{"id":139,"date":"2012-01-10T17:48:02","date_gmt":"2012-01-10T22:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/?p=139"},"modified":"2013-02-08T10:22:37","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T15:22:37","slug":"your-invitation-to-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/your-invitation-to-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Your invitation to Washington!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_143\" style=\"width: 100px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2012\/01\/tiny-EAD-general.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-143\" class=\"size-full wp-image-143 \" alt=\"tiny EAD- general\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2012\/01\/tiny-EAD-general.jpg\" width=\"90\" height=\"86\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-143\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ecumenical Advocacy Days<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We certainly live in frustrating times.\u00a0 Reverberations of the struggling U.S. economy are felt across the globe through unemployment, homelessness, hunger, and injustice.\u00a0 The economic downturn has thrust many once-stable families on the cusp of poverty, and further hurt those already on the margins of our society.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the officials <em>we <\/em>elected don\u2019t appear to be helping.\u00a0Washington continues to be dominated by bitterly entrenched partisan divide, resulting in a gridlock that erodes at the average American\u2019s trust in our government.\u00a0 The \u201ckey players\u201d\u2014as they are often called\u2014of both political parties seem distant and unresponsive, and the media often speaks of each side\u2019s \u201cpolitical strategy\u201d as if this was all sport.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to want to stand up and scream that this is not a game and that people\u2019s lives and livelihoods&#8211;their homes, heat for the apartment, gas for the car, and food for the dinner table&#8211; are at stake.\u00a0 It\u2019s also easy to want to throw our hands and in the air and walk away from all of this.\u00a0 \u201cForget this\u2014I\u2019m done caring,\u201d we may mutter under our breath.\u00a0 The reality is, however, we can only take a few steps down the streets of our very own community before being confronted again with the severity of our national (and global) economic problems.<\/p>\n<p>Our God sees our struggle and understands our frustration, but commands us not to walk away.\u00a0 Rather our God calls us to, <em>\u201cShout out, do not hold back!\u00a0 Lift up your voice like a trumpet!\u201d<\/em> (Isaiah 58:1).\u00a0 <em>\u201cIs this not the fast I choose,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0A few verses later, we are asked, <em>\u201cto loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and the break every yoke?\u00a0 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 God then makes an amazing promise: <em>\u201cThen your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly\u2026 If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness\u2026 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places\u2026 and you shall be called the repairers of the breach, and restorers of streets to live in.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 This passage reminds us how to honor God, but also how to heal our world.<\/p>\n<p>This passage will also help guide the tenth annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days, held in Washington, D.C, where hundreds of Christians will explore economy, livelihoods, and our national priorities.\u00a0 For four days (March 23-26) we will worship side-by-side, hear from theologians and policy experts, equip ourselves to speak confidently on key policy issues, and take our message to our elected officials in Congress.\u00a0 As Lutherans, we believe that government can be God\u2019s gift to allow us live together peacefully, and we will explore this together and enjoy fellowship at breakout points during the conference.<\/p>\n<p><strong>* Consider this your personal invitation to come to Washington and be heard! *<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Money tight?\u00a0 We understand, and to help more people attend EAD, the <strong>ELCA is providing scholarships<\/strong>.\u00a0 Deadlines are fast-approaching, so apply SOON by filling out <a href=\"http:\/\/elcaadvocacy.wufoo.com\/forms\/elca-scholarship-ecumenical-advocacy-days\/\">this application<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Know someone who would be interested in a scholarship?\u00a0 Share the application link today!\u00a0 http:\/\/elcaadvocacy.wufoo.com\/forms\/elca-scholarship-ecumenical-advocacy-days\/<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We certainly live in frustrating times.\u00a0 Reverberations of the struggling U.S. economy are felt across the globe through unemployment, homelessness, hunger, and injustice.\u00a0 The economic downturn has thrust many once-stable families on the cusp of poverty, and further hurt those already on the margins of our society. Meanwhile, the officials we elected don\u2019t appear to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Your invitation to Washington! - ELCA Advocacy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/your-invitation-to-washington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your invitation to Washington! - ELCA Advocacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We certainly live in frustrating times.\u00a0 Reverberations of the struggling U.S. economy are felt across the globe through unemployment, homelessness, hunger, and injustice.\u00a0 The economic downturn has thrust many once-stable families on the cusp of poverty, and further hurt those already on the margins of our society. 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