Local Citizens Can Do Court Observation

This is the monthly Daily News-Record 'Justice Matters'
column for November, written by Melissa Svigelj and
Jenni Holsinger

Do you ever wonder what goes on in our local General District and  Circuit Courts? As with many of the 150 lower courts in Virginia’s judicial system, these courts handle a high volume of routine criminal cases, as well as civil cases and traffic infractions. In 2024, more than 36,000 cases were processed in the Rockingham/Harrisonburg General District Court alone.

Except in certain circumstances, courtrooms are open to the public, so community members often attend court sessions to show support for neighbors, friends, and loved ones, as part of their job, or to engage in civic life. The right of Americans to observe the functioning of their justice systems is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. As residents, we are invited to take part in this democratic tradition in order to ensure that our courts reflect our community values and aspirations, for example, around ideas such as fairness, accountability, public safety, and individual freedoms.

According to data from a 2019 national survey, 15% of counties across the U.S. were making efforts to encourage public observation of proceedings in their local courts. Courts and communities recognize that this type of civic engagement builds trust between residents and their courts, leading to a more responsive, community-centered judicial system. Previous issues of this column have highlighted some challenges in the local legal system and how engaged residents and citizen groups like the Valley Justice Coalition have contributed to improvements.

In 2024, the Valley Justice Coalition identified the need to learn more about what happens in Harrisonburg’s General District and Circuit Courts. An informal planning committee was formed to determine the scope and goals of such a program and to investigate similar projects in other communities. During additional meetings in late 2024 and early 2025, Dr. Melissa Svigelj, an Assistant Professor at James Madison University (JMU), and Dr. Jenni Holsinger, an Associate Professor at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), agreed to collaborate as organizers of a Community-Court Connection (C3) project in Harrisonburg.

The lower courts in Rockingham/Harrisonburg make some case information available to the public. One way to supplement public information from the courts is to engage local citizens, organizations, and stakeholders in collecting information about their local courts. In other cities that have adopted court observation programs, these efforts have contributed to more equitable and accountable legal systems and a more informed citizenry. These programs are successful largely because of community volunteers who attend court sessions and gather data that is collated and shared with the public online. A court observation program and local schools can also mutually benefit from the opportunities provided to students and future professionals working in the community.

Having students explore what meaningful citizenship entails and investigate how concepts of justice are developed and enacted in different areas of society are integral components of courses in the Department of Justice Studies at JMU. In Sociology and Criminology courses at EMU, students examine how institutional processes reproduce broader patterns of inequality and develop research skills that prepare them for professional careers. Both C3 organizers embrace the notion that students learn ethical civic engagement best when it is incorporated into the learning experience.

Through the newly designed Communities and Courts course at JMU, seventeen students with majors and minors in the Department of Justice Studies were trained alongside community volunteers by local attorneys on August 28th to become court observers. Since then, students and volunteers have been attending General District and Circuit Court sessions in downtown Harrisonburg for one hour each week and completing observation forms. Students at EMU also contribute by collecting data for the project.

Every few months, students and organizers will publish the information gathered from court observations on the publicly available Community-Court Connection website: https://sites.lib.jmu.edu/cccharrisonburg/. Court observers never record or publish names or personal identifying information of court attendees in their data collection. The website also explains how to become a court observer volunteer and provides access to training, the court observer agreement form, a volunteer manual, and the necessary documents and forms for observing courts.

The Community-Court Connection (C3) invites everyone interested in learning more about the project and how to become involved to visit the website and email organizers at cccharrisonburg@community-court-connection.org. No legal experience is required to help us connect our community with what happens in local courts. We hope you’ll join us!

The authors are active members of the Valley Justice Coalition.

With The Demise Of Apostles, Prophets And Evangelists, Are Pastors And Teachers Next?

Is the church suffering from a lack of these five
kinds of leaders?

He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. 

Ephesians 4:11-13 (CEV)

Apostles (sent ones) were recognized in the early church as having a special first hand relationship to Jesus, especially those who were his disciples throughout his ministry, and as having a special role in establishing communities of faithful followers of "The Way." Paul, Barnabas, and Junia, though not of the Twelve, are also recognized as functioning in that role, and the term came to used for emissaries of the faith to outlying regions or people groups, such as Patrick, "the apostle of Ireland" or Boniface, the "apostle of the Germans." Apostles are laser focused on helping believers remain faithful to the life and teaching of Jesus, and to help expand the network of Jesus followers around the world.

Prophets are equally invested in maintaining the integrity and faithfulness of God's people. According to Richard Rohr, prophecy is "the least licensed and rewarded of any of the charisms (gifts) or ministries." To maintain their integrity and ability to speak truth even when it is unpopular, Rohr believes they should avoid dependence on financial rewards, "in order to ensure the freedom of their soul and its message." They are a necessary and often missing expression of Jesus's role as Prophet and Truth-teller in God's worldwide empire.

Evangelists are often thought of as Billy Graham types who bring gospel messages to large crowds. But in the New Testament they are more likely ordinary believers with a special passion for sharing the good news that God loves everyone and is recruiting people from all over the world to join a movement governed by the Prince of Peace. With fewer people identified as evangelists today, the church has become dependent on outsourcing their recruiting efforts to special mission agencies and to mega church preachers with the goal of selling the gospel as if it were a product. Such efforts are often led by charismatic personalities and involve huge investments in church real estate and salaried staff rather than being a natural part of each congregation's ministry.

