07 Stories 2

Our resurrected Jesus is still living in complicated times. He is alive and working among the people of Appalachia, whose situation is a complicated one. Eight of us from St. Margaret's, and other from the diocese and elsewhere spent a week in Wise County, Virginia where we learned about the scars left behind from the coal and lumber industries. Large corporations mine the riches of the region, taking the first fruits far away. The scars remain on the landscape and the people. For many generations, the poor of Appalachia have worked in dangerous conditions to supply the resources the fat cats desired. Or so I used to think.

During my first mission trip to Appalachia in 2001, I became enraged over the injustice of the coal industry. I saw the cold-hearted, profit-driven coal companies as preying on the desperation of hungry, oppressed people. I made the coal industry into a monster worth slaying. Since then I have discovered it is more complicated than that. I was very unhappy to learn that coal services my desire for dependable electricity in suburban Maryland. Crazy as it may be, I truly did not realize until recently that coal is used to generate the electricity I depend on to crank up the AC, cook dinner, charge my cell phone and listen to music. Our dependence on un-renewable sources to fuel our lifestyles complicates the Appalachian situation. I may not be a coal company fat cat, but I sure am guilty of using coal-generated electricity with wild abandon. God is calling us to be mindful of the complicated ways in which we affect one another.

I am happy to report that there is good news from our brothers and sisters in Appalachia” the economy appears to be slowing improving. But this good news is tempered by the fact that large segments of the population are living in poverty, complicated further by disability, chemical dependency and other challenges. But Jesus is alive in Appalachia - announcing the reign of God to all who have ears to hear. Jesus is at work in the roadside market, where the owner drives around each morning to ring locally grown produce from one neighbor's farm to another neighbor's table. I wish you could see and smell the abundance of Appalachia at these local markets. God is at work in the abundance of the local farms and in the ways people seek to find wholeness around them, like the way one local family has redeemed a coal-mined mountainside to plant a vineyard.

The coal was extracted, the mountain “re-contoured” to resemble its former shape. On this site a family has planted grape vines that in the loosely packed re-contoured ground and the vineyard is thriving. Before the mountain was mined and the dirt loosely packed, the vines could not take root; the ground was too firm and solid for the roots to take hold. As the roots reach deeper into the remaining ground and seek nourishment, so we reach deeper into the places where we find nourishment so that we can tend those vines of justice that Jesus has planted. We continue the work of tending the vineyard of God's reign on earth. We reach down to pray, to be in relationship with our loving Creator. We pray the words that Jesus taught us: thy kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

As we labored in Appalachia, we prayed this prayer Jesus taught us no less than 28 times. We prayed it regularly as we worked to build strains, to roof a house, to install a bathroom…as we labored to do what we could to make a few homes safe, warm and dry. As we worked, I began to hear the words of this prayer afresh. Jesus is still right here with us, proclaiming the reign of God and announcing God's vision of justice for all creation.

Each one of us is called to work in the vineyard of God's reign, wherever we may be - even at work camp in Appalachia.

Tending the Vines of Justice
From a sermon by the Rev. Dina van Klaveren
St. Margaret's, Annapolis, Md.

Jesus lived in complicated times. Roman fat cats stole the resources of the land, helping themselves to the first fruits of the harvest. They drained the region of its finest resources to supply their homes and temples with marble and cedar, with wine and fish. The poor worked the land as tenant farmers in the service of absentee landowners, outsiders who did not value the local religion and customs. Jesus arrived in the midst of these complicated times to announce that God's kingdom had come to earth…the reign of God had begun! Jesus arrived to proclaim the good news of God's justice for all of creation - for the poor especially, and even for those rich fat cats enjoying the first fruits.

We 32 work camp participants staying at Grace House on the Mountain in St. Paul, Va, classified Martha as a dedicated and relentless workhorse and Mary as a more contemplative, meditative woman - like yin and yang. Then, as a get-to-know-each-other activity, we were asked whether we felt like a “Martha” or a “Mary” at home, in the workplace, and how we predicted we would be at our job sites. It seemed pretty easy for the work camp participants to classify ourselves.

