Winter SolstiCelebration

I'm really honored to be a part of the annual "Winter SolstiCelebration" this year, as one of the many talented performers. It's one of the largest celebrations of solstice anywhere.

The theme for this year's event is "Our Human Journey," and for the first time ever, it will be presented on two nights:

Friday, December 16 and Saturday December 17th
Doors open at 6 pm. Event begins at 7 pm

Cathedral of Hope Sanctuary
5910 Cedar Springs at Inwood,
Dallas, Texas 75219
Click here for ticket information.

I hope many of my friends will be interested in attending. I have been for several years, and have always found it a very moving and inspiring event.

Specifically, two of my songs, "Thanks," and "I Will Sing" will be a part of the music for the night. This is a huge honor, and I'm thrilled to be a part. Just take a look at some of the incredible performers who will be a part of this night.

Our friend, Amy Martin is the passion and vision behind this event, but literally dozens of people take part to bring this event together.

Here's some of what the Earth Rythyms' website says about this year's event:

"Can we guide our evolving humanity?

What are our choices for the future?

Are we doomed to endless war, social injustice and environmental degradation?

Or, is it our epic destiny to live in peace with prosperity for all?

Join the journey to the
future we choose
at Winter SolstiCelebration."

"Not a service, not a show, but something much more, this two-hour event blends a wide spectrum of performing arts, participatory movement and ceremony to guide the audience in an archetypal discovery of our human destiny."

"Dramatic monologues from an Everyman and Everywoman reveal the personal struggles we undertake to make peace with ourselves and our species. The qualities that mankind must master to evolve into a brighter future are brought to life via commentary on the proceedings by a clever but crotchety comedic couple. Both are woven with music, dance, theater, poetry, and even magic and circus arts."

"The core of Winter SolstiCelebration is a passage through three minutes of silent meditation in total darkness, evoking the three-day Winter Solstice period, followed by a dramatic and participatory return of the light. The event concludes with an exuberant dance of attendees through ceremonial gates. A Yule Fest with refreshments follows."

Many deeply spiritual, creative, and thoughtful people come together to make this event a reality. Many many thanks to Amy for inviting me to be a part.

As a reminder, here are my two songs that will be a part...

"Thanks" will be sort of in the middle of the show....




And "I Will Sing" is scheduled to be one of the ways the show comes to an energy climax:


I'm so excited about this.

More later...EF

Update 12/14/11)
Well, the event is now just days away. And it's gonna be amazing. We had a dress rehearsal for the show last night, and it's just lovely. What an honor to be singing with some many talented singers....Lainey Bernstein, Rahim Quazi, Robin Hackett, David Roseblad, Kerri Arrista, Matt Willis, and Andrew Tinker. And, of course, my old friend Cornell Kinderknecht, as co-musical director with Lainey.

Lots of these folks will be joining me on "Thanks" and "I Will Sing."
As a guy who usually performs solo, it's so amazing to hear the backing on this stuff. And the rest of the show is just as amazing. You won't want to miss.

(As always, if you like this post, then "share it" or "like" it on Facebook by clicking the box below, so others can see too...)  

Read More

The Bottom Line is Still the Bottom Line

More on the death of Jmimytai Damour. Actually, this time some disgusting info about Walmart.

(If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here, here, or here...)


In doing some Googling, I discovered a pitiful CODA to this story. Since the death of Jdimyta three years ago, apparently Walmart has been vigorously contesting a measly $7,000 fine from OSHA.

First reported in the New York Times, many observers have been baffled: Why has Walmart spent upwards of $2 MILLION to fight a $7,000 fine?

The answer seems to be: precedent.

Walmart appears to believe that agreeing to the fine will bind them to legal precedent and perhaps bigger fines, should there be additional incidents in the future.

The bottom line seems to still be the bottom line, and not concern for people.

How pitiful.

(As always, if you like this post, then "share it" or "like" it on Facebook by clicking the box below, so others can see too...) 

Read More

New Song -- The Martyr of Black Friday

Today on Facebook, I told everyone I was done with Black Friday and that I was moving on.

Clearly, I am a liar.

A brand new song, about the story that obviously won't let me go, "The Martyr of Black Friday."
Hope you like it.




(Note: I've replaced the YouTube with a quick-and-dirty audio demo that better represents the song. Click the triangle, and wait for the file to load...EF)

The Martyr of Black Friday
Two thousand souls out in the cold
With the turkey on their breath
Thankful but still wanting more
On a night of life and death.

The big man working for the store
Was from a tiny Haitian town
Nobody saw him on the floor
After he went down.

Jdimytai, Jdimytai
I think of you, I still cry
They sold their souls so they could buy
And no one stopped to wonder why,
Jdimytai.

Two thousand years since Mary sang
Her revolution song
Where: "The poor are lifted from their pain."
"The rich are all but gone."

But here and now the poor still find
They're often out of luck
So they push it in those long, long lines
Just to save a buck.

Jdimytai, Jdimytai
I think of you, I still cry
They sell their souls so they can buy
And no one stops to wonder why,
Jdimytai.

