partnered with Zauymon, a high-energy little boy much like my own grandson. At first, it was a challenge getting Zauymon to sit still long enough to read, but I have been gratified by his steady progress over the past two years, from a hesitant reader who preferred that I read to him, to a confident reader who now prefers to show off his skills to me.

Each of these children has been a delightful break in the middle of my busy work week, and we part at the end of each school year with hugs, a few tears, and a bag of gift books (the only time of year we are allowed to give gifts to our “reading buddies”).

I wish you could see pictures of my 3 cuties, but, for privacy reasons, we are not permitted to share their photos. So the picture attached to this post is a generic one from the internet.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging some more about people who volunteer their time and money to causes that they care about.

What’s your passion? How can you use it to help others?

Be the Change #17 – Be Like Theresa

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I’m always amazed at how small decisions can change your life. When Al and I were planning our trip to Ireland in 2014, we decided to try to learn a little about Irish dancing and music before we went. So, we showed up at the Harp & Fiddle one Tuesday night, thinking to get one Irish dancing lesson…and we liked it so much that we’ve been showing up nearly every Tuesday ever since. We have lots of fun with the dancing (which, I might add, one does NOT learn in one lesson!), but the real gift has been the wonderful friends that we’ve made – including one of the most admirable women I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Al and I often say we want to be Theresa when we grow up. Everyone should be Theresa when they grow up, or at least their own version of Theresa. Theresa has been a Christian educator, the day-program director of a women’s shelter, a sponsor of refugees, and a founder and leader of ecumenical and social justice organizations. At 78, she is still a fierce Christian soldier and social justice warrior.

Theresa came by her activism organically. Her husband, Harry, owned a barber shop in Oakland for many years. As barber shops often are, it was a social hub for the community. People came not just for haircuts, but to play cards, check in on their friends and just generally hang out. When the 2011 micro-burst destroyed the barber shop, Harry finally retired. He and Theresa could easily have sold the lot, but they chose instead to invite local residents to turn it into a community garden, which still thrives.

Her career in Christian education started when she was asked to substitute-teach an 8^th-grade Catechism class. It was initially not a good experience for Theresa nor for the students, in her telling, but one thing led to another and she ended up being a Director of Christian Formation in the Diocese of Pittsburgh for 24 years.

Her community and church ties put her in contact with people of different races, religions and social classes, deepened her understanding of what we share as human beings, and ignited in her an unwavering passion for service. This year alone, she is being honored as both a Jefferson Award recipient and a LaRoche College Distinguished Alumna award. A partial list of her volunteer activities includes:

Current Board of Directors of Just Harvest, serve as Chair of Personnel Committee

Founding member of North Hills Anti- Racism Coalition Steering Committee

20 years Facilitator of Annual Interfaith Gathering

Founding Member of Call to Action Committee – 10 year service as a trainer on the National Anti-Racism, Ant-Oppression Program

Pgh North People for Peace- Member

PGH Aids Task Force – volunteer “Power of One Award”

North Hills Ebony Women – Member

Oasis Inter-Generational Tutor- Pittsburgh Public Schools -5 year “Star Award”

St. Benedict the Moor Parish member and volunteer for all Ministries-25+ years

Pittsburgh Celli Club Member & Volunteer

NORTH (Social Justice Collaboration)-Representative member of the NH Anti-Racism Coalition

AJAPO – Resettlement Program for African and Caribbean immigrants – Outreach volunteer

Thomas Merton Center –Member

Not a bad resume for a little old Irish-American lady who could walk under a 5-foot bar without even mussing her hair. And her granddaughter continues her activist tradition by running an annual “Pet Walk” event to raise money for animal rights, and serving on the Monroeville Foundation Board.

My point is not that you have to do as much as Theresa does (not many of us could!), nor that you have to be active in the same causes that galvanize her. My point is that heroes (or “sheroes” as she prefers) like Theresa should inspire the rest of us to stretch ourselves in the direction of others, to go just a little beyond what we think are the limits of what we can give, to follow the light of our own compassion where it leads us. Theresa didn’t start as a shero. She started a wife whose husband owned a barber shop, and a mother of 3 who offered to help out with a Catechism class. “I saw the need and tried to respond,” is how she modestly describes her experience. Wherever you’re starting from, let Theresa inspire you to let your light shine in someone else’s darkness.

Be the Change #16 – Understand gerrymandering

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Think back real hard to 9th-grade Civics. You’ll vaguely remember a term called “gerrymandering.” You probably haven’t thought about it since then. But you should. Because it is one of the reasons for the partisan divide in the United States today.

