‘Peace House Community Journal’ Archives
We Need Spirituality
Marti Maltby from the series Peace House Community Journal... By MARTI MALTBY “Community is a form of spirituality.” Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy, Oglala (Sioux) Lakota, Associate Pastor at All Nations Indian Church When Kelly made that comment, I grabbed my pen to make sure I didn’t forget her words. I wasn’t the only one. Kelly was opening a meeting of the Metro Urban Indian Directors subcommittee on homelessness and the opioid crisis in the Native American community. In keeping with Native culture, a respected member of the community was invited to open the meeting “in a good way,” meaning that they share words that focus our attention and edify the discussion. As I’ve learned over the seven years I have been attending the meetings, the Native American community is far more tight knit than my own culture. Those on the streets are referred to (and treated) as relatives, regardless of tribal affiliation. While my culture defaults to individual rights [...]
Order and Chaos
from the series Peace House Community Journal... By MARTI MALTBY Marti Maltby The Book of Genesis tells that in the beginning, God brought order out of chaos. We’ve been trying to do the same thing ever since, with varying degrees of success. For the most part, we seem to do okay, creating enough structure for society to function, but not enough to crush everyone. But even accomplishing “okay” is a struggle, and maintaining requires a constant balancing act. We’ve seen what happens when things get too structured. Sometimes totalitarianism results, where thought, speech, and behavior are all curtailed in the name of some “greater value.” People, either as individuals or groups, are sacrificed for something intangible. Even if it doesn’t get quite that bad, too many rules still cause problems. George Orwell, an ardent socialist, wrote a lot about the problems he saw in other socialists. Many of them, he believed, embraced socialism because it would make [...]
Now You See Them, Now You Don’t (But You Should)
from the series Peace House Community - A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY Marti Maltby I think everyone is familiar with the magic trick where a coin disappears from the magician’s hand and then reappears out of someone’s ear. When we were little, we believed the coin really had disappeared. As we got older, we knew the magician had simply used a sleight of hand, and they were still holding the coin, but if the magician did the trick well, we were still willing to be fooled. Many of the “solutions” to homelessness and similar problems are just variations of the coin trick. Unfortunately, I find many of the “solutions” to homelessness and similar problems are just variations of the coin trick. The solutions don’t really solve homelessness. Instead, they try to make the homeless “disappear”, and if the solution looks appealing enough, everyone is supposed to applaud. On some level, everyone knows the homeless still walk the streets, trying to find safe [...]
