REFLECTION ON ‘HOME’

It was not uncommon for my parents to greet visitors into our home with “mi casa es su casa” or “esta en tu casa”(you are in your own home).  These words were more than a formal or perfunctory welcome as I learned growing up in the barrios of Boyle Heights of East Los Angeles.  Friends and family often came to stay with us for long period of times.  Sometimes they were visiting from Mexico and sometimes it was because times were hard and the living was far from easy.  Whatever the reason mi casa es su casa was a way of life that offered a place of warmth, love, sharing and continuity.  This way of life has been passed down for generations in communities like Humboldt Park, Pilsen and La Villita.

Unfortunately this way of life is very much in danger as families are forced out of their homes and into substandard housing farther and farther away from their roots.  There is voracious appetite for gentrification that is swallowing up our barrios and ‘hoods in order to create a housing market that fewer and fewer working people can buy into.  It is displacing long time residents and making them the alien in their own homelands.  And the humanity of all is brought into question as neighbor is pitted against neighbor and mi casa is only mi casa.

This is more than an economic crisis. It is a spiritual and emotional crisis that threatens our relationships with one another as well as our relationship.  The prophet Micah writes of God’s vision for humankind as one where “Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.(Micah 4:3-4)”  Home is the place where creativity, knowledge, and love can thrive.  Affordable housing means the difference between life and strife. How then will we, as people of God, assure that mi casa es tu casa does become an anachronism or another platitude?

Question for Reflection:

1. What action could you take to align your vision with God’s vision of shalom so that we all may have a casa to call home?
2. When have you experienced ‘mi casa es tu casa’?
3. How will you ensure that ‘mi casa es tu casa’ is true in your home?

– Contributed by Rev. Liz Muñoz, Pastor of Nuestra Señora De Las Americas Episcopal Church, Chicago

There was a time–not in the too distant past–when African Americans could not get a mortgage loan from banks in Chicago.  It had nothing to do with income or job stability or credit scores.  It was only about skin color.  The policies of the Federal Housing Authority (refusal to insure mortgages in “redlined” [ie black] communities) and the practices of the Mortgage Bankers Association prevented access to credit on the basis of race.  As a result, African Americans who wanted to own their own homes often had to purchase them “on contract”–meaning that they paid for their homes on an installment plan directly from the owner over many years while still being responsible for all repairs and maintenance.  However, most contracts included a clause stating that if the buyer missed even one payment, the property would revert back to the seller who could then evict the homeowner and then re-sell the property to another family.  The buyer would then lose not only the home but his/her entire investment.

A job loss, a catastrophic illness, the death of a wage-earner, economic downturns could quickly result in the loss of the home, while the seller (who was usually white and often connected to a real estate company) was able to turn a huge profit by reselling the home over and over again.

While African Americans now have legal access to credit and mortgages, the legacy of housing injustice has cast a long shadow.  Today, African Americans are more likely to be offered sub-prime loans, have lower credit scores, be charged higher mortgage interest rates, and experience foreclosure.  And home ownership, the foundation of economic stability, continues to elude communities of color.  The fight for housing justice continues.

LUKE 4:16-30

“The day of the Lord’s favor” was understood by the Jews to be the year of Jubilee when the land would be returned to its original owners. Jesus’ coded words would be good news to those living under Roman occupation. While the crowd initially responded favorably to the message, they quickly turned on Jesus when he suggested that God’s favor would be shown to outsiders.

Questions for Reflection:

1. When have you wanted to limit God’s vision of “place” and “belonging” to only those who deserve it?
2. Who are the “undeserving” in your community that are included in the promise of God’s Jubilee blessing of “home”?

LEVITICUS 25:13-19, 24-31

In the year of Jubilee, land is returned to its original family, slaves are set free, debts are cancelled. Some have called this God’s “economic recovery plan.” The Law also permitted the re-purchase of land that was sold by the owner or by his relatives. However, redemption of houses inside walled cities had a “statute of limitation.” The primary purpose of these laws is to ensure that property was kept in the family and to limit the expansion of urban areas into farmland.

Questions for Reflection:

1. What social benefits would a community experience if these laws were practiced?
2. What social ills might be prevented?
3. There is no Biblical evidence that Jubilee ever occurred. Why do you think the Law was never enforced?
4. Can you think of any current economic policy that reflects the spirit of Jubilee?
5. In this election year, have you heard any economic proposals that reflect Jubilee? If so, what?

Yesterday, the Chicago City Council Zoning Committee unanimously approved the rezoning of Lathrop Homes on Chicago’s north side over the objections and opposition of the community–including Alderman Scott Waguespack.   The approval paves the way for the redevelopment of Lathrop Homes into a mixed-income community and the elimination of 525 units of public housing.