The chart below explains what gerrymandering is and shows 3 separate examples of how legislative districts can be created.

Grid 3 is what my own state of Pennsylvania looks like: neither compact nor fair. But both grid 1 and grid 3 can result in extreme partisanship. Here’s why: If you’re a Republican in a safely “red” district, you probably don’t have to worry about your Democratic opponent. Your biggest threat is a primary challenge from the right. So, if you want to keep your job, it is in your best interest to take extreme conservative positions, and refuse to compromise with Democrats. The same applies for a Democratic congressman in a safely “blue” district. It’s to his advantage to lean strongly left.

Grid 2 is less fair than grid 1, but it has the advantage of mixing conservative, liberal and moderate voters in one district. Your congressman (or woman) in that kind of district has more incentive to take moderate positions and to compromise with representatives across the aisle.

The best way to get districts that are compact, fair and hopefully moderate? Take it out of the hands of state legislators who have personal biases in favor of their parties, and let a computer do it. Here’s what that would look like in several strongly gerrymandered states.

Fairer districting would go a long way towards giving us back the kind of government we had between the 1950s and the 1980s. Those of us old enough to remember the 70s and 80s can remember when Republicans and Democrats actually worked across the aisles and created compromises that benefited the whole country, instead of just their particular party’s interest groups. If you’d like to see that happen again, you should care about gerrymandering. Here’s a link to Fair District PA, a group that is working to create better legislative districts in Pennsylvania.

Be the Change #15 – Just Listen (part two)

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In a post a couple of weeks ago, I challenged my readers to just listen to someone they know they don’t agree with politically, and let me know how it goes. I tried this myself, and – somewhat to my surprise – it turned out to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable hours in my week.

I chose an intelligent, thoughtful co-worker who I knew had voted for Trump. He and I had had a few arguments during the election. I promised him that I was interested in listening, not arguing, and we sat down for lunch together.

I was surprised to learn how much we agreed on. We both support America’s traditional alliances, like NATO, but hope to withdraw from military operations in the Middle East. We are both wary of the United State being the world’s military police. We would probably disagree about the extent, but we agree that our borders must be secure and immigrants should be vetted. We both support President Trump’s plan to invest in infrastructure.

Ed thinks that most news sources are biased and unreliable. But, here was what stunned me: When he started saying, “The only news source I trust is….” I fully expected the sentence to end “Fox News.” Imagine my shock when he said instead “NPR.” NPR is my daily standard, too. It was eye-opening for me to learn that we both listen to the same news source and yet draw many different conclusions.

I heard some things that disturbed me a little, too. I detected some unconscious racism in some of the things that Ed said. I was dismayed that he feels so unsafe that he carries a concealed weapon almost everywhere he goes. I’m suspicious that school vouchers are a sneak attack on public education. And I don’t think that Trump will bring our country the safety and prosperity that Ed and I both hope for. But, I had promised to just listen and that’s what I did. I’ll be honest: It was really, really hard to keep my mouth shut. But, I still don’t trust myself to argue without getting emotional. So listening is what I can do right now. And, overall, I was encouraged.

I was encouraged because our civil, rational conversation proved that it IS still possible for two American citizens who disagree to speak to each other that way. And, folks, that is the only way we are going to get our country back. As long as we’re just screaming insults at each other, we are serving the purposes of those who would divide us.

Did you try this? If yes, let me know how it worked out for you. If no, I urge you to gather your courage and listen to someone who disagrees with you. I hope you find it as enlightening and heartening as I did.

A REALLY Old-time Religion

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When we say something is Manichean, or someone has a Manichean view, we mean “black and white,” a very sharp distinction between good and evil, with no gray area. But where does the term Manichean come from?

The Manicheans were a sect contemporaneous with early Christianity. My portrayal of Saint Augustine as an adherent of Manicheism as a young adult was based on his own admission in his Confessions.

Mani (a term of respect meaning Light King, probably not his real name) was executed in Persia in 276. Similar to Christianity, his evangelists wasted no time in spreading his story throughout the Mediterranean, and Manichean missionaries were active in Carthage by 297. By Augustine’s time, the cult had adherents in Africa, Spain, France, Italy and the Balkans. It was known as far east as India, China and Tibet, and lasted for almost 1000 years in parts of the Middle East. Unlike Christianity, the Manichean cult remained illegal under the Roman Empire, and was hated and feared by Christians and Pagans alike.

