Hey all,

Eric here. Here’s a letter I wrote to Bloomington, IL’s Pantagraph editor as an open letter to Senator Bill Brady, a leading GOP gubernatorial candidate, regarding his proposed policies for making gay marriage fundamentally illegal in the state of Illinois. By the way, out of respect to the newspaper, I opted to keep their outside link at the bottom--so to keep reading the entire letter, simply follow that link.

I encourage you to read more about Sen. Brady's policies on your own and to be encouraged by many of the intelligent and thoughtful responses generated by this letter, while also taking note of the lack of those qualities in some of the other responses. I wasn't able to include the picture in my original letter, but below is the image you may or may not be familiar with. Each time I see it, I feel sickened for Elizabeth Eckford and how much courage she must have had, as a high school student, to walk through those hostile crowds. We should be so blessed to have a tenth of her courage today...

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Story:

How will Brady be judged on gay rights?

An open letter to Sen. Bill Brady: Dear Sen. Bill Brady, I have recently seen again the classic picture of Little Rock, Ark. resident Elizabeth Eckford, stoically entering her newly desegregated high school, in spite of Hazel Massery, who was shouting rage-fully at Eckford.

When I look at this now, I am reminded of the current civil rights issue against which you take a strong stand, GLBT rights. By preventing people from pursuing loving, monogamous and legal marriages, do you see yourself in Hazel in this picture?

For more of this story, click on or type the URL below:

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/05/25/opinion/letters/doc48375c91e8b16098476347.txt

Batch-in' It...but ready for Mira's Return

Eric here. It has been just over a week since Mira left for Oaxaca. It's amazing what anxieties make themselves known once the person you love has left on such an amazing journey! I feel great because I just got off the phone with her from her cell phone, which is the first time since she has left that she has been able to use it--and the last time until her arrival in Tucson. Today (in fact as I write this) Mira and the rest of the smaller initial delegation are crossing back into the United States to participate in the Migrant Trail Walk. They will then cross back into Mexico and begin their 75 mile walk through the desert from near Sáric (Sasabe, Sonora, Mexico doesn't show up on the map), completing the 7 day journey in Tucson, AZ. Here is a link to what their journey may look like, more or less. While there is certainly an element of risk in such a journey, the members of this larger delegation (60 folks or so) will have plenty of food, water, and support vehicles accompanying them along the entire way. I know that many are concerned, as I am, about her safety, so in learning more about this myself, I have found this site to be quite helpful: http://www.mcc.org/us/washington/issues/immigration/walk/what.html.

It is comforting than knowing that Mira will be accompanied by lots of Mennonites! Keep up those good thoughts and prayers for the many whose lives will be transformed into powerful and positive agents of change.

In the meantime, I have been doing some of the packing we need to do before we make our way out to Oregon, and seeing some friends from the Blind Faith Cafe, Joseph Marshak, my Holy Covenant men's group, Tony Didato, the Community Meal group that meets on Mondays, and of course, wrapping up my time at both Outdoor and Retreat Ministries and Glenview UMC. It has been great to keep all those connections going, knowing that all are in great hands!

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but "someone" has it on their trip! (not that I take many pictures anyway!)

Blessings to you all and bye for now!

Surprise!

Trent and Jeanne invited us over for "dinner" and when we showed up, lots of my Starbucks friends were there for a farewell party! All kinds of tasty stuff was cooked on the grill and we hung out in the yard for a bit, even though the evening was *unseasonably* cool (what does "seasonal" mean anymore, really?).


Inside, it was a bit warmer. Juan, Gia, Jeanne, Gooseman, Skylar, Amber, Max and Trent.


Juan, Trent, and Trent and Jeanne's special bowling pin.

Amber and Max.


The Mira Special, a pie Skylar made in honor of my favorite drinks, which all include coffee, soymilk and caramel. Skylar has a reputation for making scrumptious pies and this one did not disappoint.


Though I will not miss leaving home before the sun rises each morning, I will dearly miss my Starbucks friends.

The friendly confines

Our friends Susan and Kate gifted us some Cubs tickets and, though the Cubbies lost to the Padres on a dreary night, we had a great time!

The evening started off nice--warm and breezy.


We were way up there, but there's not a bad seat in the house!


Good ol' Wrigleyville.

As the game went on, the rain began to come down.


All cozied up.


I actually captured a base hit!


Thanks Kate and Susan!!

Young Meteorologist

Rose, my sister, sent in a picture of Justin to a Lansing news station that features a different area kid each day. The other day, they picked him. Here is Justin doing the weather:


He's a natural. But 44 degrees in the middle of May??? It just doesn't seem right!

Chicago by train

The weather has been so beautiful... On Sunday I took a few pics of our lovely city from the L.

Approaching the loop on the Pink Line:


Paulina and Madison:


Springtime clouds:

Checkin out the view:


Our church from the (now open!) Diversey Stop:


Passing through the Ashland stop on the way home after a long day:


Reflections of the sunset from the Damen stop:

Apartment-warming

Garrett friends April and Vince moved here from Detroit a few months back and had some folks over yesterday to celebrate their new home, which happens to be in Rogers Park, our old neighborhood.

Happy family picture:


We should be on the box of a really fun board game:


I met Matt at Wesley Woods a few years back and he has brought his Arlington Heights youth group for quite a few retreat since then. It was fun to meet his wife, Megan.

May Day March

International Workers Day events began with an interfaith prayer service in Union Park. Here, Slim Coleman (pastor of Adalberto UMC, where Elvira Arellano was and Flor Cristosomo is in sanctuary) and Emma Lozano offer a prayer. Behind are New Sanctuary folks Stephanie, Julia, Kristin, Jenny and, at the right, UM pastor CJ Hawking.


Though the turnout was smaller than last year, there was a good crowd. I marched with folks from the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition and Wellington Avenue UCC (whose banner you can see on the left).


Stop the raids and deportations!


Some of the folks I marched with-- Nate, Jenn, Jenny, Lindsay, Becca, Kat:


Afterward, we refueled on Mexican food at Lalo's and then Eric and I walked by the river. It was a beautiful afternoon.