We in California and this country are in the fight of our lives.
Central to the moral convictions of the diverse faith traditions represented in Faith in Action East Bay, is the idea that sacred relationships between God, the created order, and human beings are essential aspects of our witness in the public life of our society and the prophetic vision that informs our organizing practice. Human life is sacred. The created order is sacred. Relationships are sacred. A sense of belonging to a community and having a place called home is a vital component of what constitutes the well-being of all. In the Hebrew holy scriptures, we find the testimony and journey of a people seeking a home: a place of belonging, safety, hospitality, and blessing.
The current housing crisis in California, where houselessness is at epic levels, and the lack of affordable housing for low-income people is a direct contradiction of the moral values that are basic to our convictions. The housing crisis, in conjunction with racial and economic inequity, challenges our commitments to these values and is a call to action in organizing to create change and establish the conditions that empower families and communities to thrive and prosper together.
We in California and this country are in the fight of our lives. We are traveling through a harrowing time full of uncertainty, fear, and pain. Blood and tears are being shed over the questions: Who matters? Who belongs? How shall we live? Therefore, we intentionally, methodically, and collaboratively build power, with love, from family to family, from church to mosque to synagogue, from city to city, from county to county.
We will act relationally and deliberately, be animated by our sacred traditions, and elevate the leadership of women and people of color to breathe new life into California and this nation. We are people of faith, guided by a shared moral narrative that breathes life and love into our very bones, compelling us to embrace the radical hope of what can become. The Divine, God, Creator, the Source of Life, the All Merciful, the Breath of Creation who goes by many names, calls us to be courageously compassionate, guardians of the profound worth of every human, and stewards of the earth’s precious resources. Let us be joined together in a campaign to make our state a place where the well-being of all is nurtured and protected.
La Luta Continua,
Rev. Dr. George C.L. Cummings,
Regional Executive Director of Faith in Action East Bay