Also unlike Christianity, whose central tenet is salvation by the Grace of Jesus Christ, the Manicheans believed that the enlightened elect could obtain godlike status by virtue of their own knowledge and actions. In this respect, the cult was a form of Gnosticism (the belief that salvation is obtained by acquiring special knowledge; some Christian heresies were also Gnostic in nature). The Manichean elect knew complicated secret prayers, practiced extreme fasting and were forbidden to own property, eat meat, drink wine, gratify any sexual desire, engage in trade, or engage in any servile occupation. “Hearers” like Aurelius Augustine had only to obey the Manichean Ten Commandments (similar to the Commandments familiar to Christians), pray 4 times each day and serve the elect.

The Manicheans were prolific writers, and we know the titles of many of their writings, but almost nothing has survived. From what little we do know, the Manichean theology seems like a confusing mess of demiurges, light particles, multiple creations, and a fire that will burn for exactly 1486 years to separate the light from the darkness. Yet, the Manicheans claimed to offer absolute rational proof of their theories, and insisted that phenomena in the physical world were demonstrations of the truth of their theology.

It’s easy to see why a bright young man like Aurelius Augustine, a passionate seeker of truth, would be initially attracted to such a cult.

Another central tenet of Manicheism was the notion that spiritual world is completely good (light) and the physical world is corrupt and evil (dark). This is the source of our current use of the term “Manichean” to mean a very black-and-white view. In the Manichean theology, Man can only hope to attain any goodness at all because a few light particles leaked into humanity at the time of the third creation. These light particles of our good selves are helplessly trapped in our corrupt physical bodies. This notion may also have appealed to young Augustine, who was so morally serious and having such a difficult time controlling his natural sexual urges.

Later in life, Augustine wrote a whole book entitled Concerning the Nature of Good: Against the Manicheans. Like Zoroastrianism and the temple religions of the ancient world, Manicheism failed the test of time. It lives on only in the descriptive term that is reminiscent of its strictly dual view of the natural and spiritual worlds.

Be the Change #14 – Just Listen (part one)

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Over the past several years, it’s become harder and harder to talk to someone who disagrees with you politically. After the bruising, exhausting 2016 election year, it might even feel impossible. If a political topic comes up, many people will plead, “Oh, please, can we not talk politics. I’m so tired of it.” Others will instantly be emotionally triggered and start repeating the stale arguments of the recent election.

I admit that I’m in the second group. I try to be respectful and not be the one to bring up political issues in conversations. But, if somebody else starts it, I can’t let it go past me. Just can’t do it. In a non-political meeting recently, a good friend insisted that Hillary Clinton was “disbarred four times.” I found myself yelling at her, “Prove that! We’re sitting in front of a computer right now! Find me a reputable news site that says that!” Not one of my better moments. Another friend had to figuratively separate us, and after I calmed down I apologized for yelling. (P.S. Before we disengaged, my friend did try 3 different fact-check sites and they all called her claim False.)

So maybe we’re not quite ready to talk rationally. At least I’ve made it clear that I’m not. But maybe we can listen. Here is the challenge I am setting for myself this week. I am going to ask someone who supports President Trump what they are hoping for from the next four years, what they like about this President I find so appalling (and I promise not to say “What the hell do you like about that inarticulate authoritarian egotist?”). And I will exercise whatever level of self-control it takes to JUST LISTEN. Not for the purpose of arguing back. Just for the purpose of understanding what one of my fellow American citizens is thinking.

I’ll report back next week on my results. Try it, and let me know your results, too!

Be the Change #13 – Save the planet

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I’m excited about the Mars mission planned for 2030, aren’t you? But, we’re not there yet. For now, we still have only one home. Your assignment for this week is perform at least one action that will reduce pollution, waste or atmospheric CO2, so that this beautiful planet will be livable for our grandchildren and their grandchildren.

Reduce Waste:

Take your lunch to work in reusable containers.
Use cloth napkins instead of paper.
Start a compost bin.
Recycle plastic & newspaper.
Buy less. Seriously, any American with an average income has too much stuff already. Our grandparents used to say “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Or buy used. Or borrow.

Reduce your carbon footprint:

If you’re going less than 1 mile, walk instead of driving. Good for your health, too.
At least one day each week, ride public transportation, bike or carpool to work, or work from home. Just one day per week saves 20% your work-related carbon emissions.
Install a programmable thermostat. Your house doesn’t have to be warmed or cooled to a comfortable level when you’re at work during the day, and you actually sleep better if the house is cool at night.
Use CFL or LED light bulbs instead of incandescent. CFLs use only about 2/3 the energy of incandescent, and will save you about $40 over their life. LEDs use only 15% as much power as incandescent
Eat less meat. On average, a meat-eater’s carbon footprint is 3000 pounds heavier per year than a vegetarian’s. Go meatless just one day per week and reduce your carbon footprint by 430 pounds per year.