What I Learned This Weekend

Image from Clipart Library, http://clipart-library.com/clipart/954248.htm, Stand Up Cliparts #2462820, (License: Personal Use)


​After the shootings in Buffalo, NY and in Laguna Woods, CA this past weekend, it’s tempting to feel depressed and hopeless. And, indeed, to see violence and hate so proudly on parade is incredibly distressing.

So, I am grateful that two other events this weekend worked in opposition to the acts of two profoundly disturbed, hate-filled individuals.

On Friday, I was at New Dover United Methodist Church in Edison (NJ) at the WAGE International Event. I had been invited to be a vendor and sell the books from the Saint Maggie series there.

WAGE is short for Women and Girls’ Education. Its stated mission is:
Many organizations are doing excellent work by empowering through education and helping women and girls overcome violence.

WAGE International seeks to work with such organizations in local and global communities, and support educational initiatives. (http://wageinternational.org/?fbclid=IwAR0GeVswSK5WjmrRYkHvizB8aWkWzSZjpYCiXjUutjnfmyb4PBBwcjnx0FU)

In short, it is a group devoted to doing good in the world.

We vendors were a diverse little group, selling coffee, artwork, books, and even tickets to a comedy club. But each of us also drew attention to the need for change in our world and nation. One was in support of our veterans, another to emphasize the human need for humor and relaxation, yet another to stress the need to reform the systems working with addicted people and the incarcerated… and then there was little ol’ me. I was there with the Saint Maggie series and its focus on issues and problems that have beset us and remained unresolved for the last 150+ years.

I found it to be a great evening of learning about the many ways people strive to heal and help and hope. And many thanks to Heather Mistretta for inviting me to attend WAGE’s event! I love and respect what WAGE is working to do and will happily help out any way I can.
 
Then, on Saturday, I was at First United Methodist Church in Somerville (NJ), where I am Assistant Pastor, Christian Education Director, and Director of Communications. Yes, I have not one, but three titles.

The backstory to that event goes back several years to when First UMC started doing an event called “The Church Has Left the Building.” We’d pick one Sunday, hold a short worship service, and then scatter to do everything from helping clean up the town, to taking veterans at the local VA Hospital to lunch, to receiving used bikes for Pedals for Progress, to volunteering at an animal shelter, and to offering free rummage to our neighbors.

Of course, that all came to a screeching halt when the pandemic hit. Now, some two years later, we finally are back at it. This time we held it on Saturday and focused only on our Free Rummage Event. We turned our Fellowship Hall downstairs into a store. The preceding days had been rainy, so we set up a canopy tent outside. Then Rev. Ben Lee and various helpers dispensed information and pointed people toward the main event in our basement. Our goal was to offer things that our neighbors with lower incomes might need but would think twice about buying. Knowing that, we offered everything free. We even had popcorn to snack on and, at lunchtime, hot dogs to eat – all for free.

To me, the Rummage Event felt a bit like the feeding of the 5,000, where a little boy gave Jesus two fish and five loaves of bread, and Jesus was able to feed a bunch of folks with it AND have leftovers at the end. In our case, our call to our congregation for new or gently used rummage grew from a few things last week to more than enough items by Saturday.

There even was a wedding dress on one of the racks. After a while, a young woman walked in, discovered it, decided it was perfect and the right size for her cousin, and happily walked away with it.

All in all, kids got toys (including a bicycle), and adults found clothing and other items. It was a beautiful day.

And… we have leftovers! So, guess what we’ll going to do this fall? Yep. The Free Rummage Event will be coming back.
 
To sum up, the awful events in Buffalo and Laguna Woods clearly showed us the evil and violence that lurks under the surface and is more than capable of breaking out with terrible violence.

But I believe we can stand up to this. Hate is powerful, no doubt about it. But we can stand up. We can stand up by helping wherever and whenever we can. We can be patient. We can listen. We can stand for justice and equality. We can be brave. We can stand up to hatred and evil, because these things don’t build up, they only destroy. We can be more like Maggie. We can love others and do good.

None of this is easy, but it is necessary.
 
I’ll be back soon with another blog that will continue diving into the thematic material in the Saint Maggie series.
 
Peace,
 
Janet R. Stafford

P.S Check out the photos below!