This leaves pastors and teachers, often people hired from outside the congregation as trained specialists in caregiving and preaching, and as the primary means of nurture in our churches. But is that really what God intends?

What if we were to revive the first century tradition of having home-grown and Spirit-confirmed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers emerge from each of our communities of faith?

I welcome your comments.

Reflecting Anabaptist Values in our Investing

Glen Kauffman has been a long
time friend and financial advisor.

Some years ago Alma Jean and I decided to transfer as much of our retirement savings in Community Investment Notes as possible. These are low interest loans to organizations that promote such things as agricultural development,  alternative energy projects, and microlending to deserving people around the world. Glen Kauffman. a financial planner with Everence Financial, was very helpful to us in setting up this kind of alternative to our Mammon-driven stock market economy. 

While the interest earned is little more than what is needed to keep up with inflation, we see this as a way of having our money work for us in ways that really matter.

Glen presented the following as a part of a November 15 panel on "Rebirth of Anabaptism: Just, Joyful and Sustainable Living." 

 Reflecting Anabaptist Values in our Investing

I’m glad for the opportunity to share my thoughts about ways we can reflect our Anabaptist values in the ways we invest. 

Before I jump into this topic, I want to take a minute to share some thoughts from Everence stewardship theologian Lynn Miller. Years ago, Lynn wrote a book entitled “The Power o Enough” in which he encourages contentment as a way to be faithful. He asks, "Are we able (and willing) to live contentedly with the resources that free us to be who God has created us to be and what God has created us to do?"

I like his approach. It keeps me focused on what is necessary to fulfill God’s will for my life, rather than adjusting my standard of living based on what is available (if my income increases) or what someone ays that I need to be happy or satisfied.

Let’s talk about how our values can impact the ways we invest. I don’t intend for my comments to be prescriptive but rather invite each of you to determine for yourselves how to implement these ideas in your financial planning. I will share 3 different approaches for you to consider.

The first option would be to use socially responsible mutual funds. These funds have developed social screens that they use when investing for their shareholders. Here are the core values some such funds use when making investment decisions:

• Respect the dignity and value of all persons

• Build a world at peace and free from violence

• Demonstrate a concern for justice in a global society

• Exhibit responsible management practices

• Support and involve communities

• Practice environmental stewardship

This option is relatively easy to access and doesn’t require a large investment.

The second possibility would be accessing a fee-based managed account where you grant the manager discretion to invest the money in the account according to your objectives and risk tolerance. These accounts often provide broader diversification and allow the manager access to mutual funds, ETFs, and individual stocks / bonds. This option gives the manager greater flexibility to incorporate your values. Managed Accounts can include some personalization depending upon the capability of the portfolio manager. I will simply share some of the focused types of portfolios that are available:

• "Green" focused portfolios for investors interested in the environment

• Peace or justice focused portfolios

• Traditional values focused portfolios to name a few example types of these focused investment options

Managed accounts often require a larger minimum investment to open an account.

There is a third option for persons who desire strongly that their investments have maximum impact and wish to assist non-profit organizations. There are organizations for instance that offer community investment notes. These notes pay a fixed rate of return for 1-5 years and give individuals the ability to select an impact sector if they wish to focus their investment. The impact sectors include Affordable Housing, Education, Community Development, Microfinance, and Sustainable Agriculture.

All investing involves risk, and this type of focused investing is called ESG investing. It does involve the exclusion of certain securities for non-financial reasons as I have noted. This may result in an investor forgoing some market opportunities that may have been available to those not focusing on such criteria. There is no guarantee that any investment goal will be met. All investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the investments carefully before investing. If investing in funds, the prospectus contains this and other information about the funds. 

Contact your financial professional to obtain a prospectus first if you find one that interests you, Then you should be read it carefully before investing or sending money.

I will be glad to provide additional information on any of these types of investments or others to persons who are interested in having a conversation or have questions.

Now because of my profession, my compliance has some things I have to say to be here today:

I offer Securities through Cetera Wealth Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. My advisory services are offered through Cetera Investment Advisers LLC, a registered investment adviser. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity. My office is located at 841 Mt. Clinton Pike Suite A in Harrisonburg, VA 22802 if any of you want to visit.

Stories Of Martyrs Forever Changed My Life

Pat, with her husband Earl, practice 

radical hospitality in our community.

Pat Martin gave this presentation as a panelist at the November 15 workshop on "Anabaptist Rebirth: Living Justly, Joyfully and Sustainably," at the Harrisonburg Mennonite Church. 

I share this with her permission:

Simply Live!

We are here to think about what it might mean to be Anabaptist in the 21st century, and maybe to ask ourselves whether we still share the values of our early Anabaptist forebears. 

I remember as a 9- or 10-year-old, sitting in the library of the old Eastern Mennonite College Administration Building, waiting for my father, who had an office in an alcove overlooking the library. I’m not sure how, but one day I found a copy of the Martyrs’ Mirror, maybe in the stacks, or perhaps it was lying open on a pedestal. 

