In God’s Economy, Cardboard Houses Are Rock Solid
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- J. Tyler Klassen/Photo
Michael (left) Schrag, Goshen IN, Titus Peachey, Lancaster, PA (Partially hidden) and Jesse Smith, Indianapolis In build their symbolic house during the economic house building project.
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- J. Tyler Klassen/Photo
Linda Knox, Salem Or, (left) and Kent Yoder, Goshen IN, build their unjust symbolic house during the demonstration of economic justice on the north end of the convention center. Yoder built the puzzle pieces used in the demonstration.
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- J. Tyler Klassen/Photo
Titus Peachey, Lancaster Pa (from left), Susan Mark Landis and Michael (left) Schrag, Goshen IN, Indianapolis In, build their symbolic house during the economic house-building project.
One house was built on rocks, one on sand. Both were made of cardboard.
Persons interested in peace and justice in Columbus gathered to built two cardboard houses — one on rocks, one on sand — representative of the current economic situation.
“The house built on rocks is supposed to represent what God’s economy looks like,” said Kent Yoder of Assembly Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind. The two small-scale structures were put together at the corner of Park and Goodale Streets.
The initiative was created as an effort of the local Columbus B.R.E.A.D., which stands for Building Responsibility Equity And Dignity. Every year, B.R.E.A.D. — a chapter of D.A.R.T. [Direct Action and Research Training center] — chooses an issue relevant to the surrounding area.
This year, 2,500 people met on May 4 to present to public officials with their proposal of best practices to work at economic justice. “We wanted to find a local issue in the community to work on vacant properties,” said Melanie Buller of Columbus Mennonite Church.
The house project is part of a larger B.R.E.A.D. initiative called “neighborhood light.”
June Frankel, a member of the Columbus initiative, said, “We usually direct concerns to city officials through our people power.”
Words such as ruthless, foreclosures, quick financial gain ballooning interest rates and greedy leaders marked the house on sand. The house on rocks was painted with words such as living wage, share abundantly, justice, hospitality and equity.
B.R.E.A.D.’s vision to act locally and globally is guided by Micah 6:8, said Buller. “We do a good job of walking humbly with God … we love mercy … but do we do justice?” she asked.
Sheldon Good - hails from Telford, Pa., a small suburb of Philadelphia settled by Mennonites in 1719. Good graduated from Goshen College in May with a double major in communication and business. He was the editor-in-chief of the Goshen College Record, the college’s student newspaper. Good enjoys watching the Phillies win, drinking black coffee, and running, all of which he hopes to do while living in D.C. next year through a one year internship with Sojourners.
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