Conversation 3: Food, Clothing and Shelter.
Once we went whale watching off the coast of British Columbia. It was a beautiful day. We set out in the sunshine in our wetsuits in a powerful boat. Before long, we were in a fog and mist, travelling at frighteningly high speeds. Visibility was nil. The wind, the water, and the cold brutalized us. I thought we might perish. In an instant, we emerged into the sunshine surrounded by whales. It was majestic. What I remember most about the experience was not the whales. It was the exhilaration of the journey. Cliché: the journey is the destination. Life is lived in the process. And a further lesson, sometimes you need to step out and try something to have a serendipitous experience.
The topic of our third conversation was Homelessness. (See the PowerPoint on Hunger and Housing.) We learned that there is no one solution. There has to be a spectrum of solutions. This includes the reformation and strengthening of social institutions. Housing stability is an issue for all members of the socio-economic stratum. Homelessness is the most extreme manifestation. We watched videos from the United Way that described the situation locally. (The video was an edit of three videos: 1, 2, and 3.)
A most important principle in addressing homelessness and its multitude of concomitant factors is the idea of Housing First. Having a home, shelter, is the foundation on which other solutions can be built. One of the ways this can be addressed locally is through United Housing Bonds. Investing in housing bonds creates capital for building affordable housing. This, according to Peter F., is one way of working with ‘capitalism’ wisely.
In our conversation, Cyrille F., United Housing Board Co-chair, reflected on his personal experiences related to housing solutions. Cyrille provided the backstory about his trip to Montreal to work with people who were unhoused. His story became/becomes a model for us to contemplate going forward. We should try to do something to begin to truly understand the issue. Stop. Look around. Notice. See. The outcome for him was life-changing. It is important for us to come close to real people in real situations, and to learn to dwell with them.
Our conversation began with a ‘check-in’ with each other, with respect to “everything” that is going on in the world.” Some of our responses included: anxiety, discouragement, hopeful, even upbeat, trying to own our feelings, tired, exhausted, protected, overwhelmed, and more.
We observed a strange link between anxiety and hopefulness. Secondly, a theme began to emerge: “I want to do the RIGHT thing, but sometimes I just need to do SOMEthing." That something seems to have to do with our unique gifts, personality, and values. Unearthing this, individually and collectively, is critical to live wisely when Eden is burning.
We watched a very short clip from The Daily Show, with the author of The Separation of Church and Hate, John Fugelsang. He urged a response of Christian Activism against Christian Authoritarianism. We should “no longer remain quiet.” But how and what should we activate against? The extremes of the political left and right? The income inequality between the “top” and the ‘bottom”?
The indigenous Algonquin people tell of the legend of the Wendigo. The Wendigo is an evil spirit with a heart of ice who craves excessive consumption and thrives upon greed. Its victims also become addicted to greed and voracious appetite. The indigenous antidote to this is the concept of one bowl, one spoon, which we all share in. To achieve this, we may need to become activists against authoritarianism and rampant greed. Two important questions: “How much is enough?” And “who is my neighbour?”
This does not mean that we will all have equal resources. But we must avoid the excess of greed. Is being rich evil or greedy? Remember that we are extraordinarily wealthy compared to much of the rest of the world. Picture this as people at the top of the economic strata and people at the bottom. In certain contexts, we are near the bottom. In other contexts, we are near the top.
When we add the political realm, the political-economic situation we find ourselves in can be depicted like this.
The people we encounter are like points on a scatter plot inhabiting unique spaces all over this plane. Recall the spiral. It had a centre. In our complex world, we need to ask ourselves, “What is the centre that we live from?”
What is the centre of our being? The centre from which we act. How do we respond if we sense that Eden is burning? To repeat: as we experience our conversations, what emerges is our tendency to take action based on our unique personalities, gifts, and values. This is exactly as it should be. It is not merely knowing what to do, but being who we are.
Another factor we have discovered is that we may need to leave our comfort zones, another cliché, to experience real change. Again, an example of this is Cyrille’s story of his experience with the unhoused in Montreal. The outcome was life-changing.
It is one thing to think and talk about these burning issues. It is another to ‘dwell with’ people and their experiences. Our activism will emerge out of who we uniquely are and include encounters with others. A part of our collective role is to encourage one another to find and use our gifts.
Thanks for your input into these conversations. Some of the above comes from the cafe with Brett and Peter. Our next topic: Is the weather political?
