Meet
the Flipsters
Conversations
on the Bridge |
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A Conversation with Bishop
Alden Hathaway
(The complete Flip interview, with only minor edits,
not found in the book)
Alden Hathaway, retired Bishop in the Episcopal Church
of Pittsburgh, is the director of Solar Light for
Churches of Africa (SLFCA; www.solarlightforafrica.org).
He is a visionary who has worked tirelessly to put
his faith into action for the betterment of others.
Alongside Uganda’s retired Bishop Masereka,
now chairman of SLFCA, Bishop Hathaway has championed
an ongoing effort to bring solar energy to orphanages,
churches, and other facilities in Africa.
We wondered whether Bishop Hathaway had always felt
called to a life of spirit and service or whether
he had experienced a personal flip along the path.
“I guess I’ve always had a rather philosophical
or spiritual bent. I grew up in the church. When I
was at Cornell, I went through an agnostic period.
But I ran into a chaplain who took an interest in
me and asked, ‘What are you going to do when
you graduate?’ I really had no idea. Even though
I enjoyed taking my courses, I knew I wasn’t
going to go into agriculture. He said, ‘You
know, I think you ought to go into the ministry.’
I told him I didn’t even think I believed in
God. He said, ‘Well, God believes in you.’
I wrestled with the question for several years and
finally decided to pursue seminary.
“I was a radical social activist in Detroit
during some tumultuous times. Eventually, I came to
realize that our best efforts to change the world
and set everything right were all tainted by interests
and complications, despite our best intentions. I
also had several setbacks in my ministerial career
that literally drove me to my knees. Early on, a Bishop
from Pakistan had singled me out. He’d sensed
that there was something stirring inside of me. I
don’t know how he knew it, except that he had
some intuition about my own spiritual dilemma and
he prayed for me. When I was down and out, I finally
just turned my life over to God and to the Lord Jesus,
and things began to change. I was not in control of
it. I was being led and guided rather than leading
and guiding. Ultimately, I left my ministry and answered
the call to become a Bishop in Pittsburgh.”
We asked Bishop Hathaway about the challenges of
being in the ministry and being a social activist.
“I’ve always believed in the fruit of
good work. I believed in all of the great social issues
that I was committed to in the sixties, and I still
do. The only thing that I’ve changed my mind
about is that we don’t do this by our own will
and intention or accomplish it on our own.
“We used to have prayer when we were young
radicals in the streets of Detroit and it went like
this: ‘Oh God, we pray that we are right for
we are very determined.’ But I realized that
that wasn’t it at all.
“As you open your heart more to the power and
love of God, you’re open to the things that
God is doing and led into the care for the poor and
care for people who are broken and torn by the world
and also in the practical things, the opportunities
that there are to really affect the things of God’s
love in the world.”
We asked for an example of faith-inspired social
action. “One great example is the solar project
in Africa. I visited an orphanage that we had helped
build there. As I stood admiring the building, it
got later and later and the sun set and it got dark.
Then I realized that this building had no electricity,
no lights, and I could not imagine how in the world
they could care for these children without any electricity.
“When I got home, I talked to my son who was
an electrical engineer who understands solar technology.
I said, ‘Could we put some solar power into
that little school? It’s right on the equator.’
And he said, ‘Sure. Give me the dimensions of
it.’ He put together an array of equipment that
would give light and power to that facility. And it
was going to cost about eight thousand dollars. We
raised that money through the church.
“As I traveled around, wherever I went, I told
the story about the orphanage – and how you
can use solar for anything and the wonderful thing
about it is that it generates on site the amount of
power needed. You don’t need central generation
and large transmission systems, so it’s immediately
applicable to people in remote areas.
“At one of my early talks, back in 1997, I
shared the podium with another Bishop from Uganda.
The Bishop approached me afterwards. He said, ‘I’ve
got an orphanage in my diocese with no light. I’ve
got hospitals in my diocese with no light. I’ve
got schools with no light. I’ve got homes. I’ve
got clinics and all sorts of things. Why do you stop
there?’ So, we got my son on the telephone,
and he and this Bishop put together the beginnings
of Solar Light for Africa. So far, we’ve installed
about twenty-four hundred units in three different
countries. Every summer we take a group of American
young people over, and we train them alongside African
young people in terms of missionary service and practical
application by way of solar light. This brings fundamental
services like refrigeration or cell phones or televisions
or computers, whatever. It really gives them a leg
up.
“And this is an exciting thing for us, because
solar power makes the difference. And the kids see
this and they become advocates of it and a lot of
them are patterning their careers to follow it up
with one thing or another. In fact, we’ve got
a couple of the young people who have finished their
schooling and have come back to work for us now—both
African and American.”
Sounds like a great initiative to us; is it well
supported? “I get frustrated in the Untied States
because we haven’t received the support we could
use. But little by little people catch the vision.
I speak about it all the time and I’m continually
gratified by the way people are drawn into it, especially
these young people. Institutions are hard to change
though, especially the aid industry – which
is pretty well locked into bureaucracy and their way
of doing things.
“We’ve tried to get our project picked
up by one agency after another. I rather think it’s
God’s will that we stay independent to keep
this tension between the spiritual, the commercial,
and the public. These three parties work well together
in Africa. We don’t understand it in America.
We’ve got this tremendous separation between
church and state. And I don’t demean that. I’m
all for religious freedom and the government not interfering
in people’s spiritual lives. But in the other
hand, what we see in Africa is this wonderful cooperation
in these three basic centers of human enterprise in
life; the spiritual, the commercial, and the public
or the governmental—working together to transform
a society.”
Bishop Hathaway left us with these final words: “We
are to bear witness to the whole of life. And all
of it is transformed by spiritual vision. A vision
of following Christ who said, ‘I am the light
of the world,’ and I believe he meant that literally.
“You don’t go to Uganda or any place
and see poor people and say, ‘Oh yes, believe
and have faith and things will get better,’
when you’ve got the flashlight in your pocket
and people are living in the darkness. They need for
you to get that flashlight out and turn it on and
share it with the people.”
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The Flip, by Jared Rosen and David Rippe, illuminates
a clear path to a vibrant enlightened world where
millions of people already live and thrive. It describes
in vivid detail and real examples evidence of an upside
down world in decay and a Right Side Up world of authentic
beings bright with possibility.
The Flip is an owner’s manual for the twenty-first
century full of insights, conversations with recognized
experts, thought leaders, and visionaries, and actionable
exercises and tips you can use to begin your own personal
flip.
To read more about The Flip
and additional interviews from other luminaries, experts
and bestselling authors, please visit www.theflip.net
The Flip is available at your
local bookstore or online at
Amazon.com, Barnes
& Noble, Joseph-Beth,
and Borders.
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