I was both fascinated and horrified, perhaps not unlike the attraction many youngsters today have to horror movies. I pored over the etchings of Anabaptists being killed in the most gruesome ways possible—being drowned, burned at the stake, beheaded, buried alive—and I still remember wondering when it would be my turn. I kept returning, on occasion, to the pictures and stories, and it was often those nights that I had a hard time getting to sleep.

But it was such influences that informed my understandings of faith and life growing up. It was the wall plaque in our home with Menno Simons’s quote: “True evangelical faith, cannot lie dormant, it clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it serves those that harm it, it binds up that which is wounded, it has become all things to all people.”

And it was grandparents and parents who, in the way they lived their lives, tried to follow the teachings of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

So early on, I tried to be perfect. I too wanted to follow the teachings of Jesus, even if it meant losing my life. In my early 20's, I went with Mennonite Central Committee to work in Vietnam during the American war there, thinking it would be a good way to test my commitment to non-violence. During our second term with MCC in Vietnam, Earl and I and by then two small children, chose to try to  live, as closely as possible to the Vietnamese around us—with no electricity, running water or indoor plumbing. We washed our clothes and bathed at the well we shared with neighbors. We learned how to use a squat toilet outside our house. We went to the market daily for food and cooked over a charcoal stove. 

We soon learned that we needed help to live simply. We needed an extended family.

Quaker friends brought a young Vietnamese woman to help us learn how to simply live! Trinh was a 19-year-old refugee woman, who we were to later learn had lost her mother when a U.S. plane dropped a napalm bomb on their home, just 25 miles south of where we were living. This young woman not only taught me how to cook and preserve food without refrigeration, but she also showed me how to live joyfully without resentment.

During the last months of the war in 1975, as fighting intensified and people around us were living in fear, Trinh lived open-heartedly, without anxiety, and loved us and our children as her own family. Trinh has become a model for me in how to accept whatever life brings—to “simply live,” which is what I intended the title of my presentation to be, not Simple Living, as printed in your program.

Over the years, particularly as our three children were growing up, I never seemed to have time to pull away and find time for quiet reflection and prayer, but I did find it helpful to “Practice the Presence of God,” something I learned much later, as introduced by Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century Carmelite friar, who said the secret of living in the kingdom of God here on earth is the art of “practicing the presence of God, who paints Himself in the depths of our souls.”

The Buddhists talk about mindfulness, which seems to me to be a similar idea. In 1969, on our way home from Vietnam the first time, we stopped in France for a month and visited with the
Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, at the community he established after he was exiled from South Vietnam in 1966 for expressing opposition to the war and refusing to take sides. One morning after breakfast we found ourselves washing dishes together with Nhat Hanh. He picked up a rice bowl and said, “When you wash the rice bowl, you focus all your attention on the smoothness of the bowl, the smell of the soap, the wetness of the dish cloth, the warmth of the sun streaming through the window. You don’t wash dishes quickly and thoughtlessly so you can get on to doing something else, you simply live mindfully into whatever it is you are doing at any given moment.

Adam Bucko, director of the Center for Spiritual Imagination, says: “In the end, contemplation is not about escaping life but entering it more fully. It is how we listen for God in the silence—and how we hear God in the cries of the poor, the groaning of creation, and the joy of being alive. It is how we
remember what’s good and live from that place for the sake of the world.”

I used to say that I wanted to try to live at a level that is sustainable for everyone in the world, and I still think about this often, but I have found it’s hard to know what that is. I try to live simply, but I am beginning to understand that living as an Anabaptist, in today’s world, may call for a deeper understanding of what that might look like.

Jesus might say to my younger self striving for perfection: Even if you are baptized by sprinkling as a young adult, and stay involved with your church, and do alternative service as a conscientious objector to war, and live simply and grow healthy food for your family, and give generously to good causes, and yes, even die as a martyr, but do not love your life and the people in your life, you have missed my message.

In this day and age, where Christianity is being tied to nationalism, we as Anabaptist followers of Jesus are challenged to simply live with a new awareness of the path we are on—a path that Father Richard Rohr says “will call for a total transformation of consciousness, worldview, motivation, goals, and rewards that characterize one who loves and is loved by God.” Grace, he says, always has the last word. We are not the primary doer in the world of love. It is being done unto us.

In 1997, when Earl and I moved to Harrisonburg for me to complete the Masters in Conflict Transformation program at EMU, we anticipated returning to Asia, once again, with Mennonite
Central Committee—this time as regional Peace Advocates.

But life presented us with a different path that called for us to stay put. And out of that disappointment, another long-term dream emerged—to provide a place of hospitality. Along with another couple, we found a large house to rent here in Harrisonburg that could accommodate other people living with
us. Since I was helping, at that time, to provide leadership for the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, we started by inviting international students to move in with us—sharing meals, transportation, friendship and life. We called ourselves the Open Table Community.

After a few years, when some neighboring apartments became available to sublet, our community grew to include, at times, other EMU students, people needing temporary housing as they looked for jobs and apartments to rent, homeless people, returning citizens, people struggling with their mental health, sometimes relatives and friends, even two Turkish businesswomen who needed a break from New York City. Three marriages and four babies also added their excitement to our community life.

