Mourn, Worship, Prophesy, Hope

Step one: mourning.

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

Vindicate me, my God,
and plead my cause
against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are
deceitful and wicked.
You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?"
-Psalm 42:2-3, 43:1-2

It's ok to be sad. It's ok to be mad. It's ok to yell at God.


I am a Christian.

There have been times in my life when I thought that meant that I should always be happy, always be at peace, and focus on spiritual realities to the exclusion of physical realities. 

But that is not the definition of Christ-follower I see in scripture now.

I can mourn (Jesus wept)
I can be angry (Jesus flipped tables)
I can care about injustice and marginalized people (Jesus healed and included, and criticized the powerful)

I can, I should, and I will.


I'm afraid.

I don't want to live in fear. Actually, fearful propaganda is one of my least favorite parts of politics. I mourn how fear makes us afraid of The Other, afraid of change, afraid of losing power and privilege. People make bad decisions out of fear- preemptively harming each other rather than risking any kind of loss.

Yet, I can't ignore fears.

Like most woman, I have been sexually harassed.

I was once walking down the street, in the middle of the day, with a group, and a man walking in the opposite direction grabbed me sexually.

I didn't react. I was too shocked to respond, and no one else saw it happen. I felt so guilty for not yelling at him, for not letting him know it was unacceptable behavior. He continued on, thinking he was entitled to women's bodies, that he could get away with whatever he wanted.

I'm scared when my country says it doesn't matter. I'm scared when churches says to forgive and move on. I mourn because these are real fears and they matter.

Step two: worship

Worship is a revolutionary act.

In the book of Revelation, amidst persecution and rulers who call themselves god, worship of God keeps breaking through. Angels and saints declare their allegiance to God, not the Roman Empire.

"Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'

"Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

'“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”'
-Revelation 4:8b-12

Many of us (including me) get tempted to worship our political parties or our heroes. But I must declare that God is King.

I want to help bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth, not wait for it after I die.


We worship what is worthy. Jesus, the lamb who was slain, is worthy because love wins over power. Sacrifice wins over war and violence. Mercy wins over hatred.

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

“'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!'

"Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'”
-Revelation 5:11-13

Step three: prophesy

Prophecy is not mainly about predicting the future.

I don't know what our future holds. I hope that the worst things we fear won't come true. I hope Muslims and other religious minorities won't have to register. I hope people in power won't be able to sue journalists and comedians for criticizing them. I hope my friends with chronic diseases, with special needs children, won't lose their access to affordable health care. I hope my poor friends and their kids won't lose their food assistance.

Prophecy mainly calls out the wrongs of the present. In our world now, a minor drug offender can get a longer prison term than a rapist. Refugees are turned away to die. Families are separated by deportation. Unarmed black men are considered more scary than armed white white men.

Prophecy says, this is NOT God's will. This is not the world as it should be. Prophecy challenges the status quo, your comfort, and acceptance of wrong. Let's keep challenging.


Prophecy often describes the future in terms of consequences. If you pursue justice and obedience to God, everyone blesses each other, building up the community of heaven. If you pursue selfish gain and personal privilege, inequality breaks down the community- it becomes less like heaven.

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah:

Day after day Christians seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if America were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.

‘Why have we gone to church,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on Sundays, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
Your actions in God's name ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot pray as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of church I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves? ...

“Is not this the kind of church I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

-Isaiah 58:2-10 (my contemporary modified version, see the original full passage at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/…)


Step four: hope.

We have hope that all bad rulers, all wicked kingdoms come to an end.

Oppressed people talk in code because they lack freedom of speech to criticize their wicked rulers. They don't say, "Rome is wicked!" They say, "Remember Babylon? Babylon fell..." and Rome will too.

Revelation describes the fall of Rome and likewise all earthly Kingdoms with dramatic metaphor, saying that the very injustice and luxurious self-focus will be turned against it.

With a mighty voice the angel shouted:
“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’
...
For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
...
for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.

Give back to her as she has given;
pay her back double for what she has done.
Pour her a double portion from her own cup.

Give her as much torment and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’

Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.

-Revelation 18:2-8 excerpts

The Bible has pictures of hope, pictures of the world as it should be in God's kingdom.

