restlessness of the prophets

A brief poetic reflection on my final C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest at Bluffton:

restlessness of the prophets;
bold words pregnant
with the world as it should be.
my mouth gives voice
to your heart within,
but the message is heavy
and remains a part of me.
articulating these words
only multiplies the responsibility.
so with my life, you call me:
speak.

I was honored to place second this year, and will post the full text of my speech in the coming days!

be peace,

Katie

Speaking a Wor(l)d of Truth: Proclamation as Peacebuilding

The following is the text of my speech from the annual C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest at Bluffton University. The contest took place on March 28th, and my speech earned first place.

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"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me...[God] has anointed me to bring good news to the poor...to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4.18-19 NRSV).  Luke 4 depicts the inauguration of Christ’s ministry; Jesus boldly unrolls the Isaiah scroll and at once proclaims the gospel, exposes the bankrupt system of the world, and liberates all people. In this text and throughout Scripture, word is inseparable from action. The Word has become flesh, and the words proclaimed by this embodied Word do the concrete work of unbinding captives, restoring sight to the blind, and liberating the oppressed (Luke 4.18). At the center of the Christian faith stands this claim, that the proclamation of a true word is a catalyst for the concrete transformation of the world— thus, proclamation is an act of peacebuilding. And this task of proclaiming peace has been entrusted to you and me, who have been commanded by Christ to "go into all the world and proclaim the good news" (Mark 16.15). As a biblical studies major and peace and conflict studies minor, my academic interests and my call as a Christian peacebuilder stand at this intersection between Scripture and shalom, proclamation and peacebuilding. Tonight I would like to invite you to consider with me this radical claim that the act of proclaiming peace is truly a locus of peacebuilding.

First, I will establish the connection between word and action, proclamation and peacebuilding. Second, I will expose the contrasting proclamations of the world and the gospel, which constantly compete for our allegiance. And third, I hope you will join me in celebrating places in our global community where words of peace truly have created a world of peace. For as we proclaim the gospel of Christ, our true words make manifest the true world of God's peaceable kingdom.

First, let us examine the relationship between word and action, recognizing that to speak peace is to build peace. According to Paulo Freire, a word is the interplay between "reflection and action," and these two elements must be held in tension. He argues that "to speak a true word is to transform the world.”  Thus, for Freire, proclamation presupposes praxis; to proclaim peace is to practice peace and vice versa.

Walter Brueggemann also addresses the intimate connection between word and action, emphasizing the relationship in Scripture between the spoken word and the created world. In his book The Prophetic Imagination, he argues that "all social reality...spring[s] fresh from the word.”  For this reason, the content of our proclamation becomes the context in which we live. And according to Brueggemann, it is the prophetic peacebuilder’s responsibility to legitimate a radical alternative to the proclamation of the empire, in turn bringing forth a new world.

Peacebuilding scholar Lisa Schirch asserts that transforming worldviews is the key to changing the world for peace, since the way we understand the world directly impacts the way we act and react in situations of conflict.  Therefore, this task of proclaiming Christ’s gospel of peace as a legitimate and radical alternative is essential; for if we are to transform conflict, we first must transform minds for peace.

We see this intimate connection between word and action, proclamation and peacebuilding, in Christ's own words in Luke 4. Jesus proclaims release to the captives (Luke 4.18) and speaks healing, just as God created the universe by the nonviolent power of the word. As Christian peacebuilders, we are commanded to do the same-- to go into the world and proclaim the gospel, at once transforming the world for peace.

Next, if we are serious about speaking words of peace, we must understand the contrasting proclamations of the world and the gospel. For many of us, the proclamation of the world invades our mind before our feet hit the floor each morning. Our alarms go off, we grab our smart phones, and with one touch the headlines echo in our ears. Death and destruction, violence and fear, power and politics. We call this proclamation news, but do we call it gospel? As I wrestled with this question, I created a Wordle,  or a visual representation, of five of last week's top news stories on CNN.  Word size is determined by frequency, so this literally paints a picture of the world's proclamation.

What does this tell us about the world in which we live? Let's examine the largest words, the words that appeared most frequently in last week's headlines: “Zimmerman, House & Senate, shooting, police, PTSD, [and] soldiers.” Here we have the name of a man who killed an unarmed African-American teenager, surrounded by a cloud of power, fear, and violence. This is the proclamation of the world, a hegemonic rhetoric of death and power, filled with facts but void of truth.

In contrast, this is a Wordle of Isaiah 61.1-3 and Luke 4.16-19 (TNIV), two texts that are central to the prophetic call to proclamation. This image represents the radical alternative of a truly biblical worldview. Here we see the words "proclaim, LORD, Spirit, instead, good news, annointed, freedom, [and] favor." Friends, this is a radical subversion of the world’s rhetoric of death. At the center of this proclamation stands the name of the Creator and the invitation to proclaim the gospel as the "instead"—the alternative— to oppression, death, and violence.  As Christian peacebuilders, we might be surrounded by the empire’s rhetoric of death, but we are nourished by and called to proclaim this life-giving rhetoric called gospel. Tonight, we are faced with this challenge: which word will we proclaim? Which world will we create?

