Ordinary Time 2010

Cherith Brook Catholic Worker

3308 East 12th Street
Kansas City, MO 64127
(816) 241-8047

cherithbrookkcmo@yahoo.com
The Church & the Powers
by Nick Pickrell

www.cherithbrookkc.blogspot.com “Wherever the early Christians entered a town the
power structure got disturbed and immediately
sought to convict them for being “disturbers of
the peace” and “outside agitators.” But they went
on with the conviction that they were “a colony of
heaven,” and had to obey God rather than [human
beings]....
Things are different now. The contemporary
church is often a weak, ineffectual voice with an
uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter
of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the
presence of the church, the power structure of the
average community is consoled by the church’s si-
lent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”
refusing to move from her seat on a bus, a city-
wide strike in St. Louis with union workers tak-
ing care of one another while the exploitative
corporations lost months of potential revenue,
and Susan B Anthony being jailed for casting a
vote in the 1872 presidential election. In all of
these instances, the oppressed simply refused to
obey the “powers and principalities” that lorded
over them.
Jesus did the same thing. In his triumphal
entry, Jesus made preparations like one would
for war. He came down from the Mount of Olives
like one would when preparing to battle for
Jerusalem’s liberation. The people praised him
like one would a Lord and Savior. The difference
is that he came into town on a donkey, not a
chariot; he came as a servant, not as a ruler who
lords over people; he came unarmed, not with
it conflicts with the higher law of God.
In Romans 13, Paul speaks of submitting
to the governing authorities, but it mentions
nothing of obeying. This is an important point.
Later Paul goes on to say in another letter that
“our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world...” Here
Paul is laying out exactly what it is we are up
against. He is telling us that the church will be
in conflict with the kingdoms of this world. The
early Christians were persecuted because their
community was a threat to the powers and au-
thorities. Rome believed in peace by the sword.
They prevented many insurrections because
of the steep penalty, crucifixion. But then, the
Christian community emerged with the risen
Christ as their king, who had conquered death.

Our Upcoming swords and spears. Jesus was staking his claim
on Jerusalem with no weapons while riding on a
donkey! He was satirizing the powers of his day.
They had a deep allegiance to Christ because
of the love Christ showed them, and they shed
their allegiance to Rome. This perfect love cast

Who Are We? Schedule
Community—Cherith Brook is a residential
Christian community committed to sharing
table fellowship with strangers, and all our
resources with one another. We have found our
inspiration from the early church, the Church of
the Savior, and the Catholic Worker.
Mercy—Our daily lives are structured around
practicing the works of mercy as found in Jesus’
teachings. We are committed to regularly feed-
ing the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink
to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, visiting
the prisoner and the sick in the name of Jesus.
Peacemaking—As followers of Jesus, we
understand our lives to be centered in God’s
Shalom. Cherith Brook strives to be a “school”
for peacemaking in all its dimensions: political,
communal, and personal, working constantly to
undo poverty, racism and militarism.
These three orbs can be summed up as the struggle
to connect with the God of life. We pray that Cher-
ith Brook is a space where all of us—the broken—
can come to learn and relearn the ways of Jesus;
a place to struggle together for God’s call of love,
mercy, peace and justice.
Showers M, T, Th, F 8 am–noon
Prayers M, W, F 6:30–7 am
Community Meal Th 5–7 pm
Friday Night Sharing 1st, 3rd & 5th Fri 2–5 pm
Garden Work 2nd & 4th Fri 2–5 pm
Sacraments Monthly, 2nd Sun 6:30 pm
Women’s Day Monthly, Last Wed 11:30 am–2 pm
Haircuts Monthly, 2nd Sat 9–11 am
Group Workday Monthly, 2nd Sat 9 am–1 pm
Events
September 8
Groundbreaking Action at the KC Nuclear
Weapons Plant
September 17 - 20
Midwest Catholic Worker Retreat at Sugar
Creek, IA
September 24 - 27
Festival of Shelters at Cherith Brook CW
October 7
Action at the KC Nuclear Weapons Plant
October 22, 7 – 8:30pm
Clarification Meeting at Cherith Brook CW
“Race & Religious Relations” with Dr. Ed
Chasteen and Imam Yahya Furqan
Robby Jones and Steve Jacobs (St. Francis CW / Columbia, MO) walk with Nick at the
CW Faith & Resistance Retreat.
