COMMON VOICE NOVEMBER 2010

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

ROBERT

BY SONYA GRAY

WORDS OF GRATITUDE BY BRITTANY HANSON

ON LISTENING CIRCLES BY CAIT CAUGHEY

TONE WOVEN: AN AUDIO VISUAL PERFORMANCE BY LIZ IVKOVICH AND CALEB COPPOCK

This issue of Common Voice is dedicated to our friend Robert Harden.

How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue [us] from destruction, [our] precious [lives]

from the lions!… (Psalm 35:17)

Sadly, almost exactly three years later, we’ve been witness to a

similarly terrible event: our good friend Robert (also a part of the

CommonTable community) was brutally murdered in his

apartment building which sits cattycorner just down the street from

inCOMMON. One of his neighbors – released from prison just one

month earlier for aggravated assault – violently attacked Robert

and now faces life in prison. Along with mourning the loss of our

friend, we pray for redemption in the life of Robert’s assailant. Yesterday a good friend of ours, Robert, was killed inside the

Legend Hotel. Robert had been coming to CommonTable for

about 2 years. For those of you who have met him, you know he

was an ornery older man. He and I would bicker, then would

apologize to one another, then bicker, then apologize, ad

nauseam. He was very set in his ways and not always easy to get

along with. He was the grumpy “old uncle” at CommonTable that

everyone grumbled about. However, everyone at CommonTable

missed him when he wasn’t there; asking if anyone knew where he

was, if he was alright. Robert knew that at CommonTable he got

ROBERT BY SONYA GRAY

on folks nerves, but he also knew he was loved and accepted

here.

The last few months were sweet with him. He was more

affectionate and humorous. Monday night [the night before he

was killed] was particularly sweet – I shared dinner with him and he

told me some things that he was hopeful about. He awkwardly

hugged a few of us before he left, kind of giggling as he said

“you’re alright, you know that?”

Our hearts are broken. A man who clearly suffered so much in life

suffered an even more terrible death. Needless to say, it’s difficult –

if not impossible – to see the light through the darkness in these

moments. It feels like we need a magnifying glass to see the

growth of life among the heap of death and destruction. These

are the days I want to pack-it-in and quit.

However, as often modeled in the life of King David, these are also

the appropriate times to yell to – and even at – God. “O LORD,

HOW LONG WILL YOU LOOK ON?!” At these times, God, our loving

Father, allows us, His precious kids, to scream, holler, and pound

our fist into His chest until we collapse upon His lap in an act of self-

emptying resolve. In the solance of His embrace we find the

perfect place to rest and heal. In time, when we’re ready to return

back to life, God’s lavish loving-kindness performs a work of grace

within our hearts: our cries of lament are transformed into songs of

thanksgiving.

I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I

will praise you. (Psalm 35:18)

Ironically, our deepest thanksgiving seems to come out of our

deepest despair. This, I think, is why our Father allows – even invites

– us to pound His chest. It is as these moments that we are

postured to receive our (and His) greatest longing, the intimacy of

Divine Parent to child. When we cover-up these pains in our

attempt to control, fix, or cope, we miss out on the opportunity for

this indescribably deeper intimacy available to us.

WORDS OF GRATITUDE BY BRITTANY HANSON

To My inCOMMON Family, On November 19, 2010 my several year journey of neighborhood

organizing in a professional capacity in Omaha, NE will come to a

close. As I have considered how to intentionally celebrate the

whole of my experience, presence and contribution with

inCOMMON Community Development, memory and stories of

both joy and sorrow pile in my internal room of reflection.

I kick over a box that reminds me of those first months when I spent

hour upon hour sitting in the Park Ave. Laundry Mat— yes, to wash

my clothes, but mostly to create natural opportunities to meet my

new neighbors.

There were many afternoons spent on the front lawn of the PAC

House playing catch, kicking the soccer ball and drawing sidewalk

chalk masterpieces…and popsicles, so many popsicles. And then

there’s our first Neighbors United meeting; my nerves were so shaky

I was nearly sick, terrified that no one would come and surprised

by a room full of more than 20 neighborhood faith leaders hungry

to collaborate. Now, after more than three years, neighbors who

were strangers are now friends who I recognize from several blocks

away according to their unique gate and stride.

