2020 CWP Newsletter Summary
“Fine Personally, but Armageddon Pressing In”
Dear Friends,
I remember in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, reading a facebook post from the writer Rebecca Solnit, where she said she’d been searching for a simple phrase that could sum up a complicated feeling: “I’m fine personally but armageddon is pressing in and I feel it … I’ve been continuously empathically distressed, morally troubled, and full of foreboding and worry. Clearly a lot of us need some kind of compact reference to this common situation.” I think Rebecca Solnit had it right–we need another word in the English language to explain a feeling that many of us have been holding, and was certainly my predominant feeling this past year at the Center for the Working Poor.
In this year’s Center for the Working Poor Newsletter, the Center Update, titled “Surrender and Become Attentive,” describes Paul Engler’s journey in learning to navigate rapidly changing circumstances, resulting in a new project called Community Counseling. You can read about it here.
During the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, Paul wrote an article titled “Coronavirus is a Historic Trigger Event,” which reached tens of thousands of people, and was republished on dozens of news outlets. Following this publication, Paul was interviewed by a variety of different organizations and publications. This issue of the Newsletter features an excerpt from Paul’s interview with Vice Magazine.
The Newsletter also includes the House Journal, describing our community’s activities this past year. Read about it here.
For all those who have been part of our community this year, we want to express our deep gratitude for your support and friendship.
–Paul Engler
2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive
December 17th, 2020
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die …” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 “Surrender to what is dying, and become attentive to what is emerging.” — … Continue reading
Monasticism, Indigenous Cultures, Burning Man, and/or Kingdom of God?: My trip to Taize.
December 27th, 2019
After being invited to Barcelona, Spain this fall for a chaotic tour of book talks, TV appearances, and radio interviews, I needed a place to recover from all the activity. And one of the greatest realizations of my life has … Continue reading
Are We Cells in a Mystical Body? Center Update 2018
December 24th, 2018
As many of you know, I am a social justice geek. I compulsively read and think about social movements, and have been doing this for a long time, and am now considered a specialist in the field commonly referred to … Continue reading
January 18th, 2018
The election of Trump was like somebody threw a political bomb into the middle of a crowded room. For undocumented people, it meant fear of losing DACA and being deported. For labor unions and the working poor, it meant losing … Continue reading
CENTER UPDATE 2016: STILL OTHER SEEDS FELL ON GOOD SOIL
January 9th, 2017
Many have asked how I am feeling after Trump was elected to President of the US. The largest natural disaster in my lifetime just hit my community. It reminds me of both the day after my father died in my … Continue reading
Plan For the Revolution, But Keep Everyone Washing the Dishes: A New Year’s Update
December 31st, 2014
Dear Friends, I started the Center for the Working Poor in 2006. I donated all my money and my car, and slept on the floor of my shared, cramped apartment with our first full time volunteer, Clayton Perry. We ate … Continue reading
Christmas Update From Paul Engler & The Center
December 17th, 2012
The Center for the Working Poor, (aka the Burning Bush Community), continues to share in the wonderful mix of serving the poor, communal living, prayer and meditation, and nonviolent movement organizing that distinguishes our beautiful home. In addition to delivering … Continue reading
A Moment of Hope for a New Movement: Update from the Center for the Working Poor
December 15th, 2011
By Paul Engler Every once in a while, a rare and special moment comes when you realize that you are doing more than turning out for just another protest. Instead, you realize that you are in the middle of true … Continue reading