Banish the Prosperity Gospel

Good Girl versus Bad Girl

One day in high school I split my slacks. Mortified I sidled into the school office, backpack drooped strategically over my exposed backside. There, I asked to use the phone so my mom could drive to school and drop off an intact pair of pants. While I was waiting for my emergency delivery the school secretary expressed her praise for my excellent choices and good thinking. Clearly I was a “good girl”, unlike the other girl, last week, who had solved a similar predicament in a different way. This “bad girl” had left school property to go to the nearby mall to get her jeans mended.

My class privilege analysis wasn’t very developed back then, but even so, I knew something was wrong with the school official’s judgement. I wasn’t “good” because I had a stay-at-home Mom. The other girl wasn’t “bad” because she handled her problem herself. Maybe her mom worked, or maybe she didn’t even have a spare pair of pants. Those were accidents of birth. These facts pointed to the privilege I enjoyed and that my dad worked to maintain.

As an adult I know that even he didn’t earn that privilege… He had it because his parents could afford to send him to college, (with the help of the government in that WWII period.)

Privilege and Options

Source: Miriam Dobson

I remember that day often. The illusion that having options means you are “good” and not having options means that you are “bad” distracts us from the truth. Of course, I have other privileges, like skin privilege and education privilege and the US of A privilege, that give me options as well. We sometimes talk about these dynamics as intersectionality. This is a topic, many topics, for other days.

Once I started paying attention I started noticing all the ways that we equate “net worth” with “worth” in our capitalistic world. There’s even a religious group called “The Family” that explicitly preaches that those who have money are blessed by God. I don’t mean they preach “thank God for what you have.” I mean, they preach that they can tell who is in God’s favor by looking at their bank account. This extremist group (look them up, their connections to U.S. Senators are truly frightening) is not alone. The prosperity gospel can be traced from Puritanism and permeates through much popular religion and Christianity. The idea is basically that God rewards your faith with success and prosperity. Poverty is a sign of lack of faith and God’s disfavor. Class dynamics and the poison of the prosperity gospel are laced throughout politics, business and white culture.

Earth-Relating UUs and Class

A handfasting ceremony at Avebury in England,
 on Beltane, 2005

Then there are the ways that these dynamics play out in UU Earth-Relating communities. I have been asking myself for a few years now: why do I notice a tension between UU congregation leadership and Earth-Relating congregants around issues of money? Is there a class difference at play between UU leadership and Earth-Relating UUs?

In the 80’s I experienced the Pagan community in Portland Oregon as predominantly white, educated, and in large part “downwardly mobile”. I use downwardly mobile to describe those who were raised with economically privileged backgrounds (landed or educated or simply “comfortable”) who have chosen to do as little wage labor as possible. That decision could be based on a rejection of the values of their parents, a desire to ‘live lightly on the earth’, or to ‘drop out of the system’, or to focus on the values in Paganism that they most resonated with.

When I moved to Ithaca, NY the Pagans I met were true to the demographics I’d observed in Portland. The book “Voices from the Pagan Census,” published in 2003, indicates that the average income for Neo-Pagans is roughly the same as the income average for the United States. The same survey found that Neo-Pagans are significantly more educated than the national average. (92.2% have more than a high school diploma versus 43% of the US population.) This information is consistent with my observations.

I’m aware that Neo-Pagan doesn’t define or encompass the many diverse Earth-Relating religions. People of color, the working poor and other communities have robust Earth-Relating faith groups among them and many Earth-Relating faith paths gather diverse adherents. However, census data no longer includes religion information (as of 1936) and I was unable to find data that would show me average income for Earth-Relating religions more broadly. So many of my perceptions are anecdotal. I’d love to learn more from others out there. Please comment if you have information to share!

Liberal Religion and Class

What I can and do offer is the observation that according to the book “One Nation Under God” published in 1993, Unitarian Universalism is ranked second only to the Jewish community in income, over 50% have a college degree and UUs are well above average in property ownership. This suggests that Earth-Relating UUs will find common ground with other UU congregants around education level but will, on average, have significantly less discretionary income. The book mentions one other thing about UUs. We have strongly been influenced by Puritan theology and the tendencies toward equating hard work with being good. The tenets of the prosperity gospel come with that. But… UU’s have the second principle: “Justice, Equity, and Compassion in Human Relations.” We have work to do here!

This suggests four things to me: 1) Earth-Relating congregants may have a role in educating congregations to be welcoming to income-diverse people. 2) We need to pay attention to how class and means are at play when we find ourselves in conflict, and when we work together to be in relationship. 3) We all have work to do to discover and break the spell of the prosperity gospel that equates means with worth, and we can do that together. And 4) As we dive into class dynamics we must be in partnership with people of color and other marginalized groups, groups who often are economically marginalized, recognizing the other dynamics of intersectionality.

I know this essay is only scratching the surface, and I don’t want us to over-focus so that we forget the impacts of intersectionality. My hope is that I am inviting us into further conversation. My hope is that we are individually and together, casting our banishing spells, in our own ways, on the curse of the prosperity gospel.