With this in mind, I would like to turn now to one example in our global community where words of peace truly have built a world of peace. In the midst of the rhetoric of violence and nationalism surrounding the U.S. war in Iraq, just this month here at Bluffton the proclamation of our Iraqi international students truly did build a new world of peace; as they vulnerably and courageously shared their experiences of the war on a student panel, the power of their words broke down barriers and built the understanding necessary to pursue the common goal of shalom. Let me be clear that as a citizen of the United States, their stories were not easy to hear, and I left with a new sense of responsibility for the ways in which my nation's actions have devastated the lives of my friends at Bluffton and around the world.

But despair did not have the last word that evening. At one particularly powerful moment, a student from the United States asked the panel what their dreams were for the future of Iraq. In unison, the Iraqi students replied, "Peace." A bold word of hope confronting the seemingly hopeless world of violence. In that moment, proclamation and peacebuilding were one and the same. This is the task of proclamation according to Walter Brueggemann— to expose the status quo and propose a radical alternative, to dismantle the imperial rhetoric of death and legitimize the new rhetoric of God’s kingdom— words of life, words of peace, words of hope.

In closing, may we always remember that to speak a word of peace is to build a world of peace. Recognizing the undeniable connection between word and action, may we embrace Christ's call to proclamation as a call to peacebuilding. Striving to subvert the hegemonic rhetoric of empire, may we always choose to proclaim the radical alternative of Christ's peace. And celebrating the places where proclamation truly has created a world of peace, may we always have hope.

Go in peace, knowing that the world has been transformed by the true words spoken in this place. Go in peace, trusting that Christ's word of life holds greater power than the world of death. Go in peace, to proclaim a world of peace. Amen and thank you.

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Works cited

Barrett, Ted and Deirdre Walsh. “Standoff in Congress threatens highway construction funding.”  No pages. Cited 22 March 2012. Online: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/21/politics/congress-transportation-bill/index.html?npt=NP1

Brueggemann, Walter. The Prophetic Imagination. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2001.

CNN Wire Staff. “Sanford, Florida, police chief steps aside ‘temporarily’ in fallout from teen’s  death.” No pages. Cited 22 March 2012. Online:  http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/22/justice/florida-teen-shooting/index.html?hpt=us_c1 .

Djau, Umaro. “Renegade soldiers declare power seizure in Mali.” No pages. Cited 22 March 2012.  Online:http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/22/world/africa/mali-suspected-coup/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Feinberg, Jonathan. “Wordle.” No pages. Cited 22 March 2012. Online: http://www.wordle.net/

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2010.

Schirch, Lisa. Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian, 2005.

Shaughnessy, Larry. “Army reviewing PTSD evaluation program.” No pages. Cited 22 March 2012.  Online: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/21/us/army-ptsd-evaluation-program/index.html?hpt=us_c2

Verello, Dan. “Occupiers clash with police in New York; 6 arrested.” No pages. Cited 22 March  2012. Online: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/21/justice/new-york-occupyarrests/index.html?hpt=us_c2

Criminal Injustice: Collateral Consequences and the Gospel of Reconciliation

A couple weeks ago, I participated in the C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest at Bluffton University. It was an exciting opportunity to proclaim God's message of grace and reconciliation, and I ended up earning second place! So, for those of you who didn't make it out that night (or for those of you who did), here is the text of my speech:
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      This evening, I would like to invite you into an unlikely dialogue— a dialogue between the U.S. criminal justice policy and the biblical text. Specifically, I will focus on the collateral consequences of criminal convictions, which are the laws and policies in place that make reintegration into society nearly impossible after individuals have served prison sentences. Turning to the biblical text, I will examine these laws and policies through the lens of the story of the Prodigal Son in the Gospel of Luke, exposing and dismantling the structural violence in the U.S. criminal justice system. Finally, I will issue a challenge for each and every one of us— to imagine and create a criminal justice system shaped by the narrative of reconciliation found in the biblical text rather than the narrative of violence, injustice, and fear that permeates the world in which we live. As God’s people, the story of the Prodigal Son— a story of abundant grace and reconciliation— is our story; informed by this narrative, we must work for criminal justice reform, calling for a truly just system characterized by reintegration, restoration, and reconciliation.

       First, we must expose the structural violence in the U.S. criminal justice system. While the injustice in the system is extensive, this evening I will focus specifically on the collateral consequences laws. While many people assume that a person’s prison sentence is the extent of their punishment, this is simply not the case; the collateral consequences laws impose life-long punishment over and above time in prison. According to Marc Mauer in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, in addition to their prison sentence, 18-year old first-time drug offenders in many states are denied access to welfare benefits, public housing, and federal loans for college, as well as permanently denied the right to vote (610).

