Day 776: Sunday May 1, 2022

3 Announcements: Documentary, Book and Visioning

"plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to be nourished, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another, and create a bright resourcefulness that will enlighten minds, warm hearts, give strength to our hands"

Announcement #1 from JoAnn & Jim: A Must Watch Film: Youth v Gov

This weekend, April 29-30, May 1, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Netflix will debut the movie Youth v Gov. If at all possible, please watch it this weekend and invite your friends and family to do the same. A large viewing audience this weekend will draw attention to the importance of dealing seriously with Climate Change.

YOUTH v GOV is the story of the Juliana v. The United States of America constitutional lawsuit and the 21 American youth, ages 14 to 25, who are taking on the world’s most powerful government. Since 2015, the legal non-profit Our Children’s Trust, has been representing these youth in their landmark case against the U.S. government for violating their constitutional rights to life, liberty, personal safety, and property through their willful actions in creating the climate crisis they will inherit.

As leaders in the youth climate movement, the twenty-one plaintiffs of Juliana v. The United States of America represent the diversity of American youth impacted by the climate crisis. They hail from 10 states: Florida, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Louisiana, and New York. These film characters encompass cultural, economic and geographic diversity and many come from marginalized communities, serving as beacons of hope for those who do not have a platform to share their own stories. They are African-American, Indigenous, white, bi-racial, and LGBTQ, and their diversity speaks not only to the impacts of climate change, but to the inclusion required if we are to build a better and more just future together. These young people are activists, students, artists, musicians, and farmers, and their stories are universal.

See the Trailer here:

https://vimeo.com/687266805?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=2377525

Bill McKibben, environmental activist and founder of 350.org calls this the most important lawsuit currently being litigated in America. In 2010 our own Sharon Duggan co-founded the legal nonprofit organization "Our Children's Trust" that has represented the plaintiffs in this case since 2015, youth climate leaders who represent the diversity of Americans impacted by the climate crisis. They hail from 10 states. They're students, artists, musicians and farmers, and their stories are universal and very compelling.

JoAnn and Jim viewed the movie with Sharon as Moderator at Burlingame Hall in Sonoma and we will gladly watch it again this weekend in the privacy and comfort of our own home. We hope you will do the same. Sharon was also an active Board Member of OCT until 2021 and is now an Emerita Board Member.

Maybe we can host a screening or invite Sharon to speak at Emmaus: Find out How to Take Action at:

https://www.youthvgovfilm.com/take-action

Happy Viewing,

JoAnn Consiglieri and Jim McFadden

Announcement #2: "Small Great Things"

From our Picnic -- a suggestion we read Jodi Picoult's 2016 novel on race in America: Small Great Things

In her 2016 novel, SMALL GREAT THINGS, Jodi tackles the profoundly challenging yet essential con­cerns of our time: prejudice, race, and justice.

According to a review in the Washington Post: SMALL GREAT THINGS is the most important novel Jodi Picoult has ever written. Frank, uncomfortably introspective and right on the day’s headlines, it will challenge her readers...The difficult self awareness is what sustains this book...forcing engaged readers to meditate on their own beliefs and actions along with these characters....It's also exciting to have a high-profile writer like Picoult take an earnest risk to expand our cultural conversation about race and prejudice.

Washington Post

Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years’ experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she’s been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don’t want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene?

Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy’s counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family—especially her teenage son—as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other’s trust, and come to see that what they’ve been taught their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong.

Interview with Jodi Picoult at the Oxford Union about Small Great Things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z39SqjtaUlo

What people are saying about Small Great Things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfpvqzWIxX8

Announcement #3 from Enid:

I want to follow up on the Synod discussion we had last Sunday. I agree with those of you who think the Vatican should hear the voice of Emmaus members as part of the Synod listening process. We took the first step as a community when we shared our personal faith journeys at our March 27 liturgy. At a specific Synod Listening Session, we could focus on the positive aspects of our Emmaus community that often are not found in parish communities. Our time identifying these positive elements would have value to Emmaus and let us consider ways to enhance these aspects in future liturgies and gatherings as well as conveying our hopes for the church in general.

The attached 2 page document published by the Vatican Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops lists the invitation of Pope Francis to reflect on the following questions together. “A synodal church, in announcing the Gospel, ‘journeys together.’ How is this ‘journeying together’ happening today in your particular church? What steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow in our ‘journeying together’?”

"The purpose of the Synod, and therefore of this consultation, is not to produce documents, but 'to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to be nourished, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another, and create a bright resourcefulness that will enlighten minds, warm hearts, give strength to our hands." (PD, 32)

A list of 10 possible themes for discussion is included. I have attached a copy of these themes. We can consider one or two for our discussion. I think themes 2 and 7 may work for us, but I am open to suggestions. We cannot cover all of them.

The document also includes “pitfalls to avoid.” One mentions the temptation to only see problems. “We can miss the light if we focus only on the darkness.”

We could have a Synod Listening Session before our May 22 liturgy at about 3:00 or 3:30 if that works for people. We could also schedule a session at another time.

Thanks for bringing up the Synod discussion and commenting on it. Let me know what your thoughts are.

Dear Sisters and Brothers: Lots to think about. I'm sure we pray for peace every day.

Hearts on fire!

- David