Tag: Hospitality

YMCA and Gerard Manley Hopkins

YMCA and Gerard Manley Hopkins ::: an unlikely and unique connection between the genius of George Williams and the British poet Hopkins – a rare exploration of the convulsive context in which the Y was founded and the poetry created – both a testament to their personal and transformative experiences of God’s salvation and calling upon their life.

The Y and Hopkins were born the same year, in 1844; both British in birth and embodiment of the diverse Christianity that grounded their culture.

June 6, 1844 is the founding of the Y; Hopkins is born July 28, 1844 and would die still a young man at age 44 on June 8, 1889.

  • George Williams
  • Gerard Manley Hopkins

This past Sunday I wrote about Williams founding the Y, today on Hopkins death-day I want to remember him and the cultural context he shared with the Y, and what it could contribute to an ecumenical Christian emphasis today.

There are very few articles on the internet that make this kind of unique connection; this one published by JSRT of Gonzaga University titled Romantic Critiques of Industrial Technology is illuminating.

A bit more about the context in which the Y was founded:

The Young Men’s Christian Association was founded on June 6, 1844 by 23 year old George Williams and eleven Christian friends.

Williams was involved in the drapery or clothing industry, and would become very successful and prosperous in it.

His conscience was pricked by the complex societal difficulties and suffering of urban families, especially the young men leaving the family farms for factory work.

This cultural upheaval was experienced as one caught in the roiling surf, almost caught by a riptide but almost to tired to take the extended hand of the lifeguard in the boat.

The YMCA was started for multiple intertwined reasons: to save the souls of young men in the city who had left their parish behind; to save the minds of these young men from the grinding and filthy monotony of the factories; to save their bodies from the base temptations afflicting their neighborhoods.

The wider cultural changes included resentment and resistance to the calculated rationale of the Enlightenment and its mechanistic interpretation of the world which fed the appetites of industrialists but destroyed families.

Movements emerged which sought to re-humanize the world, to lift up the heart and value personal experiences; this was reflected in part by the birth of evangelical revivals which stressed individual conversion marked by emotional and dynamic evidences.

Poets, artists, novelists, philosophers and theologians all added their talent and energy to this movement.

The YMCA was not the only Christian organization to emerge in this time to rescue young men from the de-humanizing industrialization of the community and create space for them to have a transformational inward spiritual awakening and calling.

It seems so simplistic now, but it was a radical act of hospitality to open up housing for these young men that was safe, sanitary, secure, but also spiritually alive.

Bible studies, prayer sessions, worship gatherings were all forms of protest against state-supported or traditional churches that rigidly clung to form of transformation, logic over emotion, correctness over inspiration, hierarchy over brotherhood.

Inspired by the dark and grueling context in which Williams founded the YMCA, what are the depressing and gross circumstances that young people need rescued from today?

What kind of housing and hospitality, safety and spiritual vitality can the Y offer in these dangerous days?

A bit about Hopkins and his context in 1844:

Gerard Manley Hopkins converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, inspired by the writings of Cardinal John Henry Newman, much to the sorrow and grief of his devoutly religious family.

As a young man he was caught up in continual conflict, complicated loyalties, frustrated talents, and isolated friendships.

His deep love for nature and people put him at odds with the rational industrialized culture which prioritized technology and production over people.

As a poet he had a roiled soul, drawn to love and serve God, inspired by the stunning Creation, but personally struggling with depression, loneliness, and meaninglessness.

Like the YMCA, he spent his life with young men, seeking to build them up in spirit, mind and body.

Though the YMCA was a evangelical Protestant Christian organization, and Hopkins a Jesuit Roman Catholic, they both valued the inner heart of an individual, striving to bring discipline and freedom to their soul, instructing and guiding others to be one with God and be His faithful servant in a fallen, corrupted, industrialized world.

The YMCA and Hopkins are both unique in their Christian contribution to God’s work in the world; both are still a force for good and an inspiration to Christians these many years later.

They both inspired many other people to experience renewal and attempt their own creative projects.

The Y has been a source of original contributions to the world: ESL, camping, basketball and volleyball, group exercise and swim lessons, etc.

Hopkins invented a fresh and engaging form of poetry, putting together new words and rhythms that compel attention and spur fresh insights into Creation.

At their heart, the Y and Hopkins strive to see the world as it really is, to see men and women as they really are, to see humanity in truth and grace.

They know darkness and the light, joy and suffering, friendship and abandonment, success and failure.

For Y leaders wanting a fresh perspective on seeing the world, try taking up some of Hopkins eclectic and intriguing poems.