Further, Mauer points out the common practice of denying employment to individuals with even minor previous criminal convictions. With 47 million people having criminal records on file (Mauer 3), these laws and policies impact nearly one in six of the 312 million people currently living in the United States according to the Census Bureau. One in six of our sisters and brothers in the United States left without a job, without access to food and housing, without the hope and opportunity of an education, and even denied the right to vote. One in six of our sisters and brothers trapped in a cycle of poverty, violence, and crime. One in six of our sisters and brothers, shackled for life by invisible chains of injustice that have been locked with our consent, the key thrown away as we have remained complicit to the status quo of the criminal justice system.

With these 47 million people in mind— 47 million real lives, real faces, and real stories— let us turn now to the biblical text. Luke 15 tells the story of the Prodigal Son, the story of a young man who takes his share of his father’s estate, runs away to a distant country, and throws away his resources and the honor of his family in corrupt living. Realizing the mistake he has made, and ashamed of his actions, he chooses to return to his father, hoping to be taken in as a hired hand since he is no longer worthy of the family name. This is the story of a sinner, an offender, a criminal, returning to his community— an experience familiar to many of our sisters and brothers in the criminal justice system.

With them in mind, hear now the story of the return of the Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke: “While he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him…the son said… ‘Father, I have sinned against…you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe— the best one— and put it on him…get the fatted calf and kill it…let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found!’” (Luke 15.20-24 NRSV). Tonight, I would like to suggest that the story of the Prodigal Son subverts the status quo of our criminal justice system, exposing and dismantling structures of injustice and oppression and inviting us to imagine and create a system marked by the reconciliation of the sinner, the offender— the Prodigal Son.

When people complete their prison sentences, the U.S. criminal justice policy prevents the story of the Prodigal Son from playing out in our communities. People with previous convictions are denied employment in the U.S., but the biblical narrative goes beyond employment, welcoming the offender not as an employee but as a member of the family, as a son, as a daughter; and not only that, the Prodigal Son is the most treasured family member precisely because he was lost, he did make mistakes, but now he has returned, he is found, he is alive! (Luke 15.24) The father welcoming his son back into his family is an act of abundant grace and reconciliation. Before the son can even get the words out of his mouth, “I am no longer worthy…” (Luke 15.21), the father exclaims, “this is my son!” Here we find no collateral consequences— only collateral compassion and collateral celebration.
        Comparing the U.S. criminal justice policy and the story of the Prodigal Son also leads us to consider issues of scarcity and abundance. While the collateral consequences laws create a world of scarcity in which many people with past criminal convictions are deprived of basic human needs, the story of the Prodigal Son is a narrative of abundance. While the criminal justice system says to those returning to their community, “You don’t deserve anything,” the father in the story of the Prodigal Son says, “Give my beloved son the best we have.” The U.S. criminal justice policy condemns those with previous criminal records, deeming them unworthy of life itself by denying them access to the things they need to survive. But in the story of the Prodigal Son, the father affirms the sacred worth of his child, giving him not only everything he needs, but everything the father has— everything the son does not deserve. That, my friends, is grace— completely unmerited, undeserved free gift.

 You see, this story is not just about criminals— this story is about you and me, ordinary prodigals. This is the story of our journey, our sin, our reconciliation to God, and our call to continue God’s work of reconciliation in the world. We have been prodigal daughters and prodigal sons— we have squandered the free gift of God— and we have been and are being welcomed home into the arms of God, our mother and our father. The fatted calf has been killed, the celebration has begun— this reality of abundant grace and reconciliation is our reality, the reality in which we live and the reality we are called to create.

In closing, let us consider these words from John Howard Yoder’s Body Politics: “Church and world are not…two institutions with contradictory assignments, but two levels of the pertinence of the same Lordship. The church is called to be today what the world is called to be ultimately” (10). This means that the dialogue between the U.S. criminal justice policy and the story of the Prodigal Son is not a debate between two separate, competing realities. The point is not for us to live in the reality of God’s grace and reconciliation and ignore the harsh, unforgiving reality of the world around us. Rather, as God’s people, we are called to engage in the reality of the world, transforming structures of oppression and injustice and creating a world shaped by God’s vision of reconciliation, justice, and peace. As prodigals who have been reconciled by the abundant grace of God, we must call for a criminal justice system shaped by the gospel— the good news— of reconciliation. And along with God, our abundantly merciful mother and father, we are called to celebrate as our prodigal sisters and brothers return home, proclaiming, “This—this is my sister! She was dead, but she is alive again! She was lost, but now she is found!” With these words and this welcome, let the celebration begin!

           

Works Cited

Mauer, Marc. “Collateral Consequences of Criminal Convictions: Barriers to Reentry for the Formerly Incarcerated.” Presented to House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. 9 June 2010.

Mauer, Marc. “Thinking About Prison and its Impact in the Twenty-First Century.” The Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law 2:607 (2005): 607-618.

"U.S. & World Population Clock." Census Bureau Home Page. Web. 02 Apr. 2011.

Yoder, John Howard. Body Politics. Scottdale, PA: Herald, 2001.