HONESTLY SPEAKING

An Education in Domestic Human Trafficking

In the past weekend, my eyes have come to open to the realities and tragedies of Human Trafficking. I didn't realize that it was in my own backyard, but it seems that LA is one of the several hubs in the US. Other cities are San Fran, NYC, Boston to name a few. 

As I prepare to launch Life to the Full Curriculum I am trying to look at where some of the proceeds will go. I am thinking right now that I will put half of my tithe to Kiva.org and half to a human trafficking organization, or maybe several. 

I just talked to my friend Rachel Johnson who is working with an organization called Touch a Life Foundation. We talked through my situation the other day...which another organization is working on...and she led me in the direction of a few books that she'd recoommend.  Rachel is working with slave traders in Ghana and is concerned with foreign human trafficking, though is in relationships with many organizations domestically who are active in stopping this kind of thing in our country.

I would like to recommend the books to you too so we can all become educated with the problems. I am hoping to become a volunteer.  With so many great needs in the world, I have passion for many of the injustices around the world and spend a lot of my time trying to help children understand these things. I feel as if God has placed a new passion in my heart this weekend for a specific way I can funnel some of that passion. I believe firmly that we are not to be focused in 100 directions...but to pray "Lord, where do you want to use me" and then be committed to that cause. Too often our generation becomes too gratified by partaking in the "Hometown Buffet" of non-profits...which rarely leads to lasting change.

The book that Rachel recommended to me is called "Not For Sale"  by David Batstone who began the organization Not For Sale Campaign 

Like I said in my last post: "Ignorance does not make us Innocent"

Also, check out www.callandresponse.com

Is the cost of your 20 dollar foot massage much more?

I went today to treat myself to a foot massage in the valley. I'm not going to reveal the exact location at the advice of an organization I'm now in touch with who is looking into it. More on that perhaps later. This was my third visit to this location and each time the manager at the front has given me the creeps. He's a scraggly white man who looks like he's a shady life and you can see it in his eyes. It's like you can't even see his soul...that kind. I walked in this morning, to notice another man across from him and they told me to a wait a minute. I was ushered into a room with 4 chairs and a young woman started to work on my hour long massage. 

These massages are called "foot massages" but they are actually wonderful full body massages. 

My massage was very nice and relaxing. She was sweet, respectful, and spoke no english at all. 

When I walked out she said "you like my services?" I said, "yes, very much. thank you."

She followed me and stood waiting for a tip. I rummaged in my purse for the gift certificate I had been given. I gave it to the shady man at the desk and then opened my wallet and found four 1 dollar bills and handed them to the girl. She remained standing there.

THe man behind the desk looked at his buddy who was equally scary looking and said "you should try her. She's new. We just brought her here."

THe man said "how much did you give her?"

I said "four dollars"

He said "Well, if you liked her services, you should give her more. She works on tips alone."

I said, "then where does the 25 dollars go?"

He said, "she works for tips". 

I started to get angry. I said "sir, in our country we pay people a minimum wage. Is this what you're doing bringing people from China to use them as slaves?!"

He said "Yes, yes, minimum wage. It's just good you pay her more because she only works for tips. Sure, sure, that's what I'm doing...managing slaves."

I said "are you the owner?"

He said "i am the manager"

I said "what you are doing is illegal, terrible, and I will be reporting you and will never return. Are you comfortable with yourself managing chinese slaves?"

I said this as a customer walked in. I wanted him to hear me say this so he would know too. 

THe man behind the desk just said "thank you very much, thank you very much" in repetition to get me out of the shop.

I looked around the place, and I just got more and more angry. 

It felt dark and evil, and I hadn't wanted to believe my intuition was correct because the prospect of a 20 dollar 1 hour massage sounded like a great new routine for me. Convenient, affordable, relaxing. It can't be these things if it means we are contributing to the treatment of immigrants. Whether legal or illegal, we each should treat every human being with dignity. 

I closed the door firmly and walked out to my car thinking of who I knew and who I would contact today that is involved in investigative reporting. I know the issues are complex but I think the first thing we need to do is expose these horrible practices that many of us are not aware of. 

I thought inside, "this is righteous anger. I will not be able to ignore this."

So, I tell you this story to tell you to be very careful when you consider the things you do and pay for.

 Ignorance does not make you innocent. 

I will keep you updated as I pursue this thing that has been revealed to me. 

I came home and saw a flier on my table that said "christians concerned for Burma" and I thought, yes, yes...I am concerned for Burma and now...I am concerned for Ventura Blvd.

