Viennese Journal 7.0 - My Presentation, Utopian Nations, and the Vineyard

Speech Postponed:

On Tuesday, I expected to speak at the plenary session of the United Nations Commission on Crime on the issue of immigration. But, the speaking list was long, and I was not reached in the afternoon.  I would speak the following morning.  We were trying to get Kerry a day pass for Wednesday, and I hoped that Kerry would get to attend the session where I was scheduled to speak. I was nervous about addressing the assembly because I did not know how my message would be received. I was also nervous about my Southern American accent.  Tuesday was a long day of waiting to speak, that ended in more waiting.

 Speech Presented:

On Wednesday morning, Kerry accompanied me to the United Nations with the hope that she could get a day pass. UN security had processed our request and granted a day pass, allowing Kerry to come with me to the meeting.

Once we arrived into the grand assembly room, I took my spot at the front, and Kerry sat with my new good Friend Oliver from the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO).  I have grown to love and admire Oliver in a very short time; he is a sweet spirit, and a highly intelligent and capable international rights advocate - particularly for children.

 I sat up front and waited my turn to speak. As I sat there, I felt a deep peace come and settle my nerves. I sensed a connection with my Meeting in Durham, my broader Quaker family, and the long line of Quakers who have been led and moved to speak truth in public.  A calm and loving Spirit enveloped me, and I could see Kerry and Oliver smiling in the back of the room. I was still unnerved by the sound of my voice in the room and whether it would convey my message or distract somehow.  And then I could hear the slow, melodic voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in my head and his speech when accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. I have listed to that speech every year for the last five years, when I listen to recordings of all his speeches around the time of MLK day celebrations.  This was to be my manner of delivering the message, silence, slow, melodic, warm, emphatic, and empathetic.  Then, a short message came to me to add to my prepared statement.  I felt that I must appeal to these people, as people, connecting to people.  And so I felt I must begin the statement with "I have sat and cried with migrants in jail. This statement is for them."  The problem about adding something last minute was that it had not been approved by the Friends World Committee, it had not gone through the screening and approval of the UN Office, and it had not been provided to interpreters in advance.  I nevertheless felt clearly led to add this short statement, to bring the point of view very clearly to the migrants themselves and our personal relationships with migrants. And so I gave my statement, in the tradition of the southern Baptist preacher.  It went very well.

 Later, John Bingham, director of the International Catholic Migrant Committee, said that he was very inspired by our statement, and that it was "like being a part of a prayer." His remarks assured me that I had delivered the statement as I had hoped.

 After the Speech:

Afterwards, Kerry attended some meetings with me and we had a nice lunch in the United Nations cafeteria. I loved being in a space where people from many people from all over the world, sit and eat together every day.  As a follower of Jesus, who shared himself literally and metaphorically over meals, I believe we share ourselves when we share meals and build healthy community.  As Quakers we build our community around pot lucks, community meals, and eating in general. It was inspiring to see so much international eating going on.

The more I learn about the United Nations, the more I am struck by the high values it embodies with respect to human rights and healthy communities around the world. It is a place where people are seriously practicing at world governance. This world body helps establish the highest norms of human rights and dignity, and sets the bar very high for the countries in the world for the treatment of individuals. The member countries also share their experiences, so that best practices and problem solving are shared in collective wisdom of the countries. World governance holds the best hope for ending war and addressing world suffering.

The United Nations is like a political Facebook of countries where they can share information, check status updates, and comment on each other's behavior.  A key difference is that these Country Friends are coming together to try to imagine solutions to the world's most difficult problems. They are practicing world democracy, and developing rules and respect in sharing perspectives.

One day the world's life support system will be so contaminated and become so hot, that people will suddenly realize around the world the need to hit the emergency shut down button. “An economy in right relationship with the planet has a thermostat, complete with a shutoff valve, that prevents economic growth from shutting down the very life-support systems on which the economy depends.” (Right Relationship: Building a Whole Earth Economy, by Peter G. Brown and Geoffrey Garver, 15)  On that day, the people at the United Nations will be the only people on earth with practical experience on how to make and implement decisions on a global level.

Kerry and I walked around the United Nations grounds and took pictures, and saw some school children coming to visit the United Nations. It made me miss my own kids. I was deeply moved to see such little people walking at the feet of the world's flags.  The seeds of a world community were being sewn in these little minds. I felt hopeful that these seeds will grow into world peace and sustainable living.

After working at the UN, I met Kerry back at our apartment with her new friend Ulrike Springer, or Ulli. Ulli is related to my college roommate Christoph. She hosted Kerry during the course of the week, went shopping for the kids, and took her to the most beautiful sites in Vienna. This evening she took us outside the downtown circle of old Vienna toward the Vienna forest. We went to a vineyard called "Zimmerman" in the rolling hills of Vienna.

On the way, we picked up Ulli's dear friends from France - Alexander and Maria Therese. I found that the years of studying French were not completely useless, and my French came back remarkably well. In fact, the quality of my French improved in direct proportion to the amount of wine I drank. Alexander and Maria Therese were delightful, and we enjoyed a delightful evening of laughing, telling stories, and learning about each other over tasty food and good wine.  We were joined by another of Ulli's friends, Johanna, who shared a story of survival during the second world war. Kerry and I were old enough to be the children of our hosts, but we laughed and talked as intimate friends. 

During dinner, Ulli asked about Quakerism and what makes us unique.  I said that we believe that the Divine, revealed and experienced in our hearts is the highest religious authority. We find seeds of God planted in ourselves and our spiritual journey is growing these seeds in the direct warmth of the light of God. All other sources of religious guidance including the Bible, other teachers, and people are secondary to the is direct, mystical relationship. She asked if Quakers were Christian, and I said yes we are generally known as a Christian Religion, but we believe that the revelation of the truth that Jesus taught has continued in our hearts. I explained that our believe in the divine in others has led us to share certain basic ideas we call testimonies. For example, because there is the divine in others, we do no violence and will not kill - we are Pacifist. We also believe that a simple life, and simplicity, is a helpful way to clear those things from our life that distract us from hearing the divine calling in our hearts. We believe that our lives must be integrated with our beliefs, and so we must express in our words and actions the divine guidance we recieve. I talked about the importance of our community in testing our leadings from God, and having support and nurturing as we seek together.  We have a special sort of group mysticism where we recieve Divine experience individually and together. Finally, I said that we believe in radical equality between all people, including racial, gender, class, sexual oreintation, and disability. We have worked over many years against the oppression of women and the abolition of Slavery.  If I had to express our highest aspiration in one word, it would be LOVE.

At one point, one of the friends disclosed a very horrific story from the Holocaust. I was very glad to receive the story, hold it and her in the light. It is so important to remember these stories of genocide, and remain vigilant against the prejudice and power that can converge to implement evil in our world.  I greatly appreciated her courage in sharing the story of being a victim of organized violence on a massive, unimaginable scale.

Our conversation quickly returned to the the jovial spirit of the evening.  We shared together the Spirit of Youth, "L'esprit de jeune." We were hosted so gracefully and beautifully, it was sad to say goodbye at the end of the evening to our new friends.