GABRIELA YARELIZ

Genocide Games

By: Gabriela Yareliz

The Beijing 2022 Olympics begin in February. World governments have taken weak stances on China, a power that has no problem killing its own people, en masse. As we play around with diplomatic incompetence, there is a continual genocide being perpetrated against religious minorities, which includes the Uyghurs “who are a Turkic ethnic minority that live in the province which is located in the Northwestern part of the People’s Republic of China.” (Source) The Chinese Communist Party has tried to use the justification of “national security,” but it’s clearly a cheap excuse. Nothing can excuse this. Right now, there are people in camps being forced into mass detention, medical experiments, mass rape, torture, forced labor, sterilization, organ harvesting, abortions, and death.

As I have seen the rest of the world’s failure to call out the Chinese Communist Party for its current genocide, I was reminded of the Berlin Games in 1936. The world participated in the games that helped fund and bolster Nazi Germany, which proceeded to murder 2/3s of Europe’s Jewish population. The German position for its actions and discrimination (which was already occuring during the Berlin Games) was of “national” interest as well. We often talk about what a mistake it was to participate in the Berlin Games, but if we felt that way, then wouldn’t we be behaving differently with China?

The world pours money, attention and support for countries that, to begin with, should not be hosting these games. They should be stripped of that privilege due to current political climate and wrongs against their own citizens. Our argument for participation continues to be, “there are athletes who train their whole lives for these games.” Look a genocide victim in the eye before they are killed and tell them that. It would be absurd, right?

It’s time the international community grow a backbone. It’s time to decide what matters more, and spoiler alert, it’s people. People matter more. Always.

I am disappointed in the United State’s participation in these games. It should pull out. Every self-respecting country that believes in the most basic human rights should pull out. NBC shouldn’t be broadcasting this pageantry. Instead, NBC would do well to actually report on what is actually happening inside of China’s borders. People are dying. Towns have been locked down and people are starving. There are clear human rights violations. We would do well to keep perpetrators accountable. Maybe that would make us reflect on the ways we are treating our own, as well. It seems that the world, instead of being horrified, is taking notes to follow. #boycott

Deli Dreams (Part III)

Welcome back to my deli tour.

If you missed Part I and Part II, click on the links. I’m taking you through NYC to listen to the hopes and dreams of NYC deli friends.

We are taking the pulse of the city.

Deli 6

This deli was emptier than the others I had seen. By the time I got here, I was getting tired. My bag was full of snacks from the other delis. I was craving the Ritz Bits I had picked up earlier.

I stop and talk to my dad on text in a little aisle that had some canned dolmas that were about to expire. Before I head out, I wish the man with the beanie on behind the counter a happy new year.

He was really kind and stood up and wished me the same. I ask him if he has any hopes for the new year. He shared with me that he is from India and that he worked in the film industry over there. (You longtime readers know and remember I am a HUGE Bollywood fan). He shares with me his very legit IMDb page. He tells me he went to film school, and he will be submitting two films to some festivals in the upcoming year. I ask him what they are about and whether they are funny. “They are serious,” he tells me. It’s clear to me he is very courageous and passionate about what he does.

He asks me if I am in media, as I shared with him that I had been a cricket reporter in college and that is how I know some of the Indian actors he tells me about. I tell him I work as an attorney for a nonprofit, and we share some jokes about the fact that I am a poor attorney, not the big bucks kind. We return to the topic of passion being the driving force for what one does.

On the back of a receipt, I write down my blog page and wish him all the best with his film submissions. If you are reading this, new friend, I wish you all the luck in the world with your projects! Keep striving.

Deli 7

I come to a deli where four men are having a powwow in the entrance. “You gonna place an order?” one asks me. “Just looking,” I say as I grab a kombucha from the fridge. I scan it for a price. I walk over to the register. A kid, no older than 18, rings me up.

“Happy new year,” I tell him.

“Thanks, you too,” he tells me.

“Any hopes and dreams for the new year?” I ask him.

He counts my change and hands it to me. “I want to be in shape,” he tells me. I notice the two men next to us have quieted down and are invested in our conversation.

