Remembering Robert F. Kennedy...

Gore Vidal once said that we Americans live in the " United States of Amnesia". A good grasp of history and the lessons of our collective experience do not seem to be our strongest qualities as a people. Forty years ago in June, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was murdered .Two months earlier Martin Luther King was killed . The nation was reeling in grief and more and more people were speaking out to end the bloodshed in Vietnam . Many believed that Kennedy would be the next president and even more than his brother John ,it would be Robert who would lift up the poor , bring greater justice to our American society, and end the Vietnam war. Kennedy was a good study in personal/political transformation. From 1966 - 1968 he underwent significant changes in perspective. From pro-war to anti-war is no little leap! From authorizing the phone tapping of Martin Luther King to supporting the United Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez is a titanic shift! His growing awareness of the widening gap in this country between rich and poor , and his deepening passion to work for social justice was well known. Many believed he had found his life's calling. In his traveling across the country he had come to see first hand the poverty and hunger that exist in our inner cities, in the Mississippi delta, in Appalachia, on Native American reservations, and more... It seems that personal experience and public protest worked hand in hand to help transform a man of privilege into a more compassionate man.
There are many today who share Kennedy's awareness and passion and like Kennedy many are speaking out and working to create a more peaceful and just society. In the face of a habitual cynicism there are many who are finding ways to plant and water the seeds of a new society. Can we take just a moment to consider what it is we may be called to be and do? What are the ways of transformation for us and for our time?Using our gifts and resources how can we fulfill this deep calling? In our so-called post modern world there are many uncertainties and shifting grounds, but one thing remains clear: the urgent call to be a maker of peace and a creator of justice.In this call we find meaning, and purpose, and joy.

In a Common Cause,
Stefan Andre

Remembering Who We Are on Memorial Day...

Monday , May 26 Memorial Day in Washington , D.C.

Today is a Day of Remembering. We remember all those who have suffered and died in the many wars of our common history. We pray for the families and friends of those who continue to suffer because of the present day wars around the world. We also remember what gives meaning to the lives we live. And finally we remember what causes war and what we might do to make war no more.

For the past three days a gathering of people have sung together, spent lots of time in silence, and walked in the beautiful woods and meadows of Dayspring Silent Retreat Center just outside of Washington, D.C.. So Good!
In the process we reminded ourselves of something very important - who we are. In the silence and in the singing, in the walking, sitting, and even in the sleeping we remembered that we are beloved children of God. All of us...everyone. Fraternitas. Such a simple thing to recall and such a totally life changing reality when we allow it sink in to our consciousness. When we remember who we are there is no need for violence. If we are indeed brothers and sisters beloved by God why would we harm one another? No need for envy, greed, or fear. No need for war. In the shared silence and in the singing we lay down the weapons of our heart. We disarm . We enter the realm of peace - the very Reign of God.
Let me encourage you , dear reader, to recall your true identity and to live it out. Indeed we are all called the Beloved of God upon whom the Spirit of Peace descends and dwells . Through each of us the Holy Spirit moves and draws us into actions of peace-making and justice, everyday. In and through us the risen Jesus lives again. As we live out our true identity we feel the very pleasure of God.
" You are my Beloved. And I delight in you."

Peace,
Stefan Andre

On the Road Again...

Tomorrow I leave for Washington, D.C.. It will be the beginning of two months of travel in the United States. from east coast to west coast The traveling is for the purpose of sharing new music - written in Ireland and recently recorded in Memphis, TN - and encouraging others in our common search for peace and justice. It begins with a three day Retreat of Song and Silence just outside of D.C. in a beautiful place called Dayspring Silent Retreat Center. Silence and song...the inner journey - a very good way to begin. While in D.C. the following week I'll be visiting with friends in the peace movement. Some of these friends have for many years been speaking out for peace and for justice in our country and aboard. Their lives are an inspiration to me. One woman in particular I would like to introduce . She is 76 years of age and a retired school teacher. Her name is Eve. For the past 5 years she has been an outspoken advocate for peace and against the war in Iraq. A highly intelligent and passionate person Eve has been interviewed on public radio about her recent court appearances and the many times she has been arrested for civil disobedience in her protesting of our government's policies which Eve believes are responsible for thousands of American soldier's deaths , thousands of soldiers mental and physical suffering, and untold hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths and injuries, not to mention the destruction of the Iraqi society's infra-structure. How long we will allow this to continue? This is Eve's question. How can we help move this country from an imperialist war making nation to a country that participates in global peace-making and the rebuilding of both the Iraqi infra-structure and our own as well. As billions of dollars are being poured into the war-making machine our basic human needs in this country are being neglected . It is no secret that our own health care system, our educational system, even our roads and bridges are in need of urgent support. With the very price of food in this country rising beyond the means of many , many are forced to consider Eve's question: " How long?"
By the way, speaking of women and peace...did you know that Saturday May 24 is the International Women's Day for Disarmament? Starting in 1982 this day serves to remind us of the great contribution that women have made and continue to make towards world peace. For those of you in Ireland the conference on banning cluster munitions is going on right now in Dublin, Ireland.
On the road this summer I look forward to learning new ways of peace and in the songs I share being a voice for creating a future of justice and peace.
On his death bed St. Francis, in referring to his own life of working for peace in the world, said, " I have done what was given me to do. What has been given to you?"