The Martyr of Black Friday
Sacrificed for all our sins
For Flatscreens and for Blu-rays
And toys stacked up in bins.

And all to mark a birthday
Where there was no room or inn
When they laid him in the soft hay
And shepherds had no gifts to lend.

Jdimytai, Jdimytai
I think of you, I still cry
We sell our souls so we can buy
And we never stop to wonder why,
Jdimytai.
Jdimytai.
Jdimytai.
Words and Music by Eric Folkerth ©2011. All Rights Reserved.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

OK. So, maybe now I'm done with this story?
I told this to The Judge a moment ago, and she replied, "Maybe the story's not done with you."

Damn.

(As always, if you like this post, then "like" this on Facebook by clicking the box below, so others can see too...)

Read More

The Advent Conspiracy

Black Friday is over. So, what now what?
For those who want to re-connect Christmas with its real meaning, what now?

These guys always have a good idea.



[AC] Promo 2011 from Advent Conspiracy on Vimeo.

Help them spread the word:
Their website
Their Facebook .
Their Twitter.

Even if you don't get involved in their specific project, get involved in the idea.


It just might save your Christmas (and some actual lives too).


(As always, if you like this post, then "like" this on Facebook by clicking the box below, so others can see too...)

Read More

Video from last night's Black Friday

If you want to see just how disturbing "Black Friday" is becoming, zip on over to YouTube, and search it. Just search "Black Friday 2011," and you'll find plenty of footage from just last night.

For example, here are people almost being crushed last night at a Walmart not far from here, over in Mesquite:

Then, there's this one from Fresno, CA:

There are plenty more where these came from. And it's a part of the reason I wrote this, and this.

Thank God that apparently nobody was actually crushed last night. Although a woman in California apparently maced some fellow shoppers, and another man was shot. Read it here.

I can't read/watch any of this without a sick feeling in my stomach about Jdmytai Damour, and his death...and how little we've learned.

Update: a song I've here about all this: here.

Read More

Is It Classist or Pharisaical to Oppose Black Friday?

For the second year in a row, my blog, "The Martyr of Black Friday," is getting lots of attention. In fact, as of today, it officially becomes the third most-read blog I've ever written. I'm grateful that so many are resonating with the message that something must "give" regarding our consumerist society and the bastardization of Christmas.

However, this year, I've also gotten some "critique of my critique." So, I'd like to address some of that here, by answering this question:

Is It Classist or Pharisaical to Oppose Black Friday?

My bottom line: No.

First off, before all this, some clarification: I am not anti-capitalist, anti-free market, anti-retail, etc, etc etc. Perhaps some who wish us to boycott Black Friday are. Not me. I'm all for making money, and all for the way our system works, in theory. Now, on the question…

The gist of the "classist" critique is that Black Friday basically allows working people the chance to buy consumer goods they might not often be able to. Studies apparently show that people from the upper-classes are far more critical of Black Friday than people from working class. (I have not seen these studies, but this was suggested to me today…)

The gist of the "pharisaical" critique is that "Buy Nothing Day" (BND), the alternative to "Black Friday," is only promoted by those who have the resources to avoid shopping today. Only the sufficiently wealthy can afford to support "BND," and they do so to make themselves feel self-righteously better than those who shop today. (Something like: "Lord, I thank thee that I am not like all those other blind consumers…")

The place I have seen this critique most eloquently explained is in a blog by Eugene Cho, written a couple of years ago, but reposted yesterday.

The punchline of his thoughtful blog is this:

"Black Friday shopping means different things for different folks. For many of us, it’s a game, a sport and an event we mark but for others, it’s a matter of necessity."

He says his view of Black Friday changed when he listened to African-American friends who told him this:

"Buy Nothing Day is basically a thing of and for White folks and comfy Middle Class folks like you, Eugene, who have had the privilege of consumption their whole life.  And now, they can afford to start things like Buy Nothing Day…Stuff like this sickens me because it has such little idea about the plight of minorities and low income folks that are trying to survive."

Cho said he realized that, for his friend, and his friend's extended family, Black Friday has become economic necessity:

"The thing that got to me was the story he shared about some of his family and friends who simply NEED to make many of their major purchases on that day.  Specifically, he shared about his uncle and aunt from the Midwest.  They get in line every year in the frigid cold here hours before the retail store opens at 5 or 6 am because it’s the only way they’re able to get their kids the necessary tech gear to keep up."

This is powerful critique, and important to hear. (btw, Cho's blog and church sound amazing, and I feel a bit guilty for critiquing somebody with such obvious commitment to his faith and social justice...)

My own view, however, is that this kind of critique is still incomplete.

Yes, if critiquing Black Friday and supporting "BND," are JUST about our own personal consumption and gluttony, then I could see how this critique is on the mark. But it's not. At least, it's not for me. Opposing Black Friday goes far deeper. I personally believe there are very good reasons to still oppose Black Friday.
And deeper questions still to ask…

Another progressive friend asked it this way, much the same as Cho's friend: "Don't the working classes deserve a break too?"

So, here's my answer to it all…

Yes! Absolutely, they do! The working class and poor, both shoppers and retail workers, deserve more than a break! They deserve more than just one day where they can buy a $2,000 television for $400.

