A Conversation with Christine Aroney-Sine, author of The Gift of Wonder

Christine Aroney-Sine

Christine Aroney-Sine is the founder and facilitator for Godspace, which grew out of her passion for creative spirituality, gardening and sustainability. Together with her husband, Tom, she is also co-Founder of Mustard Seed Associates but recently retired to make time available for writing and speaking. She describes herself as a contemplative activist, passionate gardener, author, and liturgist. She loves messing with church traditions and inspiring followers of Jesus to develop creative approaches to spirituality that intertwine the sacred through all of life. She facilitates workshops on spirituality and gardening, simplicity and sustainability and how to develop a more spiritual rhythm for our lives. Christine is inspired by Celtic Christian spirituality, which has opened her eyes to the God who is present in every moment, every experience and every place. She is open to learning from everyone and everything around.

You trained as an M.D. in Australia, and then spent time serving on a missionary vessel, the Mercy Ship Anastasis. What was that like? 
It was both wonderful and challenging. I tell some of the stories of those early days in my book Tales of a Seasick Doctor. When I started on the Anastasis none of us had any experience and there were few others who had ever built a hospital on a ship to do surgery and medical work so it was hard to get advice on how to proceed. We also had very little money so it took us a long time to renovate the ship and build the hospital. We had lots of people tell us “it can’t be done”. I am sure that none of us realized that we were planting seeds that would impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

However, this was a time of deep spiritual learning and growth as we brought all our challenges to God in prayer. It was a very diverse community with people from all over the world but it was just that - a community that looked out for each other. My best friends are still people from those early days.

You have also served in a missionary capacity as an M.D. along the Thailand-Cambodian border. What drew you to that particular ministry? And what was it like inside a refugee camp? 
I worked in the refugee camp with a team that was sent from the Anastasis. It was the first time that Youth with A Mission (which Mercy Ships was a part of at that stage), had worked in refugee camps so it was a high learning curve for all of us. I was only there for six weeks but they were some of the most influential weeks of my life. The devastation of peoples’ lives, watching kids die in our arms hearing stories of the atrocities that many had suffered was overwhelming. 

These images are still seared on my brain and the experiences turned my faith, and my life upside down as I questioned everything I had learned in the past. I was devastated by the poverty and suffering that I encountered and wondered in the midst of it: “Does God care for people in situations like this and if so what is my responsibility towards them?”

In many ways, this was the pivotal experience of my life. Out of which I made a lifetime commitment to missions and advocacy for the poor. 

In THE GIFT OF WONDER, you write: “Jesus’ stories, as well as his miracles, transformed his followers’ perception of life, faith and God as they reinterpreted their history and imagined a new world of justice, peace and abundance.” What do you think needs reinterpreting in our world today? What are your thoughts regarding the Church serving as an agent of reinterpretation? 
Wow, that is a hard question to answer as I think so much needs to be reinterpreted. Primarily we need to reinterpret our lives to see ourselves not as vehicles of consumption but as stewards of creation, a global family that is meant to care for each other and for the beautiful world that God has placed us in. 

I love this thought from your book: “Passive questions that expect God to do something without my active engagement are destructive, not constructive. When I blame God, I don’t need to respond… Jesus often answered questions with questions that invited active responses rather than passive reactions.” Can you go a bit further with this observation? 
I think that in the face of disaster or terminal illness, asking questions like “why did God allow this to happen?” demotivate us as we will never be able to answer them satisfactorily. We should instead ask questions that prepare us for the work that needs to be done in the face of these challenging situations. If we start from the premise that God is a God of love then we realize that no matter what happens we need to respond in the most loving way possible. That moves us from passive observers to active participants in the work that God is doing around the world.

You note that “When we admit we don’t know something, we open ourselves to new revelations.”  Which (sort of) begs the question: How does a person balance this reality with a belief in an organized, structured religion? 
We need to be constantly working for Biblically literacy, learning not just from the prompting of the spirit but also from reading of scripture and of theologians, not theologians that come only from our own stream of Christianity however. I have been stretched and guided by African, Asian and Native American theologians who have invited me to move beyond my comfort zones and ask new questions about faith and life.