There is much to ponder in this excerpt
from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Bir-
mingham City Jail.” I don’t think many on this
side of the civil rights movement would ever
question the actions of those involved in the
civil rights struggle--which landed many people
in jails, beaten up, or dead. Same goes for the
labor movement in the early part of the 20th
century, or for the women’s suffrage movement
of the 1920’s. In all of these instances, people
acknowledged that the power structure was
wrong and decided to not follow the unjust laws
anymore. All of a sudden you had Rosa Parks
This demonstration coupled with the chaotic
scene in the temple courts (flipping the tables)
ultimately led to Jesus’ imprisonment and
death. Jesus did not obey the cumbersome laws
of the Pharisees that oppressed the poor, and he
did not proclaim Caesar as lord. Instead, Jesus
enacted an alternative way of life - one that says
the first shall be last and the last shall be first,
and one that proclaims God as being over all.
In our age there are similar powers at work.
There are anti-camping laws that are used
regularly to hassle homeless men and women
who are trying to sleep. There are laws being
enacted that racially profile our Mexican broth-
ers and sisters. There are corporate lobby groups
that drown out the cries of ordinary citizens.
There are wars being waged abroad while we are
facing enormous amounts of foreclosures and
unemployment at home. All of these things are
happening, and yet the contemporary church
is silent. In many cases, the church condemns
the kind of holy imagination people like MLK
demonstrated because it would mean breaking
the “law.” The question I would pose then is this:
what laws are we bound to first and foremost?
If we claim Christ as our king the answer should
be simple. We answer to Christ, and while we
submit to the earthly power structures as Christ
did when he accepted his sentence of crucifix-
ion, we will refuse to obey any man-made law as
out the fear the Christian community had of
Rome’s sword, and many of them spent years
in jail or were executed for their allegiance to
God’s kingdom.
Today is no different. Many Catholic Worker
houses actively resist these rulers and authori-
ties, and the most potent resistance we have
to offer is our way of life. Just like Rosa Parks
sitting on the bus like everyone else, many
Catholic Worker houses and other intentional
Christian communities resist by simply living
the way Christ compels us to. If that gets us into
trouble, so be it. Our community has gotten
yelled at for giving food away on our downtown
streets, but Christ tells us to feed the hungry so
we continue to give. Some policemen refer to us
as the “cult on 12th street” because about a doz-
en people who are unrelated live together and
share all we have, but the early church regularly
shared so no one was in need among them. We
are escorted out of city hall meetings because
we voice our opposition to further criminalizing
those women who are being prostituted on our
streets while the johns
walk away, but Jesus also came alongside the
prostitute (where the man involved was also
strangely absent) and prevented an execution.
When Jesus stood before Pilate, he told Pilate
that “my kingdom is not of this world. If it were,
(continued on page 4)
 2 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker Ordinary Time 2010
Aims & Means of the Catholic Worker
What the Catholic Worker Believes: Nonviolence
by Sarah Cool
As catholic workers, we believe that personal and
social transformation should be pursued by the
means Jesus revealed in His sacrificial love. With
Christ as our Exemplar, by prayer and communion
with His Body and Blood, we strive for the practice
of Nonviolence.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called children of God.” (Matt. 5:9) Only through
nonviolent action can a personalist revolution come
about, one in which one evil will not be replaced
CMYK
simply by another. Thus, we oppose the deliberate
taking of human life for any reason, and see every
oppression as blasphemy. Jesus taught us to take
suffering upon ourselves rather than inflict it upon
others, and He calls us to fight against violence
with the spiritual weapons of prayer, fasting and
noncooperation with evil. Refusal to pay taxes for
war, to register for conscription, to comply with
any unjust legislation; participation in nonviolent
strikes and boycotts, protests or vigils; withdrawal
of support for dominant systems, corporate funding
or usurious practices are all excellent means to
establish peace.
Henri & Diana Garbison at a nonviolent demonstration
In today’s violent world at home and
abroad, Christ’s mandate to live nonviolently
comes as a big challenge. Many Americans have
grown up surrounded by violence. Some experi-
ence it in their own homes and neighborhoods;
on television and in video games; in the movies
and news media; even by supporting or joining
the US armed forces.