Here is what working people really deserve:
 
∞ They deserve fair pay so they can make ends meet, not just one day of Black Friday sales.

∞ They deserve fair working hours, not just Black Friday's crazy retail hours.

∞ They deserve time off, to enjoy the holidays, instead of believing they must shop today or be economically left out.

∞ They deserve time off, to enjoy the holidays, instead of believing they must work today, or else fail to make ends meet or lose their job.

You see, Black Friday re-enforces a currently sick system. It says to everyone: The only "break" the working poor deserve is a few bucks off a toaster, not a few hours off with family; one-day of crazy specials, rather than a year's worth of decent wages.

And, those who work today, let us remind ourselves, also deserve to not get crushed while working at Walmart.

Yes, I get that the economy is bad, that times are tough, and that everybody is struggling to make ends meet. Which is precisely why Opposing Black Friday is not only not classist, but supports the working classes; both retail workers and consumers.

Black Friday is not some day to rejoice at how "the last get to be first."

Black Friday, in fact, insures that the last are still last! Shoppers get their deals, then go home, believing that's all they deserve or could ever dare ask for. They're still among the "last." Nothing else has changed. Now, they just have a shiny new television set.

Is that real change? Is that the kind change Mary was talking about when she sang: "God has filled he hungry with good things. And the rich, God has sent empty away?"

No. I don't think so. Mary was talking about social change far deeper and far more lasting than a one-day deal on a television set.

Finally, let us remember that the economically poor, like the wealthy, don't shop on Black Friday either. They can't afford the $400 television set, even if it is marked down. Let's not forget this. Statistics show that, right now in America, a staggering 30 percent of persons are either IN poverty, or hover right around the poverty line.

Some will not only not shop today, they won't shop any time during this holiday season. If they are lucky, they'll do a little shopping at a thrift store sometime this month. Or perhaps just do without presents altogether this year.

My wife reminded me of this today, with a story from her own life(1)...

It was the week after her first Christmas at SMU, and she was back in class. She was still living at home at the time, commuting to school each day. She was paying for her own tuition, and she was working four jobs to pay for her undergraduate degree. As it happens, this particular Christmas her father had suffered a heart attack, and couldn't work. They had $60 in their checking account.

As such, there were no presents that year. The family's only "Christmas presents" came in the form of a box of food, given to them by some local charity (Knights of Columbus? Shriners? She no longer remembers…)

After Christmas the first week back at SMU, one of her teachers invited everyone to go around the room and share what their favorite Christmas present was. And so, people ticked them off…a new computer…new clothes…a trip to Mexico…a new car…etc, etc…

When they came to Dennise, she was too embarrassed to say "all we got for Christmas was a box of food." So, she made something up. She told everybody that their family had gotten a new kitten.

She's obviously come a long way since then. But it's a painful memory even now.

Let us remember that the true economic poor will not even be shopping today, and can't take advantage of "Black Friday" if they wanted to.

Let us remember that many people are struggling, heroically, to make ends meet in this economy, and that they deserve better than one-day sales that they have to stand in line for hours, just to access.

Finally, let us remember that all this --the frenzied sales and store hours-- is being done in Jesus' name, or at least in support of a holiday named for him. Yet another reason why people of faith must insure the world understands that this is not the "Christmas" we celebrate; lest the world believes God condones this messed up system too.

Here's my bottom line: If you think condemning Black Friday is JUST a pharisaical way to "feel good" and "superior" in your personal blow against consumerism, then by all means, don't do it. But if you see it as a way to inact God's justice for those who get far too little then, dear God in heaven,  join the cause.

Because we are a long, long way from the kind of world Mary sang about in the "Magnificat," where the poor and the outcast really do get a fair shake, and where the last are first for more than just one shopping day.
(1) And I thank her, and love her, for the courage she shows in allowing me to share this story with you...

Update: a brand new song I've written about all of this, find it here.

(As always, if you like this post, then "share it" or "like" it on Facebook by clicking the box below, so others can see too...)

Read More

Remembering Jdimtyai Damour

This is Jdimitai Damour. I am remembering him again this year, on Black Friday, as I have every year for the past several. If you are curious as to why, you can read about it here.

It's just been a few years since his death, at a Walmart store in New York, and even in that short time it seems Black Friday has gotten even more insane. For example, tonight I read where many stores didn't open at midnight...they opened at 10 pm.

A church member just posted that as he was driving back from Fort Worth tonight, every single Walmart and Target store parking lot was filled.

Let's be clear: there is nothing about Black Friday even remotely connected to the real meaning of Christmas.  Not even in the slightest.

Let's be also clear: to stand against the orgy of Black Friday is not to stand against the interests of working people. It's to stand FOR them. It's to stand up for better working conditions, reasonable working hours, and, by God, decent wages...so that one day folks like Jdimitai might not feel caught in a forced-choice between not making ends meet and working on Black Friday.

He still is, to my mind, still the Martyr of Black Friday. And his death, literally and figuratively, teaches volumes about what is wrong with this country.