How about this quote from your book: “Whatever my fears, I need to confront them, and questions are a good and often non-threatening way to do that.” From your own observations, why do we seem to be living in such a fear-driven time? And what sorts of questions should we be asking to help confront and overcome those fears?
Fear and anxiety seem to be the foundation of our society, partly I think because we are too busy and too distracted to admit our fear and use the tools that can move us out of it. We are discouraged from being reflective and using contemplative practices as well as creative tools like the ones I talk about in The Gift of Wonder, that don’t just calm our fears but also teach us new things in the midst of those fears.

You mention Psalm 62:1-2 (“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from God; God alone is my rock and my salvation; God is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”) You refer to The Message version of this verse that uses the term ‘breathing space.’ Why does intimacy require breathing space? 
To become intimate with someone we need to draw close and relax in their presence. We need to take time and allow ourselves to fully focus on that person. That I think is what breathing space makes possible in our relationship with God.

Gratitude seems to be one of the major focal points of THE GIFT OF WONDER. You write: “Gratitude is meant to be central to our faith and spiritual practices.” I’m curious, why isn’t gratitude the natural response of humans, at least in Western culture today? 
I think that the consumer culture in which we are immersed has a vested interest in keeping us dissatisfied and ungrateful. It buries gratitude inside us so that we need to relearn the practice and build it into our lives.

There’s a great quote from Fr. Greg Boyle about brokenness in your book. “Standing in the margins with the broken reminds us not of our own superiority but of our own brokenness…The embrace of our own suffering helps us to land on a spiritual intimacy with ourselves and with others.” You go on to observe that “I don’t think anything rejoices the heart of God more than when we show compassion to the most vulnerable and neglected in our society.” Recently, in the US, there was a man put on trial after being arrested for providing water and food to undocumented immigrants coming across the southwestern border we share with Mexico. What are your thoughts about this? 
I think it is tragic when we penalize people for acts of compassion. It dehumanizes us and the society in which we live. When we are not able to or. don’t want to reach out with compassion to those at the margins we do often do so out of feelings of superiority. I think this is a lot of what we see in the demonization of those wanting to cross the US/Mexican border as well as our treatment of the homeless and of the LBGTQI community. 

Towards the end of THE GIFT OF WONDER, you include mention of St. Lydia’s Lutheran Church in Brooklyn whose members share a meal together as part of their liturgy. You and your husband live in a small community. Could you name a couple of benefits you’ve found from living this way? 
Living in community has been so enriching for us. It encourages a life of hospitality. It also exposes us to other perspectives and theological viewpoints and encourages generosity, compassion and gratitude.

You write about “a God who is vulnerable enough to come as a human child and dwell among us, in spite of knowing this child, this beloved Son, would be persecuted, rejected and crucified. Throughout the biblical story, our vulnerable God is exposed to rejection and pain, revealing a trustworthiness to human welfare and flourishing that is astounding.” I’m curious, what got you thinking about God being vulnerable? And why is it important to understand God in this way? 
I think working with the marginalized and the vulnerable in our world was the place that I started thinking about this. Then I was impacted by art by vulnerable people who saw the story of God from different perspectives. Finally, it was the theology of Kenneth Bailey in his book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes that opened me to a much more human view of Jesus.  Finally, the Me Too movement and thinking about Mary the mother of Jesus and how vulnerable she must have been in a society that could have stoned her to death were very impacting aspects for me. God came as a vulnerable child in a poor village to an unwed mother. What could be more vulnerable than that?

Is there anything else you’d like to mention? 
A lot of what we have talked about here is very heavy and I think we need to be careful that we don’t get caught up in the weightiness of the Gospel story. The Gift of Wonder was written to connect people to a fun-loving, joy-filled God who loves to dance and enjoy life and invites us to join the fun. We need tools that help us lighten up and recognize that God delights in us and wants us to enter into the delight of this joy-filled God.

For more information on Godspace, please click here
For more information on THE GIFT OF WONDER, click here

Meet Sara LaCroix, Chair of the Kalamazoo Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition

Sara LaCroix is the Founder and Chair of the Kalamazoo Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition. 