We see the affects of domestic and street
violence daily in the interactions we have with
our friends who visit Cherith Brook for meals
and showers. Having survived two abusive re-
lationships, I know firsthand that the cycles of
abuse and violence are hard to break free from
and often lead folks to live destructive lives for
themselves and their loved ones. Too often we
hear gunshots right here in our own neighbor-
hood. Unfortunately our children have learned
to duck and hide when they hear that familiar
ringing in the air or see police helicopters in the
sky above our house.
One of our friends recently came to our house
for refuge after being assaulted by a guy in the
neighborhood wielding a sharp metal shank. We
helped clean and bandage her wounds, comfort
her, and offered to help her make a police
report. Thank God we were here and able to
welcome her into our safe space.
In an attempt to avoid some worldly violence,
we at Cherith Brook have chosen to do without
television. Part of our reasoning to do without
television comes from studies of Americans
who watch an average of four hours of televi-
sion daily. Those studies indicate that watching
television can cause one to become “immune” or
numb to the horror of violence, gradually accept
violence as a way to solve problems, imitate
the violence they observe on television, and
identify with certain characters, victims and/
or victimizers. Spend some time with us and
you’ll experience all of the other ways we choose
to fill our hours: with gardening, visiting with
our neighbors, sorting donations, working on
various projects around our property, and more.
Even without television in our lives, we still long
for more time to do the things that really matter
- the work that God has put on our hearts.
Many Americans support the defending of
our country through our military might, glorify-
ing those who go into combat by giving them
the status of “hero”. We at Cherith Brook do not
support militarism in any form. If fact, we each
work outside the community no more than 20
hours a week, which affords us the opportunity
to resist funding the war machine by not hav-
ing to pay federal income taxes. All of us have
agreed to this, even our Koren War and Iraqi
War veteran community members. William
Astore, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel,
made several good points recently about why we
shouldn’t equate military service with hero-
ism in an online article written for Common-
Dreams.org:
“By making our military a league of heroes, we
ensure that the brutalizing aspects and effects of
war will be played down. In celebrating isolated
heroic feats, we often forget that war is guaranteed
to degrade humanity.
“By making our military heroic, we act to prolong
our wars. By seeing war as essentially heroic the-
ater, we esteem it even as we excuse it.
“By insisting programmatically on American
military heroism, we also lay a firm foundation for
potentially dangerous post-war myths, especially
of the blame-mongering variety. After all, once you
have a league of heroes, how can you assign respon-
sibility for costly, debilitating, perhaps even lost wars
to them? It’s just a fact that heroes don’t lose.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. had the following to
say about the violence of war: “Are we seeking
power for power’s sake? Or are we seeking to make
the world and our nation better places to live? If
we seek the latter, violence can never provide the
answer. The ultimate weakness of violence is that
it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing
it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it
multiplies it.”
And in his speech, Beyond Vietnam, King
stated that, “I sometimes marvel at those who ask
me why I am speaking against the war. Could it
be that they do not know that the Good News was
meant for all - for communist and capitalist, for
their children and ours, for black and for white, for
revolutionary and conservative? Have they forgot-
ten that my ministry is in obedience to the one who
loved his enemies so fully that he died for them?”
This is the position that Cherith Brook takes.
We ask the question, how can we possibly follow
Christ’s mandates without condemnation of all
violence?
At Cherith Brook we often speak out against
unjust legislation, participate in peaceful pro-
tests and vigils, and do not support dominant/
hierarchical systems. For example, no one per-
son is in charge at Cherith Brook. Rather we are
all empowered to be in charge and take charge
of whatever we see that needs to be done. We
do not accept government funding. We exist
merely on donations from individuals and some
religious entities. Additionally, we do not accept
interest on our bank accounts, nor do we charge
interest to anyone we lend money to. And we
have gone to great lengths to get our property
loans out of interest charging banks and into
the hands of individuals who will lend us money
with no interest charged. We are still looking
for help with our goal of having 100% of our
property loans as non-interest bearing loans. So
please let us know if you or someone you know
can help us with this effort.
We try to practice nonviolence constantly:
in our acts of hospitality and mercy towards
our friends and neighbors, in our peacemaking
efforts, by striving to see the face of Jesus in
every human being, and more.