“Health is important,” I say lifting the kombucha bottle and smiling. I chuck it into my bag. I hear the Ritz Bits pack. Damn, I crushed the crackers, I think.

“Happy new year,” every single man in the entrance tells me as I walk out.

“Happy and healthy new year to all of you,” I tell them as I put my sunglasses back on.

Deli 8

I walk into this deli. Two guys from Honda are there on break. One lady with blonde frizzy curls asks for a tuna melt. “Not too much tuna,” she says very seriously to the very pretty woman behind the counter who nods solemnly.

“Happy new year,” I announce to all. I feel like Santa Claus or something, at this point. Everyone turns and wishes me a happy new year. I ask them what they hope for the new year.

One Honda mechanic looks at me and pushes up his blue baseball cap with his weathered brown hand, “Listen, if you ask me, we need to embrace wherever we are going. I don’t know where the hell that is, but I am embracing it, you know?” he says.

I nod. The other Honda mechanic chimes in as he approaches the counter to grab some homefries he ordered, “We have lost too many people this past year. I will be happy if I just make it to the next year. I just want to make it.”

“I am sorry for any of your personal losses,” I tell him. The blonde tuna melt lady is micromanaging the guy making her sandwich. I turn my attention to the woman behind the counter who is watching the sandwich debacle. “What about you?” I ask her as I hand her change for my roll. They are out of bagels. I give her some dimes. She gives me one back because I gave her too much.

“I accomplished a lot this past year. You know what helped me? Writing everything down. I made a ton of plans, and I made them happen,” she says to me with a proud smile.

“I love that. I do that too,” I tell her, sifting my coins into my small wallet.

“I need to sit down and write my list,” she says to me. She hands me my roll, and I thank her.

Off I go, to make my list. We are alive. We made it.

It’s time to make things happen.

Deli Dreams (Part II)

Welcome to 2022 (and my deli tour of NYC).

If you missed Part I, check it out here. As noted, I am on this tour to talk to local deli employees and owners about their hopes and dreams for 2022. (They are New York’s coolest). I met some really interesting people along the way.

Never forget:

“Everything is a story. You are a story. I am a story.”
Frances Hodgson Burnett

Deli 4

I walk into a fancier deli that has a coffee bar behind the counter. I order some tea after the line sort of clears out. The girl behind the counter looks tired. She has a baseball cap and a long sandy brown braid.

“Thanks for waiting,” she tells me. “No prob,” I reply. “Happy new year,” I tell her as she makes me tea and has her back turned to me.

“Yeah, happy new year!” she tells me. “You ok?” I ask her.

“I am so tired of this. I get tested like twice a day. It’s just a lot,” she tells me. “I hear you,” I tell her. “I get tested a lot, too.” She turns around and gives me a sympathetic smile.

“Is there anything you are looking forward to in the new year?” I ask her. She looks past me wistfully. She then sort of springs into action, “Honey?” she asks me. I nod.

“I know,” she says returning to my question. “I am going to dinner. I am excited about that,” she says.

I take a sip of my tea that honestly tastes like a cup of warm oatmilk. I wince a little. This is not what I wanted, but hey, this year has been rough. I dismiss the bad tea. “Well, I hope you enjoy your dinner!” I tell her with a big smile.

“Thanks,” she tells me waving.

Deli 5

I walk into a gourmet deli. The young man behind the counter in his fleece jacket and with his short curly black hair smiles at me.

“Do you guys have Ritz Bits crackers? With the cheese inside?” I ask him. He looks around. “No,” he says. I look around and spy them out of the corner of me eye. I bring them to the counter and look him in the eye, “You did have them. You lied to me,” I tell him joking. He laughs. “Sorry I was looking at the shelves in front,” he replies.

“You got to know what you are selling, man,” I tell him. “What do people usually get?” I ask him. “The Takis are very popular,” he answers with a laugh. “Happy new year,” I tell him. “Happy new year to you,” he tells me.

“Do you have any hopes and dreams for the new year?” I ask him.

“I want COVID to be over. I hope we can be happy, you know. I want people to find happiness.”

“Me too,” I tell him. “Wishing you a prosperous new year,” I tell him. He bows slightly and smiles. “You too,” I hear him say as the little bell on the door rings as I exit.

