New Year's Eve Lock-In

Hey everyone:

We are here in Seattle having a great time with my family. I am still planning on having the lock-in this Friday. I am having a little trouble lining up volunteers, so for right now we need to limit the attendees to only Heir Force members. The lock-in will start at 8pm Friday night and go until 8 am Saturday morning. Cost is $10.

Drop me an e-mail at Jason@manhattanchurch.org if you are planning on going. If you want to bring a friend let me know as well so that I can get back to you to let you know if there is room!

posted by: J-Wild at: 2:14 PM -  0 comments

The Ancestor Rap

On Friday the 17th I witnessed something that I was truly proud of. After only 30 minutes of rehearsal the Heir Force pulled off an amazing "Geneology Rap" for the church Christmas pageant! It was awesome and it definately left the crowd amazed. Props to Gregory Jackson for providing the skeleton of the rap and performing. And props to the rest of the group that was there for their enthusiasm and dance moves! It was awesome! You can check out a video of the performance on-line by going here! posted by: J-Wild at: 9:32 AM -  0 comments

Pale Male Vs. The Homeless Just in case you have been living in a Mountain Dew induced haze (which I am sure some of you have been). Over the past week or so millions of people have been interested in the plight of two red tailed hawks who live on the upper eastside. These hawks Pale Male and Lola have taken up residence for the last 12 years at 927 Fifth Ave. Well last week the co-op board decided to have the nest removed since they had grown tired of the half eaten rats and pigeons that were strewn out over the sidewalk in front of the building. This was a bad move on the co-op's part because these two hawks are practically international celebrities. There is even a documentary about them, which you can view here! Since the nest has been removed there has been almost a constant vigil of people outside the co-op. They are getting drivers to honk in support of putting back the nest (which is quite a disturbance in this high tone part of town). It looks as if they are actually going to put back the metal spikes that helped anchor the nest back on the ledge so that Pale Male and Lola can rebuild.

There is a great article in the New York Times (which all of you should sign up for, it's free). The author of the article does something interesting. Here is a quote:

No one could doubt the protesters' fervor. But curiosity took hold of me. On Sunday, at random, I approached 10 of these defenders of homeless birds to ask if they had ever joined a demonstration in behalf of homeless human beings.

The question was inspired in part by the sight of a man picking through a corner trash basket a block away, at Fifth and 75th. No protester, he said, had asked if he, like the hawks, needed shelter. (I did ask, but he did not respond.)

To a person, the 10 demonstrators acknowledged that, no, they had never taken up the cause of the unwinged homeless. It's different, you know, one woman said. "I just feel like Pale Male has been such an ambassador."

ANOTHER woman, who gave her name only as C. J., flashed a "Honk 4 Hawks" sign at passing cars. But "this is not about two birds," she said. No doubt, they can build a nest elsewhere. "For me, it's part of a larger issue," C. J. said. "It's about how right now nature is considered a convenience, and when it becomes inconvenient, we just get rid of it."

I think the author of the article does an interesting thing when he talks about people getting all excited about two hawks, but the homeless person going through the trash is virtually unnoticed. I think that people come out to save whales, rescue kittens, and find homes for falcons because animals are easier to deal with than people. You either make an animal bend to your will like a dog or you appreciate it from a far like a lion, but in both instances you are in control. With people it's a different matter. Dealing with people is messy since they can talk and don't always do what you want them to. Truthfully I have a hard time feeling sorry for two hawks or any other animal for that matter when I know that there are 30,000 children who die EVERY DAY from preventable diseases. So what are your thoughts on this? Why does the plight of two hawks in NYC, beached whales, spotted owls, or other such animals get on the national news and become a 'rallying cause' over other more important human issues? posted by: J-Wild at: 2:59 PM -  1 comments

A Week In the Life! So, welcome to the Heir Force Blog. First of all I would like to give a shout out to Kenny Eicher for designing our cool blog layout and for his help in teaching me how to set this up. This blog is just a place where you can come to get information about upcoming Heir Force events, thought provoking topics, and a space for you to make your voice heard. I hope that you will be honest and open without being degrading or offensive in any of the comments that you make. Feel free to post annonymously and tell your friends about this blog. My goal is to have some of the teens from the Heir Force, some of our volunteers, and others to post thoughts and to come up with fun intetesting things for you to engage in.



For the first post I wanted to find out from you who you would like to be for seven days and why. I can remember as a little kid I wanted to be Keith from the cartoon Voltron. I even asked my mom if I could change my name. She humored me and told me I had to get a lawyer. Keith was the leader of the five mechanicle lions that made up the big robot named Voltron. He was smart, good looking, and always had the ansewers.



I have since grown out of the desire to be Keith from Voltron, but my current "hero" has to be Bono from U2. I think his ability to infuse spirituality, emotion, politics, and love into his lyrics is amazing and the band just plan rocks. I admire his efforts to help those who are poor, oppressed, and sick. I believe that the message he brings to the church about the plight of AIDS victims in Africa is prophetic and something the church should listen to. But I still wouldn't want to be him for a week, even though rocking out in a great band in front of 60,000 people, being rich, and having a major influence on the world would be awsome.

The person I would most like to be for a week would have to be Mother Teresa. I know, I know that sounds like something you are supposed to say as a minister, but I am serious. I have been thinking a lot about this question, and while being Bono for a week would be awesome, at the end of it I would just be back to plain old me. The thing about Mother Teresa is how she saw people is so radically different than how I see people. A reporter asked her one time how she could be surrounded by death and sickness all the time. Her response was amazing. She said "I don't see sickness, disease, in the people that come to our place, I only see Jesus." I feel like if I was Mother Teresa for a week then perhaps I would start to see people as she saw people and then that would make a bigger change in my life than rocking out in front of 60,000 people. I highly recommend you going here (you have to have Real Player) to listen to the speech she gave when she recieved the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. So that's my person, I don't think the lesson I would learn from her would be fun, but it would be life-changing for sure.

So who would you be for a week and why? posted by: J-Wild at: 9:51 PM -  5 comments