We invite you to live non-violently in solidar-
ity with us by adopting some of our practices,
trying out some of your own ideas, and continu-
ing to do what you’ve already begun. We would
love to hear from you about your experiences
and how living more nonviolently has affected
your life and the lives of those around you. It’s
taken us four years to get this far, and we still
have more work to do! It cannot happen over-
night, as we know that all worthwhile endeavors
take time, patience, trial and error. But to not
try at all ensures failure from the beginning.
We wish you well in your efforts to follow in the
nonviolent footsteps of Jesus.
Ordinary Time 2010 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker 7
Nonviolent Peacemaking Opportunity Prayer from a Friend How To Help
KC Nuke Plant A Psalm of House
Groundbreaking Cherith Brook Needs
by Jane Stoever by Fr. Ed Hays Sandwich Meat (no bologna)
Sandwich Bags
Let’s give the KC Nuke Plant’s groundbreaking a new twist on O Lord, Psalm 139 sings,
September 8th! “If I sink down to the netherworld, Mayonnaise
The groundbreaking for the Kansas City Plant, which makes and pro- Or go to the furthermost limits of the sea,
Sliced Cheese
cures non-nuclear parts for nuclear weapons, occurs September 8th. You are there, holding me in your right hand.”
Join peacemakers from far and near for the groundbreaking. If you’re That you always securely hold me in your hand Peanut Butter & Jelly
coming from out of town, contact Jane Stoever for housing at 913-206- Daily strengthens me here at Cherith Brook.
Coffee, Sugar, Creamer
4088 or janepstoever@yahoo.com. Locals are offering beds to travelers, IF I welcome someone whose ragged clothes
the Catholic Worker houses have space for sleeping bags, and some weary Smell of urine, his breath of alcohol, you are there. Vinegar (gallon size for cleaning)
travelers may prefer a motel room. If I feed a brooding stranger who is ungrateful,
Baking Soda
The all-day planning and preparation for civil resistance related to the Complains about the food, you are there.
groundbreaking begins on Tuesday, September 7th at 10 a.m. This will If I go to clean the toilets, dirty showers, Dish Soap
take place at the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church located at 4501 Or any unpleasant task, you are there.
Toilet Paper
Walnut, Kansas City, MO. Speakers will include Jay Coghlan, head of
NukeWatch, NM, and Ann Suellentrop, M.S.R.N., of Physicians for Social When a companion in our house is rude, Milk, Eggs, Butter
Responsibility and PeaceWorks. Entertainers will include The Recipe and And their conduct irritates me,
Black Beans
Sahj Kaya. In him or her, you are there.
We invite you to participate in this nonviolent peacemaking opportu- When we gather for communal prayer, Salt & Pepper Shakers
nity. Contact Jane Stoever to register for this free event. And I, not feeling prayerful, only pretend,
Folding Tables (standard size)
You are there, holding me in your hand.
When I feel no joy in helping others, Clear Plastic Restaurant Cups
Harbor judgments against those I serve,
Pickup Truck
Even then, you are there.
Industrial Refrigerator
Cradled in your hand, let your fingers
Greenhouse/Hoophouse
Creatively knead me to greatness,
As they once did your son Jesus,
O Lord, may my time at Cherith Brook,
Serving the needs of the poor
Prepare me in unexpected ways
For what’s next for me in my life,
Shower
Confident, you’ll be there.
Amen.
Needs
Tennis Shoes (men’s & women’s)
Jeans & Belts
(esp. men’s sizes 32-36)
Summer Shirts & Shorts
Men’s Underwear
(esp. size 32-38)
Women’s Panties (esp. 4-7) & Bras
Shampoo & Conditioner
(large bottles)
Deodorant &Razors
Tube Socks
Shoes & Foot Powder
Toothpaste & Brushes
Tampons & Pads
Ibuprofen & Tylenol
Laundry Soap (high efficiency)
Bus Passes & Stamps
(from left) Micah Waters, Brother Louis Rodemann, Steve Sheridan, Fr. Ed Hays, Jodi Garbison, Josh Armfield & Eric Garbison enjoy conversation at
Haircutting Scissors
Cherith Brook after a recent Clarification Meeting led by Fr. Ed.
6 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker Ordinary Time 2010
Recent Nonviolent Action
Statement
It Doesn’t Matter if You Shall Jail Us of Resistance
by Steve Clemens
For several years Cherith Brook Catholic Worker
has been involved with the local anti-nuclear
movement, helping bring attention to the building
of a new nuclear weapons factory in Kansas City.
