Passion Week & Pandemic
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Blessed Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday! You may be understandably thinking that this feels different than Holy Week’s past. It should! Never before in our lifetime have we collectively gone through such a clear example of our nation and world experiencing our own version of Holy Week to this epic proportion. Let me explain.
We started with Palm Sunday. We sang “Hosanna” but missed the point. We thought we were worshiping Jesus the Savior and Liberator, not realizing that we’d also crucify him. At that time, Jesus was worshiped for his miracles, gifts and healing power. His resources. Not the source. Likewise, we spent time building a society that glorified money; healthcare that profited from illness; imprisoned people at record rates for dollars; jobs that paid families as little as possible to keep things “efficient” and low cost – all while keeping the wealthiest rich. Click here to continue reading
Qu’ran Reflection
“Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather he looks at your hearts and actions.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2564
We have allowed systems of corporate capitalism to tell us that our self-worth comes from how we look, how much wealth we have and even today, how healthy we are. We are tricked into believing that if we buy a nice big house or a shiny new car, that we made it in life. If we have money, we won’t ever have any problems in life. This is such a blatant lie. In Islam, Allah teaches us that the most important aspects of this life are our values and our actions. These are the things that Allah will judge us for in the Hereafter. We must ask ourselves, are we clear on our moral values as people of faith? If yes, are we ready to take action on these values? We must be if we ever want to please Allah.
House Majority Leader on ISAIAH Clergy COVID-19 Response Call, Clergy to continue weekly calls
House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler joined clergy and religious leaders on this week’s call to discuss how we lead together faithful and powerfully to pass statewide rental assistance and protect our democracy during the COVID-19 crisis.
Now, like never before, we need our faith leaders equipped and connected, so that we can faithfully and quickly lead in response to the growing needs of Minnesotans.
Because of the increased need for community support, good information and public leadership, the clergy team of ISAIAH has decided to hold a weekly COVID-19 response call on Thursdays from noon-1pm. All clergy, ministers, imams and religious institution leaders are encouraged to join us in these weekly virtual calls of connection and action.
Immigrant Families and the COVID-19 Crisis: Public Action Toolkit
If you’re wondering how you can support the 200,000 Minnesotans who are undocumented immigrants and from mixed status families who are being shut out of state and federal assistance in this COVID-19 crisis, check out this ISAIAH toolkit. It’s designed to equip you with strategies to have a justice oriented response to the clear violation of our values while also making sure we are doing what we can to meet the immediate needs of our immigrant neighbors.
THIS WEEKEND: Take Action on Statewide Rental/Mortgage Assistance
Hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans across race, geography, religion and immigration status could be displaced and have their homes taken from them after Governor Walz’s suspension of evictions is lifted. No one should choose between paying their groceries and ahving a place to stay at night during this very uncertain and painful time. It could be any day now that top legislators pass (or not) $100 million dollars to support renters and homeowners and unfortunately negotiations have been difficult. We need to have our voices heard on this issue NOW!
ACTION NEEDED by noon on Mon 4/13: Call top legislators ASAP about passing statewide rental/mortgage assistance via this helpful guide: https://bit.ly/MNrentassist.
Organization-wide Legislative Session Huddle
Tuesday, April 14; 6:30-7:30 pm
Join us for an org-wide legislative session huddle on Tuesday night following the virtual town hall with Rep. Aisha Gomez from 6:00pm – 6:30pm.
During the 6:30pm huddle, we will 1) give an update on what’s happening in the legislative session on issues like rental assistance and threats to our voting rights in MN which you can read about here2) make meaning about it and 3) take public action by calling our legislators and advancing OUR narrative on social media. Together we can show the state what bold leadership looks like in these times!
Southern Minn. Leadership Assembly
85 ISAIAH leaders from across Southern MN came “together” to hold one another in love and community and to fortify ourselves for the days and months to come. We are ready to LEAD to protect our communities and to build a brighter future for our children and grandchildren.
New Episode of ISAIAH’s Faith in Democracy Podcast Available!
A few weeks into MN’s “State of Peacetime Emergency” regarding COVID-19, childcare centers struggle to remain open as they are both critical to frontline worker families and suffering their own decades long financial crisis. A childcare provider in Greater Minnesota, a provider in the Twin Cities, and a state representative who’s championed the legislature for more childcare funding discuss how Minnesotans can care for those who care for our families – before, during and after this crisis.
Southern MN Organizer II Position Open
ISAIAH is seeking a Southern Minnesota Organizer on a full time basis. This position will drive ISAIAH’s grassroots organizing in Southern Minnesota, especially in Rochester and surrounding areas. This position will be fully integrated with our organizing work across the state to run innovative, power-building campaigns through the 2020 election that both center the leadership and stories of our base and advance a bold narrative rooted in our values and theory of change.
The individual in this position will cultivate and develop the leadership of hundreds of individuals from 25+ faith institutions who in turn can lead thousands of Southern Minnesotans into public action to create a democracy that honors every person’s dignity and a caring economy that allows everyone to thrive.
ISAIAH 101 Orientation
Are you new to ISAIAH? Curious about what we do AND how we do it? Want to understand how you could play a powerful role in our mission to advance a multi-racial democracy and caring economy in ISAIAH? Join us for a 45-minute call with a 15-minute optional Q&A. We will dig into the kind of questions and topics that can’t be covered well on a website. Please know that technical questions about the ISAIAH (the history of ISAIAH, our staff, standard questions one asked about nonprofits) will not be addressed here. You can check out the ISAIAH website for those details and more at https://isaiahmn.org! We look forward to having a powerful and meaningful experience with all of you on this call!
Race Class Narrative Basic Training
This popular on-line training is being offered free by trainers from Faith in Minnesota and our Partners.
Thursday, April 16; 4 PM – 5:30 PM
Monday, April 20; 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Wednesday, April 22; 10 AM – 11:30 AM
This is an introduction to Race-Class Narrative where you can get important answers to questions like:
• Why is talking about race-class through a dependent clause ineffective?
• What are dog-whistle politics?
• What is the ultimate goal of dog-whistle politics?
• Who are “persuadables?”
• What is the anatomy of a winning narrative?
• And most importantly, why should I be using this winning framework in my everyday work and mission?
Video Conferencing Open ‘Virtual’ Office Hours
ISAIAH has moved all meetings and ‘one to ones’ into the virtual world! We are now using a platform called Zoom for the majority of our meetings. We realize that some of our leaders may not feel comfortable using this new platform yet and we want to help you get confident!
We are offering Open ‘Virtual’ Office Hours so that you can ask low tech questions and get some practice.
For more instructions on how to use Zoom or to pop into our open office hours for a quick tutorial or to ask questions, click below.
Muslim Day at the Capitol
The Muslim Day at the Capitol is moving fully online. Governor Tim Waltz, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, Attorney General Keith Ellison, as well as many other speakers will be joining us.
In light of all that is unfolding with the public health crisis, the Muslim American community has a unique opportunity to influence the current political atmosphere in the state of Minnesota. In these uncertain times, it is our role as Muslims to strive to lead with courage and resilience and to represent the interests of our community.