On the Road to Peace,
Stefan Andre

Farewell to Ireland with Love

Here's a wee poem that I wrote which expresses my own feeling about that magical place called Ireland. While I lived there especially in the place called Glendalough I would walk the hills and everywhere I went I could hear the sound of water flowing . This music filled me beyond any words and brought to the surface a depth of feeling that still sings.

IRELAND

Ireland... this land that sings
in secret, dark, and luscious things.

Ah, this lovely land that streams her scented song
in flowing verse and phrases long.

O'er blue green hills and golden gorse
cross mossied rock and nettles coarse.

Oh, breath! I feel your rising roar
til op'ning earth can bear no more
she cries, she cries
and joyful pours
from glist'ning eyes
to list'ning ears...
her ancient Celtic tears.

Feeding the Five thousand and Community

These days I am staying at the Monastery of St. Clare in Memphis, TN. I share quarters with a friend of mine who is a priest while the sisters of St. Clare live in a separate building on the grounds. Once this place was a thriving community of women devoted to living out a life of simplicity and service. Now , like many religious communities, it has far fewer members while still living the life. It is a good place to reflect on the meaning of community and the ways we might create new structures that would sustain people today in their desire to live community.
A story... there was once a man who gathered thousands of people together and fed them a nourishing meal. It was amazing! All kinds of people... mostly poor though, gathered together and ate and drank, prayed, talked, sang, learned, and were satisfied. Of course this story is the gospel account of the feeding of the five thousand. This story is all about community and has both personal and political implications. Hungry people were fed and organized into groups of fifty. Think about it... What then? Perhaps then they could think about their situation and respond as a group. Perhaps then they would have the strength to say " yes " to building community and " no " to Empire. There was a lot going on on that hillside.
Fast forward about twenty centuries... on a hillside in the region of Burgundy in France and imagine yourself with several thousand people eating , drinking, talking , singing, learning, praying, and being satisfied. This is the community called Taize. The community itself is a Christian monastic community consisting of about 100 brothers who welcome people by the thousands .For the past 60 years or so this community has tried to live out a life of simplicity and service rooted in the Christian tradition.
Each day they gather to share a common life. Each member of the community is vowed to simplicity, celibacy, and a community of goods where everything is shared. Each day their songs and prayers offer themselves and the world into God's loving care and guidance. In the trusting of faith they continue beginning each day again and again.
What might this community have say to us in the 21st century? Is a community like this something that the people in the United States would benefit from? In what ways?

More to come...

Peace,
Stefan Andre

The Question of Community...

More and more I hear people wondering about the possibilities of community. Community - defined as the intentional gathering of people to sustain one another over time in ways social, economical, spiritual, political. The more I reflect on matters in this country as we move further into the ways of Empire it seems clear that forming community is a good antedote, and an urgent medicine to the ills of Imperialism. As our American government pours more and more funds into the military-industrial complex less and less monies are available for health care, education, social programs for the poor, roads, bridges etc... How do we respond to this? One very practical way is indeed community. There are many ways to form community and many creative possibilities. In the next few entries I will be reflecting on these many ways and sharing specific stories and examples of courageous people who are responding. In addition I will lift up certain Gospel stories and attempt to demonstrate how Jesus calls us to a kind of community that not only nourishes human beings but also challenges powers and structures that keep people poor.
I invite your thoughts.

Peace,
Stefan Andre

April 4, 1968 Memphis TN

Today, April 4 is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King . Here in Memphis where the murder took place many people continue to feel the grief , the sadness, and the anger of that day. A phone call from a good friend this morning made this very clear to me. " I have got to do something today", she said. " I can't explain what it is like to have experienced that day 40 years ago here in Memphis". Her voice was trembling , full of emotion and I felt for the first time the pain of someone who lived through April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN.
At this moment I am sitting in a little coffee shop in a poor neighborhood in Memphis. The Caritas Village is a new social justice oriented place where rich and poor eat together and share conversation. Across the table from me is Randy, an African American friend who works with Pax Christi on matters of racial reconciliation. Inbetween e-mails on our respective laptops we enjoy conversation. We speak honestly , fearlessly, like brothers. Memphis... a place of suffering and pain...a place of healing and reconciliation.