After voicing our opposition to lawmakers and
filing a lawsuit regarding the misappropriation of
city funds towards the building of this facility, we
decided to act. On August 16th, 100 people stepped
onto the future site of KC’s Nuclear Weapons Plant,
and this is what transpired.
14 of us stood in front of the huge cat-
erpillar dump truck with our hands outstretched,
holding on to one another as we sang, prayed,
and read our statement on why we were protest-
ing the building of the first nuclear bomb plant
to be constructed in 32 years on the south side of
Kansas City, MO.
We sang the South
African freedom song:
“It doesn’t matter if
you shall jail us, we
are freed and kept
alive by hope …”. We
talked with Janice,
the dump truck driver
after she read a copy
of our statement.
Neither she nor the
nearby bulldozer
driver knew that what
they were working
on was to clear a site
for a nuclear weapons
plant. She was also
unaware of the toxic
waste that pollutes
the present Kansas
City Plant now oper-
Josh Armfield and Gina Cook link arms while blocking a ated by Honeywell
construction vehicle. (photo by Joshua McElwee, NCR) that makes 85% of the
non-nuclear compo-
nents for the US nuclear bomb arsenal.
I hadn’t planned to risk arrest as I trav-
eled down I-35 through Iowa to Kansas City
last weekend but what I heard from the locals
convinced me that I needed to act as well as
speak against this crime. After hearing two
retired workers tell about their friends dying of
cancers and other diseases after working at the
Bendix (and now run by Honeywell) Plant, I was
stunned to learn that it was only recently that
the EPA was forced to list the site as a source
of major toxic pollution. Yet a day-care center
remains on the grounds that sit atop this toxic
mess. It looks like the federal government (and
Honeywell) will walk away from this site once
the new plant is built, leaving the local taxpay-
ers stiffed for the clean-up bill.
Speaking of taxpayers, the city government
of Kansas City decided to use funds earmarked
for urban blight remediation to purchase the
soybean fields and trees on the southern edge of
the city for this plant with the promise to turn
it over to private owners for $10 after 20 years-
all under the cynical guise of protecting about
2,000+ jobs.
Presbyterian pastor and local Catholic
Worker member (yes, one in the same), Eric
Garbison spoke in a loud voice over the din of
the construction equipment this morning to
the construction supervisors and the police who
had come to arrest us: “I’m a pastor who lives
in Northeast Kansas City at 12th and Benton.
I heard 4 gunshots last night. There are crack
houses and abandoned houses in my neighbor-
hood. The homeless come to our house for food
and showers – yet the city government have
taken funds for blighted neighborhoods and use
it for this”, as he pointed to the vast expanse of
bulldozed land in front and behind us.
“I went to the city council meetings two years
ago to try to stop this plant. That is why I’m
standing here today, risking arrest, to say we
can’t use this money to build weapons of death.”
Garbison told the JE Dunn Construction
supervisors and the police, “We want people to
have jobs. They could take all of this equipment
over to the old Honeywell bomb plant on Ban-
nister and begin to clean that site up.”
It is beyond ironic, in fact numbingly stupefy-
ing, that our nation can decry Iran’s attempt
to enrich uranium for a potential bomb while
we continue to modernize our illegal nuclear
weapons and extend the life of present bombs
for another 40-60 years – all at a time when our
President claims a goal of zero nuclear weapons,
beginning with the New START Treaty.
Half of the 14 arrested came from outside of
the KC metro area: from Des Moines and Malloy
in Iowa, from Tuscon, AZ, Columbia, MO and
Minneapolis. The other 7 were from Kansas
City, primarily from two Catholic Worker com-
munities that live and serve among the poor
and marginalized. They see a direct connection
between the neglect of human needs and the
obscenity of dumping billions into the troughs
of arms merchants. Committed to a faith-based
nonviolence, these activists chose to risk time
in jail rather than to allow this plant to proceed
without protest.
The developer and and land owner, Jim
Cross, pleaded with us to walk away from his
earth-moving equipment so his workers could
resume, promising us “cold drinks and a place to
sit and talk in the shade”. “I don’t want to have
you arrested”, he claimed as he returned three
times asking us to leave before the police put us
in handcuffs and drove us downtown. We were
booked on trespass charges and released with a
court date of October 7th.
