"An MDG recipe: Sometimes less is more"-- by the Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell

I just finished a two month sabbatical. The theme of my sabbatical was “Feeding my Spirit.” The main component of my time away from my parish was a 10 day trip to Italy and included in that trip was a one week intensive cooking course in Tuscany. The summer location for CookInItaly.org is Isola d’Elba (the island of Elba.) The classes are held at a beautiful villa in the hills of Elba surrounded by olive groves, vineyards, and incredibly aromatic rosemary and sage bushes and bay trees.

One of the philosophies of northern Italian cuisine is that every ingredient should be tasted in the dish. According to my teacher, Federico, the main problem with American Italian cuisine is that there are too many competing components—for example—in most American spaghetti sauces, there will be a combination of tomatoes, onions, basil, garlic, oregano, parsley, romano cheese, parmesan cheese, mushrooms, salt, pepper, and on and on. Federico thinks its too much for the palate. And don’t even get him started on American pizza. He would shudder every time he thought about a pizza with pineapple and Canadian bacon.

Now I’m not sure I agree with everything Federico said. But he did make me think. And one of the things I could carry this idea over into was the MDGs. How many times do we overwhelm ourselves trying to figure out how to achieve all the goals instead of focusing on one clear achievable goal for one group to work on? I have a tendency to add everything available to the spaghetti sauce and, in my opinion, it’s pretty good. But after learning a different way of cooking, I am learning to appreciate flavors more. And the cooking is much easier and tastes (dare I say it?) better.

This year, when I go around to congregations in my area, I will encourage them to find one goal, one project to support for a designated length of time. I’m looking forward to getting updated data later this month for where we are in terms of meeting the goals. Then we can find what goals need more attention and continue doing our part. Ciao!

"The MDGs at EYE" - by the Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell

From July 8-13, more than 1,200 9th-12th graders, bishops, church leaders, and adult sponsors gathered at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. In addition to being from all over the United States, there were also youth from the Convocation of Anglican Churches in Europe, the Episcopal Church in Micronesia, and the Dominican Republic. All 9 provinces of the Episcopal Church were represented. The theme for the event, “Sown in the Heart of Christ” was carried throughout each day. The first day focused on the path, the second day focused on rocky ground, the third day focused on thorns, and the last day focused on good soil.

On Thursday, a series of forums were held, all having to do with the MDGs and they were amazing. It was great hearing the witness of the kids: almost all of them already knew about the MDGs and were actively involved in ministries that were supporting the MDGs. A number of them had also traveled to the Gulf Coast to help with post-Katrina recovery.

I attended a Millennium Development Goals activity led by the Rev. Wes Wubbenhorst, the diocesan youth missioner from the Diocese of Maryland. Wes was a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras. Wes divided us into four “countries” and each country had one major food resource. We were each given an initial amount of money and with that money we had to purchase schools, health care centers, and wells. We could purchase them from private industry or the government. Or, if we had a church in our country, the church would help us with schools, health care centers, and wells. We had to work together to trade our food resources and loan each other money when needed. One of the things I realized from participating in the activity is that when there is abundance, people are generous. When people start to think that there is scarcity, they begin to hoard their resources and are less able to think creatively. Even though we were participating in a “game” the stress-level was high! And realizing that our game is other peoples’ reality made it that much more intense.

I thank God that I was able to attend EYE and see how God is present and active through every generation in the church. I look forward to seeing where we are with the MDGs in 2011 when EYE takes place again.
The Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell is the rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Honeoye Falls, NY, MDG coordinator for Diocese of Rochester.

"In Celebration of Ubuntu" -- by the Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell

I first heard the word “ubuntu” during the walkabouts prior to the election for Rochester’s 8th bishop. The Rev. Dr. Prince Singh spoke about ubuntu—the idea that “I am because You are”—the interconnectedness of us all. We elected Prince to be our bishop on the second ballot and he will be consecrated and installed in 12 days (Thanks be to God!)

