Occupy the Common Good:

How Can We Keep from Singing?

Rev. Roger Jones, Family Minister

The Occupy movement spans from Wall Street to the nearby Cesar Chavez Park.  Demonstrators of all ages have shown energy, anger and also joy in their persistent protesting for economic fairness, yet the government seems too fearful to hear the message–or at least to heed it.

The UC-Davis campus and many cities have shown both fear and cruelty in police attacks on non-violent protestors, to our horror and heartbreak.

What’s the religious good news out of all this turmoil, tumult and strife?

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Special Music x 3 –  Sonatina Op. 100 movements 1, 3, and 3, by Antonín Dvořák.  Violin: Mary Blanchette.  Piano: Rachel Kang.  They have been rehearsing this work on the last few Sundays for the prelude, special music and postlude.  Please plan to keep conversation to a minimum so others can enjoy the prelude.  (The rooster’s crow will announce when it’s time for the prelude.)

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My apologies to those who anticipated the sermon “Thanksgiving for Atheists.”  (Recent events call for a sermonic response!) As an alternative, may I suggest the January Adult RE course on Atheist Spirituality?  Sign up at Connection Central.

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I heard on the radio that Loaves and Fishes was hosting an open-invitation turkey dinner Tuesday for about 1,000.  I also heard their executive director report that overall services are up 10% over last year.

So it makes a difference that we share half of our Sunday morning offering with Loaves and Fishes, which  “feeds the hungry and shelters the homeless. … an oasis of welcome, safety, and cleanliness for homeless men, women and children seeking survival services.” Thank you!

The the incident set off tons of comments on the school’s Facebook page, most of them critical of police and the administration.

From CNN:

Friday’s incident has led to calls for the resignation of UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, who announced the action in a written statement Sunday. Katehi said she shares the “outrage” of students and was “deeply saddened” by the use of the chemical irritant by campus police.

“I am deeply saddened that this happened on our campus, and as chancellor, I take full responsibility for the incident,” she said. “However, I pledge to take the actions needed to ensure that this does not happen again.”

And Annette Spicuzza, the campus police chief, told CNN that putting the officers on leave “is the right thing to do at this time.” They will be sidelined until an investigation is complete, and “hopefully that won’t take too long,” she said.