Articles

An Emerging Miracle in the Middle East

by James F. Palka ©2013


On Saturday, April 27th, right here at St. Francis, Tucson will have an opportunity to become acquainted with a bold yet fundamental Middle East peace program that has been unfolding on the grassroots level. If you have been around for a while, you’ve probably thought that the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians might never end. The gut-wrenching images of violent, hateful acts perpetrated back and forth have been indelibly imprinted on our minds by the mainstream media.

After all, this particular “resettlement” conflict has been going on since the founding of Israel in 1948. But if the six-and-half decade parade of elected officials, military leaders, political strategists, and media pundits in that land – and in the US and other involved countries – had an answer or really wanted peace, wouldn’t we have seen significant results by now? The whole mess remains pretty hopeless, right?

Well, not really. Not hopeless anymore in light of our current age of free-flowing information and instant communication that brings new and greater opportunities for shared experiences, empathy, and global brotherhood. Or just call it the Age of the Global Village, where individuals, if united in their humanity, now have a newfound power and a global forum in which to make extraordinary changes. But it all starts on the local level and has proven to work in one of the Middle East’s hotbeds of conflict, Israel and the Occupied Territories of Palestine.

Global Village Square, a biannual gathering of Israelis and Palestinians who want to end the conflict in the Middle East, is the brainchild of Whit Jones. A psychologist and businessman from Boise, Idaho, Whit was approaching retirement over a decade ago, and instead of imagining how he might improve his golf game or how many trips to tropical ports he could string together to grab some of the good life, he looked for ways of giving back to the world. “I was very successful in my business,” he said, “with a lot of blessings in my work, and I felt a growing sense of wanting to help people not so fortunate. In fact, I felt inspired to work in areas with the really tough problems.”

It didn’t take long to find his direction. In 2003, Whit attended a meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia where a Palestinian and an Israeli were working together – yes, together – on various conflicts around the world. “Both these men had been seriously injured because of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” Whit said. “Physically, emotionally, and even mentally injured. But both came out of it not wanting to exact revenge on the other guy, but instead, they wanted to work toward peace.”

Whit approached the two men and asked if a retired psychologist from the United States could actually do anything that would be of assistance in Israel and the occupied zones. They replied that if he was coming to “fix” the age-old crisis, than he shouldn’t bother. But if he wanted to help a few families, a few communities, a few villages at a time, the opportunities were endless.

Wheels began turning and ideas formed. “My wife Paula and I realized that we could take advantage of being Middle East outsiders,” Whit said, “outsiders that lacked a political or religious agenda. The last thing the Middle East needs is more politics and religion!” They sprung into action and founded the Center for Emerging Futures (CEF), which is dedicated to the creation of dialogue, trust, and partnerships between Palestinians and Israelis living in that area. And since 2004, CEF has designed a framework, developed a methodology, and has actually changed the lives of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians for the better.

Global Village Square takes place literally on the borderline between the West Bank and Israel at a hilltop hotel overlooking the historic town of Bethlehem. Typically, they draw approximately 80 people, with 70 being evenly split between Israelis and Palestinians. The other ten are so-called internationals, there to observe and assist. Of course, the first goal is for the Israelis and Palestinians to meet and discover that they have a shared humanity. To do this, they are paired off in twos, fours, or even eights, and they hear equal amounts of anguish from both sides and recognize that everyone has suffered.

“The second part of what we do, which I think makes us unique,” Whit said, “is that through some very effective techniques, the groups find out for themselves what they might want to do. You don’t say, ‘Here’s some money. Now go do what we tell you.’ This approach basically never works.”

The event runs two days and participants stay overnight at the hotel. “There’s a lot of eating, singing, talking, and things like that at night, which is also crucial to the connection people make with each other.” Picture Israelis and Palestinians singing together and you’ll get a sense of what amazing things are happening here!

The CEF also facilitates periodic Family Village Square gatherings at the same hotel as well as other locations, with children from both sides, formerly trained to hate one another, who end up cooking together, playing together, and building things together, most of which is done wordlessly. And recently, Israeli and Palestinian soccer coaches met for the first time and immediately gifted one another and exchanged hugs. And then they sat down two-by-two and began to talk. “What you find …” Whit began, his voice cracking with tearful emotion, “is the hunger at all ages to make a connection. They want to get out of this terrible conflict.”

There’s much more to tell, and you’ll have an opportunity to learn it first hand on April 27th. “We will have one Palestinian and either one or two Israelis with us,” said Whit. “They are the people who now run Global Village Square meetings for us in the Middle East.” At this St. Francis gathering, the first ever in the United States, they will be given a forum in which to share their experiences. “Not a political speech, nor as government representatives,” Whit assured, “but just citizens in the Middle East community who want to share what they know and what their life is like.”