Over the last 27 years, more than 150 people from over 40 countries have been part of the Open Table Community. 

Henri Nouwen talks about hospitality as that space where people are free to sing their own songs, speak their own languages, pray their own prayers, dance their own dances and follow their own vocations. We experienced this shared hospitality. Despite the diversity of our cultures and beliefs, we were graced with a love that enabled us to live together, pray together, cry together, laugh together, and dream together of a world where the Kingdom of God, the Beloved Community became a reality.

For Earl and I, simply living into the path that seemed so hard to accept at first was a process of transformation. We could not think our way into transformation, but had to live ourselves into it, often weeping our way through it.

I have come to believe that the sacred task we have as Anabaptists, perhaps even as humans, in this 21st century is to simply live in the present,

whether we  are moving or staying
whether we are working or playing
whether we are weeping or laughing
whether we are sick or healthy
whether we doubt or whether we believe
even whether or not we can pray, at any given moment,

we are being called by God to be fully alive and to love even as God loves us.

Toward the end of his life, Menno Simons wrote, “Without this love, it is all vain, whatever we may know, judge, speak, do or write. The property and fruit of love is meekness, kindness, not envious, not crafty, not deceitful, not puffed up, nor selfish. In short, where there is love, there is a Christian.”

Not Your Ordinary Hymn Sing

 

I love our church's new hymnal, and
it's increased use of hymns with we, us,
and our language for corporate worship;

It's hard to imagine a school's alma mater, its cheerleader chants, or a statement of purpose recited at any organization's gatherings that would use singular pronouns in the text. Yet many songs in our hymnals focus exclusively on our individual relationship with God, which might be appropriate for one's personal praise and worship time (as in the beloved "I Come to the Garden Alone" for example), but for public gatherings?

Here's a proposal for a novel kind of hymn sing I'd love to be an experimental part of, as follows: 

First, participants would be seated in the round. hopefully in a place with great acoustics, enabling them to be singing to and with each other, and using all plural rather than singular pronouns in the hymns selected. 

In going through our church's newest hymnal as a part of my morning meditation time, I have been trying out some pronoun substitutions. Many of the hymns, especially those coming from a pietistic tradition, are primarily personal testimony songs, which isn't a bad thing, but it seems reasonable to me that most of what we sing when we are together should use the pronouns we, us and our in the lyrics. This is already true of the first 41 gathering hymns in Voices Together, and in many of the familiar texts in all of our hymnals.

There is precedent for making certain changes in our hymns, as in avoiding or reducing the use of masculine pronouns, as in the exclusive use of he, his him, man, mankind, etc. So changing some wording in our hymns isn't unheard of. 

I'm not saying that beloved songs like Blessed Assurance, When Peace Like a River, and others shouldn't be retained as they are, but many hymns could be modified to help us think more in terms of an Anabaptist concept of "corporate discipleship" by the use of plural pronouns.

And for future hymnals, fewer thees, thous and thines might not hurt either, though I can also appreciate some such reminders of our ancient heritage. 

But how would these texts feel when sung together?

VT 605 My Life Flows On (Our Lives Flow On)

1 Our lives flow on in endless song,

above earth’s lamentation.

We catch the sweet, though far-off hymn

that hails a new creation.

Refrain:

No storm can shake our inmost calm

while to that Rock we're clinging.

Since Love is lord of heav’n and earth,

how can we keep from singing?

2 Through all the tumult and the strife,

We hear that music ringing.

It finds an echo in our souls.

How can we keep from singing? [Refrain]

3 What though our joys and comforts die,

We find new joy in living.

What though the darkness gather round?

We waken to thanksgiving. [Refrain]

4 The peace of Christ makes fresh our hearts,

a fountain ever springing!

All things are ours since we are his!

How can we keep from singing? [Refrain]

VT 557 Spirit of God! Descend:

1 Spirit of God, descend upon our hearts,
wean them from sin, through all their pulses move.
Stoop to our weakness, mighty as you are,
and make us love you as we ought to love.

2 We ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
no sudden rending of the veil of clay,
no angel visitant, no opening skies;
but take the dimness of our souls away.

3 Did you not bid us love you, God and King,
love you with all our heart and strength and mind?
We see the cross— there teach our hearts to cling.
O let us seek you and O let us find!

4 Teach us to feel that you are always near;
teach us the struggles of the soul to bear,
to check the rising doubt, the troubling fear;
teach us the patience of unceasing prayer.

5 Teach us to love you as your angels love,
one holy passion filling all my frame:
the baptism of the heaven-descended Dove;
our hearts an altar, and your love the flame.

I think in most cases this would not require reprinting all the texts for use in a hymn sing, but before each verse the modified text could be read with the changes of pronouns.

Here's a link to a post on a related theme https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-father-who-art-in-heaven-paying.html

Stone Soup And Some Serious Talk About $$$$

Sam Funkhouser, a Princeton Seminary
graduate, a farmer, and a member of the
Old German Baptist Brethren, New Con-
ference, gave the keynote address at a
workshop on "Anabaptist Rebirth:
Just, Joyful and Sustainable Living."