When I opened the May, 2008 edition of Episcopal Life Monthly, I was thrilled to see that “Ubuntu” will be the theme for our General Convention in 2009. I am definitely sensing a movement of the Holy Spirit here. It seems to me that a commitment to the MDGs is a way of living into the spirit of ubuntu.

I don’t spend too much time on my computer. I always prefer talking to folks on the phone or seeing them in person. I had a friend introduce me to Yahoo Messenger and when I was signing up, I found that one of the options is to “appear invisible to everyone.” I was horrified. I know it’s just a way to manage availability, but the thought of appearing invisible to everyone made me really sad.

And then I got to thinking about the millions, perhaps billions of people on this planet who feel like they’re invisible to everyone every day, like no one really sees them or cares about them. The past two weeks have brought heart-breaking stories of cyclones, earthquakes, terrorist bombings, and wild-fires. My prayer is that we keep our eyes and hearts open and try to BE God’s hands at work in the world about us. We may not be able to travel to China or Myanmar or India to do relief work but we can pray for and financially support those who can. We can look for those folks who seem lonely or isolated in our own parishes or schools or offices or grocery stores and start a conversation. We can embody ubuntu.

p.s. Last month I wrote about introducing the MDG’s to some 8 o’clockers at a parish in our diocese. There were 7 people who attended that service and about 75 at the 10 a.m. service. After the 8 a.m. service, one of the women came up to me and pressed a twenty dollar bill in my hand and asked me to do something with it. I added $5 and funded a kiva loan to a 49 yr old woman with 6 children living in Cambodia.

The Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell is rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Honeoye Falls, NY, and the MDG coordinator for the Diocese of Rochester.

"Taking the Give It 4 Good Pledge" -- by the Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell

Confession is good for the soul. (But maybe not so much for the ego!) I had been reading the info about the Give It 4 Good campaign and how we should choose compassion over consumption and I was thinking “Yeah, but I ain’t getting’ no check and I already give LOTS! This should be for other people who aren’t already givin’ what they can!”

And didn’t the Holy Spirit, in that wonderful way of Hers, convict my heart. I was reading At Knit’s End, Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much (yes, I may have taken my Lenten discipline of learning to knit socks a bit too seriously but we’ll talk about that later,) when I came across this quote by Kahlil Gibran: “Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking in less than you need.” (Nobody needs to tell me that God works in mysterious ways…)

That was it. I did it. I took the pledge. And I feel at peace. Up and until I’m at the place where I have given away everything I own, I’m still not doing all I can. Somehow, the bills are still getting paid, I still am able to put gas in my car, and my family has food on the table. We are so blessed. We can always do more.

This morning I am going to preach at another parish about the Millennium Development Goals. The woman who extended the invitation was very excited about the work their youth group did throughout the Lenten Season bringing awareness about the MDGs to the congregation. I sent her a copy of the GiveIt4Good Bulletin Insert and asked that it be put in all the bulletins. She told me that she thought I should just do a “regular” sermon for the 8 o’clockers since they “really weren’t all that interested in the MDG’s.”

Friends, I am more excited about the opportunity to share the information with the 8 o’clockers! I believe that we miss an incredible opportunity when we assume our seniors don’t want to get involved. I don’t know about your parishes, but in mine, my long time members are the slow-steady engines driving the train. They deserve to be challenged and invited to get involved. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Take the pledge, folks. Compassion over consumption is the way to go.

"Train up a Child?" - by the Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6, RSV)

This past week, my 7 year old daughter Hannah came home from school and proudly showed me her “Peace Prize.” She had a paper medal around her neck that was a copy of the medal given to the Nobel Peace Prize recipients. That day at school, she had learned all about Martin Luther King, Jr. She learned that he won the Nobel Prize. She learned that he had a dream. She learned that he had been assassinated on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. She didn’t understand why someone would want to kill a person who just wanted people to be treated fairly.

