Category Archives: 2013 Burning Man

Washing Feet at Burning Man

This is a video at Burning Man in 2013, showing the simple method we used to wash over 200 people’s feet at our Christian Science camp.

This year we’re planning on washing over 1,000 people’s feet. We’ll also be offering Christian Science prayer / treatment for anyone who requests it at our camp, along with three metaphysical talks by John Tyler, CSB, hosted at Sacred Spaces (4&Gold) and Center Camp. If you’re going to Burning Man this year, look for us in the Isfahan and 9:15 neighborhood. We’re looking forward to washing your dusty feet!

A warm thank you again to everyone who has helped us in any way this year. Our hearts are filled to the brim with gratitude.

Anna Lisa’s article about last year’s Burning Man experience is live on ChristianScience.com

Burning Man hands
Photo by Anna Lisa Kronman

Anna Lisa contributed a lovely write-up of her experiences as a camp participant at the 2013 Burning Man festival that has now been published on ChristianScience.com.

We prayed thoughtfully and earnestly for ourselves and all those who would be coming, but we arrived with few outlined outcomes. We planned to gently embrace this city of lively seekers by seeing their spiritual worthiness as we washed dust from their feet. What a surprise that in doing so, we discovered we were in the middle of church! Being in this very unique environment led me to some new thinking on what constitutes Church. Here are a few ideas that came to me in that windswept space about Church pared down to its core essence.

Click here to read the entire article.

Fujiko Signs 2013 full Burning Man Christian Science Lecture “Love without limit, Life without fear”

Video not showing? Click here to view on YouTube.

Fujiko Signs, C.S.B. gave a 50 minute Christian Science lecture at the 2013 Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nevada titled “Love without limit, Life without fear”. The talk was delivered at the Red Lightning Camp main stage.

What do you think?  Leave a comment below!

What does (de)commodification mean? [Video]

Worth a watch!

From the 10 Principles blog series, an ongoing exploration of the history, philosophy and dynamics of Burning Man’s 10 Principles in Black Rock City and around the world.

To commidify oneself (or to be commidified) is to be easily measurable, rankable, and knowable.  Burners, who come out of a capitalist counter-cultural context, tend to think of that in economic terms – and that’s certainly true.  The term “commodity” means something that is bought and sold.  But the process of commodification – of turning something into a product suitable for purchase – also has everything to do with social class, with big data, with the quantified self, and with the kind of psychology that seeks to make us all simpler and shallower rather than deeper and more complex.

When we commodify we seek to make others, and ourselves, more like things, and less like human beings.   “Decommodification,” then, is to reverse this process.  To make the world and the people in it more unique, more priceless, more human.

We are not objects, you and I.  We are not apps, we are not code, we are not commodities.  Nothing that we are can truly be bought or sold, and we are more important than things. The principle of Decomodification is a reminder of that, and a challenge to bring that insight into our lives.

Full post (and comments) here: http://blog.burningman.com/2014/02/tenprinciples/what-does-it-mean-to-have-decommodification-as-a-principle/

You’re invited to hear our experiences in person on Dec 14, 2013 4:30pm at the U.C. Berkeley CSO

Come hear the life-changing experiences of the participants who were part of the 2013 Christian Science camp at Burning Man at the U.C. Berkeley CSO on Saturday, December 14 at 4:30pm.   There will be a photo slideshow, video footage, stories and more.  Refreshments will be served.

BurningManSharingInvite_01-berkeleycso

Download PDF: Burning ManSharing Invite (8.7 MB PDF)

Video and slideshow of our sharing with the Reno church families immediately after Burning Man 2013

Michael shot and edited this video of our group’s sharing presentation with the families in Reno who supported our 2013 trip.  We were still covered in playa dust and everything was still fresh in our minds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VIk-NQpsdw&rel=0

Share and enjoy!

“First Church Black Rock City” – by Brian

Christian Science Camp at Burning Man 2013

There is something gracious and tender about washing feet. By this I don’t mean the person washing feet is being gracious and tender, even though they are, but that graciousness and tenderness are present in abundance when feet are being washed because it can be felt and experienced by people watching or hearing about it. There is a genuine, kind, and loving presence which is shared when two people humbly sit down and care for each other in this way. It feels beautiful, strengthens humility and love for both participants, and is actually really fun. Perhaps my favorite thing about it is: it’s extremely difficult to misinterpret the message of care.

The Burning Man festival is an arts and culture event which takes place in the Nevada desert north of Reno. A temporary encampment called Black Rock City pops up in a circle stretching three miles across centered on a large wooden statue of a man. At the end of a week, the “man” is burned, and people head home. It has been, and will continue to be described in many different ways, but the word which really captured me was “radical.” There are ten principles of Burning Man, the first is radical inclusion; there’s also, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, and an economy based on giving. The costumes, sculptures, structures, traditions, and activities of the festival are quite impressive, but do not entirely describe the openness and receptivity of the people who have traveled to be there, and of the place itself.