Press Release
Statement of Resistance to Nuclear
Weapons Production in Kansas City, Mo.,
August 16, 2010
We are gathered today, August 16, 2010, at the
site of the future nuclear weapons production plant
in Kansas City, Missouri, to protest the continued
manufacture of U.S. nuclear weapons.
We also denounce the existence of the current
Kansas City facility, where 85% of the non-nuclear
components for the U.S. nuclear arsenal are pro-
duced, and demand its closure and clean-up.
The current plant and the future plant threaten
the health and well-being of workers, our environ-
ment and the Kansas City community. The new
plant is the recipient of funding by the city govern-
ment through the explicit misdirection of funds
intended for the improvement of urban blight.
The 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
requires an end to all planning, preparation,
production, threat, or use of nuclear weapons and
adherence to the fundamental rules and principles
of Humanitarian Law. Further, ratified treaties
are enshrined by the U.S. Constitution as supreme
laws of the land. Building the first new U.S. nuclear
weapons production facility in 32 years is in obvious
violation of these laws.
The cardinal rules and principles of humanitar-
ian law require that civilians never be the object
of attack and prohibit weapons that are incapable
of distinguishing between civilians and military
targets.
The International Court of Justice found that
the destructive power of nuclear weapons cannot
be contained in either space or time, and nuclear
weapons have the potential to destroy all civiliza-
tion and the entire ecosystem of the planet, and
thus are illegal. In keeping with the Nuremburg
Principles, we choose to act nonviolently rather
than be complicit.
The intended use of the new Kansas City Plant is
to improve and extend the life of nuclear weapons.
Any complicity in planning, preparation, threaten-
ing to use or use of these weapons is a crime against
peace, war crime and crime against humanity.
Under principles of democracy we exercise the
right of every citizen of this republic and this planet
to peacefully resist the nuclear threat that attacks
every core concept of human rights.
We act to exercise our basic rights to life and
freedom from violence and we exercise our duty to
protect children and future generations.
We act to ensure that our government fulfills
its promise and responsibilities to unequivocally
pursue and achieve nuclear disarmament in good
faith.
We call on national, state and local Kansas City
government to end the use of our tax dollars to
wage permanent war and demand clean-up of all
chemical and radioactive contamination.
Thoughts on Life at Cherith Brook
Reflections from a Summer Intern
by Anna Mullen
Let me start with a disclaimer: I’m not an
expert in vocation discernment. Or, for that
matter, I can’t even say I’ve been able to discern
my own vocational calling yet. But, for the past
three years, my school has relentlessly encour-
aged me to explore the meaning of vocation and
to acknowledge the joy of journeying to that
discovery. This summer, Cherith Brook has been
a stop along my path of discernment. I’m sure I
have professors who would be rejoicing to know
that my time here has greatly influenced my
understanding of vocation.
Cherith Brook has given me an insight into
Christian living that has brought me to an
unveiling and broadening of my understanding
of vocation in a way I wasn’t particularly antici-
pating. More or less, I thought I was spending
my summer here to explore my own interest in
community life as a possible call to vocational
ministry. A sort of trial and error thing – “Is this
my vocational calling?” I’ve spent considerable
time wrestling with what it means to identify
a vocation. I am careful to distinguish job from
vocation – a job is something you do for money,
a vocation is an occupation of higher calling
and stronger purpose. But nonetheless, I still
struggle to see where a vocation ceases to be a
job (a money maker, a lifestyle sustainer). In his
book, Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer says,
“Our deepest calling is to grow into our own au-
thentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to
some image of who we ought to be. As we do so,
we will not only find the joy that every human
being seeks--we will also find our path of au-
thentic service in the world.” Cherith Brook has
truly challenged me to begin to wrestle with this
idea of authentic self-hood, and if that’s core to
walking a path of vocational discernment, then
this internship experience has clearly been well
placed on my journey.
