Week 7:
The Ideal of representative power, and the idea of goodbye!

August 4, 2021

Jeffrey Stouts, in his book Blessed are the Organized, writes about a critical, foundational and passionate idea of power. This is pragmatic authority utilized towards the betterment of the authorized and the one authorizing. But it isn’t ordained by birth, skin color, or religious sect. It’s the kind of authority that is ‘earned’ over others. The people gladly put themselves under such authority, pledge to the ideals of that leader, commit to him/her, and gladly offer a sacrifice as needed, in short to ‘consent’ to be led by that leader. Power in this sense is mobile and fickle, consent can be given or withdrawn, and grassroots organizing is the basic manual through which such consent must be sought actively, constantly, and persistently. This particularly is representative power, one that has the total consent of the being led.

Being a part of this church family, and at large, learning directly from Rev Burns Stanfield has allowed me to experience the privileged moment of acquiring such consent. Young leaders must understand that communication and listening and thorough involvement, physical, emotional, and psychological, in a community is rewarded with consent. Furthermore, I have realized that it is much more difficult to gain such consent from young ones- our Summer Meal Kids. This week was a testament to days of positive investment that led to trust, understanding, and goodwill; consent to be led.

In addition, it’s not just the idea of consent that I am thinking about also the idea of goodbye. We are nearing the end of our Summer Meals. It is hard, tough, and emotional to imagine a goodbye. These kids, in many ways, have made me a better leader, our interaction has led to mutual learning, and our ideas have resonated so well that we live in our fairy world for the few hours we are together. They have taught me the importance of grandeur idealism- that’s what makes saying goodbye so hard.

This is my dear friend Maxwell- one day last week, he came up to me and said with the utmost appeal, “Mr. Sunny, can I be in your group next week?” This week he has been my buddy through sports, arts, food, walks, and more. 

This week we had a series of entertaining events. This is a picture from our water day. Gosh, I will always remember my socks getting soaked and walking back with saggy feet.

Another aspect that has made this Summer camp so memorable, uplifting and empowering, is the staff. I have my dear friends Camila ( in blue)  and Luzz (in Black) here. The staff is incredibly talented at what they do daily, and believe me, from working with kids this summer, I can tell you there is an extraordinary amount of work that goes into making these initiatives a success.

We continue to serve free meals for the poor and needy in the community- it blesses my heart every time I participate in it. My friend Lucy (in white) and Samin (in black) are in the picture.

What warms my heart the most is how this fellowship has brought together like-minded leaders under one roof and has empowered me to construct a web of connections. This is Lucy; she is a passionate volunteer and contributes selflessly and compassionately to our meals program at the 4th. I am grateful for meeting with other leaders who also hold close to their hearts to build our communities, one brick at a time.

These vibrant, jolly, and goofy pictures are from our ‘Curious Creatures’ day. We had many amazing animals visit us, and here is my friendly python who wanted a hug. I always wanted to take a picture with a python- checked that this week.

As part of the Public Scholarship component, I continue to teach Sunday School every Sunday morning. This week our topic was the ever-fascinating “Shia/Sunni” divide in Muslims. This, by far, has been the most engaging subject in my interfaith bridge-building. I am grateful to the wider 4th Church community for being so kind and supportive of me in this endeavor.

Lastly, these two pictures encapsulate the colossal drama we have at our camp. My friend Jade is one of a kind- her sense of compassion, her etiquette of conveying her ideas, and her mini-adult mode are all that I incredibly admire. This only reminds me of how tough imagining a goodbye is- but goodbyes we must say. And all over again will begin the contest of acquiring consent to authority and exerting power. For young leaders like me, this is what keeps us going. That’s what grassroots organizing is.