Holden Village, Washington
Article For Holden Village Voice, Written While The Executive Directors
Many of us are finding ourselves in situations we never saw on the horizon — DACA kids with new challenges, scientists without government support for climate change, pastors who no longer have congregants, middle-age men laid off their jobs, immigrants, travelers, police, the under- and uninsured, African Americans, Jews and Muslims... the list goes on.
How do we make our way in this accelerated time of uncertainty and change? How do we best engage conversations around these topics? In our role as leaders of this small wilderness community, we find ourselves considering issues that face us inside and outside the Village but, blessedly, without the relentless bombardment of media and constant anxiety. That gives us a unique opportunity to make room for spacious contemplation and conversation.
As human beings we have a tendency to cling to our own kind. Holden is no exception. Our founding Northern European, Lutheran faith tradition is 96 percent white*. One also has to be able to afford time and/or money to travel to the wilderness and this place apart. We align with groups with whom we most easily identify, with those who make us comfortable and with those who are generally supportive of our thoughts and feelings. This behavior is understandable to some degree, because we find comfort in familiarity. Unfamiliarity makes us insecure. Connections are made more easily with those who share our interests, and who have similar educational levels and social and economic upbringing. We also end up talking to ourselves, or as one of our young adults calls it, the “echo chamber.” A former mentor likened it to rubbing “velvet on velvet, with nothing to make a spark.”
Yet, it has become exceedingly more difficult to have a conversation with someone with whom we have a different point of view. It is even more difficult to connect with those with whom we have little in common. It is easy to draw lines — in fact it often feels like they draw themselves. How might we humble ourselves and go about overcoming fears, and imaginary and structural boundaries, to learn from those different from us?
The table, whether metaphorical, Eucharistic, or one with four legs, can become a place where we can share, heart-to-heart the true communion and conflict in the breaking of bread and where the eyes of our heart may be opened. A table creates a space where collaboration can take place to build a richer more complex conversation. This happens more easily when peace and justice comprise the supporting foundation and deep listening is practiced. When a variety of diverse people are gathered together at the table, they can offer a sharper focused mirror and a more accurate reflection, as well as multiple things to consider. The complex issues of our times require multifaceted input. We might do well to be wary of over- simplified answers.
As conversations have opened hearts and minds, we realize that most of our tables are currently set to welcome only a few — or those like us. When we think about setting a place at the table, how do we create a space and a chair that fits the uniqueness of each? How do we offer the control of that table? Is that possible? What falsehoods do we perpetuate when we set a table for our comfort by inviting only those who are like us? Or maybe even worse, unknowingly, set the table in a particular way or place that prohibits the attendance of others. This is not the first time tables have needed to be overturned.
As we walk through these politically challenged days, it is important that we address racism as a theological issue, spread hope and optimism about the future, move from anxiety to love, and embrace new, redemptive ways of being in the world. Our first obligation as a village is this; if we propose environmental and fiscal responsibility, we must model it in every way possible. If we advocate justice and generosity, we must embody these values. In other words, people need to actually observe and experience the way of life we advocate and live here in the Village. We must live in a way of being that brings hope that can be shared back in the world in which we inhabit. And yes, the way will be full of complexities.
In order to do the work that we need to do, we must articulate a more truthful story of our shared history.
Our conversations in this edition and in the Village during 2018, will continue the dialogue of last summer around Beginning Together, by calling us to peace, justice, anti-racism and reconciliation. In order to do the work that we need to do, we must articulate a more truthful story of our shared history. We will also be examining the roots of racism and white privilege and colonialism. This will give us the opportunity to be more hospitable, and to be part of a larger table of understanding.
We encourage you to invite someone with whom you wouldn’t normally spend time, or someone who is from a different identity community, to share a meal. Can we take interest in their world, their concerns, and their lives? Can we listen deeply? Can we share the difficulties and imperfections within our own communities with them?
It will take strength and wisdom to do the work set before us. Addressing the difficult conversations of our times has always been important at Holden, and now, at this tipping point in our Christian history, it is more important than ever to understand, embrace and trust in the movement of creation and the God that sustains us all.
See more conversation in EARTH, SPIRIT and WORKSHOPS
