Where Your Heart Is; There Your Treasure Shall Be Also

Where your heart is there your treasure will also be says the Gospel of Matthew 6:21, and looking at the volatility of the markets, it's no wonder our levels of confidence, faith and hope are dropping along with with our 401ks, the GDP and the blue chips. We've invested not just our money but also the worth of ourselves into a system built on risk and expectation that masqueraded as a sure foundation taking the labels of consumers, which by definition makes us people who "spend wastefully, eat and drink especially in great quantity, and do away with things completely" says Merriam Webster. And then we wonder why things aren't as we thought they were.

On April 4, nearly 200 students from 30 different groups from NYU, Rutgers, Baruch and Columbia poured again into the streets and subways to testify that our hearts should invest the love that we've received from God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ because the supply is limitless and the return gives eternal dividends.

As I gave a bagged lunch to John Peter at 42nd Street and helped him off the train and onto the bench. He thanked me and said "love visited me today" and began to cry. We talked until I could get him to laugh. I found out that he was part Shoshone and liked songs from the '70s. They were happier times he said. I asked why he didn't open the bag to eat right away and he replied that he was getting back on the train to take half the sandwich to his wife who was sleeping at another stop.

We are all people pebbles tossed into a pool, every ripple I create in turn will ripple you, so in unison we are rippling a type of ripple rhythm but we need to ripple in a way that benefits our living. God only knows how far those 1200 lunches went or who they made it to, I'm just thankful we got to take them.

Tapped Out: Words About the Water Crisis

Many times I've thought to myself, what if? What if we spoke like every word mattered, wrote like the world was reading, and lived like each moment just might create life for someone who is here or is to come.

For the last seven years, poet, writer and activist Tara Bracco has been bringing together a diverse dynamic group to highlight issues of injustice through the power of spoken word and I've had the pleasure of being a part of that group. Packed crowds at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Ars Nova Theater and now the Bowery Poetry Club have heard passionate and powerful performances about equal wages, preserving the environment, healthcare and more; and this year promises to be no different as the best poets in the city raise their voices to focus on the world water crisis.

On Saturday, April 25th, Poetic People Power will present its 7th annual show titled "Tapped Out: Words About The Water Crisis." Poets will premiere new works about the privatization of water, the dangers facing freshwater, and its growing scarcity. Join us as NYC's politically engaged artists advocate for the right to water for all people.

The show will feature poets Tara Bracco, Erica R. DeLaRosa, Andy Emeritz, Frantz Jerome, Angela Kariotis, Dot Portella and me, Jonathan Walton. This one-night only event will take place at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City at 7pm. Admission is $10. For more information, please visit poeticpeoplepower.com .

Many Members, But Not One Body

Small groups of individuals working together can accomplish great things. Likewise, the government can enact legislation that can bring foundational changes in a society based on rule of law. Similarly, communities of faith can call congregations back to ideals on which we stand and beckon us to our roots so that the fruit we bear matches the seeds that were planted so long ago; but contrary to the popular but rapidly changing opinion, none of these gatherings can win the battles before us alone. It is only when we work in concert with one another instead of conducting our own symphonies of supposed busyness that we can bring all we have to the table that all might have an equal share of the world's misdistributed pie.

Contrary to what Paul writes in Romans 12, "we are many members but one body," our society has developed into a complex web of seldom crossing entities knowing less and less about the ones of which we are not a part - save the sound bites from Youtube, a forwarded email, and/or Fox News which suddenly make us resident experts on immigration, AIDS, climate change and the fundamentals of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

Somewhere on the way to truly respecting different beliefs we stopped at tolerance and that by definition suggests one or the other is still "less than OK" and the inkling of genuine interest that one had to truly learn to appreciate another culture or world view paused permanently. Hence, here we stand in a world with common enemies like extreme poverty, lack of education and no health care constantly advancing while we war against each other in opposite boxes via satellite on the "Hardball 360 Factor Report."

To see 2 million people gather to celebrate a milestone in world history without an incident of violence or discord is just a snapshot of what's possible when we commit to pray, listen and learn from one another. What if we decided to put down our guns and pick up books, have discussions instead of arguments, and appreciate our differences instead of smiling while secretly trying to subvert each other's arguments or economies. What if we lived like many members of the same body? Maybe things would be different... 



"Jesus For President"



It's like painting a picture in the dark of something I've never seen 
before -- peace.

Not bound by law, location, lack of insurance or low salary

Not held back by insecurities and low-self esteem
not handcuffed by mistakes and expectations

A world where purpose is public

and the remaking of our dreams
into commodities is strictly prohibited.
You see, here - compassion captures consumption

in a dance against scarcity of resources

and caught up in our commitment to God and one another --
we are secure.

Inflation, stagflation, and economic packages of stimulation

are figments of our imagination that we can barely remember.

our only competition is against the instinct to be competitive.
Because this is shalom -- peace between all relationships

Oh if only Christ were our head of state,

then our united states of being would be called Eden...

if Jesus could be our president
then every resident would have equal and ultimate representation

in the court of the most High

Oh if the lion of Judah were the king of our lives,

if His Way was our way, His truth, our truth - his Life, our Life...

what would our lives look like

Maybe 34,000 children wouldn't die every day

from hunger, malaria, TB and AIDS

and hate crimes wouldn't happen between races

and against lesbians and gays
and maybe 40 hours per week would actually equal a living wage
and freedom was a reality not a catch phrase

used by Barack Obama and John Mccain

Maybe every child would have an education

old people could afford medication

and could stop sex trafficking and child slavery

maybe soldiers from every tribe and every tongue

could sit down at a table with unloaded guns
and trade stories about their kids and things on their Christmas lists

instead of artillery fire from opposite ditches

what if this was the way that we lived...

I'm painting a picture in the dark of something I've never seen before...

trying to get back to the point where God spoke into the void and

light broke through,

so my light can break too, so I can help make new what the fall has
taken from me and from you...I'm trying...

to paint a path from Genesis 1 clear through to Revelation 22

but I'm in a black room with black pen with a black ink and black paper too...
but I hear John the Baptist proclaiming the coming good news

I'm painting a picture in the dark of something I've never seen before...

something I'm working towards
a picture I've never seen...a picture--
won't you paint with me.

Not By Bread Alone

I watched them put Mr. Monroe in an ambulance and James climbed in beside him. This is significant because Mr. Monroe and James are homeless and there is nobody else watching. Mr. Monroe walked the streets at the feet of buildings where studios are no less than $2,000/month and condominiums are no less than a million to buy. He died looking up at the scaffolding that was helping to build a better quality of life. I watched the red and blue lights flashing, holding my Subway sandwich, wishing that I had given him another one and maybe Mr. Monroe would have made it; but I knew it wasn't poverty that drove him here but instead the death of his wife -- he had lost his best friend. He couldn't go home because he hated to see her clothes. He lost his job in Long Island while trying to cope, and slowly he was losing his hope until one Monday night at 12:30am his cane gave way and he closed his eyes so that he could see her all the time. I ran to Duane Reade to get a card for James. I quickly scribbled peace-filled scripture and sprinted back out into the street. The ambulance was gone and so were James and Mr. Monroe. This card is in my pocket and will be there until I can deliver it. 



On November 22, 2008, 150 students from Columbia, NYU, Baruch, Stuyvescent and more, all involved in the New York City Urban Project, gathered to bring kindness to the darkest corners of Manhattan -- the nooks at Port Authority, the benches at Grand Central, passages at 168th, chairs at Union square and all avenues and cross-streets in between. Not only to bring more than 500 meals but also food for the spirit. Jesus said in Luke 4, "Man shall not live by bread alone," and it is true that we are in need of so much more than a good appetizer and an entree. Humanity longs to be noticed and known to be significant and it's a reality that we are known by our Creator but true joy exists in relationship -- friends, family, romantic. 



We may not drop a dollar in James' cup on 93rd or give a quarter to Thelma looking up at the board at the Long Island Railroad with no train to catch; but the least that we can do is notice them so that they don't die alone. A "hello" or a bagel can go a long way with the Lazarus that is sitting at all of our gates. The question is not our a lack of opportunity but our willingness to take it and reinforce the humanity of those who need to have their dreams freed again.

Driven By Love

Born into a broken home in Brodnax, Virginia, I witnessed disparities in wealth and opportunity and my initial reaction was anger, and I believe strong emotion is the initial reaction of most of us when we encounter systemic injustices that fracture our society and build racial, ethnic, gender and socioeconomic walls between us. Driven by this anger and a sense of entitlement I strove to do well but only grew tired and frustrated at the slow and lonely progress. Similarly, as pumping fists grow tired and loud voices grow weary, it's everthemore difficult to continue whatever the movement may be. It was only after a near-death experience as I flew through the air on a Harley-Davidson that I realized that life was a gift to be treasured, protected and promoted regardless of the sacrifice involved -- and not just my singular life but the lives of all people as none of us exist separate from one another. Likewise, it is with movements. There must be a stronger motivating factor than selfish ambition, anger or personal entitlement. Love is what lives among the nuns who live in the leper colonies in India, sat in the cell with Martin Luther King, and more importantly held Christ to the Cross at Calvary. In the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he says this: 





1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.




It is with love that we feed the hungry, serve the poor and advocate for those not quite loud enough for the microphones to hear. It is with love that we look past exteriors and transform problems into people, issues into individuals, and bring the lonely into relationships.


The New York City Urban Project began as a way to bring InterVarsity students to urban areas to live out their faith in real and practical ways. Now, it serves as a bright and shining beacon of service, modeling not just the "how" to serve but the ultimate "why" -- building a movement motivated by love that desires shalom, a peace between all relationships. Students, in partnerships with churches and businesses from all five boroughs, distribute food to the homeless, tutor and mentor students, coach youth sports, advocate for child soldiers/trafficked children, raise money to fight injustice and much more, all the while learning why to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly.



To give online go to: intervarsity.org/donate. When prompted for name of staff or project write New York City Urban Project.