Still Prophetic After All These Years!

This year is Lee’s 70th birthday, but it was a quieter affair than on his 65th. At that time five years ago I had little or no perspective on Lee, so I had to rely on what people had to say about him at his party. I remember getting an invitation to a birthday party for a man I had met about six months before, and had met in person a handful of times, but was primarily in touch with only by email. When my wife and I set foot into the coffee shop where the party was held, everyone there was a stranger. Eventually, I got a keener appreciation for Lee and went away saying to Kelli that he seemed to be a person I needed to be around more. It rang clearly that he was the type of person who would carry me to a new place in life; and a good thing because things were in a meltdown with my father that year. Meanwhile, at this party, there was so much praise and fondness going around for Lee—from fellow social activists or spiritually minded people and indeed his kids who told stories that shot to my heart—that I was certain this was a big clue to my future.

I was sort of hoping he’d have a 70th birthday bash so that I too could share a message of appreciation, but this time not as a wallflower. Not as a stranger. I’ve had time to absorb the JEM message for five years now and now am doing my share to help multiply and magnify it using the types of digital media skills I once used for shameless self promotion which ended up coming to naught anyway. I do know there is a distinction between JEM and Lee, but for me, Lee is the face of JEM. I know he rightly defers to others when specific topics are addressed and require more detailed handling, but for me, Lee is the one with the big picture understanding that I find appealing. From my vantage point, he is JEM. However you cut it, this is my aperture on a new vision for how to live, and that is the stuff that matters.

Only this year was I given language to address the influence Lee has had in my life as a new form of father-authority figure. In the male spirituality work that Fr. Richard Rohr leads men on, the ultimate place to arrive in the spiritual journey is to become a grand-father. That is, the elder who can laugh at the absurdities of life, who has lived past the pains and trials and can see it all adding up to something. The grand-father can accept the both/and reality of things, not needing to force things to one end of an either/or continuum. Once I was given that language it was clear to me that Lee had been that figure already—one tempered by the personal bout with cancers, or the frustration of leading mainline congregations and retiring a bit early. Or the man who knows that despite the dismal picture of our world, there is every reason to hope we might get it right anyway because God ultimately brings things along to a right orientation, even in spite of ourselves. That we might look within and change, turn, repent, transform, metamorph, or any other word you like to indicate that shift he speaks about. Lee can tell us with true lived authority that none of this is easy. He’s seen too much to know better. At the age when men get too comfortable and able to rest on their laurels, and either go gamble their savings away or swing clubs at balls, Lee has the holy itch and is trying to change the world with what seems to be an increasing drive despite increasing chronological age. That was clear five years ago, but this year, with our podcasts, blogging, video, and other projects on the board, it is undeniable. Lee is shouting out prophetically in the wilderness, as much as that is possible on a corporately created and maintained Internet!

According to Rohr, Lee’s authority is his ability to author (generate) life for other people—among whom I count myself. At the moment Lee and I have a symbiosis that was a few years in coming. It was clear he had a vision that was transformative for me when I needed new wisdom. He was, after all, the one who finally made the Bible appealing to me and that is no small feat. Only this year did I finally present myself as an agent to help spread his understanding of things, his passion for the Gospel that God can still surprise us, and as a collaborator using tools that were a bit out of Lee’s reach. The clock is ticking—not just for Lee and me (though I’d like to write quintennial updates on this essay a few more times). The clock is ticking—counting away living species or barrels of useful energy or gallons of fresh water. As I write, things aren’t getting better in the halls of power. No sense in waiting for a top-down solution, though there is no reason to shut off the hope for one, either. With every news report that details a slow collapse of the old ways of doing things, I understand it as a way to adopt something better—incrementally and in whatever way makes sense right now in a given situation.

The voice that is missing on Marketplace or the other shows that dissect current economic trends is Lee’s. Our podcast is one way to fill that void. It is a modest effort, I know. I am not natively a radio producer but I all I ever listen to is public radio and know that I get vastly more from that medium than from any other. My background is in music recording and editing. After the thirty something years of pulpit time, Lee does have a voice and an ability to convey information and relate stories. The text he writes is important, but his passion comes through with audio. So, I have a task for you. If you are hosting Lee as a speaker, preacher, lecturer, or panelist, then I want you to record whatever you can of that work. I can’t be there for all of it and so far we aren’t equipped to capture things in all situations. But most venues or organizations will have something on hand, or someone daring or passionate enough to get a feed off a podium mic or wireless. We can clean it later, but the first task is to capture it. Any material we get could be used for podcasts or other archival material. Your participation in this could be a lasting gift to Lee, not just for this birthday, but for many to come.

Lee left the congregational life as pastor about a decade ago, but he has come to see the world as his congregation, and those of you who subscribe to our podcast or blog are the folks who are in the front pews of his new church. Or synagogue. Or mosque. He wouldn’t care what house you’re in. He just wants your attention and the keys to your heart so that some seed he can plant there will grow up into the fruits of economic and social reimagining and renewal. JEM is his true calling, and I’d like to help raise its profile a bit, and to help fulfill Lee’s idea for making Jubilee-Economics.org become the go-to place for information on this topic. The new website is the new hub of Lee’s work, where word, speech, and image are all given a chance to be hosted together. It will ultimately be a major part of Lee’s legacy, the legacy of a man initiated by life and struggle, able to author new life for you and me, and at a time when it is desperately needed.

John Lennon would have turned 70 this year too. He’s not with us anymore. But Lee is, and he’s carrying the torch to inspire us to imagine all the people living lives in peace. Here’s to the unrealistic visions of our prophets and poets!

Happy Birthday, Lee!

Comments

[Lee Van Ham]

Ed, you have written many things here that fit with how I'd like to live in the world. Thank you very much for taking time to do this and completely embarrass me by posting it to the JEM site. I especially appreciate that what you've written here includes a lot of your own story, what's impacted you, and your own evolution in what you've written. It's been great working with you on this web presence. I'm hoping others will also want to use this website to share what's impacting them and working for them.