Today’s inspirational piece is about the singer, Joan Baez. I have never met Baez, even though we share the Quaker tradition. I have long admired her for both her music and her ministry. When I think about ministry, I do so in the Quaker sense of a wide and expansive ministry. We do not limit that term to ordained ministers. Rather everyone who claims to be spiritual---certainly in a Christian sense---has a ministry. In Latin the term simply means to “serve.” We are all called to be servants---to God and each other. Baez has done this.
She came back into my consciousness when I read a piece announcing that she will be honored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Baez is now eighty years old and still going strong. Colman McCarthy wrote this piece and acknowledged, “Her voice remains as pure as it was when the nation first heard it at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. Equally so, her commitment to nonviolence and human rights has been unwavering." I was struck first by the fact this means Joan Baez has been in most of my adult life. No wonder I have such long memories of her.
While Quakers are not the only group with a commitment to nonviolence, we do work in that area. The thing I always admire about Baez is her willingness to put herself on the line. And she has a long history now of being involved in cases where she can help make a difference. McCarthy gives some detail to this long history. He says, “she helped establish a West Coast office for Amnesty International and marched with the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr in Mississippi, Cesar Chavez in California, Mairead Corrigan in Belfast and Lech Walesa in Poland.” He added a final touch by noting, “In 1972, she visited POW camps in North Vietnam and took to underground shelters to survive President Nixon’s Christmas B-52 bombing raids in Hanoi.”
McCarthy then quotes Baez, who said, “I've done lots of things in my lifetime, and I know that I am least happy when I am least involved in social action…” I smile at this and have no doubt it is true. I find it a challenge to up my game a bit. It reminds me how easy it is to talk about doing stuff, but Baez always puts in the effort to do something. She has even used her music to do the important work of justice and peace building. Part of why I wanted to reflect on this is for the personal challenge and maybe offer the same challenge to the readers.
McCarthy puts it bluntly: “Joan is the antithesis of the celebrity dabbling in the cause of the day.” I don’t want to be just a dabbler! I have done some things that clearly have made a difference. And I also know that making a difference is not what one might think. When we are involved in social justice work, the difference may not be what we wanted. It might not be as much as we hoped for. I remember the response of Dorothy Day, I believe it was, who was active feeding the poor in New York City and dealing with the homeless. When asked why she did not get depressed about the lack of long-term success, retorted, “God called me to be obedient, not to be successful.” Such has been the career of Baez.
McCarthy recounts how Baez responded to the news that the Kennedy Center was going to honor her. She appreciates the honor. But I like the way she frames it. She begins by confessing, “It has been my life's joy to make art.” She is indeed an artist. She could have continued in this vein for some few paragraphs. But quickly, she turns the corner. She has done other things that bring joy to her life.
She said, “It's also been my life's joy to make, as the late Congressman John Lewis called it, 'good trouble.'” I appreciate the idea of making “good trouble.” For sure, that is a good way to understand what she has been doing. She has combined two kinds of art and they have brought her joy. She continued, “What luck to have been born with the ability to do both; each one giving strength and credibility to the other.” Having made these points, she is now ready to offer her appreciation. She acknowledged, “I am indebted to many for a privileged life here. I've tried to share my good fortune with others anywhere and everywhere in the world.”
It has not always been easy sledding. She admits, “Sometimes there have been risks, but they are only a part of the meaning of it all.” Perhaps it is because so many of us are not willing to take any risks that we have not made good trouble. It is easy to be complacent and complicit!
And now she is ready for the thanks. “I extend my deepest thanks to the Kennedy Center for recognizing me, my art, and the good trouble I've made.” I wonder if the Kennedy Center knew they were also recognizing a good troublemaker! Of course, they knew it. Maybe that is why it has taken so long. I admire her. And I want to rise to the challenge of becoming a better good troublemaker.
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election. He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!” I think Brooks puts
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