Eighty people showed up at the Harrisonburg Mennonite Church yesterday for some serious Bible study and reflection on the level of wealth and privilege we've come to feel entitled to, as in a quote by Funkhouser in the flier produced for the occasion: "We live like royalty, enjoy a level of prosperity that is unjust and unsustainable, and that is predicated on the poverty of others...  Nothing could be more clear in the teachings of Jesus and the prophets than a condemnation of this kind of wealth."

Some months ago I got the following response from a church leader I had reached out to regarding the event: "The quote from Brother Funkhouser could come across as confrontational vs. conversational in tone which will appeal to the already convinced.... I don’t think this was your intention as planners but does indicate a bias of the desired impact/outcomes of the event. I am not suggesting these biases are wrong, but only that they may be perceived negatively and off putting by some thus keeping away those you most hope to attract."

I thought about that a lot as we went through the day together at Harrisonburg Mennonite. Maybe he's right. Maybe we are just preaching to the choir. But most in attendance welcomed the opportunity to address this question and to engage in conversation in their table groups and over the lunch hour, where we enjoyed a "stone soup" stew made with chopped vegetables participants brought with them. And in the spirit of renewed concern over our world neighbors in need, over $2000 was raised for the work of Mennonite Central Committee, a world relief and development organization. 

Here is a sample of input from yesterday, this by panelist Daryl Byler, an attorney working for a non-profit legal aid organization in Washington DC:

Giving like Zacchaeus

Attorney Daryl Byler works for the
District of Columbia Bar Foundation.

After graduating from EMU in 1979, I joined a five person intentional community in Meridian, Mississippi. Our

community purchased a two-story house on a large lot in an

economically declining neighborhood. We paid the grand sum of $15,000 for a large house that needed lots of work.

To the west of our property, many of the houses were nicer than ours. But to the east of our property most of the houses were in considerably worse shape than ours – and in a flood plain. This is my first memory of really thinking about my economic status and to whom I compare myself.

None of us considers ourselves to be wealthy when we compare ourselves to the uber-rich like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, or Elon Musk. Or even if we compare ourselves to persons who live in a more upscale neighborhood than our own. But the picture changes dramatically if our point of comparison is the average person in a least-developed country like Haiti, Sudan, or Bangladesh.

Years later, when I worked in the MCC Washington Office, a colleague, Dave Schrock-Shenk, wrote a 28-day devotional guide titled "Basic Trek: Venture into a World of Enough"; It uses the metaphor of a "trek" or journey to explore the concept of "enough" from a Christian perspective. Basic Trek challenges readers to simplify their lives and live more responsibly for the environment and the well-being of others. It addresses topics like consumerism, environmental responsibility, and living with enough for everyone.

Basic Trek reminded its readers that, while the United States has only about 5% of the global population, we consume around 25% of the world’s resources – or five times our fair share. The U.S. is also estimated to produce 30% of the world';s waste.

But even within this wealthy nation, there are huge disparities:

According to 2022 data from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances (the most recent available data), the typical white household has roughly six times the wealth of the typical Black household. This disparity has persisted and even widened over decades.

This wealth gap is a result of historic and current policies and institutional practices – for example, redlining and other forms of housing and lending discrimination – that have facilitated wealth accumulation by white families while creating barriers for Black families. Additionally, white households are significantly more likely to receive substantial inheritances that help perpetuate wealth across generations.

Soon after we were married, Cindy and I set a goal to increase our giving by one percent of income each year – as one way of countering the impulse to consume more than our fair share as our income grew.

We have not always achieved this goal. And I’m aware that our economic choices had an impact on our children as they were growing up. They didn’t suffer, but they may have, from time to time, expressed the view that their parents were tight.

We try to live simply, to recycle, reuse, and budget carefully. We don’t eat out that often, and we try to keep our driving and expenditures to a minimum. But I am well aware of inconsistencies and that I still consume far more than my fair share.

In recent years, we have increasingly shifted our giving to justice-minded organizations – particularly those led by people of color for the benefit of people of color – like the Equal Justice Initiative, led by Brian Stevenson.

I reflect often on the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector in Jericho. The city was a major hub on trade routes, especially for pilgrims traveling between Galilee and Jerusalem. This made it a perfect location for a chief tax collector like Zacchaeus to operate and accumulate vast wealth.

The Roman tax system often involved a “tax farming” model. Chief tax collectors like Zacchaeus would bid for the right to collect taxes in a given area. To recoup their investment and turn a profit, they would routinely overcharge citizens, earning them the reputation of traitors and thieves. 

The story of Zacchaeus is found in Luke 19. Some scholars think that Zacchaeus may have been the tax collector Jesus referred to in his parable in the previous chapter. In that parable, a tax collector and a Pharisee are praying in the temple. The tax collector, who beats his breast in humility, is justified, while the self-righteous Pharisee is not.

If this parable was based on a real-life event that Jesus witnessed, it may explain why, when he passed through Jericho, Jesus looked up in the sycamore tree and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

I have often wondered what Jesus said to Zacchaeus when he went to his home. Likely, Jesus talked about kingdom economics and loving one’s neighbor as oneself. Or perhaps, Jesus just listened to the confession of a man who had come to realize the error of his ways.

