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.