For the rest of the week, the two sisters were brought up again and again. I heard comments like: “Don't forget about Martha and Mary” or “My work crew has informed me that I'm a Martha” all the time. And while it did get a little repetitive, I think it really helped me to understand my purpose on the trip.

I had been told that at the job site I would have a goal to finish the work, and more importantly, I had a goal to forge relationships with the host families. I was supposed to learn about the people, the culture, and ultimately, about myself. Okay- how was I supposed to be a “Martha” or a “Mary” and balance this all out. I hoped it would come naturally!

Out of the five work crews, I was on the only nomadic one. Our crew went to different sites over the week to finish off jobs left over from the week before and to do smaller jobs. On the first day, we went to Lois and Jimmy Rose's home to seal their tin roof with some silver gunk that smelled like tar. Which sounds pretty bad, but we got to apply the gunk with mops and it was FUN. Every crew member worked hard all day, only stopping for coffee, lunch and to allow Lois to convince us to eat some ice pops. At the end of the day we could look at a finished product and it felt good. It felt about a million times better when Jimmy hugged me goodbye and said, “Thank God for people like you.” What I had considered a fun day on a mountain that just happened to involve work really meant something to this man. So maybe it wasn't really all that bad to be a “Martha.”

The next few days seemed more balanced. On Tuesday we helped a work team that was building a set of stairs from a woman's front porch up to the road. I spent the time before lunch wrestling stubborn rocks out of the ground, and the afternoon taking pictures and talking to Mrs. Mullins' granddaughters. Wednesday and Thursday were spent at Rita Hamilton's house. There was something confusing about the siding on her trailer, and we didn't have any “soffit”. I don't know what “soffit” means, but Rita's granddaughter, Courtney, was fun to talk to and had two really cute puppies. It was a little frustrating to not be able to do any work that day, but I learned a lot about Courtney's family and life.

Our work team visited Edith Hayes on Friday to paint her bedroom. We put two coats on in just a few hours, and while the rest of us moved ladders and ripped off tape, one work camp participants gave tons of affection and attention to Edith's granddaughter Trinity. She helped her to paint and clean brushes, ate lunch and played house with her. Again, at the end of the day, we could stand back and look at what we accomplished. I missed that feeling on the other days!

On Friday night everyone got to let out their inner “Mary” at a dinner for our host families. All host families attended. Everyone talked a lot, ate and talked, listened to music… and talked! When the host families began to leave, there was a lot of hugging and crying, which I think is more important than any heavy lifting we could have done.

But back to the “Martha vs. Mary” issue: I learned this week that neither is better than the other, you don't have to be an extreme, and everyone has something to contribute. All of the work crews this week gave all that they had as they worked hard and made a difference. The work teams did some fantastic “Mary and Martha” work that won't be forgotten.

The project team that I was assigned to built a wheelchair ramp and replaced a window (and great deal of wall structure that was decayed) in the home of a lovely lady who treated us like honored guests. She even prepared a festive dinner for us which we enjoyed with members of her family. We began each day working in cool shade which was replaced by uncomfortably hot sun in the early afternoon. This was relieved by returning shade for the last hour or so of the day. I would be tired when we quit, but a shower and change of clothes back at Grace House revived me enough to enjoy a pleasant evening with my fellow volunteers.

I particularly enjoyed the evening programs this past summer, and especially the two evenings of musical entertainment. Our worship services were inspiring and enjoyable; the food was excellent as always.

I am looking forward to next summer and returning for the fourth time. There will be some old friends, some new ones and lots of fun times. There will be challenging work projects and probably a little warmer weather than I prefer, but I will be there. I, along with everyone else, will miss Sandy Elledge, but maybe we will get lucky and she will visit us. In any event the program which she has so ably led for many years will continue. I consider myself lucky to be able to participate.