From Ancient Rome to Modern Tampa: Empire, Occupation, and The Way of Jesus

This morning has left my mind spinning in reflection on the police in our neighborhood. We have lived in the neighborhood for a little under a decade now and I have only grown more and more uncomfortable with the police here. I have had police run up on a homeless friend and I as we talked on the corner of Nebraska and Lake. Their cars jumped the curbs and they catapulted from their cars in full force to stop what must be a drug deal. I, and many other white friends, have been stopped and either interrogated just for being in this neighborhood or offered help since we were obviously lost. One friend was robbed at gunpoint and then after flagging down a cop for help, he was interrogated for being here for drugs. The cops only added trauma to the traumatic. They never even considered that he was telling the truth. We have witnessed and reported a cop in this neighborhood push a little kid down. We have been pulled over constantly for the slightest of reasons and occasionally no reason at all. They fly past our house at a speed that will kill anyone in their path on a nightly basis, there sirens lull us to sleep each night, and the sound of that ‘ghetto bird’ is as much a part of our evening sky as the moon.

This morning we had a friend join us for prayer and breakfast. He is a black man with dreadlocks. We had a wonderful morning joining him in his ‘power breathing exercises’, eating, praying, and discussing Haiti. As he left our house with his backpack and two apples in hand a police spun around and pulled up on him like he was fleeing a crime scene. The cop starts accusing and questioning him. “Do you live here?” “What are you doing?” Our friend just hung his head and waited for one of us to come out and tell the officer to leave our friend alone and assure the cop that he was a guest of ours.

As I left for work I kept thinking to myself that this must be what it is like to live under a military occupation. I know this may be an exaggeration but I am not sure how much of one it is. Our neighborhood is under constant patrol by a hostile and prejudice force. Their presence is a constant reality to me and my neighbors. This constant presence is not a comfort to any of us. It is a threat. It is oppressive in nature. Our neighborhood has the feeling of an occupied territory.

This thought immediately led me to reflect on Jesus who absolutely lived in an occupied territory. Roman soldiers were a constant presence and threat in first century Palestine and his words from that context are relevant to us today. In that day a roman soldier could randomly choose any individual and force them, by law, to carry their bags one mile. This is why people used to set up ‘mile stones’ a mile from their house so when they reached that point they could drop the bags and return to their houses and lives. It is in this context that Jesus said if someone forces you to walk with them one mile…"Go two!”

I have got to be honest that I have no clue how to apply this teaching. I don’t like it and this reflection is far from over. This question is at the heart of Christian nonresistance and nonviolent resistance. I am reminded of Tolstoy, Gandhi, & King and can’t help but cringe on the inside at their ideas and lives. They are counter to every natural reaction in me and they are heroic for that same reason.

Tolstoy said “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

Jesus, help me see you and walk in your ways. I know that you embraced and died on the cross of that occupying people.

It is scandalous!

Prayer, Hospitality, Community, Sweat, and Initiative

So yesterday I woke up early to pray and eat breakfast with my community. We all gathered in the family room and had a great time of prayer. While we were praying 'Empress' Mary came to the door. Natalia went and sat with her while we continued praying. We just met Empress Mary the other day through a guy that was crashing at our house for a few nights. She is also on the streets and we have been doing our best to find female friends to put her up since we can't really host women guests in a house full of guys. She dropped in to get a shower and spend some time with us. We all chipped in after prayer to make a big breakfast to eat together and had her join us. It really was an awesome morning and I realized later how opportunities to love people literally just knock on our door. I am so grateful.

Its getting hot in here....

So there is so much happening right now. Our friend Jason has just returned from prison and we are so grateful for his return! We have been trying to make some time to spend with him to catch up on all the fishing, eating, and just walking around he has missed out on over time. Also Erica and I have been working hard on our first catering gig for the Mama Africana Banquet this saturday. We are cooking for 150 people and are so excited to do it. This is a beginning for us as we continue down this journey with food. (If any of you need an event catered I would love the opportunity to serve your gathering in this way. Just let us know)

I have been teaching a class for the Underground Institute called Jesus and Urban Gardening. The class has 30 students and has met twice so far (out of 8 total meetings). Each week we spend an hour outside learning and practicing some basic gardening skill that are useful in the context of the city and our second hour is spent in our friend Derick's house diving into an ecological theology of liberation. This is by far the most personally challenging (and fulfilling) teaching experience I have had. I hope to do this much more in the future.
There are many other projects and undertakings as cliff tinkers in the kitchen and robby keeps tackling the heat in the house through creativity. But alongside all of what is happening there is an ongoing and challenging conversation and debate. Last night I walked into our smoldering hot house to find the guys sitting around and having what sounded like a pretty heated debate. It was about the AC. Some of us are uncomfortable but proud of that fact. Others, who are troopers, have wavering conviction or possibly more questions than conviction at all. How can someone put up with this heat unless they are driven too? As i walked in I heard one of our guys say something to the effect of 'Are we just supposed to come in here and die?' as if being hot (uncomfortable) was a deadly thing. I didn't jump in to the conversation but just kinda listened as they had it. I recognize that it is getting hotter every night and there is a really good chance that we will break and turn on the AC at some point in the near future but I hope we don't give in until we are able to call it a luxury. Until we realize that the majority of the world lives there entire lives without AC and they are not gathering in their houses at night to argue about the merits of it because it isn't a choice. The fact that we even have a choice on this matter points to our wealth and privilege. People throughout the world, and many up and down our own street don't have AC and they still gather together and enjoy each other, there lives are still beautiful and appreciated, and they live lives that are not consumed by this discomfort. It is my belief that as long as we can hold on, through our discomfort and frustration, God is faithfully purifying us. Breaking us from our addiction to comfort, freeing us from our dependencies, helping us walk in solidarity with the poor, deepening our community through the ordeal, and bringing what is ugly in us out so that we can deal with it together. It is so much deeper than AC. Some of us hold convictions strongly and are still insensitive jerks, others are struggling with strength in the face of trial, others bottle up frustration and allow anger to conquer them, some of us just don't care or think enough about what is important. These are not fingers to point but realizations about my own sin and ugliness and I sometimes recognize it in my brothers as well.

May the heat purify us, may the discomfort sharpen us, may the sweat cleanse our eyes, may our impurities be removed. God thank you for the rain that you sent to give just a few minutes of breeze the other night just as we were about to give in to our desire for AC. I can't help but feel your presence, your mercy, and your egging us on.