This is a bittersweet time, but above all else, as I tidy my desk,

organize my server file and pack my box of books one last time, I

am deeply grateful for the relationships, memories and successes

we have created together. You have me taught me that we are

only limited by our imagination, ego, and fear – that indeed a

more just, sustainable and healthy neighborhood is possible for all

of us. But most importantly, you have taught me to be a better

neighbor.

I am profoundly grateful for you and your willingness to creatively

discover a better way. Thank you, friends. May your generosity,

courage and kindness return to you in subtle, unexpected ways.

Your Neighbor,

Brittany Hanson

LOVE LIKE SALT BY LISEL MUELLER

It lies in our hands in crystals

too intricate to decipher

It goes into the skillet

without being given a second thought

It spills on the floor so fine

we step all over it

We carry a pinch behind each eyeball

It breaks out on our foreheads

We store it inside our bodies

in secret wineskins

At supper, we pass it around the table

talking of holidays and the sea.

ON LISTENING CIRCLES BY CAIT CAUGHEY

This month after a few months of individual interviews we are convening listening circles. A listening circle is a small group of neighbors gathering to speak and listen. Our inspiration for these listening circles comes from PeerSpirit and Christina Baldwin’s The Circle Way. Here is an excerpt from the Foreward to Baldwin’s book by Margaret Wheatley that describes what Circle means to her; “As humans, our species’ memory is filled with circles, not just those we painted on pots and cave walls long, long, ago but also the physical formations in which we arranged ourselves as we got to know one another. The extraordinary Chilean biologist Humberto Maturana writes in The Biology of Love that humans first developed language when we moved into familial groups. The closer we got to one another, the more curious and expressive we became. As soon as fire was discovered, some early version of us formed a circle around the fire, experimenting with new forms of expression. Circle is the way humans have always sat together and gotten to know one another.” Last October during Mary Nelson’s session Listening to the Community at the Christian Community Development Conference (CCDA) she urged the importance of listening before action. Mary said the key to her Chicago neighborhood becoming more cooperative, communicative, and grassroots oriented was a steady listening practice. She talked about sitting on front porches, at recreation and community centers, under bridges, in food pantry lines, and at faith communities in the neighborhood. She sought out places were people gathered and worked to create more gathering spaces.

After the CCDA I stumbled upon Herb Walters and Rural Southern Voices for Peace. Likewise, Herb’s work was all about listening and change. He created spaces where people could listen to one another even amidst serious tension and conflict. When Herb came to Omaha he said to me, “every single person deserves to be heard, because every person has a piece of the truth.” Next, Brittany introduced us to Calling The Circle by Christina Baldwin and here we are. After she attended a practitioners training on convening and participating in circles we convened our first circle in the neighborhood. On November 1st ten folks met and our first circle was formed. At the first circle I learned that a few of my neighbors do not feel safe walking on the streets even in the daytime. I heard my neighbor talk about what the word community meant to him. I heard a story from someone about how much they love sitting on a front porch watching the kids play and go to school. Another person told a story about their son living in the neighborhood and the terrible condition of the apartment he lived in. These stories and experiences were shared in a circle. The circle is a place where we “sit together as equals, slow down, are held by the shape, and draw on ancient familiarity.”

TONE WOVEN BY LIZ IVKOVICH AND CALEB COPPOCK

Liz is a dancer and actively participates in the Omaha dance community. She has choreographed performances before and approached Caleb to collaborate on a piece that was outside the expected format, maybe even bordering on weird.

Caleb had been experimenting with stretched VHS tape, exploring its audio qualities, and we were inspired to see how the dancers could interact with a material through movement big and small.

On Saturday, December 11th we will present Tone Woven. This piece brings sound, material, and movement together in a uniquely weird way. First Showing: 7:00PM Second Showing: 8:30PM Reception to follow

inCOMMON Community Development 1258 S. 13th Street Omaha, NE 68108