Our big chance. . . .today!

Any way you cut it, as a nation, we now face a huge opportunity to strengthen our country, to include more neighbors, to prepare our grandchildren for what lies ahead.  President Biden's plan presents a very practical response to national issues.  His vision seeks to make America better and more prepared for competition in our shrinking world.  

The first half of the current opportunity has to do with physical infrastructure improvement and literal rebuilding--bridges, highways, lead-lined water pipes, climate change curtailment, railways, internet accessibility, etc. 

To build our national, social infrastructure by really investing in our people, consider these real, tangible, very doable strategies to share the opportunity of America to a wider segment of our people:

• Lower child care costs to no more than 7% of a household's income
• Expand parental leave benefits
• Two years of post high school community college costs
• Fully fund early childhood education
• Increase maximum allowed for Pell Grants
• Lower prescription costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate costs with big pharma
• Add vouchers for Medicare participants that cover vision, hearing and dental costs
• Expand Medicaid for the extremly impoverished
• Use tax credits and government financing to bolster affordable and resilient housing, supporting the construction or rehabilitation of more than two million homes
• Extend the Child Tax Credit expansion in the American Rescue Plan, providing 39 million households and nearly 90 percent of American children a major tax cut and cutting child poverty nearly in half
• Increase the Earned-Income Tax Credit from $543 to $1,502. This will benefit roughly 17 million low-wage workers, including cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and child care providers
• Aggressive jobs training program, including green jobs and education careers
• Invest in nutrition improvement by expanding SNAP benefits 
• Pay for it all with equitable tax reform that asks the very rich and U. S. corporations pay their fair share.  

An often overlooked fact of public investment in our people is that every dollar spent on our people moves quickly and completely back into the economy.  Nothing is lost, nor wasted as relates to economic stimulation and continuing growth.  

If adopted, this plan will assure the promise of America for generations.  It will cut poverty significantly. This plan will unite us as the benefits become obvious.  We can do better.  We can change for the better.  

Since 1970, I've been working on a daily basis with men, women and children caught up in the cruel reality of poverty and economic disadvantage.  Poor folks have been my very best teachers.  

One conclusion seems undeniable:  progress in our work to overcome the cruel,  negative impact of poverty on our neighbors will depend on a comprehensive, public, community strategy that bundles numerous assets and transfers them to the people closest to the problem, "the poor."

It is time to act and act boldly.  

What I know for sure. . .

Certainty turns out to be largely elusive in these times.  

But, not completely.  Values--bedrock, non-negotiable, pre-selected--values offer us reasonable certainty on how life ought to be lived.  

So, here is what I know for sure near the conclusion of our recent political convulsions:

• People must be honored, loved, valued--all people.
• Children must be cared for, loved and supported in families.
• Parents must be supported in their responsibilities to their little ones.
• Children must never be separated from their parents.
• A nation as wealthy as this one must take seriously its responsibilities to its citizens and those who seek to be citizens.
• A nation without fair, just, clear policies regarding immigrants and their desire to become a part of the nation lacks integrity, and is not living up to the values that created and sustain this nation of immigrants.
• Black lives matter.  
• Due process trumps police brutality.  
• Protest provokes progress.  
• Prolife is a much broader life philosophy than pro-birth.
• No one should know hunger.  
• Food scarcity and food deserts should be banned outright. 
• Economic opportunity should never be denied or segregated.. 
• Health care is a human right.  This nation should see that every man, woman and child receives such care.
• Public health is more than an idea, it is a practice.  
• Pandemic infections call for public leadership, honesty and sacrifice.
• Adequate, decent, affordable housing is a basic human right.
• Work is sacred.  Everyone who works should be paid a living wage.  No one who works full-time should fall into poverty because of inadequate pay.  
• Education is a human right and should be afforded to everyone at public scale.
• The earth is our home.  We should care for it, preserve it and engage it.  
• Climate change is real.  
• As a value proposition, progressive tax policy is a plus.   
• Charity is good.  Equitable investment better still.  
• Religion is not the point.  Most divisive policies find root in it. Radical love, generosity of spirit and soul is everything.  

Political Leaders and God

Psalm 72

Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King Political Leader

¹ Give the king your justice, O God,
    and your righteousness to a king’s son.
² May he judge your people with righteousness,
    and your poor with justice.³ May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
    and the hills, in righteousness.
⁴ May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
    give deliverance to the needy,    and crush the oppressor.

⁵ May he live^[a] while the sun endures,
    and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
⁶ May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
    like showers that water the earth.
⁷ In his days may righteousness flourish    and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

⁸ May he have dominion from sea to sea,
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
⁹ May his foes^[b] bow down before him,
    and his enemies lick the dust.
¹⁰ May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
    render him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
    bring gifts.
¹¹ May all kings fall down before him,
    all nations give him service.