We have not only not learned a thing by his death. Instead, year after year, we march on in an orgy of consumerism that, by its very nature, can never be sated.

(As always, if you like this post, then "like" this on Facebook by clicking the box below, so others can see too...)

Read More

Happy Thanksgiving

I keep mixing and remixing.
Here's another version of "Thanks," just in time for tomorrow.
I think it's the best yet.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody...EF


(It may take the file a minute to load...)

"If the only prayer

You ever prayed

In your entire life

was "Thank You,"

It would be enough."

-- Meister Eckhart

THANKS

For mountains green with aspen stands,

fluttering like waving hands,

for broad lands,

I will give thanks.

For ember orange sunset glow,

purple skies burning low,

the days go,

and I will give thanks.

For silver incandescent moons,

every midnight howl and swoon,

real soon,

I will give thanks.

For each moment here, for each memory clear

For each day I wake, for each breath I take

For each pain I bear, for each love I share....

Thanks.

For berry's taste and coffee's smell

rituals we learn so well

that foretell

that I will give thanks.

For lovers touch and wounds that heal

friends who laugh and think and feel

when it's real

I will give thanks.

For loving those the world rejects

the poor and holy heretics

it connects

that I will give thanks.

For each moment here, for each memory clear

For each day I wake, for each breath I take

For each pain I bear, for each love I share....

Thanks.

And is it really all that tough to believe one word could say enough?

For every blocked and crooked path

for every door that closed to fast

for the past

I will give thanks.

For every chance yet to forgive

and every second yet to live

that life gives

I will give thanks.

For times when death comes like a friend

and trusting life can never end

it's well then that

I will give thanks.

For each moment here, for each memory clear

For each day I wake, for each breath I take

For each pain I bear, for each love I share....

Thanks.

words and music, Eric Folkerth © 2011. All Rights Reserved.

(As always, if you like this post, then "like" this on Facebook by clicking the box below, so others can see too...)

Read More

Sitting In The Trade Hall

Below, there's a new version of a very old song for you. But first, a story….

Because, if you grew up in Dallas, even almost fifty-years later, you know what today is.

Yes, it was a deep and scarring event for the entire nation. But for those of us from here, it's always been a deeper, more personal, experience. Almost everyone alive at the time has their own memories of the day. But I'd argue that there's an extra layer of feeling and memory for those who live/lived here, in the place where it happened.

Almost everybody in America can tell their "Where were you?" story of that day. And there is a kind of collective catharsis to sharing them; precisely the same way we now tell stories about September 11th.

But it was not until I went away to college that I realized this.

I know this will strike many as strange. And it's not just because I was barely one-year-old in November of 1963; too young to have my own story.

What I mean is that --as a kid growing up in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas, less than eight miles from the School Book Depository, in the shadows of both the physical buildings and the historical time-- nobody ever talked about the Kennedy assassination.

If adults around me ever did mention it, it was in hushed tones. Hushed, pained, perhaps even humiliated, tones. It was unmentionable. It was a heavy pall, a weight in the shoulders of every adult I knew. I understood implicitly not to talk about it. Not to bring it up. I was well into my late high school years before I was fully sure exactly which of those downtown buildings was the "depository," or even exactly where Dealey Plaza was.

Remember, until 1989 there was no museum, no place to have a public conversation about these things, much less a private one.

For better or for worse, average folks in Dallas took the Kennedy assassination hard. They took it to heart. There was, in some national circles, a kind of "What's wrong with Dallas?" crusade.

Of course, today --in the light of dozens more crazed lone-gunmen over decades that have come and gone-- we understand now that these things happen. They happen just about everywhere. Crazed gunmen strike lots of places.

But there was a kind of all-pervasive Kennedy guilt that overcame Dallas in the years afterwards. You can ask anybody who was an adult here at the time, and they'll tell you about it. And that was something I did feel.

You could make a very very strong psychological argument that Dallas' reputation as a city that always wants to "look good" can be traced back to that very day. You could make the strong argument that, although everybody knew it wasn't really Dallas' fault, that many adults here still secretly prayed, "Please God, don't let them blame us…"

When I grew up and started writing songs, I knew I'd write about this. Not about the assassination, or even really even about Kennedy, but about the people of Dallas. The adults I grew up around. The parents of my friends. The teachers and Sunday School teachers I had. The folks that worked in stores. The people with the heaviness in their shoulders, and the fear that they might, somehow, really be guilty.

Part of my current digital archaeology was recovering the master files of the song I finally wrote. I'll say more in a moment.

But for now, here it is. (Be patient. It may take a moment to load the file, once you hit play)

"Sitting in the Trade Hall 11/22/63" (1)




Isn't that incredibly tasty piano by Tim McLemore?

And, isn't that a stunningly beautiful fiddle solo by the incomparable Reggie Rueffer?

I wrote this song a long time ago. I believe it was 1985. Alan Gann once told me, "Only a person from Dallas could have written this song."

And, I think he's right. I'm really proud of it.

For the record, I don't think Dallas killed Kennedy. But I think we've always felt the guilt this song hints at. And, actually, some of the guilt might well be justified; and I know that sounds contradictory. So, bear with me. You see, the song itself gets at some of the deeper truth.

