By Rev. Darla DeFrance, Puget Sound City CoordinatorJustice. Community. Simplicity. These are the core values that we share in LVC. We sometimes talk about them as the spiritual practices that unite us. Though we come from a wide array of religious backgrounds and beliefs, we share the hope for lives well-lived—finding and creating meaning in the world through acts of justice, bonds of community, and the freedom of simplicity.
“We” is a loaded word—as I write it, I am one person alone with my computer and my cup of (fair trade, shade grown, organic, carbon neutral—just in case you’re wondering) coffee. I am on my own journey to understand and live out these values, so perhaps the first person singular pronoun would be more appropriate. But I cannot bring myself to use it; I simply cannot make sense of the values of LVC from an individual point of view. I have to locate myself within the community of current and former volunteers, church folk, staff, and supporters who teach and support and encourage and challenge each other on this journey. And so I will claim the audacious pronoun and invite you to claim it as well.
Community. One of our LVC houses in Seattle is named “Ubuntu,” a word that comes to us from the South African church and translates “I am because we are” or “I cannot be without you.” The fullness of our humanity is not found in the standard American virtues of self-reliance and independence. We are also created to need one another—and to need to give of ourselves to one another.
Justice. We are called to live into a world where justice prevails, rooted in the conviction that this world and each person in it was created to shine with the image of the Creator. Many of our houses around the country are named after the saints who inspire us in this work: Nelson Mandela, Dorothy Day, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Sojourner Truth. We strive for a more just world through the work we do and the way we do it—confessing our shortcomings, recognizing the pitfalls of institutional racism, looking honestly and critically at the legacies of colonialism and “helping.”
Simplicity. “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” A dear friend who had been a child during the Depression shared with me this simple piece of household advice. We practice living simply to free ourselves from the dissatisfaction of lives of consumption. But not only that—we also recognize the impact of our choices on the planet, the impact of the planet’s changes on the most vulnerable of our sisters and brothers, and the concept of Ubuntu that extends beyond the people in our daily lives. We choose lives that are sustainable in solidarity with the world that offers us such beauty and wonder.
The work of non-profits can feel like a hamster wheel at times—there is always more good to be done and never enough time and resources to do all that we hope. But we are in it together—here to celebrate and hearten, confront and absolve each other as go.
During this season of short days and ample moonlight, may the blanket of darkness embrace our spirits and give us time to reflect, to ponder, to question, and to wonder.
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