Living in the Kingdom of Heaven means that we start living this way now; we live knowing these things are good and true. We may not get to see the full picture yet, but we see glimpses of the Kingdom.

We hope for a better future, we endure with patience, and we commit to the hope that our home can look more like Heaven.

"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'
"He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'
"He said to me: 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.'

"I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let the one who hears say, 'Come! Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.'"
-Revelation 21:1-6, 22-26, 22:17

Terrible Memes about Black Lives Matter

It's hard to narrow down all the terrible memes on social media, but these stood out.

Meme 1: Doesn't understand the justice system or police

The first was shared by a supposed supporter of Blue Lives, a young women without military or law enforcement background. I would like to think that the average police officer would be horrified by this meme's implications.

[image description: a greyed-out meme says, "hateful memes #1." There's a picture of a person in camouflage with their face cut out. They are holding an assault rifle. The text says- "Before you decide that amusing a cop might be a good idea, remember this, There is no shortage of armed American patriots that will gladly put firing pin to primer to put down some thug that tries to kill a cop."]

I would like to think that's an empty threat, but it goes a long way to explaining the mentality of anti-Black Lives Matter activists. First, there is a fixation with violence. It's a terrible cycle of violence begeting more violence. If the recent cop-killer based his actions on revenge for police brutality, then this meme is simply advocating for more of the same. It's wrong. It doesn't solve any problems. It does possibly explain why this poster believes that all BLM supporters are violent- she may be simply projecting the violence in her own heart. What this cop-killer did makes sense to her, and she's eager to continue the murder cycle. I wish I could say others didn't agree with her, but here's another example. 

The other aspect of this meme demonstrates a rejection of the American justice system. No arrest, no trial. Since police are a part of the justice system, they should be concerned about people who feel this way. It seems like a rejection of them and their hard work. However, in the way that police brutality has been exposed the last few years, it's hard to be surprised. Many police also have rejected the Justice system and prefer to be executioners.

Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. -1 Thessalonians 5:15

Black Lives Matter isn't trying to "get revenge" on police for the bad things they have done. We are trying to change the system and make it better. In the long run, no one benefits from a broken, violent, vengeful system.

Meme 2: Doesn't understand freedom

[image description: a greyed-out meme says, "hateful memes #2." A photo of a large green combine harvester with large spikes pointing forward. Text: "Introducing John Deere's new multi-lane protester digester."]

How can this meme be seeking anything other than the death of American citizens exercising their rights? Protesting is part of freedom of speech- that first amendment to the constitution that conservatives claim to love.

I keep my mouth shut most of the time- I know that I can't change people's minds and there are times when arguments are profitless. But to not speak up at all- or to have my right to speak up and protest taken away- is terrifying and un-American.

But if I say, "I will not mention God's word or speak anymore in God's name," God's word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. -Jeremiah 20:9

Meme 3: Doesn't understand Jesus

The next meme changes tone dramatically and focuses on that hopeless "All Lives Matter" argument, this time with a religious overtones.

[image description: a greyed-out meme says, "hateful memes #3." Image of Jesus carrying the cross. Text: "I did this because All Lives Matter." below picture text read, "fwd: fwd: Jesus died for ALL LIVES! NOT JUST BLACK LIVES!]

Aside from the usual basic arguments against All Lives Matter (no one is saying only Black Lives Matter), the religious aspect of this meme needs to be uncovered. This isn't the sort of thing Jesus said.

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” -Mark 2:17

In that time, a ruling religious class called the Pharisees held power. They weren't willing to listen to Jesus, and they didn't care about the poor or anyone they considered "sinners."

Jesus says, "Okay, you guys aren't 'sinners.' You've got it all together and obviously don't need me. So I'm going to spend time with the people who need me- the people who admit they are imperfect and can't do it on their own."

This made the Pharisees mad. #PhariseeLivesMatter. They thought Jesus should spend his time telling them how great they are, and telling the 'sinners' how they were to blame for everything wrong in their lives.

But that's not a good way to build a kingdom community. Jesus flips our world upside down. He valued the powerless and criticized the people in power. The Kingdom of Heaven is a community where the lowest are raised up.

Share more stories of Jesus valuing the marginalized and the oppressed!

Edit: a friendly tip for angry commenters: The comments on this blog are locked down and can't be published without my review. There's no need to repeat your racist jokes multiple times. 