For Christians wanting to remember the real context for the founding of the Y in all its complexity and genius, getting to know the real George Williams and Gerard Manley Hopkins can ground you as well as inspire you.

Here are a few of my favorite poems by Hopkins that attempt to help us see the complex spirit of humanity, the faithful Spirit of God, and how we can participate in the reconciliation and restoration of all things as ones loved and transformed inwardly by Christ Jesus.

Gerard Manley Hopkins – 1844-1889

God’s Grandeur

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs–
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Sunrise over Jerusalem

Pied Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled things—
   For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
       For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
   Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
       And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise Him.

Silver Bay YMCA on Lake George, NY

As kingfishers catch fire

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.

Í say móre: the just man justices;
Kéeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is —
Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

Kingfisher

The “C” in the YMCA: as Obstacle, Offense, and Opportunity

A humble reflection on the role of Christian emphasis in the future of a successful YMCA striving to live out its mission of putting Christian principles into practice through equitable programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all.

Every generation of YMCA leaders are stewards of the Y they receive, often amidst the challenges and turbulence of their time.

The YMCA they entered into on that first day of membership and employment must adapt to unexpected changes in their communities and culture.

Being a nationwide organization this often looks and feels complex since the Y finds itself in over ten thousand different cultures/communities across the USA.

As the YMCA strives to authentically and resiliently respond to the crises of our times, especially as it marshals all of its institutional strength and resources to equitably build up people in spirit, mind and body, it must remember: where did this wealth of capacity to love, care and serve come from?

What were the leaders doing in the generations prior to us that made these possibilities a reality?

What has the Y been becoming since 1844, who did we come from, what have been our failures and successes, our learning curves that have gotten us to this crucial moment?

As complex as the YMCA is, I’m going to try to make a general case for why the “C” in our name has been and can still be central to our future success, still a vital source for our DIG work.

I acknowledge up front that the “C” can also be a highly combustible reality that obviously still causes merited concern by some; but, I believe it also can be the fire we need to fulfill our mission and cause amongst those struggling the most in our communities for generations to come.

“C” as OBSTACLE

First, for some in the YMCA, the “Christian” in our name is an obstacle.

This is a sentiment of Christians in our movement as well as those of other traditions.

It’s easy to notice the Christians with loud voices who resist equity in our communities, ignore and/or undermine the “for all” in our YMCA mission.

It’d be easy to list off Christians you know who seem to be obstacles to equity, to our core values, to our mission, to our work to be an anti-racist, multicultural organization.

It might be you don’t even really know any Christians at your Y, you just know what you have seen or heard elsewhere convinces you that the “C” is an obstacle to progress and success.

It can also become easy to presume that if we removed Christian emphasis from the Y, we’d have less obstacles to equity, diversity and inclusion. That might have some truth to it.

But: what is also true is the untold Christians in the Y who are passionate advocates for DIG work because of their Christian faith.

Faith is a key dimension of diversity, and for many in our Y movement a powerful motivation for humbly and faithfully persevering in the diverse, inclusive, global work of the Y.

Be that as it may, it’s obvious that Christians in the Y have racked up a long list of examples of being an obstacle to the flourishing of all.

For this we must confess our sins, repent, make amends where we can, and do better.

“C” as OFFENSIVE

Secondly: It’d be irresponsible to overlook the fact that some within our Y movement see the “C” as more than an obstacle, they also see it as an offense.

And who can blame them?

The historically obvious sins of Christians and their institutions in the USA leave much disgust in our souls.

Not only the failures of the faith in the past, but the egregious racism and violence of Christians today give plenty of ammunition to justify the belief that we are an offense.

With the public offensiveness of many high profile Christians, along with the thousands of every day offenses committed by people of the faith, it’s not without evidence that the suppression or removal of the Christian name and identity is supported.

Why keep an offensive culture in our name as we strive to focus intensely on becoming an anti-racist, multicultural organization?

It’s tough to make a defense against the offensiveness of Christianity in light of the many negative realities revealed in history and the current headlines.

It’s tough also because there is an essential offensive nature to Christianity as evidenced by the crucifixion of Jesus we read about in the Gospels of the New Testament.

For all the good that Jesus did, for all of his teachings on love and forgiveness in the kingdom of God, he was still killed by the ruling authorities under the accusations of political sedition and religious blasphemy – intertwined realities that reveal the intense offense Christ Jesus generated among people with power and the crowds.

It’s one thing for Christians to be offensive because they act like privileged jerks with thin-skin, it’s another for Christians to offend when they insist on abiding by the way of Jesus and his kingdom of atonement and reconciliation.

