LETTER FROM THE REV JOHN MERZ WHO WAS ARRESTED ON SATURDAY AT OWS

From the website of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island:

Dear Bishop Provenzano,

Yesterday some troubled the waters and I got in. For me it was not premeditated. In fact Rev. Michael Sniffen and I were clear that for each of us it would be a choice we made on our own, with no pressure from the other.

I feel that being in solidarity with the Occupy movement, with its desperate need for outdoor space along with the pressure it was under through systematic oppression before Nov. 15, combined with the dispersal that took place (in concert with 18 mayors around the nation and homeland security): all this necessitated such a move of conscience. As I crossed property boundaries that many in the church seem to believe are inviolable, I believe a full explanation for my motives and actions in conformity to the vows I took upon ordination as Priest, as well as in my being a public citizen are in order:

On the OWS movements: the power of these movements is precisely their transgressive nature. While non- violence is the primary mode of gathering and demonstrating --I have never once seen a protester strike anyone anytime-- the occupation at Liberty Square/Zuccotti and the general heart of the movement is a kind of ongoing non-violent act of civil disobedience performed in love. Before the dispersal from Liberty/Zucccotti, we experienced a space wherein hope for real change for all was being performed and spread. It was no domesticated affair, no sanctioned public conversation; evidenced by the constant threat of eviction, the 24 hour police presence and the well documented police harassment, violations of private assembly and surveillance (see the newly minted Defense Authorization Act as a sad continuation). If we are uncomfortable with transgression, and I think we always are in some way, I submit we are not conformable to the mode and actions of Jesus. We may not be able to be able to live in that liberated space at all times; I know we find it so hard, but it is real and needs honoring. It follows that we (I know I am) always grasping, always incomplete, always in the dark, are groping for the hand of the spirit to help us find the door to that space. That is where I am: groping in that dark.

See more.

Yours faithfully, John Merz
--
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in.
--
Leonard Cohen

www.ascensionbrooklyn.org
The Reverend John Merz
Priest-in-Charge
Diocesan Missioner to Greenpoint and Williamsburg

Please read it all.