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Breaking Bad & Police Brutality

TV has taught me to be very accepting of police brutality. In a fictional world, there’s a clear delineation between right and wrong. The storylines create admiration for cops who are rule-breakers, and show their violence as a form of justice. 

But instead, I’ll pick a positive example of fictional law enforcement: Hank Schrader of the DEA in Breaking Bad. Hank is introduced as an unfunny, annoying blowhard who casually makes racist jokes. But we’ll start to look at him differently as the series goes on, eventually rooting for him.

Hank commits two violent acts in the series. First, he kills Tuco Salamanca, a violent and insane drug dealer. The scene is set up as a clear case of self-defense. Hank is calm and tries to de-escalate the situation, but when Tuco starts shooting, Hank takes the opportunity to kill him.

Despite the fact that Hank made the right choice, the incident haunts him. As it should. He ended a human life- even though we viewers knew that this human was truly terrible. 

Hank’s coworkers applause mean nothing to him. Their insensitive gift of Tuco’s teeth grill isn’t funny. Hank doesn’t want a trophy. He did what he had to do, but he still takes the correct stance: mourning. 

The second incident: Hank beats up Jesse Pinkman, a young drug dealer.

Hank’s temper and unaddressed mental health issues get him in to trouble. He is understandably furious when Jesse’s partner pulled a ruse making him fear that his wife was severely injured in a car accident. When Hank realized that he’d been tricked, he drove to Jesse’s house and beat the defenseless young man until he was unconscious. 

Hank was immediately remorseful and called 911. (We do not see if Hank tries to render aid himself.)

As Hank is going though the agency’s internal assessment process, and preparing to deal with Jesse pressing charges against him, he sits on the bed and talks with his wife. She tries to help him make a plan. “Say that he attacked you! You had to defend yourself. Muscle memory kicked in.” 

Hank says, “I’m not going to lie.”

His wife pleads with him. Please don’t destroy your career over this. You’re a good man. Jesse is a nobody. Don’t let him destroy you. But Hank is ready for the consequences. He did wrong. He knows it. 

When I talk about police brutality and Black Lives Matter with people who disagree with me, I’m trying to picture you as Hank’s wife. I know you have good intentions. I know you are fighting for police officers you love and an institution you respect. 

But here’s the thing. If Hank went along with his wife’s pleas, her words would no longer be true. He would not be a good man. 

I have very high expectations of police officers, and it confuses me when others have low expectations. 

Racism 101: Racism Exists

I want to share my story about why I came to care about racism. I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t have any special qualifications. A lot of white people don’t see racism and like to debate whether or not something was racist. They may have a similar background to me, so I hope this will be insightful on how and why my perspective has changed. None of the answers I suggest here are a comprehensive solution. They are each just one step.

When I was a kid, I thought racism was over. 

I hope no adults were trying to teach me this, but it was often implied. Martin Luther King Jr. solved racism and that everyone was equal now. Racism stories were always set in the past. From a kid’s perspective, the far distant past. Nothing in those stories seemed similar to life today.

Along with this false knowledge, I was poorly prepared to see or understand racism in my life. 

The first problem was the definition of racism. I knew three examples: Slavery is racist. Segregation is racist. Saying racial slurs is racist. End of list. This was a very pleasant definition, because it meant that I could never be racist. 

The main tool I was given for dealing with racism was colorblindness.  Don’t notice race. Don’t talk about race. Focus on common ground. 

While I grew up in my very nice, small Wyoming town, I believed in a post-racial world. I was unable to see any racism around me. The first thing that helped open my eyes was relocating.

I went to college in Texas, and I saw something new. Almost every student and teacher was white, but everyone who served me food was black, and everyone who cleaned up after me was Latino.  

I had a conflict. Colorblindness told me I shouldn’t see it. But my definition of racism said it was segregation. I knew that no one was forcing others into those jobs or forbidding them from attending school. Yet, equal opportunity could not yield such color-coded results. I knew something was unfair, but I was too uncomfortable to ask about it.

My next challenge came from an inability to speak up. When I heard people say racist things, I didn’t argue. The words would be too subtle, maybe I misunderstood, or maybe I was being too sensitive. If someone said, “It makes me so mad seeing Spanish on all the billboards in town.” I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t have a conversation about it.