So yes, there are definitely toxic Christians that give the “C” a bad name, and there have been times when Christians in the Y gave offense by their faith-fullness to Christ Jesus.

My hunch is that the majority of offensiveness that is noticed in the Y towards Christians is due to the unrepentant meanness and arrogance of how some put their faith into practice. That is worth objecting to.

For all the ways we Christians have been offensive due to our sins, we must confess and repent of this too, make amends where we can, and do better.

“C” as OPPORTUNITY

Third: For me, I think it’s worth considering, in my humble opinion, of ways the “C” can be an opportunity to build equity in spirit, mind and body, for all.

What is the work of anti-racism if it’s not spiritual work?

If it was merely a matter of educating the mind, or enforcing bodily complicity to anti-racist principles, we’d have achieved more progress by now.

But isn’t equity first an attitude before it’s an action, a belief as much as it is behavior?

Don’t we want people to want to be inclusive, not just open to multicultural friendships because of peer pressure or economic coercion?

So if you are going to draw on spiritual resources to fuel anti-racist work, why would you cut out or suppress or ignore our “C” in our name, which is one of the strongest sources of spiritual energy in our American heritage and social fabric?

I’m not going to try and make a case for whether or not the USA is a Christian nation, but I think it’s unhelpful to overlook or downplay the Christian energies that have shaped and are still central to our culture, for good and for bad.

Religion is resurgent in the world, and the rest of the world sees the USA as still one of the most religious nations in the planet.

So, rather than suppress the powerful reality of religion in the Y, we need to bring it out into the open so that we can openly benefit from the remarkable resources it brings to people, as well as maturely and truthfully critique and correct what corrodes flourishing for all.

Cancelling the “C” in our name misses an opportunity to reinvigorate our dimensions of diversity, especially the dynamic and pervasive role of faith and religion.

The majority of Americans still identify with Christianity, and it is likely that percentage is higher within the Y, especially in light of its highly public brand recognition as the Young Men’s Christian Association.

Rather than rebrand as a secular institution, let’s resource the richly complex “C” to inspire “for all” in an increasing religiously pluralistic society.

Let’s face it, many Christians within the Y are embarrassed by the negative obstacles and nefarious offensiveness of the “C” as embodied by some members and staff.

I’ve found that many Christians in the Y are frustrated with the kind of “C” that they see, and aren’t sure what a better version could look like in these pluralistic times.

So instead of experimenting with fresh expressions of an inclusive Christianity, they unfortunately let the heart of the Y wither.

If we are honest, though, some if not many of the great YMCA DIG work, some of our greatest and most inclusive leaders in the Y are beautiful Christians doing God’s work in wonderful ways.

And it is their Christian faith which shapes and fuels what they do in an irreplaceable way.

To minimize or downplay their “C” in the “for all” work they are championing is too miss the opportunity to lift this up as a way to inspire a new imagination for how inclusive Christianity can be a vital dimension of diversity.

You see the “C” you are looking for.

Let’s look for opportunities to responsibly live out and respect faith as a key dimension of diversity.

What does that mean for the Y?

It means not only honestly critiquing the moral and ethical failures of the YMCA in the past as a Christian-based organization, but to also draw on the best of our Christian foundation and heritage, to use the real ways we have cared deeply for people as a Christian-based organization as a resource for current and future equity work.

What can we learn from Christians like George Williams on lifting up young men lost in the urban-industrial wastelands?

What can we learn from John R. Mott, an American and global Christian who pioneered ecumenical work as well as innovative multi-faith initiatives?

What can we learn from Rev. Martin Luther King on nonviolent Christian reconciliation work amidst racial and social injustices?

And so many more YMCA Christian men and women, old and young, who can re-inspire a “thick C” that celebrates and nourishes a very diverse, inclusive and global Christian faith in the Y, which then is a seed-bed for loving multi-faith and multicultural work that is anti-racist, equitable, beautiful, true, just and good.

YMCA OF THE USA & THE WORLD “C”

The YMCA was and is a crucial player in the global church community to lift up the practical value of religious diversity and inclusion – we helped start the World Council of Churches.

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The Y still has rich resources to draw on for ways the “C” in our name can make us more welcoming, more equitable, more hospitable, more open “for all.”

An example: The World YMCA logo still includes the John 17:21 Bible reference in its logo; its at the heart of the triangle in our logo.

The prayer of Jesus that it highlights is crucial to the foundational motivations of those who breathed life into the Y in 1844.

And it is still a deeply powerful prayer on the lips and in the hearts of millions of Christians yet today throughout the whole earth and in the YMCA here in the USA.