The deeper truth is that, in November of 1963, Dallas was an extremely conservative place. The John Birch Society had one of its largest outposts in Dallas. People had, in fact, spit on Adlai Stevenson. Others had pushed around LBJ and Lady Bird on the streets of downtown. The day before Kennedy's arrival, there were "Wanted for Treason" posters hung around the city.

These were known parts of local history. In 1963, "Liberals" were, in fact, not tolerated very well. Personally, I don't think the average folks in Dallas really thought about it very deeply. It was a conservative place. He was a northeastern liberal. But, he was also THE PRESIDENT. They were glad to see him visit. I am sure they would be pleased once he was gone.

But, there was a great deal of civic pride at his coming to Dallas.



This history, this song, and even my ministry, would collide in ways I could not expect, when I was appointed as Senior Pastor of Northaven Church.

For it was there that I was reminded of a story I'd heard, years before. In fact, it was a backstory story in my mind when I'd written the song originally, fifteen years before coming to Northaven. Rev. Bill Holmes, Northaven's Senior Pastor at the time, preached what became a quite controversial sermon, three days after the assassination.

The title of the sermon was "The One Thing Worse Than This." And while I won't repeat the whole thing here, the gist of it was that this assassination was, indeed, the worst thing that had ever happened to Dallas. But, to Holmes, "the one thing worse" would be for Dallas not to take a hard look at the harshly polarizing rhetoric and politics of its time…the things I've just mentioned…the spitting at Stevenson…the pushing of LBJ…etc…

And! Holmes listed one thing he'd been told about that week…that schoolchildren had "cheered" when told of Kennedy's assassination. It was this last example of intolerance that garnered the most attention. News folks heard about the sermon, and a crew from the CBS Evening News stopped by the church early the next week, and filmed Bill Holmes re-preaching the sermon to an empty sanctuary. (Remember: no videotape in those days…)

Walter Cronkite ran lengthy excerpts of it on his newscast. Then, the you-know-what hit the fan. Holmes got death threats and, at the suggestion of the Dallas Police, went into hiding for a week. City leaders quickly rose to deny that "children had cheered."(2) It was one of the events that changed the future history of Northaven Church. Folks left. Others who stayed, were shocked.

"Why the outcry?" they wondered. Holmes had done nothing but speak the truth, after all.

And, even if you deny all the things Holmes listed, the mere fact that he was forced into hiding for a week proves his point, doesn't it? The reaction to the sermon proved the point of it.

Holmes' main point reverberates down with us to this day. Hateful speech can contribute to hateful action. We don't like hearing this any more today than we did back then. But it's always been a truism, in every generation.

No, Dallas didn't kill Kennedy. But that guilt, that feeling that we might have something to feel guilty about, has driven this town ever since.

Since being at Northaven, I've met actual people who were actually there. Meaning, folks who were in the room at the Trade Mart, awaiting President Kennedy. (Our friend and Northaven member, Jan Sanders, among them…). I've talked to other adults who were around at the time. They have confirmed this sense of "guilt" that average folks felt, the conservative ethos of the town, and the depressing pall that hung like a cloud over this town for so many years. It's gratifying to hear folks confirm what I'd written about…what I'd already known, even if nobody talked about it when I was a kid.

The thing that finally got people talking? The Sixth Floor Museum. Opened in 1989, it's one of the only places I always strongly encourage out-of-towners to visit.

I know it's been a healing place for everyone who has visited. But it seems to me it's especially healing for us Dallas folk. I cried the first time I went through…just remembering all this stuff…remembering all that silently-carried burden of all those average folks who lived here…remembering the senseless loss of a great President; who might have merely been tolerated here, but who was deeply loved elsewhere.

Dallas has changed quite a bit since then. Northaven is no longer a fringe progressive ship in a conservative sea. Dallas County itself --socially, politically, culturally-- has not only moderated; but you could make a pretty strong argument (based on election results) it's swung to the left. (A fact that still eludes many longtime observers…)

Two years from now, we'll commemorate the 50-year anniversary of this event. That's a lot of water under the bridge. Generations of kids have now been born who weren't alive when all this happened.

And so, for better or for worse, they'll never know the heavy pall, the silent guilt that, once-upon-a-time, hung over my city.

(1) I realize that this was not actually the name of the venue. Kennedy was to be the guest at a lunch in the Dallas Trade Mart. The actual room was called "The Great Hall" which, lyrically, would have worked. But I wanted to have the name "Trade" in there, to hint at where the building was. So, yes, I knew what I was doing. It's just a song…go with it…

(2) I, for one, have always been puzzled by the tempest over "children laughing." City leaders, and sincere Dallas historians, continue to deny that it ever happened. This, despite the fact that the Sixth Floor Museum invited Rev. Holmes back for an event, attended by many Northaveners (myself included…) where Bill revealed the name of the teacher who had told him this. Beyond this, another teacher, Joanna Shields (who you can find in the pews of Northaven every Sunday, to this day) also reports children cheered at her school too.