This summer, we have been reading the
book of James as a community study and as a
reflective tool for the work we do. A few weeks
ago we read James 2:14-18, and I think it most
beautifully sums up what I’ve come to recognize
vocation – and authentic selfhood – to be.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if a person
claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such
faith save him or her? Suppose a brother or sister
is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says
to that person, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and
well fed,” but does nothing about his or her physical
needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by it-
self, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But
someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”  down the barriers of class status and economic
      Show me your faith without deeds, and I
will show you my faith by what I do. What are
deeds but the things we do with such regularity
that we cannot comprehend daily living without
them? Is that not how our modern, secular
Ordinary Time 2010 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker 3
living has taught us to view our jobs? When we of vocational calling that are our most sincere
introduce ourselves to new acquaintances, one service to the world.
of the first questions to be asked is, “What do Perhaps it’s not the most academically cor-
you do for a living?” – what’s your job? We in- rect way to understand and describe vocation,
quire about the activity that consumes so much by in the place I’m at on my journey of living,
of our lives that we know not how to identify I find the concept comforting. In many ways I
ourselves without it. And it seems to me that’s feel there is immense pressure to identify my
what vocation should be: the things about you vocational call – as though I should always be
that consume so much of your living that you looking forward to this prize. It is similar to the
don’t know how to identify yourself without pressure I feel to know what I’ll be doing a year
them. Your authentic selfhood, your vocation, from now when I’ve graduated. This pressure of
your deeds. vocation identification not only weighs down
While at school, I may say that my deeds like a burden instead of being lifted like an
could be described as “taking notes,” “reading adventurous time of self-discovery and growth,
books,” and “regurgitating information to prove but also completely disregards the process of
I’ve been paying attention”. Not particularly vocational discernment as a continual and
worthy deeds. In fact, it requires some creative ongoing journey –
thinking to understand how these deeds align something our friend
with my claim to faith. But this summer at and long time com-
Cherith Brook I feel like I could say my deeds munity dweller David
have been “offering friendship,” “receiver of Jansen reminded us
grace,” “giver of my fullest ability”. My deeds of on a recent visit
have required me to give all of my able self to to our community.
living the gospel message of love and nonvio- Remembering that
lence (which I will have you know is not as easy the path of discern-
as I would like to think it should be). It requires ment and the stops
a whole lot of faith to live out these deeds. along the way are
Truly, if we have deeds honest to our claims just as important as
of faith, then how are we not to depend on the actual claiming
that faith? The Frank Sinatra tune “Love & of a vocation can be
Marriage” rings in my head – “You can’t have an incredibly freeing
one without the other!” For example, one of way to recognize the
the most important aspects of living in this way we ought to live.
community is relational interaction with our Let us recognize
friends who live on the streets. So once a week the things we do with
we leave our sanctuary of Cherith Brook to much regularity and
meet our friends where they’re at – on street let us strive to make
corners, in abandoned houses, at camp sites those deeds our most
and by the dumpsters behind Family Dollar. authentic expres- Anna and Vader, one of our chickens
It’s a world completely foreign to me, a world sions of self-hood. May
I have been brought up to be wary and cau- we recognize that our faith calls us into action
tious of. On my first trip out onto the streets, I via our deeds to clothe the naked, comfort the
remember one of the volunteers walking with sick, feed the hungry, and befriend the lonely.
us asking Nick if he ever felt scared going into Together, let us pray and believe that our faith
abandoned houses. “No,” he said. “I have faith.” and our deeds can bring about the gospel real-
And perhaps that’s what it takes for us to live ity of unending peace and justice that all of
out our vocational callings – to have faith. As creation is longing for.
Palmer says, “Our deepest calling is to grow into
our own authentic self-hood, whether or not Anna Mullen came to us from the Vocation & Val-
it conforms to some image of who we ought to ues Program at Hastings College in Nebraska.
be.” And frankly, meeting our friends on the
street breaks a lot of rules about who society is
telling me I ought to be. To have belief in a lov-
ing and peaceful Creator who calls us to break
privilege, who opens up the way for justice and
peace to embody the earth, and frees us from
conforming to the standards and expectations
of society. Faith such as this frees us to enter
into authentic self-hood and to engage in deeds
4 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker Ordinary Time 2010
Happenings at Cherith Brook
House Notes The Powers
by Josh Armfield
Chasing chickens has become a pastime at
Cherith Brook this summer. They wander about
the yard and find their way under the fence and
into the alley and into the empty lot behind us
and sometimes all the way to the next street be-
hind our house. We must look ridiculous corral-
ling chickens in the middle of Kansas City. But
what good friends these ladies have been to us!
Just a few weeks ago, while cleaning the chicken
coup, we found our first egg! Now we are getting
about four eggs a day from the ten chickens that
we own. By fall we expect to have ten eggs a day!