Christ Jesus, on the night he was to be betrayed and killed by his own people, prayed for the unity of those who would believe in him in the decades and centuries to come.

Christ Jesus also prayed that all those who believed would be in deep union with God.

If you’re a Christian, isn’t that still a compelling vision for the Y – that through all of the many good programs and initiatives we have done since 1844 – that it can still be a contribution to Christians becoming more in union with our loving, caring, and sacrificial Lord Jesus Christ?

With our rich legacy already in that work, why would we end it – if we don’t reinvigorate that work, who else is there like us to pick up that task?

And if you’re not of the Christian faith, would you want the Y to downplay even more it’s influence on Christians to become more equitable and inclusive?

If the Y doesn’t do that work with Christians, who will?

Another example: Challenge 21 is a creative and compelling strategy of the World YMCA to let the “C” nourish its work while expanding the ways they strive for love and justice “for all.”

There is much the American Y can learn from Challenge 21 and our global friends in this complex work.

In fact it was cross-cultural experiences that invigorated spiritual and social transformation for George Williams (from rural to urban), John R. Mott (from America to the World), Martin Luther King (from Atlanta to India) and many others in the Y.

More examples: Who was it that decided to let women join the Young Men’s Christian Association? Christians.

Who was it that decided to lessen the strict Christian church attendance requirements for membership in the YMCA? Christians.

Who was it that decided to let Jewish and Muslim young men join the Y? Christians.

Who was it that decided to let Catholic Christians join the Y? Protestant Christians.

Who was it that decided to let non-Christians to join the Y? Christians.

Who was it that resisted all these decisions? Yes, obviously other Christians in the Y.

So which Christians do you want to pay the most attention to? The ones who resist adapting to inclusivity, or the ones that work for it.

RELIGION & the SECULAR

The real struggle of the “C” in the Y is not between secularism and Christianity, it’s mostly just between Christians.

Christians in general have stumbled through the rapid changes in our culture, especially as it has become more secular and religiously pluralistic.

The myth of secularism is that it is a “neutral” space created so that different kinds of Christians can cooperate in a public way, and then this gets extended to those of other faith and religious traditions, or those with none.

Secularism, however, is about a “negative peace” between Christians, and between those of different or no faiths, unable to unravel antagonisms, and succumbing to cultural and political entropy.

Christian Ecumenism is a “positive peace” between Christians, a constructive engagement for mutual understanding and collaboration; this is also a key foundation for Christians to participate in multi-faith and multicultural friendships in a pluralistic and secular society.

So if the Y is going to dig deeper into its DIG work, especially in its focus on religion and faith as a powerful dimension of diversity, we ought to get as much wisdom as we can on how it can be a constructive source for YMCA Christian ecumenical work and multi-faith work.

The “C” needs DIG as much as our DIG work needs a vital and bravely humble “C”.

What you suppress becomes more powerful, but in a toxic way.

It seems to me that the YMCA has struggled for the past fifty years on what to do with the “C” – it seems to have slowly suppressed it from public view, trying to be more secular, yet causing yet more consternation and antagonisms along the way.

The “C” will always be part of the YMCA – so can we transition from a “negative peace” in the Y to a “positive peace” where religion and faith can openly be lived and discussed?

Or will the “C” continue to be the elephant in the room, an unmovable obstacle, an enduring offense?

Let’s not suppress the “C” in the Y, let’s embrace the opportunity in front of us and learn how it can become a public and healthy part of our cause and mission as we become an anti-racist, multicultural organization in spirit, mind and body in the USA and the World.

For me, our current emphasis on equity and justice is a crucial way the Y is still inspired by the prayer of Jesus: “that all may be one.”

FEEDBACK

There is much that can be critiqued and questioned in my attempt to make a case for the opportunity the “C” gives the Y to flourish for all.

Did I make too little of the ways the Christian name is an obstacle and an offense?

I’d be very open to reactions that point out realities I’m missing, or ways to strengthen the way forward.

Fire in the Face of God

What would you do if you came face to face with God? What would you do if fire destroyed what you loved? How do you prevail in the midst of complicated struggles? The story and fate of Peniel is a metaphor to me of the YMCA, America, and our faith.

Fire! It’s a cry of alarm when the flames stretch forth, unwanted, under protest, against what you treasure.

Fire! It’s a shout for joy when the sparks take hold of the dry tinder, the night is brisk, the stars are out, and your friends are ready to gather around to warm up and tell their stories.

Fire! It’s a sign of judgment, a cause for destruction, a threat of scorching pain. It’s also a means to survival, purification, and transformation.

Haaretz.com photo credit/firefighter at Peniel

Fire unexpectedly scorched beautiful Peniel, a YMCA haven of rest in the Holy Land, a little piece of heaven on earth.

A shock to the soul in 2016!

Why would God let this happen here? What does it mean? How do we interpret the flaming disaster?

And what now in 2020?

YouTube.com/Guy Shacar, three weeks after the fire
Four years after fire swept through the Tiberius coast, Peniel is a burnt hull.

When Archibald C. Harte retired from his remarkable career with the YMCA in the 1930’s he purchased a plot on the Sea of Galilee and transformed it into Peniel, a beautiful retreat for weary YMCA workers and travelers from around the world.

Beautiful Peniel in Tiberius, along the Sea of Galilee

Peniel means “face of God” and comes from the Hebrew Scriptures, a story where a traveler named Jacob wrestled with God, lost, was renamed Israel, and limped away transformed.

Jacob named the place Peniel for he had struggled with God (hence the name “Israel”) face to face and lived.

Over the years Peniel became a thin-space for YMCA workers, where it did seem that heaven met earth there, and folks could experience a face to face encounter with the Lord in their soul.

Spectacular vista from Peniel patio of the Sea, Golan Heights, and the sunset
Lush walkways throughout Peniel, shaded picnic areas, a sunny beach
Harte Memorial Chapel, the heart of Peniel, a sacred YMCA thin-space
The overgrown, desecrated chapel; broken windows, vandalized; yet holy.

So when fire ravaged the “face of God”, many who had strong roots and formative memories at Peniel grieved the loss deeply.

How to make sense of it, and what to do now?

The legal and cultural situations quickly became complicated.

Meanwhile entropy emerged on the property through vandalism, desecration, squatting, and the weather.

Through wise, collaborative, and patient leadership, plans for restoration of Peniel are being formed.

A renewed purpose is being prayerfully considered.

YMCA workers around the world are seeking the face of God for inspiration, direction, and open doors for the rebuilding of this sacred space in the Holy Land.

My visit to Peniel was through the OnPrinciple cohort, a strategic YMCA program through the Harold C. Smith Foundation.

It brings together Christian YMCA leaders from across the United States to grow in their capacity to strengthen the Christian mission of the YMCA in the 21st century.

This training in agile learning and adaptive leadership skills is mediated through an online curriculum supported by venerable Springfield College, an immersive sojourn with YMCA’s in the Holy Land through the guidance of Friends of the Jerusalem YMCA, and an intensive series of seminars with the Global Leadership Summit.

The cohort of 12 learners and 12 mentors is an innovative, rich and transformative YMCA program that brings together our dual emphasis of Christian principles and diversity, inclusion, global.

Archibald C. Harte of the YMCA and Peniel

Archibald C. Harte was a visionary leader, making possible the construction of the Jerusalem International YMCA.

His love for the Lord, the YMCA, and the Holy Land, combined with his commitment to peace, solidarity, and friendship, inspired our OnPrinciple cohort still shapes the purpose of the JIY today. Read more here.

Peniel, a safe place for all to rest and enjoy good company
Peniel patiently awaiting restoration and renewed YMCA hospitality

The YMCA has long been a Christian organization which authentically strives to be welcoming for all.

Especially in the Holy Land, Jews, Christians and Muslims all work together in friendship and solidarity at the YMCA.

The Jerusalem International YMCA, which oversees Peniel, is renown for their diversity and inclusion of Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians, all sorts of faith backgrounds but one thing in common: love for the YMCA mission and legacy.

Dedication stone at Jerusalem International YMCA, set by Archibald Hart.

So in a world still full consumed by violence and bigotry, hatred and war, poverty and oppression, how can Peniel be a crucial thin-space again for all, for transformation through the sacred struggle together?

Christians believe that in Christ Jesus we see the face of God; we also believe that we are sent into the world as “little Christ’s” meant to embody his grace and truth in love.

We believe that when we love, care and serve in the world like God in Christ does, through the gifts and guidance of the Holy Spirit, people can still experience the transformative face of God.

Christian hospitality becomes a way to co-create thin spaces in the world where spiritual transformation, sacred struggles, new names, holy purposes can be given and received.

Fire in the face of God is consuming yet purifying, burning but illuminating, painful yet transformative.

May Peniel become a renewed site on the Sea of Galilee where YMCA workers can experience a purifying fire in the face of God, amidst their struggles feel again the call to go and be the light, to be the good news of God in our burning yet beloved world.

Thanks to Mike Bussey for most of the beautiful pre-2016 Peniel pics, and some post-fire ones.