As I walk outside, I see the twins I had spotted earlier at the grocery mart. The ones who were pushing each other into the fruit stands. Their mom has a full grocery cart, and they are crossing the avenue. “HOLD MY HAND,” she yells at them both. The eight-year-old looking boys argue, sigh and then clutch her already full hands.

Deli Dreams (Part I)

Welcome to 2022.

To start the new year, I thought we would start with some hopes and dreams. Some of the coolest people in NYC are deli owners and employees. They see it all. (And what is more iconic than a NYC deli and the little black bag they give you for your snacks?) I told my mom I was going out to do this because “the world needs this.” (I am so melodramatic). I think I needed it the most. It really filled my heart. My mom didn’t bat an eyelash because she knows this is my jam. (She used to warn me as a child that I needed to stop talking to strangers or I would get kidnapped… still here, thankfully.) I told my fiancé, and he just looked at me with a concerned look. (He always wants to keep me safe– and well, I talk to a lot of people on the street/train. Something he is still getting used to). I told my dad by text, and he was excited about this and deli pastrami sandwiches. “I want to share their hopes and dreams,” I texted him. They are cool people. And that was exactly my mission. I went into over 15 delis. Not everyone had something to say, but many did. I had so much fun getting to know these new friends better. (Also, I supported local businesses. Spent about $13 cash. It’s easier to talk to people if you are at the register handing them money).

Here are some of the conversations from behind the counter. There will be two more installments following this one.

Deli 1

I am walking around in my leather jacket and new sunglasses (even though it’s dark as hell– despite it being noon). I look cooler than I am, and I know it. I’m an undercover nerd. I walk into the first deli. A young kid in a gray hoodie sits behind the counter. We’ll call him ‘O’. I ask him for matches, and he hands me some. “They are free,” he says. “Can I give you something for them?” I ask him.

“Why would you give me money for something that is free?” He asks, eyeing me. I smile and put some plantain chips on the counter and hand him cash. I ask him if he is a student, and he says he is a senior in high school. I congratulate him.

“What’s next?” I ask him. “Not going to college. Gonna open up my own business,” he tells me and smiles. “Right on,” I tell him. “What are you going to sell?” “Maybe a smoke shop,” he tells me. I nod. “You from NYC?” He asks me. “Born and raised?” I realize he is interviewing me now.

“Nope. From Florida,” I tell him. He breaks out into a full blown laugh. “What have you heard about us? Do you think we are crazy?” I ask smiling.

He continues to laugh a bit. “These delis are underrated,” I tell him. “Yeah, you don’t have these in Florida,” he says to me.

“What sells the most here?” I ask. “Coffee,” he replies gesturing to the machine. An elderly man with white hair and a leather jacket (clearly competing with me for the cool title) walks in and makes his coffee. He starts yelling into his phone.

“What’s your goal for 2022?” I ask O. “Make more money,” he says to me smiling.

“Where is the milk?” The yelling elderly man yells at him. “In the fridge, boss,” O says walking from behing the counter to show him.

“You have a lot of regulars?” I ask him. “Yeah, lots of regulars,” he says to me.

I wish him a happy new year, and I walk to the next deli.

Deli 2

I walk into the next deli where another young kid is behind the counter. He has his black hoodie up over his curly hair, and he is watching something on his phone. He ignores me for a bit. I ask him what most people buy. He looks up from his phone and stands, “I don’t know. I am here subbing for my dad,” he tells me. I nod and pay for an overpriced bottle of Perrier water.

I ask him what his goals are for the new year. “I don’t know. That’s hard. Every day is the same for me,” he tells me.

I wondered what he meant, as it was clear he doesn’t usually sub for his dad at the deli, but he sat and resumed his iPhone watching. I decided to leave him alone and keep walking. Sometimes, every day feels the same, but it isn’t.

The water bottle in action.

Deli 3

As I am walking to the next deli, I see two twins outside of a grocery mart, rough playing. They look about eight. No adult in sight. One is shoving the other into a fruit stand. I shake my head, and I cross the street to a deli that promises snacks. It looks sort of new and glittering on the outside. I step inside and there are no snacks, despite what the awning promises, only smoke shop stuff. “Can I help you?” a guy with a fitted hat asks me. I had just passed him on the sidewalk. It’s his place.

