404 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ff709fe5a907aa49eb77121bbd4c48a5.jpg 5510ec4e271428ca0a92d411e9cc214c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource D.J. Angus Photographs Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography—United States Mexico Engineering Indiana Michigan Description An account of the resource An extensive photographic record of Angus’ work and travels throughout the U.S. and Mexico. The images of manmade and natural phenomenon often reflect his interest in engineering projects that include dams, bridges, mines, power plants, cliff dwellings, and quarries. Indiana resident and entrepreneur, D. J. Angus produced an extensive photographic record of his work and travels throughout the U.S. and Mexico, during the late 1920s -1940s. The images of manmade and natural phenomenon often reflect his interest in engineering projects that include dams, bridges, mines, power plants, cliff dwellings, and quarries. Over 10,000 still images from 1903-1966 document Angus’ family, friends, business, and travels. Over 12,000 ft. of 16mm movie film complete this collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Angus, Donald James (D.J.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/437">D.J. Angus Photographs (RHC-04)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-04 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1900-1960 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-03-21 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/437">D.J. Angus photographs and films, RHC-04</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-04-A9-216 Title A name given to the resource Idaho. Water hole marker at Craters of the Moon Description An account of the resource Water hole marker at Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho. Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Idaho Photography Volcanic rock Craters of the Moon National Monument (Idaho) Volcanoes Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Angus, Donald James (D. J.) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1930 Type The nature or genre of the resource Image https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0c52d4f130b5b34a4e4082826f43b8c2.pdf 9d77bd60d280dde810e9189a8ae1e0c3 PDF Text Text 1 Grand Valley State University Special Collections Kent County Oral History collections, RHC-23 Mr. Chester Idema Interviewed on September 24, 1971 Edited and indexed by Don Bryant, 2010 – bryant@wellswooster.com Tape #16, 17 (52:28) Biographical Information Chester Frederick Idema was born 18 August 1886 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He died 20 March 1978 at his home at 29 Gay Avenue, Grand Rapids. He was the son of Henry and Johanna Wilhelmina (Doornink) Idema. Henry was born in Grand Rapids in 1856 and died 8 Jaunuary 1951. He married Johanna W. Doornink on 3 February 1880 in Grand Rapids. Johanna died in 25 December 1953. Chester’s brothers, Walter D. Idema and Edward H. Idema were also born in Grand Rapids – 16 December and 1888 and 23 November 1890, respectively. Chester F. Idema was married on 4 October 1913 to Marion Mead in Grand Rapids. Marion was the daughter of James Andrew Mead and Alice Nash and born 4 August 1891 in Grand Rapids. She died 22 December 1957 in Grand Rapids. Many members of the Idema family are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Grand Rapids. ___________ Interviewer: There, now we’re starting. I’m going to start right out with that, that question I asked you before, whether you have, whether you think there is any value to this project at all. And if you don’t think so, why not? Mr. Idema: I am unable to see the ultimate good in a sufficiently to warrant the time, effort, and cost, getting the material. I am unable to see that your objective is important. I’m probably wrong. Interviewer: You can be right, you know… Mr. Idema: Hmm? Interviewer: You could be right. Mr. Idema: Well, time will tell that... Interviewer: Well, were you born in Grand Rapids? Mr. Idema: I was born on Lyon Street. Interviewer: Whereabouts on Lyon? Mr. Idema: Between Prospect and Lafayette on the south side. �2 Interviewer: Yes? Was …? Mr. Idema: The house still stands, in spite of the fact I left it. Interviewer: What was it like growing up there in that neighborhood? Mr. Idema: What was it like? Interviewer: Yes Mr. Idema: I don’t know just what you mean. There were an awful lot of kids, my age, a little younger, a little under. We had our fights and our armies and our games and our plays. We all went to Fountain Street School, then later to the Grand Rapids High School, which was then at, on the Lyon Street hill, the big red school, that was high school. Interviewer: Is that at Lyon and Barclay? Mr. Idema: Barclay, yes, or Ransom, yes, I guess Barclay. No, Barclay would be, no, the big school was on Ransom Street, the big red school, Ransom and Lyon. Interviewer: Yes. Mr. Idema: Then I went, I graduate…, I didn’t graduated, I went to preparatory school in Pennsylvania and I went to the University of Michigan graduated there in nineteen nine. Interviewer: What did you do after you graduated? Mr. Idema: Went to the Elliot Machine Company. Interviewer: Can you tell me the story about the Elliot Machine Company again? Mr. Idema: Well, the Elliot Machine Company was a mana… was a company engaged solely in the manufacture of button-fastener machines which would wire fasten buttons on button shoes. The machines were leased, for a certain sum a year, and the wire, they, unless he agreed to use, wire made by the Elliot Machine Company and no other, and that profit, and the very large profit, was in that. And they had machines in every part in every city in the U.S., every shoe store had to have one because a person would buy a pair of button shoes and they wouldn’t fit and they’d have to have the buttons set over. So they clip off the old buttoner, unfasten it, set it over where it belongs, and put it on with this machine. Every click was some value to the Elliot Machine Company. Well, that, during the war, the government, I’ve forgotten what division that would be, put the ban on the manufacture of button shoes, in order to conserve leather. As a result of which, as button shoes disappeared, and couldn’t be repurchased, there was no use for a machine to put buttons on them. And the Company folded up, there was no value except junk value to those thousands machines, which were in every part of the United State, but not worth the freight to bring them back. �3 Interviewer: Well, I, how would, what would it conserve leather by doing away with the button shoes? Weren’t there other shoes made out of leather? Mr. Idema: Yes, but it made two styles. Two different types of shoes, you, you and your wife would either buy lace shoe or button shoe or for some occasion or both. But anyway, they, what it accomplished I don’t know, but that was their reason. Interviewer: Yes. Mr. Idema: Conservation of leather. Interviewer: That was a pretty profitable company, the Elliot? Mr. Idema: While it was growing, it was very profitable. But it ended just as quick. And all the investment in machinery and tools and everything was practically nil. And these machines that were in existence all over the country under lease, and they say they’re not worth shipping back. Interviewer: You mentioned that Elliot paid for half of the Masonic Temple here in town. Mr. Idema: I think its contribution was either about, even figure of about one hundred fifty thousand dollars, or something like that, about half of it, I’ve forgot. But a large sum, which he made in this business. Now that was during nineteen thirteen-fourteen-fifteen-sixteen, just before the war, when it was in its height. Previous to that, lace shoes had been the style. Gradually it turns over and button shoes came back in. Women used to wear button, button shoes almost to the knee, there’d be sixteen buttons on shoe; that’s thirty-two buttons on a pair. Well, that was worth probably twenty-five or-thirty cents to the Elliot Machine Company to put those on. See, when, when shoes were sent to the retailer they’re sewed on, they’re never clipped on with wire, because they have to be changed to conform to the customer and their needs. So, it’s very easy to snip the threads, then put ‘em on with wire. So that very, very few of ‘em except for heavy men’s shoes, were put on at the factory. They were sent and just tied on really. But you go in, you’d lose a button as it happens you’d do this and a button would come off, you’d stop at the first little shoe store, it’s on the way down, go in and take off your shoe and he’d put it on there and like that there’d be a new, be clamped on. Automatically crimper would do that and slap the button on. And using Elliot wire, which, in which he had a whale of a product. Interviewer: Then, you went off to war? Mr. Idema: Then I, I enlisted in nineteen seventeen, yes. Interviewer: Did you go overseas? Mr. Idema: No, I didn’t get overseas: I came back in nineteen nineteen and went into the, well, it was soon after that, there was a little interim which there’s no need to go into.., I went with the Welch-Wilmarth Company which later became a part of the Grand Rapids Store Equipment Corporation. They had a factory down on Madison Avenue and a great big factory on outer �4 Monroe Avenue. And, I left that to go in the Old Kent Bank in nineteen …, I can’t tell you, about nineteen thirty-three or four. And I’ve been with the Elliot, I’ve been with the Old Kent nineteen years, at the Old National office, you know where that is, where it was? You know where the Bank is? Interviewer: The Old Kent Bank? Mr. Idema: No, the Bank, it’s a restaurant in the Pantlind. Interviewer: Oh yes, the bar, yes. Mr. Idema: That’s where the Old National office of the Old Kent Bank, that’s where I was, that was my desk. And I was there until the new building was built and then they put all our stuff over there, the National office, I mean. And the main office was in the Morton House, at that time. It’s still a bank, but it’s not the main office; the main office, of course is in a new building. Interviewer: Yes, was that known as Old Kent Bank when you joined it? Mr. Idema: Yes. (It) was the Old National office of the Old Kent Bank, just like the other would be the Morton Hotel office, or Cherry-Diamond office, or Plainfield branch, or whatever. I was. at the time I retired, which they made me do it, I was a little over 65, according to the retirement rules; I was in charge of the Old National office of the Old Kent Bank, Vice President in charge of the Old National. And I haven’t worked since. Interviewer: Did, were your brothers instrumental in forming Steelcase? Mr. Idema: One brother. Interviewer: Which brother was that? Mr. Idema: Walter, he started with the Metal Office Furniture (Company), which was then, with Mr. Peter Wege, who came here from Ohio, from General Fire Proofing Company, Youngstown, Ohio. They formed and organized the Metal Office Furniture Company which is now Steelcase. Interviewer: Was that a relatively new thing at that time? Mr. Idema: What? Interviewer: Was that a relatively new concept, metal office furniture when they went into business? Mr. Idema: No, no. General Fireproofing had been making it for years, and they were at that time the largest in the world. Mr. Wege came here and got people interested; put in money, got a factory down in the south end, started making metal furniture;. started in a very modest way, making wastebaskets and little tables and filing cases and so forth. Now God knows, they make everything, and they are the largest in the world, by far. General Fireproofing is not done so well �5 since…I, I that shouldn’t be recorded, I mean comments like that, I don’t need to make them because I have no business making them. I can tell you about the Metal Office or the Steelcase, but I don’t know anything about General Fireproofing except they’ve lost some standing in the business. Interviewer: Yes, you go down to lunch nearly every day at the University Club, don’t you? Mr. Idema: Just about every day. Interviewer: Can you tell me a little bit about the University Club? Mr. Idema: Well, as I say, I think it was first meeting was in the house right down there on the corner which was then occupied by Mr. Wanty... Tom Wanty graduated [from] the University of Michigan, and I went to Michigan, my brother went to Princeton, and they got somebody else from Harvard, somebody from Yale, and so forth and formed a nucleus of the University Club. I can’t give you the date, I wouldn’t even guess. But we have been in various places. We’ve been in the Pantlind; we’ve been, well, for a long time on the top floor of the Michigan Trust Company, until we moved into the new, five years ago, where we are now. But, what do you want to know about it? Interviewer: Is that, well, is that why they call it the University Club, because they took men from certain universities? Mr. Idema: You have to have attended a university to belong. Interviewer: I didn’t know that. Mr. Idema: Yes, well, that’s true in every city where there is a University Club, that’s why the name. Don’t have to be a graduate, but you have to attend, been a pupil at a university, recognized university. I don’t know how many members they got now, but I they got an awful lot of them. Interviewer: Was, what kind of, was there any kind of competition between the University Club and the Peninsular Club? Mr. Idema: No competition. The University, the Peninsular Club is more of the business club. Older, older men and younger men if, you want to take a business, somebody there talk business, take ‘em to the Pen Club. They don’t, the University Club doesn’t, doesn’t cater to that kind of trade. Interviewer: What, what does the University…? Mr. Idema: It’s a social club, I mean you meet there to meet friends and. But the Peninsular Club is a businessman’s club. A great many people belong to the Peninsular Club who don’t belong to the other, or vice versa. Now, when I was in the bank, I belonged to the Peninsular �6 Club, because it’d be some banker from Chicago over here, and I’d would want to take his, and I would take him to the Peninsular Club which had more the atmosphere of a business club. And they don’t cater to that kind of business at the University Club. It’s a social club, it has long tables; everyone sits, long and then they have small tables around. Have you ever been there? Interviewer: At the University Club? Mr. Idema: You know what it looks like. Interviewer: Yes, it is pretty nice. Their, their new club is particularly nice. I remember I went to a dance at the old, you know, the University Club that was on top of the Michigan Trust Building. Mr. Idema: Oh, this is much larger. Interviewer: Yes, oh yes. Mr. Idema: And we never, the old club, the old club in the Trust Building, we didn’t have regular evening dinners, which they do here I think every night but three nights, four nights a week, I guess. All you have to do is to go down there and be served. Interviewer: When you were growing up on Lyon Street there, was there very much closeness among the families that lived along Lyon Street? Mr. Idema: Oh, very much so, sure. Everybody knew everybody. Judge Dennison lived right across the road, next to him was Mr. Barlow, next to him was Mr. Stone, next to him was Dr. Schaefer, across the street was Mr. Treadway, in the railroad business, on the corner was somebody connected with the Grand Rapids Brewery. I can go right around the block. Those names I can remember, but you ask me who sat across from me this noon at lunch, I don’t know… Interviewer: What, what did, there, there were closeness in the neighborhood, was there very much socializing among the families? Mr. Idema: Not a great deal, no. Oh, there’d be some…this way, but not this way. This man here, this family here, might be very close and friendly with the one across the street, because their children was (were) the same age. Maybe the house next door they had no children and they didn’t contact at all. Children made a great deal of difference; they, they kind of mixed the families up, and in our particular house had the top floor which was the neighborhood, especially on a rainy day, for all the kids in the neighborhood. There would be only one place that was that big, and that was a very large house, and the whole top floor was a playroom. So we had all the kids. In those days we didn’t play football, we played some baseball. And then, we had a big dog, we used, we used to play some game Prisoners, some prisoner game, chase them with the �7 dog. But all the people are gone, I haven’t got a single acquaintance that lived up where I lived when I was little, a young man. Well, my brother. Interviewer: You don’t know even whether they’re still living in Grand Rapids? Mr. Idema: Oh, I know they’re dead; I know what’s become of them not eventually, but, I know they died. Interviewer: Was that street paved, Lyon Street? Mr. Idema: Used to have cable cars. Ever see or hear of a cable car? Interviewer: I’ve seen them in San Francisco… Mr. Idema: Well, that’s the same thing. The cables were continuous cables that ran through a slot. They dropped this grip down and take hold of it, the cable, and take the car up the hill. Interviewer: From downtown on Lyon Street? How far out Lyon does that cable car go? Mr. Idema: I think to what is now Grand Avenue… but I may be wrong on that. Perhaps only to Union. Interviewer: Beyond those streets was where the country was? Mr. Idema: Yeah, more or less. I don’t think it was built up to much. But I don’t know, I didn’t know much about what went on then, east of where I lived. West was downtown. Interviewer: Did you spend a lot of time downtown? Mr. Idema: Well, when? What do you mean? Interviewer: If you didn’t spend much time east of the house, you must have spent your time west of the home. Mr. Idema: Well, what age are you talking about? Interviewer: Oh, I don’t know…. Mr. Idema: We used to go downtown every day or two, for sure. Slide down a hill in winter and walk down in the summer. Washington Street used to be a wonderful street for sliding. They had the police roped it off. You start at College Avenue, ran down and turn on Jefferson. And I don’t think they ever allowed it on Lyon, it was too steep. But Fountain Street allowed it and roped it off. And then they had the horses; some of them would have horses, pull ‘em up. Interviewer: When the kids came downhill, somebody had a horse to pull the kids up? �8 Mr. Idema: They had a horse; it take ‘em down the hill, around by Fulton Street, then have them pull it up to Fountain. But mostly we hauled our own. They had bobs that would hold twelve, fourteen kids, and they’d go, I don’t know how fast they’re going at the bottom but we were moving. Interviewer: Was downtown much different then, than it is now? Mr. Idema: Well, it’s beginning to change now, it’s high time. Interviewer: What do you mean? Mr. Idema: Well lower Monroe Avenue and Monroe to Campau Square of course entirely different than it was fifty years ago. But it wasn’t very long ago that it looked a great deal the same. They’re just waking up downtown now. That, maybe thing, maybe they can hold it, maybe they can’t, I don’t know. Business is moving out, so is residential property. Interviewer: Was that lower Monroe section, taken out by urban renewal, was that, were there quite a few businesses in there? Mr. Idema: Oh, retail businesses, firms, sure. Spring Dry Goods Company, a very large concern that was right down at the bottom of the hill, just where you made the turn, the bottom of Monroe. And, Herpolsheimer’s used to be Voigt-Herpolsheimer’s, but that’s moved up the street from where it was, I think Wurzburg’s is where Herpolsheimer’s used to be, as I recall it. But of course none of them are sitting home now. Steketee's. Interviewer: Yes, Steketee’s is still sitting on a bench[?]. Mr. Idema: About the only one. Interviewer: Voigt-Herpolsheimer, that’s the same family as the flour mills? Mr. Idema: C. G. A. Voigt was the father of the Voigt brothers, and he and Mr. Herpolsheimer owned the business, but he wasn’t active. He was always in the flour business. But my grandfather, on my mother’s side and Mr. Paul J. Steketee, were partners, and the name of the store was Steketee-Doornink and they were partners right where Steketee’s is now, ‘til they agreed to disagree and my grandfather sold out to Mr. Steketee, and it became Steketee and Sons, Paul Steketee and Sons. But he was in the dry goods business with Mr. Steketee, for quite awhile. Interviewer: What did he do after he sold his a….. Mr. Idema: Oh, he retired: he, I don’t think he did anything. I never knew him, I was pretty young then. Well, I knew him, but can’t, I have no memory of him. Interviewer: Who was the first member of your family to come to Grand Rapids? �9 Mr. Idema: Well, what do you mean by family? Interviewer: Well, let’s say both on your mother’s and father’s side. Mr. Idema: They were both born in Grand Rapids, my father and mother. Interviewer: Did their parents come to Grand Rapids? Mr. Idema: Their parents came from Holland; the old Holland called the Netherlands. Idema is a Dutch name and a Dutch family. Interviewer: What… Do you know what brought them from the Netherlands to Grand Rapids? Mr. Idema: Ships. Interviewer: I mean, what would have prompted them to leave the Netherlands for….. Mr. Idema: Same thing that prompted everybody to leave the Netherlands, religious persecution and they settled here, and they settled around Holland, Michigan. A great many of them settled in Iowa, that’s a great Dutch settlement. And quite a few of them in Pennsylvania, although the Pennsylvania Dutch, I mean the Dutch as we know them here, they’re not very much the same class of people. I don’t know but I know they talked kind of disparagingly of Pennsylvania Dutch. But all your VanRaaltes founded the Church down in Holland, the Dutch Reformed Church. That was one of the most prominent Dutch families to come from Holland. But here the Steketees and the Doorninks, and the, oh, I don’t know. There used to be more Steketees in the telephone book than there were Smiths, not now, of course, but they died out. Interviewer: Why did the Dutch come to this part of the United States? Mr. Idema: I can’t tell you, I don’t know. I know when my grandmother, they moved, they lived first in Buffalo, then they came from Buffalo to Grand Rapids, that’s my grandmother on my mother’s side. And what brought ‘em to Grand Rapids, I don’t know. I don’t know why they chose Grand Rapids, of course, a little bit of a village then – a town. Interviewer: Well, would the Dutch people that came here, were they a very close knit ethnic group? Mr. Idema: Pretty much, and very religious. Interviewer: Was your family a part of that group? Mr. Idema: I would say so, my grandmother on my mother’s side, more than on my father’s. I my father’s background is a little hazy to me; I don’t - I can’t tell you much about it. Interviewer: Where did the Dutch locate mostly, in Grand Rapids, did they kind of hang together in the same neighborhood? �10 Mr. Idema: No, I can’t recall that they did. We were about the only one on that neighborhood on Lyon Street. But the Dutch Church was on Bostwick Street, just off Lyon, called the Second Reformed Church, and the services were in Dutch language. My grandmother who lived with us, on my mother’s side spoke very little English. As a result of which I acquired a pretty good smattering of Dutch. Interviewer: Can you still speak it? Mr. Idema: Oh, yes. I can understand it better, (at least when I knew) I had no need of the vocabulary. I used to be pretty good in French when I went to college and took it four years. But I don’t use it, so I forget it. But I can understand Dutch; we have a cleaning woman who comes here every week and she speaks no English, why she and I get along fine. And it was a big help to my father when he went in the banking business, and, the Kent County Savings Bank, where