Then she told me that her teacher taught her a hard lesson. While the children in the class were watching a dvd, the teacher put stars on the back of some of the medals and not others. After the movie was over, the teacher told them to look at their medals. Everyone who had a star got to come to the front of the class and get candy. The children who didn’t have stars didn’t get candy. There was no reason why some kids got stars and some didn’t. The kids who didn’t get stars were very upset. The teacher explained that this is how discrimination works. And the way that the children without stars felt was the way that Dr. King had felt lots of the time and it’s what he was fighting. Hannah asked the teacher how the kids who got the stars were supposed to learn the lesson which the teacher said was a “Very Good Question.”

I am incredibly privileged, as are my kids. How do I teach them about poverty, disease, thirst, genocide, discrimination? They hear me talk about the MDG’s but in reality, my kids were born with stars on the back of their medals. I want them to enjoy the blessings of this life but I want them to be aware of the kids without the stars. And I want them to share the candy.

Today my kids have the day off from school in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. If you’re taking the time to read this, take some more time and read some of Dr. King’s amazing writings, especially his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” And tell a child about what you read.

Editor's Note: An excellent resource for spending time with Dr. King's writings and speeches today is the website of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. There are audio excerpts from many of his speeches as well as complete texts of his writings.

Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell is the rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Honeoye Falls, NY, MDG coordinator for Diocese of Rochester.

What One Person Can Do

by the Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell

When Mike Kinman asked me to be a contributor for this blog, I ignored his request. To my way of thinking, I had a great list of excuses: I was too busy, I was too stupid, I don’t have anything of value to contribute, and my list went on. Then Mike asked me again and I felt too guilty to give him my list of why I couldn’t do it (especially since I just sounded like a whiny seven year old) and just went ahead and said, “Okay.”

As the diocesan coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals, I vacillate between getting really excited about the on-going work being done and really overwhelmed by the disparity between the haves and the have-nots in this world of ours. I struggle with my own sense of guilt—after all, I have a roof over my head, an education, access to health care, plenty of fresh food and water. What a luxury to be able to choose to engage the MDGs…Now what? And how do I get other folks in similar positions of privilege to care? I actually had a gentleman (and I use that term loosely) in a parish say to me, after I had made a presentation about the MDGs “You know, my problem with the MDGs is that we feed these people until they’re old enough to breed.” I had a new appreciation for the phrase “shock and awe.” I was also grateful that my mother had taught me that it wasn’t nice to hit people just because their words upset you.

How do you deal with that kind of Malthusian way of looking at the world? The idea that if you have more it means that I have less? How do we live into a theology of abundance where the more we give, the more we receive? Rabbi Tarphon said “You are not required to complete the work, nor are you free to desist from it.” I have to remind myself of this all the time. And I can’t let one person’s fear or resistance stop me from doing my part.

My parishioners hear me say all the time “Nobody has to do everything but everybody needs to do something.” One of the things I do is make rosaries. I was taught how to make the knotted Anglican rosaries out of fishing twine by Sister Diana at the 2003 General Convention. The first one I made took 3 days. Now I can finish one in about 20 minutes. Some of them, I give away. Some of them, I sell for $5 each (depending on my mood.) I take the money that I make from the sale of the rosaries and fund kiva loans. I have funded women in Samoa, Ecuador, Peru, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Cambodia. When people ask me about the rosaries I’m making, it gives me an opportunity to talk about the MDGs.

It’s one thing I can do. No excuses.

The Rev. Dahn Dean Gandell is an Episcopal priest of the Diocese of Rochester (N.Y.). She is currently serving as the rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Honeoye Falls, NY, a position she has held for six+ years. Dahn has been called a "Radical Episcopal Priest," a title in which she takes great delight! She is committed to justice, inclusion, and having a wonderful sense of humor. Dahn’s hobbies include cooking, scuba diving, and stand-up comedy. Her husband, David, is a private practice Ob-Gyn. She is the proud step-mom of Rachel, a senior at Northwestern University, Ryan, a sophomore at Ithaca College, and the proud mom of Lily, a third-grader, and Hannah, a second-grader.