“Looking for snacks,” I tell him. “Ahh, yeah we don’t have,” he tells me. “I noticed,” I reply. “Go next door,” he tells me pointing at another deli. “Hey, happy new year,” I tell him. “Happy new year,” he tells me smiling big.

I start walking away, and then pause and turn slightly. “Do you have any goals or dreams for the new year?” He looks pensive. “Anything you are excited about?” I add.

“Oh, yeah. We are moving to North Carolina and getting the hell out of here,” he tells me. “I am jealous,” I tell him smiling. “I lived in South Carolina,” I add, “It’s so great.” At this, he smiles big.

“I hope it all works out for you guys. That’s awesome. Happy new year,” I tell him. “Thanks, you too.”

I go into the deli next door and the owner is on his phone, speaking in Arabic, ignoring me completely. I do a 360 and head out.

Tune in later this week for the next installment of the deli tours.

Leadership

“Where books are burned, they will, in the end, burn people, too.”
Heinrich Heine

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I write this in reflection of what we have been witnesses to, in the past two years. I won’t pretend to be some brave crusader, as I recognize in retrospect that in important moments, my dissent was a private one. I will also say that since the confusing inception of all of this, I have also been vocal and had unpleasant, yet respectful conversations with leaders in ministry and the public space. Sometimes, it takes us a minute to find our bearings, though I will say that unfortunately, there is often not a moment to spare.

It is common, nowadays, to hear people ask that we not compare what is happening now to past moments in history. There is a real fear in looking back. It’s even scarier to see we are in the same place and/or headed in the same regressing direction. The easiest way to have history repeat itself is to cast history as a forgettable haze where people’s actions are passé, and to embrace the lie that we are presently incapable of those actions. I disagree that we are incapable of them, however. To think we are incapable of such actions ignores our very human nature and is unbiblical.

I won’t be debating numbers here. That is not the point of this message. Nor is this reflection dedicated solely to my own country of the United States, but I find it to be applicable worldwide.

We find ourselves in a strange place. I was listening to an Austrian church leader, the other day, asking earnestly for prayers from around the globe. Prayers for deliverance. Given heavy censorship on the platforms we once used as mainstream, we are blinded to the plight of our brothers and sisters around the world. Many think that today’s issues and information are restricted to whatever is coming from a governmental source, with a celebrity thrown in.

I wrote about a lecture I heard from Eric Metaxas, not long ago. It sort of found me on an anxious night. His Bonhoeffer book stayed on my mind, and as I read it, it has amazed me. I won’t be delving into the Holocaust. Instead, I wanted to just focus on the initial governmental shifts in socialist Germany and Bonhoeffer’s profound thoughts on leadership and the role of the church in relation to the state. That’s it. I want us to revisit the past, and I hope you reflect on what is actually happening around the world in relation to this. And I ask that you really look closely at what is happening, notice I did not say to look at what you are being shown.

Authority

One of the first things Metaxas tackles in this portion of the book are Bonhoeffer’s thoughts on authority. One of the most critical pieces of this is context. The German people had undergone a war (WWI) and severe penalities from the rest of Europe that left the country economically destroyed and demoralized. Any average student of history knows this. The Germans were frustrated with their current state of government and wanted structure. This goes to show that when you are scapegoated or made to suffer, how you react can change everything.

“So the German people clamored for order and leadership. But it was as though in the babble of their clamoring, they had summoned the devil himself, for there now rose up from the deep wound in the national psyche something strange and terrible and compelling.”
Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer

Who we summon and permit in leadership has its consequences. Bonhoeffer wrote: “Leaders or offices which set themselves up as gods mock God and the individual who stands alone before him…” Bonhoeffer wrote and spoke at length about discerning leadership character. Metaxas wrote: “According to Bonhoeffer, the God of the Bible stood behind true authority and benevolent leadership, but opposed the Fuhrer Principle and its advocate Adolf Hitler.”