he started, was called spaarbank. … Interviewer: What does that mean? Mr. Idema: Savings Bank Interviewer: Is that Dutch? Mr. Idema: Sure, it’s Dutch. It was on the corner of Lyon and it’s opposite where the Old National was, the other end of the Pantlind, which was then Sweet’s Hotel, before the Pantlind. Then the Kent County Savings Bank combined with the State Bank of Michigan, formed the Kent State Bank, which later combined with the Old National Bank and made the Old Kent Bank. They also took in the Fourth National Bank and People’s; that left only the Old Kent Michigan National. And the well, really, before the days of the Union Bank, there were only two banks. Mr. John E. Frey formed the Union Bank, Jack Frey, Ed Frey’s father. Dates I can’t give you – I don’t know. Interviewer: Who, who was kind of instrumental in tying together all these various banks to form the Old Kent? Mr. Idema: My father. Interviewer: Your father? Mr. Idema: Absolutely, he made it, he did it. Interviewer: What was his name? Mr. Idema: Henry. Interviewer: Henry Idema? �11 Mr. Idema: He lived to be ninety-five. He was active up to the time he was ninety. In those days they didn’t kick them out at sixty-five like they do all over now. They, they took, they has a little stuff left in ‘em. And he was very active in the bank in his eighties. Now when you’re sixtyfive, away you go. Everywhere. Interviewer: Yes, in some places I think it’s even lower than that. Mr. Idema: Yes, some of them have sixty two, and almost all of them have an option, if you want sixty five or sixty two you can, but you lose some benefits. My other brother, the third brother, Edward Idema, when he retired was the owner and operator of the Manufacturer’s Supply Company, which is now being run by his son named Henry Idema the second. So that was, what became of the three brothers. Interviewer: Did you associate, like, the kids that lived along Lyon Street, did they associate with the kids living over on, let’s say, Lafayette, Prospect…? Mr. Idema: Oh, to some extent, because if we went to the same school. But we were, we had enough of us in the area to take care of our needs for a little baseball or hockey or something like that. Oh, there were, I had friends on Crescent Avenue, and over on Prospect Street, sure… Interviewer: Where did you play ball in those days? Mr. Idema: Usually in our backyard. We had the biggest back yard, that’s where they played. Interviewer: What’s the address of that home up on Lyon Street? Mr. Idema: I don’t know. It was two eighty-four when I lived there, but I know it’s changed. It was bought by a Mr. Wagemaker, who bought it from my father and Isaac Wagemaker, and there he had a son named Ray, who owned and operated the Wagemaker Company making bolts, you know. He later bought this house directly across the street. And he died of a heart attack, about, I’d say five or six years ago. And I always called that the Wagemaker House, although he didn’t build it. But I never knew that, I never knew their family, except as I knew that they lived in the old house. Interviewer: Do you think that living is very much different today than when you were growing up? Mr. Idema: Sure is. Interviewer: How is it, what was the biggest difference? Mr. Idema: Well, your needs are so much, your economics are so different, your economy is different. Five cent sodas are thirty five cents and all that stuff, and I mean, money wasn’t so important. If a kid got fifty cents a week allowance he’d be pretty affluent. Now you get that much for nothing. The economy is tiring, change, right straight across the whole strata. Not just, �12 youth, it’s everybody. And I’m talking about previous to World War Two and way back in then, I was born in the eighteen eighties. We didn’t know, we had the Spanish American War, but that was no, that didn’t amount to anything. And of course, I was, after the Civil War, I hope. But we never, we didn’t have the war problem, we didn’t have the economy problem, we didn’t have the liquor problem. I don’t know, life was a lot easier, I’ll tell you that. [End of side one] Mr. Idema: Well, did you, were you in school with John? Interviewer: Yes, he was a year behind me. And Steve was in my grade. Mr. Idema: Yes, John just moved here within the last six months. He was in the army until last, well, I guess he got discharged about March, February, March. He’s out at Amway Corporation. Interviewer: Oh, is he? Mr. Idema: And Steve is head of the local Legal Aid and their oldest brother. Phil, is a partner with Crook, Fryhoffer and somebody, he’s been with them quite awhile. So they all live here, all have children, no, Steve doesn’t have any. Steve just came here from Denver. He was the head of the Legal Aid in Denver, or in the Legal Aid work. Previous to that he was with, oh, I’ve forgotten the name of that, the government deal, similar kind of work but he was down in the Caribbean. What was the name of that, VISTA, you know, VISTA, Volunteers In Service To America .Well, that brought him to Denver and he worked with the poor around Denver, and that kind of work, and then he was offered this job here and he came here oh, a couple of months ago. Interviewer: Let’s see, I was going to ask you about your wife, and you know, if she was a Grand Rapids girl and what her background was. Would [you] tell me a little about that? Mr. Idema: Not very much. She was born in Grand Rapids, and went to Grand Rapids’ schools, Smith College, graduated in nineteen thirteen; we were, in nineteen twelve we were married in nineteen thirteen. Interviewer: Did you build this house after, just after you were married? Mr. Idema: No, I didn’t build it ‘til nineteen seventeen. I moved in the day war was declared. And that was in April, nineteen seventeen. I enlisted and left here in February of nineteen eighteen, and I was gone until nineteen twenty or twenty-one. But I didn’t go overseas. I was in Camp Hancock, Georgia most the time. And she lived here; we had one child at that time. She lived in the house. Interviewer: Who built these homes, the other homes along Gay Street? Mr. Idema: I can’t tell you. I’m the newest house so I don’t know. �13 Interviewer: That one across the street, the Wagemaker house, you said that a… Mr. Idema: I don’t know, well, I know who owned it, Mr. John Duffy, had it built, that what you mean? Interviewer: Yes Mr. Idema: I don’t know the name of any builders… Interviewer: Yes? No, the people who… Mr. Idema: John Duffy bought it, built it, and paid for it. He was the head of the Grand Rapids Hardware Company. And as I told you, Wagemaker bought it out of the Duffy estate, after John Duffy died, and Mrs. Duffy. The house down here belonged to; I don’t think it was built by him, but belonged to Joseph Brewer. Interviewer: Whose house is that, the one that the Lockwoods live in? Mr. Idema: No, the next house. Interviewer: Oh, yes. Mr. Idema: That’s an apartment house, and that is in their garage, and so… the Lockwood house, I can’t tell you who built it, but I think it was a man named Childs. And his probably the oldest house on the street, except the one on the corner, but that faces Washington. And the Gay property, the Gay house faces Fulton, and the one up on the corner, which belonged to Mr. Mormon, he built that, that faces Fulton. Interviewer: That’s the green house there on the corner? Mr. Idema: Well, they’re all apartment houses except Mrs. Lockwood’s and this one. And not only there, but all the way around this block every single one of ‘em are apartment houses. There isn’t a single apa… a single house, in the block which I’m sitting. That’s the way the change is, all single houses when I built. There was no East Grand Rapids as we know it today. We used to go out there by the streetcar and go up to the show at Ramona. That was East Grand Rapids. But, if I knew then what I know now, I’d never built here. Interviewer: Why is that? Mr. Idema: Why is that? Interviewer: Yes? If you knew what… Mr. Idema: If I knew, what I know now? Interviewer: Yes? What do you know now that you didn’t know then? �14 Mr. Idema: Well, I know that we’re in right on the edge of a slum. I mean, the character of the people, the houses, everything, we’re in a, they had a, well, tonight, right down here night before last. Interviewer: Where’s that, on Washington? Mr. Idema: Yes, just off Washington. They snatch purses around here. I wouldn’t, well, I finally persuaded the city to put up this light, I got a big light out here that lights itself, but… we’re only two blocks away from Wealthy and that’s all colored, and that’s where the trouble is. Don’t I I (didn’t) want that on. Interviewer: No, that won’t be on, won’t reprint that. Mr. Idema: I’d I mean I don’t, you don’t talk that way. Interviewer: No. Why do you think that the, what, what caused these homes to go from single family residences to apartment houses? Mr. Idema: Because nobody kept up, and built decent houses, they all went out to East Grand Rapids. That’s where all the money is in the houses. Interviewer: In other words, the economics that maintained a home like this aren’t very much different for maintaining a sizable home in East Grand Rapids… Mr. Idema: What do you mean, cost? Interviewer: Yes, Mr. Idema: Oh, that isn’t a matter of cost. They just don’t want to be in this neighborhood anymore, and I wouldn’t either. Interviewer: Why did they all move out in the first place? Mr. Idema: Well, why does anything like that occur or any movement, migration? I can’t tell you. Interviewer: Well, the reason why I asked is that I was talking to, I was interviewing someone last week I think it was either Mrs. Whinery or Mrs. Lockwood, and they said that the Ledyard property up there on the corner of Cherry and College that six generations of family lived. Mr. Idema: That’s the Oakwood Manor. Interviewer: Yes, where they opened the Hillmount, that six generations of the family lived there, on that same plot of ground. Mr. Idema: Yes, that’s right, and they die out. �15 Interviewer: Yes. Mr. Idema: Nobody comes along. Interviewer: Yes, that’s another, other people we’ve interviewed talk about how their family, well, I’ve talked to George Shelby and he said that the family built the, the house that’s commonly known as the Booth house, his family built that, and they built another one on the corner, and they built another one next to that. Mr. Idema: I don’t know. Shelby ought to. Those are beautiful houses, on Lafayette Street, that was, well, and this was top grade. Interviewer: Well, this is still a beautiful house. Mr. Idema: Of course it is, but isn’t a beautiful neighborhood. It’s a lousy neighborhood. Interviewer: Well, I think there’s kind of a move among young people at least. I noticed up on, I haven’t seen a house for sale on Gay Street in a long time, but, up on the hill there, the houses come up for sale, and they’re sold pretty quickly. Now, I don’t whether it’s a… Mr. Idema: Because they’re cheap… Interviewer: I don’t know – I never looked at prices. Mr. Idema: Well, East Grand Rapids prices are way up, compared to ours, for a similar thing. My kids and grandchildren bought out there, one of them built, gee, what they have to pay for a house would make you sick. But, they all want to be out in East Grand Rapids. Interviewer: What, if you want to answer this one, but, just out of curiosity, just what, what did a house like this cost you to build when you built it? Mr. Idema: Forty-two thousand dollars. Interviewer: That was pretty expensive house at that time too. Mr. Idema: Oh, you couldn’t do it today for a hundred. Interviewer: Yes. Mr. Idema: That’s with everything. And I know that because I just discussed selling it. People want to know exactly what it cost, and they have a right to. But that was in nineteen seventeen, that’s fifty-five years ago, fifty-four, sixty-four, so you can’t compare it because anymore than you can compare furniture that was made then, or any automobile. When I moved in here I bought a Cadillac, nineteen forty-one, at one time, while I was living; what do you suppose the price was? �16 Interviewer: For a forty-one Cadillac? Mr. Idema: I have no idea. Interviewer: Four door, everything on it, was sixteen hundred and twenty-five dollars. That car today is sixty, [er] six thousand dollars. And that’s the way with everything. If I were to build, I wouldn’t build this house today, I wouldn’t build this type of house, I’d have a more modern house. This isn’t modern. It’s old, but isn’t an old fashioned house, but, there are a lot of things about it, I’d put in air conditioning if I was building. There are a lot of things that I would do. But that time’s past. One day, this will be another apartment house, I presume. It has six bedrooms and four baths, and the entire first floor, this room and that room and the hall, is one great big recreation room. Interviewer: What, down below us? Mr. Idema: I’ve had fifty people here to a dance, orchestra and the whole business down there. Interviewer: It’s a beautiful place. Mr. Idema: Well, it was then, it was, been a happy home for many years, kids grew up in it, and but, it’s in the wrong location. Interviewer: You didn’t really answer that, of course, maybe you don’t really know the reasons but the question I had is - why did people move out of this area? I mean, why did they start moving to East Grand Rapids, or Cascade, or wherever they moved? Mr. Idema: Oh, they were attracted by the terrain, and the very strong work done by certain realtors, one of which was Mr. Bonnell. [Do] you know where Bonnell Drive is? Well, Mr. Bonnell bought all that property in there, and had it landscaped, and new streets put through and they sold lots. Mr. Gilbert, Will Gilbert, bought where I used to play golf out there where East Grand Rapids is now, part of that. And, that’s all East Grand Rapids now, the water’s there, the lake, everything that attracted. There’s nothing attractive about this part of town, not now. When I built it there wasn’t any East Grand Rapids. As I told you, Ramona, but not, there were no homes like there are now. The Edward Lowe home, which is now Aquinas College, was built approximately nineteen hundred and one or two. You know where that is? That’s now, well that is on the South side of Robinson Road, at the end of Plymouth and that was the Edward Lowe house. He lived, when he built that house out there, he lived over here on the corner of College and Washington, which is the Insurance Company office, directly across from WOOD [TV]) Interviewer: Oh, yes. Mr. Idema: That was, that’s where I lived, that’s my father bought it of Mr. Lowe, sold the house up on Lyon, to Wagemaker. Interviewer: And bought which house…? �17 Mr. Idema: The one up on College Avenue on the corner Interviewer: Is that house still standing? Mr. Idema: Oh, I’ll say it is, sure. Interviewer: Is that the Castle? Mr. Idema: No, no, no, this end, Washington Street. The Castle’s on Cherry Street. Interviewer: Oh, Washington and College. Mr. Idema: Washington and College, south west corner. Interviewer: Oh, yes, I see, yes. Mr. Idema: It’s an insurance company. I sold it after my father died and my mother, to this insurance company. That was before WOOD [TV] was put up, which is an abortion. That was a beautiful block of homes, from Cherry to Fulton, on College. You can see that, well, you know the Waters’ house still stands. And then the Bissell house was there, that was where WOOD is. And down on the corner the Aldrich house, the Pantlind house, on this side the Castle, and the Byrnes, John Byrne’s house, and the Voigt house, and then that house my father owned, beautiful block, every house in there was a beautiful, big house. Look at them now. Awful. One’s an insurance company, another’s torn down, and the Waters’ house is the Waters’ house. And it’s an apartment house. Interviewer: Yes, and they’ve got all those others, those multiple living, high rises. Mr. Idema: Oh, as a residential section, this Grand Rapids is sunk. If you got any money, I mean, if people have got to buy fifteen thousand dollar houses, you can’t go to East Grand Rapids. You’ve got to buy where they can afford to, which is Grand Rapids, per se. But it’s, that doesn’t make it any more attractive. Interviewer: You think the automobile had much of an effect on the dispersal of the society? Mr. Idema: On what? Interviewer: On the dispersal of people, in other words, everyone lived in this area all of a sudden are living… Mr. Idema: Oh, I don’t know. Everybody had cars. Interviewer: Everybody had cars before East Grand Rapids started developing? Mr. Idema: I can’t tell you that, I don’t know. I think the first car in our family was nineteen four, when we lived on Lyon Street, and that was a Winton. But cars weren’t cars then, I mean, �18 they didn’t depend on them. Trip from here to Detroit took all day. There wasn’t the fluid moment movement that there is now, and that, automobiles have come as you know, in the last fifteen-twenty years was a tremendous rush. I won’t say they didn’t have something to do with it, because without the automobile, East Grand Rapids would be left high and dry. You can’t walk out there, but to say that that‘s the reason, I don’t know. But this so-called Heritage District that you mentioned is, you’ve taken in an awful lot of territory, you’ve taken in some, I think very run down places. You’ve got some good ones. Interviewer: Well, I think that’s what the Heritage Hill people are concerned with, is not necessarily you know, the junk that’s in there, but the good houses that are still standing that can be preserved. Mr. Idema: What they gonna do with ‘em? Interviewer: From what I’ve seen, some of these homes, they are trying to persuade the people that own them to, you know fix ‘em up, maintain them, keep ’em in good shape instead of letting them decline and… Mr. Idema: With what incentive? Interviewer: Well, the incentive to maintain an area that they think is beautiful. Mr. Idema: Why? Interviewer: Because it’s like this street here, you can’t go out to East Grand Rapids and find a street like this, maybe Bonnell Avenue, but that’s it. Mr. Idema: Oh, yes, you can, these houses are old-fashioned…. Interviewer: That’s right that’s, but out there, like you say, if you were building today, you’d build a modern house. Mr. Idema: Why, sure. Interviewer: But you don’t find homes like the homes in this area, built out there. A lot of people find these homes, homes along Gay Street and …. Mr. Idema: Oh, I think that house across the street, the Duffy house, I would say architecturally, it was a great deal like the Fitzgerald house. Interviewer: Yes. Mr. Idema: And that’s in East Grand Rapids, and this was here. I don‘t think that’s, that’s follows at all. I might put this same house if I could find a spot on Reed’s Lake, and it would be in keeping, I mean, it’s not old-fashioned, in spite of the fact it’s that old, it’s architecturally, it’s �19 still good. And outside, you can say, look at that old house. But this house could have built last year. Interviewer: Well, I guess we’ve got enough. Think so? Mr. Idema: You’ve milked me. INDEX B K Bonnell, Mr. · 16 Kent County Savings Bank · 10 D Dennison, Judge · 6 Duffy, John · 13, 18 E L Lockwood Family · 13, 14 Lowe, Edward · 16 O Elliot Machine Company · 2, 3 Old Kent Bank · 4, 10 F P Fountain Street School · 2 Frey, John E. · 10 Peninsular Club · 5 G S Gilbert, Will · 16 Grand Rapids Store Equipment Corporation · 3 Shelby, George · 15 Smith College · 12 Steelcase · 4, 5 Steketee's · 8 H Herpolsheimer’s · 8 U I University Club · 5, 6 University of Michigan · 2, 5 Idema, Edward · 11 Idema, Henry (Father) · 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 Idema, Johanna Wilhelmina Doornink (Mother) · 8, 9, 10, 17 W Wagemaker, Isaac · 11, 13, 16 Wanty, Tom · 5 Wege, Peter · 4 �20 Whinery, Mrs. · 14 Wurzburg’s · 8 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/117ab6d09f5daa4acebb2faf48e2759d.mp3 917681dc9d2837b6e5939fdaf03577f1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Grand Rapids Oral Histories Subject The topic of the resource Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Local histories Memoirs Michigan--History Oral histories (document genre) Description An account of the resource Taped and transcribed interviews conducted in the early 1970s primarily of the children and grandchildren of many of the founders of Grand Rapids, Michigan; many of whom were residents of the Heritage Hill neighborhood. Interviews were collected to develop a significant collection of oral resources that would supplement other primary and secondary local history materials. Initially funded as a private project, Grand Valley State College (now University) assumed responsibility for continuing the project until 1977. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/452">Grand Rapids oral history collection (RHC-23)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf; audio/mp3 Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text; Sound Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-23 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1971 - 1977 Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-23_16-17Idema Title A name given to the resource Idema, Chester Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Idema, Chester Description An account of the resource Chester Idema was born on August 18, 1886 in Grand Rapids. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1909. He worked at the Elliot Machine Co. in Pennsylvania. In 1913, he married Marion Mead. During WWI, Mr. Idema enlisted in the military. Afterward, he worked at Old Kent Bank for 19 years and became a vice president. Mr. Idema belonged to the University Club and the Peninsular Club. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan--History Local histories Memoirs Oral histories (document genre) Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Grand Valley State University Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf audio/mp3 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Grand Rapids oral history collection (RHC-23) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f6b20f8812b51cedcc703687634c6cf2.mp3 4bd4070364c700f127f11952bde5fb65 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bde6deaf0369883bfdcdc9c1be14a791.pdf cde64639b4bc58a4ced72752f5b1a57a PDF Text Text Identity and Intentionality From the Lenten sermon series: The Servant of the Lord Text: Isaiah 50:7; Luke 9:51 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan February 28, 1988 Transcription of the spoken sermon I have set my face like a flint... Isaiah 50:7 ... he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51 Tomorrow I give my first lecture to The Introduction to Preaching class. At some time during the term, I will address the matter of telling sermons. I will not use today’s title as an example of how to do it. If you come to worship on the basis of the title of the message, you would not likely have come this morning. “Identity and Intentionality.” Doesn’t sound very promising, does it? I grant you it is about as prosaic as one could get. My only justification for my title is that it points to precisely what I want to set before you: That as God’s People we must be clear about our identity and intentional in the execution of our ministry. Identity: Who we are. Intentionality: The deliberateness with which we do what we are called to do. Let me set this message in the context of Lent/Eastertide, 1988. The Lenten focus, Part I of this series of messages, is “The Servant of the Lord.” We are examining the vocation of the Servant in Isaiah 40-55 and the fulfilling of that vocation in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus who adopted the Servant motif as the model for his ministry. Jesus understood himself to be the Servant of the Lord. Jesus calls us to be a Servant People. By understanding the Servant concept in Isaiah and how Jesus lived it out, we will be instructed and inspired to realize our © Grand Valley State University   �Identity and Intentionality Richard A. Rhem Page 2   calling to be The Lord’s Servant community and to do so with self-conscious awareness and intentional resolution. That is our purpose. Should I be successful in that purpose, then the on-going development of the Christ Community story will follow as a matter of course, then our response will be, not to a charismatic leader, not to a finely-tuned campaign of manipulation, but to the Word of God. Let us begin then with the portrait of the Servant as it comes to expression in the third of the four Servant Songs in Isaiah 40-55. The Old Testament text is Isaiah 50:4-9. The Servant describes his calling, the opposition he encounters, the confidence he has in God Who called him and then gives us this vivid image: I have set my face like a flint The servant of Isaiah had a clear sense of identity; he was convinced that he was called of God to speak to God’s people in Babylon a word of forgiveness and imminent salvation from their experience of exile. Remember, this is the prophet whose opening words are. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and tell her this, that she has fulfilled her term of bondage, that her penalty is paid. This is the prophet to whom a voice said, “Cry!” In the third Servant Song which is our present focus, the Servant says, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher.” He goes on to tell how God has sharpened his hearing so that he might learn the word to speak to God’s people. He encountered opposition; he suffered scorn and mocking. Yet he remained confident: ... The Lord God stands by to help me; therefore no insult can wound me. I have set my face like a flint. The Servant was a messenger of God’s salvation and with that clearly before him, he resolutely determined to carry out his task. I have set my face like a flint. That is a wonderful image. It speaks of one who has sense of identity and a certainty about what one is called to be and do and who looks neither to the right nor the left, but with single-minded determination pursues a course straight for the goal. If you want to understand it in contemporary terms, contrast that image with the presidential hopefuls - Republican and Democratic alike, who in Iowa sang the © Grand Valley State University �Identity and Intentionality Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Iowa fight song, in New Hampshire sang a New England tune, and are articulating with studied ambiguity their Southern strategy in preparation for Super Tuesday. Hardly flint-like; closer to a waxed nose profile. When Luke told the story of Jesus, he borrowed the image of Isaiah to describe the resolution of Jesus as he set out for the final confrontation in Jerusalem. In our New Testament text, we read, As the time approached when he was to be taken up to heaven, he (Jesus) set his face resolutely towards Jerusalem. (9:51) Luke sets his Gospel from 9:51 to 19:44 in the context of the journey to Jerusalem. We know that the Gospels are not biographies of Jesus, and the Gospel writers were not giving a chronological account of successive days and weeks in the life of Jesus. The Gospels are faith statements, theological documents, deliberately composed to portray who Jesus was and what he came to do. And so the journey to Jerusalem in Luke is not so much a geographical concern as it is Luke’s way of telling the way of Jesus and inviting others to join in and follow that way. But we know there was a time in Jesus’ ministry when he deliberately set out for Jerusalem with the intention of bringing his message of the Kingdom to final confrontation with the Jewish established religious institution. What Luke conveys with this introductory word is the flint-like resolution with which Jesus pursued his course. Like the Servant in Isaiah to whom Jesus looked as his own model, Jesus knew himself claimed and called by God to bring salvation to the world. Like the Servant he met opposition, but he did not waver. He had a strong sense of identity; with deliberate intentionality he moved toward the goal. All of this is wrapped up in that little phrase, ... he set his face resolutely towards Jerusalem. Self-aware, intentional, he set out to fulfill the will of God for his life. Luke sets the ministry of Jesus in the context of the way to Jerusalem and writes his Gospel as an invitation to all who read to follow Jesus on the way. It is an invitation to us who are once again on Lenten pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to Holy Week, to crucifixion and resurrection. As we contemplate our identity as the People of God, followers of Jesus Christ, we too must test the resoluteness of our intention. Nowhere does Jesus call people to discipleship under false pretense. In the immediate context of Jesus’ own setting out, Luke gives us some clues as to the nature of that discipleship. We learn at once that the mission to which we are called involves neither coercion nor angry reaction. © Grand Valley State University �Identity and Intentionality Richard A. Rhem Page 4   To go from Galilee to Jerusalem involved going through Samaria, and the relations between Jews and Samaritans were strained, to say the least. Most Jews would circumvent Samaria going by way of the Jordan East Bank. But Jesus sent his disciples ahead to make arrangements to go through Samaria. This was a sign of his care, a token of friendship, but the Samaritans wanted nothing to do with him since he was on his way to Jerusalem. They rejected his approach. James and John were furious. They wanted to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans like Elijah had done. But Jesus rebuked them and they went to another place. It is interesting that John the Baptist, too, had wanted Jesus to be a second Elijah, but Jesus chose rather the Servant of Israel as his model. The Servant accepted his suffering voluntarily, trusting his cause to God Whom he believed would vindicate him. As followers of Jesus there will be an honest approach, invitation, offer of the Gospel, but never coercion. The Gospel is offered, the invitation is given, but there must be no force-feeding. And never is angry reaction in order. We call down no fire from heaven on those who reject the message, who spurn the offer of the Gospel. If there is, we have too much of ourselves, too much of our own ego invested. As they proceed on the way, an enthusiastic candidate for the Kingdom comes and says, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus says, “You will? Do you really know what you are saying? Foxes have holes and birds their nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” This is not an isolated instance. Jesus always cautioned, “Count the cost,” for he never apologized for the self-sacrifice expected of the Christian. Jesus met another person and invited him to follow. He said, “Yes, but let me bury my father first.” Now, it’s unlikely that his father had died; he was saying I have obligations to family first; then I will follow. Jesus’ response was, “Leave the dead bury the dead; you must announce the Kingdom.” And then there was one who said he wanted to follow but first return home and say farewell to his family, to which Jesus responded, “No one who sets his hand to the plough and then keeps looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” In the citing of these examples immediately after portraying Jesus with his face set resolutely towards Jerusalem, Luke is saying clearly that the call to follow Jesus involves a clear identity and a resolute intentionality. Identity - The Servant of the Lord called by God to hear his word and speak his word - to proclaim the Kingdom, to announce God’s great salvation. © Grand Valley State University �Identity and Intentionality Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Intentionality -To be resolute, having counted the cost, willing to sacrifice, willing to give God’s program priority, willing to give it undivided attention. Let’s bring it right down to Christ Community and let’s think first of all of the ministry we share together - We are People of God; we are followers of Jesus Christ. We have heard the good news, the Gospel of grace, and we have experienced that grace, receiving the word of forgiveness, knowing ourselves taken up into the love of God. Seventeen years ago we renamed ourselves - we took the name Christ Community as a statement of the identity we would seek to realize, defining the kind of community we desired to become - a community of Christ’s people graced and mediating the unconditional grace of God to all who sought healing and wholeness. In many wonderful ways that identity has been realized. In self-conscious awareness we have opened our arms to all without question or condition. We have been and we increasingly are a place where all sorts and conditions of persons come and find refuge, support, acceptance, forgiveness and love. The only qualification necessary is a hunger, a thirst, a sense of need. The only question asked - Do you receive the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord? We are an ecumenical community with a broad spectrum of confessional and religious backgrounds represented. We are a diverse community; every place on the continuum of discipleship is represented in this large community - and all are loved and affirmed. What we are we are, not because of traditional structures, denominational affiliates, ethnic background; what we are we are selfconsciously; we have chosen to be the kind of community we have become. Now the question confronts us anew: Will we with resolute intention broaden, deepen and expand this community? Will we keep the story going and growing? Let me suggest that we need always to do two things: We need, first of all, to be open to all people, no questions asked, no conditions demanded. We must always be giving our life away. This must always be a place where one can come with nothing to offer, nothing to give; a place where one can enter gingerly, remain anonymous, simply be. Secondly, there must always be some who will hear Jesus’ invitation to discipleship and respond joyfully making sacrifice, giving the building of this community and the larger community of Christ top priority and undivided attention. That brings me to the personal application of this message. Let me ask you: Do you have that sense of identity as a member of this body that is the result of an © Grand Valley State University �Identity and Intentionality Richard A. Rhem Page 6   experience of grace and then the desire to share, to mediate that grace? Do you choose to be identified with an open, gracious community of God’s people? Further: Have you come to the point of intentional resolution to total commitment to the building and ongoing development of this community? Do not think I identify the Kingdom with Christ Community. We participate in the Kingdom of God but are not synonymous with it. Nor do I think one’s commitment to Christ Community is the only way to give first place to God’s will and purpose in one’s life. I do, however, believe God is in this community. I do believe grace is mediated here. The Spirit is moving here, the Gospel is proclaimed and lives are transformed here, and I believe this is one concrete arena in which to live out one’s discipleship. Many are doing just that. Over the years there has been a core that has borne the heat of the day, shouldered the load, made it all possible. Sometimes one deeply involved would say to me, “Why are there not more?” I always smile and reply, “It only takes a few.” No one is coerced into discipleship. There must never be angry reaction when rejection is experienced. And not everyone is at the point of total commitment. But, there are always those who are ready to make that move. In these weeks there will be special opportunity to enter a new level of discipleship and ministry. It is an exciting time and the joy and rewards are great. An Old Testament prophet knew himself to be claimed by God, called to be God’s servant, even to suffer voluntarily on behalf of others. Confident God would support him, he set his face like a flint. Jesus knew himself to be the Servant of the Lord. He knew the inevitability of what lay before him, but he did not flinch; he set his face resolutely towards Jerusalem. Identity. Intentionality. Jesus invites us to discipleship, to create here a place of grace, with self-conscious intention. Let us commit ourselves anew to our ministry. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Lent II Series The Servant of the Lord Scripture Text Isaiah 50:7, Luke 9:51 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19880228 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-02-28 Title A name given to the resource Identity and Intentionality Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on February 28, 1988 entitled "Identity and Intentionality", as part of the series "The Servant of the Lord", on the occasion of Lent II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 50:7, Luke 9:51. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Ecumenical Lent Servant of the Lord Servant Songs Unconditional Grace Way of Jesus https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e0b87f61e8e2376a824657ab94bb3818.pdf b8dc41aed6eb4f9366bfa3d7131d2aa3 PDF Text Text Identity Crisis From the series: The Human Face of God Text: Isaiah 42:3; Luke 4:1, 2 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan March 8, 1998 Transcription of the spoken sermon The lines from Bishop John Shelby Spong that triggered the Lenten series for me are printed on the inside cover of your liturgy this morning. The lines caught my attention because they present Jesus Christ in most compelling fashion, the Jesus Christ that grips me and that moves me: Look not at his divinity, but look, rather, at his freedom. Look not at the exaggerated tales of his power, but look, rather, at his infinite capacity to give himself away. Look not at the first century mythology that surrounds him, but look, rather, at his courage to be, his ability to live, the contagious quality of his love. Jesus is interpreted by the Christian church in very exalted fashion. But, that is interpretation, the interpretation of an experience. More and more, we try to lay back the layers that the tradition has placed on him to see if we can find the face of that one, that Nazarene who was here, who was baptized at the hands of John the Baptist and, in that experience, sensed that he was claimed and called by God. Luke tells us that in the baptism he was praying and it was as though the heavens opened and the Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon him, and he heard a voice, "This is my beloved Son; You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." With a claim and a call that dramatic, one might think that that’s all there was to it, simple, clear, not to be doubted, and sometimes, as the stories are written in the gospels, the exaggerated stories of his power, the first century’s mythological framework in which we find him portrayed, it might seem as though there was little room for any question, any doubt on his part, and yet there is enough of that real Jesus that obtrudes through, even in the gospel portraits that are written after Easter and paint him in exultant colors - there’s enough of that historical core that comes through that we can see that it was not so easy for Jesus. Jesus still had to determine who he was and the nature of the mission to which God was calling him, and that didn’t come automatically. © Grand Valley State University   �Identity Crisis Richard A. Rhem Page 2   It’s rather interesting that in Luke and Matthew, who follow Mark, they all record the experience of the temptations, Mark just a brief reference, but Luke and Matthew, some expanded conversation with the devil in the wilderness after forty days of prayer and fasting, and it is not by coincidence that the evangelist placed that struggle, that temptation experience immediately after the claiming and the calling in his baptism, preceding his ministry, obviously trying to tell us that Jesus had to struggle to understand who he was and the nature of the work to which God had called him and for which God had claimed him. Mythological? I would guess so. I don’t meet the devil engaging me in conversation out on the street, and of course, I don’t go into the wilderness where maybe I would meet him. It’s an obvious creation of the evangelist in order to make a point. Not that we deny the reality of darkness, the reality of evil in the world. Not that all of the religions in the world have not recognized that hindrance to wholeness and to the mending of creation. But, nonetheless, this is obviously a creation of the evangelist in order to tell us that Jesus, in the light of the claiming and the calling of God and in the prelude to the ministry he would execute, had to figure out who he was and how he was to go about it. The Gospel of John doesn’t mention the temptation experience. Nonetheless, the Gospel of John does have John the Baptist pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John witnesses to the fact that he saw the Spirit of God fall out on Jesus. He cannot do anymore than he does to affirm this one, and so John the evangelist also ties in Jesus to the ministry of John the Baptist. But he doesn’t tell us that John the Baptist baptized him, and he doesn’t tell us about this wilderness temptation experience. What he does tell us in the early chapters of his gospel, I think, is a narrative form of what Luke and Matthew were trying to tell us. It’s interesting that the Gospel of John, which is different in its chronology and so much of its import from the other three gospels, presents Jesus witnessed to by John, pointed out by John, but then going to Galilee. He’s in Cana of Galilee where he performs his first sign, changing the water into wine, and then already in the second chapter we have Jesus going down to the Passover in Jerusalem. Now, if you read these gospels, you find that in Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus goes to Jerusalem just one time, and it’s the last week of his life. But, in John, Jesus goes back and forth to Jerusalem, and early in his ministry, he goes to Passover in Jerusalem, and he comes to the temple and do you remember what he does? He’s infuriated. He’s filled with anger at what he sees - the whole temple establishment, everything that was going on there which he must have seen as a barricade to access to the grace of God rather than the instrumentality through which that grace is to be mediated. John tells us he made whips of cords, he overturned the moneychangers tables, and he made quite a scene. It was an angry scene, and, of course, people loved to have it so. I mean, this man has fire! This man has passion! And so, they come to him. Now, still in the second chapter of © Grand Valley State University �Identity Crisis Richard A. Rhem Page 3   John, we read that as they were coming to him, he realized it was because of what he had done, of the sign that he had perpetrated, and John says, "But Jesus wouldn’t give himself to them because he knew what was in them. He didn’t entrust himself to the multitude that came rushing on. What was going on? I suspect that what John was trying to tell us was that, in the early phase of Jesus’ ministry, he was very much in the mold of John the Baptist. Wouldn’t that be natural? John baptized him, and in his baptism he senses his calling, and wouldn’t it be expected that, having identified himself with that spiritual renewal movement at the end of the age as John presented it, that Jesus would have carried on very much with the voice and the manner of John the Baptist? John the Baptist was a fiery preacher of judgment and the wrath of God to come. I suspect that Jesus began in that mode, and at least the chronology of John’s gospel places Jesus and the cleansing of the temple in the wake of his initial call and claiming as the manner in which he had determined he was to carry out that ministry. Then he saw the reaction, and the reaction he saw was the reaction of anger and hatred and violence. Isn’t it interesting what religious rhetoric can do? Is there any rhetoric in the world more volatile and explosive than religious rhetoric? And seeing that, it must have raised questions in Jesus’ mind. Is this what I am to be about? It’s a little creative imagination, but I think I understand what was going on. In my earlier years, before I knew Jesus, I used to preach some angry sermons, and afterwards I didn’t feel so good about it. Now, there’s no question about the fact that you deserved it! But, leaving, I didn’t feel good about it. I had gotten wrapped up in the rhetoric and I didn’t like what I felt, and frankly, didn’t like what it did to you. Now, if stay with John’s gospel for a minute, you’ll find that Jesus carried on a ministry in Judea, down south of Jerusalem in the area of John the Baptist. Matthew, Mark and Luke don’t tell you that. Only John tells you that he began a ministry with his disciples down the banks of the Jordan, in the vicinity where John had carried on his ministry and where Jesus himself had been baptized. And if you read in the end of the third chapter of John, you will find that the word got around that Jesus was drawing better than John. John was holding forth in the First Presbyterian Church, and now there’s a Second Presbyterian Church down the line, and it’s doing better. (It used to be a Reformed Church, but it’s Presbyterian.) Now, they come to John and they say, "Hey, that fellow that started out with you is down there doing this thing, and the crowds are going to him." And then if you read a little further on, you’ll find that when Jesus gets wind of this, he leaves. He says, "I’m out of here," because there was something about the competitive nature of that ministry that he knew was a violation of the very ministry he was carrying on. And we read that Jesus went to Galilee, and how did he go to Galilee? He went to Galilee through Samaria, and at Samaria, what does he do? He engages the woman at the well, which is quite an astounding © Grand Valley State University �Identity Crisis Richard A. Rhem Page 4   thing for him to do. And James and John, who feel the inhospitable attitude of the Samaritans, suggest to Jesus, "You know, maybe we ought to call down fire from heaven on these Samaritans." Very much in the old mode, eh? The Sons of Thunder, they were called. Damn them. Wipe them out! Ah, there’s something down here in the visceral section of our being that responds to that. And Jesus said, "Stop. You don’t know what spirit you are of." And then he went to Galilee and carried on his Galilean ministry and do you remember what happened when John the Baptist was thrown into prison? He sent his disciples to Jesus in Galilee when he heard the ministry that Jesus was carrying on in Galilee and what was his question? "Are you the one? Or should I look for another?" Are you the one upon whom I had pinned my hopes for the future? Are you the one that I mentored and nurtured in this ministry? Are you the one who was to carry on the program of the kingdom of God when I lose my head? It’s really tough when you’ve mentored someone to have them turn away; when you have taught and nurtured and shaped and invested yourself, and then find them turning out to be quite other than the aspirations you had for them. I think that was behind John’s question. And the answer to John’s question would have to be, "Yes, and No. I am the one called and claimed by God, but no, not in the fashion in which you shaped me, John, because the fashion in which you shaped me is something that causes me to tremble. It flies in the face of what I’m sensing God to be and what God is calling me to be." Was there another model? Sure there was. And if John was modeled after the prophet Malachi, then I think that Jesus in his own reflection, in his meditation, in his fasting and in his prayer, came rather to see the suffering servant as the paradigm for his ministry. The suffering servant - there are four poems, four servant poems in Second Isaiah, Isaiah 40-55. We read one of them, Isaiah 42: My servant, my chosen one in whom my spirit dwells. The bruised reed he will not crush. The dimly burning wick he will not snuff out. Not only will he not call down fire from heaven, but he will take that which is bruised and broken and nurture it and care for it and fan it into life. I believe that Jesus, having sensed the claim and the call of God, and having begun in one direction was turned around in his heels, so that it was not John the Baptist who provided for him the model for his ministry, the ministry of condemnation and judgment and the wrath of God, not the announcement of the imminent wrath of God, but the announcement of the imminent breaking in of the grace of God, the kingdom of God, the reign of God. A message not of doom, but of good news; a message not of judgment, but of grace. That, I think, is what those temptation narratives in Luke and in Matthew, based on Mark’s statement, were intending to tell us - that Jesus didn’t come into this full blown, that Jesus © Grand Valley State University �Identity Crisis Richard A. Rhem Page 5   had to wrestle and struggle and fight his way through to a sense of who he was and the nature of that ministry to which he was called, that Jesus was not so cock sure. Interestingly, Luke tells us that the devil left him for a more opportune time. In other words, it wasn’t over. Indeed, it wasn’t over. Look at the Garden of Gethsemane. "Let this cup pass from me." He didn’t want to die. Look at the darkness of Calvary. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Did he mean that honestly, genuinely? I think he did. Might he not have expected, having come finally to determine who he had to be and how he had to be - might he not have expected, convinced that he was that he was the agent of God’s incoming kingdom, might he not have expected, even at the last moment, that God would have done something, some dramatic move? I think so. And nothing happened. And he died in the darkness, forsaken, trusting, forsaken, trusting, doubting, wondering, clinging to God. Where else could he go? The devil said, "Why don’t you get it over with right at the beginning? Why don’t you make God show God’s hand? Why don’t you get a demonstration, a public demonstration?" Jesus knew that was not the way he was to go. He was to go by faith. He was to trust. He was to embody grace, and he was to trust, and that was the only option available if he would be true to what he sensed God was about. Identity crisis. For us, too. Is grace still enough? Will we be doubly committed to being a place of grace? Will we dare follow Jesus so that, if it comes to standing in the face of religious establishment or political pressure or whatever else might be out there, we will stand as the embodiment of the grace of God where there is no exclusion? Will we dare to see Jesus as Jesus saw himself, as the servant of the Lord who was God’s agent, in whom God was embodied? God still transcending, God still larger, God’s embrace still broader? Jesus did not see himself as God! Jesus knew himself claimed by God, the servant of God, the embodiment of God. That’s where I see God; in the face of Jesus I see God. Paul said, "We’ve seen the light of the revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus." John has him say in the fourth gospel, "If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father." It’s the human face of God. That’s where I see God. I see through the face; I see through the ages, giving me the clue to God Who is beyond it, beyond him, beyond us all. In that beautiful, gracious, compassionate, open, human being, I see God. God is like that. That’s how God is. And if that’s how God is, in that human face, then I still will be able to find God in human faces - in yours, and yours, and yours. And I will know the truth of that biblical statement, "The one who dwells in love, dwells in God and God dwells in that one." © Grand Valley State University �Identity Crisis Richard A. Rhem Page 6   It was not easy for him to gain his sense of identity and to know the nature of his mission, but by God he made it! Thank God he made it, and thank God for human community full of grace where God can still be touched. It’s really quite simple, once you see it. Christpower Look at him! Look not at his divinity, but look, rather, at his freedom. Look not at the exaggerated tales of his power, but look, rather, at his infinite capacity to give himself away. Look not at the first-century mythology that surrounds him, but look, rather at his courage to be, his ability to live the contagious quality of his love. Stop your frantic search! Be still and know that this is God: this love, this freedom, this life, this being; and When you are accepted, accept yourself; When you are forgiven, forgive yourself; When you are loved, love yourself. Grasp that Christ power and dare to be yourself! John Shelby Spong, 1973 © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/55fb4af1b617e1251ba6a53a0d47c133.mp3 1e60973218ff340f1b02ba4b2294b2fc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Lent II Series The Human Face of God Scripture Text Isaiah 42:3, Luke 4:1,2 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References John Shelby Spong. Honest Prayer, orig. publ 1973 St. Johann Pr., 2001 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19980308 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998-03-08 Title A name given to the resource Identity Crisis Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 8, 1998 entitled "Identity Crisis", as part of the series "The Human Face of God", on the occasion of Lent II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 42:3, Luke 4:1,2. Inclusive Grace Suffering Servant Way of Jesus https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/957864380a98e73a118a4e426c376da8.pdf 00d1c4f20112730669556e195e1ecd3b PDF Text Text �•§m I ptit • National Headquarters 352 W i l l i s A v e . B r o n x , New Y o r k 10454 First Printing — p t - Feb. I972* criticisms /v / ^IHH* W i l l be u p d a t e d and r e v i s e d at f i r s t party conaress J u l y 1972 All HBimiffite and s u g g e s t i o n s " welcomé fT/ 3*-» �THE I D E O L O G Y O F THE YOUNG LORDS PARTY ( P u e r t o Rican R e v o l u t i o n a r y Party) Juan Gonzalez, Minister of Defense Juan " F i " Ortiz, Chief of Staff Gloria Gonzalez, Field Marshal David Perez, Field Marshal Denise Oliver, Former M i n i s t e r of Economic Development Pablo "Yoruba" Guzman, Minister of Information "I have lived in the belly of the monster, I have seen its entrails, and mine is the sling of David." TABLE OF CONTENTS — Jose Marti 1. INTRODUCTION 2 2. D E F I N I T I O N O F TERMS 3 3. ON HISTORY A N D DIALECTICS 5 by Yoruba 4. P R O T R A C T E D WAR IN PUERTO RICO by Gloria Gonzalez 13 5. ECONOMIC A N D M I L I T A R Y STRUGGLE by Juan Gonzalez 20 6. C O L O N I Z E D MENTALITY AND NON-CONSCIOUS IDEOLOGY .26 by Denise Oliver 7. THE PARTY A N D THE STATE 33 by David Perez 8. THE PARTY A N D THE I N D I V I D U A L ,,,37 by Juan " F i " Ortiz 9. A N A L Y S I S OF PUERTO RICAN SOCIETY 4I �INTRODUCTION This is the beginning of the ideology of the Young Lords Party. What is ideology? It is a system of ideas, of principles, that a person or group uses to explain to them how things operate in the world. Our ideology was developed out of the experiences of almost two years of struggling everyday with our people against their oppression. The systematic ideas and principles in this pamphlet are guiding us as to the best way to lead the liberation struggle of the Puerto Rican nation. These are not fixed, rigid ideas, but constantly developed as we constantly work to serve and protect the people. There are certain principles that are fixed and unchangeable to us, though. First, is collective leadership, not individuua I leadership. One individual can never see the whole of a problem. Only collectives of people, working together, can solve problems correctly. Second, we can understand nothing unless we understand history. One of the problems of the Puerto Rican and amerikkkan revolutionary movements is that they have not done systematic, scientific study of their history and so do not yet understand the countries that they wish to liberate. Third, a revolutionary must be one with the people, serving, protecting, and respecting the people at all times. "Wherever a Puerto Rican is, the duty of a Puerto Rican is to make the revolution." GLORIA GONZALEZ, FIELD MARSHAL 2 �DEFINITIONS When we begin to read and study things on revolution, on how other people's have liberated themselves and on how we can develop our revolution, we come across a lot of new words we have never heard or seen before. We should learn what the words mea n and then learn how to explain those ideas to our brothers and sisters in ways they can understand. Nation: A people who have had the same history, culture, language, and usually have lived in the same territory for a long pe riod of time. Colony: A culturally, nation militarily which by is controlled another country economically, and whose government is run by that other country. Capitalism: A way of running the economy of a nation, where a few of the people in the nation own the factories, trains, business, commerce, and the majority of the people work for those owners. The few capitalists make large amounts of money by selling what the rest of the people make--the products, like dresses, cars, copper, oil. This is called profit. Vendepatria: A sell-out. One who has sold out his or her people for money or powar. Contradiction: When two things are opposed to each other, for instance, right and wrong, up and down, good and bad. When you have a contradiction, you have a problem that has to be solved. If someone says that the way to get to a place is by turning right, and someone else says it's by turning left, you can't get to that place until the contradiction is solved-it's either right or left. Jibaro: The mixture of mostly spanish and Taino, but also some Blacks, who developed in the mountains and campos of Puerto Rico mostly as small farmers and as peasants. The language is spanish, the culture Spanish and Indian. 3 �Afro-boricua: The mixture of mostly Spanish and African who developed in the sugar cane plantations and coasts of Puerto Rico doing fishing, and whose ancestors were slaves. Most Black Puerto Ricans try to call themselves mulattos when the language is Spanish, but the culture and customs are still mostly African, and when the racist societies of Spain and Amerikkka still treat them as though they are inferior. Class: The group of persons that an individual belongs to all of whom make their living the same way. For instance, lumpen make their living by surviving -stealing, prostitution, dope, etc.. The workers make their living by working for someone. The petty-bourgeois make their living by working for themselves, the peasants make their living working on the land for themselves or someone else. The bourgeois make their money off the labor of everyone else. They don't work at all. Self-determination: It means very individual, every nationality has the right to determine their own lives, their* future, as long as they don't mess over other people. A nation shoud be free from control by another nation. Independence: When a nation has a government made up of people from that country, but it is still controlled economically, and culturally by another country. National liberation: When a country is completely free from control by another nation. When the people are in control of the government, economy and army. Lombriz: A parasitic worm that produces intestinal disease, found in tropical countries. We use this word for all the Puerto Rican traitors, for the parasites they are. "The price of imperialism is lives." JUAN QONZALIS 4 �ON HISTORY & DIALECTICS The Young Lords Party has always believed in the correct studying of our history, the history of the nation. Puerto Ricans are told we have no past, not as good as the oppressor's past. So finding out the truth is a good thing. See, the game that the amerikkkan enemy runs is to tell us that we ain't got no history, no roots, no tradition, no nothing. In this way, we are made to feel as though we have just popped up, and when we move against the enemy, we move blindly. If we had a knowledge of history, we could study the mistakes and successes of those who came before; instead of starting anew, we could begin where the last generation left off. It is time that all Puerto Ricans get down to studying our history. This serves three purposes: 1) We'll be able to check out what our ancestors did and did not do. Also, we'll get a sense of our people's development. In a national liberation struggle like ours, a movement must be built that comes from the people, from our experiences, sorrows, joys. There is a certain way to organize the Puerto Rican nation, as opposed to say, the Polish nation. 2) Studying history allows us to see the enemy's master plan develop, such as the one being used to control Puerto Ricans. 3) Finding out about our roots gives us a certain pride in the knowledge that we have withstood oppression for so long. We must transmit this righteous pride to all of our people. Let me run something down on history. In school, or in society in general, we are taught that events in history take place because of a few "great" individuals, like Napoleon or George Washington (specifically, "great" white males). We are taught that history goes in cycles, that it repeats itself. 5 �This is all jive. In the Young Lords Party, we are training ourselves in thinking scientifically, in looking at things from an orderly point of view to arrive at the right conclusions. All Puerto Ricans concerned with their people must begin to see things in a scientific way. Scientific?: Well, we learned in school that the way a scientist approaches a problem is by way of a thing called the scientific method. The scientist first say, "What do I want to get out of this thing after I understand it? Where do I want to go? Now what would be the best way of getting through this 6 �problem and to my goal?" And then the scientist lays out each step, one by one, until the goal is reached. This is the way we must lay out the revolution, using our passion, our feelings, to keep us going, step by step, until we are free. This means that we will become something called "dialectical materialists." What does this mean? First, take the word dialectics. Dialectics is the study of contradictions. What is a contradiction? We've heard about something being contradictory, right? Like say you're having a discussion with someone, and then they say one thing and you say the opposite. That's a contradiction, and it must be resolved one way or the other. The both of you could have an argument and walk away, or a unity of thing between you will arise. Contradictions are everywhere, even in nature. Say you have a herd of pigs, the last herd left. Then say there are some people who are starving , and they come across the pigs, a decision has to be made. Thft people or the pigs. That's a contradiction. A Puerto Rican in, say, high school who hears their history teacher say "history repeats itself," will say, " N o good, teacher. History flows, like a river, and the course that river takes depends on how contradictions are resolved. In other words, history is always moving ahead, teacher, going forward, once a contradiction is dealt with (resolved). Sometimes a contradiction is resolved in a way that it only looks as though history repeats itself." That sister or brother would say, "See, let's say you have a nation where most of the people are starving, and a few people in power are eating well. That's a contradiction. It could be resolved either by the people rising against those in power, tike in Cuba in 1959, or by those in power taking the country into a war against another country, like the united states in 1941 against Japan (sometimes the rulers of a country go to war so that the people forget their internal problems, like their stomachs)." This Puerto Rican would say, "That's history, that's life: you have contradictions, they get resolved, which changes history's course, and since there are always contradictions, 7 �there will always be new changes." Some contradictions are the ones between machismo and male-female liberation, or between capitalism and socialism. The second word is materialism. This means that all of these contradiction occur in the real world, the world we can see around us. Many times, for example, the economic facts of life cause other things to happen. Yet, we are taught in school that the united states went into World War I "to make the world safe for Democracy." This is a lie. The u.s.a. went into World War I for the same reason it went into the Mexican-American invasion, Spanish-Amerikkkan Korean and Indo-China Wars — invasion, economics. Wealth. As an imperialist country, amerikkka resolves the contradiction of constantly needing more wealth to keep its machinery running by going to war to rip off land (Puerto Rico from Spain) and to put people to work at home. (Defense contracts=f actor ies=employment=products=consumers). Scientific analysis show that it is materialism, real things, that exist in the world. Part of dialectics is that everything has its opposite, and the opposite of materialism is metaphysics, idealism. Idealism is ideas that have nothing to do with reality. It's like saying that the reason why flowers grow is because of magic, or why people are here is because man was made from dirt, and woman came from man's rib. The reason why flowers grow or why people are here is because of certain scientific laws of nature. That is real. That is materialism. With this kind of thinking in mind we can now briefly cover Puerto Rican and Black history. Why? Well, there are contradictions between people and the enemy; these are natural contradictions since it is the enemy that enslaves us. Contradictions with the enemy are antagonistic, non-friendly. These differences are resolved ultimately through war. Then there are contradictions among the people. We have been divided and conquered by the enemy in hundreds of ways housewives against against women, unionized prostitutes, Puerto workers Ricans against young against non-union 8 against old, men Afro-Americans, workers, workers �against drug addicts, families against other families, one ar rabale against another. These contradictions should be kept non-antagonistic and settled among ourselves, as friends so we can unite against the enemy. So, in studying Black and Puerto Rican history, we look at the history of the contradictions between Blacks and Puerto Ricans as differences among brothers and sisters oppressed by the yankee. "We wasn't thinking about the other guys being Puerto Ricans •••iff he was your enemy, you kill him." CEORCIE We studied the history of Puerto Ricans. First, we saw that the u.s.a. took control of Puerto Rico because they were preparing a "safety valve" country in case the "Black Problem" got too heavy. In case Afro-Americans increased their efforts to remove their chains, the u.s. intended to ship the Black people to Puerto Rico, the Phillipines, and Hawaii. The gringo came claiming to be liberators from Spain, and our people couldn't even understand the lies since they were made in english. We were ruled by interpreters. By changing the currency of Puerto Rico to u.s. dollars, one unit of the old currency was now worth 60 cents amerikkkan. Then a hurricane wiped out the coffee crop (the only crop), and this, combined with the currency devaluation drove people bankrupt overnight. A severe depression set in. The u.s. self-proclaimed liberators of the island, sent aid to Puerto Rico that amounted to about 8 cents a person. Dig that. Already the Yankees had a master plan — First, to take military control; then, to make Puerto Ricans citizens; then change the colony to a dominion status, like Canada; then make it a state. This plan was made in the early 1900s and the enemy is right on schedule. The governors amerikkka picked to rule over us weren't exactly gems, either. They were perverts and lames. Not one knew a thing about diplomacy, shown in how they 9 �constantly said openly racist stuff, or got caught either embezzling or having late-night sessions with ambassador's wives. We studied how Munoz Marin weasled his way into power, running an independence line here, a commonwealth line there. Most important we saw Iombriz Ferre's scheme for getting Puerto Rico to be a state: 1) Before the '72 elections, he was gonna ask Nixon to set up a commission to see if Puerto Rico could vote for u.s. president. (The commission has already been set up). A referendum would be called for the people. 2) They are then gonna ask that the resident commissioner who now sits and watches what happens in the amerikkkan House of Representatives, be doubled (another resident commissioner) and the both of them would be given the right to vote. 3) Ferre runs for governor again in 1972 on a maintain the commonwealth line. 4) After Ferre wins, after there are two resident commissioners in the house of representatives, and after the island is given the presedential vote (so that Puerto Rico can vote for Nixon in 1972) Ferre puts out the referendum to make Puerto Rico a state. Ironically, the u.s. congress may be most strongly opposed to this. A lot of those red-necks wouldn't want no "spanish-speaking fornicating, colored, poor, rum-drinking, illiterate, welfaring, nasty, smelly stupid, lazy, troublesome spies" to be a state. Next, it is important to study the history of Afro-American people. Many people think that Puerto Rican history is like one circle sitting by itself on one side, and Afro-American history is a circle sitting by itself on another side. Actually, the two circles are linked together. To study Black history is to complete the study of Puerto Rican history, and vice-versa. African people were brought, in chains, to the americas, and the resistance started from day one. The ships brought Africans to Hispanola, Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil, Puerto Rico, etc. Moving through history, we see how many of the organizations and tendencies of the Black movement in Amerikkka are definite outgrowths of history as are all people's movements. 