Altaring Spaces

Evoking Sacred Space

Entrance to Ifa shrine and sacred grove of Osun, Nigeria, 

Photo by Olaniyan Olushola

Have you ever paused to appreciate a tree? The ocean? Have you felt lucky to witness family welcoming a loved one home? Or has the pure joy of Fido reunited with his person amazed you? Have you ever wondered at the urge to build the cathedrals of Europe, or the time and effort children put into building and nurturing a fairy castle or fort? These are all ways of creating, evoking, and experiencing sacred space. These are all ways of connecting to the spiritual and the meaningful through our environment.

How do you evoke sacred space and focus ritual through mindful use of objects? Creating sacred space is an art and technique. Sacred space is created in Christianity, earth-based traditions, and modern architecture and practice. What is your plan for creating sacred space in your home, places of worship, and community?

Rituals

Some rituals create sacred space: a Chalice Lighting, a Sage or sweetgrass smudge, Ritual Words like "We are between the worlds, beyond the reach of space and time, joy and sorrow, birth and death" or " Our father, who art in heaven..." and House Blessings.

Dia de los Muertos altar, Wikimedia Commons

Sacred spaces can be created temporarily. The Tibetan Buddhist tradition of the sand-painting is one example of that. March 19th marks the Catholic celebration of St. Joseph’s Day where Catholic New Orleanians construct elaborate altars in honor of this saint. The tradition, commemorating the relief St. Joseph provided during a famine in Sicily, began in the late 1800’s when Sicilian immigrants settled in New Orleans. St. Joseph is the patron saint of social justice. Whole neighborhoods, italian, catholic, and none-of-the-above, participate. Since the altars thank St. Joseph for relieving hunger, offerings of food are essential.

Survey Your Environment

You've heard the phrase "your body is a temple"? How might your relationship to your body change if you understood it to be a sacred place, a temple, a shrine?

What sacred places exist in your home? Your workplace? Your neighborhood? In my home I have an altar with the ancestor photos on it, an eagle feather, a candle, my mother's ashes and a pine cone that looks like a rose that was given me by my son. My neighborhood has small shrines in it where people have built a whimsical or practical holders for free books.

Individual objects can carry sacred meaning. Pick an object that is in your eyesight right now. What story is in this object and what does that object need to do? What is its mission or purpose? For example I can see some clerical stoles that came to me from my grand uncle who was a minister. I have had them for years and never worn them because the symbols on the stoles are not my symbols. Today I decided that the stoles need to be used in worship. They were made for that. So I am mailing them to a colleague who can use them. Whatever object from your own life you have selected, take some time to tell its story, meaning, and purpose. Now ask yourself, "How will I be true to that purpose?"

Go Forth and Make the World Sacred

Photo: Flickr user R, Creative Commons

If you are a part of a worshiping community I invite you to consider the following:

•        How do our worship and gathering spaces present visual cues? Can people who enter that space easily answer the questions “Where am I?” and “What’s expected of me?”

•        How do our worship and gathering spaces offer respite from the outside world? Can people find a place of peace that is accessible and comfortable?

•        How do our worshiping and gathering spaces connect to our history and traditions? What symbols or design elements evoke a sense of the sacred and tell the story of the divine at work in the world?

•        How do our worshiping and gathering spaces integrate elements of nature? How can we bring the outside in and take the inside out?

Pagan Altar, Creative Commons

As you think about your personal sacred spaces and your community sacred places, I invite you to explore the following questions:

•        What might you change about your home?

•        What might you change about your work space?

•        What might you change about your worship space(s)?

•        What spaces and places might you seek out and why?

•        How might you nurture and transform your self through sacred space?

•        How might you nurture community and social justice through sacred space?

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Reverend Amy offers an "Altaring Spaces" retreat. Join her for the next one!

La Befana on Epiphany

Epiphany

In central Europe and Italy La Befana is known as an old woman, usually ugly, who wears an old, long, skirt with colourful patches, and a scarf over her shoulders. She flies around on her broom, during the night of Epiphany, delivering small toys and sweets to the children.In most Italian regions, even adults give little presents to each other, often stockings full of chocolate.So... You now have an excuse to go get some chocolate, to celebrate Epiphany!

In the story, Befana hesitates to bring her gifts to the holy child. Perhaps she wonders if she has any gifts to give. Perhaps she wonders if her gift would really make a difference. Perhaps every time she’s tried to do something nice before it didn’t work out the way she expected. Maybe she’s grown tired of trying to make the world a better place and she has decided to focus just on her own little house. 

Sometimes it is much more satisfying to clean a house than it is to deal with the messiness of human beings. The house gets clean and stays clean. It doesn’t have a mind of its own, It isn’t ungrateful, and it doesn’t undo everything you worked for in one temper tantrum or one election.
But something happened that made her change her mind. Something made her scurry about doing the things she was good at. Bringing the gifts that only Befana could provide: Her baked goods, her huggable self, her broom.

Three Kings Parade sponsored by El Museo Del Barrio, NYC
Photo Credit: Walks of New York

Perhaps it was the invitation? Perhaps it was the hug? Perhaps it was the joy of the parade? Perhaps it was the hope for a child who would bring more love into the world.
What would it take to get you out of your house? Out of your routine? Out of your safe little cocoon? Out of your projects that seem so very pressing, important, and do-able?