I found interesting how Metaxas points out that evil leadership doesn’t necessarily denounce God. He points out that Hitler never denounced God. Hitler ridiculed Christianity, but he played off of the churchgoers who weren’t secure in their principles and values. Hitler knew “churchgoers in Germany who had some vague idea that real authority should come from their God, but unlike Bonhoeffer, they had no idea what this actually meant.”

This brings us to an important point of discernment. I find that the church is always quick to embark on the easy path of least resistance that leads to its own destruction. It loves to misconstrue Romans 13 on submission to governmental authorities, and if we look at history, whether it be in Nazi Germany or the United State’s own history of discrimination and segregation, the church was always wrong (with the exception of the churches who heeded the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr.). Romans 13 does not call us into submission to a leadership that gives, as Metaxas writes, “lipservice” to God while rejecting His very authority and character. And when we don’t understand what real authority and leadership looks like, we find ourselves hurting our fellow brother.

What does a Godly leader look like, practically speaking? Godly leadership was defined by Bonhoeffer in the following ways:

“He must radically refuse to become the appeal, the idol, i.e. the ultimate authority of those whom he leads… He serves the order of the state, of the community, and his service can be of incomparable value. But only so long as he keeps strictly to his place… [H]e has to lead the individual into his own maturity. He must let himself be controlled, ordered, restricted.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A leader is humble, doesn’t elevate himself or make himself the “ultimate authority.” My favorite part is he leads others to mature. True leaders don’t keep people controlled, manipulated or insecure. They inspire others to become leaders themselves.

Bonhoeffer issued this warning to the church as it weighed what the Germans called “the Jewish question”:

“The fearful danger of the present time is that above the cry for authority… we forget that man stands alone before the ultimate authority and that anyone who lays violent hands on man here is infringing eternal laws and taking upon himself superhuman authority which will eventually crush him.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Time

Something that led to the downward spiral of Germany was the wait. A re-emerging theme is the constant notion that people didn’t expect how quickly things would deteriorate.

“It was all a terrible nightmare that, come morning, would disappear. But morning never seemed to come,” Metaxas wrote.

Censorship

“Within days the Nazi storm troopers were in the streets, arresting and beating their political opponents, many of whom were imprisoned, tortured and killed. The ability to speak against them in the press was gagged; the ability to assemble publicly against them was illegal.”
Eric Metaxas

We only need to look around the world to see how countries are treating dissenters. Look at Australia, Europe as a whole, look at the United States and how it has blacklisted and reputationally destroyed scientists and other dissenters. Look at social media, right in our very palm, and how people are banned from posting or accounts being taken down without warning. Look at people who surprise their network hosts with logical discourses and are cut off mid-sentence from the broadcast. Do we really need to look too far for censorship and all that it can bring? The fact that Europe wants to suspend the Nuremberg Code, put in place to prevent another genocide. Some countries thinking about banning public assembly. Old literature that seems to be on no shelves these days. I’m being direct here because I don’t understand how long or what it will take for us to realize what censorship unravels.

Power Against Power

Another element we see in Germany that was interesting is the concept that freedom can allow people to destroy freedom. Democracy can be used to end democracy. Metaxas writes of the German government that, “like a snake swallowing its own tail, the Reichstag passed the law that abolished its existence. With the tools of democracy, democracy was murdered and lawlessness made ‘legal.’“

Legality is not morality. Plenty of atrocious things have been made legal. The only thing that stands on its own legs are the principles we find in the Bible that reflect God’s character. We cannot shield ourselves using legality (and I am an attorney who has a great respect for the rule of law). We currently await court cases and determinations to see if certain governmental actions will be upheld as “legal,” but the truth is that if a political court decides to uphold something on the basis of politics rather than truth and merits, that doesn’t just make it right. Just because Australians find it legal to put their indigenous people in camps, that doesn’t make it right. Just because Austria decided that an individual’s body belongs to the state, that doesn’t make it right.

And we see that in the world we learn nothing. Nothing at all. In the United States, many cities have enacted a two tier citizenry based on the desire to punish noncompliant residents and visitors; this isn’t tied to science, as one can clearly see in the data regarding transmission and infection. And yet, they are proud of it. This is good. This, they argue, is legal.