¹² For he delivers the needy when they call,
    the poor and those who have no helper.
¹³ He has pity on the weak and the needy,
    and saves the lives of the needy.¹⁴ From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
    and precious is their blood in his sight.

¹⁵ Long may he live!
    May gold of Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be made for him continually,
    and blessings invoked for him all day long.
¹⁶ May there be abundance of grain in the land;
    may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
    may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities    like the grass of the field.
¹⁷ May his name endure forever,
    his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;    may they pronounce him happy.

¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    who alone does wondrous things.
¹⁹ Blessed be his glorious name forever;
    may his glory fill the whole earth.

Amen and Amen.

Images from my recent trip to the White House

Recently, in response to an invitation from the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, I traveled to Washington, DC for a 2-day consult on health care and its efficient expansion.  What an opportunity to share "the CitySquare Way."  It was an incredible experience. 

Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD talked to us.  He was most impressive. 

I came away feeling that we are on the right  track, but we must find ways to do more. 

A fundamental premise of the consult was that we possess all the resources we need to address our challenges.  Our problem is that what we have is not aligned nor deployed for maximum impact.  We must work together to be successful. 

Mayor Mike Rawlings

A message from our Mayor to the churches of our community is right here. 

Take a moment to take a look.

Moving beyond charity. . .

Showing a Lack of Faith

To feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the harborless without also trying to change the social order so that people can feed, clothe and shelter themselves is just to apply palliatives. It is to show a lack of faith in one’s fellows, their responsibilities as children of God, heirs of heaven.

Dorothy Day
Source: The Catholic Worker (February 1945)

Add your thoughts at inward/outward

Death penalty should go. . .

Here is an interesting clip from a speech by Bob Ray Sanders delivered at this year's meeting of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP).  

We really should abolish capital punishment in Texas.

Way too costly--119 counties have never executed anyone, largely due to expense involved..

Way too risky--too many ways to arrive at unjust or erroneous verdicts.

Way to inhumane--how can I tolerate something that I could not personally do?.

those sinners!

Prayer list. . .

Here's my first prayer list for the first Sunday of 2014:

• Minimum wage adjustment so that people who work can live above poverty line
• Comprehensive immigration reform so that thousands of my neighbors can receive documentation needed to remain in the US "legally"
• Housing for thousands of homeless persons living on Dallas streets on this cold, cold morning
• Aggressive/progressive city policy to incent developers to build needed permanent supportive housing units in our city
• The children who will go back to school tomorrow--that their  educational experience would be adequate for their coming lives
• Churches in Dallas to "connect the dots" between the Christian message and God's love for the world and the poor
• Strength to live life with less talk and more action
• Justice in the US economy and in the Dallas expression of same
• Those left out, left behind and kicked to the side to know their real status in the heart of God
• Mercy, Lord, mercy

Disparity

Black Americans Given 60% Longer Sentences than White Americans for Same Crimes submitted by Amanda Lang

A new academic study of 58,000 federal criminal cases has found significant disparities in sentencing for blacks and whites arrested for the same crimes. The research led to the conclusion that African-Americans' jail time was almost 60% longer than white sentences... The report concludes that sentence disparities 'can be almost completely explained by three factors: the original arrest offense, the defendant's criminal history, and the prosecutor's initial choice of charges.'

Read the entire report here.

Heroic Leadership

Each month CitySquare hosts two sessions of our "Urban Engagement Book Club."  Meeting each month on the first Thursday (Highland Park United Methodist Church) and the third Thursday (First United Methodist Church Dallas) from noon until 1:15 p.m., the groups enjoy a book synopsis and follow on discussion of books relating to urban issues, inner city ministry, public policy, leadership and history.  Randy Mayeux provides an innovative, comprehensive overview of each volume.  Participants receive a couple of pages of key quotes and an outline of the book being considered.  The goal of each session is to make people leave feeling as if they have read the book, whether they have or not!  So, no advanced reading is required. 

Here's a quote from Chris Lowney's great book on leadership drawn from the history of the Jesuits:

…the abilities to innovate, to remain flexible and adapt constantly, to set ambitious goals, to think globally, to move quickly, to take risks. ...I became convinced that their approach to molding innovative, risk-taking, ambitious, flexible global thinkers worked.

Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company that Changed the World
Chicago: Loyola Press (2003)
by Chris Lowney

Things aren't working. . .