When my campus ministry tried to teach me about racial reconciliation, I resisted. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship often has separate campus chapters for black, Latino, Asian,  Native, or International students. I thought that was horrible. Segregation! It seemed wrong to use labels. My old color-blindness training from childhood kicked in. .Isn’t it better to pretend that everyone is the same, and have everyone get along? 

When our new staff had “a heart for Latino students,” I subtlykept trying to hide it. I was in charge of the club webpage, and I couldn’t bear to advertise that we’d started a Latino Bible Study. The only way I could justify the existence of such a thing was to say that it was a Bible study “in Spanish and English.” 

But then our all-white Christian Club started to have Latino students involved. In fact, that year our chapter grew more diverse across several ethnicities. The simplest explanation from my staff worker that I could half-way understand was this: 

Some Latino students would actually like to hang out with other Latino students, someone who understood their culture, family dynamics, and way of approaching faith. They’re surrounded by white culture all day long; having some time away can be nice. White people have a problem that when we invite a minority person to a group, we don’t invite them to bring their culture along. We just expect them to join white culture. We think white culture is “normal.” 

This was both confusing and enlightening. There’s a white culture? There’s a white way of doing things? I had always thought the way I did things was normal. Other races have “culture.” Culture means dressing up in special outfits, eating strange food, speaking a different language. Again, my education had failed me. I could not look at my own culture from an outside view. 

Still, this ministry encouraged me to displace myself and my heart, and within a year of that insight, I was leading a Bible study for international students. It was a good first step for me.

Next, I moved to Rhode Island. It was a good time to think about culture, because New England and Texas have many differences. Plus, we were losing college for career culture. A lot of changes challenged what I saw as normal. We joined a multi-ethnic church and got a taste of black culture. (This church did not have a vision for verbally educating us about racial issues, but I deeply appreciate them for including us and giving us opportunities for cross-cultural interaction.) 

I worked for a few years as a substitute teacher in a low socio-economic school district. It had a large minority population. I’d never realized how lucky I’d been to have the education I did with advanced classes, enthusiastic teachers, and after school clubs.

Teachers at this school were burned out, frustrated, and spent their lunch breaks complaining about the students and the parents. Many of the students were rude, noisy, and talked back over every detail. They weren’t excited about school or planning for college. No one attending this school could have anything like an “equal opportunity” compared to what I had. 

I joined InterVarsity again, this time as staff. It was the only place in my life where people talked about race, rather than viewing it as a hopeless and taboo subject. I was challenged, like when a black InterVarsity staff ask us, “Have you ever been inside a black person’s house?” I hadn’t. It wasn’t intentional. But it was a blind spot in my life.

On campus, I tried to seek out minority students for the first time. The chapter there was already diverse and had some good intentions about including all people. What helped the most wasto bring minority students into leadership positions. They couldreach other minority students better than I could, and could help change the culture of the whole group. A church body looks different when all ethnicities are a part of it. Not just in a photograph, but it worship, in conversation, and revelation. The white church is missing something when it stands alone. 

We studied diversity in scripture, and I began to appreciate other cultures by design. Why should everyone be the same? Differences are wonderful, beautiful, and a source of strength. A team where everyone has the same background and perspective is limited. A diverse team sees beyond the status quo. This broke apart another bad piece of my education, the idea that everything can be earned by “merit” or good test scores. 

This helped interpret another piece of racism from my youth, the objection to affirmative action. Three of my high school friends had made a humorous video listing their grievances with affirmative action. Although their logic made sense to me at the time, I was confused about their passion for the subject, considering that all three were accepted at their first choice universities. Now, I saw greater merit in a college that was trying to correct its monochrome history. Affirmative action didn’t hurt any of my friends. Instead, I hope it helped them, that they were later grateful to study alongside students from other races and cultures, and that diversity enriched their college experience.

During those years, I read Living in Color. It was difficult to read in some ways, because it brought up a people group whose oppression I had long ignored: American Indians. The author, Randy Woodley is a Keetowah Cherokee. His book was the first time I read about the “Kill the Indian, Save the Child” policy by which native children were stolen from their parents to be raised in boarding schools or with white families. The people in power saw no value in Indian culture. The goal of colonization was to replace it. In my education, the wounds of this and many other assaults on native people are glossed over. I was told it was far in the past. Indians should get over it. Move on. Become normal. 