Whatever the case – at the press briefing after their meeting, while the crowds complain about the lack of judgment Jesus has demonstrated by eating with a sinner – Zacchaeus says to Jesus, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”

What would it look like if those of us who are solidly middle class gave half of our possessions to organizations serving those living in vulnerable situations?

The average American gives just under 2 percent of disposable income to charity. According to the group Nonprofit Source, Christians today give 2.5% of their income; during the Great Depression, it was 3.3%. Only 5% of Christians tithe.

According to the National Philanthropic Trust, the average annual household giving by generation is as follows:

The Silent Generation (Born 1925-1945) with $1,367

Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964) with $1,212

Generation Z (Born 1997-2012) with $785

Generation X (Born 1965-1980) with $732 and

Millennials (Born 1981-1996) with $481

That’s not a lot of money. What difference would it make if American Christians, who consume more than our fair share of global resources, instead made the same choice that Zacchaeus did, to give half of our possessions to those living in vulnerable situations?

The story of Zacchaeus ends with Jesus saying to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.” In other words, this is what it looks like to be part of God’s family and to love neighbor as self.

Today, salvation has come to this house. I prefer the word liberation. Today, liberation has come to this house. That is to say, we seek this way of living not out of guilt but because it is how we are liberated and set free. Unlike the rich young ruler in the previous chapter of Luke’s gospel, Zacchaeus made the liberating choice. While the young ruler clung to his possessions, Zacchaeus joyfully embraced the cost of following Jesus.

There is liberation in not being bound to the idea that we must wear the latest fashions, or drive the best cars, or live in the biggest houses.

There is liberation in seeking to repair the harms done by an economic and political system that has benefited white people at the expense of our neighbors of color.

There is liberation in knowing that our neighbors are fed and have a warm place to sleep and share the same opportunities as we do.

What a difference it would make for us if we gave like Zacchaeus. What a difference it would make for those who do not currently receive their fair share due to no fault of their own.

Wouldn’t it be beautiful to hear Jesus speak these words to North American Christians: “Today, liberation has come to this house because they, too, are now acting like children of God.”

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On Jesus as a financial advisor: 

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2011/05/imaginary-interview-with-galilean.html

To hear a previous recording of Sam Funkhouser's prophetic address: 

https://vimeo.com/872662179?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Table Conversations On What The Bible Teaches About Just Living

Here are the texts for 45-minute discussions at the November 15 workshop on "Rebirth of Anabaptism: Just, Joyful and Sustainable Living:

“(The prophet) Amos knew that…there is little value in placing our attention merely on a handful of bad actors. Culture and systems are what create large scale evils such as poverty, war, and ecological devastation. Religion must address collective evil.“      

- Richard Rohr, “The Tears of Things”

“From Genesis to Revelation, Citizens of God’s Empire Are Called To Practice Just Living”

Table Group 1 Just Living is Established and Embedded in the Torah (Genesis 1:20- 2:3, Exodus 20:8-11, Leviticus 23:15-22, Deuteronomy 15, Leviticus 25)

1. What part do God's creatures and the rest of creation play in the Torah vision of a world of shalom, in which “nothing is marred and nothing is missing"?

2. How might Torah Sabbath observances affect how we experience shalom justice? 

    a) the 7-day sabbath: weekly respite for workers, alien residents, animals, etc.

    b) the 7-week sabbath: first fruits/Pentecost offerings

    c) the 7-year sabbath: cancellation of debts incurred during times of hardship, rest for the land             

    d) the 7x7 Jubilee sabbath: redistribution of land to original inhabitants

3. How is just living portrayed in the Torah as a shared obligation of all of God’s people, and not simply the obligation of individuals or individual households?

Table Group 2 Just Living is Celebrated and Affirmed in Wisdom Literature (Psalm 12, Psalm 24:1-6, Psalm 37:14-26, Psalm 112, Proverbs 3:27-29, Proverbs 19:17, Proverbs 22:7-9, Proverbs 28:27, Proverbs 30:7-9)

1. What are some clear contrasts between the behaviors and lifestyles of the ungodly and those who wisely choose to honor a just God?

2. How does the affirmation that “the (whole) earth is the Lord’s” affect how we use our time, gifts and money?

3. In what way is investing in those in need a form of “lending to the Lord” or investing in the Treasury of Heaven by giving to the poor (Luke 12:33)?

4. How is God portrayed as responding to people experiencing hardship, oppression and other forms of suffering, and what would it mean to have God’s people respond in the same way?

Table Group 3 Just Living is Reaffirmed Through the Voice of the Prophets

(Isaiah 1:15-20, Isaiah 35, Isaiah 58:6-14, Jeremiah 22:13-17, Ezekiel 16:48-54, Amos 4:1-3, 8:4-11, Micah 6:6–8, Zechariah 7:9-12(

1. Are the prophets’ words addressed primarily to individuals or to a whole people, and how does that matter? 

2. How might some hear the prophets’ words of judgment as good news and some as dreaded news?

3. How do we see our circumstances as similar to, or different from, those addressed by the Biblical prophets?

Table Groups 4&5 Just Living is Commanded and Demonstrated By Messiah Jesus 

(Group 4: Matthew 4:12-17, Matthew 6:19-34, Matthew 7:24-29, Matthew 16:24-28, Matthew 19:13-30, Mark 8:1-9)

1. In what ways does Jesus’s focus on a heaven-ruled empire in which God’s will is being done on earth as in heaven make us different from people governed by earth-bound, nationalistic economies and cultures?

