I made this video as a playful way to say that every place is sacred. While I am very uncomfortable in consumer spaces like Kmart, it is exactly those spaces that I need to reach deeper, be aware, and remember to play. Sitting in silent Quaker worship is one way to ground a space and ones’ self.
After two years of writing, recording and planning, Clothe Yourself in Righteousness is out! The album is Jon’s most mature, well-thought out work to date.
Pre-orders have been shipped. Donors have been rewarded. Now all we have to do is go and play the tour!
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Friends,
As the tenth anniversary to 9/11 came and went, I found myself reflecting on the past ten years… especially our reaction to being attacked and the results of that reaction.
I found myself reflecting on my elder, Tom Fox, who joined the Christian Peacemaker teams to try to heal some of the damage we were doing in Iraq. And I found myself mulling over the song that I wrote about Tom’s subsequent abduction and death.
What resulted was very unexpected. I am working full tilt on a new album (due for release in 2 weeks… yikes!) and certainly did not have the spare time. But of course I had to listen, and be faithful to the call. Take a look:
“What’s important is not your emotional reaction to something, but how you hold and interact with that emotion”
It will continue to become clear that 9/11 was a turning point for our country. Not because we were attacked. Because of the way we responded to being attacked, which was far more damaging (to us) than the attacks themselves.
Tom was a Quaker who, when our thirst for vengeance threw us into conflict with Iraq, felt led to put himself at risk by traveling into the middle of that conflict to be a peacemaker.
Tom endured the criticism of self-proclaimed “patriotic” Americans, personal sacrifice and even his own death to follow his leading for making peace in Iraq.
As I was looking around for images for the music video that I released today about Tom Fox, I stumbled across this one:
Tom Fox did not go to Iraq because he knew Iraqis personally and wanted to protect them. He did not go to Iraq because he was not affected by 9/11. Most likely, he had a great deal of personal emotion to overcome before he put himself into that conflict to be a nonviolent presence.
When I lash out at someone, it is most likely because I am in a very difficult place myself. Doing violence to another being is a symptom of my ambivalence about my own existence, and devaluing another’s life solidifies my lack of value for myself.
We cannot all be Jesus, or Tom Fox. But can we all see that we are called to healing, that hurting people who hurt us is asking for more hurt? Healing has to start somewhere. I know it might feel like I’m asking a lot (and I am), but why not let it start with us?
Pendle Hill’s daily Quaker Worship transforms into a raucous dance party as the result of some unconventional ministry from Jon Watts. Filmed and edited by Ben Schilling. The music video for “Friend Speaks My Mind.”
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