And if we Tucsonans could witness this, could sit at lunch with these courageous men and connect with them and learn something true and important – apart from what TV tells us – then this alone could make the day a tremendous success.

“If we connect as human beings, humans whoall work, love, live, fear, hope and seek friendship, then we can reconcile our differences on a human level and resolve conflicts we don’t really want or need.”

Global Village Square at St. Francis, championed and organized by David Wilkinson, will take place in the church sanctuary on Saturday, April 27th from 8:00am to 4:00pm and will also be intended as a dialogue between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Admission is free.

04/01/13
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BARBARA MARX HUBBARD: Planetary Midwife

by James F. Palka ©2012

                                                    

Are you ready to help facilitate a much-needed planetary shift, a massive global rousing of our boundless eternal Spirits that could possibly lead to an evolutionary leap of human consciousness? That’s a metaphysical mouthful, but it might not be as difficult as it sounds because legendary evolutionary master and spiritual visionary Barbara Marx Hubbard is coming to St. Francis to help us. 

If you don’t know who she is, listen to what renowned 20th century inventor and visionary Buckminster Fuller said: “There is no doubt in my mind that Barbara Marx Hubbard is the best informed human now alive regarding futurism.” She has also been called “the voice for conscious evolution” by Deepak Chopra; “our undisputed planetary midwife,” by Marianne Williamson; and was the subject of Neale Donald Walsch's book, The Mother of Invention. 

And since then, the inspirational and remarkably youthful 82-year-old Barbara has only grown wiser and more deeply aware of the planetary and societal changes we are now facing and what they signify in the larger spiritual context.

In light of ongoing and ever-increasing environmental crises, hunger, poverty, social and economic injustice, resource depletion, pollution, overpopulation, the loss of rain forests, and what appears to be a global economic meltdown, we might ask her if our whole civilization is on the verge of collapse­­––or are we even on the verge of human extinction, especially as we inch uncomfortably closer to the Mayan Calendar end-date of December 21st. 

“My favorite simple statement about what’s happening,” Barbara said, “is that our crisis is a birth, the birth of a universal humanity.” She stresses that the global problems we face are actually evolutionary drivers. “Crisis precedes transformation,” she explains. “Nature takes jumps through greater synergy, through greater connectivity to ecologies. In other words, when nature experiences a crisis that cannot be resolved by doing more of the same, it innovates and transforms in a most radical manner. And there is obviously a tendency in that transformation toward expanded awareness, expanded consciousness, expanded intelligence.”

So here we are on Earth, just before we’ve learned to coordinate this new evolutionary urge, because none of our institutions have learned how to create a planetary culture. “However, through Internet social networking,” she says, “through all the social justice and ecology-minded groups, the networks of health, education, energy, new media, and emerging forms of conscious business, we are one evolutionary second away from the possibility of seeing ourselves as a co-creative species. We are now beginning to network the networks of positive change, and just as the breakdowns can go quantum, so can breakthroughs be accelerated.” She calls this latter phenomenon a Macro Shift.

And this gets to the heart of her visionary wisdom: Conscious Evolution. It’s built upon the idea that mankind chooses consciously to take the next step in evolution through co-operation and co-creation instead of separateness and a competitive “survival of the fittest” mentality. “Due to the increased power given us through science and technology,” she explains, “we are learning how nature works – the gene, the atom, the brain. We are affecting our own evolution by everything we do. With these new powers, we can move toward a hope-filled future of creative solutions with immeasurable possibilities … or we can continue radical breakdown and destroy our life support systems.”

And, of course, that destruction would include us. As Barbara suggests, it would be analogous to a full term baby in the womb killing both itself and its mother by continuing to grow in the darkness beyond its allotted gestation period, instead of proceeding down the birth canal and being born into the light of a new world, as a new being, with an amazing set of new possibilities.

So, if we are “the generation of choice,” as she puts it, and don’t have much time to choose, what must we do? “In simple terms,” Barbara says, “Conscious Evolution takes place when we intend to grow in consciousness and use our increasing awareness to guide our actions and achieve a positive future. It is a process by which individuals and groups, families, organizations, and societies can envision and create images of what should be, and bring those images to life by design.”

Conscious Evolution, at its core, is spiritually motivated and spiritually generated. In fact, it’s ultimately a shift in consciousness from “ego to essence,” as one of Barbara’s book titles conveys. “Our Essential Self is the wise, loving, compassionate, powerful, and radiant part of us that, when fully liberated, becomes a powerful force.” She also calls it the Universal Human, which is connected through the heart to the whole of life. 