From Birthday Party to Funeral

Things went as planned for the astronomer priests who showed up on their camels at the right time with their expensive gifts. On finding him, the wise men gave baby Jesus three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then they skedaddled. Herod resorted to killing all the young children in Judea, an act called the Massacre of the Innocents, Jesus and his family had, however, already escaped to Egypt.

Angelo Visconti

 

Here the biblical account ends. I imagine that this is the point in the story where Befanna shows up. After the wise men. After the holy family escapes. After Herod’s army destroys all the new born babies in Judea. I wonder what she thought as she looked at the gifts she had brought and then looked at the bereaved mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers.She thought she was coming to a birthday party and instead she arrived at a funeral. 

2017 Breaks the Mass Shooting Record

Slain in Sutherland Springs, TX church shooting
 26 dead, 20 injured, Nov. 2017

I suspect a lot of us felt that way last year. The year of mass shootings. The year of unprecedented political polarization. The year of rolled back environmental protections. The year of renewed fears of nuclear attack. The year of natural disasters. It was like getting ready for a party and discovering you were at a funeral.

These problems are systemic and connected but we have a tendency to put responsibility for this plague of violence, destruction and suffering at the feet of individuals. Just like la befana looking to the one saviour...If the problems were caused by individuals, if it was about one deranged person with a gun, then we could solve them by having disaster preparedness drills at school/work and learn what to do when there is a shooter in the building. Instead it is about domestic violence, toxic masculinity, us and them and rape culture. (And more)
If the problems were caused by individuals, if it was just that this one elected official is not to our liking we could make fun of that elected official. Instead it is us. We have lost faith in the electoral process. If we dont work very closely, and stick together we will lose access. What hurts some of us hurts us all.. gerrymandering, disenfranchisement, white supremacy, a strategy of divide-and -conquer and a deeply divided country of people who live in ideological bubbles. (And more)

We are All Connected

If only the individual is responsible it feels like it’s enough to recycle. Our frustration tempts us to turn on one another, like when we make fun of teenagers who take long showers during a drought. Instead the blame lies with poor laws and greed, racism and classism. The destruction of our earth stems from the doctrine of dominion over the earth and disconnection from the land, water, and air. 

Our dis-ease is disconnection from our tribes, our communities, our families, our family of humanity and our family of all life. This connection can be called religion, especially if you remember the root derivation of that word. Re-ligio. Ligio is the same word that avenue us ligament… connection. Re-connection.

Photo credit: Upliftconnect.com

If we blame the broken individual, then we are absolved from responsibility to be in community. However, if the problem is that we live in a damaged system, there’s nowhere to hide and so much work to do. We are all part of the system

There is no fast fix. What we need, What we really need is to find ways to connect with one another in kindness and bridge the isolation and disconnection. These men with guns are canaries in this poisoned coal mine. If we pay attention, we can take action to heal that which must be healed.

Hope is Like the Sun

Without the ability to dream, human beings quickly become psychotic. Without hope, we cannot function. Not having a “life dream” is debilitating. Without a dream, living is only going through the motions. Without love, real, personal, connection, human beings shrivel up and die. Like a baby monkey hugging a wire frame, seeking a mother’s love, we all become broken.

In the recent star wars movie, vice-admiral Amilyn Holdo reminded the pilot Poe of a lesson Princess Leia taught her: “Hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you can see it, you'll never make it through the night.”

Epiphany is like the sun rising in your own soul. As long as it shines there, we can keep hope alive.

When, like Frodo–the-ringbearer, we despair of our task, we must take Gandalf’s advice.

When we feel that the task before us is too dificult, Gandalf says - "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

Redemption

Is there any Redemption to be had from the tragedies of 2017? Perhaps the redemption is our epiphany that something must be done. Perhaps the redemption is that new dawn, where we wake up and take action…

I see redemption in the #Indivisible movement, the #metoo movement, the #blacklivesmatter movement #resist and Oceti Sakowin Camp as the water protectors keep on working for the land they love.

What is your gift? What do you have to share? What kindness? Is it gold? That’s good. Is it cookies? That’s good too. I checked my pockets, I don’t have any frankincense or myrrh… I can do hugs. Hugs are very good, so is a listening ear, and most of all, you can stay out of your denial, away from the routine, and pay attention to the people around you. Know the people around you. Be involved. You have no idea what one small act of kindness may do. Kindness connects us to each other.

Save What We Love

We are all connected. We are all responsible, individually and collectively. Let us us reach into the mystic truths, the roots of love and relationship. I'm a big fan of the star wars movies and love the idea of the force -the flow of life between, among and around us, but the most recent movie gave me my favorite quote ever. Rose is a mechanic, not a princess, not a jedi, not a hotshot pilot. She knocks Finn's flyer off course to stop Finn from sacrificing himself in battle and when he asks why she says:

“This is how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”

by Isabella Centofanti Alexander
from the book "The Night of La Befana"