A New Year begins

Despite the global traumas of the past year, and the uncertainties of political, economic, social, and environmental upheaval we continue to face, I have hope for the new year.

My hope relates to the evolving vision of my Quaker meeting, Bear Creek, in the countryside near Earlham, Iowa. Necessity has forced us to evaluate why the numbers attending our meeting continue to fall. Forced us to consider why we are not meeting the needs of the wider community.

We’ve adapted by using technology to allow those of us living away from the meeting to connect via the Internet. But we increasingly realize there are many reasons why physical presence is crucial for community building. Several of us are considering moving back to the Bear Creek area.

Housing

Available housing is an obstacle for our return.

And there is the recent alarming trend of many people who could take housing for granted all their lives, no longer being able to afford their rent or mortgage payments. The economy has been stagnant and housing prices exploding.

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The controversial federal system for tracking homelessness in the United States recorded an 18% increase from 2023, breaking the record previously set last year, according to a report released Friday.

US Report Finds Homelessness Soared 18% This Year By Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams. December 28, 2024

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This will likely increase the consideration of Quakers who may be facing their own housing crunch, to move back to the supportive communities they grew up in.

We have often discussed that it is in working on projects together, being able to see tangible results, that builds community despite political differences.

We will continue to explore our (Bear Creek Quaker meeting’s) housing vision. Which I think could involve us designing and doing the construction of affordable, high-density housing, with common areas for cooking and bathrooms. Those who need shelter could be involved in building theirs. And the concept of collecting monthly rent for housing should not be done.

I know there are several Quaker community housing projects.

Water, food and shelter are basic necessities, and basic human rights, which we have failed to provide for far too many people.

Gimme Shelter

As often happens, this post has taken an unexpected turn. I kept thinking about the Rolling Stone’s song, Gimme Shelter, as I was thinking about housing. I didn’t remember it was about the Vietnam War, the domestic side of which I lived through, and helped determine the course of my life when, as an 18-year-old at the Quaker boarding school, Scattergood Friends School, I was led to be a draft resister.

This also relates to the Israeli war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide, especially targeting children, that has been the focus of my peace work for more than a year. Mick Jagger said, “Vietnam was not war as we knew it in the conventional sense. The thing about Vietnam was that it wasn’t like World War II, and it wasn’t like Korea, and it wasn’t like the Gulf War. It was a real nasty war, and people didn’t like it. People objected, and people didn’t want to fight it…”

The Israeli war is also not war as we knew it.

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No shelter in Gaza