The Poorest of the Poor in the Gulf of Mexico

As I listened to ongoing news of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I was drawn to the story of a fisherman I had seen several times on the early morning national news. He was a middle aged man (husband and father of several children). This gentleman depended upon the Gulf for his livelihood.

As thousands upon thousands of gallons of oil poured into the Gulf, this fisherman immediately made as many fishing trips out into the Gulf to harvest all of the fish, oysters, and other sea food that he possibly could before it would no longer be safe to do so. When he was no longer able to fish, his boat became one of many used to attempt to confine the oil.

The news that I had turned to, once again featured this fisherman. So distraught by his loss and his inability to change his dismal financial situation and overwhelming concern for his wife and family, this gentleman took his own life. Several days after his death, this gentleman's wife reported that he had lost over 30 pounds since the oil spill. She further reported that he had grown increasingly restless and despondent and that he would not be consoled. No one, it is said, expected that he would take his life.

Many of poor whom we meet day after day in our ministries, live one step away from similar despondency and unrest. Often, they don't share their deep hurt and loss of self esteem because that honesty doesn't benefit them in their day to day lives. Many of the poor with whom I walk in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, take their own lives through alcohol and drug abuse while the reasons behind their substance abuse are not recognized as coming from the painful poverty of loneliness, lack of reasonable and safe housing, inability to maintain loving relationships, and shame.

Throughout these several months of continuing oil spillage into the Gulf, we have heard promises that BP will pay for damages. How does one ameliorate the loss of hope, ability to care for one's families, long term depression and the like? As Franciscan Christians, you and I are called to stand side by side, arm in arm, of those who suffer depression, and who experience the dependency that can and often does, lead to suicide and other self induced injuries and deaths. Our Father, Francis didn't trivialize or ignore the plight of the destitute, depressed, and needy. He reached out to them with the love of the Christ and spoke to them of hope that springs from the Christ.

How do we respond in similar circumstances?

The Joy of Francis

I can remember my mother reminding my sister and me that Church was a solemn place and that we were to be quiet and attentive. As if those words were not enough to instill the fear of the Lord, the Dominican Sisters who taught our religious education classes, told us God fearing stories of what would happen to us if we did not turn our entire attention to God and the sacrifice of the Mass.

As many of you can attest, those warnings died hard. For years, many folks have been unable to smile in church yet alone acknowledge the "hello" of another worshipper. Francis teaches us joy in knowing and worshipping God. Of course, we don't want to lose sight of the majesty of God, yet we don't want to be so solemn that we block out a joy-filled and interactive God. How to we balance these opposites?

This question reminds me of the many times that I have stood with family members of the deceased (especially Native American families). They often join me in bathing, dressing, and caring for the hair, nails and make up of the deceased. It doesn't take too long for a joke to begin about the difficulty in dressing the body, or a family member mentioning that "your diet should have started earlier." This banter serves a purpose in remembering the deceased as the loving person she or he once was. Our time together generally ends in family members become much more subdued, holding the hands of a loved one and often speaking comforting and loving words.

Joy does not have to antithetical to solemnity, awe, or respect. We are called to have joy filled hearts and souls, praising God in one another, in and through creation, and in the majesty of all that God shares with us.

When I think back to community prayer over 40 years ago, we 100+ sisters knelt silently in prayer and then entered into the prayer of the Divine Office. The corporate voices of so many sisters was angelic, no one hurried their parts of the Office. We bowed together, spoke together, breathed together. Seminary changed that a bit in that we realized that those of us praying the Office were human beings. We laughed with the lector who forgot to look at the reading before Vespers and could barely pronounce a dozen or more Old Testament names. We were filled with the Spirit as we shared a sign of peace during the celebration of the Eucharist. I had to hold back an outburst of laughter when the Archbishop of Canterbury wiped his hands on my surplice sleeve rather than the lavabo towel and several years ago an Ojibwe priest friend asked me to pray before a community meal and when I finished, she asked gourmand (Ojibwe/Creator) to forgive me for calling her/him Wakan Tanka (Creator God in my Lakota language).

There are times for sadness, tears, and heavy hearts, and times when we will be so filled with joy and gratitude that we must let it out and share it with everyone around us. We will be joy filled when we are grateful to a loving God and for our sisters and brothers, a new day, one more chance to get it right, forgiveness for a mistake, and much, much more.

Invitation for Servant Franciscans to Share

Peace and All Good, Sister and Brother Servant Franciscans. I have begun this blog at the invitation of Bishop Ken and with the hope that we will find this a good place to share with and get to know one another. While living in community has it's difficult moments, not doing so makes group communication a challenge. We sincerely hope that this blog will be a safe place to share with one another as we journey together to bring Christ to the world through the example of St. Francis.

"The Uniqueness of Following Francis" newsletter will hopefully provide our community with both spiritual and community support as we enter into ministry with the people of God. Today, with the experience of forty years as a Franciscan, I believe that we all need means to reach beyond "traditional" and stereotypical identifications of poverty as we reach out to the people of God in love and concern. In the hope of generating conversation, I raise the question "who are the poor?"

Once we have established our goals for this blog and have begun conversation regarding the uniqueness of following Francis, I hope that we will invite other Franciscans to enter into dialogue with us and that we will begin to build a larger community of like minded and spirited Franciscans.

This is NOT MY BLOG. It is OUR BLOG and a place where we can share our concerns, achievements, questions, concerns, and whatever is on our hearts and minds with one another and expect that we will be respected and encouraged as we do so.