Workshops with Liz | Flamy Grant Album Church

Friends,

So far, Tuesday and Friday wins for when I should be sending out the newsletter. You still can reply and tell me some other input.

I've been traveling--Denver, Philadelphia, Vermont, and Des Moines is coming up. I got to do some consulting, visit some family, see Church in action. It means I've been away from my own church. I'm glad to be home for a couple weeks.

-Liz

The Radical Nature of Halloween

I remember one halloween when I couldn't decide on a costume. In my house we didn't buy a costume, and I don't remember sewing them, or having my parents so them either. We scrounged around for costumes. And I don't have much memory of what we put together. Except one year when I didn't plan ahead. I couldn't decide on a costume. So halloween came around and I had no plan.

So I put on my ski jacket, boots, and skis! I headed out and discovered what should be obvious: it it really hard to get around dry, snow-free ground with skis on. Everyone in our neighborhood lived up the hill, or down the hill, and there were concrete steps to each door. Not sure why it didn't occur to me that that would be impossible. Or that skiers might carry their skis.

So I went home and put on a night gown, and grabbed a candle. I'd be "Wee Willie Winkie" (Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town, upstairs, downstairs, in his night gown...) I think I had a "night cap" but still it was freezing cold. I had to come home again to put on a sweater and pants under the night gown.

I didn't get much candy that year, I spent too much time changing clothes.

This year, I want to go as a frog. A Portland frog.

We are coming up on the strangest, and delightful-est holiday (is that a word? That is not a word.) It is all about fun, about silly, and of course about candy. It's about connection, each household to the next. And creativity.

In Portland, and elsewhere, protests have been using what wikipedia calls "tactical frivolity". Its a form of non-compliance, of pointing out the absurdity of the present situation, of poking fun at what is all to serious matters. The goal is not to attack particular individuals, but the circumstances we are in. It is whimsy more than mocking.

And it accomplishes a number of things--it draws attention the circumstance, it makes it fun to take part, it attracts and reassures new people for protesting, and it refuses to accept that the status quo is the only way forward.

It will also make it hard to find a frog costume for halloween.

The Greeks used satire in storytelling and plays. Jokes about politicians and laws have existed for eternity. In Poland the Solidarity movement included the "Orange Alternative:" a group that dressed up as elves and used stunts to attract attention the cause. In England "Reclaim the Streets" occupied streets with sand boxes, food, and music, to insist that streets are for pedestrians not cars. Walk Boston, similarly bought turf to cover parking spaces. A protest against the International Monetary Fund in Prague offered three choices for involvement: traditional non-violence, direct conflict with police, and a tactical frivolity group that included a band, and pink fairies. They were the group that successfully got into the IMF meeting.

Organizations like "Billionaires for Bush", the "Insurgent Clown Army", and "Bread and Puppet Theatre" used tactical frivolity. Counter Klan protests have included a "Moon the Klan" event and people yelling "wife power" and throwing flour.

In Portland, the claims of violent protests look silly in the face of masked officers facing inflated frogs, chicken suits, and nude cyclists.

For Halloween we will protest the divisions of our society by blatantly showing up in costumes and asking our neighbors for candy. Perhaps we can wear the same costumes to the next No Kings event.

What is your church doing, or thinking about doing these days? How are you being here in your particular place? Just reply to this email to let me know what's happening. ​
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Would your church like to hire me for an event? I do small church, evangelism, mission, and street church workshops.

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One of my favorite Wild Goose Performers is Flamy Grant. Here is the whole album, but for fun you might listen to Revenge. The line I love is "I don't want revenge, I want you to get some therapy!"

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