By Sister Barbara Pfarr, SSND
November 2, 2014
Sunday afternoon we pulled up to an energized, faithful
community of activists waiting for us on a frosty Houdini Plaza in Appleton,
Wisconsin. Who are these people who would bundle up to welcome a group of
strangers with such warmth and enthusiasm and then go off on a Sunday afternoon
to knock on doors and make phone calls to mobilize voters? There's something of
Houdini's magic that can make such a sense of shared community, solidarity,
faith, urgency, cooperation, hope, inspiration happen so quickly.
The magic happened again that night in Madison at our Town
Hall for the 100% at the Unitarian Church. We ask the participants to
"Buzz for a minute with your neighbors...when was your first time to vote?
... Where do you find hope?... Who in your family is difficult to talk to about
politics?" Then we ask, "What concerns you in our nation as we move
towards the election?" These buzz questions are followed by very
passionate discussion and sharing about the challenges our nation faces and
what the best way forward is. What's the hunger that a handful of nuns on a
colorful bus can satisfy? That's the magic. That's the Spirit.