Did you see the 60 Minutes program last night regarding the growth in the numbers of homeless families and children?  Families living in their cars.  Children "learning how to be homeless."  Check it out here.

Somehow current lectures about freedom, rugged individualism, tax cuts for the wealthiest, no matter what the human cost; and shrinking government ring right hollow when you have to face the stories of these families fallen on very hard times. 

One out of 4 children in America is classified as living at or below the poverty line. 

Almost 50 million Americans find themselves scratching out a living at or below the poverty line.

People want to work, but our economy is not working for growing numbers of us. 

If we don't begin to do better, I say. . .

Shame on us!

Community and conflict

Years ago, when I was a very young minister, I had a conversation with a much older minister friend.  During our visit, my older colleague counseled me that "there was never a reason or a justification for creating division in a church."  On the surface that sounds like good, sound, common sense advice. 

However, the subject of our discussion that day was racism. 

I had described how I was challenging racist attitudes inside my congregation in Shreveport, Louisiana (1973-1975) and how my sermons created tension and some discord among the members of the church.  My friend's response was to counsel me to avoid any subject that might lead to division, including racism. 

I disagreed with him strongly at the time. 

I've heard that same advice applied to any number of issues many times since those early days of my ministry. 

I heard them again just a couple of weeks ago here in Dallas. 

On this occasion the subject had to do with how a community provides adequate housing resources for the poorest among our neighbors.  Our discussion related to where such housing could be/should be located.  The problems of site selection for housing developments for the formerly homeless always come up whenever a project is suggested or being planned.  Usually such projects face stiff opposition from neighborhood groups no matter where they are located. 

My friend, a minister in Dallas, shared with me that he and his church were all about "building community."  He told me that a plan they had developed for housing the homeless met with a great deal of opposition in the community where they intended to build it.  Once they were aware of the opposition, they "backed off" out of their "commitment to building community."  Frankly, I'm not sure what the church's responsibility should be in "building community" among those who oppose basic human rights among the poorest of our fellow citizens.  But, that's what he said. 

Of course, my question had to do with who speaks for the unorganized, extremely poor who live in our city without the benefit of housing or, even more importantly, voice.

What about the community enjoyed by or denied the poorest among us?  What about battling the self-interested, well-housed on behalf of and alongside the marginalized, ill-housed out of compassion and a well-developed sense of fairness, equity and justice?

It's the same question I began with almost forty years ago now.  The particular subject matter of my conversations change, but the call to stand with those who are isolated and so easily dismissed remains the same, at least to my way of thinking.

Is a community organized and standing against the weak, the minority and the excluded one that I need to regard with deference, let alone respect?  I don't think so.  If you stand against basic human rights, I'm no longer obligated to support your claims no matter who doesn't like it or what part of the community descents. 

How do you see it?

Reconsidering the "Texas Miracle"

The entrance of Texas Governor Rick Perry into the already swift moving presidential race for the 2012 nomination in the Republican Party prompted stories about the so-called "Texas Miracle."  At the heart of the case for proving up the miraculous performance of the Texas economy stands jobs creation data that appears impressive.  On the other hand, we find quality of life issues that concern growing numbers of hard working Texans. 

Consider the following from the Texas Legislative Study Group, "Texas on the Brink":

• Tax revenue raised per capita--46th in U. S.
• Tax expenditures per capita--47th in U. S.
• Sales tax per capita--15th in U. S.
• Public school enrollment--2nd in U. S.
• Average salary of public school teachers--33rd in U. S.
• Expenditures per pupil in public schools--44th in U. S.
• % of population 25 and older with HS diploma--50th in U. S.
• High school graduation rate--43rd in U. S.
• % of uninsured children--1st in U. S.
• % of children living in poverty--4th in U. S.
• % of population without health insurance--1st in U. S.
• % of low income population covered by Medicaid--49th in U. S.
• Per capita spending on mental health services--50th in U. S.
• % living below federal poverty level--4th in U. S.
• % of population who visit a dentist--46th in U. S.
• % of pregnant women receiving prenatal care in first trimester--50th in U. S.
• % of women living in poverty--6th in U. S.
• Median net worth of households--47th in U. S.
• Amount of carbon dioxide emissions--1st in U. S.
• Amount of toxic chemicals released into water--1st in U. S.
• Amount of cancer-causing carcinogens released into air--1st in U. S.
• Income inequality between rich and poor--9th in U. S.
• Median household income--34th in U. S.
• % of households with Internet access--42 in U. S. 
• Number of executions--1st in U. S.
• Rate of incarceration--9th in U. S.
• % of voting age population that is registered to vote--43rd in U. S.
• % of voting age population that votes--45th in U. S.