Human trafficking is something we hear a lot about, or not a lot about, depending on what you're reading or listening to I suppose. I just have always wondered "where is it? I don't see it?"

Perhaps this is the day my eyes are opened.  

I found this article worth reading

Anonymous?

I'm home tonight, enjoying a beautiful quiet night. My soul feels very quiet and surprisingly melancholy. Could be that I need some sleep...or that there are some deeper losses and sadness that are surfacing a little. I'm alright with a melancholy night. 

LJ is here and we're comfy on the couches, candles lit, and listening to my favorite XM radio station: Coffee House. It's nice to have a friend like her that doesn't require a lot of conversation to be comfortable. Rare to find these friends. LJ is my intern this summer...and it's delightful. She stays a my house a few days a week. I look forward to those nights.  Tonight we made french toast at 9pm because we weren't hungry at dinnertime. It's a cozy evening.  The comfort of being in the room together yet not having to say anything is something I hope to find with my future husband...whoever he is...space to think...but not alone.

I've been thinking a lot about my private and public life. What do I want to share? What do I want to keep private? What is mine to hold dear...between me and God...and what do I want to share to open up space for others to experience freedom and that much needed feeling of "me too!"

There are some things I would like to write about. Things that I think could be very helpful if shared...not really for my benefit...but for others.  I am just so cautious...more than I used to be...to share and unfold those things that I find private. I know the sacrifice of sharing...and sometimes it is more of one than others. 

I guess I'm just wondering what it is that God wants me to do with some of this that I know I have a lot to say about...but of which I would rather be silent on. Hmmm interesting. 

See...now I've just been vague and strange. There's the rub. 

Perhaps I'll make up a penn name. That might be just the trick. A blog under a different name...hmmm...

I think that might just work. I'll have to come up with a believable but dreamy name. :)

Or, should it be a really obviously fake name. Perhaps it can be an anonymous blog for many of my writer friends who want to write some bold things and not have their name forever linked to it.  Might be a great idea...what do you think?

I just think as I get a little older and more secure in who I am...I don't have as much of a need to share my every thought with the world.  I think we are far to public with our lives...and I am probably twittering and updating my status less often with less detail now to have a little more anonymity. Anonymity is totally underrated...I gotta be honest. 

Well, that's my rant for the night. Hope you have a lovely Thursday.

living in the tension

Here is the written version of my sermon yesterday:

I’ve spent the last 3 years writing Sunday school curriculum, and in doing so I've gone through most of the Bible. In doing this I have been given quite an education of my own, and it's been so wonderful. 

 One of the things I’ve noticed the most is that God is multidimentional, dynamic- we can not finish understanding God. There will never come a day when we will totally understand God…he is that complex and wonderful and unchanging, yet dynamic and full of emotion and love. 

   A friend recommended a book called A Severe Mercy. I liked the title enough to buy the book. I read “severe” and “mercy” next to each other and I though “well, isn’t that Jesus!?” 

The idea that God’s mercy is severe…takes my breath away. 

So is God also severely just? 

Do I like that He is just? 

Social Justice- not a cooler word out there right now…but is it deep justice…or just social? 

I was interviewed the other day by a professor in Kentucky about social Justice…he’s wondering why this generation of 18-35 yr olds is so passionate about it. We had an really fantastic dialogue about the next steps of where to take this generation ideally and how we need to back that passion with principle…the ones that we find in the Bible. 

I want justice for the poor, I want justice for the children around the world enslaved in the sex industry. I want liberation for those who find themselves enslaved by anything in this world…whether it be physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional…these are the things I am willing to live for. 

But do I want God to be just with me…or just merciful? 

Do we like very much that God calls us out of some of our sinful behaviors and creates avenues for transformation for us? 

Sometimes we do, with the easy stuff… But what about when it comes to the more subtle of injustices and sins in our life? What about the things that our culture has breezed right over and deemed “human” rather than “sinful”? 

We read often about living water, life to the full, peace that transcends understanding, but how do we let that become a part of our everyday life? Are those going to be theoretical things that we come to know when we die and go to heaven…or are we going to be a people who are willing to boldly expect transformation in our lives now? 

If the kingdom of heaven is full of these things…and God offers us that now, are we willing to allow Him to be Lord of our lives and understand both His mercy and his Justice? 

Read John 8:1-11

This is truly one of my favorite stories. Here a woman, ashamed…and Jesus steps in and redeems her publicly. Before we take a closer look at this story I want to just make sure you are aware that this may not have actually happened as it is not found in the original manuscripts of the bible. However, scholars agree that it is theologically consistent with the person of Jesus and we can look at it like a parable and understand Jesus more. So back in the center of the town, I imagine this woman: ashamed, broken, . She has been acused of being a whore. Called out. And the punishment? Death. 