It’s amazing how your idea of eating changes
when you are growing your food. I think we all
want to spoil our chickens and treat them like
queens as long as they are giving us eggs.
A freshly harvested batch of tomatoes from our garden
Speaking of the chicken and the egg, we have
a full house this summer. We have welcomed
two new interns into our community. Anna
Mullen will be a senior at Hastings College in
Nebraska next semester. She is studying reli-
gion and media production, is our top dumpster
diver, and has a mean hook shot. Our other
intern, Elisabeth Rutschman, comes to us from
Jokkmokk, Sweden. She is spending over a year
in the U.S. visiting family and experiencing
intentional community with us. It is revitalizing
to have interns in our community who bring
energy and fresh ideas! Anna and Elisabeth have
helped us to beautify our spaces in the shower
house and in the garden.
This summer we have been reading a book
together by Stanley Saunders and Charles
Campbell, called The Word on the Street. We
have been learning and reminding ourselves
of the importance of resisting the powers and
living with “resurrection imagination”. We are
trying to read the scriptures in the context of
the streets, in the context of the poor. What
is Jesus trying to tell us about the poor in the
Northeast? Out of these book discussions we
have come to a common call as a community to
be more present on the streets. We see a need to
stand with women being sexually exploited on
the Avenue and to engage the “John” that comes
to this neighborhood to buy sex. We don’t have
a very detailed game plan yet except to spend a
couple hours at a time each week on the streets
and to disrupt business as usual. So pray for us
as we deepen this area of our life.
We have had a good summer here with lots
of new projects being finished and a bounti-
ful harvest from the garden. We have also had
to deal with sadness, as well. In early July our
friend Tony Brooks was killed when he was hit
by a car on Independence Avenue. We hope
to not become numb to the sadness that we
experience here as often as it comes, but we
hope that these hardships such as Tony’s death
will deepen our community. We are so thankful
for how God provides for us. We are especially
thankful for our volunteers who come and help
us do the work here and teach us how to love
better. As we continue to root ourselves here in
this very ordinary place, we trust that God is do-
ing extraordinary things and we believe God is!
Our intern Elisabeth is securing donated produce
to her trailer.
Ordinary Time 2010 Cherith Brook Catholic Worker 5
Feature Article Continued Photos of Community Members & Friends
(continued from front page)
my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by
the Jews.” Yes, the kingdom of God is not of this
world. The nations lord over its people while
Christ served his, the nations proclaim wars
while Christ proclaimed peace, the nations keep
order with fear while Christ keeps order
with love, the nations conquer through military
might while Christ conquers through laying
down his own life. I wonder how our society
would be changed if the church were bold
enough to live like she was called to live 2000
years ago.
Sarah, a sister in our community, came home
from her church recently and was upset by some
remarks her priest had made. It was the 4th of
July, and the priest shared a story about what
he experienced on a recent trip to the nation’s
capitol. He said he could only see two things
lit up as the plane made its final descent--the
capitol building and the church. He used that
image as a sign that there is a connection to be
made--that the church and the state were to be
one. Sarah, disgusted by this comparison, left
the church and came home. While I think the
priest’s reflections on the connectedness of the
church and the capitol building were correct, I
think he was off in his conclusion. I think his
story speaks more to how the church has been
operating like a power, just like the state. Many
churches operate out of fear. They fear losing
members so the church emulates the nation and
what it believes. Issues of economics, war and
peace are rarely discussed because the nation
has thoroughly indoctrinated its citizens and
have been taught to hate anything contrary to
what it teaches.
This is why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s
remarks are so relevant even today. Until the
church is able to reclaim her holy imagination
and begin to live as the early church lived, she
will only serve as a tool to further indoctrinate
us in the ways of the kingdoms of this world,
not the kingdom of God. May the church once
again speak out against injustices. May the
church once again take a stand against the
powers. May the church once again live the
way Christ has called us to live, even if it puts
us in jail. Our nation is full of people who are
intoxicated. But it is a different kind of intoxica-
tion. People have been intoxicated by drinking
the cup the powers so readily offer us, and the
Church is the sobering agent. Remember, our
battle is not against any person but the powers
and principalities. So let us take up the struggle
to reclaim our citizenship in the peaceable king-
dom that gives eternal life, whatever the cost
may be. After all, that’s why we believe in the
resurrection.