By Kenya Cummings
We are progressive thinkers, dreamers, innovators, organizers, and leaders, sometimes well received and sometimes apostate, who all share a passion for honesty, inclusion, and justice inside and outside the Church. We dream of a world filled with peace, economic equality, and freedom from the yoke of oppression for ALL people. And when we say ALL we mean ALL. More than anything, we dream of a world filled with love.
As we see institutional churches falter, we believe it is time for new dreams, new connections, and new leaders. Fig Tree Revolution exists to connect leaders in local churches and communities who have innovative dreams to prophetically speak to injustice in all of society and to mobilize local churches and communities to work together to achieve concrete change alongside those directly impacted by injustice. Wanna change the world? Then join us!
These words are posted on the Fig Tree Revolution front page. This is where we begin to connect you to our newsletter and actions. We send out a short blast with updates, ways to take action and some recent posts. We also want you to join us in finding ways to resist oppression, embrace economic equality, and invoke love.
These words are easy to say but hard to embrace as a way of life. The frustration and the urgency of justice can create two unhealthy extremes in freedom movements. It creates a person who is afraid of the news. It creates a person so overwhelmed by the ills of the world they withdraw from active engagement. Sadly some of us hold onto saying we will pray or we will send money. We have every intention to act in small ways, but we forget. Or we pray and we become paralyzed. We commit to no action beyond prayer.
Pope Francis reminds of the importance of our actions. "You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That's how prayer works." I know many of the issues including poverty and hunger require more than charity. So, I offer this you, "Pray for people impacted by oppression and injustice and then you resist the evils that create it. That's how pray works.” Resistance encompasses so much. It requires acts of charity, mercy, and justice. Resistance is finding joy, cultivating peace, and committing to our health.
The movement also creates burned out, overworked, and broken comrades. Our leaders and committed comrades work hard and fail to care for themselves. The responsibility and desire for justice cause us to work in ways that are detrimental to the wellbeing of the individual and the wellbeing of the movement. We go to every action we physically can. We write every letter we can. We resist as much as we can. Yet we forget that resistance is also finding joy, cultivating peace, and committing to our health.
We will not create new dreams, new connections, and new leaders if we do not embrace resistance that includes care of ourselves, care of communities, action, and joy.
Hey progressive thinkers, dreamers, innovators, organizers, and leaders, let us realize and reflect on what the movements for justice do to us in this distorted world.
Wanna change the world? Resist
Kenya is a recent graduate of Methodist Theological School in Ohio with a Master of Divinity degree. She is unapologetically black and unashamedly spiritual. She is a neo-soul loving preacher with a heart and mind for justice. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Science degree in Family Science with a minor in African American Studies. She is a church misfit committed to the revival of church and facilitating the connection between church and community. She can be found smiling, recycling, or humming hymns on most sunny days. Please check out Kenya's website!