What motivated you to found the Kalamazoo Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition (KAHTC)?

It was hearing about the idea that children were being bought and sold for sex. I was mortified when I heard this.  I started researching what sex trafficking is and found out a whole lot more about trafficking in general.  It isn’t just children or sex it is men, women, children, non-gender identifying persons and labor and sex trafficking. That just upset me more to learn about how many different people were being exploited and it seemed like no one was doing anything about it. I then called the national human trafficking hotline number to inquire about services in Kalamazoo, there were NONE. I found that unacceptable. So, I started a community coalition to gather people together to discuss human trafficking and how we could make a difference.

What’s the KAHTC’s mission?

KAHTC’s mission is to raise awareness in and around the community about human trafficking, train those who are most likely to come in contact with a person experiencing trafficking, advocate for victim-centered legislation, and help get services established for survivors of human trafficking.

Could you mention a few of the most recent activities of the KAHTC?

January is human trafficking awareness month so we did a billboard campaign around Kalamazoo with 6 billboards for 4 weeks that feature the YWCA 24-hour crisis number along with the national hotline number.

We hosted Andy Soper from Measurable Change in Grand Rapids to help us understand trauma and how human trafficking affects the brain.

We have an awareness committee that is scheduled to meet monthly.  We are a completely volunteer-based organization. This past year we lost a few members due to moves. So, we are currently trying to regroup and get more activities scheduled, but we need more volunteers.

How about the scope of human trafficking? Worldwide? USA? Michigan?        

The headlines speak for themselves but not often enough.  Human trafficking is getting more and more attention across the globe. Despite having a full shelter specifically for people who have experienced trafficking, Kalamazoo County has not had one human trafficking case tried. Battle Creek has had six. The state has had eighteen over-all.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates there are 40.3 million trafficking victims worldwide, 81% are trapped in forced labor, 25% are children and 75% are women and girls. The ILO estimates human trafficking is a $150 billion worldwide industry. Why is this sort of abuse so lucrative?

With labor trafficking, there is a demand for cheap products and, in several countries, high levels of poverty so they are labor trafficked to make the cheap products that we buy.

With sex trafficking, there is a high demand for sex, especially with minors. Pornography is the largest business in the world. Once a victim is victimized, they are traumatized and shut down. They believe their worth is for sex. 

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimates one in seven runaway children were likely child sex trafficking victims. Why is there such a strong connection between runaway children and trafficking?

People are vulnerable at different times in their lives. Runaway or displaced youth have an additional vulnerability. Unfortunately, predators and perpetrators are out there looking to exploit anyone who is in a vulnerable place.  The demand for sex with minors is overwhelming high.

The YWCA of Kalamazoo recently opened a shelter for victims of sex and labor trafficking. Could you tell us how the shelter is doing?

I would say fantastic. They have been full most of the time since opening with 14 beds. They serve men, women, non-gender identifying persons and people experiencing either labor or sex trafficking. It is the only facility that offers comprehensive services in the state of Michigan. Meaning therapy, shelter, case management, legal services, and more. It has several people who have experienced human trafficking working at the YWCA who understand what goes on with human trafficking.

Donations are always being accepted on behalf of the shelter. Please check their website for their needs.

Sara LaCroix

What are some myths about human trafficking that you’d like to address?

That you have to be poor to be trafficked. Anyone can be trafficked it depends on your vulnerability.

That you are snatched or taken physically to be trafficked. Movies from Hollywood and social media stories have done a disservice to helping fight the crime of trafficking. Traffickers are smart and have a system for gaining control of their victims. It starts with a grooming process and gains a person's trust then it changes almost overnight. That you can leave anytime. Trafficking is a power-and-control thing by the use of force, fraud, and coercion.

Could you tell us some of the signs of human trafficking to be aware of?

There are so many signs and they are very seldom textbook. I think that’s why at times it is so hard to detect.

For children: Quiet, withdrawn, overly tired, missing school, on the flip side they may act out, be angry, disappear with different older friends for a few days at a time, doing drugs.

Adult labor trafficking: Quiet, no eye contact, not in possession of their visa, green card, id, someone speaks for them, not able to have friends, poor health, high blood pressure, bad teeth, hand and foot injuries.

