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| Dear friends,
Warm greetings to you on this snowy day (in Minnesota, at least). Christmas letters seems to have turned into a marriage initiation rite, but I thought I'd get a head start. Even more than past years, this one has been filled with new people and new experiences. Here are somehighlights: 
My Sister's Wedding - My sister, Naomi, got married in August. She and Brad help lead a high school youth group, and all these kids were out on the dance floor, making theirs the most high-energy wedding reception I've ever been to. My sister is completing a social work degree at Bethel College. Brad graduated last spring with a degree in marketing, which I am confident he will use for good, not evil. It's nice to have a new family member around.
 Baltimore Housemates - Until August I lived in an East Baltimore row house with four friends. Scott, Kara, Lisa and Kristin were some of the best housemates I could ask for. I'll remember Scott's dependability, Kristin's joy, Lisa's energy and Kara's sense of calm. Each of us held full-time, stipended jobs at social profit organizations, provided by Lutheran Volunteer Corps. Lutheran Volunteer Corps stresses social justice, intentional community, and simple and sustainable living, which each took different forms in our house.
 Lutheran World Relief - My volunteer placement was at Lutheran World Relief. There I worked with people from all over the world who respond to disasters, advocate for human rights, and help communities overcome poverty. I wrote press releases, published articles, managed a "virtual university," among other things. I'm thankful for Emily, Terri and everyone at LWR for welcoming me as one of their own and teaching me so much.
Amazing Grace Lutheran Church - Amid "the abandoned places of empire" in crumbling East Baltimore, there is a little Lutheran church with soulful music, surprising diversity, and an unlikely garden out back. Attending Amazing Grace was how I got to know some of my neighbors, like Joe and Robin, Angela, Ms. Dates' kids, and pastor Karen.
 Rolling on the Liver - When the husband of one of my LWR supervisors became near-fatally ill with a disease affecting his liver, she wrote about her ordeal on her Rolling on the Liver blog. Her husband recovered, but the journey was long and painful. We who knew her followed along on her blog, where she wrote moving reflections illuminating the power and frailty of the human spirit and the importance of community.
 Nicaragua - In January, I traveled to Nicaragua through Lutheran World Relief. I stayed in the one room, dirt floor home of Pedro and Bertalina Lopez, life-long coffee growers. They sell on the Fair Trade market, which guarantees a living wage for their labor. I remember Pedro remarking, "We have it good...we can feed our children...It's not like this for everyone." He looks forward to the day his kids can go to college and find work outside Nicaragua's struggling coffee industry. Fair Trade coffee can be found at Equal Exchange.
School of the Americas - In November I participated in a yearly vigil outside the "School of the Americas" in Georgia, where the US has trained thousands of South and Central American military personal in combat and torture. Upon returning to their home countries, graduates have used these tactics to suppress those who speak out against oppression. The vigil is held in remembrance of the victims, and is part of a larger movement to expose the school as a symbol of what's wrong with U.S. foreign policy.
 Velocipede - What a neat idea. Velocipede is a big garage in Baltimore where anyone can come and rebuild a bicycle. You walk in, put in some volunteer hours stripping donated bikes, and then you can use the tools and scrap parts to build or work on your own. Once you learn a skill, you teach it to someone else. I spent quite a few hours there and I'm grateful for all Beth and Ron's help.
 Recruiting for LVC - This fall I traveled to VA, NC, SC and Atlanta as a diversity recruiter for Lutheran Volunteer Corps. The job involved recruiting students and engaging faculty in one-on-one conversations about how LVC can become a better ally to people of color. This was exciting work for me, since I'd already been participating in an ongoing conversation about how LVC could do more to address systemic racism. I will be working at LVC's DC office until February.
 Following the presidential race - I suppose Christmas letters aren't the forum for politics, but the prospect of new presidential leadership is exciting, and - with a few caveats - I'm supporting Obama. I'm impressed by his vision, his inclusive leadership style and his ability to balance pragmatism and idealism.
Grandma Otterness - My grandma was diagnosed with cancer in June, and passed away on Dec 26 in her home in Northfield. It has been hard to watch one of the most gracious, sensible and loving women in my life fade away so quickly. But she was active up to the last few months, and it's comforting to know she was surrounded by her family, Grandpa, and caring hospice nurses in these last days. At Christmas I remember the Christ child - and so many of you - who give me the faith to live as though life is more significant than death and that Love will have the final word. Thanks for reading. Merry Christmas. Phillip
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| I recently traveled to Nicaragua, and have begun the process of translating the chicken-scratching in my travel journal into something more readable...
Read about my trip to Nicaragua, here: http://philosophize-this.blogspot.com/ You can also view my photos, here.
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| I wrote this short provocation for a church newsletter last November after participating in the annual SOA Watch vigil and protest spotlighting military brutalities by U.S. trained forces in Latin America.
 "Does your army defend the poor?" This was the question posed to Joe by a man he encountered while serving in the Navy. I met Joe at the annual protest held outside the gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, GA, home to the School of the Americas (now called WHISC). This is a school where Latin American officers are trained by the US military to maintain "peace and liberty" in their home countries.
 The "peace" and the "liberty" they defend is of a certain kind - it is the peace and liberty of the privileged, the connected, and the free-market profiteers who benefit from the economic status-quo (as Americans, this is all of us). Joe was attending the gathering with his godmother. She's a member of the Sisters of Mercy, a religious order that convenes yearly at Fort Benning to advocate on behalf of those whose lives and livelihoods have been sacrificed to the cause of violently enforced global capitalism.
 "Does your army defend the poor?" This question had staying power in Joe's mind, and it stirs his conscience even now, as he works as a corporate engineer for GM. Joe, like myself, is a realist - wary of utopian ideologies, but painfully aware of the reality of suffering caused by an imperialistic economic order. He believes, I believe, and his godmother believes that a better reality is possible, and it is this shared hope that brought such an unlikely trio to the gates of a military compound in Georgia.
To learn more, send me an email.
Phillip Otterness
p.otterness@gmail.com
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| Building off of Oby's 02/03/07 comments on the urgency of confronting global warming:
In the United States, we've transitioned to a service economy where our livelihoods may not be immediately impacted by global warming. For those who are still in the business of agriculture, the shift to a more temperate climate in the US could actually increasing productivity. As for myself, I can run to work in February without freezing, which is nice! So it's easy for us to think, "we can adapt," and perhaps there is some truth to that. But not if our lives are interconnected with those in other parts of the world...and there is no denying they are.
When you travel to the 2nd and 3rd world and see how most people's lives are totally dependent on their ability to grow food, and you see how climate change is already resulting in extreme and prolonged droughts, it gives you a different perspective. My colleagues at Lutheran World Relief bring back stories of communities in Africa who have lived off the land for generations and are now experiencing these droughts. The number of people there who are subjected to hunger and misery as a result of our carbon free-for-all is heartbreaking. In Nicaragua, where I visited in January, droughts also threaten to increase.
And it's not just the poor countries. I read this morning:
"These are ugly decisions, but you either drink water or you die." - PETER
BEATTIE, Premier of Queensland, Australia, who announced that owing to
falling water levels--a result of the country's worst drought on
record--the state will introduce drinking water containing recycled
sewage water, starting next year. (Time Magazine, 02/01/07)
The drought in eastern Australia has not only affected the supply of drinking water. The projected yields for the country's primary crops--wheat, barley and canola--are expected to decrease 60 percent this year. The Prime Minister is suddenly re-thinking his opposition to the Kyoto Treaty (International Herald Tribune, 11/07/06).
“Most scientists agree this is part of an enhanced greenhouse gas
effect,” said Neil Plummer, the [Australian Bureau of Meteorology's] senior climatologist. “Of
Australia’s 20 hottest years [on record], 15 have occurred since 1980.” (Financial Times, 01/03/07)
So, just because the US may, ironically, be benefiting in the short term from global warming (look at the map, below!), don't let it stop you from advocating for global justice. The planet will survive...but the prospects are looking a little bleak for us humans...even us here in the US! What goes around comes around. The government is slow and awkward, but we must use it to voice our collective will and advocate for policies that will ensure a more hopeful future for our neighbors and our descendants.
"This depiction of linear trends in the Palmer Drought
Severity Index from 1948 to 2002 shows drying (reds and pinks) across
much of Canada, Europe, Asia, and Africa and moistening (green)
across parts of the United States, Argentina, Scandinavia, and western
Australia."(http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2005/drought_research.shtml)
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| Last night I watched the police take a man down on his bicycle outside
my house in East Baltimore. After working for a year as a stipended
volunteer at Alternative Directions (ADI), I can imagine what the future
might hold for this man. I can anticipate his journey through the
institutions and bureaucracies which will take custody of his freedoms
and pay lip service to his ‘rehabilitation’. Too often, I saw the
rights of the incarcerated getting lost in the shuffle of paperwork
that follows an arrest, and, too often, I saw men leaving prison
embittered rather than empowered to change their lives. Whatever this
man’s hopes and dreams prior to his arrest, salvaging them may not be
easy.
At ADI, I saw the many faces of
Baltimore's incarcerated. I learned about the difficulties men face as
child support bills they can no longer pay add up. I witnessed the
struggle with additions, fought daily by those with the best
intentions. I looked into the smiling faces of children whose mothers
had been given a second chance at parenthood, and sat in prison lobbies
with family members who had driven across Maryland to visit a loved
one. My ears became attuned to phrases like “false arrests,” the
“revolving door,” “over-crowding,” “racial profiling,” and “police
brutality” in the news. Most significantly, for me, was the opportunity
I had to work side by side with those who had been through the system.
I grew to respect and care for these clients and colleagues who
received support from ADI and are now living examples of the
possibility of rehabilitation.
This year, I saw how long it
takes to change people and institutions. The obstacles to
rehabilitation that prisoners face are many, both personal and
systematic. At ADI, I came to appreciate the gravity
of these obstacles, but also the tenacity of those exceptional people
who are striving to renovate their lives in spite of the barriers.
Change is difficult, but I have hope that, with increasingly robust
support systems for those who want it, those exceptional cases I
witnessed this year might become the norm.
[Submitted on September 29, 2006 for the ADI Annual Report]
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