2. How does our being free from worry and having a strong sense of worth radically change the way we spend money?

3. What is the significance of the gospel accounts of a rich young ruler always coming right after the story of Jesus blessing children? How should we become like children in willingly working and learning but not laying claim to personal wealth?

(Group 5: Luke 1:46-55, Luke 6:20-25, Luke 10:25-37, Luke 12:13-34, Luke 16:10-31, Luke 19:15-30.

1. Who are the rich and well fed on whom Jesus pronounces woes? 

2. As God’s children around one worldwide table, where do we find ourselves in the story of the rich man and Lazarus?

3. According to Jesus, is investing in ever more consumer wealth primarily an evil or is it simply foolish?

4. Is the main point of the Zacchaeus story that giving to the poor is an act of charity or is it about practicing justice? 

Table Group 6 Just Living is Exemplified and Taught by the Apostles

(Acts 2:37-47, Acts 4:32-37, II Corinthians 8:1-15, II Corinthians 9:6-15, Hebrews 13:1-6, James 5:1-6)

1. What Spirit-driven lifestyle changes resulted from Peter’s sermon on repentance (an about-face change of mind, heart and direction) on the day of Pentecost?

2. What are some of the reasons Paul gives for Christians giving generous help to people in need nearly 1000 miles away?

3. How are workers around the world affected by our feeling entitled to exotic food, clothing and technology from all over the globe?

Table Group 7 Just Living is Restored Forever In New Testament Prophecy

(Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 2:8-11, 3:14-22, 17:1-6 [with 18:1-20 and 19:1-3], 21-22:1-5)

1. What is the significance of whole nations of people, and not just individuals. being brought before God in the Final Judgement?

2. Do our churches today exhibit more of the wealth of Smyrna or of Laodicea?

3. When Babylon falls, a symbol of global economic exploitation, who celebrates and who weeps and mourns?

4. In what way does the description of God’s new heavens and earth, a restoration of the shalom of Eden, provide a vision for how we are to demonstrate just living today?

HARDTIME VIRGINIA Fall 2025 Vol. 10, No. 3

An occasional newsletter by and for the incarcerated, Thanksgiving edition.

Voting Rights Restored by Virginia's Last Four Governors

Bob McDonnell (R) 2010–2014  10,000 Made rights restoration automatic for nonviolent felons who completed their sentence and any probation or parole.

Terry McAuliffe (D) 2014–2018  173,000  The Virginia Supreme Court blocked his attempt to issue a blanket order, so he began a streamlined, individualized review process for people who had completed their sentences.

Ralph Northam (D) 2018–2022  126,000  Removed the requirement for felons to complete parole or probation before having their rights restored.

Glenn Youngkin (R) 2022–2026  fewer that 4,000  Ended the automatic restoration process and returned to a case-by-case review, which has significantly slowed the pace of restorations.

Parole Board Grants Zero Releases in September

Of nearly 200 cases reviewed members of the Board were unable to find a single person they felt the VDOC had actually “corrected,” not even among those eligible for geriatric release. They did revoke the parole of four persons, however. Meanwhile, some men at Lawrenceville have come up with a 14-point rating scale that would give the Board a more objective way of making their decisions. Our Valley Justice Coalition has submitted these criteria to our local delegate, who is considering drafting it into a bill to be presented in the General Assembly in January. We’re praying for a positive result, and will keep you posted.

From the Mailbag

Regardless of the circumstances and conflicting emotions of our lives, God wants us to practice gratitude, knowing it will remind us of His love and power and enhance the quality of our lives. To Kingsway Prison and Family Outreach, I express my gratitude: Not only are they supplying me with spiritual guidance in the absence of our prison chaplain, they are assisting me in typing my first publication. Thanks! - Minor Junior Smith (legally blind), Deerfield Correctional Center

I proudly told my interviewer I had been in self-imposed sobriety on 3/3/01. I was floored when he told me my record showed I tested positive for opiates in 2019. It took me two years to finally got it cleared from my file. I had received Narco from Medical for radiation burns from throat cancer treatment.” - Daniel Leneave, Lawrenceville Correctional Center

I know good and respectful men here with over 50 years in prison. A friend of mine, Charles Zellers, had Covid and will have to be on oxygen all his life. Another friend, Minor Smith, is blind. Medical costs are going up, with prisons filled with old people. What could they do to hurt anyone?                            - Kenneth Pack Buckingham Correctional Center

Milestones by Friends on my Mail List

Steve Colosi and Thomas Reed-Bey, earned degrees, Greg Widener was granted parole earlier this year, and sadly, Henry Gorham, Jr., 69, died of cancer at the Greensville Correctional Center on July 10, one day after being denied release for health reasons. He had served 30 years.

