liveit! March 2008

1000 livesimply activists from all over the country gathered in Manchester in Mark for liveit!, a special event to celebrate livesimply and raise awareness of the urgent challenge of climate change.

Following a successful sixth form conference and Climate Change debate on Friday 14 March, 550 people attended the main event on Saturday 15 March.

Highlights over the two days included liturgies by the Sion Community Manchester, a new drama for young people by tententheatre (available free on the CAFOD website here), a Big Sing, panel sessions, a drama and music workshop, a graffiti wall, and a great local band.

The event was really well received, with 81 per cent of those attending describing it as 'excellent' or 'very good'.  One person said it was "the most inspired and well organised conference I have been to", and several spoke of having renewed their commitment to livign simply.

Keynote speakers Archbishop John Sentamu and David Wells were singled out for especial praise, though all the speakers were inspiring.

Reading the signs of the times

Father Jim O'Keefe, chair of the livesimply network, kicked off liveit! with a challenging presentation about the contexts of livesimply.

What are the signs of the times, he asked, taking a key phrase from Matthew's Gospel, Gaudium et Spes, and Populorum Progressio.  In the 1960s, it was the 'shudder' from the anguish of the poor.  And today?  With HIV/Aids, people trafficking, international finance all on the agenda, as well as longevity, communications, consumer affluence, 24hr news and comment, cheap travel, migration, climate change and palliative care, things are not so simple.

We need time for silence, prayer, and contemplation, Father Jim argued, adding that "we need to be less hung up on what we own and the status we want to achieve." We need an understanding of sacrifice as "a willingness to let go, knowing that God will hold us."

"Fanatical about everyday change!"

Kathleen Scullion, a teacher and livesimply volunteer in the Hexham and Newcastle diocese, and Luke Smith, a youth worker in the diocese of Leeds gave some personal reflections on their experiences of livesimply.

Kathleen quoted the words of Dr Mary Getui from Kenya: "I am somebody, you are somebody, I can do something, you can do something, and together we can do great things."

"The poor look for food, the rich look for an appetite."

John Sentamu, the Anglican Archbishop of York, gave a humbling and powerful address. Against a backdrop of half of all children living in poverty, the psychology of the West is, he argued, "Veni, Vedi, Visa": "I came, I saw, I spent without guilt."

The Archbishop had experienced hunger himself, growing up at a time of food shortage. He remembered his mother going without food so he could eat what they had: one potato and "a lot of water."

"We need to take rather more practical steps than vicariously living celebrity lifestyles in magazines", he said.

The Bible was a fundamental source of wisdom about justice - with 2030 references to justice and poverty in the Old Testament, and 718 in the New Testament. They are still, he said, among "the biggest issues of our day." His address was a call for all Christians to live simply,

"For Christians, simplicity can have a very important impact on our spiritual lives", he argued, saying that "the grace of simplicity" can help us in our struggle with competing responsibilities - the trap of the rat race.

Because "I am fearfully and wonderfully made", we must live simply. "No-one can serve two masters", he said, reminding us of Jesus' parable.

"If we seek righteousness, things will fall into their proper order", he said, adding that "we are not being called into action, but into resignation to the will of God."

"Gratitude compels us to compassion."

David Wells, co-director of the Diocese of Plymouth's Office of Formation, gave a spectacular address to the post-lunch Main Hall.

"What do we mean by solidarity?" he asked.

Solidarity is profoundly Scriptural - it's "who you stand with", "action expressing compassion". It's not about "holy huddles of the likeminded". It's about standing with others and taking their pain.

Endless comparisons get in the way of solidarity. We get caught up in "and endless swirl of self-justification and it's stealing our soul", he said. Success is not a fact, it's a comparison, and we need to break out of it.

Why? Because it means the person you should be in solidarity with becomes your competitor. We lose our joy, we "harden our hearts". This is the enemy of solidarity.

"Somehow we've got to be grateful for what we've got." "Do you count blessings or the cost?", he asked. Somewhere, we have to learn to be grateful for the simple things.

Why? Well, if we replace gratitude with grumpiness, we become the olnly person in our world - "have you become a big person in a small world, or a small person in a big world?", he asked.

"We are losing gratitude because we are too busy". Can we hold on to our gratitude? Despite the struggle, there's much to be grateful for. Gratitude compels us to compassion. The more we give, the more we get back.

He asked us to remember two key quotations: "God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called," and "Your life is not about you" (Mother Theresa).

> Read more about the liveit! speakers