10 �The Young Lords Party recognizes Black people in the united states as the leaders of that country's revolution, since they have been the most oppressed people in that empire's history. INio other people in amerikkka were ripped off from 11 �their country and brought here as slaves. For 400 years, the only change in Black people's conditions was that the visible chains were removed and non-visible ones put on — segregated schools, ghettoes, police aggression, like or mind-bending chains like "No niggers allowed" signs. One of our most important allies in the fight for the national liberation of Puerto Rico, will be Afro-Americans, and we must eliminate the racism that divides us now, or else all of us be killed off separately. Let us look at the history of the revolutionary struggle in the united states. For example, most of us never were taught in school the true history of that empire, how it expanded from a rebellious little colony of England to destroy a whole people, the Native American, how it committed genocide against the Hawaiian people, how it conquered and exploited the Filipino people, how it forced large numbers of Chinese, Mexicans, and Japanese to leave their countries to come to the u.s. like Puerto Ricans did, looking for jobs, how it massacred large numbers of poor European immigrants who rebelled against the conditions they were forced to work in. Most of us were never taught in school about a righteous white workers' movement of the early 1900's called the International Workers' of the World (IWW) or the Wobblies. These were some revolutionary people. In the early 1900s amerikkka was uptight. It may seem shocking to us now with the hardhats walking around, but these white workers were revolutionary. And the IWW was the leadership of their struggle. One leader of that movement was Elizabeth Gurley Flynn who was a leader of a general strike of 25,000 workers in Patterson, New Jersey. What happened to this progressive movement was the sell-out political parties, like the socialist party, and the enemy's tricks like World War I, and their final tool - repression, the jailing and killing of many leaders. We must study white amerikkka's background to see how the monster developed, then we can begin to move in the manner which Jose Marti 19th century Cuban Revolutionary, described, "I have lived in the monster, and know its entrails (insides), and mine is the sling of David." * 12 �PROTRACTED WAR IN PUERTO RICO The concept of Protracted War best describes the history of the Puerto Rican people. For many centuries our people have been invaded by one nation or another. Two oppressors were successful, the spaniards in 1493, and the yankees in 1898. When a country is invaded by another, it becomes a colony, slave, of the occupier, and that control stops the normal development of the people. In Boriquen, the Taino nation had its own economic, social and political structure, and was developing in its own way. When these people came they used the riches of the island to aid Spain's development and destroy the Tainos. The Taino people rose up against the enemy. The war did not last long, because the Spaniards, with their plunder of the rest of Latin America, had more power and arms. Many Tainos died, some because of diseases the Spaniards had brought, others through the war, and the rest fled to the mountains to avoid slavery. Then the Spaniards had the problem of who would be their slaves. Beginning in the 1500s, they showed how barbaric and criminal they were. They began to ravage the African lands, kidnapping our Yoruba brothers and sisters to serve as slaves. By the 1600s there had been four slave revolts. We were once again defeated, but they did not destroy us, as is shown through the influence of African culture in Puerto Rico. Out of these temporary defeats, our people became stronger, and by the 1800s, the Puerto Rican nation, as we know it today, was formed, 13 of the mixture of Taino, �Yoruban, and Spanish, of the most exploited by those in power of men and women more determined than ever to be free. Among the many freedom fighters were Ramon Emeterio Betances, Maria Bacetti, and Segundo Ruis Belvis. These were the ones who toward 1868 raised the cry for liberation on September 23, in Lares. Eventhough we were defeated again, Betances knew what a protracted war was and he said, "Men and women pass, but principles continue on and eventually triumph." And so our struggle for liberation continued. In 1898, the Spaniards had war declared on them by the united states and were quickly defeated. As a result, Puerto Rico passed from one slavery into another. Now the invaders were Yankees, and on July 25, 1898, 18,000 amerikkkan troops landed at Guanica. This new invader would be the most criminal and vicious that has touched our land, and with the new invasion began the new war of liberation. The principles established by the Taino nation, by the African people, and then by the revolution of Lares were advanced by the Nationalist Party, which in the 1930s proved to the Yankees that our people have never been docile. During this time our people suffered from unbelieveable hunger and misery-that was the "democracy" the Yankees brought to us. The Nationalist Party, under the leadership of Don Pedro Albizu Campos, became the defenders of the people. In 1936, the amerikkkans arrested Don Pedro and the rest of the leadership of the party, because they were considered a threat to their plans. It was during this period that occurred what we have come to know as the Ponce Massacre. On March 21, 1937, the Nationalist Party organized a demonstration in Ponce. The day was the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the era of the Spaniards. The demonstration was to let the Yankees know that our people would not tolerate either political prisoners or continued occupation. Throughout this period the amerikkans had one of their own as governor. At the time the criminal was called Blanton 14 �Winship, and he, along with the lombrice, Corsado, gave the order to assassinate the nationalists; 200 persons were wounded and 22 killed- With this act the united states declared war on the Puerto Rican nation. The enemies of our people continued their brutal attacks, arresting 2,000 persons and sentencing many to 400 years of prison after the revolt of Jayuya in 1950. All of this had one sole aim- to end the operation of all the just struggle for liberty because we were receiving international support. In addition to all of this, the yankees began operation "co-option." That is, they looked for sellout traitors, and during this period they began to heavily support the electoral parties, especially the Popular Party led by traitor Munoz Marin. The combination of the repression of the Nationalist Party and the lies of the Popular Party created a lot of confusion among the people. Another important factor was "If our people fight one tribe at a time, all will be killed. They can cut off our fingers one by one, but if we join together we'll make a powerful fist." LITTLE TURTLE, MASTER GENERAL OF THE MIAMI INDIANS, 1791 that the Yankees tried to weaken us by dividing the people through "Operation Bootstrap," and they moved 1/3 of the Puerto Ricans to the united states, but our struggle continued. 15 �It's true that they weakened us when they took away our revolutionary leadership, but what they did not understand was that it is impossible to stop a liberation struggle. Once again, in the united states, we rose up in the belly of the monster. In 1965, we rebelled, together with Black people in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and in New Jersey; wherever there were boricuas, the cry of liberty was heard. Out of those rebellions, developed the Young Lords Organization in Chicago, in 1969. With the example of the Afro-american people, who throughout their prolonged war inside the united states, raised consciousness among Puerto Ricans, and with the principles and examples of Don Pedro, Lolita Lebron, Dona Blanca Canales, the Y L O began to organize the Puerto Ricans in Chicago . Meanwhile, in New York arose a group, the Society of Albizu Campos, young students and lumpen (lumpen are the class in our nation which for years and years have not been able to find jobs, and are forced to be drug addicts, prostitutes, etc.), all of whom had the same sole objective, the liberation of Puerto Rico on the island and inside the united states. The Young Lords of Chicago united with the Society of Albizu Campos to create the national organization. With a 13 Point Program the organization began to serve and protect the people, with free breakfast programs, free health and clothing programs , and with the taking of the People's Church, where the organization was recognized as a group with support from the community . Each day the organization won more support, but it found itself with many problems. Because of its oppression, the Chicago group did not understand the necessity for discipline and political education, which is needed to achieve our liberation, and was not able to further the struggle. In New York, was the Eastern region with a much more disciplined and developed leadership, which was anxious to advance the struggle. We split with Chicago and formed the Young Lords Party. With three bases in El Barrio, another in New Jersey, and another in the South Bronx, the Party began to analyze Puerto Rican society, and we soon realized that 16 �2/3 of our people, almost wholly unknown to us, lived on the island. The analysis of Puerto Rican society made it clear that our nation is composed of distinct classes and social groups and with this understanding we began to formalize ideas to bring the Party to all sectors of our people. Always remembering that we are a revolutionary party whose goal is complete national liberation, and about the job of uniting that nation. In August, 1970, two leaders of the Party, Juan Gonzalez and Juan Fi Ortiz, made the first official Party visit to the island. From that trip we analyzed a number of things. For example, we saw that the struggle in the united states was much more advanced since the conditions in the u.s.--the racism, the oppression was much clearer; hunger and oppression expose quickly the lies of the amerikkkan dream. Although it's true that there were other established independence groups, the Movement for Puerto Rican Independence, founded in 1959, the Puerto Rican Independence Party, founded in 1947, the origin of these groups was either from the petty or upper bourgeoisie (the middle and upper classes). Also, they were either social movements or electoral parties. As the years have passed. 17 �these organizations have raised the consciousness of the people, especially MPI, but for our revolution to succeed it's clear that we need more revolutionary leadership. With this in mind, we began the preparations for the move to the island, this being the best way to unite the 1/3 of our people on the island and the 2/3 in the u.s. The Yankees have divided and weakened us in many ways--the analysis of Puerto Rican society helps us to understand the divisions. First, we have to unite the two most oppressed classes, the lumpens and the workers, and also the two social groups in which our people are divided, the most oppressed Afro-Puerto Ricans and the jibaros. This is not to say that we won't also unite the petty-bourgeoisie and the students. As we have seen, with a little education, they will come in large numbers to follow the lead of the people and will take part in the revolution. Taking into account our origin in the u.s., we began to analyze the 2/3 in Puerto Rico. In the northeast of the island, are the towns of Loiza Aldea, Fajardo, Rio Grande, Canovanas: it was to these towns that the Spaniards brought the African slaves, and to this day these population, towns, with are Afro-Puerto one third of the island's Ricans, victims not only of exploitation, but of racism. Carolina is one of the most industrialized towns where the Yankees have built many factories, and the people are all workers. In this area are the big arrabales (slums), like El Cano, in Santurce, Barrio Obrero, Martin Pena, Catano, and the housing projects like Lloren Torres where 26,000 people live, and communities with large lumpen populations, like La Perla, in San Juan. With this, we have briefly described the north of the island, The second area of major importance is the center- Lares, Adjuntas, Jayuya, and the south, Ponce, Cabo Rojo, Salinas, and Guanica. The social group of the center is what by the 18th century received the name Jibaro. The jibaro of that period was humble and illiterate because of their exploitation, very superstitious, and always ready to 18 �defend their honor. It was rare when the jibaro or jibara visited the town. Their calendar was the many hurricanes that passed over the land. The Jibaro of today continues to be illiterate, not so superstitious, and now not only visists but lives in the big towns, now that the Yankees have forced them to leave their lands, turning them into tomato pickers in New Jersey or dishwashers in New Y ork. The jibara, who once had her herd of pigs, her house in the mountains, now is a worker in a factory making a miserable amount, while producing brassieres. It's obvious why this group, a large part of our population, will give strength to the revolutionary movement.Our job is immense. We have called it the Chains Off Offensive nation, (Ofensiva Rompecadenas). To reunite our we began with a demonstration on the 21st of March, the 34th anniversary of the Ponce Massacre. Together with our revolutionary example , the Nationalist Party, we raised once again the cry of liberty in Puerto Rico. T H M ^ r e many reasons why we chose Poi; the secoraMjest city on the island, n e ^ d t f P ^ T u a n . The place where u ^ Q ^ b j o was b o r n ^ ^ t i p M v n e r e the Yankees have establishec^^kMfPj^'plants, unemploymen^^gfPlM^^^^ave although the all sectors of our s o c i e t y l ^ j ^ ^ ^ P i h e lumpensara^taM&ers and also the d j | j | ^ ^ ^ r o c i a i groups, Afro -Puerto R ^ l p f c and jibaros. unified can we break the chains of slavery. For the Puerto Rican nation this is another stage in our protracted war for liberation. To achieve our liberation we need a revolutionary Party, representative of all the people with one sole objective, national liberation. In that way we will give our largest contribution to the other oppressed people's of the world, as the people of Vietnam have done for us. Liberate Puerto Rico n o w ! Venteremos! 19 �ECONOMIC AND MILITARY STRUGGLE On the television, in newspapers, wherever Puerto Ricans go, they tell us that money is the key to a good life, that if you work hard you'll make enough money. But who tells us that money is the key — the ones who have the money, who own the televisions, the factories, azucareras, the refineries, the hotels, the restaurants, the hospitals, and even own the government. We work and sweat for $50, $70, $100 a week. We work and the companies grow, and the bosses get richer, and we stay the same. And whatever we produce the owners sell for a lot more^poney, that's their profit, for doing nothing. We, the people, work and they, the capitalists, profit. We must begin to demand that all the money and factories made from our sweat and blood be returned to us. We know that this is the only system where a woman can work nine hours in a factory, produce dozens of dresses in one day and not go home with enough money to buy herseff a dress. That's why many of us hate our bosses, and we should — they are robbing us. That's why many of us would like to, and do, steal the bosses' products, because they belong to us. If we study history, if we talk to our parents, we will see that things were not always this way. Capitalism is just one phase of the human race. It has existed since the late 1700s, but the human race is probably 25,000 years old. The whole history of human beings is the story of our trying to develop our ability to survive, to have food, clothing, shelter, and mental satisfaction. We used our hands, feet, and brains to increase our power to survive, to 20 �produce out of nature, what we needed. First we traveled in tribes looking for food. Little by little we settled in one place, the men hunting and the women bearing children and planting food. As agriculture became more developed, not everyone was needed to look for food, so some people could do other things. Some farmed, others made clothing, or tools, or built homes, and little by little cities developed. Then, some began to become more wealthy than others and soon enslaved others to work for them — like the Pharoahs of Egypt, the Emperors of Japan, or the Aztecs of Mexico. Then came the period of feudalism, when there was no slavery but people were serfs, worked on the land of one rich prince or another. All these periods did not come at the same time all over the earth. Some areas, like the African nations of Mali, Songhay, or the Biblical kingdoms of Mesopotamia, developed faster, or at different times. Then came the period of capitalism and of nations with a state and a regular army, both working under the employ of the capitalists, who began to buy and sell politicians like they bought and sold goods. In the 1800s revolutions in France and all of Europe brought the rising young businessmen to power against the feudal Kings and Queens. Why was it that Europe, a backward and barbarian country in the year 1300, rose to conquer the world by the year 1900 is hard to say. Maybe it was because Europe was sitting on much of the iron needed to build factories and had many rivers needed for steam and electric power to run those factories With that iron they built the guns that conquered the rest of the world in a few hundred years. As capitalism developed, there was competition between them to control the wealth; the little ones were cheated, killed, outcompeted by the big ones, who then began to look to other countries in the world where they could make money. They looked to Latin America, Asia, and Africa, trying to find natural resources, cheap labor, and more consumers. We call this, when one nation oppresses another nation, Imperialism. In the 1930s came the world-wide depression. Millions of 21 �people were out of jobs — capitalism had collapsed because of its own faults. In Puerto Rico, the depression meant complete hunger and misery. The old type of competitive democratic capitalism had failed. A new type of capitalism was suggested by one of their own politicians, named Adolf Hitler. He put forth fascism, open dictatorship and genocide as a solution to the problem. Meanwhile, Roosevelt in north amerikkka put forth the "welfare state", the government controlling things peacefully for the welfare of the businessman. We call this monopoly capitalism. Rexford Tugwell was Roosevelt's lacky in Puerto Rico and he together with lombriz Munoz Marin developed Operation Bootstrap, the welfare state idea for Puerto Rico. Roosevelt was a left-wing capitalist and Hitler a right-winger. These divisions still exist. Nixon, Reagan (the governor of California) and Ferre are right-wing and Lindsay (the mayor of New York City), Kennedy, and Munoz Marin are left-wingers. Both are enemies of the peoples. World War 11 was a war between left-wing and right-wing capitalists. But the ones who fought the war are the ones who always fight the wars, the poor and oppressed people. The capitalist and generals always stay far away from their own wars. While the u.s. and its allies fought Germany, in Asia, and China, which had been long exploited, was fighting the Japanese fascists. Twenty million Chinese were killed by the Japanese but China liberated itself and in 1949 emerged as a socialist country with 1/4 of the world's population. Since then Korea, Vietnam, Cuba have also become socialist, and little by little capitalism is dying. Chile and Guinea-Bissau and other countries are not far behind. We must begin to study economics. We must begin to learn how the yankees invaded Puerto Rico destroyed our economy and rebuilt another to meet their needs. The main capitalist countries are the united states, england, france, germany, japan. They are surrounded by the 2/3 of the world which is starving, homeless, and angry. The europeans and yankees are like one big city and the Third World is the countryside. They must fight genocidal wars in 22 �the countryside as well as fight against their own internal enemies. The first front is Indo-China. The second front is Palestine. Where will the third front be? Puerto Rico? Black America? Brazil? India? Meanwhile, these wars are destroying northamerikkka internally. A recession in the u.s., Puerto Rico, and the world is leaving hundreds of thousands out of jobs. Layoffs in New Jersey factories, Fajardo sugar centrales, Mayaguez refineries, the New York garment center, general 23 �motors plants, and the California aviation industry. For the first time since the depression, workers are looking to revolutionaries for the solution to their problems. This is just a summary, but it shows that we have much to study in economics and world politics. If we are to liberate Puerto Rico and control our own destiny, we must study how we have been enslaved and how we will release the power of the people, through socialist revolution. The amerikkkans tell us we can't exist without them. But Albania, Israel, Switzerland, are all countries with similar populations and area and they exist well. They tell us we have no natural resources, but they try to steal $3,000,000,000 of copper from the island's center. Another deposit of $2,000,000,000 worth of nickel was found in Mayaguez, and they are looking for oil in the off-shore areas. They tell us we have no food but before they came we grew our own food and ate decently and we fished in our own waters. Now we eat only canned foods and New England codfish. Yes, we can and will be free from the Yankee. MILITARY People ask how can Puerto Ricans, 2,700,000 on the island and 1,500,000 in the united states, possibly hope to fight a war of liberation against the united states, 200,000,000 strong and the most advanced country in the world? Our island is 100 miles by 35 miles. The united states is 3,000 miles by 1,000 miles. The u.s. is thousands of times bigger. First, the Young Lords Party and the Puerto Rioan people do not want war. We would prefer peaceful liberation. We would prefer that the yankees left Puerto Rico and gave us self-determination in the u.s.a. peacefully. But they refuse. Instead, they cover 14% of our land with military bases and bombard our islands of Culebras and Vieques. So we have no choice but to fight for liberation. The other choice is the slow destruction of the Puerto Rican nation into the 51st state. 