Mobilization to End Poverty: Sunday Kickoff

I'm so exhausted I'm not tired anymore.

The contagious electricity pulsating through M2EP is still inside me, driving me to write this blog, even though my bed is calling out my name.

It'll be very stream of consciousness, though. And I can't guarantee logic or sense of any kind.

What a RIDE.

Oh man. I get to be surrounded by more than a 1000 social activists for 4 days. All walks of life. And God has blessed us with enough foolishness to believe we can do it: we can end poverty.

What a RIDE.

I just finished day two and it was all kinds of good stuff, but I don't want to leave out the amazing Sunday afternoon kick-off and it's too much to cram into one blog, so I'll compromise and get myself a day behind.

Three months ago I didn't know Priscilla, but still, I'm pretty sure we're friends for life, because only a true friend would let me rope her into spending hard earned dough to volunteer at a conference we both knew very little about.

I'm so so glad she's in it with me. Ending poverty is a lot more fun when you have a friend around.

We got to hear Jim Wallis, the President of Sojourners, speak. He's fantastic. And I love the fact that he's a little league coach and he spent the day leading up to the kick-off playing baseball.

I also had the privilege of hearing Congressman John Lewis preach. This guy has been through it. He has! He knew Dr. King. He played a part in the Freedom Rides and participated in sit-ins. Nearly everything out of his mouth was quotable. I scribbled furiously in my notebook throughout the whole affair. Here are a few of my favorites:

"I asked my mom and my grandparents and the rest of my family, 'why segregation?' And they said, 'That's the way it is, John. Don't you go and get in trouble.' But, let me tell you, I was inspired to get in trouble! I was inspired to get in the way!"

"What does it profit a great nation to gain the whole world, and lose her soul?"

He told a story of being in his aunt's house, a kind he called a "shot-gun" house. And a storm came and it was so bad they thought the house was going to blow away. And his aunt gathered his cousins and brothers and sisters and they huddled together and stayed in the house so that it would remain intact. He exclaimed to us, "We never left the house! Brothers and sisters, we must never leave the house." We must keep America, keep the people, keep the environment from blowing away.

I want to tell you about the phenomenal choir from Howard University, and the inspiring testimony of Rev. Darren Ferguson, who obtained his Masters Degree in prison.

I want to. But I am done, I think. And I would not do them justice.

Quick cool thing: God's Politics, the Sojourners blog will dive into the details I missed, complete with pictures and videos. My funny face even made it into a few shots. And this blog offers a little shout out to Priscilla and me [and lots of super spectacular volunteers and scholars]!

Better blogs to come, scouts honor.

G'night.

Pimping People: Part 2

It's been a long day of mostly nothing. It's not gone well, though. It's not gone well.

Lots of little things. A stupid fight with Jermaine. A provoking professor that just keeps going a little too far. Unexpected [and unwelcome] knowledge that we owe American University another $13,000. A call from my kid at 4pm - a mix-up with the sitter meant that she never got picked up. And then, to top it off, they gave us the wrong kind of meat in our Chalupa at Taco Bell.

I suppose I could add "getting a Chalupa at Taco Bell when we're flat broke".

I'm spent. In more ways than one. I want to go outside and get some fresh air. I hope I do, I think it would be good for boosting morale.

Before I wander off, though, I thought I'd take a moment to boost some other people's morale. Pimping in the purest sense of the word.

You might have noticed, if you've visited my blog before, that I've decorated it for Spring. I've also added some things. I am now a friend of the Emergent Village. This is the third time today I've added a link to that site. And for some reason, that gives me great pleasure.

I've also added some websites on the left that make me very happy. I've added a link to Jermaine's profile on Threadless. Now everyone go there right now and hype him up so he can win some money and we can throw it at the bill collectors.

I'm not sure if this is a shameless plug [or outright bragging] but, God forgive me, I've decided to mention it, anyway. I'm attending this conference in a couple weeks, which is hosted by Sojourners, called the Mobilization to End Poverty. I'd explain what it's about, but I fear it's too difficult to understand. It's going to be pretty wicked, though. You should go, if you want to be as cool as me [in which case you'd be thrice as cool as the 87,000th coolest person on the planet].

You may have also noticed that I added a couple more blogs to my "blogs I love" list [or you may have had better things to do than to check daily to see if I've updated my blog list [I do not, however, have better things to do and so I check hourly]].

A kind of love. is not the latest track by Enigma Records, but rather, a fabulous new interior design blog by my friend Priscilla. You should check it out, she's quite inspirational.

My lovely friend Jess has just recently updated her blog with a beautiful true story about her adventures with the Justice Project. I can't think of anything funny to say about it, so I'll just clamp up and move on.

A little pimp for me: I'm trying to bring traffic to my blog. If you feel so inclined, you would absolutely make my day if you were to become a follower of my blog. The benefit of following me: I'll have to go first down the big scary holes.

An upcoming bloggeriffic event: I'm going to blog the Bible! It's a bit of a copycat adventure, with a twist. David Plotz, editor of Slate Magazine, recently wrote the Good Book, a book inspired by his column in Slate, in which he blogged the entire Hebrew Bible. The real draw has to do with the fact that when it comes to the Bible, Plotz is a novice. I really want to read this book. I planned on buying it at a discount online before I started my Bible blogging adventure, but, unfortunately, we have to stick to the essentials for now, so it'll have to wait.

My blog will be a little different. I have a book called The Bible in 90 Days. So, the plan is, I guess, pretty self explanatory. I'm going to read what it tells me to read each day, and then blog my thoughts in the evenings. It will be similar to Mr. Plotz's undertaking, with some differences: 1) I am not the editor of an amazing online magazine [although, if a job opens up . . . ] 2) He blogged the Hebrew Bible [what some Christians call the Old Testament], I will be blogging both the Old and the New 3) He is a Jewish man and I am a Christian gal 4) He started his project because he realized that he hadn't read much of his Bible [especially the scary bits] and I am starting because I have read some of the scary bits and would like to explore them further [and hopefully generate some interesting conversations in the process].

I am going to try a contact him before I begin. I would like to attempt to get a go ahead, since he is the source of my inspiration for the project.

I have to go! I've been trying to finish this blog for a half an hour! I was going to complain about how our dear young dog is refusing flat out to be potty trained - but no there is no time!

Oh, wait, I just did.

PS. I am a Harry Potter convert!! Go Gryffindor!
PPS. I just finished book 4. Please don't spoil the ending by leaving a well-intended but not-helpful message. I will cry.