“I have no doubt that conscious evolution is the greatest epic the human race has ever known,” she said. “No creature has ever been aware of this potential and we have no experience at this game. How well it goes or how badly it goes depends upon how many of us wake up and connect. But if we make it through this crisis, it will make of us a radically new species, a universal species. We will have extended intelligence, extended lifespan, extended energy. This is a species of humanity as much a jump from where we are now, as we are from Neanderthal.”

In collaboration with Evolve Tucson, Barbara will be speaking at our church on Saturday evening, October 27th, 7-9pm. She’ll return on Sunday the 28th to give the commentary at the 9AM service, and she’ll lead a workshop that same day from 1-4pm. Her topic will cover Birth 2012, an evolutionary global event taking place on December 22nd––and Birth 2012 Tucson in Reid Park is planned to be its chronological climax!

“To consciously participate in this experience rather than merely being a passive witness, we can unite and identify with the Divine Force that’s seeking to manifest through evolution.”

Barbara’s books include:

•Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential

•Emergence: The Shift from Ego to Essence

•Birth 2012 & Beyond: Humanity's Great Shift to the Age of Conscious Evolution

10/01/12
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Saint Francis goes solar!

Tucson, AZ- June 22nd, 2012- St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church is proud to
announce the adoption of solar electricity that now powers their facility, including the church
itself and the adjacent International School for Peace preschool. Their main motivation to install
solar power on the church was to uphold their vision statement, which is “to inspire and guide
each other to an awakened life by engaging with each other, our community, the Earth and the
Divine.”

According to Mari Sorri, the Chair of Trustees at St. Francis, the vision statement and the new
solar system “reflect in part our deep commitment to the Earth.” Sustainability is built into their
practice as “we believe that the Earth and Nature is a sacred text, like the Bible and other
inspired texts.” St. Francis will be celebrating their newest commitment to God and the
environment on July 1st with a blessing ceremony for their solar panels.

Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, of the Desert Southwest Conference of The United Methodist
Church, commended St. Francis, saying, “The use of solar panels to provide nearly all of the
church's electrical needs demonstrates true care of God's creation, not to mention a great
financial savings for years to come! I am thrilled with the outstanding example that St. Francis in
the Foothills United Methodist Church has given all of us.”

St. Francis in the Foothills has long been devoted to sustainable practices. Not only do they have
recycling programs and use efficient appliances, but the campus also practices water harvesting
for use in irrigating their predominately native plants landscape. They also recently installed two
Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations through the Federal Government's stimulus program.
These will pull their power from the solar panels, giving EV owners clean electricity and
transportation.

St. Francis's solar system is unique because of the beautiful design of the bifacial solar panels
that are used to frame the church's entrance. The panels allow light to filter through the shade
structure, and also collect light and energy from both sides. By using these modules on the
canopy, the church is making a statement: solar is not only useful, it is also beautiful.

Installed by Technicians for Sustainability (TFS), the solar system consists of arrays on many of
the Church's complex of buildings, and also a shade canopy across the entrance to the church.
192 high-efficiency SunPower modules are arranged on the roof while 60 Sanyo bifacial panels
take center stage on the canopy at the church entrance. The 70kW system will provide 77% of
the facility's electricity, producing approximately 10,500 kWh each month.

The solar system will allow the church to reduce its impacts on the Earth by keeping 25,000 lbs
of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere each month, over 11,000 lbs of coal from being burned
and over 5,500 gallons of water being consumed (for electricity production) each month. Solar
is also helping the church save money: over the course of 20 years, the church will see a
cumulative savings of $238,000.

About St. Francis in the Foothills Methodist Church
St. Francis in the Foothills Methodist Church is committed “to inspire and guide each other to an
awakened life by engaging with each other, our community, the Earth and the Divine.” They are
a Reconciling Congregation, intent on building a community which takes seriously the effort to
wed the deepest intention of our faith with the widest dimension of our world. For more
information visit www.stfrancisumc.org

About Technicians For Sustainability
Technicians For Sustainability (TFS) is a locally owned, mission-driven business, committed to
walking their talk. They provide businesses, public institutions, and residential homeowners
with high quality, clean, renewable energy systems, helping to translate environmental values
into practical reality. The company employs proven technologies to meet customers' specific
needs, including solar electricity, solar hot water heating, and water harvesting. TFS has
installed over a megawatt of solar power in southern Arizona. For more information about
Technicians For Sustainability visit www.tfssolar.com

06/22/12
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Journey to Abul: An Interview with Dr. ART ALDAG, Dr. BARBARA EISWERTH, and NATALIE BROWN

By James F. Palka©2011                     

St. Francis has forged a special relationship with Abul, a village of nearly 3,000 people bonded together in the brave, newly founded nation of South Sudan. We recently dug Abul’s first water well and built a brick school building, with a second soon to follow.