A Much Appreciated Get Well Card From Friends at LCC

I was humbled and deeply grateful for a card signed by some good men at Lawrenceville Correctional Center. It arrived on the day before my surgery at UVA, where I had a small malignant tumor and a couple of lymph nodes removed from my neck. Nothing appears to have spread, so thanks for your prayers! 

Dear Harvey Yoder, May God's grace and mercy strengthen you every day. You are in our prayers on behalf of the men here. - David Carmichael

My friend, My prayer for you is that God has already healed you!   -Brother A. Parker

Our thoughts and prayers go out to you in hope of a blessed healing. God bless you! -R. Robinson

Dear Harvey Yoder, May Allah continue to bless you in your struggle, and overcome it. I would like to thank you for your help!  - Muwakki S. B. Shabazzz

ou are in our prayers, Mr. Yoder. Hope you are doing okay and God looks obver you and your family and all of us. Take care, and God bless.  - Tim Rankin

Thanks for your love and work for us! God bless.  -Randy Clark

"When Jesus heard that, he said, 'This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of Man might be glorified through it.'" My dear brother and friend, You are always a shining light on my path and a sweet blessing in this journey of life. I pray daily for your healing. Thank you for being that special person in my life. Amen!  - Jonathan White

Mr. Yoder, May God bless you in all all you do on our behalf.  - Darrell Willis

The LORD is with you, mighty man of God. Be encouraged and know he is by your side. - Brother Lopez

You are in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you for all your labor. By Jesus's stripes you are healed. Be blessed. Carl 😋

"For I will restore health to you, and will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord."

 JEREMIAH 30:17

Praying that the light

of God's presence

will chase away

every shadow of illness.

Wishing You

Health and Happiness!

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Editor Harvey Yoder co-chairs the Valley Justice Coalition, P.O. Box 434, Harrisonburg, VA 22803. He welcomes letters, and may sometimes quote from them unless you say otherwise.

Untimely Deaths To Mourn On All Souls Day

1  Abel, killed by his brother Cain 

untold numbers perish in Noah's Flood

unknown numbers die in Israelite invasions of Canaan

1000 Philistines killed singlehandedly by Samson 

960 resistance fighters at Masada 73 CE, die by suicide rather than surrender

1 million+ Crusader lives lost over two centuries

2000+ victims of the Spanish Inquisition

2-5000 Anabaptist martyrs in the 16th and 17th century

4 million native North American deaths due to European colonization

15-22 million deaths in World War I

18-50 million victims of flu epidemic of 1918-20

6 million lives lost in the Holocaust

50 million+ casualties of World War II

150-246 thousand deaths from Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings

3 million estimated casualties of the Korean War

1.5 million+ lives lost in Vietnam War

millions are needlessly dying today due to war, famine and disease

O number of people killed by Christians in the first three centuries 

The Lord will mediate between nations

    and will settle international disputes.

They will hammer their swords into plowshares

    and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will no longer fight against nation,

    nor train for war anymore.

Isaiah 2:4 (New Living translation)

Increased Use Of "K-words" Poisons Our Discourse And Threatens Our Future

“You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill."
Matthew 5:21-22 The Message

Our President:

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" 

“That’s where I disagreed with Charlie (Kirk). I hate my opponent(s) and I don’t want the best for them.”

“I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”

"Restoring the name 'Department of War' will sharpen the focus of this department on our national interests and signal to adversaries America's readiness to wage war to secure its interests."

“I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war, I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re going to be like, dead.”

Our Secretary of Defense:

"We changed the name after World War II from the Department of War to the Department of Defense and … we haven't won a major war since...You kill people and break things for a living. You are not politically correct and don’t necessarily belong always in polite society.”

Note: Some believe renaming the Pentagon as a Department of War is at least calling it what it is, but  author Tim O'Brien goes further, urging that "war" be eliminated from our vocabulary, and replaced with "killing people, including children."

Our Democratic candidate for Attorney General (expressing his hatred for former House Speaker Todd Gilbert in a private 2022 email):

“Three people, two bullets, Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head....  put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time." In a later phone call he added, “It would take Gilbert’s wife holding their dying children in her arms for him to act on gun safety legislation."

Note: The candidate did recently made the following public statement: “I want to issue my deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family. Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry.”

Examples of recent headlines:

"Gaza ceasefire (?) resumes after airstrikes kill 104"

"U.S. has killed nearly 60 people in strikes on boats."

A counter statement by a Republican senator from Kentucky:

"The Constitution says that when you go to war, Congress has to vote on it... we’ve got no information. I’ve been invited to no briefing...In war there are often lower rules for engagement, and people do sometimes get killed without due process... But the drug war, or the crime war has typically been something we do through law enforcement. And so far, they have alleged that these people are drug dealers. No one said their name. No one said what evidence. No one said whether they’re armed. And we’ve had no evidence presented... So, at this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings. And this is akin to what China does, to what Iran does with drug dealers. They summarily execute people without presenting evidence to the public. So, it’s wrong.”

Some other counter statements:

"When Jesus said 'Love your enemies,' I think he meant 'Don’t kill them.'" 

- bumper sticker

“A modest proposal for peace: let the Christians of the world resolve not to kill one another.” 

- Mennonite Central Committee slogan

“If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”  

- Proverbs 25:21-22, Romans 12: 20 New Living Bible