Dear friends,

How do we in EcoFaith stay relational in a society that’s transactional?

And how do we walk a relational path in a political campaign we believe in (PCEF’s) that needs to make certain numbers to win (i.e., 160,000 pledges from Portlanders to vote yes)?

We discussed this in our monthly EcoFaith meeting yesterday (we meet every 2nd Saturday at 9:30 a.m., both in person and via Zoom). We had some good ideas. But since we don’t yet have the answers, we’ll meet specifically on this, to discern our path in Phase 2 of the PCEF campaign. Let me know if you’d like to be part of this discussion.

Jesus was relational, relentlessly so. (I suspect that Buddha, Mohammed and all great spiritual leaders were, too). He talked with people in authentic, personable ways. He took plenty of time with them, calling out their strengths and challenges, honoring their vulnerabilities and differences.

We don’t see Jesus asking his disciples to hit certain numbers on how many people they’d reach.

On the other hand, he asked them for harder things, like giving up their former, conventional lives altogether. Scary. Maybe I should opt for the numbers, even if it feels corporate, and I am so not corporate?

Here is something concrete I’m working on for PCEF, in teamwork with many: entering the 60,000ish signatures gathered into the Voter Network database. This database we’re building together is crucial for the door-knocking/phone/mail Get Out The Vote campaign that will enable us to pass PCEF this autumn.

The good news is that after being trained, you can do this database work from your computer at home.
Please let me know if you’re able and willing to help!
Thanks to those of you (Jennifer, Frazer, Caroline, etc.) who are already doing this .

SAVE THE DATE:

EcoFaith 2018 Retreat, November 30 – December 2, at Camp Collins. This forested camp on the Sandy River is 40 minutes east of Portland, next to Oxbow Park. Our retreat will start late Friday afternoon and conclude late Sunday morning.  Let me know if you’d like to join the group planning it.