Adult sex trafficking: Anxious, bruised, tired, withdrawn, angry, drugs, alcohol, more than one cell phone, sex toys, lube, condoms, pornography, uses slang terms, needs permission to do things.

What can readers do to combat human trafficking?

Get trained, be educated, mentor youth, stay involved in your child's life and if you see something call the hotline 888-373-7888.  You might save a life.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

KAHTC started in 2012 and wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the volunteers that have been involved over the years. The Junior League of Kalamazoo has helped get 21 victim-centered public acts signed into law in 2015. The YWCA has stepped up and written grants to have comprehensive services for anyone who has experienced human trafficking. The Ark Shelter for runaway and homeless youth provides services to younger people who need assistance. The Sisters of Saint Joseph have been a strong supporter over the years both with volunteers and monetary support. It has been a collaborative effort to make Kalamazoo a better place. I am so grateful to everyone who comes out to learn more and who has us come and present to raise awareness. 

Ethics, Morality and Washington...

Slideshare

Unless you happen to be a philosopher, the subject of morals and ethics may seem very dry and inconsequential.

But, considering recent decisions made in Washington, the subject is actually quite interesting and useful.

Dictionary.com defines morals as coming from the Latin word mos, referring to "customs, ideas we believe about right and wrong." For instance: honesty, compassion and understanding. "Morals helps us be good people."

Ethics is defined as coming from the Greek word ethikos, meaning character, and describes "behavior that is right or wrong. Depending upon the rules of a situation "our ethics determine our action." For example, following guidelines of conduct, parents' rules or government laws are all based on ethics.

"Morals are shaped by the surrounding environment and sometimes by belief systems. These [morals] in turn shape a person's ideas about right and wrong. Morals are the basis for ethics."

Ethics, points out dictionary.com, are "much more practical. An ethical code doesn't have to be moral. It's just a set of rules for people to follow. Ethical code has nothing to do with cosmic righteousness or a set of beliefs."

And therein lies the dilemma: Ethics aren't always moral. Morals aren't always ethical.

After offering this background to consider, dictionary.com goes on to give a great example of how this plays out in real life. Take the code of "omerta" or silence, within the Mafia. As anyone who has seen any of The Godfather films knows, various characters in The Godfather live by the code of omerta. For members of the Mafia, it's quite ethical to keep silent to protect criminals from police prosecution.

One could say that the development of  Michael Corleone's character shows him moving from being morally against the Mafia's ethical standards, to finally embracing them.

The character of Tony Soprano, in The Sopranos, is often conflicted when he examines his actions using a moral lens, stepping outside of the Mafia's code of ethics.

At this point, you may be wondering: What does all of this have to do with Washington?

Within the past several months, the current administration occupying the White House has been involved in some morally dubious behavior. For instance:

- misrepresenting the findings of the Mueller Report, saying the Special Prosecution's team found no collusion,
- refusing to let former members of the administration testify before Congress regarding this report,
- the Attorney General, as head of the Justice Department, refusing to testify before Congress,
- ICE dropping off undocumented immigrants at bus stops to fend for themselves,
- separating children of undocumented immigrants from their families at the border,
- asking Mexico to do more to prevent undocumented immigrants [mostly from countries outside Mexico] from entering the US,
- the current president's well-documented record of lying. (And most recently, telling the ABC News nightly anchor that "I think I'd take it [information from foreign governments, like Russia or China, if it would help him get elected.]

All of these actions could be considered morally wrong.

But, evidently, within the culture of the current occupants of the White House's West Wing, these same actions are deemed very ethical.

And, to a certain extent, it could be argued that much of the white Evangelical fundamentalist church movement in the US is also operating in a very ethically (if not morally) dubious way. Specifically, as it continues to align itself with the current administration in the White House. As the current president and his administration veers off the moral cliff, it puts the white Evangelical fundamentalist movement in a position to continue to justify the current president's actions.

So, by default, any moral influence that the white Evangelical fundamentalist church had on society is significantly tarnished. In effect, the ability of religion to serve as a check against the baser parts of human nature is lost.