24 �If they want war, we will fight it on our terms. That means first that the liberation war for Puerto Rico will not just be fought on the island but also in the u.s.a. Since there are Puerto RI cans in every state of the u.s.a. forced to leave their homes by the yankee, we will fight wherever we are, because the enemy is the same, from Humacao to Aguadilla, from Florida to Seattle. If there are less than 5,000,000 of us, we will show the strength there is in unity. Since we have lived and developed close together for 500 years we are more unified as a people. If they forced us to work in their factories, we will fight in their factories. If they filled our land with military bases, we will fight on their bases. If they herded 1,000,000 of us into their most important city, New York, then we will fight in that city. If they use us to slave in migrant camps and factories throughout their east coast, then we will wage war on that coast. If they stuck us in barrios isolated and oppressed, we will take control of these communities. If they have bombers, missiles, modern weapons, and a regular army, then we will fight guerilla warfare, with few weapons, gotten from them, but using creativity and our own resources. If we are a few and they are many, then we will fight a protracted war, eating them away little by little, one by one, until they either withdraw or are crushed. We will always be on the initiative, always fighting to win. We have the moral superiority because our people fight for freedom, for their homes, and loved ones, while the enemy fights for money. We only attack when we know we'll win. The enemy attacks whenever he can, and many times loses. Our army will be made up of free, thinking, men, women, and children — a true People's Army. Their reactionary army is made up of mostly racist, robot-like men. If the u.s. appears strong, it is just a trick. Thirty million Black people, 20,000,000 Chicanos and Chicanas, 500,000 Hawaiians, 500,000 Chinese Americans, 250,000 Japanese Americans, and 700,000 Native Americans and millions of young and poor white people fight with us. The u.s. is really very weak. 25 �In the rest of the world, with Indo-China, Palestine, and Latin America rising up for freedom the amerikkkan army is weak and overextended. With socialist countries like China, the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Korea, watching it, u.s. imperialism can't do whatever it wants. So we are sure to win if we maintain unity and strength, and if we remember that combined with our fighting is the constant education and mobilizing of lumpen, workers, and students. Guerrilla War, People's War, Protracted War, is the key to an underdeveloped people defeating a larger, more technologically advanced people. COLONIZED MENTALITY & We are all fighting against an enemy, the Yankee and the Puerto Rican lombrices. The one major thing that holds us back in our fight to liberate Puerto Ricans and all oppressed people is a lack of unity. If we are not united, like a fist, we are weaker in our battle. In unity there is strength, and a nation divided is a weak nation. We have been divided geographically, with one third of the nation on the mainland and two thirds on the island. To be stronger we must unite. But even this unification will not be enough if we still fight against each other. One of the problems that we face is the fact that we have been taught to fight against each other. Capitalism is a system that forces us to climb over our brothers and sisters' backs to get to the top. It is like a race, in which the prize is survival, with 500 people in it, and only one person is the winner — the one who gets to the finish line first, the losers all starve to death. The prize money which is equal to life: We fight against each other to live, and we are divided into groups that fight against each other. These groups are formed out of artificial divisions of race and 26 �NONCONSCIOUS IDEOLOGY sex, and social groupings. The struggle between men and women, the struggle between lumpens and workers are all contradictions among the people. Contradictions among the people must be erased in order to form a solid fist, a fighting force to destroy the enemy. Many of these divisions that exist are a result of colonization. Puerto Ricans are a colonized people. As a result of generations, the oppression first under suffered Spain for and generations then under and the amerikkkans we all develop a "colonized mentality". The colonizers divide us up, teach us to think we are inferior, and teach us to fight against each other, because as long as we fight against each other we won't deal with our real problems — slavery, hunger, and misery. We are brainwashed by the newspapers we read, the books they write for us, the television, the radio, the schools, and the church, that we don't know what our real thoughts are anymore. We are afraid to be leaders, because we are taught to be followers. We have been told that we are docile so long, that we have forgotten that we have always been fighters. We are afraid to speak in public because we have been taught not to speak out. We are told that we cannot exist without amerikkkans in Puerto Rico, and we believe it, even though we know that our nation existed for hundreds of years without them. All of this brainwashing, this "colonized mentality" holds us back from our liberation. If you take 10 rats and lock them up in a cage which is only big enough for 5 rats, some of them will kill each other and some of them will go insane, just as we kill each other in the streets for five dollars, or in a stupid argument, and just as we 27 go insane and turn to drugs to �cover up the ugly reality of our lives. We can only unchain our minds from this colonized mentality if we learn our true history, understand our culture, and work towards unity. This colonization is responsible for the racism that exists in our nation. We do not see it all the time, and most Puerto Ricans believe that we don't have any racism. Most people will tell you "we are all Puerto Ricans, we are all different colors, none of us are black or white, we are just Puerto Ricans." But that doesn't mean that racism doesn't exist. It is so deep that we just don't see it anymore. The darker members of every Puerto Rican family have felt it all their lives. We have been so brainwashed that it has become unconscious. The Young Lords Party calls this "non-conscious ideology." We believe that Black is bad and ugly and dirty, that kinky hair is "pelo malo," we call Black Puerto Ricans names like prieto, moulleto, and cocolo. We are not proud that our ancestors were slaves so many ot us say we are "spanish" or "castillians." Our birth certificate says white even if the reality when we look in the mirror is very dark. T h e Spanish treated the slaves as if they were animals, and none of us want to believe that our ancestors were animals, so we "non-consciously" reject the Blackness we are all a part of. All Puerto Ricans have a Black heritage, in our culture, in the way Spanish is spoken, in the blood which flows through our veins. Having slaves for ancestors is not something to be ashamed of; one should be proud to know that one's ancestors were strong enough to live through the horrors of slavery, strong because of the rich and beautiful history of Africa. We are taught that Africans were savages, and this makes us non-consciously ashamed of our past. We must study true African history, of the civilizations of Mali and Songhay, for this history is part of our history. The Young Lords Party is a Party of Afro-Americans and Puerto Ricans. Both have the same roots in the past, similar culture and the same types of "colonized mentality." Because of the Black Power and Black Pride movement inside of the united states, American Blacks are now able to hold their heads up high 28 �"The chains that have been taken off slaves' bodies are put back on their minds." DAVID PEREZ and be proud of their past. It is necessary that we understand and study Puerto Rican history, much of which is African history so that we can move on ridding ourselves of the barriers that exist between Afro-boricua and jibaro. We should not be afraid to criticize ourselves about racism. We are all racists, not because we want to be, but because we are taught to be that way, to keep us divided, because it benefits the capitalist system. And this applies to racism towards Asians, other Brown people, and towards white people. White people are not thè oppressor — capitalists are. We will never have socialism until we are free of these chains on our mind. The other way in which "non-conscious ideology" divides I our people is through machismo, or male chauvinism. We have said for a long time that sisters and brothers should be equal in the struggle, that men and women should work together and that Puerto Rican men should not oppress their wives, mothers, and daughters anymore. When we said that machismo is fascism, we were saying something that was true, but we couldn't understand the reasons why men became uptight when they were accused of machismo. Brothers could not understand why some of the ways that they treat sisters are wrong. Brothers did not know how to act differently than their fathers and grandfathers have always acted toward women. Is it all right to rap to a sister? Should I give a woman a complement? Is it machismo if I want to protect a woman? Because we did not understand why there is this division we could not explain well enough, all we could say was machismo was bad, male chauvinism is wrong, you are oppressing your sisters. 29 �On the other hand, we criticize sisters for being passive and docile. We want women to become leaders, to speak out in public, to stop being shy end timid, to learn to be strong. We tell sisters to change, the way our mothers have taught us to be, the way our mothers mothers' have always been. And again, we did not completely understand why our sisters had difficulty in understanding what passivity is, and how to change. Sisters still volunteered to cook and sew, to take care of children. Sisters still felt more comfortable letting the men Palestinian Women's Militia Jordan, July 1970 be the leaders. Sisters don't like other women to be leaders either. We did not understand why women constantly get into arguments with each other. When a woman is strong and a leader she is considered to ba a "bitch." When a man is 30 �strong he is a "good leader." But why? We have realized that the division of the sexes between male and female have existed for such a long time, that all societies have accepted the "fact" that there is a difference between men and women. We know that the only differences are biological — women have a womb and ovaries and they make eggs, and men manufacture sperm. All societies developed around the first oppression; man used woman as a worker, to reproduce, to make babies, while men were free to do other things. This ideology of a division of the sexes is called "sexism," just like the ideology of the division of the "non-conscious women produce is called ideologies." races From "racism." the Both simple are fact that babies and men didn't, developed all sorts of ideas that women were a certain type of human and men another type of human. What is a man? What is a woman? "Non-consciously" we believe a man is strong, aggressive, hairy, bad, decisive, hard, cold, weak, firm, intelligent. timid, smooth, "Non-consciously" soft-spoken, a woman scatter-brained, is soft, warm, dumb, and loving. Both of these sets of descriptions are a result of the way we have trained "non-consciously." From the time a baby is born it is taught by its parents and by society to be a "man" or a "woman." If it grew up alone, with no outside influences what would its personality be like? Just because it has a womb, would it be weak? If it had a penis, would it be aggressive and strong? No. These traits of personality are part of the way we are taught to be. A little boy wears blue. A little girl wears pink. A little boy is given trains, trucks, toy soldiers and baseball bats to play with. Little girls get dolls and suzie homemaker sets. Little boys wear dungarees and can play rough and get dirty. Little girls wear dresses and stay at home near their mothers to play and watch them cook. When a little boy talks about what he wants to be when he grows up he dreams of being a fireman, a doctor, a lawyer, a cabdriver, a revolutionary. A little girl can dream, but everyone knows what she will be a mother, a housewife.Anything else is strange — and temporary. Any other job she has must be something for her to do part-time until she can quit and stay home. If she has 31 �to work she then has two jobs — the main one is the home. Women cannot exist in this society without a "man to protect them." Women who have no men are forced to make it in a world that doesn't accept them. Welfare mothers are women with no men. Women compete against each other to "get a man." So we don't just have division between men and women, sexism divides women against each other. By the time a baby is six months old it has already been treated differently if it is a boy than if it is a girl, and acts and responds differently. Baby boys are more active. Baby girls cry more. Because Puerto Rican society is structured in a sexist way, it is very difficult to fight against things that we are not aware of. If we want to change this society and develop a new one that no longer oppresses anyone we must try to eliminate the sexism that we "non-consciously" retain in our minds. We must become instead of men and women — new humans, revolutionary people. Men should learn to cook, to care for children, to be open to cry and show emotions because these are all good things — needed to build a new society. Women must learn to be leaders, to speak out, to use tools and weapons, because our army must be made up of brothers and sisters. One of the ways that brothers can figure out if they are oppressing sisters is to ask themselves if they would treat another brother the same way. If you lived with another brother, would he always cook the meals and do the housework. If you lived with another brother and friends came over would you do all the talking? Sisters can judge their passivity the same way. How would you repair machines if there were no men around? Who would protect you if you were attacked? We must think about all the ways we have been brainwashed un consciously and fight against it. It is a hard struggle, because everything around us is sexist — the books we read, the t.v. shows we watch, the institutions of our society. We will never«be free until we have broken all the chains of our "non-consciously ideology" and our colonized mentalities. 32 �THE PARTY & THE STATE We are a colony of the yankee. We have been kicked and pushed around, and forced to work for the lowest wages while we do the hardest work. All major decisions that concern Puerto Rico and our people are made by racists in Washington, by crooked politicians who represent their bosses, the capitalists that own the factories and tourist trade of the island. One third of our people were conned into coming to the united states so that they could divide and control us better. We are programmed or mis-educated to do whatever the yankees desire. If they say Puerto Rico should be a state, we are Supposed to bow our heads down like good Puerto Ricans or spies and agree. We are allowed the privilege to vote for some of our own oppressors like badillo or hernandez-colon. Soon they think they will give Puerto Ricans the "privilege" to vote for the pig president of the united states. By keeping us from coming together they have been able to remain in control. Whenever we make attempts to liberate our people, they use whatever force they have available to prevent it from happening. When the Nationalist Party was becoming successful in educating the people, they were crushed, by having their leadership jailed and assassinated, and they succeeded in terrorizing the people. Now the Young Lords Party is becoming the force to organize the nation for a struggle for national liberation, a struggle where the whole people will be organized to fight against the colonizer. We are the Party which through our practice, has raised the consciousness of Puerto Ricans in the u.s. to the point that "Viva Puerto Rico Libre" has become a household word and "Power to the People" is replacing the unhappy good-byes. We have come to understand that without a revolutionary Party based on scientific analysis, 33 �we will not be able to gain our national liberation. A Party is necessary because there has to be a leading body to give direction. The revolution is not made by a bunch of individuals running around doing their thing. Our problem has been that we have too many individuals and little groups doing their thing and forgetting that the struggle for national liberation is our thing. What we need are leaders that come from the poor people and who place in their hearts the interests of the poor people and oppressed above anything else, and who are prepared to die for the liberation of the people, struggle is for "power", power to determine the direction in which we and our people move. That power means a struggle for control of the churches, hospitals, schools, police departments, political system. Any struggle that builds the consciousness of the people to control their institutions, helps the national liberation. A struggle that raises consciousness abo ut the reactionary and corrupt commonwealth or amerikkkan state and government is good. While we fight to control and destroy the old government organization, at the same time is being formed the new people's government which grows as we fight. This concept we refer to as the Party and the State. We recognize that a Party has to exist to give political direction (revolutionary theory), that it has to show people how to organize themselves, how to move against their landlord, a government agency, a factory boss whatever, and how to build organization), organizations and the Party that last also supplies (revolutionary revolutionary examples of what to do, for example, when we seized the People's Church, or Lincoln Hospital, or the National Students' Conference of September 23. This revolutionary Party is composed of the most active, most politically conscious, disciplined and committed revolutionaries in the nation. We understand that the Party will be a minority in number compared with the masses. But because we serve and protect and are one with the interests of the people, we represent the majority. The Party cadre (members) are all leaders of the battle of the people, and will coordinate the national liberation struggle. 34 �We see that there have to exist other organizations which we call People's Organizations. These organizations are massed based, try to get as many people as possible involved in struggle. They are not cadre organizations, like the Party. They have a specific are of work to control; for example, student organizing, workers organizing, community organizing. We think as many people's organizations as possible should be formed. These organizations work closely with the Party and have Party members in them, or working with them. We see this method as preparing the revolutionary state, the People's government, in th at the people are braining themselves how to run their own society. As the People's organizations grow, there will then be two powers in the Puerto Rican nation-the power of the reactionary present government, police, and businessmen, and the power of the poor people, people's organizations, and Party. These two cannot exist peacefully side by side. There will be conflict until one destroys the other. And as the people gain in strength, the revolutionary movement, together with the People's Army, will destroy the old state and set up a new revolutionary government. Many people ask, who will make this revolution? Everybody? The Young Lords Party feels most of our people would live better in a socialist society. But there are two classes of people that will fight harder for the new society, because they have been most oppressed in this present society. The lumpen-worker alliance is the name we use for the two classes who will lead the revolution. It means that according to our analysis of Puerto Rican society, the two most important parts of Puerto Rican society are the lumpens and the workers. The lumpens are the prostitutes, drug addicts, welfare mothers, hustlers, the street people, unemployable because the system has no jobs for them. They don't want jobs because they know already how much the sys tem makes off of them. They are the prisoners in the jails, all political prisoners, colonized and messed over by the system. They come out of school into no jobs, no future, nothing but drugs, wine, gambling. They try to find something worthwhile in their lives and only find racism and greed, or a pimp ready to make money off of them. 35 �The workers, the majority of the population, work five and six days a week for a lousy $100 more or less, they work in hosp itals, post offices, trains, and buses, in restaurants and hotels, in construction, in factories big and small. They are the housewives and working women oppressed at home or on the job, who have nothing to do but come home to bills, credit, T V , and beer, who will never get anyplace though they have lots of dreams. The lumpen understand the oppression best, that is why the y and the students (who come mostly from petty-bourgeois or middle class) are the first to get involved. The lumpen also form the hard core fighting force, once they are disciplined, because the individualism of the streets is still very strong with them. The workers are usually a little more conservative, because they have at least an apartment, even if there is no heat, and a car, even if it's mortgaged, and a job, even if it pays nothing, and they are afraid to lose their little bit. But they also have the most power. With their labor they built the society, and with a strike they can paralyze the whole island or a city. It is from the labor of the workers that the capitalist gets all the goods he sells. The workers know how to run the factories, the hospitals, the schools, the restaurants. They will run, along with the lumpen and students, and a small group of professionals, the new society, but first they must be educated to join with the lumpens and students to wage the War. Lumpens on drugs and having nothing, are divided from workers who fear getting robbed by them. Workers who have a few crumbs, are afraid the lumpen will steal it, so the two classes fight each other. The duty of the Party and the People's Organizations is to unite the two classes into a fighting force, the main force of the revolution. "Let me say at the risk off seeming ridiculous that a true revolutionary is guided by great feelings O f l O V e * " CHBOUIVARA 36 �THE PARTY AND THE INDIVIDUAL The ideology of the Party is the framework from which we move. Everything we do relates to the principles on this paper. Ideology doesn't only talk about what the Party believes but also where the Party sees itself going. On the basis of those principles and ideas we do our work among .the people. We call this practice. As the Party grows and develops, we are going to be developing a bigger more defined ideology and we will be faced with a continuous problem; how do we keep building that Party of our people that will put the ideas into practice. It is no good to have an ideology if all you can do is talk and not practice. fn order to be involved in good practice, two things must de dealt with; first on the level of organization, and then on the level of the individual. On the level of the Party, we ask ourselves, how do we develop the type of organization that can lead our people in a liberation movement? How do we structure it? How do we run the Party? We must remember that the structure is not for any one part of our people, it must suit the needs of all our people-lumpen, worker, student. Also, it must help develop people into good revolutionaries. The Party ministries. is divided The levels of into levels of leadership and leadership are the branch, the leadership of the branch, and the leaders and coordinators of the Party in general. The ministries. Defense, Staff, Field, Information, Economics, and Education are specific fields o* responsibility assigned to party members. The level of leadership is the army that does the organizing of the people, and the ministry is the function that aides the Party. 37 �We have learned the hard way, through trial and error some of the problems involved. It is very important for parts of the Party to communicate with the whole. If this is not done, there will be no unified Party. Communication is done in many ways, regular reports, telephone, mail, personal visits. One of communicating the is most important education. things Without -a besides structured educational system in the Party it is very hard for the Party to organize all sectors of the people. It is also hard for any individual to develop without political education. Two of the cores of the Party are the general membership meeting, where democratic discussion and decision-making are done, and criticism - self-criticism, the key to Party democracy. The structure is still changing, but we should never be afraid of changing to progress. On the level of the individual the question comes up, how do we train cadre? What is cadre: How do we develop individuals from different sectors of the society at the same time? In this field the Party went through many changes. We were organizing high school students, lumpens, college students, workers, and other sectors at the same time and we had to fight the bad traits that each group brings with it, like the impatience of high school students, the individualism of lumpen, the conservatism of workers, and the intellectualism of college students. What is a cadre? A cadre is a person in the Party who has gone through a change in himself or herself from just another Puerto Rican to leader of the people, a revolutionary. This change does not take place right away. First, a person becomes political, then they join the Party, then, after a period of time, they become a leader of the people. But it isn't as simple as that. There is a big change in the whole life of the individual. This change can be broken into two parts. First, losing the bad traits from the class they originated from, like individualism, machismo, sexism, racism intellectualism, superiorities and inferiorities. This is called "de-classizing". Once you become a cadre of the Young Lords Party, you are no longer a student, or a lumpen 38 �street-person, or a worker. You have that background, but what you are is able to organize best that class that you came from because you understand it best, have dealt with a lot of the negative parts of it, and have recognized the good parts. Second, is the big change that the individual has in getting rid of the scars that capitalism has left in the person's mind , like liberalism (not doing something you know is right), pessimism, and the biggest of all, colonized mentality. Colonized mentality is the effects of oppression. Because we are taught that a spie is a lower form of human, we end up believing it and acting as if it were true. We shy away from responsibility, we think negative, we don't think we can learn and then we takeut on ourselves, persecuting ourselves and fighting with others. We call this change, "de-colonizing". This doesn't mean that before you become a Lord, you have completely succeeded in getting rid of bad traits-that takes years--but that you have made an effort and are succeeding. The change in the individual of de-classizing and de-colonizing goes on at the same time and both complement each other. The developing of the Party should be seen as preparing internally for the prolonged war demands constant development and change. 