But, look, kids do inappropriate things. They're kids. So, let's throw out that one instance. All the other stuff…spitting on Stevenson…pushing LBJ…the "wanted for treason" poster with JFK's image…the large John Birch group….all these are undisputed by anyone studying the history. So, it seems patently silly to pretend that debunking the "children cheered" story would have ever changed Rev. Holmes' main point. It didn't then. It doesn't now.

(As always, if you like this post, then "like it" or "share it" on Facebook by clicking the box below, or send it to your friends...so others can see too...and leave a comment...EF) 

Read More

Cyrus Tells It Like It Is

It's early Friday morning, and I need to be going to bed. Sufficed to say, a lot has happened in the past 24-hours with "Occupy Dallas." The camp has been dismantled by the Dallas Police.

I'll have much more to say about this in coming days. The short version is that, pretty clearly, the City of Dallas decided against the choice to de-escalate the tension in the camp, as I had implored them to do the other night. They had a choice, but chose to believe otherwise.

I know that my email was received because somebody from City Hall called yesterday morning to talk about it, saying that it was "getting quite a lot of attention."

To which I said, "Good."

But, in retrospect, it wasn't enough. Or, perhaps the decisions had already been made? Who knows. What is known is that the city acted last night and cleared the camp with about 90 minutes notice.

Here is my own view:

a) The Occupy Camp was not unsanitary and unsafe, despite what the city is saying, and the decision to close it now is completely arbitrary.
I saw this on numerous trips with my own eyes. The camp was quite clean and orderly, despite what is being said. All campsites look messy when you tear them apart. But what I saw, repeatedly, were Occupy Dallas people attempting to live up to their agreement, picking up the camp, respecting the trees, grass, etc. And, on more than one occasion, debating how they could better comply with the city. That's just what I observed.

b) If, in fact, tensions were escalating inside the group, then the City and its leadership, as our public servants, bears much of the responsibility for this.
 The city (police, City Manager) was putting pressure on the group, through an almost constant police presence. It built to a crescendo Tuesday night, when the group (and apparently all the new media, and news helicopters) believed that a raid was about to happen. The group was feeling it. The city had to have understood that this kind of show of force, on a consistent basis, could not help but increase the internal tension within the group. This is human nature.

Therefore, the increase in intra-group tension, to the extent that it existed, was in large part exacerbated by the city and police itself. Intra-group tension was a predictable outcome of this, and the city (and everyone else trying to analyze what happened) should not fail to account for this.

c) Dallas had the chance to be different, but in the long run chose not to be.
It made an agreement with the Occupy Dallas group. Nobody forced them to. The city will claim that the group broke faith with them. If in fact the agreement was broken at all, it was also most definitely also breached by the city, and certainly made abiding by the agreement difficult at every turn.

Dallas could have chosen to respond differently than Oakland, New York and elsewhere. It could have, as Forbes Magazine hoped, been different.

Now, Dallas is clearly not different, and I am saddened, disappointed, and ashamed of my city's leaders.*

Much more could be said.

But for now, a short video, emailed to me tonight by old friend, John Wolf (of Crawford Peace House fame, for all yall Camp Casey friends...) I stumbled into him at the back of City Hall tonight, as the Occupy Dallas folks began to regroup and plan their next steps. Like me, he was just coming by to check on them and see how they were.

He tells me this little guy's name is Cyrus.

It's a pretty good reminder that the Occupy Movement is not over, by a long shot. The message comes to us, even out of the mouths of babes. (Thanks, John...)

*BTW, in my mind, I do not include ordinary police officers, even those who carried out the raid, in this critique. I believe the decision was likely made by the City Manager and Chief of Police. The rank and file DPD officers heroically do their jobs, and are often caught in the midst of challenging situations like this too. I know some of the "Occupiers" feel differently about the DPD, and if I was pressured as they were for weeks on end, I might be in their place too.

More of my thoughts on the "Occupy" movement are here, and here.

(As always, if you like this post, then "like it" or "share it" on Facebook by clicking the box below, or send it to your friends...so others can see too...and leave a comment...EF)

Read More

My Email to Mayor Rawlings

 Given that lawyers for Occupy Dallas and the Dallas City Attorney are meeting tomorrow, I have written Mayor Rawlings to express my own views, and I thought I would share them here...EF

Dear Mayor Rawlings,

For some weeks, I have been visiting the "Occupy Dallas" encampment in an attempt to offer spiritual advice and counsel to the persons there. Knowing that city attorneys and lawyers representing the group are meeting in the morning, and given the increasing tension between the city and the "occupiers," I feel the need to write you tonight.

First, I'd like to compliment the city on its handling of the movement so far. Secondly, I'd like to strongly urge you to continue the current course of action. And finally, I'll offer a few brief thoughts on the movement itself.

Before all this, I urge you to consider the place that the "Occupy" movement is likely to eventually have in our society, our future history, and your legacy as mayor. My own view is that we are in the midst of a churning social movement that is likely to be remembered for years. Whether or not the occupiers themselves are individually remembered, whether their encampments are remembered, they have already changed the nature of debate in our society, regarding issues of economics and social justice, and their movement is very likely to be remembered positively as a catalyst to broad social change.