This year, after a successful lecture the year before, a group of Christian Scientists planned, built, and hauled a camp to the desert with more than one hundred gallons of extra water just for washing feet. I was extremely grateful to be included at the last minute, and traveled to Black Rock City a couple days after the festival began.

Washing Feet at Burning Man 2013While I was washing my first pair of feet and enjoying delightful conversation with a Frenchman from Montreal, he commented, “It really helps you understand why Jesus did it.” As someone who has sometimes found it difficult to share what I know and love about Christianity and Christian Science, this was such a joy to hear. I hadn’t been thinking of it in those terms, but of course he was right. What my friend was talking about wasn’t the physical touch alone, but the mental expression of care and tenderness, of presence imbued with love, and without expectation. When we were done he asked if he could wash someone else’s feet and did, and he returned on another day with friends to wash and be washed. There are many stories like this from the week in the desert, unique and personal expressions of love and care which dotted the landscape of the inspired adventure, but what I hadn’t anticipated was how easy and natural it would be to discuss deep spirituality while washing feet. I had always expected the metaphor and the gift of washing feet to be clear, what I hadn’t expected was how easily the spirit of this activity would be to enjoy and share.

Why was it so easy to share? Why were people so receptive? Mrs. Eddy writes “Grace and Truth are potent beyond all other means and methods.” S+H 67. With a focus on presence, and giving, instead of convincing, we found our voice in the only language that matters: love.

The folks whose feet we washed constantly mentioned they felt as though they were completely clean, as if not just their feet were washed. Many of them participated in washing, and even more brought friends and neighbors, and returned on other days. Topics were discussed, prayers were said, copies of Science and Health and Sentinels were handed out, all of it without a sense of pushing or proselytizing.

An atmosphere of love pervaded our camp and activities, including two lectures, a Wednesday testimony meeting, and a Sunday morning service. It really did feel like First Church Black Rock City, and reminded me of Jesus’ words “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matt 18:20.  We were able to feel and express church even there.

Feet ready to be washedAfter spending some time in the desert it is easy to see why washing feet became a tradition of hospitality and care for the people of Israel. In the desert you don’t notice your feet getting dusty, you know they are, but you don’t experience the increasing dustiness in the way you might experience an increase in weight. But you certainly notice them getting clean. It’s a lot like negative habits of thought. The assumed knowledge, the insistent senses, and human conflicts, seem to gather together suggesting to us something other than perfect man, the image and likeness of God. Of course the dust on your feet isn’t and can never BE a part of your feet, so those habits of thought which didn’t start as part of you, cannot become a part of you. Which brings us to vinegar.

The desert dust where we were is high in alkaline, a base, which has to be counteracted with a mild acid before you can use soap or water usefully. Diluted vinegar cuts the dust and gets the feet ready for washing. It’s the same way with healing. You can’t ignore the fear and burden mortal mind seems to accumulate, it must be removed in order for the tender comfort of the Christ to be glimpsed and received.

Of course Jesus didn’t do it to fulfill tradition or simply to make his disciples feet feel good; he was handling the question of “who shall be greatest,” among his disciples. Instead of answering the question, he replaced the question entirely with humility and service. Who can contemplate their own greatness when the master is here, forever, washing the feet of his followers? His indelible example, is with us for all time, and reminds us that we are here to give.

In reality who could be, or would want to be, resistant to Truth? It is often our human desire to be successful in convincing someone which finds us trying to take a shortcut through human sense, personality, or coercion. The goal can seem good and so we do not easily recognize the influence of human sense asking to be acknowledged and used. But if we are sharing truth divinely inspired, giving grace and love, these are always accepted and find their proper place. We cannot argue, legislate, or coerce the divine. God does not fight, compete, or contest, the divine mind is supreme. God simply removes the question through the emination of infinite and perfect Life and Love. We should not attempt to contest or convince where God does not. When we look to God, and to Jesus’ example, our path becomes more clear: to witness, express, and understand more of the divine Mind; to remove fear and misunderstanding, not with coercion, but with genuinely expressed love.

Brian Bort
Richmond, CA

This Is Love!

Michael’s Church Alive post

Michael Morgan

Growing up in the Church of Christ, Scientist my whole life, I’ve always wondered why so much action is expected to happen inside the building. What about outside of the building in the broader community? Over the years I developed a type of spiritual boldness through “trial and prayer.” I learned that the worst thing people can say to me if I offer prayer or inspirational literature is “No.” The best thing that can happen is that someone’s life is transformed forever.

After a successful experience of bringing a Christian Science lecture to the Burning Man Art Festival last year (see this Sentinel article about it), our team of Christian Scientists from the West Coast wanted to explore new ways of really serving the population of Black Rock City, Nevada where there are approximately 70,000 people and zero buildings!

Read entire post here