Today, Native people in my home state endure the same stereotyping as minorities in the larger American public sphere. Lazy. Addicted to drugs. Hopeless. And past violence against them was washed away by saying, “Indians massacred people too!” My friend who works in retail in Montana is skeptical that black people are treated differently in stores. Yet she admits, “When someone comes in from the Reservation, the staff keep an eye on them.” 

What did I learn? What challenged me?

• Racism is more than segregation, slavery and slurs

• Colorblindness hinders rather than helps

• It’s good to have space for people of color to celebrate their culture

• It’s good to displace yourself to learn about other’s culture

• Diversity is a strength

• White culture isn’t “normal” or standard

I still didn’t have a good definition for racism, or a good understanding of how it was still influencing my country. All this gave me some preparation for Fall 2014, when Ferguson brought racism back into the national spotlight. Stay tuned for Racism 102: Systemic Racism.

Final thought: Being unaware of racism is a privilege many people don’t have. If white people want, we can ignore racism, and it will probably have no impact on our lives. But many other people are hurt by racism every day. They don’t have the option to ignore it or go on an entertaining journey of “discovering” racism like I did.

Hope Bios: Cesar Chavez

  Cesar Chavez 

1927 - 1993

Change through Unity

His Calling

American farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist. Chavez 

grew up as a migrant worker. Working on the farms was difficult, with

long hours, few bathrooms and little clean water to drink. Farm workers

they were not treated with respect or dignity. They made little money.

Chavez worked in the fields until he was 25, when he became an 

organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino 

civil rights group.

His Faith

Chavez was Roman Catholic. Even though his family had little money and sometimes lacked food, their mother would often cook meals for the homeless. They gave other families rides to get medical attention.

Chavez undertook a number of spiritual fasts, promoting the principle of nonviolence, thanksgiving and hope, and to prepare for civil disobedience. Also in 1972, he fasted in response to Arizona’s passage of legislation that prohibited boycotts and strikes by farm workers during the harvest seasons. These fasts were influenced by the Catholic tradition of penance and by Gandhi’s fasting and nonviolence.

His Legacy

Chavez urged Mexican Americans to register and vote, and he traveled throughout California and made speeches in support of workers' rights. His public-relations approach to unionism and nonviolent tactics made the farm workers' struggle a moral cause with nationwide support. 

In 1964, they ended the exploitive Bracero Program, which ensured a constant supply of cheap immigrant labor for growers. (Immigrants could not protest any infringement of their rights, lest they be fired and replaced.) In the early 1970s, the UFW organized strikes and boycotts to protest for, and later win, higher wages for those farm workers who were working for grape and lettuce growers. They gained collective bargaining rights to farm workers. 

What can I do?

• Learn more: Movie: Cesar Chavez. And, our campus library has many books. Try Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa. 
• Take a fast to prepare yourself for understanding and action. Try one day drinking only water and fruit juice. (Consult a doctor if you have special medical needs.)
• Everyday things that come from unjust labor around the world- sugar, coffee, chocolate Look for fair trade labels on these items, or fast from them.
• Contemporary issues: Immigration laws continue to provide cheap undocumented labor in the U.S. but don’t protect the poor families or help them legally immigrate and receive American rights. 
• Contemporary US Issues: read hashtags: #blacklivesmatter #MikeBrown #Ferguson 
• Interview one person this week who has a different background from your own. Ask questions, listen, rather than arguing or correcting them.

Hope Bios: Pandita Ramabai

  Pandita Ramabai

1858 – 1922

Change through Education

Her Calling

Indian social reformer, a champion for the emancipation of women, and a

pioneer in education. Ramabai was also a poet and scholar.

Her Faith

Ramabai’s father believed that women should be educated, based on his 

study of Hindu texts. He educated his wife and daughters. Other scholars 

did not approve, but were later amazed by Ramabai’s speaking and insight.

