Now, but Not Yet..
Published on Nov 02, 2017
This adult forum presentation for Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church was the third of a three part series on Poverty in Richmond. The goal of the series was to draw theological and practical attention to our role in responding to poverty and income inequality in our community.
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
History, Present, Future:
What course have we set thus far?
Last week, Reggie Gordon suggested the practical steps that we as a city and region need to take in order to address some of the historic and current issues of poverty that impact our citizens.
Check in: how are we feeling about the history and present situation of poverty in our midst?
Is there a gap between how we are feeling, and where we want to be? What stands out to you from the past and present which has implications for the future?
Check in: how are we feeling about the history and present situation of poverty in our midst?
Is there a gap between how we are feeling, and where we want to be? What stands out to you from the past and present which has implications for the future?
Photo by Oscar Söderlund
"The arc of the moral universe is long,
but it bends toward justice."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
I had a moment recently where I was pulled into a whole new awareness of this topic that I was asked to present upon.
I was at a national conference for social work educators and faculty. The CEO of this membership organization is someone I hold in high regard and with whom I've had a number of conversations about faith and vocation. She started the opening plenary of our conference with two quotes. I offer them to you the context of our lives of faith...not politics...because I believe they illustrate something important about the way we approach this conversation about the future.
I was at a national conference for social work educators and faculty. The CEO of this membership organization is someone I hold in high regard and with whom I've had a number of conversations about faith and vocation. She started the opening plenary of our conference with two quotes. I offer them to you the context of our lives of faith...not politics...because I believe they illustrate something important about the way we approach this conversation about the future.
Photo by lsmadison
"The arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve toward justice,
we must bend it." (Cory Booker)
But, Darla added, this isn't enough for social workers. She pointed to a recent interview with Senator Cory Booker where he modified MLK's speech by saying, "The arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve toward justice, we must bend it."
That was presented to me as the professional charge of social work as well. And I've been wrestling with this idea of "agency" vs. "participation" ever since.
I could deliver a talk to you today about what we can do to bend the needle. But that would be my agency, and my ideas. What I want to do is invite us all in a little more deeply, theologically, to wrestle with how God is calling us to participate. For me, I think that involves both how I think about his "Not and Not Yet" Future of Richmond from both the perspective of social science, and theology. So, that is the path we're going to walk today.
For more context on Cory Booker's quote, see: http://www.newsweek.com/booker-session-senate-norms-541675
That was presented to me as the professional charge of social work as well. And I've been wrestling with this idea of "agency" vs. "participation" ever since.
I could deliver a talk to you today about what we can do to bend the needle. But that would be my agency, and my ideas. What I want to do is invite us all in a little more deeply, theologically, to wrestle with how God is calling us to participate. For me, I think that involves both how I think about his "Not and Not Yet" Future of Richmond from both the perspective of social science, and theology. So, that is the path we're going to walk today.
For more context on Cory Booker's quote, see: http://www.newsweek.com/booker-session-senate-norms-541675
Social Scientist
Unwarranted Optimism
I heard the phrase "Unwarranted Optimism" spoken by public health researcher Dr. Michael Lu who is Associate Director of the DHHS, overseeing Maternal and Child Health in the United States.
When we are working to create policies and programs which significantly alter the "social determinants of health" such as poverty, exposure to violence, environmental hazard and systemic exposure to racism and oppression we are changing the biochemical environment in which fetal development happens. In effect, we are working now to create lasting changes we will see three generations from now. So each day is worked in unwarranted optimism for this path of prevention we are walking.
For more information on Michael Lu's research, see:
Lu, M. C., & Halfon, N. (2003). Racial and ethnic disparities in birth outcomes: a life-course perspective. Maternal and child health journal, 7(1), 13-30.
When we are working to create policies and programs which significantly alter the "social determinants of health" such as poverty, exposure to violence, environmental hazard and systemic exposure to racism and oppression we are changing the biochemical environment in which fetal development happens. In effect, we are working now to create lasting changes we will see three generations from now. So each day is worked in unwarranted optimism for this path of prevention we are walking.
For more information on Michael Lu's research, see:
Lu, M. C., & Halfon, N. (2003). Racial and ethnic disparities in birth outcomes: a life-course perspective. Maternal and child health journal, 7(1), 13-30.
Photo by Cayusa
Theologically Speaking...
Eschatological Hope
When the Social Scientist goes to Seminary, this whole idea of unwarranted optimism takes on a new meaning. We live out our lives of faith, not for immediate gratification but in the knowledge that we are, together, participating in the future of the Church. We pray our eschatological hope every Sunday:
"...Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven..."
Our Christian lives are built on the eschatological hope of a future in and with God.
“[Faith] sees in the resurrection of Christ not the eternity of heaven, but the future of the very earth on which his cross stands. It sees in him the future of the very humanity for which he died. That is why it finds the cross the hope of the earth.”
― Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope (1964)
"...Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven..."
Our Christian lives are built on the eschatological hope of a future in and with God.
“[Faith] sees in the resurrection of Christ not the eternity of heaven, but the future of the very earth on which his cross stands. It sees in him the future of the very humanity for which he died. That is why it finds the cross the hope of the earth.”
― Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope (1964)
Photo by Werner Kunz
Future
participating and emerging
What I know, as both a social scientist and in my theological study and formation for ministry is that we are participating in the future with each and every thing that we do. The future is also emerging, we believe, shaped by God's providence and promise of all that is to come. The Future is both Now and Not Yet.
Today, the challenge before us is to understand the Future of Poverty in Richmond as both inextricably linked to our past and present, but also one which is emerging (and in which we are invited to participate) because God is working in and through God's people to bring out that which will be. My goal is to bring us into alignment with that vision.
So, I ask you as we continue to talk: be open to where God is inviting your..and our...participation.
Today, the challenge before us is to understand the Future of Poverty in Richmond as both inextricably linked to our past and present, but also one which is emerging (and in which we are invited to participate) because God is working in and through God's people to bring out that which will be. My goal is to bring us into alignment with that vision.
So, I ask you as we continue to talk: be open to where God is inviting your..and our...participation.
Photo by Alex wong
Poverty and Theology
Holy Poverty
St. Francis, St. Clare
We have saintly examples of a holy relationship with poverty. Holy Poverty was seen as voluntary, stepping apart from the cares and concerns of the world in order to leave in harmony. Both St. Francis and St. Clare actively pursued these vows of poverty in the formation of monastic communities which continue today in both professed religious orders, and mendicant ("in the world") orders of Franciscans.
Image: Giotto Di Bondone
Franciscan Allegories- Allegory of Poverty (detail 1) c. 1330
Image: Giotto Di Bondone
Franciscan Allegories- Allegory of Poverty (detail 1) c. 1330
"We must keep on talking about voluntary poverty, and holy poverty, because it is only if we can consent to strip ourselves that we can put on Christ. It is only if we love poverty that we are going to have the means to help others. If we love poverty we will be free to give up a job, to speak when we feel it would be wrong to be silent. We can only talk about voluntary poverty because we believe Christians must be fools for Christ. We can only embrace voluntary poverty in the light of faith."
--Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement continue this conversation around Holy Poverty in the contemporary era.
Photo by nothing to hide
Unholy Greed
Money-changers, Camels, and Parables
Jesus makes a very clear point about greed. Sometimes we interpret Jesus's issue to be about money...but it's more about the love of money, the hoarding of money.
Just like the future, it is all about our participation...so as we think about Richmond, we have to ask: whose plan are we participating in?
Just like the future, it is all about our participation...so as we think about Richmond, we have to ask: whose plan are we participating in?
Income Inequality
wealth and poverty in conflict
We live in a society that values and privileges wealth. As a Social Scientist, I would argue that it isn't absolute poverty or wealth which is most threatening to our moral and spiritual lives. It is income inequality, which represents poverty and wealth in conflict. More specifically, it is persistent income inequality that becomes combined with moral inequality. Not only does one group have more wealth, but with it comes the privilege of dictating moral value to those at the other extreme.
We measure income inequality at an organizational level as a ratio of the highest quintile to the lowest quintile...or, to put in more plainly...how does the top 20% compare to the bottom 20%?
Let's take a look at Richmond...
We measure income inequality at an organizational level as a ratio of the highest quintile to the lowest quintile...or, to put in more plainly...how does the top 20% compare to the bottom 20%?
Let's take a look at Richmond...
Photo by wwward0
What does this say about our future?
This data represents the ratio of the mean income for the highest quintile (top 20 percent) of earners divided by the mean income of the lowest quintile (bottom 20 percent) of earners in a particular county. This allows us to see patterns of inequity which are otherwise lost when we look at the mean/average income.
Citation:
U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income Inequality in Richmond city, VA [2020RATIO051760], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/2020RATIO051760, November 2, 2017.
Citation:
U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income Inequality in Richmond city, VA [2020RATIO051760], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/2020RATIO051760, November 2, 2017.
Social Work Moment:
The Miracle Question and the Future of Richmond
Imagine that you wake up tomorrow, and a miracle has happened. Richmond has emerged as a city healed from inequalities in income, healed of its legacies of racism and oppression, ready to emerge as a new leader in Virginia and the nation.
What would be different? What would you notice when you went outside? What would look different in your neighborhood? What would be different here at Grace and Holy Trinity?
For more about "The Miracle Question" see:
Berg, I. K., & De Jong, P. (1996). Solution-building conversations: Co-constructing a sense of competence with clients. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 77(6), 376-391.
What would be different? What would you notice when you went outside? What would look different in your neighborhood? What would be different here at Grace and Holy Trinity?
For more about "The Miracle Question" see:
Berg, I. K., & De Jong, P. (1996). Solution-building conversations: Co-constructing a sense of competence with clients. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 77(6), 376-391.
Photo by tim ellis
Participating Together:
- Circles RVA
- Richmond Hill, Koinonia School and Metro Richmond at Prayer
- Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities
- Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
- Hope in the Cities
Circles RVA
www.circlesrva.org
Hope in the Cities:
http://us.iofc.org/
Richmond Hill:
http://www.richmondhillva.org/
Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities:
http://www.inclusiveva.org/
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
http://www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org/
www.circlesrva.org
Hope in the Cities:
http://us.iofc.org/
Richmond Hill:
http://www.richmondhillva.org/
Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities:
http://www.inclusiveva.org/
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
http://www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org/
Photo by rvaphotodude
“That is why faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience. Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.”
― Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope
Photo by Thomas Hawk
