Fair Housing
And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. – Isaiah 65:21 (KJV)
The same Isaiah who thinks a vineyard is worthless knows what it means to have one that bears fruit. His entire tone is astoundingly positive after his earlier depression. We will not build and have another inhabit. We will not plant, and another eat. We shall not labor in vain. Or bear children into calamity. What a concept!
In Isaiah, we are dealing with a true prophet. One that knows the relationship between dancing in a ring and then falling: “Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies; Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.” We are both joyous children and people who die. The ancient rhyme reminds one of the hokey pokey, where we put our whole selves in and take our whole selves out. We are both/and: in and not in, dancing and failing. We are filled with life, and we are sacrificed.
There are people who build houses and don’t get to live in them. People who make food they can’t eat. People without children taking care of other people’s children. Construction workers building homes they can’t afford.
Isaiah’s early writings are about vineyards that can no longer even blossom. The prophet is tuned in to the enslavement, the oppression, the lack of habitation, the groaning of the earth. It’s a field that is also a landmine. Not unlike affordable housing, ADUs, accessible housing, fair housing.
Here is the promise of a fine prophet: We will inhabit our own land. We will not labor in vain. For this, we were made.
Prayer
God, you are our home. We dwell with you, and we know you want us all well fed and well housed. Take us from spiritual homelessness to spiritual homes, and there and then let us also afford the rent. Amen.
I like to lift heavy things, lightly. Thus the wheel barrow fits as a great symbol. Maybe it is how I think about God too. Without spirit, things stay heavy. They don’t lift. I can’t lift them. With spirit, I am able to move more than I can. Matter and spirit may be connected -- And spirit takes the lead.
Welcome
Thanks for visiting me here. On this site, you can learn about the books I have written, the dreams I have, the courses I teach -- and how I like to make bricks without straw. That is the name of my consulting service.
In "Bricks without Straw," I help not for profits figure out how to become their best selves, organizationally, financially, spiritually and emotionally.
The title comes from the biblical story of the exodus, where the slaves learned to do what they could with what they had.
“I like to kick hope into high gear.”
— Donna schaper, spiritual entrepreneur
Books
Everyone is paying attention to Pope Francis, and that includes the most unlikely of admirers: a female Baptist pastor. Veteran minister and social justice advocate Donna Schaper has become a fan of the pope, covering him for Religion Dispatches, traveling to see him speak, and taking up many of his issues. Schaper says that Francis is a pope for all of us, and she has written him a series of letters—love letters, of a sort. She agrees with him on the environment, climate change, love of animals, and concern for the poor. But she has a lovers' quarrel with him on the issues of women's ordination and GLBT rights. Schaper's letters to Pope Francis are intimate and ornery, affirming and challenging. She has high hopes that he can heal the church and the globe, and she prods him to be even more inclusive than he already is. In the end, in spite of their disagreements, Pastor Donna loves Pope Francis, and she calls us all to join him in loving the world.
“His Holiness asked me to convey to you his heartfelt gratitude. He prays that God may continue to bless and guide you in your ministry in Judson Memorial Church.”