Given this, Dallas City officials, and officials in every American city, have a choice on how they will be remembered by history. I therefore urge you to carefully consider how decisions you may make in the next few days will be seen in the light of this longterm and historical view. These decisions will be a part of how you, and every other American mayor in our time, will be remembered.

With that caution out of the way, I would like to congratulate you on how the city has handled the "Occupy" movement up to now. The willingness to negotiate with the group has set Dallas apart from many of the other occupy movements nationwide. I have heard many friends around the country compliment Dallas on its measured response thus far. All of that credit goes to you, city staff, and police. Thank you.

And I want to challenge you to consider that by allowing the agreement to run its course through mid December, Dallas still has the chance to set itself, head and shoulders above every other major American city, in terms of its willingness to tolerate challenging social dissent without dramatic violence.

Continuing the agreement will set Dallas apart in a way that, in the long lens of history, past these next few weeks, will bring great credit to you and your administration forever.

Occupy Dallas is clearly a part of a broad-bases social movement taking place in our nation today. Perhaps many people do not share their tactics. I certainly do not agree with every one of their goals. However, many people do broadly share their concern about corporate greed, government corruption, and the need for justice for average Americans.

For example, a majority of our membership at Northaven United Methodist (you visited our church during one of the many mayoral debates during the campaign) would support the justice-based themes of the "Occupy Dallas" movement. Several of our members, myself included, have joined them for their marches these past few weeks. (I was especially proud to march with them in their march supporting the Dallas Police).

Dissent, protest, and even non-violent civil disobedience is a powerful part of our American tradition. As General Colin Powell said recently of the "occupiers," this kind of protest is "as American as apple pie."

Despite high-profile incidents which everyone deeply grieves, I believe that "Occupy Dallas" has remained faithful to the broad outlines of their agreement. Being a nonhierarchical movement, I urge you to understand that compliance in every single instance will be extremely challenging to them. Being a group that, almost by definition, challenges authority, this should be expected.

But during my many visits to the camp, I have found it clean, sanitary, and orderly. In fact, I regularly camp for weeks at a  time myself, and I find their camp to be far more orderly and clean than most campsites. And I have found a sincere willingness on the part of the majority of the campers to abide by the agreement, and to work with the city. This may not be what you are hearing, but it certainly what I have observed.

As you have no doubt heard, there are a certain number of homeless persons who have blended in with the original protestors, and this has remained  huge security challenge for the group.

But I believe they continue to act in good faith.

Finally, as a pastor, let me urge you to consider the "unintended consequence" that clearing the camp group might actually bring about. As you may have seen in other places around the country, cities that have taken action against "occupiers" have discovered that the movements have actually *grown.* After the encampments have been taken down, city officials have seen them re-sprout, have seen arrests skyrocket, and observed the total number of demonstrators dramatically increase.

My strong belief is that any "crackdown" against "Occupy Dallas" would net a similar result. The small number of tents you see now would likely be replaced by far angrier, and numerous, replacements in their wake. I urge you to consider this likelihood as you assess the city's response over the next few weeks.

Recognizing that none of these decisions are easy, that you have broad public safety and fiscal issues to consider, I do not at all take lightly the pressures you are under. So, I continue to pray for you, for the City Manager, and for the City Council. (And I am copying them on this message tonight…)

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to be of any assistance. I would be pleased to talk in person with anyone about this, and can provide a cell phone if  that would be helpful. God bless you all.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Eric Folkerth
Northaven United Methodist Church
11211 Preston Road
Dallas, TX 75230
214-363-2479

(As always, if you like this post, then "like it" or "share it" on Facebook by clicking the box below, or send it to your friends...so others can see too...and leave a comment...EF) 

Read More

My Interview on Lambda Weekly

Last Wednesday, I was honored to be the guest on the "Lambda Weekly" Radio Program on KNON in Dallas. Lambda Weekly is the longest running radio program on LGBT issues in the nation.

Host David Taffett invited me in studio, and we ended up having a wide-ranging discussion of the the inclusion of LGBT people in the United Methodist Church, and the topic of gay marriage in particular. Here is the link at their site. Or, you can listen to the entire episode below.
(give the file a moment to load, it's an hour-long)



Thanks to David for having me on.

(As always, if you like this post, then "like it" or "share it" on Facebook by clicking the box below, or send it to your friends...so others can see too...and leave a comment...EF) 

Read More

The "What If" Fear Is the Only Mistake We Can Make

I really like the way yesterday's sermon came out.

I love the "Parable of the Talents." It's one of my personal favorite scriptures. So, it's always easy to preach on, especially with this rattling through my brain too.

I'm not gonna post the text, because this one was better heard than read. But enjoy the listen below.

The "What If" Fear Is the Only Mistake We Can Make 
 


BTW, Northaven does have a nice iTunes podcast, and you can always get the sermons for your iPod/Phone here.

(As always, if you like this post, then "like it" or "share it" on Facebook by clicking the box below, or send it to your friends...so others can see too...and leave a comment...EF)

Read More

The Parable of the Talents Explained

Below is some graffiti I recently saw on a bike ride around White Rock. I loved it so much, I stopped and took this picture. It's at the top of the White Rock Lake dam, looking East, back out over the waters.