Members of our church who have championed the Abul Project include Dr. Art Aldag, Dr. Barbara Eiswerth, Natalie Brown, Judith Bobbit and Rev. Doug Bobbit, and Pastor Rolly Loomis. But the vision came from John Akuar, a true refugee success story.

Born in Abul 31 years ago, John fled for his life eight years later and became a Sudanese “Lost Boy.” Despite years in refugee camps and enduring many other ordeals along the way, he eventually made it to America. Through the help of Iskashitaa and other non-profit organizations here in Tucson, he recently earned a bachelors degree in International Studies at the University of Arizona. Throughout the years, he had remained indomitably committed to helping his village recover after more than two decades of Sudanese civil war.

Back in July of this year, Art, Barbara, and Natalie traveled to Abul to witness first-hand the amazing progress that has been made in less than two years. But the background for this began with an earlier African trip.

In 2009, the United Methodist Women organization had asked Rolly Loomis to teach at their annual School of Christian Mission event. They were aware of Rolly’s work in Nigeria, his tireless service to refugees here in Tucson, and suggested the topic: “The Beauty and Courage of Sudan.” Rolly had never been to Sudan … and sadly learned it was not yet safe as a travel destination. The twenty-two-year Sudanese civil war was over and officials had signed a cooperated peace agreement in 2005, but continued conflict and residual hostility still menaced the land.

So what to do? Well, Rolly contacted Barbara Eiswerth, founder and director of the Iskashitaa Refugee Harvesting Network (Refugee Ministries of St. Francis), and she introduced him to local Sudanese refugees, including John Akuar. It was suggested that Rolly and Barbara travel to the very large Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya near the Sudanese border, apparently the next best thing to visiting Sudan itself. “It was a dream come true,” according to Barbara. “Half the refugees I’ve worked with in Tucson at one point have come from this camp.”

While in Kenya, Rolly and Barbara made many new contacts and interviewed countless refugees that, along with Sudanese, included Somolis, Burundians, and Ugandans. The success of this trip, and many meetings with John Akuar back in Tucson, allowed St. Francis to carefully blueprint the Abul Project.

The July, 2011 African trip, taken by Art Aldag, Barbara, and Natalie Brown, centered on visiting Abul. But it also continued other Iskashitaa refugee advocacy work. “Using the connections we already had in Tucson and the ones Barbara and Rolly had made two years earlier,” explained Natalie, “we first headed for Nairobi, staying in the Eastleigh District with Congolese refugees who had been members of a congregation founded by Fabian Chindandali, a Congolese refugee now working here at St. Francis.”

“We spent four or five days in Kenya,” Art said, “and after a little sojourn to Uganda to visit John Akuar’s wife and family, we arrived in Wau, South Sudan’s second largest city. Among other things, we thought it would make a nice jumping off point for Abul.”

They were eager to drive the two-and-a-half hours to Abul, but to their dismay, the government decided to restrict all driving that day. After all, this was July 8th, the day before South Sudan became officially independent and authorities feared there still might be some resistance to this. After learning that there were some ten checkpoints along their route, our travelers couldn’t imagine attempting it without official permission.

In the process of acquiring that permission, they spoke with dignitaries in Wau who were aware of John’s project in Abul. “They were very supportive if it,” said Barbara, “and had ideas about what the next phase might be.” For example, it would include a secondary boarding school and living quarters for the teachers.

After a time-consuming ascent up the local bureaucracy, they finally found someone with the authority to give them a permit with the official government seal. Upon arrival in Abul, our trio was greeted by an idyllically warm and sunny East African day, as villagers sang, “We welcome you, we welcome you” in a very high pitch. Bathed in local love, appreciation, and goodwill, Barbara, Natalie, and Art greeted the people, tasted the well water, and eventually strolled to a large shady area where chairs had been set up for the special visitors from America.

One of the elders – at 101 years old – reminisced about the time when the British had been booted out of Sudan! “He went back into history like nobody else there could,” Art said with a chuckle. And that’s a good thing because Thuri, the language spoken by Abul and its neighboring villages, has no written equivalent.

We haven’t finished aiding the village of Abul. With money and commitments now on board from two other Arizona Methodist churches, two more much-needed wells will be dug within the next five years. This relatively small and remote village of Abul remains an astonishing example of what can be accomplished with the vision and effort of deeply committed people. 

09/01/11
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