39 �ANALYSIS OF PUERTO RICAN SOCIETY In May, 1970, the Young Lords Party studied the divisions in our people, divisions that make us weak. We call this the "analysis of Puerto Rican Society." This is how we are divided in classes. Every Puerto Rican fits into one of these classes. Your class is determined by how you make your living, how you survive everyday in this crazy amerikkkan-controlled world. Industrial Workers: The majority of the population are workers. We employment, work in factories and in government in sweat shops and petroleum refineries, in construction and restaurants. We make $40, $60, $100 a week and hardly stay alive while our bosses make hundreds of thousands off our hard work. We don't like to get into trouble, because we might lose our job, or our project or casserio apartment, or our children might suffer. We are the housewives and working wome, who are oppressed not just on the job but at home by our own husbands, who beat us or mistreat us because they don't know any better. We are afraid of the lumpen, because they rob us; but we know that this is the result of the system that forces them into drugs and prostitution. They are our brothers and sisters, compatriots, oppressed by the same enemy. We will join with them to free Puerto Rico, and after the yankees are kicked out, we will take over and run the factories for the good of all the people. Lumpen: Are men and women who are unemployable, on drugs, prostitutes, welfare mothers, people in jail. Most of us never had a chance for a decent life. We are young, poor, there were never any jobs waiting for us, there was no future, so we turned to drugs and crime. The society calls us 40 �¡ • ¡ t sili' % f¡¡ f*- it ' sfflB. ; ¡H p a w a " Vi h. jì 1 i Si T• •1- worthless, good for nothing. But all we are is oppressed h u m a n beings. W e r o b from our own people because w e ' r e prisoners, of drugs, of our conditions. We don't ©'ring the drugs into the community, the businessmen and government irrasssfeisii d o to keep u s pacified. We are waking up and uniting as a nonnia tn fioetrAi/ tKo raot class with titefl I J d J u l U H ! y - 'If 15?'-'- f "Of E3¥XSMM9B8£IM9MEflS^H H H s -^.••^r—--T |gi J ^ l l ^ i - H t « ! « « « « ™ « ^ enemy--the yan' ' • A g r i c u l t u r a l Workers: We are the last of the campesinos, who h a d our l a n d s bought up or stolen by the amerikkams, w h o were tricked i n t o slave-like migrant labor and shuttled back and f o r t h from the u.s. to Puerto Rico, to pick tomatoes or other crjps. t h e Petty-bourgeois are people who don't work for anyone else or who work with their minds not their hands, b u t who also don't employ anyone or any other people. In other words, they live off their own labor. There are three main types o f petty-bourgeois: Bodegeros: We own our own store or businesses. We have anywhere from 1 to 5 people who work for us. We make enough to live on if we work hard ourselves. But now the amerikkkan chain stores or the Cuban gusanos aré running us out of business. If we don't joint the other oppressed classes, we will soon be destroyed by the amerikkkans and Cuban gusanos (exiles). Capitalists and Traitors: These are the few Puerto Rican capitalists, like Ferre, and the big traitors, like Sanchez Vile Ita; Badiilo, Hernandez Colon, all the politicians and others whose lives are tied up with the amerikkkan occupation. There are also the thousands of Cuban pigs, who were kicked out of Cuba by Fidel. We will kick all of them out of Puerto Rico to establish a free, independent, and socialist nation : The lumpen and workers, allied together, will lead the revolution. The students, bodegeros, and professionals will join with them. Some professionals, vendepatrias and capitalists will bé against u$ , but in the long run, we wi and Puerto Rico will be frée. i n w i ^ f 41 IS ijjjPB �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BTS00057-01 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Young Lords (Organization) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 Title A name given to the resource Ideology of the Young Lords Party, 1972 Description An account of the resource Document detailing the ideology of the Young Lords Organization, including the history of Puerto Rican war, economic, and military struggles, colonization, and contemporary society. Subject The topic of the resource Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Civil Rights -- United States -- History Community activists Puerto Ricans -- United States Social justice Relation A related resource Young Lords in Lincoln Park interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9597d3a8d6064a7645301e0e16dbc2c5.jpg aa9628a59d6704dd6862250efacbef71 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1014 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image two men speak with one another. One, in a tuxedo jacket and corduroys, leans in as the other, in a turtleneck and tweed and holding a glass, points towards the ceiling. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dac64fc586f59f3df22e7d3516c1fe37.jpg 5d8faaeb52c645b3a5b7646a92db82cd Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1021 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image two elegantly dressed women sitting in cushioned chairs raise their glasses to toast with a man in a white jacket. An open bottle sits on the small table in front of them. Behind them the set includes a staircase with ornate, blue-green railing. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f97bfee662e11695d52e2dc928e7ef8c.jpg 6e3894a2e3d7c9d9da5c317658671634 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1035 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image a man in a white jacket and two show girls in bedazzled costumes dance in line together, kicking out their feet. Behind them other waiters and a cook stand watching. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/409e0bc8143d9e23468696fe3a6774cf.jpg 20f21dd922e3357d4ee5e20555c40514 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1040 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image a crowd of white jacketed men, show girls, elegantly dressed ladies, and soldiers stop their partying and look with concern at a man in a trench coat who has been apprehended by two other men in suits. Behind them the set includes a staircase with ornate, blue-green railing, arched columns, and a chandelier. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6f512669aeb2b7817e3c88ed25553a99.jpg 69b4c90484cacc9eb7d432035d365edb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1049 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image the full cast in costume poses on stage. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d59288de383f317eaaeb8bf357dcbcf6.jpg f8e53e76e267f701b1f45a083458e732 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1057 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image two soldiers, dressed in winter uniforms, greet one another. Behind them an urn with a floral arrangement sits on a table. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/51c74219415cee478f3486ce38bbca9e.jpg 39792cd51f5f7b823cc9a0cd1b260a2f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1062 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image a soldier with a full rucksack delivers a letter to an elegantly dressed lady. She is sitting in front of a table with a wine bottle and two champagne glasses. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/377175d74bbc23881c9344917790d2b8.jpg 41c6e719e26505dfe51a004acb11b952 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1066 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image a woman in red with a red swastika armband holds out her hand in a Nazi salute. She is standing behind a man in a wool coat who sit sitting in a wheelchair and holds a duffel bag on his lap. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b2ecc2f5b311d7124fcdac6e9bb56e1d.jpg b5e2db432ed04447af8db035bf0ff0a6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1091 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image five blonde women are gathered together in a sitting room. One is sitting on the ground at a low table and reads off cards to another woman sitting across from her. On the left a woman sits on the arm of a chair holding a cigarette and an ash tray. On the left a woman stands holding a scarf and looking down at another, who is preening while she looks into a handheld mirror. All are dressed in early 20th century fashion. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/83bd155771d47956ed4cf796c24ec3eb.jpg c0e8883fb5dfef298d6dc3a83dd29a83 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Theatre Photos Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Description An account of the resource Photographs of Grand Valley theater productions from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photos include shots of performances, backstage, casts and crewmembers. Included in the collection are Shakespeare Festival productions and small acts such as Bard to Go and the Greenshow. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright Grand Valley State University Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-2017 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01) Subject The topic of the resource Theater Performances Plays Musicals College Students Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives. Allendale, MI 49401 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV058-01_2003W-Idiots-Delight_1102 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Theatre Department Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003 Title A name given to the resource Idiot's Delight (theater production), 2003 Description An account of the resource Color photograph of Grand Valley's 2003 production of "Idiot's Delight." In this image a maid holds a vase of flowers in front of a railing. Subject The topic of the resource Theater College students Plays Performances Acting Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/754">Theatre Department photographs (GV058-01)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives 2003s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/04f1b7ff5f41acecac4b075a5d04a4d7.JPG ee7ebddd8995f0a69ccd68cbcc7aef97 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Ronald Oakes collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Oakes, Ronald Description An account of the resource Collection of photographs by Ronald Oakes, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and in the U.S. National Guard in the Iraq War. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1968/2005 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/628">Ronald Oakes Vietnam and Iraq war photographs (RHC-80)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Iraq War, 2003-2011 Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Veterans Photographs Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Relation A related resource Veterans History Project interviews, RHC-27 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-80 Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-80_Oakes-Iraq-100_0141 Title A name given to the resource IED damage done to a HUMVEE Subject The topic of the resource Iraq War, 2003-2011 United States--History, Military United States. National Guard Military life Soldiers Photographs Description An account of the resource IED damage done to a HUMVEE. The HUMVEE is loaded on a truck head south to FOB Balad Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Oakes, Ronald Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Ronald Oakes Vietnam and Iraq photographs (RHC-80) Relation A related resource Veterans History Project interviews, RHC-27 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Iraq War Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bd0958e0b23468c1b0e06363637568d8.pdf 3858645f84883019c07fb74e25de0eb2 PDF Text Text If God Is…That Means…But… From the series: God in the Mirror of a Human Face Text: Luke 7:28; Luke 6:27; 35-36 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Lent, March 7, 1999 Transcription of the spoken sermon This is the second Lenten sermon and the second week in a row with a funny title. Last week, "That Means ... And That Can’t Be." and I filled that in for you by saying that if the message of John the Baptist was right, that means that God is a violent God and that can’t be. And this week, "If God Is ... Then ... But .." Now, it must be obvious where I’m going with that again. If God is, indeed, nonviolent, as we suggested last week, in contrast to John’s image of God, taking our cue from Jesus instead, that means that we must be nonviolent, too, but ... but I’m not ready for that kind of discipleship. I’m not capable of that kind of discipleship. That means that if God is a God of nonviolent justice, then we, God’s people, are called to be a people of nonviolent justice, but do you realize how radical that is? This is so very important because, as we said last week, the God that we worship will shape us. Over a lifetime the God that we image in our worship and devotion will determine the kind of people that we are. We’ll be killer children of a killer God, or we’ll be nonviolent children of a nonviolent God of justice, and I suggest to you that it is critical to get a proper fix on the historical Jesus because Jesus is the human face that mirrors to us God, and that which is mirrored in the face of Jesus will give us insight into the nature and character of God, and the nature and character of God will determine the kind of people we are. That’s why it’s so very important to get it right with Jesus in order to get it right with God in order to get it right in our own lives. This morning I want to try to establish the fact that my statement last week that Jesus, indeed, presents an alternative vision and program to that of John the Baptist, can be read out of the Gospels themselves. It’s like a good detective story, but as we have come more and more to understand what we have in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the finished Gospel products have layers within them and there are pressures and forces that get pressed into a certain final portrait which still reveals the lines of some of that conflict within. And if you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John about John the Baptist and Jesus, you get the impression, you get what was being created as the proper perspective, namely that John the © Grand Valley State University   �If God Is…That Means Richard A. Rhem Page 2   Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus the Messiah, and that there was continuity between the ministry of John and the ministry of Jesus. I want to suggest to you that, when you probe beneath the layers a bit, you will see that that was a patching over of what was break and discontinuity, that, at some point in the ministry of Jesus, Jesus moved from being a disciple of John the Baptist to creating his own alternative vision and program over against John the Baptist. John was an eschatological person. Jesus was an eschatological person. An eschatological person believes there is something fundamentally flawed about the way the world is organized. John believed it; Jesus believed it. A world organized around power with structures that perpetuate injustice, inequality, that lack mercy and compassion, that is marked by violence, is a world that a person who is eschatological, who is concerned about the end, must reject and protest against. An eschatological person is a person who wants the world to end the way it is, not the space-time world, necessarily, but just the way the world is, almost the normal way the world is. John believed the way the world is was fundamentally flawed; Jesus believed the way the world is was fundamentally flawed. And such a person, John and Jesus, both believed that there was a divine mandate to right the wrong of the world and that it couldn’t come just through human tinkering or human engineering, human ingenuity or human creativity, but rather, it had to be the act of God. There was a third element in being an eschatological person and that is how one lives out that conviction, and there are at least three ways that that has been done. The first way was John the Baptist and the apocalyptic vision, the sense of the imminent in breaking of God, to damn the wicked and establish the righteous, the winepress of the wrath of God overflows with the blood up to the horse’s bridle in a river of blood 200 miles long. We saw it last week in that vision in Revelation. The apocalyptic vision is the vision of the God Who will come in dramatically, violently. The final solution to the righting of the wrong of the world involves violence which edges towards vengeance. That was the God of John the Baptist. There’s another possible response to a conviction that the world is fundamentally wrong. You can withdraw from the world. There were communities at the time of John and Jesus, the Essenes, for example, the Qumran community, the communities connected with the Dead Sea scrolls. They left Jerusalem and went out into the wilderness, forming their own communities of prayer and fasting and waited for the appearing of the Messiah. They gave up on the world; they withdrew from the world into monastic community. There’s a third possibility and that’s the way of Jesus, staying in the heat of the battle, but making a protest nonviolently, being full of grace and compassion, making the protest obvious but nonviolently. Dom Crossan calls that ethical eschatology, and it is my conviction, and I didn’t invent this, but it is my © Grand Valley State University �If God Is…That Means Richard A. Rhem Page 3   conviction, on the basis of the study of the Gospels going back to an essay of 1962 by the Anglican Bishop, John A. T. Robinson, confirmed in current historical Jesus scholarship by the likes of Dom Crossan, I am convinced that if you look at those Gospels in the layered view, you will find that Jesus began as a disciple of John the Baptist, identifying with John’s mission, being baptized by John, but at some point rejected the vision of John, separated himself, went into Galilee and began his own mission on the basis of another vision. That’s what I believe can be established from a study of the Gospels if you weave it all together. It’s only in the fourth Gospel that we know that Jesus had a period of ministry before the Galilean ministry, a ministry down south in Judea where John was baptizing, and if you read the third chapter of John’s Gospel, the fourth Gospel, verses 22-30, you will find that John is carrying on his ministry of baptism and Jesus and his disciples are carrying on their ministry, and I would say at that time that Jesus and his disciples must have been considered a part of the Baptist movement. And then in the fourth chapter of John, in the first verse, you will find Jesus leaving the area and going through Samaria to Galilee. Then in that first verse of the fourth chapter of the fourth Gospel you will find an indication that maybe there was some competition developing between John and Jesus. (I’m so glad that in the religious life of today’s world, competition doesn’t exist anymore.) Whatever the reason, that movement from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north marked geographically a fundamental change in the vision and the mission of Jesus, and the change was the rejection of Apocalypticism and the movement to ethical eschatology, which is simply a protest carried out nonviolently. Jesus began with John and I’m sure it might even have been assumed that he would pick up the reins from John. Early in his ministry, only in the fourth Gospel does Jesus go to the temple and "cleanse" the temple. You remember that dramatic scene - Mark, Matthew, Luke tell us that it happened during Holy Week, but in Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus only goes to Jerusalem one time, and so if he’s going to cleanse the temple, it has to be during Holy Week. Now, if it was during Holy Week or not, I don’t know, but the interesting thing is that in the Fourth Gospel he goes to the temple very early in his ministry and further, during Holy Week, according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, when he cleanses the temple and they ask him by what authority, he says "By what authority did John baptize?" In other words, Jesus’ response in Holy Week with John long dead, connects his cleansing of the temple with John the Baptist. I suspect that John, the Fourth Gospel, may be right at this point, that Jesus went very early to cleanse that temple. Jesus was under the spell of John the Baptist. Jesus was waiting for God to come in dramatically to intervene and to bring about the ultimate judgment that involved violence, and his address at the temple at the early part of his ministry, according to the Fourth Gospel, is indicative that he was growing in the mode of John the Baptist. There’s another interesting thing in the early part of the Gospel. The temptation narratives – where Jesus is struggling in the wilderness according to what kind of © Grand Valley State University �If God Is…That Means Richard A. Rhem Page 4   person he is, what kind of ministry he is to have, what his identity is to be – are early in Matthew, Mark and Luke. John A. T. Robinson suggests that maybe those temptation narratives were indicative of the fact that Jesus, beginning with John the Baptist in the mode of John the Baptist, comes to a point of personal crisis and struggles with who he is to be, and he comes out of the wilderness, out of the temptation narratives. Go to Luke’s Gospel, in the fourth chapter, where Jesus is now in Galilee giving his inaugural sermon. What does he do? He stands up to preach, quoting Isaiah 61, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor and to give sight to the blind...." and that quotation concludes, "to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." Now, if you go the Isaiah passage from which he is quoting, you will find out that the prophet did not stop at "the favorable year of the Lord." The prophet said, "to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, the day of God’s vengeance." That is deleted. Either Jesus deleted it or Luke interpreting Jesus deleted it, but in any case, there is a very, very clear clue that Jesus was not about vengeance, and Luke, when he writes this Gospel, knows Jesus was not about vengeance, even though the passage from which Jesus quotes to proclaim his program and his vision of healing concluded with “the day of the Lord’s vengeance.” Jesus didn’t say it because he was no longer about a God of violence that edged toward vengeance. Jesus was about healing; he was about grace; he was about the stuff we read in that passage from the Sermon on the Mount, which is in Luke the Sermon