Problem Solving

I have known since Day One At Rock Spring that  “affordable housing” was a great community concern for the members of Rock Spring; it has taken me eight months to begin to discover what that really means.

Since my arrival, I have been keeping my eyes and ears open for information about this issue.   From individuals pointing out new developments to me to learning about the wide range of organizations in Arlington that are focused on this issue, it quickly became clear that that there is much focus on this issue.  Yet it wasn’t until the first week of May that I began to realize what a challenging issue this is. 

Bill Bozman, president of AHS

That first week of May I attended “The State of Affordable Housing in Arlington” sponsored by the Alliance for Housing Solutions.   I had known that Bill and Ellen Bozman had long been very involved with the community, but I had not realized until I got there that evening that Bill not only helped found AHS, he has been and continues to chair the AHS board for the past twenty years.

At that meeting, we heard reports from several different developers about projects that have been done and projects that are in the works.   All sorts of development is in the works!  There are efforts to “lock in” housing rates over a number of years which is also good.   I heard Nina Janapaul from APAH talk about how they are working to lock in 6000 units around Columbia Pike so that the rental value will not go over 80% market index for something like 60 years.   Sounds good.

As I drove home, I thought a little more about those numbers.  The median income in Arlington is $104,000.  Eighty percent of that about $80,000!   Could that be right? 

The next day I sat around the table with some VOICE leaders and suddenly it was like a light bulb went off and I started asking questions.  How do we define “affordable?”  Most of the developers define affordable as 60% of the medium income, $104,000.  The starting salary for a teacher in Arlington County is $43,000.  There is a five-year wait list for section 8 housing.  I now understand that housing grants are available in Arlington but only if you have secured a lease and you make less than $30, 183 year.

Perhaps it has taken me so long to get my head around this issue because every time I have been hearing the term, “affordable housing” I thought about what affordable housing is in Columbus, Ohio (from where I have recently moved).  Affordable housing in Columbus, Ohio provides an apartment for an 82 year old man with a monthly SSI check of $851.  Affordable housing provides for those who really can’t provide for themselves.  There is a whole other spectrum of housing available for teachers and firefighters, clerks and administrative assistants! 

I think I have finally discovered why “affordable housing” was the number one issue Rock Springers indicated in the Search profile was a major community concern.  My question now is: what are we going to do about it?  Gathering together around the table for problem-solving is one step in the right direction.

Note:  I talked about this issue in more depth during my May 8, 2011 sermon.  

---

Shabbat Shalom!

Eager to experience different forms of vital worship, I was glad to hear from Hank that there was a lot of good stuff happening at the Synagogue at Sixth & I.  I headed there tonight for their "Sixth in the City Shabbat" designed for those in their 20s and 30s.  (You don't need to remind me that I am no longer in this target group.)  The evening began at 6:30 p.m. with socializing, drinks, and appetizers.  The Shabbat service began at 7:15 p.m. and was followed with dinner at 8:15 p.m.  As we entered, everyone who greeted us with, "Shabbat Shalom!"

The service was led by Rabbi Shira Stutman and musician Sheldon Low.  Sheldon is a wonderful musician who played the guitar and led the congregation in song, mostly in Hebrew.  Rabbi Stutman is a vibrant person who quickly drew me in with her warm smile, easy manner, and obvious delight in being with the group who had gathered tonight.  I loved how she talked about the value of Shabbat and taking time apart from the typical rhythm of our days. The service drew heavily from the prayer book and included a teaching moment, some words about infusing the mundane tasks of life with the holy, prayers of healing, as well as the ritual of breaking bread at the end of the service.  Rabbi Stutman called forward a couple who had recently been married to hold the bread for the blessing; tonight she added honey rather than salt to the challah as a blessing of sweetness for their first year of marriage  After a prayer, she passed the bread throughout the congregation.   The loaves were passed through the several hundred people who were gathered there tonight quickly - some pieces were even tossed to the back!  I loved the eagerness I saw!  Everyone can understand, "take, eat, this is for you" as an act of love. 

After breaking bread in the sanctuary we went downstairs for dinner - chicken, roasted potatoes, green beans, ratatouille, brownies and cookies.  All of the tables with seats were taken so we stood at a bistro table with Andrea and Evan, new friends who talked with us about their faith and lives, as we broke bread together.


Breaking bread, authenticity, vibrancy in sharing, music that stirs my soul, a sense of community (even amongst people I do not know) - these are some of the things that make worship meaningful for me.  What makes worship meaningful for you?


"Shabbat Shalom!" A peaceful Sabbath.  


 

Breaking Bread

I like Tuesday mornings.

They begin with my spending a couple of hours reading and studying the scripture that will be used in worship on the following Sunday.  Typically, I become so absorbed in what I am doing that I find myself jumping in the shower at 9:45 a.m. or so and (literally) running over to the church (some times with a few hairs still a little wet) to the Tuesday morning Bible Study that begins each week at 10 a.m.

As predictable as this pattern of mine is becoming, so are a few others.  I will walk into the Saegmuller Room and the coffee will be brewing, the Bibles will be placed out on the table, people will casually be gathering as they share what has been going on in their lives.  And Dick will be carefully cutting a loaf of zucchini bread for us to share from Pastries by Randolph. 

Soon we will begin reading out loud the texts I have been engaged with all morning.  We will talk about them, ask questions, and talk some more.  We will share some zucchini bread.  Often, in the midst of all of that I will have an "ah-ha" moment.   I find that more often than not my "ah-ha" moments happen not when I am in holed up with my books by myself, but when I am in conversation with others.  Might that have been what the disciples meant they said Jesus had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread? (Luke 24:35) Maybe it was zucchini bread.

Sacramental Earth

Earth Sunday altar

Last Sunday, May 1, we celebrated Earth Day at Rock Spring.  Pictured here is the altar the Eco-Justice Committee had created for our outdoor worship space.  At the left is a bowl and water for baptism, to the right are the communion elements, below is an arrangement of native Virginia flowers, and in the center (along with the cross and candles) is a mound of earth. 

Unfortunately, the rain began at 10:50 a.m. and by 11:02 a.m. we made the call to bring everything inside.  In typical Rock Spring fashion, everyone picked up something and we were quickly in the sanctuary singing, "Inch by Inch." 

Initially, we had been concerned about having communion AND baptism AND the celebration of Earth Day all in one service.  Yes the service was full, but I loved that water, wine, bread, and earth were vitally important important aspects of our worship experience.  I loved it that we could taste, see and feel the stuff with which we came to worship together. 

We talk about sacraments about being "outward signs of invisible grace." In other words, putting in plain sight something that we know simply is.  I am grateful to the people of Rock Spring for helping me look at earth as sacramental.