Mary Pattillo, a sociology professor at Northwestern University, testified against the plan, stating, “this [plan] is as contrary to the Gautreaux ruling as you can get. Lathrop is already a racially integrated development in a neighborhood that is trending more white. And so, to not give opportunities to black and Latino and white residents of Lathrop to stay in a majority white neighborhood is totally contrary to Gautreaux.”  The Gautreaux ruling by the Supreme Court in 1976 led to the dismantling of concentrated high-rise public housing at Cabrini-Green and other high-density projects in predominantly African American Chicago communities.

Read the Chicago Sun Times article on the Zoning Committee HERE.

JOSHUA 14:1-5

Each tribal clan of Israel, with the exception of the tribe of Levi, received an allotment of land, distributed by Eleazar the priest, Joshua and a leader from each tribe. (The tribe of Levi were priests of God and received cities.)  Each allotment was further divided among the families of the clan. In the end, every family of every clan received a share of property as their “inheritance.”

Questions for Reflection:

1. How would each family receiving an equal distribution of land impact social relationships?
2. How does our current distribution of land and wealth impact social relationships?
3. What do you think would happen if resources and wealth were more equally distributed in our nation?
4. How would your community respond if you suggested this kind of distribution? Why?

There are vultures circling overhead in Washington, DC, Chicago, Philadelphia and hundreds of other cities.  They are watching for the opportunity to feed on the misfortune of those who have fallen behind on their property taxes.  They are waiting for the government to place a tax lien on those properties, swoop in to buy the debt and potentially turn a small investment into a large profit–or take the house in foreclosure to resell and make even more profit.  Investing in Tax Lien Certificates has become an “industry”–and industry that preys on the elderly and the poor.

Bennie Coleman, a 76 year-old veteran with dementia, owed $134 in back property taxes to the District of Columbia.  One day, US Marshals came to his door and moved him and all his belongings out of his home.  His home had been foreclosed by the holder of his tax lien–a predatory investor who had purchased his debt.  In the end, he was left with nothing.  Read his story HERE.

REFLECTING ON ‘HOME’

‘Homes’ are many and different.  For some ‘home’ is exactly the place one wants to be when life seems chaotic, unexplained and difficult.  Early Easter morning the disciples came to the tomb only to find it empty.  They returned to their ‘homes’ broken hearted, empty and baffled.  When life’s dreams and hopes are shattered and life is like an empty tomb, ‘home’ may not be a physical building, but a community where we want to be with others whom we trust for encouragement and sharing our burdens. For some others ‘home’ is space and place – a place of safety and warmth, a place of rest and renewal, and a place of belonging.

Sadly this is not the reality for many people.  Families are evicted because of their inability to pay rent.  Millions of people are fleeing from the security of their homes due to war, religious and ethnic strife and similar reasons.  Developers are demolishing low income homes to build luxury homes, only the the rich and affluent could afford.  The result is an alarming increase of homelessness.

For us Christians home is not space and place.  Home is not limited to a particular country or village, Home is God’s world where people of different races, religions, languages and cultures live in peace and harmony enjoying the abundance of God’s creation.

   Question for Reflection: What does ‘home’ mean to you?

Prayer: Gracious God, enable all your people to live in safe and peaceful habitations. Amen.

– Contributed by Rev. Eardley Mendis, Pastor of 1^st Lutheran Church, Chicago

ECCLESIASTES 2:4-11; 1 KINGS 6:38 – 7:12

The writer of Ecclesiastes (possibly Solomon) built opulent houses and enjoyed all the “comforts of home.” Solomon spent 7 years building the Temple in Jerusalem and 13 years building his palace (all built using slave labor.) Note the lengthy description of his palace and the “high-end” materials and features.  Yet in the end, his home and the luxurious lifestyle left him empty.

Questions for Reflection

1. What logic do you think Solomon used to justify such a large and opulent house?
2. What logic do people use today?
3. How would your home and lifestyle change if you took the lesson, “this too is meaningless,” to heart?

There is no devotional for Sunday, March 13, 2016

AMOS 6:4-7

Beds inlaid with Ivory, luxurious couches. These seem to be the trend in upscale homes of Amos’ day. Yet, the people are condemned for their complacency and for not grieving “over the ruin of Joseph.” (Joseph is not a person but a representative name for the community.) Those with economic means do not seem to be aware of or concerned about the economic state of the rest of the community. Our communities are often divided by economic class so that those with economic means are isolated geographically from those who are “ruined”.

Questions for Reflection:

1. What does “grieving for the ruin of the community” look like?
2. What action could you take to identify more closely with those who do not enjoy the “luxury” of a bed?
3. Is there any way that people of faith could bridge the divide between islands of wealth and communities of poverty? If so, describe it.