According to their law justice was for her to be put to death. They were going to administer justice to her. ANd not because they cared about her, but because it was about them being right and catching Jesus in being wrong. 

Jesus redefines justice and adds in mercy. He loves her and looks at her and says “go and sin no more.” Or the message version says “go on your way. From now on, don’t sin” 

From now on, Don’t sin. 

How do I deal with that kind of justice? How do I live in that tension of both being extremely merciful, and yet just in a way that calls for transformation. 

Will she be able to do it? 

I don’t know. 

We don’t know the next part of the story, do we?

Does she continue sleeping around? 

Or does the love of jesus so transform her life from the inside that it flows out to the outside? 

I think that this is where we are able to live in the tension. 

The tension created by living in both a just and merciful way. 

When these two come together…it is LOVE. 

As Christians I think we can get apathetic and lazy and fall into one side or the other “if I keep this checklist of things well, I can cruise in Christian autopilot” Or we go about dismissing all of the darkness in the world and say “hey, Jesus forgives you, it’s okay.” 

This either or living is very similar to our western thinking which is polar in nature. We can tend as a culture to be black and white: we like to define things and understand them in a concrete way. 

When I was 12 or so I began really understanding that Jesus was asking for me to live every moment with Him. In my wobbly way of trying to understand this: I decided I wanted to be a great Christian. I tried really hard. I woke up a lot of mornings and prayed “okay, Lord, today I’m going to try not to sin at all!” I was really tough on myself…I wanted to be kind and friendly to all people, I was going to kill my brother with kindness when he ticked me off, I was not going to gossip (a tall order for a jr. high girl), and I would try not to use profanity. I wasn’t dating any boys, so I didn’t need to worry too much about that part of things…but I thought these are the things that can keep me living the way Jesus wants me to. 

And this…is religion. This is making a set of rules to try to create a way that makes us feel like we’re obedient. The rules aren’t the problem…but how they affect our living and our ability to show mercy is where they don’t fulfill Jesus’ true desire for justice. 

It would be like driving by the ocean, but never swimming in it. God wants more for us. 

Justice is restoring things to the way they are to be. 

Mercy is forgiving someone for something they don’t deserve to be forgiven of. 

If we believe that God created all of this and all of us with an intention of the way it should be…that there are right and wrong things then as people seeking God’s way, we should be about the right things in the world. 

We should also be about the restoration of things and people to their right place. This is why I think it’s correct theologically for Christians to care very much about the earth and that we should be joining if not leading the way to being green. 

I spend my days caring a lot about the restoration of peoples’ hearts and lives. I want to see transformation happen. I can only see that to happen if we are engaged in a deep understanding of our own personal sin and finding redemption in Jesus for that. 

Justice without mercy can become legalism or empty religion.

Mercy without justice is weak and can lack principle, depth, and become pluralism.

 It is in the tension of both mercy and justice that we come to know what God’s love is like. 

Back in the courtyard I imagine this woman taking the first step away from the scene. What is her life going to be like now? How does experiencing the love of God, the Love of Jesus, transform us? 

Have you come to look him in the eyes and show him your wounds? 

Have you been too afraid of what God might think of you?

Have you felt ashamed? 

It is only in our encountering the Love of Jesus that we can understand why it is one would live the Christian life. If you haven’t let Him look deeply into your soul with you…to even call justice to our ugly parts…and bring mercy to the brokenness…I would venture to say that you have only experienced religion.

 Jesus spoke against religion and called us into the true reality of the universe which is His Kingdom. It is a kingdom that is built on a beautiful redemption that happened on the cross, for you, for me, and that calls us into a freedom that will never leave us looking around for more…but will take our breath away and at times be so overwhelming that we can barely take it all in. 

I want to encourage you to take a risk. If you haven’t ever come to meet with Jesus about who you are and where you’ve been…then I invite you to do so. You don’t have anything to fear…because you will be met with a love you’ve never known. This Jesus who met the woman, is the Jesus you will encounter. 

If you do know Jesus, then I invite you to join me in continuing to venture to inviting him deeper and deeper into your soul. There is no limit to the depth of love He has to show us, and I am excited to know that love more and more every day of my life. Because the more we let him love us, the more we won’t help but be transformed, and we will be people of deep justice and severe mercy because that is what love is like and that is what this world is starving for.