Segregation and Obedience

A common slogan in Nazi Germany’s beginning was: “Germans, protect yourselves! Don’t buy from Jews!”

Jews were seen as “other,” carriers of disease and malicious manipulators. All political woes were attributed to them. Signs were posted on their business doors. They were ousted from public positions and fired from employment.

Where have we seen signs in windows of businesses? People not permitted to enter or buy? People being fired? People banned from churches based on being othered? One would think that we in the states learned that “separate but equal” didn’t work.

The discrimination in Germany came about through the Aryan Paragraph, which was there to make sure government employees were of “Aryan stock.”

A quote from the book held my attention: “‘Leibholtz must not lecture, he is a Jew. The lectures are not taking place.’ Obediently the students went home.”

So much of this spiraled out of control due to the obedience of the general population.

“Jews were banned from all cultural and entertainment activities, including the worlds of film, theater, literature and the arts. In October, all newspapers were placed under Nazi control, expelling Jews from the world of journalism,” Metaxas wrote. NYC, along with many other cities and countries at this point, seemed to have ripped this straight out of the playbook.

Sadly, the church, just as many today, has decided to submit to this and also embrace it. We saw it in the past with racially segregated churches (there are still some that remain). Now, we see churches segregated based on vaccination status (I am not kidding). People are not allowed to enter. In fact, just as state and church decided to hold hands in the past, we see it today based on funding. Church and religious hospital networks firing people they worked to the bone during the height of the pandemic, all for what? To complain about staffing shortages later? Churches receiving money “incentives” from states and cities based on how many in their parish receive a medical intervention; the list can go on.

“It is high time we broke with our theologically based restraint toward the state’s actions–which after all, is only fear. ‘Speak out for those who cannot speak.’ Who in the church today realizes that this is the very least that the Bible requires of us?”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Role of the Church

“Here is the church, where Jew and German stand together under the Word of God; here is the proof of whether a church is still the church or not.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As in many times in history, the church has a role to play, and we are the church. Had the church stood up against the Nazis, history would have been different. But it required a citizenry who knew what it stood for and could stand up against power rather than blindly seeking power.

I would dare say that the same Bonhoeffer words apply to us today. If two different people can stand side-by-side in unity, that is what shows us whether the church is really a church or whether it is simply a sector of the state playing Christian.

Bonhoeffer thought a lot about the role of the church in Germany’s impending crisis, and I dare say this role applies to the church in any point of the world’s history. He narrowed it down to three points:

First, the church was to evaluate the state’s creation of law and order. it must “question the state regarding its actions and their legitimacy.” (Metaxas) “If the state is creating an atmosphere of ‘excessive law and order,’ it is the church’s job to draw the state’s attention” to it. The church should weigh this by seeing if the state’s rules deprive “Christian preaching and Christian faith… of their rights.” Id.

“[The church] must reject this encroachment of the order of the state precisely because of its better knowledge of the state and the limitations of its action. The state which endangers the Christian proclamation negates itself.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Second, the church was “to aid the victims of state action.”

“[The church] has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering of society… even if they do not belong to the Christian community.“
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Metaxas points out that Bonhoeffer often quoted Galatians, often saying, “Do good to all men.”

Third, the church was “not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to put a spoke in the wheel itself.” In other words, the church is not only to help victims suffering the repercussions of current irresponsible and damaging leadership, but it was to find a way to stop more suffering from happening, from the source.

“It is sometimes not enough to help those crushed by the evil actions of the state; at some point the church must directly take action against the state to stop it from perpetuating evil.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Altar

“The church has only one altar, the altar of the Almighty… before which all creatures must kneel… Whoever seeks something other than this must keep away; he cannot join us in the house of God… The church has only one pulpit, and from that pulipit, faith in God will be preached, and no other faith, and no other will than the will of God, however well intentioned.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Finally, Bonhoeffer warned the church of idolatry; idolatry to the state and its leaders. Metaxas writes that it was clear that “Hitler had stepped onto the altar,” in the German church at the time. Which made me think about us as a global church. Who has stepped on our altar? It may be someone different for different people. The only way we will live this life right is if we clear the altar and make sure only God is found there. No other person, no other faith, no other will, “however well intentioned.”