When either morals or ethics become significantly polluted, the result for a nation can be disastrous. 

A solution may come when enough of us take the time to understand the difference between morals and ethics and insist that both are grounded in and for the common good.

Review: The Gift of Wonder by Christine Aroney-Sine

"Jesus specialized in telling stories that changed how his followers interpreted their lives and interactions with their world. Perhaps some of these stories encouraged them to remember their own history from God's perspective and learn to trust once more in the God who promised never to abandon them."

Right off the bat Christine Aroney-Sine, in her book THE GIFT OF WONDER: Creative Practices For Delighting In God, encourages us to rethink our relationship with God by expanding our spiritual horizons.

For her, it's absolutely essential to step outside of any box we may have used to contain God.

This includes asking questions. Lots of them.

As Aroney-Sine observes: "Jesus often answered questions with questions that invited active responses rather than passive reactions. This encouraged his followers to think, reimagine, and draw on the truths for creative solutions already hidden in their hearts. Curiosity is not just about gaining knowledge but learning how to behave in a complex and confusing world. It enables us to discover new truths. When we admit we don't know something, we open ourselves to new revelations."

THE GIFT OF WONDER is liberally sprinkled with such deep pieces of wisdom, interspersed with tons of practical suggestions on how to respark our spirituality.

As if these reasons weren't reason enough to grab a copy of her book, Aroney-Sine's writing is approachable, warm and thought-provoking.

Well done Christine Aroney-Sine!

Voter's Rights, Gerrymandering & Fannie Lou Hamer

This week marks the 100th Anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It reads, in part: "The right of United States citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex."

Given this history, it's fitting to discuss gerrymandering, Civil Rights and Voter's Rights -- and most especially Fannie Lou Hamer. (Simply put, gerrymandering is the changing of voting districts that gives one political party an advantage; or disadvantages another party.)

Some readers may recall that one result of the 2018 election in Michigan was that a proposal to stop gerrymandering in Michigan passed.

The proposal requires Michigan officials to redraw at least 34 congressional and legislative districts for the 2020 election.

A three-judge panel had previously ruled that the current district maps in Michigan were unconstitutional and skewed power towards the Republicans, who currently hold the majority in the Michigan state legislature.

In fact, the judiciary panel, during the initial ruling, stated that the gerrymandering in Michigan was "of historic proportions" in violating the first and fourteenth amendments.

The issue resurfaced recently when Republicans in the state legislature filed a suit in federal district court to stop the re-districting from happening.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on this issue sometime this month.

That's because a host of other states, like North Carolina, Maryland and Ohio have similar issues with gerrymandering.

To find out how your own state may be doing in the fight against gerrymandering, you can visit Common Causes' website. The site's information is a little outdated, but at least you can get a basic idea of where things stand and catch up from there.

Closely linked to the issue of gerrymandering is the right to vote.

Fannie Lou Hamer/Life & Thyme

Back in October of last year, I wrote a blog piece on Fanny Lou Hamer who spent a very large portion of her adult life focused on overcoming Jim Crow laws in Mississippi. She paid a steep price for her involvement, including being beaten almost to death. If you missed reading about Hamer, it's worth a look.

Hamer was relentless, fearless and inspirational.

In the 1960s she traveled throughout the deep south taking up the cause of civil rights and, most especially, voter registration among people of color. When the Democrats refused to seat members from Mississippi's Freedom Democratic Party (who were mostly people of color) before the Convention of 1964, Hamer went to Washington to plead their case.

Fannie Lou Hamer's life should be an example to all of us.

Her groundwork resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1965. According to history.com, in Mississippi alone, the percentage of voter turnout among blacks rose from six percent in 1964 to fifty-nine percent in 1969!

We should actively stand against gerrymandering - which is unconstitutional, morally reprehensible and undermines our democracy.

We should take a stand for a truly democratic process that actively encourages people to register and then vote. It's shameful that Jim Crow still exists - in the north as well as the south.

We should actively resist efforts to suppress voter registration and voter's rights.

I encourage you to check out Common Causes' website, see where your state currently stands in regards to voter's rights and gerrymandering, and then follow-up and become involved at the local and state level!