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Category Archives: Nuns on the Bus 2016
Travel Log: Madison Pre-Launch Blessing
Travel Log: Madison Pre-Launch Blessing
Sister Bernadine Karge, OP
July 11, 2016
Rev. Schuler of First Unitarian Society, welcomed more than 300 people and the NETWORK Nuns on the Bus 2016 on a warm sultry night in Madison, Wisconsin. The beautiful First Unitarian Society was filled with energy and excitement as we launched the Mend the Gaps theme for this pre-election time.
Rev. Schuler asked that the scales fall from our eyes as we focus on the seven areas of inequality in our world in 2016: , Tax credits, livng wages, a family friendly workplace, access to healthcare, access to housing, access to democracy (voting rights) and access to citizenship (immigrant rights).
Two sisters introduced the two buzz questions: When did you first vote and for whom did you vote? Who in your family is difficult to speak with about politics? The room roared with laughter, tears, and serious conversation as we engaged on the first step of mending the gaps which touch our lives and those around us.
Lynne and Jini MacAdam told the story of Jini’s sister, Margaret, who died four years ago. Margaret was a strong independent private woman who had various jobs throughout her life. When Margaret lost her job, she lost her health insurance and then lost her life. The Affordable Care Act had passed but it was not yet implemented. When a friend finally got Margaret to the ER, she was diagnosed with 4th stage cancer. Lacking resources, Margaret was not able to get the treatment she needed. Lynne traveled to Cincinnati to see Margaret and asked her to take her picture in her Wisconsin 14 shirt that Lynne had brought to her. In the midst of her vulnerablility, Margaret agreed to have her picture shared in order to help others get the help they need. Margaret the fiercely, painfully private person opened herseld to be seen, to be known. In 2012, Lynne gave Margaret’s photo to Sr. Simone two hours after Margaret’s memorial service at a Nuns on the Bus stop in Cincinnati. Margaret’s presence stenghtens us in the struggle for universal healthcare for all as a pro-life issue. The expansion of Medicaid coverage in all 50 states is what is needed now. In this time of crisis of compassion, Lynne and Jini thanked Sr. Simone for helping heal their family in their sorrow and grief.
A sense of gratitude pervaded the evening. Rabbi Renee Bauer offered a prayer for the journey, not only for the Nuns on the Bus, but for all U.S. Americans in this time of grief and crisis of compassion in our country. The conditions outside the yellow tape need to be mended to bring our country to wholeness and oneness. Rev. Stephen Marsh of Madison Urban Ministry gave the final blessing and sending us forth in the name of justice and Jesus.
Pledge cards were enthusiastically signed, turned in and the bus signing commenced. We had time to mingle, mix and bless each other as we venture forth out of our comfort zone to Mend the Gaps!
Click to watch the slideshow:
Reflection: Day One on the Bus
Reflection: Day One on the Bus
Sr. Larretta Rivera-Williams, RSM
July 12, 2016
My journey to Wisconsin began in North Carolina where I left behind security of home and the familiarity of friends. I was somewhat apprehensive of what I might encounter, but a tinge of excitement bubbled within as I anticipated joining the Nuns On The Bus. I had read with awe articles about Sister Simone Campbell and followed her on social media, but never had I anticipated actually being on one of her justice journeys.
I grew up in a very protective environment during the Civil Rights movement. I lived a very comfortable life, was educated by white religious sisters who taught
me little or nothing about my culture and the reality of the world around me. However, I listened to adults talk about racial and economic injustices, I became fearfully aware of the riots of 1960’s, questioned militant stories about the Black Panther Party, and felt the sadness seen on faces after the assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy. I developed a hunger to know more, but fear of harm gave me little incentive to actively do something about the injustices around me.
Now in one of the most heated and critical times in America, when people are afraid to publicly express their religious and political views, I find myself on a large light blue, green and orange bus — NETWORK Nuns On The Bus — Mending the Gaps. I am gradually being transformed and now speaking before a sea of people about “policies have created the chaos, but policies can create change!”
I listen to the conversations around me as we travel from Wisconsin to Illinois. The tone is light with laughter and solid with excitement of what lies ahead. We will meet supporters and probably those who do not support our efforts. To them wherever we go will be, as Simone says, “a healing presence.”
I have already experienced this healing presence within the voice of the woman who spoke about the death of her younger sister who died of cancer, unable to afford health care. The power of God’s grace filtered throughout the applauding crowd that cheered the accomplishments of a young woman who did not give up after being denied proper mental health care for her bi-polar condition. She shared what it had been like to overcome the struggles of being homeless, jobless, and unable to care for her three young sons.
Tonight as we travel to Springfield, Illinois my heart is full. Although touched by the rawness of humanity my soul delights in the joy of knowing that we, the Nuns On The Bus, have given hope to the hopeless and encouragement to the discouraged as we begin to reweave the fabric of America.