I know that some will likely be offended by it's crudeness...or perhaps shocked that I, as a preacher, would post such things.

If you are shocked, I blame Tony Campolo, and invite you to consider his wisdom.

Here's the bottom line...
 If you want to understand the truth of "The Parable of the Talents," it's all right here...

 

And if you'd rather hear a full-length sermon, making much the same point in different language, have at it.

(As always, if you like this post, then "like it" or "share it" on Facebook by clicking the box below, or send it to your friends...so others can see too...and leave a comment...EF)

Read More

Digital Archaeology

Strangely, since my last blog, lamenting the lack of progress on my CD, I've actually made quite a lot of progress. Today, it dawned on me that what I've been doing is "digital archaeology."

If and when this CD is finally finished, it's doubtful the average listener will ever fully appreciate just how much went into it. Far more than the average CD. Let me explain (With the understanding that only the true music-recording-geek will fully appreciate what follows...).

First, there were songs Clark Findley and me were recording/tracking at his studio, and at a studio in Fort Worth, seven to ten years ago now. At the end of that process, I had a CD that, recording-wise, was 90 percent done (maybe more...). For all sorts of reasons, it was never released.

I've continued to write songs, of course. But it's now become clear to me that some of those older songs --once in line to make the (ahem) cut-- now won't. They've been replaced by five or six newer songs recorded more recently (some, this year, even).

So, in order to really connect the dots, I needed to go see Clark and get those older files from him. But it's been so long that neither of us now use the recording software (Cubase) or the operating system (OS9) we used back then. (Actually, even more technical and more confusing: Some of the Cubase songs used OS9, and others OSX. Yeesh)

Add to this, Clark's gear got caught up in bankruptcy involving the studio where he worked. It was all his gear, but he couldn't access it. So, for a couple of years, the files were, physically, in a small room in Fort Worth.

When I went over there in early October, we were able to export/save just about everything from those old recording sessions. By exporting some of the tracks at Clark's (Cubase SX), and also exporting others here at home (Cubase 5, using my own old pulled-out-of-the-closet-G4, booted up in OS9), miraculously, I've imported them all  into my studio here at home (Logic Express) with no problem at all. (Other than keeping everything straight...)

Included in these archaeologically recovered cuts is great session work by Rick O'Connor, Bruce Hathaway, and some mighty tasty piano by Tim McLemore. The incredible Reggie Rueffer plays fiddle on two of the recovered tracks, and it's absolutely amazing.

But it doesn't stop there, since I am also dealing with two self-inflicted wounds that resulted in even more lost files over the years.

The first was my computer getting stolen, right off my desk, early last year. I had three brand new recordings of three brand new songs on it at the time. And, yes, I'd failed to back up. (That's the "self-inflicted" part)

Sooo, in recent weeks, I bit the bullet and totally reworked those songs too. Rerecorded/retracked them from ground zero. Which was a lot of work, since two of them are actually among the most complex cuts that will be on the new CD.

The final bit of archaeology necessitates from when I inadvertently erased an external hard drive. I was trying to reformat at small thumb drive, chose the wrong icon, and erased a key major external storage drive instead. (Yes, this time, I was backing up. Yet, I still screwed it up)

Some amazingly good data recovery software meant that, ultimately, there was "good news" and "bad news." The good news was that every single file was recovered. The bad news is none of the original file names associated with any of the recovered data, nor did any program files survive.

In other words, every track from every song was saved. The hours of work, edited/mixing them was not. With no file names, I was left with a huge pile of sequentially numbered audio files to listen-through. Just under 800 separate audio files, to be exact...to listen to and to sort, in order to find the very few I needed. (BTW...it was the same process for recovered pictures, mp3s and everything else that got erased)

Amazingly, after months of on and off sifting, I've been able find all of them. Again, this includes real treasures, such as a session my friend Billy Jonas did back in 2003. But, most amazingly, it includes vocal work Rachel Bissex did on two songs before her death. Clearly, that is not stuff that can be re-recorded.

So...to review
Recopied/Exported files from Clark,  that were archived and locked away for years...
Recovered filed from my own hard disk, sorted through after a stupidly-painful erasure...
Re-recorded songs to replace the ones that got stolen with my computer...

After years of looking at this mountain of work, and feeling nothing but hopeless/helpless about it, it's really coming together. Just one more song to re-track, and then they'll all be in Logic, ready to mix and master. Beyond that, perhaps just a few more vocal takes to clean some stuff up. Maybe a little bass here and there. But nothing major to "find" any more. It's all been found or recovered. Amazing.

So, if all that was way too computer-geeky for you (likely), the punchline is this:
Real progresss. Things are looking up.

As I said last time I blogged about it, "a little at a time."

Man, that really is a lesson I keep learning, through a lot of work, a lot of patience, and some digital archaeology.


(As always, if you like this post, then "like it"  or "share it" on Facebook by clicking the box below, or send it to your friends...so others can see too...and leave a comment...EF)  

Read More