on the Plain. That impossible stuff about turning the other cheek, about lending and not expecting it to be returned. That impossible ethic that comes out of Jesus and that sermonic material that says love your enemies. Love your enemies! Love your enemies, in order to emulate God. Be ye therefore merciful as God is merciful, God who is good to the selfish and the ungrateful. Or, in Matthew’s version, who causes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust, and the rain to fall on the gardens of the good and the evil, the God who make no discrimination. Be children of God, be merciful as God is merciful. Be compassionate as God is compassionate. Well, even in the dungeon in Marchaerus where John the Baptist who had been arrested was mouldering away, they slipped in The New York Times and he read what Jesus was about. Pansy stuff: healing, forgiving, being gracious, soft stuff, stuff that seemed to lack discrimination. Where was the fire! Where was the sickle being ready to be thrust into the vineyard to reap the earth in order that the winepress of the wrath of God might overflow? John had a vision for Jesus. It was the vision of Elijah returned. It is the vision of Elijah which comes from Malachi that I read a moment ago, that messenger of the covenant that will come, who will prepare the way of the Lord, the great and terrible day of the Lord, who will be like a refiner’s fire, who will purify the righteous and damn the wicked. Elijah’s return was to prepare for the dramatic © Grand Valley State University �If God Is…That Means Richard A. Rhem Page 5   in-breaking of God. John the Baptist saw Jesus as Elijah. You may say, "No, no, no, John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus the Messiah." No. The first chapter of John’s Gospel records the question to John the Baptist, "Are you Elijah?" "No. No. I’m not Elijah. I’m a voice. I’m pointing to Elijah who is to come, who is to prepare the way of the Lord." Now, John is reading The New York Times about what’s going on in Galilee, all kinds of healing and nice things happening, gentle things happening, and he says, "What in the world is going on?" He sends two of his disciples to Jesus to say, "Are you the one? Or do we look for another? Did I get it wrong? Are you not the one I thought you were?" Years ago in the days of my youth I preached a marvelous sermon on that text. It was about John in the dungeon, almost losing his faith, full of doubt, sending his disciples to Jesus to say, "Is it going to be okay?" And Jesus says, "Sure, look what’s happening. Go tell John it’s going to be okay. I’m the one. Tell John to relax and die in peace." That was how to deal with religious doubt; it was a great sermon. And it was wrong. It’s not what this is all about at all. John is in prison. I think John was ready to die, that wasn’t the problem. But, John’s boy has it wrong! The program! Where’s the program? Where’s the fire? Where’s the judgment? Jesus, very indirectly and carefully, says to these disciples of John, "Go tell John what you see and hear. The blind are seeing, the lame are walking, the deaf are hearing, the poor have good news proclaimed to them." And then he says a strange thing. "Happy is the one who takes no offense in me." John took offense in Jesus. Jesus was a pansy. Jesus compromised the program. Jesus wasn’t preparing for the winepress of the wrath of God. He was talking about forgiveness and grace and compassion. So Jesus said, "Go tell him what you see," but actually, contrary to what I preached many, many years ago, that Jesus was saying, "Go tell John, Yes, it’s fine. Yes, I am, I am," Jesus was saying, "Go tell John No, I’m not the one. As a matter of fact, John, you are Elijah, the Elijah figure from the prophecy of Malachi is the projection of you, John. You are Elijah fulfilling that role. "Who am I, then, John? Well, in my own struggle, John, my mentor and my friend whom I respect, let me tell you there’s another part of the prophetic witness: Isaiah. There is the suffering servant, one who doesn’t snuff out the smoldering wick or crush the bruised reed. There’s the suffering servant who doesn’t lift up his voice. There’s the suffering servant who goes as a lamb to the slaughter. John, I am not the one you thought I was. I cannot fulfill the role of Elijah in Malachi. It’s Isaiah for me, because I’ve come to see, John, that your God is a God marked by violence, edging toward vengeance to effect the final © Grand Valley State University �If God Is…That Means Richard A. Rhem Page 6   solution and, John, I don’t believe that violence and vengeance can ever effect the final solution." The disciples left and Jesus began to talk about John. He said, "Whom did you go out to see? A reed? Someone dressed in gorgeous robes? Of course not. Did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, you did. Yes, and more than a prophet, let me tell you. Of all of those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist." Great affirmation. Great respect. But then Jesus went on to say, "But I tell you the least in the kingdom of God (that is, the movement that I am leading), the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist, because John the Baptist isn’t even in this ball game. This is a protest of nonviolent justice because I sense that God is that way." What triggered that move in Jesus? Well, of course, who knows? But I wonder if it was not simply the fact that Jesus could see that violence begets violence. Look at the generations and the centuries of the feud in Ireland and the Balkans and the Middle East. Blood feuds never die. Violence begets violence, and there is no transformation. Violence can coerce, violence can crush, violence can destroy, but violence cannot transform, and I suspect that Jesus came to see that and to see that the alternative was to face violence non-aggressively, nonviolently. Now, of course, when you do that, you make yourself vulnerable to death, and they killed him. They killed Gandhi, too. They killed Martin Luther King, too. One whose God is a nonviolent God is one who stands in nonviolent protest against the way things are and absorbs the darkness and receives the world’s verdict which is to die. If God is nonviolent, then those who see God through the lens of Jesus are called to nonviolence, but, but, but, ... I’m not ready for that. Are you? But, maybe, even the acknowledgment of that might be one moment of honesty and truth-telling in the midst of Lent. To be continued. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9d850bd6186524b8a3dc96a21c00694d.mp3 746ff15a96876ff54e98330b05f1a6f3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Lent III Series God In the Mirror of a Human Face Scripture Text Luke 7:28, 6:27, 35-36 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19990307 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1999-03-07 Title A name given to the resource If God Is...That Means...But... Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 7, 1999 entitled "If God Is...That Means...But...", as part of the series "God In the Mirror of a Human Face", on the occasion of Lent III, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Luke 7:28, 6:27, 35-36. Historical Jesus Lent Nature of God Non-violent Justice https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/24de976e2697149199bf27361dca5136.mp3 0cfbc28bd50fc652f640a3fb68671197 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost X Scripture Text Isaiah 43:2 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19930808 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-08-08 Title A name given to the resource If God Sent the Rainbow, Who Sent the Flood? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 8, 1993 entitled "If God Sent the Rainbow, Who Sent the Flood?", on the occasion of Pentecost X, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 43:2. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/28aa495fe2ab8a5da3db44c8d6436ef7.mp3 e132fb35b77b9cfa924951b0588d5f4f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Epiphany Scripture Text Jeremiah 29: 10-14, Matt. 2: 1-12 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19910106 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-01-06 Title A name given to the resource If I Live Before I Die Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on January 6, 1991 entitled "If I Live Before I Die", on the occasion of Epiphany , at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Jeremiah 29: 10-14, Matt. 2: 1-12. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9c472b8063de6e77a4030d430a9d3ff8.mp3 d339015cd9bb01bbcca586c68dee222c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Ash Wednesday Series What Wouldn't Jesus Do? Scripture Text Daniel 6:10-13, 19-24, John 12:20-28 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20000308 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-03-08 Title A name given to the resource If I Should Wake Before I Die Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 8, 2000 entitled "If I Should Wake Before I Die", as part of the series "What Wouldn't Jesus Do? ", on the occasion of Ash Wednesday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Daniel 6:10-13, 19-24, John 12:20-28. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ccc94f31963d0e4caf82e54df89265b1.pdf 19d3f10da40dcbaad6336cf9e14c3a4b PDF Text Text If That’s How It Is, I Can Live With That From the series: God In the Mirror Of a Human Face Text: Psalm 82:3-4; Micah 5:8; Acts 2:44; John 20:21 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Easter Sunday, April 4, 1999 Transcription of the spoken sermon I suppose it may be somewhat the world situation that has caused me to be hounded by two particular thoughts and those I would share with you this morning as the Easter message. I want to speak about my problem with Easter, and then the promise of Easter. Let me begin with my problem with Easter. We have followed for forty days of the Lenten journey the way of Jesus. We have seen him move ever deeper into the darkness; we have come to that time when we knew events were culminating into a climax that would not be good. We have seen him enter the city, negate the Temple system, find himself under survey by those who would put him to death. We’ve been with him at that last supper around the table, in the garden with its anguish, the arrest and the execution, and as we have done that, we have celebrated in our ritual form, following the Holy Week events and we have sensed something of the nature of Jesus and the God that Jesus mirrored. We have known that he was on a collision course because, in a world dominated by power relationships, Jesus pointed to a God of non-violent justice. We could see that it would have to end this way because the power of this world has the power to snuff out the light. We have recognized the darkness of the world and we can identify with a John the Baptist who would say, "God, can’t you do something?" But we’ve come to see that Jesus saw something far deeper, more profound, that God was not the God of the quick fix, that God was not some God Who would come in with blinding power to damn the wicked and establish the righteous. Rather, with infinite patience, God waits for that inward transformation. Nonviolent protest against injustice was the way of Jesus, and we have a sense of that. We’ve come to this place on Thursday evening and as we’ve been at the table, we’ve come here in the darkness and that contemplative mode of Good Friday. It has seeped into our pores; we’ve begun to see something. This is the way the world is. This cosmic, historical drama of which we are a part is in constant conflict, injustice eliciting violence, eliciting more violence in an ever-deepening © Grand Valley State University   �I Can Live With That Richard A. Rhem Page 2   cycle of violence that ends in the kind of chaos that is so much a part of our Easter world today. We begin to feel it; we begin to sense it. Then barely twenty-four hours later the lights go on, the flowers come in, the bells are rung, the music sounds forth and we shout "Hallelujah!" That’s my problem with Easter. It’s just too quick; it’s too sudden; it’s too strident; it’s too triumphalistic. In that twenty-four hour period, the darkness is not dissipated. In fact, the darkness hangs heavy upon us, even now 2000 years later. Oh, I know, this is pageantry. The Christian Year is the symbolic celebration of those events that point to the very real historical happenings, and yet, the way we celebrate them is not the way they happened. But, it’s necessitated, I suppose, if we are to remember those things in some kind of liturgical fashion here as a people. So, what we celebrate is what comes to us in the four Gospels. But, the earliest gospel was forty years after the events and the Gospel lesson of this morning was some sixty-five years after the event. By that time, the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection in the tradition is honed to a consistent story. What we have is the finished product, and if we would take it as it’s written, one would think that by Easter morning the darkness was scattered and by Easter evening the disciples were glad to see the Lord and we could get on with life. God knows we’re anxious to get beyond the darkness. God knows there is something in us that doesn’t want to dwell in the darkness, and it is true there’s only so much truth that we can bear. Philip Hallie, to whom I referred last week, in his book, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, wrote about the village of Le Chambon in France, a city of refuge and an oasis of grace, because, in the midst of his researching Holocaust documents, he felt himself so mired in the darkness and evil that he said, "I was coming under the coercion of despair," and that can happen to us. We can lose our perspective and we can lose our joy. Then, too, I suppose that we’re able to make that quick transition from darkness to light, to celebrate with all of the glory of this morning because we have really transformed the message of Jesus. I was going to say we have distorted the message of Jesus, because, you see, if Jesus really was a divine intruder whom God sent dipping into this world to be the sacrifice for our sins offering us forgiveness and life beyond, then the world can reel on its way to hell and all of its darkness and it’s not really significant because then what I have done is I have blunted that radical edge, that radicality of Jesus who came to a world of darkness and protested against it non-violently, looking evil in the eye. Then I can say, "Let the world go to hell! I’m saved; I’m saved. Hallelujah!" But, that’s not really what Jesus was about. That’s too easy. It’s too facile; it’s too superstitious; it’s too superficial. It is not what he was about. It’s so easy. If I can transform what Jesus was really about - the transformation of this world through the inward illumination of persons who come to see the nature of God reflected in © Grand Valley State University �I Can Live With That Richard A. Rhem Page 3   his face, the God of non-violent justice, moving with infinite patience toward a world community marked by justice and mercy, I’m home free. The God of Psalm 82 calls the lesser gods into counsel and dismisses them because they have failed to effect justice on the earth, with the result that the foundations of the earth are shaken. The God of justice who, in the words of the prophet, calls us to do justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God is the God of Jesus. If I can just make Jesus a salvation figure, if I can make Christian faith a salvation cult, if I can think that it’s all about my salvation and my getting to heaven, then I can let the world go to hell and it’s a helluva lot easier! But, that’s my problem with Easter, you see, because that is not what Jesus was about, and God is not a God of the quick fix. We saw Jesus facing the inevitable, crying out, "If it be possible ..." dying in godforsakeness, and God was silent because the very God that Jesus reflected was the God Who does not send the thunderbolts that will spring Jesus free in the last moment. The God of Jesus is a God of infinite patience. When we cry out, "Why don’t You do something?" God says to us, "I’m waiting for you to do something!" That’s my problem with Easter. I wanted to stay here in Good Friday for a while. I wanted to absorb the truth that I saw following Jesus in his passion. I wanted to let that truth seep into the pores of my being because that’s reality. You don’t dissipate the darkness with a snap of a finger. But, I’ve come to see the promise of Easter, as well. You might say to me, "Haven’t you jettisoned precisely that which Easter is about?" and I would say not so, for I have come to see something far more magnificent as I have looked into the face of Jesus and have seen there mirrored the eternal God. I have seen a God Who will never abandon Creation, Who will never let us go and will never finally let the darkness overcome the light. For, think about it for a moment, have you ever felt sorry for Jesus? I don’t think so. Jesus was not a tragic figure. You don’t feel sorry for him as some pathetic do-gooder, some social reformer. Much rather, when you see Jesus, are you not fascinated with him? Are you not moved by his passion? Are you not impressed with his strength? Does not your heart cry out to be like him when you see the integrity with which he lived and with which he died? Jesus in all of the strength and wonder of who he was reflected the God who waits for us, the God of non-violent justice, whose purpose is world community marked by justice and compassion and mercy and love. And when I see Jesus, I see one who is simply magnificent because he was able to live to his death in the strong conviction about the God whom he served who would never quit and never finally let the truth be defeated. You can attempt to execute the truth, you can kill the prophet, you can crucify the prophet, but you © Grand Valley State University �I Can Live With That Richard A. Rhem Page 4   can never finally put the truth to death and you can never finally snuff out the light. We started out this Lenten season around this same table with John Dominic Crossan here reminding us that where there is bread and wine it represents body and blood and where body and blood are separated, one from the other, it speaks of violent death, execution. And then he suggested that those of us who come to this table to take that bread and that cup, thereby are standing in solidarity with Jesus in the conviction that the truth will never die and the light will never be snuffed out. Execute, crucify, oppress, repress, but finally, because God is God, the light will break forth. Some of us on Wednesday evening were at the Jewish community Passover Supper, and on Thursday evening I shared a paragraph from a writing about the meaning and significance of Passover and the Seder Supper in the Jewish community. This particular writer says of the Jewish community that we have been "heirs to those who struggled and quested, we are old-timers at disappointment, veterans at sorrow, but always, always prisoners of hope." There’s an image for us. That’s the promise of Easter. If you’re following in the way of Jesus, you can be stripped of everything, but you can finally not be defeated. The promise of Easter is that the truth will live and the light will shine and, ultimately, finally, justice will be done and will pour down the mountains as a mighty, rolling stream. We cannot change the whole world, but we can embody in this community that justice, that kindness, that love and that grace. We can stand where we must and go where we must, unflinching, with full integrity, in total commitment, saying, come what may, we stand in solidarity with Jesus who embodied God, whose Body we continue to be. If that’s the way it is, I can live with that. (The Sanctuary Choir chanting The Christ Community Church Credo) We live together in the awe of worship in the Presence of the Mystery of God Whose inclusive grace moves us to embrace all with unconditional love and gracious acceptance, irrespective of race, gender, economic status, age or sexual orientation, loving the world as God loves it, following the way of Jesus, sensitive to the winds of the Spirit, seeking to discern the Word of God in the biblical tradition, the Movement of God in the context of our culture. We are an ecumenical community in background in faith perspective in worship expression; a blending of all the great Christian traditions. We find our window to God in the face of Jesus © Grand Valley State University �I Can Live With That Richard A. Rhem Page 5   while affirming the quest and insight of other faiths; opening ourselves to dialogue and mutual enrichment in our pluralistic world. We are intentionally a community of open mind and warm heart ... Where the broken find healing, the doubting learn to trust, the anxious find peace, and the strong are confirmed, trusting God ... The God of The Beginning, The God of The End, The God with us in The Meantime ... This in-between time. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/217a354504b27eb5958e60347a3962c0.mp3 703636ec5fcd8513ace0ec0f702c1264 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Easter Sunday Series God In the Mirror of a Human Face Scripture Text Psalm 82:3-4, Micah 5:8, Acts 2:44, John 20:21 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19990404 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1999-04-04 Title A name given to the resource If That's How It Is, I Can Live With That Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 4, 1999 entitled "If That's How It Is, I Can Live With That", as part of the series "God In the Mirror of a Human Face", on the occasion of Easter Sunday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 82:3-4, Micah 5:8, Acts 2:44, John 20:21. Community of Grace Easter Non-violent Justice Way of Jesus https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ad9fc8188b82c71abb643e087a9f61cd.mp3 e9cfe6c8ad6016df144a095e9a110e1c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Midweek Lent Scripture Text I John 4:7-8, 12, 15, 19-21, John 13:1-17 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20030326 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-03-26 Title A name given to the resource If We Have Love... Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 26, 2003 entitled "If We Have Love...", on the occasion of Midweek Lent, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I John 4:7-8, 12, 15, 19-21, John 13:1-17. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/db74cd32c9009c340dbd09e238f449d4.jpg ffb4a80361136f40df9b864a638bea53 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_M163-0040 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972-06/1972-08 Title A name given to the resource Iffley Lock, Oxford, England Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the historic footbridge at Iffley Lock, located on the River Thames near the village of Iffley in Oxfordshire, England. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Bridges--England Iffley (England) Oxfordshire (England) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7eaeb9726e01085cf6d8298552e09a4f.jpg 5eb853321e6085de38a96c5cf88008b5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_K173-0022 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970-07-18 Title A name given to the resource Iggy Pop and Scott Asheton of The Stooges Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of Iggy Pop and The Stooges performing at the WCFL Big 10 Summer Music Festival in Chicago, Illinois on July 18, 1970, by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Stooges (Musical group) Pop, Iggy, 1947- WCFL (Radio station : Chicago, Ill.) Concerts Soldier Field (Chicago, Ill.) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Chicago (inhabited place) 1970s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives