Some Fresno thoughts...

The commute across the street to the Dickey Youth Center was one of the best--and, I was able to speak to the Leadership Fresno class about Ruby Payne's "Framework of Poverty." Talking to a group of middle class people, about class differences between poverty, middle class and wealth. It was personal, because I was speaking with a backdrop of my own neighborhood, standing where I had a clear view of my own house. I could use examples of my own neighbors, but, I did not want my neighbors, my friends, or my neighborhood to be the "check that I keep cashing," or to be the great punchline to my little message. This is MY life here, too. This is the LIFE of my neighbors, they are not sermon illustrations, or calls to action, or emotional tools, they are people, with lives that matter.
I will return in a few hours to give that "call to action." I will ask people to get off the proverbial bus, to engage rather than just be exposed. I will suggest that they touch, rather than react. I will suggest that they should move, rather than stagnate and simply "feel" concerned.
In my 8 years here in Fresno, I have seen very, very few organizations, and even fewer churches make any significant difference in the lives of my neighbors, or in the lives of people living in poverty anywhere in this city. Few. Rare. Exceptionally rare. There is a god-knows too much talk about "transformation," with no transformative actions. There are classes and seminars and chats and forums and luncheons, breakfasts and dinners about the needs, but, little consequential action>which just seems to intensify the problem, and magnify the need. For all the talk about an "asset-based approach," the often well-meaning "sages" of Fresno transformation have yet to make a dent. Yeah, I know, I'm included in that tribe--as much as I would like to delete myself from that grouping--I don't want to be known as a "former..." or as an "at large" or definitely DO not call me a "relocator." I LOCATED with the intention to stay--if I was a "RE..." anything, then, I could have the option to RE...again. But, I don't think that I do. I am NOT a relocator. I am an investor. My house, my savings, my profession, my values, my life. Invested here on Divisadero St., Cultural Arts District, Lowell Neighborhood, Downtown Fresno, Central San Joaquin Valley, California. I put my stake here, and I was asked to come here "for the rest of my life." I don't think they meant it with that invitation, or ever thought that I would. But, I am here. (essentially, now deal with it. )
The transformation tribe never quite understood "equipping." They just didn't "get it." Maybe they were chasing skirt too much, maybe they were allowing others, even their beloved pastors, to be distracted by lust and money, or the "lust for money." But, they didn't and don't have the theological framework to understand Ephesians 4:11, 12, or the moxie to do something with it. In equipping, you are required to give away your power, to yield your influence, to release your own agenda for the agenda of others. You have to stop being fascinated by your own influence and agenda, and live for another's glory and agenda. In many ways, you must yield your dreams for the dreams of others. Buying an old house and moving into a lower class neighborhood is no more than a sham if there is no equipping of your neighbors to be able to leave the neighborhood and take their kids to better schools, safer, quieter streets, and real community.
The failed nonp;rofits in Fresno, many led by so-called "faith-based" leaders were failed by this ego, failed by this lack of yielding, failed by the vice-grip of control and "good ol boyism", even if the good ol boys were/are the white/black evangelicals and quasi-evangelical episcopalians and armenians. These organizations failed due to lack of LEADERSHIP, not lack of funding. There is a consistency of names on those board rosters--some of the same names were on each of those boards. It stems back to more than the "mennonite mafia," but to the tiny cluster of larger than life egos that started some organizations in Fresno many years ago. They see themselves as the rscuers and heroes, they cannot relinquish the control. They still have their hands of influence in city hall, though that is diminishing daily. They still strut their stuff at their monthly luncheons.
So, what is my call to action this afternoon?
If you have never been a part of a board of directors before, then, we want you.
If you have never stepped up to serve on a commission before, we want you.
if your name has never been in the Bee, or you have never been asked to pray before a council meeting or a Grizzlies game. We want you.
If you name is unpronouncable. We want you.
If the words "tolerance" and "pluralism" have a positive place in your vocabulary, we want you.
We don't just want you, we NEED you.
Get off the bus--and do something.