We have a lot to do, and the time is now. In the words of Bonhoeffer, “What are we waiting for? The time is late.”

Suffering

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I have so been enjoying the book Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. I was deeply interested in Bonhoeffer’s thoughts about the churches he encountered while in the United States and more specifically, New York.

He found much of the messaging and preaching shallow. He found a lack of focus on Christ, but interestingly, his experience while visiting a church in Harlem was different to that which he found at the Union Seminary.

The African American community deeply impacted Bonhoeffer’s view of what the church’s mission was– to stand with the suffering.

He wrote that “The only real piety and power that he had seen in the American church seemed to be in the churches where there were a present reality and a past history of suffering.”

I don’t think much has changed today. We find a frivolity and complacency in attitude and in deed when we carry our faith from our comfortable social settings. We relate to our faith almost strictly intellectually, denying it its power. But suffering– suffering brings about an incredible gift. It draws us near to God in the deepest of ways, and mysteriously, we find the greatest power in our hour of greatest pain. In our distress, God’s promise is made true, “His strength is made perfect in our weakness.” His grace is sufficient for you and me. (2 Cor. 12:9)

Inspired to Be Original

By: Gabriela Yareliz

As I read the homages in the passing of Joan Didion, I see a lot of people noting that they wanted to write like her and be like her. One writer wrote that “What Would Didion Do?” was a guiding principle of her life. What I find so interesting about certain figures in history is that I feel that they call us to something different. Not to be like them but to be entirely ourselves and to own who we are and how we see the world. They give us the space to be originals rather than copies.

I think that more than praise, great artists wanted us to learn how to bare our souls. They sought to teach us vulnerability rather than technique— honesty rather than conformity.

King

By: Gabriela Yareliz

This Christmas season, if there is anything that stood out to me the most from the familiar Christmas story it was its humility. The bleak circumstance of it all. How the God of the universe’s arrival frustrated every expectation. His parents filled with the same anxieties that overwhelm us, at times. The inn was full and stuff was not exactly ideal, and yet it was as it needed to be. I am amazed at His earthly parents’ humility in accepting the responsibility of God’s favor, and God’s humility that was laced with His incomprehensible love toward us.

I am amazed at the humility of those who saw the star in the sky and received messages from angels. The common thread in this story is it is full of people who were sincere and humble people, searching for and treasuring truth. People who were willing to set aside expectations to be guided. People willing to be surprised. They united humility and belief and saw God’s face.

Those who were stuck in their own expectations missed the signs all around.

Don’t miss the signs. Don’t miss Him.

In contrast with all the humility is the word ‘king.’ A King was born to us on that day. The only true King to walk this earth. Its Creator incarnate.

Everything about Him surprises us. It still does. We still end up in the inn stable. He transforms all things and people. His light, like the star, draws us. The darkness has not overcome the light, and it never will. (John 1:5)

He is flesh. He is King. He is Savior. He is with us.

His reward is still the same for the humble and seeking— they will see His face.

Joan Didion

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want, and what I fear.”
Joan Didion

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Many of us who love reading and writing mourn a legendary writer, Joan Didion. I’ve seen so many people reflecting on: her essays about grief and Hollywood, her unique and petite coolness (it’s almost like the Olsen twins modeled themselves after her), her love for coca cola and cigarettes (Olsen twins, right?), her passion and exortation to not just suffer through life but to live it (and claim it hard), the fact that as any good writer would– she left us with more questions than answers, despite what they teach us in journalism school.

Those of us who have read her have traveled with her, and as good writing tends to do, she stuck with us and traveled with us.

“People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display what was once called *character,* a quality which, although approved in the abstract, sometimes loses ground to the other, more instantly negotiable virtues…. character–the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life–is the source from which self-respect springs.”
Joan Didion

She left us with feelings, with nuance, with complexity, with a world of observations and the desire to uncover the hidden meanings that aren’t readily spotted on the surface. She left us with the gift of her words; the world through her eyes.

“I’m not optimistic, darling, but I’m hopeful. There’s a difference. I’m hopeful.”
Joan Didion