In 1883, Ramabai received a scholarship to train as a teacher in England. During her time there she converted to Christianity and joined the Anglican Church. In 1886, she was invited to America to study the kindergarten systems in America. When she returned to India, she started Christian churches, homes for the destitute and schools for girls. Ramabai combined her Christian ideals with her Indian culture to promote change in India. She also lectured across America for three years on the plight of women and child widows in India.

She translated the Bible into her native language to help women read the Bible for themselves.

Her Legacy

When her parents died in the 1877 famine, Ramabai and her brother decided to continue their father's work. She and her brother traveled all over India. Ramabai's fame as a lecturer grew. She spoke against the practice of child marriage and the resulting constraints on the lives of child widows. She married a man from a lower caste, a shocking act.

Later on, she traveled extensively to see for herself the plight of many young women and widows condemned to life as temple prostitutes in Northern India. In a lecture given in June 1882, she pronounced, "Men look on us women as chattels: we make every effort to deliver ourselves from this situation. But some will say that this is a rebellion against man, and that to do this is sin. To leave men's evil acts unrebuked and remain unmoved before them is a great sin.” Ramabai’s mission is still active today.

What can I do?

• Learn More: mukti-mission.org, also Pandita Ramabai's American encounter the peoples of the United States is available at our campus online library.
• Do you feel hesitant to share your voice, or have you been stopped by your gender, age, ability, or other reason? Journal about what you’ve learner, your story, and what you want to share with others.
• Volunteer in education, perhaps a local school with underprivileged children. Teachers can use volunteers to help by reading stories or giving homework help.
• Contemporary Indian issues for woman: Rape is a serious problem in India that’s been getting a lot of attention. Yet, misogyny, caste prejudice, poverty and other issues make it difficult to stop rape. Compassion and education are needed.
• Contemporary US Issues: read hashtags: #blacklivesmatter #MikeBrown #Ferguson 
• Interview one person this week who has a different background from your own. Ask questions, listen, rather than arguing or correcting them.

Hope Bios: Queen Liliʻuokalani

  Queen  Liliʻuokalani

1838 – 1917

Change through Politics and Arts

Her Calling

The last Queen of Hawaii ruled 1891-1983. The monarchy had recently lost 

most of its power to a cabinet of American, European, and Hawaiian elites. 

Liliʻuokalani attempted to enact a new constitution to restore the veto 

power to the monarchy and voting rights to native Hawaiians and Asians. 

The U.S. invaded, occupied and overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom government in 1893. They already controlled the sugar industry and had caused financial depression in Hawaii. The Queen didn’t respond with violence, and she made sure the takeover was peaceful. Instead, Liliʻuokalani used writing to share her story with Americans and appeal for justice.

Her Faith

Liliʻuokalani’s grandmother was an early convert to Christianity. She stopped sacrifices to the violent volcano god. As a child, Liliʻuokalani attended school run by Christian missionaries. She believed in a peaceful resistance to injustice, and allowed free practice of religions.

Her Legacy

Liliʻuokalani spent five years under home arrest. She used her musical compositions as a way to express her feelings for her people, her country, and what was happening in the political realm in Hawaii. She played guitar, piano, organ, ukulele and zither, and sang alto. Her writing and musical compositions pled the cause of her people and recorded their history. This included the National Anthem, The Queen's Prayer, her memoirs, Hawaiʻi's Story by Hawaiʻi's Queen, and The Queen's Songbook. She hoped that the history and culture of her people would never be lost.

When she was freed, she made several trips to the United States to protest against the annexation by the United States. (They were not successful; Hawaii became a state in 1959.)

Upon her death, Liliʻuokalani dictated in her will that all of her possessions and properties be sold and the money raised would go to the Queen Liliʻuokalani Children's Trust to help orphaned and indigent children, a fund still active today.

What can I do?

• Learn more: Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen is available at our campus library
• Pray The Queen’s Prayer. Reflect on seeking peace in the midst of sorrow.
• What sort of art do you love? Painting, music, writing? Make a project for social justice and share with the campus. 
• Contemporary Hawaiian issues: Hawaii is a vacation paradise for many Americans, but many native people live in poverty and see little of the profits. Racial tensions divide the state. 
• Contemporary US Issues: read hashtags: #blacklivesmatter #MikeBrown #Ferguson 
• Interview one person this week who has a different background from your own. Ask questions, listen, rather than arguing or correcting them.