Vision, Faith, Abundance

This picture

highlights the abundance at the Free Farm that I’ve been wanting to write about recently.

I’ve also been wanting to write about this passage from the Gospel of Mark for a while now.

“He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’"

So here’s my chance to do both.

This scripture shows us a pretty wild vision of the kingdom.  Usually, in similar stories, we see the sower as God or maybe Jesus.  How wild is that?  God out scattering seed without taking any kind of control over how it sprouts - whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed does its thing.  God scattering seed and watching it grow and not understanding how it all works.  What kind of faith does that show?  God happy to take in the harvest, joyful over what has been given even is God doesn’t know exactly how it came to be.  It gives us a pretty different idea of God that what is usually preached.

Tree and the other good folks who run the Free Farm are not like the God represented in the passage I quoted in that they do know just what they’re doing.  This kind of plant will flourish best in this location, here’s how you harden off a seedling that’s been in the green house to get it ready for planting outside, this is how to make the best compost.  And everything is well planned at the Free Farm, this plant will go in this bed, here’s where we need more irrigation, time to take down the beans because we’re done harvesting them and we can put something else there now.  Unlike the God of this passage, Tree can tell you exactly how a seed sprouts and grows.  Unlike the harvest in the passage, the produce of the Free Farm does flourish under the abundant care of our many volunteers, not regardless of whether they sleep in or come to the Free Farm on workdays.

And all that knowledge and care results in the kind of abundance seedlings in front of Pancho in that first picture represent.  Abundance that goes to feed people in need who otherwise have limited or no access to good, fresh produce. 

But there is some faith involved too.  The faith of the folks who started the Free Farm that an old abandoned and littered lot that even after cleaning up looked like this:

could one day look like this:

Faith that each Wednesday and Saturday we can get enough volunteers out to do all the work required to get those seeds from sprout to harvest.  Faith that we can find someone each workday to bring the vegan lunch we always serve to our volunteers.  And, these days, faith that we can find another parcel of land equally as suitable to the Free Farm’s needs when we have to move in a few years to make way for development.

So come out some Wednesday or Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2p.m. and help us keep the faith.  We’ve got plenty of friendly people to show you around and a good lunch to share.  Chances are we’ve got a task or two suited to your ability level.  But best of all you’ll have a chance to help us grow some faith that as wild and wonderful a vision as the Free Farm can have a viable place in San Francisco. 

Occupy the Voting Booth

A year ago today, the Occupy movement began.  It gave me such hope to see people organizing in that way.  Even though PICO uses different methods to get the same jobs done, I and other individual organizers found ourselves grateful for the Occupy movement’s success in highlighting the questions and issues no one was talking much about before that point.

The movement gave us a shorthand for the unhelpful wealth disparity in this nation, 99%, 1%, are common parlance now.  They act as shorthand to keep us aware of the reality of wealth disparity and the systems that keep it in place.

The Occupations were important and made a real change in the consciousness of many.  Today there have been some protests and rallies in New York City, here in San Francisco and elsewhere.  They look to be in the hundreds rather than the thousands we saw last year at this time.  It will be interesting to see if a strong Occupation reemerges.  

Meanwhile, everyone who cares about the direction of our country has to also look at other avenues for change.  Though our democracy may be on life support, it isn't dead yet and exercising our right to vote along with our rights to free speech and free assembly can help revive it.

Too often I hear from folks who do not believe their vote counts or that voting makes one complicit in our current systems of injustice.  Neither one of these beliefs reflect reality.  The last thing the big corporations and the power mongers want is for you to vote, because your vote actually does have power.  You give that up when you refuse to vote.

 

I learned at a recent SFOP meeting that over 60% of the people who actually vote are wealthy, white, and seniors.  It was a crystallizing moment for me.  Why don’t politicians pay attention to the needs of young people, minorities, the poor?  Because they know there are not as many of us who vote.  Voter demographic information is tracked and the politicians can look it up as easily as anyone else.  We can hold all the rallies, sit ins, protests we want, but if we don’t vote, they don’t care.

It’s just that simple.

If your aren’t already registered, you can do it right now at https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/register-to-vote/ if you live in California.  That’s simple too.  Then get out and vote on election day, or send in a vote by mail ballot ahead of time and beat the rush.   

 

The way to break the power of big money is with a big vote.  If you want your interests to matter, you must get out to the polls and vote.  And, yes, I know about voter suppression laws and all the other tactics those who have the power right now have in place to keep power all to themselves. 

Not going to the polls doesn’t make any of that go away.  The way we beat it is turning out in droves.  If the politicians see a lot of us at the polls they will see and hear us better at the rallies, too. 

The Faithful Fools Come on Board

SF CARES has a new collaborator!  We are delighted to announce that the Faithful Fools are now a formal collaborator with SF CARES.  They say of themselves:

The Faithful Fools Street Ministry was founded in 1998 when the ministries of the Rev. Kay Jorgensen and Sr. Carmen Barsody, OSF converged in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco.

Today the Faithful Fools learn and educate through engaging in relationships with people everywhere on the economic spectrum, from those who are poor and/or living outside to those who are housed and wealthy.    

Walking and working together people of privilege and people who are impoverished help one another bridge gaps and shift perceptions that inhibit personal and social change. We work to build community by breaking through boundaries that separate us, such as economic power, religious beliefs, class, race, gender, ethnicity, and together we discover what connects us.

Our programs include Educational Street Retreats in the U.S. and Nicaragua for individuals and groups from schools, universities, civic and faith-based organizations; Daily accompaniment of individuals living on the streets, in residential hotels, and people struggling with mental illness,  depression, addictions and isolation from all walks of life; Meditation four mornings a week; Somatic Experiencing (SE) a practice that is aimed at relieving and resolving the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental and physical trauma-related health problems; Arts program which includes monthly poetry readings and film nights, a textile hat workshop, a gallery to exhibit people’s visual art, and sponsoring publications of poetry anthologies of the people in the Tenderloin and beyond; Advocacy through participating in the Community Advisory Board of Tom Waddell Clinic that serves the homeless population, helping coordinate the Tenderloin Health and Safety Fair and serving as the fiscal agent for that event, and serving on the Board of the Welcome Ministry, as well as advocating for services and just policies before the City Supervisors; Internship and Field Ed site for seminarians, social workers and community advocates.

Do you find yourself wanting to take a deep breath at the end of that last paragraph?  I did.  Yes, they really do do all that.  And do it well.  And with deep caring and good humor.  Stop by at 234 Hyde one day and see for yourself.  Come meditate, or for the Bible study Tuesday morning or the writing group Tuesday afternoon, or for a one day street retreat on the third Saturday of most months.   I guarantee you won't regret it.  The rest of we here at SF CARES are tremendously excited to welcome such an active, vibrant organization into our collaboration as we continue to expand our circle of care in San Francisco.